#fyi this does not necessarily mean ships | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thejustmaiden · 4 years ago

Text

Fiction and Real Life Go Hand In Hand

This blog goes out to all those pro-Sessrin fans out there who refuse to acknowledge the very real effects fiction can have on our world and vice versa. I highly encourage other Inuyasha fans who defend/enable these shippers to read this, as well. I assure you, by no means are my intentions here to stir up trouble. Honestly, I just want some good healthy discourse for once if that’s not too much to ask. If you do decide to engage, please be mindful of that and treat others with respect and I will do the same in return. All in all, the goal of this blog is to exercise my right to speak out and be critical about content I believe to have very potentially detrimental repercussions. I ask that you not attack me or insult me simply for stating an opinion. Thank you!

It’s like the title says, meaning fiction does matter. Where do you think we get ideas for all the stories we tell? Where do we draw inspiration from in the first place?

Real life, that's where! And yes, always with a touch of imagination! Long story short: fiction matters because real life does.

Allow me to elaborate.

Shippers of the Sesshomaru x Rin (Sessrin) pairing say it's not fair of us to throw around serious accusations or use certain deragatory terms that suggest such awful acts like child grooming or pedophilia because of the harmful implications. One of their reasonings being that some people IRL have actually lived through these traumas, so we shouldn't dare to assume they're comparable since one is just fiction and the other is not. But this isn’t about which is worse than the other, because they’re both super problematic. All we’re literally doing is making a link between grooming in real life and grooming in fiction. They mirror each other. Same issue; different mediums. We’re not undermining any one’s past experiences with grooming or the like, nor are we prioritizing fiction to diminish real life abuse. They’re both awful in numerous ways and that’s all we’re trying to say. In fact, if anything we’re attempting to demonstrate just how crucial this correlation is between them. In order to protect past victims and prevent future ones, we must remain vigiliant of the content we consume, and yes, sometimes that means we have to challenge it too. Just because it’s widely-viewed does not make it widely-accepted or well-received. It is paramount that we educate ourselves on how to be more critical of some of the harmful tropes and images that are still way too prevalent in mainstream media. Sexualizing young and pre-pubescent girls is way more normalized than some of us even realize. It’s sad but true that Sessrin is just one of many examples. I know it feels like society has failed us in a lot of ways, but it’s never too late to re-evaluate and re-learn better and more improved ways of viewing and processing information presented to us.

Our mission: Let’s not show our kids that grooming or any other form of abuse are acceptable if they may ever come to experience or encounter it themselves. Be it the real world or on screen. Deal?

There have been a number of occasions where real life victims do speak up against the Sessrin ship and express how extremely uncomfortable it makes them feel by what it represents. The problem is that it’s becoming more evident now that many of their fans will dismiss anything purely on the basis that we pose a threat to their ship and nothing more. What it comes down to is they have no real leg to stand on and cannot possibly top any of what we have to say so instead they simply disregard it. Our inconvenient truths don't fit into their ideal *cough* OOC *cough* narrative so they just choose to be willfully ignorant. It conflicts with their fantasy, so rather than present a sound argument of their own, they flat-out reject it and offer no plausible back-up behind their reasoning besides "I don't interpret it that way." GUYS, CHILD GROOMING IS NOT UP FOR INTERPRETATION.

Just because you so desperately want your ship to come true does not mean you can up and decide to redefine a word so that it caters to your stance. Remind yourself that these are complex AND objective terms that we have no right to fiddle with to serve our own selfish purposes. This is why we can conclude that there's no debate about Sesshomaru's actions towards Rin embodying child grooming.

I apologize if any of my words are triggering by the way, so please feel free to take a break and return later if that’s more suitable for you. it's just really important that everyone in this fandom comprehends the extent in which Sessrin going canon is catastrophic. And no, I'm not exaggerating; I'm simply speaking the truth. Shippers justifying these horrible acts- yes, even in fiction- is usually due to the stubborn refusal to hear us out. No offense to anyone (just stating facts), but more times than not antis like myself feel as if we’re talking to a brick wall when we interact with Sessrin peeps. They go in circles and never expand on their perspectives.

Just a head’s up: THIS GETS LONG. Stick with me. :p

Just look at their take on the Inukag vs. Sessrin relationships for example. This isn't a question of age gaps, this is a question of physical/emotional compatibility. Inukag are the same age mentally wise regardless of one being demon and the other not, whereas Sessrin is not and never will be, and yes, even once she's an adult. The thing is we have debunked this time and time again, because they’re not the same and therefore not comparable, but for some reason these fans won’t drop it. Nothing has changed in their argument, yet they’re persistent in bringing it up. I choose to not go into more detail, since like I said, you can find it around everywhere. I just wanted to touch upon it briefly to prove a point. Maybe it will come up again later in my blog though!

Where was I earlier? Right, child grooming! Haven't you guys realized that what you’re doing is precisely what child groomers do to make excuses or deny any grooming took place at all? (FYI: I’m not accusing you of being child groomers yourselves.) “They reciprocated so the feelings are mutual" is a typical groomer response, but of course it varies. More often than not, victims of grooming aren't even aware they've been groomed until much later. That's how manipulative groomers are that they can legitmately convince you that maybe you're wrong in questioning their motives. Perhaps in the victim’s mind that because one huge indicator of grooming never actually took place it technically cannot constitute as grooming. They start to doubt themselves even though their intuition is telling them something’s off. They should just ignore it then since it can’t possibly be grooming if that one particular thing never happened, right? Wrong, grooming isn’t strictly this or strictly that. It's much more complicated and multi-faceted. This is why the “but Sesshomaru left Rin in the village” point upsets me greatly. HE WAS STILL INVOLVED IN HER LIFE, Y’ALL.

On top of that, are you aware that this is the exact same kind of predatory mindset pedophiles use to describe their infatuation with children? They'll say things like, "I don't see them as an adult and a child. I see them as two people with a soul connection." Okay no joke, I wish I was lying, but that is literally a point one pro-sessrin fan on here recently used to defend this ship. It both astounds me and terrifies me that they don't see the glaring similarities they share in common with actual pedos.

Alright, I want to quickly return to what I was saying earlier about fiction's impact on real life. (Sorry, I’m a bit of a scatterbrain!)

The characters and their worlds in our stories that we dream up and bring to life are nothing short of awe-inspiring and magnificent if we so choose them to be. If it wasn't for our imaginations, stories like Inuyasha would have never come to exist. Fiction provides us an amazing outlet where we are given the opportunity to express ourselves and explore its infinite creative possibilities.

But strip away all the demons and magical components of this show we all love so dearly and what are we left with?

At the very core, Inuyasha is a story that's very reminiscent of the human experience: love, camaraderie, a sense of purpose, and much more!

So perhaps we got a full-fledged dog demon like Sesshomaru, but does that necessarily mean we can't relate to him or understand him simply because dog demons don't exist in the real world? Well, I hope that's not how you view it or else you're missing the whole point of why humans create stories to begin with. We create them to make better sense of and thus connect with the world we live in. And when you really think about it, our stories are just a celebration of life- both our struggles and our triumphs. Now I'm no philosophy professor, but I'm pretty sure they'd say I hit that nail right smack on the head. ;)

All shitty jokes aside, the whole reason I’m mentioning this specific example in the first place is because this recently came up with another Sessrin supporter. That supporter tried to defend the ship by stating that we aren't allowed to use Sesshomaru as an example to judge by since his kind don't exist in the real world.

Now if it isn't evident already, this "it's just fiction" argument is a popular go-to stance many Sessrin fans will resort to once they've run out of ideas and are metaphorically backed into a corner. The funny/sad thing is that they seem to sincerely believe this is strong enough evidence to defend their ship with, but per usual, they fail to see how hypocritical that would be. I’ll clarify soon down below.

Seriously, since when did we decide that fantasy- or any story genre for that matter- stopped reflecting the real world we live in? I mean, we humans are the ones writing these stories. Our human influence is bound to make an impact in some capacity. In fact, we want it to!

Obviously none of us have ever met a dog demon like Sesshomaru, because how could we? Let me tell ya, this is gaslighting at its finest! This is a fictional story with fantasy elements, so of course there will be beings and creatures in their world that don't exist in our own. Does that somehow translate to the fact that nothing from the story of Inuyasha can be applied to our own personal stories or that there aren't meaningful messages to be taught and learned?

So on the flipside, if they're not screaming at us "it's just fiction" for the hundred billionth time, then they are, believe it or not, doing the reverse and comparing it to real world history. One instance of this is how they tell us we're making a big deal about something that isn't real, but go right ahead and use the history of feudal Japan to support Sesshomaru's decision to court (aka GROOM) a young girl because that's how it was done back then. And so, your point being?? It wasn't right then just because it was legal, and it's most certainly not right now. This is how all of their arguments go by the way, where you'll constantly witness a cherry-picking approach. It's agonizing to endure contradiction after contradiction in their arguments filled with nothing but holes in their logic.

I'd just like to add that if we're overreacting to this fictional ship like they love to say we are then technically so are they. They tell us things like "grow up" or "nobody is telling you to keep watching," yet fail to realize they're reacting just as fervently as we are but just on the opposing side of the same damn argument. I find it interesting how they're as invested in this show but pretend they aren't then STILL have the audacity to say it's only us who care this much!? So thank you Sessrin shippers for further proving our point that fiction is more than capable of affecting reality and the people- YES, US- who reside in it.

It's insane that people act like pedophiles and other creeps don't enjoy entertainment too like the rest of us. Believe it or not, they look just like you and me most of the time. Yes, that means they can easily pass as a “regular guy” if they so wished to. My question to you is how do you think pedophiles will take it when they discover others- underage fans more specifically- who dig the same kinda media they get off to? Maybe not in the exact same way, mind you, but there's a thin line between them when you really think about it. I mean, what other explanation is there for why literal pedos on the internet have been known to sneak into pro-sessrin group chats here on Tumblr before? (Thankfully, they were later kicked.) I know that for a fact! It's almost as if the universe is trying to tell them something they refuse to listen to elsewhere. Hhmmm I wonder what that may be.

I imagine it’s possibly one of the hardest things to admit out loud and to themselves, but I can almost guarantee you that most of these Sessrin shippers who are victims of CSA and who still see no issue with Sessrin must be living with some sort of unresolved trauma caused by the very abuse they claimed to have undergone. It's been proven that victims who do not seek or properly receive the help and treatment they need in order to address and live with a traumatic experience such as this are more likely to perpetuate that very same abuse themselves in some way, shape or form. What if in this case fiction is enough for them, but who's to say it won’t eventually manifest itself in other more dire and far-reaching ways? It's not like we haven't seen this vicious cycle before, and I can promise you that Sessrin won't be the last. LET'S STOP NORMALIZING & GLORIFYING THE ROMANTIZATION & SEXUALIZATION OF CHILDREN. Fictional example: Usagi Drop. Need I say more? Real world example: Woody Allen. Again, need I say more?

Bottom line is that Sessrin shippers don't want us to think too critically about this ship of theirs, because if we dig too deep then they're forced to face the very troubling implications this pairing really stands for. Of course they'll never admit to them, because instead they rather double down and grasp at the same old straws as long as it means their precious ship is protected at all costs. Screw everyone else if that's what it takes, because they'll threaten to burn down legit buildings in real life if that ensures Sessrin goes canon! (True story, this happened on Twitter.) They’ll taunt and bully anyone who disagrees. Even if all you literally say is that you don’t like the ship, they’ll gang up on you. Tell them about your past experience with being groomed? They’ll laugh in your face. I wish I was kidding, but I assure you I am not. And they say we're ridiculous and taking this way too seriously? Yeah...

The typical behavior of a Sessrin shipper demonstrates an overly aggressive front since they're usually on defense mode anyway. They only want to ship their sick ship in peace in other words. But just because neo-nazis have a right to spew their bigoted ideology, doesn't mean we don't got the right to punch them! Freedom of speech doesn't equate to freedom from consequences. And Sessrin shippers wonder why they got so many haters. Just sayin'.

Their presence on other platforms like Twitter and Reddit are some examples of how delusional and unstable some Sessrin fans are capable of becoming. Even recently, an anon here on Tumblr sent Richard Ian Cox (English VA for Inuyasha) a totally uncalled for ask telling him that "sessrin is love and there's nothing he can do about it." (That's not verbatim, but if you're interested I'll link you to it.) It appears they discovered that he didn't like Sessrin based on how he had been replying to asks, and just for that reason alone they thought they had the right to harass him. For simply stating his opinion, y'all. They didn't even have the decency to show their face either. Talk about immature and cowardly!

Just yesterday (or was it the day before?) a fanatic Sessrin user on Tumblr- who’s also been known for hateful remarks on Twitter but those tweets have of course been deleted since then- went out of their way to not only lurk in a group chat they don’t belong to on here but to then proceed to harass a few of us in there. They had the guts to take screenshots from that group chat, tag us in posts on their page regarding what they read in there, and without our knowledge or permission went ahead and actually blogged them?? I mean, who calls out people behind their backs while they're just minding their own business?? It worries me how unhinged and out of touch with reality some Sessriners are. Not all of them, but a whole lot of them.

It seems all they are doing is looking for trouble, as they just can't stand how much we hate this ship. So it's more than okay if they love on their ship but it's not okay if we don't and we should just keep our mouths shut. But since when do Sessrin fans have authority over our opinions? Even if they were officially canon, nothing is ever gonna change our opinion. Now when they actually do decide to participate in discourse with antis, you'll see them fishing for excuses to bow out. How they normally go about this is by fabricating a way to blame us antis for their exiting a conversation as if we're being the irrational ones here.

There’s no denying that some antis can also be overly blunt or aggressive (nobody is saying we’re perfect here), but speaking for myself, I know I would never make such nasty comments about other fans and their personal lives. And honestly? It would make me feel like shit talking bad about someone I don't actually know. Nah, I won't stoop to that level or give haters that satisfaction. I may not attack them as people, but that doesn't mean I can't attack some of their messed up ideas that threaten to distort how we should or shouldn’t perceive certain dangerous situations and events. Seeing as how for me this is more than just a matter of opinion- it's a moral responsibility and even an obligation.

