#honestly screw vld

[lnkedmyheart]

Vld rewatch was a wild trip honestly. My general opinions are as follows:

Generic ass show. I'm not entirely sure why it took off as much as it did but it was generic af.

I still stand by that the Alteans spout some serious "white man's burden" type of shit. Very reminiscent of all the shit I spent slogging over in my postcol lectures.

I'm still shook that people never pointed out Alfor literally nuked Daibazaal and basically forced the Galrans into exile.

Haggar's character died when she remembered she's a mom.

I may not be huge on Allura given some of the really weird choices made with the Alteans but damn you really murked the victim of a genocide for the greater good, huh?

Kl fans really thought their ship was gonna be canon cause a couple people on the show drew art for it. I guess Revy and Roberta have been screwing behind the scenes.

Shiro is my son and the only good thing second to my best friend acquisition to come out of vld. I would have added Zarkon but we literally had only 2 seasons of him before his daddy ass was nuked.

I originally went in expecting ka1lura because that's how it always went and started actually liking a1lurance by the end. Yes it was developed pretty well all things considered. Only one other duo was developed more than them and it wasn't the two twinks.

I like the MFE pilots more than the paladins given that the latter's bond was non existent by the end.

Hunk and Shay were not a good couple in terms of development. Sorry it's cute but it's boring as fuck. No build up, they meet, the fat guy liked the fat girl and they immediately start dating. That's the way of the fat peeps in media. Lord forbid we give people who aren't skinny actual developed love stories.

My use of the word daddy is reserved for two fictional men. He's one of them.

Keith, Matt, Ezor and Allura were the prettiest characters. I can see why everyone wanted a piece of Keith in particular for their ships.

Keith x Axca would have been the lamest endgame. My boy is running around in space, is a part alien and with so many unique looking characters around him only to end up with the alien with the most uninteresting character design is just ridiculous. Had she looked buff like Zethrid or unusual like Ezor I'd have been down for it.

Krolia had bad character design. She's a generic fem galra Keith au fan art.

You couldn't get me to take [Man]'s existence seriously. If you put a loaded gun to my head and demanded I do I'd squeeze your trigger finger and off myself instead.

Shiro's new arm is UGLY.

The castle of lions looks like a giant fancy dildo.

Lotor's arc was dumb. Loved the racism of Lotor's Altean side being praised when he's faking goodness but a Galran when he's evil? As if it's not his Altean mother's obsessive ambition that led to his downfall while Zarkon literally went mad because of his love and devotion for Honerva? Oh right, Alteans good Galra bad. My mistake.

LM and JDS don't deserve a fraction of the slander they still keep getting. The show was bad in the way a generic idea tends to be when you have a bunch of different writers.

S8 is objectively awful but the quality declined after s2.

I hate their chins. Shiro was the only one with a chin I could get behind.

I really want to go back to that time when we used to slap "Disclaimer: I do not own *insert show name*. The show and all the characters are the property of *insert company/creator's name*". It will definitely reduce the obscene entitlement amongst modern audiences.

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Rewatched the vld pilot i have uhhhh opinions-

First things first, it was good!!! Like both as entertainment and as writing wise it was good!!! It sets up the characters and introduces the plot really well, it was good ok! It was good!!

It also hurt SO MUCH knowing what happens later on like both because so many things in the pilot gets undermined or completely forgotten and because the show really had a lot of potential

Like it sets up so many themes that really didnt go anywhere- Shiro's backstory, whatever shitty energy thing Keith has, Lance's potential arc, Allura's arc, Lion bond, destiny etc etc

It feels so nice to be vindicated about Hunk. Like he is bitchy! He loves to complain! He will go through your personal stuff! I love him, he is kind but absolutely not nice, i love him!

Could have done with less fat jokes though like ugh stop

Also Lance really was great here, like i might be biased but like he was genuinely more complex than people give him credit for. Like he is showboaty, a jerk and a pompous cunt, but he is also great at noticing what people need, making right snap decisions under a lot of pressure, knowing when to jump in but also when to not do that and is genuinely kind and accepting, but also all of this undermined by his fucking personality

Also where are my 1000 and 1 fics of Lance who genuinely thought he saw Hunk die and when the battle is over he is getting a bit protective of Hunk to the point of being overbearing.

And i love how Coran and Lance did not like each other makes whatever is going to happen next all the more compelling

Also why the fuck do people act like Lance bullied poor Keith like the garrison trio are WAY bitchier and meaner towards each other, like Keith is not a victim and he's definately not passive and defenseless about it either he was literally calling Lance a non essential weight

Also speaking of Keith, he was BARELY there, like aside from the story taking its time to go on about how special and amazing Keith is, the bike and the red lion scene he was just barely there. Like the others felt like they were present even when the scene wasnt focusing on them but you can easily forget Keith is supposed to be there

Like seriously even Shiro was more focused with Pidge

Like no wonder they had to screw over and undermine the entire cast and the plot to make Keith the Protagonist™ because otherwise he would not have been this popular

They should have kept this trend honestly

Also god i missed Pidge being actually interesting and likable, like she was flawed and could be mean but also just a girl desperate to find her family, god if only LM didnt decide to make her a flawless self insert

I still think they should have killed her father and/or her brother, like just for the flavour it would have been great

Hell she was trying to save the prisoners who even fucking Shiro was ready to abandon! Granted it was to look for her family but still!!

Also Allura!! My girl Allura!! God she didnt deserve any of this shit!!

Like she tries so hard to be strong and lead and save universe but also god! But also it was just so clear that the loss of Altea was breaking her and she only Just started to process it

"You must sacrifice everything to form voltron" petition to bring back Alfor AI just so i can kick its ass again, cause like SHUT UP!! SHUT THE FUCK UP! NO SHE DOES NOT! SHE ALREADY LOST SO MUCH AND SHE WILL LOSE SO MUCH LIKE HOW DARE YOU! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!!!

"If i could i would take the burden away from you" THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FORESHADOWING! HE SHOULD HAVE CAME BACK TO SAVE ALLURA AND TELL HER THAT SHE MUST LIVE NOW! THAT SHE DIDNT NEED TO SACRIFICE HERSELF! HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN HER BURDEN! I AM GOING TO FUCKING LOSE IT!! SHUT UP! SHUT UPPP!!!!

Sendak is..... twinkier than i remember

"We must wipe out that filthy race, once and for all!" Zarkon says about the Altean race while his Altean wife whom he claims to love is right there

Anyway yup this was my experience, i loved the pilot

[chibi-pix]

Chibi watches V3D 05

Ah, another night of Voltron: The Third Dimension. Admittedly, I wasn't gonna watch an episode; too tired. But, I was curious about what would happen next, so I went with it. So, without further ado, here be the notes. I don't think I have as much, but, alas.

“Either Lotor’s training better pilots or I’m getting old.” “You’re just getting old, Keith.” I love Lance’s witty remark. It’s perfect. Though. Oof. I feel that old comment so much.

I don’t like Zarkon and the calculator siding together and going with decommissioning the Voltron team. I don’t trust it.

HAH! I KNEW NOT TO TRUST ZARKON! He was behind the exile with Lotor! SCREW YOU ZARKON! Anyway, moving on. Five episodes in, and who the hell authorized robots to be in charge of the Galaxy Alliance? Honestly, it feels like a super bad idea. Tech can easily be corrupted, malfunction, and altered. As we saw with that one guard bot that was supposed to help guard Lotor and became a robeast. Okay. Uh. Watching this and the space lice corroding tech and the robot calling the team “work detail”. I actually feel a bit bad for that robot being left behind like that for the lice to get. Ouch…

Oh hey! That lion claw wasn’t a one-off thing! Allura still has it! I figured it’d just be a one time thing! Nice. And it showing her planet Arus is intriguing. If they keep using it, it could come in handy for them knowing the safety of the planet. Or the lions when separated. Nice.

