#i can't believe my voltron obsession is back

[tamaytsuki]

so... i am very self conscious about my drawings, that's why i don't post. BUUUUT, i read this Klance fic on Ao3 called Silver Bells by @heavilycaffeinatedsblog and i had to draw this bit. Also my handwritting is shit, don't mind that.

I haven't used Tumblr in years so be nice :)

[lnkedmyheart]

I mean I am one of the few people who genuinely did not care for Keith Allura endgame at some point past season 2. As cute as I found them in the pod escape moment I don't really see the chemistry or any kind of grounds to truly connect on for them past the tangential ones and Keith is too fixated on Shiro for the first couple of seasons. I genuinely loved the Allura Lance development in later seasons with Lance growing into a better person and genuinely falling in love with her. I also feel like historically Allura and Keith have had a very slapped together relationship in 2 of the 3 previous iterations (I greatly prefered Lance and Allura in the og one because i genuinely dislike the celibate hero who never shows interest in the girl vs the girl loves the guy but they still end up together trope).

I did however enjoy the shallura and sheith dynamic as well and I feel shallura could have been a decent path to go down at some point but hey, I'm not gonna complain about my baby boy being queer rep. It's time we get non stereotypical rep for gay men.

I agree the whiney Keith part of the fandom is odd but I have arguably not seen enough of that in fanfics in general. I think I learnt to avoid those kind of fics early on since a lot of people who write those are generally younger people who project onto specific characters and you can usually tell within a couple paragraphs if it's that kind of fic. Most of the content I have read has been pretty in character for the most part. I also moved in Shiro lover circles so...

I would argue that Keith suggesting leaving Allura behind is harsh but also not...wrong. Not in the sense that they should have left her but Keith is capable of making difficult choices unless he himself is compromised (aka struggling with Shiro's loss). Even Allura agreed that they should have left her behind. Shiro is for all his groundedness, an idealist. He wants to protect everyone, even at the risk of making things worse for himself. Shiro the hero is right, he is your main heroic archetype, always save the people, always fight for justice, against all odds. Keith leans more realistic in that you make hard morally ambiguous choices in war and it's not like Keith has much of an understanding of war/this specific conflict like Shiro and Allura do. But yes, Keith is single minded and prone to rash decisions, he's definitely not as bad as that. For one Pidge absolutely deserved a chewing out for trying to ditch the crew in the middle of a war and Keith was right, everyone barring Lance and Hunk was dealing with some kind of loss. Mind you, at this point they did not know that the Lions would even pick another Paladin. Shiro imo was being way too lenient and probably still dealing with the guilt of having left the Holts behind and being saved instead. I do dislike the fact that Keith stopped being pragmatic and became Shiro the Hero point dos. It would have been a good comparison of how both are genuine ways of being in the middle of a war. But oh well.

I'm not really in the Keith defence squad. Lord knows I have issues with some of the Gary Stu crap that came later. But i do think sometimes we tend to expect too much from an isolated, socially inept, orphan with life long abandonment issues as he is navigating through a war in the early seasons.

I want to talk, for just minute, about the amount of self-disparagement in Shiro's statement, here. He's grievously injured, ailing, and trapped in a tiny cave with creatures lurking outside, waiting for their next opportunity to attack him.

Despite this, he's been repeatedly assuring Keith that he's "all right", and inquiring after Keith's well-being whenever he hears Keith struggling over the comms. Then, Keith expresses his belief that Shiro's presence and influence changed his life, and Shiro agrees. On the grounds that he's actively made Keith's life worse.

Keith's response to this extremely concerning assertion?

Nothing. He hears Shiro cough, tells him, "Stay with me, Shiro," and that's it.

This is an example of exactly what I mean when I say that Shiro has no support system. His best and closest friend hears him say something seriously disconcerting while in a state of utmost vulnerability, placing all of the blame for Keith's current predicament on himself, which is objectively not true, and does nothing to refute him. No, "Hey. Stop beating yourself up. We're gonna be just fine". Or, "How could this possibly be on you? Did you purposely eject us from the Castle?". Or even, "When we get out of here, we need to talk about why you feel like you don't matter and something completely out of your control is your fault. It's not like you asked to be here, either."