I know it's difficult to remain civil when things get heated and people start taking things personally- yet more proof that fiction impacts our lives- but that's the only way any of us will ever have constructive discussions about serious topics like this. Unfortunately, Sessrin shippers, from what I can tell, are incapable of engaging in real discourse for the most part. They may be vocal but that doesn't mean they can pack a punch. I’d really love to be proven wrong someday.

Okay, moving on! If they're not involved in some big-time gaslighting then they're using their infamous strawman argument approach.

Sessrin fans’ sole purpose isn't really to defend their ship, per se, but rather to deflect and antagonize. They like to mislead in order to shift the focus/blame onto their opponent or something else that's not related so that they can stray from the main point.

Take the drama CD for example. It's officially NOT considered canon, right? But that hasn't stopped many fans from referencing it anyway so let’s too consider it for a moment. The point is that they use its "existence" whenever convenient then deny it or downplay it whenever it’s not. So on one hand, it's plain as day that they celebrate it as proof of a romantic future for Sessrin. But then later once we point out to them that Sesshomaru is essentially confessing to Rin that he will wait for her until she's of age, they'll brush it off and quickly add that they didn't interpret the scene that way and leave it at that. I mean how else would you interpret it? And if it's not a proposal of sorts then why exactly are you bouncing off the walls about it to begin with?? If that's all it means is nothing then why are we even talking about this?! You see what I mean here??! And somehow we're the crazy ones?

Let me to be frank with you. If you haven’t listened to it already, this proposal he offered her sounded like a declaration of love in a multitude of ways, which is wildly inappropriate since Rin was only 12 at the time. Signifying that Sesshomaru was/is indeed grooming her. Well, that is if you choose to recognize the drama CD. Nevertheless, whether you do or not, I personally hate that this non-canon satire is even associated with the Inuyasha name to begin with. Ugh.

Intentional or not, Sesshomaru made a deliberate decision in that moment to tell a little girl- and not just any little girl mind you but a girl he's taken in under his care for a good year- that he would wait for her if she so chooses once she's old enough.

The issue is that it isn’t only age of consent we’re concerned about regarding this pairing. What Sessriners fail to see is that this grown male authority- her vassal, her guardian, her adoptive father, or whatever you wanna refer to him as- is basically making a move on this girl he had in his company for quite some time. There's no sugarcoating that. Us antis call it how it is, and I'm sure as fucking day other people who don't watch the show would most certainly agree that the Sesshomaru/Rin bond is filial. Set aside those rose-tinted glasses of yours, and going by everything we’ve been delivered in the manga and parts of the anime (and NOT the drama cd), there are literally no hints that indicate a blossoming romance between this adult male demon and this small human girl he’s taken under his wing. You can imagine them all you want if it pleases you, but that doesn’t mean they’re there. Adult!Rin is a figment of your imagination, nothing more. The idolization of this pairing is pretty disturbing seeing as all we have to go off of in canon is Child!Rin. There have only ever been sweet and innocent moments passed between the two, which is why I’m positive that an unbiased viewer or an outsider would state their dynamic resembled something akin to a father-daugther relationship. I would bet a shit ton of money on that, believe you me!

Rin's inhibitions are low because children are naturally naive and don't know any better. Remember, she adores and trust this man with all her heart, so why would she think any of this so-called grooming is not normal behavior. (I only say “so-called grooming” because I don’t think Sesshomaru bringing her gifts in the village has to be a romantic thing.) Or how would she ever be able to understand that she’s being taken advantage of if she has no previous experience with it? Maybe if she was present for that time Inuyasha and the gang scolded Miroku when they had learned that years previous he had supposedly proposed to this young girl in the village they were visiting, then Rin would. And he didn’t even assist in helping raise her but look at how they reacted! How is this any different than Sesshomaru hooking up with Rin later? It’s actually worse in Sessrin's case. Do you honestly believe that Inuyasha and the others would take kindly to this?

It's not uncommon and considered harmless for young children to have crushes on adults, after all, but the adults in these scenarios should never resort to using and abusing the position of power they held or continue to hold over this child for any reason whatsoever.

What I'm trying to get across here is that no matter how you spin it, Sessrin can NEVER be deemed a morally acceptable pairing. Like ship what you want, we're not saying you can't ship Sessrin. What we're saying is this:

STOP referring to their bond as "pure" and not expect backlash for your grossly inaccurate statements. Just admit it's toxic, because it's extremely harmful to many viewers- and not just victims- to pretend and suggest otherwise.

Please remind yourself of the very real canon fact that Rin traveled with Sesshomaru and they established a bond all while she was just a girl. Oh, and he saved her life too many times to count, not to mention brought her back from the dead TWICE. This is why I don't care much for your counter argument "that dynamics can change over time," because although that's true, like with everything in life there must be standards we adhere to. Exceptions to rules, if you will. Our own basic morals demand it.

For instance, it’s normal that some childhood friends begin to like each other as more than friends years down the road. Nothing wrong with that, because that's a natural and healthy occurrence. Now you cannot apply this to an adult and a child for obvious reasons, but what you also cannot do is apply this to an adult who met and knew another adult while they were still just a child. Why? Well, because it'd be like betraying and perverting that former child's view of you. They were never your equal because your established dynamic resembles that of one an adult posesses with a child even once they've grown up. Think about it this way: it's in the same bracket of family members or family friends who've watched you grow up and mature into an adult. Then later just because they're all grown up, does that mean that those children "are not off bounds" - that's quoting a Sessrin shipper by the way- to these certain family members and family friends?

If you're still struggling to grasp this, I urge you to take a moment (or all the time you need!) to really put yourself in that child's shoes and self-reflect. Would you truly be alright with a family friend you haven't seen in years (but sorely missed because they used to occasionally babysit you) just someday coming back into your life and then very inappropriately flirting with you or even making sexual advances on you? (Sorry for the run-on!) Or even worse, can you picture this happening to one of your own children??! Seriously, ask yourself that and sit with that for a while and really take it all in. It’s not fun, I know, but if that’s what it takes to help you finally understand then please try and practice more ways to utilize your self-awareness in the future. It’s for everyone’s benefit, not only yours, I promise! You'll also find it makes it tremendously easier to empathize with others.

I got news for those fans who don’t view Sesshomaru as a father figure to Rin. The title we give him doesn’t hold as much weight as a lot of us are making it out to be. Let’s try to be neutral here and stick to the hard facts, shall we?

*Sesshomaru is an adult male authority whose protection Rin is under*

*It’s safe to assume that Rin has grown attached to him and maybe even looks up to him*

*They care about each other and the other's well-being*

*He has has played a crucial part in her supervision and care for a significant period of time (yes, even if it’s just passing a message along to Jaken)*

Not so random anecdote: In an Inuyasha episode I recently revisited, Sesshomaru had just rescued Rin from Kohaku who had been possessed by Naraku and was ordered to kill Rin. Anyway, at the end of their scene you can hear Jaken ask out loud, “what should we do for dinner, Lord Sesshomaru?” And that’s about the most domestic thing I’ve ever heard come out of his mouth. They’re such a family dammit and nothing will ever change that!! <3

This is precisely why I could never in a million years view those past students of mine in a romantic light. I don't care how many years have passed, it's just not possible for me. Just the idea of pursuing a romantic and/or sexual relationship absolutely repels me.

Speaking as a former teacher, you don't need to be a parental figure who's around all the time in order to have great love and affection for a child. I would've done absolutely anything in my power to protect them even though they weren't my own. Then again, I did consider them my children in a way even if wasn't in a familial sense. Does that make my love for them any less unique? No, it's just different but not inferior. When you stop to think about, it really doesn't take as long as you may think to establish rapport with a person, particularly children. Connecting with a child is almost instant (but of course some are more receptive than others), and once you do make that special connection one can only make with a child, a strong and overwhelming need to guide and protect them kicks in almost automatically. The unconditional love an adult feels for a child is powerful and constant, and nothing should ever change that. As much as some of you really want to believe otherwise, that feeling doesn’t just go away because they turned 18. In your eyes, they’ll always be that kid.

I get it, sometimes when we escape into these fictional worlds of ours, it's difficult not to project our own wishes and desires onto certain characters. I don't blame fans for picturing themselves with Sesshomaru- I know I did haha- but never once did I self-insert myself as Rin. I know she's one of the biggest catalysts for his character growth- if not THE biggest- but how and why does that need to turn romantic? There are other antis who I have spoken with on this. They informed me that they used to live vicariously through Rin and ship them together, as well. As they got older, they later learned how weird and twisted this ship actually was. That's what's supposed to happen, y'all, you're supposed to grow out of that fixation.

Now take your mind out of the Inuyasha universe for a second and hypothetically (or not hypothetically if you have kids) answer me this: if and/or when you ever have a child, would you genuinely be comfortable with the idea of them dating and eventually marrying their father’s best friend who was also there to witness them grow up? Be honest please.

I highly doubt you would want that- or at least I hope not. You see, that's another MAJOR point I've made a few times already and yet you Sessrin shippers continue to avoid the question. It's pretty obvious it hasn't been rhetorical either. Ignorance is bliss?

Finally, I’d like to address one more point. It seems there is a HUGE misconception and I'd like to clear it up real quick. That is Sessrin shippers misinterpret one of the issues we have with this ship. They chalk up our complaints of Sessrin being canon (which is a LIE, nothing has been confirmed yet) to us just being salty because that somehow means our ships aren't or won’t be. I assure you, readers, other antis and I will attest that this ain't about dumb shipping wars, this is so much bigger than that!!!

I noticed recently that some Sessrin fans have even begun calling us Karens lolol like if anybody is a Karen it's them! This ain't about some mere difference in taste, this is very likely to have LONG-LASTING NEGATIVE EFFECTS. Sessrin going canon is a very harmful message to send viewers and children/teens especially. So if anything, it’s these shippers who are being the entitled ones here thinking that the fact we don’t support their ship is the worst thing in the world. NO, THE REAL PROBLEM IS CHILD GROOMING. GET OVER YOURSELF.

Out of nowhere, some of them even started assuming all us antis were white, which in their books is also equivalent to Karens or even white supremacists somehow?? Those aren't one in the same, but it's easy to make it appear that way when the US is currently tackling major systems of oppression and racial injustice. Because to them, all antis must be from over here. (Yes, I'm American. But no, I'm not white.) How else can anyone explain not shipping Sessrin, right?! Somehow they have it in their heads that ALL of Japan and surrounding places are super approving of this ship, and that everyone else isn’t because of their upbringing and “Western way of thinking.”

To give you an idea of what I mean, look back at what I talked about earlier with their incessant mention of Sessrin vs. Inukag. Because THIS is another popular example of how these shippers present their side and then ignore all the facts. Many fans have already proven how fucked up and inaccurate it is to label whole countries and cultures. It’s like they simply think mentioning it makes it count even though we’ve discredited their points over and over. Nah, you got to back it up with good reasons that support your side of the argument. That’s How To Have An Argument: 101. So at the end of the day, all they're actually achieving in doing is making dumb and entirely unrelated accusations based on nothing just to lead to deductions that are equally unfounded. Nothing at all is accomplished but more gaslighting and hurling of insults on their part = a complete waste of time for antis = an excuse for them to peace out early from the conversation & that’s what they wanted all along

We’ve reached the end (finally! sorry for all the rambling!), and I hope those of you who stayed till the end or read enough can take something positive out of this. As many Inuyasha fans are aware, there will be a livestream with the VAs for Sesshomaru and Rin coming out within the next few hours. We don’t have all the details yet, and afterwards we probably still won’t. I’m not just talking about Sessrin here but about the sequel in general. Whatever happens, please just remember to be kind to one another. If you don’t think you’re capable of doing that, then it’s best you vent and fume elsewhere. Easier said than done, I know, but just try. Throughout this blog, I admit there were moments where I got frustrated and took some jabs at Sessrin shippers. Please believe me when I say that I do not and would not ever wish any of you ill will.

Inuyasha was such a huge part of my childhood, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m anxious as hell that Sunrise will ruin one of the best things I loved about this show. So pardon me if my reactions are too visceral for your liking. haha Also, like the movies and the drama cd, this sequel is not in fact canon. Therefore, for those of you who disagree or who still plan to enjoy this new series, respect the fact that some of us fans will definitely “cancel” it if we feel that’s what we have to do to come to terms with it and move on. Fans have that right, after all. Why should we get on board with something if it’s so uncharacteristic of and unrecognizable from the original source material? If all this is some sort of cash grab of Sunrise’s doing, then count me out. I truly hope that this sequel turn outs being a lot more promising than a lot of us are expecting. I’m begging you, Sunrise, I wanna believe you’re better than this. Please and thank you!

By the way, if you’re interested, feel free to check out my two other blogs on this same subject. Click here and here. The last two screenshots do not come from something I’ve written myself. If you’d like to read more from where those came from, let me know and I’d be more than happy to send you the links. Okay, bye for now. Peace out and stay safe, everyone!

#inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #anti sessrin #sesshomaru #rin

66 notes · View notes

hiirolangley · 4 years ago

Text

Okay, we’re discussing Maruma ships now so here are some not on the main list yet! + my rambling and disjointed thoughts as they occurred to me.

So there was the brief Flynn x Yuuri mutual crush thing that happened in Shimaron. The almost-touch in Big Shimaron when Flynn reaches out to him springs to mind as well as the 'kiss' to knock Yuuri out and their dance at the ball where they just end up holding each other. Although Yuuri very clearly decides in his brain not to like her in the end and Flynn is like, I'm married to Caloria, there was still a little something there (and it probably partially contributed to how much Wolf hates her XD). Throwing in my thoughts about this one here... it's kinda ehhhhhhhhhhhhh..... I mean, Wolfram is one thing because the whole mazoku aging thing, but Flynn is a human in her twenties and Yuuri is sixteen. It's definitely ehhhhhh.......... I’m not calling the police or anything especially since nothing happened, just giving it a major side-eye. In any case, this crush is significant because once Yuuri decides in words in his head not to fall in love with her, he stops looking at women altogether. Name another woman from that point on that he fanboys over like he did all the time prior to meeting Flynn.

