#red and blue = kl@nce

[harukamitsuki]

Okay... I am currently back on my Voltron bullshit and continuing my rewrite of Voltron. And I'm constantly reminding of HOW MUCH I HATE LANCE.

Don't get me wrong. I am still treating Lance fairly in my fic, making sure he gets screen-time and a proper character acr and stuff.

But by GODS. This man pisses me off so much and that's only made worse by his stans. I was scrolling through Keith's tag here on tumblr. I also have Kl@nce filtered out. I cannot see a single post without at least three pages of scrolling and then it's only ONE POST. AND IT'S STILL KLANCE BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN TAGGED CORRECTLY.

Anyway. Onto the actual things I hate about Lance and not just his fandom.

Lance is a fucking asshole. I mean that on the deepest level. Let's go through it chronologically because I cannot rank it from least to most assholery, because some things are on the same level.

1 - Allura wakes up from the cryopod and Lances catches her. She's confused and dazed and the first thing you should do is ask if she's alright. Oh, but Lance is above that. Instead, he flirts with her. Karma given immediately as she calls his ears hideous and puts him in a submission hold, which is why I kept that scene in my fic, but that was still wrong. I know it was played for comedic effect, but that doesn't make it not canon. It's canonically accurate that if you've awoken from a coma, Lance's first instinct is to flirt with you if you're pretty.

2 - Literally throws Hunk into the middle of a battle. I get that Hunk was supposed to leave the Lion anyway, but just shoving him out when there are lasers everywhere and Hunk has no protection? Yeah. So much for 'best friend'. Add on the fact that Lance never really treats Hunk like a friend. At all.

3 - Okay. Season 1 Lance isn't bad outside of those two examples, even if he has his dumb moments, so let's jump to Season 2. Starting shit with Keith for no reason. People can go 'oh, Keith obviously did something to him at the Garrison' but he DIDN'T. The writers themselves confirmed that Keith did nothing to Lance, he just started shit with Keith all the fucking time. Like accussing Keith of wanting Blue and cutting him off when he tried to explain what was actually happening, even though Lance is the one who was outraged initially that Keith had Red. Or how about Lance getting up in Shiro's face and screaming his head off about how Keith would rather kill people than listen to them, as if he knew Keith at all after bullying him the entire time.

4 - Okay. This one pissed me off the most and is the biggest reason I'm making this post. The fact that Lance used Shiro's death/disappearance against Keith. Keith outwardly expresses his lack of desire to become the leader and accidentally let it slip that Shiro wanted him to do it. To which Lance is all 'convenient that you say that when Shiro's gone'. What. What the fuck. Stans really say that Lance is precious but how the hell are you justifying that? A blind man could see how much Keith loves Shiro, and Lance has the fucking gall the say that Keith is USING his death/disappearance for a position he doesn't want? He didn't even apologise for it. He just told Keith to suck it up later on. This is one of the reasons I hated Lance as the Red Paladin, the others being explained in an earlier post of mine.

5 - Oh, yeah. We're not done. Because after Keith, it's Allura. Allur@nce is probably the worst ship that could have happened, apart from Kl@nce. If you wanted a straight ship, how about what was canon for the past Voltron series? Kallura? Anyway. Yeah, Lance treats Allura like a prize instead of a person. He's posessive in a way that he has no right to be because they were not together. He glares at Matt for flirting with Allura, something he only does once. He gets mad at Lotor and tries to stop them from spending time together, EVEN THOUGH LOTOR IS HELPING ALLURA AND BONDING THROUGH ALTEAN THINGS. HELPING HER KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ALTEAN CULTURE. In Season 8, he literally yells that it should be Lance and Allura?? What a fucking weirdo?? You can't claim that you're destined to be with someone without being together. That's not how healthy relationships work. That's how a stalker's mind works. Lance is constantly flirting with Allura throughout all of Voltron and she never once reciprocated until Season 8 where it's so obvious that Lance is just a rebound but the writers wanna make it so that it's 'true love' and they want Lance to be happier than anyone so they just gift her to him like some sort of trophy. Lance didn't care about loving Allura, he cared about winning her. At least Lotor actually cared for and respected her. I still don't like canon Lotor, but that's mostly because the writers didn't want to deal with gray morality. Cowards.

1 - Honestly the worst example of a leader. It's shown from episode one. Now, there is the argument of learning to become one, but Lance just never learns? He's never facing the consequences of his actions and, if he is lectured, he ignores it. Keith actually takes lessons to heart and tries to improve and he does. If Lance became the Black Paladin, the universe would have been doomed because he can't get over himself for a single moment to even bother listening to anyone else's advice.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons why Lance is an asshole. Now to make the Lance stans really pissed.

