#fan foaming at the mouth that his favorite ship is canon

[the-monarch-of-bickel]

Wedding headcanons I was too lazy to draw:

Baseball and Nickle are the groomsman

Lightbulb catches the bouquet

Salt and Oj bump into each other at the Juice* Bar and have a bittersweet heart to heart where she is genuine and even a bit remorseful for the first time in her life

Paper invited Pepper and Salt pitched a fit to be her plus one

Paper and suitcase would actually get along super well

Paper was also a huge mess getting ready

Cool calm collected OJ is losing his minddd

Oj would be a HUGE bridezilla planning everything

Part 2

Them. Just.

💕Them💕

[fizzbot]

1, 2 (you know who this is about), 3, 6, 7, 8, 16, 19, 23, 25 for the voiolence ask game :333

17 (Strinker), 23, 24 (Vox), and 25 (Stolas) for the other fandom ask game :333

YAYYYYYY I LOVE ANSWERING THINGS!!!!!!! :DDDDDD thanks babe ily!!!!!!!!! <33333333

violence ask game og post here!

1. the character everyone gets wrong i suffer from a disease called "im the only one with correct opinions about every character ever" so i kind of feel this way about everyone all the time HJKLSDFHJKL.......but maybe its just bc im so Him For Real, but i feel it a lot with blitzo????? i feel like hes the character where i see the most takes about him that i fundamentally disagree with. it doesnt help that his character writing is so shitty tho.

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom I DO KNOW EXACTLY WHO ITS ABOUT. BLITZO. sjhkdfhjksdf kind of ties into the thing i said above and not EXACLTY what the question is asking but. that man is a SUB. i am being so so serious when i say that everyone who thinks he is/writes him as a dom and/or top doesnt understand him as a character. its partially bc stolitz's writing is so godawful, but like. its not even. subtext??? that this man is a sub/bottom??? its just text. its so obvious that they basically say it. YES he ACTS like a dom thats the FUCKING POINT. HES LYING. hes putting on an act and YOU ALL FELL FOR IT. this man is not emotionally vulnerable enough to let himself indulge in the side of kink/sex that he wants, so he never does. especially since stolas only wants him when hes acting like a top/dom. blitz rolls his eyes and drags his feet in sex because hes not getting anything out of it. again it doesnt help that he doesnt LIKE stolas but he would LIKE HIM MORE if they were on the same page in bed. AND LIKE??? the reason i say its not even subtext is because this is a preference blitz obviously has since SEASON ONE (see: STRIKER), but as stolitz develops romantically in canon, we can see stolas indulging him more. the only time blitz has EVER been aroused on screen is when stolas (and striker) is taking control. the one other time you could argue is at the end of truth seekers where AGAIN they practically STATE that hes not by showing that blitz is only acting this way in the bedroom for stolas. hsjkdfhjksdf if i keep talking about this im gonna start foaming at the mouth I HAVE TO MOVE ON

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr LMAO SJKDFLHJKSDFL there are too many. some of my (least) favorites include takes such as "stolas is introduced as a good father", "blitzker is more toxic than stolitz", and "husk is in the wrong during loser, baby". you are all so fucking stupid. i hope you get well soon

6. which ship fans are the most annoying? RADIOAPPLE. they are SO FUCKING ANNOYING. I HATE THEM. its one thing to have the worst shipping take ever but then theyre always the loudest and most un-based motherfuckers in the world. nothing quite makes me seethe with rage the way seeing that fuckass ship appear in EVERY TAG does. go on try it. look in any hellaverse tag right now and scroll 3 times. i guarantee radioapple will come up. i know because i HAVE THE TAG BLOCKED.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them? alastor :( i mean i knew it was coming. i LOVE LOVE LOVE our rewrite/""yarnsnake"" alastor so much but canon and ESPECIALLY fanon alastor is so fucking boring. they took out any intimidation from his character at all and made him just another guy who swears every 3 seconds and that only exists to be o.p and give cringey quips. and the fandom LOVES that for some reason?? as if the SHOW hasnt toned him down enough, all the fans either turn him into this weirdly sexualized dom character or this cutesy villain with a secret soft side and UUGHHHHJKSDFHJK SHUT THE FUCK UP. he would not fucking say that!!!!!!!!!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about OOOHHH this is a good one. umm......kind of ties into the above answer, but i genuinely keep seeing people saying that they think alastor is gonna get a redemption arc/saying that he has a secret "good" side and loves the people at the hotel. yall. youre being manipulated HJKLSDFHJKLHJK. i see a lot of "lute was in love with adam" and vise versa too which. idk. its fine. im sure itll probably be canon. but im too obsessed with them being close friends with benefits that play cod together and otherwise have no attachments LMAOSHDJKFLHSDJKL. there are for sure more but im blanking, might revisit this later

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc) ANOTHER REALLY GOOD ONE. stolitz instantly came to mind HJKSDLFHJKL just the whole ship. specifically the arc in the show. also huskerdust? not the ship itself but the characterization. its the same flavor of evil that stolitz is just without the power imbalance. vivzie wants sexual assault in all of her leading ships soooo badddd. i hate the fandom take (loosely based on canon) of husk being ""into it"" the whole time angel was harassing him. makes me fuckin GAG.

19. youre mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like... STOLITZ BEING CHILDHOOD FRIENDS. omg critics usually HATTTTEEEE this shit!!!!!! and i totally see where theyre coming from. ""the circus"" was OBVIOUSLY just meant to humanize stolas/shift the ""blame"" onto blitz instead by making it seem like he initiated it/made stolas think he wanted this (which doesnt make it right but wtever). and the childhood friends (if you can even call them friends) IS so nothing......but im such a sucker for this trope. i actually think its really cute. IDKKKK i think it ties into how i genuinely think that stolitz couldve been good if they had lead with this. since he started off as a villain and had a very rocky transition into being """not a villain""" despite still being horrifically evil, the show is stuck in this weird place of trying to TELL us that stolas is good and worthy of redemption while SHOWING us that hes not. if he was a villain at the start, they shouldve stuck to their guns and kept him that way. if they wanted him and blitz to have a romance, then they shoudlnt have fucking started the show like this. its too late to go back and fix it and the circus is a very clear showing of them trying and failing to do so.....AND YET. i still think its sweet. it makes me yearn for a show where they remeet as adults and start reforming a FRIENDSHIP instead of a weird sex deal. it wouldve actually been cute and compelling to see them observe how the world has hardened and changed the other and finding out that they still love each other despite it. how they both were so deply hurt by the circumstances and yet still managed to grow in a way that left room for the other. AUGHHHHHH. << ripping my hair out

23. ship that youve unwillingly come around to sighhh. stolitz and huskerdust. <///////3 but ONLY our very specific rewrites of them. also honeymoon??? i was really NOT convinced about them at first just cause i didnt like bee but idk, ive changed my tune a little <3333 honestly ive kinda willingly come around for everyship JSDJHKF like chaggie/fallenstar??? CUTE. exceedingly boring in canon but cute.

25. common fandom complaint that youre sick of hearing i guess i dont really get that sick of fandom complaints......at least i cant think of many off the top of my head......this kind of goes for all fandoms but im very sick of hearing "UGH can everyone stop saying (insane take) 🙄" and the take is just something that no one has ever said. like one person has a sort of lukewarm opinion and 300+ people have to make a post bitching about it like its a real problem that exists. it doesnt. calm down.

fandom ask game og post here!

