#if you remember when i used to only post vld no you dont

[tanukified]

long time no post haha........ been healing my inner child recently

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

Hey boo, I was wondering if you could help me with something

I found and reblogged these two posts when trying to figure out Matt's height in vld:

https://www.tumblr.com/rosiecottonsstuff/780898209482604544/growth-spurt?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/rosiecottonsstuff/780897974289055744/matt-holts-height?source=share

And then I remembered about this post of yours which I also reblogged earlier this week:

https://www.tumblr.com/rosiecottonsstuff/780603673439076352/help-i-need-a-cool-username-voltron-height?source=share

So I was wondering if you could help me cause I dunno how to do this shit

Thanks lovely! <3

Sure!

Blast from the past i havent thought about voltron in years lol what a nice suprise

So how i measure heights is by heads! The average head is 8-9 inches tall. So typically i

find a full body image

circle the head

copy and paste the exact same circle as the head circle and align them through the body. Likely there will be extra left over at the feet thats too small for the circles. Thats okay! Add as much of the circle as you can

Now its math time: Count the number of full circles and multiply it by 8 or 9 (when doing math with characters i know are short i'll do 8 and when we know they're tall i'll do 9)

Circle at the foot: how much circle is there? Say you went with 8 inches. If theres half a circle, add 4 inches to your current number. If its a quarter of a circle, only add 2 inches. Kinda in between? Add 3 inches. If it was 3/4ths add 6 inches. Etc

Use a online calculator to convert to either feet or cm (whatever ur measurement preference) and you got the height!

Now with cartoons (as voltron is) the result has a good chance of not ending up as a real height in real life (because the height and width of the characters is up to artistic leeway and character design and not the limits of human biology). This is why the measurements for the whole cast are all over the place in my post

HOWEVER the post you linked isnt full body.

Assuming a full body pic of both of them together cannot be found your next best bet is finding a full body pic of one of the characters. As you want to find out how much Matt grew, id recommend Pidge.

Do Pidge's math

You can then return to the pictures of them together. Draw a line across both characters from the top of their heads

Draw Pidge's circles again BUT going upward and stopping at Matt's line

Do all the same math but dont convert your measurements yet

Now you are going to take Pidge's initial height in inches and ADD the number you just got. This will give you Matt's height in that photo

Repeat on other photo

SUBTRACT the smaller height from the bigger one and you got exactly how many inches he grew! You can then convert those to cm if youd like

I hope that made sense! I think ive demonstrated how to do this on a old LOTR post so if i can find it i'll link it

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Ok so i dont particularly care about what monsantos have to say about vld especially after it ended but i still think about LM saying Allura only brought back those who died during Haggar's tantrum and "planets which died before their time and not the life on it" (or along those lines. I think it was in the interview after the show ended? Someone made a post detailing it). Like i dont know about you all, but i found the idea absolutely fascinating in a morbid way.

Cause like maybe they come back as completely empty. The planets and their landmasses come back intact, rejuvinated, but not even a whisper of the lives that once lived. The planets are back but they lay bare, even the memory of life upon it now long dead. They have potential to nourish life, but what is the point? When there is no life, no beings to be nourished. These planets came back empty shells, with their children long dead and forgotten.

Or maybe they come back as they died. Maybe their soil is deep and rich, only in the way forest soil can be, maybe there are islands made up of what used to be bones of corals. Maybe there are well trodden paths, leveled lands, diverted rivers, and mined grounds. Maybe there are empty buildings, unused roads, abandoned items of every day use, each telling a story of life that once lived but the pages are long torn and the pictures have faded. Planets which were scarred and loved by the unique life that lived on it, but the beings that did that have long since been dead. These planets come back as ruins, still haunted by its inhabitants.

Or maybe (and i am going full SCP 2935 here) the life does come back, but dead. They had been dead for thousands of years but now there are bodies here waiting to be buried. They do not rot, because decay itself needs life and everything on that planet is dead and has been dead for a long time. Frozen in time, to see them is to come face to face with the devastation brought, because it is much harder to deny personhood of a fresh corpse, than of stories and ruins and fossils. No one is left to mourn them, to remember them, to hold a funereal because everyone that could died with them. These planets come back as graveyards and memorials, holding the grim proof of what was taken from them.

[reclaimed-moved]

ITS BEEN A LONG YEAR OF MAKING FRIENDS AND LOSING TOUCH W OTHERS !! BUT THE PEOPLE IVE MET AND THE PEOPLE IVE BECOME MUTUALS W AND HAV YET TO REALLY MEET HAVE MORE THAN MADE UP FOR THOSE LOST ALONG THE WAY

CLOSE/FAVOURITE FRIENDS :

@jesternyan (my one, my only, basard), @blacktears (known u too long bro, it’s ridiculous), @dewydays (i think i met u in a server and im immeasurably grateful), @metgear (we arent ‘close’ close but talking to u and getting random sonic memes from u in my submission box is a delight), and @carolinetheanonymous2096 (isabelle,,,,, my only irl friend. ilysm)

PEOPLE IM IN SERVERS W :

@skulpio (scythe ik u never use tumblr anymore but ILYSM DUDE, getting the invite from u was an absolute life changing find. i didnt think i could ever found a friend group like this but i did and its the best thing thats happened to me in a while), @blackdeku (BECKY, the amial server is so much fun for me, i always wanted to hav friends w common interests to me but could never hold convos or consistently keep in touch w them, ur server allows me to meet and familiarize myself w people that DO hav a common interest and it makes me so happy lmao), @ishimaruchan (sorry to tag u but ur literally THE ONLY person i remember the url of from robos server bdjsbkd, rip), @diecishets (dan, ur servers kinda dead but it was THE BEST when it was fresh. btw btw btw ur total aes change that happened in a matter of days really threw me btw hdjbdj), @oppressor (owain, ur server got me back into my akira phase and i hav only u to thank djjsbdj, its been months but i still post on my akira sb like every day lol), and @nbsokka (u......... vld fan u. IDEK how we found each other w this lack of obvious common interests hdjsb. ive traded dozens of urls before but never became friends w any of them, never mind joined their server. i dont really talk in the atla server anymore but i keep the notifs on to check up on u guys once in a while, still lov u)

