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About

Crying Bolin and Kissing Korra are a pair of related memes that derive from a scene in episode 5^[1] of the series "Avatar: The Legend of Korra," the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender. The memes both involve remixing stills or gifs from the scene to include a variety of different scenarios or characters.

The Legend of Korra

From the Wikipedia article^[2]:

The series takes place 70 years after the original when technology has advanced to that of around the 1920s on Earth. In it, some people have the ability known as "bending" by which they control and manipulate either water, earth, fire, or air. One bender, known as the "Avatar" and described as the "physical embodiment of the world's spirit", has the power to bend all four elements and is responsible for maintaining both the balance of nature and peace between the world's four great nations. Korra, the protagonist of the new series, is the next incarnation of the Avatar after Aang of the original series. Set seventy years after the defeat of Phoenix King Ozai and Princess Azula in the four-part finale of the original show, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko follow Korra as she learns the art of airbending, having mastered the other three elements, while facing an anti-bender revolution by a group known as the Equalists.

A large part of the plot of the series concerns Korra's membership in a pro-bending team called the Fire Ferrets, which she joins along with the brothers Bolin (an earth bender) and Mako (a fire bender). A love triangle develops between the three, culminating in the scene in question where Korra and Mako kiss each other on a bridge, and are spotted by Bolin – who had been dating Korra and was unaware of his brother's interest – who subsequently bursts into tears and runs away.

Kissing Korra

Kissing Korra is a series of two-frame image macros depicting edited stills from the scene. The stills in their original form show, Korra kissing Mako followed by Bolin's shocked expression. The edits usually involve swapping out some or all of the characters to create a more comical situation.

Crying Bolin

Crying Bolin covers a series of gifs, image macros, comics, and related material all having to do with Bolin's over-dramatic exit after seeing Mako and Korra kiss. The images usually express pity for Bolin, who was quite obviously hurt during the encounter. The material also quite often portray Bolin as a softhearted, sensitive character, rather than the very brash and extroverted person he is in the show – a change that is also likely due to his behaviour in the scene.

Refrences

^[1] Wikipedia – The Legend of Korra episode list.

^[2] Wikipedia – Article on The Legend of Korra.