#platonic zutara

[thief-of-eggs]

Thinking about Zuko practicing hairstyles on Katara (for both his own benefit, and later to try on Sokka)

Thinking about them slowly but surely bonding through these little shared moments. Talking about their childhoods, their families, their memories.

Thinking about Zuko still asking to do her hair, even well after he’s mastered every style. Thinking about Katara coming to Zuko when she wants her hair done, thinking about her making excuses because she wants the peace that comes with sitting in front of him, closing her eyes as a touch so similar to her mother’s weaves through her hair.

Thinking about Zuko finding the sister he lost in those moments with her. Everything he wished he and Azula could be, he finds in Sokka’s younger sister.

#i just love the mental image of zuko carefully braiding her hair #listening as she rants about whatever she needs off her chest #sokka just loves that they get along #he reallt feared katara would murder him for dating the fire lord #platonic zutara #zuko and katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #katara #zukka

[whinyandcheese724]

I think one of the reasons I dislike zutara as a ship so much is because their friendship is so beautiful on its own without romance and such a huge sign of growth and character development. zuko and katara were one of the first m/f relationships I saw in media where the characters weren’t related or love interests. and while there are several other m/f friendships katara was my favorite character when I first saw the show and as such their friendship was (and still is) very dear to me. 

also, I know everyone loves a good enemies-to-lovers, and I do too, but y’all are sleeping on the criminally underused trope of enemies-to-friends. in almost every enemies-to-lovers story I’ve read the reason that they get from enemies to lovers is because of some undeniable and immutable attraction. but what if we didn’t have that? what if you didn’t haunt my dreams at night? what if it wasn’t a struggle to pull my eyes away from you? what if I had every reason to hate you and all you had to give me was a late apology and a promise to do better? what if forgiving you was a choice I didn’t have to make? then what? I’d have to know you on purpose. you’d have to trust me when I forgive you because I’ve thought of every reason not to. 

and I hear some of you saying “oh but that could be a great enemies-to-lovers story too” and maybe it could, but you’re missing the point. the reason zuko and katara hits so hard for me is because they didn’t have to be friends. they both had other friends and other family and they both would have had happy and full lives. but they got past it anyways. and it didn’t have anything to do with romance or love. it was purely growth and self-improvement. zuko didn’t apologize because of a crush on a cute girl, he apologized because he regretted what he did and was maturing into a better and kinder and more thoughtful person. katara didn’t forgive him because he was hot, she forgave him because she understood that her anger and hate was poisoning her and she wanted to move on. 

tl;dr: the beauty of zutara’s friendship is that they became friends because of growth and maturity that had nothing to do with romance and throwing in that they were attracted to or in love with each other cheapens the significance of their character development and shows that romantic love is the only way to overcome personal challenges.

#also I feel like there's this belief that self-sacrifice is inherently romantic #but I think that self-sacrifice in the name of platonic love is just as impactful #and saying that zuko has to be in love with katara perpetuates the idea that romantic love is the only kind of strong love out there #katara #zuko #platonic zutara #atla #avatar the last airbender

[billsbae]

okayyy look i'm a die zutara stan, but platonic zutara with sleepovers, painting nails and talking about boys makes me want scream (in a good way)

#platonic zutara in zukka aus is just so <3 <3 #because sokka is obv the boy zuko talks about #them painting each others nails !!!! #and braiding each other's hair !!! #platonic zutara #zukka #'i don't think he's that good for you' 'you're literally crushing on my brother do stfu you have to taste' #katara #zuko #platonic #katara and zuko #zuko and katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #the gaang #zutara

[freeryebread]

atla au where not only did katara and zuko have a thing for jet, but sokka also lowkey had a fat crush on him too and the three talk ab jet one late night and it goes something like this

zuko: oh yeah i used to date jet

katara: thats genuinely disgusting. im spit sisters w you

zuko: no way you dated him too???

