TextualDeviance

gorgbus:

textualdeviance:

I still think Warehouse 13 needs to be considered a bible for all writers/directors/producers on how to make something brilliant that also happens to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors, AND includes canon queer characters, older women, people of color, etc. It’s one of Syfy’s top-rated shows, too, so boom go the “people won’t watch it” excuses for making stuff into nothing but sausage fests. It’s doable. If you can’t/don’t/won’t, it’s because you’re shitty at your job, not because audiences won’t watch stuff without wall-to-wall straight, white dudes.

great point. the show is not above criticism as it sidelines and typecasts poc, as well as ignores positioning Steve as an actively gay character. that being said, the show still kicks some serious ass and this post is a super important point. long live the warehouse!

Points taken, definitely (though I think the latter issue may be improved upon somewhat as the rest of this season goes on.) 

I also have to give credit to Joanne and Jaime, for pushing ahead with the Bering/Wells thing even if it wasn’t originally intended to be canon (and still isn’t, technically.) Kind of funny, really, how the show’s biggest fan-supported ship turned out to be f/f, and traditional m/f-leads het shippers are finding themselves in the position slashers usually are. 

Overall, I think most SFF shows these days are doing diversity much better than their mainstream counterparts. There are still fails now and then, both in the stuff I mentioned in the previous post (SPN, DW, Merlin) and in other stuff (why, if Grimm has a gay showrunner, has it had no gay characters? Weird.) But there’s also been some great progress. Honestly, I think that’s why it’s so jarring when stuff like SPN does fail to be inclusive. It’s just not that common anymore for a genre show to be all white dudes, all the time. We’ve definitely made some great steps forward. 

And speaking of steps forward, I do have to put in a plug for a couple of shows about to have their U.S. debuts on Syfy next month: Sinbad and Primeval: New World. The former has a black lead and other prominent PoC characters, and for once is a fantasy set outside of Europe. And the latter has both PoC characters and a canon bisexual (not to mention one of the most realistic women characters I’ve seen in years in Dylan Weir.) Many of Syfy’s other recent shows have been good, too—Defiance, Continuum, etc. (My issues with Lost Girl are a different post, sadly.) 

I think the conventional marketing wisdom is still a factor. Cable shows do still make only a fraction of the ratings of their network counterparts, and goodness knows the biggest ratings of all are still going to trashy reality dreck, instead of quality scripted stuff. Sadly, many women, queer folk and people of color are still blithely watching stuff that marginalizes or even denigrates them, and straight, white dudes are still considered a target demo, even if they don’t make up the majority of viewers and haven’t for a generation. But we are making progress, and I think there are fewer and fewer excuses to be had now for not being inclusive. The target 18-35 demo takes diversity as a given, not a controversy, so there’s no point in trying to pussyfoot around their delicate sensibilities anymore. The people who did care about such things are aging out of marketing sweet spots, so catering to prejudice just isn’t important anymore. 

Now if only the folks with the purse strings would realize that. ;)

I still think Warehouse 13 needs to be considered a bible for all writers/directors/producers on how to make something brilliant that also happens to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors, AND includes canon queer characters, older women, people of color, etc. It’s one of Syfy’s top-rated shows, too, so boom go the “people won’t watch it” excuses for making stuff into nothing but sausage fests. It’s doable. If you can’t/don’t/won’t, it’s because you’re shitty at your job, not because audiences won’t watch stuff without wall-to-wall straight, white dudes.

EXCLUSIVE: Jaime Murray and Joanne Kelly talk "Warehouse 13," Bering and Wells, and Nerdsbians | AfterEllen.com

bitcaw:

EXCLUSIVE: Jaime Murray and Joanne Kelly talk “Warehouse 13,” Bering and Wells, and Nerdsbians | AfterEllen.com

If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume this was a fanfic of an interview rather than AN ACTUAL THING THAT HAPPENED.

Love it.

To anyone opposed to women in combat, might I remind you of a few names:

• Capt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace
• Capt. Louanne “Kat” Katraine
• Lt. Margaret “Racetrack” Edmonson
• Ens. Diana “Hardball” Seelix
• Brienne of Tarth
• Arya Stark
• Agent Myka Bering 
• Agent Natasha Romanoff
• Abby Maitland
• Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
• Aeryn Sun
• Corp. Zoe Washburne
• Col. Samantha Carter
• Dep. Jo Lupo
• PC Gwen Cooper
• Agent Olivia Dunham

…and that’s just the humans.  

M/F OTP:  Fargo/Claudia
M/M OTP: Artie/MacPherson (there was TOTALLY something between them.) 
F/F OTP:  Bering/Wells
OT3: Bering/Wells/Donovan 
Favorite Canon: Bering/Wells IS canon, yeah? :D
Favorite Crack: Pete/Leena
Guilty Pleasure: Claudia/Steve
Pairing I Hate: Pyka. It would be creepily incestuous, IMHO. 

My amazing friend Hayley has done it again: this is her version of Robyn’s Fembots. All her, all acappella, and she did all the arranging and video editing, too.

Mindblowing. 

Also, I think I need to use this song—and this version of it—to do a Penelope Garcia highlights vid. Or maybe one with her, Claudia Donovan and Toby Nance … hmmmm! 

