#I hate to make Lotor a villain but if Keith’s a villain Lotor is definitely a villain

[harukamitsuki]

I'm procrastinating writing at the moment, so I decided to create a list of the things I hate about Voltron, a show I can't help but love and rewatch 200+ times. I mean. I've been pretty damn vocal about one thing in particular, but I should probably remind people I hate other things too so...

This list will be long, so read more under the cut!

1 - Okay, let's just get the obvious one out of the way: Lance. Reasons why can be seen here, here and here. The first link really goes into the details, the second one is more confusion as to why people think Lance is treated the worst, and the last is more why Lance would be horrible as Black Paladin. MOVING ON TO NEW POINTS!

2 - The ships. Specifically... ahem... Klance, Sheith, Allurance, Lotorance (Lotor/Lance), Shidge (Shiro/Pidge), Shance (Shiro/Lance). Those, in my opinion, are the top offenders. I've explained my grievances with Sheith in a post here. It's not that it's paedophillia, it's the bond. As for the rest, while I dabbled a bit in Klance and Allurance in the aforementioned posts against Lance, I've yet to actually explain.

First of all, the fans are awful. Tip: If you keep trying to force people to like your ship instead of letting them get to their own conclusions, they're just going to hate that ship even more. This isn't a Voltron-specific thing, but it's still rampant.

Second of all, Lance doesn't treat either of them well. He's constantly antagonising Keith, even when Keith stops biting back in season two. The closest he gets to respecting Keith is telling him to suck it up when he's upset that the Black Lion chose him. Keith does try to be amicable to Lance, but it doesn't work because Lance is always picking a fight.

And Allura. Lance is constantly ignoring her boundaries and invading them. There isn't a single moment where they're alone together and they feel like friends, much less pining, before season seven. The only time is when Allura encourages Lance to take up Red, and he didn't even notice she was upset that Red rejected her. In fact, Lance just keeps talking about himself and how he was rejected, ignoring how Allura was rejected twice, and by the Lion her father piloted. Allura also never reacts well to Lance's flirting, always ignoring him and frowning when he does. If Allura, at least, used to laugh at his terrible attempts at flirting, maybe I could try to believe it.

Third, general grievances with these ships.

Lotorance. Lance hated Lotor from the get-go. They barely have a scene together without Lance glaring at him. If they shared some sort of chemistry outside of Lance hating him from afar, and if the writers didn't make Lotor a twist villain for no reason, then maybe. As of now, I only like it as a complete crack ship.

Shidge. Pidge is fifteen. Shiro is twenty-five. You do the damn math.

Shance. I can definitely see Shiro being Lance's bi awakening, if I believed canon Lance was bi. (Canon Lance was straighter than a chopping board, but fanon Lance is a walking bi flag). But them being together? Ignoring that Lance is 17 and Shiro is 25, if you can do that, it wouldn't feel like a healthy relationship. Lance is blinded by hero worship and, from his canon personality, he likely wouldn't realise if Shiro isn't faring well or would just constantly pile his troubles onto him without thinking about if Shiro could handle it. So, yeah, don't like this ship.

So, yeah. I don't like any of the popular ships, which is surprising. I don't hate all of them. I do like Kallura, (should have been canon), and Shallura, (surprising, because I really do like gay!Shiro), and Shunk, (who doesn't, honestly?). But I tend to prefer the nicher ones. Katt (Keith/Matt), Heith (Hunk/Keith), Hance (Hunk/Lance)...

3 - The writing. Usually, I would respect the writers because it's hard as fuck to plan and write an entire series, but they just kept missing. They would set up so many interesting plots and ideas, only to do absolutely nothing with them. This, in and of itself, is not enough to make me lose respect, but that's not all. Plot holes, terrible escalations, too slow pacing, (slow burns are good - great, even - but not when things are supposed to be happening), horrible romances... It's to the point where, for a long while, I avoided the show and only read the fanfiction. There are so many people who don't watch the show, only exposed through fanfiction and social media posts, because the writing just isn't good.

The writers get things right few times. I'm sorry, but if your entire job is to write a coherent, well-thought out story, why did they do such a bag job at it? I'll tell you why - they let the fans control what they did. Shiro was never supposed to come back. He was supposed to die at the end of season two and never come back, but the fans wanted him back so guess what? The writers brought him back! In doing so, they cut right into Keith's character arc and made him go through it off-screen. The fans built Lance up as the main character and fan-favourite? Well, the writers just decide to hand him everything. Reward him for being the fan-favourite and then ruin his character by never making him work for what he got.

The writers decide to pull a J.K.Rowling and went 'aw, yeah, Lance is bisexual!' despite him never showing an interest in a guy throughout the entire show, other than being a big fan of Shiro. They throw in gay!Shiro at the literal last minute with some background character who only ever had one line. Thanks, DreamWorks. It's not like you could've just let Adam live so Shiro could be going home to SOMEONE.

Unexpected things always happen. An actor being unavailable, a sudden irl event making it so the episode you planned would appear tone-deaf, the joke you wrote was less funny and more offensive... So on and so forth. Sometimes you have no choice but to change what you have planned because delaying it would just make the studio and the fans mad. Just... TRY to make it make sense. And don't fold to the fans, dammit. Shiro should have stayed dead because he just doesn't do anything when Allura and Keith saved him. The main character should have stayed as an ensemble, rather than pushing Lance as the central focus, because it would have left less reasons for me to hate Lance and give other, specifically Hunk, the development they deserved.

The show also never adresses traumatising shit, (*cough cough* Keith's sacrifice attempt *cough cough*), but that can be forgiven because it was aimed at children. I do, however, like that LM corrected an interviewer when they asked about Keith 'attempting to kill himself'. It was quickly corrected to 'sacrificing himself' because that's what it was! I'm sick of people acting like he was suicidal because he wasn't. He was actively scared of what he was going to do, i.e. sacrifice his life for everyone's sake. He tried to do it for the greater good. Would you call one of the many who died during wars suicidal? No. You would call them noble and heroic for their sacrifice, because that's what they are. That is what Keith was trying to do. He saw the only way out and decided one life in exchange for the many is a damn good deal and took it. Saying he was depressed and suicidal is undermining the actions he took.

So, yeah. In my eyes, the writers did two good things. Correcting the mistake belief that Keith was suicidal, and creating this shit-fest of a show. (God, I love/hate Voltron).

4 - How Pidge is treated by the fandom. Pidge is so mean. She's rude and callous and selfish and that's okay. What's not okay is acting like these traits make her a queen. She's rude, fine. She's callous, fine. She's selfish, fine. She's incredible for this? Um, no? Stop treating her like she's just sassy. She's mean. I mean, not long after Shiro's death/disappearance, she calls Keith, who is mourning Shiro so deeply, a 'loner'. Without even getting to know him. She just deems him a loner, even though Keith is just so genuinely kind?

Don't get me wrong. I love Pidge. She's great and she's an absolute joy to write. I admire her tenacity in trying to find her missing family members while also able to put the universe before them. Watching her break down about Matt when she thinks he's dead is so utterly heartbreaking because I really did like her.

But acting as if she's perfect because of this? No way.

(Also, I refer to Pidge as 'she/her' only in these posts. I much prefer gender neutral or trans Pidge.)

5 - Hunk's treatment. He deserved SO MUCH BETTER! This sweet, precious boy. He's the only one who reacted approppriately to becoming a child solider. He's an anxious, terrified kid and he's still able to swallow that fear and fight on because there are people, people like Shay, who have no idea what freedom means and if the sky is blue.

He's the only one who has to find and fight for his family when they get back to Earth, which makes me sad. Very sad. He cares so much about his friends. Even if he's scared, he'll still put himself in danger for them.

But the narrative treats him like garbage, reducing him to the comedic, fat joke, while Lance never treats him like a best friend. He deserved so much more than what he was given.

6 - The people in charge were so obsessed with doing every character dirty. They wanted to keep Shiro death, wanted to kill Keith after admitting to not knowing where they were going with him, tried to kill Hunk who did nothing wrong to deserve this, and actually killed Allura off when they realised Allurance would not work in the long-term because Lance would not be able to part from Earth for so long while Allura would not be able to stay confined to Earth at all.

7 - Lance fans would hate him if he was white.

[voltopia]

I know no one cares about voltron anymore (or at least not like they used to) and tbh I don’t either but Keith is still my emotional support character I can project onto when I need to work through some emotions and I just went through an entire season worth of story arc in my head on this new au idea so hear me out.

This is a sheith au with some toxic NSFW mention so antis DNIA. Keith is a trans man as well in this au.

What if sometime before Keith goes to the quantum abyss and they find out about Lotor (but Lotor still turns out evil) Honerva hits Keith with the mind control but instead of a mindless drone she targets his insecurities and he goes full villain era where he just doesn’t give a fuck anymore. Because arguably there is a lot Keith has been through where at any point he could have said ‘fine, you want me to be the villain? I’ll be your villain’ and with the recent trend online embracing going ape shit cuz we’re tired of being nice I thought it was a valid theme to explore. There’s still so much in between I wanna say but it’s already a long post so have this for now because I had to share.

Like I can actually see Keith aligning with Lotor and Honerva’s plans to jump realities so he can join them in a world where the Galra have a home planet. Him forming an actual plan to destroy voltron because he’s resentful of their mistrust of him being Galra. Or just how they hate on the Galra for being the enemy and he takes it kind of personally. He also uses his relationship with Shiro against them. Using Shiro’s bids for him to come back against them by pointing out that he knows Shiro has feelings for him but won’t admit to them because Shiro wants to keep Keith ‘in his shadow’. Shiro would say something like ‘I want my best friend back’ and Keith would force him to say that he actually loves him in front of the paladins. Because it’s true and they were pinning so hard but Shiro thought taking the next step would complicate things for them and voltron so he really tried to maintain the status quo with their relationship and Keith is tired of it. Forget shame Keiths out to destroy the paladins for personal reasons and because they pose the biggest threat to his new mission. I imagine the paladins would still find Keith’s mom and during their next battle she’d come in to try and stop Keith but instead of sobering him it only fuels his anger toward them due to his unresolved resentment for her leaving him on earth and abandoning him.

Time goes by and developments happen in Honerva’s plan and Allura takes the RED lion (tbh it just seems more fitting I mean really it was her father’s lion why would she take Blue?). On another mission the paladins get captured (because of course they do). Shiro is still very desperate to get Keith back (the same desperation that Keith uses in the Black Paladins episode so you know I’m talking fucking desperate) and Keith at this point has very complicated feelings for Shiro like the mind control only goes so far as to convince him he’s justified but all of his actions reflect actual emotions he would have if he truly felt vengeful or righteous. So when the paladins get captured, he’d get the idea to have sex with Shiro because if he plans to kill voltron he’d morbidly want to know what being with Shiro is like before he kills him. But it’s not entirely one sided. Again Shiro is still holding out hope that he can save Keith. Of course he would much rather their first time be out of love instead of spite but again, desperate. It’s still very manipulative on Keith’s part with how he taunts and coerces. Shiro does consent though because his own feelings are a little more than fucked up about it too.

The paladins escape (because of course they do) and a few weeks pass before their next battle this time it’s the boss fight. Honerva still makes the device she uses to wormhole between realities but instead of the Alteans that she uses to fight voltron it’s Lotor and Keith. Voltron fatally wounds Keith and goes on to kill Lotor and destroy parts of Honerva’s wormhole device but Honerva herself gets away. They bring Keith’s damaged mech back to the castle (yes they still have the castle). He’s not directly wounded but the lost quintessence and oxygen deprivation means he’s barely hanging on but they get him in a pod in time and find out oh shit there’s a second heartbeat!

Cliche I know but shush. Anyway Shiro is wrecked because jesus what an emotional roller coaster having to fight your lover to near death only to find out he’s having your baby like fuck amiright? But Keith lives and is no longer under mind control so he’s understandably devastated to look back on what he did. The paladins (and for sure Allura) are a bit suspicious that Keith’s back to normal (except Shiro… poor bastard). Keith remembers everything and he can’t trust himself either because it’s not like he did all that as Honerva’s drone those were real feelings he may or may not have privately had at one time or another but they were more akin to intrusive thoughts because he has the emotional depth to understand that emotions are more nuanced than that and when he digs deeper he knows he doesn’t really feel that way. Oh and wtf now he’s pregnant, definitely some mixed feelings about that.

Sam Holt still went back to earth and builds the Atlas in time for Voltron and the Atlas to have the final boss fight with Honerva (we’re talking build and finished other than the crystal they need to jumpstart it so it doesn’t take them long to meet up on earth and plan the fight). (And for some added drama Keith is only in say the first trimester so he’s still mostly in fighting shape and he tries to help from the sidelines which freaks out Shiro but Krolia steps in to help so it’s a good bonding moment between her and Keith).

They win against Honerva, Allura lives goddamnit and Shiro and Keith go on to have the baby lol. I also imagine Keith would have a really fast birth for some reason idk something about higher Galra pain tolerance and him being oblivious so by the time he gets to labor and delivery he’s already like fully dilated lmao.

Damn I really wanted to write the full fic when I was thinking about it but now that I’ve finished the thought I’m gonna have to get back in the mood to actually write it��

Hmmm.

[quidfree]

have you every watched voltron or she-ra? if not, highly rec!! she-ra's amazing ( in my humble opinion ) voltron is uhh the start was great bUT GIANT ROBOT CATS THAT TURN INTO A GIANT ROBOT HUMAN

hi anon- i’ve watched both, actually, though not all the way through- thoughts below the cut just because i can feel this will be long despite my best efforts. def agree on voltron but cannot say i think shera is great haha

let’s start w voltron bc it’s the og. i watched it when it was first coming out and yeah- received w great enthusiasm. keith, unsurprisingly, was my guy. allura was probably my second favourite character. love the space lion robots of it all. really enjoyed the alien fantasy drama. was extremely on-board with unlikely teammates saving the galaxy and secret galra heritage and shiro’s war ptsd and all that. i think the early seasons had a good balance of drama and comedy, too.

definitely went downhill fast, and i didn’t watch past the season where lotor first starts playing a big role in the show, in part because i could Feel the bad prince zuko arc they were going to do and absolutely did not have the time for it (cannot believe they had him and allura be a thing…. and then she dies at the end of the show). basically just got frustrated by the way the characters were handled after a certain point, the tone was a mixed bag and the plot got messy. i was lucky bc keith was one of the people who got the most consistent/thorough focus and development, but the sidelining of certain charas and the weird dvp of others was just annoying. plus the ‘funny’ episodes… no. love shiro getting gay married tho good for him #lovewins.

shera…. hm. to give it some credit: i do enjoy the silly retro cartoon energy of it (the Names!!), i think the core 3’s friendship is good throughout, and naturally i think adora and catra’s relationship is compelling, fucked up and endearing. also there were def points where (like w voltron) the smaller-scale conflicts were pretty engaging to me, esp in the way they managed to overlap them w personal struggles- adora vs the horde, glimmer’s family drama… and mermista is an icon throughout love her energy.

now for my overview of the show… season one was promising for me but the like Positivity of it all just doesn’t speak to me- it’s Very power of friendship sparkles somehow. yeah theres darkness but i feel like it always gets mishandled. the villains in shera are sooo inconsistently framed as big menacing evil or harmless funny guys & i hate it- for eg why set up shadowweaver as this military evil child abuser for the early seasons and then make her a snarky teammate by the end?? it has ambitions of doing moral greyness but it’s mostly just badly executed for me… and that extends to catra fyi, for as much as i love her. shes easily my fav character but shes not very well-written. let’s not even start on hordak and his whole mess of a plot.

on that note both shows have a weird relationship w their genocide plots also. if you want to have genocide in your fun lil show you still need to take it seriously and there are ways to do it- think of avatar or of full metal alchemist, idk. making the big bad someone who wipes out planets and civilisations to raise stakes without ever considering the ramifications / while giving them easy redemption arcs is so lazy.

both theme songs absolutely slap though.

[everlastingfable]

a jumbled mess of my thoughts about voltron

This’ll probably be the messiest post you’ll ever read. I’m done trying to finish this and edit it into something coherent, so I’m just combining the 3 drafts I have written out into one massive post. I doubt anyone will read this whole thing, but each draft is a sort of rewrite of the last, so there’s a lot of overlap. But there’s also a lot of new thoughts too as I kept thinking about this. There’s also a lot of unfinished thoughts.

