#a longer list of headcanons than originally intended XD

[m0nster-babi]

I see quite a few BAU Agere Family fics and headcanons of Hotch being the dad, Rossi being the grandpa, and the rest are their littles which is super cute! However, I would like to introduce my own personal BAU Fam

Rossi is absolutely the grandpa, Garcia is the momma, JJ is a flip, and the others are the littles

Hotch usually regresses the youngest to a toddler with Reid being second youngest, Morgan is an older child, Prentiss is anywhere between older child to preteen, and JJ is anywhere between younger to older child (between Reid's little age and Morgan's)

Morgan and Hotch seem to 'fight' over Reid's attention quite often

Prentiss is most often aware of Hotch's age and is most active in finding ways of involving him in games safely

Rossi sometimes has to argue to get the kids to eat food outside of just nuggets or mac and cheese or Garcia's cookies. His cooking work, he feels, goes unappreciated (he's totally not dramatic when guilt tripping the kids into trying his food). His arguments are often with Reid and Morgan

All the kids LOVE and are fascinated with Garcia's outfits and accessories! She always looks so pretty to them, and Reid and Hotch, being younger, tend to get distracted by her accessories a lot

Morgan most often refers to Garcia as Momma while Reid eventual gets comfortable and says it more often, and Rossi will refer to Garcia as Mommy to the littles. Prentiss and JJ often call her just Penny, and Hotch doesn't really say words

Rossi doesn't physically play with the littles as much as Garcia (old man XD) but he instead often asks them questions about what they're doing/making and will let them talk or show him through their process

Morgan's favorite activity is make-believe, adventures where he is the victorious hero! They are often more fantasy based rather than games like Cops and Robbers

Reid's favorite activities are of course reading and generally getting into things he's not supposed to. A lot of things are ment to be kept out of children's reach but he'll grab it and show off some physics or chemistry magic

Hotch's favorite activities are playing with Legos (mainly just separating the pieces) and napping. He's often a very tired baby who doesn't like a lot of loud noises

JJ's favorite activities are drawing and reading when regressed. She loves using bright colors in her drawings meaning that Garcia is often her favorite subject, asking her to pose for a drawing. JJ sometimes reads with Reid but when regressed she often chooses a different book since he doesn't always pick the 'age appropriate' ones. When she's big, she loves sitting with Reid and reading

Prentiss often goes along with what other people may want, but she does love playing make-believe with Morgan a lot. She likes being the powerful witch who kidnapped and poisoned Princess Penny and Morgan has to save her before the stroke of midnight or she may never wake up again! Mwa ha ha!

Rossi often naps with Hotch (once again, old man)

Reid doesn't generally like laying down for nap time, but a night light for his fear of the dark and reading to him till he falls asleep often helps

The older littles don't generally have set nap times like the younger ones, but naps don't always sound so bad

JJ when big (often referred to as Aunty) tends to make comments on Garcia constantly spoiling the kids with new toys and baked goods, but then turns around and buys new books or pacis or sippies/cups ect. that 'Ooo, Prentiss loves this character! Of course she needs the whole cup set!' or 'Reid said he used to have this book when he was younger!' or 'Morgan loves playing make-believe, a few costumes won't hurt to have'

Reid is the main collector of stuffed animals. When he carries one around, he'll often spout facts about the animal or character

Prentiss likes helping out around the house, like helping Rossi with the cooking even if it's just stirring the pot, or cleaning up after the littles lay down for naps. Morgan teases her calling her Mini Momma

[carlottastudios]

