#the korrasami feels are still real I swear

[neorukixart]

Guess who was able to find this old file :D because vimeo deleted my account and never bothered to get it back Who remembers this Korra x Gintama ED parody I did? :3c also I have the feeling that I did typos in the lyrics but I’m too lazy to fix, please don’t read the lyrics m(_ _)m

Individual drawings can be found over here <--

[firelxdykatara]

gods, ok, apparently i’m not done.

atla fandom? we need to have a chat.

(....ok that made me sound pretentious as fuck. and maybe i am, but this needs to be said, cause i’m getting....real, real tired of a Certain Corner of this fandom and as a result, this is gonna be a discourse-heavy post so feel free to scroll past if that’s not your bag. as always, my salt posts all carry the catch-all #salt for ts tag, which you’re free to blacklist/filter at your leisure. i’m Very Annoyed at the moment, which will probably come through in the following post, so just. yknow. be prepared for that. or ignore it, that’s perfectly valid too.)

under a cut bc i do care for my followers and their sanity i swear lmao

there’s a real serious issue in this fandom with not understanding what queer terminology actually means or implies, especially when applied to a fictional narrative.

i’m specifically talking about ‘coding’, here. (if i were in a more meme-y mood, i might have said ‘the atla fandom found out about the term “gay-coding” and haven’t shut up since’.)

to the people who say ‘zuko is gay-coded’, i have this to say: you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means. because he isn’t. i’m sorry, but he’s not! and the fact that this is such a prevalent claim in this fandom is distressing, bc it says to me that none of y’all know what gay-coding is or when and how to apply it! please, i’m begging you, go and look up these terms and what they mean and when they should be used before actually trying to plug them into your critical analysis, because when you misuse them and then call other people delusional for disagreeing with you it casts a pall over the entire fandom and is, i think, the root of some of the worst toxicity this fandom has to offer.

and the thing is, there are cases where gay-coding would apply--for instance, a couple series that are famous for queerbaiting their audience by coding their main characters as being attracted to one another (sometimes even despite their openly stated sexualities) come to mind, but those shows bare no similarities at all to atla and how zuko was written and portrayed! (and it would be funny, if it weren’t so obnoxious and infuriatingly wide-spread throughout the fandom, because the only queer couple we actually seen on-screen in either show wasn’t even queer-coded in any respect, and they’re canonically bi! [yes, i’m shading korrasami, or more accurately i’m shading bryke for refusing to give ka the build-up and development they deserved].)

this absolutely isn’t to say that headcanoning zuko as gay is a bad thing or invalid in any respect. (although the tendency for zukka shippers to do this specifically to keep zuko away from katara and/or invalidate his canon relationship/attraction to girls is more than a little eyebrow raising. especially since sokka is usually allowed to be bi, bc fans have no problem letting sukka stay in the background bc it’s no real threat, while jetko shippers are happy to have both boys be bi. [possibly bc katara is less a threat to jetko bc jetkotara is every bit as valid as any single ship between the three, but zukka can’t exactly let katara join in, and if the potential exists for zuko to be attracted to her then canon giving them the far deeper emotional bond becomes a threat to zukka’s existence? idk for sure--you be the judge.]) i prefer to hc zuko as bi (and always have, long before the atla renaissance), bc i don’t think zuko being attracted to boys is outside the realm of possibility, and it isn’t a threat to my ship since zuko&katara had a deep and emotional bond in canon that is very easy to develop further into something that becomes explicitly romantic--but the headcanon itself isn’t really the problem (although what it’s often in service to can be).

it’s the strange insistence that this is the only way to read his character, bc he was coded that way and so anyone who doesn’t see it must be too straight to understand--and i really shouldn’t have to say why and how that is so incredibly fucking insulting. (the ‘hetero lenses’ comment wasn’t cute when it came from bryke six years ago, and the same sentiment being repackaged and delivered by zukka shippers ain’t cute now.)

calling zuko gay-coded not only demonstrates ignorance as to what the term actually means, and how to usefully apply it in critical analysis, but also validates the frankly bullshit insertion of institutionalized homophobia in the world of atla where it was neither needed, nor wanted, nor ever hinted at in canon. as a queer woman i’m still infuriated by one fucking comic panel shoving institutionalized and systemic homophobia into a world where it was entirely unnecessary (and doing this in the first installment of the franchise showcasing a queer relationship??? making korra and asami worried about ‘coming out’ when they could have just gone on to have cute adventures together and tell people ‘hey we’re dating’ and have everyone else be ‘that’s awesome =DDD’ [because it is, in fact, possible to just have a world without homophobia i promise!!!!!] double yikes, i’m still pissed at bryke about it), and i doubly hate that ‘zuko is gay coded’ has become so widespread that ‘ozai hates him bc he’s gay’ has become a staple in that part of the fandom.

