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shadowqnights · 6 months ago

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May I ask what are your favorite MCD or Mystreet Ships or just Platonic Relationships? I love seeing people’s opinions on different characters relationships. I’ll occasionally see one that I never saw before and I think it’s so neat.

hello welcome to bee's fav ship masterlist

I’m sorry this ask took so long, this is the one that had all my progress deleted before I could save it anywhere during a blackout. So I didn’t try again to write it for a little while. I know you mentioned MyStreet but I want to make a Separate post for that so I might reblog this later with additions but for now I’m just gonna focus on the MCD side because I know my thoughts better on that and already have plenty to say about it.

Here’s like a little masterlist of my favourite ships + platonic relationships in MCD plus some itty bitty summaries with my thoughts on them. As always I’m down to elaborate on any of these if anyone has questions! I can always make more posts specifically about any of these pairings to fully like. Flesh out and brainstorm rewrite stuff. Some characters might overlap cause multiship win. Also these might sound non-canon because this is how I write them, a lot of this is in beeland not canonical jessland. And I've probably forgotten a shitton but fuck it we ball.

Romantic/Sexual Pairings

Garroth x Laurance. No surprises here, I’m predictable, not much to say other than what I say every other time. Enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, they’re toxic and bloody and they are obsessed with each other. They are codependent. They need each other. There is something so insane about enemies to lovers when they literally have seen the worst of each other and fall in love anyway, providing a foundation for such an intimate trust because they spent so long memorising each other for the sake of hatred. Now they would die for each other, now they are black holes for each other - I never really ship Garroth with anyone else in MCD specifically because they are completely absorbed in each other, and Laur only in like alternate timelines where Garrance aren’t quite as insane for each other and are capable of being normal exes. A delicious religious corruption sun x moon guard4guard freak4freak meal for me. Rich with hungry dog metaphors and plenty of blood. I will defend them to the death. In beeland general rewrite (not Loverman, sorry), they get to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere having an honest but peaceful life. They have a couple of kids, including Malachi<3 and once they’re old they are NOT fucking bothered by plot shit again. They go through many hells and then they finally get to rest. They are so fucking in love with each other that it makes me sickened how Jess accidentally gave me source material for the most insane yaoi that would take over my life for a multitude of years. I don’t know what to even summarise here because like. I’ve written a 500k fanfiction about them that is still ongoing like I don’t know what else to say about them that I haven’t already yapped on about. There’s probably more to talk about because I never stfu about them. No one is surprised.

Katelyn x Aphiah. More enemies to lovers but also in a more guard4princess dynamic, and if you squint also worshipper4god if you consider Katelyn devout. Katelyn enters as her assassin and does literally come close to killing her multiple times only to become her target’s most dutiful loyal guard. Their magicks call to each other. Katelyn teaches her how to fight and forces Aph to confront parts of herself that were unacknowledged before their meeting. Confident that with the amount of devotion, desire and pure angry emotion that I give Katelyn, if Laurance hadn’t been at the werewolf wedding in Season 2, she easily could have had a similar outburst and take his place there to save Aph. Katelyn is obsessed with her from the start, no matter whether considering Aph a symbol, then an enemy, then finally a friend, lord and lover. And Aph is utterly captivated by Katelyn, not just her beauty, but her power. Plus, majority of the things you like about Garmau and Laurmau can be translated to Katemau but better if you try.

Dante x Nicole. No enemies here, just lovers, oh god I love these two. They are both runaways haunted by their ‘past lives’, trying to create new names for themselves and heal. I associate them both with animals - Nicole quite literally as a fox, and Dante more metaphorically as a dog or coyote. They are best friends for YEARS before anything even happens between them, and I understand why Jess saw their vibe as an innocent young love/fling but also nooo………………….. I see the visions………………. They heal together… they understand each other’s vulnerabilities and insecurities so well….. they rescue each other…. they are adoring and energetic pure t4t love formed off years of friendship and mutual respect and like. They loved each other as friends and then they loved each other More and just very naturally became partners. They’re both very playful and adventurous when they open up, and even at their most different they’re this lovely dynamic of Nicole unable to stop yapping while Dante stares quiet and adoringly at her. And they fight together side by side!!!! (Hypnosis eyes for you to think more about mcd dancole)

Those are my big three holy trinity right nowwww but. Here are some more smaller-scale MCD ship dynamics that I also looove.

(Jeffory and Katelyn are also on this list but I talked about them yesterday in that other essay so I don't feel like repeating myself. Just know that they're included.)

Vylad x Laurance, errrr it’s complicated you already know what’s going on here. soul bonded or whatever, went through hell together. don’t know each other yet understand each other better than anyone, which isn’t saying much in vylad’s case, since no one comes close to ever really understanding him but if anyone’s going to pretend to, it’ll be laur. they are each other’s hopeful fantasy, like sitting in a dark cell and saying ‘do you think that, in another life-’. in this life, you will always have some kind of self-inflicted divide (you don’t know what the divide is blocking, because it’s not exactly friendship or romance but some third secret scary thing), but the thought will never die. you’re not even friends. in another life, maybe you could have gotten along somehow, but in this life you make stupid, foolish promises about freedom. you leave each other behind eventually, as is natural. vylad had far more clarity and knowledge of shadow knights that garroth never fully grasped, that made laurance feel seen. they make him feel seen in different ways. those damn ro’meaves.

Katelyn x Travis, nooo ha ha wow it’d be so funny if we were both burdened by years of pain and sacrifice thinking that we will never receive love only to find it in an unexpected place. it’d be so funny if you managed to save each other after years of being hurt. to the point that one of you feels that she wasted her only chance at love and the other is afraid that after years of isolation he will never know what it feels like. what if you realise that what you thought was frustrating and annoying is actually exactly what you need right now. maybe he was waiting for you his whole life. maybe he feels like letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding for so long. oomf if you keep on cracking the stupidest flirty jokes i might have to let down my tough exterior to actually smile a tiny bit if only in wry amusement but still, he gets her smiling. let’s go swimming and heal together oomfie!!!

Cadenza x Sasha, tragic sun x moon lovers forcefully separated. like your entire friend group was definitely all in love with both of these zvahl siblings at some point but like. instead of both of you being the fascination of this nerd freak one after the other, you two were meant to be together but could never voice it. you were such close friends that everyone already thought you were a package deal. not to be separated. only for everything to go wrong just as you are about to bring those feelings to light and now you will never get the chance because the girl you love just came back Wrong. and worse, she is so convinced that its Your fault that maybe it is, because if she believes it so forcefully it has to be true. without even knowing about gene altering her memories, you just let go because its the easiest thing to do. doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Laurance x Travis, but only in like a certain AU where Garroth is his ex but they’re not fucked up enough to be entirely obsessed with each other still. I don’t really indulge in Laurance or Garroth ships often because I am so ride or die for Garrance but I think in some world Laurance and Travis fit so nicely together, the same way that Laurance has that complicated relationship with Vylad but only in the circumstance that he’s not with Garroth. You have to hear me out here as I tell you that I understand Laurance on a deep insane level and you need to trust me when I say that he’s interested in science. He spends years ruling by emotion and temper. He’s searching for something logical, something with a straightforward answer that doesn’t depend on keeping his heart in check. He’s tired of being told to meditate or do yoga or whatever, thanks Vylad, he wants something tangible. Everyone is so busy worrying about him being this dangerous, volatile ticking time bomb that needs to calm down or leave when he’s already been through an emotional washing machine’s worth of hell that season alone. He’s tired and he wants a solution to a problem that is very much emotional, something that can’t just be fixed. Shadow Knights are made out of emotion, and ugly emotions at that, and now more than ever Laurance is so exhausted by the constant of it.

(Interesting to talk about later that Garroth and Laurance essentially swap, despite their respective emotional reputations, that Garroth’s leaving is emotionally driven and while Laurance’s is triggered by emotion, as per the Shadow Knight overreaction, his actual leaving is far more logical and straightforward, making it less emotionally destructive. Despite the notion that he is more emotional and Garroth is far more repressed, their breakdowns kind of reverse. It’s a little funny. Truly made for each other. Ok sorry no more garrance.)

And oh look who it is its Travis fist deep in the dirt hunting for worms with books and maps strapped to his back conducting the most fucked up science experiment known to man, someone who is very used to putting up a kind of faux performance to survive while having an incredible amount of burdens and sacrifices hidden beneath that carefully curated persona. They’re both incredibly clever, and despite those personas being playful and flirty, they know when to lock in to get the job done. And Travis is that perfect intruiging mix of heart and logic, because he’s blunt and straightforward especially when it comes to reciting things he knows from books, but when he gets passionate he can yap for hours. He is incredibly brave and sweet but also very studious and not very emotionally intelligent. He sees that Laurance has a problem and works himself to the bone to try and fix it for him, even when Laurance is trying to explain that its something unfixable. They’re kind of rivals at first that turn into besties who study each other sometimes. They are considering dissecting each other to figure out wtf is going on in the other’s brain. In a time period where literally everyone’s waiting for Laurance to snap, and he really does snap on Travis, it’s kind of comforting for someone to be fascinated by the Shadow Knight rather than afraid of it, and wants to approach it with science and reason rather than with emotion, fear or merely just projecting their own shames onto him. Their demon sides like each other or something.

Kiki x Cadenza, they’re pretty simple and cute. Sweet little background couple both passionate about nature - obviously Kiki loves animals, and Caddie is more interested in plants and gardening. They both have these almost-dormant magicks that emerge in very beautiful, caring ways. They are soft and tender with each other and also the idea of them meeting via Cadenza being a literal hen is kind of funny. They should throw rocks at Zane together.

