#sometimes you just wake up to most peculiar tweets :)

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Multi-Dimensional pt. 1

The Company x Reader

I would love more parts of this tbh. But I would also love a scenario just like this but involving The Company??? Maybe? If you feel up to it. __In reference to the fellowship one I recently posted.

Living on a farm kinda far from other people was a very conscious decision. 

It’s not like you just up and left and decided to do it on a whim or anything, this was calculated carefully and planned accordingly. 

There are two very important reasons why you chose to live a bit further from the neighborhoods, semi-rural if you will, and these two reasons include; A. your desire to have as many animals as you want, and B. not wanting to deal with BS constantly in a crowded neighborhood or apartment complex. 

It’s not that you dislike people or anything like that (though you do like animals more), but being surrounded by them 24/7 isn’t something you much like. 

Now one may wonder; how do you manage to afford an updated country house with multiple animals as well as yummy home-cooked meals and other leisure’s? 

Well, the answer to that is quite simple. 

Not all of the animals are actually yours. 

You’re an animal sitter/trainer. And not just any animal sitter, but one with a degree and huge amounts of land and access to numerous pet care supplies. You have a friend, a very good friend, who owns a share of a large scale farm and pet care grocery chain, so you literally get everything for either half the price or literally free. And your rates as a pet sitter with a degree and previous experience are freaking massive. 

Like, up to $25/hour maximum, massive. For multiple days, and sometimes a week. 

Saying you’re loaded is an overstatement, but  very  well off suffices. 

Anyways, you live pretty simply. You take care of your animals, go out around the city and have someone watch the house, eat some good dinner, and just… relax. 

It’s never lonely when you’ve got so many excellent animals to keep you company, or at least, not really. Sometimes you do wish you had someone else to share your life with, someone to talk about things with (who will actually respond) and to hold you and tell you everything’s okay when things are going bad…

Damn you want a boyfriend, one that’s the complete opposite of your last one.

“Maybe he was the best I could do…” You grumble, then slap the sides of your face, “No… no, don’t think that. If I’m meant to be in a relationship, my future love will simply teleport into my living room *I stole this from a funny tweet* . Otherwise, I will remain single. Like my dogs, kinda…” You grumbled to yourself last night before you went to bed. 

Maybe you shouldn’t have said that, because when you wake up that next morning in your pile of fur (2 dogs and 3 cats) and head downstairs to begin your morning feeding ritual, you’re met with the sight of 14 dudes sprawled about in your immaculate living room, getting mud on your carpet and… are those weapons?

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

If this was meant to be a robbery attempt, then they butchered it horribly. 

You turn and go into your kitchen and put multiple kettles on the stove, intending to just make… all of the tea in your cupboard. 

When your two puppies came trotting down the stairs after you, you walk about out of the kitchen and watch them, and the moment they catch wind of the pile of men in your house they are on alert. You attempt to stop them from running over, but they are already sniffing around them and pawing at their faces curiously before you can so much as call their names. 

“Good God, why can’t I just have a normal day?” You mumble to yourself, inching over slowly when your fluffy brown and white floofer Yeti, literally, sits on a very small blond man. And then you realize, they’re all kinda small. Or short, thicc👌if you may, since they are more buff and not fat (not all of them at least). 

Your other dog, Copper, continues to sniff around (ever the paranoid pup, good boy) but eventually goes back to you instead of trying to suffocate that blond dude. 

When you’re sure they’re still out-cold, you return to the kitchen and scrounge up 14 mugs and glass cups and get the tea steeping, sighing as you search your cupboard for something to put out. Damn it if they were planning on robbing you at… ax-point, then you’re going to be so freaking hospitable and generous that they’ll regret even thinking of it (realistically you’re not worried because Yeti and Copper can definitely eat them whole).

Eventually, you find some platters leftover from a party you were invited to a few days ago (you got to keep the leftovers), so you bring them out to the coffee table near where they’re hanging out and just set it out, then return to the kitchen in shifts and bring the mugs out two or three at a time (three if you’re feeling especially daring). Pretty soon everything is out, so you then decide to take the weapons you have immediate access to and hide them.

Of course, your definition of ‘hiding them’ is putting them all on your love seat and covering it with a blanket. 

You assume they probably have more hidden in various places on their bodies and under their clothes, but you’re not gonna even consider taking those. 

Once you’re 100% done with your anti-robbery check-list, you lay down on your couch with your feet facing them and begin to read the book you left on your coffee table the night before. 

Right when you begin to wonder if any of them are even alive, some begin to groan and move around sluggishly. 

You hear a couple worried 'Bilbo?’s’ and someone say either 'kill’ or 'Kili’, so you get up and retreat to your kitchen in case they get violent. 

Someone screams muffled-ly and you assume the blond guy has awakened. 

As soon as the guy screams most of them jump to their feet and begin to look around wildly, and you duck beneath the counter and peek out from the side nervously. 

“Where is my ax!?” Someone yells with an accent. 

“What in Mahal is sitting on Bilbo?!” Another yells. 

“Master Baggins!" 

"Is that food?" 

Everything goes quiet when someone yells about the food, and then there’s some shuffling and rustling of plastic and Yeti comes trotting into the kitchen. A triumphant smirk settles on your face, and you slowly stand and see that they’re all standing and looking down at the coffee table.

"Is this for us?” The small blond man who Yeti seemed to like, asks. 

You decide now is the time for your dramatic entrance. “Yes, it’s for you.”

At the sound of your voice, they all whirl around and look at you with wide eyes, pushing the same small blond behind them as they reach for the hidden weapons you knew they had. 

You don’t say anything.

“You didn’t even search us properly!” One of the taller brown-haired ones exclaims, oh he’s kinda cute, with a smug smirk on his face. 

Okay, wow that’s insulting. He’s definitely insinuating that you’re dumb, definitely. “Excuse me, I know very well that you had stuff in your clothes, but I didn’t much like the idea of invading your personal space." 

Now you get confused looks and no response. 

"Besides, I took all your big weapons and I know that they must’ve meant something to you. I’ll hold them hostage if you try to rob me." 

More confused looks, then a raven-haired guy, the one who pushed the blond behind them, speaks up, "Where are our weapons?" 

You resist the urge to look over at the horribly hidden pile of swords, daggers, single bow, and axes under the blanket on your love seat and state, "I’ve hidden them somewhere you’ll never find them!” You yell, “You can tear this house apart brick by brick and you’ll still never find them! I’ve put them somewhere so-”

“It’s under that blanket, isn’t it?” A blond guy with a braided mustache asks. 

You take a pause and look over to exactly where he’s talking about. 

It’s completely silent for about 30 seconds until you realize you should probably deny it.

“…No."  

Yeah, there’s literally the hilt of a blade and the bow sticking out from under it. 

Some of them seem more amused than alert now, and you realize you’ve succeeded in making them see you as not a threat. 

You clear your throat awkwardly, and look away from the blanket, "L-Lets not read too much into that. What’s really important here is that you are literally the worst robbers I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.” You glare at the lot of them before a big smile suddenly spreads across your face, “Oh! I got you snacks by the way, and my name is Y/N.”

A couple of them exchange weird looks, probably because you’re totally psyching them out, and you can tell they’re beginning to question your sanity. And that’s where they go wrong, because once they know your name and grow attached, then there’s no way they’ll be able to hurt or rob you. 

The raven-haired dude, he seems to be the leader of this operation, steps forward, “We are no robbers.” Is all he says as if that clears everything up. 

“Um, then why are you in the middle of my house? Seems pretty robber-y from where I’m standing." 

He purses his lips and looks at you intensely as if he’s trying to stare you into submission, but you will not be intimidated.

"No excuse, then?” You ask.

He sighs quietly when he realizes, ultimately, that you’ve got a point. “Truthfully, I have no memory of how we got to be here.” The half-man pauses to collect his thoughts, then continues, “I don’t know where we are, nor do any of us. This place is foreign and everything is odd… and new." 

You tap your foot a couple of times and cross your arms over your chest, not really believing it but also not-not believing it since they are rather peculiar. 

