ishvalan

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presenting HEADED FOR A GRANDER STAGE, an oikawa-centric fanzine featuring:

over 50 pages of artwork and writing from 30 contributors (including this amazing cover by oldmenyaoi)!

all pieces safe for work!

completely free!!

this zine was created by artists and writers to showcase their love and appreciation for oikawa tooru. everyone worked hard, and we hope that you enjoy!

[DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE]

[ishvalan]

hypersexualization of kids and teenagers makes me livid and i'm literally unable to not hate anyone who tries to defend their right to do it because "it's fictional" or "it's not real" there's no gray area in this. you're rotten and disgusting and i hope i could shove you off the face of earth 

[ishvalan]

perhaps you’ve read all my posts about oikawa and you’re thinking “so what? who cares if people interpret a fictional character this way? why does it matter?”

the short answer is it matters because oikawa is my favorite hq!! character and seeing him portrayed like this over and over again in fanwork that i would otherwise enjoy is obnoxious as fuck.

the long answer is that i’m really just beyond fed up with the callous disregard that the hq!! fandom (and every fandom, but again this is the fandom i’m in and therefore the fandom i interact with) has for people’s lived experiences, and oikawa’s blatant sexualization is one example of this.

i want to know why people find it appropriate to decry ships they don’t like as “abusive” when they know damn well there is no abuse being depicted, even going so far as to tell a survivor of domestic abuse that they’re being an abuse apologist for pointing this out.  

i want to know why, when called out, people who engage in the sexualization of teenage characters are content to respond “it’s just fiction! there’s a difference between fiction and reality!” and refuse to critically examine their behavior and question why they so desperately want to defend their right to do this. 

there is indeed a difference between fiction and reality, but the two are not mutually exclusive: fiction observes, reflects, critiques, and challenges reality and vice-versa. most importantly, fiction can serve as a mechanism by which ways of thinking and acting become normalized and accepted in the real world. it has been demonstrated time and again by scholars of media and cultural that information received through fiction impacts development and behavior. the sexualization of teenage characters, for example, creates an environment where it gradually becomes increasingly acceptable to view real teenagers in this way. 

i realize, however, that this argument can be difficult to prove in an empirical sense, especially considering that internet fandom has arguably less influence on society than other forms of mass media such as television and film. instead, i’d like to focus more on the micro implications of sexualizing teenage characters—specifically, how endorsement of this practice ultimately creates a fandom environment that disregards people’s personal experiences. 

for example:

i am a survivor of emotional abuse and was formerly engaged in an unhealthy, codependent relationship. i was never given the opportunity to properly confront my abuse or heal from it; memories of my trauma continue to affect me nearly 7 years later and negatively impact my ability to form relationships of all kinds. imagine how it feels to come online, to come into a supposedly fun and friendly fandom space where people openly discuss their “codependency kinks” or viciously attack a ship they don’t like (my favorite ship, for that matter) as “abusive” as if that word means nothing. 

imagine how it feels for a rape survivor to go into oikawa’s tag and see people laughing about how someone edited his hq!! wiki character page to say “position: in the locker room choking on a dick,” when they were forcefully degraded in a similar manner 

imagine how it feels for someone whose only support system is a community full of people who romanticize abusive relationships and enthusiastically post about their favorite characters being sexually humiliated, or people who throw around words like “abuse” and “rape” like they’re meaningless. 

i can tell you how it feels: it feels like your experiences don’t matter, like no one cares about the pain and trauma you’ve endured. the message you take away from it is that you’re upset over something “normal” people either disregard or celebrate. you’re too emotional. you have no right to be hurting. you need to get over it. 

you internalize these thoughts, live with them, let them influence how you interact with people or deal with your emotions or even conduct your daily life. it can be incredibly damaging. 

when you endorse or engage in these behaviors and attack or dismiss anyone who tries to say something about it, you’re telling those around you that your personal enjoyment is more important than their right to express their pain. 

if you’re someone who goes out of your way to defend this kind of behavior or who deliberately obscures people’s arguments against this behavior by focusing nitpicking inconsequential details, you’re disgusting, point blank. i don’t think it’s too much to ask for there to be a fandom space for people to have fun and meet others who share their interests without being constantly bombarded with the kind of bullshit i see going on here 

[ishvalan]

who do i need to sacrifice to destroy the pet name trash from fandom's vernacular? what do i have to do to stop people from keep doing this wrong as hell characterization of oikawa? WHY Y'ALL ARE SO OBSESSED WITH SEXUALIZING A TEENAGER AND DEFENDING YOUR RIGHT TO DO IT BECAUSE "HE'S FICTIONAL"????? 