.

sokka: so did everyone in this room want to make out with jet or

#katara: what the HELL #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla sokka #sokka #atla zuko #zuko #sokka atla #zuko atla #katara #katara atla #atla katara #jet #jet atla #atla jet #jetko #jetkka #im not tagging jetara cuz jet was a dick to katara and you alr know girls support girls #toxic yaoi i could care less ab #freekatara2024 #platonic zutara

[feral-jackdaw]

How to find your platonic soulmate

A tutorial based on my two current hyperfixations, Stranger Things and ATLA

So first, you meet a guy

You don't trust him at first because he used to be kind of an asshole

But then, you get stuck in an underground bunker together...

You share an emotional confession...

Your keep teasing him...

You accidentally become the parents in your found family...

Congratulations, you have now acquired a platonic soulmate! You're ready to go and save the world together!

And remember, if someone dares to hurt them, your protective soulmate mode will be automatically activated!

#stranger things #atla #avatar the last airbender #steve harrington #robin buckley #prince zuko #katara #platonic soulmates #platonic stobin #platonic zutara #steve and robin #zuko and katara #atla zuko #zuko and katara friendship #scoops ahoy #scoops troop #found family

[tokyosmega]

dropping by to post katara doing zukos makeup bc i wanted to draw zuko in a cute little headband

#not ship art btw theyre besties #zuko #katara #platonic zutara #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #mega art 2023 #mega art #fanart #digital art #art

[juana-the-iguana]

I really love this detail, because it means that even though Zuko and Katara don't end up together in a romantic relationship, they still care deeply about each other. Whether Zuko gave the flower to Katara (which I like to think), or Katara asked for it, it's still a very sweet exchange.

Throughout the series, and especially in the back half of season 3, we have seen these two characters grow as characters, grow together and become great friends and each other's greatest confidants. This one little not-even-scene shows that they didn't throw that relationship away even though they were dating other people.

#if Kat-aang HAD to happen i wish this also happened instead #just another thing on my list of #zutara #platonic zutara #anti kataang #anti maiko #seriously #part of why many zutara fans don't like post a:tla canon isn't just because zutara didn't happen #but because their friendship was needlessly obliderated

[starlightsugar]

Reblog if you ship Zutara platonically

#they’re just a couple of besties to me #partners in crime (and possibly ecoterrorism) #atla #avatar: the last airbender #zutara #platonic zutara #katara #zuko #Star Talks

[hope-i-dont-choke]

Plot twist; they’re the mom and dad friends, but their relationship is not romantic, they’re Each Other’s mom and dad friend, it’s zutara, I’m talking about zutara

#platonic zutara #is the only zutara #shippers dni #atla #zuko and Katara are parental brotp #nothing else

[demaparbat-hp]

Kintsugi is the art of decorating your scars with pieces of Agni.

In the Fire Nation, the amount of golden marks are a sign of status. Only the Royal Family can afford to seal every single wound with Kintsugi. Such is the weight of this tradition that, among the ones with Agni's blood, it is the highest mark of dishonor to have a natural scar, for it proves you aren't worthy of the privilege.

After the Agni Kai, Ozai forbid Zuko's scar to be sealed with Kintsugi. The boy wasn't worth his title, his traditions or his pride. Zuko would be broken, but he wouldn't be beautiful. Not anymore.

(And sometimes it's easier to pretend he never was)

#zutara #atla #zuko #avatar the last airbender #katara #atla fanart #atla zuko #atla art #prince zuko #zuko fanart #zuko art #katara of the southern water tribe #katara art #katara fanart #zutara art #zutara au #It can be seen as platonic tho #kintsugi #Kintsugi au #Zuko wears long sleeves and high necks all the time. It's better than admitting he isn't worthy of the gold in his body #It's a long road to acceptance but the Gaang is there to help him move forward and love himself as he is #It's kind of their pet project #Anyways this Kintsugi-in-ATLA concept is up for sale :) #I'd really like to know what you guys think of it. How it can be expanded and stuff #And how it can affect Zuko's character and already low self-esteem as a result

[theotterpenguin]

it’s always “let aang swear” or “let zuko swear” but y’all are missing out on the comedic potential of katara being the one who has the dirtiest mouth. she swears like a sailor but is just better at hiding it than everyone else because she doesn't want to influence aang or toph, and tries to keep up pretenses of being proper.

after all the time they spent fighting each other as enemies and sparring as friends, zuko’s the only one that knows this about her but no one believes him.

