#Keef and her father Destruction

[keef-a-corn]

When I forget she’s actually one of my mains and make her a power crazed goddess that kill her friend over a pocket watch

And then I redesign her father

[shadowuserannie]

KOTLC Miraculous AU

So it goes without saying;

Marinette: Sophie

Adrien: Fitz

I know, I know. (prepares to get attacked, holds up shield) BUT THINK ABOUT IT. FITZ BEING FORCED BY ALDEN TO BE PERFECT. FITZ GETTING TO UNLEASH HIS INNER ANGER AND INNER KEEFE AS CHAT NOIR (because YES, let Keefe infect all the people that love him)

This is FANFICTION I CAN MAKE A NONTOXIC FITZ AND DO WHAT I WANT

Besides, I want a character journey where Fitz learns his true personality; not the jaded but joking Detruire (it means destruction in French, I like the name) and not the picture-perfect Fitz Vacker. A guy toeing the line between both. Being pessimistic but not too jaded, learning to let go of the mask of optimism and finding people still like the person underneath. Being sassy but kind and still TRYING HIS BEST BUT NOT PERFECTLY. Let him find who he is!!

So the rest are a little more complicated, but;

Alya: Dex. Let Dex create the Ladyblog and get popular as a result. Let him associate the Ladyblog with being liked and chasing Sophie's secret identity as a result. Let Sophie smack some sense into him and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TO MAKE HIM A GREAT BESTIE (because it'd be boring if they were all perfect at the start of the story)

Nino/Chloe: Keefe. HEAR ME OUT. Keefe growing up with Fitz because Alden approves of his family, but then Keefe becomes more rebellious and they can't meet up as often anymore BUT KEEFE REBELS. AND GETS FITZ TO REBEL MORE. AND GETS FITZ ENROLLED AT FOXFIRE NEXT TO HIM. Keefe rebelling against Cassius and accidentally becoming a bully because of it. Keefe realizing there's a line between pissing off his parents and hurting others to do it. Because THAT COULD BE GOOD. Keefe canonically goes pretty far in his attempts to piss off his father.

Also a possible Chloe: Stina. Stina got her own half-assed bullshitted redemption (wow Astruc, thanks SM) and DESERVES BETTER.

Oh but fun fact about Sophie; she's actually quick to categorize people as 'good' or 'evil'. So having Stina be mean to her and getting categorized as 'evil' as a result, but that eventually changing over time, would be a good application of her KOTLC character development to this AU.

So ik that on a surface level, Keefe fits Adrien's role better than Fitz-daddy issues, blond hair, et cetera. BUT. I realized that while it would be fun, a story with Fitz would be harder to write and thus more interesting-plus I realized that somehow I have to integrate the other characters PLUS BIANA in, so a wild ride overall! It'd be the same refresh, repeat, if they were all exactly like their roles.

ALSO THEY ARE CANONICALLY DIFFERENT AGES. LEMME JUST-(screams internally)

(@tiana4evahh I am so sorry I got sidetracked reading the KOTLC graphic novel I might just publish the KOTLC human! superhero! AU first)

THIS IS MY FIRST DRAFT/RUNTHROUGH. STUFF MAY CHANGE IN FUTURE POSTS

(or I may also scrap this AU entirely?)

[gay-otlc]

Fic Masterpost

KOTLC:

A Little Bit of Love and a Whole Lot of Trust: The four horse girls of the apocalypse celebrate Hanukkah together.

A Risk I Want To Take: Marella is afraid of losing control and hurting Linh.

Alden Sucks: The Vackers are Jewish and Alden is anti-semetic. See @vacker-jew-au​ for more Jewish Vackers content.

Alien: Sophie and Dex talk about gender

Am I Pretty: I'm back to torture Biana more. Biana is Struggling™ post-Nightfall and it's yet another songfic.

And They Were Roommates: Flashback but we get the Keefe and Fitz roommates we were robbed of

Awed By Her Splendor: Sappho poetry, Sophiana, and lesbian sun and moon.

Bad With People: Dex Dizznee is good at a lot of things. One thing Dex is decidedly not good at is people.

Beautiful Mistake: Fitz and Dex had always been destined for destruction, for shouted words at a dinner table, cold glances from disapproving fathers, stormy exits from the outcast, but how could Fitz be a mistake when he was so beautiful?

Break The Rules: Marella is banished to Exillium for being a lesbian pyrokinetic, where she meets Linh and forms a gay revolution. (And fanart by the amazingly talented @thecatdemon!!!)

Cognate Rings: Fitz coming to terms with being aromantic.

Dear Maruca: Biana writes a letter to Maruca.

Defeated By Gay Panic (and a stupid elf cold): Hekster sickfic

Doesn't Pull Away: Short fic on the relationship between Marella and Fintan

Don't Know How To Love People: Stina doesn't think love is worth the effort. It definitely wouldn't be worth the effort to fall in love with Sophie. So it's easier to be an asshole to her.

Empty Space: Post-Flashback angst with Tam's found family.

Fairy Tale Kisses: The first time Marella kissed Biana Vacker, both were six years old and Marella thought Biana looked like a princess. Marella would quite like to marry a princess, she thought, like in fairy tales.

For The Honor Of The Moonlark: SPOP, but make it KOTLC.

Fortunate: Sophie tries to make latkes. It goes badly.

Flowers On The Grave: Sophie visits her old house and grieves the child that she used to be

Girls Like Girls: Biana should like boys, but she likes Sophie instead, and wonders what’s wrong with her. (A songfic to Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko)

Green: Grady and Edaline mourning Jolie.

Grom Queen: Grom, but make it Biana and Maruca.

Hearts Are Stupid Like That: After Nightfall, Maruca visits Biana in the healing center. They have a long overdue talk.

how could something so beautiful hurt?: Marella pyrokinetic Hanukkah angst.

I Kissed Sophie Foster: I Kissed Shara Wheeler, but make it Hekster.

Illegal Rebellions Can Be Stressful: Black Swan game nights.

Invisible: Biana feels invisible, and Linh is the only person who’s ever really seen her.

Jealousy: Keefe is in love with both Sophie and Fitz, and they love each other, but not him.

Keepers of the Chaos: The KOTLC characters are fans of a show... about us.

Little Miss Perfect: A songfic exploring Biana and Maruca's relationship pre-Keeper.

Lost: When he's lost, like it's gravity, he's pulled to Fitz. At least this fucked up universe gave him Fitz Vacker.

No Limits To Love: As he falls in love with both Sophie and Fitz, Keefe tries to understand what love means, and how he can love more than one person.

Pain Is Waiting Alone At The Corner: At Alden's funeral, Quinlin and Tiergan talk about the lovers they've lost.

Perfect: Fitz can’t love Keefe, because he’s perfect.

Pretendaer: Ae can’t catch a fucking break, so, a songfic of Biana struggling with aer gender.

Pride: Various KOTLC characters and their first time at a pride parade.

Sappho And Her Training Partner: Bronte is unaware that Marella and Linh are in a romantic relationship.

Say Goodbye Like You Mean It: Biana, before her friendship with Maruca fell apart + Maruca, after.

Say Goodbye The Hundredth Time: The family Tiergan has lost over the years, and how he remembers them.

Sick of the Silence: AU where Fitz moves to Solreef during Flashback.

Snap the Pen in Half: Tiergan writes Prentice letters while he's in Exile

someone will remember us, i say: Sophie and Biana read Sappho poetry.

Starlight And Superheroes: Biana, being Jewish, is one of the only superheroes available on Christmas, and she’s pretty sure falling for the villain Moonlark isn’t part of her job description.

Tales Like These Tragically End Badly: Marelliana songfic to "loved you a little."

The Owl Haven: Hollow Mind: The Owl House KOTLC au, retelling Hollow Mind.

This Is Where We're Supposed To Be: 11K Delivvy fic.

To Love Unafraid (With An Ugly, Poisonous Heart): Marella has OCD, and her intrusive thoughts center around hurting her girlfriend, Biana.

Untitled Sophiana fic: Sophie gives Biana a pride pin

Untitled Tiergan/Alden as exes fic: Tiergan shows up to yell at Alden for breaking Prentice's mind, and Tiergan and Alden are exes.

Used To Receiving Flowers: Biana hates receiving flowers from boys who only like her looks, but when she receives flowers and notes from a secret admirer who seems to like her for her, she doesn’t mind as much.

We Can Leave This World, Leave It All Behind: Stellarlune fix it, sokeefitz + run away with me trope

Writing Ask Game: Compilation: I had people send me a character and a word, I wrote short fics, and I put them all into one ao3 work.

You Rock My World: Tiergan and Prentice join the Black Swan without telling the other. They start dating as Granite and Keeper, unaware that they've already been dating as Tiergan and Prentice for years. Shenanigans ensue.

You're A Lot Like Me: Marella and Fintan parallels

THE OWL HOUSE:

Bard Magic Can Be Cool: Raine begins teaching Eda bard magic.

i tripped and ended up falling for you: Eda takes Raine to the Human Realm, trying to convince xemself it's not a date. It is very much a date.

Hey, You, Don't You Think It's Kinda Cute: Eda and Raine during that King's Tide scene.

Mundane Slice Of Life: Luz panics over her first date with Amity. Eda tries to reassure her.

Stop Running Away From Your Feelings (Hoot Hoot): Luz talks to Eda about what happend with Raine at the coven day parade.

Try Again: Eda and Raine during O Titan, Where Art Thou.

Untitled raeda fic: Eda comes out to Raine as genderqueer.