Reasons why Lance would have been a terrible leader and could never have been the Black Paladin.

Remember episode one? Remember how the hydraulic stabiliser was out in the simulator and Lance still tried to push on, even though Pidge and Hunk advised him not to? Totally great leadership qualities there. There's nothing better than a leader that refuses to listen to you. 'Oh, but Keith is stubborn and didn't listen--' yes he did. He's stubborn and unrelenting at first, but he eventually realises that they're right.

Remember episode three? Remember when Lance bragged about kicking, which made Voltron fall, then proceeded to try it again and failed again even when Keith advised him not to? Yeah. Lance does not make good decisions and does not listen to any advise. Even from the leader's right hand man.

Remember Season 1 Episode 12? Remember how they were waiting for Shiro and Allura to get back and then Keith saw someone taking quintessence so he decided to follow them? Remember how Lance said no and was ignored but did nothing more to stop Keith? He has no authority and no charisma to keep anyone at bay. Pidge herself mocks Lance for being the pinnacle for leadership. Sarcastically. Because he's far from it.

Pidge doesn't respect Lance as a leader, Keith never would considering Lance treats him like shit, Allura can't take Lance seriously with him hitting on her every ten seconds, and Hunk is always questioning Lance's decisions. If nobody respects you, you cannot be a good leader.

2 - Easily distracted. Yes, it's a very popular headcanon that Lance has ADHD, and I agree with that, but that doesn't make it okay. And he's distracted in the easiest ways. Just shove a pretty girl and he'll instantly get distracted and lead the entire team to doom. Remember Nyma and how easy it was for her to steal the Blue Lion? How he didn't even warn anyone that he was taking her out for a ride because he didn't want anyone contesting his conquest? Yeah.

Don't get me wrong. It's fine to have ADHD or get distracted easily. Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece is a great example of a leader who gets easily distracted, but the second he sets his mind on something, he blocks everything out. Lance just doesn't have the capability to do that, nor do I think he'd be able to learn how to.

3 - Gets jealous really easily. As in. Really fucking easily. He's jealous of Keith from the get-go, starting a one-sided rivalry that he's constantly on the losing side of because Keith doesn't care. He gets jealous of Matt when he flirts a bit with Allura. He gets extremely jealous of Lotor for having actual chemistry with Allura. He's constantly jealous and a good leader is only ever in competition with himself. A good leader will only strive to become better for the sake of the team, not to say that they're better than someone else, much less if they're someone that you are in charge of. It's a horrible trait to have.

Jealousy in and of itself is not a bad thing. It's when that jealousy overrides your logic and controls you, instead of you controlling your jealousy: which Lance struggles with a lot. And getting jealous over anyone who even looks at your crush is a very bad thing to do because you do not own your crush. It's okay to be jealous, but not posessively like Lance is. Not to the extent of trying to scare off any potential suitors.

4 - Nowhere near as skilled as Keith or Shiro. Sure, the writers may claim that he is better, but the proof is in the pudding. Keith and Shiro are fucking unmatched. I've defended Lance's skills in a previous post, but I also said in that post that, while he is skilled, he is nowhere near Shiro or Keith's level. I mean, Shiro was the golden child of the Garrison and set so many records. He was known as the best pilot. Keith beat those records and his flying capabilities are always, always noted. I haven't heard a single character comment on Lance's skills, other than to point out how bad they are. Keith was the only one who could have flew through the astroid field, he was the only one who could fly into the Marmora base which was in a blue star surrounded by two black holes, he was able to fly a Galra jet just by pushing the right buttons and knowing what the do, and he's the one who unlocks the warping abilities of the Black Lion. Shiro was able to connect with the Black Lion far before anyone else, able to see through Black and connect with Black to the point of his soul being saved by her.

Lance hasn't done anything spectacular. And, no. He was not 'done dirty'. He was given almost everything he wanted except the Black Lion. The writers claim he's the best pilot, but have not shown it at all. In my eyes, Keith and Shiro will always be the best.

5 - Selfish. Again. Nothing against being selfish. It's perfectly fine to be selfish, so long as it doesn't actively harm others. But for a leader? You should be as selfless as you can be. The team comes before you. And that's exactly what Lance isn't.

Lance is selfish and that's okay, but it's not leadership material. The whole reason Black rejected him is because he wanted the position out of selfish reasons. When he enters Black, he says 'Come on, Lance. You can do this'. In other words, he wants to pilot her because he wants to prove himself. He wants the acknowledgement. He wants the title of the Black Paladin and leader. Black accepted Keith, both at the start of Season 2 and Season 3, because he piloted her for purely selfless reasons. For Shiro.

