#i genuinely think lance's first impression of keith was 'what the fuck is wrong with his kid'

[loz-tearsofahomo]

Yall don't understand Keith is a loser. Like oh my god hes such a loser. "Cool biker keith, lance meets him at a club" no. Lance met him at a dennys at 2am failing to order 3 things of garlic bread and almost fist fighting someone in the process. Lance asks keith why he never talks about his interests and it turns out it consists of 90% Garfield funfacts and 10% doctor who theories. i love him so much for it.

[corvus--rex]

Since I don't write smut, I wanted to challenge myself to cover an Omega's heat without it. That thought resulted in this unfinished piece. Semi-abandoned, it features Omega Keith and Alpha Lance during the week of Keith's heat. It could conceivably be a one shot all on its own, but has a bit of an open ending, which is why I want to come back to it at some point. It - obviously - is an Omegaverse, so skip it if it's not your thing :)

~*~*~*~

Keith paced in his bedroom, becoming more restless. He’d known his heat was starting that day, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t concentrate on anything. Not his digital art, not his piano, not his paints or charcoals, not his photography. And he was absolutely not touching his embroidery or cross-stitching projects. Both were so detailed he would end up stabbing himself and possibly destroying hours’ worth of work. Not even the playlist he had specially cultivated for his heats was helping. He was losing patience. Keith knew exactly what would help, but Lance hadn’t come home yet, the Alpha unable to get the first day of his mate’s heat off this time. The rest of the week was clear, but trying to deal with even one day felt like torture.

Keith had built and destroyed six nests at that point, not even that helping to calm him. He had no idea what was keeping him so worked up. His heat would hit its peak on day three, but this was day one. He really did not want to think about what two days from then would be like. At least he would have his Alpha there to help him through it. Speaking of said Alpha, where the fuck was Lance? He should have been home at least ten minutes earlier. Keith went back to pacing like a caged animal, his head snapping toward the direction of their front door when he heard the key in the lock.

Running footsteps preceded Lance rushing into their bedroom, kicking his shoes off and shedding his jacket while he ran.

“I am so sorry, cariño. Iverson came by today, and, as much as I don’t like him, I can’t just leave. Dr. Ryner tried to let me go, but Iverson just kept talking.”

Keith silenced Lance with a rough kiss, dragging his mate into the seventh, and last, nest he’d constructed. The Omega was just glad he’d remembered his shot that morning, the one he only used during his heats as normal birth control wouldn’t work.

Lance woke the next morning to find Keith curled in a tight ball, whimpering in his sleep. He knew that his mate’s heat was rising, and would peak the next day. Lance had to spend what time he could preparing for that during the day. He’d have to be quick about it, though, only being able to leave the nest to prep while Keith was asleep. He figured he still had a few minutes before his mate woke and Lance needed to fight him on getting up and getting fed and hydrated.

The Alpha slipped out of the nest, racing down the antique hallway to get ready for that day and the next. Lance was genuinely thankful for the old house and its brick walls. It meant that, even as close to their neighbors as they were, not much in the way of sound came through to the outside. He breathed a sigh of relief when he came back to their bedroom and found Keith only just beginning to wake.

“Hrrmm?” It was a soft sound, pitched higher than Keith's usual range, but a normal one for Omegas. It was a sound made when looking for their mates.

Lance hummed, low in his throat, as a response, climbing back into the nest with breakfast. The sound was soft and low, one for comfort and reassurance, letting an Omega know that their mate was nearby and they were safe.

Cold things were to be avoided during heats, as such a degree of difference in temperature could be a shock to an Omega’s system. Lance was well aware of this, and brought hot coffee for himself, and the herbal tea blended for heats, heavily sweetened, for Keith. One thing that Lance knew very well was how much of a sweet tooth his mate developed during his heats. It was always readily apparent when the end of Keith’s pre-heat hit because he went on a baking spree, Lance making sure he remembered the specially formulated protein/vitamin powder as it was common knowledge that Omegas’ eating habits during their heats weren’t nutritionally sound.

Logically, it didn’t make sense. Logically, it would make more sense for Omegas to instinctually optimize their nutrition for conception. But what science and research had found was that it was actually logical in a sense. No two Omegas experienced heat cravings the same way. And multiple studies conducted over years, and in a few cases, decades, had found that fighting those cravings during heats had actually decreased the chances of conception, but was in no way an effective birth control method.

The breakfast tray had been set on the bed table, safely out of the way. Keith launched himself upright and into Lance when the Alpha came back, his Omega pressed close, getting as much skin-to-skin contact as he possibly could, given that Lance had made him dress before finally falling asleep the night before. Keith whined, a high-pitched, thready sound, startling his Alpha. He was already giving in to his heat, Omega instincts surfacing and making him nonverbal. It was something that didn’t happen until heat hit its peak, but Lance was realizing just how unusual this heat was and made a mental note to make sure Keith saw his doctor once it was over. Something wasn’t right, but there was nothing that could be done for an Omega in heat other than heavily sedating them, and that was something that would only ever be done in an emergency.

“No, love,” Lance said gently, “You need breakfast first. You did remember your shot yesterday, right?”

Keith whined again, but nodded slightly. It was enough for Lance to know that he’d been heard, and the reassuring scent that rose from his Omega gave him the answer he needed. Keith was still aware, but Lance didn’t know for how long before Omega instinct took over and even getting him to eat would be a fight. But for now, anyway, Keith accepted that breakfast was necessary, putting himself in Lance’s lap for the duration.

Once Lance was satisfied with what Keith had eaten and that his tea was gone, he allowed the Omega to take over. He was concerned as he watched his mate sleep after. Keith had been growling and biting far more than he usually did. Biting was pretty rare for him, only happening when he was in the heart of his heat. Growling was more common, but the intensity had been worrying. Lance made sure Keith was warm enough, repairing the walls of the nest before heading back down to the kitchen to continue preparing for the next day.

He wasn’t sure what it would be like if that day was already so intense. He had the distinct impression that it was possible that neither one of them would be functional, and that the sheer intensity of Keith’s heat would push Lance into a rut harder than it usually did. If it did, he knew that even staying hydrated would be nearly impossible. But he kept preparing anyway, knowing that it was better to be over-prepared when it came to his mate’s heats.

When Lance returned to the bedroom, Keith was fully cocooned in the nest, shivering. Lance found that he’d undressed himself and kicked the blanket off, but then had tried to wrap himself up again and failed. The Alpha climbed in, pulling the blanket back up and wrapping himself around his mate. Keith relaxed into Lance’s hold, getting as close as he could. The rest of the day continued the same way with Lance having to convince Keith to eat at all, and that night when he tried to get his mate cleaned up, Keith had practically attacked him. He got it done, but Lance knew the next day was going to be rough.

He wasn’t wrong. Lance was barely able to get breakfast in his mate before the Omega’s instincts took over completely and Lance submitted to his rut. Once the Alpha instinct to mate overwhelmed him, neither one left the nest for the entire day, passing out tangled around each other somewhere in the small hours of the morning.

When Lance woke on day four, he was clear-headed but could remember the previous day in detail. That was also odd. Usually, memory of a rut was hazy, far too clouded by pheromones and instinct. But he remembered everything. It made him wonder how much of this heat Keith would remember. Lance was aware that he needed to get them both breakfast and that he needed to get up to do that, but his mate was wrapped around him, a soft purr rumbling through a contented coo. Keith was still asleep, and it was the perfect time to run down to the kitchen, but Lance just couldn’t bring himself to get up.

Sensing his mate was awake, Keith stirred, more aware than he had been the day before, but still nonverbal. He picked himself up, his violet eyes bright, with a playful smile on his lips. Lance was still thinking about how unusual, unique really, this heat was and how concerned he was about it. It must have been on his face and in his scent because Keith's expression faded, his scent clouding with worry. The Omega trilled in distress, not knowing what was upsetting his mate. Lance shook his head with a soft smile, brushing Keith’s hair out of his face.

“Don’t worry about it, love. It’s ok. We both need breakfast. Neither of us have eaten since yesterday morning.”

Keith pouted, wrapping himself around his Alpha. Lance unwrapped himself, getting up and tucking his mate back in.

“I’ll be right back. Stay here,” he said softly, and left the bedroom, closing the door.

Lance put together a bigger breakfast for the two of them, knowing they both needed to refuel after the previous day. Once coffee and tea were done, he brought the tray back upstairs. Keith hadn’t moved except to free an arm, trailing his fingers over Lance’s pillow. The Alpha could tell his mate was more aware than he had been in the past two days, but he was still nonverbal. Hopefully it would be over by the next day. Keith put himself in Lance’s lap again, less resistant to breakfast that morning. Once they were finished, Keith dragged his Alpha back into the depths of the nest.

Lance woke up before his mate, turning the sleeping Omega into a human burrito before heading back to the kitchen. He thought about making lunch, but decided that it would likely be too much, instead bringing another cup of herbal tea for Keith and a more standard black tea for himself along with his mate’s favorites from his baking marathon. Back upstairs, he woke the Omega with a soft kiss, snacks ready. As he had for the past three days, he insisted on sitting in Lance’s lap the entire time, something his Alpha had no issue with.

By the end of the day, Keith still was nonverbal, but didn’t fight eating or getting himself cleaned up. He resisted dressing for bed, but Lance insisted and Keith lost. By the time he was ready to actually sleep, he didn’t have the energy to fight getting his clothes back on, and fell asleep curled around his mate.

Lance was still asleep when Keith woke the next morning. It was day five, the last day of his heat. The Omega stretched, cat-like, and looked over his sleeping mate. He yawned, and it felt like his tongue unlocked. His memory of the previous four days was vivid, and he knew how nonverbal he’d been. He also knew how he’d behaved, and just how intense his heat had been. He could still feel it, even if it was far weaker than the previous days. Keith still felt the need to be as close to his Alpha as possible, laying back down and curling himself around Lance.

When the Alpha finally woke that morning, Keith was already awake again, snuggled in and watching him sleep. The small, contented smile on the Omega and the sparkle in his violet eyes told Lance that he was fully aware again.

“Hey, you,” he said, shifting to face his mate, “How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” Keith answered, “I know I couldn’t tell you before, but I know my heat’s been weird this time. And I remember all of it. I know I usually check out in the middle, but I remember it. Sorry about the biting.”

“Yeah, that was weird. And the growling,” Lance agreed, “I think you should get it checked out. It worried me.”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, s’not a bad idea. I want breakfast. I’m fuckin' starving.”

Lance laughed. “Ok. Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

The Alpha took off downstairs, bringing their breakfast back up in record time. They were both feeling more relaxed, and took the last day of Keith's heat more slowly, laying together in the nest afterwards without feeling the need to just pass out. They were able to take the day to actually enjoy what they were doing instead of being fueled purely by an instinctual need to mate. That feeling was still there as Keith’s heat wasn’t quite over, but it wasn’t the driving need they’d experienced over the previous days.

The mate-pair spent the weekend relaxing and recovering. The heat nest was taken down, its components and the bedsheets washed. The bedroom was aired out, windows opened to the cooling September air. Lance and Keith padded around their brick Victorian, the Alpha able to appreciate his post-heat cuddly mate. They talked about the oddity of Keith’s heat, and the Omega fully agreed to see his doctor about it. By Sunday night, both were ready to get back to work, and went to bed snuggled together.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lance returned to his job as a junior professor of Mediaeval Literature at the nearby college that technically predated the city. The professor he taught under, Dr. Sioned Ryner, had been a mentor to him while he was a student, and continued in that role along with being his senior professor. She often teased him about being the prettiest teacher in the department, as she was doing then.

