#but like dude the creators in the comics and korra like go even more into the japanese influence and clearly it was the original intentions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

androgynousblackbox · 2 years

Note

at this point i think a lot of people are just amazed that atla told a competent story in structure, themes, and characters. whenever ppl praise avatar, it feels like they're saying they like it despite it being a kids show. it comes across as ppl saying it's amazing this kids show is well-written. but as much as i liked the show growing up, i admit it oversimplifies and waters down a lot of complexities of war and human behavior. i wouldn't compare it to things about war written for adults tbh. but my largest critique of atla would have to be zuko's character arc because in a story that embraces confucian and taoist models (like how the spirits are neither good nor evil, life being cyclical and intertwined), zuko's redemption arc feels very christian and out of place--until the end when they refuse to give ozai any depth. like he's just evil for the sake of being evil, which works well for the story they're telling, but like the last anon said, in the iliad one of the main points is that there is no right or wrong side or heroes vs villains. they're all human and they're all the same. even fan faves like iroh didn't strongly oppose the war until his son died, so it directly affected him. they couldn't gone into depth about what makes ozai and iroh differnt, if they're any different at all, but it's a kid show, so it's to be expected. i wouldn't compare avatar to anything like that as much as i love it. i also wish more adults would understand that there's more to art outside of children's cartoons.

You just remind me to this very good video from Melina Pendulum about this very subject. She doesn't go much into depth but basically she does talk about how little things reveal that yeah, this is a show that was written by two white guys despite how much eastern influence there is and was primarly intended for kids. There's also this comment that was below that seems very pertinent:

As someone who is Korean and grew up in a country that was heavily impacted by Japanese Imperialism, atla has always hit closer in terms of content, especially in the way that the fire nation was represented as an East Asian race. The way that the fire nation was able to get away with minimal reparations actually rings closer to the way that Japan has still yet to give proper reparations of their war crimes to Korea and many other countries and the fact that the WHITE creators allowed this sort of apologist narrative to exist also rings like a meta for how the US helped the Japanese government cover up their wrongdoings in exchange for money. Not sure if this made any sense but I wanted to share a bit of how I saw the situation. Also, like, just in general and as someone that is not as knowledgeable on these subjects, the way the creators treated Ozay in general was kind of a fucking mess that even extended to Korra. When I tell you I just fucking burst out laughing when in one of the comics it was revealed that Ozay had forbidden same gender marriage and Korra makes an angry comment about it, like... the dude was a genocider abusive asshole. Why are we needing to ALSO include homophobia to the mix as if everything else wasn't enough? Like he is not just evil, he is the board of evil in which we can just slap more evilness whenever we feel like it. Ozay probably hated puppies too.

16 notes · View notes

joracalltrise · 4 years

Text

I’ve fallen in love with the 7th season of the Clone Wars, but in the same time this season… disappointed me so much. Do you, guys, feel the same? Or are you fully satisfied?

I warn you, that I’m going to more or less skip the good things and get to the bad things – not because I’m a complaining person, but because I believe a lot of people have already listed all positives about the last episode and season 7 in general (especially <url> www.gffa.tumblr.com </url> – dude, I really love your blog!), so me talking about the things I had loved in the latest season, would be… repeating what other people have already said.

I think we all (or most of us) agree, that the 7th Season was totally amazing, if not THE BEST season of the Clone Wars. We got that clear? Okay, now let’s get to the “buts”.

1. Not enough episodes

I’ll sound a bit whiny here, but… I really don’t get it, why couldn’t we get full 20 episodes for the Final Season of the Clone Wars. Or even more than 20. Maybe there are people in Disney, who are smarter than me, and they know the answer to that question, but STILL… if Star Wars is such a good brand, why not making more of the Clone Wars?

Of course, there are also advantages of producing only 12 episodes.

The whole season feels more like a movie than a TV series. Or, rather – like three movies. Instead of “small stories” we were given three solid Arcs, which are very smoothly connected to each other. That’s a good thing. It’s not the same case as “the Legend of Korra”, where 12 episodes would give us a feeling of an enormous pacing.

BUT. Because I was given only 12 episodes, I got to miss some of my favorite characters.

2. Lack of some important characters

We didn’t see Dooku in the last season the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Grievous in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Ventress in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We BARELY saw Obi-Wan (sniff! sniff!) – poor guy got some bigger scenes only in “Good friends not forgotten” and “Phantom Apprentice”. And some short (but really good) lines in “An unfinished business”.

Padme got ONE scene (one that confirms, that Anakin is, in fact, blind, since he didn’t comment on her baby bump).

Now, someone would roll their eyes and say – yeeeeaaaah, but Dooku, Grievous, Obi-Wan and Padme got PLENTY of TV time in the Revenge of the Sith, duh! If you want more of them, just watch RoTs, again. Okay, I agree, but… that was the whole point of me watching the Clone Wars. I liked it so much, because prequel trilogy was not enough for me. I wanted MORE of my favorite characters. What’s wrong with that?

And what about Ventress? She was supposed to have such a great Arc with Quinlan Vos!

Than brings us to the next case…

3. Abandoned and Non-existing Arcs

Utapau Arc… oh, I’m NEVER gonna forgive them for Utapau Arc!

I believe it was actually the best Arc in the Clone Wars. I’ve watched those unfinished episodes sooo many times, and they have brought me more joy than ANY full-fledged episodes. So many good moments in those episodes!