THE GREAT LIBRARY:

A Great Deal More Than He Expected: Dario reads Santi's journal and makes the shocking discovery that Santi and Wolfe might not be 100% heterosexual.

Able To Love As Deeply As Normal People: Glain and Morgan discuss aromanticism.

Born Wrong: Wolfe is queer of gender.

Deadly, But Elegant: Glain is nonbinary, feels dysphoric in a dress, and gets some more gender-affirming clothing with the help of their wonderful found family.

Too Much Love Will Kill You: Santi's biggest character flaw is loving Wolfe too much.

You Don't Have To Hide Yourself: Santi comes out to Wolfe as trans, and Wolfe decides to support him in the most Wolfe way imaginable: Researching gender.

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES:

A Dozen Reasons In This Gun: Daisy and Basira's relationship

Skin: Analysis of Jane Prentiss and dermatillomania.

Unclean: Longer analysis of Jane Prentiss and dermatillomania + contamination OCD.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Character Analysis Masterpost: Side Characters

don’t see a character/topic you want? Send me an ask!

reminder: all these posts are just my opinions and observations. They are not absolute and you are more than welcome to disagree with me. There’s no right way to interpret a character

Grady:

Sophie going to be pissed at him

His trauma affects his parenting

How Keefe and Grady Interact

He's incredibly stubborn, which isn't always good

The impact of him thinking Sophie started the war

Elwin:

Could he adopt Keefe?

He is universally adored and for good reason

Character flaws!!

Alden:

who could his “perfect match” possibly be (spoiler, no one knows)

perfect match 2, electric boogaloo

His approach to parenting

Is he a bad parent?

He never would've found Sophie on his own

Della:

what’s her background, Shannon?

Mr. Forkle:

Why did Mr. Forkle supported Sophie’s decision?

What if he'd told Sophie her unmatchable status sooner?

It's infuriating how he dismissed Sophie's unmatchability

Him being a twin didn't land (part two)

Juline:

Just her in general. An overview (Timeline correction)

How was she forgiven so quickly?

Prentice:

The way he’s written is...not great

Blur:

He’s let Keefe run wild

Tiergan:

Could he be Sophie's father? (part two)

Tinker:

General overview, I like her a lot

Tinker is autistic <3 /pos

Ro:

Will she tell everyone what she knows about Keefe’s ability?

She’s very repetitive as a character

What's next for her now that Keefe is gone?

She's incredibly dismissive of Keefe's feelings

Ro just keeps talking about Sokeefe. it's getting annoying

How I would've written Ro

Please stay out of Sophie and Keefe's relationship, thanks

Once again, her interference in the romance is weird

Aroace Ro!

Why is she the way she is?

Bo:

he feels flat and uninteresting, almost repetitive

Bo’s gonna get himself killed with that mindset

Cadfael:

He’s motivated by whatever helps him

Lovise:

Her (affectionate)

Brielle:

Her (affectionate)

Flori:

She seems to replace Calla sometimes

Bronte:

Bronte changed the most out of everyone

What's his impact on the story?

His inflicting and dealing with emotions

Bronte doesn't need his ability. It's there for Sophie

Fintan:

His past and "long history" with Bronte

Fintan wants more than just chaos and destruction

Why so many italics in his dialogue?

Could he be Sophie's father? (part two) (amendment)

Lady Gisela:

How did she escape? Does she have another ability?

I don't think Gisela thinks she's bad

Is she trying to make humans manifest (through Keefe)?

What if Keefe hadn't been what she needed?

Vespera:

How did she go numb?

Glimmer:

Glimmer is very clever and I love her

Glimmer is soft with Tam for a reason

Could she be Eleanor Wright? (part two) (part three)

Alvar:

So what’s the deal with this guy

Lord Cassius:

I think he’s kinda boring

Symbolism of the Sencen family crest

Could he be working with Fitz to do something?

Is he supposed to have a backstory?

Misc:

Don't Sophie's old acquaintances remember her?

Linh and Jensi deserve to be friends

Tarina, my beloved.

Sandor might not survive the ending of this series

Lord Cassius and Lord (?) Quan meeting for drinks

Livvy and Alden

Dadwin? Dadwin.

The Songs vs the Sencens: both are bad

The bodyguards as 12 year olds

Could Sophie and Glimmer bond if Glimmer was half-human?

Why haven't Alden and Prentice talked?

Lady Zillah (part two)

[an-absolute-travesty]

Royal Screw-Ups

It’s time, the final chapter is here 

*Sobbing*

I won’t get too sappy on you guys here, since I got pretty sappy at the end of thing on Wattpad

But yeah. Thanks if you’ve been reading this long. I have more plans for this world (i have some plans for a few oneshots) but for this moment, we are closing out this story

If you’re looking for the rest of the story, it can be found on my wattpad @ohwowhatethis, under the tags “kotlc fic” and “keefex” on my blog, or under the cut on my pinned post

Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed, just for this story or as a whole): @you-are-the-vacker-legacy @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlykeefitz @percabetn @vibing-in-the-void @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e

Chapter 8:

Word count: 3,677

Warnings: swearing, cassi-ass being an ass, destruction, fire, chaos, etc.

Three months of planning later, servants scurried around the property in preparation for the ceremony the next day. A glass dome had been built in the center of the property to house it.

Tam and Linh had arrived soon after they had their first meeting, luckily Tam and Fitz weren’t as lovey-dovey in real life as they were in their letters. However, Marella and Linh very much made up for it. The moment they met the guard and the princess had a connection, the sweet talk was almost too much to bear.  

In fact, all of them had grown quite close over the past months. Who knew low-level treason could bring people together so. 

Of course, not nearly as close as he’d like with a certain person, but closer for sure. Every week they met back up at the library to work out bumps in their plan, clean up the absurd amount of paper Keefe used in drawing out his first plan, or just sit and talk. Today would be their last before the big day. 

Keefe watched over Dex’s shoulder as he made his final tinkers on the device he had been working on.  

“How’s it looking Techmaster?”

“Eh, having more metal makes everything easier but...it’s one use only, so I can’t test it. We just have to hope for the best.”

“Well, I have faith in you. Your genius brain could make anything.”

Dex rolled his eyes. Keefe wanted to subtly touch him to see if his blatant flirting had been noticed, but it felt wrong to. He had been stuck in the dark for the last 3 months. 

Everyone else ran their lines around the room. Everyone besides Sophie who, as typical of her, looked half way sick in the corner. 

Keefe sat down next to her on the floor.

“Alright, what’s up Foster, have you acquired a stomach bug?” 

She giggled. “No...it’s just…” She sighed. “It feels wrong, y’know? I mean...I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“You’re really doing the opposite of hurting people though, I mean you’re making them happy.”

“Not happy, hysterical. Yeah it can be happy, but not in the way we’re doing it. Trust me, it’s not fun to watch.”

Keefe thought for a moment.

“Hey...your parents have that griffin, right?”

~*~

The sound of a wedding march echoed through the castle lawn as Sophie was led down the isle by her father. Keefe guessed she looked quite lovely in her dress, Biana, who stood as her maid of honor, was looking at her more like a husband would than him. He stood frozen at the alter, Fitz beside him as his best man and everyone else interspersed within the crowd for optimal dramatic effect. 

Sophie reached him at long last. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t look sickly this time. Her face steeled with determination gave him confidence. 

The guy marrying them together was one of Cassius’ officials. Keefe didn’t bother to remember most names anymore, but this one was a...Moland? Noland? Something like that. 

Everyone winced in unison as the man started talking, Keefe’s ears began to ring a bit at the volume.

“Lords and Ladies, we are gathered here today to celebrate the joyous union of our young Prince Keefe Sencen and the lovely Miss Sophie Foster-Ruewen.”

Keefe only realized he was fidgeting when Fitz subtly reached out and held his hand down from where it had been tapping on his leg.

“We are honored to be joined by so many friends and family. The Goom and Bride are overjoyed you all could be here to participate in this most important occasion.

“There are few greater joys in life than finding someone we truly connect with. Creatives have many names for this, a spark, clicking, but let us say today what it truly is: love.”

Keefe looked out into the crowd, he caught the eye of Dex. The redhead’s brow was crinkled and his cheeks flushed slightly. He pat the pocket of his coat in confirmation. 

“Love is what these two young souls have found in each other. In love, our truest selves are revealed. We open ourselves up and break down our walls. The veil we present to the public is lifted so we can be loved for who we are, not who we pretend to be.”

Keefe struggled to not roll his eyes. He took a final look around the room, each person nodding as he met eyes with them.

“Over these months, our Bride and Groom have developed a strong bond. This bond will only get stronger throughout the course of their marriage. Let us revel in the joy and love displayed in front of us today. May we treasure these memories as Prince Keefe and Miss Sophie get set to begin their new life together.”

Keefe took a deep breath, knowing the next words out of his mouth.

“If anyone has cause to object the forming of this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

3, 2, 1…

“I object!” 

0.

Stina first. “This marriage was meant to be mine! She’s just a dirty commoner!”

“How dare you!” Fitz cut in before anyone else could. “I object because I love her! Sophie is meant to be with me. Maruca has admitted her love to Keefe, let her marry him!”

Biana gasped dramatically. “Maruca you snake! You knew I loved him.”

“You only loved his title!” She screamed, standing up to match the rest. “And Fitz, if you’re so concerned with what Stina has to say about Sophie, you should hear what Wylie has to say.”

Fitz walked in Wylie’s direction and he stood. “Why you little-”

Just then, Keefe heard it. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP.

