#also those certain people include the CW producers and writers.

[dwc-jamc-spn]

um. do *ahem* ✨certain✨ ✨people✨ not understand that destiel isn’t about sex?

when we say we ship destiel or we want destiel to be canon, that does not mean we want to see Dean and Castiel having sex on screen. it just doesn’t.

i mean sure. some destiel shippers definitely want to see it, but the majority of us literally just want hunter husband content. we want the bickering, the exasperation that comes from loving a special kind of dumbass, the petty little pranks they’d pull on each other—all of that kind of stuff. no sex. we just want Dean and Castiel going on hunts and calling each other babe. that’s. it. we want representation.

it’s problematic that *ahem* ✨certain✨ ✨people✨ equate destiel and destiel shippers with sex. it radiates a certain kind of hate that has no place in this fandom.

[avidbeader]

CW: Voltron S8 talk, VLD S8 talk, Shiro’s marriage, ship wars

I’ve been seeing an influx of new VLD fans in the last several months – guess people have more time to watch shows – and it’s brought in a new wave of Sheith fans. And that’s lovely – having more people to create and cheer is a good thing. I know I’ve pointed a lot of people at “Sheith the Movie” so they can have just the Sheith (all 3.5 hours of their scenes with some context) if they want.

However, even if the new fans have been aware of how toxic the klanti shippers were (Klance fans who resorted to slander, harassment, and threats to both other fans and the show’s cast and crew in an attempt to force the studio to make their ship canon), I’m seeing some conflict crop up because some new fans aren’t aware of just how ugly things got in 2018, that most of the people who embraced Shiro and the random groom as a ship were the same people who had spent the previous two years attacking Sheith fans.

In June, we had Season 6. Keith and Lance interaction was at an all-time low. Keith said “I love you” to Shiro in what he thought was a dying confession. Yes, it was preceded by “You’re my brother (in arms)”, but interviews with showrunners like story editor Josh Hamilton made it clear that Keith was trying his best to encapsulate just how important Shiro was to him (without saying that they almost certainly had to include the “brother” line to give DW executives plausible deniability).

In July, we had the SDCC showing of Season 7’s first episode and the confirmation that Shiro is an LGBT character. Klance fans jumped all over the character of Shiro’s ex-boyfriend Adam, because in their minds he would be the key to invalidating Sheith. The media properly observed that Shiro and Adam had broken up over very profound issues and drew the conclusion that if Shiro were to get an on-screen romance in the remainder of the series, Keith was the obvious choice.

In August, we had Season 7. Instead of the heartfelt Shiro/Adam reunion klantis were salivating for, we saw Adam get killed in the Galra invasion. And the klantis rose up, hurling so many unjustified accusations of “fridging” or “bury your gays” over a minor character with a total of maybe three minutes of screen time, that JDS actually had to put his name to an unnecessary apology from the studio.

We also had Keith and Shiro’s backstory, showing just how close of friends they became after Shiro helped Keith join the Garrison, AND Keith saving Shiro yet again. While Lance and Allura continued to grow closer. Because it was clear that the producers had never once considered making Keith and Lance a thing, klanti fans went ballistic with their slander, accusing Sheith of being pedophilic and incestuous when neither accusation has any canon basis at all.

And in December, we got Season 8. Season 8 with a mostly new set of writers who didn’t do their research. Season 8 that tried to cram in too much excess content while finishing up a major plotline. Season 8 that finally showed that the producers had never fully thought through or sought input for handling Shiro, a character they’d originally planned to kill off, decided to make their LGBT rep when told to keep him, and then failed to pick up the strong story arcs he had in the first seasons. And because studio execs gave JDS and LM a single day to change their epilogue cards from minor characters to the main team, we got the very bad decision to marry Shiro off to a random character.

(And the character was random. Stills were leaked that showed Shiro kissing a character that had been seen once in the very first episode, but was too obviously a reference to a character in another series. It clearly didn’t matter to JDS/LM or the people above them who Shiro married as long as it wasn’t another main character. Because we’ve barely passed the point where we can have more than one character of a certain race in the main cast, much less multiple LGBT characters.)

Like they did with Adam, klantis jumped all over “Curtis” as their savior, because to them this should have killed Sheith fandom. And a great many Sheith fans did leave, angry and hurt, not because their ship wasn’t canon (very few Sheith fans expected more than an open ending) but because the concept of Shiro marrying some random character with absolutely no buildup undercut the notion of Shiro as a strong example of LGBT rep. Because those endcards erased every single character’s growth through the series, not just Shiro’s.

Media saw the ploy for what it was, a clumsy attempt to try and reach for a historic milestone when today’s audiences aren’t looking for milestones anymore. Today’s audiences want to be included in the entire narrative. No one talks about Shiro’s wedding as a good example of rep. In mainstream pop media, no one talks about Shiro at all, in contrast to the celebrations post-SDCC. When articles are written about progress in children’s media, Shiro is never included on the list. It’s only this past June, 2020, that DreamWorks shoved Shiro into the background of a collage of LGBT characters from their cartoons, WITHOUT his desultory groom.

LGBT fans, especially gay men, saw the ploy for what it was. Just as the media collectively set Shiro’s wedding aside when talking about positive LGBT rep, gay men spoke out against it. Too bad they didn’t get any kind of apology from DW and the best JDS/LM could say on their one appearance on an “Afterbuzz” was “But we tried! Something was better than nothing!”

And the majority of Sheith fans who remained in the fandom collectively jettisoned Season 8 and began producing even more content. There have been schisms and fallouts, mainly over whether/how carefully to tag for content that includes Adam or “Curtis”, but the fandom as a whole has continued to produce fic, art, vids, and merch. There’s a reason people outside the fandom groan “Sheith in 2020?” There’s a reason antis continue to push their lies about the ship. We haven’t let go of what we love, we continue to create, and we continue to attract new fans.

But most of us do not want to engage in any way with “Curtis” content unless a fix-it is involved (and sometimes not even then – for many of us, Season 8 does not exist). We don’t care about a character who had zero interaction with Shiro before the endcard, whose name isn’t even spoken once in the show’s dialogue – the only reasons we know it are the IMDB credits and one reference in the close-captions identifying who is speaking (and there’s stronger evidence to show that “Curtis” is a last name, not a first name).

