DC Comics has been having a bad week. Yesterday, two members of the Batwoman editorial team quit after their publishers refused to allow Batwoman (who is a lesbian character) to marry her partner. And now the comic company has provoked even more outrage by hosting a contest in which they readers to draw Harley Quinn, a popular villain, preparing to commit suicide. Naked.

All right. Time for a rant thing.  The person I got the link from, someone commented on it with something like, “I don’t see why people are so up in arms about fictional characters when there’s more important things to worry about.”

Just because someone has an opinion about a fictional character doesn’t mean they’re suddenly forgetting about the struggles of the world. Just because I have an opinion about what DC, or Marvel, or Ubisoft, or FUNimation, or whatever other geeky (or non geeky) company does doesn’t mean that, suddenly, I’m ignoring what’s going on in the “real world.” The geek community is part of my life, so when something happens that I have an opinion about, I’m going to say something.

If people are upset (or not upset and defending) something in the community, that doesn’t mean they’re doing something wrong. You can’t want the geek community to matter then say, “Stop getting in a tizzy over fictional characters.” And, personally, I don’t always want to think about the problems of the “real world.” The geek community is my escape, my hobby, and honestly it’s becoming my career what with writing and all. Is it wrong to get defensive over things that happened here? No. Can you honestly say that you never watched something, or read something, or played something, and never reacted to it? It’s a thing that happens sometimes, and it’s fine.

Let’s be honest. Companies like DC have been in our lives for a very, very long time. So when they do something you don’t agree with, you feel kinda betrayed. “Batwoman isn’t getting married to her girlfriend,” well… why not? They’re together and in love, why not? Marvel did it. Marvel had a gay wedding. And we all know Batwoman is a lesbian with a girlfriend she loves, so why not? Why not take that step? It makes you question things, and wonder about the company. Do I, as a lesbian, feel upset that the company I’ve been into for years won’t let two girls get married? Well… yes! It’s a way they can show support, and apparently, two of their longtime writers saw that and left over it.

Same with this Harley Quinn thing. Is Harley bonkers? Sure, absolutely. And her staying with the Joker is insane. Is suicide the answer? Honestly, if she did it, I don’t think we’d be too surprised. She’s been through hell. It would suck if she did it, yes, but the Joker is so terrible and abusive (I still remember watching the animated series and how he shoved her out a window!), so if you told me that you wrote a story where she said, I’m done, I’d be sad but… I’d get it. But why naked? Why is that a requirement in this contest? And for goodness sake, why are you holding a contest when it’s National Suicide Prevention Week this coming week? When a company I love does something like that, it makes me question their intentions, you know? It’s beyond getting upset over a fictional character. Now I’m wondering, “DC what are you doing?” And that’s to be expected when you’re a fan of something. 

There’s a difference between being upset over a fictional character because, oh, they hook up with a character you don’t like, for vain reasons. “Oh no I don’t want Heero to end up with Relena because I like him with Duo because I like yaoi.” There is a huge difference between that and, “Why does your suicidal girl have to be naked in this contest,” and, “Why can’t Batwoman get married to her canon girlfriend?” That’s what people are upset about. Stuff like that hits home. Stuff like that is personal. Stuff like that is hurtful, fictional or not. We’re not getting “up in arms” over something trivial. Having a suicide drawing contest when National Suicide Prevention Week is coming up is in terrible taste. Having your lesbian heroine NOT get married to her girlfriend is a slap in the face, ESPECIALLY when Marvel was like, “Hey look gay marriage let’s do it.” So you can’t even say that no comic book company has done it before, because they have, and they did it proudly. So what’s stopping you? 

THAT is what fans get upset about. 