Lance wants things for himself. Keith wanted things for Shiro. It was only after Shiro came back, (or so they thought), that Keith started focusing more on himself. Even then, he put everyone else before him. He distanced himself from the team so that Shiro could pilot Black again, and he was constantly risking his life for the Blades.

Lance just... isn't the type. He has put others before himself, but he expect things out of it. He expects a parade and acknowledgement. Nobody knew what Shiro went through to rid Zarkon of his connection to the Black Lion. Nobody knew what Shiro went through in his imprisonment because he doesn't want to burden anyone with that. Nobody knew what Keith went through to save Black and Shiro from Zarkon. Nobody knew what Keith went through when they were all mad at him for missing an attack. Lance doesn't withold that sort of stuff. The only thing he doesn't talk about is his insecurities, which he ends up spilling to the mice and Laika (the Yupper) anyway.

6 - Last one. Promise.

Nothing fucking happened. While Keith was gone, nothing of importance happened surrounding Voltron specifically. There was the Lion mind meld and Lotor joining, but all that served to prove was, with the mind meld, if Keith was there, he would have heard Shiro. And with Lotor joining, all it proved was how immature Lance was.

The second Keith gets back, things start happening again. Lotor gets outed as cruel and manipulative (still an ass-pull, by the way), Shiro gets outed as a clone, and so on. If Lance was leading, they all probably would have died ages ago. I'm talking Season 3 Episode 2, ages ago. Because Lance just isn't cut out for it.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons I hate Lance and why Black Paladin Lance is an awful idea. Screw the people who believe in it. It is awful.

Like I said, this won't affect my treatment of Lance in my rewrite, because I can fix those issues that come up. I don't have an issue with Season 1 Lance, it's later on that gets problematic. I just hate people building Lance up by bashing all the other characters, then claiming that Lance is the most traumatised, sad character when SHIRO AND KEITH ARE RIGHT THERE. NOT TO MENTION ALLURA, WHO LOST HER ENTIRE SPECIES, AND CORAN WHO LOST EVERYONE INCLUDING ALLURA AND NEVER GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO HER.

Fuck. I hate Voltron so much but I can't help but love it.

[azulas-daddy-kink]

Z*kka is a very good example I like to use when I talk about how trend, timing and tropes effect fandoms that you don't see happen in older fandoms

The ATLA renaissance happened during the same time the Voltron trainwreck happened. At the same time, certain tropes like opposites attract, blue/red gays etc are insanely popular. Almost every big thing falls into this easy category of who fits who in their incorrect quotes or popular tropes and ship dynamic.

And Z*kka fits the bill. Silly/Serious? Check. Conventionally attractive guys? Check. Blue/Red? Check. On paper, they sound like any other popular ships that technically speaking would make at least a decent ship.

Except they don't. Because they're from a 3 seasons show where they canonically don't have that much meaningful interaction, barely any acknowledgement of each other, and they just don't have chemistry. They DON'T. Just because they LOOK like they fit on the surface level doesn't mean they actually do. Sometimes opposites don't attract. Sometimes the characters who fall easily into a ship dynamic aren't actually compatible.

The ship is solid proof that modern fandoms these days prioritize surface level things over what canon actually gives them. I UNDERSTAND why some people like z*kka, but it DOES NOT deserve the level of popularity it receives! And the fact it became one of the most popular ships in ATLA because the voltron fans project kl*nce into the ship is IMO disheartening. They already choose what they wish to see instead of appreciating what these characters got and who they actually connect with in canon.

I know I sound pretentious, but I really can't stand these kinds of fans because of how much they REFUSE to engage in canon. Tropes are nice. Having preferences is not a crime. But actively forcing your own vision into canon just because they fit your tastes in the most shallow way possible is just sad. Why bother engage in any new media then? Why not actually pick up something that actively fits your taste?

You said it all, Anon!

I seriously had no idea where Zukka even came from until recently.

It wasn't a thing when the show was airing and then suddenly it just exploded out of nowhere. I was so baffled. I was like "why this?" Of all the slash ships people could have latched onto. Jetko is right there. Hell, even Zukaang and Sokka/Aang make way more sense.

You're so right, people just base everything off """vibes""" or aesthetics, or just jump on the bandwagon when a ship/headcanon gets popular without giving it any real thought. And because Zukka is just a copy+paste version of Klance, they just wind up wildly ooc and it's like they're two entirely different characters. I have to ask myself if these people even like Zuko or Sokka independently...

And for the record, I don't think you sound shallow at all. The enforcement of popular headcanons as canon is a problem in all fandoms, but it's especially bad in this one.