Oh shit. Keith pulling his blaster on Lance! Something is brewing. I don’t know if it’s natural tensions, or something else. Never mind. Just tensions. Radioactive bugs for fuel is interesting. But crafty. That’s one way to handle pest control and utilizing available resources. Hell yeah! Go Coran! Intervene! Stop Haggar from getting information! Also, I’m finally paying attention to Haggar’s design. She looks like a piece of wood with algae or moss that started growing on it.

Ooh, I’m liking episode five’s robeast. The dinosaur look is neat. Also, I’m noticing a more robotic take to the robeasts thus far. Which is interesting. And makes me wonder if that’s where VLD got the idea of more robotic looking robeasts. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it many more times. Intriguing.

“You are hereby reinstated.” Yeah, yeah. Your word shouldn’t matter, you glorified calculator. The team really needs to just say “screw it” and do as they should as the Voltron force. “I should never have underestimated you.” Screw you, Zarkon. You’re showing your colours. I look forward to them finding out your true intentions and kicking your rear.

Anyway, that's it. I hope y'all enjoyed! Until next time!

[headspacedad]

so i'm torn between ryou being rescued by the paladins or ryou getting rescued by romelle but then I thought... what if both. like, the first time he was captured by galra, he was rescued by romelle. he stayed on pollux for a bit, earned a place for himself but left to continue his quest for answers. then he got captured again, maybe on purpose, and was then rescued by the paladins.

I can completely and utterly guarantee you that by capture attempt number two Ryou would be So Done with This Shit.  Let’s strip it down to basic though.  Ryou has, for quite some time now, been pretty much at the top of his field.  You make it up, he can build it.  You ask for something, he can invent it.  He’s really been in a position of leadership (albeit an entirely different version from Taka’s) and of being the one that’s ahead of everyone else and giving them hands up to catch up.

And then, suddenly, he’s at the very bottom of that pile, so far behind in knowledge and ability that he might as well be a first grader learning how to work simple addition all over again.  He does not have a fancy lion, he does not have an Official Role, he does, honestly, not have much point or usefulness when he finds himself in space.  This is a man that’s built himself from the ground up to be the one that can provide and create what everyone else needs and its been his goal as well as a huge purpose of his for years now.  And it’s gone.  Hell, he doesn’t even know which knobs to turn on things anymore or where the hell the nearest equivalent to a screwdriver is and if anything out here even uses screws.  Yes, Hunk is shown pretty much understanding everything, including how to hotwire a drilling elevator or fix a junked up alien vessel, right off the bat without even scratching his head but lets be realistic here.  In a civilization so advanced they’ve made a flying lion that can literally phase itself through solid objects without any harm to the pilot inside and I’m supposed to believe they’re still be using technology on a level that a human whose highest accomplishment isn’t even light speed yet could completely take apart and know exactly what they were doing right off the bat?  Really?  Look we all suspend a lot of disbelief for this show and that’s part of the fun but if you really look at the basics of it - Pidge can, quickly and with very little trouble, immediately crack code in an alien computer system that’s had longer to advance itself than the entire human race has had to evolve.  Really?  She can, and I’m still having a hard time swallowing this one, hijack Shiro’s arm with - a wifi signal? and shut it down when not a single other Galra grunt or scientist or soldier or Haggar have?  Don’t get me wrong.  In all honest, I love Hunk muttering to himself and hotwiring the elevator at the same time.  It’s one of my all time favorite scenes from season one actually because it is so perfect in timing and delivery and tension and laughter and Hunkness but - the thing that challenges my suspension of disbelief most is how casual alien tech is treated and how easy it is to crack even by two beings I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge as complete geniuses. I realize, as writers, there’s a limited amount of time the VLD script crew have to pack all kind of information into things and they really do need to hit the ground running with the characters.  Pidge and Hunk both need to have their skills shine just as bright as anyone elses and it would take a lot of time and slow the story way down if they were put on a learning curve.  In fact, a hell of a lot of the situations that moved things along in the first couple of episodes (Pidge hijacking Rover, Hunk hijacking the lift) wouldn’t have happened at all if we had to stop and have them really wrestle with how utterly alien and outside of their usual pattern of programing and problem solving everything is.  But dang.  Are we going to upload a virus to the alien ship with a lap top next?

[chevs-and-spiders]

The way they didn’t even let them say goodbye. utterly criminal.

[stressedsnake]

Ok so i finished vld like a few hours ago and i already published a post saying what i disliked about the finale/season 8, so here's the way i would have done it:

1. Instead of the forced Allurance plot line(as i hv said before many many times, they come off as awkward friends than an actual couple) I would have let Allura develop a closer relationship with the rest of the paladins and would have lance grow closer with other people and prove how important he is. (The show's writers completely fucked his arc up,I'll make a post on that later). Honestly the show went downhill the moment they switched lions. .Don't believe me? The switch completely screwed up Shiro,Lance,and Keith's characters. I'll have to make several posts about this.

2.Instead of killing lotor, i would have kept him in the team. Tbh the betrayal didn't make any sense. Plus he seemed to be genuinely in love with allura and vice versa. This would have kept us from getting the awkward allurance plot which was too rushed and too sudden and instead an actual story about love and an abuse victim healing. They managed that very poorly.

3. LANCE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER. They could have made a beautiful story of realizing your self worth and being comfortable with who you are, BUT NO THEY REDUCED HIM TO A COMIC RELIEF FARMER WHICH HONESTLY IS SO RACIST. Instead of making him step out of Keith's shadow they made him the paladin of the red lion. Which .is .stupid .as. fuck.

4.They should have made Keith and lance actually talk, like keith helps him realize that he isn't worthless ,that he's important and deserves the world. Or even Shiro and Lance would have worked, because Lance looked up to Shiro and craved his approval.

5. They should have worked more on all the relationships tbh, they managed to ruin the garrison trio completely and developed a beautiful familial friendship into a we work together situation.

6. ALLURA DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE. Ik plot this plot that, whatthefuckever, she didn't have to die at all. I feel like by the time we reached the end of the season, the writers were just throwing darts on ideas with their eyes closed

7. Honerva, should have had a better redemption arc, instead of making her a complete madwoman, they should have at least went back and tried to flesh out her character. They literally reduced her to a plot device.

8. Shiro should have remained the paladin of the black lion and the Holt family should have taken over Atlas,they could have developed an amazing storyline with shiro learning to trust other people and healing from his ptsd.

9.YOU KNOW WHO HE COULD HAVE DONE THAT WITH? ADAM. They didn't even confirm on the show that they were fiances and i will forever be bitter about that. THEY HAD NO FUCKING REASON TO KILL HIM.

10. In short they needed to work on the relationships more and take a look at who they were killing.

[firelxdykatara]

Okay so theoretically speaking, if they did make Zuko (or any other character) gay in the live action just for the fan service and woke points (which they won’t, but this is just theoretical) to what extent are we allowed to just ignore it and go “yeah no that’s not canon” and keep shipping Zutara?

Honestly, like, at the end of the day, the Live Action AtLA is probably going to be on the very bottom rung of the ladder (well, ok, one rung above the movie that Shall Not Be Named, assuming they don't screw the pooch as far as casting goes) in terms of avatar canon, and no one is going to be obligated to follow it even if any of the characters are made explicitly gay. (Although even if they do add queer rep to the show, it's more likely to be ambiguous rather than labeling any of them with an exact sexuality, so like giving Zuko a boyfriend wouldn't do anything to change my HC that he's bi and falls in love with Katara.)

VLD pulled this with Shiro (complete with having the crew calling him a gay man but deliberately leaving his on-screen sexuality ambiguous so that anyone could project their own HCs onto him, which basically gave the fandom license to go after anyone still shipping him with a woman and it's incredibly irritating), and revealing him to be queer at the show's 11th hour did nothing to deter Shallura shippers, and they only had a year and a half or so of investment. (And then there are shippers like me, who eventually watched the show long after the hype and discourse died down and shipped Shallura bc I saw their chemistry early on in the series and loved the potential their relationship had, and since the show screwed them both over in the end I'd prefer to keep my 'bi!Shiro married to Allura who did NOT die' headcanons and ignore everything else lmao.)