Sticking to Flynn, Flynn x Norman were a married couple and they did truly seem to be in love. Just by how much she fights for her late husband's land and people and talks about how she regrets never having the chance to have his children and how she completely betrayed her family's expectations to infiltrate Norman's family for political fuckery, I think it's pretty obvious.

Also Conrad x Maidmer Princess!!! How could you forget the most iconic pairing of the entire series!! XDDD She's the one and only woman Conrad out loud admits to being in love with (although honestly not sure how that worked because they couldn't even have a conversation, but oh well). The story this came from also gave us many fun moments ranging from Josak trying to set extremely obviously straight Conrad up with a group of crossdressers, Gwendal's mind getting blown like 10x in a row thinking that extremely obviously straight Conrad was sleeping with men (including Josak) but then trying to assure Conrad through his shock that he’ll be okay with it while Conrad freaks out, Gwendal wholeheartedly ready to accept a fish lady as his sister in law, Yuuri accidentally insulting the fuck out of Conrad's room, Conrad being worried that Yuuri was calling him boring for a minute before getting mentally smacked in the face by Yuuri complaining about being rated 88% unfuckable (and Conrad thinking to himself, well yeah of course), and just Conrad's POV in general which is always fun because he is a little shit XDDD Also I love when he was thinking to himself, I spent the war sleeping with all sorts of women, some of whom were married, and when the war was over people called me a Whore Prince... and then the first complaint he makes about that is along the lines of I’m not a prince, dumbasses. What a fucking gift to humanity that story was.

Getting off my Crack!otp, there’s Cherie's 3 husbands! I think volume 5's prologue sums that up best so I’ll just direct people there.

And then, Yuuri’s parents! Shouma x Miko. The couple that should not have lasted because they literally went on like 5 dates before Shouma confessed to being a mazoku and Miko was like OMG MARRY ME NOW SO I CAN HAVE MAZOKU BABIES despite thinking he was lame af beforehand... and then they got married XDD I feel like every time they appear on page together they get into an argument or misunderstanding, but they’re still together so /shrug

That’s all I can think of right now~

Moving on...

My otp for this series is the royal couple. How often is my otp the official endgame couple!? NEVER! Lord knows I get Second Lead Syndrome on every damn story I read/watch, but for this series I’m not rooting for Conrad. Way back in my early maruma fangirling days, I liked Yuuram and Conyuu equally because who doesn’t love anyone Morikawa Toshiyuki voices? I know that could be hard to believe I liked opposing ships the same amount, but that’s an actual thing that happened. Once I grew up, the Conyuu went away. That kinda sounds insulting to Conyuu shippers, but it’s not. Let me explain~ Psychoanalyzing myself, me liking Conyuu was more me being like, Conrad would be the perfect boyfriend! instead of Conrad and Yuuri are great together!, but when I got older I was like, holy hell he would actually be the worst boyfriend after a while no thanks??? XDDDDD That’s a whoooole other post I probably won’t make~ Anyway, we all have embarrassing college-aged memories whether you attended or not so let’s move on.

Anyway, I know Conyuu is baited all the time and rereading the Maidmer Princess story reminded me that Conrad says looking at Yuuri’s sleeping face gave him the same feeling as looking at the maidmer he fell in love with, but there’s no way that relationship’s gonna pan out canonically. I feel like I’m playing with fire saying that though o.o

Moving on again, ships I fully support would be:

Yuuri x Wolf

Gwendal x Anissina

Adalbert x Julia (you know, in a posthumous way)

And you know what??? Josak x Murata. The chaos. The pure Bisexual Chaos™. I’m here for that.

Also on the topic of couples! Let’s talk about Nicola and Hube. I have feelings here. Say what you want about Wolfram, at least he’s mentally on the same page as Yuuri. Gegenhuber is a whole ass man who knocked up a 15/16 year old. I know they made her older in the anime, but don’t believe those lies! Do I need to elaborate how he’s gross? I don’t think so. BUT, I do like how sensei filtered it through Yuuri’s POV. (Fyi, I realize the following is partially headcanon) As an also 16yo, this grossness does not cross Yuuri’s mind at all. In fact, the only thing he remarks on is that he can’t believe she was pregnant and getting married to another man ... but it crosses Gwendal’s. Adult Gwendal is FURIOUS when he finds out Nicola is pregnant. He was already mad because he hates Gegenhuber and was getting irritated that he and Nicola were in love/told her he’d use the mateki to help humans, but when he finds out she’s preggers and they totally had sex he loses his shit. I dunno, it’s like sensei properly communicated that a teenager wouldn’t necessarily recognize the fucked-up nature of a man in his twenties (or the mazoku version of that) starting a relationship with a 15yo and that they also might misinterpret the anger of the older people who do know better.

And like a cherry on top, Gwen’s anger is solely directed at Gegenhuber, not Nicola. After this adventure, Gwendal personally takes super good care of Nicola and makes sure she’s set up nicely with the Grisela family and even visits her regularly... and then when Gegenhuber wakes up, Gwendal almost kicks him to death. Seriously, he literally kicked him so much Anissina had to heal him so he wouldn’t die (and while she was healing him she was like, you’re fucking gross and I wouldn’t care if you dropped dead here, but I kinda have to do this.) I dunno, I feel like there are so many reasons for people to hate Gegenhuber, I can’t make the claim that this is 100% significantly adding to the hatred. Would you notice another drop in a bucket? But this is my opinion on the matter~ Anyway, it’s 1:30am and I need to stop typing!

#manniversary 2020 #MA event #kyou kara maou #maruma

17 notes · View notes

ruffiorocks · 5 years ago

Text

This needs to STOP!!!

Ok guys, serious note today that I talked about last week but I've seen on Twitter again over the weekend. So I think this needs to be reiterated!

At NO POINT in the Supergirl show does it refer to or even hint at Mon El being a r*pist!

You must STOP this immediately! This goes beyond silly fan or ship wars arguing if he was a douche bag or not.

R*pe is NOT a term you should be throwing around because you don't like a character.

Now, before you yell at me and call me a r*pe apologist (like I've seen on Twitter) let's look at the facts on the show.

Mon El was the Prince of a planet that HAD slaves! Not a planet OF slaves. There is a clear distinction between the two.

Kara said that the Royal family of Daxam kept it's 'CITIZENS' drugged and distracted. Now typically and historically slaves are not considered citizens unless they are freed and sometimes not even then.

Slave owners don't typically provide their slaves with alcohol to keep them distracted. In fact they would most likely want the exact opposite. Supplying them with drugs would also be counter productive and that would achieve the complete opposite of what slaves are used for. Drugged and distracted slaves can't do the work for you.

Now, some people said "he was a Prince, he could get anyone he wants, people would be begging to sleep with him".

The reactions I've seen to this aren't logical, they are reacting to the fact they don't LIKE Mon El or don't find him attractive.

But like him or not this claim actually does make sense for what appears to be an absolute monarchy.

Historically speaking kings or princes could pretty much have anyone they wanted and that doesn't necessarily mean r*pe. It doesn't matter what they look like, people male or female will make themselves available.

You can call me anti feminist if you want to, but I studied history and have a Masters Degree. My special subjects include monarchies from around the world. Women throwing themselves at princes or kings has been a common thing since monarchy was first established. The same goes for men making themselves available for Queens. Ie. Elizabeth I.

That woman in Mon Els bed could have been his girlfriend, one of his girlfriends, a courtesan, a social climber, a woman he met the night before whatever. But that minute clip gives NO indication that woman was a slave being r*ped. It's pure assumption.

I'm willing to bet not a lot when into the construction of that scene. The writers needed Mon El escaping Daxam and looking like he was a lazy git and they achieved that.

If Mon E was a r*pist why wouldn't he have acted like that on Earth? Oh and don't say it's because Kara would have said something to him. I doubt "being human 101" included "oh and fyi we don't force women to have sex".

Mon El was a total douche bag, I won't excuse that at all! But being a douche bag or a bad boyfriend is a far cry from r*pist based on a two second scene.

So just STOP!! You're taking this to far!!!

#mon el of daxam #mon el #supergirl season 5 #supergirl #kara danvers #valour #Supercorp #lena luthor #karamel

37 notes · View notes

almaasi · 5 years ago

Text

yoooooooooo, I’m in need of a beta (or betas) for my Garak/Bashir fics since all my usual proofreaders are busy.

summaries/warnings for 4 completed fics are listed under the cut. total word count is 111k+. all are rated ‘explicit’ except for one ‘mature’.

my previous fics are here if you want to know how I write.

preferably I’m looking for someone who can beta all of them, and more fics that come after this, but anyone who can do a one-off is cool too. I definitely want someone who’s good at suggesting things in the name of intersectional feminism and reader sensitivity! or just questioning things and commenting in general. catching typos or confusing sentences would be a huge bonus but that’s not my priority~

please share this with people you think might be interested!!!

fics listed longest first, not necessarily the ideal posting order. some of these have been lightly or partially beta’d already.

1. The Wolf Who Cried Doctor

Elim Garak/Julian Bashir, Julian Bashir & Ezri Dax

55k, Explicit

Garak is certain: any day now, Julian will discover that the most frequent visitor to DS9’s Infirmary has been going out of his way to fake, cause, and invite harm unto himself in order to gain his dear doctor’s attention. Garak cheerfully tells his lies with just enough variation to remain interesting, but remains afraid that one day Julian won’t believe him when there’s really something wrong.

But Julian is already aware there’s a problem. And the best treatment for an acute case of touch-starved loneliness, he believes, is to provide Garak with as much physical affection and emotional care as possible. It’s not like Julian couldn’t do with some company himself, given how his relationship with Ezri has been fraying.

But neither Julian nor Garak envisioned what could come of it all. Neither of them ever prepared for bliss.

(A post-canon fic where Garak comes back to DS9 and feelings happen.)

Tags: non-endgame pairing:, Julian Bashir/Ezri Dax, side pairings: Ezri Dax/Kira Nerys, Kira Nerys/Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Happy Ending, Angst, Self-Harm, Depression, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, (Julian and Garak), Lovers to Friends, (Julian and Ezri), Sharing a Bed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Massage, Holding Hands, First Kiss, Touch-Starved Elim Garak, Lonely Elim Garak, Jealous Elim Garak, Garak is the quadrant’s most melodramatic drama queen, Lonely Julian Bashir, Bisexual Julian Bashir, Julian’s Foot Fetish, Ezri Ships It, Supportive Ezri Dax, Matchmaker Ezri Dax, Love Triangle, except it’s a tangle of lines, Polyamory, Communication is Hard but Vital, Replicator Malfunctions, Space Station Antics, First Time, Bottom Julian Bashir, Top Elim Garak

Warnings: Garak self-harms (nothing gory or graphic - just hot tea + gravity, improper handling of sewing tools, baiting others to use brute force, purposefully ingesting questionable foodstuffs; scars from past cutting) - but for most of the story he doesn’t think his actions are troublesome, merely viewing self-harm as a means to an end to acquire the physical comfort and emotional attention that he craves from Julian. (Disclaimer: I’m aware this is not the only reason real people might self-harm, but it’s Garak’s reason.)

Unspecific suicidal ideation (Julian tells Garak off and Garak’s like “welp! guess I’ll die now”). Both Garak and Julian are wildly depressed and lonely - and I swear that Ezri, the O’Briens, and I are trying our darnedest to rescue them, but they both have a tendency to spiral into a vortex of doom without talking to anyone about it, so it’s not the easiest thing to do. >:|

Foot fetish is mild but... y’know, present. (Oh, Julian.)

Regarding polyamory/love triangle tags (spoilers ahead!): Julian loves Ezri A LOT but doesn’t realise it’s in a platonic friendship way, and privately ties himself in knots over not being sexually or romantically attracted to her anymore (if he ever was to begin with). Much panicking about unintentional cheating happens, because he’s accidentally in love with Garak while dating Ezri - except (more spoilers) Ezri is trying to set him up with Garak anyway. Ezri is totally poly and way more chill than 99% of people would be in her position. Past Kira/Keiko/Miles.

Special note I mentioned to current betas: you should probably know that i feel some sort of divided way about how ezri is SO accepting of julian's disaster sexuality, because a) i've never once seen any character react like that, ever, in anything fictional or real (potentially bc of lack of bi and poly rep), and b) her reactions are based on how i would react in her place??? (note that i'm aro, ace, and bi, (well that's simplified) so if i was in a relationship with julian it would definitely be platonic but me being madly attracted to him despite that) so it's like... really personal but also i'm worried nobody would relate and would say i made her a pushover. so any pointers you have there would be lovely <3

2. Runabout Rollabout

Elim Garak/Julian Bashir

23.5k, Explicit

Julian Bashir, Elim Garak, Keiko O’Brien, Kasidy Yates, Kira Nerys, Ezri Dax (mentioned)

Eight months after the war ends, Julian invites Garak on a pollen-harvesting trip to Bajor. Distracted by the delight of seeing his friend after so long, Garak gets himself blasted with hormone-altering pollen, and is forced to ride out the repercussions on the runabout journey back to DS9. Symptoms include mood swings, unusual food cravings, and an urgent need for emotional assurance and physical contact. Julian is glad to offer relief, in whatever manner Garak requires. Even in the most intimate of ways...

Secretly, they both hope their brief affair in the runabout’s bottom bunk will lead to something more. But how could it, when duty forever trumps desire?

