#it's easier to just say fuck keith then make this rant every time

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Some more vf oc thoughts have attacked me today

This takes place during Brains (ep 16) as I still haven't finished the official podcast episode review for it and just listening to them talk is making me want to rant <3

It's a long one again, rant under the cut TLDR: This could've and should've been a development episode for Vince, but instead it was skirted for a vague Halloween episode >:/

Since I'm adding Anya here, there are a few changes to the episode, mainly the way Pidge is reacting to the events happening and also an extra scene Anya is silently reassuring him every time he tells Vince that the Balton's aren't zombies and is part of Vince and Pidge's group after they get separated

During the scene where Pidge uses his smart stars, Pidge takes Vince's comment harder than we see in show Vince has constantly triggered Pidge's PTSD, and then he has the nerve to insult him TWICE* by not believing Pidge knew what he was doing

*The first time happened at the start of the episode when Pidge literally begged the team not to fight the Baltons and them doing so anyway (to protect Pidge and Vince) Vince comments that he'd rather have Lance and Larmina (the most aggressive fighters) protect him than Pidge

After they escape the mall, there's an extra scene where a small group of infected attack them, except this time they're out in the open where Pidge can't pin them down He tries to figure out the best way to immobilize them, and Vince is freaking out, telling Pidge he needs actually fight them this time, making him Big Mad Before Pidge can do anything though, Anya uses her voltcom weapon (strings) to help knock the Baltons out

Now Pidge is mad at her, saying she could've used less force in dealing with them, especially since they're obviously not in their right mind Vince butts in and in not so smart wording tells Pidge that at least Anya did something instead of stand there worried about the wellbeing of their own attackers (not word for word)

This is where shit gets real, Pidge finally snaps and starts yelling at Vince how the entire time he has done nothing but bitch about his fears and stand there criticizing someone who's actually thinking through their fucked up situation instead of bulldozing through innocent people who have no reason to be attacking Voltron* or the team at all

*When they first get to Balto, Keith explicitly states that it's a Voltron friendly planet, which makes their attack and initial stealth mode super weird

Pidge doesn't get to threaten Vince for his cowardice before Anya yanks him back by the arm, threatening Pidge instead that she'd become a bigger threat to their mission than their brainwashed race currently are if he even thinks about finishing his sentence

He glares at her before stalking off near a light post where the two can still see him Vince is obviously stunned from getting verbally torn apart by his hero and tries apologizing to Anya before she stops him This next part is going to be dialogue (and some action) just because it's easier for me to type out lol

---

"I'm so sor-" "Vince," Anya cuts in, "do you know why the force takes you cadets out on missions?" "For first-hand experience?" "And to teach you guys lessons, yes. Right now, Pidge isn't in it to teach you one. Luckily for you, you've got a survivor to do it instead."

She looks over to Pidge, who's less tense but has curled into himself some as he keeps glancing at the unconscious Baltons nearby

"How much do you know about Balto?" "Well... It's one of the planets that stayed loyal to Voltron after Wade. It's your home, it's Pidge and his twin brother's home. You guys grew-"

He stops abruptly, realizing a crucial mistake in his statement,

"This isn't the real Balto. You guys watched it explode.. He watched it explode. The surviving Baltons built this metal planet in spite of what happened."

Anya sighed, remembering her own memories of the evacuation and eventually the blinding light her parents couldn't shield her from fast enough as their home was erased without a second thought. She looked back at him,

"Vince I'm not going to tell you Pidge's outburst wasn't your fault, because it absolutely was, but you also didn't mean any harm and that's what I want to talk about"

Vince looks away and almost shrinks in front of her gaze, her pitying and disappointed gaze. He should've shut his mouth when he had the chance.

"No matter where you go or who you talk to, as long as you're on the force you're going to be fighting wars and interacting with victims from all over. You're allowed to be scared, but don't start spiraling, especially if it makes you say stupid shit like you've been saying all day today."

He grimaced, he wasn't that insensitive, was he? No, he definitely was. He literally set off Pidge's PTSD and got burned because he was too busy feeding the fire.

"Voltron may be a weapon for war, don't tell the princess I said that," she adds quickly, "but the pilots instead are diplomats, the more you travel the universe the more you'll see people just like Pidge who will never stop feeling pain even if time heals their wounds."

Checking up on Pidge again, he tried to hide the tired look on his face by rubbing his eyes and messing with his visor, but he'd known she'd caught it.

"One last thing kid, be conscious of what other people have gone through. Pidge gave you multiple warnings earlier, and they were borderline explicitly telling you to back off. Not many will be blunt and list the topics they're sensitive to, they won't talk about it at all."

He nodded, grateful she'd finally stopped lecturing him. He had enough of getting in trouble for today. The only thing to do now was apologize, and hope Pidge would forgive him for being an idiot on the field this entire time.

---

I'm not going to make Vince the only person with fault here, Pidge didn't have to tear into the kid and basically beat him down for being a coward, but he did.

I added Anya into this bc I want her to be a grounding opinion for the team. Sure, they differ between themselves, but more often than not they all agree on the same course of action. Anya is a way for more outside opinions to get heard, especially because she's watching the fights instead of being in them. She's not the voice of reason, but she's the damage control while the others focus on fighting

[corvus--rex]

Long ago I had a writer's fever dream where I thought "What if Keith had a twin? And what if that twin was on the Kerberos mission..." So I decided to rewrite VLD from the beginning with these things in mind. This one's pretty well given up on as of right now. I realized that I needed to figure out how to fit people in and never quite got there. Anyway, here's the first ~1.3k words of Double Threat (working title). (also, for the record, I don't actually ship Keith & Matt, but ocs are always fair game ;) )

}~{~}~{

“Why you? Why does it have to be you? If anything – and I mean anything – happened…I…I don’t know what I’d do. Not after…” Keith began his rant angry, furious even. But then the walls began to crumble like they always did around his brother, and the truth began to slip out.

Finlay stopped. He sighed, turning around. They’d gone over this so many times. Despite their both still being cadets at the Galaxy Garrison, despite both of them having unmatched scores in their classes and flight training, it was Finlay who was chosen in the new mentorship program. It was Finlay who had been selected for the opportunity to go along on the Kerberos Mission as a co-pilot, to have the experience of real space flight. They both knew why. Not that it made sense to anyone but Commander Iverson.

Keith and Finlay, despite being identical twins, despite having nearly identical scores, weren’t viewed the same way by some of the Garrison’s faculty. The brothers stuck together, backing each other up in everything. But James Griffin had gone out of his way to harass Keith one day, and Keith snapped, getting into a fistfight with the other boy. Ever since then, Iverson had decided that Keith was trouble, even though the class full of witnesses all said the same thing: that Griffin had purposely goaded Keith into that fight.

“I know. But I’ll be with Shiro, and Sam. And Matt. We’ll be fine.” Finlay huffed a laugh. “If anything, you’ll have the tougher job. Keeping Katie in line.”

Keith cracked a smile, albeit a small one. His brother considered that a win.

“Of course,” he said with a knowing smirk, “That also means I won’t be around to give you someone to hide behind whenever your crush is around.”

Keith’s smile hardened into a glare at his twin. “Fuck.”

“Sorry,” Finlay said, smirk still in place, “Looks like you’re just gonna have to deal with McClain all on your own for a few months.”

“Kill me now.”

The smirk widened into a grin. “Nope. Either suffer, get over it, or y’know…just fucking tell him.”

“Never gonna happen,” Keith said, but his immediate stress had been relieved.

“You say that now, dear brother, but you are way the fuck too gay to keep it to yourself without me.”

“You’re just as gay as I am.”

Finlay slung an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Oh, well aware. How else would I know?”

Keith snorted. “Yeah, about that. How areyou planning on dealing with being out in space? With Matt? In such close quarters?”

“Fuck you,” Finlay spat without malice, shoving his brother, who only laughed.

_~*~_~*~_~*~_

Keith raced along the desert, the memory unbidden, but not unwelcome. He was getting them back. Both of them. Finlay and Shiro. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to manage it with just his hoverbike and not knowing what kind of shape they were in, but he was doing it. Whatever the hell else was going on, he was getting them back.

Taking out the guards was easy. Taking out the Garrison scientists was even easier. Just as Keith was working on releasing the restraints around Finlay’s wrists, his twin began to wake. Keith’s efforts became hurried, nearly frantic, in his attempt to free his brother. The instant one wrist is free, Finlay rolled, pushing Keith’s hands away so he could free himself.

“Shiro took most of the impact,” he managed weakly, “He needs more help than I do.”

Keith had only just gotten Shiro free and his weight supported when a hand was on his shoulder. One of the hazmat-suited scientists was awake. It took Keith a second to recognize him through the suit.

“Adam?”

“Let me help.”

Keith didn’t think, only reacted. “Ok. What now?”

“Nope. No no no no no,” said a familiar voice from the entranceway.

Keith froze, not having heard that voice in six months. He felt more than heard Finlay’s rough chuckle behind him. What the actual fuck was Lance McClain doing there? Not that it mattered, they didn’t have time for that. Adam took charge, leading them and the other two Garrison cadets that looked like they’d been following Lance out and over to one of the Garrison vehicles.

“Keith! I need you to take point! Get us the fuck out of here!” Adam yelled, ushering everyone but Finlay into the truck.

Finlay followed Keith to the hoverbike, climbing on behind his twin. He was still weak from the crash, and whatever it is that the Garrison techs did to him, but held on with what strength he had left.

“Finn, you good to ride?” Keith asked, flipping the power switch.

Finlay nodded against his back, knowing his voice wouldn’t be heard over the roar of the engine.

“Hold on.”

Keith took off, feeling more secure than he had in months. He led Adam through the desert, knowing that the ace pilot could keep up with him, even in something like a Garrison truck. They lost the rest of the Garrison pursuit, but Keith didn’t trust them. He took off again, making a turn he knew would make the trip longer, but it was less likely that they’d be followed.

Coming over the crest of a hill, the cabin that had belonged to their father came into view. Keith felt it when Finlay gasped against his back.

“It’s still there,” he said softly.

The hoverbike had slowed down, the engine nowhere near as loud as it had been. Keith heard his brother’s astonished whisper.

“Yeah. It is.”

Adam and the others were still unloading both themselves and the still unconscious Shiro from the Garrison truck when the Kogane twins entered the cabin. Finlay was surprised to see that it looked lived in and turned to face Keith. For his part, Keith was looking more at the floor than his twin.

“I, um, I kind of got kicked out of the Garrison,” he admitted, “You went missing, and they tried to claim that it was pilot error. I knew it was bullshit and I tried to fight it, but Iverson just called it ‘disciplinary issues’ and got me booted. He tried to say that I wasn’t thinking clearly and that I was trying to see things that weren’t there. I never believed it was pilot error. I’ve been out here listening to the Garrison’s radio chatter; that’s how I knew where to find you.”

Finlay was exhausted, physically and emotionally, but still found the strength to pull his brother into a tight hug. “I knew you’d never give up. Too fuckin’ stubborn for it.”

Keith returned his twin’s hold. “So are you.”

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of conversation and what they knew was Shiro’s unconscious body being dragged across the compacted sand and dirt. The rest of the group stumbled inside, Adam and Lance carrying Shiro.

}~{~}~{

From a later scene that wasn't even half-baked:

“Go away,” Pidge snapped, “I’m close, I know I am.”