Lucinda x KC, except I haven’t fuuuully thought about their endgame, just that they are so cute. Rivals to friends to rivals again, then friends AGAIN, then business partners/besties for many many years. And then when they’re older, lovers. They are stronger together, their magicks respond well to each other, and their individual business ventures actually work best when combined rather than competing. They don’t get together until they’re older ladies and, while Lucinda would still be working through some teacher-related conflicts, she’d be more willing to settle after years of wandering and long after being the White Witch, she might feel more comfortable sticking to one place. But even so they’re the kind of yuri that never has an explicit conversation about it and never tell anyone, it just happens so naturally, they’re old women who live together and have a dual witchcraft store + bakery and finally get to live in a place where they don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves or be in constant competition, even playfully, they can just Live. And also owl x cat dynamic is so cute.

Platonic/Familial Pairings

I feel like a couple of these I have talked about in more detail before so these will be kiiind of brief. Here are some of my favourite platonic dynamics and I am CERTAIN I've forgotten a lot of nice little underrated friendships but fuck it here's a top three.

These AREN’T ROMANTIC !!!

Dante, Aphiah & Aaron, their dumb dog-core little found family - Aaron becoming this old, gruff older brother figure for the both of them. After being alone for so long and bearing so much suffering, he finds solace and the beginning of a healing journey in both of them. None of them are replacing what has been lost per say, but fill the gaps of pieces missing in certain ways. Aphiah the amnesiac who, if she ever had a family at all, has literally no one now, getting to have a sibling dynamic with Dante, who waits so dutifully for his sister to come home. She looks to Aaron as a mentor figure, someone who can understand her feeling of otherworldliness and how she often feels alienated from the rest of the cast while also empathising with her as a Lord and a parent. She and Dante follow him and learn from him very attentively - and for Dante, to have an older brother figure that isn’t Gene. They take care of each other. An old wolf and the cubs that started following him around one day and while gruff and stubborn as to ignoring them at first, slowly learning to open up to them, thus earning their trust.

Vylad & Katelyn, give it up for EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BESTIESSSSS. Every time I’ve brainstormed and thought about them with oomf I’ve been so genuinely pleased at the idea of locking them in a room together where they literally would just sit in silence and not be able to start a conversation. Such a painfully stubborn, awkward silence. Every scene they have together is so fucking funny do NOT put these guys on a boat together. They’re both gods of obsessing over their stony unfeeling tough exteriors to spare themselves of feeling. Kings of having tragic ass pasts and significant people in said pasts that haunt their respective narratives in a way that they feel no one will ever understand. So they can sit Close to each other sort of and continue to not understand each other but yet be the exact fucking same. GO TO THERAPY LOSERS.

Lucinda & Dante, go get therapy pt. 2, Dante you have to stop latching onto all of these caring figures that are a little older than you and provide some sort of semblance to a sibling, Dante stop it. She picks up on his subtle fear of witchcraft really quickly and decides to teach him more about what she does. He’s able to divulge parts of his past to her that he could never tell anyone about and she’s able to offer some comfort. I do appreciate that it’s not entirely one-sided - like yeah Dante is seeking comfort and understanding which he hasn’t really been able to take before, but he’s also there as a supportive shoulder for her, too, the way that his friendship with Aaron also starts out as mutual transaction. He notices that Lucinda has been feeling a little bit outcast by the town, even though she thinks thats what she has to be yet longs to be involved in the community, so he makes an effort to include her and spend time with her. He’s not really her apprentice, but he’s definitely willing to help out when he’s around, picking herbs and such. It’s a little funny that Dante is so insecure that he thinks of himself as undesirable and unloveable but a vast majority of town is literally a Dante fanclub willing to die for him and take him under their wing. Like oh baby. Your awkward charm is undeniable.

Stayed up late writing another ask answer yet again yippee. As always inbox is open for more asks if you feel brave enough to receive an answer of this average length and insanity :3 Stick your hand in my cage. I don't bite :).

#minecraft diaries #mcd #aphmau #loverman #loverman rambling

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themattress · 6 years ago

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This is my final response to the toxic waste of space that is intotheventures, aka the KH2-hating anon troll who is literally insane over the fact that KH2 is the most beloved game in the franchise. I didn’t want to pollute the KH Trinity blog with more of his nonsensical bullshit.

(BTW the REAL trinity is Birth By Sleep + 1 + Chain of Memories).

That makes no sense whatsoever, because that leaves a blatantly incomplete story.

What is natural about Sora falling to his knees for Riku? Nothing.

He wasn’t doing to “for Riku”. He did it because he thought Riku was dead, all the evidence he was getting pointed to Riku having died, and he was overcome with relief that Riku, his best friend, was actually still alive after all. It was not an intentionally-written yaoi bait scene, no matter how fans took it.

What did the added AkuRoku scenes in Final Mix add to the story? Nothing.

I’m not talking about Final Mix, I’m talking about the original KH2.

But yeah, that scene had no purpose being there.

Also “he made me feel like I had a heart” is cringy.

“Cringe” is the new, ill-defined buzzword this clod throws around to bash KH2.

And how is it cringy? It is quite literally saying what Roxas did for Axel.

Have you looked at a single reaction command? Sora chopping a building in half isn’t a shallow “badass” presentation? It’s all style, no substance, it’s more blatant than anything in any other KH game.

Except in KH3 where you get Keyblades that transform into new weapons of ultimate power, can summon fucking Disney World rides to inflict massive damage upon your foes, has Sora running up walls and even jumping on falling boulders, new reaction commands that feature more flashy “badass” moves, shotlocks where there are even MORE “badass” moves to be pulled off (something that was also in BBS), Flowmotion where you’re flying all over the place...literally everything about KH3 is more “all style, no substance” than KH2. It’s right there in front of everyone’s eyes, and you’re only denying it because you are a hypocritical, intellectually dishonest freak.

Sora became more idiotic (he wasn’t this dumb in DDD, contrary to popular belief, he was just blissfully unaware and let his guard down) and hostile, constantly taunting and insulting his opponents for little to no reason (contrary to popular belief, he was not like this in the other games)

“Contrary to popular belief”, and then you don’t back up your claims. Yes, Sora WAS that dumb - no, much dumber -in DDD, and even in KH3 there were more “lol, Sora’s stupid!” moments than in KH2, with his friends constantly mocking him about it. He was also just as hostile toward opponents in KH and COM, including to the point of killing them, and that’s not even factoring in Roxas combining with him at the start of KH2. There is nothing remotely OOC about Sora in KH2, you’re just whining about him not being the pure, positive soul you want him to be

Kairi became a shallow love interest

And yet she had a shit-ton more mitigating qualities than in KH3, which you deny.

Riku was more sullen

Because behaving exactly like the cocky asshole he was before would’ve indicated that he had no remorse for anything he did and had learned nothing, had suffered no consequences. You say “sullen”, I say “human”.

Namine only appeared for brief scenes and had little personality

How is that a problem? KH2 was never meant to be a big Namine-focused game.

Roxas’ angst was really overdone.

Again, no explanation as to how/why.

Personally, I think his angst over being completely fucked over was proportionate.

Too often he just magically solved the problems of various Disney characters, like Simba.

Yes, which he also does in the other games, including KH3. By this logic, he was a Gary-Stu in the original game because he trapped Jafar in the lamp and not Aladdin.

He’s not a Gary-Stu in DDD because he ended up failing the exam after Xehanort rigged it, and his idiocy cost him greater than in KH2.

I’ll give you that one. Riku was the Gary-Stu of 3D, not Sora.

KH3 connects all of the worlds and is better at not having filler.

Again, how/why? You cite no examples, and can’t defend against the MANY examples of people in their reviews of KH3, both text and video, saying how the Disney worlds are probably the biggest case of them being filler yet, as Sora has literally no reason to be messing around in any of them, and what the Organization gets out of them is incredibly nebulous and ultimately doesn’t really matter either.

A lot of things are just brought up and either resolved too quickly (like the “I can’t use the Keyblade!” scene or just dropped (”While you’re there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!”).

Again, just like almost every other KH game, including/especially KH3.

None of the rest of the cast really contribute anything, most are just plot devices to pad out the character count. Kairi didn’t do anything better than she did in 1, Riku’s screentime was mostly spent lamenting about his very existence, HPO did nothing anyone else couldn’t have done, same with Namine, their roles are mostly interchangeable and obligatory. Plus KH2 had a much larger cast of OCs than KH1 + CoM so it’s a much more glaring flaw.

Kairi, Riku, HPO, Namine, etc. all do things that Sora absolutely could not do and would have failed in his quest without. You are confusing “screentime” with “contributions” - none of them have the screentime Sora does (because he’s the fucking main character), but they all play the roles they are supposed to for the story. Again, not that different from most other games, including KH3 where there’s an even LARGER cast of OCs, and yet you’re constantly defending that game despite it doing the exact same things you perpetually cry about KH2 doing, and usually doing them worse.

Submit your own character: The Organization.

How the fuck are the villains a case of “Submit your own character”?

Sex scene: Obviously none, but Kairi’s panties are close enough. In no other game was she used for fanservice/sex appeal.

The panties weren’t an actually thing you were supposed to see in-game, and if you think she wasn’t used for fanservice/sex appeal with her equally titillating short-skirt design in KH3, you’re fooling yourself.

“That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers!” (This sounded outdated in 2006)

He’s part of a computer simulation run by an old man. This is how said old man thinks that teenagers actually talk. It’s actually pretty brilliant.

“Sorry, “Mommy”, your poopsies are toast!” (Cringe)

How?

“Hmph, maybe you should have kept some to yourself.” (This maybe fits Riku, but NOT Sora!)

Again, how?