Tags: Post-Canon, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Porn With Plot, Mutual Pining, Sex Pollen, Mood Swings, Hormones, Cuddling & Snuggling, Public Display of Affection, Smut, Explicit Consent, First Kiss, Caring Julian Bashir, Hormonal Elim Garak, Horny Elim Garak, First Time, Anal Sex, Top Elim Garak, Bottom Julian Bashir, but they do switch briefly, Post-Canon Bajor, Post-Canon Cardassia, Illustrated

Notes: FYI, Julian and Ezri are no longer a couple. How that happened is discussed late in the fic, but Garak thinks they’re still dating when he and Julian sleep together for medical reasons. (Julian is NOT cheating, but Garak guiltily believes he is.)

This one’s probably an easy edit tbh. But I’m still questioning that ^ Garak-thinks-Julian-seeing-Ezri thing, so anyone who can tell me if it feels right, if I need to edit it, or if I should take it out, would be great.

3. Tail Over Heels

Elim Garak/Julian Bashir

Julian Bashir, Elim Garak, Amsha Bashir, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, Miles O’Brien, Kira Nerys, and everyone else

19.9k, Mature

Despite every attempt to deter her, Julian’s mother is coming to DS9. Here’s the problem: Julian told her he was married, and he’s not. Here’s the solution: Garak stands in as Julian’s husband. She’s meant to hate him. But Garak is just too damn likable - and a liiiittle too convincing in the role of Julian’s lover. Not only does his mother believe the lie, but so does everyone else on the station. Even Julian himself is starting to wonder...

Tags: Romance, Fluff, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Mistaken For A Couple, Moving In Together, Roommates, Sharing a Bed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Holding Hands, Eavesdropping, Bickering, Cardassian Flirting, First Kiss, First Time, Garak has a tail, Slightly Alternate Canon, set mid season 7, or an alternate post-canon where nobody leaves

Note: This one’s the oldest and closest to being publishable, and already illustrated and lightly beta’d, so this will likely post first, before the end of March 2020. But it definitely needs another going-over.

4. Code for Consent

Elim Garak/Julian Bashir

13k, Explicit

Julian Bashir, Elim Garak, Miles O’Brien, Keiko O’Brien

With Miles away, Julian needs someone else to play the evil villain in his secret agent holosuite program. Garak steps up. But tying Julian to a bedpost and fake-torturing him turns out to be an accidental turn-on for both of them. Julian doesn’t want to break character, so allows Garak to escalate his erotic domination towards the point of no return - yet Garak won’t go any further with their roleplay without clear consent. Now Julian has to figure out a way to show Garak he wants him without saying it outright. (But then again, maybe saying it matters.)

Tags: Smut, Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Holodecks/Holosuites, Roleplay, Cardassian Flirting, Accidental Stimulation, Light Bondage, Choking, Light Knifeplay, Consensual Non-Consent, Rape Roleplay, (foreplay only) - soon followed by:, Explicit Consent, Holding Hands, Making Love, Schmoop, Top Elim Garak, Bottom Julian Bashir, set late season 6

Note: Nobody’s read this yet so idk how it comes across to other people, which worries me. Something about it doesn’t sit right with me but I can’t figure it out and need help with that :/

If you’re interested in helping, please submit me a tumblr message at https://almaasi.tumblr.com/submit with your name, pronouns, a statement of your interest and email address (gmail preferred) so I can add you to google docs if I pick you c:

(also maybe a timeframe of when you’d be able to beta. starting any time in the next couple of weeks is fine.)

(disclaimer to people with anxiety: I welcome anyone <3 if you want to say hi, PLEASE DO. I reserve the right not to pick you for any number of secret reasons, and I might not reply quickly, or at all, because I have chronic fatigue and messages are A Lot for me, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like you or you did something wrong!! promise.)

#ds9 #garashir #deep space nine #star trek: deep space nine #Elmie writes things #post of postiness #betaing #The Wolf Who Cried Doctor #Runabout Rollabout #Tail Over Heels #Code for Consent

14 notes · View notes

simplylove101 · 5 years ago

Text

Random Tangent About Ships & Cheating SLs

So, I was talking with my friend Lauren (@backtothestart02) yesterday about how when it comes to watching our shows and seeing certain ships of ours having cheating sls & how that affects how we feel towards them. This convo kinda came about cuz of the recent development we’ve heard about on Riverdale where Betty & Archie are gonna be cheating on their respective significant others with each other in the next episode... Which, okay, at this point I don’t even watch the show anymore since it sounds like it’s pretty much on crack these days (at least more than usual lol) so this isn’t your typical rant about “OMG HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY OTP LIKE THAT” in regards to that sl (re: yes, Bughead was my ship when I watched it but my investment in the show has been pretty much non-existent for way over a year now so that’s not my goal with this rant fyi lol) It’s just more the frustration of the excitement I’ve seen from people being all “YAY CHEATING” Cuz, yeah ok, it’s a silly TV show. Obviously. I get that lmao It’s just the reactions I’ve been seeing that are funny cuz there’s people who talk about toxic relationships and normally how cheating is a dealbreaker but in this one specific case we’re all suddenly cool with it... Okay lmao but yeah, if the ship has to happen because a character died or cheating is involved... doesn’t that already cheapen that new relationship too (and their character development along with it? lol)

Anyway, I actually just really wanted to use this as a chance to rant about my ships that made me deal with cheating sls and why those are basically the worse “obstacles” a show can throw at ships. At least that is, if you want people to root for them long term. lol Cheating obviously happens in real life, but then that’s usually the end of a relationship. Which is why I don’t think it’s surprising that when it comes to fiction, I find the element of cheating to be something that kinda taints my otps for me if it occurs in the story.

I can think of a couple of cases where I was able to accept it cuz the show mostly did right by them after the situation by showing the growth and how that would never been an issue again. But the cases where the cheating happens and it just feels like this thing that makes it so you can’t enjoy any of the things that came before it with that couple? That sucks. It feels cheap and like, really bad writing.

I think my thoughts on this subject stems all the way back to my very first TV ship: Jackie & Hyde from That 70′s Show. Anyone who really watched that show remembers that 2 episode arc of where Hyde thought Jackie cheated on him with Kelso (she hadn’t ofc but he did see her comforting him in a way that would be suspicious considering Kelso had wanted her back) so he cheated on her with a random nurse as payback. I remember watching the next episode heartbroken at the scene where Hyde has to tell her what he did after he realizes that he pulled that move for no reason at all and Jackie ultimately breaks up with him on the spot. Which I applauded her for. Because the girl had gotten cheated on by Kelso so much that she vowed that she wouldn’t let that happen to her again. Her relationship with Steven was supposed to be different, and up until that point, had been. It was a step back for all the development they had spent with them all season, but with how raw Hyde was during that scene and the scene where he tells Jackie that he loves her (evidenced by the fact that he actually isn’t wearing his usual sunglasses in either of those scenes), it can be said that it was clearly just a momentary regression. Do I think they could have handled it better towards getting them back together? Yeah. But then it was a sitcom so you gotta keep that in mind too. lol Otherwise, they mostly did right by them once they were back together until things got shaky again. But then this rant isn’t about how they deserved the endgame they were supposed to get and were robbed of. LOL But yeah, this is one of the rare cases they weren’t completely tainted for me.

youtube

(For those of you that have never seen this ep....)

Another case of a ship where cheating happened, but in this case did have my ship pretty much tainted for me at the time was Joan & Adam on Joan of Arcadia. This is more a lowkey scenario cuz nobody who sees this will know them basically but I loved them dearly and I watched that show (pun not intended at all lol) religiously when it was on so when that sl came very much out of nowhere I was (I’d say) rightfully upset about it. There was no reason to have Adam cheat on Joan. It was just plain character assassination of a fan favorite, and for what? Drama??? I still have no idea. All I know it was a far cry from the boy who charmed his way into Joan’s heart in S1 who wasn’t even thinking about sex when they got together (Heck, *she* was the one who thought they were supposed to have sex in S1 at one point and again, that wasn’t even on his radar at the time lol). Enter later S2, he makes her feel pressured about them doing it a bit and then later he cheats on her with this random girl that we saw a couple times talking to him because of this... Um?? That’s just bad writing cuz it’s OOC. lol What’s worse is that Joan found out about this in the 19th episode of the season so when the show got cancelled, there had been barely any development after that. There was some since there was like 3 episodes or so after that, which meant there was just enough time to get them to a sorta neutral place with each other since they had the same friend group but otherwise, not much closure for shippers. Which was frustrating. You can’t just take that sharp of a turn in the story that late in a season with an unguaranteed next season with your main couple, especially if the cheating is coming out of left field. You just can’t, not if you want me to root for them at least. So.... yeah. That was bad. lol Definitely an example of why sometimes cheating does not need to be a storyline on a show.

youtube

(For context...)

I was trying to think if there were any ships before this one that i would want to mention, and there might have been, but I can’t think of them at the moment. Which means next on the list is Zoe & Wade on Hart of Dixie. They’re still a big otp for me, which does show I was able to move past their cheating sl but again, they did get tainted a bit too. In some ways, their sl gave me some deja vu with Jackie & Hyde. At least in the way that the guy chooses to sleep with someone in a very rash way, and you just know this is gonna lead to an automatic breakup the second the girl finds out. There was no denying Zoe was gonna break up with him. It was heartbreaking to watch her come to the realization that he had cheated on her. And it was frustrating because it felt like they only got to be a proper couple for like maybe 4 episodes and then they pulled that move. It was like, you’ve been setting me up to root for this couple and... now what? They had undeniable chemistry so I guess the writers always counted on that for when they would ultimately bring them back together and they were right. I was able to root for them again, and it helped there had been some time that had passed (a whole season of them not being together!) and I was missing them a lot. But that said, it still felt like a misstep. Because when you wanna write a breakup, we should just throw in a cheating sl then? There were plenty of other ways to break up Zade, but they went in that direction. It just felt very lame, lazy and pure character regression in a way that didn’t make sense with the story they were telling imo. They were able to show that Wade had matured later on so it worked out, but this is one that made me upset so thank goodness they made up for it. lol

youtube

(I dare you not to tear up lol)

Okay, the last ships I’m gonna mention briefly are both on The Bold Type.

Everyone in that fandom has expressed their frustration with how they handled the Kadena sl where Kat cheated and then they tried to have a open relationship to let her explore a bit or whatever in S2. I actually get where it wasn’t that bad cuz Adena told her she could see the other girls. Enter the next season, Kadena have sex when Kat is still in a relationship technically (I don’t care if she got the approval to see if there were still feelings there or not from Tia, that didn’t mean sleep with the ex. That meant talk) This is one of those cases where for me, cheating is never the ideal way to bring a ship back into the story. I know it happens but this didn’t make Kat or Adena look that great as characters for me. I know shit happens, just saying from a preference. Not gonna get deep into the awkwardness of S4 between these two, beyond saying that after S1, it does seem like the writers don’t fully know how to write them now still. They were a fan favorite ship for the show, and I think despite the bad writing for them sometimes in these later seasons, still are, but they really gotta start being more consistent with them if they want them to be rootworthy again. And please write Adena in character my goodness. The way they wrote her in 4x07 was just not it.

Which brings me to Janestripe,

They seriously dedicated a whole first half of a season dragging out the reveal that Ryan did more than kiss the lady he cheated on Jane with. I know beforehand the majority of the fandom hated Ryan already and thought Jane should have been with Ben instead, which honestly... ok, whatever. I still say Jane was having doubts about Ben so she was already starting to check out of that relationship a bit before Ryan declared his feelings for her at the end of S2. That said, once again, cheating isn’t ideal so I liked that Jane turned him down until she broke things off with Ben. I think people forget that the person in the middle of a triangle is making a choice and just cuz it’s not the choice you the viewer wanted doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be the wrong one. Frankly, Ben was kinda dry for me. Idk. Anyway, I appreciated that they were trying to tell a story of growth for Ryan... Until they weren’t. lol They really could have kept it as a kiss but they started planting those little signs that it wasn’t between Ryan looking guilty during convos and then him telling the story again about what happened & it sounding like bullshit. We all knew but they made us wait 9 eps for Jane to figure out. Which was frustrating. I get what message they were trying to send in the end and I respected that but they couldn’t do it faster?? They were sending a lot of signs they were making them endgame by showing how serious they were getting but now? I don’t see them ever interacting again, unless they did find a reason to bring Ryan back but Idk. I just don’t get painting them in that kinda light if you were just planning to tear them down before the season was even over, you know? They could have just ended them in S3 and I would have got it. But they dragged it out into a whole another season and why??? lol

youtube

I’m trying to figure out what more I wanna say about this topic. lol Beyond just thinking that I can’t stand cheating sls. I can barely stand any kinda love triangle sls as it is. Why must these tropes exist?? All they do is cause drama in fandoms. Which is prob why I don’t do them in the first place. lol

Anyway, I’m done now. lol

#shipper rant #don't mind me idek if any of this was coherent #i just had to get it out lol

2 notes · View notes

joeys-piano · 5 years ago

Note

1, 2, 8, 10

TL;DR: Joey talks about his shipping preferences in a lot of detail. You kind of figure out that I’m a passionate, quiet lover of soft romances.

Send Joey some Shipping Preferences

List 3 shipping tropes you love

The “Almost Kiss”

As a writer, this is one of my favorite romantic things to write for. You think something is going to happen. The scene is building to that moment. The eye contact, the breathing, how the characters are slowly leaning closer, maybe someone is having second-thoughts and is wondering if this is okay, maybe someone is letting the other know that it is okay, and both characters are so near each other both metaphorically and physically that it almost feels like the right thing to do.However, the intimacy isn’t fully-realized in that moment. The scene is emotionally and maybe even physically charged, but there’s still that air of hesitation and one or both characters concede to that before bridging the last few inches between them. As much as a kiss scene or the Big Damn Kiss is important, depending on what the story is about, I like to draw things out a little more. Kissing to me is something that I don’t want to rush, especially if someone is going to kiss someone that they care for a whole lot. Kisses can signify a lot of things about where a relationship is, where it’s going, and the conscious act of holding back and saving that kiss for later speaks volumes of its own.It adds a touch of emotional-depth into what’s going on. That right now is not the best time to do it, but at least both parties know that the other is okay with it. Also, FYI, I feel like there’s more value to an almost-kiss than an actual-kiss.

