#VLD Cinda

[chibi-pix]

Okay, continuing on with the idea of Pidge one day ending up on planet Myra, a thought hit. Things happening and Pidge just gets kissed by a bunch of Myrans, even getting her face covered in lipstick. While my initial thought was with them thanking her, @t1koy-roll sparked the idea of it being normal and a casual greeting. And @toasthoneyandstardust helped to spark the change in dialogue for Pidge, pointing it out to be a greeting. Thank you guys for sparking new thoughts in this chibi's AU loving mind. Pidge may need to go home and just sleep for the next week. She's used to being a hermit, her social battery can only take so much. Also, note. Pidge probably isn't so much against being kissed? But rather I'm sure a bunch of Myrans just bombarded her, wanting to hug and kiss the little paladin. Try to survive, Pidgey.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one! Until next time.

[vld-prompts]

Allura, Pidge, Acxa, and Shay have a Girls Night with DotU’s Merla, Lisa, Ginger, Cinda, and Dorma

Go forth and create!

[nomadicism]

How would you update the Vehicle Voltron characters if there was ever a VLD style reboot of that series?

Hi Anon, thank you for the Ask!

I’ve got a few versions of this question sitting in my drafts, so I’m going to side-step and answer this in terms of general visual and writing style rather than any specific characters (which would be informed by this).

The first thing is that I would not do a VLD style reboot of Vehicle Voltron.

This is because quite a few things separate Vehicle Voltron from Lion Voltron most importantly the following:

Setting: Vehicle Voltron takes place in a galaxy. There is not a ‘home planet’ for the story’s setting (other than the planets from which the characters hail). Like Star Trek, the characters are constantly in motion as they explore the galaxy looking for a new hospitable planet to ease problems with over-crowding. Technically this is true of VLD, but only a few planets are visited in any meaningful way compared to how that is handled in Vehicle Voltron.

Very large cast of antagonists and protagonists: This is consistent with the space opera genre and requires a specific kind of story-telling and writing. It’s not for everyone. The large cast lends more realism to the setting and the story. Vehicle Voltron team is one part of a Galaxy Alliance fleet, they have support crew and commanders.

Larger age range and social/political/military roles: characters range in age from teens to young adults to middle aged adults to old age. This is another facet of the realism that balances the story. The commanders in charge (such as Hawkins) are not teens nor young adults. They have experience and wisdom. This sets up believable chains of command and obstacles for the protagonists at different layers of the story. Jeff, Cliff, and Krik may lead the teams that make up Vehicle Voltron but they still have to answer to Commander Hawkins and Captain Newley. And while Hawkins and Newley may command the S.S. Explorer, but they are still beholden to orders from the much older admirals from the Galaxy Garrison. The same goes for the antagonists, where Hazar may be a commander with his own ships and soldiers, but Marshal Keezor, Viceroy Throk, and even subordinate captains are obstacles to his ideas for peace with the humans.

Thus, I would instead look to the remakes of The Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Space Battleship Yamato to inform remake of Vehicle Voltron (note: remake does not equal reboot, I’m done with reboots).

Especially for the visual style of Yamato (above) as Nobuteru Yuki’s character designs are fantastic and rarely suffer from ’same face’ syndrome and go beyond a handful of body types.

Both of these stories are space operas with large casts featuring a wide range of age and rank, and Yamato has several different alien species represented in the story amongst both protagonists and antagonists (though they are the ‘humanoid’ type so monster-lovers would be let down).

Both LotGH and Yamato utilize a diversity of ages and ranks to great effect. It makes their stories richer and deeper. This is something that I would very much want to see preserved and expanded in a remake of Vehicle Voltron.

Yamato also handles ‘weird sci-fi scenarios’ and far-fetched technology pretty damn well. I don’t otherwise know how to describe the story in the Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark film, but it’s top notch science-fiction that would work in both Star Trek and Vehicle Voltron.

Likewise, the political maneuvering and philosophy that drives the plot in LotGH would be right at home in Star Trek and Vehicle Voltron. Having a large cast is crucial to that.

That Star Trek comparison is important, because the biggest difference between Vehicle Voltron and Lion Voltron can be summed up as: “Star Trek vs Star Wars.” Star Trek and Star Wars are superficially similar to the casual viewer, but they are very different kinds of story requiring different writing styles and direction.

So, the challenge in either a remake or reboot lies in how to balance the genre conventions of a space opera with a Super Robot Combining Mecha thrown in. It doesn’t matter if the robot has 3 pilots or 15, there is a mismatch between super robots and space opera. As biased as I am towards loving Vehicle Voltron (and its source anime, Dairugger XV), it’s a hard sell and harder to write well.