“You gonna cry?!” (OOC, and doesn’t make sense in context. Frustrated Jacob even made fun of this line.) ”I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!” (Like the above, FJ made fun of it.) “Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkies did all the fighting!” (WTF)

Basically “Waaah, Sora’s a meanie-head to the poor Nobodies!” Gag me.

“[Maleficent]’s toast.” (Cringe, doesn’t sound cool in the least.)

So “badass presentation” is bad, yet you hate a line if it doesn’t sound “cool”. Got it.

“Lowlife.” (OOC)

HOW? DEFINE your goddamn TERMS, you utter twat!

“I bet you can’t even fight!” (OOC, just sounds like a prick)

“Just give it a rest! You’re Nobodies! You don’t even exist! You’re not sad about anything!” (He says this after meeting Axel, Roxas, and Namine. Plot hole + OOC)

“Then stop moping and DO something!” (later) “Why stick around if he’s not even gonna try?” (later) “C’mon, Goofy.” (This is too OOC to be Sora.)

Again, you want Sora to be perfect and nice to everyone. Got it.

In short, your ranting and raving means nothing. Not to me, not to anyone. You can keep up your insipid KH2-hate posts on your fringe blog, you can keep spamming the same messages in people’s ask boxes when they dare criticize other KH games over KH2, but KH2 is always going to be the most beloved entry in the franchise, KH, COM and KH2 are always going to be the real KH Trinity, and you aren’t changing people’s minds on that. Ever.

And now, to quote the great Ansem the Wise:

We’ve said enough! FAREWELL!

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts II #Fandumb #Stupidity #Too Dumb to Live #Objection #Correction

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grundalucious075-blog · 6 years ago

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Fragments and Sparks: My Writing Origin Story

We're gonna break tradition a little and skip some parts at the beginning.

We're gonna skip my mom meeting my dad and eventually marrying him.

We're gonna skip the miscarriage she had with his child.

We're gonna skip the day I was born, and my formative years as a smaller-than-average child who loved to tell stories, even winning first place in a local children's writing competition with my illustrated "book", Zorn the Unicorn and Meal the Seal.

Instead, we're gonna skip to late 2007, being the weird kid who always started a week later than everyone else. When small arguments between my parents started to rapidly become explosive and toxic. When my bad luck of being an easy target for bullies started to come to a climax. When I turned to physical fights and scraps to make them stop with no real success, only injuries that were no longer hidden.

When I needed escapism the most.

I was already drawing: I was drawing Kingdom Hearts fanart (RokuNami and SoRiku were my main OTPs, at the time). I soon found myself with an urge I haven't felt in nearly seven years:

I wanted to tell a story.

I wanted to tell a love story.

But I was afraid to write fanfiction. I was worried that it wouldn't be good, that the characters would be too OOC (out of character), and that everyone would hate it. Not to mention the major hurdle of the toxic lesson of "don't try something new if you think you're gonna suck at it. It's best to always try if you know you're gonna succeed in every way possible" didn't make things easy. But I still wanted to write. So what was a smol bean like myself to do?

I created my own characters: Adam and Turk.

I created my own setting: a small, fictional city in Japan.

I created my own plotlines, my own antagonist and motives, my own story flow.

Soon, a year has passed, and Adam and Turk were all I wrote about.

They were my children. My lovely, simple, gay children. By the time I was a freshman in high school, I had a small binder filled with the stories about the two I printed, a folder with the countless illustrations I made, and a whole gallery on deviantART dedicated to the two. The stories and art never really got much attention, despite the amount of groups I submitted to...in fact, not a lot of mine got noticed except for a Pokemon SoulSilver Nuzlocke story I ran in 2010-2011 (completely in text, known as a Writtenlocke).

I was a little upset, I'm not going to lie. It felt like nobody wanted amything to do with my stories, and I usually got very little to no feedback. But, I had two things that kept me going:

I met my best friend shortly after the second semester started. I was drawing a cute picture of Adam and Turk (the latter kissing the former on the cheek, whishing him a good dau at work). A cute blonde girl noticed it and, with a gasp that rivaled Pinkie Pie, said "Oh my god, you like Yaoi? I LIKE YAOI TOO! You're my best friend now!"

And just like that, I had a best friend who also liked to write. I would try to illustrate her work, and she would help me with my writing. We encouraged each other. Even to this day, long after the horrible days of high school, long after she helped me discover I was bisexual, and long after our friendship blossommed into romance that was killed by a poor descion on my part, I value that time, and I truly miss them.

The second was that I discovered how happy I was. Even with my mother's attitude becoming increasingly toxic and abusive (especially after I told her I was bisexual), I found my happiest moments spent late at night, writing, drawing, playing music, listening to YouTube videos, and chatting with friends on deviantART. I loved the feeling. It lead to an epiphany about what I wanted to do with my life: to create.

It was vague, and admittedly, not well thought out. I was never very good at picking a "sensible" career path.

My mother seemed to agree. She had different ideas in mind that I don't wanna delve into too much, so I'll just say that my current full-time employment at a bagel deli is not only less-than-ideal, but also her getting the last laugh.

We're gonna skip some more bits to save some time and feels; mainly the parts about us getting evicted from our home, my mother's abuse and manipulation coming to an intense climax, and being forced into a college and life plan I had no real say in. Not for the first nor last time, I was shattered. I lost the will to create. Adam and Turk were nothing but fleeting, rose-colored high school memories. I felt empty.

I wanted to die.

One night, I was up very late. I had classes the next morning, but I didn't care. I was idling around on an ancient laptop that my mom got for me (after literal MONTHS of begging) when an idea struck me. I wanted to write something magical. Something with adventure and fighting! Something that still had romance.

In March 2013, I started writing a series of stories that finally convinced me that I wanted to become a writer.

That series, is my beloved KoB.

I've faced a lot of hurdles that I'll discuss another time. My passion has waxed and waned as often as the moon, but writing, in some form, is still a large part of my life...and something that will always make me happy.

So now...here I am. In the dwindling hours before 2018 ends, and 2019 begins. Just looking back at it all makes me feel a certain kind of way--even with all the stuff I left out. The fact that, even though it's all been for one project, I've stuck to this stupid, silly fantasy set in the mid 2010s for over five years, is more than proof to me that this is where I belong.

This is a part of who I am.

And soon...2019 will be a part of that as well.

Happy New Year, everyone! We're all great! We all deserve love and recognition! Let's all work to make this year one of the best of our lives!

Aaaaand even if this year doesn't turn out so great, than it'll still be an important chapter in my life...and in everyone else's.

GRUNDY OUT!

#new year #2019 #2k19 #writer origin story #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing life #motivation #inspiration #grundy speaks #grundalucious075

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dove-annarchie · 7 years ago

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A Slow Damage headcanon theory compilation by Ann

It’s late and I’m supposed to write short stories instead of a long rant about a game that’s not even out. But after watching the Slow Damage PV another hundred times and seeing that the N+C fandom is kinda dead. I decided to add my little, possibly going to remain unseen theories/headcanons/speculations/guesses etc. for the fans waiting for something new.

Note that nothing of what I’ve written is to be taken at face-value, it’s just my speculation and feel free to correct me on anything or share your theories with me. Anything to make this agonizing period of waiting a bit less agonizing!

First, these guesses wouldn’t be as strong without @shinocchidesu’s text decode on the PV and the inverted sketches @bara-mink (sorry, for some reason i couldn’t tag you :C) made to get a new perspective on the images, and they look clearer!. Kudos to them!

To start this trip, I may warn you this is gonna be long as heck. Be prepared.

We’ve got to start with the ambience. N+C has something like a track record regarding crapsack worlds, dramatical murder and maybe false alkanet being the exceptions (and even then, Dmmd was dark as fuck despite the cheery, colorful world it was in). Togainu no Chi was a post-war dystopia, Lamento was a story in a world that was slowly dying, and sweet pool’s world was fairly ordinary but the darkness on the plot was the product of the characters’ doing.

Slow damage seems to be the game where both the characters and the world around them are grimdark as hell.

Taking the PV at face value, the characters seemed suspicious, the music and effects were unsettling and the background left an impression (at least in me) that nothing was fine. Looked kind of like a decadent city, or a red-light district, just an urban zone full of crime. If I had to compare it to explain myself better, think of Dragon Palace in Omerta Chinmoku no Okite (another BL, mafia themed VN).

(what looks like an urban environment in the pv):

(omerta’s dragon palace, for comparison):

A crime-filled ambience is an ideal place for a dark plot with troubled characters.

Moving along with the characters, we see 4 of them (at least if there’s not a hidden twin, clone or doppelganger). None of them look 100% sane to me. The flashing visuals and slightly off-key music and sounds are likely to hint that at us, or maybe it’s the kanji, for the Japanese-speaking people? They’re either very involved with crime, or their hands aren’t clean enough to disprove any guilt. At least for me, since these are my deductions.

Moving on, I’m going to talk about the people we see in the PV. Starting with:

My thoughts about him? When there’s crime, there should be cops. He looks like a detective or cop to me. He also seems to be middle aged, or older than the MC at the very least. Old enough to have been a father? Who knows. But he reminds me of Motomi (TnC) and Kiryuu (Omerta) for some reason. I’ll call him Kiryu for now.

The words deciphered by shinocchidesu in their post read:

Sins, guilt, depression, self-loathing, to hide something, mask.

If I tie this to his assumed position in the law, Kiryu must have committed a crime himself and/or gotten someone killed. It was either an accident or intentional, whether in a moment of weakness or fully aware of what was going to unfold. In any case. It seems like Kiryu desperately wants to hide it, or forget it. Or the disgust he felt with himself after doing it.

