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supercharmed-forever-mine · 3 years

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Today I will be addressing SuperCorp and some of the issues that have been floating around about fandom. And I will be saying some stuff that both is for it and could be used against it even though I am ultimately a super big supercorp fan. Like it says in the tags you're free to express your opinion but they will not be changing mine but I am always open-minded to opinions that can actually be explained and eloquently expressed (receipt's needed) and aren't just basic. Also just so what is noted I have been a part of this fandom since the first episode I have literally shipped Kara with everyone from Lucy to Cat even James.But Lena has just stuck out the most for me but I'm Equal opportunity.

Number #1, Lena's character in no way shape or form has ever been xenophobic she has never once shown any hate towards aliens her problem with Kara in season 5 Wasn't because she was an alien it was because she was a "Super" like Kara could have been a flying purple fucking octopus from the planet of shzjxfdf and Lena wouldn't have gave two fucks but no she was a "Super"but let's dig deeper on that point if we really look at why she was mad it wasn't even the whole alien aspect it was because she wasn't told and no I don't think she's entitled to it but I do think it played into the fact of a trust issue she has with the fact that people would think she would be just like Lex if she had been told Sooner. Which is disproved in 5x13 (also personal note: I also think she wouldn't have reacted half as bad if Kara had just told her that night at game night or the next day when she wanted to probably still would have been pissed but not to the same extent). But okay with that being said I do disagree with the kryptonite entrapment torture scene and basically half the s*** she did in season 5 it was shown that she truly can tap into her Luthor side and be dark when wanted but fortunately she does always return to the light and in all fairness it has been shown several times that Kara has a dark side of her own that could rival the luthors.

Number #2, I do disagree with the abuse of actresses and actors just because of a ship and or character they play don't blame them it's just a job they have I think Melissa and Katie do a beautiful job of bringing Kara and Lena's characters to life couldn't imagine anybody else playing them.

Number #3, I also will say about the reason bombarding of comments on Nicole's social media at least I saw the video via tiktok in that video was fucking hilarious I love Nia, Dreamer,and Nicole in general she's funny and beautiful and is an advocate for everything good in life and well it is normal to even ask other actors if they have the scoop on anything it does not mean we need to be bombarding them in videos on something relating to their character or their love of something a simple comment or so maybe but what I saw NO.

Number #4, The William of it all well I think though his character seems like a nice gentleman he also seems to be bland as hell also I did not know he was a POC to be honest I thought he was a tan white man and we'll be doing further research on people in the future as I can learn from my ignorance also but unrelated I did not know that the woman who played Maggie was apparently just a tan white woman I thought she was of some sort of Hispanic descent but apparently not according to various things I've read on here tonight... But anyways back to William I feel like a lot of people might have perceived him as a white man therefore that might play into the whole scenario of people hate that they just want two white woman together when it proves if she was a man they wouldn't give two f**** about it whether that's true or not I don't know but mine two cents.

Number #5, I will never bash someone for being for or against a certain ship and or character and well I am allowed to certainly disagree with their opinion all opinions are valid because we all see the world a different way some see it bright and shiny and others like I'll admit myself see it through the glasses of trauma. And I think that's why we all have the opinions we do most of the time when you like a shipper character it's because you relate to them somehow even if it's the most minor thing to someone else it might be huge for you. You never know what the person on the other side of the screen is going through in those characters or ship or fanfiction might have literally saved their lives.

Sidenote: Like okay personal story I was been both mentally and sexually abused as a child so I relate to both Kara and Lena respective childhood trauma so that draws me to them. And I kind of see them both as the opposite attract trope (two side of the same coin) because well we never fully get over trauma Kara had a great support system with the Danvers whereas Lena didn't get that with the luthors I mean sure she had Lex at first but even that was only to a certain extent because of his psychopathy that was starting to manifest he couldn't perceive human emotions the same as Lena who in my opinion is just a big mushy nerd who can be a badass when needed as evident by the season 6 episodes after she's quit L-Corp she's constantly trying to help out inventing new stuff and she's wondering how Nia's suit works and it just shows that she just has a curious mind and also she looks happier even with the guilt she feels over Kara's phantom zone incident when Nia called her a part of the family that smile could lit up a city all she's ever wanted is to belong and I can relate to that therefore to her.

Number #6, I feel like this should have been addressed in earlier number but as far as sexuality goes I would want to believe Kara is pansexual because of everything I've ever read and saw I don't believe she perceived sexuality like humans do because of her Kryptonian upbringing for the first good chunk of the life. Like even though she says she's not gay in the first episode, A. It was the first episode so they didn't even know where the story was going in future seasons if they got them also that means maybe she just didn't perceive herself as the Earth's definition of gay. B. Even in the first season she made a comment about how she bought Lucy was gorgeous and hell she would date her. C. She made some comments about Irma and other woman that don't sound totally heterosexual and don't get me wrong women can admire the beauty and intelligence of other women without it being sexual but as a bisexual woman it just struck a cord in me you can tell the difference when it's coming from a straight woman mouth. Now on the subject of her and Lena strictly I do think there are instances of "queerbaiting"because just because you perceive they haven't been promised to us doesn't mean that some of us haven't picked up on things or the fact that they're simply queerbating because somehow they do hype up Kara and Lena to keep a nice chunk of the audience who ships them mainly those of the gay variety interested in the show which is also considered queerbaiting. Also the fact that they've been called sisters or family or my personal favorite "that's what friends are for"doesn't mean crap because honestly at this point the overuse of friends just sounds more like they're trying to convince themselves than us.*** Also I don't know about you but even on the basic level of things they've done I've never shown half those feelings towards my friends and the ones I have it's because I started to think of them as more than friends.