not only does making zuko gay and implying (or outright stating) that ozai hated and abused him because of it completely undermine zuko’s character arc by making his abuse about his sexuality rather than ozai’s toxic pride and anger at seeing himself reflected in his ‘weak’ son, but it comes very close to outright stating that abuse and trauma are inherently gay experiences, and they aren’t!!! they really aren’t, i promise!!!

abuse and trauma narratives exist outside of ‘my dad hates me because i’m gay’. and, quite frankly, there are MORE THAN ENOUGH queer trauma narratives out in the world. we do not need to start trying to retroactively make them canon in a series where they didn’t exist! if you’re gay and see yourself in zuko and project your own experiences on him, that’s understandable and valid. that does not make zuko gay-coded. and honestly, the insistence that he is makes very little sense to me, because you’re essentially trying to give the show credit for work you put into interpreting the characters! why would you want to do that? why not own your own headcanons and take credit for them, rather than insisting they are canon and everyone else is wrong for not seeing them??? like, i’ve said before that i’ve always headcanoned zuko (and katara) as bi, and even support it with my interpretations of evidence from the show, but the difference between ‘i think zuko is bi’ and ‘zuko is definitely gay-coded’ is that i know that bi zuko is my interpretation of canon, and that it is work i’m putting into the show that wasn’t actually intended by the creators/writers, no matter how much sexual tension i read into the jetko swordfight.

and like, zuko’s character arc doesn’t actually parallel a queer one all that well to begin with. it’s easy enough to do the work and twist it sideways just enough to make the general points fit, but the fact is, zuko’s arc is not one of self-discovery. it’s not one of coming to understand something fundamental about himself that he can’t change, that he was hated for, and coming out to his father in a dramatic confrontation where he shows that he understands himself and doesn’t need his father’s acceptance to be fulfilled.

zuko’s arc is actually one of trauma and healing. and those can (and often are--like i said, there are more than enough queer trauma narratives in the world, atla really doesn’t need to be one of them) be part of queer narratives, for sure! but they aren’t uniquely queer. and zuko’s confrontation with ozai during the eclipse doesn’t read like a ‘coming out’ at all. (yes, i’ve seen that post. yes, i rolled my eyes and moved on, bc unlike some people, i’m capable of not clowning on correctly tagged posts i disagree with.) zuko is specifically confronting ozai over his abuse, because his arc wasn’t about discovering anything fundamental about himself (and therefore realizing that ozai was hating him for something he couldn’t change)--it was about realizing that he was not at fault for the way his father treated him. it was also about realizing that the fire nation was broken and corrupt at its core, and that his father was an aspect of that he needed to break away from so that he could help the world begin to heal.

he says it himself:

Zuko: No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.

making this about zuko being gay and rejecting ozai’s homophobia, rather than zuko learning fundamental truths about the world and about his home and about how there was something deeply wrong with his nation that needed to be fixed in order for the world to heal (and, no, ‘homophobia’ is not the answer to ‘what is wrong with the fire nation’, i’m still fucking pissed at bryke about that), misses the entire point of his character arc. this is the culmination of zuko realizing that he should never have had to earn his father’s love, because that should have been unconditional from the start. this is zuko realizing that he was not at fault for his father’s abuse--that speaking out of turn in a war meeting in no way justified fighting a duel with a child.

is that first realization (that a parent’s love should be unconditional, and if it isn’t, then that is the parent’s fault and not the child’s) something that queer kids in homophobic households/families can relate to? of course it is. but it’s also something that every other abused kid, straight kids and even queer kids who were abused for other reasons before they even knew they were anything other than cishet, can relate to as well. in that respect, it is not a uniquely queer experience, nor is it a uniquely queer story, and zuko not being attracted to girls (which is what a lot of it seems to boil down to, at the end of the day--cutting down zuko’s potential ships so that only zukka and a few far more niche ships are left standing) is not necessary to his character arc. nor does it particularly make sense.