If other people find enough of an attachment to this character to ship him, fine. You do you. But most Sheith fans expect those who support Shiro’s wedding to be klantis and therefore look to avoid conflict by minimizing contact. We do not forget. We do not forgive. We just want to be left alone to enjoy our ship in peace.

[snazzyo]

In praise of J2M’s handling of the decision to end Supernatural

Supernatural has always been special.  And the way that they managed the news of the shows ending is another example of the care and skill they bring to the Supernatural experience.  This decision could have rolled out in so many different ways or different times that would have been much more devastating. But it’s clear from start to finish, the boys deftly managed this announcement in expert fashion.  Long ass post - skim the bold for the gist.  

Ways that showed careful attention to managing o this decision:

They unambiguously ending it versus the CW or the WB.   This is a victory for the show, for fandom, and for the boys.  And J2M didn’t just randomly make a decision. At some point this past year, they started to believe it was time to end.  But in order to make it a #SPNFamily choice they had to have some things fall in place and they had to time when they let people know in order for this to be a ‘choice’ rather than ‘cancellation’. Specifically:

They had to be renewed.  And renewed for 20 episodes.  This means the CW was prepared to continue at the ratings level they had achieved.  Once that happened, then J2M could take over the narrative.  Timing: renewal followed the traditional timeline of late January - which would give TPTB enough time to rewrite the last 4 episodes into a series finale if they needed to.  This has been a consistent pattern since S4.  The last time they totally flew off the cliff without a net was S3 (bless them!).  

They needed to time when they told Dabb & Singer. I’m pretty sure they told Andrew around the 31st of January - when CW made the renewal announcement. Some have made a case that this decision happened earlier and Andrew’s absence on Nov 16th (300th party) was related to him hearing S15 was ‘the end’ news.   BUT I'm thinking they did not share - or maybe hadn't even cemented the idea yet.  First, it would really dampen the mood.  Second, they wanted renewal.  Any hint of hanging it up at that party would have been hard to keep quiet. Too much press.  Too much alcohol.  So, I can't totally get on board with a final decision at that point.  Even if the boys were seriously talking about the remotely sad -- so they weren’t certain they were going to end at that time. These guys are good actors but not robots.  I think it would have shown.  BUT Andrew had to know how to shape the last 4 episodes of S14 (again end of January).  Which means the boys would have provided him the information that they were going to wrap in S15 and he should target the last 24 episodes as supporting that eventuality about that time.  

Either the CW was prepared to let the boys decide on duration or they waited til relatively the last minute so that the CW didn't restructure a shorter season.  I'm torn on this one.  Pedowitz has been respectful of the boys BUT there's definite bad blood on not picking up Wayward Sisters -- and the fan backlash. If Pedowitz did know early enough to weigh in on duration, he only did it for the boys.  Not the CW and not the fans.  He was visibly pissed at the fans backlash on Wayward Sisters.  And I'm 100% certain that him sticking the knife in the back of any other spin-off (which he did last fall by saying Supernatural is just the boys and he doesn't see another spin-off) is because Warner Brothers financial deal was not what he wanted.  Never underestimate the grudges that develop after failed negotiations (which is what the Wayward Sisters was -- it was all about the money).  So, I'm inclined to believe that Pedowitz knew before the announcement but not as quickly as Dabb and Singer did. The boys were more likely to hedge their bet here. THEY controlled the narrative by how they informed key players.

  They strategically timed the public announcement - literally the DAY of the wrap party. This accomplishes two important things for the crew. 

One, the crew WILL get new jobs but this gives them a full year to line up something new.  Some will jump early, some will jump no later than pilot season.  Others will go sporadically based on their intent. The point is that they have a rich portfolio to show and time to show it off to prospective bosses. 

Second, they gave the cast and crew to have one big happy cry-off/celebration.  The boys both stayed this year - which hasn't been the case in a while.  The party was immediately after the announcement - which meant they could have the bulk of the crew there before they headed off to various summer activities. And some now won't come back (as they leap to other jobs).  So it was a maximum crew party.   If there's one thing I'm confident of, it's that J2 understands they hold the livelihoods of so many in their hands.  You really couldn't have asked for a better handling of the end announcement from a crew perspective.   

  They clearly informed key recurring cast members before they made the announcement. This is a fitting professional courtesy to a trusted few.  Especially the ones that were likely to come back on the show.  So Speight, Benedict, Rhodes, Buckmaster, Connell, Smith.  Those guys knew for sure.  And knew no later than SPNNash.  But maybe not much earlier.  If these people were going to get a pilot during pilot season, their recurring role wouldn't have stopped them. 

Unambiguously, Misha was always part of the discussions IMO right from the jump.  He would have been engaged in the actual debate about what to do with J2 and when.  Because while it may be J2's show, Misha is IN that circle of trust.  He has a large dedicated fandom, he's got a huge international charity. And they just love him dearly.  Seriously, they ran a marathon cause he asked them to.  IMO if Misha needed more time, they would have given it to him.  But that's not Misha. He has zero sense of entitlement.    

But this also lets the recurring cast have a private freak-out because the show IS likely their primary professional income stream.  Veterans like Benedict & Rhodes have already been taking other gigs but the conventions mean big dollars too.  It's a nice testament to their friendship that they told them personally and early.

I think JDM was the exception.  I think Jensen told him that this was a real possibility before he signed onto the 300th.  I don't think they had made the final decision that early (pre-Christmas) but they were leaning that way.  

  The timing and approach of the public announcement ALSO massively helps the the fandom - They truly care about fandom. They understand this is going to be actually life-changing hard for some. But with this timing/approach they optimized it as best they could with a staggered process.

We get four more episodes this year while we are 'actively engaged'.  Versus some announcement during Hellatus when there's less folks on line.  It shifts our view of the last four episodes. 

It's done right before a massive con (SPNLV) where Jensen will sing (always a treat).  So it's really good pacing for us.  We get to react to the news and then hear MORE detail from them.  This is also the con that is broadcast via Stage-It.  Could be coincidence.  Maybe not. 