The biggest changes would probably require less super robot fights (thus changing the monster-of-the-week format), and less episodes overall since we are in the age of ‘short seasons’. Once those two things happen, the story is dangerously close to falling apart. This brings me back to LotGH and Yamato, as it would take serious writing skills and experience to pull this off and be a success. And that experience (with both mecha and space opera genres) may as well be non-existent in the West. That doesn’t mean that Western animation writers/directors/creative team/etc don’t have talent (they obviously do), it’s just that this kind of story isn’t one that is common in live action, let alone animation. I’ll be the elitist that wants writers with a mecha and space opera background writing a VV remake.

This brings me back to the part about the characters:

I don’t see much need to drastically change character arcs or personalities in a remake, except where its a matter of updating for the times, and removing things that are best left in the 80s. However, I would definitely do what VLD and Yamato and LotGH have done with changing genders and ethnicities, and I would preserve Vehicle Voltron’s large cast in order to maintain the age range and social/political/military roles.

Vehicle Voltron already had more ethnicity and gender representation than Lion Voltron (for its time), but I would take that farther. That is something that is important to me for a lot media. One of the great things about having a very large cast, is that it provides more breathing room for inclusion.

While that means that not every character gets a large role (Do they really need one to tell a story? Not in space opera they don’t.), it also means that a careful writer is less likely to end up in a situation where there is only one example of a character with particular sets of under-represented traits combined with narrative choices that seem like a good idea but could be hurtful to an audience for reasons outside of the story (e.g. the only black character is also the only racist, or the multi-minority LGBT character is the only one to perpetually go through hell, etc).

In other words, there are fertile fields for multiple kinds of representation in Vehicle Voltron with its 15 pilots, dozens of S.S. Explorer crew members, dozens of other Galaxy Alliance personnel, other fleets that appear, and among the antagonists as well. I would add another species to co-exist with the Drule, and expand upon the two species represented in the Galaxy Garrison (Krik and Cinda’s people, and Wolo and Tagor’s people). I would not rely on aliens for ethnicity representation (that’s a cheat), but age, gender, ability, and LGBT inclusion would certainly fit.

Like Star Trek, the space and future setting of Vehicle Voltron allows for diversity without present day concerns, but that does not mean that the writing should avoid those concerns and how they intersect with identity and representation. Viewers are living those concerns and are likely not watching a space opera set in the future with giant robots to be reminded of them (intentionally or accidentally).

I have other ideas that are specifically for the characters, but that will have to wait for another day.

Image credit: stills are from my own screenshots of Space Battleship Yamato (mostly 2199 and 2202) with one or two scrounged from the web, and the animated gifs are from LotGH (their respective gif makers shown below the gif).

[pastellipastels]

@nomadicism

Since you have shared your favorites I shall share mine. ^_^b

(UPDATE: Thank you nomadicism for the pictures! Looks at them... Looks at Chip... My dear chipper.. Give him a twin day with Pidge and then throw them in the vld reality to meet Katie and Matt, let them all cause chaos together for ALL realities. }:)c)

1) CHIP! Yes he has a weird Mickey Mouse voice and YES he’s a little emotional but I love him okay? Honestly I would trust him with a self destruct button and know it’s in good hands.

2)Krik. I wrote about his planet and Chip’s, who doesn’t love a future seeing alien? Plus he’s blue... I always liked how he was more level headed than Cliff and Jeff. Maybe they balance each other out? (and his name being Keets elsewhere is kinda cute) (Also look at that big softie I would hug him so fast... I should draw a comparison for his original design and the vld one I made for him).

3) Hawkins, I still hope he’s Keith’s dad. I don’t want him dead but I mean I’d like him to show up. His voice stood out among all the characters which drew my attention. His design and beliefs help. (Apparently he also has no family... Adopt Chip, adopt the teams. Their your family now.)

4) If not for Hawkins Lisa would’ve been three. I like her a lot and wouldn’t mind sitting beside her looking at the picture of the red sun. She’s just Seems like the type you can visit and not talk to each other but enjoy the company and leave relaxed. (Besties, in shock, what happened?)

5) … …. …… It is... Ginger. Hazar and Dorma I’m sorry but Ginger was cool. From what I remember she was a spitfire and ready for anything. Even when ice fell around her and Chip she was brave enough to join in the fight later if I remember right. Plus, her scenes in the ladies room with Lisa and CInda getting dolled up was a scene I enjoyed and gives a lot to write about. (You can see the diffrences in Lisa and Ginger here, I like that. I like how different the ladies appear to be and act in vv).