“Your adoring fans missed you last week,” she said, coming into his office, “They’d be even more upset if they knew why you were off.”

“Yeah, I'm sure they would. But I’m starting on Spenser this week, so I think they’ll forgive me. Though I've never understood why we teach an epic written specifically for Elizabeth I in a Mediaeval Literature class.”

Dr. Ryner burst out laughing. “I have no idea, but they’ve always insisted. It has King Arthur in it, must be mediaeval.”

~*~*~*~

Links to the rest of the series:

1 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 5* | 6* | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10 | 11 | 12* | 13 | 14 | 15* | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19*

[bionicdragonguardian1]

Voltron Rewritten Defender (1/8)

Also known as My Almost Raging Bitch List for this Goddamn Disastrous Disappointment of a Show

I binged all 8 seasons in under a week, so believe me when I say almost nothing was forgotten between seasons/episodes and I do tend to note that.

If it’s not obvious by the title, I’m planning an entire show AU. I am extremely open to people’s opinions on what I’m currently thinking and when I finally post this I’ll be open to criticism there too. If you would like to avoid seeing anything in regards to this feel free to blacklist #voltron_rewritten_defender because that’s what I’ll be using for this whole thing.

Enjoy, I guess.

Fair warning I am a multishipper, but for this show I leaned towards Klance, so if that bothers you that’s okay, I’m not going to be bashing any other ships (mainly just Dreamworks’ forced Allurance). If you think I missed something for any other ship lemme know! If you wanna have a ship discussion that’s cool too. The only other thing I can think of is that Allura’s attitude in S8 really stuck with me to the point that she bothered me throughout the entire rewatch (I was admittedly one of the people who thought she could be very Mary Sue ish when I first watched this) so that’ll show up now and again.

If you want to look at the Google Doc for the whole show, click the link, if not you can expand this post to see Season 1. I’ll be doing these in chunks, but as some of you know I do a FicRecList on one of my other accounts here @sorcerusdragonbionics​ so I’m gonna be alternating between that and these for the next couple days.

If you do the Google Route it’ll have you ask me for permission, this is normal and if you request it I’ll give you commenting abilities.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t30IRJonrBFh0qvs8recf3ayGoQ0rx02y0Tg1e4NTaI/edit?usp=sharing

Key

Things I kinda wanna bitch about

Things I did genuinely enjoy and like 

Rewatch Thoughts (basically what I remember from further forward and how I feel like it reflects back on earlier seasons)

Ship Talk (behold my multishipping insanity)

Things I think I’ll do in the Rewrite

Writing Notes (mainly for me or as explanation for what I’m planning)

VA and Closed Captioning Things

Other Fic Thoughts

This ended up being music commentary in S8

Season One

Problems with the Season overall:

To be honest if I hated this season I wouldn’t’ve kept watching because by the time I started S3 had just dropped

Episode 1

Here’s the deal, WHY ARE YOU SO LONG BUT SO EMPTY?!?

Yeah, nope, that’s mostly it

Fix the problem of telling instead of showing about the other Lions and remove Allura’s explanation of the Lions if possible (thank you Kross for explaining why it felt so empty- this vid is actually where I started getting the idea to actually go through with a full series AU)

DON'T RUSH THE LION INTROS

Also let the 5 introduce themselves to Allura and Coran

Also Character Drive to Complete Mission Should Be A Thing

Flesh out Paladin Personalities so that the Aris Arrival is End of Part One (making it closer to the length of E1)

Flesh out Lion intros so part 2+3 are more like full Eps without Sendak

Episode 2

75 degrees… that’s definitely in Fahrenheit, which why?

How does no one have a watch with a date on them?

“A man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really really mean to him”

More inbetween scenes bc I can

I will accept the transformation sequence here, I’m just not going to write it

Episode 3

Please watch the use of Earth Time Slices please, because it’s confusing

I love the portrayal of PTSD in this show and I would die before I change it

Bye bye transformation sequence

Pidge’s talk with Shiro can please change

Episode 4

“I say Vol, you say Tron” will come up again if it kills me

Lance, how do you know what hotdog water and feet taste like?

I love how Coran is completely nonchalant about the fact that he’s drinking a hair tonic

Shiro, don’t bring down the mood

Goddammit Sendak, you could stay for this arc, but god I want you GONE!

Keith, having an emotion? Really?

The Pidge plot DID NOT NEED TO HAPPEN LIKE THAT!

Fight me I will change it

Or minimally change the fact that their selfish motivations are revealed to BAD and should be changed

Oh yeah, let’s not give the ONE GUY with notable homesickness a character arc around that

That moment when you realize Allura is like ‘wtf is a peanut’

Allura, don’t push it, some people don’t want to talk about it

You will have something to talk about, BIOLOGY

Decryption happens here, and next attempt to find family occurs… when?

Poor Coran, if there is anyone who was more forgotten than Lance it was him

Keith isn’t wrong, but he also doesn’t know how to say it without getting mad, which mood

Just pointing out Lance is not only smart, but selfless, tell me how he’s not the main character

My inner Shance/Klance shipper is sobbing

“Bomb fuel” mentioned here, occurs… actually it’s ok

Timelines need to be a thing!

Can I make the fight scenes more intense? Yes, I write them for my YJ Scripts. Will I? Almost definitely.

Keith with that much fire your mask should be closed because smoke inhalation is bad

Can we explain Vrepit Sa before s6?

It feels like Coran forgets that 10k years have passed under an evil empire and part of me likes it, but it hurts me

Episode 5

The Katie flashback is hurts me

I want to add Gender Identity

Can we talk about how Shiro is a nickname for Takashi Shirogane?

That’s not how an EMP works

The Coran sitting on Hunk’s shoulders with a machine gun is everything

I know the back x-ray was a joke, but I still don’t like it

Rax is an idiot, just saying

Bonding Moment!!!

Episode 6

“Intergalactic time measuring competition.”

“We had a bonding moment!”

Where is Sendak’s arm?

Fight me, Pidge’s ‘gender speech’

It will be a gender speech if it kills me

Lance, why are you acting the way you are?

“I figured” and “We were supposed to think you were a boy” ARE NOT PROPER REACTIONS!

Rolo, sometimes I want to punch you in the teeth

Lance’s boner is going to get someone killed

Lance had 4sec of logic and then Nyma brings up Keith, which ofc does him in

Let’s expand on the Komar, yeah?

Quiznack means fuck and NO ONE can tell me otherwise

Keith’s ability to fly is impressive and it’s awesome

Friendly reminder that Lance acknowledged the bonding moment

Episode 7

I LOVE the laser gun sound effects!!!

I just realized that Allura has no clue what an Acronym is

We… literally just talked about this and YOU didn’t know that Shiro, I understand the point, but seriously?

LIONS are TELEPATHIC Shiro DID NOT need to say that aloud!

I do actually like the fact that Kieth gets excited before realizing what he did

FIRE and ICE PEOPLE come on! What the hell?! You barely had to try

“Yes sir?” Keith to Shiro, what?

I love them and their cute little arguments

Left vs Right, thank you Zamber

We be lovin’ Hunay bc it’s pure as hell

Thank you Shiro for validating Hunk’s concerns

You could check  a little faster, Allura

I LIVE for this scene

Was it actually Rolo?

Do they have teleporters?

Keith being weird is my favorite thing

I love good big bros who argue tradition to save their baby sis

Zarkon is a bit of a moron

THEIR LIVES ARE IN DANGER ALLURA!

They all came through different doors… how?

What if the answer was no?

I’m ok with Lance embarrassing himself when he’s cocky, some people seem to forget that

Bye transformation sequence, I explained you ONCE and that’s it

Prorock… why are you familiar?

Episode 8

I admittedly forgot that they didn’t know these things would be different

Flying fight scenes I can do, teleporting not so much

Poor Shiro he thought he had an idea and he was wrong

I love Coran’s reaction

Also NO SHIT Allura

UHHHH Pidge said that not and of the other three so how did He know?

Allura may piss me off, but I do love this speech

“Your Altean Energy”??? Coran, you’re an Altean, I’m confused.

The “Sacred Altean” thing I get, but you must be more specific cuz it makes Coran sound like he thinks he’s not a proper Altean.

Oof, angsty

Also, I  know we can’t kill Allura yet, but... 

I love that Hunk forgot they hadn’t formed Voltron

Bye bye transformation sequence

Ummm, they NEED to explain the Bayard Equip bc that’s… two very different things that occurred between Hunk and Keith’s Bayard Weapons

Why is this a scene? It’s not a dog. So, yeah, I’m with Keith here

Episode 9

THIS IS NOT HEALTHY ALLURA!

I just realized that this doesn’t come back until S..7? 8? Whatever, WAY too long

I can’t unhear “Training Dick”

Did they have homework on Altea?

Be still my Punk shipper heart

WHY is he SO pretty?!

Y’know, the glowing red eye is usually a bad sign

I could SO mean and hurt Keith here

That moment when you’re like 90% sure Shiro heard that somewhere

Not what haunted means Coran, but accurate

Why could Lance see Alfor for a second?

I too would like the answer to “where was the Red Lion?”

PTSD IS AMAZINGLY WRITTEN!

It’s a shame this is NEVER treated properly again

Thank you for NOT making the swimming thing a thing

You didn’t need to TRY Voltron, what the hell?!

Here’s the deal,  Altea not being Obliterated-obliterated is actually a really interesting idea

Lance still wins, for the record

If she was infected in any way this wouldn’t drive me crazier than a bot on Halloween

But she’s not so this is BULL

Shallura confuses me SO much…

Ok, admittedly the scene with Allura and Alfor is beautifully heartbreaking

Episode 10

The fact that Zarkon was a close friend to Alfor should be addressed

Also Shiro calling himself “an inexperienced Pilot” hurts

Allura’s a MORON!

YES! MASSIVE ISSUE WITH YOU COMING

Nice puppetry Hunk

What happened to THIS Allura?! She’s reckless but not INSANE (or so boring I might cry)!

Is this the same Druid from Season 8? Pretty sure it’s 8… I forget which, but the one Keith fought

“Don’t walk through that door!” / Keith does/ “I think I told him” // “You are a paragon of leadership, Lance”

Hehheh I love Hunk teasing Lance about Allura

I do actually the fact that I can’t tell what size the purple container is until Keith grabs it

Heheh the Allura interacting with the Galra soldier

The computer sounds like Lance

Also Shiro had that “holy shit” moment

I HATE WRITING TELELPORTING FIGHTS

I’m 99% sure that the ONLY reason I didn’t fall into the Galra Keith rabbit hole was the fact that I binge watched

This scene confuses me… so much now that I know Shallura was apparently never going to be a thing

So confused

Episode 11

That hair flip though...

Coran, I get it, but calm down

Okay, but Keith has a point. Seriously, he’s not wrong. 

For the record, Haggar scares me

So much makes so much more sense now that we know Zarkon is the Original Black Paladin

That… makes no sense… “enough essence to open a wormhole”

Why are you transforming? More pieces to shoot at is usually a smart idea…

Hey hey, THACE!

Why can’t you have two active at once? I’m honestly serious.

I mean too OP, got it, but you can maneuver around that for temporary stuff

Shiro, use your words, yeah?

“Thinking” uh huh you mean “telepathy” right?

I genuinely forgot that Shiro got booted from Black

Damn! Yes Shiro! Kick some ass!

Ok, here’s the deal, Keith’s not listening to Coran, but he doesn’t have all the info (LIKE THE FUCKING BAYARD), Zarkon’s the OG Paladin, and he’s in distress

I HATE TELEPORTERS!

“Could have been” … uh Kuron exists ?? 