BOOM.

An explosion burst a small part of the glass dome’s ceiling. Sophie let out an ear-splitting whistle and the griffin flew straight through the hole as the glass fell. Screams erupted through the room as the animal landed on chairs and destroyed the alter. 

The screams only got louder as the room was lit up as bright as the sun before swiftly being plunged into darkness. Those involved in the plan used the opportunity to gather themselves at the exit. With the exception of Biana and Marella who, if all went as planned, stood prepared by the very flammable reception tables. 

The darkness lifted and people quickly ran out, some of the more stuck up nobles guided by guards. Once everyone was out safely, Keefe watched as a red glow started and grew. Marella wasn’t visible, but anyone paying attention could see the two sets of footprints forming in the grass.

People ran farther from the dome swiftly filling with fire. It spread quickly, but before it could reach the outside, Linh yelled. 

“Everyone back up!”

She pulled water from a nearby pond, making a large wave that, while it put out the fires, crushed the dome in its entirety. 

~*~

Two hours later, the guests sat huddled in the ballroom of the castle, many wrapped in blankets and eating soup the kitchen served to recover from what they had been through. Through the window, Keefe saw the Ruewen parents attempting to calm their griffin after taking a long time to wrangle it. 

They were good at keeping secrets, they brought the animal here in the first place. 

Just as he started crossing the room to go talk to Dex, he felt a heavy hand grip his shoulder.

Cassius looked at him with a glare that could kill ten men. He wordlessly guided Keefe in the direction of his office and the prince obliged. 

When Keefe walked in the door, it was messier than he had ever seen it. Even his father himself was disheveled, his typically slick-backed hair uncharacteristically sloppy and his tunic smudged with soot. He sat down at his desk and heaved a sigh.  

“Do you know why I brought you in here?” 

“Because my wedding was destroyed?”

“Because we are going to plan a new one. I need you to collect everyone who had objections to get this idiotic drama cleared for the records. I’ve sent for Councillor Bronte, he can officiate you. You will have a wedding today, whether you get the ceremony or not.”

“One problem with that, Biana and Marella haven’t been found.”

Technically the truth. They were to hide in the Queen’s Gardens until further notice, but the Guard Force didn’t know that. 

Cassius was silent for a moment, his face hidden in his hands.

Then he started convulsing.

No, not convulsing.

Laughing.

“Of course!” He got up from his chair in one movement. “Of course they haven’t been found! Why am I even surprised anymore.” He threw his hands in the air. “Nothing ever goes right!” He spoke through his teeth as he pushed everything off of his desk.

“MY MARRIAGE” He cleared a bookshelf with one arm, dumping the junk to the ground. 

“MY LEADERSHIP!” He knocked over his chair.

“MY SON!” He grabbed the painting from the wall and threw it down. 

“ALL DISAPPOINTMENTS!” He pushed over his desk, it landed with a loud crash.

“And now this too? Nothing ever goes right! No matter how hard I try! No matter how much work I put in! Everything ends in failure!”

“It’s a good thing this was my wedding and not yours then.”

The door behind them opened without a knock. 

“King Cassius, is this a bad time?” Bronte looked at the office with contempt. 

“No, now works.”

Despite not being formally invited in, Bronte sat down on the overturned desk and pulled out a folder of paperwork. 

“So...we’re trying to do an emergency wedding, yes?”

Cassius nodded.

“And from my understanding, there were 1,2...4 objections that haven’t been cleared?”

Cassius nodded again.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t perform a wedding. Legally or morally considering the fact that fate itself seems against this union. It is traditional, when a wedding goes so badly, to accept that something in the universe is not accepting of the marriage and call it off.”

“I understand, Councillor. However, I am the goddamned king and you will do as I say!

Bronte was unfazed.

“Actually sir, with only a month until the coronation you have resigned some of your duties, as is customary. You don’t have full control over the law at the moment, you signed a contract.”

He pulled said contract out of his pocket, displaying the signature, before putting it back in.

“Prince Keefe and you now have split control, as you had when you had a spouse. You both must agree if you are to override a law.”

Cassius hid his face once again.

“Go. Get out of my sight.”

Keefe turned to leave but his father grabbed him.

“Just Bronte.”

The man shrugged and closed the door behind him.

“Keefe...do you know why I was so eager to get you in as king?”

Keefe said nothing. That was one thing he couldn’t figure out himself. 

“I am a shitty, shitty, king. I was never made to rule. Your mother? Yes. Yes she was. Me? No. Not at all. I thought I could do this job, I thought it would be cushy, I thought I’d have all the power in the kingdom as well as riches upon riches without having to work. I was wrong.

“I wanted to train you to do this better than I ever could. I wanted to make sure you were going to be prepared.”

“No.” Keefe’s eyes started to water in anger. “You wanted to train me up to take your job as soon as possible. You didn’t want the responsibility so you decided to hand it off to your child. It’s just like...it’s just like Mom. You were the judge and the jury but you were too much of a coward to be the executioner or even a mourner. You hand off all your problems for someone else to deal with. You’re a fucking coward and nothing else.”

“I cared Keefe!-”

“NO YOU DIDN’T.” Tears streamed down his face. “You never cared about me, you never cared about Mom, you never cared for anything or anybody but yourself. 

“I don’t love Sophie and I never will, but you tried to make me marry her because you loved the idea of the strong son with a quiet woman. That shows how much you care.”

“It was what I thought was best.”

“WELL YOU WERE WRONG.”

Keefe walked out and slammed the door. 

~*~

Keefe went to his room and sobbed. He rarely indulged himself in crying but today was one of the days he let himself. It was maybe an hour later, when he was out of tears and just laid staring up at his ceiling, that he heard a knock on the door.

When he opened it, no one stood there. Just a small note in scratchy handwriting. 

“Meet us at the library, midnight”

~*~

Keefe carefully sneaked through the castle halls, only the candle he held lit his way. He slowly cracked open the library door.

“SURPRISE!”

Suddenly a whole group of people attacked him in a hug, rainbow lights filled the normally dull room. 

“W-what is all this?”

“It’s a surprise party silly!” For the first time since he’d seen her, Sophie looked truly happy. “We don’t have to get married! And we got out of it without any serious injuries.”

Fitz pulled him over to a table. “C’mon, Bi stole some leftover cake no one ate from the kitchens.”

He looked around for Dex hoping to see his beaming smile and instead saw him sitting solemnly in the corner. He didn’t look Keefe’s way. 

“Hey Fee, are you okay?” Apparently Fitz just now noticed his still puffy face.

“Yeah um...just my dad being a jerk again. Don’t worry about it.”

Fitz shrugged it off, he knew about jerky dads.

Or he used to, anyway. That bastard Alden ran away a long time ago. 

Keefe tried to partake in the festivities but he found it hard. He was going to be king in a month, and hopefully a good one at that. Just about anything was better than Cassius. He should be celebrating right now. But...there was still something bothering him. 

It was approaching the wee hours of the morning as people slowly trickled out. Wylie had long since dropped the rainbow lights. They had been celebrating for hours, Dex was silent nearly the whole time. 

“Alright.” Fitz said through a yawn. “I’m tapping out. Night Fee. Last one standing has to clean everything up.”

Keefe nodded. When he finally left the room and they were all alone, he approached Dex. Still silent in the corner.

“Okay, what’s going on Techmaster? You seem down.”

“No it’s just...it’s hard to explain.”

“Take your time, if you’d like.” Keefe sat down criss cross in front of him.

His lips went pouty in a way that made Keefe realize he was staring at his lips.

“You’ll think I’m weird. And clingy. And jealous. Honestly I shouldn’t even be saying any of this right now but I make bad decisions at 3 A.M. I guess.”

“Hey, you can tell me anything.” Keefe started to reach his hand out to Dex before remembering he shouldn’t read his emotions. Dex grabbed it before he could pull away. A lot of sadness and hurt there. He quickly stopped reading, though their hands stayed locked. 

“It’s just...there’s this person. This guy. And...and I thought maybe he liked me but now I think he has a boyfriend. I’m not sure though.”

Keefe’s heart dropped. “Well...boyfriend status can be changed.”

Dex chuckled. “I don’t know, they have nicknames for each other and everything.”

“Sounds serious.”

“Looks serious.”

It was silent for a moment, then Dex spoke.

“Look...don’t worry about it, alright? It’s really no big deal. I’ll get over it, I guess.”

“Maybe he likes you back.”

“I highly doubt it. I’m...I’m not good enough for him. I’m just a servant. He deserves someone better.”

“Why does being a servant mean you’re bad? I’ve met some nobles that are real assholes. You’re way better than all of those fuckers.”

Dex laughed again, wow Keefe could listen to that forever. 

Dex sighed. “You know what? Screw it.”

He seemed to steel himself before saying his next sentence. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. 

“Are you dating Fitz?”

“What?” Keefe laughed awkwardly. “No, no, no. He’s just a friend.”

“Oh. Then...who were you talking about at the gardens? I- I thought it was Fitz and you guys got together and-”

“No, goodness no. Fitz is great and all but...well he’s just not my type. And he’s been dating Tam for a while now.”

“Oh I uh...I didn’t notice.” Dex’s face flushed furiously. “Who were you talking about then?”

Keefe met his eyes. “Depends, who were you talking about?”

He didn’t answer but his silence spoke more than any words could.

Keefe scooted closer and cupped Dex’s face in his hand. He looked into the boys periwinkle eyes.

“Dex, can I kiss you?”

“Please?”

And they did.