So making Zuko into the show's token queer rep wouldn't have any affect on zutara existing as a ship, imo, even if they made him explicitly gay. That said, it would undoubtedly invite a whole lot of 'if you still ship zutara then youre homophobic' takes, but there are a lot of people who already believe that just because zukka had a popularity spike and they think that the only reason to still ship zutara instead is homophobia, rather than the fact that Zuko's relationship with Katara is very different from his relationship with Sokka, and shipping one because you enjoy their canon relationship dynamic does not mean you would ship the other. (Although there are a lot of people who really want one relationship dynamic, but they don't want to admit they like a 'straight' ship, so they superimpose that dynamic onto the other sibling, but that's a whole other discussion.)

All I can really say is that if the LA does go there, I recommend turning anon off and keeping it off for a while lmao. (But I really don't think it will. I doubt those are the kinds of creative differences Bryke would've left the project over.)

[avidbeader]

(Stealing this because it looks like fun!)

Guidelines: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all.) Choose your favourite opening line, tag some friends!

1. What Comes Next? (Ted Lasso): “Are you sure?”

2. Symbiosis (VLD/Sheith): The first couple of requests were reasonable.

3. Going My Way? (VLD/Sheith): Five feet to the left.

4. The Six Cursed Heirs (VLD/Sheith): The war was over.

5. Something Borrowed, Something New (VLD/Sheith): Krolia sat back in her chair with her cup, enjoying her after-dinner coffee.

6. Paper, Cotton, Then Leather (VLD/Sheith): On their first wedding anniversary, Coran had given Shiro and Keith a large selection of paper.

7. Forgive Our Trespasses (VLD/Sheith): Shiro braces himself as he picks up the carryall and tucks his datapad into the side pocket.

8. Nexus (VLD/Sheith): Red strings were a fact of life.

9. Give Me a Sign (VLD/Sheith): Shiro felt the satin at his shoulders slide to one side yet again and growled in frustration.

10. The Perils of Innocence (Harry Potter): It  was just another Monday at Esperança House.

11. The Quintessential Bond (VLD/Sheith): It was never a question of fault.

12. Avidbeader’s Sheithmas 2019 (VLD/Sheith): It wasn’t that they had never seen snow before, but neither Keith nor Shiro had had much opportunity for it growing up.

13. Cascades of Stars and Snow (VLD/Sheith): I’m getting married today.

14. A Bond Beyond Blood (VLD/Sheith): The streamers shimmer over his door, framing a bright holographic sign:  Happy birthday, Shiro!

15. Stargazing (VLD/Sheith): Keith looked at his tablet, baffled by the back-to-back notifications on the screen.

16. The Icarists (VLD/Sheith): The sun shone warm and bright in the cloudless sky, but the steady breeze from the water made for a most delicious feel to the air.

17. Rebuilding Reality (VLD/Sheith): It’s not until he’s hurtling toward the jagged portal, the pod’s right turbine still refusing to come back online after passing through a wave of unknown radiation, that Keith thinks this might have been a bad idea.

18. Unexpected (VLD/Jaith/Sheith): James Griffin is living a dream he didn’t even know he had.

19. An Unacceptable Bargain (VLD/Sheith): We can’t screw this up,  Adam thinks as he follows Commander Iverson down the hall to the meeting location.

20. Capture and Release (VLD/Sheith): Captain Keith stood on the deck next to the helmsman, his attention divided between the movement of the wheel and the line of dark clouds. 

Hmm... honestly, if we were allowed the first two lines, my favorite would be “Going My Way?”: Five feet to the left. Five fucking feet to the left. I love that opening because it so perfectly captured my feelings about the real-life situation that inspired the fic. But if I’m limited to one, I’ll go with “Rebuilding Reality”.

Tagging anyone who would like to do this!

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Honestly the way you wrote Lance in The Haunting made me laugh a little because it’s pretty accurate and IC. The way I react to your scenes for him is the same way I reacted to his scenes in canon: wishing I could punch him in the face (ik that sounds aggressive but asdfkhgj) Like thank you Keith, pls knock some sense into him. Maybe it’s also the salt I have with his stans who refuse to accept/acknowledge his bad behavior, which was rewarded in the end, plus Allura’s awful treatment in s8 (1/?)

Continued anon message: Anyways I can’t wait to see where you go with this story bc I love me some angst and seeing Allura (and Lotor) happy ;) (2/?)

Hi, anon. Thanks for your note, lol! Usually in my other stories, I try to positively depict Lance as a strong friend to the paladins and to Allura, because that’s what I hoped for with his canon character. But here in The Haunting, given specifically how canon got to Allurance, I just can’t imagine the canon version of that relationship ending well and being a happily ever after for either character, if Allura had survived restoring the multiverse.

I actually feel bad for legit Allurance fans and Lance fans because canon screwed them over too in a lot of ways, and I know a lot of them do what we do over here in Lotura fandom—reject canon reality and substitute their own, lol. Which is absolutely fair. As far as the stans who don’t see canon Lance’s behavior as anything but pure and wholesome, this “he’s canonically innocent of all things” phenomenon happens in a lot of fandoms for a lot of sexualized male characters. It doesn’t help that you’ve got the VLD production team recorded as saying that they believed Lance actually did undo all of his toxic behavior toward women (which, it feels like they tried at a few points but then reversed it, like in s7 when Lance said he wasn’t interested but then suddenly in s8, he’s following along with weird “traditional value” dating where Coran as a man and even Allura’s subordinate suddenly has total agency over Allura’s body and mind like she’s a child or a possession).

In Lotura fandom, we have an enemies-to-lovers basis, which I think makes it easier/more acceptable to openly explore character faults and problems, because all the problems are out in the open anyway, lol. And The Haunting is definitely where I’ve been exploring some significant issues with Lotor and Allura too. Because I am a moth to a flame regarding angst sometimes, oof.

I’m so excited to hear you’re enjoying this crazy story, and I hope we can get to see Allura and Lotor happy again soon too!

[kari-izumi]

001-Yugioh 002-Sheith 003-Renji Abarai

I probably should clarified one per ask lol :p

I'm gonna break this off into three separate posts since i have people outside of V/D who are in one of the other two fandoms who have Sheith blacklisted and because line breaks never work for me on an OP from mobile. I'll start with Yu-Gi-Oh (and legit thanks for the variety in fandoms BTW!)

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Seto Kaiba, without a doubt. Even for all the other interests this blog has shifted towards and the volume of VLD content that damn near came close to dethroning it, Seto Kaiba is still my #1 tag.

Like, he's overcome so much and I'm really glad current fandom sees that 1) he's a teenager (the youngest in the group, in fact!) 2) he's a survivor of abandonment even before the adoption and 3) that even though he's not murdering people these days over cards that abuse doesn't just go away and that he's trying.

He's my disaster son, and I live him :)

Least Favorite character: Gozaburo. We know why

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Violet/Pup/Kaijou

Prideshipping

Silentshipping (don't @ me over it, I've heard all the howls about it over dialup)

Wishshipping

Buddyshipping

Character I find most attractive: huh. I don't get much into that aspect of the characters for this fandom, but if I had to take a stand, I'd got for Kaiba after his ab game got turned up to 11 in DSOD. NICE 👀

Character I would marry: I thought about this, but tbh that's a blank for me

Character I would be best friends with: Yugi ❤️ cuz he's best friends with everyone!

a random thought: I can never figure out exactly what Pot of Greed does

(😉)

An unpopular opinion: L!ttleKurib0h's bad charicature of Tea went a long way towards fostering the irrational hatred this fandom has of her. There's a whole lot about the guy in general that doesn't sit right, most of which has been lost time time and aren't mine stories to tell, but nowadays most of the ppl who hate her usually came by the Abridged series before actually watching the show and not because she got in the way of their yaoi ship of choice.

