#also also i was gonna put k*ance for red and blue but i’m not home of phobic

[cressisaqueen-moved]

oh you’re lgbt and in a relationship? then are you

1. bi girl with her (bi) gamer bf

2. red and blue gays

3. claire’s lesbian with her hot topic gf

or

4. sun and moon

[dent-de-leon]

HI, sorry but just like...as a bi guy it kinda pisses me off, because people often don’t understand how much Lauren and Joaquim care about lgbt representation, and in particular, how much they care about not queerbaiting. People continually trying to convince everyone into believing k/l will happen because “ooo!! They don’t want to spoil the mystery!!” don’t understand how any of this works. They have no respect for the showrunners and their narrative. They have no respect for Lauren and Joaquim’s intentions to not queerbait. It’s been confirmed on every occasion that k/l isn’t going to happen, and they’ve specifically mentioned in a review that their forwardness about the issue was greatly in part because they don’t wait to bait anyone into anything:

Interviewer: “I feel like there was a little tease? It seems shippers want to ship Lance and Keith together, so are there gonna be any hints of that at all? Or is it just more like–okay, they’re friends, they’re starting to become friends.”

Lauren: “I think we had a very natural arc in mind for those two. Which is, they start out at odds, but then they grow to kind of respect each other. And if that leads into people being like–they’re spending time together! Then that’s a ‘thing,’ but…We’re not trying to cater to or bait anyone into anything, we’re just trying to do what’s right for the story.”

Joaquim: “We also try not to be overtly affected by what popular opinion might be.”

Lauren: “And we’re working in animation. Our schedule is so far in advance for that–even if people shipped Keith and Lance, we couldn’t go back and just change the story–to be like and now they’re in love!”

Joaquim: “There’s just no way. We’re already years past that storyline, you know?” (source)

Fans cry queerbaiting because k/l keeps getting shot down, but it’s quite the opposite. Playing along and pretending k/l will be representation is queerbaiting. Going along with “teasing” it for fans is queerbaiting. This isn’t about fucking spoilers at this point, it’s a morality issue that Lauren and Joaquim clearly care about, and fans would know this if they actually listened to how the showrunners feel about representation:

On the subject of there being no homophobia in the Voltron universe, Joaquim said, “In the future the paladins live in, these aren’t even issues that come up, and people are just accepting of who they are.”

Also interesting is Lauren’s comment that, “Representation is about “moving the conversation forward” and offering “more accurate representation of the people that are out there and our world.” (source here)

And absolutely don’t forget:

Will we be seeing any lgbt representation?

Lauren: “It’s super important to us.”

Joaquim: “Just know that from our prospective, we’re fighting to create as open and broad a spectrum of characters as we can.”

Lauren: “We can’t give you any definite answers, but just know that–”

Joaquim: “We’re fighting for as broad and open representation as we can.”

And hey, this isn’t rocket science. It’s clear from their answers and body language Lauren and Joaquim hate being asked about k/l, it’s clear those ship questions make them incredibly uncomfortable. And I really wish people would stop putting on them on the spot. It’s inconsiderate of fans, and unprofessional of interviewers. 

It’s clear where they stand on the issue. It’s obvious they didn’t expect k/l to happen--and it’s obvious they know how awful so many antis that happen to be k/l fans are, because Lauren outright expects to get harassed for fucking admitting she has no clue what people even see in k/l. Sorry, but if you care about a ship, if you intended for it to be canon, you don’t talk about it like this. Especially when you’re being transparent as possible about not queerbaiting and genuinely care about representation:

Nevermind that Lauren and Joaquim have outright admitted k/l have no romantic chemistry and everything I’ve seen from canon indicates Lance is straight. Never mind they’ve been asked about Lance’s “Mr. or Mrs. Blue Lion” and had every option to give an open ended answer, but very deliberately used female pronouns:

Interviewer: What would Lance look for in a future Mr. or Mrs. Blue Lion? I’m gonna guess she meant Red Lion now. I think she’s trying to fill out her space Tindr profile. But yea, what is Lance’s–And I like this, because Lance is kind of all over the place. He hits on anything that moves and is pretty, which all the aliens are pretty. But what would he look for, really, in a partner or a soulmate?

Lauren: I don’t know if Lance knows what he needs. I know what he might look for, but what he might look for is not necessarily what he needs. I think he needs someone who is self-assured and knows herself, so that he can kind of become that same person and know himself. (source)

Never mind that Jeremy’s repeatedly brought up in subtle ways how Lance is only attracted to girls:

Will we ever see romance? Kl/ance?

Lauren: “We want to let romance evolve naturally if it does happen. Falling in love in the midst of all that is a pretty big deal…we’re willing to see if romance happens in the show, but we’re not setting out that it’s gotta be there.”

Jeremy: “Everyone has cool arcs besides their relationships.”

Josh: “It’s cool to explore…Lance.”

Jeremy: “A lot of good looking ladies in space, that’s all I’m saying.”

Never mind that, as a bi guy, I hate the thought of canon bi Lance or canon k/l because I think such representation would perpetuate harmful stereotypes. There’s no “gotcha!” moment here, no surprise. The staff are being very forward and honest because they know how important representation is--and because they don’t want k/l fans continually getting their hopes up. If fans don’t listen, that’s on them. They should stop asking the same question over and over simply because they don’t like the answer.