#i like voltron but holy shit is it a mess of a show

[l1zardfxck420]

shaladins act like it is normal for a 25 year old man to date 17 year olds

#anti shaladin #anti sheith #vld #voltron legendary disaster #voltron legendary disappointment #i like voltron but holy shit is it a mess of a show

[alphaofdarkness]

Okay Dany, convince me to ship Kidge. What is the appeal of this ship? (genuinely asking because I've only watched season 1 and I'm curious)

⁉️👀⁉️

Not gonna lie anon, your question caught me off guard at 2am on a Sunday,, I was like 😳

“Oh shit someone's asking me?? About a ship?!” The intimidating question was so real and all I could do was literally go on a feral tirade on why I love Kidge so much and legit made no sense and just kept wondering in between moments of clarity on how I can properly defend myself on why I like the ship 😩 (not that I need to or have too, enough time has passed where I can say,,, just let me ship and be blissfully happy UwU, I do not car e anymore lol)

I will say that I want to keep this brief (as best I can, because heck I went feral just talking to myself on why I like the ship), I’m not the best at explaining things like some other amazing people might in the ship tag. But take what I say with a grain of salt and hope I don’t scare you off with whatever I do type.

**Note: This is not entirely brief liike how I wanted and I hate myself,, feck,,, I failed step one immediately**

Imma do bullet points, thoughts and prayers y'all cause I did my best to explain my chaotic thoughts lol ;;w;;

First and foremost! I definitely recommend that you watch the show in the general scope of a viewer and not just focusing on a ship. I think everyone should and would be aware of that~ but much like my initial watch I wasn’t paying much attention to the show and lore and story because I was distracted~. It wasn’t with Kidge at the time, but it definitely impeded my watch in the beginning as well as me falling off the fandom for a while into season 3-5. Plus, me rushing through those seasons when season 7 was coming around like, blood hell Alpha.

I think it goes without saying because the show is really good and love the found family aspect of it most importantly 👏🏼👏🏼 I am a sob and a fecking mess about this trope and I will forever cry over it.

I highly recommend watching the show in increments too instead of just binging it because you will lose information much faster 😭 and also it is just so fun to look forward to watch it the next day. I had so much fun this month just rewatching the show and am kind of depressed that it’s over lol 😔

Don’t cry because it’s over be happy for the journey (and all the fanfics you can reread again with full, understanding knowledge 😌)

Additionally, it is fun to reflect on the episodes re-watched, to better retain the info, at least for me, I can be slow with digesting new information (especially after so long), but it also made me giddy just talking to myself about the silly or serious shenanigans happening in the episode.

Second of all! I don’t want to convince you to ship Kidge 😩 I want you to convince yourself on why they would be good and cute together from your perspective! 👏🏼👏🏼

I personally think that they just work so well together, and while their initial interactions are short and brief, I love seeing them just standing next to each other or sharing panels during the fight sequences through much of the early seasons! I will say liike season 7 (even season 8) is like a holy grail for Kidge shippers because— 😩👏🏼 AH, took a while to get there, but we made it besties!!

Considering you’ve only seen season 1, I won’t dive into too many spoilers! To the best of my ability, I will say, I tended to focus on where the two stood by one another a lot and how they interacted in their lions and as Voltron and outside of it! ~

1. They both have family members/familial others on the trip to the Kerberos mission and just the whole concept of them looking for their respective familial figures.

Like that’s is the first part of the whole “WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL 😩” the way the two of them are shown to fight tooth and nail to save and go out of their way to figure out where their family members are is just 🤧✨ I truly believe if there was an opportunity to grow and develop them together it would have been over this.

I also find it incredibly fascinating that they are two of the most prominent characters that dive into their backstories in flashback sequences through the seasons ahead (we got a glimpse of Pidge's backstory in season 1 with a few more down the line). And how similar the two are in some of their experiences like school and being bullied and how their familial figures guide them (Shiro to Keith and Matt, and her father, to Pidge).

Hell, all of this could have been played as platonic all the way through or something more. Like I was there for it 👏🏼 I feel like this is a strong cemented stone on why I ship them a lot and keep me going on the potential their relationship could have been if they knew one another before the pilot episode. I just think it would have been cool, two conspiracy theorist bypassing the government to search for the truth!

2. They are literally the right and left arms of Voltron; the sword and shield ✨

I sincerely wish so much that again their relationship could have been developed more in the early seasons with this aspect, especially since we see how developed both Lance and Hunk are with each other (I mean they are literally best friends at the Garrison, I needed most of that with Kidge especially since they would be the opposite to them so it would have great to see them develop together as the arms of Voltron 🤧).

I just think it would have been nice to see it play out on how well they work together on the field and off it. I will say! It isn't all lost, especially into season 3 and like late season 6 and onwards! I say the dynamic of Shiro and Pidge in their lions and as Voltron currently is what kind of develops in Keith and Pidge later! I hope you can make sense of that later on as you keep watching 👀!

3. Other general things about their tropes and personalities just give me more fuel to ship them, such as:

Them both being introverted to heck in their respective ways; the techie nerd and the emo loner like,,, sillies!

I am always someone who loves looking at character color palettes and how they mesh well together; so believe me I lost my mind when Kidge shippers literally came up with Kidgemas cause of their red and green colors and I just *screams* 🌿🔥

I love both their personalities and how similar, yet different, they are to one another in that respect; they both have a drive and fire in them, their sarcasm and jibs to the others is so funny.

I'm not over season 1 episode,,, 2? Of the team training together and like,,, first of all, the two's small spat because Pidge couldn't concentrate during the mental exercise, but literally leaping to her defense when Allura threw food goo at her like,, Ah I just love her sarcasm to Allura then "The princess of what, your not ours--" and i just like go off queen, but also please no fighting 😩 y’all are going to be family ah,,, i love my dysfunctional family so much ya'll

Keith making a face at the action and immediately "Go loose, Pidge" LIKE AH! 👏🏼👏🏼😩😩

But they also have their calm moments of serene clarity and peace that is heighted with their interactions with the other characters as well!

I also noticed how they both tend to be the mature ones in some cases and some situations when around the other or a shared mature figure like Shiro; Keith by like a lot, clearly, but I was increasingly surprised by how Pidge maintained some serious temperament during missions, especially when around Hunk and most definitely around Lance lol (It is funny tho how serious and mildly annoyed she gets to his flirtatious ways, but can also immediately just let her guard down and have giddy fun with him when something catches her interest, it's so cute and hilarious 😌).

I also just love their development through the show of just letting their guard down around the others overtime! Especially with Keith and how his lone wolf personality melts away (believe me I lost my mind at how many sweet moments were between him and Hunk and IM just here crying at how Keith was able to smile and have fun around him 😭 💛❤️ got me all emotional i fecking criED). As well as Pidge with the others, especially after she told them about her true identity and how she wants to be able to work with them better without any secrets (On a side note, I wish there was more moments with Allura and Pidge earlier on ;;;o;;; SHE LEARNED ALTEAN FOR HER AND CORAN AND IM JUST,,, sweetie I love you! YOUR HONOR THEY ARE SISTERS! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼).

Ah shit, is that season 1 or 2? ;;w;; well, she learns it a nice fact! My girl is such a genius like how did she not like,,, move up grades in school, she is so intelligent , i could never. Not gonna lie, I feel like the team wouldn't be as successful with intel if they didn't have her and her tech wizard skills because DAMN.

Also how Keith was so up and arms when Pidge wanted to leave initially like!? Please ;;w;; sir has abandonment issues, please don't leave sweetie (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀); but also a similar scene occurs, very briefly, later on in reverse :) so take that as you will! It is very small, almost negligible if you aren't paying attention to it.

It is made better by a concluding panel that Kidge shippers just lose their minds over ! (Me, I am kidge shippers and I lost my mind over and over because they are just — *cries and sobs* perfecto!)

Very minor thing, but the height difference (in general im weak in the knees for this) always gets me crying, screaming, throwing up, going feral on the ground. My dearest Pidge, she may gain some legs later in life, but like she is definitely still tiny and I sob, give us short queens some representation because it is so hard out here, and we will kill you (not Allura bending down to her height in that episode she was planning to leave; how NOT to talk to a short person Allura lol 😩)

I think it goes without saying that the whole team, including Keith, are protective of Pidge like as they should be and I just *grins mischievously* can say with confidence that he do 😌

Definitely more of a personal headcanon, and there is a Kidge art of it floating around somewhere in the tag, if they actually had more moments and trained together, but I love Pidge being taught on how to defend herself, especially one on one and like her managing to take down Keith in training and he's just like "⁉️⁉️😳⁉️⁉️” God, I love a woman that can kick my ass trope *chokes*.

I am a sucker for hearing their voices and tone and emotions, so you know for damn well I am listening to them just say the others name in a soft or sarcastic tone lol (I love Steven Yeun's voice, my Glenn 😭, I am a mess for not appreciating Keith before in my initial watch of the show).

Ah, I can go on and off about them, especially about the later seasons but like you're just going to have to take a look of it yourself as you go into it 😌

Once again, I definitely recommend you watch the show for what it is in its storytelling and lore and character development; you can keep a close eyed view of Kidge in the background, but definitely rewind for the moments or stop and pause or rewind for the information given in story.

I hope you enjoyed my nonsense speak and take something away from it or ignore it altogether. I don't mind, I want you, overall, to convince yourself on why you would like to ship Kidge as you watch the show, if at all! We are all here for a fun and good time after the show's initial debut 😌🌿🔥

Have a small doodle of Kidge! My first time drawing them after like 4 1/2 years and I am just,,, yelling at my growth in art and how cute I made them look; mild spoiler, I suppose, of their older selves appearances~ Hope you like! 😌✌🏼

Enjoy your day anon!