It keeps Comic Con a celebration not a bummer.  We'll start to 'wind up' versus be crushed. 

The announcement was a 1+1+2 strategy.  I don't know if they realized that. They said one positive (yay! S15), they got immediately to the bad news (it's the end), and then followed up with at least two positive statement (we're excited, this family doesn't go away).  Maybe it's instinct but it's a tried and true method.  (Full disclosure: 2+1+1 is the classic method, but I think they knew the jig would be up as soon as they started talking on the video so they ripped off the Band-Aid quickly).      

  All which leads me to the following speculation:

When they signed the S14/S15 contracts, they were prepared to walk away then.  It wasn't how they would want to end it, but they were going to prioritize family time.  Note: the timing of when they were 'asked back' was much later than I think they were hoping.  Based on things both Jared and Jensen said, I get the impression they were hoping to orchestrate the next two contracts earlier than Nov 17 (when they were 'asked back').  They had been talking 'mini-series' or other event-like content. I think understanding when/how they have leverage was informed by this relatively traditional November 'ask back' and this shaped how they went about the end announcement strategy.  But the 20 episode contracts with clearly more time off was both a necessity and a bit of a test -- would it hold up with that level of involvement?

I think they really expected Wayward Sisters to be picked up.  They thought crossovers with Wayward would help make a two-year transition smooth.  That they didn't get picked up, that Pedowitz crushed any spin-off hopes was significant in how they played the S15 decision.  Without Wayward, a S15 was necessary to give the crew time to land elsewhere IMO.  That also includes writers, producers, and recurring guests.  But the unexpected failure to pick up Wayward DID shift some storylines early in the season.  I think there is literally NOTHING left of Wayward tie-in after mid-season.  Except for a general "they exist in offscreenville' commitment.  As mentioned elsewhere Kathryn Newton was gonzo right away.  Yadira is on an Apple show with Jason Mamoa.  Kim has had guest appearances on other shows.  Briana has music going and probably actively looking for work for the last year.  The other 3 are back in the hopper, looking for acting gigs as far as I can tell. And I honestly think Berens still has a gaping chest wound from the loss of his hopes and dreams. I think Dabb has moved on but also feels the loss.  But without Wayward, the boys lost their structured soft ending for Supernatural. Maybe something pops up later (a special or movie) but that's dependent on how they end the series.  We won't know if it's even viable until 2020.  

They are truly ready to move on.  They've been prepared since Nov 2017.  I think they were open to more (under the 20 episode, less time contract terms) but they sense "now" is the time.  It could be the storylines, it could be the fan reaction to their less involvement (which has been understanding but generally unhappy), and it could be a variety of things.  Unless they say something specifically about the ' why now', I think it's fair to say they didn't see enough momentum to make it extend. Hence the 'go out on a high note'.  I'll be shocked if they ever criticize anyone or any story specifically.    

Bottom Line:  They brilliantly played the hand they were dealt.  It's so nice to be part of a fandom where the stars put such a priority on taking care of others.  It's why I buy in, completely, on the #SPNFamily concept. 

[lucidmagic]

So I’m making a letter of grievances on Supergirl...

Dear Supergirl Writers, Producers, and Executives,

 I’ve been a longtime fan of your beloved show since pretty much the beginning and I’m writing to you to express this. For starters, Supergirl will always be dear to my heart and it’s one of the few shows that I consciously follow. I can’t tell you the sheer joy the show has given me from its strong woman characters, especially in a superhero series, since those are dominated by men. It’s a pure relief to see a woman saving the day, whether she’s alien or not, rather than men. And this goes to pretty much every fan, young or old, who watches.

This past season (Season 2), we saw the show be moved to another network, from CBS to CW, and trust me there was concern over how it would play out. We waited for the premiere with bated breath and expectations. We didn’t know what to expect.

And then Sanvers happened and I can’t tell you the absolute joy I feel when I watch those two women play such a healthy, happy relationship. Representation matters. And to see girls learning that loving people despite their gender is okay and can be something beautiful is truly a gift to see. To write how Alex came out and realized her sexuality was handled with such care and respect, I get chills just thinking about it. Alex and Maggie certainly are something to be proud of, and as a fan, I can’t be any clearer when I say this: thank you.

However, Sanvers isn’t the only thing that I’m writing to you about. In fact, there are some things that are pressing and very urgent that needs to be discussed about the direction and decisions made this season:

The breaking up of James and Kara wasn’t handled correctly, and many fans are still bitter about it (including me). They had a beautiful build up with a healthy, stable foundation on mutual respect. The fact that they were so messily broken up turned off a lot of fans and we need more closure on that.

Speaking of James, the whole Guardian thing isn’t/wasn’t necessary. For the entirety of Season One, James was thought of as a hero in his own right, without a suit or superpowers. Journalism was his tool for justice. Not a mechanized suit. He was a hero despite that.

Also on James… Where is he? He’s the acting CEO and you could’ve done so much with that, seeing as Cat is MIA. You could’ve explored the complexities of executive work. How Cat’s job is harder than expected. How he needed to adjust. Instead, you gave him a suit and forgot about him. Again, many fans are disappointed with this.

The central theme of the show—the Danvers Sisters Love and Connection—is lacking. And this is due to a certain character’s influence…

Mon-El… where to begin with this one. He’s a complete disaster. I’ve never seen a so hated character in my viewership, and even I can see the reasons why:

He takes away from Kara’s narrative. It’s Kara’s show, not his. Her plot line is solely on him. And in fact, he doesn’t deserve the screen time.

He’s selfish and doesn’t listen. He puts people in danger for his own benefit. He’s reckless and frankly untrustworthy in action. Kara has told him many times to do a simple task and yet he ignores her. Example: the police officers.

He’s a gas-lighting, guilt-tripping manipulator. He guilt-tripped Kara into liking him back, and the entire romance is seen from his POV, not Kara’s—who is the main character of your show. I didn’t sign for the Mon-El Mansplaining Show, I signed up for a woman who knows what she wants and needs no man—especially one who weighs her (and the show) down.