Couple’s Dance

Oh my gosh. I love this so much. Whether it’s a waltz, a tango, dancing in your lover’s arms while soft jazz music serenades in the background, feeling open and feeling free with the person that you love, and just having the time of your life. That’s freakin’ goals. I’m loving the intimacy that scenes like this can come with. This is one of my top 5 scenes to write for. I love a good couple’s dance and showing the progression and nature of a relationship through how they lead and follow the other. Also as a visual writer, it’s a stunning and compelling way to illustrate how much trust and value the characters have in each other through actions rather than words. It’s just a tender, sweet moment.

Emotional Vulnerability

One of the reasons why this appeals to me so much is because I, myself, have difficulty with being emotionally vulnerability. It’s incredibly hard and it’s easier to just wear a facade and not express what you’re actually feeling inside. So when a character that has this does find someone that they feel comfortable enough to open up to and just be their whole, true self, that means so much to me.Emotionally vulnerability is not a hop, skip, and a leap away. It takes time, it takes dedication and building trust, it takes time getting to know each other and ourselves, and what I love about it is that it can’t be rushed. Everyone reaches emotional vulnerability at different rates and some people get there sooner than others. The point behind emotional vulnerability is taking things at your speed while being mindful of what your partner’s speed is. It’s not a compromise. It’s taking the time to understand each other at a deeper level and letting each other grow naturally into the relationship rather than turn things up a notch and speed-run the entire thing.Like I mentioned before, I have a difficult time with emotional vulnerability. Talking about feelings, matters of the heart, and being open and honest is quite taxing. And even moreso when it’s rare for me to find fictional relationships out there that go through and engage with emotional vulnerability. This is something I hold onto, dearly. For me to find a ship that has this and it feels just right…I can’t describe in words how much that means to me.It’s why a ship like Odazai is something I don’t want to let go of. It appeals to the very nature of who I am as a person and in a sense, it’s personal reassurance.

List 3 shipping tropes you don’t love

Quick & Dirty

I know some young people follow this blog, so I hope I don’t have to explain what this means. I’ve come to accept that I’m an old-school romantic that resonates more with slow, long-term relationships than what’s prevalent today. Not to say that modern fictional relationships can’t be slow or lead to something long-term, but I more commonly see the “quick and dirty” version than the former.Depends on the fandom, depends on the ship, depends largely on the preferences of what people want to create out of a ship. It’s just that my preferences don’t align and that’s okay. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t like a certain ship or how it’s commonly portrayed and written. That’s why more than one ship exists so you can find something that you resonate more to.

Infidelity

Or in layman’s terms, cheating.

If there’s something going on between two characters, I’d rather have them talk it out and be civil and honest with one another. Rather than going behind someone’s back and….yeah.

Certain Kinks

We don’t aim to kink shame on this blog. You got your own kinks, I have my own kinks, a lot of us more or less have a preference for kinks. Putting that out there, I don’t want to know what your kinks are. However, some of y’all have asked me what my kinks are. So yeah, Tumblr is an interesting place.

It’s all a matter of preference, really. There’s just some that make me uncomfortable. That’s it.

If the ship is physical, reversible or not?

Hell yeah, reversible all the way.I’m familiar that ships tend to have a designated lead and follower. There are other terms to use, but I’m using these ones because shoot...I’m wary about using the other terminology. But the thing about overly using those fandomly-conceived or even canon designations is that it evokes this feeling of a power imbalance. For instance, two characters can never feel equal to each other. It starts to go into a trend where one character is a subordinate for the other, and that’s a WHOLE conversation for another ask.If a ship is physical and there’s a reversible nature to it or if a fic writer gives the nod and shows/portrays it, there’s not enough words in the English language to describe the respect I have for that writer. It’s not necessarily about taking turns, but it gives a more down-to-earth, realistic element to the ship and the intimacy involved.

How important is the sexual part (if any) of your ship?

If you’ve gotten this far and have ready everything, I think you’ll understand that I don’t care/give a damn about the sexual part of a ship. If it’s there, it’s there. If it’s not, it’s not. I care more about emotional intimacy than anything of a sexual nature.

Being biromantic may play a part into why I answered in the way I did, but who really knows?

#i'm more of an emotional intimacy writer than a physical one #while my romance does have some physical aspects to it it's more focused on the emotional side #one of the reasons why i like writing for married couples #i'm not the writer to go to for a whirlwind romance of the ages

4 notes · View notes

hootpoop12 · 6 years ago

Text

Theory time

Alright, so we all know through the context of this being written in a fanfiction/a03 format that this is all a play about canon VS fanon. What is a little hard to decipher is what are the things that are plays off fanon and which qualities are the true aspects of the characters(canon)? ANYWAY here are just a few of the things I am ASSUMING are plays off fanon based on my years in the fandom and sheer obsession of consuming this shit (trigger warning for everything taken place in the epilogue FYI):

-Dave: I think some of the main aspects of fanon influencing his epilogue version is intertwined with “woobifying”, “Slow burn”, and even possibly even “sexuality”.

-Woobifying is a fandom concept of reducing a character to “a cinnamon roll too pure for this world” someone you wanna baby (often applied to trans guy characters whether canon or headcanoned). This one is a bit of reach I’ll admit because it DOES makes sense that after years of living with Karkat the dude would soften up but there were times in the epilogue even Dave admits he’s gotten softer and the dude just plain out was very passive. In my time I’ve seen tons of depictions of Dave as a lot more emotional than shown in the comic or a lot more woobified in fics (like in meteor fics where he often has very dramatic emotional outbursts) By the way this is NOT me shitting on you if you like viewing Dave in that way because a lot people with trauma relate to him and use him for “cathartic release”(me fucking too lol). It’s more a guess/observation of maybe why he’s developed in this way due to the comic now being a strange sponge absorbing all fanon, good and bad, into it weird ass grasp.

-Slow burn is likely the trope that plays into why the hell it took so fucking long for him AND Karkat to admit their feelings. If you have literally ever consumed Davekat content I’m sorry but 99% of it is slow burn lmao every meteor fic is pining, every coffee shop AU is the budding of a lifelong partnership, and every Harry potter furry inflation pwp crossover WHATEVER fic is 10k words building of sexual tension like......To bring their other relationships in canon into this we can see that Dave was able to flirt with Jade and Terezi and entered a relationship with them at a pretty normal rate WHICH can totally be attributed to the fact he views them as girls and himself as heterosexual so was much more comfortable making a move- sure. Looking at Karkat, however, and you see the dude is a little shy about romance sure but he was still able to flirt with Terezi and make awkward moves on John so like......I can’t help but to feel like something outside (us?) was influencing them?

-Sexuality is another sort of reach but I think it’s something to consider. In terms of the comic....when exactly DID canon end? You could argue at the end of act 7.......or the moment John used his retcon powers to create a new timeline. Fandom Dave (on the tumblr side at least) was usually consider queer and a lot people shipped Dave with another dude. Perhaps John going back and rewriting canon helped bring our influence over Dave’s sexuality into the comic? I remember finding out Davekat was canon and confirming my “Dave is bisexual” headcanon and just thinking in wonder how it felt like Hussie was plucking my desires straight from my head and incorporating them. Which made me HAPPY by the way. If this is anywhere even near truth it’s not like he didn’t do a fantastical and natural job of incorporating it into the comic which shows how “incorporated fanon” is not a totally horrendous thing. The comics always done it with fandom memes and such.

-Rose Lalonde. Not too sure what fanon influenes were brought onto her to be honest? In candy she was almost like a creepy stepford wife which is. Bizarre to me. Rose is the most contrary and rebellious character so seeing her settle down like that (OR FUCKING DOING SOME GUYS LAUNDRY) is a little strange. In meat she insists that she is an individual despite being married but that could have EASILY been Dirk’s influence? Also her biggest fandom stereotypes off the top of my head is Know-it-all smug meddler, alcoholic, and elegant. Really none of that was applied so still need to consider her more. The most damning thing however is where is all the piss?? If you look at the amount of piss kink rose fanfiction one has to wonder......and I can’t even continue this joke.

-Jade Harley: Gonna keep it real with ya’ll. I feel like this epilogue gave Jade Harley way more character. She wasn’t given much in canon except for lonely silly girl so it makes sense to me why she’d grow up desperate for physical bonds and inserting herself into relationships. I liked her telling John that she wasn’t some princess in a tower anymore cause it shows she KNOWS how everyone has always viewed her and that’s a little sad. As for tropes around her character.....yep people pleaser, silly girl, hippie, shoved aside for literally any other character......Need to think about her more, too.

-Jake fucking English. What even is there to say? He more than anyone was influenced by fanon and it doesn’t take too much thought to see how. In a lot of fandom jokes and in fanfiction he is basically treated as a stupid piece of meat. I genuinely don’t read much fanfiction about him except from a trust few fans who I know care about him and will write him in a full rounded way. In any case we see a single moment in which Jake has this oppressive narrative taken away from him and it was when he was talking to Dave and Karkat during their election conversation. If that wasn’t already hard enough to read we can look back at the implied rape that took place with him in the beginning of Jane’s relationship with him or over the course of it. John, the one person supposedly not influenced by fanon as he’s still tied to the comic via retcon powers, is even the one to tell people that Jake is basically being raped. So yeah. Good times. I’ll get to Dirk in terms of Jake in a moment L M A O. Imagine that being the saddest lmao you ever just read.

-Jane Crocker: Welp hope you weren't a Jane fan lmao. What can I say except it FEELS like all the subliminal messaging really got to her and she’s like......warped by the condesce? I think if in the comic they showed more of her political takes then maybe this wouldn’t have come as such a shock. Like, I flat out am disgusted by her character now? She’s a facist, abusive, rapist(that was hint, unfortunately)? WOW good take homestuck writting staff?? I mean I know one of you used to write like incest pedo rape porn but aight??????????? Anyways in fanon Jane is treated as the girl who gets in the way of dirkjake so kinda that early 2000s bitchy yaoi girl brand, boring person in the background, or the hottie. They obviously kept saying she was “easy on the eyes” so there’s the hottie trope but that’s about it.

-Roxy Lalonde: Out of ALL the Alphas they fucking escaped with their goddamn dignity PFFT. So in terms of tropes: trans Roxy, alcoholic, and flirty “boy obsessed”.

-So with trans Roxy this is like Dave’s sexuality thing I discussed where a widely celebrated headcanon influenced canon and that not necessarily a BAD thing. Like I said, this theory is that canon is just absorbing fanon for better and for worse. I saw people were bummed they weren’t a trans girl but I am actually down with this for two reasons. 1) being all those memes “what’s your gender?” “the void” and 2) a part being friends with someone who’s trans is.....not being used to seeing them as the gender they actually are but taking the time to learn these new unfamiliar pronouns- and get the fuck over it. It’s their choice and you just gotta accept it despite your feelings.

-alcoholic Roxy was not at all incorporated which is the biggest fanon about her (not as much in recent years thankfully) so honestly? Kinda diminishes my argument. It’s not like the writers were worried that tossing out their progress as person was bad writing lol look at Dirk.

-Flirty Rox. In candy they were SUPER fast moving in their relationship with John and despite towards the end they said that Dirk dying made them wanna do something with their life I just....don’t buy it? Mainly because john who is uninfluenced by the fanon tropes even noticed how fast they were moving and how stepford agreeable wife she’d become.

-Dirk Strider. Aight. So. Here we go. fandom tropes are controlling puppet master, abusive, and cold/uncaring.

-Dirk is a naturally controlling man, yes. Every version of himself struggles with this, yes. Even if we work on issues does not mean old flaws will never leak out, yes. However, after in the comic itself we see conversations with some of his closest companions and the effort he was making and ready to continue making was completely obliterated. Dirk is someone who takes his projects a little too seriously so why would he toss out this one- the most important one in his life? ANYWAY........Dirk in canon is shown that he’s also not great at multi-tasking or really anything that he really makes himself out to be AMAZING at. Don’t get me wrong I actually view Dirk as a complement dude cause he did get all the alphas into the session in a smoothish fashion (yes hal is him so it still counts) but, like, even when Dirk sounds like an AWESOME engineer to Jake he even admits that he basically had the future’s technology to help and it wasn’t that impressive. So now he’s claiming he’s the BEST? Wack.

-Abusive Dirk......The sheer amount of people in the fandom who still misconstrue his character as heartless and the sheer amount of fanfiction of sociopathic Dirk might’ve done something. If he is truly becoming his “ultimate self” and he is heart aspect.....all these fanfiction splinters are getting applied to him as well, ya’ll. INCLUDING one of the epilogues writers who literally used to write fanfiction depicting Dirk as a brutally abusive and manipulative version of himself. With the similarities between their big fic and the homestuck epilogue I can’t help but to wonder if they’re subtly trying to incorporate that? After all Alt Calliope goes into detail about how the writer/narrator is IMPORTANT and when one is someone who enjoys viewing dirk as such....well who’s to say pfft Everything about how Dirk treated Jake was some of the most shocking to me. How did you get the guy taking most of the blame for a relationship gone wrong to a man who in a very rapey way makes someone obsessed with him, stupid, and unable to ever receive respect? Horrifying stuff to read, lads. It makes much more sense to me if you look at this fandom’s perceptions on DirkJake. My god there are some bad takes and there’s a whole section of the fandom who was hellbent on making the ship out to be the most problematic ship to ever occur. So whereas in the comic you have Dave pointing out that both sides had issues and everyone was willing to talk things out you had half the fandom insist that it was all Dirk’s fault and he just COMPLETLY forced himself on an unwanting Jake. Yep, sound familiar?

