#pidge talks

[spunkypigeon]

Your analyzes are really helpful and so valuable to the community. It was from your latest analysis of Reiji that I got motivated to research the boys more thoroughly and became very knowledgeable about behavioral issues. But as I replayed each HDB and MB route, I suddenly realized something.

Each of the brothers is very different, but they all seem to share a lot in common when it comes to punishment and obedience. Despite being raised by such different types of mothers, many of the brothers use one common control tactic - a "reward" for obedience or punishment for disobedience. Of course, some of them can take the reward as such, while others have it quite twisted. And it seems that this practice really works on Yui, because this way they train her to obey without a second thought so that she can to avoid the pain, but I got the impression that they didn't see it that way. For most of the development of Yui's "relationship" with one of the boys, this goes to an extreme and eventually she starts to lose the line between pain and pleasure and things get complicated. But I wonder if they are doing this to make her a masochist? As far as I am informed, a man cannot suddenly become a masochist, but is born with such a tendency, and over time, so to speak, learns to awaken it. Does this mean that Yui is actually really a masochist, and it's not just words when brothers say so?

Of course I know your focus is mainly Reiji and I have no idea if you've played any of the other routes to you know. Also, Reiji isn't as mentally screwed up as Cordelia's sons and he acts very carefully and thinks his actions out more than his brothers. But since you also mentioned this reward and punishment tactic, I would be very happy if you could give me your opinion on the subject.

This is a very astute observation! You are right with each brother engaging in Operant Conditioning (or punishment and reward) even though they each have different mothers; I don't think this is coincidental. From what we see of their mothers, it can be implied that the behaviour is learned - we predominantly see this with Cordelia and her general behaviour, but we also see this with Beatrix and Shuu (I would mention Christa but I feel I lack a thorough understanding of her character). From each of the brothers, to the mothers and by extension even the Mukamis, they all seem to exhibit this form of behaviour; the only way for this to occur [beyond coincidence] is for there to be an interlinking variable. In this case, our good friend Karlheinz - CEO of Beans, Means, Heinz.

From what we learn from Ayato's and Laito's routes, it's implied that Cordelia met Karheinz when she was young - in other words, he preyed on her for her blood, and for her heritage. This can imply that Cordelia may have, in fact, been groomed (for Karl's plan) - since it can be implied that he too engages in the punishment and reward system. This is mainly theoretical, however, from Cordelia's extensive collection of fine jewellery - that, (if I'm right) come from Karlheinz (and can even be implied to be 'love bombing'). We know that Cordelia becomes self-destructive and abusive when she isn't with Karl, possibly implying that his time and gifts act as the "reward" - whereas him marrying Beatrix, Christa and generally discarding Cordeila acts as the "punishment". Cordelia possibly learned her behaviour from Karl and imprinted it onto her children - a sort of "cause and effect" if you will - whereas I've implied Beatrix to suffer from some form of generational trauma; though Karl may have also [possibly] used Operant Conditioning on Beatrix, and Christa, too.

And yes, you're right - some brothers are generous with the rewards and do something that actively makes Yui happy, such as Ayato, Azusa and Kou. However, brothers such as Laito, Kanato and Reiji present a more twisted version of 'reward' - such as Laito forcing himself on Yui [in basically every chapter let's be real] or Kanato wanting to turn Yui into a wax corpse - but that's heavily due to their response to their trauma.

You're also right about Yui being easily 'trained' via Operant Conditioning. However, I think this is a precaution - a means to demonstrate complete and utter control - and like I've mentioned with Reiji, he spares no time in enforcing that; meaning that he's likely done this hundreds of times before (and most likely so have the others). In other words, the Operant Conditioning may just be a standard routine among the brothers. I do like your interpretation that they're doing this so that Yui can avoid their punishments - it definitely puts them in a more sentimental light (and I appreciate that you've read it like this). For characters like Subaru, Shuu, Ayato (and even Kanato) I can definitely see this interpretation - as punishing Yui is more trouble than it's worth; they want her to behave and do exactly as they want.

However, for characters like Reiji and Laito, they particularly enjoy pushing Yui around, they enjoy making her slip up so they can punish her. I see this as more of a demonstration of power and control - as well as a boost to their ego. Reiji and Laito are two characters that lacked control and authority in their childhood - implying that their actions towards Yui are possibly a way to achieve that. For characters such as these, I don't belive that they want Yui to avoid pain in the beginning. Throughout the mid-way section and the end of their respective routes, they don't delight in Yui's pain - it's only in the beginning, and I think this is due to their trauma-response. In other words, the abused become the abuser - they delight in Yui's pain because she feels a physical manifestation of their mental/emotional pain. It's sadism at its most ironic.

