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Some comic Azutara edits I made recently + captions, feat. Azula being somewhat withdrawn and emotionally insecure because she's kind of convinced Katara doesn't like her (they've been dating for years)

Their general vibe is this:

Katara: Can we hold handsss <3

Azula: You hate me don't you

You know they're in love when the narrative doomed them to be enemies

Bonus Azula ragebaiting:

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They are deeply in love your honor

Part 2 of some of my Azutara headcanons below the cut

Part 1 here

• Katara's affection is so, so soft. Unbelievably, frustratingly so. Katara will braid Azula's hair and kiss her temples and play with her fingers like she's the most precious little meow meow in the world, and Azula doesn't really know what to do with all that tenderness. She doesn't reciprocate it much at first, if at all, because she's not really sure how to, but she eventually gets to a point where she stops pretending to hate it and starts to crave the smallest acts of affection very deeply.

• Azula has a hard time saying, so she often has to write stuff down when she feels a certain way about Katara that she can't readily express with words. And good gods is she Shakespearean levels of poetic without even meaning to be, especially when Katara is gone for long periods of time. We're talking, "It's so frustrating that when you're gone, the thought of you rattles around my chest like a storm, that I clutch onto my ribs and cling to the feeling as though I've never felt rain before. I miss you even when you're standing right here. I think even the worst parts of me would kneel just to wait for you."

• Azula finds respect in power, so she comes to develop a reverence for bloodbending. It makes Katara feel less guilty when she has to resort to it (which is rarely). There's this way Azula will look at her afterwards, too, like she's hungry, like she's going to devour her the second they get home. Azula considers bloodbending to be the waterbending equivalent of lightningbending.

• Azula is very muscular underneath all those sleeves. Katara will ask her to lift heavy things that she can definitely carry herself just to see her arms flex.

• Azula only cries in front of Zuko and Katara, though mostly the latter. She constantly wakes up from horrible nightmares and Katara is always there to comfort her through them. Most of the time Azula doesn't talk, because she hates being perceived when she's crying, even after years of dating her. Katara never pushes. She'll either sit there in silence with her and trace fingers through her hair, or tell Azula little stories about her life until she falls back asleep.

• Mentioned in part 1, but Katara has a fixation with Azula's hands. She knows they have the capability to be incredibly destructive, and yet when they're alone, Azula gets all touchy, and in the gentlest way too. Like, here are these hands that can produce lightning strong enough to kill dozens of men in a single blow, and yet the same fingers they belong to are absentmindedly drawing shapes along Katara's collarbones in soft exploration. Katara likes to study them. The way Azula's fingers flex, how precise she shapes them when she firebends, how they're so featherlight when they're touching her.

• Somewhat going off of that, Azula subconsciously thinks she might hurt her, so she's always incredibly delicate. This doesn't stop her from being very exploratory, though.

• Azula kind of likes losing to her, deep down, even though she'll never let Katara ultimately win a sparring match. She does find a thrill in the few moments Katara gains the upper hand, because it's only with Katara that she has ever felt safe in surrender.

• Katara finds an excuse to have her hands on Azula constantly. On her back, brushing strands of loose hair back into place, fixing the already perfect collar of Azula's uniform. It's such a normal thing for them that Azula feels out of place when Katara isn't touching her. She has that military walk where she marches around like she has places to be, but she makes it a point to slow down just so that Katara will put an arm around her waist and keep guiding her forward.

• Azula is pretty much exclusively physically affectionate with her when they're in private. Even so, she's quite excessive about it. She'll sit on Katara's lap when she really doesn't need to, lay on top of her chest to chest when she has an entire side of the bed available to her, lean in very close when Katara talks. Being next to her isn't enough, Azula wants to fuse Katara's very being with hers.

• Their rare sparring matches are mostly held to work out pent-up tension, which is especially common for Azula who still struggles with sorting through her emotions. But "sparring" devolves into panting, pinning, growling, accidental straddling, even more accidental kissing, more often than not.

• Katara says "I love you" often. Azula doesn't, but she does have her own way of showing Katara she loves her. She's kind of like a little magpie and will bring Katara things that either 1. remind her of Katara, 2. encompass something she thinks Katara might like, or 3. are as pretty as her. There's something to be said about Azula seeing the person she loves in everything around her.

• Going off of that, Katara's love is frustratingly stubborn. Katara will tell Azula she loves her in Azula's worst moments, like when she slips, or when she snaps at her, or when she gets cold, and distant, and horribly dry. Azula doesn't understand it until she just does, one day. It's unconditional love. Something she'd never really known until Katara showed it to her.