She tried to throw off the hand on her shoulder, but it held on, squeezing once. “We’ll find him.”

That voice used to throw her off, never knowing if it was Keith or Finn. But after months in space together, she learned the differences between the twins. Sighing out a combination of stress, exhaustion, and frustration, she let her hands fall from the keyboard and slumped into her chair.

“Every time I think I'm getting somewhere, it always leads to a dead end. I’m getting frustrated, Finn. The only thing that keeps me going is that I know Matt and Dad are still out there somewhere. I have to find them. I'm going to find them.”

~*~*~*~

Links to the rest of the series:

1 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 5* | 6* | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10 | 11 | 12* | 13 | 14 | 15* | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19*

[arsonistslut]

Chapter 9: Reminders of Tragedy

"Hey, Jane!"

"Hey, Ingrid! How is my favorite person in the world?"

Jane's girlfriend of a good 9 years now happily walked over and kissed her on the cheek, beaming as she always seemed to do whenever she looked at her lover.

"Amazing now that you're here. Hey, you wanna go to that party Randy's having at his house tomorrow?"

"He's having a party? I didn't figure him the partying type."

"Despite the whole business parents thing, he is a real party animal. Hey, you know what's weird about the party?"

"What is?"

"He invited that Jeff guy there..y'know, that creep with the Conduct Disorder?"

She gestured to the tall, dark clothed young adult that sat alone at a lunch table nearby, playing with a switchblade.

"Hey, I remember him being pretty nice.."

"Remember him? You two date at some point?"

"We did, actually, wayyyy back."

Jane smirked when she saw the look of surprise and pride on Ingrid's face when she realized she guessed right.

"What was he like?"

"He was a sweetheart. Cheesy, but a sweetheart. Hell, even cheesier than me."

"Jane, you've carved our names into multiple trees. There's no out-cheesing that."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how we met, either. My dad was out mowing the lawn, and he accidentally ran over a rock and it hit Jeff in the head."

"Oof, that sounds bad.."

"I visited him in the hospital with my parents one time, and I will never forget what he said to me as a pick-up line."

"What did he say?"

Jane cleared her throat, before trying her darndest to do an impression of a young Jeff.

"Did you come from heaven? Because you look like an angel!"

Ingrid couldn't help but let out a giggle as she quickly pulled Jane into her arms.

"Aww, that sounds so cute!"

"It was!"

Jeff himself was hearing this conversation from afar, the little tricks he played with his knife not an adequate distraction from the constant reminder of what could've been.

"I don't think he handled our breakup too well..nobody really wanted to treat him as anything other than a freak after his diagnosis went public. One time, I heard him ranting to his brother about how it was hypocritical of the school to do a health topic on depression when they wouldn't stop judging him for his CD."

"Sheesh, it sounds like he's been through a lot..poor kid could use a friend."

"It doesn't really look like he wants any. Liu isn't sitting with him..that's weird, Liu always sits with him."

"Prolly had an argument or something, you know siblings."

"Yeah.."

The day continued without incident, Jeffrey getting home at the same time as usual..yet his mind was not thinking about the party, or school, he was thinking about Jane and Ingrid. Why was Jane so special that she had everything she wanted in life and not him? What crime did he commit that landed him with absent parents, demonization from his peers, and a fucking smile cut into his face? That love, that relationship they had..Jeff came to the conclusion that it was something to be destroyed.

Liu, meanwhile, was..struggling with something. Something he never expected would be a problem in his life. Lately, he began having these thoughts..these violent, awful, intrusive thoughts, thoughts that seemed to be begging to be spoken aloud, the actions they describe seeming to grow more and more appealing as time passed.

Kill Randy.

Maim Keith.

Skin Troy like the cattle he is.

Maybe if he gave the thoughts an identity, they'd be easier to handle, he thought as he thought of a name for these urges..one stood out from the others. Not at all goofy, but not as laughably edgy as the other options.

Chapter 10: Enter Sully

Liu ended up speaking to Sully for the entire night..and even into the morning. When Jeff woke up the next morning, he could already hear Liu downstairs talking with..someone.

"It's sad, really..so concerned about themselves..no time spared for you."

"I-I guess..but they've got more important things to worry about.."

"Child, they do not have a thought in them about you. They're all self centered egomaniacs that would rather get pushed around by a genetic failure of a human rather than do anything about their situation!"

"That's not true, Sully! You're lying!"

A horrible growl soon came from the room.

"We are friends, child! Friends do not lie to each other, do they?"

"I..I guess not..goodbye for now, Sully."

"Where are you going?"

"I..I need some time to think."

Liu got back up, jumping from fear when he saw his brother staring at him.

"Holy shit, Jeff! You scared me!"

"I bet."

Awkward silence soon filled the dining room where they stood.

"Hey, Jeff...?"

"What?"

"I'm..sorry about punching you, and saying all that shit about you. I shouldn't have done that."

"No shit, Sherlock."

The elder brother turned around and began walking back up to his room, but not before his brother called out to him.

"Hey..is there any way I could make things up between us?"

"You could make things up by not betraying my trust again. You're all I've got, Liu..don't pull a Jane and fuck it up for me."

Liu always did question that grudge Jeff held for his ex, after all, he chatted with her in the past, and it always seemed like she genuinely enjoyed what her and Jeff had, and she always felt bad for leaving him like that. Hell, it sounded like it was as painful for her to leave him as it was for him to find out that his girlfriend left him. He was tempted to point that out, but he feared ruining things with his brother again.

"Alright.."

Chapter 11: A Hell of A Party

When Jane and Ingrid rounded the corner home, they found..a disturbing sight. A dead raccoon laying in the middle of the street, it's guts ripped out of it's body and thrown aside, Jeff gleefully pawing through the freshly murdered animal, childishly gawking and giggling over the corpse.

"Hey, Jeffrey! What happened here, what the fuck did you do?!"

Ingrid cried out to the blood-soaked kid, who looked up at her, confusion riddling his bloodied face.

"I killed a raccoon. It's not like anyone's gonna miss it."

"Why, you little-"

Ingrid slapped Jeffrey right across the face, knocking him to the ground as Jane held her girlfriend back and tried to keep the situation from escalating any further.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"You killed a helpless animal, you freak!!"

"I oughta kill you next, you piece of-"

Woods choked on his own spittle as he made his threat, never having been particularly..elegant with his words.

"Oh, really?! I'll kick your teeth down your fucking throat!"

"I swear to God, I'll strangle you with your own fucking intestines!!"

When Jeff reached for his switchblade, Jane panicked and grabbed her lover's hand, running off with her as Woods continued to scream at them.

"Your last words better be some Mark Twain shit, because it's going on your tombstone!! You hear me?!"

That experience was all on Jane's mind as she watched Jeff steadily get more and more wasted by the bonfire outside as time went on, at least, what glimpses she could catch of him when she wasn't busy dancing with the other students. Randy was also outside, reluctantly playing Truth Or Dare with the others as well as his increasingly hot and bothered enemy.

"Ok, Jeff!"

"Whaddup, baby?~"

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare, hit me with the worst ya got!"

"Slow dance with Randy."

"What the-no! I'm straight as a arrow, dude!"

"So is spaghetti until it gets wet~"

"Jeff, never say that again."

"C'mooooon, do the dare, ya pussy~ I don't bite!~"

Woods took his time getting up, but still had enough cognitive function to put on Grover Washington Jr's "Just The Two Of Us", to try and improve the mood, but Randy still wasn't having any of it. In a last ditch effort to try and seduce Randy, Jeffrey just..up and took his shirt off. That'll get things going, right? No, it didn't. Despite some swooning from some of his classmates, Randy himself didn't want any part of this. He was a few drinks deep as well, so in a drunken haze, he grabbed one of the bottles of booze they had, took a running start, and smashed it right over Jeff's head. The problem with that is that they were only a couple feet away from a bonfire, so when Jeff stumbled backward, he fell right into it, the alcohol on his exposed flesh quickly igniting. He quickly burst into flames, screaming and running off as the fire quickly seared his body, every remaining nerve ending he had that wasn't burnt away shocking his body with waves of pain. He could feel his scalp burning up once his hair was scorched away, finally finding solace in a nearby puddle that put out the flames. Jeff could see his life flashing before his eyes..his family, his brother..that was all he could see. As Randy and the other students' screams of horror faded away, Woods silently cursed himself for not doing anything more with his life..a single bloody tear rolled down his face as he shut his eyes for what he believed would be the last time.

Chapter 12: The End Of The Beginning

Suddenly..he was in some sort of void. The ground beneath him was black as pitch, and footsteps began to grow ever closer to him. When Jeff looked to see who was approaching, he found no earthly being waiting for his attention. When he laid his eyes on whatever approached, the previously totally dark void began to turn a sickly red. What stood before him was a monster unlike any other, an otherwordly monster many believed to be a mere tall tale.

HE COMES.

[angstalottle]

Soul Full

Part 1:

The thing about Keith is that he needs a very particular type of person to work with, a kind of person that can put up with his impulsive bull shit and self-sacrificing attitude 24/7.

From day one it was clear that Keith had the potential to be the most powerful Myster ever seen, it was also clear that no sane weapon would stick with him more than a week.

Hell, even the legendary Excalibur gave up on him and demanded to be returned to his stone rather than remain with him.

By his second year, Keith had been rejected by pretty much every weapon in the school, it didn't matter if he could fight with any close combat weapon. No one wanted to deal with his attitude.

Perhaps that was why when he was sat in the dorm reading one day he was so surprised when someone plopped down in the seat next to him.

“I heard you don't have a weapon.”

Keith shrugged not taking his eyes off the page, now and again someone would try and make him the butt of a joke and more often than not would walk away sporting a black eye.

“Yeah. And what of it?” Keith rolled his eyes preparing himself for whatever kind of prank this was.

“Well then mullet this is your lucky day because I just happen to be without a mystery”

That did make Keith look up in surprise. No weapon had ever come up to him before to form a partnership. He had to always be the one to awkwardly approach someone in class with the idea.

He was even more surprised by the dazzling blue eyes that he was met with.

They didn't seem to hold even the slightest bit of malice or resentment towards him. In fact, they were the loveliest things Keith had ever seen.

“W-what?” Keith asked not sure he heard right.

“Your Keith right? I heard you're crazy strong and if anyone can make me a death scythe it's going to be you.”  He held out his hand and Keith stared at it for a solid minute “the names Lance and I have a feeling we’re gonna make a great team.”

Keith couldn't help but snort “let me guess you turn into a lance?”

Lance pouted “no Mr funny guy, I got named before I got my weapon form im a trident actually, a pretty cool one if I do say so myself.”

“Look I don't know what you heard about me but I don't do the whole team thing. I don't play well with others.” Keith stared at the still outstretched hand. He had an urge to take it, to accept this offer and finally have a chance. But… well, he's been hurt before.

It was just easier to pretend your not interested then have your spirit broken over and over again.

“Neither do i. So the way I see it if no one wants to be with us then why not team up.” Lance grinned.

Keith sat there in silence before a laugh burst its way past his lips “ok...you're clearly crazy. What the hell kind of logic is that?”

“Genius logic if you ask me.” Lance leaned forwards ever so slightly “I'm not hearing a no.”

Keith groaned “ok since I have a feeling no won't get you to shut up and get you to leave me alone how about this. We see how we fight together and if you're even half decent I'll consider it.”

