Constructing Legends Episode 08: Voltron and the Heroine's Journey is now live on YouTube!
In prior videos, I've done a lot of talking about what I believe was changed by the executive meddling in the final season, but now it's time to talk about the reason why I'm so confident that the direction I've talked about in prior videos was what the writers intended. And to to that, this video will be breaking down the arc of the character whose journey most affects the plot structure of the entire show: none other than Princess Allura.
It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.
There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!
I took calculus my senior year of high school, and I really liked the way our teacher framed this on the first day of class.
He asked somebody to raise their hand and ask him when we would use calculus in our everyday life. So one student rose their hand and asked, “When are we going to use this in our everyday life?”
“NEVER!!” the teacher exclaimed. “You will never use calculus in your normal, everyday life. In fact, very few of you will use it in your professional careers either.” Then he paused. “So would you like to know why should care?”
Several us nodded.
He picked out one of the varsity football players in the class. “You practice football a lot during the week, right Tim?” asked the teacher.
“Yeah,” replied Tim. “Almost every day.”
“Do you and your teammates ever lift weights during practice?”
“Yeah. Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend a lot of practice in the weight room.”
“But why?” asked the teacher. “Is there ever going to be a play your coach tells you use during a game that requires you to bench press the other team?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then why lift weights?”
“Because it makes us stronger,” said Tim.
“Bingo!!” said the teacher. “It’s the same thing with calculus. You’re not here because you’re going to use calculus in your everyday life. You’re here because calculus is weightlifting for your brain.”
When it’s taught right, learning math teaches you logic and how to organize your brain, how to take a problem one step at a time and make sure every step can bear weight before you move to the next one. Most adults don’t need to know integrals, but goddamn if I don’t wish everyone making arguments on the internet understood geometric proofs.
Scientific concepts broaden our understanding of how the world is put together, which does not mean that most adults ever really understand how light is refracted through a lens or why spinning copper wire creates electricity–and they don’t need to. But science classes in general are meant to teach the scientific method: how to make observations and use them to draw conclusions, how to test those conclusions, how to be wrong and grow stronger from it.
History isn’t about dates and names of battles, it’s about people, patterns, things we’ve tried before and ought to learn from. It’s about how everything is linked, how changing one circumstance can lead to changes in fifty others, cascading infinitely. Literature is about critical thinking, pattern recognition, learning to listen to what somebody is saying and decide what it means to you, how you feel about it, and what you want to do with it.
Some facts matter: every adult should know how to read a graph, how global warming works, some of the basic themes and symbols that crop up in every piece of fiction. But ultimately, content is less important later in life than context.
The good thing is, students who learn the content are likely to pick up at least some of the context, some of the patterns of thinking, even if they don’t realize it. (The unfortunate thing is how the current educational system prioritizes content so much that a lot of students, and a lot of adults, don’t see the point in learning either, and teachers are overworked and held to standardize test grading scales such that it’s hard for them to emphasize patterns of thinking over rote memorization, etc etc etc, but that is a whole different discussion.)
I would also add that giving as broad an education to as many as possible gives everyone the opportunity to follow a career that might use calculus. Or colour theory. Or electromagnetism. Or [insert specialism here]. If we gatekeep specialisms, those careers are only available for the ones who were privileged enough to have the background training. That’s why Classics as a degree subject is full of private school kids: it’s not offered in state education.
And when you gatekeep classics you get people who turn up their nose when people enjoy things ‘the wrong way’ like some (thankfully few) of the comments on the video of the girls playing Vivaldi on their marimbas with such joy.
Been having trouble putting words on paper - digitally speaking. I get writer's inertia: the less I write, the less I am inspired to write. So - I'm writing - anything, random scenes, etc... The wordsmith's equivalent of a "warmup sketch" if you will. Have a snippet that could be an extension of Hades' Covenant.. or something. I do always intend to finish what I've started and hope to have a proper update to something soon, but in the meantime... random scene!
***
A low grumble echoed around the room as the deposed king slowly raised his eyes irritably from the parchment in front of him to the young girl across the room.
"Careful."
