#this is an arts focused school and as I predicted everyone seems a little gay

[hillbroski]

High school so far:

got adopted by an extrovert.

People have complimented my hair and jacket.

Auditioned for a musical and feeling okay ish?

People haven’t interrupted the teachers at all, and are generally quiet.

Math teacher is cool.

So pretty good 👍🏼

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 20: Roller Coaster

Following the war, Hogwarts instated a new policy. Everyone (regardless of their upbringing) who attended the school would be required to take a Muggle Studies Course.

Muggle Studies was not terrible, much to Draco's surprise and relief. In fact, Draco found that he actually rather enjoyed it. Especially the classes on Fridays.

On Fridays the eighth years had no classes except for Muggle Studies in the afternoon and their Professor always took them somewhere fun. They'd been to a pub, a bowling alley, a movie theater (Draco had especially enjoyed that one), a fancy restaurant, a few cafes, art museums and history museums, they went to see parliament, and Big Ben, and even a place called a 'science center'.

Today they were going to a muggle amusement park.

Potter (his assigned partner since he'd been raised by muggles) found him in the crowd once they arrived. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Draco replied, raising a hand to shade his eyes.

"Where should we start?" Potter asked, nodding to the expanse of oddities in front of them.

"Umm," Draco said, shading his eyes once more to look around, seeing only unfamiliar things.

"Come on," Potter said, apparently making the decision for them. "I think you need some sunglasses first."

(Read more below the cut)

Potter tugged him over to a stand off to the corner where they bickered about which sunglasses suited Draco best before finally agreeing on a pair of wayfarers with pink frames. The other boy's smile and encouragement were enough for Draco to slip them on.

"Very handsome," Potter said and Draco could feel his cheeks heat under the praise. Fortunately, Potter seemed not to notice as he turned to pay for the sunglasses.

After that they wandered around, Potter took him on a carousel, then down a giant slide that they had to climb into burlap sacks for, before dragging him over to the carnival games.

"Here," Potter said, paying the man at a booth and taking six ping pong balls from him. "You just have to sink them in the fish bowls and you win a prize."

"That hardly seems difficult," Draco replied.

The man behind the booth snorted, "Good luck, kid."

"Would you like to go first?" Harry offered.

Draco nodded and squared his shoulders before tossing the first ball. It pinged off multiple bowls before falling to the ground in between. "What?!"

"It's okay," Potter said, "try again. If you get two in, you still win a small prize."

"Right," Draco said, blowing out a breath and focusing. He tossed the ball more gently this time and it bounced once before sinking into one of the bowls. "Hah!" Draco shouted triumphantly.

"Good job," Potter replied, and there was a time when those words would have been tainted and sarcastic, but the two of them were long past that at this point. He knew the other boy was simply genuinely happy for him.

"Alright," Draco said, "Last chance little ball." He nodded once and tossed this one as well, it bounced once, twice, three times, before catching the rim of one of the bowls at an odd angle and flying off.

"Better luck next time," the man said. "You're up specs."

Potter nodded, let out a little huff of breath and tossed them right in a row; one and two sunk straight in, the third bounced once before sinking into a third fish bowl.

Draco's jaw dropped and he looked over to see that the man behind the booth looked equally stunned.

"Plushy unicorn or dragon?" Potter asked him.

"What?"

"Unicorn or Dragon?" he prompted.

"Dragon," Draco replied without real thought.

Potter nodded, "We'd like the blue dragon, please."

The man grabbed the dragon and handed it over to Potter, "That was well done."

"Thanks," Potter replied before turning and handing the dragon over to Draco. "For you."

"For me?"

Potter nodded and stuffed it into Draco's arms before walking off, "Come on," he called over his shoulder, "Roller coaster next."

It took Draco a moment to catch up with him, "Why did you give this to me?"

The other boy looked over at him and shoved his glasses up on his nose, "Do you not want it?" he asked, reaching for it.

"No," he said, turning away so he couldn't take her, "I want her."

"Alright then."

It wasn't really an answer but he didn't want Potter to take the delightfully soft and fluffy dragon from him so he kept quiet and mulled over the possible reasons. Pansy would say that Potter liked him, too, but Pansy was gay so he didn't trust what she had to say about boys.

Potter led him over to a tall, monstrous metal contraption and Draco watched with a small amount of horror as the muggles riding it were sent speeding off as they screamed bloody murder.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Potter glanced over, "Yeah, it'll be fun. Like riding a broom," he added soft enough for only Draco to hear.