Affection, mercy, silence, determination to be…

What if his route is like a healing process, maybe not just for Kiryu, but also for whatever the MC went through before? Maybe by taking his route, if he has one, we can make him move on or remind him that the past is in the past, and that he can still find worthy things in his life (Like the MC?). he’s going to feel more positive with the MC around him, he may quickly take a liking to him. Maybe because he reminds Kiryu of someone from his past? Is being romanced by the MC like a chance to symbolically or internally fix everything that went wrong?

Next is…

My thoughts about him? Looks like the typical pretty boy every anime media must have. Longish hair? Check. More delicate face structure? Check. Mischievous smile? Check. He also seems to have piercings, or maybe it’s the rough lines of the sketches. I’m going to call him Shi for now, read the explanation ahead.

The deciphered words read:

Unrestrained, unstoppable pleasure, blood, bone, flesh, violence.

This doesn’t spell good.

I’m going to stretch my deductions a lot and state that maybe Shi was (or is) a cannibal, or a serial killer. I see him as a hedonistic fuck who doesn’t care about other people’s wellbeing as long as he’s having a blast. Maybe he was under the influence of drugs. All of this spells that Shi was an outright criminal, the kind of pleasure-seeking person who will go to the extreme just to feel new sensations, even if they’re morally wrong. Shi wants to feel thrilled, he has no barriers or chains. He’s a free man and not even the police can keep him from having his way. He’s sassy, brash, carefree and confident. Has a joyful and fun façade to hide his bloodthirstiness and the misery it caused him.

Or we can take the other side and imply he was being forced to be like this. Maybe he was part of a cult or a very toxic group who indulged in killing and intoxication. He’s used to this, even if he doesn’t want to be. Maybe the MC can help him withdraw from his passions or push him deeper into it while joining him. I still don’t have this clear.

Self-denial, build and rebuild, hidden aesthetic.

Shi lives very frugally. Because of his criminal status he has to constantly relocate, but it’s not like he has important things to leave behind. Much like Nine told Aoba in dmmd re:connect, Shi can build and destroy his (outer) world whenever he wants or needs to and he doesn’t lose much by that. The build and rebuild part can also apply to his possible murderous intents, since he destroys lives in order to build up his pleasure. Possibly being with the MC may inspire a desire to settle down, despite the risk, and having legitimate reasons to do the opposite. A possible bad end might be joining in the bloody debauchery and being dominated by Shi?

Next one…

My thoughts about him? A classic character; the kichiku megane. Other than Ugajin (also from Omerta) and the yaoi manga with that name, I cannot make any comparisons due the fact I haven’t seen many examples of this archetype. Unless he turns out to be a caring, if amoral sweetheart, I’m betting my cat’s life that he’s going to follow the trope to a T. Stoic, sadistic, cruel and uncaring, but smart, sophisticated, desirable and maybe hiding a very tiny good heart. He looks like a high-ranking criminal, or yakuza or mafia or I dunno, he looks not like a lowlife thug, but more like an evil hidden-in-plain-sight kind of criminal. He can afford to look elegantly amoral. It took me a while to give him a decent placeholder name, so I’m just calling him Kenji for now.

Let’s analyze his phrases.

To put on, not being himself, inerasable past, acted out truth, hatred towards their own.

This one’s a little more complicated to me even if it seems to be explicitly spelled out. Kenji’s self-hatred must stem from a typical traumatic experience. Maybe his family/race/clan/group did something awful and he was one of the few who regretted letting it happen? And that’s why he’s involved with crime? Because he sees himself as nothing but another apple that rot far away from the tree and he can’t do better than commit more crimes?. A little part of himself knows that while he’s scum, or at least related with the real scum, he didn’t commit atrocities like his kind so he can afford to be a little bit better. He desperately tries to distance himself from his clan, erasing his past and not wanting the horrible truth to be discovered. He doesn’t need to have a higher moral ground, he’s content with not doing horrible things directly. And he clings to that.

Cruel, thorough confrontation, continuous obsession.

Rule of three dictated these might refer to Kenji’s relationship with the MC. While MC doesn’t look like a career criminal, he’s still at the very bottom of the barrel, living in the crime-ridden urban settlement on a filthy studio (assuming he’s an artist). While Kenji can flaunt of being sophisticated and respected. If the kichiku megane aspect is played straight, Kenji won’t limit his cruelty with the MC, maybe seeing him as just another ruffian undeserving of even mere eye contact, much like he sees the people working for him. MC will keep clashing with Kenji, causing the yakuza to become enticed and attracted to the young (?) smoker. As if he’s “deserving�� of him. I don’t have much else, sorry.

And finally…

Now let’s go with the hooded person, who I’m assuming it’s the MC, and if he isn’t and turned out to be the main antagonist or some shit like that, welp, then screech in my ear and call me Rachel.

I’m basing my guesses from the teaser images rather than the kanji.

The first one is simplistic. We see a person in a hoodie sporting a macabre smile, standing in the middle of a street with distorted figures which must be buildings. The colors are limited, classical red, black and white, aiding the macabre aesthetic of the picture. The black figures seem to sink onto the ground and lose consistency. As seen on the N+C website, the title of the game is written twice; once in white and then in black, right over the white katakana in an irregular way that may be meant to add to the “instability” of the image.

I don’t see much symbolism other that this being N+C’s way of saying “yo, we gon fuck your mind up but you gotta wait for it ;) also if you don’t speak Japanese then you’re doubly screwed fam”

The second one is more complex and gives us a very good look at the aspects and symbolism. We see the hooded person in much clearer detail. Looks definitely masculine (it’s a yaoi game, duh). He’s sitting on a stool, in a crooked posture, looking depressed and defeated, smoking while avoiding eye contact with the camera. Smoking was believed to reduce stress, but that was debunked a while ago, so he has pent up a ton of anxiety added to the usual problems with his already underprivileged lifestyle. Behind him there are numerous canvases (assuming he’s an artist, or at least a hobbyist) with a huge black one right behind his back, they show no images other than empty whiteness and some shadows, their meanings being that either he gave up, those easels are representing emptiness and gloom, he became disillusioned and he’s reflecting on stuff, or that there are multiple problems in his life that are unimportant or self-inflicted and thus cause him small amounts of misery but not to an extreme extent, and this one big black canvas right behind his back represents factor that started, prolonged or keeps fueling his bitterness and internal struggle.

I want you to save me./Do you want to be saved?

In a world of crime, a young man has the chance to make things right. Anything he could do may make things better or worse. Is he talking to himself? Is someone else asking him that? All the above?

By who? By me?

He’s doubtful and depressed. He started at the bottom and he’s still in the bottom (that was unintentional). But can he push his frustrations aside and face the music?

That concludes my analysis and helped quench my impatience a little bit. I should repeat that this is not to be taken at face value nor I’m saying this is 100% canon official information. It’s just another guessing game to see if I can give you an idea of what to expect. I dunno, I just wrote this for fun C: thanks for reading!

#slow damage #my posts #n+c #hooo boy that was long

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elizabeth-midford-who-blog · 7 years ago

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salty asks: 1, 9, 10, 20, 26

Long post ahead.

These are all answered by the admin, if you want Elizabeth to answer these too she will. I certainly will be happy to break character, as I love breaking the fourth wall.

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Well, this is going to be obvious as to why with the answer to the next question. However, I absolutely will never understand this fandom’s favourite ship SebaCiel. One, Ciel is a thirteen year old boy and Sebastian looks like a twenty six year old man. It would be pedophilia for one-. (A lot of people like to tell me the age of consent in Japan is 13 so it’s okay, but there are actually laws throughout all of Japan in different parts- the override the first law- saying women must be at least the age of 16 and a male partner must be 18). Not that it matters, because they live in London and the age restriction there is I believe either 16 or 18, and YES even in the 1800’s it was wrong for a grown adult to have a relationship with another under the age of 16.

Besides pedophilia, because that topic is way too fucking touchy. Their relationship would be completely toxic and unhealthy. Sebastian only wants Ciel for his soul, even Yana Toboso has said Sebastian would never love a human. He’d only ever be with Ciel to toy with his emotions, to make him THINK he loves him (if Ciel had feelings for him), sexually USE him and make him trust him, just to get his soul. Sebastian would never love a human or someone weaker than himself, someone like Claude or even the Undertaker would be a much more higher option. I don’t think he cares about gender, he’ll partner with anybody, but I believe they have to be of the Supernatural and just as or even stronger than him.

There’s plenty of more reasons, but I’m going to point out the obvious one. So if there are all these things here that should stop them from being shipped, that should stop anybody from romanticizing them- why is this here? Oh, because it’s fucking yaoi. That’s the only reason the ship exists, is because they both have a dick.

That’s just my opinion, I don’t give a fuck what anybody else likes, but that’s what I think of the ship. The same goes for Alois x Claude, Alois x Sebastian and Ciel x Claude.

I also don’t understand Undertaker x Vincent like- y'all realize if he’s related to Ciel (which is more than likely) he’s Ciel’s uncle or Grandfather? So then- the Undertaker is either Vincent’s brother or father. I can’t tell if people just forget that or if they don’t care. I don’t care what people ship, but nah-. Incest isn’t my deal.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

So uh-. This is probably gonna be a long one just like the first one. The character I hate the most in the entire series is Sebastian Michaelis. He’s a fucking piece of shit dude. Sure, he’s a wonderful meme, and I actually used to be hopelessly obsessed with him. Until, I met a Ciel role player (that I’ve now been dating for two years in real life), and we began roleplaying and eventually made a ship with their Ciel and my OC. The more I role-played with them and the more of my old feelings for Ciel came back, the more I began to realize that Sebastian is a piece of shit.