"If you’re not robbers then tell me something only a not robber would say!” Getting them to underestimate you is key. 

You get more weird looks and some of them actually laugh, bingo, before the same guy speaks again, “We… we’re not going to rob you?" 

For a few moments, you pretend to deliberate over what he said, then nod, "Well damn, why didn’t you say so before?” Some tense shoulders relax, then you continue, “Anywaaayyys, I made tea and that blond fellow in the back looks kinda skinny so help yourselves to the platters I’ve set out. Oh, yes, also I hope none of you are afraid of dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, or small rodents because they’re literally everywhere." 

"Are you not being too hasty in accepting us into your home?” The black-haired dude asks slowly, looking around at the rest of the people around him. 

Yes, he has a point you know, but there’s something that tugs at your heartstrings when you look at this disheveled group of short men. Their eyes are sunken and tired with bags big enough to cost you extra on a flight, they are dirty and some of them a bit bloody, they look so hungry, and there’s just a horrible exhausted and negative haze settled over the lot of them. They just look so damn pathetic and sad, and god that small blond and the brown-haired pretty guy look like sad little puppies- 

It then occurs to you that they are, essentially, strays, and that thought softens your hard outer-shell. 

You have to help them.

You let a smaller smile upturn the corners of your lips as you say a bit quieter and more serious, “Maybe I am. I don’t know who you are or if you’re telling me the truth, but even I can see that something isn’t right here. You all look tired and hungry, a-and if I turn you away knowing something’s wrong, what kind of person does that make me?”

You’ve done it plenty of times with dogs and feral cats before, and they can be just as dangerous. 

It seems that they’re all listening to what you have to say, so you go on, “I have the means to help and Yeti has taken to your blond man-child,” you gesture to your fluffy boy who is pawing at said guy in search of head pats, “And… something in my heart is telling me that I shouldn’t send you away.” You tap your fingers against your elbow a couple times, then say softly, “Please don’t make me regret it…" 

There are a few moments of silence before the person you were talking to responds again, "We will try to cause no trouble for you." 

You nod your head and turn to go back into the kitchen, whistling for Yeti and Copper to come follow you. "I’m going to be out for 10 minutes, don’t cause trouble.” Leaving them by themselves is the ultimate test of how trustworthy they are, and you’ll only be just outside feeding the animals so you can hear everything. 

“We won’t." 

You’ll have to see. 

[leakinghate]

Chasing the Ghosts of Season 8

Let’s skip the flowery intros and get to the point, because this is important.

Lotor’s vindication and reunion with Allura were originally part of VLD s8 and I can prove it. Most animation relating to this plot was excised, while other clips were re-purposed to make it look like he was dead all along: but some are still in there.

The removal of this plot line was one of the major factors in completely messing up season 8, and it was a change that was made very recently; no earlier than August in fact. There is a significant, non-zero chance that an unedited version of Season 8 exists in its entirety; completely finished.

The evidence is below the cut.

Trigger Warnings: Gore - that image and discussion of it, body horror, sexism, and major character death.

There’s something rotten in the house of Voltron, and by that I mean Dreamworks animation, because for reasons yet unknown the season 8 we got was not the one the writers had planned to give us.

The people involved likely can't talk about it due to NDAs, but I follow *most* of the cast and crew on social media, and from the way many of them were talking prior to the drop it’s obvious that whatever they'd recorded had led them to expect a very different season.

The almost total radio silence afterward is also telling.

So far as I can tell, AJ (Lotor’s VA) is the only one actively posting about it, and his posts have been expressing his distress over what happened to Lotor - a stark contrast to his excitement about the season prior to its airing. It’s very apparent that he thought Lotor would have a very different fate than he appears to. At the moment of the season drop he tweeted out “Lotor was framed”, and later didn’t seem to realize that ‘Allura’ was trending because she’d died.

Some of the other VA’s scarce posts lead me to believe that they’re having similar reactions: a now deleted post from Bex (Pidge’s VA) about having watched up to episode 6 consisted of an image of DOTU Lance captioned with “[internal screaming]”. Bex has since removed all references to VLD from her bio.

I’m certain that the VLD s8 we got was NOT the s8 that was originally planned. Or the one the writers and VAs had been alluding to in various interviews up until recently.

We know there were some very last minute changes to season 8. I guarantee you that Ezor was actually dead before the backlash over Adam in August, and you're kidding yourselves if you think that epilogue existed before then either.

Kihyun Ryu's 'last Shiro' tweet - that we now know to be from the wedding epilogue - was posted on September 13th, 2018. Less than two months ago these changes were still in progress. Less than a month before the first trailer premiered at NYCC these changes were still being made.

And those was absolutely not the only things which were changed. It was hinted we should pay attention to the s7 episode "the Feud" to spot some foreshadowing. Well? I've seen both that episode and s8 and I sure as heck can't find it.

This was beyond last minute.

JDS and LM were still talking in ways that would lead us to expect Lotor’s redemption roughly up to s7 in August; so whatever happened, it went down between August and November. Which is probably why s8 is so shitty; with such a terribly compressed timeline to make edits.

And edits they were, because with those time frames season 8 was either completely finished or very near to it when someone decided that things had to change.

I can prove it.

Do you know how?

Because the animation was recycled and altered to fit the new story, with only small parts made new for it. And because it was something else first, it’s still possible to partially reconstruct the original Season 8 from it.

Lets start with the big one, the one I’m sure you’re here to read: Lotor’s redemption and reunion with Allura.

One of the most frustrating things about season 8 is that it leaves the colony unexplained. The big question, the thing that results in Lotor’s murder at the hands of people he calls friends, and leads to a power vacuum that causes the deaths of untold billions of people. What was Lotor doing at the colony?

It’s never addressed or given an answer.

At least in the version of season 8 that we got.

Or is it?

Because they might have removed the conclusion to that plot thread, but they couldn’t get rid of it entirely.

In e8 ‘Clear Day’. Allura's suffers from several nightmares/dream sequences. They don't make any sense in context, and it’s never explained what caused them. Except, they make perfect sense, if you watch them as the first step towards understanding The Colony. 

Allura sees herself standing in a Juniberry field on Altea. Her mother greets her and proclaims that Allura has arrived just in time, and that only she can save them, “Only you can protect us.”

A Galra fleet passes over head, raining down laser fire.

Allura suddenly finds herself the pilot of one of the white mechs. She plunges her spear into the ground, draining the quintessence, and then fires on the fleet; obliterating it.

But as she grins in victory she realizes that the quintessence she siphoned from the planet has turned her immediate landscape to ash, including her mother. Allura is horrified, but as her mother crumbles away her voice echoes, telling Allura she is so proud of her.

In case me describing it wasn’t clear enough: what just happened to her was that Allura was literally put in Lotor’s position, operating one of his mechs. The places and the people were those that Allura cherished deeply, so that she could understand how terrible Lotor felt about what he had to do. It literally puts Allura in Lotor's place: having to take the responsibility of destroying parts of something she loves in order to protect the whole. 

And her mother? The Altean who was ‘sacrificed’ in this scenario? Praised her for taking the actions she did, because Allura was the only one able to do it. And the only choice was to save most of Altea, or none of it.

When Allura eventually does take the entity into herself we see the lights of Honerva’s mech’s faceplate lighting, then flash to a scene of Lotor in Sincline. He’s laughing, grinning as he did during s6′s finale, and as the camera zooms in on his face he shouts “Follow me!”

Briefly we see Voltron in front of the planets of Earth’s solar system, which is drowned out by a peculiar scene transition: an intense white light that appears to obliterate everything as though in an explosion.

None of these scenes are ever explained, but it’s reasonably comparable to the flash of images that Haggar sees in season 3 when she is first confronted with Zarkon’s memories. We’re left with the impression that we’re about to be enlightened, and the end of the episode reveals that Allura has passed out on the floor unconscious.

In this version of season 8, we never are told what exactly caused Allura to experience those visions. We can guess: was it perhaps the entity tempting her with its dark magic? Honerva attempting to place her under a spell?