"Sure if someone else were in control of it!" Draco hissed.

"That's part of the appeal," Potter said as he stepped into line and tugged Draco after him. "Letting go, just flying without the work."

"You're insane."

"We'll see," Potter replied with a shrug and a secret little smile at the corner of his mouth that made his dimple show.

Draco waited, his heart pounding, palms sweating, as he got closer and closer to the front of the line. "Are you sure about this?"

"As sure as I am about anything," Potter replied with a sardonic grin.

They stepped up to the front of the line and the man told him, "You'll need to leave your dragon here."

"Might as well leave your sunglasses, too," Potter said, "wouldn't want those to go flying off," he added with a wink. A wink. And Draco was so off kilter that he did as Potter suggested before he climbed into the seat next to him.

The lap bar was pulled down and secured, "Potter," he started, sure that it wasn't healthy for your heart to beat this fast.

"It's okay," Potter assured. He'd taken his glasses off and folded them over the collar of his shirt.

"But-"

"Draco," the other boy said, turning to look at him and putting his hand over Draco's. "Seriously. No one has ever died from riding on this roller coaster."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked but it was too late, the roller coaster was already starting to pull them upwards.

"98%," Potter called.

"What?" he asked, trying to make sense of his words over the pounding in his ears and the rush of adrenaline he was experiencing.

"I'm 98% sure no one has ever died on this roller coaster."

It was not really the answer he'd wanted to hear. He opened his mouth to reply but the cart tipped over the top of the first hill and his words turned into a scream, one of his hand's clenching the lap bar, the other crushing Harry's.

He screamed as they were dropped and flipped, as the cart whipped around corners and he was knocked into Harry and Harry into him, all the while his heart racing. And Harry was right, it was a lot like flying but without the predictability.

As the roller coaster glided to a stop, Draco couldn't help but laugh; he felt lighter than air, freer than he could remember feeling in a long time. He turned grinning at Harry, "That was amazing."

"Yeah," Harry replied, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"Oh," Draco said, looking down at where he was still clenching the other boy's hand. "Sorry-"

"I'm not," Harry replied softly, a little shy.

"Please exit the cart, lovebirds," the man running the ride called. "We have other people waiting."

"Right, sorry," Harry apologized and he clambered out before holding out a hand for Draco to take.

Hand in hand, they made their way around to collect the dragon and Draco's sunglasses. "Where to next?" Draco asked, smiling so widely that it made his face hurt.

Harry swung their hands between them as he replied, "As long as it's with you, it doesn't matter."

Day 19: Ice Skating | Day 21: Scars

Thanks so much @gaygirldrarryblog for the prompt! I hope you enjoyed this little ficlet! <3

[wr8tur]

SUPERGIRL RANT !!

As a shipper of SuperCorp, I have mentioned how I recognize that it will never happen. I have expressed feeling like show runners and writers missed the opportunity because Sanvers is already a thing and they won’t let Supergirl and her sister be gay. Like I also said, I really have nothing against Sanvers or the actresses but I feel like SuperCorp would have been a better story to tell because we have had the Luthor/Super friendship before in Smallville.

Fine they’re going to differentiate somehow, possibly by not making Lena evil, but that’s not really that big of a difference because we’ve seen these dynamics before. 

I ship SuperCorp because of Katie McGrath, yes, but also because of the potential between the characters.

The story of the disregarded disgrace that was Lena Luthor and the hopeful heroine Kara Zor-El. That to me has always been a more appealing tale, not so much because of sexuality, but because of who they are.

I don’t want LGBT+ relationships to keep being portrayed in a way where the focus is on someone’s coming out. It’s like sexuality is some hindrance we should learn to get over. The narrative of watching someone realize something that shows and movies have been telling us for so many years; that it’s okay to be gay, has just been so repetitive for me. I don’t know about you, but I find the constant reassurance to be irritating and unnecessary in today’s story telling.

And I understand there are others there that are struggling, that are hiding, and are in need of reassurance, that they feel represented and validated.

I remind you that this is just my opinion because I’ve watched/read many tales where sexuality is something that has to be put under microscope, where it’s something that should discussed, something that needs to be justified instead of just being taken as what it is: two people who love and care for each other unconditionally.

Wouldn’t you rather have two same sex partners show you that they’re just like any other couple rather than have everyone else tell you that it’s okay?

I don’t know if that makes any sense....

I’ve never watched The 100 but I’ve heard people praise it because when CLexa got together, sexuality wasn’t made a big deal. SPOILER But then again, they gave Lexa an exit by killing her after she and Clarke had sex, so that’s taking the step towards the gay cliché yet again.