So much of Obi-Wan and Anakin dynamics (I’m sorry, Ahsoka fans, but no matter how much Felloni and Co will try to persuade me otherwise, OBI-WAN is a Jedi who has the closest relationship with Anakin, NOT Ahsoka. Quarrel, if you like, but that’s how I feel, sorry).

Anakin interacting with animals (outrageous, cute and absolutely beautiful).

Anakin’s great plan “ups, I’ve fallen asleep… ah, no, it was my plan from the beginning!”

Scorpion creature playing with Anakin’s lightsaber, and Anakin killing the creature “by accident”.

And FINALLY two best moments:

“Awww, got yourself captured again, Old Man?” (I’ll NEVER get tired of Anakin calling Obi-Wan “old man”, okay?”

And Obi-Wan merrily waving to Grievous, when he and Anakin escape with the cristal.

Ventress and Quinlan Arc – even if they didn’t follow a comic, they could have made an amazing Arc out of this.

Small Padme Arc? Like… how she was dealing with her pregnancy, while working for the Senate? Anything? Pretty please?

Some Arc involving Ayala Secura or Kit Fisto or Ki Adi Mundi or Plo Koon – just to say goodbye to those characters before Order 66? By the way, it’s kind of weird, Ahsoka didn’t think or talk about Plo Koon even a little bit, during the WHOLE season. That’s the disadvantage of having only 12 episodes, yup!

The last Padawan Arc aka Caleb Dume turning into Kanan Jarrus Arc aka One of my biggest disappointments for the last season. Why… WHY they didn’t do it?! The trailer gave me soooo muuuch hope! I really, REALLY wanted to see Kanan interacting with Depa and the Clones. Yes, I know, comics and stuff, but comics is not TV, and I love watching my favorite characters with nice soundtrack and great voice actors and everything. R.I.P. my expectations for Caleb Dume’s Arc in Clone Wars… sniff sniff!

Of course, there’s more, but those are the ones that come to my mind firsts.

4. Ahsoka’s character in this last season

Now, let’s talk about the character who got the most of the TV time in the whole season (if not the whole series).

Ahsoka’s greatest fans will probably get angry at me, but I’m still gonna say this. Not because I dislike Ahsoka, because I DO like her, and I think she’s an amazing character. Actually, before I start throwing my “accusations”, I’ll say some nice things about Ahsoka, so that you know I’m not trying to be mean here.

What Ahsoka did in the 7th season, can be mostly explained by her young age. She’s clearly at the rebel stage, she’s got through some really awful experiences (getting accused of treason, when you’re INNOCENT can really leave someone pretty shaken up, I think we all agree), and before Martez Sisters Arc for the first time in her life she was really, really ALONE.

Also, we all know that Ahsoka will be more mature in Rebels. It kind of makes sense, that you need to become an angry and proud teenager first, before you become an experienced and charismatic leader.

BUT, even knowing that, I’m really annoyed at Ahsoka after the last season. I’ve liked her during all 5 seasons of the Clone Wars, she was one of my favorite characters, but after season 7, she really got on my nerves. And honestly? I’m starting to think, it wasn’t even her fault. Maybe it was just the Clone Wars creators turning her into to some sort of… agenda? Using her to prove something? About the whole Jedi Order, maybe? Or about Anakin?

But, anyway, to the point…

Ahsoka’s actions in season 7 basically resulted in three groups of fans.

Group Number One (that’s NOT me) – people who started to think Ahsoka is some sort of saint, the only good (ex) Jedi in the rotten Order, the very best person, and oh, if only other Jedi could act like her, then maybe nothing bad will happen. And, oh, Obi-Wan and the rest Council sitters could REALLY learn from this amazing woman!

Group Number Two (that’s me) – people rising an eyebrow to Ahsoka’s behavior and being slightly annoyed at her.

Group Number Three (I don’t know who’s there, but there are some people) – people hating Ahsoka, getting really angry at her for acting the way she acted, and also blaming her for not using her knowledge about Sidious wanting to make Anakin his apprentice.

Who’s right? Maybe no one? Maybe partly everyone? I don’t know, so I’ll just proceed to explain my own subjective point of view.

I’ve already said some things about Ahsoka in this post:

<url> https://joracalltrise.tumblr.com/post/615743227991031809/ahsoka-versus-obi-wan-where-did-that-even-come </url>

I’m going to say more, but it’ll be much shorter.

What I disliked about Ahsoka most in the latest season was the fact, that she wanted to have a cookie and eat the cookie and she started to lecture people smarter and more experienced than her how to do their job.

Let’s start with the first one, by looking into Ahsoka’s particular words and actions. So…

She doesn’t want to be a Jedi, but she wants Republic to support her actions (siege of Mandalore) and let her participate in important Jedi-only discussions (Mace Windu talk). Kind of like some Brexit supporters, don’t you think? “Let’s leave the EU, but let’s keep all the privileges of the country belonging to the EU, because we are so smart, we deserve it and that’s it”. Oh, come on! You either leave of not – make up your mind, Ahsoka (Britain could, so why can’t you?).

She wants Anakin and Obi-Wan to help her but she doesn’t want to ASK them nicely and try a little bit to act like a person asking for help. She just expects them to agree, because they… what? Owe her? Owe her WHAT? Not supporting her ENOUGH, when she was accused (let me remind you: Obi-Wan sided with Ahsoka during Council meeting, and Anakin was litteraly running around Coruscant to prove his Padawan’s innocence)?

