In thIn an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx/WOC community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
*WARNING: SPOILERS ARE HERE AND PRESENT FOR “THE EGGPLANT, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE*
Queer stories. We know them, we want more of them, and Legends of Tomorrow is one of the only places on TV that is feeding our need to see healthy love, forgiveness, and growth in a queer romance. And it’s fucking exhilarating, worthwhile, and the kind of content the LGBTQ+ community would love to see more of.
We don’t get to see couples like the one we saw in “The Eggplant, the Witch & the Wardrobe.” Let me explain. Sara volunteered/insisted on entering Ava’s mind/purgatory to rescue her because she loved her. They have a life that they’ve been building together and just because they had a disagreement doesn’t mean that everything they’ve gone through or everything they’ve built along the way disappears. It remains. And both of these women learned that in this episode.
We saw Ava confronting and working through trusting her gut and Sara. She’s always so obsessed with everything being perfect and seeing her trust in Sara and the thing they built together gave us all the feels. That’s what the wardrobe represented. Acceptance. The mattress was on the same line. Can they see staying together for the long haul? Are they endgame OTP? All of that was questioned, looked over to the point where the mattresses allowed them to see older versions of themselves, and handled/confronted it all by each other’s side.
That’s not to say that things are perfect and merry for Sara. She’s never had something like what she has with Ava. And her fears of what would happen if they stayed together, if she allowed herself to be that vulnerable and open, are real. It’s not something that suddenly popped out of nowhere. Sara Lance has been trying to figure out who she is for years; first because of the events that led her being stuck on an island with Oliver Queen and the other being killed and brought back to life. Normalcy, healthy, happy; it all sees impossible after what Sara has been through.
Sara questioning herself and if she’s good enough for Ava out-loud, it clears the air. Nothing unnamed is floating between them, just waiting to be clarified or unpacked. Sara expressed herself and Ava made sure that she knew that A) Sara thinking she wasn’t good enough for Ava was a load of bollocks, and B) that she loves Sara through all the ups and downs and that it’s ok to be vulnerable because Ava will be right by her side, confronting their fears head on and together.
The absolute highlight of “The Eggplant, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is the As/Is segment. Ever since finding out she’s a clone, Ava has been a bit lost when it comes to her identity. She knows she belongs at the Time Bureau, she knows that Sara loves her, but she struggles with the thought of who she is and if Sara, her bae, really and truly wants this version of her. Sara running past those other fake copies of Ava and walking through that As/Is door knocked me over, watered my crops, and cleared my acne. Sara chose Ava and Ava chose Sara. And seeing women like them making this decision together really and truly matters to queer viewers.
Avalance, and everything they have gone through and confronted together, it’s not something you see on TV very often. It’s practically none exist when it comes to queer couples, unless you’re Wynonna Earp’s #Wayhaught but that’s another piece for another time. And that’s why Avalance matters so much; because they make us feel seen, valued, and understood and because they are being put in a position of normalcy that makes queer events/moment/feelings in our lives seem…ordinary.
Ultimately, that’s what we want. We want people to write our stories and treat them with the same love, care, and respect other couples are given on TV. We want the hard stuff that isn’t automatically a “coming out” story. Those are important. But we need more. We need to see how we live after coming out, what we can do to shape our futures, and that healthy love can find us in the most unexpected way.
Avalance is that important and healthy love.
And we’d love to see more of them; for queer people, for non-binary people, for every single member of the LGBTQ+ community who has never felt seen. Who we are and the things we experience are happening on Legends of Tomorrow.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
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