Had to write something. A long assed thread coming up.
I've been around fandoms for several decades now. Both before the internet, through the earliest days of internet
#Supergirl #Supercorp #Dansen #AzieTesfai #ChylerLeigh #KatieMcGrath #MelissaBenoist

fandom, to the present day.
I can genuinely say, the way Supergirl treats its fans, especially the LGBTQ or BIPOC fans as a whole, has been the worst by some margin. Particular with Supercorp in terms of queerbaiting.
Whether those involved in the production of Supergirl want

to admit it or not, Supergirl as it stands has been queerbaiting a large portion of the audience. Without a doubt, in terms of a ship, the largest core group of fans there is for Supercorp, and by some margin.
Have there been some fans who have taken things too far? Absolutely.

And every good SC fan I know recognise and understand this, and constantly say this.
Yet somehow, an entire fandom gets tarred with the same brush continually.
But worse still, when anyone tries to address the queerbaiting that has gone on with someone who works on the show,

other than the women in general, Jon Cryer (who could teach those bts of SG a lot on how to engage with fans on SM, and not piss off swathes of fans), and Jesse, there are few instances I can think of where it then hasn't resulted in SC fans getting dumped on, or called

delusional, terrorists, retarded and many other insults or basically saying it isn't there.
Here's the thing.
As LGBTQ fans, the majority of us - especially the older ones like myself - know exactly what queerbaiting is. How do you think it even became recognised as a problem?

Because we called media out on it. The LGBTQ audiences defined it, via our experiences. So we know exactly what queerbaiting is thank you. We don't need to be told it isn't there or isn't something going on - because we are the ones who wrote up the damn definition!
In all my

years of fandoms, never have I seen queerbaiting on the scale Supergirl use. Season 5 - especially 5a - brought the queerbaiting to a whole new level.
The thing is, it isn't just fans calling it out now, but other media.
So many of us dread S6, because S5 was so bad in a

multitude of ways for the LGBTQ audience, including but not exclusively Supercorp queerbaiting.
And I don't speak for all SC fans, but I do see a lot like me are caught in a conundrum. We all love the majority of the cast. Particularly the women. Sure we all have favourites, but

also as a whole, the female cast is loved and respected.
Here's my dilemma. I want to support the female cast. Hell I was a Chyler, Katie and Azie fan long before Supergirl, and have grown to love Melissa, Andrea and Nicole particularly. Nicole as a transgender women especially

holds a place dear to us. I will support them all beyond Supergirl.
As S6 will begin filming, I want nothing more than to show them I love, support and care for them. But then I'm at the point where I want to just tell the show to go jump, because they've sucked all the

enjoyment I had out of it for me. When you actually dread what the next week might bring, that is not what any show should be about. Yet here I find myself dreading what the show might bring.
I also am questioning do The CW even care about Supergirl any more, especially as they

finally got Superman, which they've coveted for years, and made no secret of it.
They seem to forget that Supergirl and Superman have two pretty distinct fans. I like Superman, but I love Supergirl. I'm also just a little bit done with all the iterations of Superman we've had on

screen.
Supergirl has always struggled on the social media side of fan engagement as well. Not once have I seen a showrunner actively engage with the audience. Or at least, if they have it was a long time ago. The current showrunners definitely haven't. Hell, one doesn't even

have a SM account.
But even if a showrunner or others involved in the show don't engage, when others do, it becomes a nightmare. The last 6 or 7 hours are a case in point.
Again, yes some fans take it too far where Supercorp is involved. Yet, once again, rather than just

stepping away, a writer got embroiled into something that didn't need to happen, because they gave out conflicting tweets on replies to fans over Supercorp, and then began blocking fans who were polite and respectful and did absolutely nothing to warrant a block.
Then they also

liked a post that called SC fans dicks.
Yet somehow again, we are all the bad guys.
I've no doubt that they felt overwhelmed on how the reactions went. I truly do. But I really don't understand why anyone doesn't just step back. Put out a polite post saying it's all getting a

bit too much, and they need to disengage. I think each and every decent fan would understand and respect that. I know I would.
But here's the thing.
Ultimately the writer shouldn't be in that position of trying to answer fans on it all. Nor should they dismiss fans who say it is

queerbaiting, if they're not LGBTQ themselves.
The problem is Supergirl social media is so lacking, it places a higher burden on writers and others instead. That is on the show. Entirely.
I also have to question just how diverse is the writers room? Having a number of women,

if they are White and cis, when you have a cast of characters who are LGBTQ and/or Black or POC, is not having a good diverse writers room. And it shows.
If you say there is no queerbaiting, but not LGBTQ, you need to stop trying to redefine what is accepted queerbaiting,

particularly if it is a large group telling you it is.
If someone says it is a gay agenda, you need to stop with that, because that is homophobic. End of. That's no different that being racist if you write it is a Black agenda.
Supergirl put themselves in this position.
I've

had family and friends watch Supergirl with no preconceptions on characters suddenly say: I see something between Kara and Lena. Are they together? And being astounded when not only do they realise they're not together, that they actually have 4 seasons of this and counting.

This has come from straight family and friends. Or my very gay, very into men brother in law.
If others see it who aren't involved as Supercorp fans, who might even be straight - that is queerbaiting.
But here's the thing. It shouldn't need us to say others see it too. If a

large segment of audience see it, say it is there, pull out receipts to show why they are saying that time and again, that should be enough.
Yet it isn't.
As much as it pains me - I sense now The CW has Superman, they're going to let Supergirl go by end of S6. I'd be more

surprised if they announce a 7th season than not.
Whatever decisions on the shows future they might be making, one thing is clear.
If they don't allow Supercorp to develop, and don't get rid of whatever homophobic block is going on for the show, Supergirl will be left with a

legacy of being probably the worst example on queerbaiting your audience ever.
If Lena was Liam, Louis, or Lucas I have no doubt they'd be together, married and having kids by now.
The 100 are still panned to this day over Clexa by LGBTQ fans.
Supergirl still have a chance, a

choice to pull it around.
Sadly I doubt that will happen.
In the meantime, I'm stuck on wanting to stop watching the show, but wanting desperately to support the cast. That's the conundrum many of us now face.
The legacy Supergirl will leave is not

going to be about empowering women if they don't change significantly for S6.
It will be how they queerbaited, how they dismissed the only full cast Black woman, worse still, who played an LGBTQ role. How they dismissed the LGBTQ as a whole.
Those are legacies that will not die

away for LGBTQ fans. The CW in general has tainted itself with the LGBTQ audience in more than one show.
What a mess.
It really wouldn't take much to avoid all of this. That's what is so disappointing. It is an easy fix.
/end

Please excuse any typos. This is going up unedited.