I will say, my initial hate for Sebastian has to be the scene with him and Ciel in Book of Circus when they’re killing the Baron Kelvin and The Joker. Ciel, having an actual PTSD attack, happened to catch Sebastian’s attention. He is actually drooling by his mouth, probably ready to vomit everywhere because of the PTSD, and Sebastian-. You know what he does? He grabs his hands, tells him that all he has to do is call his name, to say it, and he can order him whatever he wants. Ciel, thinking he is ACTUALLY in that place he was three years ago, probably warped to believe he was making the decision to form the contract again. That’s what happens in PTSD, for some people, their reality is mixed with the memory of where their ‘trigger’ or PTSD comes from.

So what I’m saying is, Ciel had no clue what he was doing in that moment. Now you can tell me Sebastian snapped him out of it, but no, he didn’t. He encouraged Ciel’s awful PTSD episode, which I’m not sure if Sebastian knew what that was I’ll give him that, and he ordered Sebastian to burn the place down. My theory will always stand that Ciel thought he was burning down the place he had been held in for a month, he was killing those people that hurt him, not the children because like I said-. He forgot where he was. Now, I know Sebastian 'asked him if he was sure’, but no one realizes Sebastian asking him, 'ARE YA SURE?’ Is gonna break his episode.

So why do I think Sebastian did that? Sebastian used Ciel’s vulnerability to his own gain, to make the contract stronger. He used his suffering for his own agenda, just like the demon he is. He is an asshole, he doesn’t care about Ciel’s feelings, he only does it because he has to. Which he can’t be blamed for saying that IS his nature, but I don’t care what’s in his nature, because he’s an evil demon. Isn’t that a good enough reason to hate him?

Ciel deserves better.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Honestly, there isn’t a single arc I disliked. I love every single one of them. My favourite probably being the school arc which I am so excited for. However, if I had to choose one I wasn’t interested in as much as the others-. The green witch arc? I don’t know, I loved that arc as well, but I suppose when I think of the manga, that’s arc I think of last. It’s not bad at all, it’s very good, but I guess if I had to choose.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

This is a very hard one for me because surprisingly I don’t have many ships. I think maybe- I don’t know. I wanna say Grell x William or Vincent x Rachel. They’re both so perfect to me, like-? Vincent and Rachel obviously are canon, and Grell and William-. ;; They’re adorable together, especially all the fan art and fan fiction of them, it’s literally the purest ship. I would say Ciel x Elizabeth as well, they’re a very pure ship, but I also have mixed feelings as of late due to the current arc. Anything before that though? Absolutely.

26. Most shippable character?

Honestly-. Either Beast from Book of Circus or Grell. I ship Beast with fucking Dagger, Joker and Sebastian-. Even though I hate Sebastian, I just love the love hate thing. Grell is paired with so many, Undertaker, Ronald, William, Sebastian. Although Grell and William are my favourites, those exist too. Mey-Rin and Elizabeth are very shippable as well. Mey-Rin with Sebastian, either Bard or Finny, DEFINITELY NINA HOPKINS (I ship hard), Ran Mao. Elizabeth with Ciel, Alois (in my opinion, that’s gross), Sullivan ( ;^) that’s some good shit to me).

However, the most out of all of these, probably Grell.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #answering asks #oops #sorry guys #just giving my honest opinion

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purgatoryandme · 8 years ago

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I read your text about horror and it's not like I don't agree, but so I saw the tags and you were talking about TG and KS, and this last one in special I don't think could be really applied because the antagonist does not act in a sexual way because yes, I think the whole plot explores well what he does, and also the protagonist has mental illness, I know you were talking about the fandom, but even so I would like to know your opnion about the plot (if you read it).

I have read a chunk of KS since I’m a big horror fan. Several chapters (8?) in, I decided it wasn’t for me for a couple reasons I’m gonna sandwich together with what’s good about it. Though I’m gonna make one point up here: everything Sangwoo does is super sexual????? Bruh?????????????? He jacks off while hanging Bum???????First of all: KS does a great job of tension building. There’s an element of frantic anxiety to it that carries over to the reader incredibly well. Bum has an intriguing character introduction and interesting motivations for such a fast-paced story. I can see why some people consider it an enjoyable read, especially if they are relatively new to horror. SUPER LONG POST UNDER THE CUT

Unfortunately, the plot and character interactions are pretty cliche horror devices in both Japan and Korea imo? I’ve read dozens of other works with the same dynamics (a stalker and a killer, the hostage being treated as a mother, a killer killing their mother, etc) that did it better. The only (somewhat) unique thing that KS brings to the table is that the ‘stalker’ is a gay (or bi) man. Now, having a m|m relationship in a horror piece is something a lot of fans are celebrating, which I get? I guess? It’s always cool to see LGBT+ characters in central roles. However, it’s not exactly rare in Korean horror pieces, and…….Well the relationship is A) a cliche and B) kinda homophobic? There is a pretty big subset of Korean and Japanese horror that is centred on gay men in a super unflattering light. It has all the problems typical of yaoi (divided into feminine and masculine roles, treatment of the more feminine character as ‘not a real man’, the ‘straight until i met you’ trope, or ‘you look so much like a girl you seduced me’ trope). Then it makes it worse by heavily implying that the character is a deviant BECAUSE OF or in RELATION to their homosexuality. I don’t know if a lot of people on tumblr missed it because they’re from Canada or the States, but KS displays Bum’s actions as disgusting/shocking because he’s gay while simultaneously eroticizing them. It also treats Bum as a woman because he’s attracted to men. THIS IS A REALLY COMMON HOMOPHOBIC TROPE IN KOREAN LITERATURE, ESPECIALLY HORROR, AND SO, EVEN THOUGH ISOLATED SCENES CAN BE ARGUED AS “PART OF THE CHARACTER”, I AM FORCED TO VIEW THEM THROUGH THIS LENS.EXHIBIT A) Bum’s introduction

Bum’s narration was played to make the audience think he was a woman and the fact that he’s a man was played for shock.

The fact that he’s a man was introduced alongside the fact that he is a stalker, drawing an ugly comparison. With later information on Bum, the reader can assume that he simply thinks this negatively ABOUT HIMSELF and that the manga doesn’t share that opinion, however this was his introduction and sets the tone for the audience. Without knowing about Bum’s later rape and mistreatment, this entire scene plays out as “Bum is gross because he’s stalking a man”.

Bum has also presumably stalked women and they were shown to respond to him with disgust, THOUGH THIS IS NOT MENTIONED AGAIN. However, further support for the narrative being homophobic comes in with Sangwoo.

A) Sangwoo only finds Bum desirable in women’s clothes/as a woman. Sangwoo’s victims are women who he finds sexually desirable and Bum is the exception. He literally dresses Bum in their clothing.

B) Sangwoo wants Bum to act as his mother.

(Incest-y vibes, abusive dads, being overly attached to a mother figure have all been conflated with sexual deviancy and homosexuality in Korean media constantly)

C) Sangwoo responds with disgust/alarm to Bum actually desiring to kiss him and about the entire situation actually being arousing which, while it could be attributed to shock considering how weird the situation is, we know Sangwoo is willing to fondle severely injured women. He’s also shocked about how into the…after portion he was.

D) Sangwoo openly mocks Bum for being gay (”a dude lover”). He implies that Bum cut himself “in relation to his homo tendency”.

E) Bum’s abuse is sexualized even before there’s sexual content. Sangwoo DOES act in a sexual way - both to his female victims and, originally, to Bum.

(This scene was all about porridge…that just happens to look like cum)

(Pushups? Seriously? This scene was played for eroticism)

(That’s shampoo! That looks like cum)

Legit though, Sangwoo is coded as the Straightest Dude Ever who is only willing to screw around with Bum because he is deviant (a murderer, willing to have sex with someone who he wants to act as his mother) and because Bum is female-coded in all the most degrading ways (weak, skinny, submissive, cries constantly, emotionally vulnerable, likes men).

Even further common Korean homophobic tropes is the Bum was the victim of sexual assault by his uncle. SO MANY stories are like “oh xyz is gay because a gay person raped them”.

Going even further than that, Sangwoo picks up a man and, when faced with the idea of actually getting sexual with him, immediately responds with violence. Of course the guy is middle age, the patron of a gay bar, and coded to be a predator of younger men. Oh, and he’s married. Sangwoo flat out calls him (and Bum) disgusting.

TLDR: KS is a good tension builder that seems fun to read, but upon critical review lends itself heavily to homophobic tropes, is almost entirely sex-based/eroticized horror (that I really fucking hate on a personal level), and is something of a cliche. While not a terrible thing in and of itself, it’s the homophobic tropes / eroticized horror elements of this story that have helped create such a toxic fandom.

#reply #not my most eloquent work but it's hard explaining comparisions #to a massive volume of webtoons and manwha that use these exact tropes #over and over and over again in gay relationships #that are always eroticized for the reader #readers who are fujoshi #and that in a horror setting are always about how deviant or disgusting #gay men are #in order to source this fully with examples would require me to go back through a LOT of movies shows and stories that I hated with a passio #and like just in general i hate eroticized violence #killing stalking hate

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danguy96 · 8 years ago

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i agree with that voltron statement like volton the characters grow alot while in kora they grow but not well and what i mean is in voltron it shows them slowly learning and being better paladins, while in kora it was ya shes trying but failing to learn air except for at the end when she suddenly becomes a master of it right after achieving bending because it was a dire situation, also it starts out here she is as kid a master of everything while ang never started as a master he had to learn

I can see what you’re trying to say (I apologize, but the grammar here isn’t the best, and I had some trouble making it out, and I understand if it’s because English isn’t your first language), and yeah, that is one of the many, many problems I have with The Legend of Korra, at least when comparing it to what we currently have with Voltron. I know I’m probably going to rephrase or reiterate a lot of stuff that’s been said before, including what’s been said by this guy I occasionally check up on at DeviantART here and here (they’re actually good summaries of what I think of LoK), but I still think they contain some bit of truth as to why I think Voltron is a better successor to Avatar than LoK was.