So yes, I agree with you on that front - I don't think they see Yui's 'training' in a pet-like way - instead I believe it's a fail-safe. It's a way for each brother to be in complete control, while having the security that Yui can't escape, act out or leave them. At the end of the day, each brother values and desires affection and acceptance - using this form of control over Yui guarantees that. It's a twisted way for them to garner the emotional security they need.

However, I don't believe that any of the brothers use Operant Conditioning to actively or purposefully make Yui a masochist. From what I know, researched and from my own experiences, no one is born a sadist or a masochist. Instead, I believe it to be a learned response. Sadism and masochism are responses to pain - I don't believe people are intrinsically born to enjoy pain - it's called 'pain' for a reason. However, and this is drawn upon my own experiences, I believe that sadism and masochism arise from the exposure to suffering.

If you're exposed to constant and unyielding pain, there's only a small selection of responses to choose from. You can't run from it, you can't hide from it - fighting it only makes it worse - therefore, the only way to deal with the relenting pain is to accept it, tolerate it...enjoy it. I touch on this in my MB analysis regarding Azusa and Yui (and how Azusa is a "dark parallel" to Yui regarding this exact topic). Since the female brain doesn't full mature until mid-twenties, I can afford to take some liberties regarding Yui.

When you're exposed to heavy abuse and physical abuse as a child, your brain does funny things. Now, I'm only talking from my own experiences - so any other views on this are greatly appreciated. But like I said, when you're exposed to pain at a young age, your brain tries to rationalise it and find an effective response. If it's constant, unyielding and inescapable, you can either fight it - and in some cases, make it worse - or you can accept it. When you're a child, or a young adult, you're constantly told the message that you should enjoy life; that you have nothing to sad about or anything worth crying over. Notice how I used the word: enjoy. This is intentional because this is where the brain begins to warp. So, instead of crying about the pain, you instead learn to see the positives - that whoever's inflicting the pain is giving you 'special treatment' for example. This is what we see with Azusa and his attachment to Justin.

People inflict pain because they want to see you suffer; from how my brain responded to that, the only way to combat that is to enjoy it. Once the pain's over - or it's finally stopped for good - that sentiment doesn't go away; instead it finds something to latch onto. Think of your brain as one big circuit board, and the masochism as a cord. Once the pain stops for an extensive period, that cord becomes unplugged - and another cord is plugged in its place; the circuit board fills up. The masochism is still there, the cord hasn't disappeared; it's dangling, and it needs something to latch onto. Once you grow older, your brain develops more plugs, more sockets for different cords and branches that need to be filled in - one of those plugs is sexuality. Now obviously, sadism and masochism aren't intrinsically sexual, they are both sexual and non-sexual: the sexual being self-explanatory and the non-sexual being oriented around amusement - again, it's irony being displayed in its most painful form. But I digress, once sexuality opens itself up to the brain - like with Yui - the unplugged cord of masochism has a socket to wire itself into.

The point I'm getting at is that I believe masochism - and Yui's masochism - to be a trauma-response. It acts as a way for her to 'deal' with the pain - however, since her brain is underdeveloped, her mentality surrounding it warps and distorts. The line between pain and pleasure does become blurred. In other words, it can be implied that Yui's masochism (and Azusa's) are coping mechanisms that have become warped and distorted over time.

Note that Yui never starts the game(s) as a masochist. If anything, she hates the pain. Yet by the end of the game, she is a masochist. She's masochistic due to the severe mental stress she's under and the vile abuse she endures - and her brain can't revert back due to the extent of the distortion. Routes such as Reiji's and Laito's hinge on Yui's mentality unravelling; becoming fragile and mouldable - this is how the masochism is able to infiltrate, it's a coping mechanism (but instead of being able to abandon it, it's latched onto another part of her brain, her sexuality).

Furthermore, when the brothers refer to Yui as a masochist, it could be implied to be an exaggeration, a way to riddle Yui's mind with stress, denial and self-doubt. In other words, it could be implied that they're gaslighting her to sow doubt and make her more susceptible to their mental manipulation. Additionally, it could be implied that they're enforcing masochism onto Yui so that they can enact their own sadism onto her without any complications - to make her a 'willing victim' if you will. In essence, the brothers could call Yui a masochist in order to imprint their own views and needs onto her - sadism and masochism is the giving and receiving of pain. It can be implied that the brothers' sadistic tendencies act as an outlet for their trauma; they need a recipient to take the pain they're giving - that being Yui. However, the brothers' sadism and Yui's masochism doesn't match up.