Also, Shiro with yellow eyes is fucking terrifying

We ain’t ficking stupid VLD

Zarkon’s a fucking idiot

Written properly his power-hungry attitude works even with him destroying his own ship

But it wasn’t so it’s null

You aren’t even subtle about Galra Keith

How can Allura see through Illusions?

Nobody knows!

Shiro, you have no jetpack, how are you so fast?

“Who cares, wormhole!” mood

I… uh… I want to do SO many things with this idea

Preferably not what they actually do...

[storiesbeyondthestars]

Let’s talk shipping *insert sarcastic yay here*

I said that it was my personal belief that this season was going to lay the foundation for relationships. I honestly expected this season to be more character-driven than it was. There was actually a LOT of action, so it tooka bit away from that, in my opinion. I can absolutely see why they say they have a problem with too much plot (which I said in my first post about my s7 thoughts).

They did lay ground work for many potential ships, though none of them were overly successful in my opinion. These are the ones I saw:

Hunk/Romelle - Hunk was actively bragging to her about the lions and there was a bit of a connection there. I think this one was kind of tossed aside by...

Hunk/Shay - She tackles him into a hug, okay. This one was very obvious and very last minute. (Also they brought the whole balmera to earth lol RIP ocean tides.)

Keith/Shiro - same stuff as always with Keith wanting to protect him and clearly idolizing him, though seeing little Keith with older Shiro...yeah...

Hunk/Pidge - Some people could argue that Pidge choosing Hunk was super sweet and proof of this. I personally think it would actually be kind of cute if Pidge’s first crush was on Hunk, because who could blame her? That’s harmless.

Keith/Hunk - Keith being the most impressed with Hunk. Being so supportive and going with him. Yeah. I could see it.

Ezor/Zethrid - I can get behind this. Out of nowhere but hey, go be evil lesbian space pirates together. That’s fine. 

Krolia/Kolivan - I don’t even know what to say to this but Krolia told Keith ‘i’ll never leave you’ then left him for Kolivan (and the mission) so, you know. I mean, she spent like 20 years in space after leaving Keith’s dad so like, all the power to her?

I’m going to talk more about these three:

Keith/Acxa  This one I can see where it’s coming from but it’s still a little weird to me if this is the route they’re going for. Ezor and Zethrid certainly think that this is the case, so they’ve probably talked about the fact that Axca doesn’t want to hurt Keith before. 

There’s still a small chance that they’re related, though Krolia didn’t bring that up (though maybe she didn’t feel like she had to because there surely would have been some kind of flashback or flashforward to something). 

Outside of that, lets picture this from Acxa’s point of view: you’re in a welbum, probably think that you’re going to die there, then this Paladin saves her life, realizes she’s Galra, still thinks she could be a person, works well with her, turns out to be half-Galra himself, and is hot as shit. Can you blame her? I mean, come on. That side of things absolutely makes sense to me. 

Keith, less so. He saved her life once, and then recognized her. She saved his. Then she let him go and didn’t kill him. So he could be repaying that. The only other explanation I’ve got that would work from his side was if he saw something in the future. 

Though Keith’s reaction to the whole ‘love’ this being ‘let’s just fight’ is fucking funny and describes him so well. He’s not devoid of emotions, surely he would have shown something if this was the case? 

Oh well, she showed up at his father’s grave. She also decided to wear a crop-top jacket like him so yeah. 

I genuinely don’t like this, because outside of those moments there’s no development. 

Lance/Allura

Firstly I have to say, Allura having feelings for Lance is NOT a rebound by that point. Sam Holt went back to Earth and a month later, Voltron had vanished. The were gone for three years. Then in the flashbacks it said it was 4 years on Earth. So they’ve been traveling for a year. That’s a year to get over Lotor and develop feelings for Lance. It’s not rebound.

From my point of view, my opinion only, it is bad writing though. If there were more moments of them together, small little things like smiling at one another over comms or getting along during the gameshow or stuff? Then I’d be all ‘that’s fine’. 

It came out of nowhere though. No hints. No hints. Then feelings. What the heck? I hope someone can point out something I missed in my mass binging of S7 to fix this. Like, I can grasp the Keith and Acxa thing more than this one.  Lance and Allura definitely had more development in general, but in this season it’s not there until it is. That’s NOT good writing. That’s shoe-horning it in. Especially with Veronica teasing him.

(Though Allura entirely shedding off the title of Princess certainly does sort of put them on the same playing field.)

Look, Lance and Allura could be very cute together. They really could. It just isn’t written well this season. 

Keith/Lance

I actually did like their dynamic for the most part this season. Why? Lance didn’t feel useless here. Keith genuinely treated him like a space ranger partner. He didn’t belittle him for the most part. Not when it counted most. Their actions show an extreme amount of trust in one another. 

Lance shows no hesitation in calling Keith their leader, no hesitation in following his orders. When they were floating in space, their words were all cutting and terrible to one another. It’s clear that there’s some hurt for Keith leaving, which is totally fine. I wish they had actually addressed these issues more. 

I mean, in the gameshow, his reasons for picking Keith were arguably the sweetest (along with Pidge’s for Hunk). Leader, part-Galra, and the future? 

That’s really odd word choice right there people. Not to mention his expressions. He looks goddamn love struck.

In what world is calling someone ‘the future’ (when you’re not speaking in a sense of the children are the future) a platonic thing? Look, Lance can go with Allura in the end, but this boy is bi and Keith was his awakening. 

Of course, there was Keith being a little turd a few times. In the gameshow where Lance is sweet and then, for some reason, the host skips over Pidge and goes to Keith next? For some reason? Only for Keith to pick Lance. Look, maybe Keith was genuinely annoyed because Lance kept getting the answers wrong so he was being a shit. It happens. I don’t think so thoug. They thought they were picking someone to save. Either he trusted that Lance would be able to do something to get them out, or he wanted to save Lance. 

Optimistic side of me: Keith had a gay panic when he heard what Lance said.

Pessimistic side of me: Being an ass.

A weird in-between part: Keith’s been alone with his mom for two years and became worse with social cues.

Honestly, Lance looked all dreamy-faced when Keith picked him until he realized what he said. I think maybe that Keith’s aloofness was a bit off-putting to him, since he was getting over his heartbreak over Allura. It’d make sense that he’d jump on the fact that Allura might like him.

Keith’s other moment with him was when he said ‘don’t miss’ and I think he was teasing but it came out a little rough. The thing is, we know Keith didn’t mean it because he still ran forward as the distraction. He KNEW Lance was going to succeed. 

It’s not much to go on but the trust is still there. The delivery is rough on Keith’s end instead of Lance’s now (two years away will do that to you). 

Shiro/Adam

...I am so sorry that this fandom got Dumbledored. 

Look, I am super happy that Shiro is canonically gay. That’s amazing! People can point to him and say ‘he’s amazing in every sense and he’s gay’ without hesitation.

Except, you could look at those scenes and think that they were, in fact, just roommates. The only reason we know this isn’t the case is because we were told. This is the exact same thing JK Rowling did with Dumbledore. Mind you, in her case it was after everything had been published and she got her paycheck for it. Small, barely there hints and then verbal confirmation. Dumbledore was a super-respected person and yeah it’s great that he’s gay. 

So why couldn’t you show it. I sincerely doubt that they’ll go into depth about it in S8. If they do I will be surprised. 

There’s...no way I can even make headcanons about what they were like together. I’ve seen more of Keith/Acxa than this!

So that’s my point of view on ships this season. What does it mean? It’s all up in the air until the last episode of S8 but they left many different paths open. I am very curious to see where they take it, even if it means everything is completely open in the end. 

[airagorncharda]

I finally watched Voltron, and quite liked it! My review of the show, and also the fandom, is below:

So, the show is right up my alley, I liked the animation and characters a lot, and I’m very very pleased with the effort the writers have gone to to include a multitude of representation, especially considering it’s a remake of a show that had extremely bland character designs! Genuinely I ended up really caring about the characters and I’m excited for the last season.

So my feelings on the show are, like, 70% positive! 

That being said, I definitely have some--

°˖ ✧ Complaints about the show itself!   ✧˖ ° 

Characterization:

Mainly, that the characters were basically 2d characters until like season 6. Five seasons is a long time to wait before giving anybody character development, guys. Or even, like, character TRAITS outside of their base trope. 

Hunk is a big guy / the fat comic relief character, so his character traits involved eating, cooking, vomiting, and being a coward, and the jokes about him were all about him being fat. Oh, also he’s the “stable” one of the group. This is a complaint on multiple levels, since it’s fatphobic and obnoxious, but it’s also obvious and two dimensional character design.

And all the characters were like that, basically. 

Allura was arguably less so than the paladins, but only to a point. When Matt showed up, he was more 3d in the first like 2 minutes of screen time than the entire main cast had so far displayed in multiple seasons, because all of his character traits weren’t instantly predictable. Side characters tended to be more interesting and less predictable than main ones, which was just kind of weird.

Shiro and Adam:

I honestly just wish that the writers had been allowed to make their relationship more explicitly romantic, and thus make their breakup more explicitly a breakup. Instead it was kind of vague, which I understand wasn’t the writer’s faults, but it still felt a little weird.

Lotor:

I just feel like they slightly mishandled the end of his arc. I wish they’d either made him more clearly 100% wrong, or else more clearly explained why he wasn’t 100% wrong, which brings my to my last one:

“Galra need Quintessence!!” ft Lotor

This is my main complaint about the show (at least 20% of my frustration with the show is this one thing), because.....

Why?

Why do they need it? Did I miss a line where it’s literally ever explained why the galra NEED quintessence? Or even WANT it, as an empire? We know why Zarkan needed it, and why individuals need it (it’s immortality juice with drawbacks they don’t care about) but I never got the impression that the entire galran empire is immortal-- and even if they are, then they shouldn’t be. “Help us maintain our immortality at any means necessary!” should have been answered with “No.” followed by “Learn to deal with your mortality like everyone else.”

Literally, Lotor was like “We just need unlimited quintessence, and then the galra will do whatever we want!” and nobody in the entire cast was like “cool, we’re on board so far, but like, what exactly do you need it for?”

I still don’t understand what it was all for.

°˖ ✧ Complaints about the fandom! ✧˖ °

I feel like I’m kicking a hornets nest by even bringing this shit up, because:

This fandom is goddamn cursed:

Nobody in this fandom seems able to agree on the character’s characterization, I suspect largely because they barely had any for 5 seasons. Instead of saying “these are my headcanons” and letting it go, though, I keep seeing people being adamant that their headcanons are canon and anybody who disagrees is wrong / bad.

People in this fandom appear to be largely unable to stay in their own spheres of interest and let other people enjoy other interests. Every tag is full of negativity.

I think it’s a really bad sign when most of the best artists and writers in the fandom try to keep away from the fandom, and a lot of people have been deterred from watching the show at all because the fandom is so apeshit.

I’ve seen people being called a lot of names, told they should die, and called pedophiles based on which adult characters they ship with each other. It’s been a wild ride and I only dipped my toes into this fandom. I’m not planning on going much deeper.

K/l/a/n/c/e is a plague:

Let me be absolutely clear, I am not talking about the ship. The ship is fine, I can see why people like it, I have no problem with it. 

The problem is the shippers that it is impossible to avoid.

There doesn’t appear to be a single tag I can go into that doesn’t contain meta about this ship being canon. People who ship this ship are the worst perpetrators of my previous point (they’re the ones I’ve seen saying all that shit), and they flood other tags with negativity, and meta about their own ship. 

I’ve never been more tempted to refer to someone’s ship as their agenda, either. The only thing that seems to matter to them is whether or not it’s canon, which is... wild... because that’s really not the point of shipping? And because it’s not canon. Sorry, but there’s only one season left, and they haven’t laid any groundwork for it. Also neither of them is the canonically mlm character, and I doubt they’re going to turn this show into one with 3 main mlm characters within the last season.