My Canon OTP: we have none

My Non-canon OTP: Nakamashipping, which is the name for Yugi/Honda/Jou/Anzu

Most Badass Character: Jou, by a long shot. Somewhere in the depths of this blog was a post on how much of Jou's fighting ability and strength was downplayed or removed in DM and it's a shame he, like Renji, got put in to solely comic relief category.

Most Epic Villain: honestly, are there really any "badass" epic villains in this series? Like, they're either cartoonishly evil like the way early antagonists pre-Duel Monsters or victims of circumstances beyond their control. Yu-Gi-Oh really doesn't have a Sosuke Aizen or a [insert JJBA villain of choice here]. Even the Kaibas' adopted dad was just more crazy and given a few panels in the manga.

Honestly, I've never given that any thought before now. 🤔

Pairing I am not a fan of: Kaiba/Pegasus. I have a hard time thinking Seto is going to push aside him using Mokuba in his plans to revive his wife anytime soon, but it's not a hill I'd die on tbh. Truthfully, it's hard for me to hate ships these days.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Do I have pick just one?

I could pick the usual ones of Honda, Anzu, Ryou Bakura (and I was tempted for the last one)

But honestly, I think the one who gets shafted most is Yugi himself. You know how in OItNB where Piper stopped being the focus by mid season 3 and thank God cuz really? It's like that for Yugi after Duelist Kingdom where he just takes a backseat as Yami/Atem gets all cool story.

And even Shounen Jump shafts hi, too. I think it was a post by @engelchenyugi who pointed out that the Jump Force game identified Atem as Yugi in game play footage. That's just...really bad coming from the official publishers. Yugi Mutou might be the most misunderstood and underrated protagonist in their entire library, and I'm saying this as a Bleach fan who's had to hear how supposedly "boring" Ichigo is because he doesn't fight for an overarching goal.

Favourite Friendship: All of them...? But mostly Joy and Yugi for being soft bois who openly love one another.

Character I most identify with: for all the love I give Kaiba, I'm gonna have to go with Mokuba. Poor kid gets dragged along into his brother's reckless ideas and has to sit back until he comes back into reality. Sounds like the story of my life *sigh*

There's a reason this icon hasn't changed in all the time I've had this blog beyond just laziness

I promise I'll finish that one fic one day

Character I wish I could be: hmmmmm, maybe Honda, cuz his family is probably the only normal one in all of canon, even if they don't question that he disappears for that whole weekend where Duelist Kingdom took place. Hey, look, it's the same canon where Kaiba got a dog collar slapped on his and Joy's mom left him with an alcoholic, Mr. Honda gets some slack here 🤣

That's all for that! And if others want to send more, the meme is here! :)

[asian-hero]

hey! 28, 31 and 38 with Shiro if you’re still doing those asks? With a female/or neutral reader :)

god 28 gave me such a hard time bro, but i think i did it

#28: “You can’t just turn into a bat and fly away when you don’t want to deal with things!” “Watch me!”

#31: “Unless I screw this up, again, I’m going to marry you.” “Well you better not mess this up.”

#38: “Take my hand.” “Why?” “I’m trying to ask you to marry me, so take my damn hand!”

send me a character/ship and some numbers! (vld, dbh, tdp, ml, she-ra)

You and Shiro were an, odd couple of sorts. Sure, to anyone who knew you two, it was painfully obvious that you were an item, in fact, the paladins and MFE pilots often told you two to get a room. To anyone who didn’t know you, however, it seemed like you two hated each other, or at least had a distaste for each other. Your conversations were borderline insulting and your display of affection was punching each other in the shoulder or slapping each other on the back. The officers under your command never wanted to ask, mainly because they were told to never disrespect their commanding officers, but they were concerned about whether or not you and Shiro would kill each other one day. Eventually, they got over it and just decided that, if one day, you decided to kill Shiro, or vice versa, they’d just have to deal with it. 

That’s why when one of the said officers passed by the recreation room, screams and curses filling the air, they just stopped for a moment, then carried on with their day. After all, it was just another Tuesday night. Normally, at this hour you two would be doing paperwork, or, Shiro would be doing paperwork while you just talked about how if you had to deal with the MFEs one more time you might just spontaneously combust. Tonight, however, Shiro decided that both of you needed a break, so he decided to take Pidge and Lance’s games and set it up in the recreation room. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but by the first thirty minutes of playing co-op with Shiro, you were done. While you were actually trying to get through the game and gain levels, Shiro was continuously fleeing from the fight and not helping you at all. You eventually got sick of Shiro’s scheme so you turned around to face him, your neck threatening to crack from the pure force of it.

“This is a co-op game! You’re supposed to be cooperating with me!” You yelled, grabbing the collar of his uniform and shaking him. 

“Fuck that, you rushed in head first to that boss!” Shiro yelled back at you, trying his hardest to contain his laughter. 

Just as you let go of his collar, Shiro grabbed his controller and began to move away from the battle. Feeling your eye twitch, you let out a long sigh before screaming:

“You can’t just turn into a bat and fly away when you don’t want to deal with things!”

Shiro narrowly dodged your fist, bursting into a fit of laughter. “Watch me!”

The night continued on with a similar pattern, you would try your hardest to progress in the game while Shiro would fly around, not helping in the slightest. Honestly, you wanted nothing more than to strangle him, but unfortunately for you, somewhere, deep, deep down, you know you loved him just a little bit. Eventually after being the only one doing anything in the game, you finally died, but not without screaming and denying that it happened. Once you died though, Shiro seemed to get better at the game, which made you even more upset.

By the time Shiro had reached the final boss you were rooting for him, pushing past your bitter attitude and anger to actually cheer for him. Before he went into the dungeon, he looked over at you, a coy smile playing at his lips.

“Unless I screw this up, again, I’m going to marry you.”

You felt your eyes widen at that statement. Of course, you two have been together for almost three years, and you’d known each other for much longer, the most logical next step in your relationship was marriage, but you didn’t think he’d say it so casually. There was no doubt in your mind that you wanted to marry this man, and hearing that he wanted the same made your heart skip a beat. Clearing your throat, you pressed a kiss to his cheek, a grin forming onto your face.

“Well you better not mess this up.”

Shiro looked at you for a quick moment before turning back towards the screen, a look of determination crossing his features. 

For the next fifteen minutes there was nothing but silence, the occasional cheer or helpful hint from you or a curse from Shiro after narrowly dodging the boss’ attacks. Finally, after an intense moment, Shiro had finally won, the boss dissipating from the electronic universe while you stood up and cheered. 

You wrapped your arms around him, causing the both of you to topple to the floor. Once you pulled away you noticed Shiro’s eyes sparkling with a new sort of energy. Tilting your head, you gave him a confused look. He smiled at you, shifting away slightly and holding out his hand.

“Take my hand.”

Not surprisingly, you were even more confused. “Why?”

Shiro gave you an exasperated look. One hand still held out, the other one pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m trying to ask you to marry me, so take my damn hand!”

Letting out a shocked “oh” and jumping slightly, you gave him your left hand, shaking ever so slightly. Shiro dug into his uniform’s pocket, pulling out a simple gold ring, with a small diamond embedded inside. You gasped, your right hand flying up to cover your face. Hearing Shiro laugh, you felt your face burn up even more. 

“I know that this isn’t the most romantic proposal, and you literally just yelled at me less than thirty minutes ago, but (y/n) (y/l/n), will you marry me?”

You could hardly contain yourself. With tears streaming down your face, you nodded your head, covering your face with both hands now. Shiro laughed, gently prying your hands away from your face.

“You know, I’m gonna need your hand if you want the ring.”

“I’m sorry!” You blubbered, hiccuping due to your sobbing.

Holding out your shaking hand, you felt Shiro slip the gold ring onto your finger. You looked at the ring on your finger, still not quite believing what was happening. He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, looking down at the ring with you. 

