#AAAAND THEY QUEERBAITED A RELATIONSHIP

[knownoshamc]

I am sorry but father figure? did I watch another show? didn't Jenkins also call it a love triangle?

(source)

[nexyra]

I got an ask for Qrow Branwen so here it comes !

My fav ship(s) for the character

I think my favorite ships for Qrow are Cloqwork and Fair Game ! Cloqwork lacked screentime in terms of canon content of course, but I love the potential here. I also have a things for shipping the sad men together xD There are a lot of REALLY great Cloqwork fanfics out there and I love seeing people write about these two <3 It's in the details but I think there's something interesting here. With Qrow who is convinced to be a curse, who came from such a harsh background... And with Ozpin who is so convinced of humanity's inherent goodness and that anyone deserves a chance. At the same time they're both very complicated people who I think would interact in cool ways. Ozpin is wise but does have a mischievous streak that I think also helped in making them both get along. Qrow is much more perceptive than he appears and that's also good for dealing with someone as secretive as Ozpin.

Fair Game also had a very good start ! The relationship was admittedly a bit tilted toward Qrow's recovery in the show, but they were nice to see together. Clover was perceptive & caring as well as patient. All great qualities for a relationship with Qrow, who has a hard time breaking down his walls and a shot mental health. At the same time, Atlas is very professional, straight-to-the-point and I think Qrow is a real breath of fresh hair in that environment. He brings a different viewpoint to the table, he's very loyal & caring and it's clear that his sass amused Clover greatly. We didn't get to learn enough about him, but Clover's VA hinted that Clover's trust was a fragile thing and he wasn't a fan of showing vulnerability. Qrow, who gives everything he has in all his relationships, would have been a great balm for that uncertainty. So yeah !

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

There are, of course, any & all ships between Qrow & the kids or Qrow & Salem's team. But outside of these obvious "nope", I'll have to go with Jailbirds. This is COMPLETELY personal but I have a really hard time liking Robyn's character as of V7 end/V8 so I'm barely interested in her dynamic with Qrow. I did appreciate her talking down Qrow from revenge because he was only doing it for his own sake but... That's about it. I find her way too abrasive (hidden behind her shiny Robinhood looks). And whereas Clover (imo) was pretty good at getting Qrow to face his issus head-on & building him up, I feel like Robyn relies more on humour & deflection... Which is an art Qrow is already acquainted with, and not the best coping mechanism for him. Aaaand I just feel like she put Clover down several time in order to lift Qrow up. That, plus the queerbaiting controversy, plus her having indirectly participated to Clover's death... The ship makes me a bit uncomfortable.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

My fav platonic relationship for Qrow is his bond with Ruby ! I really hope they bring it back because these two were GREAT together. Ruby's admiration was adorable. Qrow's nonchalent but clearly protective streak. They care about each other A LOT and I really loved them together. I hope they can have more moments together like back in V3-V4 or V6.

I'm not sure what my least liked platonic relationship would be. Saying Robyn again feels like beating on a dead horse but I don't really have a problem with any other ones. They're all, if not kind & good for him, at least interesting (like Raven)

My favorite thing about the character

The combination of his sassy/cynic personnality and how loyal & caring of a person he actually he is. Qrow is rough around the edges, leans easily into banter but he cares so damn much. He fit so easily next to Ruby's peppy enthusiasm in Vol 1-3, and then he was just an incredible badass and yet so damn vulnerable human in Vol 4-6. I liked that about him. How all the pieces fit together

My biggest criticism for the character

Well I have 2 things to say about that. First : V7C12 With Friends like these. What the fuck was this episode qkfazkfhkgh Qrow's brain was nerfed SO DAMN HARD, I was genuinely pissed while watching the episode. This was just a string of dumb decisions from everyone except Tyrian. But I digress -

In a more general sense, I'd say... putting Qrow in the sidelines. Him falling further into depression was a sound decision. It was interesting and fitting of his character imo. But I feel like they tied "Ruby having enough of his alcooholism" and "Ruby growing away from adults" in a way that kind of.... just put Qrow to the side and doesn't allow him to do much. In V6 finale, Qrow expresses understandable concerns about their plan to steal an airship, but instead of dealing with that Ruby's frustration with his cynicism is aired out and... the timing kind of makes the whole thing weird becaus Qrow isn't allowed to disagree with their plan ("we'll do it with you or without you") and then has to trust Ruby and let her go which AGAIN is a great moment in itself. But all that put together just like... rid Qrow of his function as a parental figure because Ruby is the leader now and he's just... kind of following along.