In fact, I think I can separate the reasons as to why Voltron works where LoK didn’t into four main categories (yes, there’s several reasons, but I feel like these are the main four which are the most important to me): 1. The Main Character (or Main Characters, in Voltron’s case), 2. The Villains/Antagonists, 3. The Characters and Their Relationships, and 4. The Story Itself

Firstly, as you said, I get what they were going for with Korra when they made her a bending prodigy who needed to learn that was more to being Avatar than just being the chosen one, rather than learning how to control all four elements but it just isn’t pulled off very well, at least to me, anyway. I get that she’s supposed to be a flawed character, but her development felt rushed and sloppily handled most of the time to me, some of her arcs either go on for too long or just end up going nowhere and being abandoned (Dark Avatar Korra, anyone?), she becomes more than a bit too grating and arrogant at times, and she kind of keeps learning the same lessons over and over again. Not to mention, it feels like we spend less and less time on her own personal character with each passing season, and instead focus more on either what new, big central threat we get (which takes away the personal time we get with the characters, which was made Avatar so great) or which character Korra is gonna end up banging in the end (I’ll get to that part later, and why it felt detrimental to the show, including the end result).

With the Paladins, we have to see them grow and develop as a team, and learn the clear goal of mastering how to control Voltron during the series, much like how Aang learned how to control the four elements throughout Avatar. And each of them have their own straightforward goals and characters, which do develop as the show goes, and will hopefully continue to develop as the show goes on.

Secondly, although it’s pretty early in Voltron’s case, so we still have to wait until other villains and characters appear, the villains in Voltron so far feel a bit better than we mostly got in The Legend of Korra. The villains in LoK try to present a more grey morality approach with the ongoing archetype of “person with good intentions that went too far”, but they get weaker and more predictable after Amon, and they fail at grey morality by having the villains end up acting so obviously evil near the end to the point of it being ridiculous. Some people may think that revealing that he was a bloodbender may have spoiled Amon, but at least he was intimidating, charismatic, and the fact that we didn’t see his face most of the time added to his intimidation level. Same could be said with Ozai, because even though he was mostly power-hungry and selfish, he was still intimidating enough to leave an impact, and Azula was charismatic and manipulative to make up for that as well. With antagonists like Unalaq, he was just a bad Ozai wannabe who claimed that he wanted to bring balance between the spirits, yet he was going to merge with what was the Avatar equivalent of the freakin’ devil, and that he would become the “Dark Avatar”, so any grey morality is thrown out the window. Vaatu kind of gets a pass since he’s basically evil incarnate, so I’d expect just that. Zaheer may have been better, but I still think there was room for improvement, and I would’ve liked more personal time with him and his companions, so that we could better understand him and his motives. Finally, with Kuvira, it seems that they were running low on ideas for villains, so they used a minor character from season 3 and turned her into a villain without showing us how she came to that point or why she wanted to conquer the world other than power and “order”, but even then the latter may have just been a lie she told in order to gain support. And like many have said before, she feels like combination of Ozai and Azula, the way she ended up basically being rule 63, metalbender Hitler is just silly (the concentration camps for non-native Benders didn’t mesh well with was established about her earlier, I feel that she borders on being a boring, invincible, villain sue, and, in my personal opinion, she’s kind of a poor choice to have as your final villain when comparing what we previously had. In fact, I think that Vaatu should’ve been the final villain, due to him being end-all, be-all evil of their universe.

With Voltron, we have more of a straightforward set of bad guys with Emperor Zarkon and the Galra Empire, but like Ozai and the Fire Nation, they work because we have a clear singular enemy which the heroes will face throughout the series. And like the Fire Nation, since we have a single main threat to deal with over the course of an entire series (instead of having to deal with one new main threat per season, squeezed in over the course of 12 to 13 episodes), it allows for a bit more time for personal character interaction and development, which actually is rather good place to segue into my next point.

The third thing I would like talk about is the characters and their relationships. Avatar is very well-known for it’s excellent character development, and the relationships built between the characters, both platonic and romantic. LoK, to me at least, felt rather lacking in that department. While they started off well in that department (and, to it’s credit, they did carry on with it for some characters, since I liked most of Tenzin’s interactions with his family), a lot the character subplots and interactions kind of felt rushed at times (you can see that there’s theme with things being rushed), and some characters were even pushed aside or forgotten about. For example, while I don’t he’s as bad as people say, and that could’ve been more well-received if his character was written better, Mako sort of almost became a non-entity by the end of the series, and while I didn’t mind it at first, I look back and think that it would’ve been better if they just went and redeemed his character by writing him better, and not just shoving him to the side (in fact, I heard they were originally going to kill him off in Book 4, but they figured that would to some unfortunate implications for Korrasami, and I don’t know about some people, but even I think that’s just plain bad writing, no matter how poorly handled Mako was). And poor Bolin, even after getting some spotlight in Books 3 and 4, I think he’s been forgotten about for the most part. And that’s not getting into the side characters, which I think there eventually became too many of, and there were just not enough episodes per season to flesh them out, so they just ended up disappearing aside from the occasional cameo, or showing up for the final season (General Iroh II, Hobo Man, Mr. Sato, Eska & Desna, Spirit Iroh, Kya, Ginger, Zaheer, Kai, etc.). Finally, I believe many of us can agree that one of the most annoying parts of LoK was that stupid love triangle/square/dodecahedron/whatever, which plagued the series until the vey end (and possibly even after that, depending on who you ask), and also reduced all the characters involved into merely being love interests for one another, by both the staff and the fandom.

Speaking of reducing characters and their personalities into being nothing but being an item by the staff and the fandom (and I hope you don’t think I’m going off on a tangent a little), another thing which I felt was detrimental to the rest of the characters was making Korrasami canon. Now, I have nothing against the rational people who ship Korrasami, but I personally feel it’s done harm than good for the show. Ever since it became canon, the Korrasami fandom became a haven of obnoxiousness and toxic-ness, only surpassed by the Steven Universe fandom and, ironically, extremist Voltron yaoi shippers. As seen here and here, not only did the Korrasami fandom harass and cyberbully people who didn’t like or ship Korrasami (with two internet memes, “Feudal Lord and Handmaiden” and “Poppin’ Bottles”, being the direct result of harassing people), but the show to the fandom (and, to some extent, the show’s staff and creators) became less and less about the adventures of the new Team Avatar and the ongoing fight between good and evil, and more about constantly yammering on about a single same-sex pairing and how “look how gay Korra and Asami are!!” (seriously, tell me the last piece of fan content you remember which doesn’t bring up Korrasmi or imply it), obnoxiously bragging about said pairing to every single person, and eventually forgetting and shoving aside almost everything about the show that’s not Korrasami. And if you didn’t like it, the fandom would just say that you’re homophobe/”lesbophobe” (never mind that that’s erasing bisexuality) for not shipping it or not liking the way things turned out, and even one of the staff (I believe it was Bryan) more or less said that if you didn’t think their relationship was really that developed, you were just a homophobe and “looking through a ‘hetero-lens’”. All the show seems to be now is just a singular pairing, with so many characters stories tossed aside in the name of leaving some sort of legacy behind and being “progressive”, and to me, it just all ends up feeling hollow. Also, on a unrelated note, I think short hair doesn’t suit Korra at all.

Going back at last to Voltron, the cast of characters is (as of this writing) much smaller, allowing for more focus on individual characters and their relationships in a way similar to that of the original Avatar, and with the more straightforward plotline (that’s another theme going on with Voltron being more “straightforward”), they can spend as much time developing the characters as they can focus on the main threat. Also, as far as canon goes (and in spite of the previously mentioned extremist shippers and the Social Justice Warriors), there’s hardly any romance in the show, aside from the occasional ship tease and any moment of Lance flirting. And, in all honesty, I’m kind of with @celticpyro that there probably shouldn’t any too major canon pairings, because not only do I think that Voltron just isn’t the type of show to do anything too romantic (don’t get me wrong, shipping can be fun, and I do have a few Voltron pairings myself, but I don’t think Voltron’s the type of show for anything too major, unless it’s done well), I also think that, again, while shipping can be fun, it can also easily corrupt a fandom, and making certain ships canon can unleash a whole new can of worms. Basically, I want Voltron’s legacy to be based around a great show about a battle between the forces of good and evil, and not solely based on a same-sex pairing made solely to please the fans.

But the biggest and most important area which I consider Voltron to have done better is this: the story itself and how it was planned out. You see, while Voltron is clearly being planned out ahead with certain twists and an ending in mind, LoK was basically written by the seat of Bryke and company’s collective pants, mostly because they originally planned and wanted it to be a mini-series, but Nickelodeon ordered at the last minute for it to be a full series. And honestly, I think it would’ve been better as a mini-series. But as is, it’s more than a little apparent that a lot of behind the scenes difficulties went on (hell, they had to create clipshow just to save on the budget near the end). I can handle having a storyline that’s not overarching across the seasons, but with the amount of stuff that was going on in each season, I think that most of the series would’ve benefitted from at least having more episodes per season (18 to 20 at the most), that way they could spend more time on the rest of the characters’ story arcs, as well as the main threat. Also, they seemed to have sort of a case of “tell, don’t show” with stuff like the time skips explaining things at the beginning of each new season.

With Voltron, even though the storyline is more straightforward and overarching, it works in a similar way the original Avatar’s overarching story did; they had an end goal in mind, but the journey to that end was filled with twists and turns, and the characters felt fully developed for the most part by the end. I just didn’t get that feeling of being satisfied that I did with Avatar as I did with Korra.