Just as you were about to say something, a whoosh noise indicated that someone had entered the room. Glancing up from where you two were huddled, you noticed Lance just standing in the hallway, a concerned look on his face.

“Are you guys okay?” He asked, glancing around the room, he noticed the brightly lit screen and the game console on the floor, “Did you guys steal our game console?”

You and Shiro looked at each other before you held up your left hand. “Hey, look! We’re getting married!”

[sol1056]

strategy vs tactics

I’ve had a few asks sitting around for a bit since I posted about tactics and strategy, and @nomadicism‘s recent analysis of Hawkins and Mal as leaders in VLD reminded me of the questions. In a nutshell, the difference is:

Strategy is the big picture, and its focus is the final objective. Strategy defines why you engage, and delineates parameters of success or failure.  

Tactics are the implementation, with a short-term focus. Tactics define how you engage, manipulating environment, timing, resources, and intel to achieve success. 

Behind the cut: each approach in practice, characterizing the two mindsets, and character moments that show strategic or tactical thinking so you can see how the combinations can play off each other. 

First, though, I’m going to tell you a story. 

It’s a battlefield truism that numbers win. If your 5,000 soldiers line up against 20,000 enemies, all else being equal, your smaller side will lose. If you’re lucky, you’ve got superior technology or firepower. If you’re unlucky, you don’t. If you’re really unlucky, the other side has superior numbers and superior technology and firepower. 

Scotland, 1314. You’re besieging a castle currently held by the English, and they’re sending reinforcements, enough to outnumber you 3-to-1. Superior numbers, check. Your army? Maybe 500 mounted, and the rest afoot with axes, swords, and pikes. The enemy’s got heavy cavalry and longbowmen. Superior technology and firepower, check. You’re pretty much screwed, unless you’re Robert the Bruce and god-tier at turning the tables. 

Robert had to stand his ground or the siege would fail, but that meant his army didn’t have to exhaust themselves marching. He had time to select high ground, with a rise of trees at his back. His army dug holes along the only approach, planting stakes and covering them up. The first line of cavalry would go down; subsequent lines would avoid them, taking the one alternate route Robert allowed: directly into bogs along the riverside --- exactly the last place you want to take big chargers carrying heavily-armored men. 

At the end of the first day, the English were in the swamp. Demoralized, they crossed the river at night, and prepared to charge... uphill, ankle-deep in mud, and halted at the end by thickets, where the Scots afoot could evade easily. You can’t hold a tight formation when navigating trees and underbrush. Plus, the longbowmen couldn’t support when the cavalry got too far ahead; half their shots hit their own people. And flanking maneuvers failed against lighter Highland ponies, running circles around the heavier English chargers. 

Robert didn't need to know Lao Tzu to know his famous edict: all warfare is based on deception. As the English rallied for a final charge, from the hilltops came a thousand voices and the clang of weapons striking shields. Robert’s reinforcements had arrived!  

The English broke ranks and fled. Unfortunately for them, all that hollering was camp followers banging pot lids with sticks and making enough noise to wake the devil. In the end, historians estimate the English had losses as high as 70%. Robert lost substantially less; of his mounted troops, only two died.

It always comes down to numbers. If you can’t reduce the difference via obstacles (staked pits, muddy ground), you narrow your focus. A head-on strike plays to the enemy’s numerical advantage. So... you only fight some of them. 

In Legend of the Galactic Heroes, the protagonist is outnumbered 4-to-1. He ignores traditional battlefield assumptions (lining up and shooting) and narrows his charge to a wedge formation, focused on one enemy squadron. Now the fight is 4-to-1 in his favor. From there, he attacks the next enemy squadron on their unprotected flank. One at a time, each can be knocked down because he’s limited the battlefield in a way that the numbers favor him, not the enemy.

Attack when they’re unprepared, from an angle they don’t expect, and turn their strengths to weaknesses. If they’re stationary, be mobile; if they’re shifting, be as steadfast as a mountain until they’re just sparrow wings beating on stone. Basically, a skillful tactician aims to disadvantage the enemy and advantage themselves: layer enough handicaps on the other side, and it’ll take ten of them to be as effective as one of yours.

The tactician, though, is only as good as the strategy they’re supporting. The best strategists planned for battles you never hear about, because the battles never happened. Those strategists aimed to be victorious before a battle even began. As Lao Tzu put it: the supreme act of war is to achieve victory without fighting.

Historically, brilliant strategists are often horrendous tacticians and vice-versa. It’s big-picture vs small-picture, really. A strategist, in the midst of battle, is most likely to go for the goal with no thought for subterfuge, intel, resources, or other tactical details. A character whose default attack is a straightforward bludgeon is probably a strategic mind, too set on the forest to register the trees on fire. On the opposite side, a character who can’t seem to pick their battles (even if they manage to win the ones they do pick) is probably a tactical mind, swatting at burning trees and never once thinking of the forest. 

Allura’s decision in the S2 finale is pure strategy. (She ignores the bigger picture of what happens after, but we’ll leave that aside for now.) She’s got the objective in sight and nothing will sway her from ending Zarkon’s empire.

Kolivan’s position is tactical: losing contact with Thace puts the team at a severe disadvantage. The allies have five lions and one castle-ship. The enemy has countless warships, endless resources, and a huge station-thing that practically dwarfs the average planetoid. When Kolivan wants to pull back, he’s not arguing strategy (which is how Allura interprets his words). He’s arguing tactically; losing the element of surprise changes the calculus of victory. 

When the team is on the Balmera, using a sentry arm (basically, using the enemy’s superior technology against them) or befriending the locals (as Pidge does with the children) are both smart tactics. Keith's choice to charge in shows he’s only seeing the goal (take out the sentries). Good strategy, but phenomenally stupid on a tactical level. 

Lance’s response shows he’s got a tactical mindset: he looks for ways that twist the enemy’s advantages against them. The enemy patrols, but only along established open tunnels; Keith and Lance go through a duct. The enemy has vast systems to manage every detail, but the strength of centralizing is a weakness when only one sleepy sentry is in the control room. 

In other words, Lance intuitively finds a way to offset the difference in their strengths by focusing their attack on a single point of weakness. What could’ve been 200-to-2 with Keith’s idea becomes 2-on-1 with Lance’s. 

In the Beta Traz episode (though it’s not written quite as cleanly as the Balmera episode), Lance does show some drawbacks of that tactical approach. His focus is on how, not why, so he dismisses his questions of whether a barely-verbal dog-like creature could be a genius engineer. Someone else set that strategy and made that decision; Lance’s part is just to make sure it gets fulfilled as ordered. 

In team tropes, the leader and lancer are usually strategist and tactician, respectively. S1/S2 reversed that, with Shiro as tactician while Keith showed flashes of a strategic mindset. It’s when Shiro debates strategy with Allura that the two aspects blur, since allies are good strategy (potentially forestalling battle), and good tactics (augmenting one’s numbers, a source of intel). Those debates show Shiro’s versatility, but he does that best when he’s working in tandem with a strategic mind. It’s not where Shiro goes first, on his own. 

Allura is the consistent strategist in those first two seasons. She identifies the objective, and Shiro figures out the best use of the team and Voltron to achieve that objective. In her absence, the roles flip, because Shiro’s left to set the strategy and... he’s too much of a tactician.

The finale in S1 was nearly suicidal from one perspective; the team is going to a battleground of Zarkon’s choosing, with limited backup and surprise as their sole advantage. Shiro’s call to attack when the enemy least expects is sound, but the ‘go in hard and fast’ is little more than a rapid-fire frontal attack. Worse, no one stops to consider that since Zarkon has Allura, he’s expecting Voltron to retaliate --- that is, the only surprise is when, not if.  

It’s Keith who raises objections, as a good lieutenant should. The narrative glosses over the fact that Keith is right, except Allura’s single line: ”Tell me you didn't bring Voltron straight to Zarkon's central command!” It’s a subtle affirmation of Keith’s instinct that her rescue was unwise from a strategic perspective.