Who *doesn’t* appreciate the smug asshole antics of Aobajousai’s star setter? 

Taking Out the Trash: An Oikawa Fanzine

-a free 48-page zine dedicated to Oikawa Tooru from Haikyuu!! being his trashy self, featuring comics, fic, pinups, paper dolls, mazes, connect-the-dots, Skirtkawas, and more! Featuring work from hazeldrop (including cover art above), bellhasabat, hamletmachine, vythefirst, tumblngkori, birries, urdchama, mirrorshards, starrwinter, ocicatsy, and wensleydale! 

-pdf format for easy trashviewing on your trashy computer-of-choice

(alternate download here and here if original link breaks)

-did I mention free?

-delicious Skirtkawas

[ishvalan]

I’ve always wanted to see what the spirit world’s like

[ishvalan]

I have my problem with the pacing, the politics, and the way certain women were written in legend of korra. I even have my criticisms of Atla.

But Bryke has taken risks, they’ve pushed, both of them and all of the brilliant writers and the whole teams that have worked with them all deserve credit for helping break the racial barrier of the “universal” light-skinned hero, for addressing imperialism and colonization — as faulty as they had — for creating beautiful stories of family, friendship, love, balance, and the power of resistance. It wasn’t the most perfect, subversive thing ever, but it’s a trailblazer in its own right, and both series will eternally have my respect for that. Art can be used to uphold oppressive norms or help chip away at them, and while they didn’t always make a choice I agreed with, they’ve tried more than most. 

More than this, for years Atla and Legend of Korra helped me and many other people in a lot of ways. It’s nice to have something to look forward to during the week. When the news of Korra had come out for Book 1’s airdate, I was grieving a family suicide and struggling with severe depression, and it was pretty much the only thing that I could muster excitement up for. I have friends that had abusive fathers and mothers that related to Zuko’s story and were helped immensely through it. I had refugee friends that uncomfortably saw themselves in Jet or in Katara, or in Aang’s confusion. 

What surprises me and touches me, I guess, even more than the fact that they gave me a love story that I really relate to and adore in Korra and Asami, is that these two guys have just put themselves in front of Korrasami shippers and others, as a shield, to validate them and basically shout down the bullshit they’ve had shouted at them.

I’m used to being thrown under the bus. And on many barriers (racial, cultural), I still expect to be. Here, I was cringing. I was ready to be made a fool of. I wasn’t expecting to be protected in a way and be supported. It’s the last thing I thought would happen. I’m still shocked, but I’m pretty thankful. This is probably the only post I’ll ever make like this, because I’m pretty careful before declaring any media as some giant breakdown of oppression (it’s not, at all), but this was still…something else. Wow :’)  Thank you. Both series mean so much to me, and it felt like they were the only friends I had in some really hard times.

[ishvalan]

every hetero out there: FEELING ATTACKED BY KORRASAMI BEING CONFIRMED

me: 

[ishvalan]

man if u are gna complain abt korrasami just remember that queer fans NEVER get their ships confirmed canon. we get baiting from the writers and the cast and little moments intended to titillate but they never commit they never entertain making it a reality.

think about how good you feel if your hetero ship get confirmed canon think about that and then imagine that it’s never happened to you before. that you’ve been told over and over that it never WILL happen and that you will never see ships you can even slightly relate to be treated with respect

imagine being told you are “delusional” and “reaching” over and over and over only to have the creators tell you that you aren’t 

so if you think that bryke are “caving to the fans” good. they should. queer fans have been crying out to the creators of their favorite media for more representation for decades, it’s about time they started to listen. 

if you think that it’s “rushed”, take off your hetero goggles bc it isn’t. they worked hard to create a subtle and nuanced build up to a loving and supportive relationship. and even if they hadn’t, who cares? hetero ships get forced in media all the time and no one complains then, they’re just happy their ship is canon.

this is IMPORTANT and maybe it’s not perfect and no homophobia isn’t over but this is an important moment no matter how small. my hope is that other creators will notice this and follow their lead, because it only takes a small stone to create ripples. 

[ishvalan]

me scrolling down the makorra tag: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I FEEL SO ALIVE RIGHT NOW

[ishvalan]

anyways, i hope “two girls date the same guy and then fall in love with eachother” becomes a television cliche now

[ishvalan]

If it seems out of the blue to you, I think a second viewing of the last two seasons would show that perhaps you were looking at it only through a hetero lens.