SHOUTOUT TO ALL MY OTHER MUTUALS. IM AT ABT 900 MUTUALS NOW SINCE I REMADE MID NOVEMBER, AND I WISH I KNEW ALL OF U BETTER, ESPECIALLY MY BNHA AND POKEMON MUTUALS. SORRY FOR LONG RAMBLY MESSAGES HDKSBFKS IM ON MOBILE AND I JUST HAVENT MADE A FF SINCE LIKE 300 MUTUALS ON MY OLD BLOG, love you all so much and i hope ur new year is amazing cause u all deserve it

[applecherry108]

first of all hooooooooolyyyy shiitttt

FUCK tungle. it took like 30 tries to log in on desktop. admittedly, i was using the wrong password at first, BUT, even when i remembered the right one it kept giving me shit. This is what i get for being L337 i guess... -_-

anyways, im only on desktop so i can add a readmore to say:

i just,,,,,hate voltron. okay? It sucked. it fucking sucked. i watched the first season and it was like, okay yeah, this has potential. and then s2 was like, okay yeah not as good but maybe s3 will pick up...

s3 didn’t pick up. it was just one long death spiral by the same idiots who fucked up the atla sequel. i hate their writing, i hate their story plots, i hate how they butcher any good ideas they have, and i especially hate their inability to have good character AND plot development happen at the same time.

I got swept up in storm of klance and that’s about it. i have soft spots for other ships but at the end of the day i don’t care. i just don.t fucking,,, care???

the fandom is a mess, the crew was a mess, everything was a fucking mess from the get go.

Like who tf is this show written for?? it has to be for like, 8-10 year olds. It has to be. Everything is just so....stupid. Nothing is ever properly explained, motivations never really given, everyone is just a 2 dimensional cardboard cutout of a trope. And that pisses me off so much bc like??? other shows aimed at young kids can still have great world building. they can have good world building and characters and overall story and still be cheesy and a lil dumb. cheesy and a lil dumb is completely fine!! but voltron is just so...godammn... BORING!! it’s like i WANT to like the characters but its just so goddamn hard when everybody is so fucking flat. by all rights, i should want to marry allura. shes everything i loved when i was little, from her color pallet to her princesshood to her white fucking hair!! i should LOVE allura but i don’t!! i kind of hate her. why?? i don’t know!! shes so...boring! and flat! and fucking PASSIVE! everything in this show lands so fucking flat holy shit.

pidge at matts “grave”? yikes, that was second hand hard to watch for like.... “oooh this is so serious!” but the buildup wasnt there...it was kind of funny tbh... and HELLA awkward...

don’t get me started on lance and hunk. bolin was my favorite look character for the first few episodes and then he got knocked to Comic Relief and had maybe two (2) importantish moments. he/they may be part of the main cast but they’re not main characters. they feel like background props to the Actual Main characters.

which brings me to keith.

FUCK keith.

that’s my reaction after every! new! season!! is just,, FUCK keith. god the show functioned SO WELL without him. he’s just so...idk. i also don’t care. what was his character arc anyway? it SHOULD have been about learning to love and trust others but we only get that in lip service and speed run character development (i hate the quantum abyss...so much... like yeah, who cares about SHOWING our characters mature, let’s just tell that it happened in afucking montage.) if keith were a properly developed character he shouldve remained PASSIONATE and idk, run support?? that boy SHOULD have piloted red, end of story. period. keith doesn’t need to lead he needs to learn to TRUST others and that insludes trusting other WITH HIS LIFE. i won’t rant about how we should have had black paladin lance, but keith should have never ever been black paladin. even after he “matures” he still sucks at. he’s this awful,,little,, Shiro 2.0. and I hate it. i ahte it and i hate shiro just a little bit. even though he was arguably the most likeable character, he shouldve stayed dead. or missing. or whatever. he didn’t need to come back and they didnt need to make keith a little offbrand clone of him. i ESPECIALLY hate that they aged keith up 2 years for no goddamn reason other than to make him the Adult (tm). keith’s dedication to others was gre4at, but it should have, and im failing for this word here so forgive me, climaxed? cresscendo’d? whatever. /resulted/ in him playing support. not leader. lone wolf keith doesn’t need how to lead his pack, he needed to learn to HELP his pack. to be a TEAM PLAYER. he didn’t want the responsibility of leading bc guess what?? some people hate leading!! there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be support! keith’s entire arc is a huge mess of missed opportunities and a grand illustration that he is lm’s and jds’ favorite, just like fucking mako.

i won’t rant about mako, but just know i fucking hate him and the special treatment he gets, and good LORD does keith take over mako. keith isn’t space zuko he’s space mako and it fucking SHOWS.

okay, i’m losing steam here, but like.... so apple, why tf where u voltron 24/7 if you hated it so much? because homestuck was over and i needed a new hyperfixation. and i really had to force it for vld tbh. and at the end of the day, it wasn’t so much about the show itself as the potential of klance (or sheith, up until s3). between the interviews, the coding, the fucking EVERYTHING--it really felt like it could be canon. i knew in my heart it was queer baiting but i had HOPE dammit. hope that this could be killer representation, hope that these characters would delvelopment into something incredible. again, there was so much POTENTIAL. and all of it was wasted. everything really came to a head during the fucking game show episode. it was like lm and lds giving everyone who likes lance the middle finger, really driving home that “no no, he IS just stupid. he’s the comic releif. there’s nothing deeper about him and no one will stand up for him bc they all think of him as such.” and that just....broke my heart. we were so...SO close to lance actually mattering but nope! bolin’d again! and what was his purpose in s8? why to be an accessory to allura of course!

i’ve seen a lot of people really divorce themselves from canon and live solely for fanon, esp fanon klance but like.... i can’t. i just can’t. it’s so fucking hard to work with these cardboard characters. you can only draw so much depth onto them, you know? until the very last moments they had potential, but then it all got snuffed out. but who cares about canon? why bother with it? because! we don’t have a solid consistent fanon version of them! no one sat down and delivered the ten commandments of “here’s what we agree k and l are actually like” it’s stupid and it sucks because everyone has their own little differences and its so so tiring to basically be interacting with minutely different ocs all the goddamn time. canon matters bc it gives everyone the same base to work with. like a cooking showing with the same basket ingredients, but now it’s like.... ya’ll don’t wanna use the mandatory ingredients (and why would you? those canon ingredients are like, a century egg and spoiled sardines, they’re awful.)