• Azula really likes being told she's doing a good job. She eats at Katara's praise like it's a meal.

• Azula usually starts out straddling her in bed but Katara almost always flips her around with zero warning and pins her down. Katara is quite... thorough, so she takes her sweet time undressing her and kissing every inch of her skin. Azula never outright admits to liking being the submissive one but her barely held back sounds say otherwise.

• Azula doesn't listen to anybody. In fact, she makes it a point to be as annoyingly defiant as possible. But... She does literally whatever Katara says without an ounce of hesitation. Even something as inconsequential as being handed a scroll? She has servants for that, unless Katara's the one asking. Then she just holds her hand out and takes it.

• Katara's darkness is quieter than Azula's, but no less brutal. Katara would never intentionally kill anybody, but she'd spill blood for Azula if she needed to.

• Too many people think their relationship is built on the fact that Katara "healed" Azula. That's not it at all, especially not for Katara. For her, she found someone who understood a part of her that no one else wanted to see, and what means even more to her is that Azula hadn't flinched when she saw it. She doesn't just feel loved, she feels seen.

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Oml YOUR AZUTARA HC GAVE ME LIFFEEE

Personally, I love to think that Azula has an utter fascination with Kataras blood bending - like it illustrates her lover in such a darker light, smth that can be azulas mirror image. That she’s not alone in her darkness, and there is no shame in that, coz what matters is what you do with that darkness. Idk. I just think it could be healing.

I also love to picture Azula as sorta an androgynous legend,,,,,,do u see the vision (and yes I recently consumed et tu brute, which if you haven’t read, I would highly HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend)

I beg you for more??!!?!??!

(Also I love LOVE how you draw Azula it’s honestly one of my fave depictions)

I'm so sorry for the extremely late response on this lovely but thank you so incredibly much! I'm really glad so many of you liked the headcanons! I've had a couple months to think up some more so there will be additional ones that I'll be posting soon :)

Okay first of all yes. I actually think about this all the time. I think she'd be fascinated not only by the fact that bloodbending is extremely powerful, but because like you said, it would reflect something inside Azula herself too. This twisted, morally grey, morbidly beautiful overlap of power and choice kind of merging together. Like, here's Katara, this moral beacon of goodness and purity and everything Azula isn't, who is also choosing to use this terrifying and invasive form of bending.

Azula already thinks of herself as an inherently evil person, calls herself a monster and projects fiercely because of it, because she doesn't want to be evil, but at the same time she thinks it's an ingrained, unchangeable truth. Seeing Katara bloodbend would make her realize that she's not actually an outlier among Zuko's "perfect" friends, because Katara has that darkness in her too. And if Katara can live with the "bad" parts, maybe Azula can too.

Also yes I definitely see the vision. It's canon that she can do calisthenics so she should be pretty muscular or at least quite toned, but I think the showrunners wanted to make her small to emphasize that she's still just a child fighting a war. Still, I've always thought she should have a physique similar to Korra's. Katara would definitely love it either way, whether she's presenting as more masculine or feminine (or somewhere in the middle). Azula in silk robes with her hair down? Yes. Azula with her hair cropped up, and in a sleeveless training shirt that shows off her arm muscles? Oh she's salivating

I have not had a chance to read Et Tu Brute but I've heard wonderful things about it and remember seeing a bunch of updates in the Azutara tag when the last chapter got posted haha. It's on my to-read list once I find the time! And thank you so much, I'm beyond flattered that my Azula depictions land with you. Means a lot because I feel like my style is pretty inconsistent haha

More headcanons to come soon :)

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This Azula outfit is so underrated

Azula was serving so much heat when she wore this and just for that this is my favorite of her outfits

Clowned on the Earth Kingdom and its king in their own clothing 😭

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Azula's first real kiss, because Chan doesn't count.

+ their thoughts under the cut

Years of therapy could still not prepare Azula for Katara. She'll be a socially awkward gay disaster for the rest of her life.

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So I'm like, 95% sure you didn't intend this, but I just want you to know you've accidentally got me considering Toph/Yue. I saw your post with all the hands and the first three pairs were all ships I really vibe with (azutara, sukka, zukaang) and then it ended with mailee, which I also vibe with, which made me contextualise Toph's and Yue's hands being next to eachother as ship and now it's one of those things that keeps haunting my brain because it feels so crack but at the same time, like, it won't leave my head.

So, you know, thanks for that

Hahaha, I love this! The placement was actually very intentional!