#kidge #alpha rambles #alpha howls #voltron #sorry about my nonsense rambling if it makes any sense at all #i love kidge very much they wormed their way into my heart out of nowhere late into the seasons #and I've just love the what could've been should've been-would've been for me

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 31: The Sincerest Form of Flattery Season 1, Episode 32: A Transplant For Blue Lion

Episode 31: The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Lotor made the mistake of trying to boss Zarkon around and immediately was greeted with robeasts to "escort" him away from Zarkon's presence I'd ask if you even understood what you were doing, but the answer is a resounding no

The fight seemed so weird until I realized dotu cut out a handful of scenes because they were gory, Lotor definitely stabbed one robeast through the chest and maybe beheaded another

Oh shit! Zarkon v Lotor but for real this time! Lotor obviously is going to lose, but this should be fun to watch him fail at

AN ANIME FREEZE FRAME?? I KEEP FORGETTING THIS WAS ORIGINALLY AN ANIME AND HAS THAT KIND OF STUFF ZARKON JUST CUT LOTOR'S HELMET IN HALF AND MADE THE GUY BLEED

I'm so mad that the main antagonist for the team got switched to Lotor instead of being kept as Zarkon, he feels like a better villain than his overgrown pet sperm

Haggar to save Lotor's life, though she should've let Lotor get turned into a robeast like he himself suggested lol instead we get an ACTUAL mech for Voltron to fight this time, the rest have usually been cyborg type deals

Back on Arus, the team formed Voltron to help out with reconstruction after the last attack on the city that happened We really should see that more often tbh, nice to see the team doing humanitarian (Arusianarian?) work

HUNK I DON'T THINK BEING ABLE TO PUNCH THROUGH A TABLE AND THEN RIP YOUR HANDS OUT FROM IT ALONGSIDE A CHUNK OF WHATEVER THAT TABLE IS MADE OF IS NORMAL

Ooh new defense system, Ad EAS i think Coran said, stands for Advanced Early Alarm System which isn't a bad acronym Apparently the regular defense system detects when an enemy gets within 50 tyketes(?) of Arus but the new one detects and attacks enemies that enter 200 tyketes this definitely won't go wrong

And it immediately gets destroyed LMAO Lotor showed up and decided to mess with it before getting pissed and shooting one of the command ship's lasers right through the satellite maybe the castle should've deployed more than 4 of those things

Actually though, Ad EAS is a good early detection system to help stall for time while the teams gets up to space, Arus IS rebuilding after all so even if it doesn't do much time is precious

The team is NOT having a good time up there, again I know it's for the drama but c'mon guys if you were already freaked out by the legitimate giant robot you have to fight why not even it up with your own giant robot

HOLY SHIT A ROBEAST ACTUALLY ATTACKED THE TEAM MID TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE?? INCREDIBLE IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THERE'S A FORCE FIELD OR LIKE TOO MUCH ENERGY OUTPUT SO IT JUST SENT IT FLYING BACK

It's cool to know that voltron has more than one weapon at their disposal, but I wish they were used more sparingly just because I want Voltron to start throwing hands LMAO

OH SHIT THE ROBEAST ACTUALLY MANAGED TO KNOCK VOLTRON BACK INTO THE ATMOSPHERE It pierced through blue lion, getting real close to Allura, so she freaked out and lost control of blue's thruster so Voltron isn't doing so hot

aaand all that hard work for the city has gone to shit, Arus can't catch a fucking break huh, maybe the people should just move further away from the castle, so they don't get hit, assuming this is the nearest town

I'm sorry the joint above blue lion is where most of Voltron's energy is stored?? Absolute bullshit reasoning, the writers could've done better by literally reminding Lotor that blue's already weakened

DID VOLTRON JUST GET STABBED IN THE CHEST?? EXCUSE ME?? WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS EPISODE robeast defeated, hooray!

Voltron just became a cripple omg, blue lion still as a foot btw just DROPPED so confused as to how voltron still existed after that, but the boys disbanded anyway to protect Allura who's out cold after a crash-land

They're still fighting holy shit, usually the episode ends after the robeast gets fucked and the lions are getting beat up too, castle defenses had to chase away Lotors command ship what a wild turn of events

Into the hospital Allura goes, she had an injury on her shoulder, she's fine though as always

/episode end

Episode 32: A Transplant For Blue Lion

WOAH CONTINUITY?? They're picking up this episode with a bit of a time skip to remind viewers that Lotor actually did something right for once

Allura's still hurt, but that hasn't stopped her yet, what a good princess

GOD DAMN IT ALFOR WHY ARE YOU BACK

I always liked the idea that the boys didn't see Alfor as often as Allura did so they just think she's still grieving for him but every time this show uses Alfor as a crutch it hurts ME

Keith being a poetry nerd is such an on brand thing, I'm so sad they removed all this personality he had in preference for making him emo and solitary This man is goofy as hell! He's optimistic and happy-go-lucky, where did it all go

Keith getting angry out of nowhere is wild, he's never done that before especially towards Lance and yes it's out of nowhere because it's not like Lance was being a dick he was just being lazy AND THAT'S HIS NORMAL

Allurance moment though not super convincing to me because other Allurance versions have insane chemistry, dotu lance is for my mutual thank you

A militia! Good on the nearby townsfolk for choosing to fight against Lotor on their own grounds, I mean they will probably get DECIMATED, but they've got the spirit

Training time, the blue lion has been repaired fairly quick actually and Allura is having a tough time with keeping up I do like that this show shows her struggling and actively working to do better but like a little more continuity please? I say as it's a show aimed for children

NANNY I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD THAT NOBODY CAN REPLACE ALLURA ANYMORE I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF, GOOD GOD I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF IT CAME OUT THAT SHE WAS A DRULE SPY ALL ALONG BUT SHE'S NOT EVEN SMART ENOUGH FOR THAT ROLE NOW IS SHE

Animation error? Is that Keith the blue pilot uniform

Some Hunk focus! I wonder if he has some kind of rejection sensitivity because he just started bawling when as the left leg of voltron got hit and fell off like allura's did last episode, very much doesn't like making mistakes

And the attack begins! As I thought the town is burnt to hell though the people did fight for a while so good for them EXCEPT HUNK IS STILL THINKING HE'S EXPENDABLE LIKE SIR THOSE ARE NOT GOOD THOUGHTS SUICIDE IS NOT THE WAY

Looks like the training actually helped! They blew up the robeast's head without forming Voltron, though they still formed up because they have to double tap the thing to make sure it isn't still kicking

ALFOR WHY ARE YOU EVEN BACK AGAIN, STAY DEAD ASSHOLE

Robeast defeated and a pregnant woman from earlier in the episode gave birth by the end! How cute, though using Voltron or Voltrisha as a name for an actual child is literally setting them up for bullying OSIDN

/episode end

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #let's rewind! #toast talks

[eisforeidolon]

I was involved in Sherlock and Voltron fandoms and let me say that SPN fandom (in regards to hellers) exhibits the same fandom behavior.

They over-analyse every minuscule detail rather than watching the actual show and narrative and story that's being told. They believe in the stuff they created and over-analyzed. They believe they are a selective group of people in the fandom who ''can see The Real Intent'' of the show.

They create a circlejerk and echo chamber community among themselves to make themselves and other people believe in those ''metas'' that they came up with, then at the end final stage-- blame other people, creators for ''queerbaiting''. And going as far as to claim that there are conspiracies regarding why their ship didn't sail.

Sherlock fans' conspiracy - they legit made hundreds of paged essay or videos on YT explaining why Johnlock was always meant to be canon. Their conspiracy was that the writers were somehow restained from doing so. There was a secret finale episode that has never aired on screen. It was changed at the last second.

Voltron fandom made the same thing- writing hundreds of pages of ''analyses'' and ''essays'' that somehow *definitely* proved that their gay ship Klance was going to be canon and it was sooooo obvious but the ''dumb dumb'' GA was just missing it. Only the shippers could see The Real Intent of the writers and that intent was making Klance canon.

Hellers thought Destiel was there to see, it just wasn't apparent to the others who couldn't Read The Obvious Text. They came up with so many scenarios, essays, and conspiracies that were so far-fetched that even sometimes other fandoms made fun of them. The ''rogue translator'' bullshit, which was was like ''the secret sherlock episode''. Hellers saying there was actually a destiel reunion at the finale but it was deleted, Misha actually filmed it but then the evil CVV came and just deleted those scenes and Castiel's love was supposed to be reciprocated but they restrained the writers in a conspiracy theory way. They compared CVV to ''Chuck who was meddling with the finale and the real story''..... You get the point.

It is always pathetic and toxic when a fandom involves such drama and a group of people who never seem to get rid off their holy than thou attitude and delusions. It is especially bad when they drag other people into this mess too

Yeah, unfortunately, hellers are not unique.

I think it's possible they might hold the current batshit crown for taking it the furthest - I don't know of any other obsessive shipper fanbase that has kept watching a different show about other characters convinced it's only being made to validate their ship? But the absurdist meta, the insistence only they are smart and special enough to Really Understand the canon, the harassing of TPTB on SM, the conspiracy-think, the cult-like echo chamber that attacks anyone and everyone who doesn't agree, even if it's just a matter of not toeing the chosen line hard enough - all of it has shown up to greater or lesser degrees elsewhere.

In general, I think social media has made it a lot easier to for people to find and get sucked down deep into echo chambers that wholeheartedly believe blatantly stupid shit. When you combine that with fandom, which has long been made up of fanatic fans and already had issues with sectioning off into groups to war over whose woobie and/or ship is best? It's an unfortunate circumstance, but not really a surprising one to see this sort of thing not only present but building towards increasing extremes.

#destihellers #fandom issues #askboxery #anonymous

[triple--a--threat]

so about voltron

idk where this post is gonna go, but i have thoughts and feelings about this show and needed to get them out. so. rambley post it is.

i dont think it's new information for anyone that voltron and its fandom suck major ass, unless you've been living under a rock, and in that case, get back under that rock sweetie. this show sucks a fuckton and this rambling will be nothing more than critique and bashing. anyways

at the end of season 2 shiro was going to die in the original "plan" as far as we know. we were gonna get a heroic sacrifice and the team would go back to its 1984 setup with allura piloting the blue lion. except of course the machinations of the universe are beyond us so shiro did not in fact. die. he was the most popular character and his merch sold the most, so he couldn't possibly die this early on. who else would've made dreamworks their pure gold bars?

so as daddy dreamworks demanded, the writers delivered and un-unalived shiro, completely disregarding their original flimsy shambling excuse of a plan in exchange for among the worst plotlines i have ever seen anywhere. possibly the worst that exist in all of television ever. we got 4 seasons (well really 2) of completely directionless, contrieved, contradictory, and mind-numbing bullshit. stuff happens because someone wanted it to. 2 eps later something very contradictory happens because someone else wanted it to. i cannot stress this enough it feels like the writters were split into factions each of whom had very different ideas about literally everything in this fucking show. some of the dialogue actually feels like someone just wrote down the arguments and fighting going down in the writer's room. shit was made up along the way as the show went on for far longer than it had the right to, and for each and every fucking plotline the writers were divided and kept on shooting themselves (and the others too don't forget) in the foot for the sliver of chance that their story will be canon. just completely backstabbing each other for the sake of it and no regard for what is actually happening. it would be hilarious if it hadn't destroyed my sanity. and for a bit of a personal opinion, a liitle ymmv, none of the writers had any good ideas actually. even ignoring the nonsense opposite fuckery happening, none of the plotlines were good lmao. please end this and me oh god.

as a result we got a completely wish-washy, flip-flopping, self-contradictory, reductive mess of a show which never had any good original ideas or story much less a fucking plot or even a plan in some direction. the writers had no goal except to get their plot on the paper disjoint from everything else with jackshit regard to the overarching storyline. well if there was anything resembling an overarching storyline in the first place.

ig i'll talking specifically about the some of the worst offenders in the "the writers never thought of anything" situation - the allura racism arc, the clone shiro arc, and fucking lotor. oh my fucking god motherfucking lotor. holy shit they fucked him up.