(and before anyone brings up his date with jin--a) he enjoyed it when she kissed him, and b) he was a traumatized, abused child going out on a first date. of course he was fucking awkward. have you ever met a teenage boy????)

anyway, uh, that was a lot of words, so have a tl;dr: zuko is not gay-coded. there is nothing uniquely gay (or even uniquely queer) about his character arc or characterization, and he was certainly not coded gay in an attempt to sneak a queer character past the censors. if anyone involved with atla was gonna try that, it would’ve been in lok, and as established, they didn’t even manage to queer-code the actual queer relationship before the last few minutes of the final episode. headcanoning zuko as gay is absolutely fine (though if it’s only done to keep him away from female characters he may otherwise be attracted to, that smells more like misogyny than anything else), but insisting that this reading is the only one that makes sense, and anyone who doesn’t agree must be straight (hello, queer woman here making this insanely long thinkpiece) is very much not.

ship what you like, but stop trying to invalidate other ships and other interpretations of characters just to make your ship seem more plausible. it’s really not a good look.

[softly-penned-valkyrie]

5/10/23/30/50 ish?? For korrasami? Somethig sweet and angsty? 👀🤷‍♀️👍

Send me a Ship and a Number and I will Write a Kiss

30. …as comfort.

“I thought it would be easier taking the red pill,” Asami continued, bundling up a ball of dirty clothing and throwing it to the wash basket, her face still red in angered flush and yet clouded in a hot fury.

“They shouldn’t have used Program 22 on you, I’m sorry Asami... I swear a didn’t know Iroh was going to go that far,” Korra cautiously explained, trying to break her companion out of the rageful fit she had seemed to fall into. But even Korra could understand, could excuse this side effect Asami was going through. Program 22 was a vile and almost cruel simulation, Zion’s attempt at memory stimulation. 

Iroh had introduced a fantasy into Sato and convinced her through the Matrix that it was real. How fucked up was that?

“This isn’t what I wanted... No, fuck. This isn’t what I signed on for when the man made the Alice in Wonderland speech.” Korra sat quietly, letting her shout and seethe and explain herself through - she could only hope it was cathartic for her friend. “At least the god-damn Machines don’t put each other through fake memories and killing their lover-type bullshit!”

“Asami...”

“Yes?” She finally stopped, realising how much distress she’d willingly put herself through after the fact. The right hook she’d given to Commander Iroh in the jacking room could well be enough, now she was just tearing herself up over the malice of it all. “I’m sorry... Korra...”

“It’s okay” the darker-skinned woman excused, stepping off of the small counter top of Asami’s room, if it could even be called that. 

Zion’s arsenal complex wasn’t the most spacious or the most beautiful of living spaces, especially compared to what Asami had thought she was used to most of her life. One could even make the excuse that the pods of the fields were more comfortable than some the excuses the Admiralty Board gave for bunks and beds. It was mostly all Korra had known at all - there wasn’t a 90′s hotel suite, there was no shopping mall, there wasn’t even money in her life. 

“No... It’s not,” Asami told herself, throwing another tank top and slip of pants onto the floor and ruminating on her tarnished possessions Zion had provided. “I shouldn’t be piling this on you... it’s all green code and women in red dresses to you, right?”

“Not so many red or blue pills, yeah. But I can still understand how fucked up it’s gonna be to see something, to feel something, and then have someone pull you out like it’s a damn dream...”

“That’s exactly what it feels like,” Asami sighed, feeling herself trembling a little. “A fucked up dream where we’re not gonna all be killed by Squiddies...”

Korra pounced, knowing that look, seeing Asami’s fingers and hands shaking before they moved to cover her face. The operator had seen it a lot in her time behind the screens, the voice on the pay-phones throughout the city. Sometimes, people lost themselves for a second - with Asami, Korra had to be there, she made sure of it. Her hands caught her lover’s, their bodies instantly close. She could feel the ports scattered all the way up Asami’s arms, where those wires would be, feeding on her body from the moment she was made. 

“It’s okay, I promise it’s okay. I’m here...”

“Don’t suppose you can pull me out of feeling like this though, huh?” Asami joked; the returning look of Korra and her goofy smile managing to make her lips curl. “Oh, Korra...”

“Forget the Matrix right now, forget that sack, Iroh. Stay with me right now, okay?” She charmed. She pulled Asami’s hands from her face and cupped her cheek. “Come to me...”

The kiss Korra gave Asami was more real than any red pill she could take.