It’s the same with “Ender’s Game.” Is that more credible because it’s not a comic or cartoon? Because there’s a BUNCH of people not going to the movie because the author is terribly homophobic. So, to not support HIM, they’re not going to the movie. Are we getting too “up in arms” over that? This man flat out does not like gay people, so when we say, “We’re not going to the movie,” it’s met with, “oh yeah completely understandable.” So is getting upset over Batwoman not getting married or naked suicidal Harley less credible? These women are created by real people, who made these decisions. So… why do fans get bashed for being emotional over it?

gaywrites:

This February, DC Comics made the thrilling announcement that comics superhero Batwoman had proposed to her girlfriend, Maggie Sawyer, and it was presumed they would marry in a forthcoming issue. But writers J.H. Williams and W. Haden Black have reportedly left the comic book, and they say it’s because of an editorial decision that would have banned a same-sex wedding.

Here’s a statement they released:

Unfortunately, in recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series. We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc’s origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman’s heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end.

We’ve always understood that, as much as we love the character, Batwoman ultimately belongs to DC. However, the eleventh-hour nature of these changes left us frustrated and angry — because they prevent us from telling the best stories we can. So, after a lot of soul-searching, we’ve decided to leave the book after Issue 26.

We’re both heartbroken over leaving, but we feel strongly that you all deserve stories that push the character and the series forward. We can’t reliably do our best work if our plans are scrapped at the last minute, so we’re stepping aside. We are committed to bringing our run to a satisfying conclusion and we think that Issue 26 will leave a lasting impression.

Way to stand up for what’s right, friends. Your work will be missed. 

:(

clumsyoctopus:

you get an invite to a gay wedding

you open the card

“WARNING: SHONEN-AI, YAOI, BOYXBOY, THAT MEANS BOY KISSES!!! LIME/LEMON LATER. DON’T LIKE DON’T ATTEND, RVSP PLZ”

I WANT TO DO THIS WITH OUR INVITATIONS!  WARNING:  SHOUJO-AI, YURI, GIRLXGIRL, THAT MEANS LADIES KISSING LADIES!!!  Also MORTAL KOMBAT FATALITIES!

beelzebub-36:

arthur-christmas-claus:

And they weren’t even the same species.

“But it’s not natural!”

“There’s no way any child raised by two men could be happy, or even content.”

“But now their child will be gay.”

“He will never have a normal, real relationship.”

“He’ll be socially inept and never amount to anything.”

Respected king.

Loved father.

I rest my case.

And just for the hell of it…

You can be a homo too!

Fave post.

Bless  :)

tonystarksdangertits:

terminus-est:

I feel like I need to print this out and tape it to the lamp next to my bed so I see it every goddamn day.

yeah, I need this in poster form

“Writing isn’t a real job.”

“Unless if you’re a celebrity or horribly disfigured you’ll never get published.”

“Writing is easy.”

“You’re too ______ to cosplay ______.”

“You’d be so cute if you lost weight.”

“You actually play video games?”

“Gay people shouldn’t get married.”

“It’s just a phase.”

“You haven’t found the right man.”

“It’s because your boyfriend hurt you.”

“It’s because you took Women’s Studies, now you hate men.”

“You haven’t slept with a man so how would you know?”

“You sound white.”

ellyosa:

vhanstiel:

cutepiglet:

crowxfeather1:

posting-randomly:

deadspiderinthepool:

crepusculeluminance:

actinoutloud:

penelopehardcore:

thelastfivedimensions:

Guys.

Guys.

This might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen as a pro-marriage equality ad.

WATCH THIS. It’s an Australian ad.

Australia, why do you have the best ads? This is awesome.

Aww omg ;_;

REBLOG UNTIL THE END OF TIME IM GOING TO CRY

I AM GOING TO CRY

I ACTUALLY STARTED TO TEAR UP

omg I teared up. Is it ok for me to say I ship these two? That was just beautiful.

I teared up, this so beautiful! Forever reblog. 

Beautiful

Awhh…I’m not even saying this because of the fact that “oh they’re gay that automatically makes everything they do adorable,” but wow, this is so sweet. It really does show that regardless of orientation, love is love. I would say the same thing for a straight, lesbian, or transsexual/transgender relationship.

