#I’m so mad vld tore apart the core values of Voltron

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Dear god don’t even get me started on this, I know you’re focusing on lances characterization but I wanna call out the character dynamics specifically

Every show before vld made the team BELIEVABLE, they cared for each other, constantly had each others backs, and actually fucking got along

With vld there were specific groups to the team and not that they all bonded equally. And ofc there’s the thought of “oh but the other shows had that too!” Yeah but not as egregious as vld. Lance mostly stuck around Hunk and Pidge since they were a trio beforehand but those two definitely were closer together than with him because of their genius, Allura and Coran only ever showed a strong bond with each other with makes sense but they were always a duo instead opening up for the team and same with Keith and Shiro, though at least Shiro had some connection to most of the others. I don’t think after s1-3 tops have the team ever spent time together aside from furthering some kind of agenda or defending the universe

But pre-vld? They hung out regularly, Dotu specifically had them helping the locals rebuild and giving out aid in between battles other than just having plain fun together like when they went swimming or had Arus participate in the fucking space Olympics. V3D was a little more action focused but everyone was always together and made sure to have each others backs when their own government didn’t give a damn about them (constantly confided in each other for mission planning and at least had one episode where everyone dogged on pidge for bullying hunk into the dark side a la miraculous which he forgave him for and became friends again). For vf we literally see that they’ve been keeping tabs on Keith FOR THE FIVE WHOLE YEARS HES BEEN SOLO and right when he comes back they stick together best they can and even have a few days where they not only bond with each other (episode 20 where they go to a luxury hotel to get some rest and relaxation together) but with their own damn lions (episode 15 where Keith eats pizza with black lion)!!!

Vld tried to get us to believe that the team cared for each other but at the end they really didn’t and lances self doubt about fitting in was all the more valid because there were already established groups he couldn’t join in! They tore down every character to the most basic points and consequently tore apart the thing that powered Voltron in the fucking first place! UNITY!!

You literally cannot have this giant robot that fucking runs on the power of friendship and incredible violence actually work IF NONE OF THE TEAM ARE ACTUALLY FRIENDS OR UNITED ENOUGH TO STICK TOGETHER THROUGH IT ALL (looking at you Keith)

I haven’t forgotten that episode in later seasons either where the team got spaced and they immediately started turning on each other instead of thinking it through only by the end for Keith to suddenly be the voice of reason WHEN HE NEVER WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE and calm them all down.

If I’m wrong about anything vld please do correct me as it’s been a hot minute since I’ve finished it but something tells me even though I may be wrong on some facts the overall idea doesn’t even get shaken

i am as always thinking about voltron. because i have issues. but i really and truly cannot get over vld’s flanderisation of lance’s character, it actually aggravates me to no end!!!

in the franchise, lance has been established to be an ace-flyer, incredibly perceptive (specifically in dotu and vttd, the source material + the closest sequel!), impulsive, and cocky—but his cockiness had SUBSTANCE. he knew he was that good. to me vforce has one of the best lance characterisations in how they get him: he’s a great flier, he’s a dependable figure of authority, he’s snarky, he bites back, he has the right amount of silliness and pettiness dotu lance had. in vforce, everyone could get teased by the narrative! it wasn’t one or two characters taking the brunt (hi vld hunk and lance!).

but in vld, they practically cut out all those parts of lance, the flying, the perceptiveness, his confidence, and then give it to keith (whose original personality had been then given to shiro). they leave him with the cockiness, but there’s nothing to back it up. they orchestrate keith and lance’s rivalry to be one-sided and terribly unbalanced because keith IS better than lance in a lot of things. this was never the case before, they had strengths and weaknesses that the other complemented and would sometimes cause conflict (vttd is a great example of this!).

i think the reason why it bothers me so much, is because this is first time lance has been latino and not white (not counting golion’s isamu in this). the first time! and the moment he is, they take away his skills and his strengths, have him bullied by the narrative and made into a joke, never taken seriously, and dialed up his flirtatiousness to over 9000. the only time i can actually recall lance being flirtatious in the franchise was in ddp’s run, but even then it wasn’t nearly as prominent or excessive as vld lance’s nonstop flirting. he gets keith’s leftover lion, he gets a sword like keith, he’s allura’s second choice, he never really finds his place in the team.

the arc of feeling like a seventh wheel or insecurity wouldn’t bother me if he had history in the franchise of this, if his character wasn’t established the way it was, but he doesn’t! and its not like vld’s narrative does much to disprove lance’s insecurity—in fact it winds up doing the opposite most of the time. on the surface vld and dotu lance seem similar, but deeper down i feel like the writers just…lost the plot. it’s not that you can’t branch out in reboots or explore other pathways, but it’s just so blatant to me in how they’d taken so much from him and passed it off to other characters. where’s the love for the source material in that? where’s the respect? i don’t know, maybe i’m just going on and on, but it haunts me.