i dunno where to begin with the allura racism arc except for the fact that it was DUMB. completely out of the blue and so fucking forced. for a princess of a diplomatic people she sure is fuckin racist for no fucking reason. even if she doesn't trust any and all galra (ig they didn't have unity in diversity activities in altea), she has no reason to not trust keith. like. my guy what. he proved himself as a paladin of voltron and has directly and indirectly saved her ass. why is she racist oh my god. and why doesn't coran hold any animosity towards the galra? he also lost his homeworld (and alfor)? and he lived on altea for far longer? ig women are emotional or smth. man. i also liked (absolutely despised) the the fact that it kinda took a #notallgalra turn and i was jesting about it and then they actually said that in the fucking show. hey allura not all galra are bad. hey allura stop being a bitch. and then the writers forgot about it btw and made allura racist again 2 seasons later. hmm. wut. also they never checked their own internalised racism or whatever as *points to zethrid's design*. lmao. WAIT also the conflation of racism with speciesism. yknow. using anti speciesism messages as anti racism messages. classic white person living in california moment.

alright the clone shiro arc. because its the keith and shiro show and we can't loose half of our money milking cow. and we shan't make them explicitly gay. only allude to it and sprinkle in family brother stuff so nobody actually thinks they're gay. that would be blasphemous. we shall continue with our pseudo-incest for the rest of the show and give shiro a last minute husband so they don't haul our ass for gaybaiting and burying our gays because we somehow managed to do both of them. anyways where was i. oh right shiro died but they had to bring him back blah blah but they made a clone of him for? reasons? while the real shiro is in the subconscious of the black lion or smth for unexplained reasons. i have absolutely no idea why they did that. they have a carbon copy of shiro in terms of everything - personality, fighting capabilities, homoerotic scenes with keith - for jackshit reasons while they could have the actual real shiro running around but i guess not. the clone is the exact same as the real guy until he isn't. because. we need more drama in this over extended bullshit show i guess??? clearly we don't have enough stuff going on we must make it more exhausting and confusing to watch. also clone shiro is as good and noble as normal shiro until he got a headache and now he's evil at the flick of a switch and retains none of his previous personality and is therefore irredeemably evil and nothing can be done to save him. he's bad and evil and must be forgotten. they never mention him again later on except for a throwaway comment on how evil he was except he wasn't evil guys you're not gonna fool anyone. oh and btw the real shiro's soul or whatever got supplanted in the clone's body because idk man where his original body went and he retained all the memories of his clone self because isn't that convenient. fuck everything. also this arc culminates in the best episode of this show despite everything wrong with the events leading up to it and the way they handle lotor in this episode. more on him later. it's literally among my favourites now 10/10 would watch again it was so fucking good. kill me. i.

again, i don't know where to begin with lotor - such an interesting character who got the short end of the stick. the worst victim of the writers' squabbles. i genuinely liked him a lot and then. such a shame. well there are other characters- oh no. there aren't any other even remotely interesting characters. not good, no no, no one is good in this show, but just fun to watch.

he starts off as an antagonist to team voltron but he's not actually a threat. he maybe wants to use them to further his goals but really he isn't the villain per se. which sucks because there aren't any villains in the show now cause the previous main villain is out of commission for who knows how long. and then whoops lotor has to kill one of his generals and then the other generals betray him and now i guess he's with voltron now. sure why not. interesting turn of events. at least it isn't boring. i'm having fun can't you see. then he kills the previous villain (who is his father did i mention that) in episode two of season five. yes s05e02. i dont know any more than you do. and now it sucks even more cause theres literally no fucking villain rn. then he and allura start working on quintessence or whatever because she learns that he is half altean and btw do you remember she is racist. now since he is not 100% galra (bad people) but half galra half altean (good people. her people) she smooches him and stuff and. also btw all this fuckery is happening alongside the climax of clone shiro arc. yeah this show may suck. whatever evil shiro who wasnt evil is defeated and lotors really helped team voltron and the galra empire is going to stop conquering worlds and the show is going to end on a mid note. well.

EXCEPT SIKE BITCH LOTOR IS PURE CRAZY EVIL FUCK YOU FOR EVER ROOTING FOR HIM. FUCK HIS WHOLE CHARACTER BEING ALL "IM NOT MY FATHER" AND THEN AT THE END 180ING MAKING HIM JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. FUCK EVERYTHING FUCK THIS SHOW YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SOMEWHAT GOOD. WELL FUCK YOU IT AINT EVEN SOMEWHAT GOOD.

i. im just so disappointed in his character and the plot twist for the sake of twist that i cant even express how disappointed i am except for shouting through the use of all caps. one final fuck this show

#voltron #voltron critical #idk the tags man #sorry for the paraghraph breaks #well lack thereof #and copious amounts of 'btw' 'and' 'also' #i don't know any other conjunctions apparently #or how to transition between ideas. idk don't be mean to me about it.

[erithel]

Hi there! I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely love your art style!!! They way you draw Keith and Lance is so beautiful it makes me swoon!!

I also enjoy your discussions about the show and I tend to agree with your viewpoints. As someone who grew up watching the original Voltron (holy shit, I'm old), I feel that what VLD seemed to suffer from most was nostalgia warring with new ideas. It seemed like they would start to try something new, then someone would say "but this is what happened in the original show sho we should do that instead" and because they couldn't find a balance it just became a mess. Makes me sad, but I'm still enjoying the fandom because of artists and writers like you. Thanks for all you do!

Hi! Thank you so, so much! These boys deserve to be drawn in all their beauty, so I'm glad I can pull it off lol!

And as a thanks for the compliment, here is a recent Keith snippet I drew that I am very proud of:

That's actually an interesting point about them not being able to reach a compromise or happy medium between the original Voltron series and VLD.

That's one of the biggest problems I have with remakes of old series, or reboots of old shows. It can often come across as people just not being able to let go of their glory days.

And the problem is that the word has changed since whatever movie or show originally aired. The target audience has changed, and the things that they relate to have changed. People remake these shows that they loved as kids and expect the new audience to have the same experience they did – and then they get snippety when it does not turn out that way.

I will admit that I never watched the original series because I wasn't exposed to a lot of TV growing up. But even I know that certain decisions made for VLD were only because they were that way in the original Voltron (*cough* Keith being made leader in season 3 because…he was just supposed to be the leader?).

I'd actually be curious to hear if there are any other glaring moments that stand out to you or anyone else who watched the original series that showed up in VLD just to match up for nostalgia's sake.

#asks #erithel's hot takes #vld #vld fandom #series critique

[riskeith]

HIIII hope you have been well my dearest last airbender hehe. i have so much exciting things to share <333

so first off, i did two wish rolls the other night and guess what? on one roll i got BOTH bennett AND qiqi!!!!!! (the other one was just weapons but 🤷🏽‍♀️) i love them both so much i literally ascended them the second i got them. i still can’t believe my luck. so now my team looks like: traveller, noelle and those two. i’m having a little issue bc i don’t have a long range combat character but i love them all too much to change anything. which means i struggle sometimes maybe if i roll for someone else in the future i might change but rn i’m LOVING them. have you ever had luck like that?

AND i started watching haikyuu again and i forgot how funny it is. i usually don’t laugh out loud while watching things but i was literally chuckling while watching some moments. i’ve only watched 10 eps-ish but i fell in love with it again at the first ep already. i cant believe i dropped it before i’m so stupid.

ok that’s all the updates i had hahaha ! i was like buzzing waiting to tell you lmaidhdhdbd 🥺

oikawa is SO pretty it’s insane. when he showed up i was like yeah.... that’s him. that’s the pretty boy. but then again pretty much everyone is pretty in haikyuu who the hell are we supposed to focus on hehdhd the art style is just that good yk?

ships that have silent (+ points for angry) yearning are just superior. and usually they fall in the enemies/rivals category which is lovely. nothing is finer than watching people struggle with their feelings like mmmmmm... tasty. also as good as rareships can be, popular ships are popular for a reason yk? like canon content isn’t everything ofc but if canon can back it up in some way more people tend to be interested heh

wanna know something super weird? when i consume content i always fall for the stotic bois with angst backstories first but after i finish the shows i always miss the cute happy babies and that makes me obsessed with them? idk it’s crazy like voltron for example keith is literally my favorite character of all time but when i finished voltron i was literally bawling bc i missed lance so much help

well i guess we’re talking about voltron now HAHA 😭 dude s3 was a fucking blessing i can’t believe we got that and they just cut it off cold. the leader and his right hand man dynamic makes me yell to this day 😭😭😭 remember all the scenes where they continuesly reassured each other 😭 the ‘leave the math to pudge’ scene lives in my head rent free no joke dhdnhdbdud... s3 was just them loving each other tenderly and dw stole it from us.. ALSO PLEASE WRITE THEM AGAIN LITERALLY BEGGING 😭 pls 🥺

dude our government doesn’t give a shit we literally have politics traveling around and chilling without masks. they don’t care at all we barely have any restrictions so people don’t care either. it’s a mess here ngl.. :/

can’t wait to hear from u again... mwah!

hi hi!!!! is this gonna end up being 2 replies in one day for you again HAHAHA i’ll try not to disappear after

!!!!!!!!!! QIQI AND BENNETT??!!?!!!!!!!! oh my goodness… oh my goodness!!! i can’t believe you got a 5 star before me fjskskkdd but big deserve 😭😭😭😩😩😩 i’m so happy for you nejdnskamxlxmm holy shit!!!!! that’s so cute tho that’s such a cute team… and big mood!! who cares about team dynamics/fighting styles all that matters is that you like them 😩 but also does that mean you currently have 3 sword users and 1 claymore on your team jdjsndnsm. i also used to not have a ranged fighter on my team but it just got so inconvenient lolol. and no my luck is actual ass :( so often i only roll weapons, and when i do roll charas it’s like. all the base free ones djdkskdk

haikyuu is SO funny!!! everyone’s humour is so >>>> omg they’re just silly boys… are you restarting it from the very first ep? and it’s all good if you dropped it before bc you’re coming back to it now and that’s what matters 😩 keep me updated tho! i’m so excited to hear what you think

HFJDNSKSN sorry i went mia and made you wait chksjs WHICH REMINDS ME!! omg i’ve been meaning to tell you and keep forgetting but i downloaded genshin on my phone last week for my trip and it’s so??? difficult? like mad mad respect to you for being able to play on mobile omg… maybe it’s just bc i was used to pc already but damn.. djsjjs

HAHA yeah just admiring the visuals instead of focusing on the story.. we’ve all been there 😩 sometimes you just gotta rewind and take 48394993 screenshots of the one scene you know? who let them be so gorgeous..

yesssss the mutual oblivious pining is so good.. like they’re enemies to lovers but they’re also IDIOTS to lovers… or my fave headcanon which hurts so bad… the one person (keith) pining for their rival (lance) but it’s unrequited and they’ve just accepted that and are kinda resigned to it but. they just want them to be happy above all else :’) :’(

and honestly you are so right like if the popular ship are foils and have all these parallels between them and a deep backstory and stuff that’s so good too there’s so much food AHAH

omg that’s kinda cute tho.. like once you’re done you enter the honeymoon phase w bubbly outgoing charas.. (speaking of honeymoons when’s ours 🤪) speaking of lance he deserved everything lmao.. he deserves everything PRESENT TENSE!!! wow we are really talking about vld in 2021 huh