But is the entity really dark magic? It’s different from the types of magic we’re used to, and the colors of it are certainly dark, but it in itself never actually causes Allura harm. Any harm she suffers after taking it into herself is caused by Honerva exploiting it.

Could it be a spell by Honerva? Unlikely. It took her almost two whole episodes of the paladins fooling around inside her mind for her to notice they were even there. If Allura had never taken the entity none of Honerva’s plans would have ever been found out. Yes, she did steal all the energy from the Atlas’ crystal, but she did that primarily to combat the Atlas and disable it. She didn’t need to get it from there, the energy her Komars were able to provide was all she needed.

So what caused those visions?

Lotor did.

Once he was free of the rift he was able to connect with Allura somehow and reach out to her. That was really him. Where he is now, trapped under Haggar’s control, he has no means to combat the witch. But Allura does. Everything he says to her? Is true.

The next episode, s8e9 “Knights of Light: Part 1″ begins with Allura awaking, Coran and Lance by her bedside. She’s been asleep for two quintants (days). She has apparently come up with a plan to infiltrate Honerva’s mind, but from whence she gets this plan is never explained. That’s because we’re missing an entire episode between these two. This is where Lotor’s redemption happens, where he and Allura finally reunite. God knows what else was in that episode, what else was happening while the paladins were waiting for Allura to wake. Lotor bids Allura to follow him, to finally allow him to tell his side of the story, and for some reason we weren’t allowed to hear it.

But from what we did get to see? It all but confirms @crystal-rebellion‘s Colony Theory. Albeit, the white mechs were built by Honerva, but Lotor was attempting to keep the colony safe in the only way he knew how. The Alteans who died did so willingly; to preserve the lives of all the others.

There’s a repeated narrative that the only person who encourages Allura to take action, to strive and push forward, is Lotor. Sometimes others accept it, but they never encourage her. Everyone else seems to consider her too fragile, or not capable of making her own decisions. They want to protect her and coddle her, don’t believe she should be taking any risks. They are supportive emotionally, but want to limit her physically. They care about her, but don’t truly trust her judgement or want her to be making her own choices.

With Lotor though, it’s different. He truly sees her as an equal, respects her judgement in her areas of expertise. This plot line revolving around the entity is a prime example. Lotor provides Allura with the information, that she has everything she needs to take down Honerva right in front of her; she just needs to utilize it. But from the moment Allura wakes the people closest to her doubt her decisions and choices.

And yes, those choices lead to painful consequences, but in the end they are proven to be the right ones, to have been necessary. Allura took a calculated risk, and it pays off - if she hadn’t they’d have never caught Honerva in time to stop her from destroying everything. They wouldn’t even have discovered her plan in the first place.

If Allura hadn’t made the choice to listen to and trust Lotor, by her own judgement, reality itself would have ceased to exist.

Both Coran and Alfor are given specific scenes this season where they judge and approve of Lance in his pursuit of Allura. But key, neither of them ever ask - or even mention - Allura’s feelings on the matter. The s8 we got, rather disgustingly, portrays this as the right thing. I believe the original s8 was meant to subvert this. Because Lance is everyone else’s choice for Allura, but when Allura was allowed to make her own choice? She chose Lotor.

Allura once again ends s8e10 ‘Knights of Light: Part 2′ unconscious. I firmly believe we are missing more moments  - if not an entire episode - with Lotor here, in s8e11 ‘Uncharted Regions’ - probably explaining somewhere along the way how exactly he is able to contact her in this manner.

Which, uh... as to my personal theory on how that is, well... what did Lotor and Allura do together that might have crafted a unique spiritual bond between them?

What did you two experience in the quintessence field Lotor?

But, those were happier times...

I also think this is the episode, this missing one, that that particular image properly belongs to. We now see it in the previous episode, as one of Honerva’s memories. But the reason we see it is that the paladins apparently see it too. The only problem is, they don’t react to it at all. They literally have a stronger reaction to finding out they can see Honerva’s memories in the first place. There’s no possible way that Allura saw the melted corpse of the man she loved and had no discernible reaction. We see her reactions to Lotor’s presence multiple times over the course of s7 and s8, and they’re always intensely emotional ones.

But speaking of that image, since we’re on the topic. That’s a very detailed image.

There’s details there you don’t immediately spot, because you’re too distracted by the horrific imagery of the corpse of a main character. A character who’s tragic, abusive childhood was the focus of almost an entire episode earlier in the season.

Details such as the motes of light floating up from his body.

Motes of light we’ve seen in exactly two instances before: from Zarkon and Honerva’s eyes immediately after they were restored back to life by the rift.

And from Zarkon’s body: vanishing after he died.

Yeah guys, I’m about to make that image much worse.

That’s not Lotor’s corpse, because he’s not dead.

He’s still in there, in that state, and he’s been in there for over three years.

Melded, physically and mentally, with Sincline by his time spent in the quintessence field.

What. The. Fuck.

As the season progresses it becomes much more difficult to tell what was supposed to be happening because of how badly it’s been chopped up, re-arranged, and edited.

But there is a very distinct difference between Sincline’s two appearances in action - that is, it’s only in the first one that it actually is in action.

The last time we see Sincline move of it’s own accord is e6 ‘Genesis’. From the moment he reappears Lotor is on the attack; he is stopped only two times, once of his own accord and once by Haggar’s mind control.

And that one time he stops himself? Is when he takes aim at Allura. She’s running across the ground, about to strike Honerva with her bayard, when he raises his right arm and takes aim. We see her in his sights, through his eyes. And the view zooms in on Allura’s face.

Lance sees what’s happening and dives in Red to stop him, but is blocked by one of the white mechs.

Yet. He lowers his arm and doesn’t take the shot.

Lotor never fires.

But immediately afterwards the white mech lingers too close and Sincline impales it with it’s tail. It’s not an aversion to killing that stayed his hand.

It’s that it was Allura.

This scene unambiguously shows that Lotor is both alive inside that mech and somewhat aware of himself. He’s become a robeast.

Yet after that episode the mech never moves again. It hangs lifeless in space during the battle at the pyramid; the white mechs having to do the fighting. The lights on it’s chest have gone out, only relighting when it is charged with quintessence from the Komar. For all intents and purposes, Sincline is empty.

Oh, and speaking of Sincline, up until s8e9 it’s only ever referred to as “Lotor’s mech,” but suddenly, in e11 ‘Uncharted Regions’ they’ve learned its name and Allura calls it “Lotor’s Sincline”.

I think that at some point between ‘Knights of Light’ and the second half of e11 ‘Uncharted Regions’ Lotor was to have been rescued. 'Uncharted Regions’ is one of the worst episodes this season for flow: it’s extremely choppy and hard to follow - flicking back and forth between scenes without anything really happening in them.

But the most telling thing?

‘Uncharted Regions’ begins with Honerva in her haloed mech searching Alternate realities for her ‘perfect’ one. We see several clips of her doing this, the mech floating in front of the pyramid, alone, with the spinning disk of its wings as a viewport.

Suddenly, almost exactly halfway through the episode, we get an image of Honerva kneeling inside the pyramid, in her Altean commander uniform, one uniformed Altean to either side. She says “The princess has awakened,” and then the scene changes.

When next we see Honerva she’s floating above the pyramid, the silent and immobile Sincline by her side.

The entire time this is happening there is combat going on around the pyramid, first with the coalition fighters and then with the Atlas itself. This sequence appears in episode as though it all happens successively in a very short period of time. But it doesn’t make sense like that. Why should Honerva stop what she’s doing, and exit her mech just to check if Allura is awake?

In this scenario why does Honerva even care if Allura is awake? By this point she’s apparently found her perfect reality and is prepared to move on to it? She doesn’t need Allura for anything, none of her plans require Allura. Why should she even bother to announce that Allura is awake, as though this is something she’s been waiting for?

This entire episode, including the fight scenes, has been chopped into little pieces and rearranged. Other scenes have had edits to their animation, or were re-done entirely. What we have in ‘Uncharted Regions’ is a frankenstein’s monster of an episode constructed of the tiny remnants of of at least two, possibly three, original episodes.