When Keefe heard descriptions of kissing the same gender, they always said that it felt wrong somehow. But this...this only felt right. Like he had been waiting his whole life for the moment when he met the gardener boy’s cracked lips. They weren’t soft, and the kiss was a bit awkward, but it just felt...correct. Keefe chased the kiss slightly when they finally had to pull away. 

A shy smile spread across Dex’s face.

Keefe leaned back in.

~*~

Keefe walked out onto the newly-built stage in front of the castle and looked upon his people. His ceremonial robe was itchy and too large for him.

Cassius was no where to be seen. He had just...run away. The day of the wedding was the day he broke. The kingdom had been sovereignless for the last month, coronations couldn't be rushed. 

Typically the previous king would place the crown upon the head of the new ruler. Because Cassius seemed to run away in the night with nothing more than a clump of riches, Keefe got to choose who would crown him. 

“Friends and subjects of the Kingdom of Eternalia,” Oralie started. “Today, we crown a new ruler. A ruler to put the people first. A ruler who will not sleep until every one of his people is fed. A ruler to unite us.”

Keefe never realized how long winded Oralie was. Looking into the crowd, he spotted Sophie. She wore a sour expression.

Sophie never was a fan of Oralie, she wouldn’t tell him why. 

“Prince Keefe has shown a care for his people deeper than any king before him.”

She could say that again. Keefe found Dex in the crowd, absolutely beaming.

“In the time I have had the honor of teaching him in my lessons, he has shown a willingness to learn. An ability to adapt. And a knowledge of the system as well as its successes and failures deeper than anyone else his age.

And yes, it is truly a shame that a king must be crowned this young, but I have no doubt that in time he will do right by our great kingdom.”

Oralie walked over to him, her pink flowy dress trailing behind her. She picked up the ceremonial crown off the pillow that a servant was holding.

“Prince Keefe of Eternalia, do you promise to uphold the law and do what is right for your people to the best of you abilities?”

“I do.”

“And do you promise to preserve the honor of our nation?”

“I do.”

A loud voice came from the crowd.

“AND DO YOU PROMISE TO NOT LET CASSI-ASS BACK INTO THE THRONE ROOM?” Keefe could tell it was Marella, but no one else had to know that.

He cracked a smile. “I do.”

Oralie chuckled too.

“In that case, Keefe Sencen of Eternalia, with this crown I deem you King of Eternalia. May you have a long and peaceful reign.”

The heavy crown was placed upon his head. The crowd cheered and chanted, his friends yelled the loudest. Keefe saw as Fitz lifted Biana on his shoulders, they all hugged and screamed excitedly. 

Who he noticed most of all was Dex. His bright smile in that moment was worth everything he’d been through. 

Maybe he had found someone he didn’t mind being with.

~*~

Like most days, it was a somewhat quiet day at the castle. 

Keefe looked up from his painting to study the gardens, once called the Queen’s Gardens, but that was ages ago. The wall that once surrounded the beautiful landscape was knocked down a very long time ago. 

Keefe smiled as he spotted Dex tending to some ivy that had grown on one of the ancient statues. Even being a king couldn’t keep his husband from assisting the gardeners. 

Tomorrow, some old friends were visiting. That in itself wasn’t particularly special, as they visited at least twice a year (usually more), but tomorrow was special because it was the anniversary of the Great Wedding Destruction as historians had come to call it. 

How many years had it been? 300? 400? One tends to forget. 

After 50 years or so, they admitted to planning the whole event. By then, Keefe had already convened with the councillors to pass same gender marriage and gotten married to Dex. The law couldn’t exactly do much, it had been a while and no one was injured so any fear of being charged with treason was history.

A few minutes later, Dex trudged into Keefe’s art studio. 

“Hey lovey, do you know where I put the high-power garden clippers?”

“I hope in your lab, but you might want to check the kitchens.”

“Why would they be in the kitchens?”

“Heard some buzzing coming from there and last time I saw the nieces they had frosting all over their faces.”

Chaos ran in the Dizznee family. 

Dex sighed as they heard a loud bang followed by an “Oops.” from downstairs. 

“Gosh if Rex doesn’t pick up his children soon...I won’t do anything but I’ll be sour about it.”

Keefe chuckled. “You might want to go check on them, wouldn’t want them to break your invention. If they haven’t already.”

Dex hummed noncommittally. “Whatcha drawing?”  

“Just a boring landscape...that happens to include a dragon.”

Dex leaned over the easel. “It’s a very pretty boring landscape that happens to include a dragon.”

“Thank you very much, dearest.” Keefe leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Now you may want to actually check on the girls. I don’t think Elwin can heal severed fingers.”

“Yeah, okay.”

As he walked from the room that used to be Cassius’ office he yelled, “Emily! Leah! Please don’t be killing each other-”

Keefe just smiled. He did that a lot nowadays. 

He hoped these days would last forever.

[theunmappedstar]

I don't know if it's just me, or does Fitz seem a little OOC for the last couple of books? I mean, since it's been the last couple of book, it might be his new character, but it just doesn't feel as continuous with the old Fitz who bought the gang gelato during Neverseen. IDK, just some thoughts.

this kinda turned into a mini fitz analyzation so oops

i agree, for the most part. it seems OOC from what we see of fitz during earlier books - from easier times. his change seemed to start a bit in Nightfall (but is mostly prominent in Flashback) and from that point onward, fitz appears to continuously lose chunks of his (positive) traits/personality piece by piece....i don’t mean it like shannon is making him a dry character, i just mean fitz (from how i see things) has lost the ability to really function in positive ways - which makes sense. fitz has undergone a lot. 

we see the first hints of his anger seep out during the period when his dad’s mind breaks. that was the first time that something really burdened fitz to a point that was unbearable. fitz can handle certain calamities, but it’s kind of like he bottles that stuff up until another major disaster strikes. fitz doesn’t know how to deal with those sort of situations, so to shield himself from guilt, he reverts to anger and blaming others as opposed to himself. 

anyway, moving forward, after his father is healed, fitz deals with more guilt because he comes to the realization that while his coping mechanism was semi-effective for himself, it is destructive towards others. he understands that he hurt sophie badly and that there’s nothing he can really do to erase it, no matter how many times he apologizes. it’s always going to be a memory between the two of them. but what is he supposed to do? his only coping mechanism is anger - and how can he direct his anger towards someone after he hurt sophie like that? after he came to understand that it hurt her? it was his fault - but he can’t feel focus on the guilt he feels either, so where does that leave him?

as we all know, it didn’t stop there. alvar’s betrayal hurt fitz enough to leave him in a haze of rage - and in the midst of it, another tragedy occured. keefe betrayed them. and that left fitz unable to function, period. (we see this as sophie recounts to keefe that fitz remained silent, didn’t get angry, and eventually broke down and cried with everyone else).

on top of that, such tragic experiences of that level are fairly new territory to him. he’d never really been exposed to hardships of that level until sophie arrived, so once the castle began to weather, it crumbled fast; one might say too fast for him to process (positively). we can see with a character like sophie that she’s accustomed to mishaps from an early age, and while fitz doesn’t have the perfect life, he doesn’t endure something of that volume until he’s older. the weight is new to him. so, he does the first thing that snaps into his head: he reacts. he yells. he blames. he acts impulsively.

with all that in mind, we can return back to the main point of the ask: fitz is acting OOC, in a way. he’s acting different from the boy we saw at the start of this series - he’d yet to be traumatized in certain aspects, so he didn’t hold the same temper he does now. 

it... sucks, in my eyes, to see him act irrationally and be unable to exit his haze, but i’ve got to hope that shannon won’t do him dirty and make him irredeemable. i have to hope that this isn’t a plot device meant to make the love triangle simpler and that this change was meant to happen.

but we’ll see, in time.

bored? send me an ask!

[tamsong]

after the war

a series of weird meta/fanfic? who knows 

it’s over. the neverseen is defeated. and it’s weird, because it was the kind of war that no one could really see an end to, the kind that might stretch out centuries into the future, but yet it ended so suddenly, barely a blip in the grand scheme of things, and now the survivors are left with nothing.

that’s the thing about wars, isn’t it? they give you a motivation. you’ll fight to save your friends, to save the world, to save yourself at the very least, but what do you do once there’s no reason to fight left? what motivates you to live on?

sophie is tired. she feels like she could sleep for a lifetime, and given the indefinite nature of elven lives, that says something about her state of mind. she hasn’t known peace since she was twelve years old, possibly forever, so she decides it’s time to take a break and figure out exactly who she is outside of the twisted dynamics of power and manipulation she was bred into. she wanders the world for a little while, sometimes with some and sometimes alone. she finds the places where it’s the most damaged, and relishes in them. not because she enjoys destruction, but because they feel like an external expression of her soul. and when green shoots push up through scarred, broken ground, sophie feels scared but hopeful. she watches the world begin to heal, and starts to believe that maybe she can, too. 

sophie doesn’t find herself, but she does find directions to get there, and finally finds the courage to start on the path.

fitz is angry. with his brother, with his family’s legacy, with the world, and most of all, with himself. he doesn’t want to be, of course. anger is like fire, and while it did, for a time, keep him safe from freezing of guilt, it burns, and no amount of water can soothe it. one day, fitz gets what he wants, and the fire goes out. his vision clears, and he can finally see the impact he’s made over the course of the war. in his friends’ and family’s eyes, there is suffering, sadness, and pain, and fitz can’t bear the knowledge of it. (what he doesn’t know is that there was love there, too, and that half the pain they experienced came from caring for him so much.) he wants to break, but promised himself that he wouldn’t after what happened to his father. instead, fitz runs. he goes to the forbidden cities and sleeps in the streets for a week, collecting random stuff like he did when he was looking for sophie. the person to find him, eventually, is dex, and the look of pure relief and affection on his face is enough to convince fitz to come home and never leave again.