Now with Lena's sexuality no they have never shown her as anything besides straight canonically but don't get me wrong she totally sends off that college experimentation vibe especially with Andrea for some reason but that may just be me.

Number #7, my main point is let's just be kind to one another because guess what there is toxicity from every ship in a fandom there will always be shitty people on both sides and then there will be those of us who just want to see the characters together for one reason or another and yes I'm not afraid to admit that part of my reasons I want to see two gorgeous woman kiss sue me LOL.

Number #8, the conclusion of my rant is that how about we leave the hating to the ones who want to do that and the rest of us like adults or whatever your age is in the fandom that has any type of maturity behave because I truly do wish the best and in the end well I hope they end up together I'm realistic that they probably won't especially due to the CW Network motto of "homophobia and racism"because they've already broken up several good gay and interracial couples on that show. But at the end of the day my true wish is just that all of the characters end up happy and healthy.

Best of luck to all shippers out there anti and supercorp and or any other couple alike may we try to make it out of this with a modicum of sanity and even if they fail us we always have fanfiction thank you and good night.

#SuperCorp #anti supercorp #anti lena luthor #supercorp endgame #melissa benoist #katie mcgrath #william dey #supergirl #wlw ship

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appleb18 · 4 years

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Cartoons Relationships Are Terrible

Back in the day of cartoons, the romantic subplots were simple and yet very heartwarming to see such as

Katara and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Phineas and Isabella from Phineas and Ferb

But now, modern cartoons are taking romantic subplots into heavier territories that something that some live-action shows would do. While it does sound interesting that making relationships more realistic and complex but the way that has been written in the previous decade is pretty bad. The writers try to make romance relatable to the audience but fail on doing so such as making likable characters to really cringy and awful people, shoving down our throats of how cute it is and having the romantic subplot more focus than the actual plot.

Adventure Time and Regular Show

So you must be wondering why I put Adventure Time and Regular Show together instead of separate categories. The thing about these two shows is they used to have bad romantic subplots but as the show progresses, they really did it well and I have to say it did better than most cartoons that failed to do which I’ll talk about later.

For Adventure Time, Finn and Flame Princess broke up in “Frost and Fire” due to him deceiving her by having FP fight Ice King/Simon Petrikov for his amusement

After their break, he tries to rekindle his romantic feelings for Princess Bubblegum and thinks age is just a number in “Too Old”. However, it doesn’t end up too well that she has people to watch over and that’s when he realized that he really did donk up with Flame Princess.

Although he apologized to FP in “Earth and Fire” to her it didn’t fully restore their relationship and Finn still had romantic feelings for her and Princess Bubblegum.

Thankfully, Finn matures in later seasons.

Finn realized it’s better for him to be friends with Princess Bubblegum

He then fully apologized and realized what he has done wrong to Flame Princess and she tells him that he really matured and hang out by playing guess who and rapping in “Bun Bun”

and Princess Bubblegum, and Marceline. They both finally reconcile at the end of “Varmints” and start to hang out more which develops their relationship from being platonic to romance.

For Regular Show, in “Steak Me Amadeus' ' Mordecai asked Margaret to be his girlfriend and although she would like that, she can’t because she got accepted into college which broke his heart.

It didn’t last when he’s been reunited with CJ in “New Years Kiss”.

As the show progresses, the two become a couple but then things get complicated when Margret returns. It made things awkward between CJ, Mordecai, and Marget like CJ always gets jealous and runs away when she sees Mordecai and Margret together.

By the end of season 6, he dumps CJ in front of everyone in Muscle Man's wedding.

Like Adventure Time, Mordecai and Margret hangout and realized they should stay as friends in “Just Friends”

While Eileen and Rigby become a couple.

Now it’s time to talk about other cartoons shows and their romantic subplot problem

Steven Universe

Steven Universe relationships can sometimes be well written but most of the time can handle poorly.

Such as Lars and Sadie were starting to develop their relationship in “Joking Victim” however it repeats itself throughout three seasons until the end of season 4 where Lars develops. Then there’s Sadie trapping him and Steven on the island in “Island Adventure” so he won’t have to leave and they don’t resolve and don’t even mention it ever again in later seasons. All they show was Sadie scar and that’s it

In “Steven Universe: Future”, Sadie and Lars didn’t get together and she’s now with Shep and they did it off-screen. So throughout the whole thing with Lars and Sadie, they don’t get together. The show kept teasing it and they might get together in the future but the writers just said screw it, let's have her date a nonbinary while Lars goes on a space adventure. It feels like a waste of seeing those two characters that the show keeps showing them together and not have them become a couple. Unlike SvTFoE, Shep just came out of nowhere with no proper introduction and doesn’t establish they and Sadie's relationship and it’s really bothersome!

Connie and Steven's relationship was good for the first four seasons. It was really had good chemistry and she was a good partner for him

then season 5 came in and it kinda got ruins by after Steven escape from Gem Homeworld and coming back to Earth, it starts off with Connie leaving Steven with lion and never to be seen for a month according to “Keven Party”. The Steven and Connie arc was really bad like why was it dragged for five episodes? The whole thing could’ve been resolved in one episode by having them talk about their feelings like how “Mindful Education” and “Full Disclosure” did by they talk about their emotions instead of running away.