okay, and im at work and just came back to this and dont remember my train of thought so like... what really threw all this into sharp clarity was the recent steven universe episodes. they were so...GOOD. so fucking good. so much plot and foreshadowing coming to a head. it was such a wonderfully satisfying payoff that it made me remember what a GOOD show is like, how vld is so very very /bad/. the difference is fucking striking. where one is an intricately woven tale with excellent character development and clear story AND character arcs, that can progress AT THE SAME TIME, one is a hacked together flaming dumpster firing that constantly falls flat and doesn’t know where its going or why. and it s so BORING! like fight scenes can be amazing! they can be well coreographed and tense! and we as the audience can be anxious about the outcome! and vld just wasn’t that! it was boring repetetive action in the least exciting way. and where su set up a lot of potential, holy shit they DELIVERED on that potential. not just for rep, but for characters! for story! for plain ol simple character interactions! and then, again, two dimensional cardboard cutouts.

and now with this difference in good vs bad show so very clearly highlighted for me, i just.... i can’t, anymore, with vld. it sucks. it sucked and i can’t pretend or force a fixation with it that just isn’t there, and truthfully, probably never was. maybe that’s why i’ve been struggling to finish my fic, struggling ever since i posted the last chapter, ever since s7, which, again, that game show was really the nail in the coffin as far as holding onto any hope that this tire fire would ever pick up. like a physically feel ill trying to finishing this stupid fic bc i don’t care so hard. i don’t care and i just... really want to be over it. im sick of seeing it everywhere, im sick of the drama, of the Discourse. like all fandoms have their issues, but hold fuck does vld fandom have a massive Purity problem. like, god, let people ship whatever. who cares. die mad about it.

like homestuck, idk if i’ll ever fully ween myself off vld but i want to move on. i want to enjoy Other Things without having this lackluster weight on my shoulders. and more than anything, i want to stop feeling like im obligated to like the same shit as i did two years ago, or last year, or hell, last week! feel free to unfollow, but yeah i just.... really needed to let this out in a proper post and not in the misc tags somewhere.

[xuune]

Hello! I love your artwork and comics! The way you use that art style and colors is just beyond gorgeous. I didn't hate or like the Klance ship so much (especially with how crazy the fandom gets over all these ships) but I truly enjoy the way you portray the relationship between Keith and Lance. It's so sweet and romantic and fun! I was just wondering when the show's over, would you like for there to be a sequel? To see them Paladins as adults and to see how they're different since the war?

ayyy glad you love my stuff im gonna be posting something today so you can look out for that B^) (side note: i usually stay out of the vld tags now, i just pay attention to stuff from klance rebloggers that i follow) 

as for the show, i most likely would only prefer a sequel if it takes exactly right after the war (no timeskips cuz that shit sucks ass) and goes more into world building and exploration of characters. thats what the show is really lacking lol. if you compare it to atla, the way atla paces their episodes are pretty well written and aligns with world building/character development (im only bringing up atla bc their construction of their fictional world was one of the few cartoons that actually did it well). vld barely had any time to do that since there was the issue of having too much story + no time to dive deeper into those parts of the world (as said in a article that i dont remember where). 

i usually dont like sequels where it focuses on them aged up and all that. kind of places a dissonance with what characters were initially introduced to the viewers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[starfaring-princelotor]

Oh my god if i was in voltron i would have gone to team voltron and been like excuse me lotor just saved us !!! And you put him a cell?? Image like shaming them for being racist against glara, and sticking up for lotor and in season 6 . Like um we dont even know this altean ?? Im sorry this is kinda a rant / request i just want someone to always give lotor the benefit of the doubt and treat him like a god damn person

That’s one reason why I do adore VLD because of the weird jumps they have between different races and how not one race is super “perfect” due to different situations. Remember when Shay’s brother turned in Coran, Hunk, and her for his family’s protection? Good shit. Or how about King Lubos betraying his people and pretty much letting them be enslaved by the Galra to protect them? GOOD. SHIT. The best thing is that all these betrayals, or at least most of them, stem from what they all thought was the best option available.

And the dynamic with Allura and Keith and Lotor and Romelle? AND HAGGAR? Allura was so surprised to see another Altean in S2…an Altean that nearly killed Voltron. Anyways, I digress, I could go deeper, but I feel a small story is best to get my vent out, so here is your request!

Originally posted by picturesoflotoreveryday.

Judgement

Pairings: Lotor x Reader

★ Disclaimer: I do not ship Lotura and I respectfully ask that this story to not be tagged as Lotura. This is a Lotor x Reader/Self-Insert OC story which is in no way related to Allura at all. Please be respectful of my chosen pairing.  ★

“You know….they hate you.”

Prim, proper, stock still with your hands folded behind your back, your appearance reminded Lotor of his Governess, Dayak. Even from his sitting position on the steps, he could feel the familiar sternness radiating from your being. Lotor’s unblinking stare flicked to your eyes, but he held no challenge behind them. He has dealt with this distrust before and he will most likely deal with it again. And again. And again.

“I am aware of this,” he spoke plainly, fingers crossed in the same proper way yours were, “It matters not. We all wish to achieve the same goal in the end and that is of the utmost importance to me.”Your eyes flickered to the floor, not in hesitance but more in thought, “They don’t…I don’t believe they are in the right to judge, is all.”

Now, that got Prince Lotor’s attention. Yes, Allura and Shiro were much more of the head of their group than the others, so how they viewed and value Lotor was more vital. You, however…you were a simple refugee. A coalition soldier who had no place to call home anymore. No doubt thanks to the Galra Empire swarming like hungry locusts to any planet with life available. It was one of his biggest shames to be related to that part of his father’s history and he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrow at your oddly kind words.

Lotor said nothing, but it seemed you had much more to say to him, “My people…The V’salipar, we live in the now. We thank in the now, we judge in the now. We punish in the now. All we ask is that we be viewed in the same light.”

Yes, you joined the coalition forces for good reasons, good hopes and dreams. They took you and your survivors in when dangers were high and survival chances dropped in the single digits. Proud, strong people with equally proud and strong souls. News of Lotor’s assistance did not fall on deaf ears, though you wished to understand the Prince’s intentions in person. He seemed genuine, tame even, behind that barrier and, perhaps, this would be the only time he would be this docile.

“What I’m trying to say is,” you continued while he remained silent, studying, “Thank you. For…saving the coalition in that battle. For saving Voltron and for…for joining the fight against your father.”