LEAVE THE MATH TO PIDGE!!! I AM SCREAMING JUST THIBKING ABLIT THIS TOO!! WHAT THE FUCK DOCYOUCMEAN KEITH. WHY DIDNYOUCSAY IT WITH THAT SMILE. LANCE WHY DIDNYOU SMILE LIKE THAT IN RETURN. LEAVE THE MATH TO- KEITH EXPLAIN??? WHA WERE YOU WDOIDJGNDKDNSKFKDKFNDNNCMS the way that lance went from ‘despising’ keith and hating being beaten by him in everything to SEEKING OUT HIS ADVICE AND COMFORT???? IF THAT ISNT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS like their relationship progressed so so so so so so so so SO much in that one single season… like. i cannot BELIEVE that was real???? no fucking way. like. we were literally so close.. SO FUCKING CLOSE!!!!!!!! my god the trust they had in each other..… LANCE SEEKING KEITH OUT!!! lance accepting keith as the leader before even keith accepted himself EVEN WHEN LANCE HIMSELF SO DESPARATELY WANTED TO BE THE BLACK PALADIN bUT RECOGNISING IT WASNT WHAT THE BLACK LION WANTED AND i have to stop or else i’ll literally never stop typing chskdkdkndcuksncjxjskcoskosnaksj

hhhhhhh i wanna write them sometimes i get hit with the feels SO SO BAD (like just then? LOL) but i haven’t properly written them in so long i feel like i don’t even know how to anymore D; but anyway do you have any prompts? i have so many wips (i have one fic that i said was gonna be my Final klance fic but lmao i’m never gonna finish it at this stage so i guess i’m also not done writing klance? lmao) but after a while i just. have no desire to go back to them anymore fjdjjx so something new might spark my motivation! but also no promises sorry i always say i’ll do shit but never do JEKSKS altho i will try!! i’ll try bust out at least a drabble even if it ends up as an unfinished wip as well lol 😩

oh fucking rip that’s so horrible i’m so sorry you have to deal with that :((( legit it’s so upsetting to see so many governments just. complacent and not caring about this issue at all like?? this is your job? you’re literally meant to be doing all these things to help us right now and you’re just not. which i guess unfortunately also makes sense bc they’re the ones who would suffer least. it’s so frustrating lmaoooo >:(

:***** i’ve stayed up again bc i am Not intelligent fjskdk but i’m looking forward to your response!! goodnight and sweet dreamssss (for when you next sleep LOL) 💗😘

#cluna cries at 2am over s3 kl potential 😔 #marriage anon #wowclunaanswers #long post

[justsomevoltronstuff]

Do you like the end of Voltron? Because me and sunshine are having a debate about it. He’s saying it’s pretty good and I’m saying it’s bad.

ahhhh I missed you and sunshine🥺

but holy shit bro I straight up sobbed so bad like okay so for the longest time I absolutely refused to watch season eight bc I didn’t know what was gonna happen but I knew it was gonna fuck me up so I just didn’t watch it right?? and lmfao I still hadn’t watched it when I started writing for this blog and I admitted to this fact to one of my friends who is also a huge fan and they made me watch it and it ah it defo messed me up, I was crying in the dark at three am after watching two studio ghibli movies and Voltron season 8, it was a mess, bro

but all of that has NOTHING to do with the question so my honest opinion of Voltron Season 8 Ending: from a cinematic closing out a series point of view, it was phenomenal. it provides closure, a look into our heroes future, shows that being a part of Voltron was not what their whole life was meant to be, they were never destined to just be legendary defenders, they had other destinies and lives and plans and futures and all around from a cinematic standpoint, it was absolutely incredible 10/10 ending to a phenomenal series. from fangirl extraordinaire pov, haha cri thats some bullshit😭😭😭😭 but also akskdkskfkekskdkend the baBIES ARE ALL GROWN UP LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT THEM

#rori chats #lmfao voltron s8 royally fucked me up homies

[dreamworksconvict]

She-Ra: Racism Problem Pt. 2

Thanks to everyone who said nice things about my earlier post!!!! I like am really invested in representation and media so I’m glad it’s being received well. 

I also want to add a caveat that I’m not trying to cancel She-Ra. I just want to hold media to a high standard and think that we can critique the things we like.

Next I want to talk about some pretty heavy topics: the White Savior trope and colonialism. Again, I’ll be pretty spoiler-heavy here. I also want to warn people that there will be mention of genocide and antisemitism. I’ll be writing about Hordak in the next part.

In the fourth part I want to add an addendum about Catra being coded as Latina, which I think is a valid interpretation. I also want to talk about the ableism present in the show with both Hordak and Entrapta, which is a separate issue so I’ll label it differently. 

Imagine a story like this: 

“I am a white-coded, able-bodied, implied cisgender protagonist who has a Special Trait that makes me Stronger and/or More Unique than other characters. I also have some connection to Some Evil Colonizers from Space. Oh no! Some Evil Colonizers from Space have showed up to threaten me and my Token Diverse friends who get about half as much screentime as I do! Wait a second, “evil?” There’s no such thing! They’re only Misunderstood Colonizers Who Didn’t Mean It, and/or there was More to the Story. Maybe they came from a Dysfunctional Family or were Abused/Bullied! I think the people/places they colonized may have been Secretly Bad or Just As Bad all along, too! Wowee! Let’s all have a Heart-to-Heart and/or sacrifice one of my Token Diverse friends to save the day!”

Which story am I referring to? Well...

Voltron... or She-Ra... or Steven Universe.. and probably others...yeah.

(And for those who claim that Keith isn’t the protagonist of Voltron, well... I mean he is... but that’s an entirely different essay. But notice how Lance and Hunk are actually smaller than the other characters on the screen and are partly transparent, and that Allura gets pushed to the back row and is mostly covered? Yikes...)

(On my previous post, someone also noted that Steven is half-Jewish. I was not aware that Rebecca had confirmed this officially. As I am not Jewish myself, I don’t want to speak over this, but I do want to point out that you can be white and Jewish, as it is a Diaspora identity. There are many Jewish ethnicities, such as Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Mizrahim. I also wish that we had seen more of that in the show--like Steven celebrating Hanukkah, or learning Hebrew, or having a Rosh Hashanah celebration... From what I can tell, Rebecca only confirmed this on a Reddit AMA post. So I don’t know specifically how Steven identifies because that was never clarified in the show, but it seems like he is coded as white. Definitely feel free to disagree, this is just how I’ve interpreted the show, especially given its treatment of colonization.)   

On top of all three of these shows recycling a very similar plotline, they all share the White Savior trope. Teen Vogue has an article talking about how this is linked to colonialism and I highly encourage checking that out. I’m going to pull a large chunk of text from there because I think it’s really important and applies to animation, not just live action films. 

“Many white people in films based on the stories of POC are often subliminally depicted as godlike saviors, heroes who are rational and judicious to the core. They are usually deified men or women — glorified and righteous — like scripture out of a Holy Book. Look at Hillary Swank in Freedom Writers. The white savior somehow always ends up usurping the narrative. And in this centering of whiteness and white characters, the POC characters end up becoming props, which only perpetuates ideas of our otherness and unimportance, which then establishes a status quo of racism. Whiteness is again normalized, and POC are decentralized. This is particularly problematic because whiteness is not only favored in Hollywood but also in society at large; white privilege is ever-present and ubiquitous.”

Look at the center poster for She-Ra: Adora is pictured in white and gold and red as an accent. She’s bathed in a golden light. This color combination is no coincidence, because we already associate that combination with religious iconography, like the Vatican. 

(I also want to make a note that this is specifically associated with Christian/Catholic iconography. A lot of these shows could be classified as antisemitic in their handling of colonialism and genocide. I would argue--and will be arguing in my thesis--that Season 6-8 of Voltron’s plot heavily relied on antisemitic tropes, especially as it related to Lotor and the Alteans. But that’s for another day.) (Also see my discussion of Steven Universe’s Jewish identity above.)

So how exactly does She-Ra follow the White Savior trope, how is it similar to other stories’ utilization of the trope, and how does this all relate back to colonialism? I would say there are two main factors: setting up Adora as a white heroine with a darker-skinned foil (Catra), and setting up a narrative where Hordak “isn’t that bad of a guy, really.” For this part I’m gonna focus on Adora.

1: Adora as the White Savior

Adora is from the Horde. Keith is half-Galra. Steven’s mom is Pink Diamond. 

All three of these protagonists have some personal tie or connection to a group of colonizing villains. The Diamonds want(ed) to take over earth and suck the life force from it, as they’d done on other planets. They also used a super-weapon to with the intent to kill all the rebel gems. The Galra created an empire and also sucked the life out of planets. They also created a super-weapon that could kill an entire planet, and had already committed genocide against the Alteans. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Big Bad of She-Ra, Horde Prime, has similar goals. Hordak certainly does.

There is an ever-so-slight separation of Adora from the other two protagonists, who, at the start of the series, do not know they are related to the villain group in some way. (Steven doesn’t know he’s a Diamond.) Adora, on the other hand, starts the series as a villain. She’s part of a group that has actively been fighting and destroying the Princesses and the planet. The first episode notes that she is particularly good at her job, with Hordak nominating her for Force Captain. Adora also notes that “this is what [she’s] been working for her entire life.” When Catra and Adora leave the Fright Zone, it is not out of goodwill. They simply want to go for a joyride on a skiff. 

When Adora gains the power of She-Ra, she acts ignorant of the Horde’s actions. The first episode, Adora is completely defensive of Hordak. She even claims that “Hordak says we’re doing what’s best for Etheria.” It is not until the second episode that Adora begins to have any remorse for her actions--but also note that Adora’s main motivation during the first half of this episode is to continue onward with Bow and Glimmer because she wants to know more about herself, not repent for her actions. It is not until the end of the episode that she begins to become a bit more self-aware, but there is a key phrase that Glimmer utters that is very key to the White Savior narrative: “I feel like maybe you’re here to help us.” This line comes after Glimmer apologizes for not trusting Adora. Adora. The Horde soldier. The soldier from the group of colonizers who were responsible for the death of Glimmer’s father. 

Ok sure. 

Consider how realistic this is. (Not that fantasy has to be realistic, but when you’re working with a narrative based on systemic violence, you need to at least be considerate of how this works in reality.) Adora has been trained to fight and kill Princesses and their allies. She’s been trained to take over Etheria and strategically destroy and/or take resources to weaken them. Yet she acts as if this is all news to her. Suddenly meeting the people she’s been trained to destroy causes her to repent, and suddenly the people who have been victimized forgive her and trust her within two episodes. 

Here’s what I think is going on here: given the current hyper-conservative political climate and rampant xenophobia in the world right now, white creators feel the need to put a white person as the hero as if they’re claiming, “See, this character--and subsequently myself--aren’t like those other bad white people!” They want a degree of separation from the reality that they have white privilege and are part of the problem. 

There is no truly “woke” white person. White people have been raised in a society where they benefit off the oppression of the chosen “other,” in this case black and brown people. Even if you do your research like I’m doing, you still will mess up. White people cannot rid themselves of privilege no matter how hard they try, because in this current society, the legacy of colonialism, imperialism, and racism have made it so that white people will ultimately be more successful and have more opportunities for success than others. (Also, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, so even attempts to be considerate about taking advantage of laborers cannot be completely successful.) 