17. What's a book, movie, or show you think [Striker] would like? OOOHHHHH...........damn this is hard......i cant get into his head as easily as you (presumably) can.......shkdjfhjksdf he kinda strikes me as someone who would be a little snobby about literature tbh. he likes the classics <333 maybe especially classic horror <333 phantom of the opera came to mind which i think is fitting cause weve also established hes a musical theater guy <33333

23. Has your favorite character/ship changed over time? OH yea. i remember back in the Early Hazbin Days my fave was angel dust and my favorite ship was radiodust. i was thirteen so im gonna give myself a little slack here but i still shudder when i think about it JHKHSFJKHJK. now my fave hazbin character is probably vox or rosie <3 and my favorite ship is polyvees!!!! they are so evil polycule. to me. as for helluva, back in the day when i genuinely like the show it was only just starting out. i think my favorite character was robofizz? which is so funny now that ive got a user based on him JHKSDFHJKHJKSDF he is so nothing now </////3 i DID like stolitz but TO BE FAIR. that was in its crackship era. like when we were all like "imagine if they started getting serious about this LOL wouldnt that be hilarious". (it was not hilarious). now my favorite character is STRIKER by a MILEEEE. and my fave ship is blitzker/rewritten stolitz!! <333

24. What's your favorite thing about [Vox]? well. he gets Christian Borle points. we only hatewatched this show in the first place for His Voice. but i do also just really like his general little mannerisms :3 i like how he glitches when he gets flustered/overwhelmed, and how his smile raises and falls depending on who hes with/around. i actually think his body language is really interesting and fun to analyze!!! manipulative little shit. i hope he overheats and explodes

25. What's your least favourite thing [Stolas] said or did? where do i fucking start. there are so many things about this fucker i cant stand. the one that always comes to mind is the interaction at the beginning of LooLooLand. TWO things he says are SO YUCKY GROSS SLIMEY. these lines:

i hate that blitz had to ask. it makes me feel so gross. i know this was still stolas' villain era but it genuinely icks me out SO MUCH seeing how MISERABLE blitz is early on in their relationship. he is so desperate for this job that he would put up with being sexually assaulted/humiliated in public. im so sorry blitzy, one day soon youll find a cowboy who treats you right :///// the other one (from the same scene) that i HATTTEEE is this interaction with via he has right before

Stolas: I'll pay you.~

Blitzo: ...Pay me what?

Stolas: Money.~

WHY. WOULD YOU SAY THAT. TO YOUR UNDERAGE DAUGHTER. and hes so confused when she doesnt like him?? :/// this isnt even mentioning that he openly, sexually flirts with blitz in front of her both on the phone immediately afterwards and all day at the park. i think he should die for real actually. a few honorable mentions include the infamous murder family phone call, assaulting his imp butler, neglecting his daughter, and (intentionally or not) implying that he only wants blitz for sex post-ozzies.

Stolas: They want our money and our bodies.

Octavia: Our money, maybe...

Stolas: Speak for yourself, princess.

THAT TOOK SO LONG IM SORRYYYYYYYYYYYY I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN READING ALL THESE THANKS FOR ASKINGGG :DDDDDDDDD MWMEMWEMWMEWMWEM <33333

[bugeyedfreaks]

About your ppgxrrb post, as someone who’s in the shipdom for years but now only like it because of certain famous fic, I agree.

Pretty sure some of the shippers would agree with it too but a lot of them are excusing their toxic behaviors as just the boys being toddlers + doesn’t know any better since most of the fics takes place when they’re teenagers/older. I disagree with the whole “they’re kids they don’t know any better” excuse cause they’re fictional characters and they’re just born bad/evil, and its not that deep

…I ended up writing a whole lot and I’m gonna cut it just so I don’t clog up everyone’s dash with my Deep PPG/RRB Opinions. 😆

Yeah, ugh, it wouldn’t bring me down so much if what you said wasn’t such a prevalent line of thought, but if there are some shippers who would agree with what I wrote before… I don’t understand what would compel them to ship the characters in the first place! I can’t understand it! I’m not saying, “You’re a bad fan/person if you ship [XYZ]!” I know people who genuinely love the original PPG series, people who I also genuinely love and cherish and think are amazing and wonderful and yet… they ship it, to my constant confusion. For years and years. 😂 I’ve even read that one fic and… I swear, I tried, I wanted to like it, I was told it was written true to the show and I Wanted To Believe… but how can the main premise be “true to the show” when it’s already 100% antithetical to who the characters are in canon in the first place? I sadly could not enjoy it. Like I said in my post, they would never be the redeemable bad boys because they’re literally pure evil. And I get suspension of belief in fan creations, I understand that fanfic is people’s way of… I dunno, indulging their fantasies in their favorite media or whatever, and I’m not vilifying anyone for daring to commit the ~atrocious~ sin of… wanting their faves to find true love. 🤣 …but what’s the point if the characters you write just turn out to be shells of how they actually act? At that point you should just go for it and make up your own original characters. Embrace the cringe!

A while ago I got really inspired and wanted to write a PPG fanfic for the first time in a million years, and since most of the story in my head included the villains in a large way, I felt kind of forced to try to add the boys (because, speaking of things that get me down, you will never get any substantial visibility on AO3 or whatever if you don’t at least include them in the tags, no matter how creative or novel your fanfic may possibly be) so I started thinking about this whole idea of how they’d really act towards the girls all grown up. I never wrote down anything substantial because I abandoned the fic, but I came to a general conclusion that 1) Brick would be complaining that the girls weren’t following traditional gender roles (i.e. the ones made up by creeps involving sandwiches and ladies making them in the kitchen for him), 2) Butch would be foaming at the mouth to sex up any girl that moved (wham, bam, thank ya ma’am… his love of carnage and leave ‘em for dead mentality would get reflected in his mixed up hormones in the worst possible way), and 3) Boomer would be the white knight who would complain and cry and eventually flip out Bubblevicious style about why none of the girls were dating himmmmmm and whyyyyy oh my goddddd he was so niiiiice to themmmmm so because of that THE THOTS MUST PAY! 🤣 They are the examples of “toxic masculinity,” like… true toxic masculinity. They canonically thrive on the toxicity. That’s why attacks against it weaken them! It‘s never suddenly changed their bad behavior for good ever. They could be beaten again and again and, instead of accepting that maybe their worldviews are bad, maybe applying some self-introspection to their awful ways and adopt any sort of good behavior, they would always ultimately double down. In the fic world, they’re grown guys, and they should know better, but it would be against their basic canon nature to want to.

…again, I’m not trying to be a downer on anyone who indulges in it, this is just an explanation of why I really can’t gel with it and just my thought process behind why that is/how I think they’d actually act. The popular depiction of them as ultra hottie bad bois who secretly have true hearts of gold under all the blatant misogyny just feels so untrue to canon to me that suspending my disbelief whenever I see the kajillion fics and fanart out there of them successfully winning the girls’ hearts is… tough.

TL;DR:

[woeisme-iamwoe]

an absolutely massive Haikyuu!! fic rec pt. 2

IwaOi this time around. My favorite ship. The world’s favorite ship...there’s so many

Undecipherable, by ioo (4k. G. canonverse)

 I’m pretty sure the author meant ‘indecipherable’, nevertheless! I am appalled that this work doesnt have more hits. Y'all are sleeping on it and that's not okay. 

