Quote Originally Posted by darkseidpwns View Post
That's just one that we know of, you then have Lois Lane's overall treatment throughout the New 52. Besides romance isnt just about shipping, its also about opening new avenues for story telling. Orion and Wonder Woman as a couple may be no loss but if Azz had interesting ideas about Diana playing some role in the New Genesis/Apokolips conflict then those ideas went down the drain automatically.
Romance should be for the purpose of story telling not pandering to someone who faps to pretty pictures. The actual story tellers treated SM/WW with utter disdain as Clementine pointed out. If your own writers resent it then its clear that they do find it limiting and problematic. This romance became exactly what the Pre Flashpoint super marriage was, except it only needed a year to reach that state. Now writers can work in peace, whatever relationasip Kal has with Diana can be explored in JL or Trinity. I honestly see no loss, there's still SM/WW interaction.
I would say if writers would ignore it, then they're not really being significantly restrained by the idea. Look at stuff like "Unchained."

I agree with your point about sustainability, but overall, I think among the things that was stifling creativity for writers, it comes a distant second to crossover arcs. For periods there, we had five titles doing four different things (more if you include JL), and then we had four titles dedicated to one thing.