And yet.

When I say there isn’t a single tag I can go into that doesn’t contain meta about this ship being canon, btw, I’m not exaggerating. I went into the Allura tag. Meta about how k/ance is “canon”. The Shiro tag. Meta about how k/ance is “canon”. The Allurance tag. Meta about how k/ance is “canon”. The Lotor tag. Meta about how k/ance is “canon”. The fucking "Garfle Warfle Snick" tag! Meta about how k/ance is “canon”. “Adam Voltron” tag??? Fucking meta about how k/ance is “canon”.

And even when it’s not meta, and it’s just comics or art or fanfic ideas, the thing that frustrates me is that it’s constantly things like��“What if Lance [does something Shiro already did @ Keith] @ Keith!” and “What if Keith [does something Allura already did @ Lance] @ Lance!” and “What if Keith and Lance [did a thing two other characters have already done]!” with zero self awareness that their AU has already happened in the literal show, just with different character combinations than they’re interested in. They seem to only care about those two characters, and only care about them in relation to each other, and it’s exhausting.

Allura:

1) People who draw Allura looking less black than she does in the show are cowards. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen and it’s Bad.

2) People who are baffled by the concept of Allura and Lance having a relationship, and spend lots of effort trying to convince people that they’re friends or that the possibly canon endgame of them dating “came out of nowhere” and “doesn’t make sense” etc. 

You’re racist and we can see you.

Shiro and (mostly) Adam:

The people who decided that Adam was Shiro’s love interest after Adam was introduced in a flashback in which he broke up with Shiro (as far as I can tell they were mostly k/ance shippers who were excited to have a “gotcha” @ sh.eith shippers) and then lost their absolute minds when Adam died... exhaust me.

The people who are calling Adam’s death “bury your gays” and “queerbaiting”.................. exhaust me a lot. The context of Adam’s death is not what either of those terms mean.

I understand that it hurts when queer characters die, because so many queer characters historically have died. That doesn’t mean every single time queer characters die is automatically homophobia. This show did not kill all their queer characters, and it didn’t even kill it’s MAIN queer character, OR kill the main queer character’s love interest (because that’s never what Adam was presented as or meant to be). And Shiro IS a queer character. He’s not being baited, he’s still queer even when Adam isn’t present. Newsflash, Adam’s purpose as a character was to convey canonically that Shiro’s been queer the entire goddamn time.

I don’t necessarily like that they chose to kill him, but I don’t think the context was homophobic. He died in a war, along with many other people. 

And furthermore, who did you want them to kill? They needed to kill at least one existing character from one of the main cast’s backgrounds for narrative reasons. The options they had, because of how much effort they’ve put into filling this show with representation, were:

Characters of color

Pidge’s mom

That’s... literally it. Characters or color and women (especially older women), btw, are also constantly killed off in media the same way queer characters are, to further other character’s narratives. This is what happens when the cast is primarily rep for marginalized people and the story involves war. Characters die. And when the only characters that exist are from marginalized demographics, the choices about who dies are never going to feel good. That doesn’t make them based in bigotry, or even necessarily bad choices, just because they hurt. 

°˖ ✧ Conclusions! ✧˖ °

Fun show with a few frustrating elements and a cursed as Fuck fandom.

[armageddon-generation]

My thoughts on Allurance in Voltron Season 6 (spoiler: I don't like it)

This is all opinion. I've steered clear of voltron ships thus far and I really don't want to add fuel to the ship war, but the show is pushing this hard and I really need to vent bc these are two of my favourite characters

First of all I want to clarify I am not a Klance shipper by any stretch of the imagination. And if you ship Allurance, more power to you for seeing something in that relationship I don't, because judging by season six that's what we're heading for.

It's just, in my opinion, the worst direction they could have gone for both Lance and Allura's characters.

Setting aside the debate about possible queerbaiting (although certain members of the cast and crew - Hi, Jeremy - have hinted at LGBTQ representation, there has been very little evidence of representation in the actual show, so I'd argue the show itself has promised nothing) and the question of whether or not the show canonically supporting Klance is morally correct after the ship wars, harassment and blackmail debacle (I know most klance shippers are lovely people but you're already one of the biggest ships on tumblr and you have enough content to sink an actual battleship), Allurance is still the least interesting endgame for these characters.

Lance was evolving in seasons 3-5. Setting aside his new respect for Keith, he was being genuinely supportive of Allura without hitting on her. That maturity shows genuine character growth, and yes, I understand Lance is still more respectful now, but seeing him regress to pining for Allura is really disappointing to me when his friendship with her was one of my favourite things about s5. Especially considering that this season the 'Lance has a major role in saving Shiro' arc we were promised (an excellent opportunity for independent character development) was replaced with a STUPID FUCKING LOVE TRIANGLE. Because if there's one thing these writers learnt from The Legend of Korra it's that everyone fucking loves those sexy love shapes (or knots in the case of Book One)

(Ahem)

Side note, in light of this new romantic development to their relationship, I also dislike how Lance's attraction to Allura in previous seasons has been mostly portrayed as a physical and not emotional thing (seriously, the stuff about her making him want to be a better person came completely out of the blue, I never got the impression Allura was a genuine motivator for Lance's growth). Lance's attraction was also always, without fail the butt of the joke, which irks me because the show was basically teaching us as an audience not to take the idea of them together seriously. In retrospect, that seems a little two-faced.

Finally though, I think Allurance is a continuation of the legacy of poor romance development in both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. From my perspective this ship combines the most annoying parts of both Kataang (i.e. the idea that if you do nothing but hopelessly pine for someone you'll be rewarded and they will fall in love with you because you 'deserve it', despite there being little evidence of romantic attraction beforehand) AND Makkora (i.e. Pursuing someone relentlessly is the way to make them fall for you).

Now, paying due respect to Allurance, their relationship as it stands is nowhere near as unhealthy as Makkora and has better build up than Kataang, but it still aggravates me that the writers seem to be hell bent on taking the most pedestrian option for these characters.

I may not ship it, but at least Klance would have been a genuinely interesting endgame that really forced Lance to mature as a character, a flipping his whole 'ladies man' facade would have been huge and tied in to his hidden vulnerability.

Even having Lance end up with Pidge would have had a similar effect, completely reversing his immature facade and emphasising attraction being more than skin deep.

At the root of it though this just feels like lazy, uninteresting writing. Now Lance's character is tied to the immature place where he started, pining after Allura, when he has grown so much without her (no matter how much the show tries to retcon Allura into playing a role in that). Lance deserves to grow beyond Allura. Also, how awesome would it be to see a feminine princess character wind up with no love interest and be perfectly fine with that?

I don't know. We still have 26 more episodes in the tank and it's possible things could change, but given how hard s6 pushed this?

I just don't know. Why do these shows do so much right and always get this one thing wrong?

[blueplanettrash]

Three Little Questions (Part 2)

Alright, Ladies and Gents here is part two! I hope everyone enjoys! ❤️

He marched toward the lounge, the team always meet up there at the end of the day for bonding and up until a few weeks ago didn’t question Lance’s absence. How could he have been so stupid, he knew, hell all of them knew that Lance had problems with his self-worth. Which made it all the more angering that the others were willingly putting him through this. He clenched his jaw and stomped through the lounge doors to see everyone laughing and setting up Pidge’s laptop to start another movie. They looked over with a smile and waved him over.

“Where’s Lance?” He asked instead. Would they lie to him again? Without hesitation, Pidge perked up.

“He said that he was going to do a spa thing for himself or something,” she said rolling her eyes but not taking her eyes off the monitor. Hunk nodded his head in agreement and started hooking up the wires to the monitor. Keith remained silent and stared down at them with a piercing glare. When they heard no response they looked up at him and immediately flinched at the malice that was in his eyes.

“Why are you lying to me?” He growled at the two. They cowered under his gaze and looked at Shiro when he started walking towards them.

“Keith, buddy, what are you talking about?” He asked putting his hand on his shoulder. He didn’t relax like he usually did and turned to face Shiro.

“Why are you guys lying to me about Lance?” He asked again. They became obviously flustered before Pidge calmly broke in.

“Why do you think we’re lying about Lance? I was with him right before you came in,” she said confidently looking him in the eyes.

“It disgusts me that you can look right into my eyes and lie to me,” he hissed. Pidge flinched back in shock as Keith stomped towards her ripping Shiro’s hand off of his shoulder.

“So, do you want to guess where I was before this?” He asked the room. They looked away from him and rubbed their necks trying to avoid the tension in the room.

“I was reassuring him of his place of the team because he thinks that he is worthless as a paladin,” he said quietly standing over Pidge. “I laid him down in his bed while he cried, wondering why he was chosen over someone more qualified and useful,” she looked down at the ground in shock.

“No! You don’t get to look away!” Keith yelled stomping his foot in front of her making her look back up.

“You made him feel like he didn’t have a place among us!” He cried, tears were beginning to trek down his face but he ignored them.

“He is one of the most talented, selfless and caring people that I ever had the pleasure to meet, and you had the audacity to make him suffer for it,” he spat pointing a finger in her face. “You knew that he would never complain, no matter how bad he was feeling about himself because he didn’t want to bother anybody with it, and you took advantage of that, didn’t you?” He accused. Her lip quivered as she gave him a small nod before she put her head in her hands and started weeping into them.

“I was wiping away his tears when he told me that his friends didn’t like him and that it wasn’t surprising to him,” he turned to Hunk with a poisonous glare. Hunk’s eyes widened mournfully.

“Don’t.” Keith barked when Hunk opened his mouth. “Out of everyone here, I’m so fucking disappointed at you Hunk, you know how terrible Lance feels about himself, and you ignored it for this sick game you all played,” he leaned forward into Hunk’s personal space, even though he was a head shorter than him. He still seemed to cower away from the paladin.

“Did you think it would be funny?” He shouted. Hunk frantically shook his head no, he was beginning to cry.

“You’re right, it wasn’t funny; how would you feel if your so-called friends ignored you? If they spent time together without you? If the first thing they did when they saw you, was tell you to be quiet?” Hunk kept shaking his head, tears coursing down his cheeks.  Keith sniffed trying to keep face. He finally turned to Shiro who was looking down at the ground ashamed. He grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him down harshly to meet his eyes.

“I was making sure he didn’t get sick while he ate because he had been starving himself because he wanted to change for you,” he screamed in Shiro’s face. “He willingly stopped eating because you wouldn’t tell him when we were eating, he thought that he didn’t deserve to eat!”

“K-Keith I,” Shiro started. Keith pushed him away, making him stumble where Pidge and Hunk sat crying.

“You know how painful it is for someone to be starved! You know how painful it is for someone! He did that willingly, and he looked for your acceptance! You didn’t even notice!” It was getting harder and harder for him to stay in control, he wanted to be back with Lance, comforting him and making sure he felt safe. Not even watching Shiro's face crumble in regret could stop the rage that bubbled in his stomach. The leader let out a shuddering breath before he lifted a hand to cover his eyes and the tears that fell past his chin.

“How could you do this to him?” He wailed, finally losing his composure. The dam broke and choked sobs tore out of his throat, he thought of the clear impressions of Lance’s ribs. The way he tore himself down in front of Keith, the acceptance in his voice when he told Keith about the way he felt, and how he said it was no one’s fault but his own.

“We just wanted to help you,” Hunk said finally. Voice raspy from the sobs that still came out of his mouth.

“What?”