The sound of the door slamming against the wall has Hajime startling back to the present. He looks at the source of the disturbance and finds himself face to face with Oikawa, red in the face with breathlessness and a leather-bound notebook tightly clutched in both of this hands. When he spots Hajime, he makes a beeline for the bench and slaps it down right next to him.

"Koi no yokan," he says. "The sense one can have upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love."

 primavera, by tothemoon (8k. T. canonverse)

All of tothemoon’s works read so beautifully 

They say it takes twenty-six years, for certain breeds to fully bloom. 

Learning to Walk (So That We Can Run), by ricekrispyjoints (27k. M. canon-divergence)

I've read this work so many times. Like, so many times and I’ve never tired from it. Gorgeous. The shift from friendship to romance felt so natural, love it. 

"I'm not healing like I should be."

In his second year of university, physical therapy just isn't cutting it. Oikawa's knee is getting worse, and he can't hide it anymore.

Or: the light angst, project-your-own-life-experiences-on-Oikawa knee surgery fic you didn't know you wanted.

 Priorities, by weirdmilk (2k. T. canonverse)

Kissy, kissy. 

‘I just -’ Oikawa begins, ‘it might be difficult to get married, sometimes, I think.’ He chews on his lip.

Iwaizumi makes a questioning noise.

‘Ah,’ Oikawa says, and then, in a rush, ‘if I didn't want a wife at all - what then? If I said that to you. If I told you I can’t see it. Like - the wedding dress. The bride. I just can’t see it.’

Iwaizumi swallows again, his heart beating much faster than the conversation warrants. He wonders whether Oikawa can hear it. ‘You’re eighteen. You aren’t supposed to see it yet.’ He snorts. ‘I mean - if we’re sharing shit, I’ve never even kissed a girl.’ He doesn’t mind admitting it. It’s not something that bothers him - he’s never prioritised girls very highly, and despite Oikawa’s largely undeserved status as Miyagi’s most eligible teenage bachelor, he doesn’t think Oikawa has ever wanted a serious relationship with any of his fan club, either.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi can't sleep before their first practice match with Karasuno.

 Before Midnight, by fathomfive (2k. G. canonverse)

Reads like a fairytale. 

The sky turns, the seasons turn over, and Iwaizumi and Oikawa track the movements of the stars. Nothing is ever quite constant, but it's close enough.

The grass is stiff with frost. They walk in silence past the raked-over vegetable garden and up the back hill, footsteps crackling, and stand side-by-side at the top of an incline that used to seem much bigger. Iwaizumi glances over but Oikawa’s already gone, eyes searching the sky with no hint of hurry, just a kind of reverent patience.

 make a bet, keep a promise, by raewrites (13k. M. canonverse)

Bet still on. 

Sometimes, in still moments, Iwaizumi wonders why out of all the people on earth he ended up with Oikawa Tooru. Why it’s his face that lingers on his fading conscious in the last moments before he falls asleep, in the first blurry seconds upon waking up again. Why when he looks to his side, he expects Oikawa to be there in the same way he expects to see five fingers on both hands, a natural extension of himself, ever present.

Why he can’t imagine a future without Oikawa in it.

It begins with a bet made between the two boys in the mid-summer of their eighth year. It starts with volleyball, but like with most things involving Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime, things are never quite that simple.

 our hearts still beat the same, by knightswatch  

 two birds, by thelittlebirdthattoldyou (5k. T. canonverse)

Of heartbreaking letters and paper crane wishes. 

Five months into the term, two months after he’s stopped replying to Oikawa’s texts, the first package arrives. A small square box, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, and Hajime almost trips over it on the way to his dorm.

There’s a letter attached.

Oikawa doesn’t know how many times he’ll have to put his feelings down on paper before Iwaizumi believes them. 

Through My Eyes, by anchoringsouls (2k. G. canonverse)

Okay! Okay, we were doing great with the soft, happy love up until the last part! That's great, just great!

“I think if you ever saw yourself through my eyes, you would fall in love with yourself the same way the way I did with you.” 

in time it could be ours, by deusreks (3k. T. canonverse)

Anyone wanna go back in time and make a time capsule with me only to dig it up years later and we’re actually in love?

Set post Seijou's match with Karasuno. There's a moderate amount of rolling in the dirt. No pajamas were hurt in the writing of this fic.

There, in their joint backyard, was Oikawa Tooru, clad in his silly luminescent space pajamas, digging a hole near a cherry tree.

“What the hell, Oikawa.”

Tooru stubbornly continued digging. He looked pitiful in that moment; everything that was grand about him in daylight was meaningless in the darkness. He was only a boy with a shovel whose broken heart mirrored Hajime’s own.

 we can do better than that, by spaceburgers (16k. M. canonverse)

Of course, of course, the IwaOi road trip fic. AnD thErE wAs ONly OnE bED!

Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. 

They Say it Rains Diamonds on Jupiter, by exsao (35k. T. canonverse)

I don't know, just gorgeous. Hajime’s so in love. 

"You're in love with him."

Hajime considers denying it. He considers deliberately choking on his drink to express surprise, to create a distraction by spitting onto the man in front of him's pristine white shirt and causing a commotion. Instead, he swallows his mouthful of soda and heaves a small sigh once his mouth is free.

"Yeah," he says instead.

He's never been good at lying, anyway.

 Midnight boys/sunset town, by carafin (10k words. T. Housemates AU):

The author says they played off of the fact that Oikawa oftentimes forgoes his sleep in order to work, and wrote it so that he doesn't sleep at all. This was so cute, kinda sad, mostly not. Love how Iwaizumi just goes along with whatever crazy stilch Oikawa is on. 

In which Iwaizumi Hajime grows a few chili plants, participates in an eating contest, breaks into a park, and falls in love with a man who doesn't ever sleep - not exactly in that order.

5 Reasons Why Iwaizumi Hajime's Flatmate Is A Complete Weirdo (An Incomplete List)

1. He's obsessed with that stupid bucket list of his.

2. He's the proud owner of seven truly ugly, criminally hideous movie posters with aliens on them, which he insists on pasting all over the damn living room.

3. He's always stealing Hajime's sweatshirts.

4. Sometimes, he wakes Hajime up for breakfast. At 5AM. On Saturday mornings.

5. He literally never, ever sleeps.

 The Best I Ever Had, by FindingSchmomo (62k words. T. Canon-divergent):

You’ve read it, your mum’s read it, your dog has probably read it (you really need to take facial recognition for him off your phone, he’s got some weird nighttime habits). So basically this fic caused me physical pain and then pumped me full of morphine and now I’m good! Beautiful read, hated Oikawa for a while, Iwaizumi is the only boy I would ever feel safe alone with. 

A story of separation and time lost. Oikawa and Iwaizumi lose contact, and life goes on. Now, a decade later and back in Japan, Oikawa wonders if he can pick the pieces back together, despite knowing Iwaizumi has moved on. A story of their past, present and future, pieced together by shaky hands.

 darlin', your head's not on right, by aruariandance (13k words. T. canonverse)

Again, I’m pretty sure anybody who's anybody has read this fic and for good reason! Super sweet realizing you're in love fic. Makes me reconsider wanting to get married. 

'“Our wedding,” Oikawa says by way of explanation, tapping his finger against his magazine more emphatically. “What colors should we use? Color scheme is important, apparently.”

Iwaizumi feels his lifespan shortening.