Why does my internal motivation seem to hate posting on Saturdays so much? But regardless, you guys ARE getting two posts this weekend! Hurray! Hopefully, these will lift your spirits at least a little during these nutsy times. Also, get ready for a long-ish description for this drawing because I feel it deserves it. This is a bit of a special sketch for me, not only because it features my current-favourite-ship-ever, but also because it was inspired by a certain song. A song which is basically KeithxZuri in a nutshell, and thus a song that I have personally dubbed “DA KEIRI SONG”. Yes, in all caps. Because I’m extra and because, seriously, it’s a beautifully fitting song. The song is, as you might’ve guessed from the title of this sketch, Shelter by Ray Lamontagne, but SPECIFICALLY, the cover version by Steven Yeun. And if that name rings a bell, THEN IT SHOULD! BECAUSE IT’S KEITH’S VOICE ACTOR! That’s right! The VA for half of this ship sang a beautiful cover of this song (not to mention played it on the guitar) (can I just take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Steven Yeun has the voice of an angel?) (oh, and I totally headcanon that Keith can play the guitar now!), this song which is beyond-a-doubt the theme song for this ship. Can you see now why I found this song so fitting that I had to make a drawing based off of it?!?! And why I hope to write a fanfic based on it too?!?! Now, given my huge-ass list of fanfic ideas, I can’t make any promises on the fanfic front, but I will try my darndest to write this one! And I will attempt to fill it with feels, hurt/comfort goodness and romantic softness out the wazoo! Now, I could end this description here, buuuuttt I wanna wax poetic a bit longer on why I find this song so damn fitting for my precious emo babus, as well as touch on why I drew them like this, soooooo I’m gonna! XD Firstly, I’m just quickly going to share the lyrics of the song to you guys so you all know what I’m talking about during my poetic waxing (also, here’s a link to the cover so you can fully appreciate Steven Yeun’s blessed rendition of this song: https://youtu.be/k6wDOi2HrsI): I guess you don’t need it I guess you don’t want me to repeat it But everything I have to give I give to you It’s not like we planned it You tried to stay but you could not stand it To see me shot down slow as though it wasn’t an easy thing to do Listen well All of this around us will fall over I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do You will shelter me, my love, and I will shelter you I will shelter you I left you heartbroken But not until those very words were spoken Has anybody ever made such a fool outta you? It’s hard to believe it Even as my eyes don’t perceive it The very things that make you live are killing you Listen well All of this around us will fall over I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do You will shelter me, my love, and I will shelter you I will shelter you Alright, so you all know this song now? Good! Now why is this song so fitting for keiri, you might be wondering if you weren’t one of those to whom I’ve rambled about keiri in private chats and therefor know more about this ship than most of my followers? Allow me to enlighten you!!! The song seems, at least in my interpretation, to be about a couple who’s facing difficulties, but that still love each other, and the narrator/singer affirms this love and this commitment and devotion they and the person they’re singing about/their partner have. It’s like the whole message of this song is “This isn’t going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it, and even if everything else goes to shit, I know you still love me and I sure as heck still love you, and that’s what matters”. At least, that’s how I interpret it, and I know it might not be the original intended meaning, but that’s the meaning I get from this song. And this message pretty much describes how Keith and Zuri get together in most of my headcanons, including my main headcanon, which is the storyline I would write if I were in charge of VLD and had to make it a show. See, Keiri isn’t a fast-burn romance. I wouldn’t call it a slow-burn either, because I’m a bit too impatient to make it a slow-burn (I prefer couples being together over the process of them getting together), but the point is that they don’t get together immediately. The biggest reason for that is because of their emotional baggage. Keith, as we know, has trust issues and fears getting rejected and hurt by people he cares about. Zuri, for her part, is still stuck in the grieving process for the many losses she went through in her life and she fears that, if she gets close to someone again, they’ll just end up dying in the war just like pretty much everyone she cared deeply about in her life until this point. Nonetheless, they end up forming a bond and grow to deeply care about each other. It gets to the point where Keith trusts Zuri, views her as a close friend and even likes the idea of being in an intimate relationship with her (it helps that, yes, he finds her attractive). On Zuri’s side, it’s much the same: she trusts Keith, she’s attracted to Keith, she enjoys his company, she finds that she’s closer to him than she is with anyone, and the idea of being in a relationship with him does appeal to her very much. But it also scares her. All of the things I just said about how she views Keith scares her. Because what if something happens to him? What if he gets injured or worse in the war? What if it claims his life as well as the lives of everyone else she’s opened her heart to? Then all the pain of loss that she’s been trying to numb herself to and supress all these years will come crashing back, maybe even worse than before! So, even as she and Keith grow closer throughout their “courtship” period, she’s trying the whole time to keep a distance between them, to subtly push Keith away, to prevent him from getting too close, to keep from letting him in entirely. But Keith realizes what she’s doing. I mean, it’s hard for him not to: it’s what he’s been doing for years. And he knows first-hand how lonely and sad this kind of self-isolation feels, not to mention how unhealthy it is! BTW: I just want to note that, at this time, he’s forming closer bonds with the other paladins and getting a truly supportive found-family/support system, even though all that stuff with the BoM is still on his mind. I just wanted to say that he is in a better headspace by now. Still not perfect, but better than at the start of the show. So, yeah, he recognizes what Zuri’s trying to do and he knows that it’s not okay. So, he confronts her about it, which does get her to reveal what she’s going through and to admit that, yes, she’s been trying to push him (and the other paladins, I might add) away because she’s so terrified of the pain that losing him (and them) will cause her. And Keith is understanding, but also more determined than ever. He lets her know that he understands why she’s doing this, to avoid pain, but it’s going to cause more harm than good and it’s just going to hurt her in the long-run and he doesn’t want her to go through that hurt. He understands that she’s scared and that she has reason to be scared (they are fighting a war, after all) and that, honestly, he’s scared of losing his loved ones too. Hell, he did lose a loved one, his father, years ago, and it does still pain him. But that doesn’t make him wish he’d never loved his father. Similarly, his fear of losing the paladins doesn’t make him love them any less, and his fear of losing Zuri doesn’t make him not love her. It just makes him want to make the very most of his time with her. He tells her that he’s there for her, that no matter what she does, he’s not going to stop caring about her, and he knows that she cares about him too. He doesn’t push this part too much, though, thankfully. He respects Zuri too much to try coaxing her into the relationship that, let’s face it, they both know she wants. He’s ready and willing to be with her, but only if she is. It’s got to be mutual and, if she decides that she just isn’t ready to face her fear or that loving him is worth the pain that it could bring, he’ll be sad as hell but he’ll respect that. Thankfully, though, Zuri, after given a bit of time to think it over, does choose to stop living in fear and letting it cause her so much internalized and supressed heartache and misery and loneliness. So, even though it scares the shit out of her, she confesses her feelings for Keith and they finally get together. Of course, they still have their own issues and their problems don’t go away with them getting into a relationship. But the fact that they’ve found someone they can be open with, someone who they know will support them and love them throughout all of the trials life can offer, does make things easier. They are each other’s shelter in the storm of life, so to speak: not making the storm go away, but making it easier to bear as they get through it. And that, kids, is why I effin’ love my ship and why this song (particularly this version of the song) is their theme song! Also, I think that’s a long enough description for you! If you read the whole thing, you earn a gold star and a cookie! REFERENCES: None to be had except the character designs! DISCLAIMERS: Voltron: Legendary Defender © DreamWorks & World Events Productions Zuri © me this drawing © me