Then in “Gemcation”, Steven the most important thing to him is Connie's relationship than worrying about Lars and the Off Colours' safety. That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard in my life and I can’t believe Rebecca and the Crewniverse have written it like that.

Then there’s Ruby and Sapphire. I’ll be honest, the relationship feels like old Disney love stories like Cinderella, Seven Dwarfs, and Sleeping Beauty and that’s not a compliment. In “The Answer”, after they accidentally fused, they escape and wander Earth that caused them to fall in love which kinda contradicts what Garnet said to Jamie about love, at first sight, isn’t good in “Love Letter”.

In “Pink Diamond” Arc, the plot came to hold to make room for Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding.

While it is revolutionary that they show an LGBT wedding live on television but as a narrative standpoint, it feels rushed. The reason for that is after that Blue and Yellow came in after the wedding. They were no build-up or anything, they just came.The reason why they did it so some countries can’t take it down due it the main story which is stupid. It’s nice they represent LGBT but why in the middle of a major story arc, that’s just sloppy.

Voltron

So Voltron has a reputation of queerbaiting the audience that Shiro is gay and he has a boyfriend. The writers keep telling us on Twitter that they’ll show his boyfriend in season 7 but when it finally aired. It was terrible

The first time we saw Adam was a flashback but it was nothing, it was more friendship than romance.

When he finally shows up in the present he dies. Shiro goes to the memorial and signs than that’s it.

The writers really made a dumb move of hyping it up but they let us down by having him die. They try to make it up by having Shiro marrying some guy who has a very little screen in the final season. Similar to Regular Show with Mordecai marrying a batgirl but not dumb while Voltron trying to get brownie points for having LGBT rep.

Lance and Allura were really forced. For six seasons, Allura was never interested in Lance and only saw him as a friend but in season 8, the two confessed their love for each even though there wasn’t any chemistry nor sign that they truly love each other and they insensitively become a couple for one date. I would’ve supported if their relationship was established back in season 2

The Legend of Korra

The love triangle between was handled so poorly with bad timing, making characters look terrible, making things force and having it engage more than the plot.

For the first season, there was a love diamond. Bolin liked Korra, Korra likes Mako and Mako liked Asami and those two go out. Korra and Mako kissed which broke Bolin’s heart but he got over it but when Asami finds out when Korra was missing, she gets jealous. I understand that she was concerned about her relationship with Mako but during when Korra, the avatar that is missing while Equalis are on the move? That’s not the right moment to get jealous when Republic City is gonna be under attack but of course, Mako and Asami break and Korra gets in with Mako.

In season 2, things get worse when the happy couple keep nagging and they break up

Which he tries again with Asami

After Korra got her memories back but forgot breaking up with Mako, she asked him if it was bad however though he lied and everyone judged him for that dick move, especially Asami who started to have feelings for him again. Thankfully they broke up because that was just an awful way to get someone back by having their mind erased.

Also, Bolin was with Eska and it was abusive. Forcing him to be her man, changed his whole entire to match with hers and she forced him to marry her.

What’s worst about it is no one is concerned about him being with her and instead they just laugh like it’s supposed to be funny. Being in an abusive relationship isn’t funny and I hate how the show treats it so. By the end, they just forgot the whole thing that ever happened and moved on with their lives.

Season 3 and 4 kept the romance to a minimum with Bolin x Opal and Jinora x Kai but there was one romantic relationship that had to happen with no hints or build up and it’s Korra x Asami. By the end of the series, they decided to go to the spirit together while holding hands and having their eyes glazed toward each other and they become a couple.

While many of you may say that they hinted it since season 3, however, it looks like friendship. Blushing and writing to her isn’t enough to say they have feelings towards each other. That is what best friends do too. The creators even have to confirm that they are a couple and the comics showing their love while it’s nice and all but it would’ve been a lot better to show it either on streaming service or live television than buying volumes to see more of their pairing, it’s balderdash. Now it’s time to talk about a cartoon that has one of the worst romance I’ve ever seen in my entire life of watching shows.

Star vs The Forces of Evil

Star vs The Forces of Evil has one of the WORST romantic subplots I’ve ever watched, it is even worse than CW’s Arrowverse romance and that’s saying something. The romantic subplot makes Star and Marco look like terrible people that only care about each other more than other characters.

Jarco

Out of all ships in SvTFoE, Jarco has the most establishment than most others. Marco liked Jackie when he was little and it was bound to happen that those two will date. Ever since season 1, the relationship has been growing to platonic to a romantic couple in season 2.

Their chemistry together worked well but then “Sophomore Slump”. When Marco finally went back to Earth, he was obsessed with Mewni and Star and he won’t stop talking about and he still wears the cape. When Jackie told him to stop obsessing over Mewni which he tries to do but it got the better to him by he still wears the cape when he was on his date with Jackie. It’s really BS when Marco said to Jackie “You’re my best friend” which ruined everything that it established since season 1 and this, of course, caused them to break up.

Then he left Earth to go to Mewni the day after their break up. It’s a real shame that building up their relationship and giving Jacie character got shoved aside for Starco. Although she returns and meets up with him again I can’t help feeling that it just for fan service and being inclusive for Jackie being Bi

Tomstar

Before the show started, Star and Tom were a couple but broke up due to him getting angry very easily and he wanted her back for the past two seasons luckily he stopped trying in “Mr. Candles Cares”. Their relationship becomes healthier when Tom gives Star space and that causes them to get back together and not have feelings for Marco anymore.