(for those who question where katara could possibly learn to curse, i ask - have you ever assisted women through childbirth in a world where epidurals don't exist? katara has. like c'mon. she knows all the swear words).

#katara #zuko #zutara #platonic or romantic take your pick #atla #my post #zuko tries to trap her in situations where she’ll get frustrated and shout a swear word in front of everyone else but it never works #suki's the next person to find out but she keeps the bit going and refuses to tell zuko that he's right #when toph finds out she's delighted and announces her discovery to the whole group. zuko is finally vindicated

[seheartz]

winding down by the swamp

#they're chilling #my art #inspired by a ss of the swamp from lok! this took about two fifty-minute video essays #i find environments rlly hard usually so i used this as a way to practice ^^ #atla #katara #zuko #atla fanart #zutara #(if u want it to be. i dont rlly mind! it can be platonic too) #katara fanart #zuko fanart #rkgk #avatar: the last airbender #netflix avatar #zutara fanart #avatar art #digital art #illustration #avatar the last airbender fanart #avatar fanart #avatar the last airbender #gaang #gaang fanart #environmental art #landscape art #landscape #artists on tumblr

[zukosdualdao]

everytime i see antis imply that katara somehow secretly still hates zuko by the end of the show, i'm like

... "yup. that's exactly how i look at people i hate."

#zutara #whether you interpret it platonically or romantically i truly don't care but she likes him! by the end of the show! #the different expressions are so too cute too #before tsr hug is like. fondly seeing someone in a new light #second one is friend enjoying teasing another friend #third one is like. soft and comforting but also almost admiring #fourth is literally weeping with joy that he's okay #like. in what world does she hate him by the end of this show lmao #also katara has very expressive eyebrows and i love that for her #atla #zuko #katara

[dranktwocoffees]

little doodle of these two <3

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla zuko #atla katara #idk if i should tag zutara #its meant to be platonic but idc if its tagged as romantic #oh well #zutara

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Why I feel like Ka/taang is one-sided, despite textual evidence 

ATLA does try to convince us that Katara has romantic feelings for Aang. For example: she seems thoughtful when she realizes that Aang is a powerful bender; she’s offended that he didn’t want to kiss her in the Cave of Two Lovers; she gets jealous when Sokka says On Ji and Aang look good together.

So…what’s wrong with anti-Kataangers? Do we just lack media comprehension? 

To be clear, on their own, these gestures can indicate romantic interest. But at the same time, we have stuff like “Aang is a sweet little guy, like Momo.” We have her ambivalent facial expression after he kisses her before the eclipse, and her hedging during Ember Island Players, and her anger when he kisses her anyway. In the context of these conflicting cues, Katara’s possibly romantic reactions can absolutely be interpreted in a different way, because: 

Acknowledging a friend as a potential romantic interest is not the same as actually being romantically interested in them. (Imo this is something young women struggle with, due to a combination of romance-centrism and heteronormativity that make women feel like they should be in romantic relationships, and that boys and girls who share intimate and deep feelings for one another must be romantically into each other) 

Wanting someone to find you desirable is not the same as desiring that person. (Which is something a lot of women, especially young women, struggle with. Remember all the discourse around Cat Person back in 2017?) 