[ladykf-writes]

Fanfic Writer Appreciation (and a little self love)

Sooooo, as talked about I wanted to do a little promo. I may not always be my favorite writer, but I try to be one of my cheerleaders. And well, if you’re here you obviously have some interest in what I’m up to.

SO! Here’s a list of my currently-published WIPs and some info about them, in the order that I’ve updated them, most recent to oldest. 

Feel free to ask questions about any of them!

Dog Whistle (Ao3 || FFN) - started off as a prompt from @snackarey​ when I reblogged some Soulmate AUs. This one was a prompt for soulmates (Zack/Kunsel) who felt what each other felt - like pain. Needless to say, this went into a canon divergent AU where Kunsel felt some of what Zack was going through when Hojo got a hold of him after Nibelheim. And saved him, setting off an ever-increasing list of revolutionary consequences. It’s nearly 58K, and though I’m a little stuck I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Dewprism: Journey to the [Relic] (Ao3 || FFN) - this actually has a lot more written than I’ve posted, I just got a little frustrated because well... the fandom is teeny tiny and there’s no real feedback. But! It’s an interesting piece. It’s a semi-novelization where I’m taking the old PS1 Classic from Squaresoft, Threads of Fate/Dewprism and merging the two storylines. Basically... you can’t play the game anymore unless you got it from the PSN for your PSP or... PS2, I think? Or emulate it, of course, you can do that. And I wanted to bring the experience to more people, because it’s got such a great story.

It’s Not a Game (Ao3 || FFN) - this is my Avengers/FF7 crossover, and funny story, it was actually born out of a comment back on my old Genesis RP blog about how Genesis would totally be Tony Stark’s favorite character if he played Crisis Core. It’s turned into a full blown fixit I have a type and I actually have like, 90% of the next chapter done, it just doesn’t feel quite right so I haven’t posted it. And am, of course, stuck. There’s a case of choice paralysis here; the premise is that, in the MCU, FF7 is a series like it is in our world, and Tony is a fan. So he goes to make a simulation to do a self-insert... only he somehow transports himself (and Bruce) to a dimension where it’s real. A “Stark-insert” someone called it; and it does use a lot of “Self-Insert” tropes, actually. There’s just so many ways it could go that I’m stuck on choosing exactly how to progress here.