fire creates things, too. fitz talks to a therapist, and learns to mend his relationships with others and with himself. instead of raging at the world, he makes something worthwhile out of it.

biana is determined. it’s a brave new world, and there’s so many things she wants to do. first things first, she stops hiding her scars, and chops her hair off at her chin. then, she stops caring about things like whispers in crowds and the opinions of men. biana declares she’ll never get a match list, and meets sophie twice a week for lunch. finally, she decides to change the world. she campaigns for more transparency in the council’s decisions, and for the acceptance of those who are talentless or have "dangerous” abilities. as it turns out, there are more people on biana’s side than she thinks. alvar was wrong-the vacker legacy is good for a lot of things. sometimes, biana overtaxes herself and it all gets a bit too much, and she gets scared, worrying that she’ll fail. she vanishes so that her weeping can’t be seen, and patches herself together piece by piece. sometimes self-care is constantly reminding herself of the truth:

biana is enough, no matter what she does. she’s whole, and no one can take that from her.

dex is relieved. he’s sick of fighting, especially with being forced to stand by while his friends hurled themselves into danger. but now dex, just like all his friends, gets to pursue a better future for himself not dependent on what other people want from him. he works on projects with tinker, but this time just for the fun of it all. he starts a line technological products for slurps and burps, and opens another location so he can further irritate the nobility. he carves a life for himself out of tears and ashes. once, while going through some human books sophie brought back from one of her trips, dex read a story of a boy named icarus who had made wings out of wax and fallen because he’d flown too close to the sun. while reading, dex remembers a silver circlet, and thinks that he’s done that before, but has learned from his mistakes. later that day, dex stands at the edge of a cliff wearing wings made of metal, and jumps, confident in his ability. dex flies, and knows that one day everything will be okay.

dex learns to live for himself above all things. he loves his family and friends, of course he does, but now he loves himself, too, and needs approval from no one.

keefe is empty. he never ended being what his mom wanted to be, and all he has left from the attempt is a fat load of nightmares. the black swan offers him a place where he can live apart from the painful memories but still remain a part of the world, but it isn’t enough. so, with the help of mr. forkle, he learns to speak english, and makes plans to move to a city called san diego. the ocean there is lovely, the sound of the waves relaxing, and the idea that this city is where sophie came from makes him feel a little simpler, a little more peaceful. eventually, he buys a house there. it’s small, taking up less space than two floors of candleshade, but it feels more like home than that stupid mansion ever did. one day, keefe decides to enroll in art school, and it’s the best choice he’s ever made. the world of humans might be less developed in terms of knowledge (and even that, he’s learning, is rather subjective), but their appreciation of creativity is unlike anything he’s ever seen. keefe makes new friends, his old ones visit often, and he feels like he belongs here.

realistically, keefe knows he’s never been alone. but now, he finally feels like it.

[leakinghate]

Legendarily Defensive: Editing the Gay Away in VLD

Disclaimer: This meta is a collaboration of the entirety of #TeamPurpleLion.  We understand while we do touch on narrative romance, we are intentionally trying to be as ship-neutral as possible, and provide that which we only have evidence for.  We encourage the experts in their respective ship-fandoms to meta as they do best on these topics, and we hope this can be a factual basis to springboard from.

In the most recent AfterBuzz interview March 4, 2019, Executive Producers Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim dos Santos revealed in no uncertain terms who, precisely, is responsible for the editing fiasco that resulted in the version of Season 8 presented to the fandom, including explaining to their viewers when the changes were called for, and a heretofore unknown why: the removal of a mlm relationship between two of the male Paladins.

Let’s break it down.

The interview itself is a little very difficult to stomach, especially the latter half.  But, the first portion is an unusually open and honest discussion of what went down behind the scenes, and what it meant to the producers.  It’s also the place where we’ll be lifting direct quotes from.  The hosts of AfterBuzz allow the Executive Producers to have the floor and speak with quite a bit of leeway, and some very curious facts come to light.  For anyone interested in the source, the interview can be found on Youtube.(3)

Voltron is a unique case.  While much of the fan base may not have been around for prior incarnations of this franchise, it has existed for quite a while.

It originally came from a Japanese show Beast King GoLion.  From this show, the robot we recognize from Voltron: Defender of the Universe, was created in 1984. There exists an interview with the Executive Producer of Defender of the Universe, Peter Keefe, as well as other cast and crew on the production of how BeastKing became Voltron.(4)

After Voltron: Defender of the Universe, several other iterations bloomed forth - some in the form of comics, some as sequels, some as reboots. The first series to follow Defender of the Universe was Voltron: The Third Dimension, a CGI-based sequel released in 1998.

While not nearly was popular as its predecessor, it managed to stir up some legal conflict:

“Worse, the Japanese creators of Beast King GoLion — Toei Animation — began saber-rattling. Toei believed World Events had overstepped the boundaries of their 1984 agreement and made the CGI series without buying those explicit rights.

To quash this dispute once and for all, Koplar and crew purchased GoLion outright in 2000. Now they had the freedom to adapt at will. But nothing was in the works.”(7)

As of 2000, Koplar and World Events Productions (WEP) owned all the rights to Voltron. Talk of a live action movie has been in the works since 2005, but with little traction. In 2010, WEP licensed rights for the Voltron franchise to Classic Media (now DreamWorks Classics) (7).   By 2011, the animated series Voltron Force was released.

In 2014 Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos approached DreamWorks Animation with the idea of producing a new Voltron show, with the license DreamWorks had recently come to own through their acquisition of Classics Media. In 2016, Voltron: Legendary Defender launched.

It’s worth noting World Events Productions licensed rights to produce Voltron content to DreamWorks Studios.  They did not hand over the entire franchise to do with as they saw fit.  DreamWorks only purchased the ability to play with the characters and the story in whatever capacity WEP believed would remain on-brand.

Amidst the protests and visceral reaction to the final season of Legendary Defender, many have felt confusion about where to direct their frustrations.

In another post, @crystal-rebellion theorized the symbolism in Season 7’s Episode 4 ‘The Feud’ was actually a very blatant representation of what was going on behind the scenes, and why. (2)

Since the most recent interview, statements from the Executive Producers as well as the host have confirmed this to be an accurate assessment of the situation.

Joaquim Dos Santos says it himself:

"This is not a vilifying of DreamWorks. Any exec we ever interacted with was like, 'Hey, we understand why you want to tell the story, we understand where you're coming from. It's a little bit bigger than that. There's other sort of controlling parties with Voltron, which makes it unique.’ It's not just a DreamWorks owned property, and I think it got logistically really really weird." (3)

Seven times, he specifically mentions the pushback didn’t come from DreamWorks, but from ‘other controlling parties.’  He alludes to some logistical weirdness, the implication being a difference in creative direction, or some dissention from higher up. In fact, the hosts and EPs discuss a controlling IP owner eight times in the course of one interview.

He also says, in regard to the issue of LGBTQ+ representation and Adam specifically:

“Here's where we arrived on this. And we were pointing to things like Overwatch. We were pointing to Steven Universe. They're different scenarios, we were in a slightly different position. We didn't have that position of being the creators of this IP. And we also weren't a video game that was marketed to teens and above. We for all intents and purposes were started as a show for boys like 6 to 11 to sell as many toys as possible. And that's just like a fact and that's business, and it is what it is.” (3)

DreamWorks is not a platform that markets ‘toys for boys’ (a talking point brought up no fewer than five times) - but World Events is. President Robert Koplar himself states his target demographic is boys and their dads in Episode 12 from the Let’s Voltron podcast not once, but twice. (5)

The EPs confirm as much with their recent statement in the March 4th ABTV Voltron interview(3) that the possibility of a male paladin’s replacement was greenlit until the IP holder learned the male paladin was to be replaced with Acxa, a woman. This kind of sexist hypocrisy goes as far back as 1984 with Allura being spanked in front of her own team in one episode(11) and tied to a chair by them to prevent her escape in another(11). The 2003 Devil’s Due comic shows Lotor, who looks to be no more than five, witness his mother’s murder via strangulation by his father (complete with an expression of horror on her dead face)(12). Lotor then suffers the same type of non-lethal strangulation in a scene where his father interrupts what the comic refers to as “recreation” with a scantily clad blonde resembling both Lotor’s mother and Allura in a different series(13). All of this takes place in a franchise whose target demographic has consistently been six to eleven year old boys and their fathers. Koplar’s company has made their hypocritical moral stance abundantly clear in Legendary Defender, even going so far as to order the destruction of the entire final season. According to Dos Santos:

“Specifically with Season 7 and 8 we basically held onto Season 7 so Season 8 was like done by the time S7 was dropping. We had like a month left when reaction for Season 7 started coming in, and that was day of the drop. We were in a weird position. To DreamWorks's credit, the tide started changing internally. They came back to us and said, okay we're open to explore this relationship between Adam and Shiro so we were in this weird position where we had all the animation done, we had $0.00 left in the budget in terms of like what we could do and it was like, all right, we know Adam's fate is what it is, do we do this and sort of like take this step knowing that we're going to take some flack? And we decided to do it so we revised the dialogue. You can probably see it in the animation. If you really pay attention it's like, it's literally our editor cutting out mouths and like puppeting different dialogue. The dialogue is pretty vague, it's sort of the best we could do, and that was a process of discussing what we could actually have them say.”(3)

Hold the phone. Taken in context, Dos Santos is explaining the process of DreamWorks giving the showrunners the green light to change the epilogue of Season 8 to give Shiro the unambiguously gay orientation they had written out of Season 7. The problem is, there is no dialogue in the epilogue. Even if we consider the epilogue to consist of everything from “one year later” onward, there is no dialogue for Shiro and another male character that would have to be reworked.