Being jealous when someone flirts with your friend is not the same as wanting to be with your friend. (Especially when you see your friends as family, or if you’re accustomed to a specific type of devotion from that friend. It is jealousy, and it is possessiveness, but it doesn’t always arise from romantic feelings) 

Growing up in a patriarchal society means that your desires are always filtered through what men want from you, sometimes in an abstract male gaze-y way, and sometimes in a very visceral and interpersonal way when a boy wants you specifically. And Katara’s reactions are just that — reactions. Reactions to what other people — including Aunt Wu, Sokka, Aang himself — have insinuated about her and Aang. She’s not really proactive in her interest in Aang: we don’t really see Aang, romantically, from Katara’s POV. Under the framework of “Katara is reacting to a romantic prospect she’s kind of uncertain about,” it is completely plausible — and indeed likely — that she would sometimes act in ways that indicate romantic interest, in addition to moments where she indicates the opposite. 

Ka/taang shippers often bring up other evidence, like Katara’s despair when Azula hits Aang with lightning, or how protective she is of him when Zuko joins the Gaang. The thing is, these pieces of evidence aren’t necessarily indicative of romantic love. The fact that Katara genuinely loves Aang makes the whole thing more complicated, not less, because — especially at that age, especially when Aang is twelve years old and grew up in a sex-segregated society of monks — it is really difficult to tell the difference between platonic love and romantic love. Their mutual devotion is layered and complex yet straightforward in its sincerity. What was not straightforward, until the last five minutes of the show, is whether this devotion on Katara’s end is romantic. The romantic arc for Katara and Aang is not really an arc, as Sneezy discusses in this classic ZK video. Katara actually becomes more conflicted over time and we never see an event that clarifies her feelings. She seems more interested in him in The Headband than on the Day of the Black Sun, and she has never been more hostile to his romantic overtures than in the penultimate episode. 

And in light of this, it’s pretty easy for fans to fill in the blanks with a different interpretation: maybe Katara’s weird expression after their kiss at the invasion means she didn’t enjoy it; maybe the kiss made her realize that she doesn’t actually feel that way about Aang; maybe against her will and her better judgement, she’s developing feelings for another person, a person who hurt her and whom she fervently tried to hate until he pulled off what is in my opinion the greatest grovel of all time in the form of a life-changing field trip. Maybe. Am I saying that Zutara has more romantic interactions than Ka/taang? Of course not. But ironically, the lack of romantic interactions means that it’s not inherently one-sided, the way Ka/taang became in the latter half of season 3.

I’m not arguing that Katara’s unequivocally not into Aang. Obviously the text declares that she is, because they get married and have kids. But I am saying that there’s a very good reason that so many people, especially women, see Katara’s interest in Aang as ambiguous. It’s not because we can’t pick up “subtle” hints of growing affection. It’s because we know not all affection is romantic, and it’s really easy for someone else’s insistent romantic intentions to muddle what you want.

P.S. I first started thinking about these topics (platonic vs romantic love, desiring someone vs wanting to be desired, etc) in the context of compulsory heterosexuality, a term describing how queer women contort themselves into relationships with men even if they’re not really into men. I saw a post a few days ago joking about why so many queer women seem to be into Zutara. I wonder if part of the reason is because as queer women, we are very sensitive to the ways in which we can talk ourselves into wanting things we don’t actually want, and Katara’s romantic interest in Aang can be easily seen that way. 

#Anti Kataang #Zutara #anti Bryke #Katara deserved better #From Bryke who offered her so little romantic agency #I actually think Aang and Katara’s mutual devotion is really compelling because the wires get crossed when you have such intense love #And navigating romantic vs platonic feelings can be very complicated and interesting #but no we did not get that bc I guess they just had to end with a romance however shoddily developed #my meta

[r-vxan]

they way zuko was doing everything to get katara to forgive him T-T

#they're soulmates your honor #i love them together (both romantically and platonically) #zutara #katara x zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla fanart #sketch #artists on tumblr #current wip #reading after the rain on ao3 got me in a zutara brainrot