“I was thinking our Aoba johsai colors to go for more, you know, softer tones? Besides, I’ve always looked great in that sea foam green color. Oh, and I guess you look decent in it, too.” He grins, saccharine sweet, and Iwaizumi has never been so tempted to knock one of his perfect pearly white teeth right out of his stupid mouth."

or,

Oikawa teases Iwaizumi about a childhood promise he made to marry him when they were older, except suddenly it's not really a joke at all.

 the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle, by kittebasu (66k. T. canon divergent)

Is this one of the most famous Iwaoi fic? I don’t know. Looks like it, I know it's my personal favorite. Where Oikawa studies bugs for a living and can’t seem to come to terms with his feelings. Very angsty, love that in a fic. 

Tooru is pretty sure he could manage the mating habits of a mosquito. It’s the mating habits of people he can’t seem to get right.

 Terrarium, by sausaged (11k. T. Post-canon)

Honestly, I’m so surprised this fic doesnt have more hits! It’s so good! Made me ache! I love the memories and character growth shown through the growing of the terrarium, absolutely adore that kind of symbolism. So beautiful, give it some love because it's one of my absolute favorites. 

He's practically a professional at being proactive (lies, lies, and lies when it comes to Iwaizumi).

At this point, is he really happy with just staying best friends forever? Will he be writing journals and collecting rocks forever (he will, he knows, but that is aside from the point)?

Can he really tag his Instagram photos with #YOLO if he doesn't actually put that phrase into practice?

 A story about Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime, plants, and rocks.

 Lips like sugar, by ohhotlamb (8k. T. canonverse)

Why did my childhood best friend never offer to help me practice kissing only for us to realize we were only interested in each other? I had a fake high school experience. 

Hajime is offered to learn the art of kissing from a true professional, one Oikawa Tooru. It's not as bad as he thought it would be.

 Falling Slowly, by bravely (commovente) (3k. T. canonverse)

So special, imagine loving one person, and one person only like this for the entirety of your life. This is getting too sappy, I want off of this ride. 

over the years, some things change; but over the years, some things stay mostly the same.

(alternatively, mornings with oikawa and iwaizumi over the years).

 No sleep in the city, by loveclouds (7k. T. canonverse)

Mass/volume = Iwaizumi, apparently. (Please. If anyone gets this absolutely horrific joke, lets elope).

Along their journey to find Tokyo's best ramen, Iwaizumi finds himself asked again and again why Oikawa is still single.

 Time, by surveycorpsjean (5k. E. canonverse)

Growing older together. 

When they're twenty-three, their story only begins.

 Everything With You, by Ellessey (14k. E. canonverse)

Came damn near to crying, you can just feel Iwaizumi’s pain. Fight scene was probably the most emotion evoking one I’ve read in a long while. 

‘Hajime still loves Oikawa, but he understands now. Oikawa can't look at him and see someone he could potentially date.

And that makes it easier to not focus on the little things that used to drive him crazy—Oikawa's long legs, the way he's always hanging off of Hajime, how his whole face changes when he gets ready for a jump serve, and he looks like he could take on the entire world and win.

This new arrangement though, this living together situation, is presenting a new set of variables that must be adjusted to, and the nakedness is one of them.’

--

For years, being Oikawa’s best friend has worked out fine. Hajime is hopelessly in love with him, but it’s enough. Then Oikawa—who, by all accounts, has never been anything but determinedly, assuredly straight—gets a boyfriend. Or a boy friend-with-benefits. Hajime doesn’t know, and he doesn’t give a shit about the definition.

What he knows is that remaining best friends is starting to seem a bit too painful (way too painful) to be considered a solid option.

 The Best Best, by rikke (12k. T. canonverse/future fic)

Takeru is a whole mood. Don’t want kids, but I do want domesticity and this fic feeds me well.

“Congratulations, Iwa-chan! You’re a dad!” Iwaizumi hears as soon as the door opens. He’s dealt with Oikawa for all of his twenty-one years of age now, but this declaration is still sufficiently disturbing enough that he turns from his place on the couch and braces himself for whatever Oikawa has done this time.

 Or the one where Iwaizumi and Oikawa babysit Takeru for a week.

 cheek kisses, by ohhotlamb (G. 3k. Future fic)

Sooo cute!! 

“Every time,” Hajime murmurs, “every time I see you again I remember how fuckin’ crazy I am about you.”

 Routine, by snoqualmie  (2k. T. canonverse)

Again, anyone wanna be my childhood best friend so we can put face masks on each other and fall in love? I died, truly. 

Iwaizumi is fourteen years old, horny too often and angry all the time, and he’s just starting to notice that Tooru’s legs are really long, that his lips are kinda soft looking, and his fingers feel good pressed under his jaw.

 Thirty Years and Change (the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, by sunsmasher (19k. G. canon divergence)

Be wary, I would give this fic an upper rating to probably Teen and the follow-up fic is Explicit. But, Oikawa on the Japanese national team is just a dream as is, but add in a rekindling friendship and an angsty make out sesh? Mwah, delizioso. 

It’s July 10th, 2024, and Oikawa Tooru is an Olympian. His smiling face airs on an NHK promo every 45 seconds. He’s captain of the national men’s volleyball team, reigning star of the professional leagues, and he hasn't spoken to Iwaizumi Hajime in two years.

He has, however, sent Iwaizumi tickets for the 2024 Los Angeles Summer Games.

“So go,” says Matsukawa's voice. “It’s only a few weeks. You’ve got a whole city to hide in if it gets awkward, and if it doesn’t get awkward, well…”

It’s like watching the future reconfigure, like being in high school again, watching team after team fall to Oikawa’s faultless planning and shameless charm.

“I’ll get to watch a whole lot of volleyball,” Hajime says, and resigns himself to fate and/or Oikawa Tooru.

“Hey, when you get there, can you bag a gymnast for me?” Hanamaki asks, and Matsukawa squawks.

 Chasing Paper Suns, by carafin (10k. T. Future fic)

Again with the growing up and coming back together, this time with more angst than the last. Lovely, really lovely read. 

Post-high school, Oikawa makes it to the national volleyball team but Iwaizumi doesn't. The next three years become an exercise in growing up without growing apart.

Some days Hajime likes to think of himself as Oikawa’s counterpart—the two of them blending into a single devastating unit, the invincible setter and his unyielding ace, the bond between them unbreakable and true. Other days he feels like he is chasing after a rising sun, always running and running with his eyes fixed on the distance, trying to cross a chasm that stretches on without end, caught in an endless and exhausting pursuit.

 the yellow room, by ohhotlamb (14k. T. canonverse/future fic)

Makki and Mattsun see bullshit and call you out on your bullshit. 

“I told you, we broke up like six months ago. We’re not dating anymore.”

Hanamaki eyes him suspiciously. “You live together.”

“Yeah, so?”

“There are pictures of you two kissing stuck to your refrigerator.”

Hajime shrugs. “That wasn’t my idea. Anyways, they’re good pictures. Good lighting.”

 the river runs, by tothemoon (11k. T. post-breakup)

My heart ACHES. Happy ending, promise! Just read it. 

One year since their breakup, Oikawa Tooru starts a list of daily reminders, tips, and tricks called HOW TO FORGET ABOUT IWAIZUMI HAJIME, and he’s determined to make it stick.

—

This is a firsthand account of how to deal (and rather spectacularly, at that).

 I sure hope that guy gets fired, by Xov (29k. T. canonverse/time loop au)

The only thing better than one confession, is MULTIPLE confessions. Oikawa trusts Iwaizumi unshakably, and that's beautiful. 

