#it goes to show u how the media really shapes the narrative bc like there was so much russia panic/hype

[k-r-a-s-o-t-aa]

im also having this weird cognitive dissonance where its like it feels like after every other international tragedy it gets non stop media coverage and nonstop social media attention but like aside from a handful of people posting “how to help turkey” reposts on instagram like no one seems to care???

[guileheroine]

if you don't think korrasami is good why do you write so much about them?

my feelings on korrasami are basically [lovingthatconcept.gif] like completely literally

man i ship it to heaven but it’s despite the show, not bc of it. i’m viscerally attached to (the potential of) the characters individually & together and I love the fact of its canonicity, but everything in between is more just about where I can run with the blueprint of the canon + how fresh & lovely the idea is

the ka presence in the show is incredibly unsatisfactory and i cba to pretend otherwise. its hard not to feel cheated. what i like about korrasami feels practically incidental (so due credit for canonisation but literally only that) bc it seems like there’s barely any effort in ka or asami and sometimes even korra. (arguably wrt romance that’s kind of a blessing in disguise bc avatar’s track record w explicated romance tells me i wouldn’t dig their intentional ka - why i know the comics are def not for me - but what about the friendship?) what’s there obviously clicks w me but it’s honestly like 500% short. excellent concept but they’re scraps.

point is: being positively invested & being disappointed by the canon here aren’t mutually exclusive or even contradictory. (see masami which i also adore the potential of but within canon is just a device for the love triangle that i try to avoid eye contact with.) it’s v much my feelings re: lok which imo is a show defined by potential totally squandered in incompetent/ignorant (if not ill-meaning) hands. and with ka it’s barely written, let alone good writing. that’s essentially the reason i started writing ka fic in the first place, to plug the gaps & put meat on the skeleton.

a couple things, to be clear:

^ this doesn’t mean ka’s not valid representation (in fact i really resist that notion). there’s more to representation than narrative quality (esp in a show that’s shoddy across the board) - it’s about the space it creates, for ppl to be & play in, in minds & the media landscape at large. it’s v difficult for me to suggest it doesn’t/shouldn’t ‘count’ as rep when veritable hordes of ppl (including myself!) feel represented by it (and i think by definition rep rests in the audience not just the text?) it’s a super unique, gentle happy ending pairing & with characters like these (nonwhite nonwestern f/f couple) imo that peace fantasy is part of the power fantasy. 

ofc not everyone has to take to it for it to be valid (and why would they, lgbt ppl aren’t homogenous & so much, mostly chance, goes into what u happen to like). i stand by ka’s legitimacy and right to be as shitty as [pick ur show flaw of choice] (and there’s plenty uncomfortable stuff in the show - this aspect is actually ultimately benign and positive, so… perspective.) yeah it’s poorly executed & i’ll be the first to say so but i don’t think that is a hill to die on. no ones going back to it for the quality of the text

- i’m not looking down on those who find the canon satisfactory at all - naturally as someone who doesn’t feel that way i might find aspects of fandom uninteresting/grating/not relatable (notwithstanding actually problematic shit that’s in any fandom), but it’s not a value judgement. i def dislike the idea that ka fans are just kiss-ass/don’t use critical thinking skills/whatever (hello!) or that it’s a deficient or inferior interpretation & enjoying it = kowtowing/low standards even as it happens to not meet my standards. chemistry/development/characterisation is all more subjective than it appears (esp w inconsistent writing, as i think is attested by how divisive literally every aspect of lok is). everything in a show exists halfway between the product itself & its myriad different consumers, therefore there’s no ‘right’ interpretation. which characters/pairings/elements ensnare u is arbitrary anyway + ur interest then shapes what u see. so while korrasami doesn’t completely do it for me, cool if it does for you

tl;dr: I think korrasami is v poorly executed like most of lok (and still legit) & this is separate from/doesn’t preclude loving it & finding it important