The bigger picture would’ve weighed Zarkon’s overwhelming power, resources, and sheer numbers against the necessity of keeping Voltron from being captured. Honestly, I’m not sure it would’ve changed much if the team had known Zarkon was the previous Black Paladin. They already knew he wanted to capture Voltron; at that point, knowing why (a strategic matter) was irrelevant in the face of how (the tactics of their approach). 

When Shiro is gone and the team swaps, Allura's move into Blue takes her out of that strategic position. But it also moves Keith, another strategic thinker, into leadership, with one major difference: there’s no longer a separation between the overall command strategy and the implementation of Voltron itself. 

With a strategist in the leader’s seat, Voltron is no longer used tactically, as one resource among several (Allura’s knowledge, the Blades’ intel, the castle-ship as reinforcement). Like so many strategists turned battlefield leaders before him, Keith immediately goes directly for the throat with no regard to resources, circumstances, environment, or intel.

The episode on Thayserix had great character development, but as enemy-interactions go, it was also (as @nomadicism noted) pretty damn stupid. Keith rightly identifies Lotor as the main objective, but at the cost of ignoring all their tactical disadvantages. Pidge points out they’re following Lotor to a ground of Lotor’s choosing, in an environment that works against them and for which they’re not prepared. Keith seems blind to the need for tactics; no surprise he dismisses Pidge’s warning as unimportant.

These are the actions of someone relatively new to exercising that strategic instinct; Keith is too quick to forget the bigger picture once he’s on the battlefield. Puig called for help, yet the team never checks if the Puigians are alright. A situation dire enough to send Voltron, yet Voltron gets distracted on the way to its rescue mission. Neglecting one’s allies is definitely bad strategy.

After all, Lotor set up the meeting. That effectively played his hand as someone who wanted something from the paladins. It’s a reasonable to assume Lotor would try again by some other means, so a good tactician would keep stalling or deflecting until the circumstances can be manipulated to the team’s benefit. Keith’s strategic perspective, on the battlefield, becomes a disadvantage Lotor could use against them. 

And that’s where the real problem lies with making Keith the Black Paladin.

Some characters (like Shiro seems to be) can swing from one mindset to the other; there have been commanders who can manage both adequately, even if they're most comfortable in one. Where VLD strikes untrue is when the other characters flip in response, with the clearest example being when the team must choose between the teludav and the comet ship. 

Shiro provides the strategy (teludav as first priority) and his blunt-force tactics (take the hit) are par for someone who isn’t tactical, both of which are opposite Shiro’s S1/S2 characterization. Keith argues (iirc, he was ambivalent about which target was highest priority), but his ultimate response is a tactical one, when he angles Voltron and side-steps so the comet-ship’s strike hits the teludav. Keith is a good enough pilot to pull off the stunt, but he’s in the awkward position of trying to match Shiro’s skill as a leader-tactician --- and that’s just not where he’s at.

From a battle perspective, Keith’s complaint of ‘I can’t lead them like you’ is literally true. His strengths aren’t tactical; he can’t be what Shiro was for the team. He’s further hamstrung by his reluctance to rely on others. His strategic instincts are (mostly) solid, so he doesn’t need Allura to provide those. His belief that leadership = tactics (per Shiro’s example) means he takes that on, too, so he doesn’t need Lance’s tactical insights, either.

Where the story fails for Keith’s leadership is that it never resolves this conflict to any satisfaction. We don’t see Keith learning to think tactically, so his continued dismissal of Lance’s input (except to follow orders) means the team lacks tactical input. Nor do we see Keith learning to think beyond instinctive strategy to the truly big picture (which admittedly Allura also needed to learn). The result is Keith’s leadership is inadequate strategically and tactically.  

What makes a finale interesting, really, is when both strategy and tactics are engaged. If the story emphasizes strategy (ie, the decision of which target to focus on), the actual battle ends up lacking tension because the conclusion is foregone. A tense battle isn’t created with overly complicated steps that rely more on audience suspension of disbelief than logical actions. 

What you need are good tactics that don’t rely on coincidences or lucky timing. And if you really want a page-turner, make sure you’ve got a smart opponent who doesn’t react as expected.

One more story to illustrate.

Japan, 1542. You’re young, untested in the eyes of all your rivals and neighboring lords, and you’ve spent the first year of your reign getting your own house in order. Your elder sister had married a neighboring lord, the seal on a peace treaty, and now her husband, the lord of Suwa, has broken that treaty and attacked a castle in territory you nominally hold. You have a long game strategy, and that land is a crucial step. On the other hand, a direct strike at Suwa could put your elder sister in danger.

You need to subdue Suwa, keep your sister safe, regain your territory, and prevent any future rebellions that would force you to divert resources when you need them most elsewhere. Short version: you need a strategy that won’t turn your sister into a hostage.  

Not a problem, as long as you’re Takeda Shingen, a strategic genius who’s also smart enough to find and cultivate a brilliant tactical mind, Yamato Kansuke. The above premise is mostly true, though details are hard to come by in English sources. That said, NHK’s 2007 taiga is a good reenactment of the trickery and manipulation Shingen and Kansuke seemed to favor.

The preliminary strategy is simple: conflict in Suwa will give Shingen an excuse to take over under the guise of defending Suwa. A discontented Suwa noble is chosen as the fall guy, and Shingen sends Kansuke and an accomplice to speak with this Takato.

Kansuke says: if Takato provides support when Shingen attacks, Shingen will appoint Takato castellan of Suwa. (In other words, a governor under Shingen’s rule.) All Takato has to do is bring enough numbers to make an impression.

Kyorishi protests: no, no, that’s not what Shingen wants. If Takato leads the attack, Shingen will lend support and acknowledge Takato as lord of Suwa. None of this castellan stuff!

Takato, predictably, is baffled. Is he expected to attack, or to support? Will he be under Shingen’s command, or a full lord in his own right? Shingen's messengers can’t even get their stories straight! Takato decides there’s nothing to fear; this kid Shingen is way out of his depth. Kansuke’s goal: let Takato get cocky, and Shingen can take advantage of opportunities that rashness creates. 

Kansuke heads back to report, while Kyorishi infiltrates Suwa, seeking warrior families who could be dissuaded from supporting Suwa’s lord. Not long after, Shingen’s sister gives birth to a boy. Perfect: Shingen will declare himself the protector of his infant nephew, the future lord of Suwa. That’ll assure the province of its independence and it’ll settle down. 

Takato sends word he’ll attack Suwa, with Shingen as support. Shingen pulls his army together and marches, while Kyorishi spreads the word that Suwa faces the combined armies of Takato and Shingen. He also riles people up with news some of the liege families are sitting it all out. Kyorishi's delivery is note-perfect: omg everyone is against us but at least we'll die fighting to the very end. Dramatic --- and demoralizing.

When Shingen arrives at the main Suwa castle, Takato doesn't join him. Shingen's strategies are on the verge of failing, hanging as they did on Takato. To Shingen's surprise, Suwa also marches, despite a force one-fifth Shingen’s. Suwa’s loss is sealed, and that means, per the time’s customs, everyone in Suwa castle will kill themselves, including Shingen's sister. But if Shingen backs off, his bluff will be called, putting his larger plans at risk. 

Basically, Takato proves cagey enough to not move until he knows Shingen really will fight Suwa. Everything now hinges on getting Takato to march --- but first, Shingen needs to buy time. That means forcing Suwa to retreat. 

Kansuke chooses deception: spread the torches out, put up twice the banners, make the army seem so vast that Suwa loses its nerve and flees for a more defensible stronghold. Those left to defend the first castle will set it on fire rather than surrender, and the Takato will interpret that to mean Shingen's engaged in battle. 

When Shingen's forces make a show of moving into position, Kyorishi is among the Suwa forces, panicking loudly about the Takeda forces. Unnerved, many of the soldiers run rather than face generals with such fearsome reputations. 

