ptw30

Fanfiction and Frappuccinos | Call me Dev | Where I sob about Voltron | About Me & FAQ | VLD Stories & Prompts |

[ptw30]

Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event

Figured I’d pop back into Tumblr for a bit to give you my two and a half cents about the current Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event. 

TL;DR: Totally a lot of fun. Loved the game…until parts of Seasons 3-8 dribbled into it. 

Full rundown:

As you know, I’m all in for anything that has Black Paladin Shiro. So when I noticed the Voltron Event on Funko Pop! Blitz and saw Shiro from Seasons 1 and 2 was on it, I immediately downloaded the game. 

I was not disappointed. 

The game is a Bejeweled type game, which I’ve played on many a roadtrip. You get Pidge automatically, and then it’s the luck of the draw for who else you get - except Shiro. 

Despite the fact that we only have Shiro for half the VLD series, of course we have to fight for him in this game, too. But I was able to put that behind me (though I was sad I couldn’t immediately play as my favorite character) because I assume he was set the exclusive reward to the event due to his popularity. 

After about $30 in coins, I was able to get Pidge, Keith, and two Lances. I’ve played them all, and Lance was by far the most fun (before Shiro)! 

Once Shiro shows up - about six hours of playing time for me - the game was almost perfect! I got see Shiro kick ass in Season 1-2 style, and it really brought back all the wonderful feelings I had for the early VLD seasons. 

I really cannot express just how much fun this game is to play.

There’s a lot of hoops to learn, but once you get a handle on it, you fly through the levels. To get Shiro - you need to collect a lot of quintessence tubes, and to get more tubes, you can use coins to help you “buy” more characters or some enhancements in the game, like more time.

One of the best parts (and worst parts) is that you get to collect items that mean something to each character. Helmets, lions, bayards, including…

Shiro having the Black Baryard. YESSSS! I have been waiting more than five years for this! 

The only part I had real issue with the game was, also, those paladin items. I was playing the second star items for Lance (before getting Shiro), and Season 3-8 content started to enter the game. On top of Lance’s Blue Bayard, one also collects his Red Bayard Sword - and that’s where I almost turned it off.

But I hadn’t won Shiro yet, so I continued. (And it really is so much fun playing as Shiro!)

For Kuron fans, Shiro’s power is…well, making clones. 

I didn’t get that little tidbit originally, which…I’m not sure if I like that or not. Considering how the Clone dies and how the clones were never explained…it just drudged up a lot of negative emotions about that part of the series. 

Overall - I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the game, especially once Shiro joined it, but I think I’ll stop before Shiro loses his lion and the game makes you collect Atlases for him or Black Lions for Keith. I had to watch my favorite character be cast aside once.

I really don’t want to go through that again.  

[ptw30]

SO I DIDN’T STOP SINCE HOPE AND ALL THAT AND IT WAS ALL BLACK PALADIN SHIRO!

[ptw30]

Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event

Figured I’d pop back into Tumblr for a bit to give you my two and a half cents about the current Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event. 

TL;DR: Totally a lot of fun. Loved the game…until parts of Seasons 3-8 dribbled into it. 

Full rundown:

As you know, I’m all in for anything that has Black Paladin Shiro. So when I noticed the Voltron Event on Funko Pop! Blitz and saw Shiro from Seasons 1 and 2 was on it, I immediately downloaded the game. 

I was not disappointed. 

The game is a Bejeweled type game, which I’ve played on many a roadtrip. You get Pidge automatically, and then it’s the luck of the draw for who else you get - except Shiro. 

Despite the fact that we only have Shiro for half the VLD series, of course we have to fight for him in this game, too. But I was able to put that behind me (though I was sad I couldn’t immediately play as my favorite character) because I assume he was set the exclusive reward to the event due to his popularity. 

After about $30 in coins, I was able to get Pidge, Keith, and two Lances. I’ve played them all, and Lance was by far the most fun (before Shiro)! 

Once Shiro shows up - about six hours of playing time for me - the game was almost perfect! I got see Shiro kick ass in Season 1-2 style, and it really brought back all the wonderful feelings I had for the early VLD seasons. 

I really cannot express just how much fun this game is to play.

There’s a lot of hoops to learn, but once you get a handle on it, you fly through the levels. To get Shiro - you need to collect a lot of quintessence tubes, and to get more tubes, you can use coins to help you “buy” more characters or some enhancements in the game, like more time.

One of the best parts (and worst parts) is that you get to collect items that mean something to each character. Helmets, lions, bayards, including…

Shiro having the Black Baryard. YESSSS! I have been waiting more than five years for this! 