It was the fourth time experiencing the exact same day that Iwaizumi Hajime reluctantly admitted to himself that something was very wrong. 

 my only friend was the man in the moon (until i met you), by ohhotlamb (7k. T. canonverse)

Just so innocent and sweet. Oikawa said ‘effort’.

In which Oikawa has a life-altering revelation, and Hajime is starting to think it involves him.  

 Bet On It, by originalblue (13k. E. canonverse)

Tooru being nice for a week? That can only end one way… with a d*ck in Hajime’s mouth. 

Hajime knows exactly how shitty Oikawa's personality is, and has no scruples whatsover about betting Oikawa six thousand yen that he can't be nice for an entire week. 

 especially for tender ones like us, by viverella (17k. T. canonverse/post break-up)

Gods! See? See what I mean? How could I forget about a work as heart wrenchingly beautiful as this? Give it some love, actually, all of the love. 

The worst part of it all, Tooru thinks to himself sometimes, is that even as they fought and kicked and screamed and tore each other to shreds, it was never that Tooru stopped loving Iwaizumi any less. The worst part of it all, he thinks, is that loving Iwaizumi turned out to not be enough.

(OR: on finding the right person at the wrong time and learning how to pick up the pieces)

 sunset town, by skiecas (33k. T. canon-divergent)

Another work that I just CANNOT understand why it doesn't have more hits. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I almost cried. 

In the summer of 2020, Oikawa Tooru returns home from his first successful stint as captain of Japan’s national volleyball team. In one hand, he holds the undisputed weight of an Olympic medal, and in the other, his unresolved feelings for a childhood best friend.

Two years down the road, reconciling his lifelong dream with his lifelong love proves to be the greatest challenge.

 of odd numbers and intimate regrets, by bravely (commovente) (5k. T. post-canon/one night stand au)

Basically, Tooru and Hajime sleep together after not speaking for seven years and of course there’s feelings and angst and a belated chance at happiness and a life together. 

Tooru’s spent the last seven years of his life in a carefully constructed schedule that is, he realises now, as much a habit as it was a way to forget about the person in front of him.

[or, the one night stand AU between two people more than friends but not quite lovers, measuring the passage of time in distance and long-gone memories, the expansion and contraction of the spaces between their fingers each time.]

 cross my heart, open wide, by acchikocchi (7k. T. canonverse)

Super cute, super short. Realizing you're on a date with the wrong person one-shot. 

For a minute Hajime doesn't know what to say. Everything and nothing crowds his mind, leaving no room to think. That he's never tried this. That volleyball's over. That he's graduating in five months. That it would be really nice, at least once, to go on a date with a good-looking guy.

 Hajime goes on a date. It's not with Oikawa. 

 Fernweh, by oikawashoyo (19k. G. canonverse/post time skip)

A mature(ish) Tooru?? I love works that show Tooru growing and living happily in Argentina and this one is just beautiful. (Plus! Plus, Skai did a piece on it as well and I love ALL their work so you can visualize everything). Love it. 

Argentina is stretching out before him, an opportunity, a challenge. He is reminded of his losses, his insecurities, his disappointments; sees them form a tall, tall wall blocking his path to success. He takes a deep breath and knows he is going to shatter it.

In which Oikawa's whole life is spent longing for the horizon — in the form of a dream, a home, and a boy.

 i breathe easily in your arms, by orphan_account (2k. M. canonverse)

Soft, soft sex

When, after completing their high school graduation ceremony and heading home to enjoy their freedom, Oikawa had pulled him into his room and pressed his lips hesitantly against Iwaizumi’s own, it seemed an inevitable development in the unfolding narrative of their shared existence.

Despite years of having a bed to himself, the sensation of another body taking up space in his sheets, curling against his chest, creating warmth, feels natural in much the same way.

 old and new, by Mysecretfanmoments (5k. T. canon divergence)

Finally a fic where they don't freak out on confession and it's sweet. 

“You seem—sad.” Was that the right word? Others sprang to mind: desperate, lonely, anxious.

Tooru looked away. “Are you going to make me say it?”

“Say what?”

Tooru folded his arms, sighed. “I missed you, of course.”

Hajime swallowed.

“No need to look that way. I told you, I’m not one of your macho man buddies. I’m allowed to say stuff like that without being embarrassed—”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Hajime complained. “No need to be so defensive. I’ve missed you too.”

“Oh?” Tooru seemed to get a little of his own back, leaning forward on his elbows. “What about me did you miss?”

((Going to separate universities, Hajime and Tooru learn the true meaning of "distance makes the heart grow fonder"))

 all i wanted was you, by spaceburgers (6k. E. college/fwb au)

This was more emotional than I thought a 6k friends with benefits fic could be, okay? Okay. 

Wherein Hajime and Tooru are fuck buddies, Hajime curses his treacherous heart, and Tooru is bad with feelings. 

 we shine like diamonds, by whitemiists (26k. T. canon divergence)

I couldn't not include this work. It deals with internalized homophobia so well and I really resonate with it. 

In all seriousness, I’m very lucky to live in a country where my sexuality is widely accepted and my heart goes out the LGBTQIA+ peoples who are forced to hide themselves. You are loved and your sexuality and gender-identity are not wrong and never will be.  

Oikawa is nine when he first hears the word. The boys on the playground whisper it like it's dirty, like the way they daringly mutter the word fuck and then look over their shoulders to check their parents hadn't heard.

"You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."

 Look For Him, by Leryline (18k. E. canonverse)

A collection of kisses. I love Hajime’s grandmother. 

She laughs gently. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so heartbroken before, Hajime.”

Iwaizumi sighs and prods at the mackerel with a chopstick. “Sorry. I can’t help it. It’s just different, you know? Like Oikawa pissed me off so much that now he’s not here I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“But you weren’t always annoyed with him, were you?” his grandmother smiles serenely and takes a sip of her tea. “My, my, Hajime, old women see everything. I saw you out there with my finches, when you were kissing Tooru’s nose. Your mother and father used to do the very same thing, you know, when they were younger. And look how long they’ve lasted. I hope you and Tooru last, Hajime. He’s very good for you.”

-

Oikawa has kissed Iwaizumi more times than either of them can count; it’s a constant thing, their lips never really leaving the other’s skin. There are, however, times when they’ve kissed that are burned into their memories. Eight of them, to be precise.

 film reel life, arsenicjay (8k. T. canon divergence)

Such a unique and creative idea! Reading from the eyes of a camera, so beautiful!

The only person Iwaizumi is lying to is himself, when he insists: I am not in love with Oikawa Tooru. 

 how to let your planets align, by tether (tothemoon) (15k. T. end of the world au)

This is the only remotely non-happy ending fic I will be including on here, and it's purely because it's a gorgeous read. And yes, I ached. Your lips, my lips, apocalypse. 

It is the last day on earth, December 2nd, 1985, when you realize you're in love with him.

[dieauster-und-diegarnele]

Unpopular AtLA opinions: main character pairings

All these shipping wars made me think about the pairings with main characters in general. You do not always fall in love with your best friend, right? So, maybe, main characters could be just friends with each other but not more. And love someone else, someone special personally for them. No shipping wars, everyone's happy! (Yeah, like that's gonna happen)

So

With all the respect for the canon pairings and their role in the story, just a thought:

Rare pairings for A:tlA main cast with side characters, that could be canon.