[slashtakemylife]

Very late but here’s my personal journey with Adashi

One year ago I was at work, I was still just training and we had nothing to do atm so I was scrolling on twitter, so I followed the Voltron account and then is when I saw it, yes the famous tweet, I thought I saw wrong but no I clicked on it and it was a normal tweet like any other followed by all the sdcc panels tweets

I was soooo over the moon!!! I wanted to scream and shout and jump and everything!!! But I was at work so I silently screamed, I was sitting on a desk chair so I kept sliding my feet on the floor and just wiggling my legs because I was soooo excited!!!!

It wasn’t until I was home that I saw Shiro was trending and not no.8 or 5, but 1!!! And the trend said Worldwide!!! People, I’m from Mexico so trends are from here and of course massive popular things like GoT or Orange and stuff but I never saw voltron as more than a small specific niche of people so the idea that we were trending and enough for even me to see was so amazing

I swear I stayed on my bed, just watching it, feeling the moment just staring at that list and giving it a refresh and seeing Shiro, Shiro my fave character be so loved, I saw the power of representation since all this love was because of the Shiro announcement so I couldn’t believe it, I felt like I was part of something beautiful

I knew vld had a big LGTB audience and given what happen with Korrasami I wished them good luck, but to see it happen to my favorite character, it brought so much potential character development, know Shiro’s backstory, see how he is in another setting, now not just as a Garrison member, a paladin and a war survivor but now I’ll be able to see his soft side, his family and closed one side even more

I love Captain Holt in Brooklyn 99 but my favorite moments are when he shows affection for his husband, I felt I could get that and yeah I felt great for the LGTB community, they wouldn’t get a presumed, allegedly, out of show confirmed character, they and we would get a big on screen presence and Shiro is perfect for it, this big male man is also gay and in love and it changes nothing

I trusted these guys, I saw people said they promised rep and they were part of the group that made Korrasami so now a few years later here is the payoff, a beautiful on screen stablished and interesting relationship, I had my reservation when I hear they had broke up but I trusted these guys

Now onto a bit bit more personal, I have a nephew (by a cousin not my sis) and for what I see his parents are young people but I’ve never heard their posture on LGTB so it could go both ways, I lean more on acceptance, still both their parents (aka my nephew’s grandparents and one is my uncle) are very religious and one has outright said in MY home how WE shouldn’t go to starbucks because they supported the LGBT community, they also had issues with my nephew’s parents because when they left him with them they would teach my nephew their religion, a religion that is not the one they have so they had a big fight on how they tried to influence my little nephew behind his parents back or approval, my biggest fear was that they teached him to hate and there was no one to teach him otherwise and as I’m not a so close relative I didn’t know how to even start the subject

One day they stayed at my home and while me and my sis were asleep in the same room (since they used the other) my aunt went to our room to “spend time with us” by putting her religious music and reading the Bible to us, both of us were dead asleep so we barely even noticed but she did the same in the living room were my poor nephew was bored af, so my sis and I suggested we go to our room and watch something, all we could think of a kids show was Voltron, that was when only S2 was available, so now back to that day when Shiro was announced I thought, I have a perfect excuse to open the subject with him, or even if I’m not there he could see it (I didn’t know if he kept watching it but if he did then he could see it from the comfort of his home), and in Shiro! The leader, the guy you look up to, the guy who’s compassionate yet strong

I had my reservations since S3 to 6 were so wack but if he could just reach S7 that would be perfect, well now I’m glad to say he wasn’t interested in voltron and it was amusing enough to watch while he was with us but not enough to continue watching on his own and I’m so glad I never told him he should give it a try, now honestly I’m in square one and haven’t talked at all with him about the LGBT community but I also don’t know how, anyway that is another issue

Adashi was a whole new experience, I’ve had other ships but they are really popular so I had no issues finding content, with adashi we became a rare pair real fast after S7 dropped and then sank more with S8 and people leaving VLD pretty much for their own mental health

It was new for me because I had never experienced this new wave of people wanting to control and regulate fandom, I’ve never seen ship wars at this scale and so full of hate and honestly some pretty dumb reasons, I saw idiotic views from both sides of the war and that is what keeps me away from twitter

Still thanks to Adashi I saw the struggles the LGTB community had on rep since vld was compared and explained so detailed and understandable, I know more and understand better thanks to adashi

By searching for adashi meant learning on vld and I also understood why I never could fully love vld the way I did Avatar or Korra, I understand more about writing and tropes

