Boooooo to the "But Not Too Gay" trope

[shamanicshaymin]

Me: *after talking with Jimmy about how frustrating subtext is* Hell, I just want Madoka and Homura to be canon in the upcoming movies.
Me: I heard that Kyouko has a one-sided crush on Sayaka in the PSP game, but that's only halfway there.
James: Yeah.
James: There is one thing I can agree.
Me: That's why Andy & Marius are going to be canon~
Me: "Oh great, more subtext... HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY KISSED. AND THEY DIDN'T MAKE EXCUSES OR SAY "BUT I'M NOT GAY."
James: That they do seem to pussyfoot around gay/lesbian characters in the form of subtext, but they never seem to take the plunge.
Me: Hell, Madoka and Homura's seiyuu discussed with Urobuchi, "Please make them canon! Pleeeeease?"
Me: So just make it happen. You're not fooling anyone by saying, "They're just friends."
Me: But yeah, I want to do something about that subtext business. It's irritating me too.
Me: Yami no Matsuei has all those cute guys and relationships, but no canon gay*. Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh
Me: Busting those bastards out of the closet.
Me: You know what REALLY annoys me, maybe more than pussyfooting with "subtext?"
Me: When they have a "canon" gay couple, but they get nowhere near the amount of screentime and affection that heterosexual couples do.
Me: Jimmy & Timmy and Jim & Tiffany come meet each other at the airport and they haven't seen each other in a month. Jim & Tiffany hug and kiss.
Me: Jimmy & Timmy? Shake hands and hug.
Me: FUCK THAT.
Me: Tom and Barry are in love. They love each other guys, they're always holding hands!
Me: Melissa and Rhonda are a couple, but we'll never see them having sex. If we do, it'll be a minute of them having censored cuddles before they're interrupted.
Me: But when Melissa cheats on Rhonda with a hot guy named Albert, ALL THE BLOWJOBS ALL THE FUCKING ALL THE BOOBS BABY. AND IT'LL LAST FOR TEN HOURS.
Me: Didn't Team America make fun of this? Like, never show a guy getting a blowjob from another guy (just the receiver's expression) but when the guy gets together with a girl, it's HOT SEXY PUPPET TIMEZ blown out of proportion?
James: Yep.

*There's a gay couple in a side story in the manga, but they're one-shot characters. And they both die. So it doesn't count.

Comments

[sarajayechan]

See, I like subtext when it's NOT accompanied by the text screaming THEY'RE NOT GAY!!!! at the audience. XD Basically I can deal with it when it's just trying to obscure a relationship, period instead of just gay ones. For example, Simon/Jeanette from Alvin and the Chipmunks. If I remember correctly the show never comes out and says they're boyfriend and girlfriend, but they're always paired up and have a lot of cute moments together. (...actually maybe I'm thinking more of shiptease than subtext. XD;)

But yeah. This is why in my stories, all couples get equal amount of blatant squishy sappy moments and sex scenes. Media needs to get over itself or conquer its fear of moral guardians' temper tantrums. Just...let people be gay and be together in a show with straight couples and let them have equal amounts of screen time and affection. If the show runs on YAAAAAY WE LOVE EACH OTHER SOOOO MUUUUCH happy romantic fluffies, let the lesbians make loud proclamations of eternal foreverness, too! If the straight couple is shown having hot sexytimes, let the gay couple give each other blowjobs! And all that good stuff!

[shamanicshaymin]

I love the good ol' shiptease too. Sometimes it only works to fandom-ship. For example, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is all about the friendship, so to suddenly have it be about dating would be rather jarring. (Which is part of the reason I don't care for Spike/Rarity. :P I love how the "Hearts & Hooves Day" episode was handled though, and the show's creators were VERY wise to be ambiguous about Cheerilee and Big Mac's future relationship) Then there's subtext where it's obvious that those two characters have something going on, even sharing a bed together, but canon itself is still insistent on telling us, "NOPE, THEY'RE JUST BEST FRIENDS" while milking more money from shippers and fanservice and the potential audience they'd lose if they outed said characters. :/

But yeah. This is why in my stories, all couples get equal amount of blatant squishy sappy moments and sex scenes. Media needs to get over itself or conquer its fear of moral guardians' temper tantrums. Just...let people be gay and be together in a show with straight couples and let them have equal amounts of screen time and affection. If the show runs on YAAAAAY WE LOVE EACH OTHER SOOOO MUUUUCH happy romantic fluffies, let the lesbians make loud proclamations of eternal foreverness, too! If the straight couple is shown having hot sexytimes, let the gay couple give each other blowjobs! And all that good stuff!

Yep. I agree to this. ♥

[sarajayechan]

Definitely. MLP (with the exception of Tales) is a show where canon romance with the lead characters would disrupt the flow, but the writers want to treat the fans now and then so they throw out "maybe, maybe not" type hints that are all up to the viewer.

Or in Boy Meets World, where the main pairing is the very het Cory/Topanga but there's all this HoYay between Cory and Shawn. The writers were actually pretty awesome about this, going out of their way to show how Cory loves BOTH Shawn and Topanga forever and ever. XD

Then there's subtext where it's obvious that those two characters have something going on, even sharing a bed together, but canon itself is still insistent on telling us, "NOPE, THEY'RE JUST BEST FRIENDS" while milking more money from shippers and fanservice and the potential audience they'd lose if they outed said characters. :/

THIS. It's one thing if the characters themselves are all WE'RE JUST FRIENDS, like it'd be IC for them to be in denial or unsure about it. But that's just it-it's gotta be the characters saying this, not the writers.