Her being angry about Anakin and Obi-Wan choosing Coruscant over Mandalore – I’m not even commenting that, because I’m tired of talking about it. But I’ll add just one more thing here – did it occur to anyone that Trace and Rafa are still on Coruscant, when Coruscant is attacked? What a great friendship you have formed, Ahsoka! Not even a single worry about whether or not your new friends will be in danger? But wait, they don’t need you, cause people in Mandalore need you more. Cool (sorry about the sarcasm, guys, but I couldn’t resist).

And now, the second thing.

If you want to change some huge organization, especially one like a Jedi Order, the best way to do it, is from the inside. Qui-Gon Jinn was like no other Jedi, and he was probably tempted to leave, but he chose to stay, and his presence benefited the Order in many many ways! He didn’t really change the Jedi – died before he could – but there was a chance. Perhaps Anakin could have changed the Jedi, had he not turned to the dark side? I think he would! Maybe, if he would mature even more (although, in Clone Wars he matured A LOT – look at the “Old friends not forgotten” episode) and join the Council a bit later, when the time was right… just imagine it! The Jedi Code hasn’t ALWAYS forbidden marriages and love. The Order could have come back to its old ways. Good thing, stuff like fanfiction exists ;)

But anyway, coming back to Ahsoka. If you LEAVE an organization, and then you start lecturing its members about morality and choices, it’s kind of obvious, they won’t take you seriously. And yeah, I fully support Obi-Wan’s statement “but Ahsoka is no longer a part of the Republic Military”, and I totally agree with Mace calling her “a citizen”. It’s all about Ahsoka wanting to keep and wanting to eat at the same time. What she wanted in the final season, basically, is doing all the good things she remember doing in the Order (helping people selflessly, supporting friends), but without having to deal with difficult (but necessary) things (like making difficult choices and dealing with consequences, duty versus emotion, all of this so called “playing politics”, etcetera). It’s like wanting to have a pet, but leaving all the problems – going to the vet, curing the animal, when it’s sick, maybe even making the decision of “putting a friend to a sleep” to keep it from suffering – to somebody else. Do you get, what I mean?

And before I leave the poor girl alone, I have one more thing to add.

I don’t like making Ahsoka “another Rey”.

Strong female characters are very much needed in the popculture. I’m a girl too, so I understand. But, for Force’s sake, don’t upgrade somebody’s skills ex-machina!

Okay, fine, they’ve made Rey a Force prodigy because she’s *********’s granddaughter and apparently she was already good in martial arts before she has left Jakku. Some people like that. I don’t. I prefer an actual skill development instead of sudden skills upgrage.

But Ahsoka didn’t held a lightsaber for a long time, and first time she grabs her new pair, she becomes a one person machine. I wouldn’t say it makes me particularly upset, because it was nice to watch. But it DID disturbed me. And I couldn’t help the feeling, that canon was a bit shifted to match Ashoka fan’s expectations.

The canon got me used to the fact, that Star Wars strongest prequel fighters were Yoda, Palpie, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace, Dooku and Maul. I might have forgotten someone, but you get my point, right? Experienced and adult fighters, whose skills are logical and earned. Actually, I think that Ahsoka from Rebels fits that group as well.

I repeat it – Ahsoka FROM REBELS!

In Rebels she’s an adult and she’s got plenty of time to hone both her Force and lightsaber skills.

I’m not saying, I’m hating her fighting like a pro with Mandalorians and Maul. I repeat it - It WAS nice to watch. I’m just not buying it.

Like I’m not buying some other things.

5. Lack of logic (especially in Martez Arc)

It’s not a big fault, actually. We get plenty of those in pop culture shows. It gives us a lot of room for “How It Should Have Ended” videos ;)

But, seeeriiouslyyy…

Ahsoka using the Force right and left in the Martez Arc, while Rafa and Trace don’t notice A THING… are they deaf and blind, or something?

Is Anakin blind as well? Does he REALLY not notice Padme’s baby bump? Was he too busy’s with his wife’s beautiful eyes, or what?

And – AGAIN! – Ahsoka grabing Maul’s ship with the Force. Since when grabing a (MOVING) ship with the Force became a canonical skill of anyone other than Yoda (or maybe Palpatine)? No, wait, even Palpie and Yoda didn’t grab a MOVIG ship. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan couldn’t Force grab Dooku’s ship, when he was escaping Naboo? There were TWO of them, for Force’s sake, and one of them was the Forcedamn Chosen One! Why couldn’t they? Oh, wait, I know! Because it was BEFORE “The Rise of Skywalker”. In THAT movie Forcegrabing the ships became a canonical skill, especially for prodigical women loved by the audience (again – sorry about the sarcasm, guys). As a woman who used to train martial arts for YEARS, I’d like female protagonists to actually LEARN their super skills, before they use them. Okay?

But, well, Star Wars suddenly canonizing new amazing skills after years is a material for a different article.

And, like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. The Clone Wars were still amazing and enjoyable to watch – especially the newest season.

Besides, well, I can’t get what I want all the time, right? Felloni and Co had to CHOOSE, whom they want to make happiest, and they’ve chosen Ahsoka’s fans. I don’t blame them. Maybe they’ll choose my preferences next ;) One can always hope, right?

Conclusions?

