Autostraddle March Madness: Better Halves — Baby Gays

As much as I’d love to regale everyone with stories of the women’s Elite Eight — I’m really on pins and needles about the NC State/UCONN match-up — and the men’s Final Four, I’m pretty sure if I don’t hop right into the results from the Sci-Fi/Fantasy region, some of y’all are going to come after me with pitchforks. So let’s recap what happened:

I was intrigued by the Arcane and Astrid & Lilly Save the World match-ups because both of those shows are still relatively new and still finding their fanbases. That said, Arcane is tied to a popular gaming franchise so perhaps it came to the contest with a built-in advantage. The final vote totals were close but Vi and Caitlyn of Arcane were able to pull off the narrow victory and go onto compete in the Round of 32.

We’ll see if Arcane‘s advantage can carry over into the next round where they’ll face defending Autostraddle March Madness champions, WayHaught. Waverly and Nicole were able to pull off easy victories in the first round, defeating ThunderGrace handily. Will the Earpers continue to show up for their faves or can Caitlyn and Vi pull off the biggest upset of this tournament?

While we all wait with bated breathe to hear about the fate of Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman on the CW, fans of both shows are showing up for this year’s bracket competition. I thought the presence of two couples from Batwoman — plus, everyone’s undying love for Rose Bridget Regan — meant that they both be assured of a place in the second round but that’s not how things shook out. The Co-Captains for Life, Sara and Ava, made a strong showing in their opening round match-ups, easily beating a challenge from Pam and Renee.

But while Renivy may have gone down in defeat for the Batfam, the great ship WildMoore will sail into the next round. These two match-ups were some of the most talked about of the first round — more than a few people were like, “HOW DARE YOU?!” — and they lived up to the hype. Much to my surprise, Sophie Moore pulled off a decisive victory in the first round, dispatching Kelly Olsen of Supergirl with ease. What’s more astounding is that despite facing such a strong challenger.

Alex Danvers proved to be a greater challenge for Ryan Wilder but the fandom gave Batwoman a small lead in the early hours of voting and she never relinquished it. Of course, that means that it’s an all CW semi-final in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy region: Batwoman vs. Legends, Wildmoore vs. Avalance. Oomph, I suspect I’m going to get another round of “HOW DARE YOU?!” messages on social media.

So those were your Sci-Fi/Fantasy winners…how’d that translate into our bracket competition? After two rounds of voting, we only have just one perfect bracket remaining. I slipped a few spots on the leaderboard after a middling showing in that round but I’m hoping to rebound in . What about you?

Now we move on to the Baby Gays region…which, to me, feels like the easiest of the four regions. That said, maybe teen dramas aren’t your cup of tea so picking a favorite might prove more difficult. As usual, the voting will go on for 48 hours and then we’ll be back here on Tuesday to reveal the winners and the updated bracket. Let’s take a look at the field.

Casey Gardner, Atypical

Relationship Status: Bruin in Love

Izzie Taylor’s life is full of chaos. Her mother’s at the center of chaos, often drunk, leaving Izzie to shoulder more responsibility than she should at her age. Understandably, Izzie resents how absent her mother is and her mother chastises Izzie for her anger and bitterness. Her mother alternates between tossing her out and inviting her home to take care of the other children. It’s a cruel existence and one from which Izzie cannot wait to escape. It’s Casey that offers Izzie a refuge, a port in an otherwise harrowing storm. She gives Izzie a space to just be where she’s not asked to do more than a young teenager in love should.

Fabiola Torres, Never Have I Ever

Relationship Status: Reigning Queens

“I’m not cool,” Fabiola Torres admits as she and her girlfriend, Eve, have their Cricket Queens victory dance. “I don’t know anything about pop culture and I don’t know how to use hip phrases like ‘what’s the tea?’ And I feel unsafe in ripped jeans. The only thing besides my family friends and you are robots.”

Eve seizes on Fabiola’s admission and confesses that she loves her too. She doesn’t care about whether or not Fabiola’s cool. She never needed for Fabiola to know who King Princess is or to be an expert in L Word trivia. As she is, Fabiola is the most beautiful person Eve’s ever met…and that’s enough for her.