Two girls were canonically interested in Aang: Meng from "The Fortuneteller" and On Ji from "The Headband". I chose On Ji. Aang was kind to her (unlike poor Meng), he invited her to dance and she was ablush. Also, isn't it symbolical to finish the war that started between Fire Nation and Air Nomads with Fire Nation girl and Air Nomad guy falling for each other? I found it sort of interesting.

Katara is a very popular girl. Except Aang and Zuko (no shipping wars!!!) we have such options as Haru and Jet. I wanted comfort, I chose Haru. Jet is great, recently he became very interesting to me, but he is so broken (and very much dead). Haru is mature, good-looking both with and without moustache and beard, nice, etc, he values Katara's personality, he could be a great boyfriend.

The most challenging one was Sokka because he's a real heartbreaker. Literally every hetero pairing with him is not rare. Suki? His endgame (I did not want to use canon endgames). Yue? Canonically in love (but she left the human world). Ty Lee? She was pretty much into him (I should have chosen her or Suki, I know, I cheated, okay?). Azula? She sees Sokka as a worthy opponent, so I can assume that she could fall for him some day (but she is one of the main characters – or villains, whatever – and this relationship would be very unhealthy). So, again, I cheated and chose Yue, my personal favorite. They could at least meet in the spirit world after Sokka's passing ("The Legend of Korra", I'm looking at you).

'Cause she is just twelve, Toph has no official endgame. It is ok, normally one can't just found a person in his or her twelve years and fall for them and live together ever since (kataang should happen later too, imho). Toph was a little into Sokka but he did not understand it, which is also ok for teens. But I found someone – the Duke! He helped Toph to aim in "The Awakening", cared for her on the submarine in "The Day of Black Sun", they had a cute hug in the finale. And there are some sweet moments in the "Swordbending" from "The Lost Adventures" comic book. I don't care much for Avatar graphic novels in general, but you can find something worthy there.

Just one girl ever said that Zuko is cute and it was Jin. She is a sweetheart, she was kind to him, initiative, gentle – I love her with all my heart. I believe she was Zuko's first kiss. It's a shame we never saw her in action again. Also there is Song, who was understanding and wanted to help, but I did not feel any response from Zuko. In the series he had so many issues, that he did not need any relationship. But after the war – why not? Give Song a ton of ostrich horses, apologise to Jin and ask her out again, you.

As for Suki – I know a lot of fans want her to be an official Gaang member, but sadly she has no personal relationship with any side characters. She was on a date with a Foaming mouth guy once? Great but it's highly improbable that she really liked him (yeah, that's the creator's joke). Well, I guess some people can be happy without any romance in their life, right? But I did not want to draw her here alone, it would feel sad.

A:tlA rare pairings

"I really liked that crazy dance you were doing."

"It's a part of who we are."

"I'll always be with you."

"Helmet?"

"Close your eyes, and don't peek."

[alluraagainstantis]

I hate to make yet another Lancelot and Voltron discourse post because this blog is supposed to be a general pro-shipping/anti-anti shipping blog, but fuck it, I’m irritated. I found out some antis are jumping on Lotor x Allura and (as usual) getting pissy at Lancelot shippers for ignoring Allura and chiding us for not imagining Lotor having a healthy love for her. 

“But ‘Lura, why the outrage? It’s not a big deal! Are you mad that that ship competes with yours?” Ship competition has nothing to do with it. I ain’t stupid and delusional: Lancelot is a pure crack ship and I know it has a snowball’s chance in hell to become canon, let alone get any canon scenes. Us Lancelot shippers would be lucky if Lotor glances in Lance’s direction. Also, confession time: I came into VLD fandom shipping Lotor x Allura and still ship it to some extent. So, ship competition? Ain’t on my radar, bruh. And I’m all for more Allura ships that don’t reduce her to some boring ass and bland Space Mom with the personality of Kashi cereal. 

My issue with some antis jumping on the Lotor x Allura train? It all has to do with hypocrisy, baby.

 For months on end, Lancelot shippers were harassed and accused of being rape and abuse apologists. We had anons telling us that they hope (at least most Lancelot shippers) our favorite character gets raped in order to teach us a lesson about shipping abuse. We repeatedly try to tell antis that VLD!Lotor might be nothing like his 80s’ counterpart, that he might be a tragic figure or be a complicated bad guy who is eventually redeemed. We had to make it clear that despite liking and enjoying dark Lancelot content, most of us (who like the ship itself and don’t use it for Kl@nce fuel) would want and prefer if Lotor was genuinely interested in Lance and the two bond over insecurities and other issues. Yet, antis still persisted giving us shit. But now, antis can yearn for Lotor being redeemed and loving and worshiping Allura without getting any backlash for their wants, but the hate for Lancelot doubles despite the rise of fluffy!Lancelot works and headcanons? 

Also, funny antis care about Lancelot “erasing” Allura now when they didn’t mention Allura at all in their attacks of Lancelot shippers and anti-Lancelot posts prior to Lotor’s video appearance. Hell, I bet my left ovary they inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that Lotor x Allura didn’t become the most popular Lotor pairing, since as far as they were concerned, he was an “ugly creep” (even though the dude was just mentioned at the time) and were probably happy that Lance or another Paladin was getting badtouched by him in fanart/fanfic or making morally-dubious decisions with him. If Lotor x Allura was the most popular Lotor ship to emerge after him being name dropped, antis would be foaming at the mouth and screech about fandom getting off violence against women, accuse shippers of being misogynists, abuse supporters, etc. Basically, the same shit many villain x heroine ships get now. 

Really, I shouldn’t be get worked up over this. But I guess I’m frustrated because this is just more shit to add to the shit plate Lancelot shippers get shit from all sides (that isn’t to say that we have as bad as Shaladin shippers do. I don’t think we do at all. Correct me if I’m wrong), but Jesus. Most of our ship is used for Kl@nce fuel. We get accused of shipping just to wank Lance. We get accused of shipping Lancelot to spite other characters (because multishipping isn’t a thing; shipping is a zero sum game apparently). We get accused of being rape and abuse supporters and people disturbingly either demand Lance be raped to teach us a lesson (yes I’m mentioning this again, because dayum) or Lotor gets violently killed by characters who are not all violent psychopaths. Antis flood Lotor’s tags with hate and show no consideration to his fans. Those of us Lancelot shippers who like Lance get slammed by other Lance fans for not caring about him because we ship him with a “rapist.” 

I’m so fucking tired of this shit. I want to enjoy my show about robotic cats, space adventures, and fun, well-written characters being family in peace. I want to enjoy my ships in peace. But VLD fandom, you continue to disappoint. 

[velkynkarma]

Okay. So. I’ve had some time to come down off the mind-is-screaming-internally S2 high and think about a lot of stuff that I saw on my first playthrough. I still intend to go through and re-watch more closely for details. And I have NOT hit that level of ‘instantly knowing when and where scenes and tiny minuscule important details happen’ yet like I have for S1, so some thoughts might be jumbled or more explainable on a second pass. But for now, my reactions, my pros, my cons, my thoughts, and whether or not I’ll still be writing for this series.

Buckle up ‘cause like everything else I write this is gonna get long.

So as I mentioned last night, there were things I liked about this season, and there were things I didn’t. Let’s start with those. PROS:

Everyone gets a moment of sheer badassery. Everyone. Both in their Lion and on their own. Shiro’s combat scenes, Keith’s fights, Lance’s sharpshooting, Allura’s staff fight, I mean the list goes on.

