#i didn't know much about korrasami yet (i didn't know they were gonna get together)

[byfulcrums]

I have this OC that is a girl from the Earth Kingdom, Amaia. She's supposed to be Azula's love interest

The story goes kinda like this: Azula gets somewhat better. She leaves the Fire Nation without saying goodbye. She goes to travel, doesn't take anything with her. On the way, she meets a nice Earth Kingdom girl from a small no-name village. She falls in love, and they both go to Ba Sing Se together. She spends years with her before she goes back to the Fire Nation (not permanently, though) finally says hello and goodbye to her old friends and brother, and then leaves again to return to the love of her life

[alfreyes]

Happy Korrasami 10th anniversary to the one and only @thewillowtree3 thanks so much for making this secret santa possible and I hope You like this.

Korra's Gift

Asami groaned frustrated as she threw yet another paper ball to the pile in the garbage can, she closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

If anyone were to walk into her office right now, they would assume the bright CEO was having trouble with her company or maybe struggling with one of her latest inventions but that wasn't the case. What had Asami so angry was none other than Christmas, more specifically, The fact that Christmas was one week away and she hadn't figured out what to get for korra.

This wasn't like the previous gifts, this was Asami and Korra's First Christmas together, The Avatar, who usually liked to spent it with her family since it was one of the few days she didn't had to be in the Air Temple or Republic City, had decided to stay and spent the holidays with her and they were even gonna be completely alone since Mako and Bolin were taking their Family to Zaofu to see If their grandma would like to live there until they could return to Ba Sing Se, even though the lady had made it crystal clear that she was very comfortable at Sato Estate.

So Asami was determined to get something really meaningful for Korra this year, something that proved how much the woman meant to her, something no one else could give her...

But what?

'This shouldn't be nearly as difficult as it's proving to be' thought annoyed the woman as she removed her hands from her face and started pacing around her office once again 'You're the owner of Future Industries, you Can literally buy anything and everything Korra wants on the spot' but of course one of the many things Asami loved about Korra was that, unlike many people before, she wasn't with her because of her money, everytime the business woman pulled over with an expensive car she designed or flexing The Future Industries airship it was never because Korra asked her to so this was a problem she couldn't buy her way out of.

Maybe she could make something for Korra? No, she had done that before and Korra rarely used her inventions.

"It's quicker to use my glider, less traffic, you know?" she had told her with a wink when Asami asked why she never used the car she got her.

So no, those weren't an option either and besides what could you invent for the woman who Can control the four freaking elements? Maybe she could just buy another park and make a statue of her? No, she had already done that.

"Alright, lets see" she told herself as she kept walking. "Korra is a more practical giri, so maybe it doesn't have to be a material gift, maybe I could take her somewhere special" she stopped and considered it for a moment with a smile "YES! That's it! and we could do something special too! Something we don't usually do like dancing or star gazing or..."

She remembered a few weeks ago during one of their dates where Korra complained that Republic City didn't have a proper place to Ice skate, something she used to do with her father and Naga during the winters.

Ice skating

'I could do that' she thought excitedly. Granted, she had never even tried it in her entire life but how hard could it be? She had flied a hummingbird mecha suit, that she invented herself, a little bit of Ice skating shouldn't be a problem, right?

But soon a little bit of doubt grew in her, what If she tripped? What If the Ice beneath her broke and she fell to a cold and horrible death? Or worse... What If she made a fool of herself infront of Korra?

She looked at the clock and at the calendar on the wall. She had exactly 6 days and about 12 hours to learn how to Ice skate gracefully enough to flabbergast her girlfriend from the southern water tribe.

Senna, Korra's mother, had once told her that If she ever needed anything all she had to do was ask her, she could ask her and Tonraq for skating lessons. But what about work she couldn't just leave everything on a whim... Again.

...Or could she?...

Maybe this was indeed a problem the CEO could buy her way out of after all.

It was Christmas Eve and Korra waited patiently, or as patient as she could at least, at the empty Sato Estate.