The brothers begin their routes revelling in Yui's pain, yet they don't end their routes with the same sentiment. Yui, however, starts the routes trying to escape the pain, only to yield to it - and by the end of the route, revel in it. And I'm not just strictly talking about her own pain either. In Reiji's HDB manservant ending, we see Yui delight in the pain and subservience of others. She gains control over Reiji, in which she belittles and emasculates him, all while playing the role of 'Cordelia' - and in Kanato's HDB manservant ending, we see Yui brutally (and sadistically) murders the other brothers, revelling in the affection she believes she'll get because of it. In essence, sadism and masochism are learned responses or coping-mechanisms (gone wrong), but that's just my opinion.

You're also right, Reiji isn't as screwed up as the triplets, and he does think out his every move - painstakingly so. The only other brother I'd say who comes close is Laito,since they're both highly manipulative and predominately enforce Operant Conditioning - with Reiji’s focus being on control and Laito's being on sex. When Yui behaves, they each reward her in non-material ways - for Laito, it's sex or physical affection, and for Reiji, it's remedies when Yui's sick, her favourite meals etc. What they both 'reward' Yui with is their vulnerability. In other words, manipulative characters like Reiji, Laito, Ruki and Carla enforce Operative Conditioning to gain the comfort of control; only once that boundary is established do they 'mellow'. In other words, the need for punishment and reward is a basis wherein the brothers can build a relationship that they can thrive in.

[smallmight]

Not sure if i'll get responses but lets try this, either reply to this post, send an ask, or dm <3

[lilacical]

What would YOU do if you were STUCK in SPACE with 6 other CRAZIES

[alieune]

voltron nhl au ✰ .ᐟ by me and @cvrsedly

this is a combination of our joint ongoing obsession with vld and my bestie's hockey brainrot. the team allocation is based off vibes and location and not on paladin colours (rip pidge). close ups of the players below:

[coolnonsenseworld]

(to know more about the story and the calendar on pre-order check out previous posts! LESS THAN 2 WEEKS LEFT)

In September they don't feel like going anywhere or doing any bucket lists - no getting out of the comfort zone this time around. All they need is a little comfort of one another - they take breaks for a movie night when they wouldn't, buy extra cakes they haven't tried previously, go on date-walks and take bubble baths with new scents.

Enjoying simple things in life and appreciating your own presence here feels like it should be a basic part of any bucket list.

How is your September going? Do you have any plans or achievements this month?

[breadstickcat]

Was discussing some of my VLD fandom icks and one of them was "Plance shippers who make Pidge overly feminine" and emphasize her boobs and hips and hair and whatnot like no. Wrong. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of Pidge. Go back to the source material. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. That is actually Lance's girlhusband. His pet Genderless Creature that he dug out of a dumpster at 3am outside a space Taco Bell.

[blade-of-marmora]

What dresses would each Voltron Paladin wear and why

Don't ask what this is, my brain got distracted when looking for new clothes for the system and now we're here so. If I'm thinking about it you have to think about it too.

Okay so first of all Lance

So with Lance, he's like, I don't think he would originally want to wear a dress. I don't think he has an issue with men wearing dress just more so him wearing dresses, so it would probably take a decent amount of convincing. Or just like, tell him you could pull it off better and then he will instantly do it to spite you.

But yeah once you get Lance on board he's the type to go all out man, so I can see him in like these more extravagant outfits like the dresses above. I choose blue not only because it's his signature colour but also because a lot of the things Lance likes, (Space and the Ocean) have kind of a strong blue theme and he'd probably keep theme because he knows it looks good on him. I think he'd like the more flowy dresses rather than anything that sticks close to him.

Next up is Pidge

Okay now I know both dresses are too very different styles but, I think Pidge would probably prefer the purple dress, I can't exactly explain why I think it's their style I kind of just do. The white dress on the left though is something I think I can see her disliking at first but then kind of getting attached, and I don't think it would be her favourite but they'd probably wear it on special occasions. But yeah Pidge just has this strong kind of uh, goth? is it goth I don't think that's the right word uhm, like maybe alt? vibe about her and its uh kinda witchy so she'd like it I thiink.

Okay Hunk time

Hunk in a dark green dress just makes sense to me, I think the colour suits him well. I think he would probably like the more uh tight-fitting ones, or like the stuff that's simpler. And I'm not saying Hunk can't pull off stuff with like lots of laters or patterns and stuff I just think he'd like stuff like this more. Besides Hunk would probably not want something that covers him entirely because he gets anxious a lot and then sweats a lot and idk he just doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would wear something flowy.

Shiro is pretty easy

It's this dress specifically and only this dress, style-wise I mean. We came across it while searching for dresses for our ball a few months back and now I'm pulling it back up and it's like, instantly reminds me of Shiro he absolutely has to wear this. It's black and sparkly and Shiro is the black paladin and he probably likes sparkly stuff I think? I just think it makes the most sense.