You could not possibly know the relationship between him and his heritage, nor of the culture he grew up with when it came to his father, Zarkon. Regardless, you already made your choice to trust his actions, for now. You were part of the proud, strong people, but you had a soft heart. An easily delusional heart that, with Prince Lotor, you wished with all your soul he stay true to his word. How did the saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In this case, who was the enemy and who was the friend?

“I appreciate the sentiment,” he stood up fully and walked as close as he could to you, “I would shake your hand, though given the circumstances, I must resort to simply saying this: Thank you. It is not easy to undo thousands of years of war and desolation, but perhaps, this…this is the first step.”

And that was enough for you to trust him in full.

[sol1056]

Do u think the bad writing in VLD has been rife since the 1st episode? Or is this a new devt in S3? I've always thought the writing has always been oversimple since the start. I fucking hated that finger counting bit just about as things were getting serious and that was the pilot. And things always got resolved in like 1 episode. Like hello? They were able to bond and form Voltron in 1 episode? (1/2)

I dont get ppls expectations abt the show which for me has always been unsophisticated and juvenile albeit still entertaining. Maybe its just a case of BNFs headcanons being mistaken for canon by fandom bc of the long periods bw seasons. (2/2)

I feel like this is actually two questions, so I’m going to answer the shorter one (ahaha yes this is a short answer!) here, and get into the measure of writing quality in a separate post. 

When it comes to BNFs, I’ve gotten reasonably good at identifying their personal agendas masquerading as analysis. That said, yes, the long gap definitely gives time for head canons to percolate, and I’m not entirely convinced that this works for this kind of story. (Or alternately, that this crew of EPs/writers realize the extent to which one-season drops radically alter the viewing experience, and how storytelling methods need to adjust.) 

Truth is, I had zero expectations for VLD. I remember the original and let’s just say, I’ve moved on. On the other hand, my exposure to AtLA’s tonal shifts (from serious to ham-fisted comedic in nothing flat) meant I was used to gritting my teeth through tin-eared comedy-attempts like meat thermometers or finger-counting. 

And then there’s issue of unsophisticated or juvenile storytelling.  

I am probably not the only person here who’s been spoiled by Japanese storytelling, since most anime from a decent-enough production house will integrate levity and gravity pretty seamlessly. I think American productions’ humor isn’t an issue of skill, but symptomatic of deeper problems. 

The first, and biggest, is that American animation struggles to be seen (and by extension, seeing itself) as a valid form of storytelling. Animation is treated as a soap bubble (no lasting impact on the popular culture landscape) and cotton candy (inconsequential, mindless consumption). I can almost guarantee you that any writer or VA involved with VLD is probably asked semi-regularly, “when are you going to write/act/work on a real story?’ 

With that dismissal in mind, those radical tonal shifts (from serious to juvenile) can sometimes be a sign that creators are too-aware of this mindset, and too-afraid of being mocked for treating this like it’s a ‘real’ story. So humor is used as a wink at the audience: don’t worry, we’re not getting carried away and thinking we’re doing shakespeare, we totally get this isn’t worth taking seriously. 

[I hate that, by the way. Respect your goddamn story or find another job.] 

When humor is used organically, it works. Lance trying to create a cheer and Keith not getting the point is both awkward and kind of adorable, as a way to characterize how out-of-sync they are. But humor like meat thermometers signal not-taking-this-seriously, and you can tell, and that’s what makes it so jarring. 

And the reason you can tell is because the writers’ contortion is right there in the script. Hell, you can even see it in the way the VAs handle it, too. 

Allura: And it’s a good thing it wasn’t because it took you… Coran? Coran: Seventy-five degrees. Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer.Allura: However long it was, it was too long.

You could simply remove Coran’s entire line without changing the scene. It’s an aside, with no integration. And if you listen to the VA delivery, there’s a half-beat and the next line carries on as if Coran never said anything. There’s no reaction. It’s literally wasted breath, wasted animation.

To me, that’s a sign the writers were trying to juggle that tension between ‘this is for kids, it means nothing’ and ‘this is a crucial scene to establish stakes’. So they throw in silliness to satisfy the first, but integrating that humor would elevate it out of that wink-to-audience mode. Done right, comedy is as much serious business as drama, and both require seeing the story as more than insubstantial, forgettable cotton candy. 

The most important thing to remember is probably this: even if these writers believe in their story and want to do right by it, they’re still up against a powerful corporate structure that sees cartoons as nothing more than an elaborate way to sell merchandise. To that corporate overlord, a writer’s measure of success – people showing up at writer panels at cons, a vibrant community of fanfic and fanart and fanlore, fan questions on podcasts, basically so many people embracing the story, the characters, the world – means absolutely nothing to the corporate overlords if no one buys the merchandise. 

Let me reiterate that, in bold, so the bottom line is clear:

A stupid story with flat characters and cheap animation that sells a bajillion lunchboxes or gunpla or whatever will always be judged ‘more successful’ by the corporate overlords than any story that doesn’t move merchandise, no matter how well-told or beloved by the fans. 

To a good writer, the story is an end in itself. To the corporate overlords, the story is wrapping paper around the check they get every month: watched once, torn away to get the good stuff, and quickly forgotten. When you combine American popular perception of cartoons with corporate overlord agendas, it’s damn near a miracle we’ve gotten even scraps of any good from VLD, and that’s an entirely separate issue from whether the EPs/writers can create a good story in the first place.

(Meanwhile fandom collects every bit of the wrapping paper, saves it, cuts it up, tapes it back together in a completely new shape, and then gets into flamewars over whose reconstruction was the best.) 

One last note: I am, at the very least, pleased that the VLD casting director chose seasoned VAs with substantial chops. AtLA gave itself extra trouble by choosing VAs for their age rather than skill (oh god that was painful until they leveled up). VLD hasn’t made that mistake; even when the script stays serious, a bad VA can still ruin it with a wink at the audience and undermine a scene’s emotional heft. The VLD VAs have done a fairly good job of not dropping to that level, and in a few places I do think that’s what’s kept me watching even when other elements are substantially under-par. 