About a week ago Asami had hurriedly told her she had to go due to an emergency meeting with some importante clients from the fire nation and assure her that she would be back for christmas eve but ever since she had no news from her, The Avatar was getting worried when finally yesterday she received a letter from Asami telling her to be at her house in the morning. It was almost noon now and there was no sign from the raven hair girl.

Finally a few minutes later a familiar blue car pulled over and Asami came out of it.

"Hey there, sorry for the waiting, the trip Back took longer than I expected" she explained as she hugged Korra.

"Don't worry about it" said Korra nonchalant "so what's the big plan?"

Asami smiled but didn't answer instead she went for a backpack in the car and grabbed Korra's hand as she guide her to one of the many planes she had in her hangar, Korra couldn't help but smirk at her girlfriend, even though Asami had never told her, Korra knew how proud The woman was of her little collection.

During the fly everytime Korra asked where they were going Asami gave her vague answers until finally Korra recognized the surroundings

"The southern water tribe?" Korra asked not used to watching her home from up there since she usually arrived by boat.

"Yep, I figured we could come here without Avatar duties or business meetings for a change."

They landed in a spot slightly far from the town, with a huge Iced lake where they could perfectly see the start of the sunset between the mountains.

While Korra was busy admiring her landscape Asami open the bag and put on a pair of red Ice skates and handed Korra a blue pair, who took them rather surprised

"I didn't know you could skate," she said as she saw the industrialist slide around her with ease.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Korra," Asami answered in what could have been a very smooth way If it weren't for the fact that she almost immediately stumbled a bit and had to wave her arms to recover.

Korra tried to suppress a chuckle at how adorable Asami looked as she cleared her throat and gently took Korra's hand.

The two girls slid around and through the lake for hours, completely oblivious to the peaceful World around them, the only things that mattered at that moment were each other.

All things considered Asami was a pretty decent skater, Tonraq had done the best he could in the little time they had so the woman was never even close to fall as she feared so much and she was able to keep up with Korra even when they weren't holding hands, but that didn't stop the perfectionist inventor to frown and scoff every Time she falter or stumble slightly.

Korra on the other hand didn't really minded that, on the contrary, she found it cute and even looked forward to those moments because she could use them as an excuse to sweep Asami of her feet and hold her close for longer than it was truly necessary, not that any of them complaint about it really.

They kept skating a little longer, talking about everything and nothing, remembering old times and sharing stories of their previous holidays until it was too dark and they had to start a bonfire a few feet away from the lake where they sat comfortably in silence looking at the stars.

"I know it's not Christmas yet but this seems like a pretty good moment to give you this" said Korra cuddling Asami while handing her a small red velvet box, the woman took it and opened it to find a golden necklace with a green gem that matched Asami's eyes.

"I... Uh asked Pema to help me pick it up" said the Avatar nervously after a bit of silence "I know it's not much but well I saw it and it remind me of you and well I swear I spent days wondering what to get you I think I almost drove Tenzin insane with how much I bother him about it but can you really blame me? I mean What do you get for a woman who could buy anything? Anyway listen it's fine If you don't like it, I could always get you something else and..."

Asami stopped Korra's rambling with a loving kiss "I love it, Thank you" she said honestly she then smirked and playfully smacked Korra's shoulder "And you aren't exactly easy to buy gifts either, 'Avatar'. I spent and entire week in this lake trying to learn how to ice skate for you since you would have just throw any gift I make for you"

Korra gasped with fake offense. "How dare you Miss Sato, I use everything you have ever gave me"

"Mention one thing"

"Well uh... You know that um... Thing for the hair you gave me for my birthday"

"A hair dryer, and I've never seen you use it"

"... It's just easier to use Air bend, you know?" Said Korra with a shrug and putting her hand behind her neck "And hey that doesn't mean I don't cherish everything you get me. But you made your point. I guess we're both complicated when it comes to gifts" she admitted as she cuddled Asami again.