One of my favorites was Hunk when mind controlled, though. Because holy crap—did you see how brutal he was when he had no inhibitions holding him back? He went to town and he messed Lance up pretty good. This says quite a lot about his character that I thought was really interesting. Hunk has has a lot of combat ability and potential, but he holds himself back, partly out of anxiety or that he doesn’t really believe he can do it, and partly because he doesn’t prefer the fighting method when there are other options. Hunk can absolutely fuck you up if he really wants to. He chooses not to. That’s big.

In general, just...absolutely gorgeous fight scenes. The choreography and movement of the characters was superb. As someone who studied animation I was blown away. Beautiful work.

All the Lions got an upgrade of some kind, some kind of special weapon. It kind of bothered me in S1 when the Red Lion got its giant super-gun at the last minute because it felt kind of deus ex machina, but I am glad at least that it’s become more established this is a thing all the Lions can do as long as you connect with them enough.

The Black Bayard has been recovered. Hell. Fucking. Yes.

There were just so many great character interactions and bonding moments. I love that we had a variety of different team-ups to see how different characters interacted with each other, especially in cases where they hadn’t previously. Hunk and Keith, Lance and Pidge, Lance and Shiro, Keith and Shiro, Lance and Hunk...just a lot of great interactions

There were so many “what the actual fuck am I watching” moments for me but I was laughing through all of them, so no complaints there. (Space mall. Just. Space. Mall).

Lots of moments when I laughed out loud or grinned wildly

Shiro losing his fucking cool because he’s human, yeah, I like seeing that haha

Slav. I just. As a person with obsessive compulsive disorder I related with this guy on a fundamental level. I’m not quite as bad as Slav is but man do I get what it’s like to have to do really stupid shit to just progress on a day to day level. (Also, he’s funny).

Zarkon and Haggar’s relationship was explored a lot more, which I really found interesting. In S1 they were a well-oiled machine and worked together perfectly. They also clearly trusted each other. S2 changed that up with Zarkon’s Lion obsession and Haggar wanting to focus on the internal spy and finishing off Allura. I’m curious to see where this will go and if it will form a rift.

Also: Haggar can be tricked. Her magic is not infallible. I suspect the Blade of Marmora has a technique or something to resist druid magic, otherwise they’d have been hardcore fucked centuries ago, but I find this intriguing all the same.

Blade of Marmora: “Come unarmed.” Haha but okay unless you literally disarm Shiro you can’t disarm Shiro and they know that so I’m genuinely surprised they didn’t throw more of a hissy fit over this one.

Not gonna lie I actually really liked the design of Zarkon’s armor-mech. Almost more than Voltron. Dem wings, man. Dem wings. Also, on that note, why the heck does he even need Voltron or the black lion when he’s got his own single-person mech that he can control without having to recruit four other people to work with him?

They basically confirmed false memories are entirely possible for Shiro since Hunk gives us a breakdown of how that arm actually works a little better. The Blade of Marmora may have been real but there is still so much fic potential here I’m foaming at the mouth over it.

CONS:

I’ve got a few cons, but well, let’s get the big one out of the way first. Galra Keith. (And since I know this can be a controversial topic and my feelings on this one are complicated, let me first preface this with an assurance that I have zero shade towards anyone who liked the Galra!Keith theory in S1 or likes the canonization of it in S2. This is just my opinion and in no way does it invalidate yours).

Okay, unpopular opinion time: I’ve never really been on board with the Galra!Keith theory (which I guess is no longer a theory, but yeah). I’ve never really made a big deal of it though because frankly it’s not my place to lecture others on what they want to like or not. I mean, hey, it’s fandom. Like what you like, just don’t cram it in my face. I was content to ignore Galra!Keith tags and go about my business. But the reason I was never really fond of the theory is I could never make it work, with the details presented in S1. And lord knows I tried, anyone who knows me at this point knows I love theorizing and analyzing this stuff. But it just felt so circumstantial. Most of the “evidence” people would point out in S1 could have supported a dozen different kinds of theories. The only real unexplained piece was Keith’s inexplicable draw to the Blue Lion at the beginning, but even then, I didn’t consider this an immediate indication of Galra blood per se. The show also has magic in it, after all; he could have also had some kind of sixth sense or other ability. It just wasn’t enough to go on. And above all I simply could not reconcile any kind of Galra presence on Earth when in S1 they were fully presented as devourers and conquerors. There was no way Zarkon could have known about Earth, especially if the Blue Lion was also on his radar, and not shown up to just take what he wanted and blast it out of orbit. Zarkon takes. He doesn’t have patience for stealth and subtlety when he owns half of the known universe, and I couldn’t see him having a single soldier on Earth without immediately taking advantage of it. Whether that was Keith, or some parent/ancestor of his, didn’t really matter. It just didn’t mesh with Zarkon.

S2 drops a few new details that flesh this out a little better. The existence of a stealth-oriented resistance certainly would justify how some Galra individuals could theoretically have been to Earth without immediately summoning a full fleet to blow it out of space. If they knew the Blue Lion was there they might even have a reason to target Earth specifically, if only to keep it hidden for as long as possible. I am mollified by this, at least, since it does provide some possible answers to the big plot hole issue I had with this theory. But I don’t know. Galra!Keith still feels too…contrived. Too convenient. It just doesn’t feel natural to me, in a series and plot that has otherwise put a lot of focus on naturally developing story as it goes. Each episode drops details that lead to the next episode, smoothly and subtly, but something about Galra Keith just feels very ham-handed. I’m having a little trouble coming to grips with it. Maybe they’ll drop more information in season 3 that will smooth this out more, but right now I’m just…really not a fan of this piece. On the plus side, while I am not really a fan of Keith having Galra heritage, I do kinda like that most people on the ship are just like ‘oh okay you’re part alien whatever.’ Like it isn’t drawn out into a huge drama spectacle. When it’s first officially revealed only Shiro is actually present and I half expected Keith to beg Shiro not to tell anyone because he’s scared of their reactions, just because they’d want to play up the reveal drama for a few episodes, but there wasn’t any. Everyone just knew. Learned off screen even, other than for Shiro, because there is no scene when Keith comes forward and says ‘hey so yeah, turns out I’m part Galra?’ to the team. And with the exception of Allura, nobody really reacted. Hell, there wasn’t a “reaction episode” like you would have expected with a theme like this. It almost felt underplayed. Or, treated as not-really-that-weird-a-thing, like in Keith and Hunk’s episode together, in which Hunk continually draws attention to the Galra heritage but not really in a hateful way. And I kind of liked that, because while Galra!Keith feels a little on the cliche side, at least that kind of response shook that up a little. And, not gonna lie, on a completely aesthetic reaction, I am just super fucking glad that Keith didn’t like…hulk out Galra style. I’m not a fan of Galra designs in general, I’m glad Keith didn’t just magically turn purple and all that. (Though this really does beg the question of how much his biology is affected by that Galra heritage. We know it’s affected his sixth sense at least somewhat since he appears able to sense and interact with all the Lions, and we know it lets him interact with Galra tech which is…weirdly convenient…but otherwise he looks perfectly human). Anyway. That’s my thoughts on Galra Keith, which was the biggest con for me. The rest are less controversial. OTHER CONS:

Pidge and Lance didn’t get to use their bayards to create new solo weaponry for Voltron. This makes me sad as I really wanted to see Voltron get a badass sniper rifle or a chain-whip thing like Zarkon had. I did like that everyone got to work together to make the super huge-ass sword, but I would’ve liked seeing some new weaponry too.