Keith took Lance’s hand and firmly shook it slightly surprised by the cool touch of the other boy. He seemed so warm yet his hand was ice cold.

“You won't regret this mullet.

“I already am.”

One of the benefits of going to a combat oriented school is the state of the art sports facilities that had enough training scenarios available at all hours of the day to provide a challenge to someone even like Keith that practically lived in the gym.

The two had raced over with Lance’s long legs allowing him to win by barely a second much to Keith’s annoyance.

He was bragging about it even as they entered a training room and started up a simulation.

“You barely won.”

“A victory is still a victory my dude. I take what I can get.” Lance smirked even as Keith held out his hand and he vanished in a flash of light and reappeared as a trident.

Keith wasn't really sure what he was expecting.

It certainly wasn't a beautifully ornate light blue trident with a large blue gem implanted in the centre. Keith could see Lance looking at him smugly from within the gem so it was easy to guess he looked as stunned as he felt.

“Not bad right?” Lance’s voice echoed within Keith's head.

Keith rolled his eyes “let's hope your not all flash and no bang. A pretty weapon isn't much good in a fight if it's not efficient”

“I'll have you know I'm a great weapon!” Lance huffed “on your left!”

Keith spun around just in time to see a faceless enemy swinging an axe at him. Acting on pure instinct he held Lance up to block the blow stopping the blade only inches away from his face.

Keith struggled under the weight for a moment. He was an agility fighter. He couldn't brute strength his way through a fight. He had to be smart about this.

He suddenly dove forwards skidding the staff against the blade until Keith was out of its path and it hit the floor with an echoing bang.

“Nice!” Lance cheered and Keith couldn't help the grin that pulled at the edge of his lips. It had been a while since he had a cheerleader.

While the enemy was off balance Keith spun Lance round to try and ram to the blades into the back. Unfortunately soon as he got close the axe was swinging back at him so fast that all he could do was jump back to avoid getting his head sliced off.

“Fast fucker huh?” Lance quipped.

“Shut up!” Keith hissed as he dodged the numerous attacks “I'm trying to concentrate”.

The enemy was so fast that it was taking all Keith had on just defence leaving him no room to attack.

“Point me at the floor and be ready to move,” Lance said suddenly pulling Keith’s attention away from the fight long enough for a kick to send Keith flying into the opposite wall.

“The floor?” he grunted.

“Just trust me mullet.”

Considering the enemy was closing in and Keith saw no other option he held lance firmly with both hands and pointed at the floor just by its feet.

Some weapons can transform for Keith hoped that maybe Lance would suddenly become a bazooka or something. However never in his wildest dreams would Keith have imagined what happened next.

A beam of white light burst from each trident point and twisted together until they were one powerful beam that hit the floor pinning Keith against the wall from the force.

Keith could only watch as ice began to rapidly grow out from beneath the enemies feet and shoot out in razor sharp spiked through its body.

It stood their trapped and struggling when the light faded away and Keith jumped to his feet to go in for a kill.

With a run and a jump, Keith was able to drink Lance right down through its head causing it to explode in a cloud of black particles around them.

Keith didn't even realise he was smiling until he caught sight of himself in the ice.

Panting he stood there staring in Lance in his hand as he returned to human form.

“Jeez man, you can really fight that was incredible!” Lance grinned at him and Keith couldn't believe it.

“Your kidding right? I would have been toast without your attack! Why the hell didn't you tell me you could use ice attacks? I didn't think anyone but the Altean family could even do that.” Keith ranted excitedly. He didn't even notice how when he mentioned the Alteans Lance’s confident demeanour dropped to a much more sheepish one.

“Yeah about them… I'm kinda one of them.” Lance muttered softly.

Keith watched his sudden shift in confusion “but if your part of that family why the hell have you got a partner yet?”

As if on cue Lance’s nose began to bleed and the legendary Weapon Allura herself came storming through the doors.

“Lance! What are you doing here?!” She yelled grabbing him by the arm and stuffing a handkerchief into his hand to stem the blood flow.

“I told you I was going to find a mystery today. You can't keep me from becoming a death scythe.”

Keith watched on awkwardly as she glared at Lance before turning her harsh look on him “and this is who you have chosen? Who even are you?”

Before Keith could answer Lance beat him to it “he's Keith Kogane. Shiro’s little brother, you know Shiro, I mean he's only your fucking myster.”

Allura snapped her mouth shut like she suddenly thought better of whatever comment she had.

It took her a few moments of deep breaths before she continued “even if he is as good a mystery as his brother that doesn't change the fact that this is too dangerous for you.”

Lance pulled away so he stood next to Keith. “Just because your my big sister doesn't mean you get to decide my life for me.”

“No, but it does mean I know you're not strong enough.”

Keith suddenly stepping in front of Lance. “Who are you to say he isn't strong enough? Did you miss how he used that ice? I have no doubt in my mind he could be an even more powerful death scythe then you.”

Allura feed him with a cold look “Lance you can't do this, father would never allow you to-”

“Father doesn't give a shit about what I do as long as I don't embarrass him or you. Maybe I get a bloody nose when I use my ice but that doesn't mean I'm a weak little kid anymore and you can't treat me like I'm delicate.” Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and gave him a soft smile “I've found my myster… if he will have me?”

Keith nodded “after this, I couldn't imagine ever fighting with another weapon.”

The two smiled at each other for a long time before Allura let out a long sigh.

“Fine but… Lance, please be careful your mother she-”

One look from Lance quieted her and instead, she turned to leave “Look after him, Keith… he may seem powerful but he needs protecting.”

“That's what being a team is, looking out for each other.”

Allura nodded before she slipped out of the room leaving a tense silence in her wake.

A silence that was broken the second Keith and Lance made eye contact and burst out laughing.

“Holy shit. I can't believe you're stood up to my sister!” Lance grabbed Keith by the shoulders excitedly and Keith found himself with the sudden urge to kiss the other boy.

“Well can't have someone bad mouthing my weapon like that.” Keith mumbled as he pulled away and offered his hand “partners?”

“Partners” Lance shook his hand and for a moment everything was perfect.

The two quickly became the most powerful team in schools history collecting souls faster than anyone else.

After a year they had 96 souls and were happily living together.

What Keith didn't realise though with every new soul collect and every battle won Lance was getting closer and closer to death.

[applecherry108]

alright. i think it’s time to make the Keith Post.

i’m mad. i am. i was mad about him last season too. actually i’m not sure i’ve ever been happy with keith yet i’m pretty sure i DO actually like him.

i’m not mad that he found a better niche for himself than team voltron. i’m not mad that, over the course of MONTHS (yes months, shiro dropped that line), he slowly got in touch with a higher calling and arguably his Birth Rite. i’m mad because it feels out of place.

ESPECIALLY since we’ve seen his vlog.

i’m mad because it undid nearly everything from season 3. i’m mad that his motivations don’t make sense. so we’ve had months between 3 and 4, and shiro is 100% at peace with his new position in the team. that man is just happy to be back with his friends and family. so why the FUCK is keith supposedly doing all this shit to force shiro’s hand into rebonding with black? keith wasn’t a perfect leader but he was getting better. his friends obviously care about him and even tho they had a rocky start they all learned and grew and improved. they brought out better qualities in each other thru the shake up in leadership. keith says he has walls up, okay. he says he has trouble connecting, fine. he acknowledges that he pushes people away so he can’t get hurt by them.

but like. it really fucking felt like he had worked through all his major insecurities by the end of season 3, so what fucking happened? what changed?

the gaping plot hole of anger points to some fuck either threatening him or purposefully manipulating him, but i just rewatched his vlog and you know what i think? i think he wants to know about his mom/galraness too damn much. i think there’s a deep-seeded desire to know his heritage and birth rites. which is? the blade of marmorra. and what do they promote? success of the mission, maximum effectiveness, and self-sacrifice. i think the blade has poisoned keith’s perception, which WOULD have been a really interesting plot point/story arch if we had been able to SEE THAT HAPPENING, or god fuck it just been TOLD it was going on. as is, it’s so fucking vague and subtle that keith just looks like a dick. and then we get blind sided by him trying to suicide bomb haggar which, idk about you guys, but that shit shook me in the worst way because it was so out of character for keith. sure he’s always been reckless and impulsive, and made really really bad decisions, but holy balls was that tiers above any other dumb shit he’s ever tried to pull.

without seeing those aforementioned months of him training with the blade, without seeing any of the grooming he went through with them, with him being GONE most of the season. it makes him look like a dick. i feel like the writers WANT us to hate him right now, and that more than anything pisses me off the most. i’d say they’re planning something but the worst of it is, they might not be. honestly the show has always been sort of a mess story-wise, especially between seasons. like, where’s slaav? why does no one mention commander holt ever? why did no one mention quintessence for two seasons? are robeasts no longer a thing? and i have to fucking believe that things’ll get more coherent and that shit’ll tie together nicely by the end but like.

i’m not mad at KEITH, i’m mad at the writers. I’m mad that nycc hyped all the wrong shit. i’m mad we were given a fucking filler episode in a 6 episode season. i’m mad that we’re literally undoing character development we achieved last season, i’m mad that season 3 seems pointless and more or less retconned at this point. and yeah, i’m mad about the lack of klance when they teased us so hard these last few weeks, but even then i’m mad about queer baiting, not my otp’s dwindling chances of being canonized.

so yeah. at mad at keith, a character who’s actions are dictated by people who don’t seem to know what the fuck they’re doing.

[chillafqueen]

My thoughts on Voltron (especially season 8)

As a collective, the series was great. I’m not going to shit all over it and denounce it for the rest of my life. I’m gonna rewatch it, write fan fiction, follow artists and writers who will continue to do amazing work. I’m still in the process of buying more merch. It’s in my top 5 favorite shows. That said:

I’m extremely disappointed in the show’s ending. From about season 5-6, I feel the writers were way in over there heads. They had so many ideas and characters they wrote and put into the show. Yes, there was some important moments its just uggh.

Imma just get into it.

First off, Takashi Shirogane He’s been through hell and back. He was an amazing character the writers just tossed to the side when they wanted to follow the original plot more. I mean, in the original series Shiro was never the black paladin. The original Shiro was the blue paladin and was killed off. Then was kinda, kinda not Sven afterwards. VLD’s Shiro was poorly planned. They make him the black paladin for what reason? To give us a spacer until the writers were ready to make Keith the leader and then we just push Shiro to the side. His clone doesn’t suffice. Clone Shiro/Kuron is just bullshit honestly. Real Shiro is actually dead/stuck in the inner quintessence of the black lion while his clone is fucking up Shiro’s image. Yes, Kuron is just a pawn in Haggar’s evil plan to defeat Voltron, but before we know that, we just see “Shiro” fight with Keith over how to lead Voltron, and yell at everyone. To make things worse, Shiro never gets to pilot Black again because Allura needs to be blue, Lance red, and Keith black to follow the originial series. The writers just shit all over Shiro. They take away his arm again, kill off his ex fiance, don’t give him anytime to mourn him really, season 8 doesn’t even ever mention Adam. Nothing.  Adam was there just to say “gay rep”. And Shiro is given the Atlas to pilot which is just Castle of Lions and Voltron’s love child. They think they can just take away Shiro’s claim on the black lion and just toss him a new ship to make it up?