All of this results in a lot of White Guilt. Thus, we end up with narratives where the white colonizer character suddenly has a change of heart and fights against the system without really challenging the core mechanics that put that system in place. But fighting against oppression and violence doesn’t make a white person special--it just makes them decent. 

It also ignores the fact that white people, to be blunt, haven’t done shit to advocate for inclusion and equity compared to literally everyone else. I want to pull another quote from the Teen Vogue article:

[White saviors] perpetuate an idea that is essentially a historical banner of colonialism: People of color need white people to save them. To this day, some people still latently believe what imperialists such as Rudyard Kipling said, that colonialism was important for everyone: the conqueror and, most importantly, the conquered. That without the colonizers, the colonized had no hope of survival. And by constantly churning out movies with plots in which white people "save" people of color, Hollywood reinforces colonialist dictum.

Why does Glimmer think that they NEED Adora to be saved? Why is this white woman the only one who can do it? Sure, Adora has the power of She-Ra, but remember that giving Adora, a white woman, that power was a CHOICE made by the writers. They could have given the sword to someone else, they could have made Adora a PoC... but they didn’t. So suddenly, because Adora, ex-Horde soldier, is there, the Princess alliance can be reformed, people start working together, the rebellion is saved! etc. etc. etc.... 

So then it’s extra ironic (and honestly is pretty predictable given this White Guilt narrative) when the White Savior trope goes right along with The Colonizers Weren’t Actually Evil, Just Misunderstood.

This post is way too long so I’ll continue in the next part. 

#she-ra #racism #colonialism #white savior

[ceiling-pool]

Kolivance

A sweet and smutty treat for your thirsty little souls <3

***

“What is it Little One?” Kolivan’s voice rumbles in Lance’s ear where his head lies pillowed on the broad expanse of his chest, lavender fur soft on his cheek. “You seem troubled.”

Lance sighs. He wants to say it’s nothing and wallow in peace, but he has to know. Has to know how much longer he has with the leader of the Blades, how much longer until he decides it’s time to find a real mate. Someone worthy of his affection.

Someone strong.

Lance shifts so that his face is tilted away from his lover’s. For someone whose facial expressions range from ‘stoic’ to ‘more stoic’, Kolivan is preternaturally good at reading Lance’s.

Lance sighs. “I, um. I just.” Kolivan waits patiently for him to gather his thoughts while he sighs again. “I overheard some of the other Blades talking—”

Kolivan’s body tenses beneath him. “If someone said a single word against you,” he growls, “Give me a name and I’ll—”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that at all!” Lance says quickly. “One of them was just recently bonded, and they were talking about how strength is a highly valued quality in a mate...”

He trails off, hoping the so why are you with me is strongly enough implied that he doesn’t have to say it.

“Yes, that’s true,” Kolivan agrees easily, and Lance’s heart sinks. “What about it?”

“Well, I mean. I take it having a strong mate is important to you too?”

“Of course.”

Of course. Lance already knew that, but he wasn’t prepared for how much it would hurt to hear it out loud.

“Right.” Lance tries to keep his voice level. “So when, um, when do you think you’ll start looking for a mate to b-bond with?”

“When will I start— what are you talking abo— Lance are you crying?”

Hot shame sits like a rock in Lance’s stomach. Kolivan sits up to lean back against the headboard, keeping Lance held close to his chest. “Little One, talk to me.”

A heaving sob wracks Lance’s body but he pulls back so that he can fix the Galra with a teary glare. “Th-that’s just it, don’t you see? Your nickname for me is little one!”

Kolivan for his part looks entirely flummoxed and clearly trying to understand. “Do...do you not like it? My apologies, I thought—”

“No. Kolivan. I like it. I love it.” It makes him feel safe. Wanted. Lance swipes roughly at the tears falling down his cheeks only for them to be replaced by more. “B-but that’s my whole point. I-I’m an adult human. I’m not going to grow any more. I’m never gonna be s-strong like you and the other Blades or, or even Keith, I can’t...”

A wave of understanding takes over Kolivan’s face, followed by the most incredulous expression Lance has ever seen on him. It would almost be funny, except that Lance feels like his heart is being torn out.

“Oh, my heart,” Kolivan sighs, pulling Lance in close to tuck him under his chin. “There is more than one way to be strong.” He pauses for a moment and strokes Lance shuddering back, brushing gently over the starburst-shaped scar that spans most of his upper back, before murmuring, “I have heard that you were shot and nearly killed after only a few quintants of being a Paladin of Voltron, is this true?”

“I- yes.” Lance sniffles.

“And despite that, you piloted the Blue Lion through countless battles, and later the Red Lion, the most notoriously tricky to pilot and the right hand of Voltron, yes?”

“I-I guess, yeah.”

“You guess, or you did?”

“I did,” Lance mumbles into soft fur.

“Does that not sound like strength to you?”

He shrugs, noncommittal.

Kolivan sighs. “I’ve seen you, Lance. With your team, with the rebels, the refugees. You are brave, Lance, you’ve proved it time and again. But above that, you are kind. And it takes a rare strength of spirit to remain kind through hardship after hardship, when the odds are against you, and when it seems like all is lost. Yet you have, and to me, that is true strength.”

“K-Kolivan...” Lance pulls back to look up at Kolivan who is gazing at him with such softness in his eyes that it pangs his heart.

“So you see Little One, I have no need to search for a mate. Whether we bond or not, I have all I want right here.” He presses the softest of kisses to Lance’s forehead, and one to his lips. He brushes Lance’s tears away, and this time his cheeks stay dry. “Besides,” he says, with a twinkle of mischief in his eye. “I like your size. I can do this...”

He wraps his hands around Lance’s bare waist, hands encircling him entirely and then some. “Yeah,” Lance whispers, voice still hoarse from crying, but feeling a different kind of heat start to bloom in his gut. “I like that too.”

Kolivan hums, pleased. “And this.” His lifts Lance like he weighs no more than feather and deposits him gently on his back, divesting Lance of his loose lounge pants in one swift motion and leaving him bare. Kolivan pauses, and Lance feels a blush rise to his cheeks as Kolivan just looks at him, eyes sweeping over every inch of exposed skin. “You are so beautiful,” he murmurs roughly, before sliding down Lance’s body and taking the entirety of his stirring cock into his mouth.

“Ko—oh—livan!” Lance gasps, feeling lightheaded as his blood flows quickly south. “Ah, shit, god Kolivan give a guy some warn—ahh!”

Kolivan licks and sucks at him, has him hard and leaking in no time. His textured tongue curls around his length and Lance buries his hands in Kolivan’s long hair, mussing the neat braid. The Galra hums in satisfaction, sending vibrations up the entire length of Lance’s cock.

“Fuck, fuck- ohh just like that- just like that, so good Kolivan- hnng!” Lance pants and moans, letting his lover’s mouth drag him slowly and expertly up, up, up until he’s hovering just at the edge of release. Kolivan pulls off to take Lance’s mouth in a searing kiss, fingers plucking at his nipples, swallowing Lance’s noises and overlapping them with a deep rumbling purr.

“Let me hear you, my little star,” he murmurs against Lance’s lips. “Show me how much I please you.”

He cups Lance’s hips in his broad hands, lifting them off the bed, and giving him no time to react before ducking his head to tease the rim of his dusky pink hole, around and around with the tip of his tongue until Lance is mewling and trembling in his grasp.

“Ahh fuck, please, please I need- I- fuck, Kolivan please!”

God, he’s so close, he just needs a little more to help push him over the edge.

“What is it that you need, Little One?” Kolivan’s voice is all growl.

“I need to come.”

“Very well.”

Lance shouts when Kolivan spears his tongue into him, licking into him over and over. Lance’s heel kicks hard into his back, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“Oh god I’m so close- I’m so close-” Lance whimpers. “Fuck, touch me, please I-”

Keeping Lance propped up with one hand, Kolivan takes Lance in his massive fist. He barely get two strokes in before Lance entire body goes taut as a bowstring, his hips jerk and then he’s coming, wailing his pleasure as his cock pulses rope after rope of cum all over his stomach and Kolivan’s hand. Kolivan works him through it, easing him back to the bed as he shakes through the aftershocks.

“Holy shit,” Lance gasps when he comes back to himself. Kolivan kisses Lance’s thigh then his hip before pulling up and licking the mess off of his hand. “You made a mess, Little One,” he rumbles. His cock strains in his pants as he looks Lance over. “Let me help.” It only takes a few broad laps of his tongue over Lance’s torso before all evidence of Lance’s release is gone. He squeezes himself through his pants and groans. “The things I want to do to you...”

Lance sits up and tugs his pants down, revealing his cock— huge and thick, with ridges all the way down. Lance gives little kitten licks to the deep purple head and Kolivan clenches a fist into the bedsheets. “So do them.”

Kolivan voice sounds like gravel. “You’ve only gotten a taste, Little One. I want to take you apart.”

“Oh yeah? Think you can split me open until I’m crying on your cock?”

Kolivan’s response is a wordless growl.

“Mmhm, that’s what I thought.” Lance grins. “Show me what you got, Big Guy.”

#kricket writes #vld smut drabble #kolivance #kolivan is Big #and lance is here for it #volporn

[incaseyouart]

-Voltron S08 thoughts-

Honestly this season was a bit of a mess, but there are enough posts floating around focusing on the negative aspects, and it’s just feeding the flames of rage, and I need to make myself feel better, so here are some of my personal positive thoughts/coping thoughts. Mega S08 spoilers and long post ahead. 

- Allura: I don’t accept that she truly died. Yes her body died, just like with Shiro, but her essence has been transferred into the cosmos. Into every reality. She helped save the multiverse. And I think at the end there, for some reason, the planet Altea came back. So she achieved her dream of avenging her people. And it was implied through the Blue lion and Lance’s Altean markings (tangent thought: Lance isn’t fully Altean, he just has the markings...) that she can still communicate, at least via energy/magic/whatever.

- Lance: He gets to spend time with his family helping on the farm, and helps to spread Allura’s message of hope and peace throughout the universe. Maybe he even becomes a teacher or something down the line. I am going to imagine that he can move on from Allura and find someone else to love (and objectively, the “next person in line” seriously could be Keith. There were enough romantically-charged Klance moments to support this.)

- Shiro: He found happiness and love. Yes we don’t even really know anything about this character (I think his name is Curtis?), but at least we SAW him in the show - he was on the Atlas team, in the background, and also clearly fell in love cheering Shiro on at the arm-wrestling competition I mean c’mon same. No but seriously, seeing a fully-animated, non-censored full-on kiss between two men in a mainstream Netflix cartoon is a BIG. DEAL. The team must have worked hard to get that. At least it wasn’t another Korrasami, where fans weren’t even sure if Korra & Asami were truly in a relationship because of how rushed it was. 

- Hunk: He’s a cinnamon roll version of Gordon Ramsey traveling around the galaxy facilitating diplomacy with the power of food? Fuck yes. And it looks like Shay is with him too? Even more yes. Can’t really complain much about him. 

- Keith: He’s out there lookin’ fine helping his people with his mom and newly-acquired father in Kolivan (you can’t fight me on this). And who knows maybe after a few years of traveling and relief efforts he can vacation on a certain flower farm and help a certain man fall in love again I mean... Also I’m really glad they didn’t force Axca/Keith. She was there in the background helping him out, but so were Zethrid and Ezor (who btw I am glad are back together and didn’t die but also couldn’t Ezor have gotten more than one line? Did the OG VA leave?) 