Maybe I'm expecting too much from a young adult with his own trauma whose interpersonal skills have already been shown to be lacking. I know I expected too much from a team of showrunners who believed that dark content automatically equals mature content, and insisted on shoving as much disturbing subject matter and questionable to outright deplorable messaging as they could manage to get away with into a series aimed at children. Shiro was never meant to heal from his trauma. The intention was to kill him to pave the way for Keith to take his place as The Chosen One.

But, in this fandom's determination to woobify their favorites to the extreme based on said favorites' moments of insecurity, they seem to have forgotten that the most blatantly traumatized member of the cast is the most blatantly traumatized member of the cast. Self-loathing and passive suicidal ideation are every bit as much a part of that as Shiro's flashbacks and the fear-induced paralysis that seizes him when a repressed memory resurfaces from the dark corners of his mind to drag him under. And, he, too, deserved all of the sensitivity, care, and love that they believe their favorites do, which makes it all the more abhorrent that he was repeatedly denied it in this show's canon.

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 50

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

you've got to take a chance on something, sometime by spirkylurkey

Lance McClain is the office secretary. Salesman Keith is smitten, but Lance is dating Lotor from Corporate. (An Office AU in which I just TORTURE PINING KEITH)

I LOVE THIS FIC. im not generally huge on office aus, but i LOVE this one. messy gay love triangles, GNC lance, and pining keith being the one who shows UP. god i love them. and keith. just so goddamn badly. he is loyalty personified.

2. Something Borrowed, Something Blue, by @shyfoxes

Keith asks Shiro to help him make Lance a betrothal necklace. The results are less than stellar, but that’s okay. ATLA AU.

atla au!!! proposal fic!!! 2016 fic!!! dorky broganes!!!! this fic is so fucking cute. also this line: "He stepped aside to let Keith in then swiftly kicked him in the behind as revenge." is siblings at the core of them truly

3. Kitten Sneezes by @tomminowrites

Imagine: Keith’s kitten sneezes - The Red paladin wiggles his face desperately, trying to cram the sneeze back down to the depths. Instead, the feeling just crescendos, until… “ha-tchu!” There’s a beat of silence. Then Hunk and Lance are cooing into the mics with an infuriating awwwwwww.

keith having kitten sneezes is so goddamn funny to me. like here is this gruff guy who is awkward but does his best and is also obsessed with knives. and when he sneezes it sounds like a cat. ALSO. lance calls keith kitten in this

4. to tell the truth by @tomminowrites

Other than a few scuffs on his armor, Lance looks unharmed - but he just stares stupidly at the Red paladin’s outstretched hand instead of trying to rise. Keith leans closer. “The fight’s still on, you coming?” Lance looks up suddenly. “Dude you… you have really beautiful eyes, did you know that? I feel like nobody has told you that.” Uhhhhhhh. -- Lance is hit with a truth serum, and his unintended honesty hour will continue until Voltron finds the cure planet-side. Keith, meanwhile, can't shake off the part where Lance is... flirting? With him??

this is the only truth serum fic ive ever really liked bc it's super respectul u know?? doesn't rly feel like it's crossing boundaries. just sweet and funny. lance flirting with keith like its fact is so real

5. Starsong by @tomminowrites

The paladins are crewmates aboard a mercenary space vessel, sent to the outer reaches of the system to investigate the recent disappearance of Empire ships. Keith discovers that the ship's captain, Sendak, has actually been hired to capture a different prize: mermaids. With siren calls that interfere with ship scanners and songs that mimic the distress beacons of friendly crafts, astral mermaids are a threat commonly believed to be myth among most spacefarers. But when lives are at stake, the crew is soon to discover that one among them is not quite as human as he appears to be...

i feel like there's NO way i havent recced this before but onward regardless!!! this fic has the COOLEST premise ever like holy shit. mermaids?? who SWIM in SPACE?? among the STARS??? LIKE???and in an au with an atlantis like crew??? SIGN ME UP

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 15: Give Me Your Princess Season 1, Episode 16: Bridge Over The River Chozzerai

I'm attempting to do two episodes per post now! This will help me finish the show quicker and hopefully will make it more fun to watch