There’s mostly negativity in this btw. This fandom had/has an amazing ability in making you think that this show was utter garbage. on par with riv//erdale or s//pn, but it really wasn’t. Like many shows they had weak points, it was never perfect, but it’s much better than we’re told to remember it as.

Intro from Draft 3 because I liked the way I started it:

This is all of my thoughts about Voltron, the show itself and the fandom. I have tried to write this post out for over a year or two now, so it was originally intended to be my final thoughts about the show. Obviously, it’s evolved since then into whatever this is. There may be some things that I’ll be wrong about, because I’m not about to dig through hundreds of discourse posts and old interview videos to prove a point that I doubt anyone’s gonna care about. This will 100% be based on my thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

That said, I don’t even know how to begin to describe how much I love this show. I’m probably one of the few people who have no regrets about enjoying this show as much as I do. I’d wholeheartedly recommend watching it, because it’s genuinely a good show. Voltron did the unimaginable for me. I don’t usually enjoy sci-fi stories. I especially don’t enjoy mecha stories. Yet somehow, Voltron combined the two and made a show that I loved so much I can’t stop thinking about it even though it ended over 2 years ago.

Draft 1: thoughts about a year after it ended without rewatching any seasons since it ended

It’s been about a year since voltron ended. I never wrote my thoughts about s8/the show then so here it is now. Because I decided to wait a year I honestly don’t remember a lot of specifics. But I still have a lot to say about it. This is very long and is basically everything I have to say about this show. I love voltron. It’s been an important part of my life during college. 90% of all papers I wrote were about voltron. But as much as I love it, I won’t deny that it fell apart at the end. 

Note: I tried to categorize these thoughts so I don’t get off topic and can talk about everything fully. But because they overlap so much there’s definitely some minor repeats when I connect two parts but decided to hold off talking about it all the way until the right section.

PRODUCTION

This is something I’ve expressed concern over while it was airing, but in a span of 2 and a half years, they premiered 78 episodes. That’s a lot, especially when you consider that production for s3 started after s1 premiered. There’s a lot of really good voltron review videos out there that aren’t just “oh I’m so cool I hate voltron” but there was one that talked about how the production was a mess and the writers couldn’t make up their mind for the endgame ship. And while that doesn’t sound like an important issue, it really does show when it comes to how characters are written together and (I think) the fandom war. 

Summarizing what that video said because I don’t remember who made it, the writers/producers never made up their mind on which ship was supposed to be endgame (klance, sheith, allurance, kallura). And this really does show in the show itself. I don’t like klance. I especially hate it because of my experience with the fandom, but I won’t deny that they were sometimes written romantically. The same goes for sheith. And that’s the problem. 

I don’t think the world building parts of the show was fully developed either. Shiro was supposed to be a teen like everyone else but then he was an adult. His and keith’s relationship was honestly vague for a good while. I don’t think anyone really knew how each characters’ relationships with each other was supposed to progress. Was allurance always supposed to be endgame? Because they didn’t really interact that much until like season 6, and then it was kinda sudden from what I remember. There was very little, if at all, parts where we were shown oh allura might like lance romantically. Keith’s relationship with the main cast didn’t exist for like 3 seasons. It was messy. 

Speaking of which, keith disappeared for a good portion of the show. I assume it’s because steven yeun was busy. Which is fine but then I think about how quickly voltron came and went, I wonder why they couldn’t slow down a bit so they could still have steven voice keith during those episodes. Maybe it’s because of how much I love keith, but he honestly felt like a central character to me. 

If I think about teen titans, for example, this show also had 5 main characters. Sometimes certain characters would get a spotlight for a season, but all-in-all they were fairly equally represented. It didn’t feel like robin was the main character. But that’s how I feel about voltron. Keith, and shiro to an extent are the main characters. A good portion of the plot relies on them. Shiro got kidnapped, keith leads them to the blue lion. Shiro is the leader with keith has his right-hand man and they mostly interact with each other. So when shiro “dies” and keith takes over, it starts to feel like keith is now the main character. Now he’s the leader and the arc is about him growing into becoming the black paladin and stopping lotor, who is his main enemy. But then he disappears. 

Again this is most likely because of my bias towards keith, but the episodes after that felt lackluster. Lance didn’t really get his character growth to become a good second-in-command. Because that development was supposed to be based around keith. :P. A big part of lance’s growth is to learn to stop needing to feel that he’s better than keith. And him accepting keith as the black paladin was a huge part of it. But with shiro as the leader again lance loses that development. Keith’s not in the picture anymore, and the person in-charge was already in a leadership position and has nothing to learn by being there. 

Before I go way too deep into my thoughts about the plot/characterization, I do want to mention the animation. The fighting scenes are amazing and one of the most beautiful 2d animation I’ve seen. That is, when it is actually animated and not just the camera panning on a still image. Here’s where my biggest concern over the time comes in. 2 years is absolutely not enough time to animate that many episodes. I was genuinely worried for the animation company because it could not have been a good experience. And yes, we got more episodes sooner, the quality definitely dropped and it’s a real shame. Who knows when we’ll get another american cartoon in this style. I love this animation style but it takes time and a lot of skills to do, so not that many companies do it. I honestly wished they took their time with the show not just to get more time to animate, but also to flesh out some of the plot.

PLOT

As hunk said in one episode, they don’t linger on dramatic events that just happened. This show is very fast paced, and that’s not a bad thing. But they never took the time they needed to really feel the weight of everything that happens. Keith’s galra heritage reveal was basically swept under the rug. So was the shiro clone, lotor’s death, zarkon’s death, naxzela, and so many more. In general, that was a big problem with how the episodes went. If it wasn’t for the sheer number of fanfics covering those topics, they were really swept under the rug. It honestly kinda felt like the writers didn’t know what to do with the aftermath of their reveals. But some of these were pretty essential to the plot of the story. 

Keith’s part galra! So he doesn’t look it but there had to be obstacles with voltron forming the coalition. He’s part of the race that caused this war. I honestly think we should’ve seen that reveal become part of the plot, or what was the point of it? They could’ve just as easily wrote keith to be a regular human just like everyone else. Taking the time to add that part of his character needs to have some significance in the story. And yeah, they had krolia appear but she wasn’t really a significant character except to kinda magically fix keith’s problems. In general it felt like they forgot parts that they were foreshadowing with keith. Why could he turn purple sometimes? Did that quintessence he was hit with fix him or help him hide the galra parts? Why does he look so human? What is up with him having that quintessence sensitivity? I’m all for shows ending with some questions unanswered because sometimes it’s impossible to answer it all and let it feel natural, but this just felt like they forgot or decided it’s too much of a hassle and just ignored it.

Okay going into more specifics now, s8 was kinda meh. It especially felt bad because it came out the same day as spiderverse which had a very similar villain motivation, but objectively done better. I think honerva’s motivation came out of nowhere. We see in the flashback episode that she was so intent on getting knowledge that it literally destroyed daibazaal. So, it was established that her motivation is knowledge. Even though she lost her memory and regained it, as haggar she was still very focused on quintessence. We know she was gathering a lot of it, and maybe they said it and I forgot, but we never knew why. Family wasn’t really shown as a motivation for her. Even with lotor it didn’t seem like she wanted to be a family again, but instead was using him for her own unknown motivations. Anyways, the season felt awkward. And the new dynamic they had really needed more time. The last season should’ve expanded to be at least 2 more. It would’ve fit a lot better imo. S1-2 would have zarkon as the main villain, s3-6 would have lotor, and s7-8 would have haggar, who was also the puppeteer throughout the entire show. But she didn’t appear for s7 and her motivations didn’t really make sense in s8 so it evidently felt rushed. There were also so many major characters in s8 we needed more time to see them interact. 

So the ending with allura becoming constellations. Gonna be honest that whole last part had me confused. Especially with the fact that I barely remember what happened, why are the old paladins like trapped in the lions? I could excuse the other 4 but zarkon? Especially a zarkon that’s not corrupted? It was weird and didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and that’s all I’ll say about that. I don’t even want to try to suggest an alternative because I think that whole last half of the season is so messy it can’t be fixed. But it was so obviously pandering to the fandom it hurt. Lance getting those marks was so obviously referencing when people wanted lance to be altean in response to keith’s galra heritage. The shiro/curtis kiss was very “look see he is gay and not just because we said so” while nice, was very weak (why wasn’t keith in the shot?).

Despite my complaints, I remember liking s8. I really liked the addition of the atlas, even though it didn’t feel like we were watching voltron anymore sometimes. S7 had to be one of my favorite episodes since s2. Not to say that s7 is better or worse, but I really like it because it felt like a genre shift. I usually don’t like space sci-fi or mecha stories. Voltron somehow managed to combine the two and make me love it. S7 did not feel like either of those. First, a good half of it took place on earth. And I believe two episodes didn’t even have the main cast, and when team voltron finally made it to earth, voltron wasn’t even there until the final battle. I genuinely loved it. I think it was a very well done invasion/apocalyptic story that doesn’t get told in animation that often. But if I think about s7 with the rest of the show, it was awful. It broke up the tone the show usually had and it was a very different way of storytelling that voltron didn’t have before. It wasn’t a space sci-fi mecha story, it was an apocalyptic action story. Voltron was so unimportant they sat on a moon for episodes. It stopped becoming voltron and started becoming a spin-off. 

I do have to add that I absolutely loved the color themes in s7. We already had purple for the galra, but in s7 it was very obvious that alteans are themed blue and earth is themed with orange. I loved it so much and it was great. I do like that they gave shiro something to do. Honestly not killing him off in s2 made him an awkward character afterwards. But I didn’t like that they brought back sendak. There was no explanation for it and it wasn’t good imo. He didn’t really do anything besides conquer earth then die. Haggar was also absent the entire season which definitely didn’t help her storyline in s8 because we didn’t know what she was doing the entire time except abandoning everyone who was loyal to her. 

I’m usually not a fan of time skips, it has the tendency to gloss over character development or create glossed over recap. Honestly I wish voltron spent more time over the blade of marmora massacre or just the bom in general. They received no rest. Literally everyone part of that group died except for kolivan. Speaking of that episode, there was no explanation for how keith was able to know where macidus was about to appear and that honestly bugs me. There’s so much about keith we don’t know. He has so many abilities we were just never told. 

Again a lot of problems within team voltron is that there was never any follow up on things that happened, like keith leaving the team. He becomes the black paladin and no one bats an eye. Lance did make one comment about keith leaving but then it wasn’t ever mentioned again. I get that the writers/producers wanted the dynamic the original had, but they didn’t take the time to work up to it. Keith wasn’t a natural leader, but he suddenly is because he spent 2 years on a space whale with his mom and a space wolf. Like I mentioned earlier, voltron feels like keith is the main character but then they dropped him for a few episodes, realized that he’s important and added him back in while saying “oh he went through a time skip so he grew into the role he needs to be in now”. It feels like a cheap pay off.

I’d like to specifically talk about my thoughts on each season and work back but honestly I don’t think I can remember s3-6 separately. So they’re being chunked together. 

Lotor had the potential to be a really great villain. But he had to be foiled with keith. They have a lot of similarities that I think could’ve really played off well together. Lotor isn’t really allowed to have a leadership position. Yeah he was technically in charge while zarkon was recovering, but haggar didn’t really allow him full control. But, he was a great leader. He knew how to read his enemies and form an alliance. Meanwhile, keith had a leadership position thrusted to him, and frankly he wasn’t a good leader. He tends to keep to himself so he never really has to make decisions with a team. It could’ve been great, but shiro had to still be in the story. I’m honestly conflicted about this because on the one hand, I think it really ruined character developments for the main cast, but then I loved the clone shiro plot line. I think keeping shiro prevented keith from growing. He was able to remain dependent on shiro instead of actually bonding with the rest of the paladins. And of course he had to just go awol. Also, lance didn’t really get to have as prominent of a role as I think he could’ve had with keith. 

These seasons are also when the lions stopped being sentient robots that specifically choose their paladins to just really cool spaceships. We don’t get that level of bonding that was so prominent in s1 and 2. That’s also something I’m conflicted with. I think the lion swap was a great way for character developments, but it also removed a lot of it. It kinda made the bonding feel useless. The swap also changed the dynamic of the group. Instead of shiro and allura being co-leaders, and everyone else feeling like they’re on equal footing, it felt like Keith was the leader with lance being a needed right-hand man. Hunk and pidge were off doing their thing and allura was a leader but also not. Maybe if they had spent more time working with this dynamic it would’ve felt better. But they didn’t and it didn’t. Voltron also implied that allura was the only one that could control the castle ship, but then she goes to become a paladin and who’s driving the ship?

I do wish we could’ve gotten more about the altean colony and the reveal about lotor’s plans, but that got overshadowed and forgotten by the clone shiro reveal. Maybe I just missed it, but I wasn’t sure what the galra empire and lotor were collecting quintessence for. Was it just to make mechs to rival voltron? Lotor’s death was also very unclear. 

The coalition was a much needed thing, but I think very badly executed. They were gathering people from malls. These people are regular civilians who probably don’t know how to fight or fly a ship. I thought it was really weird that they were just getting regular people (aliens?) to sign up like they’re applying to be part of the army. But we never see them maybe join the rebel force matt is part of to learn how exactly to help. I think about avatar and how they also had a rag tag group of people to fight against the fire nation, but these weren’t just regular people living in a village. They were either warriors or very skilled benders. The voltron coalition was just regular people. That genuinely annoyed me because the voltron show just felt like those army propaganda ads, but exciting. Not to mention it was a very hard to watch episode. 

It was definitely making fun of how the fandom complains about how characters are getting reduced to a certain characteristic. But it wasn’t done in an entertaining way like the ember island players episode from atla because some of those were legit complaints (like hunk being the fat/food guy) and that stuff wasn’t resolved. Like the ember island players made fun of sokka constantly talking about meat or katara crying all the time, but the show made it very clear beforehand that these characters are much more than that. Is hunk really more than the food guy? As far as the show mentions, the only things he’s done was make the machine to help find the blue lion, and help save the balmera. All of which was in season 1. After that hunk honestly took the backseat in voltron.

I mentioned earlier, but the time skip on the space whale felt like we were cheated out of keith’s character development. I mean we got development, but we didn’t get to see it. The vlog short showed that keith believes a lot of his problems stems from not having a mom (and a dad) in his life. But instead of seeing keith learning to trust and open up to people despite having so many people in his life leaving him, we get a cute montage of him with his mom. As if it makes sense that two years with his mom would fix everything. (side note, I know a lot of people were saying how obvious it was that krolia was keith’s mom, I genuinely did not know until she said so at the end of that episode).

I’m not gonna talk about my thoughts on s1 and 2 because I’m pretty sure I live blogged those and honestly I don’t think I remember it. 

CHARACTERS

Now I’m finally talking about the characters and I’m starting off with keith as if I haven’t talked about him enough already. I love keith. He’s undeniably one of my (if not the) favorite characters ever. And he’s obviously a fandom favorite if we’re considering the two biggest ships in the fandom. Or maybe he really is just the secret main character of voltron. We know so much about him, for someone who loves keith, it’s great. We basically know his entire backstory, and yet we know no one else’s (except maybe lotor but even that’s iffy).

I never rewatched a single voltron episode since it ended, and I can’t watch any of the connected shows (meaning shows that have the same ppl that worked on it or the same fans, think dragon prince and she-ra) because the fandom was the absolute worst one I’ve ever been in and parts legit trigger me. I am fascinated with fandoms. I love it. I chose my major because it was the closest I could get to just learning about them 24/7. But the voltron fandom was so incredibly toxic and over two ships? Honestly the fandom itself was a major reason why I couldn’t get super invested in the later seasons. I get afraid when it seems like a certain ship might happen. I actually hoped that certain characters just didn’t interact. (I’m not gonna get much deeper in this because I don’t want to touch this topic with a ten-foot pole, at least not now) Aside from that, I think that the plot and characterizations for voltron got really messy post s2. The lion switch was never handled well imo, and post switch the lions lost that sentient personality that was established in the first two seasons. It also didn’t make sense aside from the writers wanted everyone in the original lions. Or at least, we never got the proper character developments into those roles. Keith left right after becoming the black paladin. 