If you watch this episode carefully you’ll notice that there’s a clip out of order. The lights on Sincline’s chest are dark until it’s charged with the quintessence from the Alteans on the Atlas. But. The close up shot of Sincline the paladins see immediately upon exiting the wormhole in front of the pyramid has the lights lit up. This clip clearly is part of the sequence we see later in the episode just before the mechs combine. So when the crew on the bridge of the Atlas is shown reacting in horror, whatever they’re actually reacting to has been cut out.

These original missing episodes would have contained what I’m fairly certain was our big Alchemist vs Alchemist reprisal fight between Honerva and Allura; something we’ve been waiting for since season 2′s finale.

Why was such an anticipated fight removed?

I think it’s because the fight was over Lotor, and ultimately Allura would have rescued him.

Every time Allura uses the powers she obtained in Oriande it’s mentioned where she got them, and often that she has them because of Lotor.

She’s shown again and again restoring life and health.

What happened, what we’re missing, is her using the abilities she has thanks to Lotor, to save him.

Allura is supposed to storm that pyramid, infiltrate it, and rescue Lotor from the evil witch holding him captive. She’s supposed to find him in that horrible state we saw him in, and she’s going to heal him. She’s going to fight for him, to protect him, when no one else in his life ever has.

There’s also a clear switch. When Sincline is active and alight Honerva several times refers to it as ‘my son’ but afterwards, she stops and uses Sincline as a tool for her to reach an Alternate Reality and obtain a ‘new’ version of Lotor. With the exception of one shot, where, since we can’t actually see her speaking it seems that the audio and animation are sourced from different original scenes, Honerva ceases treating Sincline as Lotor after the lights go out.

The line that causes Honerva to snap s8e12 ‘The Zenith’ is when the little alt Lotor says “My mother is dead”. It’s framed like a deliberate callback, like it should be echoing something. But it’s a line we’ve never heard. I’d hazard that this final rejection, this line was spoken by *our* Lotor as Allura is rescuing him.

Lotor was not dead in there, he was alive, and he was saved.

There is a really good theory going around, my friend @tsunemori told me about it. I don't know who first came up with it, but I fully support it, because I noticed the scene in question was really off too.

But the theory is that that hospital bed scene? Was originally Lotor in the bed after they rescued him, and Allura was in Lance's place. Which makes total sense, because after that scene, when Lance takes Allura to the bridge? His height is all wrong, and he is hanging onto her for support instead of the other way around: it should be Lotor there.

Do I have any concrete proof of this one? No. But there is something off about that scene. It just doesn’t feel right.

So yeah, if I ask myself, “Is this a scene that might have been re-animated, the characters traced over and re-drawn as different ones?” I can absolutely see that. When looking for places where actual edits to the animation have been made you have to factor in several things: the complexity of the animation - how many characters, how many settings, how much movement, who is the focus/moving/talking.

This is both a pivotal scene, and an incredibly easy one to alter, comparatively. Two characters, one laying still in a bed and only getting a single one-syllable line - the other character’s name, which might have been taken from anywhere. Lance has a long string of dialogue, but he’s sitting beside the bed the entire time, and he moves very little.

I strongly believe this scene was either altered significantly or created whole-cloth for this edited version of s8.

Things that are much harder to alter, because they’d be much more expensive, are the fight scenes. It’s where I started looking once I suspected what had happened with season 8, and it’s where I started finding things.

S8e12 ‘The Zenith’ is one of the best episodes in terms of flow, and I believe that’s because it suffers some of the least editing.

We are however missing at least two scenes: a farewell between Allura and Coran - presumably as Allura boards the Blue Lion - and an explanation as to how Voltron followed Honerva into her destination reality after the rift closed on them. I believe both of these scenes were edited out because Lotor was key in them; several scenes in the following episode s8e13 ‘The End is the Beginning’ lead me to believe that he spent the final battle in the Blue Lion with Allura.

Two scenes during the fight stand out to me: the first, a split screen where Keith is mysteriously given a double width section as compared to the others. It’s especially noticeable, because he’s not even centrally placed and he’s scaled to a different size than his fellow paladins. In the entirety of the series we have never before seen a split screen cut among an even number of characters where one of them is given odd prominence like this. The screen is arranged so the characters appear in a color gradient, Keith is red-black and immediately to his left is Allura who is blue. If there was a missing section here, the color space would correspond to indigo/purple - and those are Lotor’s colors.

The second is a moment when Allura is speaking facing forwards and very clearly looks to the side and makes eye contact with someone. Now, VLD does have moments when the paladins will react in their own lions as though they can see each other, but this isn’t like that. It’s the way her eyes move, and look, she’s talking to someone who’s point of view we’re seeing her from. And that person is Lotor.

There’s also a peculiar moment in this episode where the same split screen is used twice; another thing which has never before happened in the series. It appears first about a quarter of the way through the episode as the paladins enter the stage for the final showdown and then again as they push Honerva into the glowing whiteness at its center. I believe that the second one of these is its proper place, and that the one that originally went in the first instance had Lotor included in it.

Finally, and this is going to take several images, so be warned. When the paladins appear before Honerva in the heart of it all, fading into view, they’re spaced very strangely.

There’s six of them, so you’d expect they’d be spaced something like this:

But they’re actually spaced like this:

(yes, I know Honerva would be blocking someone there. She moves. I just picked this cap so you could see all the shadows; there’s no point showing you the empty space)

It rather looks like there’s someone missing.

The last half of the final episode is so heavily manipulated that it’s difficult to say what actually happened. But we have two very strong clues from which we can reconstruct it.

Remember the leaks?

Now that we know the leaks were real, it begs the question, why was this scene one of them. Unlike the others, which were all from the epilogue, this scene is from roughly halfway through the episode.

Well, I believe we have the answer now: whoever leaked them chose those because they were the scenes they had on hand. These were the scenes that were not originally part of VLD s8, and were added only in the last minute edit.

This one in particular is another where I think it’s taken an actual scene and traced over it to make it into something else. Lance is far too tall here, and doesn’t look like himself hardly at all.

It’s also very clear from the framing of the shot where Allura is going down the line of paladins and hugging them that Lance should be getting a send off in sequence to the others, not apart like this.

No, I think Lance was animated over Lotor here, and the audio was spliced in parts from Lance’s actual goodbye scene and Allura’s “I will always love you” comes from somewhere else. That portion of the line is said in a distinctly different tone of voice than Lance’s name beforehand. There’s different emotions to it than the rest of their conversation, and I’d guarantee we’re hearing it out of it’s original context.

I don’t know what else changes in the ending, but I’m very certain that it was not supposed to be read as Allura dying.

The reason we now read it that way is that Allura and Honerva are seen greeting the spirits of people we know that are dead. I’m fairly certain this scene is either new, or it was only Honerva going to meet them, and of course, that Lotor wasn’t among them.

And I think it was Allura and Lotor who stayed behind to do the work of restoring all realities. My proof of this is one of the very best and strongest among my evidence: the very last closing shot of Voltron: Legendary Defender, after the credits.

The lions of Voltron take off to rejoin their new Cosmic Entities; Allura and Lotor. Whoever was responsible for editing Lotor out of this picture only actually slightly blurred him.

Thanks to @articianne for the outline!

If you play around with the image contrast and brightness it’s even more obvious that the both of them are there, back to back.

It only looks like Allura dies because the spirits but without them there? It looks like they ascended to a higher plane of existence or something.

They haven’t died at all. They’ve become, of all things, like Bob, the gameshow host from s7e4 ‘The Feud’. An ‘all-powerful, all-knowing interdimensional being’.

And y’know? Bob was perfectly able to interact with the paladins no problem.

I don’t understand why these changes were made. To me? This looks like a perfectly happy ending.

What else was cut I don’t know. But I found all this evidence by looking for the things that weren’t there, that a competently structured plot would lead me to expect would be. Chasing ghosts, as it were.

A short list of additional things I strongly suspect were cut?

Several scenes between Keith and Shiro.

A pivotal scene between Allura and Coran.

A follow up event with Pidge referencing her sacrificing her videogame to get Allura a dress.

A scene between Lance and Pidge, possibly referencing said videogame.