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

Okay for this one Q, I'll have to go with Vol 4 and Vol 6 for very different reasons. V4 was great because we really got to get to know Qrow. His complicated relationship with Raven. How BADASS his encounter with Tyrian was I freaking loved it. What his semblance and how it shaped his life. And it also let him be vulnerable through the poison & seeing Ruby repay his care was very nice.

Vol 6 for fleshing out, taking his issues & drinking more seriously. Showing more hopelesness and cynicism, and that he had a real drinking problem and he wasn't just a fun drunk. Plus the loss of faith in Oz showed how much Qrow needs stability and secure certainties to orbit around despite his nonchalant personnality. But I like it a bit less because it was the starting point of putting him on the side kind of.

A song I think fits them & why

Ship in a Bottle (Steffan Argus) ➸ A song about being alone in your fight, in the sense that your life is like a sail on the ocean and you are the only captain, the only one who can choose what to do with it. At the same time, there are several mentions of a "captain" as if the singer/Qrow adresses someone else. It's reminiscent of his relation with Ozpin or Clover : speaking of a deal, of being honest and sharing what's on your mind. Qrow thinks too much, he's scared and he sinks more & more as he delves into his cynicism (V6). Qrow cries, things get worse, the mention of the glass echoes his struggle with alcooholism. And the Scarewrow loses his brain, "lose touch with all the things that made [him] feel sane."

+ Problem child (Simple Plan) The Star song (Amanda Palmer) Would anyone care (Citizen Soldier) Wasted (8 Graves)

A headcanon to make up about them

Qrow didn't have the most normal childhood and because of that he had to learn a lot for Ruby & Yang. Notably, Qrow had absolutely 0 notion of what was an appropriate presents for young girls. As a result, he tended to simply bring back from his travels whatever shiny thing might have caught his attention. Could be a weird flower. Could be a pretty knife. Or even junk that his corvid brain latched upon.

Tai designed a look(Tm) that Qrow learned to recognize as "No, not appropriate." After a while, Yang learned to mimick it (but rather at random, she didn't really recognze what was appropriate and what wasn't). Ruby always liked his presents though.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I CLEARLY would rewrite V7C12 so that Qrow & Clover keep their brains kzjhfkqhzk There were ways to reach the same conclusion without like... having a Qrow-Tyran team-up which was REALLY weird

I see 2 main possibilities to stick close to canon content - After the crash, Tyrian gets free but he keeps playing dead for a bit. Since there is no 3rd menace, Clover and Qrow's argument devolve into a fight as seen in canon. At one point, Clover manages to briefly disarm Qrow. They discuss for a bit, you can even put the exact same dialog as in the ep. Then Tyrian takes action, moving out of the shadows to kill Clover with Qrow's discarded weapon. Braincells saved. OR - Instead of having Qrow & Tyrian outright team up, Tyrian just... keeps instillating doubts in their mind. Qrow & Clover are temporarily allies in taking Tyrian down but because of this, they don't TRUST each other which cause missteps and make them less effective. At one point, Qrow tries to attack Tyrian who is behind Clover. But because neither Qrow nor Clover really have faith in the other at that moment (and because Tyrian is poisonning their mind), Clover automatically steps back or aside. He doesn't entirely trust Qrow. Because of this small hesitation, Qrow's attack fails. Tyrian manages to disarm him. Tyrian uses Qrow's weapon to kill Clover. There could even be some message here about the lack of Trust & letting Salem divide friends... something of that caliber in any case 🤔 It can even parallel V3 where Qrow did the same thing with Ironwood & Ironwood refused to stand aside even if he thought Qrow meant to attack him... Could lead somewhere ! Like, in V3 Qrow had faith that Ironwood wasn't to blame. Only Ironwood feared that Qrow blamed him, but Qrow knew & trusted that Ironwood wasn't to blame. In other words, Salem didn't divide them. Here, Qrow & Clover let Tyrian get into their head. And as a result Clover dies. "Together we stand, Divided we fall"