[bi-dazai]

okay here’s the 3 roots to all the problems in the writing in vld s4:

hi so right from the bat i was realising all these problems with uh. everything (including the art style?? who the fuck was in charge of drawing keith?? he has the same inaccuracy as fucking clone!shiro lmao). anyway if there are problems in writing, then you can actually trace it back to its roots and address the problem there, instead of just judging the outcome of the roots. 

there are also other tinier aspects of the show’s writing - like some moments of complete tonal whiplash (watch this video on star wars rebels if you’re curious about tonal whiplash) - which are just simply bad writing. but if you were wondering exactly what the fuck the vld writers’ deal is with s4, then this post will tell you. 

anyway, take this as a guide in how to critique s4, and how to not make these mistakes in your own writing.

1. loss of balance as the writers divert all writing to plot writing. 

so when you write a story, there’s a balance you have to find between character writing, relationship writing, and plot writing. depending on your story and your style, you’ll have more focus on one or two and less on another, but for a good story it won’t go to massive extremes and it will have a reasonable amount on each. for example, boku no hero academia is pretty much almost completely character writing, with a large focus on relationship writing from about the sports carnival arc onwards, but the plot is still really good because it isn’t forgotten about. avatar: the last airbender is character and plot-driven, but there’s still relationships built up and not forgotten about. 

so what is voltron: legendary defender? across s1-3, it had a HUGE focus on plot, a focus to the point that it was uh. risky. that focus is so much that you should only approach it if you know how to maintain that balance. vld’s focus on plot was toeing the line of too much - to the point that character writing was almost completely void, and relationship writing was extremely subtle. however, with keith’s arc in s2 and 3 and the developing relationships between keith and lance and lance and allura coupling in with subtle character development which allowed these relationships to develop and fuel the plot, vld actually handled it quite well. it’s why ive been saying this whole time to stop railing on the writers so hard because they chose a balance that’s extremely hard to keep and they actually pulled it off in a pretty impressive way when you factor in that difficulty. i regard s3 as a masterpiece - in 7 episodes the pacing was perfect despite plot accelerating massively and character relationships and development proceeding at a similar fast pace. 

where did s4 go wrong, then? well,  the writers forgot about that balance. they had plot points in mind, and they were sidetracked by these grand plans for t h e p l o t. pidge finding her brother, the introduction of the rebel alliance, keith leaving voltron, lotor being exiled, naxzala being attacked. all these plot points are really good!! and the plot was actually really good. but what went wrong is (mainly) the writers forgetting that they need that equilibrium, that balance (other reasons to do with plot are described below). they chose a balance that is much more delicate than many other stories, and this season they dumped a ten tonne weight on it because they forgot how fucking delicate it is. (i actually have a feeling this has to do with the way lok was written and i think they got used to that, send me an ask if you want me to talk about it more).

2. too much crammed into 6 episodes = destruction of pacing. 

i mentioned that the plot was good. it is. but it doesn’t feel that way, right? right. that’s because the ideas and the progression is good. but there is too much for this little screentime. lotor went from villain to “zuko” within 13 episodes, no, two episodes. that’s shit. do you remember actual zuko? that arc took years, and it began from the first episode. lotor? the redemption arc has taking uh. 40 minutes. and honestly, that is shit writing. 

another thing i had massive problems with - pidge’s episode. and that was my favourite episode for this season. this episode’s first bit is pidge finding and reuniting with her brother. and it’s really good! but i was watching it and thinking, “wow this is uh. this is moving a bit fast. we’re cutting away too soon on all of the scenes and shots. everything feels kinda cramped, time-wise.” well guess why!!??!!!?! the writers want to move the goddamn plot forward again!! the best episode of the season is completely ruined because instead of taking the entire episode to really dwell on pidge’s emotions and make us properly root for pidge’s journey (a la s3e5 - “the journey”), we take half the episode so that pidge and matt can reunite in two minutes and we can come back and do. PLOT RELATED STUFF. FUCKING CHRIST!!!! this is the episode that we have literally been waiting for since the first episode. and it’s fucking cut off by OTHER PLOTS. can someone please get briyan konietzko in here and explain to lm and jds what the fucking fuck CHARACTER AND RELATIONSHIP EPISODES ARE??!!?!!! HOLY SHIT!!! 

every shot in every scene in every episode of s4 isnt the full fucking thing!! listen - part of film language is how long you dwell on each shot, and how these shots are edited together. let me put this into layman’s terms - all the scenes and shots in s4 are just very vague, understandable descriptions of the actual scenes and shots. this aspect of the language of film is the difference between, “can i have water?” and “could I please get a glass of water?”/ “get me a glass of water now!”. you don’t get the emotion. you dont get the full effect. it’s just a summary of what happened. that was the entirety of how s4 was edited and put together, and it’s like that so that the writers could fit at least 13 episodes of plot into 6. with shortened, half-assed shots put together with cuts as transitions. i dont think i saw a single fade in/out/to in the entire season. all that i’ve described - it ruins pacing when it’s half-assed, and this was no-assed. the editing, the pacing - it’s close to fucking terrible b-movie standard. this is coming out of fucking dreamworks, out of tim hendrick, out of people from motherfucking legend of korra and avatar: the last airbender. the pacing of s4 is embarrassing.

3. getting too much into the current situation of the show, and forgetting about set-up.

after s1, 2, and 3, (particularly 2 and 3) people were making up theories, pulling from shot composition, pulling from hints. and guess what?! a lot of it paid off, or started to pay off! you know why? when writing s1, 2, and 3, every aspect of the writing (characters, plot, dialogue, etc) and even the film language referenced each other. voltron: legendary defender, across its first two seasons, established a subset of film language of its own. it’s because of that devotion to referencing past events and aspects of the show that things like @koganya​ ‘s massive klance masterposts could be made and believed. s4 is fundamentally not a vld season because it forgot its own fucking language. there’s no clever shot composition, no clever reference to past events or episodes, nothing. it’s so fucking flat. i don’t know what happened, but we got s3 - which spent the entire time pretty much worshipping its own film language to hint at stuff and then we got s4 - where the writers got tunnel vision of their own plot-related visions of grandeur that they forgot to write a season of voltron: legendary defender. this is so fucking ignorant of their own fucking show. fuck!!!

okay thanks for reading and please share!! this guide can help when critiquing the show and since there’s gonna be a lot of that then i feel it’s super important to have these posts!!