A resolution to Lance and Pidge competing to get Allura the best present.

A conclusion to Axca’s sub plot.

A Hunk and Shay scene, to explain how and why the Balmeras all show up in s8e12 ‘The Zenith’.

An additional scene with the blade for the same reasons.

Actually, y’know what? I’m not just going to leave this, because I have a strong suspicion what one of the other cut subplots was about.

You see, the other half of ‘Clear Day’ isn’t entirely filler - it’s specifically a callback to the season 2 episode ‘Space Mall’, and it’s not the only one in this season. The little shopping trip from s8e1 ‘Launch Date’ is also one. Specifically they’re part of a plot for Pidge about her feelings for Lance.

In ‘Space Mall’ Pidge and Lance spend their time scrounging up change to buy a videogame console. The game that they purchase is part of a series that Pidge later trades the only copy of the latest version of to get Allura a dress. During ‘Clear Day’ Pidge and Lance both spend their time trying to get the best present for Allura (hint hint, Pidge is the one who actually got the ‘”something sparkly”).

Now, as I’ve already covered, there’s missing content between ‘Clear Day’ and the next episode. Part of that content should have been what the other paladins were doing while Allura was unconscious. And in series, we never actually see Allura receive either of those presents that were bought for her. So where did they go?

I think Pidge and Lance spent the time waiting for Allura to wake up together, and they got to talking about how Lance has once again failed to acquire the sparkly thing Allura would like. Perhaps Pidge trades her mining helmet for Lance’s signed Blue Lion, and then it comes up how both times Lance went to get a present for Allura he ended up getting one for Pidge.

And that first time was the video game wasn’t it? A perfect place for Lance to find out what happened with the video game in s8e1.

So why did Pidge trade that game? To make Allura happy, yes, but also to make Lance happy. Because Lance likes Allura and Pidge wants them to have a good time, because Pidge likes Lance. Like, check e1 when Allura tells her she's going on a date with Lance, Pidge's reaction... isn't really a happy one.

I think this should have been the turning point for Lance, where he learns the difference between infatuation and sincere affection. I think very soon after this his relationship with Allura would end, and he would naturally progress into a different sort of relationship with Pidge.

As much as I love s8e7 ‘Day Forty-Seven’ I don’t think it was originally part of season 8. I also get the feeling that s7e2 ‘Shadows’ may be composed of scenes we were supposed to have gotten throughout the later half of season seven - though I expect that this change was made in a much earlier spate of edits, likely when s7 was re-done. It’s been confirmed that this happened, and that s7e4 ‘The Feud’ was made to ease the pressure on the exhausted animators who’d been working overtime to get the other episodes done in time. It’s never been confirmed what exactly was changed about season 7 or why, but I highly suspect it was to include more content with the MFE fighters, who the higher ups at Dreamworks might have been hoping to spin off into a sequel.

I suspect that the episodes were shifted forwards, because the first half of the season has no 'event' episode. s8e6 ‘Genesis’ should have been that, and what we're missing is the mid-season event. Which was where they would have saved Lotor. They excised an entire climactic fight between Allura and Honerva, reprising their battle from season 2. The alchemist vs alchemist fight that was repeatedly alluded to being inevitable, yet we never got.

It was animated and voiced to be Lotura and Lotor's vindication.

But someone wanted that changed.

We know when and why ‘The Feud’ was created, and because we were teased in several interviews to pay attention to it so that we might spot some foreshadowing, we can definitively say that the mucking around that was done to season 8 happened at a much later date.

In fact, the animation portion was likely completed all the way back in June. These are two bumper images that were used to advertise Season 6, which released on June 15th.

We haven’t yet seen this image of Lotor appear in the show (for what it matters, the full color one is the correct way around; Lotor’s hair always curls up over his right shoulder, the left can go either way), we have scoured every frame of him to find it, but it’s just not there (yes I know it looks like it should be from s5e4 ‘Kral Zera’, but trust me it’s not). Every other image that’s ever been used in these promotional bumpers has been from somewhere in the show, but this one is so far absent. Therefore it’s from a piece of animation yet to appear, and one which was made by the time these images showed up in June.

Now that we know what the truth is, I am sure we will get the full story eventually. It's only a matter of time before it filters out.

But right now is the key time if we want to convince Dreamworks to release the original season 8. Tweet at them, email them, snail mail if you have the time! Sign that petition!

The fandom response now will determine if we find out what really happened sooner rather than later - and later could mean years.

We are the only people who can make this happen. The cast and crew are all bound by NDAs, and publicly reacting negatively towards a show you worked on is practically career suicide.

It has historically been fans who’ve made a difference when companies interfere with their favorite shows. Fans have been able to effect change in the past, and they will again in the future; lets make sure this is one of those times. We need to fight to get the VLD we should have gotten in the first place.

Just remember to apply your energies in the right places. JDS and LM aren’t perfect people (no one is!), but this isn’t their doing. This is someone above them responsible for the mess that was s8. Dreamworks Animation is the culprit. There is a very real chance that the original season 8 is completely finished and able to be released, and we just might get it if we’re persistent enough. 

Be polite, be reasonable, but be firm. Take this proof and use it. Show them that we know they changed things and that they can give us the original if they so choose.

The messages they inadvertently pushed with this slap-dash edit are vile and toxic, and people far more knowledgeable than I in those areas are speaking out about them. This needs to be fixed.

They need to say something. They need to tell us why they changed it. They need to give us the original Season 8.

Click here for Part 2: Seek Truth in Darkness

I, and any of you who enjoyed this meta, owe @nomadicism a huge thank you. She reminded me of that strange "Follow me!" scene, which prompted me to crack open 'Clear Day' for another watch... and I realized that Allura's dreams weren't nonsensical at all.

As always, thank you to my many friends in the Lotura Discord. You give me the strength and encouragement to keep going. I couldn’t have done this without you.

[carmenlire]

Like Nobody Else

This is based on this tweet by @cardanscrown!

read on ao3

Simon’s days follow a routine. He wakes up at 6:30 sharp and rushes to his local gym where he has a daily Zumba class that’s at least seventy two percent elderly women (Simon long ago accepted that he was no match for Doris or Evelyn who can dance circles around him to Despacito).

He then rushes back to his studio apartment where he gets ready and spends exactly two minutes choosing his outfit before hopping in the shower and using his favorite Bath and Body Works body wash that smells like vanilla cupcakes.

He leaves his apartment by 8:20 and takes the train to Lightwood Co., the nation’s biggest tech company that holds an eighty four percent market share. He’s the assistant to the Founder and CEO, Alec Lightwood, who started the company when he was still in his freshman year at MIT.

Staring mournfully out the dirty window of the subway, Simon tries to ignore his obnoxiously growling stomach. He’s always running just a little too late to grab something on his way out the door and he knows by this point that he can stop by the cafe on the second floor of Lightwood Co. and grab something on his way up to his desk up on the thirty seventh floor.

It’s just that he still has seventeen minutes until he gets there and he always works up quite the appetite during Zumba. It didn’t help matters that Phyllis and Dorothy had been talking about their favorite pie recipes while everyone was waiting for class to start.

Simon’s stop comes up and he makes his way through the throng of commuters milling about. He walks down Fifth Avenue, enjoying the early spring sunshine that warms him through his tweed jacket. He’s lived in New York all his life but sometimes he’s still struck by the constant buzz of activity, the low thrum of energy that always seems to be pulsing around the city.

It’s just a few minutes later that Simon’s scanning his employee badge and placing his thumb on the digital print reader, walking through security and into the hubbub that was Lightwood’s pride and joy.

He stops by the cafe and grabs a waffle taco and a white chocolate hazelnut mocha with five shots of espresso and extra whipped cream. He eats half of his taco in the elevator-- ignoring Jace’s disgusted look-- and he’s the last one off the elevator as it opens unto the top floor-- the penthouse office suite.

Simon landed this job as a temp still in college, working on his botany degree and needing extra cash. His best friend Clary had mentioned the job she’d scored as the assistant to Magnus Bane, world renowned historian and scholar who’d taken publish or perish as a personal challenge.