I think another major problem with the show is how some decisions felt like pandering. I remember hearing that they didn’t kill off shiro because he was a fan favorite, so he had to stay for marketing and to make more money. But then keeping shiro alive would’ve derailed the original plot idea. I wish I could see how the story would’ve played out with shiro staying dead.

Draft 2: rewatched the show then started writing this

So I wrote a draft of this like a year ago, realized I don’t remember the show much, so I rewatched the whole show and started rewriting my thoughts.

Pre-rewatch thoughts: It was a good show that was poorly executed

Mid-rewatch thoughts: it’s a really good show that just has some weak points (the second half of lotor’s arc, team voltron’s importance in season 4-6 it feels like a lot of filler episodes until keith shows up again)

End-rewatch thoughts: it's actually a really good show. It has some weak points and some really strong points. Season 8 was confusing though. I went through most of it going yeah okay I guess that can happen.

Final verdict: it's a genuinely good show

What went wrong

It ended on its weakest season, which was also the most abstract and different season. While the main antagonist changed throughout the seasons, it still continued to be the galra empire. Even when lotor joined, the team was still fighting fractions of the galra empire. Meanwhile, season 8 didn’t have any conflict with the galra. The antagonists were honerva and the alteans, who are very different types of villains compared to the galra. There was also little build up to that change. Sure, we got to experience that briefly in season 3 when they went to the alternate reality, but I don’t think that was built up well. Also, the protagonists and the audience are just not prepared. We don’t know how the alteans work like the extent of their abilities, but we were given dozens of episodes to learn about the galra. As a result season 8 just wound up with me feeling confused and thinking “uhh sure I guess they can do that, that makes sense maybe?”

It could not pick who its protagonist is. Yeah the five humans plus allura (and coran?) are the main characters but most shows with multiple major characters still focus one one character as the protagonist. Like atla has aang, adventure time has finn, umbrella academy has five. Voltron just never picks someone and the group constantly changes too, so you end up having to not focus on any character for the sake of time. Of course not all shows do that. Teen Titans had each season focus on a particular member of the team, and tbh I was wondering if that was what they were planning for the show, especially when season 2 was so Keith focused but guess not.

It feels like they did not have the time to fully flesh out the story. Voltron came and went so incredibly fast. They had 8 seasons (technically 6 if you group up the halved seasons). But also the show only lasted 2 years. It honestly horrifies me to think of the time crunch everyone on the team was going through, especially the animators. You can see the drop in quality as there were very few scenes that involved actual animation for the middle bulk of the show. So then, how much time did they have to develop the story, in addition to execs telling them what they can and can’t do. There’s so many arcs that seemed to start then get forgotten, and I don’t blame the writers for that at all. Although I wish we could’ve learned more about Lance and the Altean sword and Keith with his apparent quintessence sensitivity, they probably just didn’t have the time to plot those out.

It had too much outside influence. Such as, the writers wanting to kill off shiro, but then being forced to keep him on the show because the execs said to. And honestly, the fandom. For example, the whole last episode with Lance getting the Altean marks (an obvious omage to ppl wanting Altean Lance).

What went right

There’s a reason why the show became so popular (aside from being a reboot of a popular 80′s show) and it’s because of the characters. I’m not about the whole “we become attached to characters because the writers did them wrong but we fans can see the potential and that’s why fan works are better” bs that I see going around this site all the time. The first season particularly wrote these characters so well. They’re relatable but also intriguing enough for you to care about what’s going to happen to them. 

Some thoughts regarding popular fandom discussions:

It’s a plot-driven show with character-focused fans

I like to think of there being two ways to tell a story: by being character-focused or plot-driven. Plot driven shows are ones like atla, young justice, legend of korra, etc. There’s a conflict that gets introduced and the story revolves around that conflict. Character-focused shows are ones like adventure time or we bare bears, they’re less concerned about a plot line and focus more on the characters interacting with their world. Of course all stories incorporate both parts, just some focus more on one than the other. So, here’s where I think a lot of the issues about voltron and the fandom comes from. Voltron is a very obviously plot-driven show but the fandom is very character-focused. I won’t deny I loved the episodes about keith. Season 4 and 5 were hard for me to watch because I missed my boy. But that’s where the arguments come from. People get upset that their fav isn’t in the spotlight

It didn’t queerbait

I understand watching a show for representation, I really do, but voltron is not that show and that's okay. Not every show has to be revolutionary in its representation of marginalized people. I won't pretend to know the harmful tropes for marginalized people. My consumption of media is not usually diverse. But I will stand by my stance that a large part of voltron's later seasons is about the casualties of war. So of course a lot of people died. I also firmly believe that the producers had a much easier time adding diversity to their own created characters than the main voltron characters, because of rights and all that complicated nonsense. So as a result the ones who were more expendable and could die were also the same characters that they could add diversity too.

I’m gonna add the definition of queerbait here so we’re all on the same page:  Queerbait is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation.

But here’s the thing. We were told at comic-con or one of those cons that Shiro is gay, and he had a boyfriend. They actually gave us that. Yeah it wasn’t as explicit as She-ra got, but that’s another point for later. There was no lying about it. Shiro is canonically gay, and his boyfriend was Adam. If anything, this whole thing came out of wanting Keith in a relationship with Shiro or Lance. Yes. I will admit, there are plenty of scenes between Keith and Lance, and Keith and Shiro that can be read as romantic. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but did any of the cast members tease the possibility of Kl//ance or Sh//eith (VAs don’t count, sorry but they don’t really have a say in the story)? Because unless they did, and they did repeatedly, the fandom queerbaited themselves. So many people in the fandom were so certain that Keith would be in a relationship with one of them, there was basically an all out war. Even if there was a chance, did you really think the creators (who were pretty active in early fandom days) would continue that development? It was so so toxic they were forced to shut off any possibilities of that.

In regards to minority characters

Again, I'll admit vld is not the place to go for real, proper representation. Their characters tend to be characters that happen to be a part of a minority rather than a minority character. wtf does that mean? Well, you can swap (earth) races for just about any character and it wouldn't make too much of a difference in how they act. There's some lines that wouldn't work like Lance's "I'm just a boy from Cuba" but other than that there would be no significant change. Of course this goes down to preference. Would you want a minority character whose struggles reflect those in real life and as a result be defined by that aspect of themselves, or do you want a character that just happens to be a part of a minority group but whose life is not really affected by that? 

Draft 3: months after the rewatch, mostly an attempt to reorganize the previous two drafts

I’m gonna start with the negatives just to get the ranting off my chest. Season 8 was bad. Yeah. No argument there. Although I wouldn’t say it was bad in the same way Game of Thrones and Supernatural was bad. Rather, it was an interesting and complex premise that didn’t have the build up it needed and honestly needed a few more passthroughs to iron out some parts. At worse, I felt it was confusing to the point where I just accepted whatever new worldbuilding thing they threw at me. The issue with Season 8 vs Seasons 1-7 is that Season 8 had a completely different villain, and a brand new cast dynamic. We got 7 seasons (65 episodes) developing the Galra as the villain. We got to learn who they are, their motives, how they operate, etc. Not only that, but they were pretty basic and easy to understand villains. They’re conquerors. They don’t have any sort of magic, they really just use brute force to attack and enslave the planets. In striking contrast, the Alteans in Season 8 weren’t conquerors. They didn’t care about controlling the universe. They also had magic abilities that our main characters don’t understand and didn’t explore. Season 8 had villains who could create illusions, mind control, and manipulate quintessence. The Alteans are leagues beyond the Galra in terms of complexities as an antagonist, but they didn’t get nearly enough time to be fully developed.

Also, Season 8 essentially doubled the cast size. So despite the fact that we have yet to see much of Keith-as-the-black-paladin Voltron group dynamic, now that screentime is being balanced with the MFE pilots and other Garrison characters. Essentially, there were too many characters, and too little time to flesh out the ideas of this season. A side note, Haggar’s (Honerva?) motivations were lame. I think it would’ve been much more interesting if her plans were just to continue the research she did 10,000 years ago with the rift. That would’ve also brought back the rift monsters which we never got an answer for. What even are they? Instead, her goal to have a family again is really weak. Even in the flashbacks she never showed any care for the more familial aspects of her life. It didn’t make sense for that to be her drive. It also didn’t help that Season 8 came out on like the same day as Spiderverse and the antagonists for both had the same goal, but Spiderverse did an immensely better job.

Another thing that didn’t make sense to me was Keith giving the speech to the rest of the Galra. He is not the right character to give that speech. Sure he’s Galra, but he didn’t even know for most of his life. For him to say “we” like he’s also a citizen of the Galra empire feels so weird. He never grew up with the Empire’s influence, and we never saw him experiencing Galra culture with the Blade. He learned about the Galra as an outsider, and despite the fact that he’s part Galra (he doesn’t even remotely look Galra), I don’t think that gives him the authority to say a speech like that. The speech is similar to Zuko’s at the end of ATLA, and that makes me feel like it would’ve been a lot better had Lotor said it. I think even Kolivan would’ve been a better fit than Keith. 

The more I’m writing about Season 8, the more I’m remembering just how messy and confusing it was. Additionally, the last bit of Season 8 was so obviously pandering to the fandom it gives me second-hand embarrassment. Lance getting those marks was so obviously referencing when people wanted Lance to be Altean in response to Keith's galra heritage. The Shiro getting married was just to make it more obvious that he’s gay, but had no build up. (There were definitely more but I didn’t write myself a list and I’m not rewatching that season)

Second, “Voltron queerbaited”. [this was posted before here]

Speaking of which, Voltron premiered summer of 2016 and ended in winter of 2018. That’s about 2 and a half years where they aired 78 episodes. That’s stupid fast, especially for an animated series. I’m constantly worried about what the people working on that show had to endure. For sure, Season 3 with Shiro coming back wasn’t written until at least Season 1. I recalled the execs demanding that Shiro not be dead since he was a popular character. It’s honestly concerning how little time they had to work on the show, and it unfortunately showed. In the later seasons, a lot of the shots were just still frames that moved across the scene. And the plot line with Lotor could’ve used some work. Although, I think Shiro being forced in there was also a reason for it being so shaky.

I honestly hate Seasons 4 & 5. I cannot tell you what happened because my brain keeps erasing it. Obviously, the lack of Keith had a huge impact on my opinion of those seasons, but it also felt like a whole lot of filler episodes, and not the fun ones with character development. With Keith mostly out of the picture, and Lance becoming the right hand of Voltron, that should’ve been a great time to develop Lance to become a second-in-command. To have him go through an arc where he overcomes his insecurities. It would’ve also been an amazing time to develop his and Shiro’s relationship. But we didn’t get any of that. 

I genuinely believe Keith was supposed to stay the black paladin and Shiro wasn’t supposed to come back. Keith would be an amazing foil to Lotor. They’re both half-Galra. They’ve both been given a new leadership role that they don’t want. The middle arc always felt so weak to me, and as I mentioned earlier, the Allura/Lotor interactions were awkward. It feels shoehorned in because someone has to interact with Lotor and I guess the writers decided Allura was the best option?

Season 3-6 felt like the epitome of what happens when showrunners are forced to do whatever the execs say and have no time to properly develop their story. I’ll forever be bitter at all the character and relationship development we lost because of that. We never got to see Keith really learn to open up to the team and start to trust others. But Keith still had to get to that point, which is why I assume they had the time jump for him. It’s so disappointing because we lost what could’ve been a great character development. It also made Keith being the Black Paladin again feel cheap. We didn’t get to see the struggle he had to be the leader Shiro saw he could be. He was just suddenly leading them and they worked like a proper team.

Voltron also had a lot of plot holes. Now, I don’t expect shows to answer every question, because it’s impossible to tie everything up and leave no questions unanswered in a natural way. But, there’s a lot of things that felt like the beginning of a plot line or honestly needed some answers. Like, Lance shifting his bayard to a sword. What was the point of that if it was never mentioned again? It felt like that was an important start to an arc for him that just got forgotten. Also, what was up with Keith’s quintessence sensitivity? How was he able to sense where that druid was. How did he know he could summon his bayard to him. I think the part that bugged me the most was that Keith was the only one who did that. Also, Keith’s eyes becoming slitted during his fight with Kuron was never addressed, and I really wish it was. It felt like such a throwaway moment that could’ve been interesting to explore more. Although I’m not too upset with that one as I think we were given enough to piece together a reason for it. 

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Another Set of Updates

Okay, gonna try to keep this as brief as possible!

My poll regarding which Kidge-a-Palooza AU I should turn into a story proper is still available: [here]. I’m gonna leave it up for another week or so, so please give it a vote if you haven’t already!

Chapter 4 of Here (In Your Arms) is up and available: [here].

Chapter 2 of Paint me in Trust is up and available: [here].

Chapter 2(6) of Time, Space and Everything Between is up and available: [here].

Since the update for Time, Space and Everything Between is up, I wanted to clarify a few things about where it’ll be going from hence forth. That information (spoiler free) can be found below for those that are interested.

Okay, so, confession time! This fic wasn’t supposed to become what it is now. Originally, I planned for this fic to be about six/ seven chapters and go in a somewhat different direction than it has. There was going to be an entire chapter dedicated just to the Kogane and Holt families bonding. The rescue of Shiro was going to go almost the same as it did in the series canon, with Keith being kept on Earth with his father using his camouflage device and entering the Garrison in hopes of snuffing out who the Blue Paladin was. The only big changes to it that I intended to make was Keith and Pidge knowing each other prior, Keith actually being a Galra, and when they head back to the shack, they’re greeted by Papa Kogane. From there, I was planning to end the fic with them going through the wormhole and implying events played out mostly the same as canon. But, then I decided I didn’t really like that idea either, so then I thought I’d go the route of letting Keith grow up with the Holt’s. Like, Ethan moving out there and Krolia leaving Keith on Earth to have a tradional human childhood.

As you can see, I didn’t end up doing any of that. And you may be wondering why.

Because the last season of Voltron left me that disappointed but I will admit I had issues with the show even before that Spit-in-the-Face ending but we’ll get there and I was raised by parents who said “If you don’t know how you’d improve something, you shouldn’t be the one to complain about it.”

Well, fine then. I’m gonna do just that.

ALSO I WANT TO CLARIFY that I am NOT saying I could have written the show better than the show runners themselves! I’ve never been in the position(s) they were in. I do, however, have the benefit of hindsight, which allows me to look at where the show succeeded and failed respectively, and take steps that I think would offer a more cohesive, enjoyable story-telling experience as a whole. I am taking the things that I, personally, took issue with, as well as some of the bigger things I’ve seen the fandom at large take issue with. At the end of the day, though, most of these decisions will be made from my own personal desires/ whims (since, you know, ship-feels and all that jazz). I will, however, be open to criticism from any and all who read my fics, so please feel free to tell me what you think does or doesn’t work as we go along.

I’m gonna break this down into four main categories down below; Things I’m Adding, Things I’m Cutting, Things I’m Adjusting, and Cut Fic Content. All but one of these is pretty self-explanatory, I think, but I promise to explain that little oddity when we get there. I’ll also touch on what and why I chose to approach certain things the way that I did.

Things I’m Adding

Melenor and Garett

Queen Melenor is kind of an anomaly in the series, don’t you think? It was kind of implied throughout most of the series proper that she died while Allura was still pretty young, which would have made a lot more sense for both Allura’s relationship with Alfor, as well as why Alfor was so distant from Zarkon when Daibazaal began tattering at the seams. But then Season 8 happened and threw all that out the window! All of a sudden, Melenor’s death suddenly carries this great significance for Allura, to the point she has a hallucination about her. Plus, it also kinda throws a wrench into scenes from the earlier seasons. Allura specifically says “Zarkon killed my Father and my Mother!” but… If Melenor was killed by Zarkon, where was she during the fall of Altea? Why wasn’t she with her daughter and husband in the final moments? And it makes even less sense when you look at that first scene where Allura and Coran were introduced. There were eight pods there. You mean to tell me Alfor didn’t think it might be a good idea to save an extra body or two to help guide Allura as she steps into the role she will have to take once he’s gone? Or even to help with maintaining/ rebuilding the Castle of Lions?