[queenangst]

how to have a good Fandom Experience

a short guide by me !!! ★

there’s a lot of discourse going down... uh... everywhere, so i’d just like to share a couple resources that might be of use.

this is a post... inspired by the vld fandom but should be used in every fandom! police ur own content, y’all

i want to remind everyone that what u see on the internet can be controlled by u!! no biggie! if u dont wanna see stuff, u don’t have to see that stuff! u don’t gotta go around on anon picking fights or spreading hate. that’s fun for no one.

tumblr: 

on tumblr u can blacklist tags (which means posts that contain those tags don’t show up on ur dash), and u can also use that handy-dandy block. 

tumblr savior (google chrome extension) for blacklisting tags

washboard (mobile devices) for blacklisting tags

this only applies to ur browser tho and not the app! here’s a step by step on how to use it, and it can also get tags from ur tumblr savior

common tags for discourse

“[fandom] discourse”

“discourse”

for voltron specifically many blogs will tag “age discourse”

reminder: if u follow a blog, u can ask them to tag something for u !!! if u like their content but u dont like to see a specific ship, ask to tag!!

many users will be happy to tag their posts for u. if they say no, then why are u !! still following them !!

how to block users 

ao3: 

the really cool thing about ao3 as a reading site is that most works are tagged! if there’s a ship/author u don’t want to read, you can blacklist them, similar to tumblr.

ao3rdr (google chrome extension)

an example on blacklisting tags:

you can also sorta “blacklist” authors by putting their user in the tag* (credit to @stuffoverthechocolate for showing me.) i’m blocking myself as an example:

*not an official feature

other notes: 

my dear friend tea (over at @sadrien/@grohver) wrote an incredible response to an ask over on her blog about discourse and how to keep ur experience on tumblr a good one. you can read it here!

she makes another good point to bring up: be careful when ur tagging ur hate! 

aka: if i make a post talking about how much i dislike/hate/critize x character or xy ship, putting “anti x” or “anti xy” will still let it show up in the tags for x or xy. 

instead, replace a letter with something else, so those who do like the ship won’t see ur post. be nice!! u can say what u want, but there’s no need for another user to read ur crit/hate if they’re in the tags just enjoying a character/ship they like.

example: i’m not fond of the popular ship Manon/Dorian from Throne of Glass. when i make posts or answer asks about my opinions on them, i typically tag with anti m@norian, replacing the a with an @ symbol.

that way, people who do ship them don’t have to see my posts! easy peasy! 

popular replacements: 

@ for a

1 or / for i and l

0 for o 

remember to follow blogs that produce content that u enjoy !! make some cool friends, not enemies. if u get mad or riled up bc of something u see, close ur electronic device and get up and take a walk !! don’t go on anon and send hate. don’t call up ur friends to gang up and bully someone who has different opinions than u.

here is a cute list of things u can do instead of (pardon me) being an asshole or for those moments when u forget these characters aren’t real. they’re fictional ok, take a chill pill, go do some self care!!!

remember fandom and shipping should be fun !!! if ur not having fun maybe u need to take a step back and think about how u can 

if anyone has any resources or other things they’d like to add, u can send me an ask and i’ll add it to this list! the more, the better

that’s all. thanks for reading !! now go out and have a good Fandom Experience 

[angel-nero]

11 questions...

I was tagged by @pureren @zaevran @glaspaladin @z-ayauitl and @kcgane ty so much !!! ♥

RULES: 1. Always post the rules 2. Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people

my questions…

1. what’s the worst piece of clothing you own?

2. what’s the coolest piece of uh fashion that is so cool you can’t even wear to go out? lol

3.- what book have you read that you feel it has been the worst?

4.- What’s the healthiest meal you actually like?

5.- do you love keith kogane? (or vld keith lmfao what u prefer to use)

6.- something paranormal ever happened to you? if yea, what?

7.- do you get jealous easily? with who? (friends, popular ppl, talented ppl, the s/m)

8.- what’s the cutest thing you own?

9.- what are your favorite crisps?

10.- do you have a favourite drink?

11.- can you tell im hungry? what hobby you wish you liked or wish you did?

i tag: @kukinta​ @kittyr0se​ @heirith​ @liesfromsatansbuttcheeks​ @sheith-love-always​ @acequeenm​ @blessedkeith​ @lukaspatel​ @ke1th​ @ace-pidge​ @keith8​ but only if you want to!

TESSA’SS AND!! TAMI’S QUESTIONS1!!!

1.  Do you connect with people easily?

mmm, I don’t becos im a very quiet person and can be w u w/o talking at all and I get overwhelmed by convos I don’t care about also it’s kinda hard to win my trust and also interest lol. I’m nice tho, i mite not be enjoying myself but i’ll forev b nice w u.  

2. Did something good happen to you this week?

uH yeah, i’m doing things to improve my health, i did my uni exam, im frEE, i finally don’t have to go to rEliGIoUs classes aNYMORE and UH,,, i got a diet to win weight and its cool i get to eat ESQUITE LMFAO. i will see my bffs in friday and i have browney mix there i should bake but im lazy

3. What’s the personality trait that annoys you most in other people?

When people pretend to like something just 2 b friends w someone or ME, do you know we can be total dif and maybe still b friends if u cOOL. Ass kissers, hypocrisy, LIES LOL. I don’t like fake ppl at all.

4. If you could participate in any existing tv reality show, which one would you choose?

The ones where they change ur style and buy clothes for u 2 love urself and do ur hair and make up and buy u xpensive undies. I loved that crap when i was in secondary school lmao

5. What’s something you’re insecure about?

That I can’t be in one place without wanting tofuckin run, the fact that i can’t eat w ppl at all, that i have to go to the fucken gYM

6. What’s your favourite way to hang out with friends?

:’)) well,,, i go to my bff’s house or they come. If im fine then walk around my neighborhood cus it’s nice ahaha anxiety am i rite. oKAY, even if i get anxiety i like ice skating, or roller skating, i have a lot of fun. My friend want us to go to this pixies concert and im like :(( boo i love u

7. What’s your favourite fic trope?

lol idk,,,,, pining? mutual pining? no pining and they getting to know therngs im melttin sTOP idk…… it depends on whAT shIP. I just know i’ll read any fake dating of my otp. idk idk duuuude i legit don kno. It’s not a trope but i love crunchy feelings, showefjsid fksjnj its hard to talk about this im sOrry

8. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve liked in the past?

hahahahahaha my crush

9. What do you consider to be the best period of your life?

When I was 14. I went to parties more than i go to them now lol, i drank and smokkd w who where my best friends back theN i know it’s whack. we used to go to roller skate? all the damn time and did sleepovers and everything was funny, we practically lived together and my friend that was 16 drove us to places lmao,, everything was so good. but like, dont imagine me too wild i only smokd like 5 cigs in my life and hookah and we even broke one.