Thace. I just wasn’t feeling it with this guy. I know we’re supposed to feel sad when he dies, but honestly? They didn’t give us any chance to bond with this character or establish anything to really connect to him with. We see him resisting the Galra and tricking Haggar which is cool and all, but it just kinda felt like he was there. There was no emotion there, no connection. When he makes his heroic sacrifice I didn’t feel any kind of heartache because it was just like ‘oh...that NPC died. Eh, that sucks.’

We only got 1 Shiro flashback. Granted it was a big one, but like Shiro said, I still have so many fucking questions.

Hunk and Lance kinda got a little flanderized. I get that Hunk likes food, and I get that Lance is kind of the obnoxious-hormonal-teenager trope, but I think it got pushed a little too far in some scenes. They also got less development this season than the others, which wouldn’t really bother me as much if it had been fairly even across the board, except it wasn’t. Half the story was about Keith. Look, writers, I know we asked for more character development for Keith because he needed it pretty bad, but whipping it to the other extreme end of the spectrum wasn’t quite the solution?

The Red Lion’s abrupt change in attitude just seems…strange to me. I’m not sure how I feel about it. This is a Lion that you really have to work to get to like you and it’s ‘very unstable.’ It’s rather abrupt about face to the point when it just randomly keeps rescuing Keith was…well. The first time was awesome, but after a while it kinda felt overused. *flat sarcastic voice* “Oh boy. Keith is in trouble. I wonder how he’ll get out of this one.” On the other hand, I almost wonder if this is in part a reaction to Keith piloting the Black Lion, if only for a short while. I wonder if Red is trying to do the same thing right back—prove itself to its partner? I don’t know. I’m conflicted on this one. But to me it lacked subtlety in the same vein as Keith’s story.

That cliffhanger. Just. That cliffhanger.

RANDOM THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS, AND WISHLIST ITEMS

Okay. The final plan. Cool and all, but like...the fuck didn’t they just wormhole Zarkon’s ship into a sun or black hole? Like. C’mon. Even corrupted-Alfor-thoughts thought of that plan. They didn’t even have to re-imagine it. They had precedence. They were ultimately planning to destroy the ship anyway, and at the time they made their plan they hadn’t even considered trying to recover the black bayard, which were the only things they’d lose. They could have saved so much hassle. (The answer is of course that there wouldn’t be much of a show after that, but still).

As stated I’m not really a huge fan of Galra Keith but man, if I am being asked to accept this as canon, I fucking demand that he gets to dual-wield his Blade of Marmora with the Red Bayard. Because we already know he’s ambidextrous in with his sword. And that would be too fucking cool.

Okay so Matt’s not a prisoner anymore. He got rescued by rebels or something. Cool. Uh. Where’s the love for Sam Holt though? Where the fuck is Pidge’s dad? Please tell me somebody rescued him too? The man just wanted to find existence of life outside Earth he didn’t sign up to be a fucking war prisoner give the guy a break.

Also I kind of laughed when Shiro was all “hey Pidge don’t worry it’s okay Matt’s a survivor like you” because this is literally the same guy who was like “yeah Matt you gonna die unless I fight this guy for you since you have zero combat survival capability and both of us know you’ll be dead in like ten seconds.” And now he’s with rebels. Escaping. In a violent situation. I wonder how that’ll work.  

They were really pushing Multiverse theory in this season and I find that very intriguing. I wonder if anything will come of that.

Okay but the presence of a human-themed shop on a random space mall really both intrigues and puzzles me. ‘Cause this means there are regular visitors to Earth, or at least people know about it outside our solar system, when previously it sounded like we were in the space boonies and no one had ever heard of us (which is why it was a great place to hide a Lion). Earth obviously did not have robust inter-planetary trading since the Kerberos mission was all about discovering life outside Earth, and Lance thinks Pidge is crazy for believing in aliens waaaay back in S1Ep1. So. What gives? How?

The insane animation style change happened again for Shiro using his bayard and then everyone screaming. I guess they have a 1-pivotal-moment-per-season rule with that.

So we knew Altean Haggar was coming, that one just seemed kinda obvious. What I actually find more intriguing is that Haggar’s hair is white. Now granted we only have a few Alteans to work off of (Alfor, Allura, Coran, and now Haggar), but Coran has repeatedly implied Allura has extra abilities and has referred to her (or other Alteans who did the Balmera ceremony) as “sacred Alteans.” Presumably, this is something linked to the royal line, and so far every royal Altean we’ve seen has had white hair. I’m wondering if Haggar is a relative. Of course, this is all circumstantial evidence and pure conjecture. It’s also possible that hair color can be shapeshifted, or white hair isn’t associated with the royal line, or a dozen other things. I’m not holding my breath, but I am curious how Haggar fits into the planet destruction.

Overall I did like the theme they were going for this season, which is that your blood does not define you or decide what “side” you’re on. We had some good Galra (or just neutral ones, like the restaurant owner, or ones that just did not fit the ‘cull the weak, be the best warrior’ mentality we were largely led to believe the Galra were in S1). And we have Bad Alteans, although honestly I’m sure everyone saw that coming already.

I feel like there were a LOT of subtle nods to or jabs at the fandom in S2 too. Lots of theories came true of course, but there was also a lot of dialogue that seemed to deliberately poke fun at some theories or fan favorites. Sometimes it was funny and sometimes it felt kind of insulting or trollish. But this is hardly a surprise, I guess, considering how much they played with us right before S2 dropped.

ON WRITING:

So am I still planning on writing for Voltron? Well. I’d like to. I liked the majority of this season, it was fun, my heart was pounding through most of it, and it left my mind a screaming wreck by the end. It was intense. But it was mostly good. I enjoyed it. There are a few problems I need to figure out though.

Galra Keith is probably the biggest wrench in my fic-writing plans at the moment. I’m not…really sure how to process this. Characterization is the most important part to me when I write, and I always try to stay as true to the characters as possible based off the canon material we’re given. To me it is absolutely vital to do that character justice. I feel that is what a responsible writer should do. So even if I write stuff that isn’t centric to his heritage, or even to Keith, it’s now still a core part of his character that needs to be considered when determining his actions, thoughts, goals and motivations, especially considering some of his actions in S2 as a direct result of that. It’s something I need to keep in mind when I write him, but it’s also not really a theme I’m a fan of. I am certainly not petty enough to write it out of existence because I don’t like it—that’s not fair to the character either, and I detest that kind of blatant disregard for a character’s core traits, it’s not responsible writing. It’s leaving me a bit puzzled as to how to proceed. I’ll need some time to think on it. I need to figure out how to get on board with Galra!Keith in a way that still leaves me comfortable writing it.

(Plus, not gonna lie, it totally tanked an idea I had in mind where I was intending to use Keith as the main POV. Okay, I may be a tad bitter about that. I liked this idea. Oh well). That cliffie is another issue. At least we can work with the S1 cliffhanger. What do you do when a character has disappeared? Are we gonna have to establish they got him back every time? Or set it at an indeterminable point somewhere between all the action? Except there wasn’t really any point during which they slowed down. Just. Gonna need to think on that one. And as previously mentioned in this post, I’ve got a nasty case of the obsessive compulsive disorder, mixed with being an insane perfectionist, and it’s driving me bonkers now that some of my fics are canon inaccurate. I’ll get over it but man. It bothers the hell out of me.

ANYWAY. There’s my thoughts. In one long, super post. If you read through all that, congrats.