He. Is/Was. A. Slave. Owner. Are you just going to gloss over that? He owned and benefited from slaves. He could’ve done something about it but instead he just partied and got the privileged life style one has when they owned slaves

 I’m also going to mention that Kara’s former love interest was a black man and then you paired her up with a slave owner. That’s all kinds of screwed up. Can you not see the problem there? The undertones of racism?

P.S. Kara would never date a slave owner.

Kara’s character is nothing more than a shell where Mon-El is concerned. He always gets his way and never has consequences for his actions. He says sorry but he keeps repeating his mistakes to another’s cost. That isn’t redeemable—that’s lazy writing.

Compared to James’ romantic arc, his is rushed, underdeveloped, and rather unhealthy. Kara and Mon-El fight more than have an adult conversation. And when they do fight he degrades Kara and tears her character apart. That is Verbal/Emotional Abuse. It is toxic and unhealthy, and the fact that you’re showing this to very impressionable children is disgusting.

Mon-El’s excuse for how he acts is that he’s from a different culture—that is besides the point. What he says and does has serious repercussions not only in the show but also on the viewers. You excuse him as being a verbal abuser as a cute bicker between lovers—that’s not okay. What he says and does is sickening. But, you continue to write him that way. You are showcasing that his toxic/unhealthy/abusive behavior is okay to treat women as a verbal punching bags and have no repercussions.

He needs to have punishments for his mistakes/actions. So far, he has gotten along scot-free. But you keep having people forgive him and pretend what he does isn’t problematic.

The fact that Alex and the others talked Kara into dating Mon-El is a testament to you taking away her autonomy and common sense. In Season One Kara was independent and steadfast, but this season she is nothing like herself. She is less bubbly, care-free, and giddy. And it’s all because of Mon-El and his influence over her.

He is pulling down the show. There are higher ratings/viewings when he isn’t around/has so little screen time. That’s because people don’t like him. It’s not just a correlation but a causation. He is dragging down Supergirl and yet you’re giving him more screen time and episodes.

People are getting triggered because of his actions/sayings. If you want proof that Mon-El is toxic/unhealthy/abusive there it is. People have stopped watching because they see real parallels to their own abuse and past. We turn on Supergirl because we want to escape, but how can we do that when you’re platforming this misogynistic, manipulative, emotionally/verbally abusive, slave-owning, privileged man? 

There is a drastic decrease in women talking and screen time. In season One women outnumbered men and that was so damn refreshing to see. Especially in a superhero show. But now, men are talking and interacting more on screen than previously. In fact, people have done the math and compared to Season One, woman have about a 40% decrease in air/talking time. I thought this was a woman driven show?

You are queerbaiting Sanvers for viewership. I don’t know who is behind your publicity team but they need to stop saying Sanvers-centric when in fact the couple has only five minutes of screen time (Example: valentine’s day episode).

Another thing: treat both couples (despite one of them being highly toxic) the same. Sanvers is given cheek pecks and hand holding and only a few second of kissing, but with another certain couple they go horizontal within five seconds of making out. That is telling of you intentions and views when it comes to queer relationships.

In conclusion, the drastic drop in viewers is your fault. This season is messy and incompetent. People are losing faith in your show. Including me. I want my Supergirl back. I want it where I look forward to Mondays—but I only feel apprehension.

I sincerely hope you fix this soon, or your show is going to lose its loyal fans faster than Mon-El screwing up (yet again). Go back to Supergirl’s roots (Season One).

 Sincerely,

A Concerned Fan

This is what I have so far, please message me if you want anything else in here at the moment. I’m mostly likely going to mail it by the end of the week (around April fourth 2017). Also, does anyone know where I can mail this?

[oltnews]