If it sounds like I'm pointing the finger solely at Zukka shippers, I'm not. Zutara shippers are just as bad, if not worse. As are those who shove the idea of lesbian Azula down everyone's throats.

It's just fucking exhausting.

Ship whatever you want. Headcanon whatever you want. Just stop torturing all of us with it.

[caliburn-the-sword]

i now know why i irrationally ship kai and thorne. it's because they're literally just kl*nce to me but in a different font. listen i KNOW that the only time kai is ever really mentioned to wear red is for the wedding because it's a traditional wedding colour. and thorne is (probably) never specifically mentioned wearing blue. but he is a blue character TO ME. they were grinding each other's gears on purpose and that's all i ever need

[master-candidate-43]

just took psychic damage from the kl@nce fandom while scrolling fgo merch on RB

will we ever escape them.....

[babybirbb]

HOW DARE y’all come into my avatar renaissance (circa 2020) and tell me that zukka is just kl*nce

zukka walked AND ran but all kl*nce did was fall flat on its face

kl*nce WISHES they were zukka—the og red and blue gays 😤😤

[sanssmashultimate]

I have a decease that makes me ship Korrasami and Zukka and it's called having good taste.

[caandlelit]

Look if Hawks dies Istg I'm gonna drop BNHA for awhile because I will be so destroyed. They were my pairing, the best thing to happen, give it back!

horikoshi cant have hawks . why ? simply bc im taking him .

[morninkim]

i just remembered that time half the V*ltron fandom went Bonkers over a photo of a cutout of the blue lion w the reflection of red light on the black parts and collectively thought "OMG THE LIONS ARE GONNA FUSE" when it was,,,,,,,,,clearly just shitty lighting,,,

[niconebula]

Kyosaya (pmmm)

What made you ship it? I mean... the show itself lol. I was very mentally ill over Madoka when I was thirteen and Kyouko is probably my second favourite character. I love her (kill me for saying this if you want to) tsundere characterization with the whole 'I need no-one, I'm a badass who fights and kills without care' and then almost instantly becoming protective over Sayaka. It's second to me in MM ships, but probably first in terms of fan material - I've read a lot of really adorable Kyousaya doujin and the fans are incredible artists that endeared me to the ship even more.

What are your favorite things about the ship? What I mentioned above, plus the whole tragedy of Sayaka realizing just how much Kyouko cared about her just too late. The whole "maybe if I'd realized earlier I would have let you save me". And then of course the scene in Rebellion. And also the extra dialogue and scenes in the PSP game - highly reccomend checking it out if you're a fan because the Kyousaya storylines in some of the timelines are fantastic.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Closest comment I have to this is that when people think of red and blue gays, the poster image should be Kyousaya and not the random anime boys of the day (and never Kl*nce).

[scorpionyx9621]

Do you think Jason Todd fandom is kinda toxic? Because it seems like NO MATTER what DC do, there'll always be complains. Forget the bad adaptation like Titans. Even Judd Winick cannot escape the criticism with how he potrayed Robin!Jason. They just never satisfied.

SORRY, IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO THIS. I just moved from Washington D.C. to Seattle, which, for my non-American friends, that's 4442km away. And I DROVE THERE ALL BY MYSELF. And now I'm trying to find new work in a new city and trying to stay mentally healthy and positive. Life is exciting but hard and scary.

*sighs*

As someone who was a fandom elder with V*ltr*n. I've seen some of the worst when it comes to fandom behavior. I'm talking people baking food with shaving razors and trying to give them to the showrunners. I'm talking leaking major plot details and refusing to take it down unless they make their ship canon (I am looking at you, Kl*nce stans) For the most part, DC Comics has had a decades-long reputation of treating their fans like trash and not caring what they think so from what I've seen, we all just grumble and complain in our corners of the internet about how we don't like how X comic portrays Jason Todd.

The challenge with Jason Todd is that he's your clinical anti-hero, the batfamily's Draco in Leather Pants, he's a jerkass woobie, and on top of all of that, he's a Tumblr sexyman. It's a perfect storm for a very fun but frustrating character to be a fan of. It doesn't help that every writer decides to re-invent the wheel every time Jason comes up so his canon lore is confusing at best and inconsistent as a standard.

I guess starting with a general brief on who Jason is and what is uniform about him with every instance he's appeared in comics/media.

Grew up in a poor family in Gotham with a dad who was a petty-mid-level criminal, and a mother who dies of a drug overdose.

Survives on the street on his own by committing petty crimes and potentially even engaging in sexual acts to keep himself alive.