- Pidge: Okay she wore a suit to Shiro’s wedding. Yes I’ll take it. Also she seems like a really badass tech person who can build robots? Awesome. I really liked what we saw of Pidge this season. 

- Lotor: Okay this isn’t really a positive per se, but I just need to get it out. I think I feel the most betrayed by how they treated Lotor. His character arc was a rollercoaster, and it ended very badly. We had a glimpse of what his life was truly like... he was the Draco Malfoy/Zuko who never had a chance of redemption. He tried his hardest, even admitting that being nice and working with indigenous populations works better than autocracy/annihilation, but his Dad was like “lol nope” and literally obliterated his dreams. Yes he did horrible shit, but honestly? I can see why. Holy fuck. And them showing that one shot of Lotor’s melting corpse was just... not necessary or appreciated. Anyways I’m glad we got to see cute baby Lotor but wow at what cost.

- Ryan/the other pilots: The vlogging episode was amazing. Fact. Also James face-planting into his food? Choice. 

General good story things/HCs: 

- Keith knifing his way out of being stuck on the “It’s a Small World” ride? Hilarious. 

- The really nice moments between Keith & Lance. They openly acknowledged their bond. Keith without any sarcasm told Lance how much he means to him, and everyone else, and it was just really nice to hear and see. I really think they would have a strong relationship going forward. 

- Zethrid & Ezor redemption. Kinda. 

- All the throwbacks to earlier characters and some loose ends being tied up. 

- Cosmo getting fucking huge. 

- Keith being a leader of the BoM (his outfit at the end implied so).

- Allura & Bob can be cosmo-energy buddies and run the game show together and get into all sorts of shenanigans. Idk it’s an interesting thought.

- The team meeting up every year to honour Allura, and each time they have cool stories to share about how successful and peaceful and happy they are, goddamnit. 

TLDR: Despite everything bad that happened with this show, I still had a lot of fun watching it and experiencing the fandom and all the content created because of it. I made friends, strengthened established bonds, felt like I was part of a huge community, feasted my eyes and ears with amazing animation and music, and generally had a good time. This fandom was honestly the best mess I’ve ever been apart of, and I hope it lives on. We can all heal each other with our own content. It’s been an honour flying with you all :)

#voltron #voltron season 8 #vld s08 #voltron s08 #voltron spoilers #my thoughts

[simplystefanie-rae]

I gotta say, I've had to jump ship from a number of fandoms for their shit behavior (namely Voltron, bc hot damn what a mess that was start to bloody finish) & I'm glad that I found this pocket of wholesome people that interact here to buffer the absolute madness that is the MLB fandom at large. It's nice to be able to engage with the fandom & be critical of the show without all the associated baggage that usually goes with that. & I dig your art, big time!

You know as much as I do bitch about the fandom, it’s mostly because I don’t agree with a lot of opinions, and it’s even better when you can find a smaller group to interact with. For as big as ML is I don’t think the fandom is really THAT bad, at least not compare to Voltron, like you said, because holy fucking shit, I still can’t get over some of the stuff I read about. I do have issues with how sexist the ML fandom is but it’s not as in your face bonkers as voltron is. 

And thank you

#Anonymous

[applecherry108]

first of all hooooooooolyyyy shiitttt

FUCK tungle. it took like 30 tries to log in on desktop. admittedly, i was using the wrong password at first, BUT, even when i remembered the right one it kept giving me shit. This is what i get for being L337 i guess... -_-

anyways, im only on desktop so i can add a readmore to say:

i just,,,,,hate voltron. okay? It sucked. it fucking sucked. i watched the first season and it was like, okay yeah, this has potential. and then s2 was like, okay yeah not as good but maybe s3 will pick up...

s3 didn’t pick up. it was just one long death spiral by the same idiots who fucked up the atla sequel. i hate their writing, i hate their story plots, i hate how they butcher any good ideas they have, and i especially hate their inability to have good character AND plot development happen at the same time.

I got swept up in storm of klance and that’s about it. i have soft spots for other ships but at the end of the day i don’t care. i just don.t fucking,,, care???

the fandom is a mess, the crew was a mess, everything was a fucking mess from the get go.

Like who tf is this show written for?? it has to be for like, 8-10 year olds. It has to be. Everything is just so....stupid. Nothing is ever properly explained, motivations never really given, everyone is just a 2 dimensional cardboard cutout of a trope. And that pisses me off so much bc like??? other shows aimed at young kids can still have great world building. they can have good world building and characters and overall story and still be cheesy and a lil dumb. cheesy and a lil dumb is completely fine!! but voltron is just so...godammn... BORING!! it’s like i WANT to like the characters but its just so goddamn hard when everybody is so fucking flat. by all rights, i should want to marry allura. shes everything i loved when i was little, from her color pallet to her princesshood to her white fucking hair!! i should LOVE allura but i don’t!! i kind of hate her. why?? i don’t know!! shes so...boring! and flat! and fucking PASSIVE! everything in this show lands so fucking flat holy shit.

pidge at matts “grave”? yikes, that was second hand hard to watch for like.... “oooh this is so serious!” but the buildup wasnt there...it was kind of funny tbh... and HELLA awkward...

don’t get me started on lance and hunk. bolin was my favorite look character for the first few episodes and then he got knocked to Comic Relief and had maybe two (2) importantish moments. he/they may be part of the main cast but they’re not main characters. they feel like background props to the Actual Main characters.

which brings me to keith.

FUCK keith.

that’s my reaction after every! new! season!! is just,, FUCK keith. god the show functioned SO WELL without him. he’s just so...idk. i also don’t care. what was his character arc anyway? it SHOULD have been about learning to love and trust others but we only get that in lip service and speed run character development (i hate the quantum abyss...so much... like yeah, who cares about SHOWING our characters mature, let’s just tell that it happened in afucking montage.) if keith were a properly developed character he shouldve remained PASSIONATE and idk, run support?? that boy SHOULD have piloted red, end of story. period. keith doesn’t need to lead he needs to learn to TRUST others and that insludes trusting other WITH HIS LIFE. i won’t rant about how we should have had black paladin lance, but keith should have never ever been black paladin. even after he “matures” he still sucks at. he’s this awful,,little,, Shiro 2.0. and I hate it. i ahte it and i hate shiro just a little bit. even though he was arguably the most likeable character, he shouldve stayed dead. or missing. or whatever. he didn’t need to come back and they didnt need to make keith a little offbrand clone of him. i ESPECIALLY hate that they aged keith up 2 years for no goddamn reason other than to make him the Adult (tm). keith’s dedication to others was gre4at, but it should have, and im failing for this word here so forgive me, climaxed? cresscendo’d? whatever. /resulted/ in him playing support. not leader. lone wolf keith doesn’t need how to lead his pack, he needed to learn to HELP his pack. to be a TEAM PLAYER. he didn’t want the responsibility of leading bc guess what?? some people hate leading!! there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be support! keith’s entire arc is a huge mess of missed opportunities and a grand illustration that he is lm’s and jds’ favorite, just like fucking mako.

i won’t rant about mako, but just know i fucking hate him and the special treatment he gets, and good LORD does keith take over mako. keith isn’t space zuko he’s space mako and it fucking SHOWS.

okay, i’m losing steam here, but like.... so apple, why tf where u voltron 24/7 if you hated it so much? because homestuck was over and i needed a new hyperfixation. and i really had to force it for vld tbh. and at the end of the day, it wasn’t so much about the show itself as the potential of klance (or sheith, up until s3). between the interviews, the coding, the fucking EVERYTHING--it really felt like it could be canon. i knew in my heart it was queer baiting but i had HOPE dammit. hope that this could be killer representation, hope that these characters would delvelopment into something incredible. again, there was so much POTENTIAL. and all of it was wasted. everything really came to a head during the fucking game show episode. it was like lm and lds giving everyone who likes lance the middle finger, really driving home that “no no, he IS just stupid. he’s the comic releif. there’s nothing deeper about him and no one will stand up for him bc they all think of him as such.” and that just....broke my heart. we were so...SO close to lance actually mattering but nope! bolin’d again! and what was his purpose in s8? why to be an accessory to allura of course!

i’ve seen a lot of people really divorce themselves from canon and live solely for fanon, esp fanon klance but like.... i can’t. i just can’t. it’s so fucking hard to work with these cardboard characters. you can only draw so much depth onto them, you know? until the very last moments they had potential, but then it all got snuffed out. but who cares about canon? why bother with it? because! we don’t have a solid consistent fanon version of them! no one sat down and delivered the ten commandments of “here’s what we agree k and l are actually like” it’s stupid and it sucks because everyone has their own little differences and its so so tiring to basically be interacting with minutely different ocs all the goddamn time. canon matters bc it gives everyone the same base to work with. like a cooking showing with the same basket ingredients, but now it’s like.... ya’ll don’t wanna use the mandatory ingredients (and why would you? those canon ingredients are like, a century egg and spoiled sardines, they’re awful.)

okay, and im at work and just came back to this and dont remember my train of thought so like... what really threw all this into sharp clarity was the recent steven universe episodes. they were so...GOOD. so fucking good. so much plot and foreshadowing coming to a head. it was such a wonderfully satisfying payoff that it made me remember what a GOOD show is like, how vld is so very very /bad/. the difference is fucking striking. where one is an intricately woven tale with excellent character development and clear story AND character arcs, that can progress AT THE SAME TIME, one is a hacked together flaming dumpster firing that constantly falls flat and doesn’t know where its going or why. and it s so BORING! like fight scenes can be amazing! they can be well coreographed and tense! and we as the audience can be anxious about the outcome! and vld just wasn’t that! it was boring repetetive action in the least exciting way. and where su set up a lot of potential, holy shit they DELIVERED on that potential. not just for rep, but for characters! for story! for plain ol simple character interactions! and then, again, two dimensional cardboard cutouts.

and now with this difference in good vs bad show so very clearly highlighted for me, i just.... i can’t, anymore, with vld. it sucks. it sucked and i can’t pretend or force a fixation with it that just isn’t there, and truthfully, probably never was. maybe that’s why i’ve been struggling to finish my fic, struggling ever since i posted the last chapter, ever since s7, which, again, that game show was really the nail in the coffin as far as holding onto any hope that this tire fire would ever pick up. like a physically feel ill trying to finishing this stupid fic bc i don’t care so hard. i don’t care and i just... really want to be over it. im sick of seeing it everywhere, im sick of the drama, of the Discourse. like all fandoms have their issues, but hold fuck does vld fandom have a massive Purity problem. like, god, let people ship whatever. who cares. die mad about it.

like homestuck, idk if i’ll ever fully ween myself off vld but i want to move on. i want to enjoy Other Things without having this lackluster weight on my shoulders. and more than anything, i want to stop feeling like im obligated to like the same shit as i did two years ago, or last year, or hell, last week! feel free to unfollow, but yeah i just.... really needed to let this out in a proper post and not in the misc tags somewhere.