"Yes but that's one of the reasons we work so well together, we understand each other, and at the end we always figure it out" Asami said with a smile "Like this, I really loved the necklace" she said looking at it again"

"And I really loved Ice skating with you" answered Korra "I like that we match each other's craziness but sometimes it nice to do this sort of quiet stuff, without explosions and fights"

"Look at you growing up" teased Asami with a smile "Wait until I tell Tenzin you said you enjoy quiet now"

"Shut up" groans Korra while hiding her face on Asami's hair making the raven hair girl laugh..

"Come on, help me put this on," She said, handing Korra the necklace and putting her hair aside.

Korra gently put the necklace on and turned Asami around to face her, "Beautiful" she said without really looking at the gem, too lost in Asami's eyes.

The two shared another kiss as the fireworks from the water tribe illuminated the sky.

"Merry Christmas" whispered Korra with closed eyes as their forehead touched

"Merry Christmas, Korra," said Asami enjoying the peaceful moment.

"...So an entire Week learning huh. Who helped you? Kya?"

"Oh uh actually it was your Dad, but Kya did suggest this lake, apparently she used to bring her partners here but we're not allowed to tell Lin about that" whispered Asami with a giggle.

Once Korra stopped laughing she looked at Asami with a smug face "So it was Dad, he's a good teacher but surely you must have fall a few times anyway"

"Don't even" warned Asami but it was too late.

"Did you faceplant?"

"..."

"OH MY GOD!!!" The Avatar start laughing like never before as she hugged a flustered Asami

"QUIT IT, KORRA"

So much for peaceful and quiet moments.

[tuiyla]

So I was reading some of your old asks and saw you rank Korrasami above Bubbline and Brittana, which intrigued me. While I'm glad that Korrasami helped to pave the way for lgbt rep in American children's media, I also thought that the LoK writers could have given them more scenes together in Books 3 and 4. As it is, despite their cultural impact, I thought their relationship was underdeveloped compared to Bubbline and Brittana :/ So could you please expand on why Korrasami had an edge over the latter two ships in your opinion? 🤔

Also I hope that Korrasami question doesn't upset you 🙇‍♀️ I just love Bubbline and Brittana so much that I wonder what I might have missed about Korrasami that made you rank them higher than two of my favorite ships ever djdjsk

Not upsetting no worries, I just need to disclaim before I get into the meat of it that, at the end of the day, it's personal preference. It's why I never ever actually try to convince anyone. It's just whatever you prefer. I know stuff I like is never gonna be everyone's tea and I'd hate for someone to constantly be trying to convince me that stuff I'm not into for whatever reason is the Best Thing Ever, Actually. You can be curious and that's cool and I appreciate the interest, just a preamble before we start.

These three ships are indeed easily my top 3 of all time. So far, anyway. I think that ask must be a year old now haha but it stays true. First, I think it's really hard to actually compare something like Brittana to Korrasami and Bubbline, as it's a different medium and entirely different circumstances. Even though the three do mostly overlap in terms of their show's time on air (2012-2014, 2010-2018, 2009-2015) it's just difficult to say, exactly, what Korrasami's "edge" is - just that personal preference, at the end of the day. Because all three ships were major in their own leagues, that league arguably being the same for LoK and Adventure Time. And I adore Bubbline, like, to a degree that I've long tried to encapsulate and you can see if you go back far enough on this blog. I'll use any opportunity to highlight that even they paved the way for Korrasami! And not just the other way around. Before there was the LoK finale or even Book 3, there was the Mathematical controversy and Sky Witch and all that. I actually often lament that media outlets are so ready to credit LoK and Steven Universe before they do Adventure Time and Bubbline because Bubbline only got to reap the benefits years later. Bubbline was a slow burn but make no mistake, they very much created their own fortune.

Anyway, you didn't ask about Bubbline. But all that's to say, I don't measure in terms of groundbreaking representation or legacy or any of that because even with the two Western animation entries it's hard to compare. I adore Brittana but they're third probably because I was a latecomer to Glee and wasn't there as it happened, I don't have that kind of connection with it. I do with Adventure Time and I do with LoK. Bubbline are just, wow, again it's hard to summarize in a post like this what they mean to me. And yet I'd still choose Korrasami as my number one any day.