The only part I had real issue with the game was, also, those paladin items. I was playing the second star items for Lance (before getting Shiro), and Season 3-8 content started to enter the game. On top of Lance’s Blue Bayard, one also collects his Red Bayard Sword - and that’s where I almost turned it off.

But I hadn’t won Shiro yet, so I continued. (And it really is so much fun playing as Shiro!)

For Kuron fans, Shiro’s power is…well, making clones. 

I didn’t get that little tidbit originally, which…I’m not sure if I like that or not. Considering how the Clone dies and how the clones were never explained…it just drudged up a lot of negative emotions about that part of the series. 

Overall - I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the game, especially once Shiro joined it, but I think I’ll stop before Shiro loses his lion and the game makes you collect Atlases for him or Black Lions for Keith. I had to watch my favorite character be cast aside once.

I really don’t want to go through that again.  

[ptw30]

Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event

Figured I’d pop back into Tumblr for a bit to give you my two and a half cents about the current Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event. 

TL;DR: Totally a lot of fun. Loved the game...until parts of Seasons 3-8 dribbled into it. 

Full rundown:

As you know, I’m all in for anything that has Black Paladin Shiro. So when I noticed the Voltron Event on Funko Pop! Blitz and saw Shiro from Seasons 1 and 2 was on it, I immediately downloaded the game. 

I was not disappointed. 

The game is a Bejeweled type game, which I’ve played on many a roadtrip. You get Pidge automatically, and then it’s the luck of the draw for who else you get - except Shiro. 

Despite the fact that we only have Shiro for half the VLD series, of course we have to fight for him in this game, too. But I was able to put that behind me (though I was sad I couldn’t immediately play as my favorite character) because I assume he was set the exclusive reward to the event due to his popularity. 

After about $30 in coins, I was able to get Pidge, Keith, and two Lances. I’ve played them all, and Lance was by far the most fun (before Shiro)! 

Once Shiro shows up - about six hours of playing time for me - the game was almost perfect! I got see Shiro kick ass in Season 1-2 style, and it really brought back all the wonderful feelings I had for the early VLD seasons. 

I really cannot express just how much fun this game is to play.

There’s a lot of hoops to learn, but once you get a handle on it, you fly through the levels. To get Shiro - you need to collect a lot of quintessence tubes, and to get more tubes, you can use coins to help you “buy” more characters or some enhancements in the game, like more time.

One of the best parts (and worst parts) is that you get to collect items that mean something to each character. Helmets, lions, bayards, including...

Shiro having the Black Baryard. YESSSS! I have been waiting more than five years for this! 

The only part I had real issue with the game was, also, those paladin items. I was playing the second star items for Lance (before getting Shiro), and Season 3-8 content started to enter the game. On top of Lance’s Blue Bayard, one also collects his Red Bayard Sword - and that’s where I almost turned it off.

But I hadn’t won Shiro yet, so I continued. (And it really is so much fun playing as Shiro!)

For Kuron fans, Shiro’s power is...well, making clones. 

I didn’t get that little tidbit originally, which...I’m not sure if I like that or not. Considering how the Clone dies and how the clones were never explained...it just drudged up a lot of negative emotions about that part of the series. 

Overall - I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the game, especially once Shiro joined it, but I think I’ll stop before Shiro loses his lion and the game makes you collect Atlases for him or Black Lions for Keith. I had to watch my favorite character be cast aside once.

I really don’t want to go through that again.  

[ptw30]

I would have left that post, but tomorrow is my mom’s birthday. I don’t want the hassle.

[blackqueerblog]

Rutger Bregman is the Dutch historian who became a global sensation after an appearance at this year’s Davos summit, where he accused attending billionaires of ignoring taxation. Now he has created another viral moment in an extremely uncomfortable interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson.

Bregman so riled Carson with his accusations of hypocrisy, critiques of Fox’s conservative agenda, and attacks on Donald Trump that the TV host called him a “moron” and angrily told him: “Go fuck yourself.”

Source

Lot more people around the world are going to watch this now than if it actually aired. Speaking truth to power is the best viral content!

[redarmyscreaming]

Always re-post this.

[uschi-the-listener]

This didn’t air so I reblogged to make sure people got to see it anyway.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[turboalienjesus-deactivated2021]

Spread this like wildfire

[ptw30]

Getting objective about your data - or SEO in the VLD fandom

So I’ve been tagged on a few things recently, though I thought I’d address it.

If you’re looking to understand what your followers like or brought in terms of merch or just trying to get a sense of control in the world - go ahead and do a fan survey. More power to you!  