#behold my loathe letter to vld #if you actually enjoyed the show and don't wanna read all my bitching then like...probably pass this post up lmao #apple talks #to the tune of spam

[as-many-times-as-it-takes]

Not looking for reassurance about canonical Sheith, I just need to vent. I heard you were offering hugs, would it be okay to ask for one, please? I let myself get too damn invested in canonical Sheith and I'm such a freaking mess right now & not in the good way. I really am way beyond old enough to know better, and I'm gay to boot. Again, I should know better! I love Sheith so much & always will, whatever happens in canon. Thank you for letting me vent, you're truly a kind person.

Hey there @mereneith !

You absolutely can have a hug from the craziness of this season. And I know you aren’t specifically looking for reassurance or anything, but I did want to add something to your comments.

There is no such thing as way beyond old enough to know better.

This is a long (very optimistic though!) personal discussion. Feel free to skip it if you just want hugs. Otherwise, read on.

Once upon a time I thought that as I grew older I would be expected to outgrow things and to set aside “childish interests and hopes” blah blah and I would magically transform into an adult and live an adult life.

Well fuck that.

I am a trans gay man, pushing just past his thirties and you know what? Voltron has changed my life. 

You see, we fall in love with characters because we find aspects in them that are important to us. It may be because we see ourselves in them, or find them very relatable. Or perhaps they represent something we’d like to see in our friends or lovers. Aspects that remind us fondly of our friends and family, or perhaps even aspects that remind us of our flaws. But this attachment isn’t childish or silly. It’s actually very healthy and important. As most people know, it’s often very difficult to learn a tough lesson on your own. But if you were to watch a person go through a similar issue who you feel strongly about, you will find that tangential learning can actually teach you a whole lot much faster.

Children are growing up today seeing their hero Shiro as a really awesome, strong man who also happens to be gay, deals with bad stress/PTSD, and has been disabled. How many of them will grow to not only accept these things, but grow and learn from them? So why should this be any different with adults?

I openly admit that I associate very strongly with Keith. I’ve been the outcast, I’ve struggled fitting in and lashing out. I’ve been left behind and felt abandoned again and again to the point that it was easier to push people away ahead of time than it would be to ever try to open up. All the knowledge in the world on fencing, dog sledding, falconry (rehab), archery, swordplay, target shooting, etc etc and all my talents at it still didn’t fix the fact that I was socially inept and hated the world around me. But then I also know the value then, of finding a Shiro in your life. Someone who took that time to push past your thorns and offer you unconditional support and affection. It’s why Sheith resonated with me instantly and why they became so important to me.

So watching the show was instantly a pleasure. I didn’t think it’d ever be a thing to begin with, but I was still content to dream. And when I found a very loving fandom behind it, I actually felt a lot of peace seeing other people who also felt like this. There are a great many people in the world right now who ship Sheith because it is an expression of mutual love, compassion, support, admiration, and dedication. Everyone has their own unique love and perspective on why Shiro and Keith are important to them, but we also share a common passion.

When I first started this blog in Season 3, I had been many years away from my previous blogging experience. Depression, life, and all sorts of stuff had gotten in the way and I’d sort of drifted away from something that had been a great passion of mine. So I thought I’d be brave and start up a blog here.

And it grew, and I made a few friends and had a good time until depression and life got me down again and I disappeared for about a year or so until Season 6. When I returned, I thought for sure I would never keep up with the main blogs or all the truly awesome artists out there. But you know what? I had changed, and I had grown and the fandom welcomed me back with open arms.

Sheith inspired me to draw again. My “You Found Me” piece was not only one of the first digital pieces I’d done in over 6 months, it was also a big leap in what sorts of things I could draw. And I’ve kept pumping out art slowly but surely and each time I do, I’ve learned just a little bit more and been all that much more proud. I started writing again too! Who cares if it’s fanfiction? Why would that make it any less valid or satisfying? I also was a braver man and I started reaching out to people that I saw in the fandom who I wanted to get to know.

And I have completely changed my life. I have made some of the most wonderful friends now. I am still getting to know many of them, but I already am just so happy to have more people to talk to, celebrate with and get to know. I’m part of multiple discord servers, multiple art projects and I have seen an amazing amount of support for my writing! I’ve had my writing translated into other languages, I’ve been called someone’s hero, I see asks and prompts in my inbox of people who want to talk to me and hear my opinion.

Sheith isn’t just important to me, it’s changed my life. The characters have spoke to me on a personal level and I still learn from, yes, a cartoon show. It’s made me think more critically and become more introspective. It’s allowed me to express myself better and find common ground with more people. And with the amount of amazing support from the staff and Voltron in general, Shiro and Keith’s relationship and their characters in general have validated a lot of my life, my orientation, I could go on and on.

I haven’t really said it aloud all at once, but these are all true. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about these things or we’ve been told it’s “childish” or “foolish.” I laugh and weep over Sheith because I am also invested and I want it to come true and I’m not ashamed of it. I am a total gay disaster and have spent days greeting my BFF with “OMG SHIRO IS GAY HOLY SHIT!!!” for days on end after the announcement. I have fussed and wept because I worried it might not happen. Yeah, I feel silly sometimes too. I regard myself as a very logical individual in a very logical profession. But I am also a creature of passion, instinct, and emotion. I want to be the voice for others who are too nervous to speak, who are still not ready yet, or just need to hear it from someone else. I want to be the one to help tell people it’s okay to fall in love with characters and feel strongly about them and learn from them.

I will always love Sheith no matter what. It’s changed my life and made me a better person. And I will endlessly be thankful to the entire Voltron crew for everything they’ve done for us.

But I also have faith and I want to hand out hugs and tell people to keep their chins up.

Remember, 

Patience Yields Focus

Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Don’t feel bad about being invested or taking joy in something. Instead, celebrate it and embrace it. Turn it into a positive force that enriches the people around you. I think Shiro put it best:

Go, be great.

#sheith #shiro #keith #voltron #meta #john talks #personal growth #disaster gay #mereneith

[edelwary]

when you were first getting into art, what and how did you draw? (like did you just doodle ur masterpieces on pieces of paper and posted-notes or did you have a proper sketchbook) how did you find motivation? bc ive been trying to draw but I always get unmotivated and stop while still wanting to get better just by doing nothing.

REALLY LONG, LOTS OF ADVICES FOR ARTISTS : 

TL;DR ; skip to the HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW part bc i have a megaton of shit to say lol + The MOTIVATION part 

mmh… I’ll get into details with this one tbh bc it’s a long ass process ahah : 

I live by the sea ; when i was youung i used to draw TONS of boat, but like, dollhouse boats, you could see the insides and stuff ; i loved to add tiny details and stuff, and imbricate everything together !

around 8 or 9 yo, i went to the public library with school and discovered the wonderful world of mangas ! I basically… Copy pasted an entire Mermaid Melody tome x) 

For about 2 years i alternated between reading mangas and trying to copy them ! Then i just kept drawing in the margins of my schoolwork for about… 5 years ! I have a Fuck Ton of sketchbooks of that time, it was… The start. Lol. Never say it’s bad because it’s never bad, just not there yet !!

Around my 13 yo, i went every saturday, for two years, under a bookstore ; there was a cave, and drawing classes ; that teacher was mean and harsh and stuff, but like… Not really. He would take away my eraser for the class, force me to use pencil, to draw something else (bulky boys instead of magical girls). 

I’ve learned a lot, more in terms of How To LEARN to draw than to draw itself, but i still progressed a LOT !! 

Then i kept drawing by myself for a year and i really worked hard on it ; about hours a day, trying watercolors and stuff ; i have a real problem with colors in traditionnal art, but i’m much better with lines (i should scan some RAD stuff i made in the weekend, yall ive never done anything this good i stg i dont know why i always forget im so much better on paper) 

This gets us to my sweet 16 ; i have to year of advance, bc i got ‘’’promoted’’’ idk how to say it ; anyways, i entered my (current) animation school for the first year at 16; vERY IMPRESSIVE AND TERRIFYING. 

And i learned. A fuckmegaton. Of shit there. 

Now i’m going for my third year there and i can make photorealistic marmora blades and cyberkpunk decors if i want to and that’s rad, but here is

 HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW : 

I have one HYPER important advice, and i’m keeping it to heart since i’m like, 11 : Have. Sketchbooks. Please !!! It’s very important. Here’s why : 

You keep everything with you in one place. You have 1 sketchbook, it’s basically easy to take every where (a A5, or A4 are pretty easy to carry, i have like, 12 of those, and around 8 of A3) 

You keep track of what you’ve done. It’s super important, bc first you can cry of laughter at your old stuff bc its cute but not so good, and second, you can just be like ‘holy mama’ and see how much you’ve improved

It’s very important to be organized. I WORK in art, and trust me, if there’s something that i’ve learned this year through tears and missing files and bugs : Be. Impeccable. Now if it’s for fun, go a little loose, and just have a folder for art on your computer, and a sketchbook, no need to stress, but the better you try to keep a record of where is what, the better you’ll see whats wrong

Notebooks are friends !! You can draw, write, glue stuff, make notes, lists, everything !!! I have my life in those. It’s more important to me than any of my phones. 

Be proud of it. Like, not everything, duh ! But try to tell yourself than it’s like a RPG ; even if it’s only 2 xp here and there, one day you’ll beat level 40, and that’s super important : art is. Fuckin. Long.

I cant stress it enough. It’s soooo long !!! SO LONG !! it’s years. It’s like karate and fishing and ANYTHING. To be good at it, it takes time, but it WILL COME if you keep trying. There’s no secret passage. 

You’re gonna me it, believe in me who believes in you. 

Use. References. 

Coming from a little shit who’s got a really good visual memory, that can sound like bs, but i stg everything is always AT LEAST twice as good if you’ve used a visual support. 

I’m not saying COPY EVRYTHING (even though thats a good training) I’m saying, if you really want to do that asian tiger, please have at least two or three pictures of it nearby. Take photos of your hands, and stuff ! 

Make it harder. 

No eraser. 

Paint. 

I draw all my backgrounds on my sketchbook with INDIAN INK; no returns, no refunds. 

Ink, Ink, INK !! Don’t allow mistakes.

And if you make mistakes :

New page, restart

It’s okay

It’s for you

I once started back again a whole EXAM bc it was bad, i got one of my best grades 

You’ll improve and be more assured if you know you just have to DO IT. Trust me. It’s VISIBLE; if you can erase, you fidget and hesitate and ‘’kbeujebez hahhaaa idkkidsd’’ ; stop ; do it, and if you don’t like it ? Try again, there’s no time limit

Draw as large as you can 

There’s no interesting story here, it just helps. Bigger movement of the hand, more place for details, breathing lines

Thin lineart helps

Thinner. Make it even thinner

Break the rules, but not the ones that structure your art 

Big lineart ? Why not

Unfinished lines, vaporeous colors ? Pretty

Cubism is actually based on extensive and intense practice of classical art, it’s not wibbly wooblly ; the anatomy is more correct than you think 

Structure and composition are important, but so is movement and life ; choose your fighter ; mine is fluidity and fun, i’m like, a rogue/archer in drawing. Some people are dwarf fighter. That’s amazing and great. 