Party of Five (Ao3 || FFN) - the MMO AU! This was actually originally a prompt @up-sideand-down​ got, that I got permission to take off with. It’s a modern AU AGSZC where they meet online playing this MMO I made up that’s based off of FF7 and modeled after a mashup of like, me studying WoW and my experiences playing SWTOR. I’ve actually got some ideas of where it’s going, I just got too caught up in technicalities and need to reroute it back to the relationships going on.

Welcome to FF7 (series link, Ao3) - this is me hashing out basically what I think went down pre-games. Most of it is headcanon, I cannot stress that enough. It’s based off of the little we know, of course, but there’s just so much we don’t that it’s mostly headcanon. Tons of OCs. It’s a whole series, and they overlap - different sections that follow different departments, mostly. The base story is Welcome to ShinRa (Ao3 || FFN) and that follows the man who will become President Shinra from back when they first discover mako energy. I’ve also got Welcome to the Science Department (Ao3 || FFN) which starts off with college students Gast and Grimoire and how they get drawn into the beginnings of what becomes ShinRa Electric.

And last but not least, honorable mention to Times of Change (Ao3) - this was actually a piece inspired by @deadcatwithaflamethrower‘s Re-Entry series. I desperately need to reread that before I can hope to continue this, but... one day. One day.... I don’t suggest reading it right now, my headcanons have changed and it needs an overhaul. But you’ll see eventually.

And now... the WIPs you haven’t seen. (Under a cut)

By fandom, just to keep things straight, but in no particular order otherwise.

Compilation of FF7

The Snowball Effect (Ao3 || FFN) ... sequel? continuation? - as one of the gift exchange presents I’ve just done this past month, it is definitely standalone as is, but if I ever figure out where I want to take it, I’ll continue that one. It was just far too much fun.

The Price of Freedom - the sequel to To Be Human, which... I’m looking forward to, but I really burnt myself out on TBH so it’s going to be longer than anticipated before I approach this one. TBH definitely stands on its own, but there were some loose ends left to tie up, so we’ll see how that goes. And when it goes, when I’m ready to approach that again. TBH needs some editing, too... lots of work there.

The Unnamed Pokemon/FF7 crossover that I’ve talked about for... a couple years now (yikes) but now actually have a plot for. It’s very interesting to me, putting Pokemon on Gaia, and seeing how that changes everything. Because like, they’d have presumably used Mew’s DNA since there’s no Jenova (I can’t see them using Deoxys, which would be the closer parallel) and since there’s no Chaos, Grimoire is still alive. Which means no extra Drama between Lucrecia and Vincent - and really, there shouldn’t be the stress between Vincent and Hojo over her being sick because Mew would theoretically be much more compatible with humans than Jenova was.

What I’m saying is Seph has three parents and at least one set of grandparents and a much more stable Sephiroth (and Genesis and Angeal, thanks to Lucrecia teaming up with Gillian) leads to some very interesting changes. Like deciding they don’t want to fight the Wutai war anymore. >_>

Hold My Flower - a timetravel fic featuring our one and only flowergirl, who has had enough of people messing up her planet and refuses to just... let it die. She is, unquestionably, a force of nature. No fragile flower to be found here, this is the gal you see in the OG who threatened a mob boss and meant it. Heaven help anyone who gets in her way. She’s going to save the world. Possibly in a Turk Suit, don’t look at me.

The Long Game - Reeve goes back in time, and holy crap this one is a monster I am truly intimidated by so it’s gonna take a while for me to get going on that. XD But basically, similar premise to the above - the world isn’t healing and someone has to do something, so Reeve is nominated due to his position in ShinRa and potential to... he’d say “influence” but let’s call a spade a spade - manipulate people and events to a more favorable outcome.

A third BIT fic is one that I started writing with my friend @askshivanulegacy back in... damn, somewhere between 2011-2013, before we switched to writing SWTOR fic together. It’s one where Zack is sent back in time, and the differences in him post-Hojo change things even before he can start deliberately changing anything. But I got permission to take and remake that, so I intend to, one day. It was Good Stuff. And you can never have too much timetravel.