More than that, having my ship become a rare pair meant that I had to step out my comfort zone, I began writing again, I researched to better my writing and my biggest accomplishment so far:

It’s always been an ambition of mine to learn how to draw but my lack of natural talent, my insecurities, lack of will and easiness in which I get desperate I feel I’m not progressing meant I never really truly tried but by being so thirsty for content (and having the correct time and place in my life) I began to try and all I have are two fanarts but those mean so much to me because they mean that I’ve TWICE defeated my insecurities and made something I’m proud of

I’ve met interesting people and feel even made new friends, I’ve reach out to people they way I’ve never done before and even used the skills I have to contribute with the adashiversary

That doesn’t mean I don’t get heartbroken all the time, adashi is bittersweet, we rose at the same moment we sank, thanks to being in the bottom is helping me rise but the pain and suffering wasn’t necessary and it was completely avoidable

It feels wierd, it’s like thanking your abusers for making you who you are but I think we all agree we would rather never have been abused, we all here are trying to make best of this truly awful reality

But I also appreciate so much all the strong adashi warriors that hadn’t given up and that keep me strong as well

[ahhhsami]

Standing In This Dream [Korrasami]

Summary: Korra's got a wedding surprise for Asami during the reception. Hopefully it goes off without a hitch!

Here's the video of 'Standing In This Dream' by My Dear. You gotta watch it and imagine you're Korra holding the camera.

AO3 LINK

Korra straightened her back and adjusted her suit jacket. She took in one final deep breath as she looked down at her hands that clasped the microphone tightly. Finally she stood, her gaze scanning the large banquet hall.

Asami and her had wanted to keep this small, but there was no way a world famous videographer and CEO of a Fortune 500 company could have a small wedding. They decided that they would have a large reception and then get together with their closest friends and family at a different date.

She tapped the microphone softly and the hall soon quieted. She was never used to being the center of attention. She definitely preferred her work behind the scenes. Her life had completely changed just a few hours ago. She had finally married the love of her life and this was just the beginning.

“Hi everyone. I, um, am glad you all could join us for this very special night,” she started. “Sorry, as many of you know I like to hide behind the camera more than be in front of it.”

This garnered some giggles. She gave Bolin a little look since he had been filming everything. He’d filmed the wedding preparations, the wedding, and now the reception. Her friend just had to document everything.

“Anyways, as I hope you all have realized, tonight couldn’t have happened without this lovely woman beside me.” She looked lovingly at Asami who was smiling up at her. “If you had asked me that I’d be married to this woman, I would have told you that you were out of your mind.” Korra chuckled. “She’s way too good for me, like really.”

Asami rolled her eyes because she knew that wasn’t true. If anything, Korra was too good for her, at least in her mind.

“As many of you know, she’s the most selfless, thoughtful, intelligent woman in this world. She’s helped raise millions of dollars for various charities. She’s given up her own time to volunteer here and around the world. Her inventions have helped society and have opened new doors for the future. On top of this, she runs her own goddam company and takes care of me. I’m pretty sure I’m the most difficult thing from all that I’ve listed,” Korra joked. Thankfully she got a good laugh out of audience.

“But what you don’t know, is that Asami can’t cook. She has trouble saying ‘no’ to the people she loves. She hates mornings, but gets up anyways, even if a bit grumpy. She also does this adorable thing when she’s mad. She scrunches her nose up and her eyes could literally drill holes in the wall. But I guess maybe some of her business partners have experienced this too.”

Korra smiled down at Asami who was now giggling.

“So, Asami and I have been friends for nineteen years now. We met when I was twelve and she was thirteen. She always seemed too cool for me and smart, but something drew me to her. I just couldn’t not be friends with her. So I just told myself to say ‘hi’ to her, but that plan did not go smoothly. School had just gotten out and I saw her waiting for her bus, so I start walking over to her. And I’m only a couple of feet away when I trip over my own feet. In my little mind I thought the world was over. I had royally fucked up, please excuse my language, but I had.”

At this point Asami was covering her mouth, holding back her laughter.

“But do you know what happened. Asami saw me fall and rushed right over to me. Keep in mind, we had never spoken to one another before. She helped me up and then she noticed the blood. I swear her face became so white and her eyes became distant. And then it was her turn to fall on the ground. She fainted. Fainted because of a little bit of blood on my knees.”

Korra couldn’t hold back her smile.

