A little essay written in my downtime to help vent my feelings on the Asami-is-an-equalist crusade in the Legend of Korra fandom.

Before I write this essay, I should take note that I do not in any way mean to offend my fellow fans, nor am I an opponent to shipping. On the contrary, I love shipping, especially in this series where a love dodecahedron seems to be the case. I am also aware that there are very good arguments against my point, and I respect this. Just my opinion, hope no one gets hurt.

Why I really hope Asami does not become an Equalist

Okay, before we get into this, I will set things up for you. Korra's main love interest in the series in Mako, which is established very early on. He's tall, dark and handsome with a troubled past and a grim determination who clashes perfectly with Korra. Bringing up elements of the very popular Zutara pairing last series doesn't hurt either. They have several adorable scenes, including sleeping on each others' shoulders and their hug at the end of episode 6. Naturally, all the fans are rooting for them, myself included. Thus, when a ship sinker, Asami, arrived on stage, there was an immediate "non bender means she's an Equalist seductive woman mole" sentiment towards her. In the last couple of episodes, she's mostly been supporting the Fire Ferrets and is a pretty underdeveloped character. Thus, I'm not too invested in her and didn't really take a stance against her. Then the seventh episode rolled around. Her mother was killed by a firebender twelve years ago, her father is working for the Equalists, she shocked him to help the Krew escape, and left behind the only home she knew and the only family she had. After this, I picked a side. I do not want her to be an Equalist.

First of all, her relationship with her father is much more interesting as an opponent than as secret allies. In the past series, Zuko's relationship with his father was definitely not love. Zuko had Stockholm Syndrome that took months of angst and a rather jarring revelation of failure to finally break out of. Ozai burnt a good part of his face off for talking out of turn. While Zuko does show some hesitance towards killing his father, he takes "there's no other option" very well, and only refrains from killing Ozai because it's the Avatar's destiny, not his. They have no familial connection, and the fact that they are father and son makes them hate each other even more. We have never seen two people on different sides that genuinely love each other. Pitting Asami against Horishi would be something I would love to see.

Secondly, her relationship with Mako. She threw away her home, her life, even her father for him. And, to add to that, she's got a common backstory. A firebender killed her mother, a firebender killed his parents. I would love to see how they play that. Korra realized that Asami needed Mako more than she did, and gave up her relationship with him. I honestly have never seen them even try to sell strong emotion of any kind in between the two. I also have no idea how she'd deal with the love triangle in between her, Korra, and Mako. Korra's given up, but how long will that last? When all comes to light, how will she react? I really want to see this played out, not "Oh I betrayed you all" excuse to untangle and get out cheaply.

Thirdly, her place in the war. She's the daughter of a major Equalist and the girlfriend of a major bender. She's got good reasons to hate benders, but at the same time she has good morals and sense. She's a silk cloth hiding steel insides, a woman with great potential. If she truly picks a side, she could be a powerful opponent. We all saw her take out the Lieutenant. She could be a case for the benders alongside Pema, a normal person to stick up for the benders and get the other non-benders to listen.

In short, there are so many ways they could take this character, so many ways to add depth to her, that to make her a cheap ploy to get into the Krew would be a waste. No one would be surprised if she did betray them, and if she didn't she could be one of the most interesting characters in modern cartoons. One of the things I loved about the last series was that they had the courage to really grip Zuko's and Azula's characters well enough to subvert his turn to good at the end of Book 2. I do want to see Mako and Korra get together and all, but is making Asami evil the only way to do that? Of course not! And let's face it, the only really good evidence we have against her is she's dating Mako. In short, my little list of reasons why I hope that this ship sinker is not an enemy.

So there's my stance. If you write something similar, give me a link and I'll review it.