“Lance has a big family back on Earth and you didn’t have very many friends, so we wanted to bond with you but Lance would just fight with you,” Pidge tried to explain, although a loud gasp would interrupt at some parts. She clutched on to Hunk’s arm and hugged it to her chest for comfort. They looked up at Keith at the confession.

“What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” He whispered harshly. They flinched back at the venom in his voice.

“How could you think that I would accept that when Lance is so miserable?!” He gripped his hair in his hands. “You guys disgust me, how could turn your back on him like he was nothing? You’ve been treating him like he’s not even human!” They whimpered looking towards the ground.

“And the worst part is that he didn’t beg for your attention, all he did was ask three little questions!” They clenched their eyes shut; memories of Lance coming to them day after day hopefulness on his face. Even after they declined he only gave them a smile before he left with a ‘have a good day!’

“You better fix this, Lance doesn’t deserve this shit,” he said quietly, turning and waking out on them. Not looking back, he headed back to the quarters. Before he could enter his own room, he walked a bit further and went to Lance’s. His heart clenched when he saw tears running down his cheeks in his sleep. He sat on the edge of the bed and gently wiped them away.

“Keith?” His voice was barely above a whisper as he blearily looked up at Keith with red-rimmed eyes. He swallowed back the tears that wanted to reappear at the sight and brushed his hand through his hair.

“Yup,” he replied just as quietly. Lance gave him a warm smile and leaned his head into the hand.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked concerned looking at the red marks on his face. Keith laughed and wiped away the traces of tears and looked down at the Cuban boy fondly.

“Just couldn’t sleep,” he whispered. He tried to stay strong in front of Lance. He had been through so much already, but he could see how hallow his cheekbones had become. His chin quivered and a sad keen escaped from him. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck and pulled him down to lay with him.

“I’m so sorry Lance,” he bawled. Lance shushed him and pushed his head into his shoulder.

“You already apologized Keith, and you didn’t even need to apologize in the first place,”

“It’s just not fair, why did it have to be you?” he asked quietly. “Why did you have to suffer alone?”

“Keith it’s okay,” Lance tried, running his fingers through his hair. Keith lifted his head to meet Lance’s eyes.

“It’s not okay,” he argued, “none of this is okay, Lance,”

“Maybe not,” he hummed after a moment of silence, “but that doesn’t change anything Keith,”

Lance hugged Keith tighter to himself and buried his face in his hair. Keith grabbed his back to drag him closer and rested his face on Lance’s chest. Soon enough, their breaths evened out and they fell into a comfortable slumber.

-Line Break-

“Keith,” a voice said quietly in his ear. He tried batting it away from his ear and snuggled back into the warm he was laying on. There was a soft laugh as the warmth started moving around, he grumbled and held tighter until it stilled. He opened his eyes and blushed when he came face to face with a grinning Lance.

“Morning,” he said gently. Keith stammered out a good morning and scrambled off of the bed and fell to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked panicked as he helped Keith back up to his feet.

“Uh, yeah, yes! I’m fine, I was just surprised,” he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and sending a smile Lance’s way.

“Right, well, um, do you want to go get breakfast?” He asked twirling his fingers nervously. “I didn’t really pay attention to how much I got last time,”

“Oh, right! Yeah, let’s get breakfast,” he said walking out of the room, Lance trailing behind him.

They neared the kitchen and heard a loud bang. They looked at each other and rushed into the room, where Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk were standing around a smoking mixing bowl.

“What the heck happened?” Lance asked with concern.

“Sorry Lance, we were trying to make you a nice breakfast but we still can’t read a lot of this stuff,” Hunk said earnestly looking down at the ground.

“What? For me?” He asked in confusion, tilting his head slightly in consideration.

“Yeah, to say sorry and stuff,” Pidge said miserably hunched over from where she sat on the counter.

“Sorry for what?” He asked genuinely confused. Even though he had talked to Keith, it didn’t mean that he shifted the blame off of himself.

“For making you think that we hate you,” Shiro grimaced, clutching the counter as if he was in physical pain.

“Wait, you don’t hate me?” He asked quietly. Their heads snapped over to him and saw that he was tearing up. They dropped everything and ran over to him; Hunk lifted him into his arms, Shiro and Pidge wrapping around any part they could reach of him.

“No, no we don’t. We could never hate you,” Shiro gasped petting Lance’s hair frantically.

“We’re so sorry, we didn’t mean to,” Hunk sobbed rubbing his face in Lance’s chest.

“We shouldn’t have ignored to like we did, we’re sorry Lance,” Pidge bawled. Lance looked at them in disbelief, he ignored the tears and snot that was soaking through his clothes and looked over to Keith. He gave him a wide, hopeful smile, which was returned by Keith.

They would have a lot to make up for, and Lance had a lot of confidence he had to gain back. Before, his days were filled with doubt, with only one spot of sunshine. He never changed his routine, but now, every day;

Three little questions were answered with a yes.

Part 1/2  

Stories Masterlist

[cclaudias]

So ngl, this might be a huge reach but

I STILL DON’T THINK THAT’S OUR SHIRO.

Now before any of you judge or make any comment claiming this is a reach and I should stop, hear me out. I’ve thought about this a lot, and send a lot of time on this to make you people understand why I feel this way. And I’m normally not very good at that, no thanks to my brain and adhd. I’ve even explained how I think Shiro disappeared and what really happened.

To begin with, we didn’t really get a proper insight into anyone’s character this season and there was very little character growth. I’m so salty about that, but the season wasn’t that bad, so imma just not mention that again. Now about the Clone Shiro theories. There were a lot of them, and some of them stated that Kuron may not even know that he’s a clone. And I feel that this is what’s happening with Kuron here. I’m sure that Kuron himself thinks he’s Shiro. 

But while memories make up an important part of your personality, it’s not everything. There’s a lot we learn from our own thoughts on certain things, the way we make observations which might be linked with our memories, but are not a part of our memories. That’s what’s going on with Kuron here. He has Shiro’s memories, he knows how Shiro behaves, he knows how he’s supposed to behave (since he believes he’s Shiro), but that’s the thing - he’s not Shiro.

With many memories, we tend to have feelings associated with them. Feelings are an abstract thing, so I’m not sure they were copied when Shiro’s memories were implanted in Kuron. But Kuron still knows how he’s supposed to be, because he’s living in Shiro’s life, in Shiro’s memories, with Shiro’s memories, so even if he doesn’t have feelings, thoughts or opinions associated with those memories, he still knows.

It’s kind of like with kids (and occasionally teens too). They tend to look up to certain people - parents, siblings, role models, classmates, celebrities, etc - and imitate them (knowingly or unknowingly). And they do it so well, when they don’t even have memories of this person, just the ones they’ve seen and the memories they were in. But Kuron here, has 25 years of Shiro’s experience and life and he might not even know he’s a clone. That’s actually really sad, because when all’s said and done, in the end he’s not Shiro. Even if they’ve “led” the same life. He cannot be Shiro.

This is gonna be kinda long, and I might be wrong but I wanted to put this out there.

So first let’s start with the scene where Black responds to Kuron:

While saying this Kuron sounded so much like our Shiro. Like Black’s Shiro. Not only that, like Shiro points out, people’s lives were at stake. Black forms the head of Voltron, she wouldn’t let people die because she wasn’t sure this person who claims to be her paladin, is her paladin.

When Black first found Shiro (Kuron), she was so exhilarated. You could tell that, even Keith was so happy, I think he must have felt her energy flow in, and I feel that must have been the only time he really “bonded” with Black, so after Black rejects Shiro (Kuron), he still keeps insisting that Shiro should take the lead. Because he knows. He knows how much Shiro means to Black.

Black found Shiro (Kuron), because of his memories. But then when Shiro actually tried to pilot her, she shut him out. This is what she was like when she found him:

[She looks so cute and pure and happy here wtf??!!]

Even Keith here has a slight smile on his face. AND HE HAS NO FRIGGIN’ CLUE WHAT’S GOING ON?? Can you imagine?! Black was so happy and excited, her feelings must have been surging through Keith and even though he had no idea what the eff was going on, he’s faintly smiling.

I don’t really think Keith and Black ever really connected, you know. Because if they did, we would have been shown that scene, it was important. They showed us the scene where Blue and Allura bonded (I don’t really think Lance and Red have properly bonded either). It was just the first time she chose him, and then now. So Keith can tell how important Shiro is to Black. That’s why he was so confused when she rejected Shiro. But then the others needed him so he doesn’t say anything, but later on despite Black’s rejection, he keeps insisting that Shiro should lead. It’s not only because he knows Shiro’s a good leader, but because he knows that Shiro’s the only paladin who earned Black’s love and respect (there was Zarkon… when he was alive. Black: zombies don’t interact.)

I also think Black chose Keith because of Shiro. She didn’t chose any of the other paladins because, 1. She didn’t find any of them fit to be a leader (there was Lance, but atm, he was only thinking about this being “his moment” and that must be why Black rejected him. He was mostly leader material, but that notion was selfish and not leader-like at all. But if I’m right about Kuron, then we might actually see Black Paladin Lance. (I’m going to cling on to this hope with all my life.) and 2. Keith was the only one who hadn’t given up on finding Shiro. The fact Shiro thought Keith could take his place may have also influenced her decision.

Black obviously cared A WHOLE FUCKING LOT about Shiro. She chose him over Zarkon, protected him against Zarkon, gave him an insight about her past life. They were the ones with the strongest bond (because Shiro was an adult, more mature and they spend a lot of time together when Zarkon was tracking them through her).

And I know she accepted him now, but why reject him in the first place? Why did she cut him off in the beginning??

This was Black when they found Shiro (Kuron). She looks so animated and happy. The way she leans in towards where Shiro is...?? I don’t know if you’ve ever had a pet (I don’t have one either, I just watch thousands of cat videos on youtube), but this is exactly how they behave towards an owner they love so much.

In the beginning, Kuron was almost passed out and in an almost unconscious state, she probably couldn’t tell the difference. That he wasn’t her Shiro. But then when he’s conscious, she immediately knows he’s not her paladin. He’s not Shiro. So she cuts him off. But then the more Kuron interacts with the paladins, the more he starts behaving like the real Shiro, so Black may have started to doubt her initial observation.

He sounds so much like Shiro here. Because that’s who he’s supposed to be: Shiro. He might be someone else, but his whole life is painted in Shiro’s memories, and he might not be Shiro, but he’s a lot like him anyways. In this scene, Kuron doesn’t say this because he’s supposed to be like Shiro, he says this because, he genuinely cares. And that’s the saddest part.

I think Haggar (Honerva?? I don’t know what to call her) knew this would be most effective if the clone themselves didn’t know they were a clone. That was there would be closer to no chance of their identity being exposed, because they themselves think they’re real. But with someone’s memories alone, you cannot become them. And neither can Kuron. Do you ever just remember that Honerva is so fucking smart but so sick and omfg I hate her.

Kuron knows what to do in this situation because Shiro’s been here (sort of) when Zarkon was tracking them through Black, and even though they’re objective and situation was different, they both requested Black’s help in somewhat the same manner. Though when this happened with Shiro, they formed a bond, with Kuron she accepted him.

Either Black knows this isn’t her Shiro, but accepted Kuron because she must have realized he himself didn’t know he was a clone and because they were in a situation where they were needed. Or she might have begin to think that maybe her first (second, really) impression of Kuron might be wrong.

Another thing I noticed is that Kuron does have Shiro’s bayard, but he didn’t use it, once. In the season 2 finale, we see Shiro use the bayard, so by now shouldn’t he have used it at least once?? But he doesn’t. This is what a bayard is:

When Keith and Hunk used their bayards to form weapons for Voltron itself, their bayards manifest themselves in the form of their regular weapons: a sword and a shoulder cannon. So while it may be different (I might be wrong thou) but when Shiro’s bayard took the form of a sword during the fight against Zarkon, it should have at least an initial form by then. But, in season 4, Shiro (Kuron) doesn’t use it. Once.