Tom went through a lot of development for Star and it was a Mewni x Monster romance which is similar to Eclipsa and Globglor and it fits season 3. After rewatching it, it was pretty good. However, like Jarco, it was doomed from the start due to fans wanting Starco to be canon even though Tomstar was getting good. Also, Star was a terrible girlfriend to him.

Star never told him she kissed him, Marco did and when Tom confronted her about it, she got mad and tried to walk away.

She mistreats him by nagging somethings, blowing on his face and angrily ask translate

She declined on going on a vacation with him so she can be with Marco.

Even his mom was afraid that she might break his heart again and her response “Everybody breaks up. That’s what teenagers do! Teenagers are dumb”. He went through so much development, changed his character and gave her so much but she never returned the favor. What an awful girlfriend

Kellco

With Tom and Star getting together (for now) it left Marco feels devastated that she’s dating someone and can’t get rid of his feelings for her while Kelly doesn’t want to be with Tad which she broke up with him. They both have something in common and start to hangout and their relationship has developed throughout season 3 and he’s with her more than Star.

They became officially a couple as “breakup buddies” in “Kelly’s World” and it also when they did a perfect synchronization between two partners.

So they’re pretty much a good pair but everything changed when the episode “A Boy and His DC-700XE” and did an off-screen break up. I don’t care who or what you write but never, ever a major plot point or character development offscreen. Kelly finds happiness when she leaves Tad but they break up with no explanation. It was glossed over like for five seconds and Marco doesn’t even care about their break up, what an a*hole.

This relationship feels like a real waste of time and serves nothing to the plot nor character development, it was just there to waste time.

Starco

Before I talk about Starco, I used to ship it and I thought they were enjoyable characters. They would've worked in a relationship if things were written better and would have been the next Phineas and Isabella but sadly the writers messed up probably the easiest romance to write.

Season 1, Star and Marco became best friends. Although there weren't many romantic moments they still look pretty good together

Season 2, As Star was happy for Marco that she’s finally dating Jackie, the girl he has had a crush on since preschool,

on the other hand, she started to have feelings for him and she has trouble expressing it.

In season 3, Marco started to have feelings for Star which caused him and Jackie to break up. Star told him that he wants nothing to do with him romantically in “Lint Catcher” and Tad told him that he does have feelings for her in “Lava Lake Beach” and he wasn't happy to find out about it at all. Then in Booth Buddies, they were held hostage by some freak until they kiss and they were completely in denial about having feelings for each other

Then season 4 is when Starco becomes really sour. Star and Marco always keep saying that they don’t want to have feelings for each other and yet the writers have several episodes before the end of the series

. They never showed any romantic interest until “Mama Star” where he confessed his feelings to her and then they kissed in the second last episode. By the finale, instead of either of them going back to their dimensions they went back to the World of Magic and held each other. It would’ve been more meaningful if they got together before the end of the show.

It’s very odd that they risk their lives for a relationship that just started. However, for some miracle, both of their worlds collide and become one with no explanation of what so ever.

Starco could’ve been a lovely ship but the writers have to keep messing around with it till the very end.

Conclusion

Whenever a show presents a romance, I don’t mind as long it either fits with the narrative of the story it be fun but 2010s romantic subplots have been written very terribly by having it the main focus but sacrifice pacing and quality of the story, forcing characters to become a couple without establishing it enough in the show, and having characters go off for the sake of drama. Romantic stories can be simple and cute like Kim x Ron from Kim Possible, Suki x Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Starfire x Robin from Teen Titans and that’s all right. I do hope that this generation will fix what the previous decade of cartoons has failed to do.

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larenoz · 5 years

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Season 2 and Waiting At The Airstream

This is like the third version of this post I’ve written. Each one a little less rage filled than the previous one. Let’s see how this version goes. What follows are some thoughts on what Season 2 might bring.

There’s been a lot of angst resulting from creator and actor appearances at various events, and in interviews. I think a lot of it’s being taken out of context and being interpreted through very specific lens of people wanting specific outcomes.

But I think people are forgetting some pretty vital stuff, like this show is on the CW!! Contrived drama is what they do. Personally, I think that for a CW show Roswell New Mexico has made a rod for its own back, in that it’s so much better than what the CW normally produces that people are loosing perspective and setting their expectations very high. I personally think the show is doing great. The plot is actually moving along at a great pace - in any other show we’d need to be in season two or three to be this far along!!

Also, did we really expect any of the main ships to be happily resolved by the end of the first season?? It would make for a short run for the show. And finally, life and love is complicated and messy. Not having your ship together isn’t necessarily the result of bad writing, hurt the gays or any other malicious theory. Sometimes in the real world of adults, even if people love each other it doesn’t always work out.

There are a lot of assumptions which underline a lot of the angst and freaking out that people are doing. And I think a lot of these assumptions are wrong or being given more importance than they may deserve.

1. Alex at the Airstream

There was a good chance that Alex was ALWAYS going to be left waiting at the Airstream. Why? Because Max DIED!!!!!

Michael said he would meet Alex the next day to talk. He never specified a time. After his talk with Isobel, post discovery of Rosa he goes to Maria. Personally, I think he should’ve gone to Alex first but in light of his discussion with Isobel it makes a certain sense.

Michael is only with Maria for a short time, which involves a kiss, a promise to talk and Michael playing the guitar - during which time Maria notices his healed hand (and looks unhappy about it).