Yeah, I think that’s all I have to say about the newest season. And I repeat – once again – that in spite all this complaining, I really loved that season. And I loved reading about other people’s opinions about it. May the Force be with us all!

Thank you for reading this long, looong post!

If anyone’s up to the discussion, feel free to contact me.

6 notes · View notes

flying-elliska · 5 years

Note

What are the important bisexual characters that you said helped you? I am having a hard time finding good bi representation in which they aren’t considered promiscuous or unstable

Hiya anon ! What a quality question, thank you ! Here’s another mini essay about bi rep lmao. If there are some that I forgot please tell me ! And to everyone, tell me about the bi characters who made an impact on your life, I’d love to know !!!!

Okay so.

- When I answered the anon and talked about the characters that helped me come to terms with my sexuality, I talked about two in particular. Jack Harkness from Torchwood is depicted as very promiscuous, and somewhat instable. He still meant a lot to me because a) him sleeping around was never that much of a problem, it was because he was from the future, where things were different, which I thought was refreshing and b) his instability was because of the weight of being an immortal hero. Also fanon!Dean Winchester from SPN, as an older, more macho, emotionally witholding, badass dude written as bi meant a lot to me, but he doesn’t really avoid that stereotype either. But at least they were heroes. However, I can understand wanting bi characters that actually don’t fit that stereotype, because bi people irl aren’t all like that, even if there is nothing wrong per se about sleeping with a lot of different people, or having mental issues to struggle with. And that was a while ago and now we have more and more cool characters ! Such as :

- Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. One of the best portrayals of bisexuality on TV imho. She didn’t start out as bi, she was this tough, cool, scary but with a heart of gold cop who had a lot of other plotlines before. But then, since they saw that a lot of wlw got this vibe from her, were really into her, and the actress came out as bi herself, they decided to use this. So it was super organic, and the way they introduced the subject was true to Rosa herself ; she’s a super private person, she doesn’t like anybody knowing about her life (it’s actually a running joke and Rosa Diaz has been implied to not even be her real name). But then she is dating a woman, and struggles with her parents not understanding and her coworkers find out, help her and support her. Her gay captain is there for her in his typical stoic but hilarious way. They organize game night with her when her parents won’t anymore. We see her crushing on women and dating, but it is treated exactly as the other character’s love life, they never make a big deal out of it. She isn’t the token queer character. She says outright she is bisexual and there is a specific point about her mom not understanding it’s not a phase and thinking she’ll end up with a man anyway, which #relatable. The focus is on the team as found family. Also right now she’s dating a butch woman, which is awesome since they are so underrepresented on TV and I hope we see more of her. That show really is my comfort show, it’s still bloodly hilarious and it really transcends the format to say some really deep woke stuff too, but never in a way that feels on the nose. Everyone should watch it tbh.

- Korrasami ! Oh my god, I was so blown away when they got together. They’re two characters from the animated series Legend of Korra, they start out as rivals in love who have feelings for the same guy, but as they have to fight baddies together, they become bestest of friends, and both fall out of love with the guy. Then in season 3 and 4, their relationship becomes central to the show, as Asami stands by Korra through some really tough shit. Also, they’re both ultra badass and fight really well together. A lot of fans started reading their chemistry as romantic, but we’d never thought they’d actually go there. But the show ends with them walking into the ‘sunset’ (well, the spirit lands) together, holding hands. Now, it was never completely explicit on the show BUT they were dealing with a lot of censure from the networks and you have to be willingly obtuse not to read it as romantic. And after that the creators drew them on dates, and there is a comic series in which they are shown kissing, talking about their feelings, introducing each other to their families, etc. It made me feel so validated when it happened, and I just adore the whole ‘love triangle ditches the middle one and fall in gay love with each other’ trope. (is it a trope yet ? it should be.) It’s still a kids show at its core, but it has amazing depth and deals with some very deep shit. Korra starts off as a bit annoying but she has a really cool development, she’s a girl character we need more of - brave, dynamic but also brash and reckless and action driven in ways that are almost always exclusively shown for boys. And Asami is a more typical girly girl but she’s also a brilliant engineer and has a spine of steel and she’s also very slyly funny. They’re amazing. And the comics are super cute.

- Now there are a lot of characters who are bi/pan that I love, and are good characters in themselves, but their arcs do intersect in some ways with promiscuity and mental instability. I’m thinking about Even from Skam and all his remake variants, Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters, several characters from Black Sails, Sarah Lance and Constantine from Legends of Tomorrow, Eleanor Shellstrop from the Good Place, Bo from Lost Girl, Ilana from Broad City, Joe McMillan from Halt and Catch Fire, God/Chuck from Supernatural (lmaooooo), several characters on Penny Dreadful, or in a totally different category, Vilanelle from Killing Eve or Hannibal from the series (who are hella bad guys but it’s never linked to their sexuality, and are also incredibly compelling to watch.)

And even though these characters taken individually, I would argue, are good rep because they’re complex and layered and interesting and never one-dimensional (and watching them feels incredibly empowering at times)....it’s still a trend. I feel like when writing a character that is attracted to multiple genders, there is always this sort of...tangle of tropes that writers default to, unconsciously. Some negative and some positive. It used to be this trope of bis being villainous, instable, jealous, flaky, immature, perverted, manipulative, cheaters, amoral, greey, etc...and then it evolved into something of a reclaiming and subverting this trope. So now you feel like the Bi Character kind of has to be badass, glamorous, seductive, often superpowered or extraordinary in other ways.. And they also for multiple reasons (they’re immortal, they’re sensitive artist souls, they’re from the future, they’re psycho, they’re exccentric comic relief, they’re daring adventurers and pioneers) don’t care about social norms which allows them to sleep and fall in love with whomever. And so they tend to have those super busy romantic/sexual histories and very troubled backstories. In the past it was a bad thing, now it’s often presented as this positive, enlightened or at least fun and badass thing. They’re heroic, with big hearts, a tremendous lust for life and a cool rebellious attitude. They’re complex, dramatic, tortured. Which can be super cool, too.