The problem is - you’re not getting any clean data. You’re getting information from those who follow you, and these people are biased. You’re not getting an overview of any meaningful data, and trust me. My sister works for a large, global conglomerate in marketing and sales, and I was a content marketer at a large global company that literally made its business in data. 

So either big companies have this info or they employ major corporations - Kelton, Deloitte etc. - who get them this data. And this on top of focus groups and other market research that companies as big as say, DreamWorks, does (or should do). 

So no worries! Major companies know this data already. 

If you want meaningful data - you need to get an objective view. But depending upon your end result, there are other ways to measure how popular certain characters and/or the demand for certain answers. 

Like SEO keywords. 

I’m a content marketer/strategist, so it’s my job to research keywords to find popular words and then incorporate those words into content, like blogs and web pages. I use SEMrush as my favorite SEO keyword platform, which is one of the most robust with more than 16 billion keywords.  

So I sought organic research to see what you get when you type in Voltron. Read on to find out what I found. 

Okay, this is daunting spreadsheet, so I’ll break it down for you. 

Circled below are the keywords that people type into Google that are associated with “voltron.”

Next, we have the average searches per month (this is one set of numbers you want to focus on). 

Then we have the number of web pages where these words are located. 

Finally, SEMrush focuses on the cluster of words that are associated from Voltron. Look below at Shiro. Yes, fans actually type “shire” many times, not Shiro. *snort* Nice job, auto-correct. 

Okay, so what does all this mean, Dev?

Simply put - Shiro gets 12,100 searches per month (on average). Keith gets 22,200 and Lance gets 18,100. Now, there are a few important item to note here before you declare your favorite the winner of search results (or you throw the computer because your favorite just isn’t a “fan” favorite). 

“Voltron” doesn’t just refer to VLD. It refers to all Voltron searches, so that means - Keith, Lance, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk are all getting hits from searches on DotU and VLD. Shiro? Only VLD (unless people are looking for Sven’s name and think it’s Shiro).  

That also accounts to why Lance, Keith, and other characters have so many more web pages with “[paladin name] voltron” inside - because they have more than 30 years of content. But don’t worry. When we click on that side “Shire” button - 

Boom. You find lots more web pages dedicated to my favorite paladin. 

(In content marketing, all those little numbers I didn’t circle mean stuff - like how hard it is to rank, the cost per click on paid ads, and the competition on a word. The job of the content strategist is to help find the keywords that have the highest search volume with a good number of search results - without drowning in a lot of competition.) 

Now, I did a quick search on DreamWorks.com to see what they rank, and that’s a whole ‘nother round of information. But it’s not really worth going into at the moment because a) the keywords they rank on are mostly their movies and b) fans generally create communities. Thus, you’re more likely to listen to other fans about marketing messages than you are the official web page of a channel/producer. 

(But in relation to DWTV - TrollHunters is actually the highest draw of DW’s TV shows, for obvious reasons, followed closely by She-Ra.) 

TL;DR: Shiro, a new character in VLD, was able to get more than 12,100 searches in a month, compared to characters who have been around for literally three decades. Plus - his action figure was seemingly very in demand, since it’s literally one of the biggest searches for that character. 

And before anyone asks, here’s Lotor’s numbers - 

[ptw30]

So Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion is back in development, they came back just a week ago with a major update - likely were back in production for at least a few months based on the update. It's odd they are paying money so suddenly to bring back a game that was dead on arrival not even a year after they pulled the plug.

Yeah. Shiro was also part of the Pride post for DreamWorks, after Voltron had been absent from them for months.

JDS issued an apology two days before the ITTSV2 release date was announced. (It wasn’t a heart-filled apology of someone who suddenly saw his storylines were harmful. It was someone who knew his shit was going to be called out in a year and a half. Oh, and it only happened after DW’s BLM’s post was inandated with Allura love and call-outs after her tragic ending. )

And now this (though the makers of Cubes aren’t pushing the release. Their twitter feed hasn’t been updated since last September - but I did see the game update on the 20th. Not sure why you would release something but not push it...?)

Unfortunately The Voltron Store is liking tweets bashing masks on Facebook. (Search #VoltronIsCancelled on Twitter.) I would be apt not to believe it - since they have masks on their website for sale - but since VLD was a platform for conservative views...

Let’s just say I’m not too hopeful on anything good coming from Voltron.

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Employment: Within and Without the Castle Walls

No I am not repeating myself. Let us move beyond the keep of the castle and to the outer region of the castle.