But very soon after he is with Maria at the Wild Pony, Max revives Rosa and dies. Michael is going to feel that, and go straight back to the pod cave. So by the end of season one, Michael and Maria’s relationship is not much further along than a kiss (that we aware of at this stage).

Thus, no matter what happened with Maria, it’s extremely likely that Alex would’ve been either left alone waiting at the Airstream or only in the initial stages of his talk with Michael (if Michael had returned to the Airstream first) before Michael runs off to be with Isobel, Liz and Rosa to deal with a dead Max (whom they are presumably going to put into his top grade pod).

I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled some bad timing / ships in the night storyline - ie Michael went to the Airstream before going to Maria but Alex wasn’t there yet (we know he’s left at some stage as he’s changed clothes).

2. Michael and Maria are a thing - maybe?

Consensus seems to be that Michael and Maria are now together. I think that’s a very big assumption. They haven’t had their talk and if they do I’m pretty sure that one of her first questions will be about Michael’s hand. If he continues on his quest of truth telling that means reading Maria in on aliens and I can’t see that going well for Michael, Liz or Alex as far as Maria is concerned. She will rightly be pissed (especially when she finds out about the healing thing).

Having said all that, at this stage, Michael within the space of a day has seen his mother and his brother die! Michael has died. And his hand has been healed against his wishes by someone who knew what the injury represented to Michael. He is not functioning at anything other than a base survival level. He is not capable of making rational decisions - about anything - let alone something as significant as a relationship.

And saying that Alex would punish Michael for his actions during this time (and not recognize them as the actions of a highly traumatised individual) does a disservice to both Alex (see related post by @bisexualalienblast ), and Malex’s so called “cosmic” connection. Will Alex be happy about it? Is it fair? No, but life rarely is either of those things (as Alex well knows).

And as to the validity of the Michael/Maria ship - there’s this idea that somehow because their feelings aren’t “cosmic”, that their relationship doesn’t count or isn’t as important. Which is just wrong. You can love different people different ways and it is all significant.

3. Alex has other shit to worry about

There is also the idea that characters can only be involved in one storyline at the time. That if Alex isn’t in his “cosmic” relationship with Michael then his character is somehow lesser. I think this does a great disservice to Alex as a character that he is only valid based on his relationship status.

Alex has other shit than Michael to worry about. While Michael and Maria’s coming together is interrupted by Max dying, I’m gonna put it out there that Alex’s vigil at the airstream is interrupted by Jesse Manes being in a medically induced coma and Kyle getting shot. So even if Michael/Maria never happened, maybe Malex would still have missed each other at the airstream?

4. Parallels - Echo and Malex

Another issue people have raised is that yet again the mlm/queer relationship has been ditched or betrayed or treated worse than the het ship. An often valid criticism, but an unfair one in the case of Roswell. From the very start the two main ships have paralleled each other (see this great post by @ober-affen-geil for details) and at the end of season one, the mlm/queer relationship is the least angsty one out of the two, since at least both members of Malex are still alive - unlike Echo where Max is dead.

So in conclusion, I’m looking forward to season two. While season one had its problems, I think overall it far exceeded my expectations and I really enjoyed it. I think they’ve laid some very solid character foundations on which to build and I will be there for season two.

#roswell new mexico #roswellnm #malex #michael guerin #alex manes #maria deluca

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writeforsoreeyes · 5 years

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BL LookBack - Shout Out Loud!

Welcome to BL LookBack, where I’m rereading some of the oldest BL series still on my shelves to see how well they hold up for me today!

[image description: the covers of Shout Out Loud! volumes 1 through 5. Each cover features three vertical manga panels highlighting the series’ main characters.]

story & art by Satosumi Takaguchi originally serialized 1996 - 2000 (Kadokawa Shoten) English edition: 2006 - 2007 (Tokyopop)

CW: sexual harassment/assault, age gap

Y’all, Shout Out Loud! is turning 23 this year. It is old enough to have $28,500 dollars in student debt and an underpaid office job. The series is mature in another sense too: while so much of BL revolves around students or young professionals, Shout Out Loud! is about a 30-something voice actor, his family drama with his teenaged son, and his rocky relationship with a colleague.

Shout Out Loud! was favorably reviewed by manga bloggers when it was released, which is likely how I wound up discovering it and reading it originally. While I remembered the basic setup, my memories of what actually occurred in the story were super hazy. However, I recalled it being overall sweet and fluffy.

Boy, was I wrong!

The story begins when Nakaya, a high schooler and hockey player, gets sick of living with his domineering, traditional grandmother. He shows up at his father’s apartment, asking if he can live with him from now on. Shino, a 33-year old voice actor is surprised to see Nakaya; while he knew he had a son, they’d never met. Still, being a kind-hearted and earnest person, he lets Nakaya move in and tries to bond with him.

Why exactly Shino has never met his son isn’t addressed. Shino and Nakaya’s mother (who is dead when the story begins) parted on amicable terms and they lived nearby, so it doesn’t really make sense except to increase the dramatics.

[image description: Nakaya examines Shino while he sleeps on the couch, thinking, “Man, he’s completely different from the dad I’d imagined. Look at that baby-face, for cryin’ out loud.”]

Since he has a son to care for now, Shino thinks that he better step up his career. He tells his manager that from now on he’ll take any job. That is how he winds up doing a lot of voice work for BL CDs -- and how he comes into extended contact with Tenryu, a slightly older and more popular voice actor.