Is cornered by Batman and taken in after Dick Grayson quits/is fired

Becomes the second Robin, but is known for being the harsher, more brutal Robin.

Is killed by Joker after being tortured, but somehow comes back to life and regains senses through the Lazarus Pit

Resolves himself to be better than Batman by basically being Batman but kills people.

Where there has been a lot of conflict in the fandom is the fact that Jason Todd is not a character that is written consistently. DC Comics loves to go with the narrative that Jason was "bad from the start" and was the "bad robin" when, yes, he has trouble controlling his anger, but he also still is just as invested in seeing the best of Gotham City and trying to be a positive change for the world as any other DC Comics hero.

Where I get frustrated with the fandom is its ability to knit-pick every detail of a comic they don't like while completely disregarding everything that makes the comics great and worth it to read. My example being Urban Legends. To which most people had pretty mixed reactions to. I was critical of the comic at first but as it went along I ended up really liking it. I have a feeling DC Comics went to Chip Zdarsky and told him he had 6 issues to bring Jason back into the Bat Family, and honestly he didn't do a bad job. Did it feel rushed? Absolutely. I wish there was more development of Jason and Bruce's characters and their dynamic as a whole. However, where I see a lot of people being angry and upset with Urban Legends is that they feel Zdarsky needlessly wrote Jason as an incompetent fool who needs Bruce to save him.

Whether or not that was the intention of Zdarsky is up to debate. However, and this may be controversial, but I don't think he wrote Jason Todd out of character at all. For as fearsome, intimidating, and awesome as Red Hood is. Jason is a character who is absolutely driven by his emotions. Why do you think he donned the role of Red Hood? As a response to his anger towards The Joker for killing him, and towards Bruce for not taking action against The Joker and for seemingly replacing him so quickly after he died. Jason didn't care about being the murderous Robin Hood or for being the bloody hammer of justice against N*zi's and P*d*ph*les. He only cared originally about making The Joker and Bruce pay. It wasn't until he trained under the best assassins in the world and realized most of them were horrific criminals who trafficked children and were p*dos that Talia began to realize that the teachers that she sent Jason to train under started dying horrific and painful deaths.

The entire story of the Cheer story in Batman Urban Legends was started because it finally forced some consequences upon Jason. Tyler, aka Blue Hood's father was a drug dealer who gave his supply to his wife and kids. And when Tyler's father admitted he gave the drugs to Tyler, it immediately made him fall within the self-imposed philosophical kill-list of Jason Todd. And Jason, well, he proceeds to kill Tyler's father. When this happens, Jason is in shock. Tyler's dad fit the bill to easily and justifiably be killed by Jason. We've never seen Jason having to deal with the consequences of being a murderous vigilante on a micro-level. When Jason realizes what he's done in that he's murdered Tyler's dad, he's shocked. He tells Babs the truth. He does a rational thing because he's in shock. He doesn't know what to do, he never has had to face the consequences of his actions as Red Hood and now the gravity of befriending a child as a vigilante hero who kills people just set in when he killed the father of the same child he was just introduced to.

(Oh here's a little aside because it had to be said, Jason would not have been a good father or a good mentor to Tyler and absolutely should not have been his new Robin. Jason is a man who is in his early 20's (not saying men in their early 20's can't be good fathers at all) who is a brutal serial killer using the guise of a vigilante anti-hero to let him escape most of the law. the complications of having the man who murdered your father adopt you and make you his sidekick are way too numerous for me to explain in a long-winded already heavy Tumblr essay post. There's a reason why we don't advocate for a story where Joe Chill adopted Bruce Wayne or one where Tony Zucco took in Dick Grayson.)

The next biggest argument is that they feel that Jason is giving up his guns as a means to just be invited back into the Bat-Family. To which I will tell anyone who has that argument to go actually read Urban Legends. Already have and still have that argument? Please re-read it. Don't want to? That's okay, I will paste the images from the comic where Jason specifically says that he doesn't want to give up his weapons for Bruce and his real reasoning down below since the comic isn't exactly readily accessible.

Jason gave up the guns because he felt the gravity of what he had done and knows how it'll effect Tyler. Thankfully his mom is alive and in recovery. But Tyler doesn't have a father anymore. And Jason killed Tyler's father. It may have been in accordance to Jason's philosophy, but it was a case where it blurred the lines. Jason Todd isn't a black and white character, just very dark gray. He doesn't kill aimlessly like the Joker. If you are on Jason's list you probably have done something pretty horrific, and also just in general, being in his way or being a threat to him. Mind you, in early days of Red Hood and the Outlaws (Image below) Jason almost killed 10 innocent civilians in a town in Colorado all because they saw him kill a monster. That being said, Jason isn't aimless in his kills.