Blacksmith

The blacksmith was the heart of the castle or the town. Blacksmiths were the most important of the trades which is why there are so many people with the surname Smith. The blacksmith worked at the forge and would have had a team of people working for him. The blacksmith would be paid a high sum by the castle's lord especially if he was skilled at making weapons or armour. A specialist armourer would have been extremely expensive to employ. The blacksmith could be employed within the castle walls or outside them. He would likely be provided with a house near the forge or sleep in a chamber off from it with his apprentices.

Porter

The porters were the gatekeepers of a Castle. You would not be able to go through the gates and the main entrances to a castle. The porter was responsible for making sure nobody came or went from the castle without proof of leave. The porter would be fed and housed with the castle barracks.

Groom

The groom or the stableboy/hand is employed at the stables to care for the horses. They would muck out the stalls, care for the horses, feed the horses, brush the horses, keep the tack clean and ready the horses when needed. The grooms would have to have some knowledge of the horses and likely a strong sense of smell. Grooms often slept in the stables or would have lived in the town as a tenant.

Bailiff

The bailiff was hired by the lord to act as his representative. The bailiff would act as an overseer, making sure the lands were in order. He would also be collect fines and rents from the tenants. The bailiff was nearly always somebody brought from another town or place from the kingdom so he could be impartial and fair. The bailiff would have been provided a small cottage near the castle if he had a family or a small chamber within the castle walls.

Watchmen

The watchman or guard was responsible for security in the castle. They were tasked to patrol the battlements and corridors of the castle, including guarding the most important places of the castle such as the treasury room. The watchman would be kitted out on the Lord's coin, trained as part of the garrison and wear the livery of the lord. Watchmen would have slept in the barracks, been fed by the castle kitchens and would have had to report to their captain or the Constable for orders.

Gamekeeper

The gamekeeper was hired to keep an eye on the populations of the animals on the Lord's lands and ensure that the wildlife was protected and keep safe from poachers (so the lord and his hunstmen could kill them themselves). They would likely have a cabin in the parkland and have certain privileges such as being able to take game for himself. He would have to have knowledge of animals.

[nomadicism]

For fuck’s sake @netflix , y’all really don’t know what to do with VLD.

The Dragon Prince makes sense, but why would you place Voltron: Legendary Defender in the LGBTQ Stories for Families sliding preview banner, and not She-Ra: Princesses of Power or Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts?

Did y’all even watch VLD? Not family friendly, and saves it’s slivers of gay till the end of 8 seasons. I know the bar is low, but let’s keep it off the floor!

LGBTQ as a media genre is quite specific and topical, and where LGBTQ characters are front and center. That is not VLD at all.

This would be laughable if it weren’t so out of touch.

[ptw30]

Come on, @netflix. You should also know that all the queer characters in this story were also killed, and if not for fan outcry, both Shiro (the only queer main character) and another queer character would have remained dead.

[ptw30]

No sure if u been asked this or if IV asked I this be for but if it had some how turned out Keith was alten an could use magic like allura do that no that would have been bad for the story or maybe change things for the better

It matters on the execution of the story, really. It depends upon the reason and Keith’s motivation to use (or not use) his powers. 

Personally? We see Keith is quintessence sensitive in the story to no effect, really. And I like my stories to make sense. 

To be honest - I’m beginning to forget things from the story, the longer I go without watching it, and I don’t have any desire to watch it again. What I can say is - Keith being part of Altean (and Lotor’s brother, born in the rift/or having been with Honerva in the rift) would have made a ton of sense. 

[ptw30]

I just joined tumblr and I saw one of your posts about sheith fic recs! I dunno if you read gen fics but there's a really good gen fic with good sheith vibes on ao3 called the lost red paladin but I forgot whose the author :/ I love their whole gen fic series because of the sheith vibes but the lost red paladin is by far the best imo Hope you like it too!

Hiya! Thanks for the rec! I’ll look it up! 

(Sorry for the delay!)

[marie1une]

Two weeks later 💕 I hope you’ll enjoy it !!

[such-justice-wow]

you’re 22 fucking years old and you still use xD? are you kidding? the more i learn about you the more secondhand embarassment i get from you.

Check out this pathetic loser lmao too weak in their own self to embrace using emoticons and too cowardly to say that off anon

[moi-ennepe-deactivated20251213]

can't you handle xD's chaotic energy??

[moi-ennepe-deactivated20251213]

@janiedean XD NATION RISE UP

[octopuscato]

38 years old, xD forever!

[fiction-is-not-reality2]

You will take xD and all the other emoticons from its generation from my cold dead hands, thank you

[ptw30]

That is literally all I use. It is my emotional support emoticon. 

[ptw30]

Hi :) Is there any chance to read your Finder fics? I've been doing some rereading of VF stories and stumbled upon your purged livejournal.