But it would be nice to have more ‘normal’ bi characters. I mean, boring bisexuals need to see themselves represented too ! Our sexualities don’t give us super powers. At the same time, it is true that bisexual ppl have higher rates of mental illness, which deserves to be explored, but it would be nice if it was actually articulated and not just part of this trope. But still. We need rep, I think, that is more grounded and varied. So I think that’s also why I read a lot of fanfic. (I was really into the idea of bi Steve Rogers for a long time, partly also because he’s both very mentally resilient, kinda boring in a good way, and very unexperienced in terms of sex/romance, which is pretty much the opposite of the trope)

- I think books, and YA in general, are a good place to find these ‘normal bis’ characters. I’m thinking in particular of Leah from Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (from the same book series that gave us the ‘Love, Simon’ movie) which is a super sweet coming of age/romance story about a super normal teenager who just happens to be also into girls (esp her best friend) and is loud and funny and very lovable and has zero doubts about being bi. You also have Adam Parrish from the Raven Cycle, another one of my forever faves ; he has an abusive family so PTSD from that but it never feels tropey, and it’s completely detached from his sexuality. He has magic powers, too. But his character feels completely opposite to the trope. He’s hardworking, somewhat withholding, prickly (and sometimes awkward), ambitious, determined, down to earth, and has a beautiful love story with another boy. And also Jane, from Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore, also really cool ; she’s a nerdy, smart girl who is actually inspired by Jane Eyre who has cool adventures in a weird house where we can follow her on different paths depending on the choices she makes, several of which are love stories. And finally the main character from The Seven Husbands from Evelyn Hugo, kinda fits the trope yeahhh since she’s a super glam actress who well, has seven husbands but it’s a pretty clever deconstruction since it turns out (slight spoilers) that Evelyn is actually through most of her life faithful in heart to the same person and the rest is mostly out of necessity, and her story feels very real and raw and down to earth.

- I don’t go there yet but I really want to check out Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Schitt’s Creek which I have read have very good bi rep. And I want to catch up on Orphan Black (Cosima and Delphine both don’t have exact labels but they’re multi-gender attracted and they’re this cool couple of scientists in a relationship that gets a happy ending). I will never forgive what they did to Lexa so I stopped watching but I do think that Clarke Griffin from The 100 is very good bi rep. Alexia from Skam France, meanwhile, is a bit of a boundary case for me because, even though she’s presented as the ‘weird one’ from the group, very colorful and liberated and exccentric, she’s still a very normal teen who’s happy and comfortable in her own skin, which is awesome.

- Disclaimer, I included characters in here that are also pan/omnisexual or don’t have a label but are attracted to several genders, for the purpose of this discussion i don’t think the difference is all that relevant at least to me (i mostly identify as bi for the sake of simplicity but tbh i could also fit under pan so i feel represented by all those characters). But I understand the importance of characters that state their identities more clearly and with pride.

- So in conclusion : there is nothing wrong with having a sexually active life or struggling mentally (even tho that one is not fun). And I do love all my badass casanova time travelling super powered bis.

But we need more bi characters that don’t fit that trope. We need bi characters in children’s shows, or that don’t have more than one relationship, or that don’t have a relationship at all, to break the tendency to always show bisexual ppl as overly sexual. We need bi characters in committed relationships to break this idea that bi characters are bound to cheat or can’t be satisified with only one person. We need bi characters that are mentally stable and successful and happy, to show that it’s possible. We need bi characters that are boring, bookish, nerdy, ordinary, clumsy, not particularly seductive, socially awkward, rule-sticklers, etc...to show that bi people are not all party animals, or doing it for attention, or to be wild, rebellious and socially progressive. It’s just a sexuality, it doesn’t say anything about your personality. Even though there are some correlations with MI or being bi might bring you in contact with more progressive ideas and to see life a bit differently, there is nothing automatic about it.

- In conclusion, reading testimonies from real people also helped me a lot. It’s a very dated but I got the book “ Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out “ when I was struggling with my own sexuality and it helped a lot, to read that even back then (1991) you had all sorts of regular ppl claiming to be bi and that it was not a phase or a fad or whatever.

#bisexuality #bi rep #media representation #bi pride #lgbt #bi characters

15 notes · View notes

ellipsismark · 6 years

Text

My Problem With: Legend of Korra

My honest opinion on Legend of Korra is that it's crap in general.

The original Last Airbender is some of the best stuff I've ever watched. It has nothing but greatness in it and because of that I was super hyped for Legend of Korra. Unfortunately Legend of Korra turned out to be kinda bad and almost no one would disagree. Almost.