Shiro had to constantly fight for the control of Black because Zarkon still had a connection. Shiro earned his right to be the leader. I love you, Keith, but Shiro deserves Black.  Shiro didn’t go through all this shit to hand it over to someone else. They hand him this ship that seems awesome but is overkill. Castle of Lions is gone what are we going to do? Oh, just make a new one except it turns into a thicc voltron. 

Then season 8 comes around and Shiro isn’t given any real new development. In fact he’s just a face at this point. He captains the Atlas but all the spot light is on the current paladins and Allurance. 

Like Keith and him are distant friends now???

And in the end we just throw him a rando to marry and call it good?

Next we have Pidge, who I don’t have as much to rant about. She’s my baby and I will protect her at all costs. The only real problem I ever had about my little Katie is the constant cliche thrown around every time she starts explaining science or math things using smart big technical terms and you get someone to say “in english this time” or “Just get to the point”. Like Pidge, you is smart but too smart omg just dumb everything down for us dumbs is a constant joke thrown into the show. Just let my girl use her big words and be proud of her intelligence. While she has a very great role, she deserves more instead of deus ex machina-ing everything.  

Now Allura. Oh boy here we go.  I love my beautiful strong black girl. She’s smart, resilient, and a fighter. They did her dirty.  I mean we just kill her off? I was rooting for her. WE was all rooting for her. She’s a grounded princess who just wants to end the war and do Altea some justice. instead we throw her into romance like there isn’t the constant threat of the Galra just waltzing in any moment? My girl deserved better. She becomes the blue paladin, and struggles with learning how to work with blue as one. And watching her over come that obstacle was amazing and I’m a proud mom. But we just kill her off? Like Altean Alchemy is a fictional practice in a fictional show. Why did it take both Honerva and Allura to fix it all? Why did it have to take their lives? Why couldn’t Allura just take a deep breath close her eyes like she’s done with everything else and then do her blue glowy stuff and boom, lets go home.

They made the rules so her death wasn’t necessary. They could make easier less mean rules

Was it the writers trying to find a way please more than one ship? Like they wanted Allurance but killed her off to make Lance single and ready to mingle with Keith or Pidge to make fans happy? Did they think after fixing all realities once more that Allura had no where to go? They didn’t want her to help bring all the planets together? Did they not want her to marry Lance? I mean, we ask how do we form Voltron without Allura, and she answers Voltron is no longer needed. Like is there really not going to be any rebellion that needs Voltron intervention? Who says someone in the Galra empire isn’t satisfied with the ending? Or someone in the Altean colony wants revenge? Voltron could still be used. plus just because Voltron is no longer needed why can’t Allura be needed still??  I also can’t stand the writing they did for her. I’m looking at you, Allurance.  Allurance isn’t one of my favorite ships just because of how it turned out. Lotor and Allura was even then a bit iffy, although was healthier than Allurance. With Lotura, Allura and Lotor bonded, had their Altean heritage in common. A common goal. They weren’t rushed together. They were amazing together, until the very end where Lotor goes insane with quintessence. Allurance is just forced. In the very beginning until about season 7 we see Allura ever showing any feelings for Lance. All this time it was Lance being a cheesy lover boy who was hot for the princess and in return Allura rolled her eyes or ignored his advances. Up until season 7 where Allura all of a sudden blushes and whabam, has a full blown crush on Lance. OUT OF NOWHERE. Sure, theoretically Allura could’ve just hid her feelings very well until that point.  This newfound love just mocks Allura’s character. A strong woman who needs no man, but you know that hot suave prince who no one could resist. Then all of a sudden right before a mission, Allura becomes a little school girl blushing and stuttering.  Anyway, Allura deserved better than being a martyr and a rushed relationship.

Next on my list is Lance. My very precious boy who I will end myself to make smile. HE IS A BEAUTIFUL BOY WHO DESERVES EVERYTHING. including Keith  Lance, a cocky pilot, a terrible flirt, a lover not a fighter. He has one of the best arcs in my opinion. He’s a star example of growing up. He is first just a goofy boy with no care in the world except to show up Keith and get the ladies. As time progresses he matures so much. Goddamn should I even write about him because I just love him so much. He becomes a ninja sharpshooter, gains confidence, fucking earns himself the title of paladin.  though, he is constantly used as an object for comedy or plot continuance. He is the stupid one of the group who doesn’t understand anything. He’s the classic funny guy. Makes jokes, big flirt, doesn’t understand the big words the smart ones make. But I gotta admit, I think Lance eventually realizes that character and that’s him. Once “Shiro” comes back Lance thinks someone has to give up a lion. The old Lance would’ve voted Keith off the island, but Lance at this point came to terms that Keith isn’t just his rival. Keith is a vital part of Voltron. Lance has faith in Keith as the leader, and a paladin in general. And Allura at this point made some amazing progress with Blue, the lion Lance prided himself on the one Blue picked. Lance was willing to give up Blue for Allura and give Keith back Red, the lion Lance also really wanted in the beginning as well. Lance questions his own worth. He realizes he’s the goofy flirt. He’s not as smart as Pidge or Hunk. He’s not as skilled of a pilot and fighter like Keith. He’s not a leader like Allura or Shiro. Lance eventually realizes his importance later on when he finally gets some recognition and praise. “That’s why we bring our sharpshooter” Lance also develops a huge real crush on Allura. While he always had a thing for her, he also had a thing for literally any other female being he had come across that was remotely attractive. His not so serious hard on for Allura turns into something beautiful. He sees her for more than her looks. He knows how fucking incredible she is and he knows he’s not worthy. 

But season seven fucks him over as well as everyone else. Forced Allurance. Lance had a big crush on Allura for years and waited patiently. Allura falls for Lance out of NOWHERE. That’s all fine and dandy cause I love my boy and he deserves happiness.  But in season 8 with their relationship, Lance becomes just the boyfriend. A complete opposite of his usual self. He’s serious and at Allura’s side 24/7 being her emotional support even though she really takes him for granted. Allura never really shows this compassion to Lance.  Lance is just the kid who got his feelings returned. But that’s all it is. The whole season is Lance being with Allura there is no Loverboy Lance. It’s just sullen boyfriend who is giving his all for this relationship. And Allura isn’t like this at all. She returns the hand holding, the hugs, the kisses, but she doesn’t give the emotional side back. Which I understand is because she has way more important things to worry about. That’s another reason why I hated their untimely relationship. This is not the time for a blossoming relationship. Allura isn’t in the mindset to give her all to this relationship. She’s busy with Honerva. allura doesn’t have time to be all uwu for some guy. And in the end Allura gives her life to save all of existence. she kisses Lance one last time, and gives Lance those marks which is never explained further. Like are those marks there to signify only the relationship that lasted a few months? Lance’s love for Allura or Allura apparent love for Lance? Do those marks give Lance some Altean abilities?  Lance the sharpshooter fighter pilot ends up just being a farmer on his family’s farm? Like maybe the harsh cold truth of war might’ve made him want to retire the spaceman dreams??? The writers also just plain lied to us about Lance. Lance’s endgame was supposed to be a slowburn? that Lance wasn’t going to be someone’s second choice? And in the end he’s just sad and depressed over Allura. At this point he’s just there to spread the gospel about Allura. I mean who knows? Maybe they left everyone without a significant other (besides Shiro) to keep it all up in the air. Like maybe Lance’s slowburn endgame is Keith but we don’t see it? 

Then my boy Keef.  My boyfriend, my husband, my child.  What a mess. They gave him EVERYTHING. He gets childhood flashbacks, childhood trauma, mommy issues, a loving parent relationship, a backstory, his mom even got a backstory. He’s an amazing fighter. He is a great leader. He has some good connections. He’s smart, an excellent strategist.  He also has trust issues, a lone wolf type of guy, and he has some problems sorting out his feelings. He learns patience, compassion, love, trust. He’s the whole enchilada until season 8, where pretty much everyone is thrown out the window except for Allura and Honerva.  Literally the only problem I have with the writing for Keith was season 8, him and Shiro have literally no interaction for shit?  “Brother, I love you.” Bitch where?

Keith traveled galaxies for Shiro. And season 8 they’re just two co-workers. 

Hunk I’ve had problems with since the very beginning. He doesn’t get enough love. He’s the big guy so he is always hungry, always thinking of food, gets tired easily, has little stamina, scared of everything. Sometimes I forget he’s literally a genius engineer? 

Romelle had more potential than to be one of Hunk’s chefs. I’m sorry. 

Coran is perfect. Don’t ever change.

In the beginning of the series, they weren’t writing characters well enough, and in the middle everyone had something, but in the end there wasn’t enough time to wrap things up nicely. It was rushed. The last season was a poor excuse for an ending.  Lotor deserved better. They hyped us up for Lotor’s return but it was pretty much just his corpse in the sincline??? We get his back story a bit. But in the end he still doesn’t get the mother he deserved?? And Allura and him never got some closure????

Krolia who? We spent all this time getting to know her and build her relationship to make her a background character.  Keith and her have no interaction in the last season?? 

They should’ve made Veronica and Acxa lesbians. Ezor and Zethrid deserved some wlw screentime. More than what we got at least. Not enough Colleen.

Definitely needed more of the mfes. Especially James. Like I wanted some interaction between Keith and James???? Something at least?????

Also, Bae Bae should’ve been made into a main character. 

Though with all my complaints. I’m really gonna miss the show. I didn’t spend as much time with it as a lot of you guys did. I finally watched it right before the 7th season came out. So I haven’t had as much time to analyze it or to experience every season like all of you. But I’m gonna miss this show. I’m really beating myself up over not watching it early on. Like I’d see it on my instagram, or here on tumblr, but never gave it a second thought. It was just some mech kids show that was gonna be hella cringey. But it ended up being a big part of my 2018 and I’m gonna be carrying it into future years. 

I never made any friends because of the show. I’ve never reached out, no one ever reached out. Seeing all of you interact, or reminisce over the times you all had over Voltron moments. While I’ve only known it for months and I’ve never have that time a lot of people did.

I have discovered many great writers, artists, cosplayers because of Voltron and I’m so fucking happy that I was able to find people who express their love for the show so much that they present it to the world in different ways and I get to experience it. 

I loved the show. And I will continue to love it. I want to thank all the cast and the people who made the show. And I’m gonna go rewatch this whole entire thing over and over again even if I’m not 100% on board with how they decided to end it, but who ever really likes endings?

[heero-yuy]

And now I’m gonna make you all feel bad for not trusting Shiro

And explain why new ugly hair Shiro is the Shiro we know and love.

First of all:

If this Shiro is a clone, operation “Kuron” would be fucking dumb.

Like real dumb.

And here’s why.

So like lets say they captured Shiro after the Zarkon fight and made a Shiro “clone” or whatever who's goal is to infiltrate Voltron or something.

Atleast that’s what it seems like the goal is because this dude says 

when Shiro escapes and they shoot his ship. So like it seems like they let him escape on purpose.

Thing is...

Shiro nearly dies like 50 fucking times before he reaches Voltron (BY FUCKING MIRACLE)!!

I mean just think of ALL the coincidences that had to happen for Shiro to get to Voltron.

I dunno if he’s like the least lucky person in the universe or the most lucky, because of how he’s ALWAYS almost dying in some way and ALWAYS escapes death against all odds.

But that was one heck of an incredible journey there!

But seriously, if Keith wasn’t looking for Shiro non stop and Shiro didn’t connect to black in that very second, the Galra’s “clone” would have died. Their project “Kuron” would fucking FAIL. 