I would really like to see an LGBT+ relationship where sexuality isn’t an issue. It’s not about two women loving each other or two men being attracted to one another. I would love to see a show that will just show focus on the couple themselves, treat them essentially like a straight couple, without focusing on the gay agenda (telling us something we should already know such as it’s normal to be gay) or sticking to the gay cliché (giving the LGBT+ an unhappy ending by way of death).

The reason why I’m bringing all this up, is because of what happened during SDCC with the Supergirl cast.

First of all, why did Jeremy Jordan react like that? He literally yelled “They’re just friends” to the camera. As a singer (because he himself said he went to theater school and he was in a musical with Anna Kendrick), he knows how to control tone and voice, so why did he blatantly feel the need to point this out?

His reaction makes it seem like he isn’t joking, more like he’s exhausted with dealing with SuperCorp fans, and was lashing out.

And if that was the case, I understand because there were people kind of bashing the idea of Winn and Lena getting together and I’m not going to lie, while I believe I never disrespected either Winn or Jeremy Jordan, I myself said I don’t want Lena/Winn because it’s just like Sanvers where the relationship would have too many similarities between the characters, thus making it a dull and predictable relationship.

But then if that was his reasoning, if he was sick of dealing with the zealous nature of some fans, then he should have definitely expressed himself better.

He’s a professional actor, which means he should know how to conduct himself during interviews. What he did just showed that he is just as immature and disrespectful as those fans that treat him and his character like trash.

And I understand that he’s a human being, that he too makes mistakes.

But even the way he apologized didn’t feel like an apology. It felt like he was saying “I’m sorry you were offended but I am not a homophobe because I have gay friends, but really, you guys should just get over it because life is too short”. In the second part of his apology, it just seemed like he realized how badly he messed up and was probably reminded that the show is still in limbo given that they were only given one season approval, and they need as many viewers as they can get to assure a fourth season.

In the end, he was still disregarding SuperCorp shippers feelings and his ultimate apology feels like a cop out.

He wasn’t the only one.

As I mentioned earlier I know there are those thinking that because I think too many similarities means boring, that I should be on board with KaraMel. I am not. Because I think Mon needs more growing up before he even gets with anyone. His character lacks motivation and an actual arc in my opinion.

He was weak, and with the exception of the Jeremiah Danvers episode (which I feel like was a cop out, like honestly, out of all the people it was Mon who dared question what was going on? Like come freaking on! The writers obviously feel obligated to better him and they always do it by throwing other people under the bus!), he has always been wrong and angry and just downright derogatory whenever he is reminded of his mistakes.

I mentioned before that the writers could have done a better job. They could have built Mon up without tearing Kara down. They turned Kara into a foolhardy muscle head this season. She’s a far cry from what Supergirl was supposed to be.

Supergirl is the symbol of strength, of resolve, of righteousness, and justice.

Yet this TV version of Supergirl is so dependent on her lover, is so selfish that she is willing to let Earth suffer just so she can have a love life with someone she won’t crush when they have sex, then what the hell is the message that they’re trying to release to the little girls and boys who aspire to be heroes today?

They made her entire family, save for Clark, a bunch of arrogant conquerors who use their intelligence and military to prove their superiority. They made them no better than Daxamite slavers, if not worse since Kryptonians are so willing to commit genocide in order to protect themselves. The writers and show runners literally found a reason for Kara to hate her own flesh and blood just so she wouldn’t feel like she’s betraying her kind by falling in love with a Daxamite… If they used this story line in SuperCorp, I still would have hated it.

Honestly, the fact that they had to cheapen Kara’s whole heritage to make her equal to Mon is insulting. And also, they basically turned Kryptonians into the Lillian and Lex.

To speak of another insult, I understand Chris and Melissa are dating, I understand why he would be upset that someone doesn’t ship he and his actual girlfriend on the show, but I feel like he was mocking Katie’s ideals. He interrupted her response, and I know she was almost done, but countering it with his ‘sarcastic’ comment about how people’s sexuality should be defined by others basically dismisses Katie’s ideals, her belief that characters are open to interpretation and fans have a right to see what they want to see. And the thing is it definitely should be open to interpretation/ limitless in one’s imagination when you’re talking about FICTIONAL characters.

The fact that he thinks people should just take things at face value, well it’s disrespectful and downright ignorant.

He’s basically telling people to not see what they see, to not feel what they feel, because it’s not written that way therefore whatever the fan interpretation is, it is ultimately meaningless.

