No, it was Laurie. That dress and hair style were from this cover. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/wallflower/4005-40535/
Wind Dancer
Surge
Hellion
Prodigy
Anole
Rockslide
Pixie
Dust
Mercury
Elixir
Gentle
Armor
Loa
Trance
Bling!
No, it was Laurie. That dress and hair style were from this cover. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/wallflower/4005-40535/
Any story where the character's perceptions and identity are being affected by mind control or other means of artificial inducement (drugs, etc.) ought to be considered AU as far as any sort of character revelations are concerned, unless you can EXPLICITLY separate out what is part of the character, and what is part of the illusion. IIRC, nothing in Pixie Strikes Back suggests that Mercury being interested in women was anything more than part of the illusion the girls were trapped in.
The whole Mercury/Bling! thing was pretty much in the same vein as "Bobby, you're gay." There was no development or buildup to it. The writer just declared it to be. For a brand-new character whose identity is still being revealed is one thing, but to do it with an established character is NOT good writing.
For the longest time, I must admit, I was under the (mis)apprehension that Mercury was settling on Bling(!) because she was the first(?) person to demonstrate romantic/physical attraction TO Cessily, and so she was at a point in her life that she just kind of went with it to see how it would go. That's a super sad and cynical perspective, I know, so I am hopeful this continues to blossom and subsequently wash away the previous nonsense narrative that was built in my brain.
I don't mind that Cessily is bi, she's young she's still figuring things out, it's not unreasonable for her to figure out she's attracted to women. Dating Bling! after their unfortunate start is a whole other issue...
My main problem with the pairing is that it hasn't been developed at all, people are so desperate for some queer women rep in comics that they'll take whatever measly crumbs are offered. And then twist themselves into justifying why its a good pairing when it just comes down to "they're both shiny skinned girls"
It's almost exactly like Julie Power and Karolina Dean. Those two dated for years but most of their relationship took place off panel, none of the writers bothered exploring their relationship until it was over. So the entire basis of their relationship was "two rainbow girls who look pretty when they fly next to each other"
This is my problem exactly with characters being declared LGBTQ+ without development, and the queer community taking offense when people object because <insert OOC justification about representation here>. When you try to argue about character development and buildup, the inevitable response is "People are just gay so it shouldn't matter." Even though IRL, sometimes it MAY take years for a queer person to recognize themselves as queer.
The recent coming out of Elliot Page as trans is a good example: When he first broke out as an actor, IIRC he identified as a straight female, before shifting bi, and then lesbian. Now he identifies as male (I would presume hetero male, but TBH I just get confused keeping track of all the different variations, especially once transgenderism gets involved). This is over the course of almost 15 years to find his identity (maybe longer, since we won't know much about his identity struggles prior to becoming a public figure). So the idea that you can just out a character without actually laying any ground work (IE KYost's declaration of X-23 being gay "all along"...even though he only ever wrote her as attracted to a male character) is not only absurd from a NARRATIVE sense, but from simply the real-life process.
And yet if you try to bring that up, suddenly you're homo/trans/whatever-phobic for objecting.
I don't think most characters that have had barely any relationship need that much of a justification for being queer. Cessily and Blings start is a bit rocky, but then in the X-women book they were shown in a sort of will they-won't they dynamic, at the end of it I think Cessily has a mostly positive impression of Bling, and I would say she looked interested.
Then in Generation X they are shown to be a thing, and now they are still a thing.
Would it be nice to have a little more development? Sure, but Cessily's relationship with Bling doesn't comes out of nowhere.
Laura or Dani Moonstar would probably need some development because they have been shown to have straight relationships(Dani, I think, even saying she's straight). Even so, I would argue that Laura's case is a bit of a question mark since she has just liked who she liked, if next, she likes a girl I don't think it's a big deal, her experience is pretty outside of the norm, she's a murder machine.
That is what happens when folks are so desperate for anything.
Or they expect you to be HAPPY with crumbs. Because they fear said development might take away from who they like (see the war of Green Lanterns for example).
Take Prodigy. He claims to be bi. I would LOVE to see an issue be devoted to him about how or what lead up to that.
Could it be a manifest of his powers? Knowing what everyone has learned or know might including knowing their feelings.
Now some will scream they don't want a book like that.
Well.... NOTHING says you can't devote a BACKUP (4-5 pages) for say 6 issues on it and maybe toss it out as a one shot. I mean there are ways to do it.
Queer, LGBTQI+ people have their own journey of discovering their own identity in real life because heterosexuality and the gender binary are treated as the norm, the default form of sexual orientation and gender identity. The argument that LGBTQI+ characters need a "reason" to exist is considered homophobic because it again assumes the heterosexuality is again the only possible sexuality for any existing characters, as if it's not possible in real life, like you said, for anyone to discover and experience their own sexuality be it in their teens or later in life.
Kieron Gillen, the queer writer of second volume of Young Avengers, wrote exactly what you're asking in the same issue where Prodigy came out.
Last edited by nandes; 12-03-2020 at 08:58 AM.
This mentality kinda only works if the only options are straight and gay. There were people up in arms about Prodigy being bi and about Kitty having a bi moment (I’m saying moment because if the writer doesn’t do anything after that one kiss then that’s all it’ll be) even though nothing about them ALSO liking the same sex contradicts previous stories.
My main point was that these characters have no life outside the page.
Is your going to have them go through, these massive character changes, at least show, don't just tell.