“You could even say that this was when we first fell for another,” Korra joked. “Ever since that day we’ve been friends and now I finally got to marry her. It’s crazy. But I do have something for her, which I don’t think she knows I have.”

Asami furrowed her brow and looked at her curiously.

“As you all know, videography is a huge part of my life. Asami has always been willing to help me with this. When I get new cameras or ideas, she is always down for being my model. We’ve done this on multiple occasions, but there's this one time that was very special for me. It’s the time that I really understood my feelings for her. It dawned on me this day that I loved my best friend and wanted more, but I was too scared to tell her. Anyways, right when I got home, I ended up editing the clips and created a video. It’s been eight years now and it’s finally making its premiere.”

Korra looked down at Asami.

“I love you so much and I really should have told you earlier. I’m glad that you had enough guts to admit your feelings to me, because I probably wouldn’t have. These past three years of official dating have been incredible. And I know our years as a married couple will be even better. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this,” she said directly to Asami. The other people who would be watching this didn’t matter, just Asami.

As soon as she said this the lights turned off. Korra sat down and reached out for Asami’s hand. Asami smiled at her warmly and leaned over. “You did great,” she whispered.

“Thanks, but tell me that after you watch,” she instructed warmly.

Asami nodded. Across the room a projection came to life and the video started. Asami’s jaw instantly dropped when she realized what day Korra had been talking about.

Asami stared at her friend kneeling on the ground. “You almost done yet?”

“Hold on,” Korra chuckled. She adjusted a few more settings and raised the camera. “Got it.”

She was focused on the trees ahead of her, but when she heard Asami’s laughter and the thud of her skateboard hitting the ground, she turned to focus on her friend.

Asami smiled at her and gave a little nod of her head before rolling away.

“Wait!” Korra shouted as she dropped her board and started to follow her. “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere and everywhere,” Asami yelled. Her hair long hair was flowing behind her and the sunlight made her skin glow. Korra couldn’t have asked for a better shot.

They rode down the coast for a bit, but stopped for a moment when Korra spotted an area she wanted to film at.

“So, how’s it feel to be old,” Korra teased as Asami stood in front of her. Asami’s birthday had been a couple of days ago.

Asami dropped her mouth in mock insult, but then smiled. “I’m not old,” Asami reprimanded rolling her eyes. She looked around the area, spotting the little bench behind them and the volleyball courts. “Why’d we stop here?”

“The lighting is nice,” Korra said as she looked through the lens of her camera. The natural lens flare was perfect and the way the wind blew Asami’s hair back took her breath away.

Asami stood there for a moment, just smiling at Korra. Without warning she dropped her board once again and skated away.

Korra muttered to herself, but still filmed her as the distance between them increased. Before Asami got too far away, Korra skated to catch up with her.

“So how’s being a real adult?” Asami teased.

“Still feels the same,” Korra admitted. It really didn’t feel that different not being in college anymore. “More free time I guess.”

“MMMmm, lucky.”

“Yeah I am. I don’t know how you do it, Asami.”

“No choice really,” Asami sighed.

Korra frowned. She knew that Asami had a lot on her plate, yet she was always willing to be there for Korra. Throughout their friendship Asami was always the stronger one. Always the one who knew what she was doing. Korra on the other hand was everywhere. She never knew what she wanted or what to do. The only thing that was stable in her life was her family and Asami.

Korra skated ahead of Asami. She then stopped and filmed Asami getting closer. As she neared her, she began to skate again, still filming. They did this for a little while until Korra tripped up. She stumbled to the ground, holding her hand up to protect the camera and landed hard on her butt. Asami rolled to a stop and knelt beside her.

“Shit. You okay?”

“Yeah,” Korra groaned as she got up.

“Let’s take a break,” Asami said. She pointed to the large grass field. “Wanna rest over there?”

“Sure.”

Asami plopped down on the ground and used her board as a pillow.

“That doesn’t seem comfortable,” Korra joked as she filmed Asami from above. She walked around her friend and got some extra footage.

“Ehh, it’s not too bad.” Asami covered her eyes with her forearm, trying to shield them from the sun. With her free hand, she patted the grass beside her.

Korra didn’t need to be asked twice. She laid down and filmed their feet just for fun. Both their legs were cross, but then Asami decided to have some fun with her friend. She lifted her legs and plopped them atop Korra’s. In response Korra rolled her eyes even though she enjoyed feeling of Asami’s smooth legs against her own.