Lastly, an extra... :D

[voltronfandomhag]

Quick post

Honestly, I glad to see there’s some interest in Vehicle Voltron and its characters (20 something notes on a post is a lot for me, okay? lol). One of the reasons I’ve posted so little about it is because I worried no one would care. Even a lot of old school Voltron fans have either never seen VV or dislike it, and a lot of VLD fans are only interested in Lion Voltron because that’s what VLD is based off of and/or don’t know VV is a thing.

Honestly, I didn’t know Vehicle Voltron existed until I entered the DoTU fandom in the early 2000s because Cartoon Network only aired Lion Voltron. So, yeah, when I started surfing Voltron fan sites and came across the odd mention of the Vehicle Voltron, I was so confused. There’s another Voltron?! When did that happen?! Chip was mentioned in Lion Voltron but...Ginger? Cinda? Rocky? Who in the hell are these people?!

And for years I only knew scraps of information about it because the DoTU fandom was very Lion Voltron centeric, so sites about VV were few and far between. So, yeah, it’s very satisfying to finally see VV getting some love and meet more people who also enjoy it. 

[iolite-ethereal]

Tagged by @aromanticshaycormac

Rules: answer the questions and tag 20 followers you’d like to get to know better

Name: Samantha (pls never call me that lol too formal)

Nickname: Sam, and on rare occasion Iolite

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Height: 5′9″

Sexual Orientation: Aroflux Ace and hmmm... Bi? idk its all very specific types and personalities and also rare

Ethnicity: White. Very pale :p (San Marinese, Italian, German, and the just a mix of the UK)

Favorite Fruit: Mandarin Orange

Favorite Season: Fall/ Winter. mostly Fall

Favorite Book Series: uhhh i guess the Seven Realms Novels by Cinda WIlliams Chima?

Favorite Fictional Character: pfhahahaa idfk i have like 2 each per fictional universe (idk how else to put that) so for my main interests ill say taako from taz, shiro from vld, Odin or Ava from Ava’s Demon, and Ezio From AC’s Ezio Trilogy

Favorite Flower: I realllllly like Lillies (both normal and water but mostly water) and lotuses

Favorite Scent: Mint!! and Roses!

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Animal: I really really love domestic birds as well as corvids

Favorite Band: rn its Glass Animals

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate: Hot Chocolate

Average Hours of Sleep: either 4 or 10. Very rarely anything in between

Dream Trip: Italy maybe?

Last thing I Googled: “tumblr witch’s guide to conversing with ethereal beings” ok in my defense we had a light that was flickering in patterns and when i googled morse code it was actually spelling shit out and i got spooked okay? it was 10 at fucking night

How Many blogs I follow: 2,406

Number of Followers: 324

What I usually post about: Memes, Voltron, Animals, D&D, Danny Phantom, Marvel, and just random stuff or my obscure interests

Do I get asks regularly: Nope lol

And I tag @kartoffel-queen @asexualsuccubus @bulletincookie @linexes @howinthehelldidigethere @chaoticgoodperegrintook (i cant link the tag for this person so i hope this is ok with them?) @i-was-a-teenage-fangirl @assassinwriter88 @willowflowerwaterlily @katgodofallcats @frigidcatbitch @coulson-is-an-avenger @that-one-theatre-ghost @happy-days-jumping-shark @3atsy @devious-deductions @youkaimiko @cat13potat @oktoberdick @lacrossingueuse

[chibi-pix]

Taking a VLD screenshot, I felt the need to draw Chip and ended up needing Cinda, too, because I was hit with ideas. VLD blind twinverse, the others eventually meeting Krik and Cinda of planet Myra.  And, different from my previous work with Cinda, I decided to make her more intriguing looking. Two-tone skin, like Blaytz or Ulaz, finned ears, perfect.  I love her.  Also, this is the screenshot I worked from.

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this one.  Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

Holy crow! A third chibi in one day?! What sorcery is this!? Anyway, I wanted to draw another chibi and was debating between Krik and Cinda. I decided on Cinda because A, she's beautiful, and B, I felt I should change pace and colour the land team uniform. It's a win-win situation.

Anyway! I hope y'all enjoy this one! Commissions are available on my Ko-fi. Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

Well, a friend in discord shared a pic from Vehicle Voltro and I felt the need to redraw it with the updated designs for the blind twinverse au. So! Here are the ladies. Pissed. Never get on their bad side. I don't remember the context of this episode/scene, though. I think it had to do with Twyla and the boys fawning over her. Also! Here's the original screenshot!