I’m taking it as a disrespectful remark, kind of like that person who drew Demi Lovato as a mermaid and she responded by saying it’s not her body… like obviously we all know she doesn’t have a tail. We also can see that the artist captured her facial features well so obviously, it was the artist’s choice to draw her that way, to turn her into a majestic mythical creature.

The reason I’m bringing it up is because my works are created with my own interpretation of how things are, with my vision of how they could be.

And whatever art form one makes, whether it’s writing, drawing, sculpting, the point is when someone makes something they tend to put effort in their works and, while that might not be the case for Supergirl writers, that’s certainly the case for fans who take the time to draw, write, make videos, sculptures, who make anything to portray their love for the character/characters and the couples they ship.

I feel like Chris Wood and Jeremy Jordan basically told us we are stupid for seeing something that isn’t there. Like we are wasting our time shipping something that will never happen.

All those works we created are worthless because our ship does not and will never exist, because characters should be defined solely by what’s written in their script, that there are no other interpretations, that the scenarios only have one meaning: the one we are given at face value.

They are basically saying we should not look for substance in their show, for artists to stifle their creativity with their renditions, for people to restrict their imaginations, to just watch the damn show, to let Chris and Melissa enjoy being a couple off and on screen, and ultimately for SuperCorp shippers to be quiet about our non existent never going to happen ship.

To learn that the actors on the show actually feel that it’s okay to ridicule fans, the people who watch the show, the reason why their show exists in the first place, well now I am torn between my hatred for their disrespectful behavior to SuperCorp shippers and my wish to show my support for Katie McGrath…..

I can’t comment on what Melissa said because I didn’t read/watch exactly happened about what she said… but from Katie’s reactions at some videos of her signing some SuperCorp stuff, I’m pretty sure Melissa isn’t a fan either.

Honestly, I don’t know if I’m still going to watch next season.

And I definitely don’t know how I’m going to feel inspired to continue writing my series or even support SuperCorp Week….

To those that feel like I’m over reacting, well I will say this once again.

I am tired of the crumbs they feed us.

I am tired of the way the media placates us.

I am tired of the way Hollywood tell us it’s okay to be gay, but still make us feel alienated by not letting people in the LGBT+ community get proper representation.

WE DESERVE BETTER!

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 4/2/19

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 21 | By Yuri Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s still the finals of the West Tokyo preliminaries for Koshien, and Seido is still facing off against Inashiro Industrial. Tanba is obviously in trouble, and since what trailing Seido needs is an injection of heart, it’s Eijun to the rescue. His confidence and trust in his team exude from his every pore and it’s this spirit that gets the momentum going in Seido’s favor. It’s so nice to see Eijun doing really well and exhibiting some reliability—after spending so much time with him as a hothead with poor pitching control—and that his grandfather is there to see it. Of course, there’s yet another cliffhanger, as we make it to the bottom of the ninth with two outs to go before the volume ends way too soon. Can Seido manage to hold onto their lead? Tune in next time! – Michelle Smith

A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 16 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – In this volume we get: social justice discussion; historical backstory with violence and slavery; Nozomi dressed like a girl and getting hit on; volleyball fanservice complete with a double-page “swimsuit malfunction” spread; the triplets somehow traveling in time to the past and meeting their big sister as a little kid; Kyouya talking with one of her male classmates who’s pretty good-looking and nice, but she’s not really that into him; How To Centaur For Beginners; a human teacher dealing with her new job at a frog school in a very clear racism allegory; a girl telling her male date—after the date—that she’s gay, and Manami’s Daily Life. All in a day’s work for a series that is anything but predictable. – Sean Gaffney

The Delinquent Housewife!, Vol. 4 | By Nemu Yoko | Vertical Comics – Everyone gets shot down here. Yoshino is too nice to go through with her “revenge,” and gives up on Dai. Dai and Komugi takes longer, and is more problematic, but eventually he gives up on her as well. The best parts of the book deal with Komugi and her mother-in-law, who discovers the truth and has to deal with it, as well as resolving to “train” Komugi as a housewife. As expected, the series ends with Tohru coming home; also as expected, we do not see this homecoming, cutting out just before it happens. This series lived and died on its premise, and I must admit I found Komugi’s struggles as a housewife more interesting than the romantic entanglements. I’m still happy I read it, though. – Sean Gaffney