So, I’ve decided to add Melenor as a way to give some more characterization to not only she herself as a character, but also Alfor. Plus, I decided to make use of Garett (whose name I spell differently for reasons), Coran’s son from the original series, too. I think it’d be more fun to have an extra set of hands on board to help maintain the Castle of Lions and teach the Paladins, but maybe closer to their age range. So, we’ll see how things go with adding him to the roster. :3

Backstory for the Blades

This was something that we should have gotten a little bit of exposition on, considering how inflated their importance got. Like, the Blade became instrumental to the functionality of both Voltron and the Rebels due to their intelligence gathering. I think it’d have been kind of cool to see where it all started and what events in specific triggered it into becoming.

More Focus on Team Relationships

I didn’t really feel like the big victory against Zarkon was earned at the end of Season 2. I also didn’t think the team really earned any of their bigger victories, such as against Lotor and Honerva. They never felt like a real team that meshed because they just kinda stuck the same pairs/ clicks together. This was my biggest issue throughout most of the show and I really want to explore the dynamics we never really got to see. There are a few standout relationships that definitely needed some retooling, but I’ll mention those farther down. 

More Alien Worlds

Sci-fi and Fantasy are my big genres because I. Fudgin. Love seeing the designs for different technology, worlds and races. And while we did get some interesting ones with the series proper - which I’ll be mostly still including - I wish we’d gotten to see more. So, because I have no self-control, I’ll be planning to do that here!

Shiro’s Love Life

Shiro deserved better. I feel like that’s kind of something that most of the fandom can agree on. I don’t say this from a place of hate for Curtis, though, because… Well, what is there to hate? He was a literal background character who did nothing, said maybe two lines of dialogue, and that was it. Considering how much they pushed Shiro being the rep for the LGBT+ crowd, they did literally nothing with his love life. Hell, Adam was only revealed as his fiance because Bex fought tooth and nail for them to say it! If they hadn’t pushed the way they did, it would have all been subtext.

So, Shiro is going to have a romantic side plot in this fic, where we’ll focus on him and the character I’ve picked to be his partner.

Minor Side Romances

Some other little side pairings are gonna get a bit of love, here, too, since Voltron really only did the romance side of things well with, like, two couples. All the main couples are also gonna get plenty of spotlight, but I also think it would be fun to do some smaller side ships every now and then, too.

Things I’m Cutting

Villain Roulette

There was way too much jumping back and forth between who our main villain to focus on was. Bam, it’s Zarkon! No, wait, now it’s Lotor! Just kidding, here comes Zarkon again! Except that it was actually Lotor! Or so you thought; it’s actually Honerva haha great prank amiright? It was exhausting and I think it’d be a lot simpler to just… Stick with one villain who controls the smaller monster-of-the-day bad guys for an extended period of time and, once they’re for reals defeated, then move on to the next. I’ll be taking this approach for the sake of not only having a more focused story, but also my own sanity. I’ve never been good at gambling so trying the same thing as the show would probably turn out even worse for me.

Keith’s Excellent Blade Adventure with His Mommy

This is all unnecessary in this story, so we won’t be doing it at all. Keith’s sorry purple tail is staying with Team Voltron; no buts, no fuss, no coconuts.

Shiro’s Illness and Adam’s Death

Adam’s death is something I could go on about for hours specifically because it seemed unfair and kinda petty. Like, I feel they killed him specifically because they couldn’t kill Shiro, and they wanted to amp up the Tragic Backstory for our prior leader. So, instead, that’s getting the boot, as well as Shiro’s illness, since it’s also unneeded for plot convenience. Plus, it could have been nice to have a character that was willing to call Shiro out on the Atlus. Shiro always got treated like some kind of flawless entity, and I think it’d been nice to have someone call that Nice Guy Schtick out.

Allura and the Entity Plotline

This whole thing made no sense, got no proper development because of how late into the game they introduced it, and ended up being nothing more than a tool for them to kill Allura off. So, that can GTFO of my house post haste.

The Ending as a Whole

Some parts of the ending worked, but most of it just sucked. When the ending is so bad that it makes me feel obligated to stan characters I was ambivalent/ outright disliked? Yeah, gonna need to walk that back a bit.

Most of Seasons 3-6

The pacing in these seasons really was terrible. We derailed working on the team dynamic, building up the Coalition and Rebel forces, and developing the Paladins’ characters to instead focus on all that shit with Lotor. That… Was infuriating. Especially considering it was all basically a waste.

Additionally, we had Keith sidelined and his arc - which was clearly going to be center around him learning how to be a leader - completely pushed aside and then treated as if it did happened when he showed up late with Starbucks at the end of Season 6. That felt really unbelievable to me.

Time Skips

There were way too many time skips, for serious. Especially when those time skips didn’t include any kind of change in development/ character for the team. There’ll be smaller time skips, but nothing as egregious as what we got in seasons 6 and 7.

Things I’m Adjusting                                                              

Lion Swap

This’ll still be happening, but the circumstances that trigger it will be different. I may also shift around who gets to take which Lion when we get to that point. I haven’t decided just yet, but I’ll have it figured out before we reach that point. Most of this fic is already planned out and, honestly, the Lion Swap will be finalized once I figure out what I’m doing with a few of the other characters.

Shiro and Keith’s Relationship

This, right here? This was one of my biggest issues with Voltron. Keith was completely codependent on Shiro, while Shiro clearly cared about Keith’s well-being but it always felt like he’d have been just fine if something similar to what happened to him happened to Keith. It’s just… Really gross to me. It doesn’t help that I also find the whole “Dying for Your Lover” Trope – which I’ve seen a lot of people praise The Black Paladins for implying - to be incredibly disgusting and unhealthy. Also Keith’s flagrant hypocrisy never getting called out bothers me a lot since I actually like when a character behaves in a hypocritical manner, since it feels organic, but it has to be called out because hypocrisy can lead to double-standards and create harmful environments and I need to stop for now

So, Keith and Shiro are still going to be close, but they aren’t going to be that close.

Keith and Allura’s Relationship

Oh, look! Another potentially interesting aspect of the show that they kinda dropped the ball on! I really hated Allura’s heel-turn on Keith when it’s revealed that he’s Galra in S2 because a) It’s not like Keith himself knew this and was actively hiding it, and b) It felt out of character for the way Allura had been presented thus far. Her lashing out at Zarkon when she was captured made sense since he directly killed her father, her people and her planet. And I could understand being wary of the Blades – to the extent that she was in the first half – but after Keith’s heritage is revealed, she’s completely cold to him and only seems to decide he’s a good guy when he’s willing to take on a potential suicide mission! They either needed to drag the animosity out and show it effecting Allura’s ability to work with the team as a whole and also show the team sticking up for Keith because the fact that Hunk was the only one that said anything is kinda messed up like where tf was Shiro if he and Keith are oh so close? or they needed to tone Allura’s attitude towards him back a bit more, have her approach him in a manner similar to how she addressed the Blade members; acknowledging he is there and contributing, but not praising or thanking him outright.

And since Keith presents and knows he’s part Galra from the start in this fic? Well, we’ll actually get to play around with that dynamic a little more. And while I’m on the subject of our favorite Altean princess…

Allura’s Character Inconsistencies

Allura’s character jumped around a lot in some of the earlier seasons and I’d be willing to wager that this is because the writers never settled on an age for her. And I don’t mean during the big changes like her becoming a Paladin or Lotor’s betrayal, since it’d make sense she be shaken by situations that drastic. One minute, she’s this composed, confident and well-spoken young leader doing the best she can. The next, she’s a more temperamental sort who has low self-esteem/ confidence in her own abilities to even successfully contribute to a team. Now, I think I kniw what they were trying to do; they were trying to show that the more impulsive side of her is more genuine while the composed side is her trying to be the leader she is expected to be. I get it. They fixed this and improved on it later down the line, but they could have done better by maybe addressing it and using it as a chance to develop her relationship with another member or two of Team Voltron.

Season 2’s Ending

The defeat of Zarkon happened way too soon. Especially since then, because they wanted to play around with Lotor’s intentions, they had to bring him back as a cyborg-zombie fueled by quintessence. Zarkon should have only been defeated once and then we should have been allowed to move on to the next main villain. As such, I’m moving Zarkon’s defeat further down the line and will be modifying some of the consequences there in.

P Much Everything About Lotor’s Acr/ Motives

Lotor… Man, Lotor was confusing and a lot of wasted potential. They painted him as if they wanted him to be a morally grey villain, where he does terrible things for what he considers the betterment of others, but then, once it’s revealed that he was keeping secrets, he just… Goes full ham. He becomes Evil McAwful incarnate and it felt unrealistic. There were about 20 different directions they could have taken Lotor – before and after the reveal – and I just didn’t care for the approach they took. So, I’ll be doing things a little different and seeing how that goes.

What I’m Keeping from Seasons 3-6

Very, very little things are going to be kept from each of the aforementioned seasons and implemented in the fic. I’m not planning to keep too many of the big plot moments because they all bled into the issues I had with the story as it stood on its own. I will, however, take some of the small things from those three seasons and include them here. This also applies to certain elements from the other seasons as well, but we’ll get there when we get there.

Adopting Kosmo

Kosmo will be in this fic, come Hell or high water. He is the Best Boi and deserves to be here.

Cut Fic Content

Okay, so here’s the weird one in this line up! As the title implies, there’s some content that I have cut from the fic, even this early on. I actually have some of the Kogane-Holt bonding scenes still drafted up somewhere in my files. I removed them because I was worried that they’d feel too much like filler. There’s also some scenes I started to work out from when I planned to have Keith grow up with Pidge and Matt; specifically including a scene where Krolia and Ethan talk about the idea and decide to commit.

Some of these ideas won’t work in the fic as it stands now, though. I also, however, like the idea of putting it out for everyone to read. So, I’m debating on making a separate one-shot collection of things that could have happened, or just adding them as the occasional buffer between the arcs of the story. I’ll make a poll when I get closer to the point of deciding how to proceed, so keep an eye out for that. :3

That’s all for now! I hope you all enjoy the updates and I’ll hopefully be updating again sooner than this time!

[ptw30]

as someone who's only been watching this sh-t show from a distance (and don't actively follow the twitter/social media besides what I see cross-posted here, so who knows maybe they actually /did/ already) can I say how at this point it's completely plausible to me for a fan to say how harmful it is to constantly yell how you hate and want to (and HAVE) kill the single canonically queer character in the entire canon, and have the lovely duo of VLD snap back (1/2)

how not only are they exempt from the Bury Your Gays trope and completely immune to any effects or consequences of it, but that “we’re actually TOTALLY EVEN MORE SUPER PROGRESSIVE becuz gay kuron being totally 120% evil shows that gays can be villains too uwu u just dont understand it duh get on our level sweetie!” (2/2)

I had the privilege to attend the “The Future is LGBTQ” panel at NYCC.*  Marguerite Bennett, a queer comic book writer, spoke about issues she had when writing DC Bombshells. She was accused of having written harmful queer tropes by a few fans, to which she replied, “The majority of the cast was queer. Angst is going to happen to queer characters with a queer cast.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Contrarily, the majority of Voltron: Legendary Defender’s characters is not queer. And many of the terrible events in the script were reserved for the queer characters. 

Below the cut, an exploration into the BYG trope and how Kuron being evil feeds into it. 

Canonically - there are four queer characters. Shiro is the only main cast queer character, but Zethrid, Ezor, and Adam are also queer. If you listen to the EP interviews, then you also know Blatyz is queer. 

Every canonical queer character has been killed. 

Out of all the deaths in VLD, Adam’s was truly horrific. He screamed out in pain as he was killed, compared to Thace, who closed his eyes and surrendered to the blast; compared to Antok who accepted a blast, groaned, and fell to the side; compared to the Druid, who received a sword in the chest, muttered, and disappeared; compared to Zarkon, the Evil Emperor of the Universe, whose labored breathing ended and his bayard stopped glowing; compared to Trugg and Ladnok, whom we actually didn’t see die; compared to Keith’s dad, whose tombstone symbolized his death.  

Adam’s death deserved a trigger warning. While I do not agree with Hypable’s most recent season review, I am grateful to Donya for spoiling his death. On August 10th, I was anxious about Adam’s impeding demise, but even knowing - I was horrified when it came. 

The EPs are not exempt from the BYG trope or the consequences of its use. 

The issue with VLD is its treatment of its gay characters. All Lotor’s disabled and queer generals were killed. The only general to survive and turn “good”? The straight, non-disabled one. The only paladin to return home to absolutely no family? The queer paladin. Keith found his family in space. Hunk, Lance and Pidge had family. Even Allura is shown with Romelle and Coran. 

Shiro? Absolutely no family. 

I don’t even believe Adam and Shiro should be together - 

(Tangent - as a former caretaker of someone with degenerative disease, I can tell you that most people who say they will stick around to the end, don’t, and if Adam wasn’t willing to wait for Shiro to return, then he wouldn’t have stuck around to take care of Shiro. Furthermore, Adam and Shiro made the decisions that was best for them, which is mature and thoughtful. Even if we disagree with Adam, he broke up with Shiro, and Shiro, by choosing to go to Kerberos, broke up with Adam. But that doesn’t mean Adam deserved to die.)

- but I’m not going to argue whether Shiro and Adam fulfilled the BYG trope. Each person can decide for himself/herself how they feel about Adam’s demise - but Zethrid and Ezor are unequivocally the BYG trope. A touching moment, a promise for them to be together, and then they die. 

There’s no way for the EPs to escape that, technicality or not. (Another point - I don’t care for technicalities. The spirit of Adam and Shiro’s relationship wasn’t written in good faith, especially since the EPs wanted to kill Shiro - so they don’t win any points here.)

Now, I will give the EPs credit that Kuron is not your traditional “queer-coded” villain, but Kuron being evil doesn’t make them or the story progressive. In fact, it makes them either woefully ignorant or actively offensive. 

In “The Strange, Difficult History of Queer-Coding,” Tricia Ennis writes how during the 1950s and ‘60s, conservative groups in America discouraged queer characters in films. These characters were still written but in subtext, and actors were told to play these characters as gay. 

Even dangerous LGBTQ tropes rose out of this time period as the depictions of pulp noir femme fatales and other deadly women rose in popularity. These women were usually written as promiscuous and sexually devious, both with men and sometimes with women. They were also evil and usually met their end as a result of their sins. While depictions of LGBTQ characters were frowned upon, depictions of them in this specifically negative light were not. You were not endorsing an “alternative lifestyle” if your gay characters always met an untimely demise. Instead, they were merely paying for their poor choices. This trope would eventually give way to what we now refer to as “Bury Your Gays.”

Thus, Shiro/Kuron being the only queer paladin, the only paladin to have his bond with his lion broken, the only paladin to turn “evil” and to be killed twice - Shiro’s body and Kuron’s soul - the EPs are not progressive. In fact, they fed the trope they so adamantly denied using. 

Coupled with Shiro being announced as no longer being a paladin in the same season that he was revealed to be queer, in the same season it’s revealed he has/had a degenerative disease, in the same season his one-time partner was killed - one can even make the assumption all this happened to Shiro because the EPs and DreamWorks do not support LGBTQIA+ rights.  

Rounding back - the EPs aren’t exempt from repercussions. 

Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery came from DC Comics as directors, became showrunners at DreamWorks, and went onto Marvel, back to the director chair. That is a demotion. DreamWorks cleaned house - even before Season 8 premiered - and though I think the messages were offensively underwhelming, JDS apologized on Twitter the Monday after Season 7 was released, and LM expanded upon that apology at NYCC. 

The damage is done, though, as many people found Season 7 so harmful that they will not watch more DreamWorks’ show and definitely not projects with JDS and LM. The best thing DreamWorks can do is to apologize (an exec this time), admit there were issues with Season 7 - including the BYG trope, plus the racist, sexist, and ableist themes, as well - and promise to do better in a Voltron sequel and in all their shows by creating diverse teams and an inclusive environment in which to create inclusive shows. 

DreamWorks hasn’t completed that final step yet, but the fact that the EPs are no longer a part of DreamWorks and are not working on a VLD sequel, despite the show being “popular” and what I would say, an overall “success,” says DreamWorks did take notice. Now it’s up to us, as fans, to continue the conversation and not to stop discussing. We need to keep telling DreamWorks and others content creators to create inclusive stories until we get shows with true and empowering representation. 

* I highly recommend any fan of any fandom to attend a few educational panels at each con. They’re included in the price, and they are welcoming and informative for writing true representation in your stories. 