Bear in mind that this story takes place in the 90s. BL, while popular, is still considered seedy, deviant even. (And a lot of the BL stories he’s recording ARE super seedy.) At first, Shino is hesitant about doing such roles. But he prides himself on being a professional, so he gives it his all -- even though he can’t really relate to the roles.

Tenryu is all too happy to help Shino relate.

[image description: While recording lines, Tenryu leans over and blows into Shini’s ear, startling a cry out of him. The staff comment that Shino’s cry fit into the recording perfectly, but Shino is flustered.]

Here’s my main issue with Shout Out Loud!: the story wants so badly for me to buy into Tenryu as a love interest. But he checks off a lot of boxes in the “yikes!” column of BL love interests. Emotionally pushy? Check. Physically domineering? Check. Condescending? Check. Zero regard for boundaries and the words “no” and “stop”? Check. Positive qualities? I have no idea. He’s good at his job? (Aside from when he’s harassing Shino at work.)

We’re supposed to believe that Tenryu knows what Shino wants better than Shino does. As readers though, with the benefit of direct insight into Shino’s thought, we know he doesn’t want Shino kissing him and touching him. He is simply too intimidated and acquiescent to stand up for himself. His feelings towards Shino inevitably begin to warm up as the story goes on, which honestly frustrated me because Tenryu hadn’t done anything really to merit Shino’s affection beyond being a broody stereotype.

Don’t get me wrong: I love brooding (fictional) men. But they’ve got to prove that they are something beyond assholes. I couldn’t help but think back to reading Gerard & Jacques last month while reading Shout Out Loud! Fumi Yoshinaga put in the work to show that Gerard had honest-to-God positive qualities; by the end of volume 2, you could understand why Jacques liked him, even if you didn’t agree with their relationship.

Satosumi Takaguchi had 5 volumes to convince me that Tenryu was at least somewhat likeable, but she never got me there. I guess I’m supposed to feel bad for him because he recently got divorced and won’t be seeing his kid much anymore? All I could think about that was, “Good for her, I’d divorce him too.”

[image description: Tenryu leans into Shino’s space and says, “I wasn’t joking [on the radio show.] I really did kiss you. I said as much, didn’t I? But you were pretty out of it. I... I got a good thirty seconds of a kiss.” Shino is taken aback.]

But enough about those guys. Let’s talk more about Nakaya.

Of the entire cast, Nakaya is the character who develops the most. He begins the story immature, thinking only of himself as teenagers tend to do. When he first discovers his father is voicing BL CDs, he’s disgusted. But he keeps listening and eventually comes to appreciate his father as a professional.

In addition to suddenly moving in with his previously-absent father, Nakaya has a lot of other drama going on in his life. From a pregnancy scare with his girlfriend Souko to his changing feelings about hockey, he navigates through a lot of teenage troubles. The biggest storyline, however, is that he finds himself unexpectedly attracted to one of the assistant hockey coaches at his club.

Akihi is a talented, 20-something player who had to give up competitive hockey due to an injury. Nakaya finds him incredibly cool but he soon comes to suspect that his admiration of Akihi might actually be attraction.

When Shino finds out about this, he freaks a bit, thinking that listening to BL CDs might’ve somehow turned Nakaya gay. Nakaya denies this, though he concedes the CDs opened his mind to the possibility. Shino’s misinformed and homophobic reaction is pretty typical for the time this manga was created, but still tiresome to read. (Not to mention kind of hypocritical since Shino has also been questioning his sexuality.)

[image description: Shino sits in seiza as Nakaya tells him, “But even if [listening to the CDs] was what made me a little curious... don’t you think it’d be normal to want to give it a try myself.” He thinks of Akihi skating and continues, “Akihi is amazing at ice hockey. And he’s really cool.”]

Akihi is well aware that Nakaya is attracted to him, but wary. As he explains to Shino, Nakaya is young and has never been interested in a guy before -- his feelings could be fickle. Akihi, on the other hand, is older and actually states aloud that he is gay (pretty uncommon for BL manga of the time.) He doesn’t want to get emotionally invested only for Nakaya to change his mind. Of course, he ends up getting invested anyway.

The age gap between Nakaya and Akihi is handled somewhat well. While Akihi is a coach, he’s not in charge of Nakaya’s team, so the power imbalance isn’t as bad as it could be. It also helps that Nakaya does more of the pursuing and that Akihi isn’t his first sexual partner. But the age gap will still undoubtedly be an issue for some readers.

Ultimately, I didn’t find myself rooting for either the Shino/Tenryu relationship or the Nakaya/Akihi relationship. They both fell prey to the same sort of “Once we get started, I won’t be able to stop” nonsense and other such emotionally manipulative, rape-y bullshit. Nakaya/Akihi wasn’t as bad about it as Shino/Tenryu, but I wasn’t invested enough with Akihi as a character to care much of their relationship.

The relationship that’s at the heart of Shout Out Loud! -- and the strongest aspect of the story -- is the odd bond between Shino and Nakaya. They are father and son and both of them would like to be close. But Shino has no idea how to be a father to Nakaya and Nakaya has no idea how to be a son to Shino. As a result, they both mean well, but they also both mess up a lot. It’s awkward and sometimes painful and the most “real” part of the series.

[image description: Shino checks out Nakaya’s baby photos in an album, commenting on what a cute baby he was. Nakaya is contemplative and tells him, “I totally forgot all this while... you know, how maybe... having your son show up out of the blue must’ve been a real nuisance. I just thought that and... I’m sorry.”]