-cold uncaring. yep tons of depictions of Dirk being cruel to his friends and family and sorry but go reread Homestuck I don’t even know what to tell you if you actually believe that. There’s literally nothing here I could write to help you. As if the whole thing about his character isn’t about how the people around him helped prevent him becoming like that and he hasn’t said in a dozen different ways how much he loves them and wants to treat them better. Get out of here with that shit lmao

I guess all can be said about Dirk at this point is either 1) the absorption of the vast amount of terrible Dirk depictions from ascending to his ult self has warped him 2) he’s playing a villain just because Homestuck being over means not existing which TERRIFIES him and existing is a higher priority than treating the people around him right or 3) caliborn influence

1) For the ascending I’m pretty sure this is the theory that’s gonna be right

2) playing the villain is probably not what it is because on twitter all of the writers are saying the transphobia is literally just him and they’re boosting a lot of theories say “this is a story about friends you love disappointing you and you moving on” So. Yeah. Take that depressing nugget of information. (I literally will be fucking dead inside if that really is where this story is taken. No joke I will probably quit this fandom lol don’t know if any of you really know how big that is for me to say

3) Caliborn? eh maybe who the fuck knows after typing that last bullet point out I’m too bummed to continue this hah

#Homestuck #Homestuck epilogue #upd8 #dirk strider #personal #fyi I love people who tell me when they disagree so if this seems like utter bullshit do not hold back

29 notes · View notes

some-cookie-crumbz · 6 years ago

Note

I really love the Kidge Child HCs, I honestly can't get enough of them! Do you have any Grandma Krolia headcanons? Or headcanons for the rest of the Paladins?

REMEMBER HOW I JUST SAID THIS WAS COMING SOON?? IT’S FINALLY HERE, EVERYBODY!!!!!

First, for those who may not have seen my other posts, here are the links to all my other Headcanon posts.

Kidge Married Pre-Babies: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.1: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.2: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.3: [here] *There’s a little angst in this one, FYI

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.4: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.5: [here]

I’m gonna go the full monty with thisone; we’re taking about the kids with Krolia, Sam, Colleen, Matt, the Paladins(and any/all of their children), and all the other peripheral people involvedwith them! This is gonna be a little bit of a longer one, as such, but I wantto be as thorough as possible!

Also, mentioning this here, but there will also be mentionsof Shatt (I have two sets of headcanons for Shiro and Matt, both as a coupleand in relationships with other people, but don’t want to have to write downboth alternatives), Hunay, and Allurance, as well as me talking a little bitabout their respective families, so be aware.

The order will be as such; Krolia, Sam and Colleen, Matt andShiro, Hunk and Shay, Lance and Allura, Coran, Romelle, Kolivan and Slav.

Krolia

As I know I’ve mentioned in my previous parts, the kidsrefer to Krolia as “Nana Olia”. Amber was the one who started it – obvious, asshe’s the oldest – because, when trying to say Krolia’s name, she couldn’t getthe “Kuh” sound right, gave up, and opted into the part of her name that shecould pronounce. The other kids follow Amber’s lead because she’s their bigsister. Krolia loves having a special name that only the kids use for her.

So, being a grandma was never something Krolia ever thoughtshe’d get the chance to be, but she absolutely loves it. Part of this is because she gets to come over and engage withthe grandbabies at an age she didn’t get to with Keith, which is bittersweet.She comes over to visit as often as she can and loves playing with the kids;specifically, she loves taking the kids to the park and going on little walkswith them. She’ll admit in private that she has a soft spot for Kaden – due tohow much he looks like Keith – but she loves each of her grandkids equally.

So, for each of the kids, Krolia goes on the harrowingsearch for more luxite mineral to get them each their own brand new blades.Amber and Kaden are the two who make the most use of theirs; Newt keeps his incase he gets himself in a hairy situation, and Aria keeps hers mounted in herroom for safe keeping.

In regards to Amber, she absolutely adores what a fiestylittle thing she is. She often remarks that Amber carries in her the fire ofthe ancients in her, remarking that she’ll certain accomplish great things inher future. Krolia is absolutely correct about this, but that’ll be somethingwe talk about in later posts. She always starts their little training sessionswith a small meditation session to help get Amber grounded, and this actuallybecomes something that Amber implements in her every day; especially onstressful days. Krolia enjoys teaching her how to properly use her luxite bladeand teaching her about what, exactly, being a successful Blade member entails.

She never admits that Amber wouldn’t be the best atespionage due to how short-tempered she is, but she still loves how enthralledAmber gets to hear her stories.

Kaden breaks her heart in some of the harder ways during hisinfant and toddler years, simply because watching him interact with the worldis a physical mirror to what it looked like with Keith at that age, and shemissed out on all of that. She admits this to Keith and Pidge, who both trytheir best to help comfort her. As Kaden gets older, he becomes equallyinterested in the lessons she does with Amber, so she starts training both ofthem. He’s also a bit more interested in their Galran heritage and the historyof the Blade; including how long their Galran family had been involved and ifthere were any relatives of notoriety. This leaves her absolutely thrilled andshe’ll often tell him about their long family-lineage of involvement.

Kaden actually writes a history paper discussing his great,great, great, great grandfather, Tulore, for class. He got a perfect mark andgave it to Krolia to keep when it was returned.

Her relationship with Newt is a bit strange at first butdevelops much better as he gets older. At first, Krolia sees him as a littlehellion since he’s almost always a shrieking little grouch, and is very meekabout engaging with him. Due to what occurred when he was born and his infantilepersonality, she thinks this means that he’s much more delicate than hissiblings were, and she worries a lot about hurting him. Once he starts to getolder and his tears transform into tricks, she sees how clever he is and findsit entertaining. Something about a child constantly outwitting his parents andsiblings is entertaining.

She’ll occasionally bring him materials from other planetsto help improve his pranks; taking the time to explain how he safely use it, ofcourse.

Aria is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to Krolia,specifically because of how drastically different she is from her siblings. Herbeing such a delicate little thing makes Krolia hyper-aware of how she is withher, but the fact that she’s the clingiest, most affectionate of her siblings?Oh, Krolia loves nothing more than getting to snuggle up with her littlegrandbabies. Additionally, small footnote, but Aria and Krolia share a distainfor the snow. Krolia lived her years on Earth in the desert and she tends toprefer warmer climates in general. During the wintery season, she’ll oftenhunker down in the house with Aria is the other kids want to go play in thesnow, sipping cocoa and playing with her inside.

She teaches Aria a lot of old Galran lullabies, as well asactually teaching her their language, too.

Sam and Colleen

For the Holts, the kids call them “Nanny” and “Pappy”.Sometimes they’ll use their names as well, but since they have different titlesfor their grandparents, it’s not always needed. When they do add the names,they’re “Nanny Collie” and “Pappy Sammy”.

Being grandparents was something Colleen and Samuel had beenhyped for the minute their kids got into serious committed relationships. They’rerespectful and understanding to the situation, of course, but there’s a secretbetting pool between them on which of their kids will yield grandkids first.Colleen loses because she bets on Matt and Shiro, banking on the fact she knewthe two of them had been having more active conversations about it than shethought Pidge and Keith were. Samuel banked on it being Pidge and Keith morebecause he’d noticed the subtle things; Pidge looking at baby clothes whenparoozing the mall, Keith making the throw-away comment about what kind ofthemes he think would be cute for a nursery, etc.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Colleen knits littlebaby blankets for all the little Kidgelings, using colors that arerepresentative of the respective season they were born in. Samuel also does alittle crafty thing for them; he makes little ceramic ornaments of the kidsfeet when each of them after they’re born.

So, Amber is probably just a little bit closer to Colleenthan Samuel, but it’s a very slim margin. As I’ve mentioned, she tends to helpKeith with tending to their garden and yard at home. When she goes over tovisit with the Holt’s, she loves seeing what latest new flower or vegetableNanny has introduced to her garden. During the summer, Amber will also drop inunannounced to help Colleen take care of pulling weeds and such, since sheknows it can be hard for her.

With Samuel, Amber explores an interest in space travel andwhat, exactly, that entails. Pidge and Keith will tell the kids stories abouttheir time as Paladins, but they don’t talk about the really difficult andfrightening missions, and they don’t necessarily encourage the kids to followin their footsteps. As she gets older, Amber is a bit more aware of herparents’ apprehension, so most of her interest is only ever explored underPappy’s watchful eye. He tells her about the things he’s seen, the ships he’spiloted and helped to build, and occasionally sneaks her onto the Garrison baseto fly simulators. Samuel keeps this all secret from Pidge and Keith, though,because he thinks they’d be terrified at just how skilled their daughter is.Amber never outright asks him to keep this under wraps, but she appreciatesthat he does.

Kaden’s naturally reserved demeanor leads him towards morequiet hobbies, but also ones that are a bit more hands-on. Much like withKeith, Kaden bonds with Samuel about making models, but with Samuel it’s moreclassic vehicle models such as old trains or boats. They’ll typically sit withsome soft music playing in the background, but as Kaden gets older they’lloccasionally have more conversations about whatever’s going on in their livesat the time. It’s mostly just pre-teen angst and post-retirement gossip, butit’s nice and Kaden enjoys it.

As for Colleen, she bonds with him over painting, actually!Kaden’s not very good at drawing with a pen or pencil, but he’s pretty good atdoing landscapes with paint. I like the idea that Colleen was a hobbyist whoused painting as a form of stress relief, and she ends up passing this on toKaden. She’ll show him all the little tips and tricks she’s figured out for herown, and he’s always happy to take her advice. Colleen likes to hang some ofher favorites of his paintings in her office at work and, upon retiring, shekeeps them hanging in the guest room of the house. It always makes Kaden superembarrassed but also super flattered by it.

So, Newt’s cheeky and mischievous nature make him prettygood at things that require a high level of trickery; this includes poker,which he’s taught by his Nanny. Colleen actually tries out a couple ofdifferent card games with him – War, Uno, Spoons,etc. – but poker ends up being the one that Newt enjoys the most. The kid justloves getting to be a sneaky little shit, and he’s incredibly skilled with hispoker face. Colleen takes him with her sometimes for her weekly poker gameswith her friends and he usually makes a killing in hard, caramel candies.

With Samuel, he enjoys playing more tactical, contemplativegames, such as Risk and Clue. Newt has inherited Pidge’sinquisitive nature, but also ends up developing a huge fascination withmysteries and scandals and such. He likes the idea of breaking down lies anddeceit used for malicious intentions, inheriting his Dad’s sense of morality.He may be a little shit who likes to prank and tease his family, but he’s alittle shit for Great Justice™. One time, for the fun of it, Samuel hide aplaque he received upon his retirement and pretended it got stolen for Newt toinvestigate. During his investigation, Newt uncovered that one of the Holt’sneighbor’s was involved in helping with human trafficking.

So, since Aria’s the family oddball, she ends up with someodd interests that she shares with her grandparents, too. With Sam, they bondover researching old, classic amusement park rides and innovations,interestingly enough. While Aria isn’t a big fan of mechanics or engineering,she finds the lore and developments of entertainment technology to beabsolutely fantasy, and I headcanon that Samuel was a total theme park fan boyin his younger years. They’ll watch videos and documentaries, and one time theyactually broke into an abandoned amusement park to take pictures and videos ofhow far dilapidated the place got.

With Colleen, they learn how to make special effects propstogether. One of the little troops Ari attends for her performances is short onstage hands, so Colleen volunteers to help, and sometimes the cast have to helptoo. Part of this requires masks and other such things, but because the Holt’srun under the mantra of “Go Big or Go Home”, they become super invested in thequality of their work. They watch tutorials, take classes, watch tons of Face Off on Sci-Fi, and, of course, learnfrom some level of trial and error. Ari’s group put on Beauty and the Beast once and they actually had to remake theBeast’s face piece because the mask was deemed too realistic and terrifying forthe grade schoolers that would be coming to see it. During Halloween, Ari andColleen also end up creating the scariest haunted house in the town with howrealistic they make the make-up look. Especially zombie-with-head-axe Amber,who is surprisingly dedicated to her role.

Shiro and Matt

Mkay, so, I’m not going to get into all my Shatt headcanonshere, but I will give a brief overview of their family and their relationshipswith the Kidgelings. So, I headcanon that Shiro and Matt have three kids; a setof twins – one boy and one girl – and a second daughter; names are Akihiko,Auryon and Hikari respectively. The twins are born in the gap between Amber andKaden, placing them about a year and a half younger than Amber and a year or soolder than Kaden, while Hikari is born the same year as Newt, but at the tailend of the year. The children are biologically Shiro and Matt’s, born throughwhatever means is most comfortable to the viewer. I’m sure Altean tech could beadvanced enough to allow this sort of thing, or one of them could be trans. Ipersonally love Trans!Character headcanons but that’s just me.

So anyway! We’ll start with Shiro, then Matt, and then I’lldo small notes about the relationship between the cousins.

I mentioned this in my last post and said I’d elaboratehere, so here we go! Amber talks with Shiro a lot about sexuality and thestruggles that come with it. Keith and Pidge are completely supportive of theirdaughter, and she’s fine talking with them, but sometimes she likes getting totalk to Shiro about it. I’ve always headcanoned that Shiro is someone who isincredibly comfortable in his own skin and simply saw his sexuality as oneother part that made him who he was, and never shied away from that. It’s thatconfidence in himself that makes him so easy to talk to for Amber.Additionally, Shiro being a bit more of a modest and well-spoken sort – whereUncle Matt is a bombastic disaster – makes him a bit easier to talk to aboutwhat’s going on in her head. They tend to gossip all the time and Shiro, who isattentive to those he cares about, always remembers the stories about herclassmates and crushes that she shares with him. Aside from those talks, Shiroalso bonds with her over helping her a bit with her classical literaturereadings for school, because she finds the classics dull but I think Shirowould really respect those pieces himself. He mostly just helps her by lettingher bounce thoughts off of him and give her some additionally insight to thedifferent ways the pieces art interpreted.

Keith appreciates the help, since sometimes Amber can be abit stubborn and ill-tempered when she struggles with her homework, and Shiro’sa bit more patient.

