so when I said I personally feel there's a basis for Korrasami when revisiting the early parts of the series, it's because I genuinely just feel there is one. If I didn't see moments where that could be implied, I wouldn't need to force that onto the characters. I don't have an agenda to erase Asami and Korra's crushes on Mako, because I'm completely fine with those relationships happening (and crashing lol). I also wouldn't mind at all if Korrasami was something they only started feeling much later. I just genuinely feel there's a lot to connect with or imply Korrasami even early on.
Such as when Asami and Korra first meet.
Asami It's lovely to meet you. Mako's told me so much about you.Korra [In a clipped tone.] Really? Because he hasn't mentioned you at all. How did you two meet?
So I'm well aware of what's implied - Mako is so obsessed with Korra that he keeps talking about Korra even with his new girlfriend. I don't mind that straightforward read, but for it being the "intended implication," it's actually rather incongruous with what we've seen up to that point:
Mako at first genuinely just seems completely unarmoured with Korra in any romantic sense, not as in suppressing it, just actually uninterested (which is frustrating, really), only growing a begrudging sense of platonic respect after they worked together to find Bolin.
They made Mako literally heart-eyes, flat on his ass, whipped on the ground, stuttering, blushing, gasping for Asami - he is absolutely into her. The information given also says Mako is just spending far more time alone with Asami than with Korra.
So let's consider from Asami's perspective, because seriously, what the heck kind of "straight" teenage girl, only recently into a relationship with a boy, would be that excited to hear about the female friend her boyfriend won't stop talking about? If her boyfriend was really gushing about Korra that much, Asami should be livid with jealousy and side-eying Korra - or at least mildly annoyed, if all we had at this point was totally straight Asami all into Mako.
A lot of the subtext is coming from the mislead of the dropped equalist Asami plotline, because what the hell kind of eyes is Asami giving Korra during her speech here.
It's Asami who says it's lovely to meet Korra, because she's heard so much about her from Mako. We can infer Asami has seen (if not been formally introduced to) Korra already at the probending matches. So you can just as easily interpret this statement to mean Asami is the one constantly asking Mako to hear more about this girl, because she finds her intriguing. This interpretation is made stronger by how excited Asami continues to be to connect with and impress Korra the rest of Book 1, constantly inviting her and complimenting her, not even taking it out on Korra when Mako starts to prefer Korra ("I like Korra" *hands on heart*).
Then there's Korra's attitude to Asami... there's a sense of Korra being intimidated by Asami, which is because she's jealous of her, someone who is feminine in all the ways Korra isn't, sweeping in and "taking" Mako away. Obviously, that's how it initially comes across, and I'm not trying to deny entirely that Korra is jealous about that aspect.
Part of my interest in reading subtext here is also because the straight read on the love triangle is just really boring and tiring to me, lowkey problematic with the brown tomboyish sporty girl left romantically in the sink and initially unimpressive to the main boy in favour of him giving in to temptation from the classically feminine woman. Even if Mako ends up choosing Korra, why couldn't he be framed as physically attracted to Korra, too? His love for her is framed as "pure, wholesome" emotion, while with Asami it's lustful temptation to be discarded. Which is. yawn. (It's Bolin who is appropriately attracted to Korra straight away as the brawny girl she is!)
So yeah, solving that for me personally, with what we're given, by projecting Mako as actually super boner for Korra all along is just less interesting to me than Korra and Asami subconsciously gushing for each other.
I'm just saying there's an actually surprisingly substantial way to interpret the tension as partly being Korra feeling (reciprocated) subconscious attraction to Asami, too. The basis for that is the episode after Asami and Korra are introduced, where Korra is complaining about Asami.
Jinora So, how's it going with the tall, dreamy firebender boy? You've been spending a lot of time together lately.Ikki Oooh, yeah! Tell us all about the magical romance.Korra What? [Laughs.] Listen to you two, I-I'm not interested in Mako or any romantic stuff. [Coughs.] Besides he's all into that prissy, beautiful, elegant, rich girl … but let's just pretend for a second I am interested in him. What would I do?