To give credit where it’s due, it’s nice to read a BL with fleshed out relationships besides the romantic ones. Likewise, it’s also nice to read a BL with a heavy focus on the characters’ careers. Some of the most interesting parts were when Shino and the other voice actors were recording. (And the mash-up of Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Romance of the Three Kingdoms that they were working on was funny.) However, those elements weren’t enough to keep the series afloat for me.

In short, Shout Out Loud! doesn’t hold up for me at all anymore. I’m honestly confused about what I liked about it in the first place.

*final verdict: I’d only recommend this if you are interested in checking out older BL titles that are somewhat lengthy.

#shout out loud #satosumi takaguchi #bl lookback #shout out loud!

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aroaceways · 7 years

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The Affects of Ace-Erasure - Is Riverdale Worth It?

In 2016, after 75 years of the Archie Comics up and running, one of its main characters, Jughead Jones, was officially labeled as asexual. In 2017, the CW's adaptation decided to not have him be ace on their new show Riverdale. Many fans are now rightfully upset and refuse to watch the show. In order to evaluate whether all hope is lost or not, I have decided to give the show a chance and write about Jughead's character development after each episode. So if you don't want to watch the show, but are kind of curious about any updates on his sexuality or whatnot, this will be your resource. Still got questions after reading what's written under the cut? Just send an ask and I'll give it my best to provide you with answers.

For 2017, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa had decided to turn the characters of the long-time popular Archie Comics into a drama show for the CW. Despite not having a coherent storyline, the Archie Comics are overall humorously focusing on the lives of its teenaged characters – since 1941! In Riverdale, the mood is different, though. A murder, drama and dark lighting make up for a much more serious and sinister setting than before. Much like any other TV drama, most of the characters' storylines are about relationships. The pilot episode that aired a few days ago already gave us that much, with plenty of critique in response.

The first two problematic parts that occurred in the first episode, made me feel like I traveled back in time to 2012 – which is not a good thing. Having to show fire to get them both into the cheerleader squad, Veronica makes out with Betty, a scene already included in the trailer. Many fans have been interested in their relationship, however, according to the show's creator, nothing will come out of this kiss anyway (so why include it?). The other thing that made me feel like it was the year the world was supposed to end, was Kevin Keller. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for every queer representation in the media, but his role seemed to be solely based on the gay best friend trope – being in Betty's room while she's only in her underwear and encouraging her to make a move on Archie and literally being asked by Veronica to be her gay best friend. Again: why? But it was only episode one, so let's remain hopeful that there will be more to him than just that.

Something awfully wrong with the first episode that certainly wasn't a part of the Archie Comics in the entire 75 years of them thus far, is the newly introduced relationship between Archie and Miss Grundy. Originally, Miss Grundy is an old teacher, not a freshly graduated one. Archie, just like in the comics, is a teenager, nonetheless. This is nothing other than pedophilia and unnecessary.

Queerbaiting, overused stereotypes, and pedophilia – can it be worse?

Yes.

While for some reason they decided that the classical love triangle between Veronica, Betty, and Archie wasn't enough and so they threw in Miss Grundy as well, they also decided that a drama show wouldn't be a good drama show, if not every single character had relationships. Including the canonically asexual one.

Archie Comics lover, Jughead fans and people from Asexual and Aromantic Community are annoyed, frustrated and, well, all sorts of other negative emotions. Jughead Jones was revealed Asexual in Chip Zdarsky's 2015 version of Jughead Jones. That, however, didn't come as a surprise, because the character has always been uninterested in girls and a bit too interested in food for his wallet. The creator of Riverdale has, unfortunately, already declared (and shown in the trailer) that Jughead will have relationships and will only maybe be asexual in a later season.

According to him, they tread Riverdale as an origin story and want characters to develop until they catch up to the 75 years of Archie Comics. As mentioned before, Jughead was never a character that was interested in anything relating to sex or romance but wasn't label as asexual or aromantic due to the awareness being even worse back in the 40s than it is now. Representation hasn't improved too much, though, which is why fans were hoping that it would be given now. By giving fans hope for a discovery storyline for Jughead and his sexuality, we are given yet another form of queerbaiting. “Support our show and maybe as a reward you'll get your asexual Jughead.” Thanks?!

While so many have already focused on exactly these negative aspects of not starting Riverdale with an openly ace Jughead, is there anything positive about this ace- and aro-erasure?

Whether or not Jughead will come out in the CW's Riverdale is still in question, true, but let's say he will have a journey of discovering his sexual and romantic attraction – or rather the lack of those – chances are, of course, that that would be poorly written, but anyhow, in a way it would place a bigger emphasis on the topic than if he was just briefly mentioned as asexual. Any form of realization would mean that he thinks about it and eventually will come out to someone and even a minor plot role would be interesting, especially as it would give a new perspective on the so far very self-aware and confident character. Again, first having to discover his sexuality, with us as a witness, could easily be cringy, but even in the Zdarsky's version, he must have realized it and come out to someone at some point, which might have been just as bad; we just didn't get to see that.

Of course, what was just mentioned is based purely on the hope that Jughead will be openly asexual (and maybe also aromantic) sooner or later, but isn't there anything positive coming from this that is actually reality right here, right now?

Yes.