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I'm still mulling on it right now but I think he might be some kind of ISTP 416. He has some weird 7ish behaviour but his need to orbit around someone/a goal, his relationship with Oz, how close he stuck to Tai & Summer sounds closer to 6 fix. He wants people to go home to. Certainty and security. His independance definitely is there but seems emphasized moreso out of necessity.

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ? (optional)

I'm not sure mhmmm maybe his relationship with Summer ? It would be both cute & interesting. As well as finally giving us insight into who Summer was

[euphoriccalliope-blog]

C’mon. Play the Game.

This just popped into my head re: the Sherlock ARG getting underway in earnest, and some anxiety around that. Folks who’ve been going harddd since January 15th are exhausted -- all the more so because the Sherlock fandom is used to operating on a years-long hiatus schedule and we’ve suddenly been pushed into hourly realtime effort. It’s decidedly uncomfortable on one hand, but also thrilling.

The ARG is basically an epic game of chicken. Do we trust we know the rules and parameters enough to play it without getting bruised or overly frustrated by TPTB who are playing it with us? We’ve been burnt before. If there is no explicit prize of another episode, promised upfront, then what does “winning” mean other than knowing we were smart enough to risk our pride to prove we’re clever? 

Answer: we play it because we can, because we want to, and yeah, because we’re clever. And maybe we also know we can rescue each other from it if it gets too cray. And because it makes us fall in love with the brilliant members of this fandom a bit more. (John has a role also in this scene.)

A Study in Not Blinking

It strikes me that there are a lot of parallels between the fandom’s feelings around the ARG and this scene in ASiP when the cabbie (Moftiss) convinces Sherlock (us?) to stay at the table, even though S. knows there is no gun keeping him there. The cabbie’s gun is fake. Just as many brill folks have determined that the gun at the end of TLD/bracketing TFP is also _not a tranquilizer gun_.  It’s not what we are told it is, based on the evidence of our eyes. And same goes for the representation of a J&S romantic relationship on the show -- we stand by our visual understanding of what is real and there, vs. the “official” view point that it isn’t, and also btw who you are doesn’t matter. 

Bear with me a sec. I think based on what we have seen so far in the ARG, they have been playing a very long game indeed. Witness @tjlcisthenewsexy’s recent brilliant discovery & explication about the cabbie’s license # from ASiP (X). My hunch is that they’ve been building in meta-ARG stuff all along, all so that they would have the option of using it later if they wanted. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the ASiP classroom showdown from the perspective of where we are now, dipping our toes into the ARG.

Read this through, please:

Transcript courtesy of the lovely and astute Ariane DeVere (X) -- S1 E1, part 4:

CLASSROOM. SHERLOCK: What if I don’t choose either? I could just walk out of here. (Sighing in a combination of exasperation and disappointment, Jeff lifts up the pistol and points it at Sherlock.) JEFF: You can take your fifty-fifty chance, or I can shoot you in the head. (Sherlock smiles calmly.) JEFF: Funnily enough, no-one’s ever gone for that option. SHERLOCK: I’ll have the gun, please. JEFF: Are you sure? SHERLOCK (still smiling): Definitely. The gun. JEFF: You don’t wanna phone a friend? (Sherlock smiles confidently.) SHERLOCK: The gun. (Jeff’s mouth tightens, and slowly he squeezes the trigger. A small flame bursts out of the end of the muzzle. Sherlock smiles smugly.) SHERLOCK: I know a real gun when I see one. (Calmly Jeff lifts the pistol/cigarette lighter and releases the trigger. The flame goes out.) JEFF: None of the others did. SHERLOCK: Clearly. Well, this has been very interesting. I look forward to the court case. (He stands up and walks towards the door. Jeff puts the gun onto the desk and calmly turns in his seat.) JEFF: Just before you go, did you figure it out ... (Sherlock stops at the door and half-turns towards him.) JEFF: ... which one’s the good bottle? SHERLOCK: Of course. Child’s play. JEFF: Well, which one, then? (Sherlock opens the door a little but shows no sign of leaving the room.) JEFF: Which one would you ’ave picked, just so I know whether I could have beaten you? (Sherlock closes the door again.) JEFF (chuckling): Come on. Play the game. (Slowly Sherlock walks back towards him. When he gets to the table, he reaches out and sweeps up the bottle nearest to Jeff, then walks past him. Jeff looks down at the other bottle with interest but his voice gives nothing away as he speaks.)

Aside: Aaaand now I get the deeper level of all the Russian roulette gun-swapping references that have been going around (maybe kept up most hilariously by @joolabee originally). 

ARG Meta Interpretation of the ASiP Classroom Showdown

Sorry if this is just reiterating something that someone else has already done. My brain is mush at the moment, and it is entirely possible folks have already thought of this exchange in a post-S4, mid-ARG context.

Here’s the mid-ARG meta view of this scene:

The fandom doesn’t have to play the ARG (alternate reality game). No one is making us. We could just walk out of here.

But. We don’t like being manipulated. We decide to play along only so far as to call the puppet master’s (cabbie/Moriarty/Moftiss) bluff, and make them show us what we are playing for, and force them to surrender.  I’ll have the gun, please. We know what we are looking at (johnlock) and we believe we are right. We cannot be intimidated. I believe this corresponds to the anti-S4 backlash campaign, and the earnest expectation of more content.

The bluff is called. Definitely. The gun. Gun is not what it appears to be. The fandom unpacks TFP and other elements of S4 that are “fake,” and documents/discusses, all in record time. Some of us come out of shock and begin to see elements of narrative threads that can make sense of the mess, the true signals buried in the fake noise.

The Powers That Be (TPTB, the cabbie/Moriarty/Moftiss, all of whom are in charge of the game structure and who know us well enough to be always changing it to suit us with perfect temptations) applaud our skill in seeing the fake gun. We are unfuckable; no fear. We insist:  I know a real gun when I see one.

On our own, we look back over all the times in BBC show canon, esp. within that TPTB seemingly acknowledged fandom interpretation as being deeper than casual-viewer understanding of the show. This was them saying to us: None of the others did. TAB’s heart of the conspiracy, TST’s references to ice lollies, tea code, the best secret societies having acronyms, TFP shockproof elephant glass, etc.

After S4 airs and is effed up, especially TFP, they begin to lose us for a a bit, first because narrative was false to its characters, and then because queerbaiting hamfistedness. TPTB will not publicly or officially engage to confess what their deal is. But we know what we saw. Justifiable anger/frustration/hurt from fanbase over TPTB’s lack of acknowledgment re: queerbaiting and lack of representation. Fandom amasses lists of canonical show reference points as evidence of our case. We take that case to the wider internet, to the BBC, and elsewhere, to try to hold TPTB somehow morally or legally responsible for all that jazz. There are conversations about the fandom crowdfunding an Operation Norbury PR/lawsuit initiative. We get up to leave, and we say to them: Clearly. Well, this has been very interesting. I look forward to the court case.

And then. And then they challenge us to play the game anyway, with the free knowledge that they cannot manipulate us directly with more bullets of questionable narrative content -- nothing more has been officially announced. We are on the point of walking away to wait passively, to write fix-it fic and make art and chat amongst ourselves, and get on with our lives. . . . But. There is a hint of a vast situation in front of us that offers puzzle-solving, intelligence, close-reading of the world, adrenaline and connections. Also possibly witty recycling of our own in-jokes and crack memes, and helping those to become part of the actual 130-year-old vast Sherlock canon’s Great Game, in the service of making real what we have repeatedly seen and know to be true within the BBC show. It’s rather irresistible. And they say: Come on. Play the game.

Do we turn around and consider it? I have already decided I need to sit down at the table and examine the possibilities. I don’t care about seeming foolish, so pride is not a concern. It’s not risking my life, and has the potential to be great fun. . . I respect the decision of those who don’t want to play, but personally I do. I think this is us losing our patience in the most delightful way possible, and taking the reins. Expect the best explosions.

So that’s that. I have no idea how much of this I can keep up with, simultaneously with work commitments and a personal life. But I have hope that the community can collectively carry it forward 24-7 and keep an open mind, and keep pulling on loose threads because it’s fun, and we’re clever. The fandom knows no time zones; we are global and we are engaged. You’re a scintillating group, and this narrative, this Sherlock-TV-world-real-life narrative, is super compelling. It pushes all my researcher buttons in the best way, with the ultimate reward that finding answers makes them real. No clue whether we will see canon Johnlock but I think this is worth playing to see where it goes.

Especially if we can wink knowingly at each other while doing so. (Pleased to meet you, by the way.)

Postscript: Suggestions for How to Play

ARGNet post on Getting Started with ARGs (X)

If you don’t want to play the ARG but want to stay otherwise actively engaged in the fandom, consider saying so at the top of your Tumblr blog, and perhaps blocking the (#sherlock arg) tag. I propose that tag should go on everything ARG-related. 

Reminder to please document with links what you do, and tag/share info so that others can easily know what you’ve done and seen, and carry it forward. When you can, read the notes on a post and repost from something useful or new that someone else on that thread has said, done or seen -- this includes folks who want to be part of it all. Embed links in X marks like so (X) so they will show up in notes.

Players who are coming at this from TJLC fandom should throw in the #tjlc tag, to keep it front and center. All ARG playing requires tinfoil hat wearing, so I’m going to say we mostly drop that set of tinfoil hat tags unless you want to throw it in there. It’s more important to keep #tjlc if that’s the flag you fly.

If you are codebreaking, please post:

the encoded source ciphertext and where it came from (with a link also if possible), and

if you have broken the code, include the translated plaintext, as well as

what kind of cipher it was, and what key(s) it used.

be sure to add the tag (#sherlock arg codebreaking) so our army of smarties can become increasingly code-literate within the ARG, as codes become more complex.

If you’re playing, then play. Contribute something. Use the tags to read up and learn for yourself what’s going on. Engagement is always welcome, but try to refrain from just passively asking others to fill you in personally via direct questions to their ask boxes. Folks will be busy pursuing their own inquiries and organizing the info they have found. And ask box space may be precious to some, if that is how ARG clues tend to arrive from mysterious sources. 

Other optional tags: 

#dancing with the octopus = not knowing how many of the arms of the ARG we are or will engage, but enjoying ourselves anyway. 

#the greater game = gives immediate context for what the ARG is in a way that makes folks think of Sherlock and not pirates (Belated epiphany: OMG. Sherlock always wanted to be a pirate. What do pirates say? ARRRRRG.)

#sherlock chess arg = references the S4 chess promo pic that throws the game pieces to us, and tells us it’s our move.

Tagging folks (I’m wary of tagging too many and causing annoyance, but please consider reblogging if you found this useful. We need to spread the word about standardizing our methods and tags! Thank you!):

@the-7-percent-solution, @whimsicalethnographies @teapotsubtext, @ti-ori-se @jenna221b, @inevitably-johnlocked @marcelock @tjlc @tjlcisthenewsexy, @mrsashdown, @materialofonebeing @joolabee, @toxicsemicolon, 

[anti-yuri-on-ice]

brief commentary on the new y o i staff interview

credits to @toraonice for the translations and here is the link to the original post

-In episode 7 I wanted to portay Victor’s inexperience as a coach and how this causes Yuuri to fall into his worst possible psychological condition, but also how Yuuri manages to get out of it…we had him to “break”.

Ok i have to give you this, kubo, for trying to portray how unprofessional vicky actually is as a coach bc 1. he lacks experience 2. he lacks techniques to coach people 3. he is the worst encourager I've ever seen.

-In every episode, when I drew Yuuri I was always careful to “make him act in ways Victor would never even imagine”.

aaaand here goes the biggest reason why i don’t ship them and think this ship is mildly bizarre. the whole point of vicky coaching katsuki is bc he wants to find inspiration, he wants to see something new, or whatever. so when the day katsuki no longer comes up with new moves to surprise vicky with, is vicky just going to, you know, leave? and coach another person who has more potential? im not talking about their relationship as a ‘’’’couple’’’’, im talking about them as coach/student. again, coaches shouldn't be like this but kubo didnt explicitly say that she wanted vicky to be like this or it is intentional for the reasons above.

-Regarding Yuuri and Victor’s scene after the FS, I was fine with it being interpreted in any way. However this is the part that had more response from overseas, I was even directly asked “which one it was”.

all the y o i fans are so excited about kubo being the biggest freedom fighter of lgbt or something, when she doesn't even want to admit what the ‘kiss’ is and says it is ‘up for interpretation’. since this is never confirmed, is vk actually….never canon??? if they never were than why would you say they are lgbt representation? there is a huge logic fallacy here and kubo just made it bigger and bigger

-In a meeting with the director I asked her a very basic question: “Why does Yuuri want to win?”, and she replied “Well, he has never won a gold medal so far, of course he wants to win!”. I thought that made sense.

again, this doesn’t make any sense if kubo’s initial plan is to portray a gay m/m couple. this is just weird.

-I was told that the words “please take care of me until I retire” are actually something that real skaters say when they ask someone to be their coach.

back to the point of how this whole anime just gives me the impression that vicky might leave katsuki the second he cant come up with new moves.

-Otabek finally shows up. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to show how his friendship with Yurio developed, but I wanted Yurio to think “the wind is finally blowing my way!”

something to look forward to in season 2 tbh. they are wayyyy more interesting to watch than vicky and katsuki.

-What Yuuri bought is pair rings. When I looked it up I found out that buying a pair was cheaper (LOL), and I also thought that if they were going to wear something matching this would be good. There are actually many real skaters who wear accessories as “omamori”, protective charms. More importantly, Yuuri has been giving Victor fresh surprises until now, and I wanted him to get a new item, a weapon to fight in the final match.

for the last time: katsuki never acknowledged that they were engagement rings.

-Before the GP Final Yuuri and Victor’s relationship deepened yet again, therefore I wanted Yurio and Victor’s relationship to change a little too, hence I inserted the scene by the sea.

ah yes. that scene where vicky wanted to crush yuri’s skull. loved it.

-When Victor is watching Yurio’s performance we cannot see his expression because I myself haven’t decided what the truth is, like whether he is frustrated because Yurio beat his record, or he wants to surpass him again, or what else.

vicky stop being so full of yourself im literally vomiting.

-Regarding the scene where Victor hugs Yurio before the competition, he didn’t do it because he was begging for his help to stop Yuuri from retiring, or because he was asking him something. He just wanted Yurio to skate at his best, it was his genuine feelings of support for him, as if he was saying “go and do your best!”. After all, until this scene we never really saw Victor support Yurio. It’s an action that cannot be explained with logic.

so why don't you show it beforehand and make vicky a more inconsistent character than he already was??????????????? like if you know this is a problem shouldn’t you try to at least fit in some scenes before to give sense to this hug scene?????

i saw some fans complaining about this interview bc kubo was very vague with her words and her stance on whether vk is canon or not

either she is really trying to give lgbt representation (unlikely) or this is just some high level queerbait to western fans.

[the-cryptographer]

re: voltron s5-8

- Ah, yeah, there were a lot of plot holes and unbelievably convenient coincidences going on to keep the story rolling. But I’m not going to be talking about that just because there are so many and it’s the type of thing you must handwave to enjoy the show and I’m okay with that.

- Lotor family drama was pretty great. I’m glad we got the great, horrible filicide/patricide battle. Like, damn, it was great. And Lotor lighting the pyre at the Kral Zera was also very hype. Still not as great as him terribly rejecting Haggar/Honerva. I’m not sure all of these threads were seen to the best conclusion given how hype they all were individually, but I’m in general pretty glad with the way Lotor’s villainy happens and gets revealed to the crew. The honest feelings and affection for Allura getting flipped into ‘if you won’t go along with what I say, I’ll kill you’ was pretty frighteningly believable to me.

- Axca’s endless roulette of deciding who she’s going to align herself with today was also pretty great. I like that moment when her, Ezor, and Zethrid all are like ‘okay no’ to Lotor’s mad rambling and try to bail. Quality.

- Haggar/Honerva might be my favourite character in this canon though (competing with Lance and Coran) I like how competent she is, and how much we see of her personally struggling with the changes in her psyche after being affected by the quintessence. The choice to change her back was really excellent, and I love what it brought out in her, and I hope we get to see a lot of her in the final season.

- Monsters & Mana episode was really amazing. I’m sad it wasn’t the real Shiro playing - but it was still so IC and so fuckin hilarious that he kept on playing Paladin. Best episode.

- Gameshow episode was also good - Pidge’s run of the minigolf course in particular. But it can’t really compete with Monsters & Mana. A low point of it for me was Keith choosing Lance simply because he didn’t want to get stuck with Lance for eternity. Cold bro.

- The timey wimey stuff wasn’t too bad, but it was one of the contributors to what I felt was pretty uneven pacing. I kind of feel like we should have seen some of the stuff with Romelle and the stuff with Keith and his mom and the space wolf first hand, instead of rushing through a lot of it and then presenting the rest of it in flashbacks.

- Not so much the moment everyone was talking about, but The Black Paladins was really emotional in the end. idk like, as frustrating as it is seeing Keith be terribly reckless and consistently willing to sacrifice himself to save Shiro and everyone else, I do feel like it had payoff in the final scene of the episode. hit me hard for those times my teachers/coaches stood up for me. Yeah, Keith- if only you’d stop giving up on yourself.

- Uh, bruh, Earth isn’t in the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s all the way over to the side on the edge of the spiral. You guys seem to be headed in the wrong direction.

- This show really be overestimating how much I care about the extended Holt family. I think it got off on the wrong foot with the kind of overemotional bait & switch regarding Matt. But there’s also the issue of Pidge getting really reckless and inconsiderate whenever they’re threatened and putting them above everyone else which is... very real and understandable. But at the same time it’s kind of frustrating to watch, especially when the first thing I know about them is they make Pidge act this way before I’m given any reason to know or care about them.

- And I know it’s really just a coincidence, but how Admiral Sanda was handled really rubbed me the wrong way, especially how the other woman she’s (unintentionally?) juxtaposed against is Coleen Holt. Like, first you have this dutiful mother and wife who waited on Earth for 3+ years for her husband to return and she doesn’t stray at all and welcomes him back and supports him in every way he needs. And then Admiral Sanda is this woman who’s actually has rank and power and she’s constantly being vilified and told she’s unfit for her position by all the men working around her. And these are the heros and villains in Sam Holt’s story. When I think about it, there might not be a single woman on this show who’s actually at the top rung of the leadership hierarchy who’s not misaimed or evil. And, yeah, that kind of bothers me a bit. I mean, obviously on an in-universe level, Sanda is a pill. But on a meta level- You get to her death scene. And that she’s, like, the only person who the show actually lets die on screen in the fight to save Earth, as part of some death equals redemption arc... Like, it’s unrealistic and idealistic how many people didn’t die on this show - and that’s fine bc idealistic kids’ show - but Sanda is an acceptable target. If only she had listened to the men who were her intellectual superiors, boo hoo. It felt really obnoxious to me all around.

- Allurance lost some points with me. I still ship it, which is more than I can say for about 90% of the other relationships for this canon/fandom, but I’m decidedly more meh about it now. I know Lance is just a teenager and all, and it’s not out of character or something I couldn’t see happening, but the narrative going along with stuff about how ‘none of the other girls are like her, she’s just so speshul’ is the kind of thing that irritates me. As for Allura responding to Lance’s feelings - it was believable to me given a lot of the pieces that were put in place - but I think more time should have been devoted to following Allura’s feelings and thoughts through the whole of season 7, both in regards to this ship and otherwise. I see why other people say it felt rushed.

- And Axca/Keith is a cute battle couple, you guys are just bitter.

- Buuut, I totally think ppl have reason to be bitter. I don’t know exactly who all was responsible. And I know the creators apologised, and I don’t think they should have had to, necessarily. But, at the very least, some of the marketing decisions here were queerbaiting. The show has gone out of its way to market itself to its lgbt+ audience and fans and has created a lot of hype around Shiro and the show being gay aaaand, we got some subtext, a dead ex-boyfriend, some evil lesbians, and two strongly hinted het ships with the show’s major cast. Yeah. Even though I like those het ships, I get the bitterness.

- And... I think there’s a marked difference between the way the narrative treats Adam and the way it’s treated the other Paladin’s loved ones over the course of the show. Like, god, we’ve gotten so much of Pidge’s family drama. We got a whole episode of Pidge crying over Matt being dead when he wasn’t even dead. We got a lot of Hunk trying to come to terms with not being able to see his family at the Garrison this season. We got quite a bit of Veronica this season, and have touched on Lance missing his family since season one. Keith got several episodes about his mother and the lead up to and effects of his father dying. Coleen Holt waits for Sam Holt to return from space. But with Shiro we get this breakup and then Adam dies and it’s brushed over in a couple of minutes? Like, I’m not saying Adam shouldn’t have died necessarily, or that Shiro’s relationship with Adam shouldn’t have been on the rocks. I’m just saying it’s hard to really divorce this from the fact that the relationships straight ppl have are societally valued so much higher than the relationships lgbt+ ppl have, and this show isn’t really disagreeing with that in terms of what it continues to show us. And, like, I’m not angry and don’t really care all that much, like- I stopped looking for mass media to validate me in this way a long time ago. And I prefer to see myself represented in media through angst as opposed to nice, happy relationships anyhow. But, like, I’m tired of hearing that people /shouldn’t/ feel upset or betrayed by this, lmao. Like, yeah, there are totally valid reasons for people to feel that way. And it’s not like feelings even need to be validated to be there and deserve respected anyhow, smh.

- But, yeah, I’m serious. I’m over the moon about Ezor/Zethrid and I love them so much more than I could have possibly loved any heroic gays. I hope we get a lot of them being their wonderful selves and living to tell the tale next season :’)

- Hunk/Shay is also still good and quality.

- Also, this isn’t really a failing of Season 7, so much as just my preference but- I kind of wish the show hadn’t moved back to Earth. Because one of the major draws the show has for me is the weird alien culture exploration aspect of it. Without that it’s just kind of one string of ‘intricate plans to overthrow Galra -> intricate plans fail and the enemy seizes the upper hand -> heroes come through with a way to take back the upper hand -> enemies come up with a way to seize the upper hand back’ and so on and so forth in a ridiculous escalation of who can turn into the biggest dumbest giant robot and save the day from arbitrary time limit the fastest. And, like, I realise a lot of fans are here for the giant mech battles but I am so not. So I hope we get away from the ultra militant save earth stuff soon and get back to weird worldbuilding shenanigans soon <.<;;