Shrugging internally and figuring that he could file papers as well as the best of them, Simon had signed up at Alicante Agency, a temp agency that placed people everywhere in the city.

Including one of the biggest companies in the world, apparently.

Simon’s number had been called and when he’d been told that he would be the personal secretary-- administrative assistant, he’d thought with a huff-- of one Alec Lightwood, he’d been ecstatic. Lightwood was a tech genius who had worked on everything from the latest Downworlders video game to Idris, the world’s most comprehensive academic database.

When he’d asked how long the job was for, he’d tried to ignore just how scathing the agency manager, Ms. Herondale, had been.

Lightwood’s been through a dozen of our temps in the last six weeks. Our company record is six days. Good luck, kid, though I’ve heard that doesn’t exist where you’re going.

Resolutely not gulping, Simon had taken the folder that Imogen had handed him and walked out of her office without a backwards glance.

He’d been on the street before he’d paused, leaning against the wrought iron fence of the business and leafing through the sparse contents of the folder.

There were only a few sheets of paper. One was simply the name of the company he was to report to with an address, phone number, and pass code. The next sheet was the position description. It listed half a dozen key responsibilities and as Simon read through the list, he was relieved yet increasingly confused. They were all basic administrative duties including filing, keeping Mr. Lightwood’s agenda, and taking meeting or conference call minutes.

The third and last sheet looked to be a draft of a confidentiality agreement, which Simon skimmed through. Really, it all looked standard for where he was going.

As Simon boots up his computer, he flips over his watch and sees that it’s exactly 8:58. He has five minutes before the boss man himself arrives and he uses that time to look over Mr. Lightwood’s schedule for the day and make sure that the forms he printed for Alec’s signature last night are still waiting in his designated tray.

Finishing off his taco with a last bite that’s just a bit too big, Simon laboriously chews as he opens his email and glances through the few dozen subject lines, making sure that nothing is catastrophically urgent.

He hears the muted ding of the elevator a split second before Mr. Lightwood steps into the penthouse lobby, wearing a navy suit with a crisp white button down open at the throat. His loafers are gleaming and Simon breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the relaxed slope of his shoulders.

Simon’s been Alec’s assistant for the past three years. He’s currently working on his dissertation-- how different genres of music affect plant growth-- and he enjoys his job, even if it’s a little challenging on occasion.

Or all the time.

Alec was a hard ass, no doubt about it. He had exacting standards, a perpetually sardonic expression, and Simon had literally never seen the man smile. Lightwood had exploded onto the scene ten years ago and in that time, he’s made a name for himself that no one else could rival. Interns fought for covetous positions and even if they routinely stress cried for the entirety of their four month contracts, everyone agreed that their time at Lightwood Co. was a huge boon for their emerging careers.

Mr. Lightwood wasn’t necessarily liked but he was respected. Every single employee at the company-- either here in New York or at any of his branches domestically or internationally-- knew that they were a valuable part of the company.

Alec might be an unforgiving man but he was an understanding one. Simon had been told on more than one occasion to block off an entire afternoon so that Alec could go down to one of the R&D floors and help an employee who was struggling with their project. Alec regularly works weekends or covers shifts in the customer service department if something comes up and his company has been rated number one on Forbes’ Best Companies to Work For list, eight years running.

Simon stands next to his desk as Alec strolls over to him, briefcase slung over his shoulder. Simon hands Alec his worryingly sweet coffee with one hand and the small stack of papers needing his approval with the other.

“Morning,” Alec says absently as his eyes scan over the top page.

“Morning, boss man,” Simon replies cheerfully. Alec doesn’t even blink at the greeting now, though he’d given Simon a slow blink after the exuberant words for a solid year after Simon had joined on.

“What’s on the slate for today?”

“You have a conference call in fifteen minutes with your manager in Dublin and this afternoon you have your back to back monthly meetings with the department heads.” Simon frowns, glancing briefly at the agenda on the screen of his computer before looking back at Alec, confused. “There’s nothing on your agenda from 11-2, though. You’re completely free.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” Alec says easily, turning towards his office.

Simon bites his tongue to keep from asking any impudent questions-- questions are always impudent where Alec’s concerned. That doesn’t necessarily keep Simon from asking whatever comes to mind, though this time Simon wants to try to solve the mystery himself.

It’s a slow day and Simon is caught up on his classwork with nothing better to do.

As he spins his chair in slow revolutions, Simon thinks of how peculiar it is that Alec’s blocked off three hours during the work day. Alec’s always been a dervish during working hours, though the past year or so, he’s been very firm about leaving the office by 6pm at the latest.

Simon doesn’t know much about Alec. He knows that his sister, Isabelle, is a tenured professor and the president of NYU’s School of Engineering. He knows that Alec’s gay-- the man is not subtle when he checks out men-- and he knows that Alec isn’t all big and bad.

His first day, Simon had walked into Lightwood Co. nervous as hell. He’d discovered that Alec was gruff and demanding and a natural leader, handling the dozens of facets involved in running a company this size without a hitch in his step.

The first few days, he’d walked on eggshells. Simon had been looking for signs as to why all of the other temps at Alicante had deserted their post before they’d made it a week. Was Lightwood just an asshole? Was he one of those privileged, pervy bosses who thought they could get away with whatever they damned well pleased? Did he sing obnoxiously loud while he worked?

Simon couldn’t figure it out. Alec gave him a pile of work every day to slough through and while Simon felt the pressure, a lot of that was leveled out by the fact that Alec was observant-- he knew when to slow down and explain things and slowly but surely, Simon got the hang of being Alec’s administrative assistant.

Alec worked with his schedule and the pay was better than anything else he could get in New York. Well, legally anyway.

Simon spends the rest of the morning fielding phone calls, instant messaging Maia in software development between calls.

Maia’s worked for the company just a bit longer than Simon, earning a full time position after she completed her internship with flying colors. They’re pretty good friends-- they get lunch at least three times a week and Maia is the best movie partner Simon could ask for-- and he knows that if anyone has the dirt, it would be her.

S: Do you know if Lightwood has a mistress?

M: How the hell would I know? I’m on the eighteenth floor. The last time I saw Alec was at the company Christmas party.

S: He blocked off three hours for lunch and the only people who do that are CEOs who run to a seedy by the hour motel to get their rocks off with their side piece

But that would mean that he has a main piece

Wbk that Alec’s unattached

M: Why would you say that?

He’s a very attractive man. He’s rich and smart and young. He’s actually pretty perfect.

Simon scoffs at the screen.

S: Yeah, if you can ignore the fact that the man never smiles. I’ve been his right hand man for three years and I’ve yet to see one Mr. Alec Lightwood crack a smile unless it’s for business.

The man’s terrifying

M: I bet he smiles during his lunch break

S: Doubt it tbh

The meeting is probably black ops or something. Omg!! What if the government wants Lightwood’s tech but it’s all super secret so that’s why he didn’t tell me?

M: You’re crossing the line again, babe

S: As if I even know where the line is anymore.

Simon startles as the elevator dings, looking absently at Alec’s agenda that sits in its stand. It’s just before eleven and Simon frowns. His least favorite job is turning people away who think they’re entitled to Lightwood’s time. Alec trusts Simon to keep everything running smoothly and Simon prides himself on being the best damn secretary Alec’s ever had.

Alec works around his classes, puts up with his jokes, and has actually shown some hint of personality in the past three years. Simon refuses to jeopardize any of that by interrupting his boss’s very busy schedule.

Hot damn.

Simon didn’t count on the uninvited guest, however.

The man is dressed to the nines, looking elegant yet approachable. His makeup is all sharp lines and flawless smudging and the toddler on his hip is chattering happily as it plays with one of a dozen necklaces hanging low enough to grab.

“Hello,” Simon says, echoing the man’s smile. His teeth are perfect, he thinks dazedly.

“Morning,” the man says dryly. He doesn’t say anything else, just moves to walk right past Simon’s desk, obviously on his way to Mr. Lightwood’s office.

“Wait!”

Simon subtly rolls his chair back, nearer to his desk so that he can easily reach the silent alarm button underneath. With a sigh, Simon wonders just how deranged the man is-- and to involve a baby of all things.