Gotta love a classic scene. But also, gotta really love updated looks.

Ko-fi. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one! Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

"Draw something with lots of water," I said. "It'll be fun,", I said. I'm reminded of why I hate working with water scenes. Yet here I am with this one. Anyway, the blind twinverse AU with the idea of the others meeting Krik and Cinda of planet Myra at some point, I have this. And here the Myran duo are helping Pidge through a palace with a lot of corridors and rooms you can only access through the water. She's blind. She can't swim due to childhood trauma. Pidge is really hating that planet.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one! Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

You know what I needed?  Vehicle Voltron characters redrawn again for VLD AU. And I’ve done Cinda and Krik, now it’s time for Ginger and Zandee. And I know Ginger had red lipstick originally, but I thought near black lipstick suited her, too.  And.  I love how these two turned out! I’m proud!

Also, having AU thoughts of them, I feel like they’re friends even before the Explorer and being pilots. Perhaps dating back to middle or high school.  Also, Ginger totally has that unexpected frightening strength that Pidge does. She can pick up Zandee no problem and put him over her shoulder and walk off. No strain, no issue. 

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this one.  Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

I wanted to appreciate the ladies of Vehicle Voltron a bit. So, I went about looking at screenshots and redrawing them in the style for my VV/VLD AU.  I’m gonna be honest, I really like the Vehicle team. I love how distinct and different the characters are. And I love that the girls all look so different from one another and do their parts to help with the team, even keeping them in line it seems.  So! Here’s the the ladies! 

I’m going to be honest, I liked the slight changes made to the characters, from uniform design to appearances. I definitely had changes for Cinda. I had the basics, but with changes, especially the ears and hands, showing more like she is from a water planet as is said in the cartoon. And the spot on her forehead, making it a bit different works, too. 

Also! I wanted to give a shoutout to @voltronfandomhag​. You do wonderful work with providing information on the characters that has helped me so much in my research. You also provide wonderful screenshots. I was gladly able to check the screenshots you shared of these ladies to use for my redraw. Thank you very much. 

Anyway! I hope y’all enjoy these. Until next time.

Screenshot refs in the “keep reading” below.

Originally I was just gonna draw the solo Ginger one, but I decided to do all the ladies. And then I wanted a group picture. So, here we have it and here be the refs. 

[chibi-pix]

Okay, @toastess-with-the-mostess had tags that just really stood out to me and for some reason wanted me to draw Ginger and Lisa. Shipped. Thus this picture.  Tags?

Dunno why, but it just stood out and I loved it. Those tags were wonderful.  Now, I don’t really know if I actually do ship them, but it was worth it. And it’s nice doing this draw the squad/draw your otp with Cinda being fully supportive. 

Now, I don’t know who did the original, otherwise I’d link them. But, here is the original image.

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this!  Until next time!

Edit Thank you, Toastess for updating me.  @croxovergoddess​ was the one who had done the original. Here’s a link to it and others.

[chibi-pix]

Allura, Ginger, Cinda, and Lisa work to convince and drag Pidge off to the space mall for some much needed girl bonding time. Bonding is fun and all, but as they've learned from experience, trouble always seems to catch up to them.

[chibi-pix]

“I’ve got this.” Lance activated his bayard again and aimed. He watched the warden before shooting, hitting him in the robotic arm at the joint. This caused him to let go of Slav, letting the alien be pulled out of the prison. And smack into Chip. The blue lion opened up and grabbed them first. “Hah! I told you I was an excellent shot!”

“Nice going, sharpshooter!” Pidge cheered as she used her jetpack and went to Lance. She bonked her helmet into the side of his and made a kiss-like noise, as though she kissed his cheek.

A future chapter of the VLD/VV AU I’m working with. Another fic of that series, but still. After doing some writing last night, I felt the need to draw this. So I did. Here we go! And with Cinda behind them fully supporting Plance.

Well! I hope you enjoyed! Until next time!

[chibi-pix]

Ah, a redraw from Dairugger/Vehicle Voltron for a VLD AU. I just love working with these guys. And look at Krik! He’s just too adorable!

Here be the ref.

I will be honest, though. Until working with Ginger and Cinda, I didn’t work with characters wearing lipstick very often. While drawing and colouring the right shape isn’t always easy, it is fun. And they’re so pretty. All the characters here look lovely.

Anyway! Enjoy! Until next time!

And maybe I can find more screenshots to redraw. This is fun.