Here is what we think happened: Season 8 was finished in June. The IP owner hated it and ordered it changed at the beginning of July. Those changes included cutting a male/male romance. August came and the fandom melted down over Adam dying. Hoping to avoid a repeat of the Adam debacle, in mid-August DreamWorks came around and offered to let the showrunners put something into Season 8 for more gay representation. By this point the edits to Season 8 were almost complete, the budget was gone, and time was short, so they opted to give Shiro a wedding during the ending, in the epilogue. In an effort to brush off the clear edits to Season 8, Dos Santos mentions the lip movements during the interview but is confusing the making of the epilogue with the rest of the edits.

Indeed, it seems those edits resulted not only in the deaths of the series’ heroine and a childhood abuse victim, but also in the demolition of not just one but possibly two completed romantic arcs. When discussing Allura and Lance’s romance, Dos Santos and Emma Fyffe have this to say:

JDS: I could see the argument where it’s like, it's basic. It's what we've kindof come to expect from okay the guy sort of turned around and-- but I think Lance's arc aside from being with Allura was bigger than the Allura love story.

EF: And Lance's overall story arc I really enjoyed. But again, I think it's this whole idea that we were dealing with this IP that was like "okay, monster of the week, it was like dudes being in love with one hot girl and just macho men with fighting robots and whatever was happening with Pidge".

JDS: Right, yes, yes. (3)

The showrunner himself not only agrees Lance’s milquetoast romantic arc was due to pushback from the IP holder, in discussing the controversy surrounding the main characters’ sexual orientation, Dos Santos inadvertently reveals a major romance between two male paladins was cut.

EF: ...it is important to know that, again, you have this character who is very much your sort of quintessential, like, alpha male.

JDS: That-that was the trope that we were trying to, like, sort of step on was that, you know. I grew up with characters like Duke. To a much lesser degree, he’s a big, giant robot Optimus Prime. The idea of Optimus Prime being with another Optimus Prime was off the table. Like it was a no-go. (3)

If Allura and Lance’s IP-owner-influenced romantic arc is any indication, clearly two main paladins being together was fine. Dos Santos is referring to the inability to pair two male mains.

We don't know for sure, and won't until the original S8 is released. But, we have reasonable cause to believe Keith was intended to be gay and part of the romance that got tanked. When speaking about Keith’s sexuality Dos Santos says:

JDS: Because, I think we didn’t, we didn’t pair him with anybody, you know what I mean. I think we didn’t designate sort of where he stood. We don’t know. It’s-- It’s--

KC: We don’t know

JDS: Yeah, it-- It doesn’t really matter to be honest with you. I mean it would be great to confirm just to make people happy, but, like at the end of the day he is who he is, and leaving it open to interpretation. (3)

Do you hear that? “It would be great to confirm”. Not that it would be great if they could have done it, but if they could have confirmed it. It seems that JDS conceptualizes Keith as having an attraction to men, but he was forbidden from making that fact plain. Again, we have no concrete evidence of who Keith was slated to be with, just that the writers couldn't have two gay male paladins.

The wording of his statements is just clear enough to avoid dishonesty and just vague enough so as not to break contract. Even beyond NDAs, it’s not as if the Executive Producers can speak more directly to these points. We already have evidence of the IP owner’s character in the form of the Voltron Store’s Twitter presence outright lying about WEP and the store being separate entities:

(8) When only a few weeks earlier they had liked a tweet explicitly identifying them as one and the same, while confirming they have the final say over what can be done with the characters:

(1)

Before the fandom realized that WEP was behind the edits to S8 of VLD, the information that they owned the license was accepted fact. This excerpt from the Lets Voltron Podcast, Episode 134, is just one example:

(talking about a Voltron reference in Ready Player One)

Host 1: For those of you not in the know, if you think DreamWorks is the all in all for Voltron. Well, World Events Productions is the company that owns --

Host 2: The Voltron intellectual property.

Host 1: Many of you have heard of DreamWorks obviously. They make the show. Well, World Events Productions owns the property and has helped make this new show and all previous shows possible.

LV Podcast EP 134, 5:00-5:30 (6)

Now? Many official avenues are hastily attempting to downplay WEP’s involvement. When reached for comment in February 2019 the LV Podcast claimed that DreamWorks owned the licence.

The official phone number listed on WEP’s website no longer offers an option to connect a person to WEP, instead it offers three options: to directly input an extension, the accounting department, and The Voltron Store. (9)

In an effort to prevent fans from contacting them with complaints, WEP have inadvertently made their association with The Voltron Store explicit. Regardless of what the twitter account may claim, they are one and the same company. If these incidents weren’t damning enough, the store has further attempted to engage in a subtle smear campaign by liking tweets from users apologizing for harassment and death threats the store had received over Season 8, when all groups bringing the problems with its forced edits to WEP’s attention have specifically advocated for civil and nonviolent communication. (8)

As the story unfolds, one point is clear: Each new interview brings more information forth, repeatedly shining the spotlight on one little office in St. Louis.

WEP LLC is a private company. It has no shareholders, investors, or boards to answer to. It is the sole IP holder of the Voltron brand, and its President is the only person in the entire world who has final say over what can and cannot be done with the characters. When someone says “the IP holder” they are really talking about one man: Bob Koplar.

#TeamPurpleLion is a collective of analysts ( @crystal-rebellion, @dragonofyang​, @felixazrael, @leakinghate​, and @voltronisruiningmylife​ )intent on tracking down the who, what, where, how, and why of the destruction of VLDS8. We present sourced & cited commentary, relying on evidence so the VLD community can see what happened behind the scenes.

[acehotel]

Poet of The Month: Genise Deal

CAGED

I stand witness, to the destruction and disarray of the most beautiful women of my generation. Dark skin withered down to pale, fickle feathers-- knuckles and bones banging on, cement doors.

Scratching plaster off white walls, digging out concrete Splitting into their nail beds Chipping the edges off of love--freedom

Dark skin dropped into damn-nation. Home of the backhand slaps, in the front seat of a tricks car, land of the forced to fuck with a dislocated jaw. The United snakes of America

Backed by the backs they break, built with bloody hands Wrinkled with 24 hour non-stop poverty line labor Shitting onyx stones

I Laugh with disciples, sometimes stark mad on the streets With a fever of 50 cent loosies grape wrapped leaf wraps And spirits dangling from our forearms Sister of Lazareth, that lying muther fucker Spits about the 10 dollars he owes her Carries on crying about her sister--who is me bout her nightmares--that are mine, And her off and on dalliance with the devil, marilyn manson, and chief keef

I am a babe of the disheartened. Born in black sludge under god, in heaven Baring a womb for the forgotten Stranded out in the sun. Trailing tears on the bus, too tired to get off at the right stop.   Next to my mother’s mother, bent over in her seat Sitting in piss, Praying

I am A Lady who wears the blues And coughs up red occasionally, Giving the gifts back to Ella While Nina soaks up my sorrow And Dorothy drowns in the world Harmony fills the bathroom with needles Reclining,

I Can be Your mother and father Someone you call a stripper A daughter of a mother who calls her darling Dancer for the heterosexual dollar Casualty of a failed almost marriage Cousin of someone you call a dyke Another of a welfare queen crawling Over the truculent bruckner

Trying to get supper or a fucking sandwich Shits hard after FOSTA right,

I Will get passed by with my entrails hanging out Whilst money dances on tax dollar grave tombs My epitaph beneath your work shoes   Here lies that homely looking black bitch

Never making it past the traffic stop Pressing my teeth against a window Never making it off the train

Hair like diamonds under a microscope, a sun's shadow choking in the desert. Making the noon night again, naked and screaming-- no one hears, on these streets between Malcolm X Blvd and Lenox Hill A cacology of sounds through sscuh*, cah, whatever Dollar, nickel, please mam’ Pennies knocking against the hollow cement Begging

Plucking my eyelashes from the lid One by one self inflicted pain. Over and over skin snatched and braided cross eyed rope over the scalp Across Athena’s belt!--Blazed like Orion. Arranging a mecca of heaven on earth, praised like holy succulents below my hips. sustaining life and death. Of all things (in tha name of gods.) Amen.

*sucking teeth sound

Genise Deal was born and raised in East Harlem, New York City. Her poetry and other writing focuses on healing, trauma, dissociation from her body or bodies in contact with her own, thoughts procured through meditative practice and the interconnectedness that lies therein. Being black, being a woman and being queer all inform and illuminate her identity, shaping how she perceives the world and how the world perceives her back. 

“Caged” by Genise Deal. Copyright © 2019 by Genise Deal. Reprinted with the permission of the author. Author photo by Bymsha Browne.

This month of our Poet of the Month series is curated by The Bushwick Review, an independent literary and art magazine. With contributors from around the country (and a few international), The Bushwick Review is united by a dark sense of humor and a spirited interest in creating art that speaks to being alive today in our weird, wide world.