Episode 15 - Give Me Your Princess We start with Lotor quite literally asserting his dominance over his military as Commander, and immediately they're off to destroy Arus Also, this is where the obsession starts I guess, suddenly he's real interested in the princess

holy shit i cant believe he actually takes care of his hair

Oh we're already at this episode? Allura sneaks into black lion to learn to fly it in case of emergency, good plan but i always was annoyed that she thinks it HAS to be her when she's literally the most important person on the team, yknow being a princess and all

Ah yes a staple of the 80s "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't do things boys can!" Obviously it was important for girls during that decade and it still is now but MAN is the way of showing girl power outdated as I'm watching this now more than 30 yrs later

Lion troubles, apparently Black lion is malfunctioning, but they try and fail to form Voltron as Lotor is actually competent LMAO Allura faints and black drops out of the sky

Lotor has a personal fighter, and it looks like a bat, how cool, Keith is currently trying to rip it apart since everyone thinks it's allura in blue and not him which makes lotor scram

Harem time, I guess that's why they pulled the sudden obsession this episode, all the harem girls are blonde and could easily be mistaken for Allura and the allura imagery all throughout this episode that I haven't been mentioning

hell yeah they're telling off allura for her sudden test drive of black and now her reason changes from "in case of emergency" to "if you go back to earth"

oh my god this just turned into a telenovela Especially with Keith guilt-tripping her by saying Sven wouldn't have almost cost them their lives, low blow keith

She tries to apologize to Keith but the words of the other 3 boys get to her and she walks off I'm actually kind of glad she takes their opinions seriously and isn't being relegated to "the leader's girl" also keith regrets being so harsh on her, even though he was right to reprimand her in general

Did nobody learn anything from the last time lotor was on arus and said he'd be willing to leave in peace? Allura he won't give up just because you give yourself to him, especially if he smacked keith in the face with a ROCK after he won their sword fight

Allura literally busts through the tower lotor left on arus and gives herself up, and then faints (again) because Lotor electrocuted the lion, I don't blame her for that one The boys go rescue her and i think i missed something because keith is hurt? He did go after the princess outside his lion so maybe he got shot and i missed it, anyway he's ass at flying and allura is protecting him in turn now

No robeast this episode, but voltron is still formed and takes down the rest of the spires that lotor left behind, plus a giant laser weapon Allura and Lance carry Keith in, apparently he was cut by lotors laser sword, go figure Nanny doesn't care, as per usual, but goes to get stuff for Keith once Allura tells her to

Everyone forgives each other, Allura apologizes for stealing black without permission and the boys apologize for being so rude when she just wanted to do some good, Allura cries (for like the third time) in joy after being told she's wanted to be kept on the team, so she shouldn't doubt it

/episode end

Episode 16: Bridge Over The River Chozzerai Apparently the kingdom Allura rules over is called Altair and another nearby kingdom is called Helena. They have a running legend together about two lovers who were each a part of one of the kingdoms, but it was a romeo and juliette esq romance because the kingdoms were enemies, so they built a bridge between the vliff that separated them to finally be together the princess is playing one of the lovers, while she wants one of the boys to play the other

"getting icky sticky in the middle" Lance McClain sHUT-

The boys minus Keith are fighting over the part, Keith ain't no simp and especially not one for Allura LMAO Keith "No, Thanks" Kogane is a mood, I wouldn't want to go out to a bridge ceremony either

Hunk wins because Pidge tries to get the mice to help him cheat at a card draw, and they purposefully mess him up Now they have more beef lol

What a cute dress, I wonder if this is a historical reenactment or actual fashion on Arus

Haggar's cat exists once again and sends word that Allura and Hunk are away from castle. Lotor starts heading to Arus, specifically for Allura ofc, and interrupts the two right before they embrace on the bridge Now there's a robeast and it splits the bridge in two while Lotor shoots the cliff where the bridge hangs, causing it to fall. Somehow Allura is on the unsunken parts of the bridge and Lotor takes the change to try and snatch her before Hunk comes from behind and starts fucking SWINGING Very iconic of him, I'd feel safer if Hunk was protecting me in danger