There are so many things that we could never have predicted when it all started, but, as an entertainment writer, I have to say that the time spent watching celebrities sing for me in grainy self-help videos filmed from their home is very high on the list. They became visitors almost every night in my living room, a surprise in the middle of the pandemic. They were back on Saturday. Céline Dion, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Amy Poehler… It was a packed house of A-listers - some singing, some delivering public service announcements, some doing interviews, and all coming together under one message: Coronavirus? It really sucks! But humans? Together, we will get through.The scale of One world: together at home, the two-hour program broadcast on Saturday evening which practically gathered celebrities from around their forties, is monumental. Reflecting the new reality of our content viewing habits, it has not only been broadcast on major television channels in the United States - ABC, CBS, The CW, NBC, MSNBC, National Geographic, Univision - but on around the world, while being broadcast simultaneously. in digital streams on platforms like Amazon, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. In addition to the two-hour prime-time broadcast that included performances by Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez and the Rolling Stones, there was a six-hour live stream that overflowed with celebrity appearances and acts musical. (The smallest of us could be entertained by evaluating the fame hierarchy which determined which artists were relegated to the first act of six hours and which could be part of the main event.) Written by Andrew Kirk and Melissa Wong, the goal of this special was to motivate viewers to take action against the coronavirus and to support Global Citizen and the World Health Organization's Home Together campaign. Lady Gaga organized the broadcast, emphasizing while promoting that the goal was to do all the fundraising before the big show so that the event on Saturday is not only a pledge, but a treat for entertainment legitimate to spice up our quarantines. Bring the world together with a little fun.Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen "Jimmy" Colbert, as he joked, all co-hosted together, a symbolic gesture indicating that the disastrous state of the world at the moment is, finally, the only thing that outweighs the network television rivalry. Presenting the different celebrities appearing throughout the show, they set the right tone - darker than usual - of stupidity meets seriousness, with a cunning sequence. There were references to Tiger king and shortages of toilet paper. There were countless expressions of gratitude and respect for those who worked on the front lines to beat this thing. Before its broadcast, the event had raised $ 50 million. "And half of that was just putting Jeff Bezos upside down and shaking him up for a loose change," joked Fallon.Lady Gaga defined the intention of the night, which was "smile" and "song". She performed "Smile" - the must-have telethon song of the moment - but with a lively and jazzy arrangement that, refreshingly, resisted the temptations to treacly. (Other artists have not been as successful.) The star and the organizer were in a good voice. Just like Stevie Wonder, who paid homage to Bill Withers with sunshine and joy that only made things more emotional. There were Paul McCartney and Kacey Musgraves and Taylor Swift. Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello played together from their shackled isolation. John Legend and Sam Smith separated from their own group, causing a new global pandemic of chills with their version of "Stand By Me". Elton John performed "I'm Still Standing" in honor of healthcare workers, a great song choice, revealing in the process that Elton John has a piano outside in his backyard. Keith Urban was skillfully edited in three Keith Urbans on three different instruments for its performance. The Rolling Stones interpreted "You can't always get what you want" in one of these Brady Bunch-the Zoom setups of their separate homes, and it was really cool. Between the performances, the hosts and various celebrities educated viewers on certain aspects of the crisis and shed light on stories of human interest from around the world. There were interviews with health workers, world leaders, members of the World Health Organization, essential workers and teachers. Former first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush came together for a message of thanks and hope. The two hours were deliberately half-educational, half-inspiring and half-entertaining. On this last point, two performances stood out. Jennifer Lopez, the firecracker known for her crackling live performances and her athletic dances, if not necessarily her vocal prowess, made the huge surge of "People", the ballad popularized by Barbra Streisand. Maybe it was sacrilege. Perhaps it was a ballerating movement. Did it live up to Streisand? It may not be a serious matter. But she impressed me. Sitting in front of a tree outside wrapped in mood lighting and floating candles - J.Lo knows how to organize a show - she ended the performance by declaring "I miss you". You know, people.Then there was the grand finale: Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, John Legend, Lady Gaga and Lang Lang all performing "The Prayer" together. It was as beautiful as anyone could read this sentence could imagine. There is not much more to say.One world: together at home was an unprecedented effort raising a multitude of unprecedented efforts that improvised and performed logistics miracles in order to organize televised and live broadcast fundraisers and special offers while everyone involved, from talent to producers and publishers, are all spread out in separate isolations. They are almost critically proof apart from the fear of the loose jaw in the amount of work and will it take to remove them. In themselves, they inspire. These types of telethons tend to be always well-intentioned, but also ... rather bad. They are deep, but a bit clumsy. Moving, but cheesy. Impressive, but without commitment. All of this plays out differently when the typically overworked production - and with it, the pretension and the bombardment that accompanies it - are removed. I wouldn’t say that something organized by one of the largest and most connected charities in the world and organized by Lady Gaga is a waste. But withdrawing an initiative like this from something so bare, out of necessity, makes its impact stronger. The global nature of things meant a dearth of America-specific vis-à-vis messages that would be welcome for those looking for a distraction from the country's current political dumpster fire and frustrating for others looking for an outlet for their rage and for special offers like these to confront this reality. And the gravity of the circumstances meant that everyone was on their best behavior. No "George Bush Hates Blacks" moments here. (It also helped that it wasn't shot live.)Together at home didn't have the energy of some sort of live help, as that would be next to impossible. And there was no telethon bomb that was released after September 11 or Hurricane Katrina. But it was just for this moment, which is the best you can expect from these things. Plus, he made a ton of money for a good cause. https://oltnews.com/one-world-together-at-home-celine-dion-and-j-lo-serve-vocals-to-save-the-world-the-daily-beast?_unique_id=5e9d5786aacc3

[beesandbooks1]

Discussion: Female Fantasy Authors

Hello book bees and welcome to another discussion post! For this post, I will be discussing the differences in reading fantasy books by male authors and fantasy books by female authors. To keep things simple, I will mostly be considering the divide in gender representation. I will discuss intersectionality in a later section, and may reference representation of BIPOC and LGBT+ people but today I will not be diving in depth into those topics. Additionally, when it comes to intersectionality and the discussion of BIPOC authors and characters I am a white person, so it is important that you listen to BIPOC writers and what they say on the topic over what I may say.

CW: This post will feature discussions of sexual assault, rape, misogyny, homophobia, racism, and other sensitive topics. I will be including further content warnings where appropriate, but please be aware that these topics come up and read with caution.

If you’d rather read this post on my blog, follow this link! Also, feel free to comment, on my blog or in the tags, with your thoughts on this topic! 

Problems I have with Male Fantasy

I do enjoy fantasy books written by men, and I have read plenty of them. But there are a lot of problems that often crop up. This isn’t exclusive to fantasy, of course, but I’m focusing on fantasy in particular because this is something that actually led me to abandon the genre for a few years. Something about fantasy settings can bring out the worst in male authors, as though the presence of fantasy elements gives them liberty to introduce sexist and horrible plotlines for their female characters (if they have any).

The first issue I usually have with a male written fantasy book is the lack of female characters, or at least the lack of good female characters. A lot of the generic high fantasy produced by men imitates Tolkien’s gender ratios without the payoff of the female characters that are present in that seminal work of the genre. Nine times out of ten when reading a fantasy novel by a male author, I find that I can count the amount of female characters on one hand. I also find that those characters fall into archetypes such as the damsel in distress, are victims of sexual assault (something I’ll come back to in a bit), or are irredeemably evil in a way that is intimately tied up in their gender. It’s frustrating to read entire books and series in which all of the representatives of my gender are boring, annoying, or otherwise flat.

CW for following paragraph: Sexual assault, rape, abuse

The second problem I have is that the worst and most graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault I have ever read have been in male-written fantasy novels. I don’t know exactly what causes this to happen, but I have definitely noticed a pattern that male-written fantasy seems to often portray the worst in men. To give credit where credit is due, the authors generally make it clear that the rape and sexual assault is bad. Revenge and punishment is often had, and the male heroes and protagonists don’t partake in sexual assault. However, the descriptions are still there, and often with zero content warnings. I’m privileged that these descriptions while uncomfortable are not strong triggers for me and I am able to read and process them without detriment to my mental health. However, I often skip these descriptions and DNF these books because of them. I have experienced enough threats, misogyny, and sexual harassment that I have no need to read about those experiences in fantasy–a genre that I consider an escape from the ills of real life. There is not and never has been a plot purpose to the inclusion of such graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault. And yet, rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse in relationships are often used by male authors to explain a character’s personality. These are used as character backstory to either demonstrate how good and moral a character that opposed these actions is, or to demonstrate how horribly abused a character was (usually female, but not always), or to demonstrate what a monster an antagonist is. While including characters who are rapists is one thing, including graphic depictions of their crimes is an entirely unnecessary other thing.