[irrevocably-delicious]

More opinions from my friend as he delves further into Voltron and rapidly approaches the impending doom of season 7

He’s liking Keith a lot more and feels that after coming back from BOM, he’s enjoying seeing him confidently take up the reigns of leadership

“I met Keith’s mum” “Oh yeah! Did you uh.... like the emotional depth of that?” “..... It was nothing. There was nothing” I feel you dude. I feel you.

“Is there enough TIME to really waste on this DnD episode??..... oh wait.... ok Shiro is funny. Never mind.”

He really loves Keith’s wolf. I can’t wait for him to find out everything that good boy can do. And watch as he delivers snacks. 

The clone Shiro reveal was definitely a “FINALLY!” moment for him, feeling that it was painfully obvious from the beginning. (Again, nice to know that fan theory was obvious to everyone.)

“How did you like the time skip?” “I was find with it.” “Really? Even though we missed a bunch of stuff with Keith and his mum.” “Yeah, I’ve just kind of accepted that the Voltron writers will continue to deny showing me amazing moments. It’s like they have commitment issues.”

It’s really amazing because even though he says he really likes the show, and definitely recommends it, he absolutely sees that the writing is kind of shit and fails to finish off certain plot lines, or just quietly sweeps them under the rug. So he’s definitely catching on to the fandom apathy. He hates the writing... whilst simultaneously enjoying the show. It’s an oxymoronic situation.

We’ve definitely talked a lot about how he is probably at an advantage binge watching everything, so it just washes over him and by the time he remembers a loose plot thread, it’s well and truly gone, whereas I (and most of the fandom) stew on things between seasons. Try to make predictions, have our theories, desperately want to see the consequences of a character’s actions. So when that doesn’t happen? It sucks. It’s disappointing.

“Do you have any IDEA how many comics were made about the Galra Keith reveal before it happened?” “OH MAN! Did fans draw purple furry Keith?” “OF FUCKING COURSE THEY DID! That’s how the internet works!”

He loved Matt! So of course after season 6 I had to ask how he enjoyed not seeing or hearing anything about him for a whole season. He was very salty.

“I’m convinced the Voltron writers have a 'we are done with this character’ storage closet and that’s where they’ve shoved Matt. I half expect Krolia to be put in their soon.” I. Fucking. Pissed. Myself.

“Do they not take Matt to Earth?!” “Uh... spoilers? but I can tell you.” “No don’t tell me! I can’t wait for the writers to NOT DEAL WITH IT.”

He’s so angry, yet he continues. It’s amazing. I see myself reflected in his stare and I know I have ruined him. 

He thinks Lotor is a great villain, but also a 100% evil bitch who should not be redeemed as it would ruin him.

He thinks they definitely did Allura dirty in having her accept Lotor so quickly, when she had previously been so cautious around Keith.

“Oh wow, Shiro’s a lot older”

He continues to hold onto his opinion that Shiro definitely was the turning point in Keith’s brain to be like “Oh shit.... Men.”

He’s excited to see more of Haggar (me too dude)

“So there was a fan theory, due to clone Shiro having the most negative interaction with Lance, and the real Shiro reaching out to him, that finding the real Shiro would be a joint Keith and Lance effort. Did you ever feel that?” “Oh yeah I did. I just forgot because the show never mentioned it again, so I forgot I even had that thought. But it totally makes sense.”

It’s been very interesting, because even though he says he really enjoyed season 6 (I did too!) there’s definitely this sense of “I’m having a good time, even though the writing has big problems”, which I find pretty relatable. He definitely praises the show for it’s visuals and fun characters, but it’s fun to see traces of frustration come through/ He’s started season 7 now, but only two episodes. I’ve outright told him that “Garfle Warfle Snick” is the episode that I hate the absolute most, so he’s paused and on the lookout as to why. 

We’ll see how he feels through season 7. I’m dying to ask him again what he thinks Lance’s role is in team Voltron at the end of it. As well as what the fuck the Keith and Axca nonsense is about. There’s also James Griffin, who seems to be very polarising, and Hunk’s focus. But I must admit, I am most interested in seeing how he feels about Adam’s death and the way it is handled (or not) in the show. He has an acceptance already when it comes to the writers not dealing with heavy consequences... but I don’t know if he’ll be able to accept this. 

Till next time! Sorry this was so big he’s just really been hauling ass.

[rueitae]

2018 Fic Roundup

I did this last year and it was nice to do some self reflection and make some goals for 2019. I encourage all my writer friends to do this! No tagging necessary, just tell each other to do it. <3

It’s long, so putting the rest of the fic and reflection questions under the cut.

Stats:

Fics Posted (Gen): 6

Space Birthday (9,595 words): Hunk can feel it in his bones; it’s his birthday. He wants to have a nice one... and does... after accidentally raiding a Galra outpost with Lance and Pidge.

Pilot (4,340): Shiro finds himself in a different reality post s2. Here, the mechs are called Gundams. (Shiro in the Gundam Wing universe/reality)

Code (7,321): Pidge and the others keep fond memories of Earth through oldies musical trivia. It comes in handy on a mission.

Self Insert (6,357): Lance reads a story to his niece and nephew on the eve he leaves for school at the Galaxy Garrison. The kids have Opinions on how it should go.(i totally still need to change their names to the canon ones)

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (1,796): Keith is 13 and is supposed to go to the Galaxy Garrison next year at Shiro’s encouragement. Until the Galra invade and plans change.

Welcome to the Neighborhood (2,237): Allura gets used to being not dead and that includes meeting her cosmic neighbors.

Fics Posted (Plance): 17

Wrong Diamond (2,384): Gentlemen thief AU. “At midnight, I will steal the heart of Voltron,” the note says. Pidge has a thief to catch.

Diamond in the Rough (8,045): prequel to Wrong Diamond. How they meet!

Road Trip (4,710): Lance and Pidge are back on Earth. Zarkon has the others and the two are on the run from a bureaucratic Galaxy Garrison that doesn’t want the world to know about aliens yet. Oh, and Lotor is with them.

Exsanguination (16,255): Pidge is a vampire hunter captured by Haggar. She finds some unlikely help in the vampire’s similarly undead servant.

Power Up! (3,500): Pidge is on the cusp of finding out where Zarkon is holding her father using less than legal methods. She’s caught in the act by her lab partner (Lance, a superhero in training).

Plance on Ice (2,300): A figure skating AU! Pidge and Lance are former competitive partners having a date free time on the ice

Being Plance (3,900): Pidge and Lance pull a personality switch prank over on the rest of the team. Canon verse.

Keeping Cool (3,098): Mermaid AU! Pidge is in trouble with pirates and gets some unexpected help from the sea.

The Cake (839): Canon verse, Lance gets a cake for his birthday and assumes it’s from Hunk.

Frostbite (6,109): Pidge is a renowned super villain. Lance is a hero in training with something to prove. Lance over uses his powers one day and Pidge has some soul searching to do.

Crystal Clear (5,516): Another superhero AU. Lance is captured by his arch nemesis. They have a heart-to-heart, taunt, and flirt.

The Secrets of Beasts (2,007): AU canon verse. Years down the road, Green keeps Pidge from going on a mission with the others. It takes Kosmo to find out why.

See You Yesterday (8,132): Lance works nervously as a bartender for a 1920s mafia when all he wanted to do was leave the farming life. One night he gets a strange patron who changes his life - and his perspective of the world. Time travel AU

Shot Through the Heart (1,087): post canon AU. Lance and Pidge keep Nadia and Sylvio entertained.

Seasons of Magic (11,744): Pidge is a mage. Lance is her dragon familiar. Series of domestic-ish one shots. Not in sequential order.

Between Rocks and A Hard Place (8,144): Canon verse. Pidge and Lance are trapped due to a caved-in mine, with pirates waiting for them on the other side. And Pidge is hurt.

Cow-parent Trapped (1,099): s8 canon continuation. Pidge visits Lance at the farm and does not expect Kaltenecker to make them talk to each other.

Lotura 1

Birthday Prompt #5 (5,500): Oh gosh I never named it. Fantasy AU in which Lotor is essentially Rapunzel and Allura is Aurora with a better (depending on who you ask) birth-prophesy. Tiny hint of Shallura in this as well.

Collaborations: 3

First Encounters for the (Altean Plance AU): Pidge is an independent noblewoman and Lance is her bodyguard. Writing done with @hushman and @pidge-suggestions

To Sail, To Break, To Earn (Plance - 10,268): Lance is a pirate and Pidge is a mermaid. There’s also a curse involved. With @sp4c3-0ddity

It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like A Christmas Carol (Plance- 14,384): post s8 canon verse with @hailqiqi and @sp4c3-0ddity. Exactly as the title says. Lance is the subject of a ghostly intervention. Crack treated seriously.

Fey AU (Plance): with @vivalachocolate this was @sp4c3-0ddity ‘s prompt to Viva but I was nosy and added a chapter and I’m so glad she wasn’t mad at me for it. 😅

Ship/Character breakdown:

Ship breakdown:

I guess the 17 Plance fics speak for themselves. I did write one Lotura fic as a special birthday prompt because @ritsykitty is such a good friend.

Character breakdown:

I have a gen fic for each Paladin, but then the Plance fics outnumber those, so Lance and Pidge would be my go to.

Characters that had the main focus:

So for character POV, each Paladin has one, then within Plance, Pidge has 12 and Lance has 7. Interesting, I thought it was more even. Hunk had a POV in a Plance fic too briefly!

Specifics:

Best/worst title?

Best title: Urgh I liked a lot of them. Too Soon and Not Soon Enough probably. I like how it summarizes the story without telling you how, but by the end you know.

Worst title: Seasons of Magic aka I tried to come up with a clever title when I realized I wasn’t done with it. It’s so bland to me. I’m also basically trying to rebrand from mage/familiar AU. I don’t think it’s working 😅 (not that I care I’m trying to make it easier to reference but I’m too late)

Best/worst last line?

Best: “I love you too, Pidge,” he [Lance] says, nestling her head to his chest and not bothering to correct her. “You’re the best nemesis a hero could ask for.” - I love that line so much, from Crystal Clear. Enemies to lovers is such a good trope.

Worst: Pidge groans. At this rate her double life is definitely doomed to unravel. - for how much I love Frostbite, I really hate how lame it ends. Like I totally could have said that better or continued the scene a bit but I am LAZY.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I wrote waaaaaaay more than expected. I figured I’d write something every few months. Now I can write a 2k fic in a setting if I’m on game.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I was just doing gen fic last year, never would I have expected to be so taken by Plance that it became my main muse.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Honestly? Probably Pilot. It was one of my earliest VLD fic ideas to do a Gundam Wing crossover and to actually finish a one shot early in the year (when I was still dipping my feet into fandom again) just made me so so happy. I still smile thinking about the continuation possibilities. One of my favorite parts of Shiro’s character is that he is the ace pilot. Because of Keith’s role that sometimes gets overshadowed. I was so pleased to get to highlight that.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

On Ao3, that would be Exsanguination. No surprise there, it was my first posted Plance fic and I continued it.

On Tumblr it’s First Encounters, the first of the Altean Plance AU based on the art and headcanons. I was just struck with a clear opening image one afternoon and wrote it all right then and there. I had no idea it would be so well received.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Space Birthday. It may have been a bit of a mess since it was my very first VLD fic, but it has everything I love. Hunk bonding with an ‘enemy’ over cooking, Team Punk, Plance in distress, Hunk saves the day thanks to mechanics. Also heartfelt stuff with Keith. And he’s the only Paladin besides Lance to get an actual birthday themed fic from me.

Story that could have been better?

I really hate to say Wrong Diamond, but I totally could have done much better with it. It feels skimpy. Probably why I am still writing in the AU.

Sexiest story?

Ha. That would be a tie between Crystal Clear and Exsanguination. The first I actually tried and the second completely by accident. I’m not sure it worked though.

Saddest story?

All my sad fics have a bit of crack to them. Pilot is pretty melancholy. Crystal Clear has a good Plance argument that gets heated. Road Trip in general though might take the cake. It’s full of angst amid some humor due to the premise.

Most fun?

Shot Through the Heart in terms of tone.

Story with single sweetest moment? Space Birthday

"Uh, Keith, hold up a tic."

Confused, Keith turned back around. "What?"

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck. "So uh, you know we're friends right? Like, I meant what I said we're like brothers. We're tight. I mean, we share a mind inside of a giant robot."

Keith blinked, clearly surprised. "Yeah, I kinda got that from the hug you gave me back then. It was nice," he said with a smile. "And we work well together."

"Yeah so - wait what? No, I'm supposed to be giving you the pep talk here."

"It's fine, Hunk. I'm doing important work and so are you. I already had this talk with Allura."

"Oh. Well, what I'm trying to say is that we're friends. I care a lot about you and your feelings. So if I say something that's weird or you don't like, you gotta tell me. I'm a terrible and nosy person and I'm sorry."

Keith stood silent, processing the words, and then smiling. "I've accepted the side of me that's Galra," he said simply. "It's still a little weird, but I've always had this feeling that something didn't add up." He smiled a bit. "I don't mind a question or two, but I'm still learning myself."

"Deal, no Galra questions for a while then. Just as long as you come visit more often, okay? We all miss you.

"...hug it out?"

Keith snorted and obliged into Hunk's waiting arms. "Always."

Hardest story to write?

I struggled with the ending to Exsanguination. It took forever to come to me.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

I wrote The Secrets of Beasts in one setting and I still can’t believe how easily it came out. I blame the Plance discord folks for putting everyone on a baby craze.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

Not particularly? I write based on my existing understanding of the characters and nothing really surprised to that note.

Most overdue story?

Welcome to the Neighborhood. I wanted to write that Allura gen fic all year (as I wanted one for all the Paladins) and I hoped s8 would give me the motivation. It was not worth the cost.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Collaborations! And participating in a zine! And signing up for events (exchanges and bangs)! I learned that it’s not that scary. People are chill and so easy to get along with. Also the task isn’t as daunting as I think of it’s an idea I love.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

This is hard because I’m already doing above and beyond what I ever expected to be doing writing wise. I suppose it will be to finish my gen fic since I’ve been writing a lot of plance lately.

[phoenixyfriend]

On Lotor, Dayak, and Mishandled Approaches

It’s been over a month, and I’ve finally managed to gather myself enough to actually write a post about why I disagree with how Lotor was handled.

So here we go, and it starts with a request:

Forget your opinions on Lotor as a character.

I’m serious. Whether you love him or hate him or something else, just put that aside for a moment. Just think “Okay, this is the character, this is what he did, and this is how it was presented,” because your own opinions are only tangentially relevant right now.

The target audience for Voltron is not you. If you are on this site, then the target audience is not you.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is rated TV-Y7. It’s meant for a target audience of children aged 7-11.

My critical thinking skills weren’t the best at that age, up to and including literary analysis. I didn’t stop to parse stories down to subtle messages and meanings, I just took them as they came, because I was seven years old and hadn’t had time to practice those skills yet. Last I checked, most kids that age were and are the same way.

And that’s where the problem with Lotor comes up, because a lot of those kids in the audience that the story is targeted towards are in abusive homes. Just statistically speaking, some of that target audience is kids who are going through the mental, emotional, and physical abuse that we see attached to Lotor’s childhood on-screen, whether it’s show or just implied.

So let’s dig into that under the cut.

I’ll be honest here: I'd have handled the twists a LOT better if it weren't for the fact that some of what they did is actively dangerous for their target audience, and emotionally damaging to the older watchers.

I think the production team meant well. I think they wanted to tell an interesting, nuanced story. I think they wanted a cool, layered villain.

I also genuinely don't think the team realized the full scope of implications when they included the abuse backstory for a character that had this kind of arc.

It's not something that's healthy for kids to see. A certain portion of the audience is current or former abuse victims. With an audience this size, it's unavoidable. When actively marketing to children, they're marketing towards impressionable minds. Some of those kids are currently in abusive households, and some of those abusive households have the physical, mental, and emotional abuse that Lotor underwent at Zarkon, Haggar, and Dayak's hands.

It’s not an uncommon type of abuse. I’ve seen posts that address it as being culturally similar to Caribbean households, or to tiger moms, and so on. Galra culture has similarities to a lot of cultures on Earth, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is abuse.

The messages those kids are getting are that being hit by your caretaker is a cause for humor, not concern, and that if you try to grow past your toxic roots, you will fail.