As for Kaden, Shiro helps him a lot with his training forthe teams he joins and doing workouts. Once the kids are a bit older andindependent, Keith is able to pick his workout schedule back up and Shiro tendsto go along with him. As Kaden starts getting interested in sports and, byproxy, starts taking how well he maintains his physical health more seriously,he starts asking questions about it. Keith knows a decent amount, but admitsthat most of what he knows is from Shiro helping him out, which causes him togo ask Uncle Shiro his questions. From there, Shiro offers to help Kaden figureout his schedule to help keep him in peak form for his teams and such. Sometimesthey’ll work out all three of them, but more times than not it’s just Shiro andKaden, since Keith tends to get busy doing other things with the other kidswhen they’re gonna do their workouts. From the workouts, Shiro eventually endsup helping Kaden out specifically with his training for baseball. Shiro sees itas a good way to keep himself active, as well as pass along his own knowledge.Sometimes, he and Matt’s son, Akihiko, will join them, too.

This helps Aki and Kaden bond as well, but I’ll talk moreabout that later.

Newt is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to hisrelationship with Shiro. Between Uncle Shiro and Uncle Matt, he’s mostcertainly closer with Matt, but Newt very much loves his Uncle Shiro and findsa unique way to bond and help him. Much like a majority of people like to talkabout, I like the idea of Shiro benefitting from having a service animal.However, I also see Shiro as being someone who doesn’t like the idea of lettinghis weakness show; because he didn’t want his illness to hold him back when hewas younger, because he had to be in charge both with Voltron and later theAtlas, and in more recent times because he has three little babies of his ownto look after. I plan to write a fic about this, but Newt finds out aboutShiro’s situation and starts looking into what it takes to train a dog to be aproper service animal. He ends up adopting a young pup from one of theirneighbors, with Keith and Pidge agreeing, and starts working with specialiststo get the little pooch trained up to help Shiro cope with panic attacks andnight terrors he gets on a somewhat regular basis.

Shiro is absolutely floored but also incredibly touched bythe gesture. He ends up naming the little pooch Leia.

With Shiro and Aria, they bond over something a bit on theodd side. So, this was a headcanon that was inspired by a talk with my oldersister that I absolutely fell in love with. Shiro is a huge fan of theprohibition era style; speakeasies, mobster/gangster organizations, the wholeshebang is just wildly fascinating to him. Aria herself has a soft spot for theaesthetic and the Big Band sounds of the time. And, since Shiro is a big fan ofthat time period, he has a huge collection of music from the time period. The twoof them bond over it. One year, for Halloween, he actually helped her make hervery own flapper costume from scratch.

So, what about good ole’ Uncle Matt?

Matt and Amber bond over space travel, much like she doeswith Sam but on a drastically different note. He talks a lot with her about theworlds he got to visit with the Rebels and what all he learned. He teaches hera lot about different cultures and customs, different strategic approaches theytake and the like, as well as how to read the stars in some of the othergalaxies he’s traversed to. He and Keith have a few serious conversations aboutit, as Keith is highly uncomfortable with his kids taking an interest in spaceexploration, but Matt continues to do it anyway. After the fifth or sixthconversation, he just gets better at lying about it.

As for Matt and Kaden, they bond over medical training andmedical shows. As I mentioned before, Kaden becomes fascinated by the work ofEMTs and medical professionals after he breaks his arm. Matt, through both the Garrisonand the Rebellion, has a pretty decent wealth of knowledge on the subject. Heteaches Kaden how to do CPR properly, how to make a short-term splint forbroken bones, and other such things. In regards to programs, they watch tons ofHouse, Untold Stories of the ER and Scrubs.With the drama shows, they mostly just make fun of how ludicrous it is, whilefocusing on the diagnostics. With the reality-based shows, they enjoy seeinghow the case develops and the ultimate outcome. Sometimes Auryon will jointhem, just to have something to do, but that’s incredibly infrequent.

Newt and Matt go together like peanut butter and chocolate,to say the least, and they have the most shared interests. The big one theyshare on, though, is a love for all things Star Wars and Star Trek themed; theshows, the comics, even a couple of podcasts that talk about the lore of eachrespective series in depth. Newt likes Star Trek a bit more than Star Wars –and he really likes Captain Picard – while Matt is the opposite – with a hugeaffinity for Han Solo – and they like to tease one another good-naturedly aboutit pretty often. Other than that, Matt is his biggest helper when preparingLeia to be a proper service dog for Shiro when he gets the idea and is the oneto first suggest it to Keith and Pidge.

Lastly, Uncle Matt and Aria bond about her cheerleading,interestingly enough. I like the idea that Matt, despite being a bit of stringbean, was on the cheer team in his high school years. Back then, he wasn’t verygood at helping with the flyer stunts, but as an adult who has lived throughfighting with a rebellion and being a Dad to three kids? He can most certainlylift up his petite little niece to practice her flyer routine. Aki joins thecheerleading squad as well, so he’ll help out sometimes, too. Additionally,Matt played the violin, so sometimes they’ll do duets together. They typicallypick pieces where the cello takes the lead, as he hasn’t really kept up withplaying over the years, but also because it’s good practice for her.

Now, as for how they bond with their cousins, the dynamicsare interesting, to say the least.

Aki gets along well with Kaden and Aria the best, gets alongdecently well with Newt, but actually butts heads a lot with Amber. Aki’s alittle bit of a rebel and tends to get himself into a lot of trouble, whichAmber often times tries to dissuade him away from. And, if he doesn’t listen,she tends to be the one to narc on him. As they get older, she’ll typically goalong and have Hikari, his sister, record his stupid stunts and show them offlater. Many times, she’ll end up using it as either blackmail or showing it tohis parents without showing it to him first. Her favorite was the time when hewent to a party, got drunk underage, and face-planted doing a keg stand. Asmentioned before, he bonds with Kaden and Ari over baseball and cheerleading,respectively. He’s a bit more of a physical activities kind of kid, with apassion for those kinds of things visible since he’s young. With Newt, they don’thave a whole lot in common, but Aki still looks after him because he’s hiscousin and is also a smol. Newt also occasionally helps him with his mathhomework, since he struggles a bit with his academics.

As for Auryon, she gets along pretty well with all of themequally. With Amber, they bond a lot over the ideas of space travel. WhileAuryon herself isn’t particularly interested in engaging with travelling, shedoes find the way the now-unified galaxy operates, and how the unification effectseach different planet within the Coalition, which leads to some interestingconversations between them. Auryon and Kaden bond over, interestingly enough,martial arts and hand-to-hand combat training. She admires Amber’s eagerness tofight to protect her friends so she decides she wants to learn as well. Sinceshe and Kaden are a bit closer in age, he tends to be her sparring partner moretimes than not. With Newt, they share a passion for animals. Auryon actually hastwo ferrets – named Boo and Radley – that she loves to pieces and Newt happilyjoins her with playing with them and has even helped her with cleaning up theircages every now and again. With Ari, they actually bond over learning foreignlanguages. Specifically, they both learn Italian together, but Auryon alsolearns how to speak Japanese. Sometimes, she’ll translate songs from Japaneseto English for Ari to do covers of for her YouTube channel.

Hikari, as opposed to her brother and sister, is an artistictype with a decent relationship with all her cousins. She and Amber have thebiggest rift between them, due to the moderate age gap, but they enjoy makingher brother miserable. Like most little sister’s, Kari lives for teasing her brother. So, when Amber offers her theperfect chances to do that? She’ll be there with a camcorder in a heartbeat. With Kaden, she recordshe and Auryon’s sparring sessions to use as reference for some of heranimations. Additionally, Kaden enjoys just talking with her about his lovelife. I won’t go into too much about it here, but she offers him significantlymore practical advice than his other source of information coughAlforcough. WithNewt, he’s pretty good for sound boarding her ideas off of. While he’s workingon this or that, or training the dogs, she’ll settle in and just kind oframble. If he thinks something is dumb or needs more thought, he’ll say asmuch, which she appreciates. She and Ari bond over the aforementioned YouTubechannel. She helps record and edit together the music videos that Arioccasionally makes for the songs that she performs, as well as handling thedirectorial responsibilities. She loves getting to have the experience andreally enjoys how she and the rest of their little group work together.

Hunk and Shay

Much like with Shiro and Matt, just a quick rundown of theGarrett family! Hunk and Shay had two children together; one son named Richterand one daughter named Morganite. Richter is a few months younger than Amberand Morganite is a few months younger than Newt. The reason for the huge agegap between to the two siblings is due to another headcanon of mine, in whichthe less similar two alien races are, the more difficult it is to reproducesuccessfully. Galra, Altean and humans are all somewhat similar in geneticmake-up, so it’s easier for them to conceive, but since Balmerans can bedrastically different based upon their environment. Due to this, while it’sclearly capable, it is a bit of a struggle. They’d been trying long before anyof the others to conceive Richter, and are delighted when he’s born. They weren’tactually trying to conceive Morganite and view her as a happy accident.

So, let’s talk about Uncle Hunk for a moment or two!

In regards to Amber, Hunk is actually appreciative of whatan abrasive personality she is. He knows that Richter tends to be on the morereserved side, which makes him an easy target for bullies, but she’s alwaysthere to protect him. As a sort of repayment for how good of a friend she is tohis son, he tries to help teach her how to cook and bake. Kaden ends up joiningin the little lessons, too, simply out of interest to learn how so he can helpout more at home. Amber’s downright awful at anything culinary-themed, but withHunk’s help she ends up getting decent. She can’t do anything particularlyfancy or extravagant, but she can make meals without burning down the kitchenand those meals taste well enough to not leave her paying homage to the porcelainGods.

Kaden actually ends up being a lot better than Amber, aswell as being a bit better at baking than cooking. He can make some of the mostbeautiful multiple-layer cakes out there. When the extra-curricular activitieshe participates in do fundraising bake sales, he always volunteers to help makeproduct for sale. A lot of the time, Hunk will help him as well. They alwaysend up making asinine amounts of baked goods, but they also end up selling allof it, so it never goes to waste.

With Hunk and Newt, he gets to work with him on his roboticsprojects and such. Newt and Morganite end up joining the robotics club andalways work together on the projects they’re completing. Team Punk often getsback together to help the pair out. Hunk takes the time to really explain thenecessary components to create an engine that’ll allow the robot to do whatthey intended purpose is, as well as occasionally smuggling themGarrison-issued supplies that they probably shouldn’t have access to. Do thejudges at the competition need to know that? Absolutely not. And Hunk wouldn’t breathea word of it, even if he was asked.

So, we all know that Hunk is ultimately the beacon of peaceand unity that the universe truly deserves. As Ari gets older, she seeks Hunkout for advice and suggestions on better ways to approach conflict-resolution.This is due to how some of her friends – outside of the other Palababus – like totalk smack instead of just dealing with disagreements in a more civil approach.While Ari can certainly understand that sometimes being a little petty can helppeople get over things, when the problems start causing rifts and involvingmore members of their group, she feels the need to intervene. Hunk, who wasalways the Voice of Reason on Team Voltron, he can sympathize with her. Whilehe didn’t have to deal with too much of that, he knows how it can be whenothers are using little things as an excuse to be mad and cause furthertrouble.

I see Shay as being a very affectionate and doting mother,and that extends to all the children of their friends as well. I really lovethe idea that Shay, Allura and Romelle get super invested in trashy daytime televisionprograms like Maury and Jerry Springer and such. There’s even spaceversions where different alien species go on and the trio love to watch andcommentate. The Allurance kids find the shows the most interesting, thoughthere is a level of entertainment in it for Morganite, Newt and Ari as well. Richter,Amber and Kaden tend to spend more time with her learning about the legends ofthe Balmera of crystals and how to distinguish which types of crystal are goodfor what purposes.

Richter gets along best with Amber and Kaden, and sees Kadenas a pseudo-little brother. The three of them grow up running in the samecircle and, even as they get older, remain close. When Amber’s still reallyyoung and bad at controlling her temper, Richter’s the best at getting her tocalm down. He’s also the one who deals with the petty squabbles between she andAlfor the most often. When the kids play pretend, they take it very seriously.Richter’s really good at constructing stuff out of cardboard and buildingblocks, so when they have tons of play-props that he and Kaden have built and coloredtogether.

Last note, he’s a pretty big boy who certain could defend himself, but he’s just agentle giant. There’s something really cute and funny about this really big,sweet guy being protected by these smol little firecrackers.

Now, Morganite is closer with Newt and Aria; especially sowith Newt. As I’ve mentioned, Newt’s a bit stand-offish with other people, butshe sees beyond all that to what a sweetheart he actually is. At one point, he thinksthat she’s only his friend because their parents are friends, but he realizesthat she genuinely does like him. This allows their friendship to develop evenfurther and the two of them to actually focus on the many things they have incommon. Consider them to be Team Punk Version 2.0. Lastly, I mentioned this inmy last headcanon post, but Morganite is really talented at making jewelry andother accessories. She teaches Ari how to make them, as well as helping herfigure out which accessories are best for this or that situation.

Lance and Allura

Let’s get the little notes about the McClain-Altean Heirs outof the way first! Lance and Allura end up having five kids; Alfor, Raya,Coriander, Paige and Anthony. Alfor and Raya are each a few months younger thanAmber and Kaden respectively, Coriander and Paige are a few months older thanNewt and Aria respectively, and Anthony is about two years younger than Aria. Ioriginally planned for them to have six kids, but decided to cut Anthony’s twinbrother, Ben, from the equation simply due to the fact it felt like too manykids. Additionally, since I started this before season 8 dropped, this isn’tnecessarily compliant with that; though, admittedly, it could easily just be aslight deviation where Allura saves the universe without having to sacrificeherself. But I think that we’re all mostly in agreement that that who spiel wasa little lacking, yeah?

Anyway, let’s get in to it!