Bryan Konietzko  (via unbendable)

[ishvalan]

Matching icons for u and the bae

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I hope everyone who had kneejerk angry, upset reactions to Korrasami and squinted as hard as they could NOT to see it romantic and tried to gaslight fans and even NON-FANS of the pairing that saw it as undeniably romantic take a big long pause to examine themselves and why they were not only refusing to see it that way, but made it their crusade to try and mock those who did.

[ishvalan]

bryke has my gay money forever i will fucking buy whatever they put out 

[ishvalan]

I CAN KILL A MAN RIGHT NOW

[ishvalan]

Korrasami Confirmed

Now that Korra and Asami’s final moment is out in the world, it seems like an appropriate time to express how I feel about it. I didn’t want to say anything right away so the audience could experience the finale for themselves.

The main themes of the Avatar universe have always revolved around equality, justice, acceptance, tolerance, and balancing differing worldviews. In subtle and maybe not so subtle ways, Avatar and Legend of Korra have dealt with difficult subjects such as genocide, child abuse, deaths of loved ones, and post traumatic stress. I took it as a complement when Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair called the show subversive. There were times even I was surprised we were able to delve into the really tough stuff on a children’s TV network. While the episodes were never designed to “make a statement”, Bryan and I always strove to treat the more difficult subject matter with the respect and gravity it deserved.

And over the years we’ve heard from numerous fans, in person and online, how Avatar and Korra have influenced their lives for the better or helped them overcome a life struggle or setback. I am always humbled when people share their personal stories with us and I am grateful that my love for telling stories has been able to help people in some small way. So while Avatar and Korra were always meant to be entertaining and engaging tales, this universe and its characters also speak to the deeper humanity in all of us, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, culture, nationality, or sexual orientation.

Our intention with the last scene was to make it as clear as possible that yes, Korra and Asami have romantic feelings for each other. The moment where they enter the spirit portal symbolizes their evolution from being friends to being a couple. Many news outlets, bloggers, and fans picked up on this and didn’t find it ambiguous. For the most part, it seems like the point of the scene was understood and additional commentary wasn’t really needed from Bryan or me. But in case people were still questioning what happened in the last scene, I wanted to make a clear verbal statement to complement the show’s visual one. I get that not everyone will be happy with the way that the show ended. Rarely does a series finale of any show satisfy that show’s fans, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the positive articles and posts I’ve seen about Korra’s finale.

I’ve already read some heartwarming and incredible posts about how this moment means so much for the LGBT community. Once again, the incredible outpouring of support for the show humbles me. As Tenzin says, “Life is one big bumpy ride.” And if, by Korra and Asami being a couple, we are able to help smooth out that ride even a tiny bit for some people, I’m proud to do my part, however small it might be. Thanks for reading.

[ishvalan]