What they’re seeing and absorbing isn’t a nuanced villain, not when it’s presented like that. They’re seven. They’re not appreciating a Shakespearean tragedy of an arc. They’re seeing “Oh, he was hit by his nanny, and it was supposed to be funny! I guess when I get hit, it’s not that bad!” The slightly older ones are seeing “Oh, he tried to be better than his parents, but everyone thinks he’s just as bad as they were. I guess... I can’t be better than my parents, then.”

Again, please put aside your own love or hate for Lotor, and focus on the mentality of actual children who are watching. You are not the target audience.

I'm still furious about S6E1. There are kids who might have been considering telling a teacher about their parents' treatment of them who might now be holding off because the show told them that it's okay, that it's funny.

There are kids who still don't know that it's abuse and that it's wrong for them to be hit, and who are having that belief reinforced by this episode.

The episode is actively dangerous for literal children who are already in toxic, unstable, or dangerous situations.

And yes, for the older audience, for those of us who are old enough to mess around on sites like this, it's emotionally damaging in similar ways, even if it's not the same kind of dangerous.

They also completely defanged the abuse by having it lensed through Hunk.

In S6E1, Dayak’s abusive behaviors are all being aimed at a soldier who volunteered for the experience, who is either an adult or very near to it, who is wearing armor, who is already considered a comedic character.

And there's a lot to go into about it being Hunk, specifically, who got chosen for this role and how the production team treats him. We could definitely spend time touching on why the fat comedic relief was chosen as the target for this.

But imagine how much harder it would be to dismiss Lotor's background as a factor of his personality if what we'd gotten was... a flashback, to Dayak doing all of that to him while he was still clearly a child, rather than turning abuse into a comedic subplot.

A person I was talking to said the following:

What he really deserved was to have his complex situation and the grey area effect on his morality recognized. Like, yes, he was draining the life force of Alteans. But consider the environment he grew up. Hold his actions up against those of his parents. He had every reason to genuinely believe that his actions were not that bad by comparison, especially in the grand scheme of things. His death count was a drop in the bucket compared to Zarkon. The Alteans he used did not appear to be suffering or even aware of what was happening to them, and the ones left behind were a race being preserved from prosecution and extinction. He was also actively searching for a way to provide the Empire's needs without causing any more widespread death and destruction. He was trying to be better than his parents, and in his reference frame, his actions were better than theirs.

Which, hell, probably does come across as apologism. It’s a fucked-up situation, and one that I question seeing in a show aimed at kids. It was a delicate thing to handle, and I’d have been a lot more interested if I’d seen it in, say, Agents of SHIELD, rather than VLD.

Similar arguments apply to the overall arc. Kids who are in toxic situations are getting the message that they can’t grow out of it. “I want to be a better person and have no one to show me how, but I’m going to try anyway” is being met with “You will fail, and everyone will say it’s your own fault.”

I think they were TRYING but that they genuinely didn't realize the minefield they were entering by giving him the backstory they did. It would have been a suitable plotline if it had been in an adult show, if it had gotten more perspectives, or if there had been a different character with a background that was explicitly as abusive as his that overcame it despite the same hurdles, and no, Keith doesn’t count.

There are... a lot of abuse victims in this fandom. There are a lot of victims, both children and adults, who identified with Lotor because he showed the symptoms that people don’t like to sympathize with as easily. And that’s a lot of children who are getting negative messages, and a lot of adults who are feeling betrayed by the storyline.

Just... remember that. Please.

You aren’t the target audience, and the actual target audience is eating up messages that make them more likely to remain in abusive situations.

(And if your reaction is in any way to blame the children for not recognizing what they’re going through as abuse, regardless of media, I need you to take a long moment to reflect on the fact that you are effectively victim-blaming people that aren’t even in the double digits yet.)

(Also, I know a lot of people try to argue a lot of things as “think of the children!” It’s up to you how you approach the concept. I draw my line at portraying child abuse as comedy in media that is targeted at children, which I feel is inherently different from people who try to say “think of the children!” about things like queer representation.)

[keyofthetwilightsalt]

Salt: Honestly. After thinking of VLD as a whole. The series, the fandom, the staff and cast. I just feel like absolute shit in the end.

Like here I was, being hyperfixated on this show and the characters, and having a good time for a short while, but then everything went to shit. And as a shipper. A Sheith shipper to be exact. I had to witness and experience constant harassment, bullying, false accusation, death threats, Suicide baiting, cp, gore spam in the inboxes, and unfair callout posts that falsely accuses to both Sheith/Shaladin shipper and VLD staff alike of P//dophilia and incest in it. Also, having the Sheith tag be barren of anything for a while other than spam. The whole thing is just awful.

And going through that whole bs for three years? I obviously do feel like complete shit especially after getting the most awful ending to a series I’ve just wasted three years for. Like! Yeah. I ship Sheith. Whatever. I never even thought that ship would ever be canon, but seriously. Watching the interactions of those two in season 8 was just sad. Even though I know now the ship isn’t canon, it just feels like a waste to watch them interact for seven whole seasons just to see them drift apart. Like, why didn’t they tie their relationship properly? It’s the last season after all, so why make them treat each other like they’re strangers in the end?

If they want to make their relationship more brotherly, why not give them one last confirmation that they are important to each other instead of them ignoring each other for the rest of the season? That’s kind of insulting to be honest especially with the epilogue where Shiro got married to random dude #568097. Like, why isn’t Keith shown properly in Shiro’s wedding? Aren’t they close? Shouldn’t Keith be shown to us instead of be blocked by Shiro to show that he is the closest friend to Him that we get to see his face in Shiro’s wedding?

I thought they were friends. I guess the whole “they will now get even closer” was just a scrap idea and in the end they just became fellow associates after all that.

And how they treat Shiro in this. I hate it so fucking much. You know? After what they did with Shiro in this season. I want him to be a Paladin again. I hate how he’s put to the side and in the sidelines for the rest of the season. Why isn’t he in the frontlines? Why haven’t we see him use his arm again? It just felt like he has outlived his use as a character and that makes me really, really, really upset. Like. He is one of my favorite characters along with Keith and he’s put to the side like that. I’m upset about that. Especially when He should’ve been hanging out with Keith and the rest of the team.

Yeah. I’m so fucking salty about that.

And about Allura and Lance.

I was upset about that, too.

I honestly didn’t think Allura would die. So, when they decided to kill her off I was actually kind of mad. I don’t know. I just find that part out of no where. And I thought Lance and her could end up together instead. They did tease them from the very beginning, so, I thought it’d end well. Also, Allura’s other iterations of her didn’t die, so this caught me off guard. And that part where she gave into the darkness?! Like! Why?!

And what they did to Lotor?! I am fucking pissed! Thought they’re gonna do something with him, you know?! But, in the end, he really died and he just show up as a hallucination, then a flashback and then he ended up as a deformed corpse. Beautiful. You know? I had so much hope for his character! People say he was going to have a redemption arc like Zuko and yeah, I do love the idea. But, I also love to see what kind of Villain he’d be since his other version of himself is always a villain. Like, Loki for example. Or Azula. But no. He just died.

And Lance? I did like seeing him show his vulnerable self, but making him suffer like that is just awful. Especially with the epilogue making him be a farmer....? I thought he wanted to be a fighter pilot?! But, I guess that’s fine! Because we only always have to fill in the gaps we always get in the whole series.Like with Keith almost killing himself by crashing into a barrier and nobody knows about it! >_>

I’m just really pissed. Also. This whole fandom pisses me off. Like. Antis act like they are relevant when really. They’re just whiny peices of shit who thinks they’re in the right when really, they’re part of the fucking problem.

Then there’s shippers. Always fighting over which ship is canon or whatever the hell. But really, it doesn’t fucking matter. So, they’re also part of the problem.

Then there are people who accepts everything that is given to them and gets angry when the majority of people doesn’t like what they are given, because what is given to them is honest to god fucking crap.

And then there are people who gets angry for not getting canon ship confirmation and hiding said anger behind false morale. Like gay rights.

I’m looking at Klance by the way.

When season 7 happened, I’ve seen comments like:

“Hmmm, Maybe Shiro is going to show Lance his bisexuality, so that’s why they gave us Shiro’s Sexuality!”

“Dear staff, I believe you should make Klance canon, because they are the most plausible to be good rep.”

“How dear you kill Adam! He should have lived so Shiro and him can get married!”

So yeah. I am so sick of this whole fandom. And to be honest with you, The Sheith side with the saltiness being blocked is like heaven sometimes. But, when I see salt get seeped into the tags. I just seethe because of what is said.

I agree. The Sheith side isn’t innocent either. And they’ve definitely have become just as angry as the rest of the fandom is. But. At least it’s not completely awful.

Sure, I’m completely aware that it feels like we’re more biased towards Keith and I agree it’s biased and wish this fandom can focus on Shiro in the same way, but being as angry and as salty as I am right now in this post, it’s not helping.

And now. I’m going to rip on DreamWorks. Since season 7 happened. I feel like they delayed season 8 just to add in on a haphazardly made epilogue and some cuts in it. Since we were promised an open ending, what we got was obviously not an open ending. And it’s an ending that is just as, if not most unsatisfactory, most disappointing and incredibly anger inducing ending that is reminiscent of Naruto Shippudden.

God, I am still angry about that one. So, yeah. I do believe we were supposed to have a better version of season 8, but in the end, what we got is an awful version of the season that was delayed out of fear. And that pisses me off, because, as a student screenwriter, looking at all of this as a whole makes me angry.

So, from what I got from this is, screenwriters can’t write freely and had to fight to get the acceptance to write certain things. And so, the screenwriters are constantly uncertain if they’re allowed to write things in so, they had to put it to the side and try to write around what the higher ups want, but the screenwriters really do want to write in that idea so they had to fight tooth and nail to get the approval, but if they fail they have to scrap the idea.

But, then. Season 7 happened.

And now that the idea of Shiro being gay, the higher ups didn’t want to get chewed out again, so, they went and made Shiro marry some random guy and call it a day. Like, wow. That is the laziest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s not 2013 anymore. Sure, there are homophobes and all that, but still. Making LGBT people accept the scraps like they’ve always have is just sad. Especially in 2018- 2019 when it’s the intention of going after the Woke brownie points with the LGBT after the success of Bubbleine and Rupphire, too. All of it makes me so god damn angry.

Three Fucking Years of this shit. I want to be done. But I still love Sheith, so... until I find something better. I’m still here.

But I guess, I want this whole fandom to know this from me.

Fuck all of you.

[giogio-golden]

an honest review of voltron (edited)

I know no one asked for it. I know I don’t have to write this. But I want to and I think I need to let out a lot of my feelings in order to feel some closure after the ending to a show that has had such an impact on my life. Prepare for a long post. These are my feelings and I’m open to conversation about this amazing show.

A Summary (in case you don’t wanna read the whole thing) This show has meant a lot to me. I’ve met friends through the fandom, been inspired by the characters and the story and found happiness in times when it felt hard to go on. I’ve never been so invested in a show the way I have with voltron, and even if the ending was a massive disappointment and there were many flaws, it will always have a place in my heart.

I’m gonna miss it

To start off, I’ll just say this review will have nothing to do with shipping or the fandom, because that’s a different rant that I think we’re all sick of hearing. The fandom had both a positive and negative impact on me, but I wanna focus on the show itself and not my opinions on ships or any of that. I will touch on ad@shi and a!lurance but in relation to the fact that both these ships were canon and in the show. This rant is mostly just me letting feelings out, but there will be criticism.

The Characters

Pidge Pidge was one of my favorite characters right from the beginning. I heard her voice for the first time and felt such a strange joy in my heart that I still can’t explain to this day. She was a character that I could relate to, even if I’m not nearly as smart as her. She’s tough and not traditionally feminine, which is so important to represent in a character. I will admit, her search for her family had me in tears, but I do think she deserved to be treated more like an adult who had gone through a traumatic experience of war. By the end of the show, she was around 17 or 18 (correct me if I’m wrong) after all the time skips, and had definitely matured greatly. The scenes where she gives up her video game for Allura and where she is able to see the history of the planet (I’m blanking on the name) were so amazing and made me so happy to see. Not to mention I have a bit of bias towards Bex, because I too am nonbinary as hell. Pidge has meant a lot to me as a character and I’m going to miss her after all this time.

Hunk Oh Hunkie how I adore you. Hunk has always been such an underappreciated character. He’s an engineer and a chef and a goofy scardey cat defying stereotypes of what it means to be “manly.” He’s also strong and tough, aside from all his fear. I wish we could’ve seen more of him, seen more growth, seen him rise and mature the same way the others did. Unfortunately, he was reduced to a bit of a comic-relief character, especially towards the end of the show. I love him all the same, he’s more like me than I care to admit, both of us being chubby and loving food and being scared easily. No one could ask for a better friend than Hunk

Keith It took me a while to warm up to Keith. He’s not the kind of character I usually fall in love with easily, but now he has my heart. Although he stole the spotlight of the show for a bit, his arc really was impactful. Keith went through a lot, finding his family and his self-worth. It was clear that it took a toll on him, but he was still able to be a leader and find compassion for his teammates. He’s shown the most growth throughout the series and it shows. Keith is a well-written character who deserved more love from everyone. Seeing him turn down being the leader of the galra in favor of forming a relief team from the blad was so incredible. Especially considering the fact that he let Lotor’s former generals join him. I wish the show had done more with a sort of “galra-form” Keith and delved more into the whole “not all galra are bad” trope. But overall, Keith has won me over Shiro Honestly, the show did not do great things for Takashi Shirogane. He’s amazing representation, being disabled, gay, and asian. He’s tough and strong and everyone fell in love with “space dad.” Though the show was going to kill him off and decided against it, probably because of his popularity in the fandom. Despite this, I wonder if there was more to him that wasn’t quite established because of this change in decision. I’ve always felt like there was something missing from Shiro (aside from his arm and mental stability), but I can never quite put a finger on it. I’ve always felt so attached to him, and seeing him rise up and survive through all the trauma to become captain of the atlas was so powerful. Especially with the implications of a name like atlas. His portrayal in terms of being a gay man was lackluster, especially in the last season where he barely had any lines that weren’t shouting orders (aside from the filler episodes). Shiro deserved better, he deserved to be a paladin for a lot longer, he deserved some closure, something more to show us all that our struggles and oppression do not define us. I’ll always love Shiro, no matter what his hair or his arm looks like, he means a lot to me.

Lance Lance, my sweet baby boy, my angel. I’m gonna admit I’m a bit biased, but Lance was also mistreated in the show. I’m not talking about being comic relief or getting “bullied” by the other characters. I’m talking about his ending. Lance started off as a cocky fighter pilot just wanting to rise to the top. His insecurities and sensitivity showed early, but he matured as time went on. He saved the lives of the other paladins numerous times, he served as moral support when Shiro went missing, he even learned to admit that he wasn’t quite as smart as Hunk or Pidge, and was not a prodigy like Keith. He had some great development. By the end of season 7, I was ready for him to get some well-needed love and support for all that he’s been through. I didn’t get that. I got a weird, stagnant version of Lance, serving mostly as support for Allura, who didn’t seem nearly as devoted to him as he was to her (but that rant will be later, stay tuned). I was especially with the scene when he was talking to Alfor. All the other og paladins had something nice to say, but Alfor only talking about Lance’s relationship with his daughter. His ending was frustrating, not seeing him flying with the MFE pilots or training a new generation of paladins. It was even a weird tease to see him holding the “LGBT” sign with Shiro and not have any interactions with them about that, while the other pairs all got some sort of plot around their signs. He was destined for greater things and I hope he gets them one day.

Lotor This poor man deserved so much better. I think we all agree that in the end, Lotor was portrayed as an abuse victim who lost to abuse and was considered evil for doing all he knew to do to survive. He was an amazing villain and a lovable character who even tricked the audience into seeing things in a certain light. His generals had amazing designs and they all had so much potential for so many different plotlines. But it didn’t end that way. Lotor succumbed to abuse and was always painted as evil and manipulative, even as a projection to trick Allura. The audience were the only ones who understood what he went through and although that had the potential for some good angst, it turned out to be glazed over in favor of many different angles. Lotor meant a lot to a lot of people, especially abuse victims who saw themselves in him. But it turns out that overcoming a situation like that isn’t possible even for someone as strong and determined and compassionate as Lotor. It was a shitty message to send to what is supposed to be a young audience.