This probably happened because Kuron is not Shiro, and even if he has Shiro’s memories, the bayard takes the form based on its paladin’s whole personality. Not just memories.

Not only that, just because Kuron started acting more like Shiro this season, it doesn’t mean what he did last season doesn’t matter anymore. If anything, Kuron’s growing. But I don’t know how much his behavior changed really. Especially the way he behaved with Keith.

Shiro behaved so differently with Keith. Like both a big brother and leader. He didn’t force Keith to make decisions, but instead explained to Keith why he thought he should make said decisions. He let Keith make the choice.

So why was Shiro (Kuron) pushing Keith into taking the role of Voltron’s leader. Telling Keith that he had to do it. Remember that time in season 1 when Pidge had decided to leave. Shiro told Keith that he can’t force her to stay. So why was he forcing Keith to?

Not only that, Shiro is the one who wanted Keith to lead. So in season 3 when Keith was doing just that, why was he revoking Keith’s orders, and calling him out in front of the team? Invalidating a leader in front of their team. The orders Keith were giving were acceptable and not Keith being hot-headed or putting the team at risk. But Shiro still opposed them. When he had no proper reason. I don’t know who that sounds like to you but to me, that man did not seem like my Shiro.

A lot of you picked on Shiro’s behavior in season 4 too. He was being a sort of shitty leader, even endangering the team’s life once. Wasn’t that the same reason he called Keith out for? And Keith hadn’t even really been jeopardizing the team’s safety. But Shiro was. It was very unlike Shiro.

He was acting like a shitty leader. Jeopardizing the team’s safety. Brushing off a team member’s suggestion(like an ass):

Like oh my god, the last screenshot SCREAMS: NOT SHIRO. Keith had pointed out something so important. But he just brushed it off. I don’t remember Shiro doing this in the first two seasons. So why now?

He acted like an ass to the team the whole season. Almost getting them killed, brushing off their suggestions. That does not seem very leader-like to me. And definitely not Shiro-like.

He’s definitely not the Shiro from season 1 and 2.

I also wanted to link this point made by @lanceskincare. She’s made an excellent point and I wanted to add it.

See, I don’t see the point in the creators changing Shiro’s character design, tbh. Why would they change it for no reason? There must have been a reason they changed his character designs so drastically and argh that ugly ass haircut.

Also, Shiro’s mental illness was a huge part of his character plot. So what happened to it in this season? In the previous season, in the episode where Shiro escapes, he had a lot of time alone. And we’ve seen what our Shiro is like when he’s left all alone, especially with triggers. Shiro had literally just escaped the place from where his PTSD stems, and he didn’t have a single panic attack or flashback. Again, Kuron only had Shiro’s memories, not his feelings. Not the feelings of terror and horror from Shiro’s time with the Galra. None of the fear associated with those memories. Nothing.

So with all this, the real question is how Shiro disappeared in the first place? Especially despite the close bond him and Black had. Shiro even had a flashback and panic attack when he was piloting Black once, so Black would know how much being in a Galra ship terrifies him. Yet, it was from inside Black’s cockpit, that Shiro vanished. Black wouldn’t do this to Shiro, ever. She was happier with Shiro, and obviously cared for him. So if it wasn’t Black then who? And how?

It was Haggar. I don’t know what you think about this but hear me out. 

First let’s just go over the events of his disappearance. They were fighting with Zarkon, and they were overpowered for one moment. But then Shiro used his bayard, which was connected to the lion, which formed a sword and they managed to beat Zarkon. But right after they land the blow, there’s a huge purple explosion:

(This screen cap is after the explosion because everything went white after the attack and anime visuals)

And then all the lions are scattered:

Black flies back on her own back to the castle after that, and Shiro goes missing here. 

Now in these course of events, did you notice anything odd? One, the lions are scattered, with shouldn’t really happen because we’ve seen Voltron land huge blows without this happening. Which means there was an internal damage. The head goes missing, the one who forms Voltron. Shiro. 

Two, you realize after what this happened, right? After Shiro used the bayard. I know there was an interval where they attacked but I’ll explain everything eventually.

So sidetracking a little: Honerva. We know that she was always an inquisitive person. Someone who was always eager to, and strived hard to learn more. The quintessence she was working with made her lose control over this curiosity. She became hungry to learn more. Thirsty for any information, any knowledge about anything - but particularly about quintessence. 

We also know that Zarkon had the Black Paladin’s bayard for 10,000 years. And the Red Lion.

Now I know that the Red Lion had his particle barrier up all the time, but this is Honerva we’re talking about. We know what she’s capable of. If I’m right about the clone thing, this probably wasn’t a big thing for her. She’s pretty well-versed with quintessence.

I just think it’d be more suspicious that Honerva had the bayard for 10,000 years, and didn’t mess with it once. That doesn’t seem very much like her to me. If she can meddle with the dead, she’s ready to do anything imo. 

So this is what I think must have happened (I’m not sure about the timelines but I’ll mention that too):

Honerva found a way to bug the Black Paladin’s bayard in such a way, that if it was used from within the lion, it could teleport or carry it’s user to where ever she had planned for it to. She had Red, and he had the particle barrier up so she must have found a way past both the particle barrier and the lions’ inner walls. I mean, this is Haggar and 10,000 years, so I wouldn’t really call it a reach.

Now, about when she might have done this. I’m not sure if Haggar was doing this with Zarkon’s permission. He had only one lion and I don’t think he would have let her mess with it. But yea, like that’s gonna stop her.

But in the beginning, I think she must have started it with Zarkon’s acknowledgement and permission. This project must have started right after the fall of Altea. While Altea was what they had considered their greatest threat, this was the beginning of the Galra Empire, and they did not have any allies. Without allies and a hell lot of opposition, I’m sure Honerva must have considered something like our paladins, she isn’t stupid. But I don’t think she expected it to take 10,000 years. Whatever opposition they were expecting was in the beginning, so that must have been when Zarkon let her mess with the bayard and experiment on Red. I’m sure this is where she bugged the bayard.

Or, this must have been where she had planned to bug the bayard. The way the Galra Empire rose, I don’t think they must have faced heavy opposition. At least not anything they considered a threat. So she must have laid off these plans. But then the paladins showed up. And Allura. 

If Haggar could craft such powerful monsters in such a limited time, she had plenty of time, even after the paladins’ first appearance to mess with the bayard. And that’s what she did. 

That’s how Shiro disappeared. 

Black wasn’t responsible from the beginning. She must have been so confused herself. There was a huge explosion of quintessence when Shiro attacked Zarkon. But it wasn’t all from Shiro’s attack alone. It was Haggar’s magic too. The magic she had bugged the bayard with, and the magic she kidnapped Shiro with. 

But I could be totally wrong about this, you know. I just don’t think it makes sense. Haggar had the bayard for 10,000 years, and she does nothing? That doesn’t seem like her at all. And I’m positive Black had nothing to do with Shiro’s disappearance. 

Another thing (this is may definitely be a stretch but): they removed Keith from this season entirely. We know that Keith and Shiro were very close. So I think Keith would have eventually been able to figure out that this is not his big brother. I can tell when my siblings are acting fishy, but if they act completely different, yet not so much, I think I’d be able to tell they were a clone(this will probably never happen in real life lol, thou just in case, I know I’d be able to tell). It’s the same thing with Keith, if he was there longer, I think he’d have figured out that this Shiro is not the one who taught him so much. Who didn’t give up on him. Who made Keith realize that family wasn’t formed only from blood relations, but also through bonds.

And then Lance. I feel Lance might figure this out (with or without Keith). He’s come from a big family, he’ll know. He might already feel something’s off, but Shiro’s Lance’s hero. He means a lot to him. He looks up to Shiro. So maybe that’s why he’s shrugging off Shiro’s odd behavior.

Maybe they stalled off the Clone Shiro arc, because it would be coincidental with Lance’s character arc. Because Lance standing up to his role model, his hero, will be a huge step for him. I feel Keith going to be there a lot for Lance next season. Especially after all their development in season 3. Maybe after they both figure this out, one of them will try to subtly bring this up, and the other will pick up on this and realize they weren’t alone. This might also simply be wishful thinking, so yea... But I’m clinging on to Black Paladin Lance with every last bit of my soul.

I don’t know, but I strongly feel Lance’s character arc’s gonna be with the Clone Shiro arc. And then we might even get Black Paladin Lance (and co-leadership Klance).

These are just what I felt and me putting it out there. It’s okay if you disagree, it’s just observations I made about Shiro and where they were going with it. I just don’t feel that this Shiro is our Shiro. Everything about him seems off.

Also, let’s not forget ALL those metas and observations made about Shiro and Kuron when the previous season came out. Those, imo, are still valid. 

Because why make Shiro disappear and then never talk about it or what happened?

Remember when Shiro first came from the Galra? He lost his memories from that time, and there were so many instances where the creators kept emphasizing on Shiro trying to remember them. So why doesn’t he care anymore all of a sudden. 

Not only that, Shiro hasn’t had one flashback or panic attack since he’s come back. I’m not saying he should; mental illnesses are painful and terrible, if anything I know that. But I don’t see how someone can be transported to their source of trauma and come back magically healed. He’d been transported back to the Galra, from inside Black’s cockpit, to his source of trauma, and he’s never once thought about it? If it was the real Shiro, the Shiro who had PTSD, he would have been justifiably terrified to even go near Black, let alone into her cockpit. 

Or are the creators just going to pretend Shiro suddenly became a terrible leader, developed a terrible fashion sense and had his mental illness miraculously cured? That’d be terrible plot line, and I believe in them, I know this isn’t something they’d do. In fact, in a whole, this season (besides the first two and the last episodes), seemed more like a filler. Or something they did to reduce how heavy the previous episodes were, since you know, season 3 and season 4 were supposed to be one season.

There’s this thread on twitter by @koganya on s3/4 Shiro that I totally agree with.

tl;dr: We’re going to get a proper Clone Shiro Arc (and possibly Lance’s Character Arc and Black Paladin Lance) next season, where they might even deal with Shiro’s mental illness. 

On another note: if anyone has any ideas or thoughts about this, ones that you’d like me to know or add here, feel free to message me. I’d love to hear others opinions on this.

Edit: So I was thinking about why they would possibly drag this Clone Shiro thing, and I realized that they weren’t. Season 3 and 4 were originally meant to be one season. This whole thing was set up in such a way, that in the beginning when they found Shiro we’d feel he wasn’t our Shiro but then the later half was supposed to make us dubious. But since the season was split, we got the first half much earlier, and had a lot of time to over-analyze the shit out of this. 

Honestly this was such the stupid observation wtf am I doing??!! Lmao, I’m sorry, my brain compelled me to put this here.

[squirenonny]

Voltron Season 3

Spoilers and Speculation Below

Okay, first? Ahhhhhh! So many feels this season. Like. Everything with Keith. Everything. And Lance. And Allura. And Shiro. Fuck. And Coran? Watching Voltron disappear into the rift? I cry.

HUNK WAS SO GOOD???????? Hunk and Pidge nerding out together over tech??? Hunk being a diplomat through cooking??? Hunk not even trying to bond with Black because he wants to stay with Yellow??? My son! God, I love him so much. *screams*

Meanwhile Keith is so very much NOT a diplomat, which, fair. Is about 70% that he’s in so much pain over losing Shiro and feeling pressured to replace him. Him being genuinely distraught over Black choosing him just broke my heart. Urgh.