I find that fantasy novels by men are also often less well rounded and yet lauded as better than female authors’ works. Women write some incredibly unique fantasy worlds with interesting and surprising twists and turns, and yet are passed over for awards and recognition in favor of male authors whose stories are predictable at best. This is not to say that every fantasy novel by a man is poorly written and unimaginative, but to point out the discrepancy that exists in recognition and famous names. The gender gap in fantasy has led to a variety of tactics and techniques to promote female authors. The most commonly known one is the use of initials instead of full names because of the demonstrated bias that readers have against picking up a fantasy novel with a woman’s name on the cover. Different worldviews and experiences lead to different writing styles, worlds, and plotlines. It’s time that the voices of women writers in fantasy were bolstered.

“Strong” Female Characters

I am hardly the first to point this out, but male authors (and some female authors, to be fair) tend to write what are supposed to be strong female characters that just…aren’t. A good example of this not in the fantasy genre is the way Joss Whedon writes Black Widow in the Marvel universe. In Whedon’s writing of her, she is considered strong and badass but only so long as she conforms to a certain ideal of feminine and mourns the fact that she cannot have children. Female characters written like this–supposedly strong but ultimately weak when stripped of their fighting prowess–are frustrating to read. You see this a lot in fantasy where a female character is constantly touted as the best fighter, or the strongest mage, but is stripped of her power as soon as the main male protagonist with his lack of experience and lack of talent bests her in battle (usually only because of sexual tension).

There are a lot of tropes and characteristics of this type of female character in fantasy. Usually, she is bitter and mean due to some trauma in her past that either isn’t all that traumatic (reinforcing the idea that women are hysterical) or is all that traumatic but she isn’t given the character development to move past her grief unless of course the main male protagonist offers her love and affection. If she is a skilled warrior, she learned so by being trained against expectations of women usually by her father or brother(s) and is constantly underestimated by others despite also having a reputation as a warrior. She fought and clawed her way to where she is and she disdains all women who didn’t do the same, isolating her from literally everyone because the men don’t respect her either.

Yes, there are women in the real world who did claw their way up to the top of male dominated fields, and there are women who did that to the exclusion and isolation of their peers of all genders. However, there are a lot of women who use their positions of power to bolster other women and help others and have a lot of friends, family, and coworkers that like and respect them. It doesn’t make a female character strong to be a loner who hates everyone and is equally hated for their nonconformity. In fact, it creates an unrealistic expectation for young and impressionable readers that in order to be powerful and strong you need to be alone.

Experience: Reading a Female Fantasy Author

I have at various points found myself reading a good fantasy book and then looking up the author to discover they were a woman. It’s no surprise to me, considering my lack of patience for overhyped male authors, that my favorite authors are almost always women and my favorite books inevitably written by women. The experience of reading fantasy from a female author is one I enjoy immensely. I find the characters more diverse, well rounded, and respected. I find the plot focuses less on imposing trauma and pain on people and more about the hope that rises up in a dark fantasy world. The villains have more interesting motivations, or at least are more interesting people to read about, and the worlds are explored more. A lot of the fantasy written by men that floods the cheaper shelves of bookstores and the free ebook world is self fulfillment in the form of a fantasy world, largely based in the author’s preferred fantasy world of choice and pursuing the traditional adventure and romance plot the author aspired to have when younger.

There’s also not a lot of respect for female fantasy authors as compared to their male counterparts. I had a creative writing professor in college who disparaged any popular series written by a woman but was unable to see that he didn’t feel the same about works by men. This bias is everyone from writing professors to literary scholars to publishers to literary agents and even down to authors and readers themselves. While I simply don’t have the time to really delve into the facts and figures about gender bias in the fantasy genre in this blog post, I can cite my experiences as writer and reader. In that same professor’s class I worked on a fantasy project with a group of four other women and one man. Guess whose parts of the project the professor praised most? Guess whose parts the professor though worthwhile despite his strong bias against fantasy writing? Male fantasy writers are more respected for going against the masculine grain to write still highly masculine stories but in a fantasy setting. Female fantasy writers are considered just another one of the pack of wildly delusional women.

There is a lot of room to be creative in fantasy. If you want to see just how nuts people can get, look up anecdote threads on any social media site for Dungeons and Dragons tales. Everyone who’s played had a crazy idea that somehow worked during a campaign. The same can often be true of fantasy stories, because ultimately if there’s dragons and magic and whatnot then the limit is only your imagination! And yet. Women who write diverse worlds in which racism (fantasy or otherwise) never existed, or world where women have always been in charge, or worlds where gender doesn’t even exist are often criticized for having created unrealistic worlds because apparently despite fantasy being what it is we still have to include all the pain and trauma of the real world.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a black feminist scholar, to describe the experiences of black women within the framework of feminism. Historically and still today, discussions of feminism and the experiences of women worldwide tend to focus by default on the experiences of white women. Crenshaw thus introduced intersectionality as a framework with which to understand that the experiences of a black woman can be significantly different than those of a white woman due to the multi-faceted nature of the discrimination against people of color, black people in certain countries such as the United States, and black women specifically who face many levels of oppression within the frameworks of whiteness, wealth, sexism, etc.

Intersectionality is often used by feminist and queer scholars to describe the social stratification that needs to be considered when discussing oppression and privilege. This stratification considers a variety of factors from sexuality to gender presentation, education and wealth, to race and skin color. This framework considers that looking at different women’s experiences requires an understanding of the different factors at play in each one.

The reason I am including a brief discussion of intersectionality is that this conversation has largely lumped all women together in the face of fantasy writing. But it’s important to understand that even within the texts of female fantasy authors, there can be factors of racism, colorism, internalized misogyny, privilege of wealth and education, homophobia, and transphobia. I’ve read one fantasy author’s entire body of work–almost thirty novels–and she has never featured a gay or trans character. I’ve read other female fantasy authors who despite best efforts represent racist tropes in their attempts to include diverse characters without sensitivity readers. As a white woman, it is my responsibility to understand my privilege in seeing myself in fantasy writing which should be some of the most diverse in fiction but frankly isn’t.