I think if that really was the Galra’s goal to make a clone that would reach Voltron they would have made it a tiiiiny bit easier for him to survive somehow.

Just a tiiny bit. 

They dun have to go THAT FAR to convince him he actually escaped and they didn’t just let him go. Just you kno, give him a bit of a push there when he’s starving in space or something (assuming they somehow keep track of him). 

They dun have to go that far also for the viewers to fool em that Shiro escaped so him being a Clone would be a surprise later. I mean they just changed his hair a bit and no one in the fandom trusts him anymore haha.

So unless that ice planet and the universe is like filled with dead Shiro clones bodies who were eaten by monsters or froze to death or died of hunger or whatever, because of all times the clones didn’t make it, and the Galra were just waiting for that one special one that finally would, then I’m guessing that maybe something else is going on.

Because there’s no way that they’d just let him go like that and trust what? FATE to bring him to Voltron unharmed SOMEHOW???

Like that’s a dumb fucking plan.

So I dunno, unless the Galra know that no matter what happens Shiro and Keith always find eachother again and again like a pair of destined lovers.

I’m gonna say...

Complete bullshit. I dun buy it.

OK, Now how long has it actually been? Like how much time passed from their battle with Zarkon till they meet with Lotor? How much time passes until Haggar even summons Lotor?

What if it’s actually been longer than you thought? 

What if it’s been like... I dunno, a year?

Thing is that when we go back to Team Voltron in season 3, they seems to think Shiro is gone, dead, like they act like they all moved on and Keith is the only one who’s still stuck there.

I doubt you get to that point after a day or two, or a week, or months even... (They love Shiro, I dun think they’d give up on looking for him after such a short time or get over his death this easily..)

It’s at a point where they all like “Ok Keith, that’s enough time to mourn, we all accepted it and you have to move on too”

I know they all look the same, and there’s not alot of indication of how much time exactly it’s been.

But it does seem like they’ve been doing what they were doing (freeing planets, Pidge looking for her brother) for AWHILE.

This would explain Shiro’s long hair. It simply been long enough for it to grow that long since he disappeared.

(btw there’s a genetic thing that makes your hair grow really fast that also makes a flock of your hair white in the front, Shiro could totally have that) 

Also the fact he can’t walk at first can be explained with him just not doing that for awhile.

Now when Shiro is finally free he SOMEHOW makes it to that Gas planet they were fighting Lotor at the first time.

Voltron is leaving the scene and Shiro appears and chases it here

I actually looked to see if we can see him but we don’t.

(I also didn’t realize it my first watch, and now every time I’ll see the 3rd episode I’ll be like “NoooOOOOOOOOOOOO you fools wait for hiiim!!!!”)

Shiro sees Voltron leaving him behind.

Besides the fact that he knows this is probably the end for him now, it also shows him two things:

They moved on.

And they are doing well without him.

Anyway, 7 days later, Shiro is dying, thinks of his Voltron days and connects to the Black lion in the last minute.

And Keith (who hasn’t stopped searching for him, now with black lion)

finally finds him.

Now besides the headache, I actually dun particularly see anything really strange about Shiro’s behavior when he goes back.

Watching it again I just got the feeling he just has a really hard time accepting what happened with Black.

I dun see a reason to not believe what Keith suggests there, that Zarkon teleported him to captivity using the Black lion.

Shiro seems upset about it because 

What does it tells Shiro? 

That his bond with black was still not strong enough.

Like, he had so much fighting spirit when he escaped before, and suddenly when he finally reaches Voltron he’s depressed in bed and seems like he doesn’t want to see anyone?

What happened???

Like yeah he wanted Keith to lead Voltron, but I think maybe then seeing the team actually function without him and forming Voltron and fighting the Galra, and considering how much Voltron means to him and his struggle with his PTSD and how Voltron literally been the only thing on his mind when he was dying. 

I think it’s a bit hard for him to accept what he sees when he comes back..

He sounds fake here

Because he’s not being honest. 

Deep inside it hurts him to see they did fine without him.

When Keith goes “They need you”, he lies.

He’s the only one that needs him. The team has moved on. Maybe he says it because he can’t say “I” or feels like he’s not enough, maybe he’s trying to encourage Shiro, because he understands how Shiro feels, without Shiro needing to say anything. He always did. From the very beginning.

So maybe it’s like “Hey Shiro, I know how much this means to you and you’re still a valuable part of this team”

Shiro obviously doesn’t want to go back on his word and be all “Ok Keith, so give me back my lion now!”

But Keith does it for him, and I think you can see Shiro is very happy about it.

Only the lion won’t accept him anymore.

And before this you also have that scene with Lance doing math that I think connects the two

Shiro feels like Lance, he feels like he has no place on the team anymore.

But he doesn’t deal with it in the open, honest and good way Lance does. (which is the reason Black won’t accept him anymore, he’s not thinking of the team)

That’s why he butts heads with Keith over leadership in this episode, and we can see even in the season 4 trailer that it goes on.

I think his position as a paladin and leader of Voltron gave him control over his life back after what he’s been through. In a way that was how he coped with his captivity and his PTSD.

He’s obviously proud of Keith, but I think he’s also jealous and hurt. 

I dun think he's ready to accept he’s no longer leader or a part of Voltron.

(Like he’s proud of Keith, but he still puts him down saying “You’ll get there someday”)

And I think Keith understand where it’s coming from and he doesn’t buy it.

He puts himself down and says he can’t do this because he wants Shiro to feel needed and important.

And Shiro is doing what ya’ll Shiro stans have been doing for months haha, crying about him not being the black paladin anymore and how all his work on his bond with black was meaningless now that Keith is in it.

Shiro's bond with his lion meant the most, he was the one who had to put the most effort into it. And suddenly, it gives him up. I think Shiro feels betrayed even.

And he’s not ready to do what Lance did with his lion yet and give it up for the sake of the team (maybe some Lance and Shiro bonding in the future??)

That’s why it seems like they are heading for a leadership conflict there. That Shiro would try to make Keith feel like he’s not ready for this. Unintentionally. 

And Keith would continue to play along with it, (though being the more fitting person for the position of leader) because maybe that’s what he’s been doing all along from episode one. Trying to gently give Shiro the power and the control he lost when he was captured by the Galra, back. (Without directly confronting Shiro about his PTSD.) (would explain their odd dynamics)

Thing is Shiro is just not as good as Keith with leading Voltron. And I think he’s gonna mess up AGAIN.

It’s like we are back in square one, where Keith is the one that has the right idea in mind and no one listens and they all listen to Shiro who makes BAD decisions.

( Shiro WTF 1 Shiro WTF 2 Shiro WTF 3 Shiro WTF 4,)

This is leading to them finding their balance as leaders and co leaders.

Now Shiro’s leadership is centered around teamwork and protecting his team. 

Keith is the better decision maker (and I have a long rant about Keith coming, because I dun think people understand why Keith is the perfect person for black still.)

I’m just gonna say Keith is definitely the leader they need in they ever want to beat Lotor. 

This all seems like buildup to Shiro finally opening up about his PTSD, and him piloting blue (the team work lion) which I talked about before also. I’m guessing he and Allura will be sharing it, Because someone needs to pilot the castle once in awhile.

This is a very natural arc for Shiro, so I doubt they’ll let a clone go though it.

And back to the clone thing:

The flashbacks Shiro sees when he escapes, seem to me like his regular PTSD flashbacks. There’s something in his memories Shiro is terrified of.

Obviously the clone IS a thing, because we see two Shiro’s. And obviously the Galra has some sort of plan for it.

But the clone is the one we saw in the bed, this is Kuron:

The Shiro that they got back is the real Shiro, or atleast the same Shiro from season 1-2. (who is the Shiro that arrived on Earth, but maybe not the Shiro that went to Kerberos btw)

And the Galra didn’t let him go, they just assumed they shot him down and he died. So they could start doing whatever they had planned to do with his clone.

They just have no idea real Shiro survived and is gonna fuck up their plans.

I’m guessing the headaches are connected to that somehow.

And this part

I’m gonna have to say maybe this isn’t just connected to Keith actually physically saving Shiro all the time. 

But also to Shiro’s ongoing probably life long battle with his PTSD, Keith is always there to kinda always remind him like “Your’e still valuable, your life is valuable, don’t give up.”

Now go embrace your even uglier hair Shiro and tell him you’re sorry for not trusting him.

[allsystemsarenotgo]

I had this article written out mentally. I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to say.

Then a paragraph came flying in through messenger like a brick and knocked me to the ground in pain. It made me re-think some of what I was going to say.

Now I have to start over.

I am only writing these so that I can try to shed some guilt and at least make an attempt at explaining myself and closing some doors. These may not be very appeasing, but I honestly have nothing to lose, and would rather be embarrassingly honest.

The other day I did something wrong, and the first thing my dad said was "I don't know where your mother and I went wrong in raising you....."

Do you know how much that hurts to hear? Do you? I get yelled at alot for doing things wrong or the hard way or just understanding instructions wrong.

I am already hard on myself. I say it. Others say it. Most of the people on this list have probably said it at some point or another.

But hearing that? That fucked me up inside.

I am the problem. I am always the problem. I'm a pathetic piece of shit that doesn't do shit right, doesn't understand, doesn't know, and gets yelled at for everything.

The recurring theme here is going to be jealousy, controlling my surroundings, shutting things out, and overall selfishness...

JP-

I don't remember ever doing what I was accused of. It's just not something I would do, but if I did, I did. I've always thought it was the other person involved that did it. Sharing others' secrets isn't something I'm about. I wouldn't want mine shared, so I don't share others. But if I did, I did. Taylor told me some years later how things affected you. I wish none of that shit had ever gone down. It's been nothing but a thorn in my backside.

Taryn-

I don't know if ^^that^^ is part of why you hate me, or if there's something else entirely. For almost the entire time that we've known each other, you've had me blocked on FB and never so much as complained or thrown/given statement as to why. I've successfully-ish avoided you, your family, and your clique in general for the last 6,7,8 years or however long it has been. I've felt extremely uncomfortable when your dad has asked for computer help, but I only do it because it's the right and nice thing to do. I've avoided the winter bowling league because you are there, I've gone the long way around many times because you are there. Now that you are married, that has added a whole new realm of people for me to generally avoid. Not because I have to, but because I don't want to get close enough for you to maim me like the muscular lionesse that you are. I don't know what else to do or say, other than I'm sorry for whatever it is that I did to scorn you. I know I'm a dumb ass and we'll probably never be anything close to friends...it would just be nice if I didn't have to awkwardly avoid you out of fear and if we could at least say hi to eachother in passing every once and a while.

And yes, you (and your parents too) legitimately scare the ever-living shit out of me.

Mackenzie-

We have known eachother for a long time. We had our ups and downs, but you've been an important friend to me over the years. I haven't looked forward to moving on, but you have your own family and busy, busy life to deal with now and I know that there is no room for a high school friend anywhere in that puzzle. As much as it hurt to be at the receiving end of the thing you did, it also showed how much you cared. I appreciated that, and the rare serious talks that we would have at night. You could explain things in ways others couldn't and answer the questions I didn't want to ask and ones I didn't even have. We also shared alot of laughing moments and learning moments together. You're responsible for alot of what I did and didn't do in high school. I've also worried about you from time to time, hoping that your condition wouldn't reflare.