Serpentine eyes slid sideways to lock with his son's warning stance.
Lotor's body remained taut, his lips pressed thin and his lethal expression narrowed on his father. To his credit, his palms remained around either end of the unfurled scroll he had open before him and did not reach for his saber at his side - an act that did not go unnoticed by the elder.
"Tch," he snuffed, looking back toward the maps stretched in front of his war table. Lotor's eyes lingered on the old man.
"There!"
Zarkon leaned back abruptly in his chair as the little girl thrust a chubby wrist in front of him, pointing to a place on the map in front of him.
A brief look of concern flashed across his face as he heard his son roll up the map in his hands and stride over. Zarkon scooted back further from the table as wide, brown eyes enshrined in dark amber stared up at him, and he ensured enough distance that his son could not mistake any threat as the little girl leaned closer.
"I want to conquer this!" She looked over as Lotor approached, peering over to see what she had pointed out.
"And why is that," he inquired gently.
"Umm," she withdrew her hand and tucked it under her chin in a manner she had seen her father do many times when regarding maps. Or documents. Or, really anything that didn't involve a battle. Allura had always been better with- "I like the snow." Her words interrupted his train of thought as she pointed out the snow-covered peaks.
"Very good," he praised, paying no mind as Zarkon stood up and stepped away from his war table; once pristine with maps of local and distant threats, potential resources and strategies, now turned into a child's playpen.
"It is?" Her eyes lit up at the praise.
"It's good to know what you want," he confirmed. "So. Do you want the snow that is there?"
"Can I have it?"
Pride swelled in Lotor's chest at the hope and desire that echoed out at him. She was still too young to go out on an actual campaign - something his nervous wife was going to hold him to to the very day she came of age, he was certain - but she was showing all the excitement for planning it well in advance.
"Of course, though it may melt once you bring it back here. It's too warm to stay here."
The young girl continued to consider her spoils of war.
"What about a big box?"
"A cold box?" A snowy eyebrow arched as she bobbed her head up and down. "You would only be able to play with it inside the box," he pointed out.
Zarkon couldn't contain the eyeroll as he pretended to look busy studying the maps hanging on the wall, his back studiously turned to his son and granddaughter.
Still.
Even he of all people had to acknowledge that an unexpected thread of conquest laced her veins, despite her maternal line's counter-inclination toward such activities.
He chanced a regarding glance over his shoulder toward the child. Pointed ears poked from beneath voluminous silver hair, the faintest touch of gold reflecting off the strands in just the right light. Despite the lineage, it was clear the child was Drule and proud; her cheekbones sturdy even in her youth against her mist-colored skin.
And yet - there.
The ceaseless, damnable haunting.
As the girl tilted her head in her grandfather's direction, the unusually rounded chocolate eyes glanced his way once more. Despite their customary place against a honeyed backdrop, her gaze was entirely foreign to the Drule, and Zarkon felt the bones in his body tighten every time she looked his way. Eyes he had only ever seen once before, but he had had the carnal joy to witness the life leave them as he thrust his blade.
And now they watched him. With curiosity, nonetheless, as if the man were taunting him from beyond the grave. Perhaps he was.
Damn you, wretched king - first your daughter to unseat me. Now you watch me.
The sound of Lotor's cough drew his senses back to the present just long enough to realize he was scowling at his granddaughter.
Damnable Arusian women, he thought dryly, turning back to his maps.
"There is a growing presence in the Eastern Front of the Crimson Quadrant," he offered after a moment passed.
"Oh?" Lotor's defensive posture straightened as his father resumed his role as war council. "Concern?"
"Not yet. Though a heavy hand might mitigate any issues in the future."
"I will discuss it with Allura," Lotor murmured, considering the option. "Father-" the clipped warning tone practically growled out of his throat at the sound of his father's laugh. "How dare-"
"No, no - How dare you, my son," Zarkon snapped back, his amusement evaporating into annoyance. "If you think her so fragile as to be troubled by my ridicule."
Lotor paused, stunned for a moment. His head cocked to the side as if he hadn't heard the old man clearly.
"…Did you just… complem-"
"Of course not, you damned idiot!"