I can’t talk about Lance and Amber’s relationship nearly asmuch as I want to. Initially, while Lance doesn’t hate her, he does get a bitmiffed by how she and Alfor always seem to be at odds with one another. As thekids get older, though, Lance starts to see a bit of his own struggles in Amberand becomes a pretty good source of reassurance for her. Amber clearly wants tobe someone who does great things for others, like her parents, but is unsure ifshe’ll ever have her chance to. She also worries that her abrasive personalitywould prevent her from being a very good source of comfort, even if she did getinvolved in any kind of work like that. Lance is able to help reassure herthat, so long as she’s willing to work hard and dedicate herself, she’ll beable to accomplish her goals.

Kaden goes in a bit of different direction than his sister;Kaden’s leaning towards being reserved but typically pretty polite, Lance hasno problem with him. He isn’t as aggressive as Amber can be in his issues withAlfor or Raya, and even when they do, the most that ever happens in the way ofphysicality is knocked over drinks or water fights. In regards to bonding,Lance actually offers him little tips and tricks to help him with his drivingduring his soap box races. I like the idea that Lance liked go-cart racing inhis youth so he knows a little bit about how to maneuver a smaller vehicle.Keith greatly appreciates this, as his own experiences prior to meeting Shiroand attending the Garrison is limited.

Lance actually teaches Newt a lot about farm animals. It’skind of implied by how Lance knew how to deal with Kaltenecker, and is apopular headcanon that I’m fond of, but I like the idea that he came from afamily in which his mother was a successful business owner and his father rantheir successful farm. As such, growing up, Lance had a lot of first-handexperience with the ins and outs of how to care for barnyard animals. Newtlatches on to him so he can learn all that he can about cows, horses, chickens,goats, and any other animals. While Lance doesn’t actively work on the farm anymore – what with now being one of the ruling monarchs of New Altea/ living alife as a Garrison recruiter on Earth – he has a lot of fond memories of hisexperiences caring for animals, as well as finding Newt’s passion to beendearing. He specifically regales him with the tales of his favorite animalthey ever owned, a goat named Hoppie, who would scream at you when he wanted atreat and had a bad habit of hopping fences; including a hilarious time hejumped into the pig’s pen and got coated in mud.

As for Ari, he probably likes her the best, simply becauseshe tends to be around the most due to her friendship with his daughters. Whenthey have sleepovers, he’ll often be brought in to help with braiding hair,doing facials, painting nails, etc. He also occasionally helps out with thechoreography, costuming and music for Ari’s YouTube videos; specifically, withthe music, he’ll help with the balancing of the audio and occasionally offerback-up vocals. We’ve already seen how well Lance can… Put on a show, to put itlightly, so he’s got a lot of creative ideas to help Ari catch attention. Pidgeis the one who tends to step in and rein him in if she thinks his ideas aregetting a little too salacious.

Now, what about our favorite Altean royal?

Allura gets along with Amber a bit better that Lance does,simply by virtue of seeing that her son needs someone to call him out. Sheloves her son to pieces – he is her first born and her baby in general – but sheacknowledges that he has inherited his father’s ego from their youth, whichmeans he needs to occasionally be reminded that he isn’t the greatest thingever. She doesn’t always agree with how she goes about it, and is happy tovoice her opinion, but also finds Amber’s interest and skill with fighting tobe admirable. She helps to teach her some Altean combat moves, along with herteaching them to her own kids as well, and admires what a quick study she is.

Now, her and Kaden actually bond over something kind ofinteresting; superhero comic books. Of all the Earth literature that she checksout, I think that Allura would find comics to be incredibly interesting. Thestories, the characters, the situations that cause them to gain their powers,all of it just kind of amuses her; both the campy stuff and the more seriousstuff. This hobby of hers is one that she ends up getting to spend a lot oftime bonding with Anthony, she and Lance’s youngest son, as well as Kaden.Kaden’s favorite characters end up being Spiderman, because he’s super smartbut super snarky, and Captain America, because he’s so moral. Allura’sfavorites are Thor – which is shared between she and Anthony – and Storm. Oneyear for Halloween, actually, the three of them all dressed up as their faveswhen they went trick-or-treating.

Newt, being intelligent and having some interests similar tohis Mama, talks with Allura a lot about how, exactly, she developed Shiro’sprosthetic, as well as how the Castle Ship worked. He also talks with Coranabout this, but he likes to talk with Allura about it a bit more since she wasthe one who made the ship able to jump through wormholes. He’s absolutelyfascinated by the idea of technology and magic being melded together to theextent that it was with the Alteans. Due to his lack of Altean heritage, he can’tdo anything involving alchemy, but he still finds the practice to be absolutelyfascinating and loves listening to Allura talk about everything she’s learnedfor hours on end. Additionally, Alfor is the only one of the Allurance babiesthat inherits any Altean alchemic ability, so Newt will often sit in whenAllura’s working with him just to see how, exactly, it’s done.

Much as I mentioned before, Ari in the Kidgeling thatprobably spends the most time around the Allurance babies because she gets alongso well with the girls. Much like with Lance, she’ll join in for slumberparties, but she also likes to take the girls out for mani-pedis. Pidge enjoysoccasionally going out for pampering, but she’s not nearly as big into thatstuff as Aria is, and Allura is always more than happy to bring Aria along.Pidge is grateful because she wants Ari to be able to enjoy herself in herinterests. This is also good for Allura, as she sees her friends and their kidsas her family, and loves getting to spend time with all of them. Allura is alsothe one that takes the girls clothes shopping at the start of each new schoolyear, since Pidge loathes having togo shopping.

Alfor and Amber’s relationship is completely complicated.They absolutely love each other and will shank someone for bad-mouthing them,but they’d also happily roast each other until they’re a well-barbequed chickenthigh. As kids, they constantly bicker and butt heads because they’re bothincredibly stubborn and have huge egos, but as they get older and become moretempered, they’re more like caddy frenemies. There is a point where theirfriendship almost implodes on itself, but that’s something I intend to touch upon my final headcanon post coming out soon. Alfor gets along pretty well withKaden and Newt, as well. With Kaden, he takes on an older brother role andoften tries to help give him love advice, because he considers himself to be areal Casanova like his Daddy even though he’s never asked out Akihiko,who he has a HUGE crush on. With Newt, he actually really likes how hesits and watches his alchemy training. Newt will take notes and, through thesenotes, Alfor can often figure out what he was getting wrong when he’sstruggling. Alfor likes Ari, but he sees her more as his sister’s friend, so hedoesn’t really hang out with her much.

Raya is the Queen Bee of the little Girl Gang that is formedby the Palababus. While she and Amber don’t really spend a lot of time hangingout in their youth, there’s a sense of mutual respect for one another, and theydo become closer as they get older and get to know one another better. In theiryounger years, she always tries to include Amber in their activities, butnormally the older girl isn’t too terribly interested. Raya and Kaden havedrastically different interests and tend to not get along at all – due to Rayahaving a “little princess” personality and Kaden finding this annoying – thoughthey do grow to admire one another and become significantly closer during theirlate teens, as mentioned before. She and Newt don’t really talk much; shethinks he’s kind of weird and he thinks she’s a spoiled brat. Aria is theKidgeling she gets along with the best and, as I’ve mentioned before, looksafter her just as much as she does her own sisters. She helps Aria with herYouTube music videos, as well as helping her work on her cheerleading routinesand preparing for try-outs.

Coriander, much like her older sister, isn’t very close toAmber but has some respect for the older girl; though, admittedly, she thinksAmber can go a little overboard when she sticks her nose into a fight. It mightbe a little bit of a crush, but she never acts or speaks of it to anyone, andit fades relatively quickly. She also respects Kaden a lot, given hisreputation of being the Bullier of the Bullies, but is also a bit intimidatedby him. Due to her own tendency towards being a sociable and outgoing character,she finds Kaden’s quiet personality to be a bit unnerving. With Newt, she goes tohim and Morganite for some help with her academics, as she struggles a bit withscience and geography classes. Lastly, as I know I’ve mentioned multiple timesnow, but Ari gets along best with the Allurance girls. Since Cori is such asocial, outgoing girl who likes the spotlight, she ends up becoming a hugetheater kid. She’s not the best at musicals but she loves getting to do regularshows, and Ari always helps her with her lines. In return, when they domusicals, she helps push Ari to audition, as well as practice her songs/ linesonce she gets cast.

So now we get to the youngest little lady, Paige! Unlike hersiblings, she lacks the outgoing personality. She’s really sweet and friendlywith her friends, sure, and she gets along well enough with others, but she isn’tquite as interested in expanding her social circle like they are. She’s notreally passionate about it, but she does join the swim and volleyball. Herinterest in volleyball isn’t particularly big – most just doing it because sheknows how helpful extracurriculars are for college applications and such – but Amberstill helps her get ready for the team tryouts. She’s grateful for this,especially since Amber doesn’t once chide her for signing up for something justby virtue of being signed up for something. Paige is ambivalent to both theboys, though she does think that Newt’s fascination with Altean alchemy isweird. She really enjoys writing poems and actually goes to Kaden for hisopinion, since he’s the bluntest and most straight-forward person she knows, soshe knows his criticisms will always be his honest opinion. She has a huge softspot in her for cheesy romantic comedies – even the ones with awful writing –and she’ll happily marathon them with Ari. Sometimes the two of them just enjoygetting settled in nice and comfy and having themselves a squeal-fest.

Last, but certainly not least, is little Anthony! Anthony isan absolute Momma’s boy who talks a big game but will back down pretty quickwhen he knows he’s about to get smacked down. Due to how much younger than theother kids he is, he doesn’t really know Amber and Kaden all that well; mostlyjust knows what the kids say about them. At one point, after finding out he’sbeen dealing with some jerks at school, Amber outright tells him to just useher and Kaden as a threat to any potential bullies, and he actually does and itseems like enough to dissuade them from pestering him too much more. He ends upactually joining the local scout’s troop and goes to Newt for helpful tips onwhat to expect from the wildlife they encounter. Through this, he grows toreally admire how much care and effort Newt puts into learning about the thingshe’s interested in, and decides to do the same. He gets really passionate aboutdoing little magic tricks and slight-of-hand things. Aria ends up agreeing tobe his partner when he participates in shows and charity events and such. Also,instead of pulling a rabbit from his hat, Auryon will occasionally let himborrow Boo and Radley and he pulls them from the hat.

Coran

Now, I see Coran as being significantly more invested in theAllurance babies, simply by virtue of him Palababus, too. These last few willprobably be a bit on the short side, but I hope it’ll still be good!

Coran loves getting to tell the children about everything hedid and saw throughout his many years of travel. He’ll often regale them with thetales of shenanigans that their parents, as well as the OG Team Voltron, got upto. Does he occasionally embellish the stories to make their parents seem alittle more imposing? Maybe. But the kids don’t even care and the parent’s coughLancecoughappreciate being seen as total badasses by their kids. Additionally, he teachesthem how to do all the strange, alien-animal calls that he knows just for thefun of it. None of the parents thank him for this; especially not Pidge andKeith, who end up getting the worst of it because of how much Newt loves making the strange noises.

Additionally, he ends up hitting it off particularly wellwith two of the Palababus through offering them more insights in to Voltron andhow the Lions work, but, again… Subject for later! ;3c

Romelle

She ends up becoming super in to video games and Eaeth boardgames; specifically I think she’d be really in to Sorry!, Monopoly and anyRPG games she can get her hands on. Her being into games makes her a favoritewith Kaden and Newt, who loves having little gaming tournaments. She’s kickedtheir tales at literally every game they have but they still enjoy getting toplay with her. She also loves teaching them the different games they playedback on the colony when she was a child. She teaches Amber some meditationtechniques to help her calm down and help rein in some of her violenttendencies. She also teaches Aria how to play some Altean instruments,including a strange tuba-accordian hybrid.

Additionally, she tells them cautionary tales about her lifeback on the colony and lies they believed about Lotor. The kids are aware thatLotor was a bad guy, but they don’t know the extent of it. She saves thosestories until they’re a little older, just to avoid causing them nightmares,but they take what she says to heart.

Kolivan

So, I have a lot of headcanons about Kolivan that I won’t begoing into great detail about right now, but I will state I think he has atleast one child of his own, but they have an estranged relationship. Betweenthis and how close he is with Keith and Krolia, when he opts to retire fromactive Blade assignments, he ends up settling on Earth and taking up Grandpa Privilegeswith the Kidgelings.

Much like with Krolia, he helps teach Amber and Kaden aboutself-defense techniques and other such things. He decides pretty early on thathe likes how the two contrast but complement one another, what with Amber beingan enthusiastic little spitfire and Kaden being a sneaky little tactician. Theymake for a good team and he can see that the two of them have greatness laidbefore them. With Newt, he really enjoys listening to him go on his ramblesabout the tech he’s working on; specifically, he likes when he goes on hisrambles about the prosthetic limbs he wants to develop for humans and animalswith missing limbs. He thinks it’s really cute how this snarky little bratactually has a very soft and compassionate heart underneath it all. With Aria,he really loves letting her play with his hair. Since it’s so long, she’ll sitfor hours and comb it out and then restyle it. Sometimes she does simplebraids, or twists it into a bun, or even busts out her curling iron and leaveshim with a cluster of bouncy silver curls. Sometimes they’ll talk while shedoes, and other times she’ll just put on music and they’ll let the quiet musicfill in the peaceful space.

Slav

Slav is literally only here for one hilarious footnote.

One week, for show-and-tell, Aria actually smuggled Slav toschool with her. At lunch, she swapped candies and lunch tray desserts forreadings of their possible futures from the alien genius. This led to a bunchof the children going in to complete panic and the school hadto call in Pidgeand Keith.

They’re both impressed with the fact their daughter managedto sneak Slav to school, as well as how she managed to carry around a backpackwith him inside for the entire day.

#crumbles grumbles #Keidge #Kidge #Peith #Kidgemas #half baked headcanons #This ended up 13 pages long!#And I had wanted to talk about more interactions about the Kidgelings extended family members #*coughAcxaEzorZethridVeronicacough*#But I started this before S8 dropped and it was already getting crazy long #Maybe I'll do another post about them if there's an interest???

48 notes · View notes