Dragon Ball Z

So, this is an oooooold fandom of mine - the first fanfics I ever wrote (under a different name, no I’m not telling XD it was ten years ago) were for DBZ, and definitely the first ones I ever read, back in the days of dial up. And I read a couple interesting takes on Chichi/Vegeta fic... and I was talking with @vorpalgirl about it and said I’d love to try my hand at something with that one day. I think they have the potential to be a really great pair (don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the canon pairings but those two have a lot of potential) so... yeah someday I might dip my toes back into Z. It’s on the wishlist, as well as reviving and cleaning up an old unfinished work of mine. Someday~

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Seven Years Lost - this one I’ve been debating a long time, and even did a little on! It’s basically how I rationalize what happens when Link pulls the Master Sword out and - well, spoilers but it’s a really old game so - when he comes out as a teenager and is immediately able to handle a nearly-adult body. It involves a dreamscape scenario where he communicates with his past incarnations and learns from them, and from sharing dreams with Zelda due to their bond.

Sailor Moon (manga/Crystal based)

Second Chances - I read a lot of SM fanfic back in the day, and my favorite ones were... more real? Like, there were more consequences to these 14 year old kids out there fighting for their lives and sometimes losing them. I’d like to tell a story through Minako/Venus’ eyes primarily, covering what that’s like, and then I also just really want a happy ending for the senshi/shittenou? So... yay canon divergence, lol. You guys know the deal by now. XD

Star Wars: Legends Era

United We Stand - SWTOR fanfic, baby! Basically, I’m just dying to see the eight classes cross over each other, and I will bend canon to do it. For anyone that’s played the original class story lines, there is some cross over but believe me when I say there were huge opportunities that were let drop by nature of the game. Just with the two Jedi stories alone... but that’s #spoilers for a not-as-old game so I’ll leave that be and only elaborate if asked.

(And do feel free to ask about any of these! I’d love to hash them out more.)

[mad-madam-m]

Everbody seems to be *hating* the Voltron finale, so I wanted to ask your thoughts on it.

First off, I am sorry this took so long to answer, but I’ve been stupidly, stupidly busy since even before the season aired, so I haven’t had much time to respond.

A very short version: I didn’t hate the final season. Although there are many aspects of it that disappointed me or that I wasn’t happy with, there were also many aspects that I really liked or even loved, so my feelings are mixed and bittersweet.

I think I wanted to like it more than I did, but I also didn’t hate it as much as most people did, and processing all those feelings has taken me a while and I’ve mostly stayed off social media to do it. I can handle hearing disappointment/hurt one-on-one from friends, but I absolutely cannot deal with the unfiltered wave of emotion on places like Twitter and Tumblr right now. What little of it I did see was enough to stress me out badly (and the holidays are stressful enough already, oof), so I’ve mostly been hanging out on Dreamwidth, playing a 3-sentence ficathon, or searching for Tiger & Bunny art because it’s my happy place.

So, yeah, that’s kind of my brief thoughts on season 8. If you want the (much) longer version, including a more detailed breakdown of what I liked and what I didn’t, read on:

Things I loved:

- Hunk. Y’all. I loved Hunk. My headcanon for him has always been that he either ends up opening a restaurant, or that he becomes a diplomat who uses food to help bridge the differences between alien races. To actually see that happen in canon brought me so much joy, you have no idea.

- Pidge, particularly Pidge and her mom. Every scene they had together was fantastic. I especially loved their bargaining in the Clear Day episode. The Olkraion episode was also heartbreaking.

- The entire first episode. Oh my God, I thought the first episode was hilarious. The references to the previous series had me burying my face in my pillow so I wouldn’t wake anybody up with my laughter. The mall trip was absolutely fantastic, and I adored getting to see all the girls hang out together. And the scene with Coran and Lance? Hysterical. (Also, had to love that painting of Coran and Alfor; Coran, you are not subtle at all.)

- Lance and Allura. They were fucking adorable, which still astounds me because I wouldn’t have even been close to liking this ship in seasons 1 and 2. But they were super cute together and all of their scenes were very sweet.  

- Lance and Keith having a couple of surprisingly nice conversations? I missed their bickering, but I did like getting to see them actually being friendly with each other.

- The theme that people can change and find redemption, although I don’t know that it was handled as well here as I would’ve liked (see below), it is one of my favorite themes and I do think some of the .

- Zethrid and Ezor! Alien girlfriends reunited!

- Veronica being unendingly sweet and friendly to Acxa and Acxa being awkward and not knowing how to handle that is my fucking jam, you guys. I could’ve watched another 3 episodes of that easily.

- How much Keith has grown since season 1 and him acknowledging that growth. My chest actually clenched.

- I thought the documentary episode was cute. (Although admittedly, the scenes where the dog carried the camera, I had to stop watching because they were giving me motion sickness.) And I adored Hunk making the Altean dessert for the Alteans they’d recovered.