From the moment it was announced that Jughead was not going to be asexual in the beginning of the show, and possibly not ever changing that, and even more, once the pilot aired, articles talking about this new adaptation all mention exactly this problematic. Cole Sprouse, the actor portraying Jughead in the show, has been asked about the asexuality of his character in most interviews, people on Twitter and Tumblr post more and more about this – spreading awareness of asexuality, aromanticism, the erasure of both as well as the lack of representation in the media. Articles reviewing the first episode had countless aspects to mention, yet plenty of them decided to criticize the show's decision to change his sexuality, thus also educating others on it.

Because they decided to announce that Jughead was going to have relationships, at least at the beginning of the series, it wasn't just people from the ace community that complained: long-term fans have been outraged by their beloved Jughead, known for caring about burgers like others care about relationships, whom they can't picture as being straight.

Again, the first of these two positive points is only a wishful thinking that may or may not come true in the future, but the second point is important to remember to be able to continue this exact wishful thinking. Either way, fans are fighting for the proper Jughead and will not give up.

Not feeling hopeful? Here's a quote from the Wikipedia page of the Jughead Jones character to end this article with: “For a while, Debbie and Joani formed Jughead's own love triangle, but fans did not like it, so both girls disappeared and Jughead reverted to his classic independent lifestyle.”

#jughead #riverdale #cw #aroacejugheadorbust #media #representation #ace #aro #article #review #jughead jones #cole sprouse #asexuality #asexual #aromantic

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audresparza · 7 years

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okay... so like i am so bothered by people who are immediately out here trying to make sure no one is happy. i get the warnings about sanvers and lena and stuff but how about you either don’t, or you word them better. involves a little kara/endgame relationship talk at the end.

yes, we were burnt to hell in 2016 with lgbtq+ rep dying left and right (especially lesbians) but that doesn’t mean sanvers can’t be the difference. lexa isn’t the pinnacle of what happens to lesbians on tv. she is the norm. the 100 doesn’t have a monopoly on q*eer death, sure but they also shouldn’t be used as a reason to not like something. because that’s what these posts do. they scare off people from this ship because they end up with no hope for them.

and what if you’re wrong? i know what you’re thinking, but what if i’m right? sure but what if you are wrong?

you’ve scared these people off from loving this relationship that has just barely begun on a show that doesn’t kill of main characters willy nilly because that isn’t this show. arrow does, sure. legends has, sure. flash? kinda. not really though. no one unexpected. it’s not the norm on the cw dctv. and all three of those shows are actually a whole lot darker in content than supergirl is. which i believe is slightly misguided since supergirl has lost the most and has the literal weight of worlds on her shoulders. but that’s not the point here.

the point is, these posts don’t make me feel comfortable as a 20 year old who dealt with the death of most of my favourite gay characters last year (which was a HELL of a lot more than just lexa or root) and i am here, shipping sanvers and loving them and hoping that they last. you don’t have to trust the writers etc. i’m not ever going to suggest that because god knows they’re terrible but hope. because without hope, what is there?

and the lena thing. you are out here constantly saying she’ll be evil and sure, that is a likely thing to happen. but you don’t have to belittle the people who love her because of it. they can still love her and root for her and hope that it doesn’t happen. yeah, they may be sad when it does but they have valid points when it comes to lena. i’m not the biggest fan, honestly. i don’t hate her but i could live without her. but there are people in this fandom who have gotten attached. and their points, such as making her evil is easy and that it’s a cop out etc, are right. they’re not deluded into thinking that the writers are going to listen to them or tell a different story. that’s just what they want, a different, a better, story. one that doesn’t make the woman the villain despite constantly proving otherwise out of some guilty sense of familial duty. or making her evil because of her name. that is the super-luthor relationship since the beginning but it doesn’t have to be the norm. just like sanvers having a tragic ending doesn’t have to fall into the norm either.

and one more point about kara/mon-el... this is season 2. name one endgame love interest that got with the main protagonist of a show in the second season which either 1) wasn’t ending after that season or 2) lasted longer than a third season? can you? because i can’t seem to think of one. in smallville, lois and clarke met in season 4 and didn’t even properly kiss until season 9. in the flash, barry and iris did get together in season 3 but that’s still a season ahead of where supergirl is at and that relationship was known from the very beginning. it is written and it is the relationship that was built up and up and up during seasons 1-2 and into 3 before they got together. it was bound to happen. and sure, you can argue that kara and mon-el may have had a thing in the comics but we all know what happened to mon-el there. i’m just saying, an endgame love story doesn’t happen to the main protagonist of a show (and kara is the titular character i mean...) and sure, other characters can get with endgame love interests (and i will fight to the ends of the earth for sanvers endgame) but it just isn’t good story telling and the writers at least should know that. i’m not putting all my faith in them that they won’t keep him in season 3 but like, it isn’t endgame. it can’t be. it makes no sense. this shit just doesn’t happen.

anyway, negativity posts about supergirl are all good and well but let people fucking live. let them hope and be happy and don’t squash it because you’re bitter. i’m fucking bitter about too much but i want to be happy. let us god damn people be happy.

#Text #i just got really pissed off #i'm Tired of all the negativity #i mean i get it i do 100% but i just don't think it's needed #about these things specifically #other things? go the fuck off #hate the show and the shit it's doing and the cast members all that #but don't put your own feelings into a post that could make people feel scared #even more than they are about the characters they adore and have imprinted upon #and relationships that currently represent them and who they are and is making them happy right now #and sure it might end badly but isn't it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all #wait... what is that from #i'm sorry i'm just... ugh #i ramble a lot #long post #it's the smell of almost 1am in the morning #i'm supposed to be ignoring supergirl and watching tomorrow but here i am at 1am... awake

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