(Also can we just take a moment to appreciate Kenneth Rocafort's art? DC Comics said we need to rehabilitate Jason Todd's image and Kenneth Rocafort said hold my beer: It's so SO GOOD)

That being said, the key emphasis in the story of Cheer asides from trying to introduce Jason Todd back into the Bat Family and give an actual purpose for him being there, other than him just kind of being there ala Bowser every time he shows up for Go Kart racing, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and the Olympic games when Mario invites him, is that Jason and Bruce ultimately both want the same thing. Jason wants to be welcomed back into the family and to be loved and appreciated. Bruce want's Jason back as his son and wants to love and protect Jason. Both of these visions are shown in the last chapter of Cheer while under the effect of the Cheer Gas. It's ultimately this love and appreciation they both have for each other that helps them overcome their challenge and win.

Jason Todd is a character who, just like Bruce, has been through so much pain and so much hate in his life. The two are meant to parallel each other. While Bruce chose to see the best in everyone, giving every rogue in his gallery the option to be helped and give them a second chance, hence why he never kills, Jason has a similar view on wanting to protect the public, but he understands that some crimes are so heinous they cannot be forgiven, or that some habitual criminals are due to stay habitual criminals, and need to be put down. But at the end of the day, the two of them both try to protect people in their own ways.

I am aware that through the writings of various DC Comics authors such as Scott Lobdell and Judd Winick, the two have had a very tumultuous relationship. And rightfully so, I am by no means saying that Scott Lobdell writing an arc where Bruce literally beats Jason to within an inch of his life in Red Hood and the Outlaws, nor Judd Winick's interpretation of Under the Red Hood where Bruce throws the Batarang at Jason's neck, slicing his throat and leaving him ambiguously for dead at the end of the comic is appropriate considering DC Comics seems to be trying everything they can to integrate Jason back into the family. That being said, a lot of these writings have shaped the narrative of Jason and Bruce's relationship and have an integral effect on the way the fandom views the two. It doesn't help that Zdarsky acknowledged Lobdell's life-beating of Jason by Bruce at the very end of Cheer by having Bruce give Jason his old outfit back as a means of mending the fence between the two of them. That does complicate a lot of things in terms of how they are viewed by the fandom and helps to cause an even greater divide between the two.

Regardless, I want to emphasize the fact that Jason Todd is a part of the family of his own accord. Yes, he's quite snarky and deadpan in almost every encounter. However, Jason is absolutely a part of the family and has been for a while of his own will. There's a great moment in Detective Comics that emphasizes this. Jason cares about his family because it is his found family. Yes, they may be warry about him and use him as a punching back and/or heckle him. At the end of the day, we're debating the family dynamics of a fictional playboy billionaire vigilante whose kleptomania took the form of adopting troubled children and turning them into vigilante heroes. Jason Todd wants a family that will love and support him. This is a key definition of his character at its most basic. This was proven during the events of Cheer and is being reenforced by DC Comics every time they get the opportunity to do so.

Now, none of this is to say that I hate Judd Winick. I do not, I don't like the fact that in all of his writings of Jason, he just writes him as a dangerous psychopath, and Winick himself admits to seeing Jason as nothing much more than a psychopath. Yet Winick is the one who the majority of the fandom clings to as the one true good writer of Jason Todd because 'Jason was competent, dangerous, smart' Listen, friends, Jason is all of that and I will never deny it. However, what I love about Jason isn't that he's dangerously smart of that writers either write him as angsty angry Tumblr sexyman bait or that they write him as an infantile man child with a gun. There's a large contention of this fandom that has an obsession with Jason Todd being this vigilante gunman who is hot and sexy and while I definitely get the appeal. It is very creepy and downright disturbing that all of you hyperfixate on his use of guns and ability to be a murderer. It is creepy and I'm not necessarily here for it.

What I love about Jason Todd is that despite all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the betrayal, and bullying, and death, and anguish. Jason Todd is one of the most loving and supportive characters in all of DC Comics. Jason has been through so much in his life, but he still chooses to love. He still chooses to see the bright side in people. Yes, he takes a utilitarian approach and chooses to kill certain villains, but at the end of the day he wants to see a better world, and he wants to be loved. It takes so much courage and so much heart to learn to love again after one has been abused or traumatized. I would not blame Jason at all if he said fuck it and just went full solo and vigilante evil. He has every right to, but he still chooses to be with the Bat Family of his own accord. That's something that I see a lot of in myself. I have been through a lot of trauma and yet I try to be a better person myself in any way that I can. It is extremely admirable of Jason to allow love back into his heart when he really doesn't need to. He kills and he protects because he has this love of society. It may have been shaped by anger and hatred, but Jason has found his place amongst people who love him and value him. I think Ducra, from Red Hood and the Outlaws put it best in the image given below.