Suwa ends up retreating, and the castle burns. Takato marches, certain he’ll arrive after Suwa and Shingen decimate each other --- only to march right into the path of the retreating Suwa. The two armies clash, and while Takato is occupied, Shingen captures one castle, then the next. With that done, Shingen is able to force Suwa to capitulate, after which he sweeps up what’s left of Takato’s forces. 

In one non-battle that’s mostly a lot of maneuvering and some delicate timing -- and a whole lot of groundwork --- Shingen recaptures his original territory, puts down a treaty-breaking lord, takes over a second province, and subdues the one lord who’s shown any willingness to fight. In the end, Shingen marches home without a single casualty. 

And that is how a strategic mind and a tactical mind can work in tandem to an incredibly devastating effect. 

[chibi-pix]

Okay guys, I finally did it. After watching Voltron: Defender of the Universe, both the lion and vehicle forces, I finally got to watch Fleet of Doom. And I actually ended up sitting there to watch it instead of drawing. I know, surprising.  Now then, let’s go!

Kinda glad they brought Cossack along for the ride in this. He may be a bad guy, but he amuses me.  And seeing the Vehicle team again. I know it wasn’t that long ago, but I missed them. Even with that slight, momentary error I think I saw in Cliff’s uniform being the wrong colour. OH well. I will admit, it was strange that Zarkon and Lotor seemed to be on decent terms. Weren’t y’all wanting each other dead before? You know what, screw you two. Like father, like son. Both idiots.  “I hope you Drules keep up your end of the bargain.” I mean, Zarkon says it as though they aren’t the same race. I know technically they aren’t with their source materials, but still. No matter...  And them wanting to conquer the other. Typical idiots. 

Continuing on, I just adore Pidge’s excitement, especially about his brother. And that flashback was even more adorable since I’ve literally only seen like two stills from it. I loved it! And Lance and Wolo pulling Cliff into the pool. That was amusing. If I were Cliff, I wouldn’t trust them around a pool again. Or push them in the next time for funsies.  And Allura wants girl time with the ladies. Yes, let her enjoy girl time! 

Seeing Keith’s childhood memories/dream. Poor baby. He needs to be hugged and told that it will all be okay. I expected a normal princess kidnapping. I did not expect Haggar to steal Allura’s spirit. Good way to catch me by surprise, Voltron.  But can I just say Pidge listening for Allura’s heartbeat? I mean, it’s pretty innocent, but boobs. Resting his head on her chest. You were quick to decide that, Pidge, instead of checking for her pulse in general. But we still love you, buddy. And with Alfor taking Keith to find Allura, his “yes” as they disappear was just way too creepy. It did not sound right... And Keith taken to a forest. Be brave, Keith! With such a place being conquered by courage and imagination, I’m  sure I’d be fine. It’d be a walk in the park. 

Allura really doesn’t give up on others, huh? Always hoping for the good in others. Good for her, though, at least she still tries.  Though Haggar used to be good? And it was Zarkon’s fault she became who she was? Huh. Intriguing.  When Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were in trouble thanks to Cossack, I had honestly hoped that the vehicle team would show up and assist them. Lance finding a way to fight back when Cossack tried to turn them into a crane game was good, too.

It was nice being able to see the two Voltrons side by side. I’d love more of that, but alas. I shall live with this.  And Lotor making his own robeast Voltron... it just has me thinking of VLD with Lotor making the Sincline mech. Now seeing this, I’m definitely seeing the reference there. Very nice. I’mma be honest. Coran and Hawkins should have gotten their rears in gear sooner to protect the planet/base and fight off the Drules. They shouldn’t have waited for the others to point out that they need backup in keeping things safe. Really dudes?!  Lotor shouts out his moves though in control. He reminds me of an episode of Pokemon where Meowth was battling for his right to keep Togepi. And then he has the nerve to complain about the others ganging up on him being unfair. Dude, you’ve never been fair before. Pot, meet kettle. 

Haggar going to trick Zarkon, making herself young and beautiful. Zarkon is a total creeper. Though I wish I knew what happened next with that. I want to know how that interaction ends. Though I guess I can daydream and assume. 

Ah, and everything ends, everyone is happy and shaking hands. But I sure wish we had more Pidge and Chip interactions. I love the lads. 

Anyway! That be it! Voltron: Defender of the Universe and Fleet of Doom is complete! I surprisingly got through all of this. I’ll admit, sometimes my brain just screamed, especially at voices or 80s frequencies, but I made it through. And I actually enjoyed the series overall. 

Well, until next time!

[almostanxrchy]

I know this has been said before.

Really, I do. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, but really, it can’t be said enough; Dreamworks really screwed up with VLD Season 8.

Now, before you disregard this as just another post complaining about the season, please hear me out.

They didn’t just screw up the story and the character’s lives. They screwed up their fans.

All the fans who related to Allura, the at times insecure young woman with a bright future who was trying so hard to be someone people could look up to, who ended up as nothing more than a sacrifice and someone’s love interest.

All the fans who related to Lotor, the childhood abuse victim who only acted cold and manipulative because it was how he had to survive as a child, who ended up as just a rotting corpse (who “deserved better”) while his abusive parents were redeemed.

All the fans who related to Shiro, the strong leader who worked hard to overcome his disability and his PTSD, who ended up being shoved to the side in the last season so that a few side characters could suddenly be brought into the limelight for no real reason. And don’t even get me started on his lack of actual interaction with the man who apparently became his husband.

And lastly, all the fans who related to Lance.

This part may be a bit longer, but that’s only because this is the only one I can wholeheartedly relate to, and I don’t want to speak on another’s behalf about their own experiences.

The fans who related to Lance because of his quirky nature, because of his stubbornness, because of his loyalty, because of his insecurities, because of his dreams, because of his love for his family, because of his desire to be with someone who he knew was out of his league.

This is a character who we saw from the first episode and absolutely fell in love with. I, personally, have never related to a character more, and I don’t think I ever will. I kept waiting for him to finally get his character arc, to get the development he deserved (outside of development that was done sloppily through other characters), waiting for him to have an episode that was just him—but it never happened. Yes, you could argue that the episode with him and Hunk with the mermaids counts, but I’m talking about an episode like all the other characters got that showed him actually growing as a person. I waited for him to have the romance he deserved, someone who chose him first, someone who he was on the same level as, someone who he needed, but instead, he got thrown in with Allura as some last-ditch effort to save an already crumbling plot.

Here’s the thing. I wouldn’t have cared who he had ended up with as long as it had been executed properly. But... I look at Allurance and all I feel is sadness and dread. Lance’s relationship with Allura almost exactly mirrors a relationship I was in where I was miserable, constantly trying to keep up with her, and was always there for her while I never got the love or support I needed. Not only does he end up with her, but then she dies and leaves him alone for what seems to be the rest of his life. Not only that, but he also ends up stuck working on his family’s farm for the rest of his life, which is not the life he wanted for himself in the beginning.

I look at what they’ve done to this character and I’m terrified, because honestly? The fate that he has been resigned to is the one that I dread the most. And if that’s what I feel, then I can’t imagine what the people who relate to all of the other wonderfully flawed characters in this series may be feeling right now.

My heart goes out to all of you. And thank you to anyone who actually took the time to read this; I know I get long-winded, but I needed to get this out somewhere. I hope all of you know that you’re more than these characters, and your fate is not the same as theirs, even if the situation you’re in may seem hopeless at the moment.

[aruachan]

How Voltron should’ve ended

Pardon the text post, but I needed to make a brain dump of everything that I wanted to see happen in VLD. May add or delete later, but without further ado, here is:

What I expected / wanted to happen in Voltron: Legendary Defender

At least a season of Team Lotor hijinks (like Azula and Ozai’s Angels) before falling out

Estranged generals join the Blade of Marmora

...And finally have a heart wrenching reunion where they reconcile with Lotor *feels*

Keith and Axca are siblings! Yay!

* Evil Altean Empire returns! And they’re more scary than the Galra ever were because they have evil space magic and brainwashing! Yikes!