[legendaryauroraofnorth]

A bit late s6 review

I was caught up in exams and studying, and got to post it only now(

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    With every new season coming out Voltron LD becomes more and more unpredictable for me. I remember that with 1st s I thought it would be  one episode/one monster cartoon or smth like that but oh boy of course with such amazing creators it’s an emotional rollercoaster on fire which becomes more complex every new season but I gladly join nevertheless. So of course, SPOILERS AHEAD, SAVE YOURSELF

  We get our precious cinnamon roll more screen time <3 Hunk-comander is such a BLESSING!!!

Also his “secret plan” in dnd episode was great. My girl Pidge was also good as always, the show would be over one the first episode if not for her and it was heart-breaking to watch her, a teenager put under pressure of ship-destruction T_T

I really enjoyed the dnd episode and while it had a lot of comic relief it also had a relaxing atmosphere. Like i still remembered that the paladins will need to go and save universes later but for now they and the viewers can just sit down and enjoy the game so in my opinion this episode fit in perfectly with the whole season.

It was also nice to see some Coran alone time and hear his thoughts about his ancestor.

This season was more of Keef’s arc and it was really nice that we went back to the moment of you are my...? (father’s knife dealer jk)

I actually appreciated that Krolia did not break her character and started with doing the mission, not talking. The way that they got “to talk” was beautiful for me. They saw each other’s memories and there were not any omissions left between the two of them. Just bravo for this!) AND she openly said he's the most important person in the world for her T_t Although that time skip was a bit shocking for me, like there were theories but two years is a lot of time, i think that’s a great way to have keef mature and bond with his mother that was necessary for his character development. Otherwise it would not feel genuine if he would instantly warmed up to her (also space wolf!!! Give us a name!).

   The one of a few things that felt a little too fast for me is lotor betrayal. I mean, they have just kissed  and the next scene he's already accused and thrown on the floor. I was happy that Allura stayed true to herself and immidietly took the paladins side and didn’t waver (though her heart T_t). 

As Ezor said Lotor plans are really a bit overcomplicated and I actually did not understand was his generals turning on him also a plan or not. But his Azula-breakdown was done good in my opinion as even in Oriande he could not wipe his victory or death mentality.

Of course my heart was clenching for Shiro (Kuron - b, we been knew) and that keef vision of future - didnt think it would happen SO fast, that’s why it was unexpected. The episode  “The black paladins” was freaking brilliant and astonishing. I mean EVERY aspect of it. The fight and its animation, music, color schemes, voice acting, drama in the castle of Lions, brogans, flashbacks. Galra mark and galra eyes, kuron saying about how the team is dead and the END. I mean HOLY SMOKES!!!  When Keith spoke to real shiro, had a flashback and decided, that he will never EVER live Shiro, his brother, no matter what. With just brillian scene of rays on light in Shiro face like salvation for him and then keith's determined eyes. Please, PLEASE,  DW give people who made that episode and that final move a promotion or at least bonus payment.

That was aGAsgauidgeuiafhejAHahd – I cried happy and sad tears, was moved and stunned by all of these. Worth waiting for season every time.  We finally found space dad.

The loss of Castle of Lions (MAJOR ONE PIECE SPOILER AHEAD) hurt the same as the loss of Going Merry. Really, the ship I was upset about the most. The idea about crystal and it’s parallel with crystal from DnD episode is nice. And of course, you may think i forgot to mention one special paladin. I just love him so much that I'm writting a separate post for him, so check it out)

 Also, HUGE thanks to Dreamworks, voice actors and every member of Voltron crew for delivering this to us. I haven’t experience such excitement for series since Gravity falls and it is amazing to live and see where this journey will take us with everyone in the worldwide community, which may have some flaws but nevertheless is filled with such passionate and creative people, made from the same space dust.

[scythemichaelfaraday]

Part Two

@tallest-spork-greenbean

Green aesthetics!

Innocent? Niave? Dumb?

His first interaction with Zim was adorable

BFFS WITH MIYUKI

In the way that BFFs tell each other to perish and push them onto the floor

Live pics of shit going on?

Where are you???

MY TALLESTS?????

@sugar-gir

Did no one still not Tell this Pure Boy that Vore doesn't mean to just Eat?

HIM AND @almightiestinvader HAVE PACKKING PEANUT PARTIES AND ITS TOO FUCKING CUTE

His dog form changes upon what ZiM tags him in

He was a beagle at one point

Wonderbread

@jho-vee

I just want my creations to appreciate me..

YOURE WELCOME.MOV

Bitch

Would DIE for Tenn

Got clean for his Mija

Is prone to sudden bouts of psychosis

Is the best version of cameo jho that you can find

Can stick his hand outside of a window to flip someone off without rolling it down

How?

Because FUCK YOU I'm a god, that's why

Disgruntled cartoon father

Crashes a lot

@princess-of-lazuroth

Oh no, the Children TM are at it again

Fight A Moose

Did Zim drink Bleach again?

I can't fix stupid, but I can heal what stupid did

Momma!

Adorable

if her husband doesn't stop being a weeb she will snap his neck and then fix it

please just be safe for once. don't do this to me I'm pregnant

SERIOUSLY, YOU ARE SO CUTE UGH

@son-of-an-invader

*sparkle eyes*

Zim san

I Can See This All In My Head and I hate You For It De K

on a normal day he loves his wife

Well he still Loves His Wife

But now it's anime

A capable leader

Who is the invader you're the son of???

I'm so late???

But I love you regardless.

JUST WHAT IS WITH THE ANIME

@it-keef

Nyeh

Keef

Please

You're terrifying

But adorable

And relatable

You're valid

We LOVE YOU

UNrequited love for All Zim s

Someone blease give this boy a Zim

There's twenty

One day he just

Cracked

Like

One day the rainbow flag

And the next: a pig or something

Such a Juxtaposition

Woah

Cares very deeply about Earth

@definitelynotan-alien

Takes kys threats seriously

HIGHKEY SELF DESTRUCTIVE AND POSSIBLY SUICIDAL

PleasE HELP MY ALIEN SON

Ugh

I ve actually done THAT before, so I feel your pain, at least I didn't drink a gotdamn HALF BOTTLE you WEIRD FUCK

@para-normativity AMD him have a CANON like ZADE relationship good shit good shit

Further observation needed

@para-normativity

Funny Google Searches

Why Is Your Battery Percentage at 81% and YELLOW?

My YELLOW is 25%

@invadingyoursocialmedia

Good shit

Was gonna marry Karkat

What.. did I miss

Makes facebook like updates about what he's eating and questions

ALL CAPS

very CANON ZiM.

Part One

Quirks of each of our RP brethren that I’ve noticed.

@almightiestinvader

Capitalizing things That Don’t Need to Be in a Way that makes SENSE

fishwater face/living aquarium

Highkey self destructive

Sometimes up to date on slang, sometimes an absolute niave baby boy baby

He wants to fight everyone / a whole list of wars to wage

He’s forgetful

Has been close to heart attacks several times

Fuck da Empire!!

Loves his Dib-mate

Can you like not put yourself in constant danger??

Or are you physically unable to?

Lionfishes are EVIL

Wh-

@agentmothmanstrikesagain

Finna Chocolat Spaghett Reached

Buttered Bat (so that enemies can’t take it from you! he never cleans it)

Killed god

Acts like he hates his creator but sobs profusely when he says he’s the best character

Tall

Fucking earrings

AaaaaaaaaAAAAA

Constantly saving @almightiestinvader

Ball of anxiety

Hates @human-zim

Is a meme

Obscure Homestuck references that confuse the fuck out of Tennmod

@human-zim

Chance eyes

Zussy

:)

Here I am admitting without admitting I’m an ALIEN BUT IGNORE THAT COMPLETELY I AM HUMAN SO VERY HUMAN ITS IN MY NAME

So Very Loyal to His Tallests

Hates @agentmothmanstrikesagain

Has a sort of unfinished business with both TAKs.

Listens to ABBA

Hoedown Throwdown

I’m pretty sure it was the other ZiM that said that but ehhh you were involved

@hi-im-tak

SwEATERS

signed a sort of deal with tallest purple a while ago that vaguely sounds like tallest promotion

Furthermore, she grew

Loves her parental unit Purple

TALLEST PURPLE REDEMPTION ARC

Such a sweetie

She loves making snack planets

Where MiMi at?

@ratlord-skoodge

Used to worship the ground Zim stood on

Then THAT happenened

Zim: *dying*

Haha that’s cool. Make sure you feed the rats tho.

RAAAAATS

Not An Alien No Sir-Ree

No free Wi-Fi

@candyman-purple

alcoholic recovering

Im so lost. He almost died.

Huge gay for Prof Membrane

THE WHOLE REASON I MADE THIS GODDAMN THING IS BECAUSE OF ‘LAVA VADER COCOA’

KEEP MESSING UP WORDS I SWEAR TO GOD ACHK

but also huge gay for His Tallest Red??

Loves his child unit @hi-im-tak

AGAIN

Lava VADER COCOA

I’m CHOKing

@snacklord-red

Haha haha *sweatdrop*

Major gay for Red

Otter pops

Misses his Pur

Plz help him

Where are you at?

Can we go get you?

@almightyqueenmiyuki

Siri

Wh

So graceful

Pretty

Compassionate?

Pretty neat

Pre-Asshole Era

Reads lesbian fiction

Lesbian????

Who’s her lover???

Does she love???

Where are you?

Where have all the TALLESTS GONE/???