The other boys are on their way, but Hunk slips off the bridge and is hanging on for his life as lotor gets pushed away by Allura who then gets smacked into the water Lotor comes back around for her in his jet until yellow line smacks him from behind, how the FUCK did Hunk get there so fast, and nanny since shes SOMEHOW IN THERE TOO

Lotor strikes back, and they crash into the cliff while the boys are stuck fighting a robeast at the castle, so they can't go help him Allura swims to safety anyway and runs to blue only to find lotor already there, honestly very smart of him since she's guaranteed to return to blue

HELLO?? Lotor tried grabbing her even though she had a gun, girl should've pulled the trigger, but only tears her dress so instead she runs towards blue AND POINTS THE BLASTER AT HER HEAD Damn, I really need to watch beastking golion if we get stuff like this in the censored American version

Anyway he tried to get the gun away but literally trips giving her time to shoot at his feet, so he back-ups enough for her to get into blue, smart girl Hunk and nanny are still at the cliff since yellow isn't responding well, so she basically piggybacks yellow onto blue to get back to the castle as lotor is shooting at them, that's a very weird position but ok

Keith can apparently take control over yellow when they're in voltron? I'm taking that as, since he's the center, having the ability to work with all 5 lions to coordinate movement, but not actually control the limb as that's up to the pilot in it

Voltron is formed, maybe it has a strong magnetic pull that brought yellow lion in even though it couldn't fly, also voltron has a whole other sword, that's interesting to know Blazing sword takes out the elephant tank hybrid robeast and now Yellow is getting repaired, it looks like it's being done inside it's den so that's good to know for world building

Hunk questions why Allura didn't kiss Lotor on the bridge since the legend was about uniting two lands but Allura is grossed out and says it's about people in love and that not even his father could love lotor get his ass princess

she was right lol, zarkon's PISSED and tells him to stop thinking with the head in his pants and start thinking with the head on his shoulders to defeat voltron

/episode end

[championofnyx]

Tagged by @windona!!! I can't believe it took me this long to responded but it's here now.

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I started writing stories based on shows and books I read in notebooks when I was tiny. Still, I didn't know that was fanfiction or that fanfic was a thing (I was a feral no internet kid till I was about 12) until middle school when my English teacher gave us the assignment for our creative writing unit to write an alternative finale chapter for the first Percy Jackson book, and for an example this women pulled up fanfic.net which was insane looking back on it. From there I started writing more because I knew it was an actual thing.

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

I was really into Voltron, but Legendary Defender (2016) and Force (2011) when I first started publishing and wrote fics for both. I've always been obsessed with Young Justice and recently found an old spiral notebook from when I was eight with the first fanfic I ever wrote, which was a Young Justice and Percy Jackson crossover. I wrote wips that I'll never complete for X-Men Evolution, Avengers next generation, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, and Arrow (rip to those projects).

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

I started writing fics around 13 years ago, but I didn't start publishing till around 8-7.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

I read so much more than I write. This has the unfortunate effect of running out of good fics, yes, this is a shameless plea for recs.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

My first fics had Mary sues OCs on crack. I'll be the first to admit that I still make overpowering characters, but now I upscale the characters too so everyone is overpowered. So might question if that's an improvement, but I would say yes- sort of kind. But I'm comfortable with it. I firmly believe that the primary aspect of fanfic should be fun, to read and to write, and if I find making little freaks that could destroy the world tenfold fun, so be it.

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I haven't done much research for fics specifically, most of the fics I have written were inspired by something that I was learning about at the time either through classes or personal interest that predated the fic, so I don't often need to do more research as I'm developing the idea. I did once, for a fic, research the symptoms and causes of PTSD which led to me later getting a diagnosis, while the topic itself isn't weird, the results of the research were.

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I die (happily) when someone writes a comment about the way I write characters. Whether it's about relationships, POV style, or anything like that, I love it. I'll be happy for the rest of my day whenever I receive any comments, but I'll be happy for the rest of the week when I receive comments like those.

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

I still can't believe that I wrote an entire, long-ass fic about a civil war that was in no way canon and will never be canon in the source material. That was insane looking back on it. It's the only fic I've ever finished- but it was insane.

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Shorter stories and one-shots are hell for me. I have a habit to over-explain myself in my writing. One-shots have always felt like self-imposed time limits where I physically don't have the space to explain every little detail which I rationally know I don't need to do but bad habits die hard.  