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 6 | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – The good news is that Shiva and her teacher actually touch in this book, and nothing untoward happens to her, so his fears were not justified. The bad news is that, of course, he has been distancing himself from her all this time because of that. Oh yes, and also everyone else is still after them, because Shiva’s uniqueness makes her either something to kill or something to experiment on. We also get a bit of teacher’s past as a doctor, though not much, as he doesn’t recall it himself. Throughout the series, it’s been Shiva’s innocent conversation that’s kept me reading, and that’s still true here, in a lighter volume for this series—and given how dark the volume gets, that says something about the series. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 8 | By Canno | Yen Press – Yukine and Ayaka crawl towards being a couple, but we’ve got two volumes after this, and it’s clearly the endgame, so it’s only a crawl. As is the case with this series, most of the focuses goes on another couple, Hikari and Nagisa, whose first names just make me think of Strawberry Panic!. They’re both running for student council president, despite living together due to circumstances. (Ayaka is ALSO asked to run, but decides against it.) As is often the case with this series, both Hikari and Nagisa are nicer than the other one thinks they are, and slowly fall in love, though given they’re the volume couple, not AS slowly as our heroines. This is good, but I’m ready for the end. – Sean Gaffney

MachiMaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person into a Magical Girl!, Vol. 2 | By Souruu | Seven Seas – How long I stay with this series depends on how much it can continue to be ridiculous. It does its best her—I liked the reporter girl who’s dragged along by events, as well as a taste of Kayo’s actual home life and what she’s rebelling against. When there’s a more serious plotline, such as when Nako’s seemingly dead classmate is possessed and Nako has to be convinced to fight against her, it can’t quite ride the cliches as fast, and gets stuck. Kayo is a very entertaining and foul-mouthed main character, though, and despite a high death count this does not seem to be “watch magical girls suffer” like some other series. Mildly recommended. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 5: The Spinoff! | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – This is something rare for a 4-koma series like this—a full-volume flashback, that was not serialized, that shows Aoba and Nene in high school, and how Aoba came to work at Eagle Jump straight out of it. We are introduced to two other “regulars” for this volume: Hotaru, a frail art student who is actually better than Aoba, and is going to art college; and their teacher Chinatsu, who is a “Sensei-chan” type who is one of the girls but occasionally dispenses good advice. There’s so much cute 4-koma humor that this could easily be a volume of Hidamari Sketch or GA: Art Design Class instead, but it does show us how Aoba got up the gumption to follow her dream. – Sean Gaffney

Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General, Vol. 3 | By jin | Seven Seas – I still enjoy laughing as I read this very dumb but very funny title. MVP this time around goes to the evil overlord’s secretary, who I’ve taken to calling Riza Hawkeye because of her general appearance and disposition. She’s attacked by a rival henchwoman, and also accidentally drinks a love potion. Hijinx ensue. As for the General and Braveman, situation much the same. We do get a beach episode, which shows us that even on vacation, everything still descends into chaos. The funniest chapter sees the urban legend Slit-Mouthed Woman attack some little boys… and General, trying to recruit her, instead verbally tearing her apart completely Silly, silly, silly. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2 | By Okura and Coma Hashii | Viz Media – I greatly enjoyed the first volume of That Blue Sky Feeling and was very pleased to find the second volume is just as strong if not stronger. The series is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, realistically addressing with compassion some of the challenges faced by gay high school students. A large part of the manga’s effectiveness is due to the exceptionally well done characterizations of its two main leads. Noshiro is an earnest if somewhat naive young man. He has such an incredibly kind heart but in his efforts to help others he still makes the occasional mistake. As for Sanada, it’s wonderful to see him start to open up a little bit more in this volume. But, because of his sadly understandable efforts to protect himself, he hasn’t yet been able to be completely honest with even his closest friends. I look forward to seeing their friendship continue to develop. – Ash Brown

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart | By Syundei | Seven Seas – Nearly a hundred years ago, a famous novelist raped and murdered nine boys, all of whom he subsequently wrote about in one of his books. Now, Yamada Omihiko, a teen who writes exactly like that novelist, is classmates with (and on the verge of becoming more-than-friends with) a boy named Hoshino Terumichi, who keeps having a recurring dream about the death of a boy named Tsukimura Shou. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that reincarnation is a factor here. I enjoyed the bulk of the story, though the ending is a little baffling, and much of that is owing to Syundei’s easy-to-read retro-ish artwork. I’ve said previously that her style reminds me of Rumiko Takahashi, but owing to this volume’s theme, I actually got more of a Please Save My Earth vibe, which I’m not complaining about whatsoever. I’m definitely keen to see more of Syundei’s work translated in the future! – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown