#vld comparison

[year-of-the-lion]

Garrison-era Paladin Headcanons

Despite all appearances, both Keith and Lance were pretty up there in terms of grades. Neither of them hold a candle to Hunk or Pidge, but they were good enough to easily stay in the Garrison— which is absolutely not an easy thing to do.

Keith was ahead of Lance, which was why he was in the fighter program while Lance was in cargo. The gap between them wasn't enormous, so when Keith dropped out/got kicked out, Lance was pushed through to fill his spot.

Pidge doesn't just sneak up to the roof, they study there a lot. If caught, she'd say it's because there's nobody to bother her, but really it reminds her of spending time with Matt.

Hunk used to be Lance's body double/accountabilibuddy because there wasn't shit getting done if nobody helped him keep his brain accountable.

On the above note, Lance gives strong ADHD vibes— actually very smart, but with self-worth in the negatives and god help him if he failed at something he was usually good at.

Keith's competitiveness was usually enough to motivate him to study (that and not wanting to waste the opportunity that Shiro had given him), but Shiro also used to sign off on extra flight sim time for him when he did particularly well.

I also like to think about the sorts of electives that the Garrison had; they were probably suited to the kids who might not make the space program but who maybe had the skills to become military or commercial pilots. So things like meteorology, air law, general aircraft knowledge...those sorts of things.

[yuriosangel]

ships between polar opposites who start out at each other’s throats but end up attached at the hip >>>

[atla-what-is-this-site]

[alluraaaa]

less headcanon and more canon divergent, but it’d be so interesting if instead of just the under eye markings alteans had markings all over their faces and bodies. and if it was different for each person i can see different patterns having traits associated with them, much like how humans treat astrology

like “oh this person has markings on their face and right arm, this means they should be thoughtful and self assured!” and stuff like that. it’d be cute if allura tried to apply that logic to the paladins and “guess” where their markings would be if they were altean

[catsushinyakajima]

was thinking about how I cant enjoy anything I do normally and turn everything into a competition. Even when I write fanfiction i compare myself to others and how many hits they get. Ill probably compare how many hits I get on this post to other peoples posts cuz im like that.

on the flip side, what a brilliant way to ensure that I totally kin Lance McClain

[aroaceleovaldez]

i need to know everything about your pjo voltron au

okay so basic plot premise: Thalia, Luke, Jason, Percy, Maria di Angelo, and Bianca all work at the Garrison and get sent on 3 separate missions (Thalia & Luke, Jason & ??? or maybe he's just by himself, then Percy & Maria & Bianca) which are all "lost" and they're declared dead by the Garrison.

Of course they were actually all abducted by aliens. Maria probably dies pretty early on in that whole situation. Thalia gets separated from Luke and ends up escaping and becoming a rebel. Luke, Jason, and Percy & Bianca all separately (except for Percy & Bianca) end up gladiators. Luke becomes The Champion and basically ends up a Kuron/Sendak-type character situation. Is he being mind-controlled? Unclear. He has a giant alien scythe-sword though. Bianca probably dies buying Percy time in the arena. At some point Percy and Jason find each other and decide to try and stick together.

Hazel is a human raised by her galra dad in space with the Blade of Marmora. She knows she has a half-brother through her dad out there somewhere but not anything else about him. She ends up running into Jason and Percy on a mission and helps them escape cause they're humans too.

Back on Earth, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth are all Garrison students. Or Annabeth is possibly in a Keith-type situation where she used to be a student but got Kinda Pissed Off about all her loved ones disappearing into space and ended up getting kicked out. Nico is in a Pidge-type situation where he snuck in as a student under a false name to figure out what happened to his family's mission. Percy and Jason crash on earth, the gang finds them, they find the Blue Lion, and Percy pilots it to the Altean castleship where they meet Reyna and Frank. Reyna is the Altean Princess, because her sister Hylla was queen. Frank is the son of a high-ranking general or something and he and Reyna are a duo.

Rest going under a cut cause this got long -

Lion adventures happen - Annabeth pilots the Green Lion, Jason pilots the Black Lion. Nico finds the Red Lion and meets Hazel when he does and brings her back to the castle. Hazel pilots the Yellow Lion. Nico very quickly realizes he's half-Galra and Hazel's brother and joins the Blade of Marmora. Percy swaps from Blue to the Red Lion. Piper starts piloting the Blue Lion. Leo, Frank, Reyna, and Nico end up the home-base support team. Percy probably keeps the blue paladin armor and Piper gets the spare pink armor for color association reasons and also cause that's usually the format for every iteration of Voltron anyways. It works out nicely. Everybody has extra lion compatibilities too/every Lion has a back-up basically cause I'm still mad vld canon dropped the lion lore/sentience plotlines and we never got cool dynamic lion swapping instead of just the usual single switch. We're having fun here.

Then everything else I don't have much for other than Annabeth and Nico basically swap Keith and Pidge roles once they join Voltron so Nico goes and has his galra identity crisis adventures and Annabeth reunites with Thalia at some point, who is basically in a Matt-type role. And Luke functions as the Sendak-level antagonist who Annabeth probably gets to fight with a swap back to Keith's role in a whole Keith & Kuron emotional situation. Kronos and Gaea are probably analogous to Zarkon and Haggar/Honerva here but not necessarily in that order, and obviously it's more of an either "Emperor and his advisor mom" or "Empress and her prince son" but in either one somebody's doing magic and people are probably getting possessed. Hades, Persephone, Iaepatus/Bob, and Damasen are all with the BoM. The Titans/Giants are probably all Empire generals. Who's Lotor? Octavian? Calypso? I don't know. Who are all the gods? I dunno. We'll workshop it.

[comfortlesshurt]

Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away) - 11/15 - Addiction

Feeling the wrong way (looking for good days)

Chapter TW: recreational drug use

Giving all those IOUs even in a desperate moment, as anyone sane would’ve warned him, was not a good idea.

He’d been prepared to owe a day of heavy manual labor or maybe a lift to somewhere far enough to run him a week’s worth of his fuel budget, but somehow he hadn’t imagined being roped into filling in as a plug.

On the plus side, his curiosity about the mushrooms left in Shiro’s his shack is resolved when he sees the similar-looking fruits in one of the gallon bags his neighbor pushes on to him.

“You owe me fifteen hundred after it all sells, and you can keep anything on top of that,” his neighbor offers. “And don’t think I won’t know where to find you if you try to run off on me.”

He’d walked Keith through the going rates for the items in each of the bags and sent him on his way.

It wasn’t long before his greed got the better of him. If he only needed to hold onto fifteen hundred dollars, he was holding an extra two thousand dollars in his bag right now at the suggested going rates.

If he kept it up, that was enough to ensure the bike would never be out of commission for long again, enough for three meals a day every day, more than he could conceivably think to ever spend.

Within a month, his original haul was gone and he no longer had to seek out potential customers. They came to him.

It was an easy decision to return to his neighbor and ask for more.

It’s a harder decision to set it all aside to sell this time… so he doesn’t.

He’s in the green, he’s no longer doing this by force as a return on an IOU, and to be honest… he’s tired. Tired of the drag of the lonely days inching by, tired of the way panic grips him seemingly at random throughout each day, tired of trading his time and wear on Shiro’s bike for unlivable wages delivering mediocre food to ungrateful customers, tired of thinking about what he’s lost and what little he has to look forward to.

What he has now helps chase it all away when it gets to be too much. It makes life… livable. For a bit, at least.

It won’t be for long. He can quit whenever he wants. That’s just not today.

[saturnniidae]

I think it'd be extra funny if kid Keith looked even weirder. he looks new. likw new to earth and not just in the recently born way

Pretty boy Keith is Not Real. I say this with all the love for him in my heart: ain't no fucking way the first ever human/galra hybrid looks normal he's at the very least like chopped as hell.

Looks weird for just some guy. kind of odd a little offputing, strange proportions, maybe weird 'birthmarks' and eyes. but like nobody initally believed in fully sentient alien life let alone close enough to actually be able to procreate with humans so like why would they think he's half alien. but then when you find out it's like. Oh wow that makes so much sense! no wonder he looks like That

[sabertoothwalrus]

of all the ways the live action voltron movie could go, there’s two possibilities that would be the most entertaining to me:

1) it’s surprisingly really good and ends up being by far the best adaptation. All the characters have satisfying and well-developed arcs and the story is just the right length. The vfx are mostly practical and there’s really good makeup, puppetry, and animatronics. The robot looks great and the fight scenes are cool.

2) it’s so so so sososo bad. like SO bad. Bad enough that vld looks decent in comparison and it revives the fandom

[iloveboysinred]

Hiii, your keith hc where absolutely perfect, and I wanted to ask would it be able to get some fluffy hc or one-shot (whatever you prefer more) of keith kogane please ?, have a lovely day or night 💓💓

Hi anon! Thank you so much for your ask. I think i’ll make this a one shot if you dont mind, I’ve been writing lots of hcs lately and i’m already planning fluffy HCs for Keith to be posted later on this week! Hope you enjoy 💕

My home is with you[Keith Kogane]

Vld Keith x Gn reader

Synopsis: Keith has been gone for two weeks. You start to feel his absence, and the team feels it too. Soon enough, he comes back and takes you away to spend time with you in his own special way

Cw; fluffy Keith, brief and i mean briefff mention of intercourse. Sorta angst but not really? Just you being sad and missing Keith. Happy ending. Kinda lengthy i hope you dont mind. Not a lot of dialect!

Masterlist

To say you missed Keith was an understatement. Between saving conquered planets, keeping the castle stable, and even Keith’s marmora training, you had barely gotten the chance to really sit down and have a nice, quiet night with your boyfriend. Everything felt tense all the time. There was always a lingering sense of panic, never being able to fully relax while Zarkon, and now, Lotor still lurked. They were an ever present danger you never knew when they would strike next.

The one thing you missed the most about earth besides your family and friends was the sense of normalcy you once had. The routine you had set for your life. When you would come over to Keith’s house, an old, isolated and broken down shack in the desert, with creaky floors and dusty broken windows. The place needed some work, but that never mattered to you or Keith. The love that was brewing inside every single time you would pay him a visit is all you and Keith could care about. You missed the cool, quiet nights where you and Keith would sit on his roof, staring up at the very same constellations you’ve now flown by and seen up close. Talking about your dreams, sharing secrets. He would hold you close and you would kiss him, running your fingers through his dark hair, whispering soft words of affection to each other.

You loved waking up next to him after a night of passion, your body aching from the love you had made, every bite and mark on your skin fresh and still stinging. You would glance down at him, sleeping peacefully, hair a mess and adorning matching marks of his own, before getting up and fixing breakfast with whatever he had in the fridge, making a mental note to tell Shiro to take you grocery shopping for Keith later that day. While you cooked he would come up behind you, wearing an old, warn out pair of sweats, hair disheveled, eyes blinking tiredly, still low and half lidded from sleep, but he still looked as handsome as ever. You would sink into his embrace, swaying side to side as you tended to the food cooking on the stove.

Now you sat cold and alone in his room. You’d see Keith less and less as time went on, The Blade of Marmora taking up almost all his time. You understood how important this was to him, you were happy he found a group to belong to, and you know what he was doing was bigger than yourselves. But you’d also began to feel his absence, and it was taking its toll on you. You slept in his room and wore his clothes, those being the only comfort you had whenever Keith was gone for days, sometimes weeks on a mission. It was nothing compared to the feeling in your stomach when he would wrap his arms around you and bring you down to bed with him, the washed out smell of him on his clothes dulled in comparison to the lingering familiar scent of his shampoo, surrounding you every time he embraced you. Nothing could fill in for Keith, and everyone in the castle could see how much you missed him.

So when Keith came back to the castle (unbeknownst to you) Shiro sat him down to have a talk.

Shiro explained that he has known you for as long as he’s been taking care of him. He could tell you werent being yourself and he was concerned with Keith’s frequent absences. “The team needs you, Keith.” Shiro sighed, placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “But Y/n needs you the most. You’re the only piece of home they’ve got. Try to be here some more. If not for Voltron then do it for them.” Keith nodded to himself, looking down in shame. He missed you too, but he had been so wrapped up with the Blades that he barely had time to worry about how he felt, or even about how you felt. Guilt fell in his stomach as if he’d swallowed a stone. “I know Shiro, i’m gonna make it up to them, and you guys. I promise.”

You had been sitting in the dining hall chit chatting with Allura and Lance when he came in, you didnt notice at first, picking at your food goo and nodding here and there when Lance would try to include you in the conversation. Keith took your lack of awareness as a chance to study you. Your hair was messily tossed into a hair tie, just as he always loved it, and you were wearing one of his plain black shirts. Keith felt a swell of emotion in his chest when he’d seen your face. Uninterested and blank, missing the spark he’d always search for. He could see from here how he’s impacted you, and his heart felt like it would shatter into a million pieces.

“And then i was like what the quiznak- oh hey Keith! Youre back” Lance chirped, exchanging a knowing look with Allura. But Keith didnt respond, his eyes locked with yours as you whipped around, eyebrows almost raising into your hairline. “Keith! You’re here!” You cried as you launched yourself into his chest, wrapping your arms around him and nuzzling your face into him. Keith smiled wrapping his arms around you to steady you. “Yeah I am..sorry I was gone for so-“ you didnt let him finish, pressing your lips to his and wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him down to meet you. You kissed sweetly, melting into each other.

You barely noticed Allura and Lance snickering at you while they exited the room. Too concerned with eating your boyfriend’s face to care about the teasing you’re probably going to deal with later. After a few moments Keith pulled away, he held your wrists gently in his as he looked into your eyes with all the love he had for you, smiling softly at you. “I missed you so much. All I could think about was you. I- I brought you this.” He handed you a necklace, a small dog tag with your initials carved in the thin piece of metal, the other side had a messy shape you assumed was supposed to be a heart. “I engraved it myself. I found it while we were on a stake out mission. I hope you like it” he sounded so shy and nervous, it made your heart swell with emotion as you handed it back to him. “Can you help me put it on?” “Yeah” you turned your back towards him, beaming as he clicked the hatch for the necklace into place, pressing a soft kiss to the nape of your neck. “I love it baby, thank you” you turned back around to hold grab his hand, eagerly dragging him down the hall. “Cmon, I dont want to waste a second with you- i’m not gonna lie i’ve made a mess of your room but I hope you don’t mind!” “Actually, I want to take you out somewhere.” You stopped in your tracks and looked back at Keith. “Where?” “You’ll see it when we go. Cmon, put on a suit and meet me at the black lion’s hangar.” You nodded before walking into his room anyway, quickly getting changed and running down to meet him.

You held on to his seat as he took off, telling you to hold on tight as you flew out of the castle. You flew for about an hour, passing by vibrant planets and constellations. Pointing out meteors and stars as you passed by. Keith still wouldn’t tell you where you were going until you entered a big, green planet’s atmosphere. You looked over at him quizzically as you landed, the planet had nothing but short, green grass. You couldn’t hear the sounds of any creature or civilization. It was almost as if you were here completely alone. “Keith, where are we?” “This is planet Ogoria. Me and the blades made camp here when i was on that mission. It’s completely unhabited. & I brought you here to see something.” He explained, leading you off the black lion and into the open. “Cmon, lets find somewhere to sit.” Keith had brought with him a big blanket and two pillows, walking a few feet away from the lion before setting the blanket down on a particularly soft patch of grass. He threw the pillows on before sitting down. You followed suit, sitting down next to him, leaning into his body as he wrapped an arm around your waist.

“Look y/n, i’m really sorry i’ve been gone so much lately. The blades and I- well we’re getting close to finding something great” he muttered, glancing over at you. You looked away from him for a second, thinking over your next words. “ I know Keith. I’m not upset with you- I just miss how things used to be you know? I miss home. I miss our life together.” You sighed, gaze locked on your intertwined hands. “ I know, hun. I miss earth too. But we’re here now and we gotta try to make the best of it. This will be over sooner than we think. I feel it.” You looked up into his eyes, and he never looked so assured. You gave him a weak smile, scooting closer to him and pressing a peck to his lips. “Well, you’d better be right about that, Keith. Or i’ll drag us all back to Earth by force.” You giggled at the snort he let out, burrowing yourself deeper into his side, closing your eyes and relishing in his warmth.

“Y/n, look up at the sky”

You blinked your eyes open, having begun to nod off on Keith. When you looked up you let out a gasp. The sky was full of stars, it was as if the whole galaxy was displayed right In front of you in one place. “Keith its..its beautiful!” You whispered, unable to tear your eyes away from the scenery. “I know its nothing like the roof back home, but i figured it’s pretty close.” You tore your gaze away just to meet his, your eyes shining. “Keith I- i dont know what to say…I mean this is incredible!” you saw him smile, glancing up at the stars himself. “Lets get comfortable.” You both leaned down, lying on the pillows and drinking in the sight before you in comfortable silence. “Y/n..” you turned to look at him, his eyes were soft, full of adoration as he looked you over, burning every feature on your face into his mind. “I love you.. thank you for sticking with me.” You brought your hand up to his cheek, pressing a soft kiss to his nose. “I love you too Keith. I’ll always be with you, no matter what.” And so there you laid. Holding onto each other, catching up and telling each other dreams and secrets you harbored. It was nothing like how’d you been on Earth. But Keith made it special, and thats all that mattered to you.

Hopefully you enjoyed Anon! Thank you again for your submission. :> Notes and reblogs appreciated, asks and submissions welcome!! 💗💗

[sexisbetteronthemoon]

Is there any lore/world building in ur au that won’t be brought up in the the fic but is still a fun fact u can share?

thanks for asking, i'm delighted to answer!  i've been trying to incorporate as much as i can of the world through Keith's observations, but hmm well here's a few fun facts off the top of my head since i had too much coffee and am not getting any sleep anytime soon:

the planet is always trying to kill Keith in one form or another, and still, Keith loves it there.

there's mermaids!  they're not like the mermaid planet in vld.  to provide a comparison in human evolution terms, these are barely evolving from advanced australopithecus to homo erectus (they could still deviate into something else).  they're almost as smart as ravens and can use tools and mostly avoid surface waters bc there's often tidal waves that can sweep them out and strand them to dry out and die.  Keith has not yet discovered them.

the smartest animal on the planet is actually Kosmo's species!  they do not speak, but use body language and scent/chemo signals to communicate.  Kosmo is very confused as to why its adoptive parents do not understand it unless it's yelling at them (barking/growling/whining).  it'll get the gist eventually, it's still baby.  bonus:  the blink dogs can convert the radiation from the crystal fields into energy!  it's how they survive on such little food.  but like some animals, it needs more than one type of “food” to survive.

speaking of the crystal fields, there's more creatures there, including a few plants.

the desert is cold, yet dry/arid.  it's not uncommon for it to snow there in winter (just an inch or two), but the snow melts and evaporates pretty quickly.  Keith is actually a little afraid of this place because of the sandwalkers.  “the elephants of the desert”, they're simultaneously large and hard to see bc they're thin with four limbs and capable of flattening to burrow slightly in the sand to blend in.  they move silently and walk very slowly to conserve energy unless they've spotted prey, and everything that moves is prey.  they produce a kind of silk web they use to travel during wind storms bc they're very light.  they're also not very good eating, so most predator animals don't bother with them.  (if you're picturing a walking stick bug at around 11 ft long, you've got it!)

rock worms are based on the creatures in Tremors movies!  (which someone already figured out in the comments on that chapter, way to go!)  they differ from cave worms in that rock worms only eat rock and burrow into it.  cave worms eat excrement and apparently Lance's jumpsuit as well.

it was an earthquake that separated Kosmo from its family.  many died, but there were some survivors.  this will not become a problem until Kosmo is an adult, and thus beyond the story's end.  i may write a short one shot about it later on if anyone's interested.  in that same vein, i will likely ask before the last chapter, or after, if anyone has unresolved questions curiosities, etc. and i'll answer or make one shots about it once the main story is over.

the red light refraction is caused by a ginormous red crystal that lays in the path of the sun to cover the mountain range where Keith lives and hundreds of miles around it.  it can actually be seen from the ground level if you go up a tall tree (it is always visible from the mountain).  it's very big.  and yes, this does mean there there are places on Planet Red where redset doesn't occur and there's normal sunsets.  there's also places where there's redrises.

Allura met Lance's mother when she visited a beach on Earth (on a diplomatic mission to include Earth in the space council after the war) and she absolutely snuck away from her guards and party to hit on her while she was working, but ended up embarrassing herself and thought she'd ruined her chance.  but it made Lance's mother laugh and it completely won her over bc Lance's mom loves to laugh.

on the subject of the war, zarkon did not live thousands of years.  mofo died a regular ass death (as did honerva) and his descendants carried on the war for ages until an armistice was reached.

Planet Red used to be mostly covered in water until massive earthquakes and continental shifts brought land up and emptied the water out into oceans and seas.  this was hundreds upon thousands of years ago, however.  there is also a caldera beneath the jungle which keeps it warm.

the sun has a pair but it orbits too distantly to affect Planet Red.  it's a dwarf red and can be seen via telescope in the night sky.  Keith calls it “Little Red” (as in Riding Hood).

there's a mushroom forest with enormous mushrooms and tiny, humanoid fairies closer to the crystal fields, but they're basically wasps and very territorial.  if they sense something is a threat, they swarm, biting and scratching, until it leaves or they're killed.  they make hives in the gills of some mushrooms and are often targeted by birds and other creatures.  they need sodium and glucose and will enthusiastically feed upon blood to get it.  since it's so close to the radiation, Keith doesn't go there often.

once, Keith managed to convince Shiro (takashi as he's called in the fic bc they're blood brothers) that he's adopted bc Shiro doesn't look like either Heath or Krolia.  he does have Heath's chin, but that's it.  he mostly looks like Krolia's father, whom they've never met.  Shiro cried about it and Keith got grounded.  Shiro was just a preteen then.  (Keith was a whole menace and a half when he was kid.)  all three kids used to fight over the control of the big tv and Acxa always won bc she waited for Shiro and Keith to tire each other out before diving in and sitting on them until they surrendered.

“Kogane” isn't Keith's surname!  it doesn't come up at all, but since Shiro is the only one with a surname, i slapped that baby on the whole family.  only Shiro's friends call him as such.  (it felt weird to get rid of the “Shiro” nickname entirely for this fic, so i finagled it to still be possible, just not within his family unless Keith or Acxa is mocking him (as siblings do).

i hope you found these tidbits entertaining!  if you'd like more info, hit me up! ❤️💙

[twinchromatid]

i love this so much. every time i see my name on these i feel like a celebrity

pt2 of voltron nation as textposts cause they're silly goobers

cred for the laughs

( @razatronz @akiraal @nikogane @nostalgicish @mushed-kid @selestialsprout @sikuena @anonymouszephyrus )

[kidspawn]

This is just to piggy back what you were saying about “depending on where you start the story” because I do heavily agree with you.

Because we started from the beginning, it seems to us that Gansey is the main one strong holding everything. He’s the one taking all of them to caves and through the forest to find Glendower. So people like Maura or Blue or even his friends will say that he is the leader of the group. There is truth behind that, but when you enter a new character, that perspective shifts.

Mr. Gray is a great example of this. He enters into the narrative in book two, but does not truly see the dynamics of the group until book three, which is where Adam has the most control over his abilities, he’s the one calling the shots, and he’s the one who blackmails people. He makes plans while Gansey is becoming split off. He begins to focus more on Blue, and Blue becomes more focused on trying to find her mother.

Someone else said that Mr. Gray sees himself in Adam, which would also contribute to how he views the group dynamic.

Adam and Gansey are becoming more like equals in my mind where they both are actively produce plans, and I would say Adam is definitely the most strategic of the two, despite him having unhinged thoughts like… idk killing an orphan girl then realizing that its wrong to do that and deciding to take her to cabeswter. (Adam, I love you babes… but wtf?)

And depending on how you look at it, Blue may actually have the most influence out of the group (including Noah… and btw I do know what happens to him. Im ignoring it lmao). The reason why I say that is because all of the boys flock to her, even Adam who is a little pissy with her where I am at. So, it can look like she’s the main in the group.

In reality, this just means the group doesn’t have a “main.” They are their individual fluid units that shift when they need to. There is not one person who hangs back, which is the point of multiple narrations in this series so far.

The most fascinating aspect of TRC from a structural standpoint is how the story is poised in a way that allows any of the gangsey to be the main character. (With the exception of Ronan, though I think you could argue Ronan is more important but I can't recall if you've gotten there yet...?) Like, Glendower really is the friends we make along the way? It's such a well-built ensemble, because I don't think people are used to an ensemble dividing the focus so evenly.

Compare, and this is not me taking shots by any means, TRC to other ensemble works. This may seem a bizarre comparison but like... Voltron is one that springs to mind. It's an ensemble cast, but there's blatant narrative weight in several of the characters which makes the overall ensemble feel unbalanced. You can see which stories had more care and heart put behind them, which is why you have some phenomenal character development and some genuinely weak and, frankly, offensive character dismissal. I won't make you sit through my VLD spiel, but the comparison I make here is that there was an intent to make the ensemble balanced, but there were blatant favourites. The Raven Cycle, while some of the characters are maybe the author darling, is very adept at balancing their arcs in a way where each character has a full breadth of personality and nuances.

And it's in the way each of the books focuses so specifically on building each of the character's individual powers (TRB-Adam, TDT-Ronan, BLLB-Blue, TRK-Gansey) and their individual arcs. Each of these books really grants the agency to one character in particular and it means, if you center your discussion on that book and character, you really could make a case that one character is shifting the narrative. But you'd have to ignore the influence of the others. I do not think you could remove a character and the story would work, and that is very rare for an ensemble.

And the Grey Man, seeing bits of himself in Adam, would focus the story on Adam. Much like Blue or the women at Fox Way would focus the story on Gansey. Because it's common for a reader to focus on a different part of the story and latch onto it due to their personal bias. I relate to Adam, so I tend to view a lot of his actions as dominant in the narrative. Gansey is the focus for the women of Fox Way because this is their introduction to the group, and his "prophecy" is one of the first things they learn about him. Blue is the focal point of the story, of the boy's powers, and she holds narrative weight for this reason. I think Blue has the most claim to the "main main character" title, but even that doesn't work. As a character, she's an amplifier. (I could also go on about how her being there to uplift the other characters is commentary on female protagonists and I think Blue being a girl is opportunity for a critical read on how women in YA are handled ahem but that's for another day) The other characters would not become themselves without Blue. And, Gansey wouldn't be here without Noah. Adam would not be here without Gansey. Ronan would not be here without Gansey. Blue would not be here without Adam. Henry would not be here without Gansey. Ronan and Adam would not come into themselves without one another. Blue and Gansey would not reach character growth without one another. Blue would not have tapped into her potential without Noah. I could go on and on and on. I could even make a case for Henry wielding the narrative. BUT I'LL WAIT.

My point is, the biggest appeal of the character work in The Raven Cycle is not only how well-balanced the ensemble is, its masterfully shifted in its character perspectives and each character contributes to the other's main arc. This story would not have happened and would not have worked if this group of people had not met at this specific point in time and in this specific order.

[leakinghate]

Hi! I’m falling back down the vld rabbit hole and am once again consoling myself with how the series could/should/was meant to wrap up its various character and plot arcs and come to a satisfying and well written ending with all of tpl’s metas that i found really enlightening back in the day. So first of all, thanks for all the time and energy you guys put into everything you’ve collected/organized/posted!

Second, do you know if any of felixazrael’s metas are still available anywhere? With the blog deactivated, tumblr has kicked all the links on the old posts.

Third, do you have any thoughts on how unavailable vld seems to be now? Amazon doesn’t even have s7 and 8 available for purchase.

Thanks and have a fantastic day! 🌼

Hello hello! :D Welcome back to the VLD rabbit hole! You are so sweet! I shared your lovely compliments with my teammates, and we are so pleased to hear from you! I also occasionally re-read the old metas; there are a few things I'd change about them if I was to revisit them today, but on the whole I think they stand the test of time pretty well, and I'm proud of all the hard work and love we put into them. I keep meaning to write a retrospective of sorts to reflect on the things that have and have not changed since then, but I can never quite seem to find the words for articulating all the feelings that'd be necessarily wrapped up in all that. Felix is a difficult topic. They voluntarily withdrew from the community and asked that all copies of their work be pulled down and disposed of. Out of respect for them and our friendship we complied with their request, even as we as a whole are staunchly against deleting fandom history. It's a complicated and frustrating situation, but they have the right to decide what happens with their work. I'm sorry, I believe all of Felix's metas are lost now. As for your third question... OH BOY do I have thoughts! :D I have many thoughts about the availability (or lack thereof) of VLD. So, as of this writing, the first two DVDs (covering Season 1-2 [production season 1], and 3-6 [production season 2], respectively) are out of print and difficult to come by. Seasons 7 and 8 [production season 3] were never released at all for purchase. I believe there are still several places you can purchase digital copies of the first 6 seasons, but again, seasons 7 and 8 were never released. There could be several reasons for some of this - the DVDs were of low-quality and never sold particularly well (why would you buy a low-res version of a show you could watch on Netflix in HD?) so it's not too implausible to imagine that 7 and 8 were simply never printed because the expense of printing was more than the expected profit. That's plausible, that's reasonable. What's much less so is the unavailability of the episodes for digital download. Making something available for purchase digitally is so inexpensive, by comparison to DVDs, that it's basically free. And with the size of VLD's fandom (even today), you'd surely get enough sales to cover the already negligible costs. So it's not a money issue. And it's not a demand issue. What have we got left? The way I see it, there's two main options here, and they both boil down to: something regarding seasons 7 and 8 being edited is interfering with making those seasons available for purchase.

Option 1: It's something legal.

The rights for Voltron have always been a tricky thing. It's owned by the private company WEP (World Events Productions) which leases out different pieces of the rights to other companies so that they can make the shows and the merchandise based on the brand. I, and my team, fully believe that Bob Koplar, the CEO of WEP, is the man responsible for ordering the edits to Seasons 7 and Season 8. The "why" of the matter is still speculative, but it's pretty clear that he's responsible. (I can get into the details if asked, but we'll be here all day if I do it now, lol) So Koplar holds the rights to the brand, but DreamWorks, which made VLD, holds the rights to the individual show. If there's a legal conflict between the companies, say, over which version of the show can be released... then that could be why we're not seeing those episodes. Option 2: It's spite. Following on the last option, with Bob Koplar having levered his control over the Voltron Trademarks to force DreamWorks to make edits to their show, it's very possible one or the other is preventing the release of the episodes in an effort to screw with the other.

From Koplar's side of things, he's small and petty enough to rip an entire completed show - millions of dollars in investment in animation alone - to pieces for reasons that seem to amount to him disliking the story direction. He'd absolutely hold up the release of the episodes if there was something about them he still didn't like - and there's plenty still there for him to hate! (*cough* like the caricature literally named after him in the Season 7 episode "The Feud" *cough)

From DreamWorks' perspective, they had an entire completed show - millions of dollars in animation, remember! - ripped to pieces by a power-tripping, petty, little man. Which they then had to shell out additional funds to pay to reconstruct. The resulting product, which they were contractually obligated to release to Netflix, was then rejected wholesale by the fanbase, completely destroying any possibility of a franchise for one of the biggest hit shows they'd seen in years. We're looking at tens of millions of dollars down the drain. Would a company like DreamWorks turn around and screw over Koplar in turn for what he did? Yeah, I think they might. All in all, I can't say why they're not available... but I do know that back, immediately after Season 8 aired, WEP's storefront (Voltron Store) and social media accounts were claiming that the final DVD would be out by "the fall", which, given the timeframe, was presumably fall 2019. So at some point there was a plan to make those episodes available, at least on WEP's part. This, however, was likely before it was revealed to Bob that the episode "The Feud" was mocking him specifically. I can't say whether those episodes will ever get an official release, but I can say that if they do, it's going to dig up this whole entire mess all over again. And I'm pretty sure that neither party involved wants that. WEP has their new movie in production, and DW probably see the entire show as something they'd like to forget. Releasing those episodes will bring them both nothing but bad PR.

Thank you so much for your message! I enjoyed receiving it, and I had great fun writing out this answer! I'm always happy to talk Voltron, Voltron theories, Voltron related media. Have a lovely day!

[artsyjesseblue]

Jesse's Blog Masterpost

Hey people of Tumblr! I've created a lot of art, fics and metas in the past few years. Although I dab into other fandoms too, VLD remains the focus of this blog - in the form of illustrations, fanfics and metas (some artworks are still available as prints in my Ko-fi shop). This is an updated masterpost of links to the most representative artworks and fanfics, as well as every meta I've written. Yup, a lot of Lotura. :)

VLD art (#jesseblue draws) Here are some of my favorite artworks created in the past few years: Dancing Allura Here's Some Alchemy Lotor gets a massage Bedtime Lotura Allura on the Moon Halloween Lotura New Year Lotura Lotura's Alchemy Lasts Forever - my most popular artwork Plance Dance Wardrobe Updates - Lotura Week 2023 entry Beach Day - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Lotor - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Allura - Lotura Week 2023 entry Lotura's Celestial Wedding Lilac Love - Lotura Week 2024 entry Drawings inspired by other writers' fics: "Quiet!" - a Pidge and Keith drawing Lotor clawing his way out of a muddy situation DotU Lotor chopping wood Some art was created for my fanfic "Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct": Story banner "Allura, please..." Lotor's Pirouette Space Mouse in Pilot Suit Melancholy Angry Romelle Don't Mess With Acxa She Is Beauty... We Will Win "Though She Be But Little" Acxa and Jesse VLD-TDP cross-art Aaravos and Lotor Find my VLD fanfiction on AO3 here (#jesseblue writes) All my VLD metas (#jesseblue writes) The Two Alluras: An analysis of some potential post-animation edits and errors in several scenes during the last episode, when the Paladins face Honerva in the Connected Consciousness.

Oh No, Lotor: Why Lotor should not be among the Paladins of Old in the final scenes of VLD.

Sleeping Allura: Some logical deductions based on basic rules of cinematography, regarding the very last scene in S8E10 - Knights of Light Part 2.

Decoding Voltron’s Rosetta Stone: My biggest meta (seriously, it’s really long), an interpretative analysis of numerous symbols in the official VLD comics - which, at a first glance look absolutely innocent, yet oftentimes eerily cryptic, especially the Yalexian Pearl book.

Lion vs. Wolf: An extension of the previous meta, focused on a comparison between the White Lion - Guardian of Oriande and Gantomor - Warden of the Sacred Hunting Grounds (comics).

So Safe and Warm: Why “Luxia’s Kingdom” actually reads “Altea” in the last commercial scene of “The Feud”.

Petrulius - What Happened to You?: Questioning the purpose of Lotor’s pods on the moon colony, by comparing the images of Petrulius and the original (doctor) Haggar.

Allura Drawn over Lotor (with gifs): Mostly a visual meta with gifs, showing Allura was drawn over Lotor in the last episode, as part of the post-animation edits.

I Have Beezer Questions: Several observations regarding animation inconsistencies during the Allura and Lance first kiss scene, most notably their flipped placement on the screen and Beezer’s trajectory.

A Noble Cause: An interpretation of Allura’s vision in Clear Day, if we were to start from the premise that Lotor was infusing his moon Alteans with the Entity. The Zarkon-Honerva-Lotor meta trilogy - an in-depth analysis of the profound reasons that led to the tragic descent into madness of these three antagonist characters. Prepare for reading some long metas, especially Lotor's: Slowly Going Mad - Part I - Zarkon Slowly Going Mad - Part II - Honerva Slowly Going Mad - Part III - Lotor I also wrote one short meta about Aaravos, from The Dragon Prince (my speculation turned out to be true, heh).

[cherieetree]

just to add a little, his parents room was upstairs, the window matches the windows at the top of the house.

also someone made a theory that he was living in the remnants of his childhood home but the surrounding landscape doesn't match up so i don't think it's possible.

for reference, here's his childhood home

and his shack

the hills in the background aren't there, the trees are different, and the shack didn't keep the same structure of the house and is definitely not the same house.

so like... where tf does/did keith live????

i mean, i thought he lived in texas, because. he does.

but also that little shack that he lives in is the same house that his parents lived in too... or i thought so? but maybe not

but also, the garrison is in arizona, and it's a 13-14 hr drive from arizona to texas, so it can't be the same house. so did he just live in texas when he was a kid? if so, why didn't shiro go to a school in arizona when he was trying to promote the garrison???

i'm so confused