The stranger raises a brow expectantly, swaying side to side gently to soothe the child.

“You can’t go back there,” Simon says flatly.

“I’m sorry?”

Pointing to the closed double doors, Simon repeats, “You can’t just go back there. I’m Mr. Lightwood’s secretary and you’re not on the list. Mr. Lightwood is preoccupied for the foreseeable future, so I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you and your baby to leave, sir.”

Simon expects a reaction-- obnoxious annoyance, cool rage, a ballistic temper. What he doesn’t not expect is the amused, relaxed expression.

“Sherman--”

“Simon,” Simon corrects, unthinking. He doesn't realize that the man shouldn't know his name.

“Simon,” the man starts, nodding at the correction. “While I appreciate your dedication--”

“Magnus?”

Both Simon and the man look towards the office, whose doors have now opened to reveal a rumpled Alec. He’d taken his jacket off after the conference call and he’d rolled his sleeves up a few times, exposing strong forearms. His hair was messy from running a frustrated hand through it several times over the course of the morning and he was leaning against the door jamb, looking unconcerned as hell.

Simon straightens. “Mr. Lightwood, I was just telling Perfect Hair that he and his baby had to leave--”

Simon breaks off, stunned, as Alec chuckles before straightening and walking the few steps over to the man. Simon sits in his chair and feels like he just had a covert lobotomy as he watches his boss reach for the baby-- and the baby all but fall into his arms, squirming out of the other man’s arms.

“Simon, this is my husband, Magnus. Magnus, this is my assistant that I’ve mentioned a few thousand times.”

“Wait, you talk about me at home,” Simon absently asks before his brain comes back online. He looks up at Alec to see him smiling down at the baby in his arms, gently chiding it as it tries to tug off one of his shirt buttons.

“You’re married,” Simon asks incredulously.

At that, Alec looks up and shares a look with Magnus. “Of course I’m married Simon. Magnus and I have been together over six years.”

“And married for three,” Magnus adds, leaning into Alec’s side reflexively.

Looking between the two of them, Simon feels like his head is three seconds from exploding. “How did I not know this? I’m your right hand man!”

Alec just throws him a quizzical glance. “We’ve had Max here for just over a year. I worked from home six months last year,” Alec says sardonically. “You dropped papers off at our place almost every week.”

“I never saw a baby or a husband,” Simon shrieks.

Max-- who Simon has to admit is adorable-- claps at the rise in volume and falls against Alec. Absently bringing a hand up so that Max can high five it a dozen times, Alec just sends Simon an amused glance. “Max must have been sleeping or with Magnus every time, then.”

Alec reaches down to grab Magnus’s hand, tugging him towards his open office while holding Max with the other.

“Absolutely no interruptions until two,” Alec throws back over his shoulder, laughing as his son pats his face clumsily.

Magnus looks over his own shoulder to wink at Simon. “Whatever the boss says,” he adds with a grin.

Simon sits at his desk for fifteen minutes trying to wrap his head around what he’s just discovered before opening the companies IM.

S: I owe you dinner and maybe a bottle of your favorite tequila

M: What did you do now?

S: Mr. Lightwood is married with a baby! How did no one know??

He smiled. Alec! Smiled!! And he even laughed!! I feel like I don’t even know my boss anymore

He’s super cute with kids though

M: My brother isn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type but Magnus and Max tend to bring out the marshmallow in him

This is Izzy, Simon. Please stop gossiping about my brother and get back to work

Though, I can see why Alec showing any emotion besides stern disapproval would be fodder for the gossip mill.

Simon’s eyes widen as he reads the messages. What the hell?

M: Sorry, Simon. Isabelle stopped by my office to pick me up for lunch when your messages came through.

Iz offered to take us out for dinner tonight and tell us all about her brother’s “epic love story” if we go to the Chinese restaurant off Broadway.

I already accepted so I hope you don’t have plans!!

Rolling his eyes, Simon kisses his quiet evening of guitar hero and Oreo milkshakes out the window. He can’t deny that he’s looking forward to hearing about his boss’s private life, though-- his first real glimpse in over three years.

When he visits Clary after dinner, full on spring rolls and lo mein, he collapses onto her bed, rambling about weird ass bosses, his renewed interest in polyamory, and how goddamn strange the world is.

He’s face down in the bed, wishing that he had some Oreos, when Clary’s voice breaks through.

“Wait, you’re telling me that your boss is married to a Magnus? Alexander?”

Simon shoots up to sitting, staring at Clary incredulously. “Yeah?”

Clary leans forward, smacking Simon on the shoulder. “I work for Magnus Bane, you idiot! How many Magnuses do you know? And, he has a husband though I’ve only ever heard him referred to as Alexander. What are the chances?”

Simon rubs his shoulder. “Does he have dark hair that defies gravity? Perfect teeth? And he can blend eye shadow better than Izzy?”

“Yes, that’s him,” Clary cries, eyes widening. “We were working for husbands and didn’t know. What the hell.”

“Small world,” Simon mumbles, falling backwards onto Clary’s mountain of pillows.

The two of them lay there for long minutes, reconciling the new bits of information they’ve just learned.

“Wild,” Clary murmurs and Simon has to agree.

The next morning, the elevator opens to a smiling Alec, who’s looking down at his phone as he steps into the office.

“Morning,” he says absently.

Simon returns the greeting and holds out the coffee for Alec to take. Alec reaches out and snags the coffee on autopilot, humming as the sweetness hits him.

Alec looks up and sees Simon’s still form and the glee dancing just behind his eyes.

“Yes?”

“I’m just happy you’re happy boss.”

Rolling his eyes, Alec pockets his phone, sheepishly admitting, “Magnus just sent me a picture of Blueberry eating cherries. He’s made quite the mess,” he chuckles.

Simon’s eyes light up and Alec finds himself slowly but surely confiding more in Simon, sharing little anecdotes. Alec doesn’t know how his intern never managed to realize that his boss was married-- his legal name on all contracts has been Lightwood-Bane since his wedding not to mention the ring-- but Alec can’t find it in himself to care.

Simon’s a dedicated worker and adds some much needed levity and capability to his days. Alec had been through dozens of secretaries before Simon had been sent to him and since day one Alec has been pleased, if regularly nonplussed, by his administrative assistant. Alec treasures Simon as his administrative assistant and is already mourning his inevitable departure when he finishes his doctorate in botany-- though he’s been thinking of ways to get Simon to stay for months now.

It’s a small price to pay to dish about Magnus and his family a few minutes each day, Simon’s eyes glowing with just how interested he is in the topic.

Alec and Simon grow from their strictly professional relationship into great friends.

Alec gets a kick out of seeing Simon’s face every time they’re together outside of the company. Simon’s like a kid on Christmas who’s just seen Santa as he watches Alec laugh and joke and throw around truly hideous puns to a fondly amused Magnus or Izzy.

It’s even funnier when no one believes Simon’s tales that the illustrious Alec Lightwood, CEO of the biggest company in the United States, has a sense of humor. No one believes that the man who regularly looks stoic enough to be marble is capable of understanding a joke, let alone snorting in hilarity.

It’s Simon’s definition of purgatory but he can’t complain too much when he’s brought into the Lightwood family as one of Izzy’s partners and one of Alec’s best friends.

When Magnus and Alec adopt Rafael a couple of years later, Simon tearfully accepts the offer of being a godparent.

A few weeks later, Simon tries not to pout too badly when Magnus snatches his phone out of his hand when he tries to record Alec drunkenly singing New Rules at the New Year’s Eve Party Magnus and Alec host every year at their loft.

All around, Simon learns, Alec's not only a great boss but a great friend and he takes great delight in being one of the few people Alec lets down his guard with.

Working for Mr. Lightwood was great. Being Alec's friend was even better.

[nickyschneiderus]

Just wait for confirmation hearings in the age of Facebook

If you thought the calendar defense was bizarre, brace yourself for the next couple of decades.