Coran Now there’s not a lot I wanna say about Coran, mostly because I never felt attached to him. But through a conversation with a friend, I realized he should’ve been space dad from the beginning. He could’ve been the father character to all the paladins, could’ve been more that comic-relief, should’ve been given humanizing moments to grieve over his planet and even Allura. This man is so resilient and like a lot of these characters, shows that being a “man” is more than just being tough and strong and bruting, it’s about feeling love and being happy and spreading that love and happiness as much as possible

Allura Last but not least is Allura. Her death was devastating. Unfortunately I never really felt attached to her. Her character didn’t feel very developed. She learned to accept Keith and pilot blue, but the sacrifice she made, in the end, is one she would’ve made from episode 1. She’s always been tough and determined and passionate about her home and its history. I wanted to see her humanized more, just like Coran. I wanted to know more about her loving sparkly things and not understanding human things like cows and milkshakes. She had so much potential and it all felt wasted on a weird plot for revenge and anger and bitterness that was never really dissolved. She’s an amazingly designed character and a lot of people love her, I hate knowing that she was given the ending she was given.

Overall Negatives

Character Development The show was going so strong for a while. Every character was aging and growing and making progress. Then the last few seasons happened and suddenly the focus was on the war and action sequences and getting the plot over with. Many characters started to feel stale, their development stopping or becoming stagnant. Especially in the last season, it felt like a lot was not resolved in terms of how characters grew over the course of the show. 

Character Interactions (This is not about ships or the fandom, it’s about canon interactions in the show. None of this is implying I wanted it to be endgame, that’s not what this is about)

Shiro/Keith Man, these two had so much potential. Keith loves Shiro in canon. He said so. Even if it’s a brotherly love, it was real and there and so powerful it brought Shiro back to life. Their bond was powerful and strong and inspired so many people watching, including me. All relationships are important, and seeing Keith mature and have someone believe in him was so meaningful to those who see themselves in him. Not only that, but Shiro had someone who believes in him too. After being left by his boyfriend and told his disease would kill him, Keith was still there, supporting him and ultimately keeping him alive. They’re such a good example of a healthy relationship, platonic or not. So what happened in season 8? I don’t have an answer. They barely interacted. When Keith was close to death Shiro acted like a soldier, not a friend. There was no closure with them, no expressions of how proud of each other they were, barely even a genuine interaction. It was very disappointing. I could go on about how angry this makes me but I still gotta lot to write about Lance/Allura Once again, so much good potential. These two could’ve developed so much more in their relationship. They had the potential to be cute and loving and strong leaders together. Not only was Allura killed off, but she was also written into Lance’s relationship with a strange lack of love for Lance. It felt one-sided and rushed. Lance’s maturity with handling the whole thing came out of nowhere and felt weird and forced. He wasn’t acting like his goofy self, which in turn can give off a message that he had to change and become more serious in order to gain her affections. Yet another bad message to send to a supposed young audience

Keith/Lance There was a lot going on between these two and a lot of good development. I loved their quiet personal moments in the last season, they were tender and personal and demonstrated the growth of both characters. But just like Keith and Shiro, there was something missing in their ending. No closure. They never seemed to interact aside from these more intimate moments in this season, with Lance’s focus being on Allura and Keith being mainly a leader of voltron. All The Paladins One of this show’s strong suits was the interaction between a found family. Especially this season, it felt lackluster. It felt like characters were being shoved aside for the sake of more plot and story and Allura’s whole arc. Not only that but in the end, they weren’t a family anymore. They went separate ways, Lance mourning Allura’s death, Keith going off to be a lone wolf in the blade, etc. It was all a bit disappointing, especially for someone like me who knows what it’s like to find a family outside of blood. It’s not easy to separate like that.  The Portrayal of the Effects of War A lot of my frustration with characters and interaction and the ending of the show was how it lacked a reflection of how war affects people. The paladins were an obvious example of young people being forced into a place where war is rampant and their trauma should have been made more clear! Lance’s ending would’ve made more sense if they talked about the war affecting him and needing to just be with his family and away from the fight. The weird character development could’ve included that they all have some bits of PTSD and permanent damage due to all they’ve been through, especially considering how young they are. Nothing felt resolved or had an impact in the ways it could have. The show was doing so well with portraying Shiro’s PTSD and pain and then flushed it all away, once again to hurry along a rushed plot. It makes me so upset as a writer and a lover of the show to see such potential themes done away with. 

Honerva and The Finale This show has some amazing villains. People love the galra and Lotor and his generals and Honerva and even Zarkon. They had such good potential and learning about their past was emotional and impactful. But there was no resolution. Exploring Honerva’s mind and the other dimensions/realms of the universe were overwhelming and confusing and didn’t leave much room for development. There was potential in having Lotor be resurrected. He could’ve shown Honerva that you can’t bring back the dead and that abusers don’t get to have their victims given back to them. He could’ve proven to the paladins that being a victim doesn’t mean you will lose to your abuser. He could’ve provided a catalyst for Allura to learn to forgive and understand instead of acting out of anger and bitterness without listening to the full story. He could’ve provided room for Lance to find some self-love and even a chance for Shiro to overcome his own demons. There was so much potential in having him return and still have Honerva be a redeemable character who found family the same way the paladins did. The finale could’ve been so much more. Lotor could’ve been so much more. But he was reduced to a corpse and Honerva lost the potential of being the best villain in the show.

Overall Positives

The Characters I already went in depth on a few characters specifically, but their designs both visually and personality-wise were amazing. Many people connected to each paladin, even more than one. We loved watching them grow, we love their voice actors, we love our own found family within such an amazing story.

The Staff Through thick and thin the cast and team of Voltron have been amazing. There will always be slip-ups and hard patches but they have done such an amazing job supporting the fans and fighting through the drama. All these people are so amazing and kind and I hope to see more of their work in the future.

The Galra and Other Aliens Like I said before, people love the galra. They love their designs, their story, their potential. The galra are cool villains that provide a lot of fun to the story and the fan content that comes out of it. All the alien designs were fun to play with, even Slav and bi boh bee. These side characters are creative and made the world feel even bigger.

The Animation Not only were the character designs visually appealing, but the animation itself improved so much over the course of the show. Characters visually aged, the shots of space became more detailed and beautiful, it was all so impressive. Voltron has one of my favorite animation styles I’ve ever seen.

The Filler Episodes Many people hate these episodes but darn it I love them. They were fun and light-hearted and dove into fun situations we all love to see our characters in. The fair, Kinkade’s camera, the D&D episode, the game show episode. They all made us laugh and remember why we love these characters and why we want them to succeed, while also making them more real and tangible.

The Representation This may be a controversial opinion, but the representation in this show is fantastic. 4 out of 5 paladins are people of color. Allura is a poc. Many side characters are of varying races. Even if we didn’t get perfect LGBT rep, we got some well-needed diversity in cartoons. Although I cannot speak to any inaccuracies or stereotypes people of color feel might’ve played a part, I can speak to the importance of having many different races on screen for all to see.

Show-Stopping Moments While the fandom was good at predicting a lot of plot points, the show was still able to leave us all stunned and speechless. We all have certain moments that made us sob, broke our hearts, gave us chills. From Keith’s blade trials, Zarkon’s death, Shiro’s disappearance and journey home, Keith’s fight with Shiro’s clone, Narti’s death, the reveal of the og paladin’s backstories, Lotor’s betrayal, Shiro transforming the atlas, and so many more, there are so many scenes that shook us to the core.

[poor-sickies]

my thoughts on s8

Ever since Friday, all I’ve been seeing on Tumblr is most people hating on this last season of Voltron. 

While I understand some of the criticisms people are making (and even having some others myself) I did enjoy this season. After rewatching the whole thing yesterday, I now have a clearer idea of what I think about it, so I’ll be leaving my thoughts under the read more.

I just wanted to say that, liking it or not, I’ve had an amazing two years watching these characters grow and this story developing. Voltron made me want to start writing again, made me start drawing fanart for the first time ever, and made me want to connect with so many people on this website. Some of the best friends I’ve known I met because of our shared love for this series, and I’m forever thankful for that. 

I’d like to continue my journey here with the least amount of negativity as possible. Even if the show did not correspond 100% with what I would have liked, I think that’s where the beauty of fanfic lies in. 

Voltron is one of my favorite series ever. Is it perfect? No. There are inconsistencies, plot holes, some arcs that are rushed and not well thought maybe. But the world building, the characters, the story, it all made me fall in love with it. The creators and voice actors seem like genuinely amazing people, and I’m forever thankful for this reboot Even if it’s not perfect, even if there’s a lot I don’t agree with (and not only this season, I mean the entire thing), I still think it’s terrible that people are harassing the staff the way they are, and the way they have been from early on. 

I like to enjoy my quiet and peaceful and respectful place in this fandom for a reason. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but voicing them thoughtfully and respectfully is a very different thing from bullying and insulting the staff, and everyone else who might have diferent thoughts. I will continue writing fanfic for this series for as long as it brings me joy, and having this blog and interacting with my followers here has brought heaps of happiness in some very troubling and sad times for me. All in all, the series is finished, and I can honestly say, I had a very good time watching it. 

So my thoughts are:

> on Allurance: I started shipping it since s5, and even harder after s6. I think they had an awesome development throughout the whole thing, and I was so happy to see them dating right away on episode 1. We had the oportunity to see a bit of their relationship, and their moments were adorable. Lance was so worried, so supoortive and caring, and it brought out the best of him. 

> on the Zarkon/Honerva/Lotor backstory: I’m really glad everything was explained in much more depth. I’ve started to feel a very deep compassion for these three that I didn’t have before, and Lotor’s death hit me much harder now that we got his and Honerva’s full backstory. Very cool of Voltron to have these three complex and well developed villains. I now want to write more for Lotor ahah

> on Allura’s sacrifice: I can’t say I was surprised, after those leaks came out with her statue in the back, but oh man, especially aftet that goodbye scene, it was a hard blow. I loved it storywise, but I feel so sad for Lance. Allura was never a character I really connected with as much as let’s say, Keith, especially for the first couple of seasons. I think it was only after s3 that she started growing a little on me, but even after that, she was always kind of indifferent to me (idk man, sometimes you just click with other characters more), but for some reason, I always did enjoy her arcs in the series - her journey on becoming a paladin, her struggle in accepting that not all Galra were evil and not all Alteans were good, the Oriande alchemy thing, her brief romance with Lotor, her slow burn romance with Lance, and this final sacrifice. It is always upsetting to see your favorite character go, I can understand that, but you cannot deny that she had a good run. A good story. 

> on the ending: that’s where most of my criticism would come. I’m pretty sure that most of those stills after the credits were added at last minute, and on one hand, I would have liked it to just end with that final scene of them saying goodbye to the lions during the night. It felt like an amazing open end, with very beautiful and inspiring imagery. Concerning the stills, I’m a little torn - Pidge’s and Hunk’s ending felt adequate (and oh my God, Matt’s hair is so adorable, I don’t care what people say, I love him with any hairstyle). Keith’s ending, and the Blades becoming an humanitarion organization felt a bit off to me. It just doesn’t seem like the kind of work the Blades and Keith would engage in. As for Lance’s ending, I’m still considering it - I don’t mind it too much, but I still would have liked him to be happy with someone else, and end up doing something with a little more... action in it. I think my ideal ending for him and Keith would be for them to end up as instructors at the Garrison, or carrying on with whatever was needed in space. Being role models for the next generation would fit them both so well, and I would have loved to see that. Shiro’s ending was one that was very clearly a last minute addition, and that’s mostly what made me not like it. I can understand him wanting to step away from the action and rest (even though I would have prefered an ending similar for what I described for Keith and Lance), but just pairing him up with Curtis felt like a very rushed and not well thought move. I also missed a lot of Keith and Shiro interactions, I felt there were barely any this eason, and it saddens me a lot. I’m not a hardcore Sheith shipper, and I’m not even a hardcore shipper in Voltron, because I think there are so many good pairings that I find it hard to find one to cling to, but platonically or romantically, Shiro and Keith’s dynamic is one of my favorites, and this last season was definitely lacking. I did love that picture with all of them grown up. It was beautiful and heartwarming, and Allura’s absence still hurts a little, but I loved it all the same. 

[fenrhi]

Thoughts on Lotor and Sendak

Ok so I’ve seen a post where the OP explained the Paladins leaving Lotor is the rift was the cause of that power vacuum in the Galra empire, which allowed pirates and warlords to take Galra territories and essentially ending the empire as we know it and throwing the universe into more chaos.

In short, the Paladins ruined everything

But what if they didn’t abandon Lotor in the rift? How different would things be?

Assuming Voltron somehow gets a power-up that allows it to beat Sincline and drag it out of the rift, the paladins can’t just put Lotor back on the throne after hearing what he did with the Altean colony. At this point Lotor is either unconscious or a crazy quintessence corrupted zombie (so, not fit to be seen, by Galra standards) and the Paladins put him back in the shame corner the cell we saw in s5. Then they tell everything that happened to the Coalition, because allies share intel. The Coalition is super pissed because hello, you really thought giving unlimited quintessence to the Galra was a good idea. Meanwhile, more and more soldiers flock to Sendak’s side

What about Haggar?

Well, Haggar wanted to get her son back by any means necessary, whether it’s using her new Oriande powers to teleport Lotor in her ship (listen.....we don’t know the extent of these powers but if Allura can bring people back from the dead, teleportation is not that far-fetched), or sending robeasts and battle cruisers to kick Voltron’s ass. She wouldn’t stop fighting until she completed her goal. So if Lotor wasn’t stuck in the rift, he’d probably be stuck with his mom *horrified gasp*

She wants Lotor safe but she doesn’t want him to be emperor so Sendak takes the throne. He already has a lot of ‘followers’ so no one loudly objects to this. Those who object are killed, plain and simple

This plot twist forces the paladins to think of a way of dismantling the Galra empire that was their original goal remember because Lotor can’t help anymore

Or, second possibility: if Haggar doesn’t take action for whatever reason, Sendak definitely will. He’s got beef with Lotor and Voltron and talking the throne is a good way to take revenge on them. ‘You wished you didn’t eject me into space in s1 huh?’

I like to call this AU where Sendak uses his brain

It’s no secret Sendak has been terribly embarrassing in s6. He fires at stuff, says some vaguely menacing speech and....leaves. What the fuck. Where is s1 Sendak who knew how to properly take advantage of the paladins’ weaknesses?

I know why he left. It’s because the narrative wanted to reveal Lotor was evil all along as some kind of genius plot twist (it’s not) and make him the antagonist of s6. Team Voltron can’t possibly fight Lotor AND Sendak at the same time

I know why he left but that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying

Because what we got was not original at all. I didn’t watch Golion nor DOTU but I’ve heard Lotor was a bad guy with an evil laugh in it. And in VLD? He ends up as a bad guy with an evil laugh who wants to destroy everything. Come on..... VLD is starting to look like a bad clone (hahaha) of old voltron

They said VLD would be different. Then show it! Show me new things

If the writers really wanted Lotor to ‘disappear from the plot for a moment’ I’m sure there were others ways to do it. I’m not a writer but as a viewer I would have loved to see Sendak be the awesome villain he was meant to be

Sendak hates Lotor. Hates him to the point of wanting to kill him. He failed to kill him in s5 but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t try again later

He could....I don’t know..... send a floating triangle robot to the Galra HQ and make it self-explode near Lotor. 

Or make Lotor his slave. He DID bring up the idea in s5. That way, the viewers’ resentment would be turned toward Sendak, and we would avoid making the heroes look like assholes by leaving Lotor to rot in the rift. It’s even worse because Allura and Keith wanted to save him....but they didn’t. Yes, Lotor did awful things but is it really a reason to let him become a quintessence zombie like his parents?