As a queer woman I can speak to the under representation of queer characters in fantasy. Often times, queer characters are sidekicks and side characters that are just there for the representation points. A lot of fantasy writers (some female but most male) argue that the inclusion of queer characters in a high or epic fantasy setting based weirdly on incorrect assumptions about medieval Europe is unrealistic. If you’ve got dragons, though, you can include a gay person. Or five. Or fifty. Heck, I wrote a fantasy novel for NaNoWriMo one year that featured exactly zero male characters and only one straight woman! And it still made sense because the whole time they were dealing with a dragon, and magic, and witches.

The point I have briefly wandered away from is that fantasy authors tend to present diversity in fantasy elements but don’t seem to ponder presenting real diversity. Using fantasy racism as a metaphor for real racism is a tired trope often poorly done by white authors without a full understanding of what the very real effects of long term racism and racial oppression are like. Including queer characters in your story only for them to still fear discrimination and violence isn’t new or gritty or interesting or diverse, it’s tired and harmful.

Conclusion

There’s been a lot to chew through in this post. Admittedly, this topic is probably better discussed in literary theory journals and by more seasoned scholars, but a lot of those journals are also behind academic paywalls and filled with academic jargon that isn’t always easily accessible to readers. I’ve discussed these topics before in academic settings and in personal conversations, so I feel comfortable transitioning some of the ideas I’m accustomed to discussing to talking about the differences I have observed in my experience reading fantasy novels. I do think that people in the bookish communities are aware of gender gaps and intersectionality, and that there’s interest in promoting more diverse authors in our favorite literary genres.

How about you book bees, what are you thoughts on this topic? Please feel free to share in the comments!

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INTERVIEW: Marc Guggenheim Will Keep X-Men Gold ‘Light and Fun’

For the past several years, Marvel Comics’ X-Men have had their hands full combating large-scale threats to mutantkind’s very existence. When you’re battling those kinds of existential crises, it can be hard to focus on making the world a better place for the humans that fear and hate you. So the X-Men have frequently had to distance themselves from or temporarily set aside the dream of their founder Charles Xavier; proving that man and mutants can co-exist by using their powers to protect and defend the world.

That all changes this April with the launch of the “ResurrXion” line of books, including the new twice-monthly ongoing series “X-Men Gold,” by writer Marc Guggenheim — the executive producer of The CW’s “Arrow” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” and a comic book writer who made his Marvel debut back in 2006 with the “Civil War” arc of “Wolverine” — and artist Ardian Syaf, formerly of DC Comics titles including “Superman.” “X-Men Gold” finds Kitty Pryde returning to the team she grew up with, now as the group’s leader, as she works to mutantkind into an all-new age of high-profile superheroics.

CBR spoke with Guggenheim about the book’s direction and keeping things “relatively light and fun” (at least at first, Kitty’s leadership position, the initial threats his X-Men will face and how they’ll interact more with the larger Marvel Universe than they have in quite some time. Plus, CBR has the first look at the covers to May’s “X-Men Gold” #3 and #4, both by Syaf.

EXCLUSIVE: “X-Men Gold” #3 cover by Ardian Syaf.

CBR: Marc, looking at the line up for “X-Men Gold,” Kitty Pryde is on a team with her former best friend in Rachel Grey, an older version of a father figure from her youth in Old Man Logan, an ex-boyfriend in Colossus, and two close friends she pretty much grew up with in Nightcrawler and Storm. So at first glance it seems in terms of team dynamic this would be a nice homecoming for her, but is that necessarily the case?

Marc Guggenheim: It is. It’s certainly complicated particularly with respect to Peter, and some of my favorite moments from the first issue relate to their history together, but overall it’s a very empowering homecoming. Kitty is the “kid who made good.” She’s the apprentice who’s returning to become the master.

This relates to my goal of keeping the book — for the time being at least — relatively light and fun. The complexities that arise from the composition of the team aren’t dark and hand wringing-y. They’re meant to be really fun. If I can get you at least chuckling once an issue, that would be wonderful.

So, if you’ll pardon a bad joke, they’re the X-Men and not the Angst-Men?

Exactly. I think the X-Men have always had a certain amount of angst, but the thing that I’m trying to calibrate with “Gold” is not making the angst the driving force of the stories. I kind of feel like for the longest time — and I’m really using “E For Extinction” as the sort of jumping off point — that the X-Men have had a lot of angst, which was appropriate because ever since “E For Extinction,” the X-Men have been sort of fighting for their very existence, always facing some version of extinction.

I think one of the great things about ResurrXion — and one of the reasons it’s so aptly titled — is that the X-Men coming out of “IvX” have a new lease on life. The existential threats that they were facing have been tabled for the time being and that’s allowing the X-Men to look to the future in a way that they haven’t been able to in a very long time. We hit this point pretty hard in X-Men Prime.

Kitty Pryde is returning to the X-Men in a leadership role. What made you want to cast her in this position?

It started with a great love of Kitty. My first X-Men issue that I read was #139, which was the “Welcome to the X-Men, Kitty Pryde – Hope You Survive the Experience” issue. From the moment I was offered the gig, I knew I wanted to return Kitty to the team if the character was available. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was an opportunity to do more than scratch a nostalgic itch. I realized I had the chance to tell a very classic story: the story of the apprentice who becomes the master. To me, her becoming the leader of the team was the ultimate realization of that arc.

When I pitched it, I wasn’t so sure how people at Marvel would respond, and to my delight, that was the thing about my take that excited and energized everyone the most. It certainly energized me because it’s been a lot of fun to write Kitty as someone calling the shots. She’s really proving on the job that she’s learned a lot over her many years of being a member of the X-Men.

EXCLUSIVE: “X-Men Gold” #4 cover by Ardian Syaf

Is she going to feel some of the weight and darkness that some of the other prominent X-Men leaders have wrestled with like Cyclops and Storm?

Eventually I would love to get to that point. I’m intentionally avoiding that right now because, like I said, I tonally want to start the book off on a lighter and more hopeful note.