There's all kinds of stuff in legend of Korra that just didn't sit right with me. Like how bending was something pasted on in genetic rather that a trained skill as the original implied and stupid ass 'power plant' where fire benders shot lighting(you know, that thing that was super hard to do in the original to the point that less than 5 people were confirmed to be able to do, and now 12 random dudes just do for I assume 8 hours at a time) into metal plates and it just somehow powered the whole city, which not how electricity works at all, when they could have fire benders bend fire on to tanks of water to make stream to turn turbines(you know, like the way actual power plant irl do it).

Ironically The Pro bending Sport was one of the thing I loved and wanted more of. I guess I'm just difficult like that.

There were dozens of things that I hated that fans loved, but there's one thing I just loath. Something that legitimately make me want to punch people, and yet is treated like Jesus Christ himself released a rap album. And that's the bullshit lesbian hint ending. Now stick with me here, this is a pro-lgbt post, which I know how that sounds but hear me out. In short, The Legend of Korra ending in which they strongly, though that's debatable(hence this very post), hinted to Korra and Asami being in a homosexual relationship, or in other words they had The Gay. Now, I have no problem with characters in my favorite works having The Gay, but allow me to put this idea forward: It wasn't enough, and to think it was enough is insulting.

Of course there's someone out there who's just jumping at the chance to contradict me, even if they don't what they're contradicting, so let me clear that up first. My problem specifically is the fact that they didn't explicitly show Korra and Asami having romance feeling for one another. Now, those same people are jumping to tell me that they did show that in the comics, and my response to that is "Yeah, and that's burn my ass even more", let me explain.

The fact that they had the Korrasami hint at the end means they wanted to test out the waters of having LGBT in their show before confirming it outright. Which means they didn't have the balls to outright defy their corporate overlords, but still wanted to have the possibility of the LGBT(which also adds the possibility they just wanted to manipulate the pro-lgbt out there to support their show), and could either confirm or deny it based on the response, and that should not be enough.

Having the inclusion of lgbt groups and other discriminated groups should not be something that is tested for the sake of profit. It should be an all-or-nothing deal, and if the creators had taken that deal and directly shown at the very least a kiss I would be out here trying to start a religion after them just for having the balls to do that. Alas, they didn't. Instead they just hinted at it and hundreds of fan girls lose their fucking minds showing that LGBT is the one thing that no one should want it to be: Sellable.

Now there's nothing wrong with a work being sold on the bases of inclusion, but that only apply when the work made on the bases of inclusion. Marketing and promoting something around the inclusion of idea or people is the focus of which the creator is building around. If a creator wanted to make something about inner city black and their relationship with gangs and gang violence is there's nothing with calling a "Black Street Drama", because you're actually trying to sell what the creator is trying to create. This all applies both to the people in charge(the advertisers and the creators themselves), and people who meerly enjoy works, aka fans. Going around telling people about the inclusive of blacks as if it's a selling is fine since the inclusive of blacks is the point of the work, but it's not okay to try and sell something on the merit of just 'having black people' when that doesn't play on anything important. Note: I'm not saying works shouldn't 'just have X kind of people'. It's prefectly fine and in fact that's what I'm arguing for.

So yeah, it's confirmed, now. They showed them kissing, now. They live happily and possibly for ever after, now. And none of that should be good enough for anyone. They should had it then. Confirmed it, then. Show it, then. Not now. Not now that it's safe. Because safe it's good enough.

-Hello Reader. Thanks for reading. If you have thoughts on this please let me know. I'm always open discussion. I’m also going to start trying to make a new “My Problem With” post every Friday. Already have a topic in mind.

#legend of korra #feminism #lgbt #inclusion #korrasami

8 notes · View notes

spiderdreamer-blog · 6 years

Text

Voltron Fandom: Please, for the love of all that is unholy, stop making jokes about “lol Lauren keeps Jeremy in her basement because she hates Klance and he keeps spoiling that it’s going to happen”

It’s not funny, it was NEVER funny, and it’s never going to BE funny for a number of different reasons.

So, here’s the thing, first of all: I usually don’t cut cis, straight creators (if we’re presuming that’s what the Voltron crew largely is outside of cast members like Bex) a ton of slack when it comes to queer representation (full disclosure: bi non-binary dude over here). I think often the dodges of “but China and Russia box office!” they have are weak and cowardly, especially when, say, they’re made by companies who have billions of dollars and can frankly afford to piss off the homophobic crowds because whatever project that might have a queer character in it is going to make more money than God either way.

HOWEVER....in children’s and all-ages media, there are occasionally some extenuating circumstances that I will allow sympathy towards. They are generally working under much stricter standards and do not have as equitable a relationship with the higher-ups as big studio filmmakers can sometimes have; on these creators’ previous show, The Legend of Korra, there have been a number of vague hints that the network did not like the show and took every chance it got to undermine it, which makes certain things like Korrasami, a genuine queer relationship (don’t @ me, there’s more in the comics and it’s really good), something of a miracle. And thus far, Lauren or JDS’ public comments on possible queer characters or relationships have fallen into the category that I generally see: “We’d like to and are having discussions about it, but we’re also not going to go back and rewrite the show to make a popular fan ship happen.” They’ve never said they HATE Klance or want people to stop shipping it because they know that’s an asshole move; they’ve been pleasantly surprised at how popular it’s become.

The second point above of “not rewriting the whole show to make a popular fan ship happen” also ties into animation production and why it’s less likely that a dramatic change happens in fan response in animation than in live action. Because live action shows take breaks and examine fan responses and, depending on what kind of show it is, often have more luxury to incorporate those or change where they were going depending on what they say. A fun example of a show being aware of its own mortality between seasons is Galavant, where the second and final season opens with a meta song about how they can’t believe this is happening, new guest stars will be very expensive for the network, throwing shade at other ABC shows, and how the audience will know hell’s freezing over if they get good ratings this time around.