Mallorey-

I've had a crush on you ever since we worked together in high school. You have alot of drive and motivation. You could be a great inspiration to others, if you came out of your shell a little more often. But like me, I know that is a difficult thing for you to do. That's one of the several things we have in common. I appreciate that over the years, you have told me things and we have had our deep talks. We have gone years without talking much less seeing eachother in the past, but this time feels different. As though you are not there at all. Or is it myself who does not exist anymore?

Destiny-

I had a crush the moment I laid eyes on you, before I even knew your name or knew who you were. The next time I saw you with Keith, the feeling I had was some sort of pain, but over time I got over it since I didn't have to see you. Then I got you the job working with me....and all it did was cause me more problems to deal with. I enjoyed your company and compassion and being able to easily talk...but it was still taking a toll on me. I abandoned ship to get away from you, and started the temporary downturn of my career, until I quit completely. Now I don't get to see you at all, and we hardly talk, but it makes my life easier not having to see you on a regular basis. I miss that company and compassion at times...I feel like you are a knife-edge to my feet.

Rebecca-

You are fun but serious. Working for your mum was extremely difficult in alot of ways. Some things made me stronger and better as a person, but others had be feeling like a worthless peon. I always enjoyed when you were around because you helped balance situations, even when you became the 'fall guy'. I don't agree with alot of how you were treated or how things were done with your name on them and how you got pushed so far beyond your limits in a multitude of ways. You are smart, skilled, and tested...but had the volatility of any other person under those stresses. You were a good friend to have. Sometimes too good of a friend.

Jett-

I have known your dad for several years now. Early on, he told me about the troubles in your upbringing. I always asked him how you were doing when we talked, because I was concerned and didn't want you to have the problems and issues that I have. There were alot of things that he never understood and I had to explain to him about being atypical and diverse. I never wanted to talk to you, but when he asked me to, I didn't want to tell him no. I know I hurt your feelings along the way. I tried to use your preferred name instead of your birthname, even when it just didn't feel comfortable to do so. Knowing you as one name and one personality for so long at a distance, then finding out you went by a new name and new personality was tough for me to accept. I wanted to (and still do)support you along the way, I just wasn't a very good friend at all. I'm sorry.

Jordin-

You're cute. There is no denying that. I also thought you were much older when we met (don't take that the wrong way). Once I learned your real age, I had to wipe my brain and just watch from afar. The day that you posted a photo of yourself in bed with Philpot (then alluded to it over and over again tagging your hotel stays with him and all that stuff), I slowly lost respect for you. I'm a stupid dumb ass by most regards, and I still know better than to do that. I kept an open mind about the things I read and was told when you broke up after that. But then seeing you latch to Kilgore rather quickly after the breakup, that didn't sit well with me. I'm old-school when it comes to time tables. Seeing you leap like a frog from one lillypad to another rubbed me the wrong way. And the level that ya'll shared every. single. moment. involving or around eachother...it kept rubbing me the wrong way. When you up and moved across the state chasing a boy after (was it even 6 or 8 months?). Ugh. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to let go. I couldn't keep watching this real-life movie play out in either "Perfect Love" or "The Lie Before The Blowup". Just just because I was jealous that you found eachother and Kilgore got a good score, yea those orntrue too. But I just couldn't stand seeing all this lovey dovey blah blah blah gushing hearts.

I HAD to cut loose to save my own sanity. I'm old school. I keep bedroom/hotelroom shit to myself (give or take my rants and vents on this blog) or at least out if public eye. I believe in dating for a year or two or three before getting engaged. Waiting a year after that. Moving in together....somewhere along the way.

Honestly, when I found out you were engaged after not even a year....I thought for sure somewhere there were going to be ultrasound photos. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It's just not something that alot of people are used to.

I don't have anything against you or your dad or Austin. I just can't take having all that love and shit shoved through my eyeballs.

Not that my or most anyone else's opinion should ever matter in what you do.

I'm just saying what I'm thinking.

"Jenny"-

I have already said everything there is to say.

I'll miss you.

Yea, I'll miss you.

But I won't wish you were there.

[sage-nebula]

pokemon (games and anime) and yu-gi-oh

Pokémon:

Games: 

There are so many Pokémon characters that it’s honestly hard to pick one . . . though I’d have to say that it’s probably a weird sort of tie between Trevor and Wicke.

As far as Trevor is concerned, honestly, I can’t stand any of the XY rivals. Three out of the four of them (Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno) are pathetic in terms of having a good opponent to battle against, and likewise, three out of the four of them (Calem, Trevor, and Tierno) have awful personalities. Like, Shauna is at least okay in terms of personality. I didn’t mind her as much as I minded the other three. But Calem came off as a fuckboy, Tierno was nothing but his gimmick, and Trevor’s dialogue was painful to sit through due to how redundant he was. “I like trees. In other words, trees are a thing I like.” No fucking shit, Trevor. Can you please piss off and let me get back to my journey now? Christ. 

In all honesty, the “rival” squad (can we even really call them rivals when they never have more than half of a team and can’t put up more than a three second fight?) wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t show up so often---and even then, I think if you probably pieced the game apart, it’s not that they all show up all the time, but rather that there are so many of them that it feels like you’re being stopped every five seconds so that characters you have no reason to feel attached to can squeal “BFF!1!!!1!! 8D” and impede your journey with dialogue you don’t care about. Because after all, they didn’t all travel together all the time. I think there are only a couple times when they all show up together. Otherwise you were just stopped by one or two of them, but given that there are four, it really dragged things down and aggravated me to the point where I just wanted to push them all off a bridge somewhere and have done with it. They’re absolutely my least favorite rivals in the entire series, hands down. But with that said, as much as I dislike all of them (with the caveat that, again, Shauna is okay, she’s just a pitiful excuse for a rival since she never gets a full team and can’t even begin to pretend to put up a fight), Trevor is hands down the worst, imo. I can’t stand his dialogue. Repetition makes me want to carve out my brain with an ice pick and there is no character more redundant than Trevor. So yeah, there’s a special place of hate in my heart reserved just for him.

As far as Wicke is concerned, my dislike for her primarily comes from how terribly written and bland she was. In canon, she’s nothing more than your standard Sweet Motherly™ stereotype, meant to contrast with Lusamine being an abusive mother. There’s nothing standout about her dialogue; if you read it without a dialogue tag attached, it would read as completely generic. She has virtually no personality aside from “somewhat timid and motherly,” and that’s incredibly disappointing considering the fact that she’s one of the few Aether Foundation members with an actually unique character design, and a somewhat important role in the plot. (Of course, the female characters in general were treated rather horribly in Gen VII imo, and this is part of that, but that’s another discussion for another time.) 

But that’s only part of it. In truth, while I really hate how generic she was, and while I feel that it’s a complete waste to not have her be evil as well (though again, with how Lusamine was handled . . . god there’s so much to complain about with the Gen VII plot istg), I also feel that there’s something insidious about her that’s just never touched on or actually brought up. Like, for instance, Wicke knew about how abusive Lusamine was to the twins. Supposedly, she “helped” Lillie somehow. Yet, Lusamine was still able to abuse Lillie (and Gladion, while he was there), and Wicke did nothing. She didn’t actively defend them, and even seemed (in a couple lines) to disparage Gladion a bit for leaving. In fact, she straight up calls him “sheltered” later on, which is complete fucking nonsense considering he was abused and then was homeless for two years. Yet she’s going to sit there and mock him for being “sheltered?” What the fuck, Wicke? We’re supposed to believe she’s this nurturing, kind woman, that she has nothing malevolent in her personality at all, yet she seems to know an awful lot about Ultra Beasts, and seems to have quite a bit of interest in them herself. She didn’t help the twins when they were being abused. Gladion is technically president of Aether Foundation now, but she’s right there running things behind the scenes . . .

Of course, I don’t think she’s actually meant to be evil or malicious. She’s too bland, too much of an afterthought for that. But I do think that while she’s a terribly written character for being so boring, she’s also terrible in what little we get of her. She didn’t help the twins, and she flat out belittles Gladion and calls him “sheltered” despite what he’s been through. Wicke can go fuck herself, tbqh.

Anime: 

That fucker Damien from the OS. I’ve ranted about him at length before, so I won’t go into it again, but he can go get fucked. He’s the actual worst for how abusive he was to Charmander (and others, I’m sure). I hope a wild pokémon ate him at some point. He’d deserve it.

If Characters of the Day don’t count, then probably Paul. Yeah, yeah, I know, “but he was such a good rival for Ash!” and “but he learned to thank his pokémon!!1″ Well, one, I honestly wonder if people would think he was ~zomg the best rival~ had Ash lost to him at the Sinnoh League (or if they would instead be salty against him 5ever), and two, I don’t care that he learned to do the absolute bare minimum when it comes to being a decent human being. The fact remains that he was still an abusive fuck to Chimchar at the least, and didn’t treat his other pokémon much better, instead viewing them as tools he needed to win battles. (Which, yes, was the point considering he was supposed to be a foil to Ash, but that doesn’t mean I have to personally like it.) Animal abuse (which pokémon abuse is, in my eyes) is one of my biggest triggers. I have it blacklisted every which way I can in Tumblr Savior and hate when I’m surprised by it on Facebook, et cetera. It’s easier to digest in a show like Pokémon since it’s all animated, but nonetheless, it’s one of the absolute worst things in my eyes. It’s one of the most heinous acts a human can perform in my view. And so the fact that Paul is a pokémon abuser---the fact that he was shown to have “developed” by just thanking his pokémon and that we were supposed to be proud of him for this---is disgusting to me, and something I can’t forgive. I especially can’t forgive it since, again, him thanking Electivire was supposed to be seen as ~zomg development~ when, again, that’s the bare minimum you should expect out of a trainer. The absolute bare minimum. That’s not love, or even care; that’s being halfway decent. I also hate that Paul��s “style” of “training” was supposed to be seen as just “one way to do things,” because no. No. It’s cruel and unacceptable. It goes completely against what the franchise has always been about, and hell, we never even saw the Johto Rival dismiss one of the pokémon he said he was going to, and yet he still wasn’t allowed to succeed until he openly started showing love and acceptance toward his team. Yet Paul is able to make it all the way to the League despite being an abusive prick on-screen? Get out of here. It’s especially ludicrous when you consider that the Johto Rival has an understandable reason for his attitude (i.e. he was raised in Team Rocket where this kind of abusive behavior was normalized---though again, despite his constant threats of getting rid of his team, he never actually does), whereas Paul does not (“wah wah my brother Reggie gave up training to be a breeder instead---” get the fuck over it, that’s not an excuse for abusing innocent creatures). Seriously, it’s beyond ridiculous.

So yeah, either Damien or Paul. I usually hold stronger feelings of hatred toward Damien, particularly openly since I know that Paul is a Fandom Darling™ (and seriously, I don’t want to argue with anyone over Paul, please don’t try to start The Discourse™ with me, I’m not interested), but in truth I don’t like either of them. They can both go get fucked, imho.

(And the fact that people ship Dawn with Paul, like . . . why would you play her like that . . . Dawn, sweetie, I’m sorry they treat you this way, you deserve so much better . . .)

Yu-Gi-Oh!:

“Bandit” Keith Howard. I used to answer Haga for this question, but upon reflection, even though Haga is terrible, he’s only fourteen. He’s a kid. He still has room to grow and become less of a shitty person.