To end this tangent, I love Jason Todd and all of his sexy dangerousness, but it's far more than that. As much as Jason may be dangerous and snarky, he loves his family without a shadow of a doubt. I look up to Jason Todd because despite all of his pain and all of his trauma, he still choses to love. Jason Todd is a character who is someone I love because despite all of his flaws and having a very toxic fandom, he still serves as a character filled with so much heart and so much passion. I wish more writers would understand that. But for now I will live with what I have. Even though the fandom may be vocal about it's hatred for his characterization, I choose to love Jason regardless because he is a character who chooses love and acceptance regardless of his pain. Jason Todd is by no means a good person in any sense of the word. He has easily killed upwards of 100 people by now. He is a character who is flawed and complex but ultimately is one who powers forwards and finds love and heart in a place from so much pain and anguish. That is what I love about Jason Todd. After all, to quote a famous undead robot superhero, "What is grief, if not love persevering?" Jason Todd chooses to love despite all of the trauma and pain and grief. Yes, he is hardened in his exterior, but inside there is a man with a lot of love to give and someone who deserves the world in my eyes.

[ceramicdove]

HII DOVE EXPLODES ITS CASHEW TIME . also hmm mm do u think if instead of favourite foods the easiest little character detail to add was like favourite colour, would people flanderise characters based on that!

CASHEW TIEM... I think it'd be better, at least an associated colour might push people to play around with it in fanart and therefore it'd simply add another artistic dimension to things beyond "this character likes bagels so that's their personality trait now". But also remember Kl*nce and how people couldn't see anything red/blue without loudly making it about them? So I do not know...but I do like associating my favourite characters with colours or thinking about what their favourite colours might be, and it plays a part in how I imagine them in compositions and symbolic pieces! It might not save us all, but I think it'd ultimately be better than the favourite food shtick.

[artisticallygay]

kl*nce has fucking NOTHING on Zukka don't compare the two just because it's a red/blue ship

[samandcheesewinchesterr]

what was your first time being queer-baited ?

ugh either deancas (cause i’ve been watching since i was 3 no joke) or the og red/blue ship that mustn’t be named (but i’ll name it in case you don’t know: kl*nce) back when i was 13/14 (cause i didn’t get invested in deancas til around the same time)

[scottsumrners]

Korrasami isthe only red/blue canon since mister greg pussied out with bluepulse and decided that jaime was better with a character thats a lesbian on the comics (and we don't talk abour kl*nce)

we dont talk about bluepulse in this house until someone takes one for the team and assassinates greg weisman

[newyorkcitywater]

kl*nce stans when they see red and blue next to each other:

[storiesbeyondthestars]

I’ve said before that I don’t post the nasty messages I get. Most of the time I don’t even mention when I got them (I think I did once or twice, and that doesn’t include the thing I mentioned earlier today that I wasn’t posting because that WASN’T at all negative, I just didn’t want to spark discourse on my blog). I have gotten a few though about how I’m an idiot for shipping Kl@nce, just not written as nicely.

This wasn’t written in a terrible way, but I am feeling particularly salty today. So you know what I’m going to do? As a kl@nce shipper, I am going to show you that I can do an analysis without being blinded by my own preferences. How?

I’m going to show you why a//urance is going to be canon. And no, I an not approaching this as satire, or with any form of sarcasm. I am literally going to approach this as an objective point of view that can look at one source material, and see where different views come from.

Do I still ship kl@nce? Absolutely. However, this analysis has just as much of a chance at being canon as any other one that I’ve done. Though I’m still not going to tag it in any ship tags, mostly because I’m not writing this to discuss or celebrate that ship, but to prove a point because I’m petty and that’s not entirely cool of me either, but the points are all still valid.

1.Their meeting.

Lance is there to catch Allura when she wakes up. He’s the first face she sees when she wakes up in this new world where everything is different.

Lance’s interest in her has been obvious from the beginning. He very obvious flirts with her time and time again.

2. Mrs. Blue Lion

Lance has a soft, affectionate look on his face when he talks about future Mrs. Blue Lion. In the future from this moment, Allura becomes the Blue Paladin. This is a literal reference to her becoming the blue Paladin, and the ‘Mrs’ part is clearly in reference to them.

3.Lion Switch

Allura was the one that was able to make Lance see that he needed to go to Red. She encouraged him because his destiny belonged somewhere else. She lifted him up and got him to go when he didn’t think he could.