Korrasami is canon. You can celebrate it, embrace it, accept it, get over it, or whatever you feel the need to do, but there is no denying it. That is the official story. We received some wonderful press in the wake of the series finale at the end of last week, and just about every piece I read got it right: Korra and Asami fell in love. Were they friends? Yes, and they still are, but they also grew to have romantic feelings for each other. Was Korrasami “endgame,” meaning, did we plan it from the start of the series? No, but nothing other than Korra’s spiritual arc was. Asami was a duplicitous spy when Mike and I first conceived her character. Then we liked her too much so we reworked the story to keep her in the dark regarding her father’s villainous activities. Varrick and Zhu Li weren’t originally planned to end up as a couple either, but that’s where we took the story/where the story took us. That’s how writing works the vast majority of the time. You give these characters life and then they tell you what they want to do. I have bragging rights as the first Korrasami shipper (I win!). As we wrote Book 1, before the audience had ever laid eyes on Korra and Asami, it was an idea I would kick around the writers’ room. At first we didn’t give it much weight, not because we think same-sex relationships are a joke, but because we never assumed it was something we would ever get away with depicting on an animated show for a kids network in this day and age, or at least in 2010. Makorra was only “endgame” as far as the end of Book 1. Once we got into Book 2 we knew we were going to have them break up, and we never planned on getting them back together. Sorry, friends. I like Mako too, and I am sure he will be just fine in the romance department. He grew up and learned about himself through his relationships with Asami and Korra, and he’s a better person for it, and he’ll be a better partner for whomever he ends up with. Once Mako and Korra were through, we focused on developing Korra and Asami’s relationship. Originally, it was primarily intended to be a strong friendship. Frankly, we wanted to set most of the romance business aside for the last two seasons. Personally, at that point I didn’t want Korra to have to end up with someone at the end of series. We obviously did it in Avatar, but even that felt a bit forced to me. I’m usually rolling my eyes when that happens in virtually every action film, “Here we go again…” It was probably around that time that I came across this quote from Hayao Miyazaki: “I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” I agree with him wholeheartedly, especially since the majority of the examples in media portray a female character that is little more than a trophy to be won by the male lead for his derring-do. So Mako and Korra break the typical pattern and end up respecting, admiring, and inspiring each other. That is a resolution I am proud of. However, I think there needs to be a counterpart to Miyazaki’s sentiment: Just because two characters of the same sex appear in the same story, it should not preclude the possibility of a romance between them. No, not everyone is queer, but the other side of that coin is that not everyone is straight. The more Korra and Asami’s relationship progressed, the more the idea of a romance between them organically blossomed for us. However, we still operated under this notion, another “unwritten rule,” that we would not be allowed to depict that in our show. So we alluded to it throughout the second half of the series, working in the idea that their trajectory could be heading towards a romance. But as we got close to finishing the finale, the thought struck me: How do I know we can’t openly depict that? No one ever explicitly said so. It was just another assumption based on a paradigm that marginalizes non-heterosexual people. If we want to see that paradigm evolve, we need to take a stand against it. And I didn’t want to look back in 20 years and think, “Man, we could have fought harder for that.” Mike and I talked it over and decided it was important to be unambiguous about the intended relationship. We approached the network and while they were supportive there was a limit to how far we could go with it, as just about every article I read accurately deduced. It was originally written in the script over a year ago that Korra and Asami held hands as they walked into the spirit portal. We went back and forth on it in the storyboards, but later in the retake process I staged a revision where they turned towards each other, clasping both hands in a reverential manner, in a direct reference to Varrick and Zhu Li’s nuptial pose from a few minutes prior. We asked Jeremy Zuckerman to make the music tender and romantic, and he fulfilled the assignment with a sublime score. I think the entire last two-minute sequence with Korra and Asami turned out beautiful, and again, it is a resolution of which I am very proud. I love how their relationship arc took its time, through kindness and caring. If it seems out of the blue to you, I think a second viewing of the last two seasons would show that perhaps you were looking at it only through a hetero lens. Was it a slam-dunk victory for queer representation? I think it falls short of that, but hopefully it is a somewhat significant inching forward. It has been encouraging how well the media and the bulk of the fans have embraced it. Sadly and unsurprisingly, there are also plenty of people who have lashed out with homophobic vitriol and nonsense. It has been my experience that by and large this kind of mindset is a result of a lack of exposure to people whose lives and struggles are different from one’s own, and due to a deficiency in empathy––the latter being a key theme in Book 4. (Despite what you might have heard, bisexual people are real!) I have held plenty of stupid notions throughout my life that were planted there in any number of ways, or even grown out of my own ignorance and flawed personality. Yet through getting to know people from all walks of life, listening to the stories of their experiences, and employing some empathy to try to imagine what it might be like to walk in their shoes, I have been able to shed many hurtful mindsets. I still have a long way to go, and I still have a lot to learn. It is a humbling process and hard work, but nothing on the scale of what anyone who has been marginalized has experienced. It is a worthwhile, lifelong endeavor to try to understand where people are coming from. There is the inevitable reaction, “Mike and Bryan just caved in to the fans.” Well, which fans? There were plenty of Makorra shippers out there, so if we had gone back on our decision and gotten those characters back together, would that have meant we caved in to those fans instead? Either direction we went, there would inevitably be a faction that was elated and another that was devastated. Trust me, I remember Kataang vs. Zutara. But one of those directions is going to be the one that feels right to us, and Mike and I have always made both Avatar and Korra for us, first and foremost. We are lucky that so many other people around the world connect with these series as well. Tahno playing trombone––now that was us caving in to the fans! But this particular decision wasn’t only done for us. We did it for all our queer friends, family, and colleagues. It is long over due that our media (including children’s media) stops treating non-heterosexual people as nonexistent, or as something merely to be mocked. I’m only sorry it took us so long to have this kind of representation in one of our stories. I’ll wrap this up with some incredible words that Mike and I received in a message from a former Korra crew member. He is a deeply religious person who devotes much of his time and energy not only to his faith, but also to helping young people. He and I may have starkly different belief systems, but it is heartwarming and encouraging that on this issue we are aligned in a positive, progressive direction: “I’ve read enough reviews to get a sense of how it affected people. One very well-written article in Vanity Fair called it subversive (in a good way, of course)… I would say a better word might be “healing.” I think your finale was healing for a lot of people who feel outside or on the fringes, or that their love and their journey is somehow less real or valuable than someone else’s… That it’s somehow less valid. I know quite a few people in that position, who have a lifetime of that on their shoulders, and in one episode of television you both relieved and validated them. That’s healing in my book.” Love, Bryan