Major
spoiler alert: Post
contains spoilers for the series finale of Legend of Korra.
I'm
a bisexual lady who loves geeky shit and I wish I had grown up
watching Legend of Korra. I wish Korra had been around when I was a
little kid, and not just because my rough tomboy but nerdy grade
school self can identify with Korra's struggle to fit in, to not
answer every problem with her fists, to see herself as part of a
bigger legacy that has been in the making for thousands of years.
I'm
talking about the fact that Legend of Korra gave us a no nonsense,
short haired beautiful woman who grew up to be kind and generous and
understanding and is also bisexual. And god damn, that matters. And
that's why Korra's finale—with Korra and Asami holding hands and
walking into the spirit portal together—means the world to me right
now.
The
Avatar franchise has always been extremely inclusive—the characters
are all folks of color, respectfully based on thoroughly researched
Asian cultures, that represent a wide variety of gender, race,
disability, and class. Until now, however, Avatar hasn't had a queer
character in canon. Now we have two, and it's awesome.
Korra
and Asami are bisexual ladies of color who save the world and fall in
love. In a perfect world, that would be the end of it. And yet people
see this and want to cry foul. I don't wish to give their bigoted
shitty thoughts another audience, so I'm sure if you want to read
people stink up the Internet with saying how Korrasami is wrong and
not family friendly and blah blah blah, you can find that yourselves.
 |
| Source: velocesmells |
Then
again, some people are saying Korrasami doesn't make sense in canon.
Yes—only if you ignore every single episode Korra and Asami
interact with each other. Watching the series, they go from rivals to
friends and partners to best friends to two people who respect and
love each other and depend on each other through the worst and lean
against each other during the good. They're the ones who are standing
together on the wedding platform during the party, content in each
other's company and finally able to relax and let go after all the
stress of defeating Kuvira.
That
is Korrasami and it's canon. And it's beautiful. It's two women who
have fought hard for their happiness and found it in each other. And
there's nothing unnatural or wrong about it, and neither one of them
have any doubts about it. They go into it with hands clasped, looking
to the future. No more drama, no more fighting. Just a nice vacation
in the spirit world as the first step of a life lived together.
If
I had Legend of Korra back when I was wondering how I could be
attracted to both men and women, I wouldn't have felt so weird and
wrong. I would have watched the Avatar, the hero of the world, hold
hands with another woman and walk off into the sunset with her like
traditional heroes do with their girlfriends and realize there's
nothing wrong with me. That there's a world out there where being
bisexual is a gift, not a burden. That even Korra likes guys and
girls, and she is accepted for it.
(Although
I bet Mako's gonna be sore about this! Not so much about Korra dating
a girl. Just the fact that his two ex-girlfriends are now going
steady. Dude, give it up. We all know you're married to your job. And
to JUSTICE.)
 |
| Source: notkatniss. |
So
don't tell me the Korra finale didn't matter, doesn't matter. Don't
tell me seeing Korrasami become canon—and having their creators confirm it—doesn't matter. Don't tell me the reactions of so many people seeing Korrasami come to life on the screen aren't telling,
that they aren't a sign that canon LGBT relationships on prime time
and on a children's animated program is something we've been waiting
for.
Korra
and Asami aren't just "really good friends". You can't use
euphemisms anymore for their relationship. They are girlfriends,
romantically. Get used to it.
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