Animation is VERY different. Because of how time-consuming it is, everything has to be locked in before sending off the storyboards and animatics and voice tracks to be animated by Studio Mir. Sometimes things or small lines can change in the ADR process, or there’s just enough of a lead-in that they can do fan response stuff (I think this was the case with Avatar and Korra to a degree), but given what we know about Voltron’s production timeline through comments like Neil Kaplan observing that they started recording in early 2015, a year and a half before the first season dropped, it’s likely that any fan response/shout-outs would be extremely minimal (The Voltron Show is an episode that feels more like an airing of how it can be difficult to deal with executives since Worm-Brain Coran is all about flattening the characters for mass appeal and how frustrated this makes the team sans Lance, as well as the line about how he’ll NEVER get rid of Shiro). And if there’s a romance with a large, slow-burn build-up, it’s even less likely that they’d torpedo that.

Point the third: this is not the first rodeo for the cast and crew with a very secretive show that doesn’t want spoilers to leak out. Anything that Jeremy or other cast/crew members have said that legitimately did up happening in the show has likely been approved by various production people or executives; usually, voice actors and crew members are under VERY strict non-disclosure agreements that could cause steep legal troubles if they *actually* spoiled anything they weren’t supposed to. They’re also experienced with the vague lead-arounds that fans tend to couch their questions in. Beyond even that, why do you think they would WANT to spoil their own show and ruin the experience? They’re just as much of fans of this show

And also.....why is it funny that a supposedly homophobic woman keeps a man in her basement or aims a gun at him for spoiling a ship? Like, what, specifically is funny about that joke? Anyone wish to explain it to me? Because I don’t see it.

Ultimately, you can ship what you want, and don’t misunderstand me: I would be incredibly happy to see queer relationships and characters in the show, believe me. Klance isn’t my thing personally, but there are other characters I have suspicions about; Pidge, given some moments in both the show and the comics, as well as Bex’s queer identification, strikes me as someone to potentially get a plotline along those lines. And there’s characters who arguably haven’t had any kind of romantic inclinations onscreen that could be in that direction like Shiro (before you ask: I don’t ship any of his current popular ones because of the age difference, power differentials, and Keith seeing him as a brother notably hasn’t stopped them from being very close and intimate in a different way). And while I defend various comments of Lauren or JDS about this stuff, if you think that’s not good enough, that’s your right. Knowing what I know about production things, though, generally makes me more charitable. And it just strikes me as really ugly and unfunny to cast aspersions like this on real people when, thus far, they have not done anything to deserve it.

Y’all have fun and be excellent to each other. SpiderDreamer out.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #shipping #animation production

3 notes · View notes

shydaydreamer28 · 7 years

Text

Deadpool -Pansexuality

I started not to post, since topics of sexuality, politics, race, and religion are VERY controversial. But I wanted to share my opinion on this. Anytime this aspect of Deadpool’s character is brought up, you have people argue that he’s not pansexual because we have never seen him kiss or sex-up another dude on-screen.

So, I wanna counter that, and explain why I don’t think it proves he’s not pansexual. There’s no deep philosophical reason. It’s really a pretty simple one -despite the post-length. lol And it’s still in theory territory -because obviously, I don’t know everything. lol.

The Reason -Writers Pander to their Demographic. If they’re straight, white, males -then expect most of their work to show things that those types of viewers would wanna see.

Official Deadpool writers credit him as non-straight. Fabian Nicieza says his sexuality simply depends on his brain at the moment, because his mental state is in constant flux. He likes whatever his brain tells him he likes in that instant. Gerry Duggan, writer for current Deadpool solo series, classifies him as pansexual and “ready & willing to do anything with a pulse.” His exact quote. Then he states keeping up to date on Deadpool’s “omnisexual exploits.”

So these things coming from 2 different Deadpool writers seems to point to the fact that he’s not 100% straight. And, just because a person is pan or bi doesn’t mean they can’t have a gender preference. Some men could be bi or pan, but prefer women. Or prefer men. Or prefer one gender in general, but have specific types in others.

It’s canon that Deadpool’s feelings toward Spider-Man aren’t 100% platonic.

While married, Deadpool had a top 5 free-pass list of people he could sleep with. Spider-Man was #5 on his list.

He wasn’t doing it to be funny, or annoying, because he didn’t intend for Spider-Man to know. When Peter asks who #5 is, Wade tells him never-mind.

We see Peter asking about the list again here.

What happened? Wade outright lied about him being on it. So again, he wasn’t carrying around a free-pass list with Spider-Man on it just to show him for a punch-line. And it wasn’t a joke to make Spider-Man uncomfortable, because he lied when asked about it.

Then there’s the final chapter. Now THIS is debatable, When Spider hugs Pool, looking at his face -the almost embarrassed grin, and given his line, it’s very possible he’s got a bit “too excited” here.

Then there’s the variant covers depicting him trying to kiss Spider-Man

Now these 2 are only friends. I don’t argue that. We’re not gonna see them dating, kissing, or having sex. But, that’s because Spider-Man is straight, doesn’t mean Deadpool is. lol

This series (Spider-Man/Deadpool) was written by Joel Kelly. Another of Deadpool’s big writers.