Oh god I actually am crying right now.  This is such a great ad, not just because of the message, but because of how it’s shown to us.  You have no idea who the camera person is, you just see them filming this guy who you can tell they absolutely adore.  They’ve been through so much together (oh god the part with the mom just, ah!) and really, honestly, by the end of it when he drops to one knee it’s like, “Oh god yes please!”  And the same time it’s like, “Wait you’re just now doing this you two are practically married already…” then you see that the camera person is another guy and it’s like, “Oh I see.”  Which also hits the message home.

After all they’ve been through, they should’ve been able to do this a long time ago.

Raven-Symone, congrats on being open and proud :).

Gay marriage started here in Minnesota at midnight.  Congratulations to all of the couples who got married/is getting married  :)  My wedding is coming at some point, we want to have enough money saved to make it a spectacularly nerdy event!  The plan is still a Mortal Kombat theme complete with the pastor saying “FINISH HER” for kissing the bride  ^^

brichibiwritesthings:

So I got the cover to my next book  :)  It’s my first full length gay romance novel.  Urm… there is romance, I swear!  Just… really twisted messed up stuff to go with it because, it’s me  ^^;;;

Here’s a blurb:  When something tragic happens, you want nothing more than to close your eyes and make all of the pain go away.  For Gable Peterson it’s a little more complicated than that.  When detective Maurice Ashford shows up at his door with news that his boyfriend, Avery Blair, has been found dead, Gable is left devastated.  Seeking some sort of comfort, Gable closes his eyes and imagines a world where none of this happened.

Only, Gable wakes up, he’s surprised to see that Avery is actually still alive.

***

I’ll post snippets and teasers over time. So far the release date looks to be November, so after “Hunters: Seeking the Storyteller.“ Yay books!

*gasp*  Another book?  Yep  ^^

brichibiwritesthings:

I often wonder, at the holiday gatherings of my partner’s family, how I will be introduced. When I first moved up here back in 2006, I got the prestigious label of “roommate.“ We had our “coming out” visit before the move, and it was made abundantly clear that “the lesbians in the room" would not be addressed as such when others were around. Then, we ate Subway sandwiches and called it a wash.

When you hear stories of “coming out,“ you tend to hear two sides. The first being “acceptance” and the other being “flat out hatred.“ However, there’s a middle ground that isn’t always discussed, and that middle ground hurts just as much as “flat out hatred.” The fake smiles served at family dinners, the mashed potatoes combined with the “roommate" label, that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth while you eat Thanksgiving dinner with the “in-laws" you’re not supposed to acknowledge. 

Couldn’t I at least be a friend of their child? 

This gets more awkward when you realize that the rest of the family has honed in on the truth. Aunts and uncles who can read between the lines, cousins your age who are hip with the GLBT community, the younger brother who accepts you without a care in the world. But my partner’s mother and father still fought it, still denied it, and it became a thing to get use to every holiday. Always wear the roommate smile, that poor girl whose family don’t live in the area so she’s passing the gravy around at her not-family Christmas.

Then, something changed.

We decided to get a house close to two years ago. We saved up our money and found a house we liked. The downpayment, however, increased and we suddenly couldn’t afford it. But then, like some sort of suburban super woman, mother-in-law came through and gave us the rest of the money. Father-in-law appeared through the clouds next to her, with hammer and nails, fixing our kitchen and telling us about the wonderful world of appliances and counter tops. The change had been made in the blink of an eye, and suddenly, the roommate status was dropped.

But the feelings still linger.

I still wonder, when meeting the rest of the family and old friends of the in-laws, how will I be introduced. I still wonder what they think of me, if they’re proud of what I’m trying to accomplish, if they’re excited about the published works of a jobless girl who their daughter is in love with. 

I still wonder… until yesterday.

Yesterday was the 4th of July, and we went over to watch the fireworks at their new house. As the guests came in I held my breath, waiting for that introduction to ring through the air. And then, father-in-law said it.

“This is Briana. My daughter’s partner.”

And now, I don’t wonder anymore.

How I spent the fourth of July  :)