I spent way too much time thinking about who was going to get paired with who. I was especially really stuck on prioritizing Azutara over the actual Gaang. I knew it wouldn't make much sense to have Azula come before the rest of the Gaang because of how the fandom typically groups the characters, but then I remembered it was my post and I could inject Azutara wherever I wanted. So, Azutara won out in the end and I kept them together.

Because of that, Toph just happened to get paired up with Yue, because I wanted to keep Suki and Sokka together, and Zuko and Aang together as well. Suki and Sokka because I adore them, and Zuko and Aang because I'm very fond of their parallel stories and how they converge throughout the show. And I always knew I wanted Mai and Ty Lee next to each other.

If Toph hadn't been placed with Yue, I would've bumped her up to Azula's spot and paired her with Katara (and I do know people like Katoph, so it would've been a win/win, I think). Azula would've switched out with Toph and been paired with Yue instead. Which, all things considered, wouldn't have been so bad, because I love the idea of Yuezula too— princess x princess arranged marriage AU to bridge the divide between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes? Yes please.

I took a look on AO3 and it looks like there's only one Toph/Yue fic out there, which I was shocked by given the size of the fandom! It wasn't necessarily intentional to have the Toph and Yue pairing come across as shipping like most of the other pairs, but I think it's really cool that that's what you gathered from it. Perhaps you can fill some of the Toph/Yue void and contribute some more fics for them— you've got me thinking of the possibilities now too, so I'd definitely read them!

I'm also delighted to hear you vibed with all of those pairings. Most of them besides Sukka are on the rarer pair side so it's nice to see someone else out there who's into the exact same ones I gravitate towards.

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Obsessed with your Katara and Azula headcanons I have never agreed with smth more

Ily. I think about them all the time so I'm glad you found them accurate. Feel free to share your own if you have any additional ones, I'd love to hear other's thoughts on them.

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do you have any katara x azula hcs??

Oh boy oh boy DO I. I have a lot! Buckle up because this'll be a long one. I'll start with typical couples questions then share headcanons that don't exactly fit anywhere else.

The most affectionate: Katara, by a landslide. She's generally more in tune with her emotions and not as easily flustered as Azula is, so she's more comfortable showing her love. In private, however, Azula is very lovey dovey.

Who said I love you first: Azula. Katara was ready to say it for ages but didn't want to pressure Azula into saying it back if she wasn't ready, so she waited for Azula to tell her on her own time.

Favorite physical feature about the other: Katara loves Azula's hands. Azula loves Katara's hair and is constantly playing with it. (But her actual favorite of Katara's features is the way her mind works. She's captivated by the way Katara thinks through problems.)

Who is most likely to carry the other to bed: Azula. She's taller and more muscular so she can actually bridal carry her and make it all romantic. Katara can only lift Azula up by her legs— Azula's muscle weight makes her kind of heavy otherwise.

Big spoon and little spoon: They switch, but usually Katara is big and Azula is little.

Who initiates kisses: Katara.

Who kisses the hardest: Azula. She's so touch deprived she can't help it.

Miscellaneous headcanons:

• Azula only allows Katara to touch and do her hair. Hair is sacred in Fire Nation culture and only direct family members (or servants in more noble households) are permitted to touch an individual's hair. It's viewed as an immense sign of disrespect when any part of the body is touched unprompted, but especially hair— such a bold act may be considered so ungracious that Agni Kais may be called to settle the matter of dishonor. This especially applies as rank increases. For example, members of the royal family are considered untouchable.

Katara is never explicitly given Azula's permission to handle her hair; she probably isn't even aware of this aspect of Fire Nation culture. She just kind of starts doing it for her out of love, because Azula's still not very good at it. Azula never once rejects her advances, despite the implications that Katara must be equivalent to family if she's been given hair touching privileges.

• Azula has never actually killed anyone, despite what some may believe about her, but she is still incredibly protective over Katara and will take any lengths necessary to keep her from harm. This is especially the case during the resurgence of the New Ozai Society, when the Gaang is residing in the capital to help Zuko handle the rebellions. Katara becomes a major political target given she's the princess's outsider girlfriend, and sometimes Azula will come back to the palace late at night caked in blood that isn't her own. No matter how big or small the threat is, if Katara's name is mentioned, Azula handles it. She earns the nickname The Red Spirit for her vigilantism.

• During the early stages of their relationship, Katara flinches whenever Azula uses her firebending. She tries to play it off, but Azula notices every time. To combat this as gently as she possibly could, Azula made it a point to use her bending solely in very specific contexts, like warming Katara's hands for her on colder days. They're small steps, and it takes a very long time, but Azula is patient. She understands that Katara grew up associating fire with destruction.