Keith, on the other hand, is twenty-six. He’s the oldest person present at Duelist Kingdom, outside of Pegasus’ employees (since I don’t think we’re given ages for them). I’m not exaggerating, here: Keith is older than both Pegasus and Mai, both of whom are twenty-four. Sure, he only has two years on them, but he’s still older than them both. He should, theoretically, be at least a little more mature than them.

He’s not. Keith is awful. Not only is he a filthy cheater when it comes to games, but he’s willing to assault children (well, teenagers, but teenagers are kids to me and I’m only a year older than Keith at this point) and commit murder over a card game. I understand that Keith wanted to win money from Duel Monsters, but goddamn. He’s selfish, violent, and doesn’t really have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Keith is, in many ways, written like a school arc villain, albeit with the caveat that he actually has a much longer stay in the plot due to being an antagonist throughout all of Duelist Kingdom (which in turn makes him even worse than a school arc villain, since none of them* really had the opportunity to show any good qualities, whereas Keith did and he still didn’t). Either way, I don’t find anything redeemable in Keith’s character. He is trash from start to finish, and in the end is a grown man who assaults children and tries to murder people over a card game. He’s definitely my least fave, particularly since he’s not even a very creative, compelling, or effective villain.

(*Hirutani has two appearances, and thus he also had some extra time to showcase good qualities, and he still didn’t. This is because Hirutani Kimio does not really have positive character qualities, at least not when it comes to being a decent human being. He is not decent by most people’s standards. He is aware of this. He does not care. However, unlike Keith, Hirutani is an effective and compelling villain, and his second appearance really served to drive this point home with how much clearer his obsession with Jounouchi---which, tbh, was even evident in his first appearance---became. Hirutani has a lot of worth and value as a character, in my eyes. Keith does not. So therefore, while Hirutani is also a bastard, he’s an effective one, and thus I love him for the effective bastard he is. Keith is not effective, or useful. He’s just trash. I have no use for him. Back in the dumpster he goes.)

(Send me a fandom and I’ll tell you my least favorite character in it.)

[multi-pursuits]

Posting a list of starters :) feel free to reply or talk to me some more about it and we can get going.

1. Admittedly, being back on earth was refreshing. The idea of getting a taste of his mother’s cooking was more than enticing for Lance to stay. As well as the memorial he’d ended up making for Allura. It was the least he could do, after all. Living on the farm was great, not to get him wrong, but at the same time? He didn’t exactly feel like a paladin.

Lance leaned against the wall, watching with an amused glint in his eye as Shiro and his new husband talked to everyone there. Lance himself was currently in the middle of telling an exaggerated story about Kaltenecker escaping on the farm to Pidge and Matt. It was nice to at least see everyone again. Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, of course, and definitely Keith. Speaking of which, his eyes scanned over the crowd and he didn’t see even a hint of the darker haired former paladin. He furrowed his brows, now intent on making sure he didn’t leave already. Seeing as Shiro made him the best man, Lance sincerely doubted he would’ve just up and left. A familiar glimpse of mullet was what had the brunet relieved, then glancing to the crowd. Of course, he recognized him to be more in the less busy side, where Hunk stood talking to Shay, and Veronica stood next to them with the most interested look on her face.

He could afford a quick break away. Being an entertainer was more than enough stress for him. He adjusted his suit subconsciously, just ignoring the fact he was only stepping away from his dance pad to see Keith. Not anyone special, definitely not someone who hadn’t seen him in terrible conditions. He ran a hand through his slightly curled hair, pushing past the familiar people he knew. It was refreshing to not feel everyone’s hot breath in one area, not to mention the crowded dancing of everyone who didn’t dance like an angel— AKA, everyone but Lance.

Content with that, he found himself sidled up next to Keith, arms crossed lazily over his chest. “Hey,” his eyes glinted with pure amusement, almost mischief. “Not gonna break a move? I’d like to see you on the dance floor.” He snickered, elbowing the other slightly.

2. Things weren’t going the greatest. Shiro was captured, left probably into the clutches of the Galra. First, the Paladins were stuck in quite the hole; they couldn’t form Voltron.

They needed a black paladin, a leader, someone who they could rely on for an idea. It was practically deja vu when everyone was in front of the black mech, staring at it, intimidated. Allura tried first, to which Lance encouraged her, but it didn’t work. Despite her father’s creation of it all, clearly, she wasn’t one to lead.

Hunk, Pidge, they both tried it, yet to no avail. Keith had quite promptly refused to try out, and Lance had laugh that off, as if it were a challenge for him to go first. The real challenge lied *inside* the Lion. He entered with a breezy hum to his undertone, gloves finger tips sliding across the fabric of the pilot seat. Oddly enough, he felt a little less like he could connect with his lion today. As if she were shutting him out.

Really, Lance hadn’t thought much of it. The inside was dark, unlit, creepy as ever. “It’s like a ghost town in here.” He murmured, of course to himself. Finally, he stopped fooling around, settling into the seat of it all. Still, nothing. He let out a huff, placing both hands near the controls. Of course it wouldn’t work, why would it? He wasn’t— well, maybe he was. The dead inside lit up a hue of purple, illuminating his face a mixture of shadows and violet, jaw dropping nearly to the floor. His eyes widened drastically as well, pressing his lips in a flat line.

This really was the choice?

Lance pushed himself out of the chair, tense, almost afraid to leave the cockpit. Still, clenching his fists, he braved a smile and exited out of the open jaw of black, looking to the awestruck paladin’s. Hell, Keith would probably be mad. This was Shiro’s Lion, and Lance definitely wasn’t that close to him. Voltron made its choice, he supposed, crossing his arms with a nervous laugh. “Well... Keith, you wanna try?” He asked nonetheless, eyes landing on the red paladin. “Maybe the sensors are off.” He suggested lamely.

3. Lance really didn’t like Lotor. To say the least, he liked him a lot less than he liked Keith. Which, wasn’t saying much because he actually... really liked keith. Anyways, that’s besides the point.

This mess of quintessence, Zarkon, rebelling, taking the Galra over— it was a lot in his head. It was probably even worse for Shiro, the head of them all. Of course, he seemed a little off lately, but it wasn’t like Lance really had the courage or evidence to bring it up. The alpha had gotten snappy lately, to anyone. Lance wasn’t about to get the brunt of that too.

Nonetheless, things were going alright. Lotor was helping them through (more so Allura), Shiro was making plans, and Keith had discovered his true heritage. Allura was pissed beyond belief at their current black paladin, but Lance didn’t understand why— it wasn’t his fault. No one could control their heritage, for fucks sake. For once, he took Keith’s side on this. Not to mention he was seeing less and less of the hotheaded paladin.

It was late in the day, early in the day, hell it didn’t even look like day since they were floating in space. Lance had been comfortably lounging around on the couch, watching over Pidge’s shoulder in complete boredom of her constant tapping. He was definitely about the go insane. Huffing, he gained the brilliant idea to find Keith. First, he checked the training room; nope. Then, he meandered through the halls just on case, before his feet dragged him to the doors that he knew lead to Keith’s room. He clenched a fist and rose it upwards, knocking on the door and quirking a brow as he listened closely.

“Keith? It’s Lance,” Lance greeted, hurriedly adding on before he was told to leave. “Just wanted to talk. I’ve... been thinking I’m about to explode if I hear another one of Hunk’s rants about specific cooking techniques.”

4. Lance wasn’t jealous. Of course he wasn’t. Why would he envy the asshole king of all assholes at the Garrison? He didn’t. He hated him. Every bit of praise that he saw Keith get was line stepping on glass for Lance. He stood in his spot as Iverson judged the flying simulation, and Lance was practically boiling.

There was no way he should still be making it this far! This guy was impulsive, hot headed, and a dick.

Hunk lightly nudged Lance’s shoulder, snapping him out his irritated daze. His blue eyes shot over to his friend, and was meant with a ‘chill the fuck out’ look. Sheepishly, he grinned, turning ahead more eagerly when he saw Iverson stepping in to give his feedback. He listened closely, but he could barely hear what he said. Even more irritating. Lance eyed Keith simply as he got back in line, and the rest of the cadets were pushed up after that.

Lance did alright... unfortunately, not as good as Keith. He was agile, yes, but the constant firing of ships had him overwhelmed. He’d dived down among the simulated stars, trying to throw off the balance of the beams that shot towards. A cocky smirk slipped across his lips, and just as he pushed the ship forward, everything cut off. He slumped back into his seat with a frown, dreading to turn around and meet Iverson’s gaze.

It was already unamused, and the Commander shook his head. “Control your ship.” He said simply, and Lance pushed himself to stand, brushing past their instructor and stepping back in line. He couldn’t have been the one to do the worst, right?

Waiting up for Pidge and Hunk, he huffed, glad to hear the bell for lunch. Lance didn’t think he could stand looking at Iverson’s wrinkly, one eyed face. “Okay, granted, you aren’t a cargo pilot anymore,” Pidge was already sidled up beside him, Hunk on the other side as they walked through the halls towards the cafeteria. “But you seriously need to stop flirting with half the girls in this school and work on your piloting.”

Lance shot her a glare, muttering something indistinctly about how he didn’t even succeed anyway. “What else am I supposed to do?” He asked, knitting his brows together in genuine thought.

“Here’s an idea; get some help.” Pidge more sarcastically replied, warning an eye roll from Lance.

“Easier said then done.” He grumbled, grabbing a tray and hopping in line, taking the pathetic excuse for food and letting it be dumped on his plate. His eyes shifted over to where he thought he saw Keith, just faintly. Maybe... this whole tutoring thing wasn’t such a bad idea. Sure, he doubted he could stand much more than an hour with the insufferable, well trained pilot, but it was worth a shot. Hunk was already grinning knowingly at him, the trio settling at a table. With an exasperated sigh, he stayed standing, grabbing his tray and looking narrowly at his two friends, as if they betrayed him. “I’ll be back. Hopefully.” He mumbled, with a little laugh, and soon enough he was sitting right beside the asshole himself; Keith Kogane.

“Hey, Kogane.” Lance greeted smoothly, lips quirking up into a charming grin. Friends close, enemies closer. He slapped a hand on Keith’s back, as if they were friends beforehand. Lance nearly shuddered at the thought. “You know, I’m a pretty good pilot. You’re decent too. I bet we could make a great team and give each other some good flying tips.”

5. They had planned this. They’d gone over this a hundred times, even Shiro. Allura had even confirmed that Lance’s idea was pretty solid. Of course, Keith wasn’t enthused with the idea of having him for a partner- all the guy did was joke and laugh it off. Then again, as he thought, he was serious person. He knew what to do, and he was his right hand. The best he could ask for. Also the best sharpshooter he could ask for.

A grunt passed by his lips as the cool, metal material of his bayard sword sliced through a Galran body. They crumpled to the ground, and he didn’t get much more of a reaction to feel another blade grazing the small of his back. The one dammed place he didn’t have an armor plate. He growled lowly in frustration in pain, spinning on his heels to wham his sword back into the enemy who had hit him like that. He could feel the bloody heat trickling down his backside, but he couldn’t dwell on it. He skidded his feet across the floor as he dodged a couple shots, sighing in relief at Lance’s save. He had really saved his ass too many times.

Keith knew he was right. They had no chance of getting out of there alive- it seemed that Zarkon had an unlimited supply. He swore audibly, glancing out the large, thick glassed windows. At least the alien prisoners had escaped.