LANCE. Lance was so vital to like?? Everything??? That happened? It was subtle, but it was so well done. He was always, always the one to step up and be what his team needed him to be. Comforting Keith. Supporting him as leader right from the start. Addressing the elephant in the room re: six paladins/five lions (and no no no baby, you are not the one who should be stepping down, but I love that he’d do that because he knows that letting it become an issue could tear this team apart.) It’s even implied that he took time off screen to try to help Allura bond with Blue, even though I’m sure it must have stung.

Speaking of--

Owwwww It hurts so bad that Blue shut Lance out and he took it as him doing something wrong, and I really really hope that gets addressed in season 4 (which really does feel like season 3 part 2--I’m not upset over the split at all, but this drop feels SO much like it’s setting up a massive pile of shit to hit the fan in October. I’m scared in the best possible way.) Also I’m 100% convinced that Lance and Blue are soulmates, and they think and feel the same way. Blue didn’t reject Lance, she just knew that the team needed him in Red--Keith needed him in Red. It was reiterated several times this season that the red paladin is literally the black paladin’s right hand, and Keith needed someone like Lance to both support him and reign him in. Keith grew so much this season, both as a person and as a leader, and a lot of that comes down to Lance. So I feel like in shutting Lance out, Blue was doing what Lance tried to do when Shiro returned: stepping aside, even though it hurt, for the good of the team. I just really hope Lance and Blue can talk it out (as much as you can talk with a lion).

Pidge didn’t really have any episodes where she was the focus this season, but I still loved all of her bits. How desperately she’s searching for Matt, how eager she was to try bonding with Black, how she totally geeked out with Hunk (Hunk-Pidge science bros! Fuck yeah!) I’m hoping her search for Matt is a big focus in season 4, but you can’t deny there were bigger problems to tackle first.

(Side note: I’m also hoping for more of the Blade in season 4. My heart hurts for them in ep 1, with how no one trust them and all. I just. Let them win people over. Let people start to tell stories of the Blade of Marmora, who risk their lives to save people in need. I want them to be heroes!!!)

Moving on to Allura. (GOD, Allura.) I already loved her, but she had SUCH a good arc this season. Her desperation to be a paladin--to live up to Alfor’s legacy, to help her friends, to make sure no one else had to risk their lives--AHHH! I love her so much. And her reaction to Keith in season 2 is so much more painful now. It wasn’t explicitly addressed here, but everything about this season just very subtly redefined what we saw last season. In particular, that line from episode 7--how Alfor was so blinded by compassion for Zarkon that he didn’t realize Zarkon’s true intent. You can just feel those memories coloring Allura’s reaction to Keith. She’s so damn afraid to trust her emotions, because that’s exactly what tore the previous paladins apart.

Also, the whole history of the paladins thing just breaks my heart. Even if I have to laugh at the fandom being right--Zarkon/Haggar WAS the first canon ship! XD

(But, god, seeing them both so young. I can’t.)

I am a little curious to see if they go deeper into what exactly happened to Zarkon and Haggar in the rift. It seems like Haggar, at least, forgot basically everything until she delved into Zarkon’s memories at the very end of this season. She didn’t even seem to realize Zarkon was her husband?? Which is...a major chunk of her life. The cat was 28 decaphebes old when Alfor returned, and Zarkon’s marriage to Haggar was implied to happen fairly quickly--so even assuming a decaphebe is a year (which still seems too short for me, because Alfor seemed to have aged a lot in those 28 "years” for a species who canonically lives somewhere in the 600 year range.) Anyway, that’s a tangent. If Haggar forgot so much of her own life, how much did Zarkon forget? How much of anything they’ve done has been because of what happened in the rift? I’m just. It seems almost like Haggar and Emperor Zarkon are shells being controlled by those creatures that invaded the Galra homeworld through the rift. (And I can’t be the only one getting a Wolf 359 vibe, right?) So now I’m conflicted--did Zarkon ever REALLY betray the paladins? I don’t want a Zarkon/Haggar redemption arc, but if they’re being controlled, I can’t really make myself hate them...

*unexpected and unwanted feels for the villains* Damnit, Dreamworks, you’re preying on my weakness.

(Oh, also? It was the rift/the creature that turned Haggar’s and Zarkon’s eyes all glowy. Regular Galra have pupils and often irises. Which for me reinforces the fan theory that “Galra” is almost more of an infection than a species. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that what we recognize as Galra--specifically the glowing eyes--are not a species trait, but an effect of whatever Zarkon and Haggar found in the rift. What if it’s spreading? It hasn’t just corrupted the head of the army, but virtually every soldier, at least partially. This season has raised a lot of questions about agency--both with these rift-spores and with the alternate reality Altean non-cogs. Which. Creepy. I’m halfway expecting this series to be building to a fight against the rift creatures for the fate of all sentient life in the universe--Galra included.)

Speaking of villains! Lotor and his generals! Holy shit. I love them. I don’t trust them half as far as I can throw them, but I love them! I was swearing up a storm the instant I realized they were going after Altean tech, specifically things related to the teludav. And while I agree that they seem to be trying to reopen the rift, I can’t help thinking there’s a lot more to it than that. Lotor has given no indication so far of what, exactly, his ultimate goals are--I kinda get the impression that he says what he needs to say to sway his audience. “I’ll make my father’s empire even stronger!” “You and your people can join us, and you never have to be afraid again!” He’s been toying with the paladins all season, even though he had chances to obliterate them. I just don’t buy the theory that he wants to open the rift to get Quintessence purely for the sake of having ultimate power. And, I mean. If he WAS doing that, he could have just requisitioned the teludav piece from the Galra base. He’s NOT working with the rest of the Empire. In fact, he’s doing everything in his power to keep his activities secret from Haggar and the rest of his father’s commanders. Why?? Lotor, give me answers! I need to know what you’re after. Rewriting this universe so mixed-race Galra aren’t regarded as sub-human (sub-Galran?) maybe? Hell, everything so far points to him being Haggar and Zarkon’s child (they were married, he’s gathering Altean tech, presumably because he has enough Altean blood to use it, he looks vaguely Altean and he was half Altean in GoLion.) So what if Lotor has realized his parents are being controlled by the rift-spore things? What if he’s trying to open the rift to find and destroy the... for lack of a better term... hive-mind? He seems to be trying to create his own version of Voltron, because he knows Voltron is the only thing that can stand up to the spores. That’s why he doesn’t care about destroying the paladins--in fact, he tells his generals not to inflict permanent damage. He’s keeping Voltron as a backup plan. He might have to resort to a truce. Can you imagine Lotor’s team and the paladins joining forces to attack the rift, knowing all the while that if they both make it out, they’ll probably turn on each other?? Fuck! There are so many possibilities here I can’t stop thinking about them.

And finally

Shiro

asdfj;lav’

You know what? Nope

Nope, I have too much to say about Shiro. My heart hurts for him and I’m terrified about what season 4 is going to bring, but that speculation is going in its own post.

I’ll add the link here when I get it up.

Edit: Here it is! My theory on Operation Kuron.

[jokocraft]

[more long meta] the real reason why nyma and rolo’s beauty was so extra and why hunk was 110% definitely lance’s foil in S1E6

(fyi this is sorta like an And There’s More part to this post.)

having nyma and rolo give off a “trustworthy” first impression was crucial to the writers’ basic moral of the story for S1E6: Voltron Gets Shanghaied. the moral is conveyed almost completely though hunk; in a previous episode, hunk initially judged shay as untrustworthy when actually her intentions were totally pure because she is pure. now that hunk has learned his lesson, he thinks twice before judging nyma and rolo solely by their first impression, and this gives him a clearer perspective on the situation than the others.

on the surface, the moral of the story is simply: always ask WWHD (what would hunk do?) don’t judge people by first impressions! yay! but. if that’s the moral, why are nyma and rolo, like, 10x hotter than they technically need to be in order to give off that “haha trust us!” first impression to facilitate that moral? they could have been average-looking freedom fighters, and the moral probably would have been even more powerful, because who do we already IRL prematurely judge as untrustworthy, just as much or even more than people who are shadowy and not-traditionally-attractive-according-to-our-culture? the answer: people who are Too Perfect. so if rolo and nyma had been more “unremarkable”, the cliche “don’t judge a book by its cover” theme might have held some more weight (rather than just validating that we should be suspicious of really attractive people).

I am remembering that this is a kids show, and this analysis is not necessary to appreciate the episode itself, but my point is that while there are obvious morals in this episode that no one would be wrong to say are intended, I believe these obvious morals are not the full picture. in other words, i don’t think these on-the-surface morals are the core of the episode. I went over this, sorta kinda, in my last post, but I want to go deeper this time and hopefully convey my point more eloquently and concisely comprehensively.

I think the vld writers are pretty smart, so I don’t think they made rolo and nyma extra attractive simply to add (problematic) spectacle to the “reveal” of their identities as criminals (which tbh even kids would see coming from a mile away what with hunk’s highly conspicuous suspicion and all, come on). and I definitely don’t think nyma and rolo were designed so attractive because the writers/directors actually believed the moral “people who are Too Perfect are out there and not to be trusted!!1!” made for quality storytelling.

so why then? why make their beauty so extra when average-looking character designs would have easily made the “first impression” moral more effective and less cliche?

I think is that the reason is three-fold:

the first and simplest reason that rolo and nyma’s beauty was so extra was to visually contrast as much as possible the first impression of shay and her brother. because from a visual storytelling standpoint, it’s just more thematically sexy that way.

the second reason assumes that the vld writers are perfectly aware of our tendency to distrust people who are Too Perfect and usedthat knowledge to give hunk a more easily believable (hunk is def smarter than us) relatable reason to not trust these guys.

and finally, well, let me preface some more: I think the vld writers are not only smart, but also pretty damn clever. too clever for the obvious morals to be the core message of E6′s Shanghaied plot, because like I explained in my other post, the entire Voltron Gets Shanghaied plot itself isn’t the core of the episode. rather, the Shanghaied plot exists the way it does (and at all) because it’s necessary for the core of the episode to effectively play out and its message properly conveyed.

and it’s core message? two-fold, this time:

it is wrong to punish someone just because they are not who you wish them to be

and

sometimes the people you fall for won’t fit any of your fantasies

maybe “you fall for” isn’t the best choice of words. the replacements “you have the strongest connections with” or “who are most compatible with you” are probably better, but they don’t sound like a Quote, you know?

a short elaboration on the first core message is near the end. a much longer elaboration on the second core message is thuss:

hunk is teased by pidge about shay being his new girlfriend, and I think there’s more to that offhand comment than just throwing hunk’s character a romantic bone. i think it’s very important, actually, how hunk’s relationship with shay is portrayed: rather than it being cast in an overtly romantic light, it’s respectful, genuine…downright wholesome, really. as usual, i believe this is a deliberate choice, made for reasons possibly not immediatley apparent: the nature of hunk’s relationship with shay (at least in E6 specifically) doesn’t reveal so much about hunk as does reveal a helluva lot about lance.

while revisiting E6, this time seeing hunk is lance’s foil, things start popping out: hunk’s easily made connection with Not A Fantasy Girl shay is in painfully sharp contrast to lance’s desperate effort force a connection with Fantasy Girl nyma. also, hunk may have brushed off the idea that he liked shay That way, but never once did he deny how important she was to her and how important it was for him to fulfill his promise to her. he embraced her exactly as she was and embraced the connection he felt with her by proudly making it known that while she’s in trouble, she is his top priority. this is the exact opposite of what lance is doing during this same episode, i.e. simultaneously, i.e. foils at their best). instead of accepting the connection unveiled between him and keith in E5, he’s rejecting it outright, and rejecting keith, too, because keith’s sure as hell no Fantasy Girl (arguable). and also-also, on the nyma/rolo planet, hunk can’t stop talking about shay while lance seems content to pretend keith doesn’t exist right now.