[poetspade45-blog]

Letter to the Editor: Matthew Clemente’s Response to Kevin Hart’s “A Return to God After God”

JANUARY 13, 2019

Matthew Clemente’s Response to Kevin Hart’s “A Return to God After God” (November 25, 2018)

IT IS UNCOUTH to respond to a review of one’s work — this can be admitted from the start. Doubly so when one holds one’s reviewer in high regard, as I earnestly do. I have an enormous respect for Kevin Hart, who is not only a careful scholar but also a genuine artist, someone who brings together theology, philosophy, poetry, and the artistry of living in the manner called for by The Art of Anatheism. What is more, I was honored and humbled by Dr. Hart’s interest in the two works I co-edited. His review was thorough and thoughtful, engaging not only the volumes themselves but the philosophical currents that inspired them. Nevertheless, after reading the review I could not help but to feel that — out of fairness to our contributors who put so much time, care, and effort into their chapters — a couple of his claims necessitated responses.

First, Hart makes the assertion that “not many of the contributors have a rich knowledge of theology […] Many in the collections seem to be theological liberals, but theirs is not the theological liberalism of Ritschl or Tillich; it is a liberalism home grown in the thin soil of cultural studies.” Admittedly, I myself have not undergone the type of rigorous theological training needed to plumb the depths of my own Roman Catholic tradition. But I don’t believe the same could be said of, say, Emmanuel Falque, who has written extensively on the Church Fathers — in particular, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Augustine — as well as medieval theologians such as Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Bonaventure, and Erigena. John Panteleimon Manoussakis’s most recent book, The Ethics of Time (2017), proposes one of the more original, yet orthodox readings of Augustine’s Confessions in recent memory. It does so, in part, by developing key concepts such as the problem of movement (kinesis) in the thought of Maximus the Confessor, and the understanding of the diastemic nature of fallen creation in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, then relating them to contemporary thinkers, including theologians like Hans Urs von Balthasar and John Zizioulas. Another contributor, Marianne Moyaert, has spent her career developing the notion of “Comparative Theology,” which attempts to “help theologians to further develop their doctrinal traditions” by encouraging them to engage rigorously with the sacred texts of other faiths. And, as Hart rightly notes, Christina Gschwandtner has written clear and careful treatments of many theologians and philosophers of religion, including a remarkably thorough consideration of the works of Ephrem the Syrian, in one of the volumes under review. All these scholars possess a rich understanding of Christian theology. None of them, as far as I am aware, considers himself or herself to be a theological liberal. Nor, I think, would most impartial observers question the depth of theological understanding of some of the more renowned contributors to the volumes such as Julia Kristeva, Thomas Altizer, John Caputo, and Jean-Luc Nancy.

Second, Hart writes, “I found myself asking why almost all the contributors seem so uninterested in putting pressure on Kearney’s ideas. It is strange […] upon completing these two volumes one would put them down with a sense that anatheism is the very last word in the philosophy of religion, with little to be said by way of correction.” This assertion struck me as odd for two reasons. First, because The Art of Anatheism — which I co-edited with Kearney — makes plain that its purpose is to “further develop the anatheist proposal.” That is, to explore how “anatheism — the return to God after the death of God — opens naturally to a philosophy of theopoetics.” The import of Kearney’s thesis is, as expressly stated, to be assumed. Second, and more to the point, it is patently untrue that neither volume includes criticism of Kearney’s work. Indeed, the very critiques that Hart raises in his review are addressed at length. “One target of Kearney’s criticism,” he writes, “endorsed by several of his admirers, is Christian dogma […] before agreeing to dissolve or at least minimize reliance on doctrine, one might want to be given good reasons why one should do so.” A fair point — one which Marianne Moyaert explicitly makes in her essay “Anatheism and Inter-Religious Hospitality.” Distancing herself from Kearney, she writes:

I share with Kearney the firm conviction that a spirit of interreligious hospitality has the potential to break through the spiral of tribal tendencies, but I do not share his negative stance on dogmatic traditions. I do not think dogmatic theism necessarily excludes welcoming strange gods; matters are more nuanced.

Relying on documents such as Dei verbum (the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) and the writings of thinkers like John Henry Newman, Moyaert argues that her “particular dogmatic tradition contains theological resources for dialogue even though it also claims that in Christ, God’s revelation reaches its climax.” Agreeing with Hart’s assertion that “some dogmas, if not all of them, attempt to indicate mysteries,” she concludes that “Catholic theology also acknowledges that Deus semper maior est. Not only do we not grasp the fullness of his revelation; his gracious self-communication extends beyond the boundaries of our own Christian tradition.”

Hart writes: “It is odd that, over the course of two quite thick volumes, there is no concern registered about what one might retrieve of the sacred in the brave new world that Kearney sketches […] not all the sacred is benign. Some of it is quite malign.” This critique finds echoes in both books under review. Manoussakis dedicates a sizable portion of his essay to “Destructive Poetics, Painful Pleasure, and the Erotics of Thanatos.” Freud, Nietzsche, Lacan, Sartre, and Deleuze factor heavily in this anatheistic reading of the death drive and its relation to the divine. Jacob Rogozinski, in “The Twofold Face of God,” examines the horrible ambiguity of the divine in the story of Abraham — the God who demands the sacrifice of Isaac. Jean-Luc Nancy and James Wood each provide critical challenges to anatheism from atheistic perspectives. (Nancy even counters Kearney’s interpretation of da Messina’s Annunciata, offering a reading of his own. Where Kearney reads the painting as the secular made sacred, Nancy reads it as the sacred made profane.) And L. Callid Keefe-Perry, in “The Wager That Wasn’t,” questions whether Kearney sets up an authentic wager at all — whether the risk of choosing a “malign” deity is even possible for the anatheist proposal. “Kearney wants anatheism to persist in a moment of true tension […] And yet, I cannot help but to wonder if, in fact, the philosopher doth protest too much.”

It is neither my job nor my intention to review the reviewer or even his review. I hesitated before writing this response. As I said above, I have nothing but respect for Kevin Hart, and I would not have written this had I not felt that I owed it to the exceptional scholars who contributed to the two volumes; I felt obligated to highlight the rigor and clarity of their work. It is my hope that this congenial reply fosters more dialogue around what I consider to be a vital topic, and that it emphasizes not only the exactness we demand of our scholars, but also the hospitality, generosity, and goodwill characteristic of all those engaged in a genuine pursuit of wisdom.

¤

Kevin Hart’s Response to Matthew Clemente

Matthew Clemente thinks I have been a little rough with regard to the two collections of essays on Richard Kearney with which he has been involved. The review struck me as benign, all the more so because I put Kearney front and center in the review; he is not only a friend but also a philosopher whose itinerary is close to my own in some respects. In more than one way, Kearney and I belong to the same family, and I would like to see him treated well. That Clemente also wishes to treat him well is evident; and at heart we disagree more about the importance of historical knowledge and the proper treatment of intellectual positions than the rightness of the path Kearney has taken.

Doubtless that knowledge and treatment would have been more expressly articulated had I composed a long and careful essay on anatheism and its supporters. However, a review is a short piece, written partly to indicate to potential buyers if a given book is something they should own, and partly to maintain as high a standard of intellectual debate as is possible in the media. To be sure, I regret that so much discussion of religion these days is conducted without due knowledge of theology and the history of theology; it means that our intellectual engagements with religion, which are so important, are conducted with reference mainly to the living present, and often in ignorance of important distinctions, concepts, arguments, and practices. Clemente begins by conceding his own lack of “rigorous theological training,” which does not put him in a particularly good place from which to speak about my criticisms. He then identifies four contributors who, he thinks, are theologically well educated, one of whom I mention in the review for the depth of her knowledge of a writer in the early Church. Three contributors are defended, then, out of 35, which I take to be consistent with my judgment that “not many of the contributors have a rich knowledge of theology” [my emphasis].

Clemente also objects to my caveat that there is little offered by way of criticism of Kearney’s project. Any interesting idea benefits by having smart and well-educated people put pressure on it, and this can be done in all sorts of ways. One can examine examples that Kearney gives, ponder different ways of drawing distinctions than the ones he proposes, and explore counter-examples to his case. These things, along with several others, help the community to assess the value and strength of a position. What’s more, they help the author to sharpen his or her ideas and so produce the best work possible.

It’s true: I did not find enough of this critical practice in the two volumes under review. According to Clemente, my discontent was because I did not notice that the contributors sought to “further develop” Kearney’s ideas. On the contrary, I did; but I thought that the bulk of the two volumes simply didn’t engage those ideas at a level that would make anyone wish to take them up in preference to others that are also put before us in conferences, seminars, libraries, bookshops, journals, and the media. No doubt I could have applauded two friends, Emmanuel Falque and John Manoussakis, among others, for the depth of their philosophical and theological knowledge; and no doubt I could have thrown up my hands, for the umpteenth time, when reading Jean-Luc Nancy, who plays a very loose game with monotheism, and whose prose strikes me as rough and ready at best. But a review is a review, not an essay and not an exercise in grading term papers; and a review of two edited collections, with a total of 35 different contributions, must look a little more often to the mile than to the inch.

¤

Matthew Clemente is a teaching fellow at Boston College specializing in philosophy of religion and contemporary continental thought. He is author of Out of the Storm: A Novella and is editor (with Richard Kearney) of The Art of Anatheism.

Kevin Hart is the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Virginia. His most recent books are Barefoot (Notre Dame University Press, 2018) and Poetry and Revelation (Bloomsbury, 2018). He is currently preparing a set of Gifford Lectures to deliver at the University of Glasgow.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/letter-to-the-editor-matthew-clementes-response-to-kevin-harts-a-return-to-god-after-god/