I know this isn't the best answer I could give or maybe even a particularly good one, and certainly not tangible in any way. But you just had to be there. I don't know how I'd feel about Korrasami if I wasn't there for The Legend of Korra from literally the first image revealed, if I hadn't watched every single week. If I hadn't spent the second half of 2014 in this fandom, trying to figure out where they were going with this relationship. I don't presume to know how you watched the show, but I think it's already a world of difference to watch it after it had first premiered, knowing what the ending will be. Having that expectation. We had no expectations in 2014. I loved every single Korrasami interaction as they happened, felt Book 3 was SUCH a breath of fresh air and looked forward to the girlies bonding more every week. I didn't ship them, I was telling myself, because one did not ship a Sapphic pairing in a cartoon in 2014. I loved them, of course, but I just hoped we'd get as much as possible of their friendship.

Because they were very much established a strong friendship first. That's the entirety of Book 3 on a Korrasami level for me, establishing their strong bond after the love triangle stuff is over for good. They really said, "let's make up for the previous two seasons" and they did. No shade, genuinely, but I always find statements like "they could have had more scenes" funny coming from years later. As it was happening, the fandom did the maths, and forgive me I don't remember the exact numbers but Asami spends about 90% of her Book 3 screentime with Korra. That number is quite high from Korra's, the main character's pov too, over 50%. Book 4 is a different beast but once they're reunited, even the infamous filler episode takes care to put the two together. So I don't think it's about the lack of scenes, I think it's about the subtlety of how it had to be in 2014.

But see, even back then, even when we thought this was impossible to truly be we all thought it was walking that line between subtext queer people read into and something actually intentional. I mentioned I wasn't a shipper because I didn't dare be one. By the time Reunion happened in Book 4, I couldn't help it. I knew it wouldn't lead anywhere but I've always been a shipper more interested in fleshed-out dynamics than Word of God, anyway. So I started calling myself a Korrasami shipper from that point, hoping against hope that the two would end the series - well, not together. Because again, that just seemed impossible. But at least with a bond that's so undeniably deep. And I really think it was, and is, because the writers did have to put that work in and build bit by bit because they weren't allowed to explicitly articulate the kind of attraction the characters were feeling.

And then... December 19th, 2014. I'll never forget. That's the kind of media moment I could never. The following few days, the following months and years and the eventual legacy Korrasami has now. The milestone that now, with series like The Owl House really pales in comparison. And that's a good thing because it tells us how far we've come. But Korrasami will never not be revolutionary to me and their story will never not be breathtaking. Far beyond what it meant for representation, it's what that story of polar opposites and against the odd and balance was. What Avatar is all about, at its core. And, yes, even beyond all that, what it meant to me, personally. Now that couldn't possibly be summarized here.

Again, I adore Bubbline and am holding myself back lest I go feral talking about them. Say the word and a 2k-word essay will drop lol. But Korrasami had two crucial legs up over Bubbline and that's franchise and timing. Franchise, because the world of Avatar will always be my favourite. Love me some AT, but nothing will ever compare to my inner 10 year-old watching any Avatar project. And timing, well, I've lamented it in this very post. I wholeheartedly believe AT kicked off this golden age of Sapphic animation in 2011 but LoK ended its run in 2014. It led somewhere sooner. I don't like admitting this, but by the time Bubbline kissed in 2018, it was "fucking finally." That part is what it is. It's just one factor in all this.

I know I didn't talk about Korrasami much, I'd be happy to get into the nitty-gritty of the story more and why I think it's anything but underdeveloped. This is less of a personal preference thing though still subjective, but I think they're more well-developed than either Bubbline or particularly Brittana. But you asked for my reasons, and it's that je ne sais quoi of personal preference, at the end of the day. Nothing will ever mean to me what Korrasami did. (That said, maybe you'll be interested in this little project I did a while back that covers both Bubbline and Korrasami, as well as Catradora. At least it's some of my thoughts and analysis on these characters and couples.)