On top of this, Lance comments on her pink armour – this is a hint towards the fact that he notices her – he was probably checking her out. They put an emphasis of him passing the blue bayard to him (note: something they never did with the black or red ones), because it was important to show them as team mates and friends.

4. Jealousy

We know Lance can be quite jealous. It’s most likely what prompted that rivalry he claimed to have with Keith, which was nothing. Despite that, the most obviously jealous that we’ve seen him started in S4 when Matt was introduced. Matt immediately showed obvious interest in Allura, and Lance was instantly unimpressed.

We also get very obvious jealousy with Lotor too. Lance is clearly very distressed about her liking Lotor, and why wouldn’t he be? By this point, he has genuine feelings for her. He’s not going to react the same way he did to rejection before. This time it’s deeper and genuine, so of course he’s pouting more, acting down, and everything. He loves her.

5. Worry/hurt

When they were trapped in Naxzella, who was it that was most worried about Allura when she was hurt? That helped her up? Right, it was Lance. After this, he was the reason that she was able to find the strength to make Voltron stronger. She may be the ‘heart’ of Voltron, but he certainly helped inspire her.

Lance also quite literally saves her. He throws himself into danger and dies for it. In turn, she’s terrified and worried for him, going into his lion and literally brings him back to life. The way that they look at one another in this moment speaks a lot.

I’ll talk about the handling of lost-L0tura stuff in its own point later.

6. Isolation

Lance became highly isolated in S4-6. That being said, the one person that kept approaching him, that kept coaxing him out of his shell was Allura. She (and Coran) came to him about milkshakes and that got him out of his room and interacting with others.  She was the one that approached him when he was feeling down, alone while he was training. She listened to him while he talked about his worries, agreeing with him that they were valid. She quite literally says that she sees greatness in him, and even teases him in a flirty way too. She was always positive with him when Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge weren’t.

7. Mutual Positivity

Going back to the last point but being more specific. Lance literally says ALLURA inspires him to be better. Allura, no one else. He’s very blunt about that. Not only that, but time and time again, we see Lance lifting her up, allowing her to be better in her own right. Their growth and development are largely wrapped in how they treat one another and how they’re growing in regards to one another.

8. Lotor

Allura’s frown when the mice told her about Lance’s feelings was sad, because she didn’t want to hurt him, and she was probably confused. Yes, she was excited to see Lotor in the next episode, but she also showed up with Lance, and was sitting closely to him. People are allowed to have feelings for more than one person at a time. No one can blame her for pursuing Lotor. In fact, she’s a Princess. It’s probably part of what’s expected of her, since we know she struggles with being a princess vs. being herself. Allura had to go through this heartbreak to see that what really matters in the end.

Lance, after the fact, did distance himself from her, but still comforted her when need be. Of course he did this, he’s a really good guy. He wasn’t going to just jump in while she’s hurting. He backed off, giving her time to heal on her own. He was always still very close by though.

9. Character Proximity

In the vast majority of S7, Lance and Allura were drawn beside one another. Whenever Allura’s in frame, Lance is usually in frame as well, and vice-versa. They’re always standing close to one another. Not only that, but in the past couple con posters, they’ve been very close to one another. In one they’re both shown in figure skates working together to hold up Hunk, mirror one another and in smiles. In the newest one, Lance is looking back at her with this soft expression. Why would they go through all of this trouble and effort if it didn’t mean something?

10. The Show Is Coming To A Close

We’re in the last season. They very clearly established that Allura now does like Lance, that she was willing to approach him about it at the end of S7. She was blushing. He was blushing. She looked towards Red, he looked towards Blue. She was the first thing he heard when he started to wake up and was the first to call out for him. Lance’s sister was teasing him, which is something often done in shows to hint towards endgames because older siblings just know. Lance was supposed to be concentrating on the mission and looked towards Allura in his viewfinder (to which Veronica teased him again). There were flowers in her room with a card that was implied to be from him. It was coming across very clearly where they were going with all of that, and with one final season, if there’s anything else, it has to be written really well.

11. Slow Burn

It was one said that the romance in the show is a slow burn. This absolutely applies to these two. It went from Lance having a crush based solely on appearance while Allura was annoyed with him, to being friends and seeing who one another genuinely was, to eventually falling in love. This spanned the entire story. It counts as a slow burn just like they said.

So, here you go multishippers or a//urance shippers, a look at how this ship as just as much of a chance at becoming canon as any other one. 

Again, I’m not going to tag ships, because I’m not actually writing this to, you know, celebrate a ship, but to prove a point because I’m kind of petty.