10. What do you consider to be the worst period of your life?

mpghgg, when i turned 15,,, in the middle of it everythin went to shit to the actual date. But im trying to change that

11. How did you meet your best friend?

I met her,,,, 11 years ago. Look, I usually have best friends in pack. I have 3 bffs at the moment, one of them sat next to me in 2nd year of primary school. IDK how i got to actually know my absolute bff tho but we did a lot of weird shit. we also met in the same classroom and she was my bff back then. The third one was also a frind but not so much during those years. Later i changed of classrooms and shit and bonded more when I was 14 w 6 friends and those r i did crazy shit w but we got separated and stopped talkin and they invited me to the club a week before my uni exam but i was high on meds and sick af. and never replied also going to meet em again at the club makes me nervous af tbH…. I have had a lot of super close friends in my life wTf. In my new school i have also 7 friends that r super close.And we’re also a pack of bffs. I actually had a hard time to use the word bestfriend lol, not bc of me havin a lot or anythin, i was just emo i guess

BEX’S QUESTIONS YOo

1. What’s the strangest nickname you’ve ever been given?

:))))))))))))))))))))))))) gabhole, gabaloney, TETI THAT SOUNDS LIKE TITTY. now ft Aztec secret 

2. Do you like to gossip?

UMMMMMM,, i dont like to listen to another ppl judging someone, I hate it and i normally tell them to stop. it depends i guess

3. Are you afraid of the dark? um,,, no but i dont like it lol

4.Have you ever been stung by a bee?

no, but i steppeddd on one. I also was pickin a tree and till this day i dont knoW wTF it was but i had something big in my middle finger and it fucken hurt like a bitch and i had A BALL on it UGHHHHH I HATE BUGS

Bigfoot or mothman? fucking none

Do you trust anyone with your life? i mean, idk

Do you have any habits you wish you could break? yEAH, to stop tweeting my mental breakdowns is one lmao. 

Would you go ghost/alien hunting? 

both tbh, who wants to break into abandoned houses w me, i live in front of one,,, i mean not so infront but in the row of houses infront of me lmao english whO? dude rosetta stoned by tool is my aesthetic, alien stuff. bex listen to it pls

Best pickup line? (you’ve heard or used on you/you’ve used)

u r the best chair *proceeds to sit on em* keith to shiro probably

Mint or fruit gum?

I dont like gum much cos it makes me hungry or thirsty. I also drink too much soda to fuck w mint stuff :(( say that to the mints i bought lol :( i only eat halls or gum bc im nerves w ppl so they stopped bein a thing i enjoy for me lol. i do that since im like,,, uh,,, idK 15. it fuckd my stomach

What do you want to be remembered for?

I mean if I have to pick and b unrealistic, for art maybe,,, or for the thing i end up working with, like architecture or somethin. Art, def art cus i like art so much

ZURI’S QUESTIONS!!!

1.-if you had to chose one thing to eat for the rest of your life what would it be? 

I MEAN THIS QUESTION IS THE DEVIL I GET TIRED OF EVERYTHING TO THE POINT I DONT WNAN EAT ANYTHING I WILL JUST IGNORE IT SSAYS ONE AND SAY MEXICAN FOOD

2.- what are you most afraid of? Mental illnes and being ill and living 

3.- do you have a favorite place to visit?

I mean,,,, i love walking in the center? centre? of my city bc is like going to another place. Is also fucking Cuba in there. Everyone says that, my dad asked a cuban marine he met if it was true and he said it was ‘’ the fackin same’’ So its like,,, travelling in time and places. also the beach and the port.

4.- what type of weather you enjoy the most?

I need the sun, otherwise i get sad… i like cloudy w sun. I just like to go out in the afternoon tho lol so like,,, sun pls so the sky can turn pinkish

5.- do you have a rare ability like dislocating your thumb or moving your eyes really fast?

i move my tongue real real fast and also can do the cherry knot thing and uh i can like, be aberrantly stupid too. hey but dont fuk w me and bother me 4 bein stupid, i will fist fite u and i mite b stupid but i will also mite think u r stupid if i don like u so fuk off. Dam,,, i get like, bothered so easy LOL like, think u r better than me and i’ll fist fite u LMFAO WHY THO I SUK, but like, if not bothered, i think of everyone as my equal… wow this was not the question

6.- do you think it would be easier to create one universal lenguage or an accurate translator? nO… dont delete culture like that,,, an accurate translator mite come in handy u kno but like, some languages have words that don’t exist in others so like :-/

7.- is there something that soothes you no matter what? um no i wish

8.- favorite piece of clothing? boots and thights

9.- is there a song stuck in your head right now? YEAH dig down by muse i love it, every1 says it sUCLks but i can’t stop listenin to it

10.- why is your favorite animal your favorite animal? i don play favs but i love the honey badger bc of this pleas fuckin watch it and THIS

11.- morning person or late riser? Oh,, i cant wake up to save my life so late riser

SUNNY’S QUESTIONS!!!

1. do you have any plushies? a LOT but im like,,, they r in my wardrobe and i luv em but like,,, they’re all gifts,,, did u kno one of my past bffs bought me a dino for christmas?

2. have you ever walked out the cinema before? 

Yeah, i love drive’s aesthetic and Ryan gosling a lot but is SO boring so idk if my friends and I got kicked out or we prefered to get out to talk haha. 

3. if you could have a mascot what would it be and why?

A CHINCHILLA, they’re a irl pokemon and they r so cUTE

4. what would your theme song be? kool thing, sonic youth maybe or is she weird by pixies. All Over the world by pixies too lol

5. do you have any phrases or sayings you find yourself coming back to often? not really, im so bad at remembering sayings and quotes

6what’s the nearest object to your right? a book called azul by ruben dario

7. would you rather live in the big city or out in the middle of nature? 