10. What is the easiest type?

I find long fics easier to type because I feel like there's less pressure. I can play around in the plot for a little bit every couple of chapters without it feeling like I'm wasting time.

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I only use Google Docs. It's what I use for school and work so it feels awkward using other platforms. I will sometimes use the Hemmingway writing app when I'm trying to write more bluntly for a scene or a POV.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Back to #9, I really wanna get into writing one-shots. Expectally those with cute little tropes, I love reading short wholesome fics and I would love to get into them, for for all the reasons stated above, I find it intimidating.

13. What made you choose your username?

When I was in middle school I saw someone which the Wattpad name 'Champion of Apollo' and thought it was the coolest shit ever but was so worried that I would get in trouble for stealing someone's name that, brilliant little 12-year-old me, thought of the god I found most antithetical to apollo and landed with Nyx. I distinctly remember how scared and guilty I felt for weeks after thinking I was gonna get, yelled at over the internet, which is honestly hilarious looking back on it.

[maychorian]

So last week I wrote a fic that I was extremely proud of, but it barely got any recognition. I mean, it has some kudos and a few comments, but I honestly expected more by now because I really thought I nailed it this time (and also made sure to tag it properly so it will be easy for people to find). I know it's stupid to count kudos and stuff, but I still feel like crap, partially *because* it probably bothers me more than it should. I just can't help it. Any advice?

Oh man, I know exactly how you feel. There are plenty of fics that I’ve dumped into the ether that have not gotten the attention and praise I felt like they deserved. And we all know, as fanfic writers, that sometimes good works don’t get what they deserve, and just because you’re not popular that doesn’t mean it’s not good, and we should find our satisfaction just in the act of writing and not in the feedback afterward, but I get it. It’s HARD. We all crave that validation, no matter how we try to convince ourselves that it’s not necessary. We all want to connect with other people. We all want to be told, implicitly or explicitly, that the thing we spent so much time on and thought about so much and really TRIED to make good was worth our time and effort. I understand how you’re feeling, I really, really do.

If it helps, if your fic is a Voltron fic, I do think we’re on a bit of a downturn, fandom wise. I think both consumers and creators got a little burnt out with the huge cycles of events and big bangs and all the stuff that’s been going on. I’m fairly popular, for a gen writer, and my comments have dropped off recently, too, even for works that I KNOW were extremely well-received in the past. We’re past that first blush of a new fandom, when everything is exciting and amazing and every new work gets tons of attention because all of the fans are hungry for more of the new characters we fell in love with. It’s been less than a year and a half, but already it feels like this extremely active, extremely volatile fandom has already gone through several cycles that usually take fandoms several years to go through.

So we’re at a point, I think, where a lot of people are either satisfied with what they’re getting from canon or just not interested in sorting through the reams and reams of fanwork to find what they’re looking for. And you have to keep in mind, commenting is HARD. At least if you’re not just going to say “this was good, I like it,” which a lot of readers feel like isn’t enough of a comment, even though plenty of writers have said we like those kinds of comments. Deep, thoughtful comments take time and energy (I say, having written hundreds and hundreds of longish, thoughtful comments myself), and some readers just don’t have the energy or willpower to do it, so they say nothing rather than give a generic note. Sometimes you completely intend to leave a comment, but you forget, lose the link, move on to other things. There are lots of reasons why your work might not be getting comments that has nothing to do with its quality. Sometimes it’s just bad luck. You happened to post on a day when not a lot of people were reading, and then it got buried under new fics that came afterward.

I don’t know exactly what happened that your beloved fic isn’t getting the attention it no doubt deserves. But don’t let that stop you. Keep writing, keep posting, keep enjoying this hobby we’re all obsessed with. As you build up a catalogue of fics, someone might read one of your new fics, then go back and look at your old stuff, too, and find this one you were so proud of. I get plenty of comments from people who read something recent of mine, then went back through everything I’ve written and commented on those, too. Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone with some clout in fandom will find and rec it, and you’ll get some attention that way.

But please, don’t let this stop you. The fact that you’ve posted a fic at all means that you have something to say, and it’s worth saying, no matter how many people are listening. I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s totally true. I promise.