Talk:Shep/@comment-44763533-20191231164752/@comment-44764149-20191231192750

I'm a trans woman, and I don't really agree on your opinion. I've seen harmful representation before, and at least so far, I don't think it's fair to render Shep a badly written character when they had hardly 11 minutes to develop. Like, Shep has only been around for one episode. If you're wondering why they didn't have an entirely visible character or personality, I'd say most, if not all of that, stems from that fact.

The breakup between Lars and Sadie might seem jarring at first, but it really makes sense in context. Remember, Lars is technically immortal now. He's got a magic physiology that doesn't require sustenance and presumably will not age. For the same reason that Rose's previous romances with humans wouldn't work because of her immortality, Lars' inability to even grow older willingly would make a relationship between him and Sadie near impossible.

More importantly, let's consider why Sadie would start dating Shep. She's lived with crazy people her whole life. Barbara, her mom, is, while well-meaning, a fanatic. Steven is a magic kid who brings her face to face with gems intent on ending her life on more than one occasion. Lars, while a considerably better person now, was unreliable at best and downright manipulative at worst. After all that, I would certainly find myself more endeared by level-headedness and emotional honesty- qualities which Shep seems to have in droves. They certainly aren't my type, but personality types like them do exist, and I find people like that to be admirable.

Lastly, Shep isn't a Mary-Sue. A Mary-Sue is a character so poorly written that the story forms itself and manipulates its world in ways that don't make logical sense to present the character as wildly perfect and oftentimes powerful. Shep having an unprecedented amount of emotional stability isn't being a Mary-Sue, it just indicates someone who's emotionally intuitive and mature. Their dialogue as they attempt to help Steven work out his issues isn't far off from how a therapist speaks, mine included. And given that Shep is around Sadie who probably tells them all about Steven (since their town is routinely destroyed by his enemies every couple of seasons/movies or so), they're probably aware of how Steven's emotion ties to his power, and how he can get them to stop if he just expresses his emotions and resolves them.

I'd offer that you might want to give Shep a chance. I know that seeing characters who are supposed to represent you can be difficult if you don't feel like they're an immediate match. But given a proper episode or two that delves more into how they interact with Sadie and the town, you might warm up to them. Jamie didn't seem remarkably noticeable in his first episode, and his only function was delivering the plot device that was the titular Cheeseburger Backpack. But looking at how he's developed (how ever weirdly that may be), I'm confident Shep will be treated with the same level of care as other characters in the show.