Big city forever. I love high? buildings a lot. I dont do that well in the rural life lmao 

8. are you working on any creative projects right now (fic/art/music/photography/ect) Nope at all and das sad cus i should b doing art lmao

9. what’s your favourite movie score? idk what is score… but the soundtrack of trainspotting is one of my favs… oh but score… aghgsdhaj any tarantino movie tbh or wes anderson movie… or before I disappear or demolition oR southpaw or the girl w the dragon tattoo

10. i say vol you say….? uuhhhhh,,,,,  vol….tron??? (ICONIC, I MELT, I LVOE HIM)

[bluebeetle]

Shiros age isn't confirmed though? It's literally listed as "Unknown" on his wiki, plus it's doubtful he's in his mid twenties if the majority of VLD related content (like the comic) it refers to the Paladins as "five teenagers from earth" so going by that it's clear he's at least closer to twenty than thirty

except he’s clearly an adult lmao ?? like it takes five seconds of thought to realise that. in fact he seems older than the canon age,25, to me… unfortunately ages are often skewed in fiction due to adults playing teens or people younger than they are often.

also if he wasnt an adult, why would having sex with an alien be comparable to sheith? i mean its not either way, but if sheith was just a-okay two consenting teens…… theres not need for a comparison, so regardless that post** was going off of the idea of sheith being adult/minor.

but do you want some proof of Shiro being an adult?

1) The voltron wiki is a FAN source. Wiki’s get things wrong. If I had a dime for every wiki that refused to accept a character was trans (like killua’s lil sis from hxh)… man. also it can easily be CHANGED. in fact i remember it saying he was 25 not that long ago.

also the ages were said by the crew at SDCC last year. see the video here that specifically states BY THE CREATORS that shiro is an ADULT around 25, pidge is 14, the rest are late teens (ie 16-17, since Lance’s VA is saying he’s 16 and keith is likely the same age)

when pressed more, Tim Hedrick (a writer for voltron) said that they had already confirmed the ages, likely referring to that video which he is in.

2) his design. he is clearly older than everyone– smaller eyes, different facial proportions. designs arent always the most reliable way, yes, but with voltron its simple enough to figure out.

3) he’s a senior officer, as said outright by lance–a trainee who is around 16.the galaxy garrison is a type of military school mixed with a military, after all. 

shiro is shown in a uniform at one point more like the teachers uniforms (slightly different) then the trainees at some point.

not only that, but he is clearly treated like an adult by most of the cast with how they interact with him and clearly look up to him. no matter what, there is a power imbalance. 

4) five teenagers sounds better than 4 teens and an adult, also it’s the comics not the show–different people are likely writing it and sometimes things get messed up. plus things can be retconned. HELL comics are retconned all the time boi dont get me started.

i havent rly seen any other sources than that comic calling him a teen, except maybe an old netflix desc. which again. isnt the show. 

so in conclusion: literally everything except for one line from the COMICS, not the SHOW, point towards Shiro being an ADULT and Keith a CHILD and y'all need to accept that!!

**edit: since people are reblogging this, this is the post for context that sparked this particular ask. also yes im aware i originally went 1,2,3,5 im a tired college student let me rest

also if ur seeing this post in the sheith ‘tag’ its cuz ur using the awful search system and that aint my fault [shrug]

[langst-wins]

^^^^ that, too.

the main point of the post was that I know the people who hate klance deep down to their bones are going to become toxics themselves if klance becomes canon, and try to claim we only "got our way" because we were so annoying and horrible that they just wanted to appease us. because I've already seen YouTube comments where people are like "if it becomes canon just to appease those stupid toxic klancers I'm gonna scream, dont do that to us vld"

and like...they've been saying for years that they're never going to make something canon just because its popular. they are going to do what they think is right by the story and the characters, which is very admirable imo, I wish more creators had that mindset.

people who hate klance are so quick to bring this up when they're trying to convince us it wont happen, but if it actually does become canon, I just know they're going to go full hypocrite on us and say we just annoyed them into it by being horrible and toxic and they were scared of what we'd do if they didnt make it canon, or some shit like that.

i know I say this on my blog at least five times a day but I d e s p i s e mass generalization of large groups of people. people are individuals with complex opinions and personalities, and deserve to be viewed as such.

the vast majority of klancers are just here for fun. the vast majority of klancers are not bad people. I understand how someone would think badly of our ship if they've gotten hate or had bad experiences with klancers in the past, but its just such a naive mindset to say "these people from this demographic did something bad to me, therefore all people of this demographic are bad." sound familiar? it should. that's the exact basis for pretty much all bigotry in the world. yikes. maybe you dont wanna go down that path.

of course I'm not talking about EVERYONE who doesn't ship it. the majority of the fandom is pretty chill and just wants to enjoy the show. I'm talking about the handful of people who are already starting to say crap like this.

but absolutely ONE HUNDRED PERCENT what @nocturnalcat1412 said. If it's not canon, the klance following is big enough that the fanfics and fan art will continue for years to come. I'm pretty certain it will be, and I'll be disappointed if it's not, but I'm not gonna be a bitch about it because I'm a grown ass adult and at the end of the day its just a ship.

I just. wish everyone. on every side of this equation. could just take a deep breath and remember we were all damn grown ass adults and it's just a fictional ship in a fictional show. don't get me wrong I love voltron and klance with all my heart, but it's not worth letting loose an ugly side of yourself and acting like you're 12 because your ship isnt canon. just...be an adult. move on. the dragon prince and she-ra look very promising!!

like I said, I'm extremely optimistic for klance. the doubt I have is a very teensy sliver. all the evidence, imo, points to klance having been planned from the beginning (if anyone has any questions about that, my ask box is open, but I wont be able to respond till I get home from work later cause all my klance meta stuff is on my laptop.)

but no matter what, whether they're canon or not, I know that somewhere, in some corner of the fandom, theres gonna be somebody bitching and being nasty and...whoo-wee....that just really grind my gears.

friendly reminder that LM and JDS have said that by the time they see fan reactions to things they’re way too far ahead in the story to change things based off of popular fan opinion,

so if klance becomes canon I dont wanna hear people bitching that they only did it to appease toxic fans or because it’s a popular ship, because they’ve said many times over that whatever ends up as endgame will be something they planned that way from the beginning.

klancers have been saying pretty much as long as klance has been a thing that they definitely had klance in mind from the start. vld themselves have confirmed that they’re not going to make a ship canon based solely on popularity. and yet I still just know there are gonna be people biting their heads off after sesson 8 for “just trying to appease those toxic klancers so they won’t be angry” or “catering to the popular ship” or some bullshit like that.