And I know that there are those saying I’m being unfair, and that I should judge LoK on it’s own merits and not compare or contrast it with AtLA so much. My response to that is that I hold LoK, AtLA, and Voltron: LD on the same level of standards I set for nearly every piece of media I partake in, no matter what it is, and comparisons to both AtLA and Voltron: LD are most likely going to happen, since LoK is literally a sequel to the former (and keeps reminding us about that with nearly every other episode), and the latter at least has a couple of people who’ve worked on both AtLA and LoK. To put it more clearly, I judge LoK both on it’s own merits as well as on it’s merits as being a sequel to Avatar, and the merits of both, I think it’s a show that ranges from above average at best to slightly irritating at worst, and while I sadly think it got screwed over by the powers that be, I also felt it was too overhyped, especially the ending, and I just don’t see myself coming to it as much as I do with Avatar and probably will with Voltron.

And I am aware that there may be some people out there who may rudely tell me that I’m apparently an unwashed idiot who “doesn’t get” LoK and what it tried to do, and tell that I’m a moron if I don’t agree with them and think it’s some sort of revolutionary series which “broke boundaries”. And to those people (and no, in case anyone is wondering for this case or the previous case, I’m not vague-posting about anyone), I say, congratulations, you’ve missed the point of a little something called “subjectivity”, and you automatically assume that I’m one of those people who mindlessly bash the show, when I’m just saying that it’s not my own personal cup of tea, and that I don’t think it’s as great as other people think it is.

Now, that is to say that didn’t want The Legend of Korra to be a complete clone of Avatar, and that I get what they going for in many instances, but I just personally don’t think they pulled it off that well, and calling me stupid or insinuating that I am stupid and saying that I “can’t see it” isn’t going to change my mind.

TL;DR: I personally don’t really think The Legend of Korra is that great of a series either on it’s own merits or on the merits of it being a sequel to Avatar, as well feel that it was overhyped, and I much more enjoy Voltron: Legendary Defender to LoK, as well as feel that Voltron better captures some of the spirit of Avatar. That’s just my personal opinion, and you disagree with me on some or even most of it, but just don’t tell me or insinuate that I’m idiot who doesn’t “get it” because I dislike something you like.

I really didn’t mean for this to become an essay. I apologize for that.

#Anonymous

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sshining · 7 years ago

Text

As I did this, I noticed the same question come up over and over again in different guises, so let this be an answer to all of them:

STOP SENDING HATE. FOR WHATEVER REASON. If everyone on tumblr got hate just for their opinions, geez, nobody would share anything with each other. We wouldn’t have a fandom. Stop it. Everyone’s entitled to think what they want. It’s fiction. Everyone has what they like/dislike and that’s ok as long as nobody puts anyone down for enjoying things they don’t necessarily agree with. Fictional preference =//= IRL values.

Ie) Game of Thrones is bomb af but it doesn’t mean I condone rape or senseless killing etc.

this is a long af post. like wow. i should’ve studied but nope. do this insanely long essay questionnaire. for @paperparfait

What’s your opinion on Klance? Initially I just thought it was another yaoi ship the fans had gone nuts with. Now it’s all over the place and rubbing off on me a little. It’s cute and there’s certainly basis for it in the show; ships have sailed on less for sure, so it was inevitable. I don’t hardcore ship it but fan portrayal of it sure is cute. Both Lance and Keith have had their fair part of being the blushy mess/cool side of the relationship.

What’s your favorite ship, and why? JUST ONE ?! My go to used to be Shallura but I gotta say the platonic Shiro/Keith and Kidge have wormed their way into my heart. Damn it Keef. He’s got some strong Lion King Simba feels. Lost lonely Galra halfling boy. Poor thing. It feels impossible to not multi-ship after you really study the team’s interactions. They all have these wonderful quirks and things that make their relationships (romantic or otherwise) believable and have so much depth. It’s a great foundation for fanworks because there’s so much unexplored and so much potential for whatever the individual fan/viewer sees. It makes your heart twinge a little when your ship isn’t canon, but I think that’s what builds great storytellers in the fandom. It allows us to expand on it and I am grateful that the showmakers left it open (for now). Do you think the fandom is too concerned with “ship wars” that they’re not appreciating the show and its characters as a whole? YES.

Do you think the writers are portraying Hunk as a “Foodie”, or someone who has a deep passion for cooking food? The latter. Passion for cooking and foodie aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive tho. He likes good food and he likes making good food for others to enjoy (Space Mall ?) so they can appreciate what he finds comforting, I think. It’s like sharing a blanket with someone, I guess. But food.

Are Allura’s inital reactions about Keith being a Galra justified? Why or why not?

OK OK OK; Allura’s anger is understandable, but never justified. She shows innately human responses; here is somebody she trusted who is (v remotely) connected to something that caused her great pain and loss. Obviously she’d feel betrayed and we know the reasons why; but this is somebody who has otherwise never done her harm. She hated Keith simply because of his relation to the Galra; she then mistook her anger at the actions of Zarkon for her anger at Keith. Spooky parallels between this and Katara being pissed at Zuko in the Southern Raiders field trip; angry over the loss of her mother, she redirects that anger at Zuko because he’s the closest thing to the Fire Nation she can take it out on. In the end, she realised losing her planet and race and her family wasn’t Keith’s fault and she never should have blamed him. I’m sure in her heart she knew better, but she let her anger control her actions. I think it shows great growth that she can move past it, because not everyone can pull an Aang and forgive. Even though she was a princess, she still had faults and I love that about her. Omg I want to write an essay on this.

Do you think that the Voltron fandom is “toxic”, if so, what do you think we could do as a fandom to end this toxicity?

The warzone and whatnot is toxic; I’ve been lucky to stay out of it and I’d recommend everyone do the same. No matter where you go, I think there’s always a huge risk of a fandom (especially a big one) of having a toxic corner. Let it be just that; a corner. Everywhere you go, there will be people who disagree/don’t like what you like. You just have to learn to either live alongside each other or avoid each other. Hopefully the people who disagree and whatever are mature enough to respect your decisions and co-exist. This is often not the case, so in that case, just do your best to ignore it. People who don’t want to listen just won’t. Let them sit in their angry little corner. Don’t let them stop you from enjoying something that’s so great like Voltron. This is the internet; it’s not like you have to see/work with these people every day - you can avoid it if you so wish.

Do you think Keith would make a good leader? Why or why not? Does he show any evidence throughout the show that he would? Should people send hate to other people in the fandom for thinking Keith is a good leader, or liking the fact that he had character development? (see v first response)

UM. Keith right now at the end of S2 ? Not ready. Nobody is ever ready to be a leader right off the bat. It’s something he’ll grow into. I imagine by the end of S3 he might be more ready. He’s lost and unable to take into consideration the rest of the team because he’s so caught up in finding out who he really is. If you don’t even know yourself, how can you understand the team you’re a part of and lead it well ? Shiro is right that he shows potential; he sets a goal and he is determined and strong-willed enough to see it to completion. He cares about his team members. And he’s willing to listen to Shiro’s advice and learn from his mistakes. Kid’s got potential. But he lacks real leadership experiences.

What do you think about the diversity of the characters in the show? LANCE IS CUBAN APPARENTLY. I love the diversity. Strong girls, all sorts of examples of masculinity and intelligence. Breaking stereotypes everywhere. Love it. Should it be an unwritten rule that fans should not harass the cast and crew members about issues in the fandom, or ships? Why or why not?

I’m so embarrassed actually that cast/crew members have been harassed (if it’s happened). Acting like kids in front of the people who put in hard work to bring you this wonderful content; you should be ashamed. Fandom issues are fandom issues. They just want to see you guys enjoy what they put their heart into. They always sound so happy and proud that Voltron has such a huge following of loyal fans. I hope y’all will act in a way that upholds their pride in the fandom. SIDE NOTE THO: apparently in Korea, kdramas have been ruined by online netizens (ie angry, loud fans online with nothing better to do) who demand certain pairings or endings. In the end, the drama goes the way the netizens want and the story is often ruined because of this. What the fans want isn’t necessarily the best way to go for a work.

What are your thoughts on the Shaladin ships?

I had to search what Shaladin actually was. I just saw a lot of hate, unfortunately. Well IDK about romantic shipping, but certainly, I love exploring their interactions. They’re such dynamic characters, just LET ME STUDY ALL OF THEM. I want everyone (Besides Keith) to have a life changing field trip with Shiro at some point.

What are you expecting from season three this September?

I DON’T EVEN KNOW. I JUST WANT TO WATCH IT.

Do you think some people in the fandom are stripping the characters of Voltron from their diverse, fleshed-out personalities to slap their face on their HCs, ships, etc? If so, what are your thoughts on that?

Well yeah, this is a minefield of a question. Again this comes down to people disagreeing with things, respecting that other people see different aspects of a character and peacefully co-existing. Everyone sees what they want to see or sees parts of themselves in a character they like. Everyone is entitled to enjoy Voltron the way they want to, even if I don’t agree with them. Let people be happy. But I do love it when I come across HCs and ships with well thought out reasoning and study from the actual canon. It makes it that much more believable and enjoyable for me.

What is the show lacking?

MORE EPISODES. MORE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CHARACTERS THAT NEVER GET TO INTERACT MUCH. Even though it was short, I thoroughly enjoyed Lance and Pidge being together and unlocking their big-bro watching out for his sassy badass nerd younger sister dynamic. SPACE MALL YOU GUYS. He doesn’t even question it; Pidge really wants this game and he’s gonna help her grab coins from a fountain like a pair of hobos because he cares about her.

The more I thought back on it and re-watched the episode the more I wanted to see it. It’s so cute and I love seeing Lance not being a flirty McFlirtson and being a genuinely supportive and kind person. I also can’t wait to see Keith as Reckless Leader in a repeat of that early scene where he drives them all off a cliff and everyone is screaming their heads off but with him as official Leader and about to make everyone do something really high risk-high pay-off.