“You have all the space in the world, yet decide to invade mine.”

“That’s what friends do, Kor. They share.”

“Ha. ha. Sure. Whatever you say, Asami.”

They stayed there for a couple more minutes until Asami got restless. She grabbed Korra’s hand and lifted her up. “Let’s go,” she said.

Korra didn’t even ask where they were going, instead she just followed silently with her camera still filming.

Asami entered a small shop and began looking at the sunglasses. She then picked up a handful and began putting one after another on her face. She held in her laughter as she placed the fifth pair over her chin. Korra chuckled. It was good to see Asami letting go like this. Just because she was a CEO didn’t mean that she couldn’t have fun.

Korra helped her take them off and then Asami put on a pair that had cheetah print and looked seductively over them.

“How about these?”

“Oh, so nice,” Korra lied.

Asami laughed and put them back. “Thanks for being supportive, but no.”

Korra looked around the shop a bit more and then stopped. “Asami!” she yelled.

Asami poked her head out from behind a shelf. “Yeah?”

“Stand over there and stay still,” Korra instructed.

Asami rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what Korra wanted to do. “You’re such a dork,” said Asami as she struck a pose.

“You like it,” Korra said, focusing to keep her hands steady as she panned over a line of mannequins to end with Asami, the human mannequin.

Asami winked at Korra and then laughed. “You get your shot?”

“Mhmm,” said Korra, hoping that she wasn’t blushing.

“Good cause I want to go do something.”

Korra looked at her confused. “And what would that be?”

“You always carry around a sharpie, right?”

Korra looked at her suspiciously. Asami was right. Korra always had a sharpie and a notepad with her. She wasn’t sure why, but she just liked to use sharpies for writing notes and ideas. To her, it made them seem more important for some odd reason. But why did Asami need it now?

“Don’t ask,” Asami said as if she’d read Korra’s mind.

They skated for a bit until Asami came to a quick stop in front of a sign. She climbed the pole and began drawing a skateboard under the picture of a man walking. Korra’s jaw dropped.

“Asami!” she whisper yelled. “You can’t do that!”

“Well I just did.” She jumped down from the pole and quickly skated away.

Korra followed close behind. “You do know that was illegal.”

“Yep!”

“My god, Asami!”

Korra continued to chase her, but had to jump off her board and pick it up. Asami had sprinted into an arcade and now they were weaving between new and old games.

“Asami I swear you’re not older than me!”

“Too bad I am!” At that she jumped up onto these little stools and began sprinting across them.

“If you fall I’m not helping you,” Korra muttered, but kept filming.

Asami rolled her eyes. “I don’t need your help, mother.”

“Fine no prize for you then.”

“What?” Asami leapt down and strode over to Korra. “What?” she repeated.

Korra puffed out her chest a bit. “I was going to win a prize for you, but since you keep acting up… I’m not going to.”

Asami’s eyes widened and she grabbed Korra’s arm, giving it a little shake. “No, please?” she pleaded.

Korra squinted her eyes and then nodded. She could never turn down Asami. “Okay,” she said in a serious tone.

“Sorry,” Korra said as she handed Asami the small plastic dinosaur. Asami had wanted one of the plush stuffed animals, but Korra had failed miserably.

“I love it,” she said as she leaned her head back and rested the toy on the bridge of her nose. “It’s adorable.” Korra couldn’t help but think that the adorable one wasn’t the toy.

“We should go before the arcade people get too pissed.”

Asami laughed at this and grabbed Korra’s hand. They walked down the sidewalk, hands swinging between them.

“There’s a little amusement park down there,” Asami said as she pointed to the end of the beach.

Korra nodded and they continued their walk. It didn’t take long to get there and soon Asami had chosen one of the spinning rides. She jumped in and waved her hand to get Korra to follow her. In all honesty Korra hated rides like these. She could deal with rollercoasters, but not rides that spun. As soon as it started, Korra clutched onto the handlebar with one hand and tried her best to film Asami’s smiling face. Her hair was all over the place and Korra laughed at how silly, yet cute she looked. But as soon as the ride stopped Korra could feel her stomach turn a bit.

“You okay?” Asami asked placing a hand on her back.

“Yeah fine, just kinda dizzy.”

“Want to sit down?”

“Nah, it’s all good.” She looked down at her watch and smiled. Even though it felt like they had done so much already, they still had a lot of the day ahead of them. “There’s this pedal boat place I know, want to go there?”