Don’t be afraid to do nothing

Pages and pages of my sketchbooks are actually just lance facing right and smiling, you know… 

Sometimes it just doesnt work : two ways :

Take a break, Kiki’s delivery service style

Keep trying, break your art until it obeys and comes back

Take breaks. Breath. 

Don’t compare. I do it, it doesn’t help at all. You’ll make it ; and if you compare, keep in mind that everyone’s different

I’m not gonna lie, it’s NOT easy, it’s even hard 

But I really, really think it’s worth it 

MOTIVATION :

My main bitch 

I’m always pumped for art because i can LITTERALLY NOT do anything else ; i love reading and writing and stuff but at the end of the day i just want !!! to draw !!!! aaaaaa-

Fall in love with it, and with the possibilities ; i have stories to tell, tell me yours ! Do your best, one day it WILL work

Actual advices : 

I have an inspiration blog where i just reblogs stuff i like to draw them later

Find a picture, copy it. Do it again. Change the characters (i have 2 ocs and Lance and Keith as default characters) in the pic. 

Like an artstyle ? Break it to its very core, analyse it, copy it, redo it, trace it and ABSORB it. Don’t copy/past, LEARN from your heroes.

Do what you like. I have 86578 pieces of voltron, this is not a coincidence. I have ENDLESS ideas for this show, wtf. 

Try new things. Buy indian ink im begging you. It’s so cool. 

Have a game with yourself, or a challenge. STICK TO IT. 

Study. When you’re bored, usually it’s because you’re stagnating. Make it harder or do hands until you cry. 

Love your backgrounds; make backgrounds, study trees, and tokyo streets, and venice’s bridges. Decor is just as cool as characters, if not more

Mess a little with everything. My roomate more than one found me stained from head to toes trying to DO STUFF 

Draw outfits. Draw what you want but can’t afford 

MAKE YOUR LIFE A COMIC. Remember those sketchbooks ? Make a comic a week/month/every full moon, whatever, and draw your life (mine’s the roomates au lol) 

Prompts blogs are cool too 

Make fanart of a fic you liked ; you have the characters and the pose already, you just have to illustrate ; double bonus, you probably will make a writer’s day, if not year !

That little movie that plays when you listen to your favorite song ? DRAW IT

Your favorite scene in your favorite movie ? Redraw each shot. On post it. Plus it looks awesome afterwards to have the infamous TREX scene of Jurassic Parks in post it

Get bored. That’s inevitable. Dance, scream, get back to it. Walk, draw everything you see. 

Make a paper google map street view : Take a walk : every 50 meters, draw what is in front of you. 

Snapchats your friends. Draw their snapchats when they answer 

Draw maps. Invent places. Invent bikes, and hovercrafts, and monsters. Make your everyday inventory. Make your life a video game, and do the concept arts of it. 

FETCH your inspiration. I have approx. 20 artbooks, full of drawings and concept arts of my fave movies/games ; take what you like and add it to the story you have since you’re 8. We all have one. 

Ask for it ; your sis, your mom, me even ! If you dont have ideas, someone will have them. 

WELL i’m gonna stop there, even though i got like, 9864567 more to say, but with this you should be fine ! Anon, i’m rooting for you ! we all start somewhere, just hold on!!!! 

#Anon you'll do it !!!!!!!!!! #asked #artist advice #art #i put my heart in this omg #it's 1.5 K WORDS #wtf #but yeah #you just gotta do shit and mess around

[californiannostalgia]

Holy Shit Voltron Season 6

They did NOT pull their punches, WOW. This has gotta be my favorite season yet. Emotions were flying, space was beautiful/terrifying, important plot points were coming together, and the action was AMAZING.

*SPOILER ALERT IMMA GONNA START BLATHERING*

1. Lotor: Lotor is fucking insane and the creators played it PERFECTLY. His childhood was obviously one of continuous abuse, and I’m guessing the derision he faced for being a half-breed was worse than we’d thought, because he outright despises the Galra. He doesn't want to hear an apology from the monster that wears his mother's face, and when his father is mentioned, he FLIPS. 

It’s hard to wholeheartedly hate him because we’ve seen the potential for goodness inside of him, but with no one to teach him that genocide or forced sacrifices is wrong, he's grown up warped and twisted. What he did to the Alteans strikes me as especially awful because he genuinely sees himself as a savior of Altea. I think his falling for Allura might have been partly because she was the first sincerely kind being he's interacted with, and partly because his ideals of a perfect Altean future included the Princess in it.

Whereas Zarkon felt like a dark, immovable force, Lotor is intelligent, flexible, and much, much scarier. He fooled the Paladins, his Generals, the Galra, the Alteans—like Lance said, he fooled everyone. If he emerges from that overcharge of Quintessence for a final boss fight, he's going to be utterly terrifying. Madness runs in his family, it seems, and it's rendered more disturbing by the tragic circumstances behind it. Lotor should be proud, though. He has more than outdone his father.

2. Allura: Her Altean magics gave the enemy an impossible advantage, but also saved everyone over and over again. When she blasts Lotor with that crazy amount of Quintessence, a part of me felt disturbed by how sad the situation was. This stupid war is forcing a kindhearted child to push someone she cared about (even if it was a relationship built on falsehoods) straight into madness's open arms. Fuck war, really.

Part of her wanted to save him from becoming even more of a monster, but Allura knows where her duties lie. She doesn't have the luxury of feeling sympathetic towards the enemy. She leaves Lotor behind to his madness. She doesn't even blink at destroying the Castle of Lions, the one last piece of Altea she has left. She's a lion goddess, and I love her.

3. Keith: THAT'S WHAT I CALL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Marmora training plus two years in the presence of a solid parent figure and a space pet did him good. When he returned, he came back decisive, hardened, and completely ready for Black. Watching him claim his seat without a moment of hesitation gave me the shivers. The backstory episode was so good, too. This kid loves his fellow paladins with all his heart, and it's great to see his love giving him the strength to save the people that matter to him. Especially Shiro.

Oh, and you know that moment at the end of the fifth episode, when Keith nearly gives up on himself? Not caring about himself is what he does, what he’s used to. But at the last moment, he remembers how Shiro pleaded him not to give up on himself, and opens his eyes. That moment he decides to live is the definition of epic. (Also, HOLY FUCK THAT MARK WAS A SCAR??)

4. Clone Shiro: I can't believe they made us grow fond of the Shiro Clone through the D&D episode (showing off Takashi's dumb nerdy core, god I love him) before pulling the inevitable betrayal. Even though we saw it coming, they made us remember that part of him is the Shiro we love, so that the battle between the two Black Paladins could carry a sufficiently devastating note. 

I now understand why Shiro seemed so obsessed with playing a Paladin. It was because a Paladin is what the Clone was programmed to be, the only thing he knew how to be. Add that to the fact that the last thing the Clone says is Keith’s name? Yeah, the Clone Angst was strong.

5. Shiro: I'd forgotten how good and pure the real Shiro was. His acceptance and encouragement is like hot chocolate. BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOUVE BEEN DEAD ALL THIS TIME. WHY WOULD YOU DROP SUCH A BOMB SO MATTER-OF-FACTLY? 

God, I'm ecstatic to have him back, grandpa hair and all. Thank you, Lion Goddess Allura. (Since this means he didn't go through any more suffering after the end of season 2, I'm strangely relieved?) (Does this mean we get a Shiro video diary now?)

6. Hunk: That first episode of him using his understanding of Galra culture to save an innocent planet was amazing. (I also really liked the command structure the team has. They readily defer to whoever has the most knowledge about a given task and follow that paladin's orders. It's a jarring contrast with how Clone Shiro was acting last season. But I digress.) Watching Hunk being a genius engineer in action is the best. I love one sarcastic, pessimistic child who basically has a heart of gold.

6. Pidge: She hesitated once and failed to stop the Clone Shiro from leaving with Lotor. When the Castle is hacked and her programs are being taken down, she pulls out her last resort card. Using that program is tantamount to admitting that she cannot trust her Shiro, and it is a crushing revelation for her, the team, and us. But she doesn’t hesitate again. (Always a joy to see her work her programming magic.)

7. Lance: The rapport Allura and Lance have with each other is the purest thing. He throws himself into harm's way for her and nearly dies. She jumps out of her lion to go help him when there's a radioactive flare moments away from coming into contact with her position. If one of them is sad, the other is there to offer emotional backup, without question. I dig this healthy supportive relationship.

What’s special about his character is that Lance is a solid presence to lean on for the others—whether he’s providing emotional support for Keith, Clone Shiro, and Allura, or taking command in the absence of a clear leader. Funny thing is, he can’t do shit for himself. His self-esteem is getting lower than ever. He openly cried (something he never lets himself do) thinking he failed Shiro. The self-hatred at his own mistakes and supposed uselessness is gonna blow up sometime soon, and I look forward to the day that time bomb finally goes off. 

8. Coran: I could feel his grief for his dead planet, his sense of inadequacy compared to his grandfather. Very pleased that they gave us quality Coran Feels. (Also, Dungeonmaster/Dragon Coran was amazing.)

9. Krolia: Keith's parents fought so hard to protect the universe and their child. I can't forget the look in Krolia's eyes when the memory beam showed her a tiny Keith standing in front of a tombstone.

10. Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid: They're trying to be loyal to the Empire, trying to save their people. They're being faced with impossible decisions left and right, and I'm curious what they'll be doing next.

11. Haggar/Honerva: She is genuinely sorry to Lotor, but sorry can't erase a millennia's worth of abuse and she knows it. I wonder what she will think when she finds out her son has followed her and Zarkon's descent into madness? I wonder what plans she has in place. (Could she be the final villain?)

12. Team Voltron: Here's the thing. In previous seasons, they were Paladins, yes, but they were still kids. They messed around with cows, made stupid jokes, generally powered through hard battles with the help of luck and sheer determination. But this season, when they charged into battle screaming, shield up and sword drawn? They no longer felt like brave kids going to war. They felt like the motherfucking Defenders of the Universe, through and through. (I didn't think I'd ever be this into a show about color-coded robot pilots. I was wrong.)

The scene where they pack their things to leave the Castle behind communicates the sense that there is no going back for them, that they are permanently changed and will constantly continue moving forward. It’s exciting. I can't wait for them to return to earth as hot badasses and bask in the respect they deserve. (Also someone needs to punch Iverson.)

13. Overall: The gorgeous backdrops, the pacing of the plot, the presentation of the scenes, the action sequences, the sound effects and acting—they were faultless. The soundtrack was great. There were countless moments of pure badassery: Krolia's fight, Keith vs. Clone Shiro, that Pidge-and-Lance tag-teaming action, Hunk's powerup, Voltron tearing a rift into the fabric of reality, etc. I loved it, I loved every precious second of this season, and I am blessed to be able to witness this masterpiece unfold before my eyes. 

#voltron #my thoughts #my reviews #voltron spoilers #voltron season 6 #keith kogane #lance mcclain #pidge gunderson #katie holt #hunk garrett #takashi shirogane #vld allura #vld shiro #acxa #ezor #zethrid #haggar #honerva #vld coran #krolia #character analysis #voltron season 6 review