- The Clear Day episode. Really, the light-hearted funny episodes have always been my favorites, so I liked that we got more than one this season.

- Pidge and Allura having some truly great scenes together. We don’t see the two of them together very often, and the shopping in the first episode and the episode on Olkarion were both great for that. (And Pidge helping Lance get something shiny for Allura the way he helped her get the game system in Space Mall was just wonderful.)

- Everybody getting to talk to the previous Paladins. God, my heart. Even if I wasn’t particularly happy with that part of the plot, I really did like getting to see more of all the original Paladins, and the way it felt like the story was really coming full circle.

- I choked up when Atlas and Voltron combined to form one giant dual robot. I thought they were going to leave Shiro behind for the final confrontation with Honerva, but no. I loved getting to see the six of them fighting together, side-by-side, and that Shiro was there with them for the end of it.

- The final shot of the five of them watching their Lions fly away, with the focus on Keith and Shiro together as Black’s Paladins.

- And the final final shot of the Lions and Allura in the nebula. In the original Beast King GoLion series (the Japanese series that Voltron was cribbed from), there was a goddess at the center of the universe responsible for all creation (if I’m remembering it correctly), and that’s what this reminded me of. I don’t know if that’s the implication they intended—that Allura had become the goddess—but that’s what I took from it.

Things I didn’t love:

- Not enough Shiro, and I missed the little moments with him and Keith that we’ve seen sprinkled throughout most of the seasons. (I don’t expect The Black Paladins every episode, but good lord, would it have killed them to just have a couple of minutes of Shiro and Keith walking around the Clear Day carnival together? Hanging out on the night before launch day? Hell, just put Shiro on Black with Keith and Kosmo and give them a couple of lines of conversation before Lance comes up. It wouldn’t have been hard.)

- Allura actually letting the tiny evil creature inside her and then…nothing really happens? Like?? I really thought there was going to be more of a consequence for her taking that inside her because it’s pretty clear it can’t be controlled and I was seriously thinking she was not far away from going full darkside for at least an episode. But it just…did exactly what they wanted to do and that was that?

- Where the hell did Ezor even come from?! Like, I’m a-okay that she lived, but. Uh. What? I really wish that had been better explained, especially because she apparently had a pretty significant come-to-Jesus moment sometime between season 7 and season 8. (There were several moments like this, where like…I thought someone was dead, and they turned out to be alive, or they just randomly showed up somewhere after I thought they were somewhere else. It was confusing and a little bit annoying.)

- Much as I like to see villains getting redemption, by the end of the season, it felt…overdone? Like, they brought back a lot of previous villains and almost all of them either had reformed (the Warden and Ezor, for example) or were reformed by their interactions with the heroes (Zethrid, Honerva). Redemption arcs are hard to do well and I think the problem here was that there wasn’t enough time in 13 episodes to do that many proper justice, especially for someone like Honerva, who, uh…yeah. When your main villain for the season has literally destroyed almost all of reality and gets redeemed in less time than it took me to write this sentence, it doesn’t really give that arc the importance it needs.

- I really wish they’d left all the epilogues out entirely and just had the show end with the Lions flying off at the end and our original five Paladins standing together, watching them go. The epilogues felt a little hasty and last-minute, and I have to wonder if Shiro’s in particular was added only to deal with some of the backlash they got after season 7. Which, while I can appreciate that it’s a huge deal to actually show a same-sex kiss in a children’s animated series like this, it really does come across like it was just done for the sake of scoring diversity points/dealing with the aforementioned backlash, instead of allowing Shiro to have an actual on-screen romance like Lance and Allura.

- I’m still not sure how I feel about Allura’s ending. On the one hand, I don’t hate that there was a sacrifice like that that needed to be made, and I kind of wondered if they’d do something like that since, you know, series finale, saving all realities, etc. etc. But on the other hand, I feel like it could’ve been executed/explained much better (e.g., giving Coran a chance to say good-bye to her, at the very least), and I mean. Come on. I would’ve by far preferred it if Allura lived and got to go back to help rebuild her planet/people.

So yeah. Like I said, mixed feelings overall. I had intended to rewatch the whole thing before s8 came out, but I didn’t have time, so I may do that later, once the holidays are over and I’ve binged some of the other stuff I have on my list. I’m also sure rewatching will give me a different feeling on season 8 once I see it in context with everything else, so you know. We’ll see how that goes. XD