Taissa, Yellowjackets

Relationship Status: It’s Complicated

I love that I immediately picked up on Taissa and Van as a couple before it was canonically established outright due to how protective Taissa was of Van when the plane went down, particularly in episode two of Yellowjackets when Taissa was ready to FIGHT Jackie for abandoning Van in the plane fire. Taissa may keep messing up due to reasons outside of her control, but I do think she cares deeply about Van. The masks she made for both of them were sweet (and impressive — we love a crafty gay!). You know what they always say: Girlfriends who are attacked by wolves in possibly cursed woods together…stay together? — Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Rebeka, Elite

Relationship Status: In a Relationship

Mencía’s relationship with her family has long been strained: even if no one says it aloud, they — and, particularly, Mencía’s father — blame her for the car accident that killed her mother and seriously injured her brother…a blame that Mencía’s internalized and that fuels her behavior. When Mencía joins with the students in protest of her father’s draconian rule at Las Encinas, things only get worse. Her father strips her of her allowance and Mencía, unwittingly, stumbles upon a new way to make money. But when she gets in, dangerously, over her head, it’s Rebeka, who comes to her rescue.

“When I got home [after a dangerous encounter], I had an excuse ready, but nobody asked because they couldn’t care less,” Mencía laments. Rebeka’s the only person that really sees her and thinks that she’s someone worth rescuing. There’s nothing that Rebeka wouldn’t do to protect Mencía…even Mencía doesn’t know how much.

Rue Bennett, Euphoria

Relationship Status: Fuckin’ Done

I’ll let Rue make the case — affirmative or dissenting, I’m not sure which — for herself (from her final season 2 monologue):

“Jules was my first love. I’d like to remember it that way. I don’t know if that’s actually true, though. I think I was high for too much of it. I know it wasn’t easy for her. And I hope she forgives me. I stayed clean through the rest of the school year. I wish I could say that was a decision I made. In some ways, it was just easier. I don’t know if this feeling will last forever… but I am trying. I remember Ali said, ‘The thought of maybe being a good person, is what keeps me trying to be a good person.’ Maybe there’s something to that.”

Tamia “Coop” Cooper, All American

Relationship Status: Holding On

Soon after Coop and Patience get together, Coop starts trying to build her brand as a musician. After winning a local rap battle, she uses the studio time with JP Keating to produce her first real song and hopes she can leverage it into a record deal. But when JP hears a version of Coop’s song with Patience on the chorus, it’s her that the superstar producer takes an interest in, not Coop. Patience isn’t new to music — she’s a member of the church choir — but making music has never been her dream…at least not until Coop opens her up to the possibility.

Coop pushes Patience to new heights. When Patience doubts herself, Coop’s there to remind her how good she truly is: “you’re even better than whatever they think you are. Just gotta do you, Patience, and go get it.” When Coop can’t complete her scheduled tour dates, she urges Patience to fill her slot. It hasn’t always been easy…and it certainly hasn’t been without conflict…but Coop is helping Patience live the dream she never even knew she had.

Raelle, Motherland: Fort Salem

Relationship Status: On the Run Together

Raelle and Scylla don’t have your typical enemies-to-lovers trajectory. In fact, it’s sort of more like lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers if we’re being honest. There was a long time that Raelle (and thus us, the audience) wasn’t sure if Scylla was trustworthy, because they don’t live in a world where their relationship could just be their relationship; there were bigger forces at work. Political forces, rebel forces, magic forces. It didn’t help that Raelle’s found family, her team, her sisters, also didn’t trust Scylla. But things aren’t always as black and white as good vs evil, and when it comes down to it, her sisters just want Raelle to be happy, and Scylla makes Raelle happy. — Valerie Anne

Greta, genera+ion

Relationship Status: In Love

When a suspected school shooter sends the campus into a lockdown, Riley and Greta end up together in the library. Riley’s anxious…though less about the potential shooter and more about being trapped in a small space. She fidgets nervously and breathes deeply. Greta recalls this “heart-racing thing” that she experienced after first seeing E.T. and the way her mother would soothe her: whispering a rhyme and gently stroking her hand. Riley asks Greta to show her and she does…reciting her mother’s rhyme (“Sana sana, colita de Rana, si no sanas hoy, sanaras mañana.”) as she rubs circles on Riley’s hand.

There’s a visible calm that comes over Riley with Greta’s touch. There’s a visible calm that comes over Riley anytime Greta’s near. Greta makes Riley’s life better.