Keith afterwards tho

What do you think Lotor would be like?

I have no idea. I’ve seen everything from shitpost Edgelord to flirty Lance lover to “I will avenge my father and lead our empire to absolute victory !” trailer Lotor. I think he’ll be most like what we’ve seen heard in the trailer. He will be a gallant prince who will fight ruthlessly and with charm. Hopefully we’ll see some silly sides of him too. I also want him to be one of those “omg we can’t beat this guy” mastermind and I want to see Keith trying desperately to lead his pride (of Voltron lions) to victory but he’s struggling against this chessmaster prince and he’s like “Shiro I’m sorry, I’m failing you as Leader” and everyone supports Keith and recognises how hard he’s working for the team but I want the team to be really panicked and have a “we failed the universe” moment. It will be heartwrenching and wonderful. A N G S T 4 L Y F E.

What do you think about people who say they will quit the fandom if their ship doesn’t become canon? Are you one of those people? If you are, why would you quit?

QUIT THEN. And no, I’m not gonna quit just because things didn’t go my way. I’ve lived through so many non-canon ships like whatever. It just means I can go on writing whatever HC I want and explore the infinite possibilities. Yeah it kind of hurts in the short term but eh. Respect the creators. Trust in their creative vision. Besides, this is not a romance-driven series, so why would it...happen ?

How can people in the fandom express their disliking for a ship without it making themselves look like an arse?

repeat after me: I do not like nor ship this but I will respect the fact that you do and refrain from sending hate to you about your choices.

Did you think Keith’s character development was well thought out? Who do you think his mother is, and what all happened in his past?

What development tho. He’s still as he was back in S1 imo. A little more mature and able to work in the team. He’s developed the ability to listen to others, but I think he kind of grew further into himself because of all the questions he had about his past. His mama is Galra for sure, and we know he was abandoned by her (for reasons unknown). Poor thing. I think he also learnt to tolerate Lance but you know they still fight like babies. So nah. IMO I don’t think he grew up that much. We just saw into a little of his mystery and understood where he came from. We just understand his actions more now.

Is Shiro dead? If not, where do you think Shiro is? (My best guess is the astral plane, but I would’t know :p)

Astral plane, bitches. Let’s go. Chekov’s...astral plane ? Why did they mention it at all if it had no other meaning in S2 ?

Is it okay for people to express their excitement online/in social media/publicly when (if) their ship becomes canon? Sure why not ? Congrats y’all ! Hopefully I’ll be one of those people ahaha. If not, ah well. Nothing new.

What are your thoughts on Matt escaping? Do you think Pidge will be reuinited with him in season three?

iT’S HAPPENING WE ALL KNOW. I’M PSYKED. YES IT’S HOLT REUNION TIME. I wonder if that means everyone’s gotta call Pidge “Katie” now. Pidge is such a cute name.

Are you excited for season three? Why or why not? DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK, OFC I AM. Even if I had no idea what was gonna happen in S3, I’d still be excited because the quality of this show (aside from the beginning few episodes where they had to set the world up etc) has been so top notch. I have faith that S3 won’t disappoint. I have such immense faith in the cast and crew.

Are smaller ships (such as Kallura, Kidge, Heith) in the fandom just as valid as the larger ones (such as Sheith, Klance, Shallura)?

It may not feel like it is, but every ship is valid so long as you’ve got shippers. Y’all kids are allowed to enjoy whatever it is you enjoy. Don’t let anyone send you messages saying otherwise. I wasn’t aware Kallura was a smaller ship tbh. Klance does dominate tho. Red oni/blue oni pairings are always popular no matter what fandom. (Spitfire in YJ anyone ?)

What are your thoughts on people calling Kallura heteronormative but then they ship another heterosexual/mantic ship (such as Shallura)?

I just read a lot of big words. I’m not sure what heteronormative even means. *one Google later* I don’t deny that for nearly all of media history heteronormative stuff has dominated. But I think putting that on a ship that a) isn’t even confirmed canon and b) is just a bloody ship that people enjoy isn’t right. Say if a movie had a male and female lead who ended up romantically together and put a homosexual potential relationship in a bad or lesser light; that would be heteronormative. In any case, that’s not something to put blame on a bunch of fans that aren’t even related to the writing or creative process. They’re just enjoying a ship. And yes IMO that’s rather hypocritical; you can’t ship this hetero pair but you can ship this one because it’s ok by my standards. You better have some rock solid reasoning and logic behind that one. What makes it ok/not ok ? Is it the thing that Lance is (possibly) bi and a preferred ship for Keith ?

What are your thoughts on sexuality headcanons?

they’re HC; let people ENJOY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop policing the way people think about a fictional thing.

Do you think ship discourse will ever stop/settle down in the fandom? N E V E R. So long as people have different opinions, there will always be a struggle to co-exist. It’s just human nature.

What do you think about Kalteknecker disappearing? Sadness. (are we talking about the cow ?) Do you think Pidge and Lance ever played their game? NO AND THAT’S EVEN MORE SADNESS. But I hope Lance comforted Pidge and they shared memories over stupid nerdy things on Earth they enjoyed. I hope they find a way to play it tho. Lance was really homesick so I think he and Pidge would really bond over that.

Between Keith finding out he was a Galra at the end of The Blade of Marmora episode, and The Belly Of the Weblum, they didn’t show everyone’s inital reactions to Keith being a Galra. What do you think happened between the team? Why do you think the writers left that out?

Well, firstly as an aspiring writer myself, I’ve been told: if it doesn’t add to the plot or move it along, you don’t need it. Less is more. The most important reaction was Allura’s; everyone else pretty much accepted Keith except her. It’s safe to assume that they were all shocked, but what’s more important is what they did after the shock. Shiro and Pidge were aiite. Hunk was “idk what to do” but got over it real quick realising Keith was still Keith. I don’t remember Lance’s reaction tbh. The team probably had a “OMG” moment and then got over it, because they’re a team. That showed easily enough in the final battle when they were all working together regardless.

Which is the best episode out (so far)?

I DON’T WANT TO SAY SPACE MALL BUT I REALLY LIKED SPACE MALL. I think I liked...the episode with the Olkari in it (Greening the Cube). Not only did we get to see Pidge in focus, the concept of green technology ALWAYS GETS ME. I loved the solar panel roads in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, and I love solarpunk/green tech stuff. It’s such a concept and the art looks amazing and so fantasy-esque in what’s a known sci-fi genre. It also gives me hope that we’ll have tech like that one day. Hopefully I’ll get to enjoy it. I think Keith’s little “we’re all related” moment also hit home. It was defs a “space Swamp” episode for Voltron and Keith had an Avatar moment.

What are your thoughts on Haggar being Altean? Do you think Allura will be distraught about this, the fact that one of her own people has been helping the Galra do such horrible things so loyally?

Plot twist wow. I think since it happened so soon after her learning of Keith’s Galra heritage, it didn’t surprise her as much as I expected. She was in the heat of battle tho, so I can’t gauge her reaction and thoughts as accurately. Maybe she’ll ponder over it, but I think most likely knowing that there are good Galra that have helped them (ie the Blade of Malmora) lends itself to the fact that the possibility of bad Alteans is in fact a reality. Maybe she’ll have an ultimate realisation/epiphany in S3 about it.

Do you think Allura’s apology to Keith was sincere? Do you think she grew as a person/character? Yes and yes. She was able to guide her anger at the Galra away from Keith and recognise that he was not an appropriate target for it. That takes some real emotional maturity. I haven’t seen the episode in a while, but from memory, she sounded like she couldn’t believe that she’d distrusted him so much after everything they’ve been through together. She had betrayed a friend and she regretted that. It might have felt a bit rushed since Voltron eps are only 20 mins or so long; if it had been longer, the writers might have had a bit more play time with it. What do you think the team’s reactions will be when Keith takes over as the pilot of the Black Lion? WHAT DO U MEAN WHEN. omg. Maybe some initial “WTF”, but they’re in a dire situation. Pidge probably understands this the most; her logic will win them over and they’ll most likely have to quickly accept Keith as leader in the meantime while they look for Shiro. Lance will have a fit over this probably. Pidge and Hunk will watch on as Keith and Lance have more fights than ever. Allura will probably step in as the parent in lieu of Shiro.

How do you think the team will take Shiro’s disappearance/death?

Poor lost little lion cubs. Keith will be the most anxious to find him and deny that Shiro is gone. I think he’ll feel the most alone since the Garrison trio will at least have each other to lean on, and with Lance probably mad that Keith is leader, it will most likely polarise the group. I’ve got the Shallura bug bad, so I wanna say Allura won’t take it well either. Maybe Keith and Allura will comfort each other and bond over the man who left them to deal with shit they’re not ready for. Do you think that we will ever find out who all made up the original team of Voltron?

WE BETTER.

How do you think Lance will take it when he finds out his rival will pilot the Black Lion in Shiro (his hero)’s footsteps?

sEE ABOVE. He won’t take it well. If at all.

Do you think Hunk and Lance grew as characters in season two?

Hunk is more ready to be a hero than he was in S1, yes. Lance. I can’t tell TBH. What do you think of Pidge’s character development?

I applaud my child’s acceptance of her new space family and her role in the team.

Will Rover ever come back? Or will Pidge ever have a new robot friend? I hope Rover does come back. Pidge lost Rover as she accepted her role in Voltron (an episode I did rewatch recently); I find it sad that she lost a friend as soon as she learnt to appreciate friendship and support.

Is Coran the gorgeous man?

yaaaas. (but I really dig side-shaved emo-teen Coran’s design)

#long post #youipoststhings #paperparfait #voltron #opinion

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