Zarkon blundered past the shocked king and made his way out of the war room. A moment rolled by in silence before a gentle tug roused him from his stupor.
"…Are you alright, Father?"
Lotor blinked and glanced down to a very concerned daughter, staring up as him, fingers curled around his palm.
"I… I am," he affirmed, leaning over to scoop her up into his arms.
"Is grandfather mad?"
Difficult question - the codger was always angry about something. Justified or not was not important.
"I actually think he's beginning to warm up to your mother," he murmured, finding the statement bewildering as he spoke it. "But let's not tell her that, okay? Our secret."
Huge shout out to all the people who read fics. Who actually take the time out of their busy days to open a fic and read it
Before I started writing in earnest, I did not understand how much writing was going to eat into my fic reading time. We joke about having too many tabs open, but I have a different problem: the amount of tabs I have open on new fics is way smaller than it used to be. My ao3 wrapped would be a sad affair. Unless I’ve subscribed to an author or come across something on my dash, I basically don’t see it
Which has really driven home for me how much fandom cannot just be creators. You have to have people who want to read fic and meta discussions and joke posts. You have to have people who want to look at art and gifs. It has to be mutual.
Community thrives on flow. You have to have that movement of people sharing things with each other for a community to exist
i do NOT write for myself i write for the eleven year old girl walking circles on the playground making up stories in her head and muttering the dialogue out loud. i see you girl. that stick you found DOES look like a cool dagger.
i might have already talked about this before but it’s actually crazy that jogging gets treated as a default ‘getting into shape for the first time’ exercise ESPECIALLY if someone’s goal involves weight loss. people who are more than ~200lbs often need special gear and running techniques to avoid shin splints etc *even if all that weight is solid muscle*, and the likelihood of injury only goes up as strength to weight ratio decreases. someone who’s both heavy AND untrained is just going to be miserable for however long it takes their bones and connective tissue to adapt to the sudden increase in demand. usually this takes months, but it can take even longer under adverse conditions like, say, suddenly eating way less than normal. and all this for an activity that literally isn’t even fun unless you are a specific type of insane. there are so many low impact and actually enjoyable forms of cardio why are we slapshotting biomechanically disadvantaged novices into the david goggins torment dimension
could. could you maybe. list some of those 'low impact and enjoyable forms of cardio'? this is not sarcasm, this is a genuine request, every form of exercise I have tried recently has put me in the torment dimension. thank you and I love you
yeah sure! there’s a lot of good suggestions in the notes, i’m probably missing a few
if you have access to a gym/appropriate facilities:
a LOT of people in the notes vouching for swimming, and it makes sense. not only is it basically zero impact on any of your joints, it engages just about every muscle in your body and it’s actually easier to stay afloat the higher your bodyfat%
stationary bike/elliptical: works for some better than others, but definitely far lower impact than running, usually has adjustable difficulty, and you can watch youtube videos or play games on your phone to pass the time
non stationary bike: the benefits of a stationary bike plus the ability to travel to a location
weight lifting: if you’re a total beginner to exercise this genuinely might be a better place to start than any designated ‘cardio’ activity, it Will get your heart rate up and build strength to do higher impact stuff with less risk, but designing a routine can feel overwhelming without help from a trainer/more experienced lifter
classes: yoga, pilates, dance, kickboxing, spin class, water aerobics, etc. as long as you can find one that accommodates your current fitness level and is a reasonably friendly environment
rowing: i actually know relatively little about rowing, but this has come up in the notes several times and people seem to like it. def seems like a good overall workout with little to no jarring impact
roller derby: definitely less of a Safe Beginner Activity and more ‘form of cardio you can do if you are on the fit side but still hate running’ but has come up in the notes multiple times specifically as a sport where a range of body types can do well
minimal equipment alternatives:
walking: if you have the resources to jog you have the resources to walk, and it really is a good form of exercise that also puts less strain on your joints
dance tutorials: seen a few people recommending these, there’s apparently a huge variety on youtube and you can take things at whatever pace works for you
yoga: also beginner friendly classes on youtube, good way to build up mobility and bodyweight strength
someone in the notes recommended hula hooping?? which actually sounds kind of genius especially if you don’t have a lot of gear or space. also iirc you can buy different weights of hula hoops for reasonably cheap so there’s a way to up the intensity over time
this seems like a decent resource at first glance and i think i saw more than one rec for them
one important thing to remember for anyone out there who’s significantly out of shape and feels overwhelmed is that when it comes to fitness you have one enormous advantage: it is currently EXTREMELY EASY for you to get exercise
do you 🫵 get winded walking up a flight of stairs? is curling a 5lb dumbbell 10 times difficult for you? can you barely do a single knee push-up? well i have great news: doing all of those things twice still probably takes less you less than 10 minutes. which means you can do a genuinely worthwhile daily workout in less than ten minutes. and it’ll probably get easy fast, and then you can find a heavier dumbbell
Adding a note as a hula hooper myself - the hula hoops you buy in a Walmart or a toy store are for children. They are often extremely light weight and very small and as such will actually be more difficult for an adult to get the rhythm and keep it going. You'll basically be having to turbo dryhump the air at a speed that might break the sound barrier to succeed.
