i guess this is how i see it:
in my opinion, azulaang is nothing like kataang other than the fact that they’re both prodigy x prodigy ships. now, katara and azula are character foils of each other so perhaps that’s where the similarities are, but even that falls flat to me when analyzing their actual relationships rather than just what they narratively represent
katara and aang are both genocide survivors who are the very last of their people (katara being the last southern waterbender—until we meet hama ofc—and aang being the last airbender). they initially connect because of this unique similarity
aang gives katara hope and joy whereas katara makes aang feel seen, included, and loved
they are friends before they are lovers
their relationship is symbolically represented in tui and la and the legend of oma and shu. they are often depicted together in the form of tui and la, as seen when they fight the serpent in the serpent’s pass and when they combine their native elements to create clouds
their native elements are complimentary of each other
katara is a healer and uses her skill set to save aang. the period when he was in a coma is canonically one of the darkest of her life
they both work to help fire nationals up close and personal in “the headband” and “the painted lady,” and are eager to help each other do so (katara and aang dancing in the cave, and aang helping her scare off the fire generals with airbending)
aang cares for her so much that he went into the avatar state simply because she was in danger, swore off an entire element after accidentally hurting her, and turned away from cosmic energy if it meant loving her any less
katara cares for aang so much that she threatened to kill zuko if he gave her one reason to think he might hurt him, and spent days at his bedside when he was in a coma
i, personally, struggle to see how azulaang could be similar
aang is a genocide victim whereas azula is a colonizer. so colonized x colonizer
azula clearly subscribed to the racist propaganda spread by her family (seen in how she calls katara a peasant), and although that is not her fault and she was groomed into being who she was, i highly doubt she ever thought highly of aang being an air nomad as a result
she literally killed him. ended his life. stopped his breathing. stopped his heart. at 12 years old. aang was dead (had it not been for katara he would’ve never woken up again)
they hardly have any canon interactions, and the ones they do have are of her actively trying to (or successfully) killing him
aang has a permanent scar on his back and foot because of her. the scar on his back will forever disrupt his cultural tattoos
while katara was painstakingly trying to bring him back to life, azula was in the fire nation palace enjoying the luxuries of colonial money while ba sing se fell
the most thought azula gave to aang post-ba sing se was if he had somehow lived (not out of any sort of care but because he’s the fire nation’s biggest threat)
in my opinion, azulaang is exactly like zutara. of course, you’re free to your own opinion and maybe you see the kataang similarities in a way that i just can’t recognize, but these are my thoughts
also, azula is a lesbian in my mind and shipping her with a man feels like blasphemy lmao
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