• Jumping off of that, Katara does eventually grow to find peace with fire. Her favorite aspect of Azula becomes her fingers— she kisses them all the time. Individually, all at once, over her knuckles, on her palms, she can't get enough.

• The first time Katara uses her bloodbending in front of Azula is also the first time Azula ever remembers feeling genuine fear over anyone's power that wasn't Ozai's.

• Azula loves Katara very deeply, but when they spar (which isn't often), she refuses to let Katara win. She's too competitive for that, even when it comes to the love of her life.

• After Aang and Zuko, Azula and Katara are said to have the best offensive chemistry. They developed a combo move that incorporates Katara's water and Azula's lightning (low charged) to stun multiple rebels at once. It really helps get fights sorted out faster.

• Azula is beyond possessive and gets jealous very easily. She's also incredibly clingy, probably from a lack of childhood affection. Her biggest fear is Katara leaving her.

• Before they even began dating, they were tentative friends. During this time, their fights and arguments were intense. Never physical, but Azula could be pretty mean— she had to be, growing up. Being ruthless is what kept her alive. It took her a long time to realize that talking to Katara that way wasn't going to keep her around. Like Katara's journey with fire, Azula's journey with keeping tabs on her emotions and expressing herself properly was a long one, but Katara was patient.

• Katara is bisexual, and Azula is lesbian. Katara only ever semi-dated Aang before settling down with Azula, whereas Katara is Azula's one and only.

• Azula struggled a lot with internalized homophobia, even after Zuko abolished the ban on same-sex relationships that Sozin put into place. She projected a lot because of it, but one night out at the Fire Festival with Katara and seeing two girls kiss under the decorative lights was enough for her to realize that that's exactly what she wanted with Katara.

Some NSFW-ish headcanons below:

• They switch, of course, but Azula's the tall bottom and Katara is the short top. This took a lot of time for Azula to accept since she's so used to being in control, but it was important for her to be fully vulnerable when getting intimate.

• Katara is a tongue kisser. Azula had no idea how to kiss until Katara taught her.

• Katara is reserved about PDA. She'll give her a peck or two but keeps it classy. Azula, once she gets really comfortable, is insane about it. She doesn't care in the slightest what anyone else thinks. As far as she's concerned, Katara is hers, and she's not going to hide that for the sake of anybody else's discomfort.

• Azula is about 95% of the time a pillow princess. Katara doesn't mind this at all— if she did, they wouldn't be together. They both find their dynamic perfect, and the bonus for Azula is that she gets to keep her nails long. When Azula does give, however, it's absolutely life changing.

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Mai having long fingers is the best choice lever

Haha thank you! It was the first descriptor that came to mind when I was thinking of what headcanons to include for her. Saw a reblog that said I was mean for calling them unsettling, but I think Mai would like to be perceived as unnerving. Down to her fingers and all.

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Fanart of a piece by @memopmiff in which Katara is a princess and Azula is her bodyguard

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The Gaang's hands (with Team Azula and Yue) + headcanons

This series was inspired by @thyinum's Avatar's Hands series!

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More of the Gaang's hands + headcanons

Azula and Katara here

Suki and Sokka here

The entirety of this series is inspired by @thyinum's Avatar's Hands series!

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Quick sketches of some of the ATLA gals

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Been thinking about an Adult Gaang AU where Azula heals and eventually ends up co-ruling the Fire Nation with Zuko. Katara comes by for a diplomatic visit and finds that Azula is just as infuriating as she was during the war, except oh great she’s hot now too

(She was always pretty and Katara knows it)

The idea is that Azula’s still playing games even this many years later, but she’s especially on her bullshit once she finds out that Aang and Katara broke up. Because who better to relentlessly tease than the person who almost ruined her life? It’s the least Azula can do to make tormenting Katara her number one priority.

Katara's role in all this is that

Well she’s a disaster

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First of all, I love your art style and your headcanons are great!! 💖 Second, I was wondering if you're going to do Aang, Zuko, and Toph for the GAang's hands + headcanons series. I really love the ones you've done so far 💖💖💖

Hello! Thank you very much for your kind words, I'm so moved by them! I've been truly touched by the response to the project. I'm also delighted to know that you're enjoying the headcanons, I wasn't sure how the large majority of them would go over.

Yes, I'm planning on continuing the series with Zuko, Aang, and Toph next! I want to include Mai, Ty Lee, and Yue as well. Eventually. I want to do a Gaang's eyes series at some point too. Thank you for your interest, it keeps me fueled!