OMG! Thank you so much for wanting to read them! 

Sorry. I freaked out and deleted my LJ right after I heard the servers went to Russia. I would say I’m looking to get my stories up again soon, but I’ve been saying that for a few years. Unfortunately, I tend to edit when posting, so all the stories I have saved aren’t edited. So I probably won’t get to posting them again or at least, not anytime soon. 

If you’ve never read my work in Finder, then I suggest reading @eprime‘s stories. You’ll never want for mine. 

Thanks! 

[dragonsareawesome123]

Looks like we’re going to be on hiatus for a while

It’ll be well worth the wait though

[ptw30]

This. Always willing and happy to wait for a good show and story.

[sol1056]

Romance is so hard to write! How do you start with a concept and continue with it?

Romance is probably the hardest thing to write. No, it is the hardest thing to write. A good romance means you have to convince the reader that these two characters can be attracted to each other, enough to risk all kinds of vulnerability, and would go through whatever trials to end up together. We each have such intensely personal understandings of what would make us find someone to love (or to accept that someone else loves us). Creating characters, in a complete story, in a way that the sum of the whole resonates with thousands (or millions) of readers is just... I don’t know, man, that’s an alchemy far above my grade.

I try to always keep romance as the sub-plot -- or at least put it running alongside some other conflict -- because if life has taught me nothing else, I know my personal concepts of romance are left of center, at best.

But that said, there’s a really good essay about how a fictional pairing is most successful when the two characters share a goal. I want to say it was @echodrops who wrote it? Grrr, does anyone else remember the essay? I know it was long and compared/contrasted a number of pairings to explain what made some resonate more with audiences, where others failed.

If anyone else can remember that essay, drop it in the comments? In the meantime, the best person I know to ask about writing romance (as the main plot line) is probably @ptw30, who specializes in that genre far more than I do.

[ptw30]

I want to argue that romance is always a subplot. In “romantic comedy,” romance is the adjective, not the noun - but I’m a bit too tired nowadays. 

The one thing I would highlight when it comes to romance is - follow the formula. There are times to break formula, but most romance readers/viewers/consumers watch because we want our favorite characters together. We’re rooting for it, and if they don’t - well, that’s disappointing. (Re: Barney and Robin in HIMYM. I would also like to mention - three times and still HIMYF isn’t being made. That’s how disappointed and VOCAL the fans of that show were.)

“Fine! So what’s the structure?” you ask. 

This post - Writing the Romance Novel: The Seven Story Beats - does an amazing job of giving you the seven steps in every romantic story. (I also recommend this post - Get Structuring Your Steps in Seven Steps - which goes into more detailing about plot.)

The steps are: 

 The Set-up/Hook (two opposing people seemingly who would never get together - do)

The Meet-Cute/Inciting Incident

The Turning Point

The Midpoint/Raising the Stakes

Swivel: Second Turning Point

The Dark Moment/Crisis

Joyful Defeat/Resolution (end on a high note)

Alright. Rather than telling, let’s show. 

Wimbledon (the movie)  

He’s in his last tournament and looking toward retirement; she’s a rising star who doesn’t quite have her act together. 

He gets the key to the wrong hotel room - her hotel room. She’s in the shower. It’s attraction at first sight. 

She yells for him in a match; he doesn’t want her to see him lose; he wins.

Her ex calls her a bad name; he punches ex. They get together. 

He has a chance to win and goes to see her, even though she’s trying to focus on her game and doesn’t want the distraction. 

She loses and blames him. They break up. 

He apologizes on live TV; she runs to him. They get back together, and she watches his game. He loses, but she’s there - so it’s all okay. 

...just kidding! Of course he wins. This is a romantic comedy! See? I broke the formula, and it made you sad for a second. (Writers have POWER!)

“She,” of course, gets to win Wimbledon twice, according to the end narration. (Why? Because he’s now her calming force - and she’s his.)

TL;DR: Come up with a concept in which two people have opposing viewpoints/situations/relationship values - throw them together, follow the formula, and you’ll have a good story. 

Good luck! 

[ptw30]

Anyone have any Sheith story recommendations? My hand hurts, so I can’t work on mine. :(

[usbib0810]

I'll Tattoo (My Soul On You) by Kend1L

Rewrite the Stars by nihonlove

A Promise is a Commitment by one_proud_hufflepuff

Saudade by Xyriath

Take Me With You by stellarparallax

love in idleness by peggycarterisacat

take me to the pilot by AnnaofAza

I have more if you want. Feel free to ask :)

[ptw30]

Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to diving into these!