Pick five of your favourite TV shows before reading the questions.

1. Primeval
2. Game of Thrones
3. Leverage 
4. Warehouse 13
5. Sinbad
   
   

1) Who is your favourite character in 5 ?

Tossup between Anwar and Rina. 

2) Who is your least favourite character in 3 ?

Aside from random villains, probably Maggie. 

3) What is your favourite episode of number 1 ?

5x06. The finale. Perfect in every way. 

4) What is your favourite season of number 4 ?

Season 3, though the last few eps of 4 (so far) made up for the slightly-tired early part of the season. 

5) What is your favourite relationship in 2 ?

Renly/Loras. Hands down (each other’s pants.) 

6) What is your least favourite relationship in 3 ?

There is no such thing. I adore them all.

(The original had no #7, so I’m making up my own!) 

7) Which has the best action scenes: 3 or 5?

Definitely 3, for Eliot’s fight scenes alone. 

8) How did you become interested in 4 ? 

Watched it from its very first airing, thanks to liking the promos of it I saw during Eureka. 

9) Who is your favourite actor in number 1 ?

*Koff*

10) Which show do you prefer more : 1, 2, or 5 ?

I prefer the fandom for 1, but the actual quality of 2 wins out over it. 

11) Which show have you seen more episodes of: 1 or 4 ?

Have seen all of both.

12) If you could be anyone from 3, who would it be ?

Eliot Spencer. Who wouldn’t want to be that badass? 

13) How would you kill off your favourite character in 5 ?

Ow! Um. Anwar could die saving Rina or Sinbad, maybe? Some sort of noble sacrifice dealio. 

14) Would a 3/4 crossover work ?

YES. ZOMG, Claudia and Hardison together would be unfuckingstoppable. Of course, there’s also the fact that Saul Rubinek has been on both shows, so it might get a little weird! 

15) Pair two characters in 4 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.

Myka/Claudia. 

16) Give a random quote from 2.

“I don’t like you, Lord Baelish. I don’t like your face. I don’t like the words that come oozing out of your mouth. I don’t want you in my tent one minute more than necessary. So tell me: why are you here?” - King Renly “Sasspot” Baratheon

(Source: technicolordragon)

Was just thinking of how few canon bi men there are currently on (scripted) TV. So few, in fact, I can think of only one off the top of my head (Eric Northman.) There are several canon bi women (straight guys like that, of course), and some gay men (though they tend to be desexualized), but bi guys are like freaking unicorns. 

They do, in fact, exist in real life, however (hi, married to one!) so it’d be nice to see that reflected in entertainment. (Especially since we’ve likely seen the last of Jack Harkness.) 

So, to remedy this, I humbly suggest that the creators of the following dudes consider expanding these theoretically (but not yet canon established*) straight** characters’ worlds—and those of the audience, in the process. 

• Eliot Spencer (Leverage)
• Eddie Monroe (Grimm)
• Artie Nielsen (Warehouse 13)
• Hal Yorke (Being Human)  
• Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)
• Any dude on Lost Girl (seriously, all those queer women and no queer men? WTF? Granted, there was a tiny hint from Vex, but not enough, especially considering how explicit the show otherwise is. Also, Vex is an amoral manwhore. We don’t need that stereotype.) 

Also, when GoT finally gets around to Oberyn Martell, he’d best remain visibly bi. Hmph.

(I’d also like to see queer characters of any sort on Sinbad and Primeval: New World, but the former is probably very unlikely to go there, and we don’t know enough about the latter, yet. It may well have a queer character on there already—Toby, perhaps?) 

This is just from the shows I watch, BTW. I’d be happy to hear suggestions for characters from other shows. 

Establishing these men as bi, incidentally, wouldn’t be hard. W13 managed to do it for H.G. Wells with one line. All you need is a throwaway reference to a past boyfriend/male date/crush/hookup and you’re there. Another option is a reference to some dude being hot (“I’d do him.”) Granted, I’d prefer something more elaborate than that, but baby steps are better than no steps at all. Hell, Teen Wolf is already halfway there with Stiles. Turning him canon bi would be downright effortless, and the fandom is demanding it anyway. 

Given how much TV has otherwise progressed in increasing diversity, it does seem odd that this area is otherwise a complete desert. I can only imagine that they’re working from biphobic stereotypes (some gay men and straight women do still think bi men are untrustworthy), or they’ve utterly failed to see the enormous slash fan contingent out there, and thus are missing an additional, potentially huge supportive audience. Whatever the case, it’s time to see these guys on TV, and since I’m not seeing any signs of bi men being introduced as new characters, it’s worth, I think, seeing about expanding some of the existing ones.

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*Established as being attracted to women, but not established as NOT being attracted to men.

**The reason I say straight characters and not gay ones is because of the risk of straightwashing. Don’t want to go there. 

Yes, you’ve had to wait a longass time for your cliffhangers to be resolved.

Ours? NEVER WILL BE.

Sincerely,

The (only slightly bitter and hacked off at ITV) Primeval Fandom 

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P.S. Seriously, though, WTF was with that W13 fall finale? OMGFUCKFUYIDFIOHGIOAHH! And H.G. best come back to save the day. So have I spake, and so shall it be. 

P.P.S. I totally need to contact Impossible and offer to write series 6 in novel form.