But you’re right: It is true that Storm and Cyclops have have met with very challenging moral ends. It’s something we’ll definitely be dealing a bit with when it comes to Storm, but it’s more on Storm’s side of the equation than on Kitty’s. It would be really nice to cast that particular shadow on Kitty eventually, but before I cast shadows, I want to get some sunlight in there.

Another interesting dynamic that occurred to while looking at your line up is you have two characters that hail from nightmarish possible futures in Old Man Logan and Rachel Grey. What’s it like bouncing those two characters off of each other?

I’ve got an idea for a really cool scene between Logan and Rachel, but the right moment to have that scene hasn’t happened yet. The scene I have in mind does speak directly to the fact they both come from futures that just happen to both be lousy. What is it about the future that in any iteration, it always looks crappy? I want to get a little meta (but not too meta) about it, but I haven’t had a chance to fit that in just yet.

Superheroics will be an essential part of “X-Men Gold,” but what about the training of the next generation of mutants? Will that be a part of your book as well?

Yeah, it happens in the background because the book is very much focused on the active X-Men. What I think is very critical about the X-Men’s new status quo is that the mansion is full with students, so the X-Men still have to be teachers as well as heroes. They have to continue to training the next generation of mutants.

So, yes, the younger X-Men will very much be a part of the book. In fact, the students have moments in each of the issues I’ve written so far. At the same time, it’s a little bit of a balancing act, because I want to maintain the focus on our core X-Men.

“X-Men Gold” #1 cover by Ardian Syaf

I think balancing between your core cast and all the fan-favorite supporting characters that are part of their world is sort of the main struggle for any X-Men writer. Because even the mutant characters that might be considered C-list by some are other readers’ favorites. So how has it been balancing all of those things?

I always try very hard to keep some space for non-action moments. I think when you’re able to spend time just with the characters it gives you opportunities to interact more with the students and more with the fan favorite characters.

At the same time, different stories are going to lend themselves to different kinds of characters. So while we’ll always have our core group, Kitty is smart: If she needs a particular power or skill set from other mutants she has no compunctions against bringing them into the field. For example, Rockslide and Armor will help the team in issue #3.

What’s your sense of the X-Men’s rogues’ gallery? Is “X-Men Gold” a book where we’ll see classic foes? New villains? Or both?

I would say both. The first arc features a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. One might think, “Jeez, another Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?” But hopefully I’ve come up with a twist that makes this Brotherhood different from all the other ones that came before it. That team will feature some familiar faces and some new characters.

There are a lot of different things I’m trying to balance in the book. One of them is having new characters and adding new toys to the toy box, while at the same time bringing back characters that people know and love. The Brotherhood is a good example of doing a mixture of those two things.

For me, one of the most interesting aspects about the Brotherhood is the word evil is in their name. A lot of villains see themselves as the heroes of their own story. So to have “evil” as part of their group moniker suggests you’re dealing with a group that wants to take ownership of that word and embrace it. Is that true with this group?

Yeah they really should be called, the Brotherhood of Self-Aware Mutants. No, the truth is in this particular instance the “evil” is very intentionally included. There’s a secret to the team that connects directly to the reason for the word “evil” being in the group’s name.

Ardian Syaf’s art has a feel and flavor that reminds me of some of the past heroic eras of the X-Men. So it seems like he’d be a good fit for what you want to do here. What’s it like working with him?

I’ve got to give all the credit in the world to [Marvel editor] Dan Ketchum. I said to him that putting Ardian on this book was the best bit of casting; of matching an artist to a book.

I think Ardian’s style tells you everything you need to know about what the book’s mission statement is. His art is new and fresh, but it also harkens back to John Byrne and Jim Lee. There’s even a bit of Arthur Adams in there. So his style is very modern, but it also speaks to an aesthetic that draws on the influence of the ’80s and the ’90s.

Ardian Syaf’s cover for March’s “X-Men” one-shot, written by Marc Guggenheim, illustrated by Ken Lashley and setting the stage for much of the “Resurrxion” status quo.

Any further hints and teases you can leave us with about the tone, scope, and scale of your initial stories?

Because we’re double-shipping I’m keeping the arcs pretty short. They’ll be about three to four issues long. I’m really excited about that actually, because it’s made the issues themselves very dense. We’re not really doing any sort of decompression here. We’re telling very tightly compacted and constructed stories, and I’m trying very hard to make sure that each issue has a handful of moments that make that issue really, really special. There’s no sort of filler issues. I want to make sure that with each issue everyone is getting a lot of bang for their buck; that in those 20 pages there’s a lot of great stuff going on.

That structure is also a lot of fun. We’re going to tell a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants story in the first arc and there’s going to be a brand new kind of threat in the second arc. You’re not going to have to wait six months to get a different story. You’ll be getting stories on a much more regular and consistent basis, which I think harkens back to the feel of reading these books back in the ’80s.

In recent years it tends to be very easy to have the X-Men exist in almost their own corner of the Marvel Universe. Will we see some of the larger outside MU trappings in “X-Men Gold?” Will groups like say, S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, pop up from time to time?

Yes. The whole raison d’etre of the book and the team is that throughout the X-Men’s history they’ve sort of segregated themselves. They were either up in Westchester, or they were on Utopia, or they were in Genosha, or Limbo. They were never in the middle of the action; they always segregated themselves from humankind. What’s so great about Kitty’s plan is that she wants to put the X-Men front and center. They’re going to have relationships and interactions with humans. That’s the only way they’re going to combat the prejudice against mutants. The only way you fight ignorance is with knowledge and interaction.

So, yes, the X-Men are going to be smack-dab in the middle of New York, and as we all know there’s a lot of superheroes and stuff going on in New York. We will be seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. As people who read my last comic know [Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” comic book], I have a great affection for S.H.I.E.L.D. We’ll also be seeing other superheroes as time goes on.

We’ll be crossing paths with some big things happening in the Marvel Universe, as well. That’s really important to what we’re trying to do with “X-Men Gold.” The big mission statement of the book and the team is that the X-Men are interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe in a way that they really haven’t in a long time.

“X-Men Gold” #1 is scheduled for release on April 5, with “X-Men Gold” #2 following two weeks later.

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