After an emotionally tense day—for both witnesses, albeit in different ways—many senators and onlookers may feel we’ve collectively come away from the Brett Kavanaugh/Christine Blasey Ford testimony having made little headway in the quest for the truth. Both Kavanaugh and Ford testified to the judiciary committee that they were 100 percent confident in their recollections of the day, each of which necessarily disputes the other’s. But Kavanaugh may have spoken the most profound truth in his opening statement when he characterized the last few weeks as a “calculated and orchestrated political hit” by Democrats to thwart his confirmation. He said:

“This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade confident and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country.”

He’s right, in many ways: The consequences matter. The consequences of his confirmation to the court, or his failure to be confirmed, will matter to a great number of cases yet to be decided by that judiciary body. The consequences of these senators’ behavior and comportment will be remembered by voters in November and for many election cycles to come. These consequences of this particular precedent, whichever way it goes, will be of great significance for decades, just as Ford has grappled with the consequences—or sequelae—of a single night in 1982 for the past 36 years.

The consequences of what he portrays as a “coordinated character assassination,” though, are just the beginning of technology’s expanding influence in modern American politics.

…

When Kavanaugh came forward with a defense from his summer 1982 calendar, many were shocked and suspicious. It is peculiar (but not unheard of) for a high school boy to keep a meticulous, handwritten calendar of his activities at all, let alone to retain that document for the foreseeable future.

But in reality, many present-day 17-year-olds are actively participating in that practice, willingly or otherwise. In the age of Facebook, Instagram (and Finstagram), Twitter, Tumblr, Kik, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, YouNow, and dozens of other social media sites and apps, there actually can be a detailed record of a teenager’s school day, afterschool activities, weekend parties, and breakups and makeups. Many millennials, Gen Xers, and others happily catalog their thoughts and feelings in microblogged diary entries, share photos of their friends and frenemies, and check in to places to mark their precise position for friends. It’s conceivable that you could reconstruct a summer from someone’s social posts from 2007, likely without breaking a sweat.

And as we’ve seen, social posts are increasingly under scrutiny for people in positions of power, celebrities and politicians alike. Daily Show host Trevor Noah was raked over the coals for racist tweets in his archives. Disney fired James Gunn after offensive tweets about rape and pedophilia were brought to light earlier this year. Even President Donald Trump regularly faces criticism for contradicting himself in an old tweet. (If nothing else, our Twitter-happy president has ensured that the significance of tweets will not wane anytime soon.) It is the first place many people look when the name of a mass shooter is released by the media: What did he tweet? Were there warning signs? Should his friends have known this was coming?

  Should we expect that a nominee to the Supreme Court in 2024 will need to answer for their 17-year-old self’s tweets and Facebook Likes? (At 51, Neil Gorsuch is the youngest justice currently serving on the Supreme Court, but someone as young as 32 has been confirmed. Joseph Story, who served almost 34 years beginning in 1812, ultimately died having spent more time on the court than off it.) Should a text or a decade-old post on Facebook carry as much weight as that nominee’s statements and actions?

Whether it should is practically irrelevant. We almost certainly will. In criminal trials, we already do.

…

According to American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Life of Teenagers, published in 2016, “ninety-two percent of American children have an online presence before the age of 2.” Facebook boasts 2.25 billion active users on its platform, and it long ago removed the barriers to entry for teens not yet in college. We’re a generation that’s always online, and we have the receipts to prove it.

But what happens when all those status updates, weird Reddit submissions, and moody Myspace photos become part of the public discourse?

It’s natural to want to have some answers about the content of someone’s character before handing them the reins to a government seat. Especially in the wake of the Me Too movement, there’s increased attention being paid to past indiscretions that, a generation or two ago, might never have seen the light of day. And that was before we started documenting our every move on public platforms, from #wokeuplikethis to lights out.

Sometimes, that immediately available level of detail could prove quite valuable. Many senators mentioned during yesterday’s testimony the power of “exculpatory evidence.” Could enough updates and check-ins from social media effectively have proven Kavanaugh wasn’t the man behind Ford’s assault? Or, to tip the scales toward Ford’s recollection, what if there were an Instagram video showing Kavanaugh and Mark Judge laughing about holding her down on that bed? There’s not, of course, and there never will be. But in a future version of this conversation and inquiry, the statements from Kavanaugh’s friends might read quite differently. “We don’t remember that happening” gets harder to stand by in the face of mounting evidence from countless classmates online.

…

There are plenty of problems with bringing this information into court proceedings and job interviews. Beyond the obvious questions about consent and invasions of privacy, there’s also concern about accuracy. There can be plenty of room for misinterpretation: Text lacks the nuance of spoken word, making it difficult to distinguish the connotation of simple updates. Is that tweet a suicide threat, a thoughtless life update, a sarcastic aside, an inside joke, or a pop culture reference? No one knows.

Online personas aren’t perfect, nor are they always accurate representations of the person in question. Some users intentionally misrepresent themselves on social media in order to convey a curated self who is more successful, attractive, intelligent, and so on. Countless articles have been written about the significance of this performative behavior.

So sometimes, social media will inevitably lead us to the wrong conclusions. Not that it stops people from trying to connect dots where they can. As the analysis moves to social platforms and more available social data enters the court of public opinion, it’s democratized in sometimes dangerous ways: Redditors infamously misidentified two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013, leading one man to be bullied at school. An Anonymous Twitter account claimed to have the correct suspect in the Ferguson shooting in 2014, too, but it was also wrong.

…

But the human inclination toward curiosity and our desire for answers will not rest. The entry of social media accounts into governmental proceedings is inevitable. And ultimately, it’s just an extension of our innate curiosity.

Some people livestreaming the Kavanaugh/Ford testimony might have thought some senators pushed too far in their personal queries. When Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) pried with “Did you ever black out from drinking too much alcohol?” Kavanaugh himself snapped back “Did you?” But that intense line of personal questioning is not unique to this hearing.

Consider the following example questions, prepared for prosecutor Kenneth Starr by his deputy during the impeachment proceedings of then-President Clinton:

“If Monica Lewinsky says that you ejaculated into her mouth on two occasions in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?

“If Monica Lewinsky says that you masturbated into a trashcan in your secretary’s office, would she [be] lying?”

These are deeply personal questions, disgusting ones, and detailed ones, and they are questions that the president would have been expected to answer under oath.

They were also written by Brett Kavanaugh.

With more detail available, we’re only going to go deeper down the rabbit hole.

…

In 1991, when Anita Hill testified about sexual harassment before the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas, the hearings were decidedly not livestreamed on YouTube. The senators hosting the inquiry did not immediately have their personal information doxed online—not least because the World Wide Web was still a very nascent thing, and the word “doxed” had yet to be coined.

Within our lifetimes, technology has completely unturned modern politics. Politicians are still struggling to keep up with the ramifications of streaming services on copyright law and the city codes restricting Airbnb, let alone contending with net neutrality, with gig economy workers’ rights, and with this newfound deluge of information known as social media.

READ MORE:

The shaking in Christine Blasey Ford’s voice has brought the internet to tears

Women sitting behind Kavanaugh become a meme—for the wrong reasons

‘Star Wars Resistance’ voice actress gets slammed for imitating Christine Blasey Ford

Maybe we’ll be spared. Maybe the privacy pendulum will swing the other way and all this concern will have been for naught. Indeed, some teens have begun to distance themselves from the neverending news feed, electing to keep their accounts private or limited, if not unplugging outright. The kids of Generation Z are disconnecting for a variety of reasons, including the concern that more time on social media leads to increased anxiety, stress, and depression; more than half of them take a break from their phones from time to time.

So perhaps by the time we’re picking another nominee for the Supreme Court, the laws will have sufficiently caught up, or the personal privacy settings will have been sufficiently clamped down, and the nominee will be spared the painstaking entry of each of their social updates into evidence.

But there’s not much time to get it right: Two of the sitting justices are in their eighties, and it’s likely another seat will open up before lawmakers have figured out how to balance the pursuit of the truth with the modern tendency toward oversharing on public platforms.

In the meantime, the “politics of personal destruction” are about to get a lot more personal. And that’s the truth.

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://www.dailydot.com/debug/social-media-supreme-court/