You Can't Be Afraid To Mix It Up Sometimes

Wikipedia tells me the finale was a year ago today. I hope it was a good year for everyone! It was a weird one for me—but ultimately a good one, I think—full of new challenges and adjustments, and plenty of decompressing from the five intense years of making Korra. Thanks to everyone for the continued support of our/my work, old and new. Here is a sneak peek of a thing I drew for a thing. I hope you all have a safe and happy end of the year!

You take too many sugars in your tea and talk with your mouth full. You laugh the same way. It’s a boisterous sound and not always charming, but you wouldn’t bite it back. Nobody should have to bite themselves back. Somebody — a few somebodies — tell you that the world doesn’t need the Avatar, and who knows? That insecurity used to bother you, but not anymore, because the truth, you think, is that nobody really needs anyone else at all. And the truth that matters more than that? People stick around and make an effort anyway, and being needed or not certainly can’t stop you. It never could have. This part of the story would never have gone any differently; it is, after all, a story about you.

You disappear, and the world keeps turning. The world disappears from you, and you still pull yourself back to your own feet, so everyone really can go it alone. But you return to them anyway, again and again. So sometimes, you’re going to be doing the hardest work, the unforgiving work, and you’re going to be doing it alone. Maybe most times. But that’s alright, because strong, unyielding, and fearless, here you are. And here you have always been. And here you’re going to be. And it’s gonna be just fine.

I’ve grown up in a Christian family, I go to a Christian high school, basically everyone I know irl is Christian, and as a closeted gay kid that really takes its toll on you. Growing up only hearing that people like you are twisted and gross and a moral damnation leaves you with a lot of self-hatred and baggage. There’s this constant fear of being ostracised, all this paranoia and tight-lipped secrecy. The future feels bleak and you’re pretty sure you’ll have to choose between having a girlfriend and having a relationship with your parents one day.

So that’s where two cartoon characters come in, I guess. I was barely 15 when I found the Korrasami fanbase. I was confused and kind of alone and had been trying to convince myself I was asexual because I just wasn’t feeling all the hetero feelings I thought I should be feeling. It took me a while to realize why I had latched onto Korra and Asami so much, and it took me even longer to accept it. To me, a fictional relationship was a symbol that things could be okay one day. It was something to hold on to, and even more so after December 19th. 

After that day, I found myself thinking back to Korra and Katara’s conversation in Korra Alone:

Korra: And what am I going to find if I get through this? Katara: I don’t know. But won’t it be interesting to find out?

I’m in a vastly different situation than Korra, but it’s a line I can’t help but connect to. I’m in a bad situation. It seems like in an inescapable trap sometimes, and I can’t lie and say I’ve never thought about trying to end it all. 

But I’ve realized that I will grow older. I will find people who will love and accept me. Things will get better. I won’t be almost-17 forever. I will make it through. 

I drew a page full of this water tribe goddess in the prime years of good ol’ book 1. Some of these are entirely original, and others were referenced from the show. Hope you like it :) (sorry no updates lately, been occupied with college lol)

didn’t that basically happen

GOD YOU GUYS

ALL MAKO WANTS IS SOME FISH AND WATER

How many Satos is she going to kill