Asami looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “Yeah!”

Korra chuckled as she guided Asami down to the pier and towards the rental place. After they  got their lifejackets on, they walked down a little dock and towards the boats.

Suddenly Asami was running towards her and Korra’s heart seemed to stop.

She began to backpedal, but knew there wasn’t far for her to go.

“No! Don’t you dare!” she shouted as Asami teased her with the bunch of seaweed in her hands. “The camera,” Korra used as an excuse. “You can’t let it get wet!”

Asami giggled and threw the seaweed away. “You’re such a baby.”

Together they got into the pedal boat and left the dock. Once five minutes passed, Asami had grown tired and was complaining. Korra frowned as they spun in a circle because she was the only one pedaling.

“Asami,” she pleaded, exasperated.

Asami placed a hand on Korra’s leg to get her to stop pedaling. “Take a break and enjoy the view.”

Korra stopped and realized that Asami was right. The coast was filled with people spending their day on the beach or pier. Boats passed them and swimmers jumped around in the water having fun. After relaxing for a while, the two of them worked together to get back. They returned the boat and lifejackets and then walked to the end of the pier.

Korra realized that the place was perfect when it came to lighting and setting. She pointed to the little table and motioned for Asami to sit down.

Asami hesitated because there were two seagulls there, but eventually she joined them. They didn’t even fly away as she sat down with her legs crossed. She rested her chin in her hand that was propped up on her leg.

Korra made a few adjustments to her camera and smiled at the shot. She then looked up at Asami who smiled at her and gave a cute little wave.

“We should get ice cream,” Korra blurted out of nowhere.

Asami chuckled. “Okay.” She hopped off the table and walked over to the ice cream shop that sat on the pier.

Korra ordered her usual mint chocolate chip and Asami got cookies and cream.

They leaned on the railing of the pier, just watching the waves hit the sand. Asami had taken the dinosaur out of her pocket and had placed it beside her. Korra continued to film as the wind blew Asami’s hair away from her face and the sun began to set behind her.

She worried her lower lip as she felt her stomach flutter.

After what felt like ages, Asami finished the last bit of her cone. She and Korra left the pier and finally went down to the beach. They both took off their sneakers and began walking on the sand that was still warm from the sun, even as it set.

Korra decided to straggle behind and get some last shots. She smiled to herself as she watched Asami’s hips sway and her head bob to the music in her head.

Asami approached the lifeguard stand and sat down on one of its steps.

“You tired?” Korra asked as she plopped down beside her.

“Kind of.”

“It’s been a pretty long day,” Korra pointed out.

“Mhm, but a fun one.”

“Yeah,” Korra said as she looked through the lens of her camera at Asami. She really couldn’t get over how beautiful Asami was.

“Thank you, Korra.”

Korra lowered her camera. “For what?”

“For today. For being my friend.”

Korra looked at her confused. “You don’t need to thank me for that.”

“Well I did.”

“Thank you to you too, then.”

Asami laughed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m going to go down to the water,” Asami told Korra as she got up.

Korra decided to hang back and film her from afar. She watched as Asami walked through the cool water and down the coast.

Korra let out a long sigh. Even though she hung out with Asami a lot, something about today felt different. She was happy, yet her heart felt heavy at the same time. All she could think about was Asami and how much she loved her. But it was more than just loving a friend. She was truly in love with her.

Korra’s thoughts were interrupted when a beep came from her camera. She frowned slightly when she realized that the battery was dying. She switched it off and covered the lens.

Korra hadn’t watched the video. Instead she had watched Asami the whole time. She watched as smiles flashed across her face. As her eyes squinted slightly when she laughed. When her nose scrunched up when she remembered something embarrassing that happened during that day. Korra would never get tired of seeing Asami express herself like this.

Asami on the other hand couldn’t pull her eyes away from it. When she finally did and looked at Korra, her eyes were filled with tears. She smiled warmly at Korra and shook her head slightly.

“I had no idea you kept that footage,” she said quietly. Korra had a hard time hearing it over the clapping and cheers that filled the hall as the video came to a close.

“Of course I did. It was the day that I figured out that I loved you more than a friend. That I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Me too,” Asami admitted, still quiet.

“Wait, really?!”

Asami nodded and pulled Korra into a strong hug.

“I love you,” Asami whispered into Korra’s ear.

“Love you more,” Korra added before pulling away slightly and kissing Asami.