“Lance, I—“ he didn’t get to continue because he was promptly yanked into an escape pod, thudding against the metal wall with a grunt. He winced, sliding his hand back to feel his back. Pulling it forward, his gloved hand was dripping with blood.

Violet eyes shot over to Lance, darting down to his injury. He couldn’t exactly slump back, but he knew they both really needed to get back to Voltron. The jolt of the pod had the back of his head slamming against the side, letting a soft ‘ow’ emit as he glared out the small window. “Hold on!” He finally got out.

His gut twisted into something terrible. This was quite possibly the worst situation he could’ve been in. The pod was spiraling downward at an alarmingly fast rate, and before he knew it, they were slamming into a planet river, the momentum from the crash carrying them forward to the land beside the riverbed, more sturdy luckily. Everything in his body ached. Head to toe, his muscles were tensed, and he could only imagine how bad his- well, probably both of theirs -concussion was. Not to mention the wounds... and the fact they fucking stranded on another planet.

Blinking away the dizziness, Keith groaned quietly, raising his index finger to press into the comms. “Voltron? Voltron, we crashed-“ nothing on the other side. “Dammit.” He slammed a fist against the seat of the pod, sliding his helmet off. Reaching forward, he gripped the handle tightly, pushing it forward to open the pod. The air was breathable, at least.

Keith shakily stepped outside, gripping onto the top of the sideways pod. “Lance...” he breathed worriedly, turning his head quickly which ended up in another spell of dizziness. “You okay? Please tell me you’re still alive.”

I have more, just ask!

[viralhottopics]

6 Insane Ways Movies Are Trying To Be Authentic

A great artist knows that the most important details are the ones their audience might not necessarily notice — like the soft clouds in the background of the Mona Lisa, or the surprisingly detailed scribblings in John Doe’s notebook in Se7en, or the recipe for The Antidote that I’ve been hiding in my articles for the past few years. (“Antidote for what?” you might be asking. Don’t worry. All will become clear soon.) This is especially true of movies, that often hide the weirdest and most interesting work in the places nobody bothered to check. For example…

6

Everything In Zootopia Is Moving All The Time

What most people don’t realize about animated movies is that most of the frame isn’t actually animated. There’s usually a single static background with a few animated cells on top of them — this is clear in low-budget TV cartoons, where the moving frames tend to have a slightly different color from the immobile background, but it’s more cleverly hidden in big-budget Disney movies because of that aforementioned big budget. The reason they don’t animate the entire frame is, of course, because that would be insanely fucking time-consuming. It’s way easier to have one still picture while Batman or Scooby-Doo conduct their slapstick antics on an entirely different layer.

Unless you’re making Zootopia, in which case — for the first time in Disney history — absolutely everything is moving. And by “everything” I mean, in fact, “all the things.” Every shadow shimmers. Every car sputters. Every strand of hair twitches and wafts in the wind. All 30,000 leaves on that tree are moving, thanks to technology developed just for this movie.

Part of the reason this is so crazy is, as made clear in the first paragraph of this entry, it’s completely unneeded. As humans, we’re pretty dumb, and aren’t likely to notice that maybe that bush back there doesn’t have an ant crawling on it. But Disney had to push the boundaries, just like they always have, to create a living, breathing, utterly convincing world that is so magical and wondrous that it never even had to get around to explaining what the hell the predators eat in this universe. A fox can’t live on blueberries, guys.

5

John Carpenter Hinted Who The Thing Was With Eye Light

The Thing is a movie about a shape-shifting alien who infiltrates a team of rugged, hairy, stern men. The interstellar beast picks them off one by one, feasting on their sweet, succulent, deeply heterosexual juices, until only the manliest — Kurt Russell and Keith David — are left alive. One of the nerdiest film debates in modern pop culture is about the order in which this happens — The “thing” is indistinguishable from a human once it takes that human’s form, so a lot of the tension comes down to figuring out who can be saved and who needs to be consumed through cleansing fire. It’s sorta like being out to dinner with a bunch of your friends and one of them keeps farting.

Director John Carpenter specifically shot the movie so it’s unclear in what order who gets infected, and whether Russell or David are infected at the end. But it turns out there’s one detail that Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey kept secret until recently, and it has to do with eye light.

“Eye light” is a camera trick that puts a slight gleam in an actor’s eye, giving them slightly more life. You can see it here, with Keith David’s character Childs:

And here with Kurt Russell’s MacReady:

But not with David Clennon’s Palmer — who, in this scene, is revealed to be The Thing.

…Which, again, was intentional. That’s supposed to be the hint. Now, does this completely change the movie? Spoiler alert: Nope. I rewatched it, specifically watching for eye light stuff, and I didn’t notice any great foreshadowing or crazy hints. But it’s quite possible I’m just not smart enough to put the whole picture together. Since this is a whole new tool available for our collective movie-watching, feel free to post your wacky eye-light-based theories on my Facebook wall, after you’ve rewatched the movie of course.

4

Gangs Of New York Has Period-Appropriate Dialects

People love to offer their opinions on whether movie accents are “good” or “bad” because people love to pretend that they’re smarter than they are. A lot of folks ripped apart Charlie Hunnam’s accent in Pacific Rim because he talks like a mush-mouthed victim of a botched neural surgery, apparently not realizing that his real accent also sounds fake (also also that movie is perfect, and none shall dare criticize it before me). Everyone talks weird, and it all sounds insane, so can anyone really say what a “good” accent even sounds like?

Of course, and Tim Monich, the dialect coach for Gangs Of New York, managed to do the impossible by researching dead dialects — that is, ways of speaking that no living person had ever heard with their own ears — and teaching it to modern actors. “But how do you research a dead dialect?” Easily! Well, no, not easily at all — with incredible difficulty, in fact: Monich studied old poems and newspaper articles that were mocking the dialects to try and deduce the way people of the era spoke. Then he forced Liam Neeson and Leonardo DiCaprio to talk that way.

At one point, Neeson’s character called a bunch of his enemies “nancy boys,” only for Monich to clarify that the correct term for the era and location was “Miss Nancies.” Which was a huge relief for all the 19th-century New York hooligans in the audience, who totally would’ve noticed that sort of thing.

That set points to something else pretty cool about the film’s development. Those buildings you see in the background? They haven’t existed in over a hundred years, so Scorsese had most of 1860s New York rebuilt from scratch in Rome, because “had most of 1860s New York rebuilt from scratch in Rome” is the kind of predicate you can be the subject of when your name is Martin Scorsese. I’m allowed to make those kinds of stupid grammar jokes when my entry is about dialects, okay?

Anyway, here he is poking around the place, rambling like a crazy old man. The poor camera operator can’t keep track of what he’s even talking about. That is one of my favorite videos in the world. I honestly like it better than Gangs Of New York.

Oh, and speaking of dialects…

3

Arrival Makes Way More Sense Than It Needs To

Arrival is a sci-fi movie about figuring out an alien language and, spoiler alert, using it to see the future (it’s also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen oh my god go watch it so good). And since I brought it up, I know what you’re thinking: “Wow — did they actually invent a language that I can use to see the future?”

No. But they did do absolutely everything else. You know those weird circles that the aliens use to communicate? Yeah, that functions as a consistent language. You could learn to read and write in it just from watching the movie enough, if you’re that kind of person.

Then, they wrote an actual computer program that could interpret the language they made up. The stuff you see in the movie where a computer analyzes the symbol? That’s not just random, science-looking animations. That’s a program, written just for the movie, interpretting a language that was also written exactly for the movie, in real time. Science consultant Stephen Wolfram even came up with a scientific explanation for how the aliens travel. It involves quantum! All this despite the fact that 99 percent of audiences would’ve been fine with the explanation I just gave (which, if you’ve forgotten, is just the words “It involves quantum!”).

But you see, it really seems like this movie was made for that one percent of geniuses in the theater. There’s even a part later in the movie when Amy Adams is standing in front of a white board covered in physics jargon:

All those equations are relevant to the problems her and Jeremy Renner’s characters are facing in the movie right then, but — here’s the kicker — that wasn’t what was on the board when they shot it. Due to an oversight during shooting, the whiteboard was accidentally covered in high-school level physics, so they had Wolfram come up with a bunch of equations to use and then super-imposed them into that scene with computers (a process made especially difficult because of Amy Adams’ hair).

All so that every physicist who saw this movie could finally enjoy a sci-fi flick without ripping their own hair out in frustration.

2

The Witch: All The Materials And Music Are Authentic For the Time Period

If you haven’t seen The Witch, stop reading this article and go watch it right now. (Then come back and finish reading. I need your click-dollars to finance my underground squirrel-fighting ring.) If you’ve seen The Witch, then oh my god, how good was it? Sorry for fanboying out for this entire column. I promise I’ll get myself under control for next month.

Part of the reason people love The Witch is because it’s so beautiful. Well, there’s a reason for that: Like Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, it was shot almost entirely with natural light. Which, for indoor scenes, meant they had to use as many candles as possible.

I say “almost” entirely because of one scene involving a crow, which had to use a flickering lightbulb, since fire would’ve scared the crow. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’m not going to spoil the scene with the crow. If you have seen the movie, then there is not a sliver of a chance in hell that you’ve forgotten the scene with the crow.

On top of that, all the music was recorded with period-appropriate instruments, using period-appropriate techniques. Which is not something anybody would ever notice but certainly helps the movie feel unique. Even the story itself — and lots of the dialogue — is based on real accounts of witchcraft and possession from 17th-century Massachusetts. When Caleb is in the throes of a fever/possession, his delirious ranting is word-for-word the rantings of 17th-century children who were, allegedly, possessed by Satan. Making this officially the most metal movie anyone has ever seen. Also I’m going to move on because 400-year-old dead children aren’t very funny.

1

Meryl Streep Can Do Everything

Meryl Streep is so good that it’s become a punchline. People genuinely worry that she’s too burdened by how good she is, and that people expect perfection from her and take it for granted when she delivers. And after some research, I’ve figured out her secret: She’s not actually pretending. Like Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa, she’s doing all this shit for real.

The first, and most famous, example is her portrayal of Sophie in Sophie’s Choice. First, she learned German. Then she learned Polish. Then she learned to speak German in a Polish accent. Roger Ebert (whose opinions on film are unassailable) described it as “the only accent [he has] ever wanted to hug,” and I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds pretty positive?

But okay, accents are whatever — we’ve seen lots of accents in this article already. Fine! How about the freaking violin? That’s the hardest instrument to learn, according to people who argue about this sort of thing on the internet, and she learned to play in a matter of weeks.

Most recently, for the movie Ricki And The Flash, Streep learned to play guitar… from Neil Young, because that’s who teaches you guitar when you’re Meryl Streep. Jesus, between Streep and Scorsese, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that rich people just seem to have more opportunities to do cool stuff than people like me. Maybe I should become rich? Anyway, Streep then practiced with a band in a bar for months. By the time she actually got around to shooting the damn movie, she had ripped her fingers open on the strings.

Alright, enough gushing about cool stuff I like. Let’s end this article in the best way any article could ever end: with a video of Neil Young and Meryl Streep jamming out on a stratocaster that probably cost more than my fucking car.

Let’s be real. I drive a Civic.

JF Sargent is a senior editor for Cracked and the only writer you can trust. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2p0RFO7

from 6 Insane Ways Movies Are Trying To Be Authentic