Interestingly, we several times need to have Korra's crush on Mako framed not through her own words, but literally two actual children saying Mako is who Korra is interested in and pushing her to pursue romance in the most traditional sense, which Korra admits doesn't really come naturally to her. I'm not necessarily denying Korra is actually crushing on Mako; I'm saying the series is telling us this in the most shallow, unconvincing way, and frames Korra's awkwardness around it like she doesn't really feel at ease in the situation.
Rather than Korra being the one gushing about Mako, it is Jinora who calls him tall and dreamy. Instead, Korra spends several adjectives gushing about only Asami's desirability. They could have written the "jealous of the other girl" plotline while framing it around Korra's desire for her male love interest; instead, she is actually going on about her romantic rival in Asami here. Like that is a lot of details to put into someone you're just finding annoying and feel jealous about, which basically confirms Korra finds Asami extremely attractive even if it was only in a competitive sense (whereas exactly what Korra thinks about Mako's desirability is unstated and overall vague).
The only negative thing Korra says about Asami is that she is "prissy". It's later clarified through the narrative that this frustration isn't exactly about Asami making Mako inaccessible to Korra, but due to the intimidation in and of itself in thinking that someone as feminine and elegant as Asami would not want anything to do with someone like Korra, which is definitely, thankfully, subverted.
(Do I even need to argue why that pose is hella suggestive lol).
Asami is totally eager to spend time with and to impress Korra, and pursues friendship with Korra in ways that validate what Korra likes, significantly when Asami takes her to the racing cars to show off her skills. The idea that the sporty girl is just gonna be a fool for the more feminine one is subverted, because it's Asami who has to impress Korra into warming up to her. This easing up of Korra's annoyance with Asami has nothing to do with Mako, by the way, because Asami is still dating Mako when Korra starts feeling very positive about her and also significantly less jealous (almost like reversely projected jealousy, maybe?). Genuinely bonding with Asami and feeling acknowledged by her is what does the trick.
It's actually Mako in that episode who is wrongly assuming Korra is still jealous about him being with Asami, and Korra is flat out denying that and believably so - she doesn't really seem to care as much about Mako romantically as her major driving motivation anymore, and in fact, it's only Mako who actively pursues Korra from that point on. While there's several instances of Korra pulling back when Mako tries to be more emotionally intimate - but why Makorra as a romance feels inconvincing is a whole topic of it's own, though it's worth saying when developing Makorra's supposedly intimate moments, they keep triangulating the attention back to Asami's jealousy rather than keeping the focus on Makorra's bond.
Asami's emotions here actually come through stronger than either Mako or Korra's. If it was just about them all along, why do we keep bringing Asami into their scenes?
So after Korra takes back the "prissy" statement, all we're left with is Korra thinks Asami is beautiful and elegant (and rich, which... yeah lol), and at that point, also pretty cool. The episode after Asami takes Korra to the racing cars literally ends with Korra telling Mako to not pursue her and instead go back to Asami to take care of her when she needs him... which at the very least implies Korra's empathy and concern for Asami exceeds her romantic desire for Mako at that point. So yeah.
Small bonus, in the episode after that we get Korra freaking the HECK out about Ikki telling Asami she has a crush on Mako - when it's already established Korra wasn't too worried about sabotaging her own chances with Mako for the sake of Asami just before. Also Korra leading Asami to the bedroom.
Which doesn't really say much on it's own, I'm not saying that - but it's fun, because of their body language, and also that we never see either Asami or Korra alone with Mako in such more intimate or suggestive spaces, which is interesting, considering we did get more of that kind of thing with the much younger couples in ATLA, and also how Korrasami definitely does get a lot more suggestive content in a more adult sense the moment they get together in the comics.
(Two times in one scene of Asami making a totally show off pose juxtaposed with Korra staring at her either before or after).
So basically, the read that Korra is jealous of and intimidated by Asami's femininity as in wanting to be her (to attract Mako) is unsubstantiated by literally anything in the series - there is absolutely nothing indicating Korra wants to be like that for herself, and tbh it's also just tiring, because literally, why should she want to. I'm saying, Korra being intimidated because "wah wah I can't be the elegant girl boys want like that" (she can't and shouldn't!) is boring, while Korra, unaware she is being hella gay like "damn that girl is hot she'd never look my way (she totally would!!)" here is far better lol.