Paladins meet their evil twins from another reality? Evil Voltron?

Big Bad turns out to be the entities coming from the corrupted quintessence - and they’ve been using Hagar and Zarkon as puppets of evil, and only Voltron is the only thing that can stop them, which is why Zarkon is so intent on capturing Voltron from Season 1

You know how the Galra War was big? Well that was fish sticks compared to the ACTUAL interdimensional war between one group of entities trying to stop the evil entities from gobbling up all the quintessence in every reality

You know how Alfor felt like the comet ore was engineering itself? *George Tsoukalos hands* ✋ENTITIES🤚

* MFEs transformer/combine into robots and get a WHOLE FLEET of kickass fighter jets (seriously, this was such a missed opportunity smh)

Also, after the showdown on Earth, everyone scrambles to build better defenses using a combination of Arusian, Earth, and Altean engineering

Haggar/Honerva is now fully self-aware but chooses to join the evil entities because Evil is Fun

Team Voltron meets and fights alongside original Paladins (which happened, but not in the Finale)

Finale is a giant mecha teamup between Voltron, Team Lotor, Atlas, and MFEs against the Final Boss Evil Entities

For the Finale:

I truly detest “just a dream” endings, but LOVE bittersweet endings with heroic sacrifices. If done right, this is how the finale could’ve gone down:

a bittersweet restart ending where Team Voltron has to alter the original reality so that 10,000 years of war never happened, but that means they never would have met and formed Voltron.

Altea and Daibazaal would still exist, but idk if everyone would retain their memories of their past lives

OR they could pull a Lost Light 25 - make a happy reality where that happens, but also keep their own reality, which they worked so hard to protect (I like this option the best - let’s go with that)

On a less dramatic note, I also wanted this to happen:

Team Punk does it again. And again. And again. Nothing can stop these chaotic good nerds

Adam doesn’t die

Cannon Lotura

And of course

Cannon Klance

Darker options I thought they’d take for season 8:

Lotor fuses with his sincline mecha, becoming an eldritch weapon like the ultimate monster Keith and Krolia released, but much more evil

Using his powerful new form, he’s able to pierce realities and becomes a quintessence-havresting warlord even worse than Zarkon

Eventually he teams up with the evil Altean Empire and Dragon Mecha Warlord LOTOR becomes the Final Boss

Maybe Honerva finds him and is like, o shite guess I’ll join too

Honestly at that point, the protagonists are screwed. Gonna need an interdimensional entity like Bob to lend a hand here

[charred-ground]

Hey, the post you reblogged "Was Season 8 of Voltron changed?" got deleted. Is there any chance to find it somewhere else or sth? I really would like to see that post and compare my opinions and suspicions about vld to others'.

Huh, I’m gonna say that it’s gone now. :( But I do believe it’s probably for the best at this point. The whole account appears to be deactivated. I’ve done a lot of my own research and I’ve found that a lot of what people are saying are based off falsified rumors. 

I can’t say what went on behind the scenes, but there’s not factual evidence for what was stated. Anyone can say “We have a person.” or “we know a person”.  But I do believe the story was got is not the original story the creators wanted to tell however it is the story they were allowed to share. 

People seem to not understand how animation works and how far in advance shows are animated. I know some people have said this is an excuse, but if you look at logic and ignore the ‘tea’ someone is pouring from unknown sources you’ll find your own thoughts and ideas. Fact one: The tea is exaggerated and falsified and spread by angry fans. Where there might be a hint of truth, it got exaggerated and then blown up to a point where the truth no longer exists. 

Fact two: Rep was WANTED since the start of Voltron. The door for such rep was closed VERY tightly until statistics proved where the real fanbase was. The permission for rep was granted VERY VERY late in the game. So in a rush to add what they wanted they made a few mistakes. (Adam) Josh Keaton and Adam’s voice actor even said they recorded SEVERAL different lines for that scene. The concept being so last minute Netflix didn’t even get the right subtitles in their formatting. 

Fact Three: Klance was NEVER the plan. The fans own that concept and the fans created the awareness. Klance was given a last-ditch effort of possibility. 

Fact Four: Sheith was never in the cards either. Keith and Shiro were close. Shiro was a mentour and a brother/father figure to Keith. The showrunners didn’t know they’d have a chance for rep when they laid out the groundwork on this relationship. And Shiro was meant to die after season 2 and Keith was meant to kill the clone in season 6. 

Personal take: Shiro and Keith’s relationship was to foreshadow the concept of found family. Shiro never had romantic designs for Keith. Keith never had romantic designs for Shiro. Shiro was a friend. The first person who trusted him. The only person who cared about him after his father died. Keith, whatever his sexuality is, doesn’t HAVE to have romantic feelings for a guy just because he’s gay. And gay men are capable of having platonic relationships with other men and other gay men. The gay men I’ve watched this show with adore Shiro but felt better about a platonic Sheith relationship because “A gay guy AND a regular??guy can have a close relationship without wanting to screw each other's brains out. It’s like saying a csi guy and girl can’t be friends.” So seeing Keith(sexually ambiguous) and Shiro in a close nonromantic relationship sends a message that everyone keeps forgetting. “People are people. No matter their race, color, gender, or sexuality. Everyone deserves love. Everyone deserves to have important people in their lives.” For all we know Keith was Shiro’s number one ally.  “You mean this guy and that gay guy can be friends!?” “Yes Tommy… it’s okay for your straight ass to be friends with a gay guy.”

Fact five: After getting the ‘okay’ for rep, the creators RUSHED to show what they wanted to show. Yes they tripped up along the way and yes it was a rush job. But they wanted to throw that in there because they were given the go ahead very late in the game. So the question is… Which would have made people happier? Ignorance is bliss and just have Shiro be Adam’s roommate? Or be the rep they wished he could have been? Imagine what the creators could have done if Dreamworks felt about Voltron the way they currently feel about She-ra (Someone learned a lesson down the way). 

Fact Six: Put the blame where the blame actually belongs. The Ships like all ships are created by the fans. We saw something and we wanted it SOOOO BAD we created theories and metas and had a whole lot of fun doing it. But remember not EVERY thing actually means something. Sometimes a tree is just a damn tree and doesn’t mean anything.  

Enjoy your ships, enjoy your metas. But for goddsakes, it’s time to move on. Create the worlds you wish to create. Draw them write them but leave the people involved with Voltron alone. Klancers and Sheithers(Oh yes… it’s been mostly them this time) have been threatening the cast and crew at their HOMES people… this is disgusting. There is no conspiracy. This isn’t a Dan Brown novel. The tea is tabloid level fabrications made by angry fans 

I might get some or a lot hate for this… but honestly, I’m getting so tired of seeing the hate and the blame and grrrrr on a show that brought me happiness. The ending hurt. Sure, but it’s all a matter of perspective. Did Allura die? NO she didn’t die. She’s not DEAD she’s a frick’in goddess. I don’t know why people keep saying she’s dead. She cradles the universe. She’s the creator of all realities. The hero. 

Lance is the one the heart aches for, but it’s a matter of perspective how he moves about his life. If you want to wallow in the pessimistic mush, then yes he lives out his life in virginal mourning of Allura (uuuugh why would you Head Cannon that!?). OR he moves on with his life, cherishes the memories he has but finds a way to heal and a new love somewhere else because Allura would have wanted that for him, and being the goddess she is probably set a few things in motion (head cannon Keith hopping over to the farm and a slow love builds)

Shiro is happy now. Happily married to Curtis. If the story creator says HE IS HAPPY then he’s happy. If he’s miserable in your head cannon it’s because you imagine him that way…  

Oh yeah, JDS and LM did not get fired from Dreamworks… so yeah… Unfollowing does not translate to “You’re fired.”

ANYWAY This got longer than meant… so um yeah.. no I don’t know where that post is! Sorry!!! This is NOT an attack on the asker at all! I adore questions. I just got off on a rant. If I use ‘you’ its the royal ‘you’.