Anyway, Sendak takes the throne, and things get real bad because Team Voltron allied itself to the Galra of its own will but the emperor they supported is gone. Not to mention, the paladins linked all the Coalition data into Galra HQ. And there is still the problem of the Altean colony to solve! The paladins are quickly overwhelmed

The coup de grâce is invading Earth

Or Sendak starts with destroying Earth. Good way to crush the paladins’ morale

In any case, even if Lotor got out of the rift, there would still be chaos, just of a different kind of chaos. Sendak wouldn’t let the empire go down like that. And Lotor claiming he will exterminate the Galra and create an Altean empire only adds fuel to the fire. If there is a bright side to this, it’s that this extreme situation allowed the paladins to think back on their mistakes and come to the conclusion that supporting the Galra empire was, in fact, Not A Good Idea

[a-rdentlyy]

*finger guns* fuck vld s8 B)

I was incapable to do my final projects until I wrote down all my feelings. VLD is trash, but I’m sadly obsessed with it, dear god just end my suffering. Just to be clear, I also have some (very few) good things to say about this season but those will be at the end.

Cons

lol the whole fucking season

Pretty much everything concerning Lance was about Allura, nothing about his own personal growth except when talking to Keith

Sunset talk was romantic as FUCK and Keith spoke about how great Lance was and was just so fucking soft the whole time

Sitting at the table and confiding in each other about personal growth had me tearing up tbh

Literally episode one was extremely gay

Like, super gay

Lance and Allura have an awkward date, which was honestly pretty cute, EXCEPT for when Lance suddenly tells her he loves her and she’s just like “i mean ok i guess” and they kiss????????????

What the hell??????????

And why the fuck did Lance choose to seek solace in Keith when he was worried about his “date”??????? (hint: its gay fellas)

And then when Veronica asked about Keith and if he was single Lance literally freaked the fuck out for like 67493862988409 years

HUGE queerbait season and episode if you ask me :/

How the FUCK is Ezor still alive, I’m not complaining, but this was out of nowhere

The astral plane episode w the old paladins could have been so cool

Blaytz should have been with Lance, literally his whole speech about people underestimating him and “fucking having greatness within” is LITERALLY what Allura said to him in either season 5 or 6 (can’t remember and don’t really care about their interactions tbh)??????? Like??????? Give my boy some validation that isn’t centered around his romantic life?????

Alfor should have been with Allura. That’s her fucking dad and his whole “my daughter chose you cuz ur cool i guess” speech to Lance felt so flat and awkward, I hated it. Everything about Alfor’s speech would have been so much better if it wasn’t about how Allura liked him.

AND SHE DIDN’T EVEN CHOOSE LANCE, SHE CHOSE LOTOR AND SETTLED FOR LANCE BECAUSE HE WAS HER CONSTANT COMPANION

They did Lotor dirty, my trash son

Not a single bit of actual redemption

In the Honerva flashback episode could see how his parents tore him down. Zarkon destroying his first colony broke him.

Totally unresolved Lotura plotline. I really liked them together and they had genuine chemistry unlike the “main” bullshit ship of the season. Allura first tries to kill him in her nightmare and then immediately trusts him after he says like 2 words????????? Girl ain’t over her ex.

So was he actually evil and was really sucking out quinessence or was that plotline just never touched upon, cuz he tried to explain what was happening in s6 but was never really allowed to speak?????

The Altean colony was never really resolved???????

Like, who’s running it now??????

Altean/Farmer Lance

Don’t even talk to me about this shit

What the FUCK is with him suddenly becoming Altean????? Like, if he had, you know, some Altean descendents and his little markings were suddenly activated then i’d kind of get it

Also Lance has Altean markings now, because we just can’t let Lance move on from Allura and be happy can we

This ending was SUCH BULLSHIT. Lance has always wanted to be a pilot but now that some girl he liked is dead he wants to live on a farm w his family?????

I’m still not done with how they won’t just let Lance move on from Allura and be happy

He lives on Altea, of all places, so he’ll see her people everywhere

He has fucking Altean markings so he’ll be reminded of her every time he looks at himself in the mirror

Honerva seemed like such a good, complex villain but they just made her goal so fucking dumb

I figured she’d want to get Lotor back (which I dug because I’m always here for mother’s love n shit) plotlines, but suddenly she’s trying to get to an alternate universe?????? The fuck?????

And what the hell happened when she actually went to the AU, what the actual fuck

What a bitch, she’s still pissed at Allura even in this alternate reality

Lol AU baby Lotor telling Honerva how she sucks is incredible

Klance

Fucking gypped

So much build up

Where the hell is the “slow burn” endgame for Lance?????? Definitely not with Allura, that shit was rushed as hell

Literally so much chemistry between Keith and Lance

Allurance

I don’t actually hate Allurance

The writers just suck at doing their job and making good romantic relationships

Literally cringed at every scene where Allura and Lance interacted tho, it just felt so forced

When Lance said “my girlfriend” I actually had to stop watching and had to take a solid half hour to recover (I’m not even joking), it was the worst thing I had ever heard

HELLA rushed “i love you” to Allura. Lance, she’s the fucking best, I agree, but dude. You honestly don’t even really know each other that well (the demi in me is coming out lol)

Allura never once responded to Lance saying I love you until the very end, and even then it felt more like a platonic “I love who you are” deal. She definitely didn’t love Lance like he cared for her.

She even ended up dying and walked towards Lotor at the end, she still chose Lotor over Lance at the very end

And we just can’t let Lance have anything nice, can we

Lotura

“He was happy with you” fuckin Honerva speaking the truth for once

Literally one of the best ships that crashed and burned for no reason

Through this entire season you can still see Allura isn’t over Lotor

Allura, they did you so dirty as well

My wife

I’m so sorry for what they did to you

This amazing survivor of genocide that thought that she was the last survivor was killed off

They also ruined ur character tho, the real Allura would never have basically tortured the real Zarkon without quintessence poisoning

And you would have realized you don’t actually love Lance like that

Those goodbyes actually destroyed me at the end tho

“I’m gonna miss you Allura” BITCH ME TOO, THE FUCK

Shiro’s goodbye made me tear up the most

So she can create infinite realities because of her sacrifice except for one where she lives???????

And who’s leading the new Altea????? No one???? They never explain what happens with the actual colony that Lotor made and the current timeline

Holy shit I just realized we never actually found out if Lotor survived the quintessence field or not

I mean, almost certainly didn’t

But still, that shit’s important to tell us

Looked like a hawk carrying away a baby mouse

Shiro’s wedding was fucking bullshit

Like finally he can be happy

But god, give us fucking SOME development that isn’t damage control

At least I liked whoever he married in those background scenes despite never learning his name

MATT’S HAIRCUT IS A TRAVESTY at the end

He looks way better with long hair

What the fuck was with the lions just dipping??????????

Tbh that shit made me cry

And now they’re just chilling out in space??????

Pros

The beginning of the season was actually surprisingly really good? Like, I was nearly invested the whole time up until episode 8?????? And then it got fucking insane and weird with no explanation.

THE ANIMATION IS GORGEOUS

Baby Lotor was so fucking cute, I adore him.

Those small Klance scenes killed me

Keith supporting and validating everything Lance has done and just being a great bf in general

That romantic ass sunset scene (you CANNOT tell me that shit was platonic)

We could have had it all yo :(

Surprisingly really liked Kinkade’s vlog episode, it made me like the MFE pilots

I didn’t care about them at ALL in s7 but now I like them more

Just Kinkade and Rizavi tho

Some tasty VeronicaxAcxa shit

That’s lesbian activity

Thank god Bex was right when she said Kacxa wasn’t gonna be a thing

Old Paladin’s were pretty cool except for the bullshit talking

BAD. ASS. VOLTRON/ATLAS FUSION.

Thank GOD Galra Emperor Keith wasn’t a thing

Coran keeping Allura’s memory alive keeps me alive

HIS TOAST TO HER HAD ME CRYING

THEY REALLY WERE FAMILY

Thank god it doesn’t seem like Lance is insanely depressed a year after Allura’s death, this kid needs closure and to move on and find some semblance of happiness that doesn’t revolve around romance

Small Klance moments at the end

That fucking reunion at the end made me cry

At least we got a mlm kiss, even though it’s garbage :)

List of Those Done Dirty

ALLURA

Lance

Lotor

Shiro

Adam

The Whole Fucking Fandom

All in all, fuck v slur, 3/10 for the season and 4.5/10 for the whole show. Seasons 1-3 are the only canon seasons. Except for parts of Season 5 and 6. Those can stay.

Also Klance is Canon King.

[angelrider13]

001 Voltron: Legendary Defender

Favorite character: Keith. Hands down. He was my fav even before I watched the show and I just saw random gif sets as I scrolled though my dash. Although Matt is a close second.

Least favorite character: …this is surprisingly hard, I usually have the opposite problem. Picking favorites is Death, but there’s usually this one character I hate above all others…in this fandom not so much. Hmmmm…I guess if I have to pick one, it’d Haggar because she ALWAYS has something planned. I mean when Lotor does it I’m like “Ha! I knew it. Sneaky prince is sneaky.” But when it’s Haggar, I’m like “Fuck. Why can’t you leave my children alone?! LeT tHeM REsT.”

5 favorite ships (canon or non-canon): (I mean, I’m open to pretty much any ship [keep your evil ship wars and discourse away from me] but for my top 5, in no particular order)Klance - I will be the first to admit that I am Klance trash. I tried not to be. I swear I did. It just happened. I have no excuse.Sheith - First ship I shipped in this fandom. They have super good chemistry.Shatt - I was sucked in by all the pre-Kerberos fic. I have no regrets.Shallura - They are in leadership positions and they support each other and I just think they would work well together.Hunay - …How do you NOT ship these two? Is that even possible???

Character I find most attractive: Shiro. Don’t get me wrong, our cast is very pretty, but….Shiro.

Character I would marry: Again, Shiro. He would make a good partner, I feel like.

Character I would be best friends with: Definitely Matt. He is basically what the inside of my head sounds like (minus like all of the smart science things). But we could be total nerds together and it would be awesome.

A random thought: I want more Lions. Like, how do they each communicate with their paladins? How do they feel about everything that’s happening? How sentient are they exactly? I just want more Lion stuff.

An unpopular opinion: This fandom is really bad at writing in-character mental illness. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for neurodivergent paladins. But the way that a majority of the fandom writes it seems…over exaggerated. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t people out there who experience depression or anxiety or autism or whatever that way, I’m just saying that it’s almost never in-character. For instance:

Fanon Lance + depression = cries all the time, doesn’t talk to anyone, runs away, stays in bed, suddenly incapable of combat/piloting, etc.

Canon Lance + depression = puts a smile on even if he feels like dying inside, talks to his friends but never about himself, stays because people need him even if he’d rather disappear, gets out of bed cause he’s got shit to do, kicks asses and takes names because he can’t afford to do anything else, etc.

A lot of people in this fandom seem to equate mental illness with weepy sadness that can be cured with a hug and the Power of Friendship~. No. It doesn’t work like that. It is so much more complicated than that. Being mentally ill doesn’t make someone inherently weak, but a lot of people seem to think that way. If Lance has depression or Hunk has anxiety, or Pidge has autism or Shiro has PTSD or Keith has Borderline Personality Disorder, it doesn’t mean they’re going to collapse as soon as you poke them with a feather. It doesn’t mean they’ll give up because they have this sudden “inability.” They’ll have moments of weakness, sure, they’re human after all. But they will be moments.

They’ve proven, in canon (specifically Shiro as his PTSD is actually canon), that they all have the strength to push past their issues and get done what needs to be done. They have shit to do, they’ll have that anxiety attack later.

Mental illness is messy and complicated and has no easy fix, but almost no one writes it that way. It’s romanticized and used as an excuse to make characters behave in a way they usually wouldn’t. And it’s just really frustrating.

My Canon OTP: I mean, Hunay is basically canon right? They’re just at the mutual pining stage rather than the actual relationship stage.

My non-canon OTP: Again, I am Klance trash.

Most badass character: Are you kidding me? It’s totally Keith. Why is this even a question.

Most epic villain: …ya know, I’m not really sure? Zarkon and Haggar don’t really strike me as “epic.” Zarkon is a little to obsessed with the Black Lion for me to take him seriously and Haggar is a little too obsessed with Zarkon and Quintessence for me to consider - she doesn’t have her own goals really, just Zarkon’s and in my opinion, an epic villain needs to have their own master plan for their own purposes.

…does Lotor count? Have we decided if he’s a villain yet??

Pairing I’m not a fan of: Hmmm anything with Pidge really - I headcanon her as ace-spec. But if we’re talking canon, then honestly? I’d have to say Zarkon/Honerva. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they started off cute, but that relationship got really unhealthy. That saying, love is blind? Yeah, totally accurate here. Zarkon was totally oblivious to literally the rest of universe and Honerva became so obsessed with her research that she was oblivious to the rest of the universe and Zarkon.

At the end there, Honerva looked like she was at the level of obsession where she didn’t leave her lab. She probably slept there. She didn’t even acknowledge him or Alfor when they came in until the topic of shutting down her research came up. And then she didn’t talk to Zarkon - she yelled at Alfor. And Zarkon just fed into her obsession, even though Alfor was bringing up valid points (the deterioration of his planet and Honerva’s health). And their relationship now? Yeah, no.

I know a lot of the fandom sees them as this cute power couple, but their relationship was NOT healthy. At all. And that’s not even touching what their relationship is like post-mortum.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Er, all of them? In the writers’ defense, with a cast this large, there is only so much you can explore individually within the limited time frame they have. However. There are a lot of moments where the characters just feel…well flat. They don’t have depth and then the writers will keep focusing on that flat point and they don’t do anything with it. If you’re going to take the time to bring attention to it, develop it! Change it! Let it grow! Hunk especially! Give our golden boy some more screen time!

Favorite Friendship: Hunk and Pidge brotp. They are so adorable and I love them. Every time these two dorks interact on screen together, my life is brighter.

Character I most identify with: Keith. He is literally me in all social situations. Jokes go over his head, he’s not really sure of the appropriate response, he is an introvert and desperately wants companionship but at the same time wants to avoid it, he is constantly going how do i person? Yep, that’s me.

Character I wish I could be: Matt or Allura. They both know what they want and they’re passionate and confident and outgoing and sassy and I so wish that was me.

[haiiro-no-ookami]

Three fandoms tag

I was tagged by @yeleleow. After about three thousand years I’m finally doing this :’D

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag 10 people you want to know better.

My Three Fandoms:

1. Nanatsu no Taizai 2. Fairy Tail 3. Voltron: Legendary Defender

The first character you loved:

1. Ban! (That smug fox won over my heart from his first appearance. And after his backstory was revealed he firmly set himself as my favorite Sin) 2. Erza (A powerful stoic female knight? Fourteen-year-old me was head over heels for her) 3. Shiro (I learned bits and pieces of his story through tumblr posts so when I started the show I already cared deeply)

The character you never expected to love so much:

1. Ahaha, that’s definitely Hendrickson (As a villain he did a good job at making me hate him) 2. Jellal cause...same reasons (I have a type, okay?) 3. Pidge! (I never expected to like that “hacker boy” but man was I surprized)

The character you relate to the most:

1. Hendrickson (I’m just as awkward with no understanding of romance but still trying my best to be kind) 2. Hmm...I’d say Cana? (Minus the alcoholic part, but I too have to constantly battle the feeling of not being good enough) 3. I guess that’s Keith for the loner aspect

The character you’d slap:

1. Ludo-whats-his-name can go and crash into a cliff 2. Ichiya (Dude needs to learn what personal space is) 3. Acxa (For joining forces with Lotor once again out of blind worship, which got her team...nowhere)

Three favorite characters (in order of preference):

1. Hendrickson, Dreyfus, Zaratras 2. Jellal, Ultear, Erza 3. Shiro, Pidge, Keith

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore: 

1. ????? The Sins themselves to some extent, but it’s not like I stopped liking them - my focus just shifted to minor characters 2. I’ve generally grown cold to the main five by the end of the manga 3. ?????????

Three otps:

I’m not big into romantic shipping so this is more like three favorite relationships xD

1. Platonic hendrey, as for romance - gilgaret and guilicho  2. Jerza, Arcadios x Hisui or ArcaSui, and the mother-daughter dynamic between Ultear and Meredy 3. The brotherly bond between Keith and Shiro, the fierce sibling loyalty of Pidge and Matt, and the growing friendship between Allura and Keith

I’m gonna tag @ritterschaf and @isi-daddy if ye wanna do it! Everyone else who sees this is free to do it as well, it’s just that I’ve fallen out of touch with people around here so don’t want to disturb anyone with my tags :’D