Allura is technically a paladin so

I mean shes a princess so I assume she'd like uh, princess type gowns? maybe not in those colours but I think she'd probably wear bright and vibrant colours, idk man probably something along those lines, maybe in pink or red.

And uh me, (Keith)

I don't really like anything too flowy and we actually own the dress on the right so- yeah the shorter dresses are good because it's easier to run and fight in if you have to, yes I admit they may look slightly 'Emo' but I swear that's not it- I just like the design and colours

[spunkypigeon]

I never understood Reiji's goals and intentions until I came across your blog. You have literally analyzed the entire game in such a detailed way that in the end you can't help but think about his psychology and character. I admit that before I read every one of your posts about this boy, I always found him to be the most boring Sakamaki brother and I couldn't explain his actions, but thanks to you I decided to give him 1 more chance. What I like most is the fact that even though he is your favorite, you don't justify or sugar coat him like many people do with their favorite character, but you appreciate, examine and explain his flaws and mental problems, trying to analyze like a true psychologist. Respect for the work you have done. I saw that you're planning more posts like this in the future and that you're going to try other characters like Ayato, who I think shares quite a bit of Reiji's personality. I can't wait for it.

Ah! Thank you, I'm glad you decided to give him one (1) more chance [even though you shouldn't, he's very rude]. BUT your point is exactly the reason why I wanted to analyse him in the first place. He's generally considered 'boring' or 'annoying' to deal with, and his dialogue can be hard to sift through if you're only looking at him at surface level.

I know I've said many times that I wanted More Blood done and dusted before now - and I genuinely thought I'd be finished, but sadly over 100k words isn't enough words for our boy - that and I'm ☆chronically ill☆ at the moment. I feel like a sick Victorian child lmao

I am getting through the transcripts, but very slowly. It doesn't help that I was on the verge of a stroke when someone decided to ☆delete☆ a section of my work. Thank you Ctrl + Z because I was about to invoke the most destructive gamer rage this world has ever seen.

I am glad that you decided to send this ask Anon since I never really knew how much this could help people understand Reiji (even if it's just from my perspective). I feel like the best way to thoroughly appreciate a character is to acknowledge their flaws, and I'm glad you're able to appreciate them too >3<

But I do think you're right about Ayato. I feel like he definitely shares a lot of traits with Reiji, but more so as his opposite. I feel like Reiji and Ayato have a ying/yang code to them; I stand by my interpretation that Ayato represents chaos and that Rejii represents order.

[For your diligence, please take this sanrio Reiji]

Also, mini rant: I can't be the only one that instantly thinks of Zhongli whenever they see the word 'order', right? The line just goes through my head like the plague, so now my brain decided to fuse him and Reiji together, and now I'm stuck with this:

that feels like a ☆violation☆ of fandoms

[toasthoneyandstardust]

Late night Pidge posting,,, I will never be over this cutie patootie

glasses and no glasses because I think he's cute both ways, but also to see the lines better

[lilacical]

Voltron will disappear after June ends

[pidges-lost-robot]

I think Hunk and Keith love to just stand there as Lance and Pidge fucking roast the everloving shit out of each other and wonder whether people can just be nice and get along instead

(They are both hypocrites)

[klanced]

lance: yeah so this is earth. it’s kind of lame but like also very wonderous. there’s something to be said about finding beauty in the smaller moments-

pidge: do you guys want to go to build-a-bear?

coran: build a WHAT?

pidge: .. honestly did not think it would warrant that kind of response

coran: do you promise.

pidge: ?

allura: oh that sounds like fun! 

coran: can we go.

pidge: yeah sure!!!

(later)

coran: (sulking on the ship)

lance: .. coran, what did you think build-a-bear meant-

coran: i don’t want to talk about it.

[rorimoon9597]

Keith with black hair that fades into purple. Imagine it. The ends of his hair begin to fade as Voltron + Coran, Krolia, Shiro and Romelle travel to Earth. When the group realised what was happening, they freaked out because it's kinda cool that his hair's doing that, okay?

And Lance can't help but think that he's hot with the black and purple hair.

[justaz]

lance and hunk would so get married just for the fuck of it. like they so had a little vegas wedding with matt as the flower girl and stayed married for a few months then got divorced just for the dramatics

[just-a-dinosaur-i-guess]

happy pride month to fyoran enjoyers specifically

[seypia]

no bc. pidge totally had a lego dimensions obsession at some point both prekerb and during the paladin era. i'm willing to bet that during the space mall ep she found one of the starter packs and literally. would not stop hunting the space ebay equivalent for more lego minifigures.