Some doubt Deadpool likes men because we never actually see Deadpool hooking up with other dudes on-screen. So they think his flirting is just casual jokes not to be taken seriously. But you have to consider who the writers are. The writers are most-likely white straight men after all. Lets look at the women Deadpool’s been paired or teased with.

Just pix of the main ones, but they’re all hot white women

Anyway, women we haven’t seen Deadpool with include -Black, Asian, and Average-looking. Just another example of preference, and going more with your demographic. Like if you have mostly black writers, and a black director, then it’ll be the same thing. A black lead, and black love interests. Just the way media is most of the time.

Now, let me bring up RoguePool as another example of pandering bias.

When Rogue kissed him, she ended up having the same crap he did, but was still hot.

They didn’t make her as ugly as Deadpool can be portrayed as

No hair. A nose that seems to have slumped, and grown on to his lip almost, and yellow eyes, with no, or hardly visible, pupils,and WAAAY worse skin.

Why? Again, male viewers wanna see hot women. So, ya gotta have Rogue still be hot. Guys don’t wanna see a deformed Rogue.

But, nobody cares if the dude is ugly. Look at all the shows or films where hot women were paired with dumpy, if not ugly, male leads. You RARELY see the reverse.

Again for the het male readers, they wanna see hot women and the male leads getting it with hot women. Thus, that’s gonna be the bulk of love interests for any male lead, no matter how ugly he may be.

Going on the writers’ confirmation of DP’s sexuality, but no dude+dude. Sometimes writers or creators will tell you things outright, but will not show it on-screen. To avoid controversy, damaging sales, or the complete awkwardness of writing / filming it. Look at other media. You see lesbians depicted quicker than gay men.

Look at Deadpools ex, Shiklah. She was shown in bed with other female monsters on more than one occasion. Here, we see one running from her room.

Guys don’t mind seeing or hearing about lesbians, so that’s cool for male writers and directors to get into. But if the male viewers have to see guys who like other guys, they need to be very funny about it -thus sometimes extremely stereotyped, and physical stuff is kept to a low minimum, if not completely off-screen.

“Modesty / Subtlety”

When it comes to same-sex relations with men in media -most of the time, we seem to be in the phase where all sex was in earlier days of media. Lucy and Ricky slept in twin beds -as did all tv couples at the time. They clearly had sex. And Ricky jr. wasn’t planned since Lucy didn't even think she'd be pregnant, and was shocked to find out. But for modesty, you never see them do anything other than have chaste peck-kisses. Then eventually far as media goes, sex was only ever implied. You’d see characters kiss, then a fade to black with them both very happy in the morning while doing other things.

Same-sex among men seems to be here. You’ll see flirting and hear comments / references. But you never see them have on-screen kissing or sex scenes. We haven’t quite progressed to that yet, least not to my knowledge. In terms of seeing it in comics, or anything in Hollywood. Reynolds has said he wants Deadpool to have a boyfriend in the live-action films. We’ll see how far that gets to coming to fruition.

Legend of Korra is famous for this. At the series’ end, Korra + Asami get together. There were little things throughout season 4 that hinted at their feelings. But many thought nothing of them because they weren’t overt enough. Finally, we have the following screenshot.

Again, many argued this meant nothing because nothing happened -like a kiss. Again, it’s already progress to show same-sex relations, on Nick. But they showed it with women -not men. And even then, it was met with argument from fans who thought it had no build-up, and even some fans who thought the above screenshot was platonic.

The show creators however did confirm that the 2 are a couple, and that Asami is Korra’s heart. But are we gonna say that it isn’t serious, or doesn’t count because we didn’t see them kiss? This ending was romantic in nature, and the creators confirmed it after there was still debate.

They were VERY subtle about what they showed with these two, which didn’t make it non-existent. Unlike the straight couple Zaheer and P’Li who are shown kissing 5 sec. after they see each other.

Conclusion

Despite the length, at the end of the day, Deadpool will probably not be shown kissing or sexing men ON-SCREEN. But that doesn’t mean his interest in men is non-existent.

He flirts with guys the same way he does with women. The difference isn’t what Deadpool does. It’s who responds. Any men he flirts with are never interested in him It’s the women who have higher chances of finding him charming or funny, and falling for him. Deadpool is pan, but could largely prefer women. You can be bi or pan and still have a preference.

Chasing Amy is a good example, a decent 90s film. The female lead, Alyssa experimented with guys as a teen. After college, she exclusively dated women for the next 10 years, and identified as a lesbian. She fell in love with Holden-stating that he was the first to ever truly sate her. After they broke up, she went back to dating women. Clearly, she prefers women. But that doesn’t mean a man, or the right man, is off the table. So she’s not a complete lesbian.

Editor, Jordan D. White is active on this site. He received an Ask saying that it’s annoying how many think Deadpool is straight. So, he asks if he’d consider giving Deadpool a boyfriend in canon.

Here’s the post.

https://jordandwhiteqna.tumblr.com/post/107753982210/as-someone-who-has-to-deal-with-fake-geek-boys-who

So, no words put in his mouth. He doesn’t deny that Deadpool isn’t straight. And he’s open to the idea of a male love interest. But something more goes on behind the scenes that he can’t call that shot just like that.

#Deadpool #Wade Wilson #Shiklah #Pansexuality #Marvel #Korra #Asami

9 notes · View notes