all this summarized: hunk embraces his new Non-Fantasy-Conforming connection while lance refuses to embrace his, probably on the basis that it’s Non-Fantas-NOPE

and then there’s keith. he’s chillin on this planet, not really reacting to anything, not really making any judgements about anyone one way or the other. the meaning of all this is not a show of keith’s coolness or don’t-give-a-fuck attitude or so shruggable. instead, how he acts on the planet is yet another very deliberate narrative choice.

if I’m not mistaken, it seems like rolo exists to serve as keith’s nyma, causing viewers like us to wonder, will keith let himself be taken in by this Fantasy Guy, like lance was with Fantasy Girl? will he want to restore his pride? get revenge??we narrow our eyes at the screen….hm…keith keeps being put in the same frames as rolo, that’s for sure….but……..

nope. well, keith probably acknowledged at some point that rolo was indeed pretty hot, but nope. he’s just not interested. why? maybe because keith isn’t as emotionally constipated as lance or he’s not nearly as likely to actually hit on anyone in a way that’s not literally hitting them.

or maybe the reason keith’s not interested in Fantasy Guy is because this boy gives zero fucks about fantasies.

even though keith probably feels spurned by lance in E6, and has every right to want to spurn lance right back (especially as he watches lance literally drool over some chick even after all they went through barely a day ago), keith doesn’t. he doesn’t even seem compelled to, and maybe that’s because he doesn’t see the point of giving special attention to someone he’ll probably never see again, or maybe because he’s already accepted the connection he has with lance as is.

you see, there’s pretty much no question that lance already had a fantasy or fantasies in mind of how finding his significant other would pan out (not that he or keith would actually think about their connection in those terms, of course), and because of these fantasies, when that telltale spark - that was probably, in some capacity, part of his fantasy - occurred, and it was with someone who absolutely did not fit the fantasy, lance decided to reject the whole thing as ever happening, as if doing that would somehow give him a do-over.

but keith….keith….keith being keith, I just don’t see him growing up with many fantasies related to a future “significant other”. did he even ever consider that such a person could even exist for him? if I were to guess, I’d say the answer is no, he didn’t think finding “that special someone” would ever be a Thing That Happened To Him. not because of any insecurity to do with his sexuality, but because of his insecurities to do with his interaction with others: he knows he’s a hothead, that he’s awkward, that he’s standoffish. he types himself as the loner, and really believes that’s just who he is. so he probably never bothered to wonder how that special connection could happen.

because, surely, it wouldn’t happen.

(but then, after a whirlwind of fighting and protecting and victory, keith knelt down and took the hand of his friend, someone who had brushed death to save a life, someone keith was glad to finally call a friend. they understand each other enough that there is nothing that really needs to be said, but then, this friend, someone fully aware of how hotheaded and awkward and standoffish keith was, told him something, with the upmost sincerity, with an unmistakable intimacy. something that, for a brilliant, brief moment, made keith feel like he didn’t have to be the loner anymore)

sob

as seen in the beginning of E6, keith clearly wants to embrace his new connection like hunk, but can’t because, well, when it comes down to it, actively embracing a connection with a person who doesn’t want to embrace it makes you look either like an idiot or a creep - or just pathetic.

while hunk has no reason not to declare to the universe that goddammit he’ll save shay if it’s the last thing he does, keith isn’t in the same position. he has plenty of reasons to keep how he feels to himself, but at least he’s learning to accept his own feelings. at least he accepts this connection for what it is, rather than wishing in vain it was something it isn’t.

at least, despite lance’s reluctance for something deeper, keith knows he can and should still be a valuable friend: he’s anything but reluctant or resentful or resigned to be the one to save the blue lion. if anything, he’s probably already as prepared to do anything to save lance as hunk is to save shay.

shay saved hunk, and soon hunk would save shay, and they so they earn themselves bond that lasts a lifetime. keith takes credit for saving lance’s lion, and it’s show of keith has his back. and so then it was lance’s turn to rise to hunk’s level and show some motivation in having keith’s back in return. which finally happens at the end of S3: at that point, he’s not afraid to tell keith that he’s proud to have his back, that he wants to. no other paladins are shown watching the exchange - lance’s words can’t be written off as meaning “look at me, i’m proud to have the back of all my teammates!”. it’s framed as something personal: “i’m proud to have your back, keith.“

I think keith deadass stopped fighting to smile at this because that’s, THAT’S, what he’s been waiting for, that unspoken reciprocation of “I want to defend you, not just because you’re my teammate, but because you mean something to me, personally.”

back to the point of all this….at least in terms of S1E6, not only is hunk a foil to lance, hunk’s relationship with shay is foil to lance’s relationship with keith.

hunk was suspicious from the moment they set foot on the planet, and lance completely gave himself over to blissful gullibility the moment they set foot on the planet. hunk honors his connection to shay by remaining confident and steadfast in his desire to fulfill his promise to her. lance could not be less confident about anything to do with his connection to keith. he doesn’t want to have to honor or promise anything, for fear of what that would mean.

“for fear of what that would mean”

hunk doesn’t care what embracing his connection with shay could “mean”. what if he falls in love with her or something?? whatever, that’s irrelevant! shut up pidge!

lance, on the other hand, does care what embracing his connection could mean. what if he falls in love withWHAT it could mean is unthinkable and Will Not be considered as something even to consider, because it’s not a thing. to consider. anyway where’s a Fantasy Girl when you need one? ah there’s one, let’s have a connection babe! also, could you stop doing things that remind me of a certain nobody, cause I want this to be all about us, you and me, and wow this is so romantic, us flying together over beautiful alien landscapes–I mean it’s NOT, except, like, it is in thiscontext, duh…

*smh at lance blushing to himself like ten times in one sequence*

hunk admittedly has it easier since he’s straight and shay is a girl and he has no emotional hold ups to stop him from telling the world how important shay has become to him after their…hm…bonding experience, you might say. even with romantic potential taken from the equation, he’s no less intent on acting on how much he cares about her.

to hunk, a theoretical seed of romantic love being planted in his heart or something is irrelevant to what his connection to her means to him. while his connection to her is definitely not as sterile as simply feeling obligated to repay the debt of his life being saved, it’s not defined by it’s Potential As A Romance! either. pidge acknowledges this by teasing hunk about shay being “a girlfriend” in front of everyone because pidge knows it wouldn’t affect his decisions or judgement.

in contrast: in S3, pidge is the first to look straight to lance when it becomes clear keith needs a pep talk. does she say something like, “he’s your boyfriend, lance.” fuck no, because that would be totally appropriate in the moment. but what about something more appropriate? even something innocuous like, “Lance, can you please set him straight?” wait… the point is, even if the situation weren’t so serious, pidge wouldn’t have teased him, and at this point, she’s not even going to dare acknowledge in words that keith sees him Differently from the others. in that S3 moment, if pidge had said anything along those lines, lance’s brain would have shorted and keith would NOT have gotten any needed pep talk that day or any day soon. instead, everyone lets the situation resolve itself, because sure enough lance steps up and it does the trick, and jesus if lance isn’t an oblivious motherfu

so chances are pidge - and shiro too - know lance’s decisions and judgement are absolutely affected when the nature of his relationship with keith is mentioned. because unlike hunk, he does care about that “nature” and what it means.  

hell, he almost managed to get out from under from nyma’s influence and stop the blue lion from being stolen, but then she mentions keith while he’s still in her arms and whoops, JUDGEMENT AFFECTED.

when it matters, hunk’s connection to shay is not clouded by any potential extraneous *coughromanticcough* feelings for her, and that makes it possible for him to be a hero. and since he’s a foil to lance, his unclouded heroism intentionally brings out how much lance’s connection to keith is clouded by potential extraneous feelings. rather than heroism, shit happens like lance getting his own lion stolen and being chained to a tree.

but S3 shows beautifully that lance isn’t meant to stay like that forever. even though he still majorly struggles with self esteem unrelated to keith specifically, his maturity (and exposure therapy, tbh) has caused any feelings related to keith specifically to no longer sabotage his performance as a paladin. he doesn’t feel the need to one-up keith so much anymore, and he’s actually willing to step down from being a paladin so keith doesn’t have to, acknowledging that keith is an objectively better pilot, or at least at piloting Red. since lance is more confident in his role supporting the team from the back instead of insisting on proving himself on the front lines with keith and the others, he’s able to use his bayard as a sniper rifle for the first time rather than his usual short/mid-range blaster. lance is more effective on the team than ever, and it’s a national tragedy that he doesn’t appreciate his own improvement.

hunk is by no means a character there simply to contrast lance’s issues, but i think that it’s intriguing how he’s used in E6 to identify lance’s issue without spelling it out. and lance’s issue isn’t that his good judgement is compromised by his flirty personality, it’s that his good judgement is compromised by the toxic subjugation of his own emotions.

finally, I want to return to the first half of the two-part “core message”:

it is wrong to punish someone just because they are not who you wish them to be

i’ll be concise with this elaboration. this message was presented three different ways:

the Voltron team didn’t kill or unnecessarily punish nyma and rolo for being “criminals after all”

at first lance punishes keith (by dismissing and ignoring him) even though keith literally did nothing other than bring up a touchy subject. but eventually lance sees sense and comes to accept that, regardless of how he still feels, it’s wrong to take his emotional upheaval out on keith.

keith could have been way more pissed at lance for all his shit on the nyma/rolo planet. but it seems to me he understood that there was no point in “punishing” lance (i.e. not being forthcoming, not cooperating with this whole connection thing, being his flirty self) for…being lance. after all, technically all lance has done wrong, considering nyma was receptive to lance’s advances, is make that one asshole comment at the dining table at the beginning of the episode.

conclusion

assuming we’re not all totally delusional about the trajectory of keith and lance’s relationship, we should be (and you probably already are) impressed that vld’s writers clearly understand that they have to be more crafty with lance and keith’s relationship development. in E6, they couldn’t show lance angst over keith directly. that would have been an unauthentic portrayal of lance’s character, not to mention it would have shown their hand too soon, which is not ideal (and maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I’m assuming vld’s producers need the nature of lance and keith’s relationship kept on the down-low as long as possible while they continue to build their viewer base, but when the preferred ending of the series is not at stake, i.e. vld is renewed the X number of times necessary to greenlight the final season containing the intended “endgame state”, they can do whatever the hell they want in that final season, like, you know, casually make history). nevertheless, lance’s relationship with keith still needs to be developed, and it would also be unrealistic - and very poor storytelling on principle - for lance’s feelings to abruptly be made explicit without any evidence of them existing or developing in previous seasons.

examples of craftiness in just S1E6:

focusing on hunk and his behavior to directly contrast lance and his behavior

using nyma as a perfectly timed opportunity for lance to reveal his emotional turmoil caused by the bonding moment referred to in the beginning of the episode

basically using the whole Voltron Gets Shanghaied plot as the stage and set for the aftermath of the bonding moment to be properly recognized and realistically portrayed

bonus - this conversation exchange:

shiro: It’s our first big rescue mission. He’s excited.

pidge: Excited to see his new gIRLfriENd.

hunk: [gasps] She’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a rock that I met and I admire very much.  

…that I can totally see being used to parallel to some future conversation like, I dunno:

shiro: Recon missions are his favorite. He’s excited.

pidge: Excited to work with his pARtNER.

lance: [gasps] He’s not my partner! We just team up sometimes because our skills happen to be very compatible.

anyway i love my rainbow space nerds and smothering them in meta, thx for reading~~