The hoops that are designed for fitness with the adjustable weights and sizes are designed with adults in mind and can be an easy thing to access off the cuff. Unfortunately, since I used to do professional hooping, I had mine made locally by someone who does this, so I'm not super up on where you can find adult hoops easily these days otherwise.
A cursory look at Amazon shows decent adult sized ones, but I can't vouch for any quality on that. If you want to talk to someone about hoops to try and figure out what the heck you want (and maybe get one in your favorite color set!) search your local area for people who do any kind of circus/adjacent work such as fire dancing, fire breathing, hula hooping, acrobatics, circus arts, LED performances, gymnastics etc - even if they don't do hooping themselves, often times these folks are on other folks' radars and may be able to get you a local recommendation.
Getting a hoop sized to you is WAY easier than a kid's one; and someone who uses them regularly can talk to you about what you might like in a hoop! Smaller hoops will go faster and once going be easier to stay up (provided its not a child's hoop going at turbo machfuck), but larger and/or heavier hoops will be slower and will have more of a belly-dance vibe to them (this is my personal preference.)
All this to say - if you are in the "I tried hooping once but it was way too hard to make it work with my Walmart hoop, it's just not for me, unfortunately" it might still be for you! You just had a crappy hoop that is very difficult for adults to make work! It wasn't your fault! You got this! ✨
HEADS UP: The U.S. Postal Service quietly changed how postmarks work.
Mail is no longer automatically postmarked with the date you drop it off. Instead, the postmark now reflects the date it’s first processed by an automated sorting facility — which can be days later.
If you mail something right at a deadline, the official postmark could be later than your drop-off date and may be considered late.
If mailing date matters to you, go inside the post office and request a hand-stamped postmark.
A new USPS postmark rule may cause property tax payments to look late even when people mail them on time. The change can create surprise lat
every day I learn bot comments on ao3 are stooping lower and lower
anyway if you get a comment like this, chances are that they are bot and their goal is to do whatever it takes to get you to delete your work, most certainly (from what I’ve heard) it’s because they want to “safely” steal your work, use it to train their ai without you being able to rightfully claim ownership of your work since “there’s no proof that the work was stolen/was posted elsewhere first by you” because the original source has already been deleted.
THEY ARE ALL BOTS. at first it was “ao3 is deleting fics and your entire account will be affected unless you delete the fics yourself” then it was “this work contains contents that are illegal and they have already reported you and your fic to the police” (yes, that’s how desperate these bots are), and now it’s this.
report their comments to ao3 for spam—in this case, specifically, I think you may be able to report them for harassment too—and don’t pay attention to them, most importantly don’t delete your works, don’t feel discouraged by their comments. remember that they are bots and they mass comment something like this on people’s works at random to get people to delete their works. (or even if they’re not bot, they are still pathetic bullies who don’t deserve your time or attention.)
MORE ABOUT BOTS AND SCAMS PLAGUING AO3’S COMMENTS SECTION HERE
