#superheroladies

[codenamesazanka]

@superheroladies thank you so much for your amazing comment!!! It was perfect.

[voltronfandomhag]

The Arabic dub for OG Voltron used the name Cargill for Lotor! That’s mad interesting

Really? That’s fascinating! Thank you for sharing that bit of information. 

For anyone who doesn’t know, Lotor was originally named Kargil in the English version of DoTU. It was changed because the show’s producer, Ted Koplar, didn’t like it.

[nomadicism]

I struggled to put it into words too. But from way back when we first saw Lotor his design appealed to me since he’s a gender inverted lady of war. Long flowing hair in battle and the armor skirt and even thigh high boots. The initial pitch with Lotor seemed to have made gender be a huge part of his character since all the ladies would have been under his command before that got scrapped in order to not have Zarkon be sexist. I would even dare bet that in the DnD episode Lotor will be the maiden

Lotor as the maiden in a DnD episode would be hilarious.

I’ve generally read his character design as act of defiance on his part—a decidedly Altean-themed look combined with elements of Galran scientist uniforms—it’s his “fuck you dad I’ll grow my hair out if I want to,” while also doubling as subverting tropes applied to female characters. He definitely has shades of “dark action girl who really needed the heroine to be her friend” going on.

At the risk of a rambly-word-vomit: there are three things that have always broke a Voltron sequel/alt-continuity/reboot/etc for me: (1) art style; (2) the treatment of Allura; and (3) Lotor’s characterization. (I’ve included some in-line links to my other Lotor meta posts that I think are relevant).

When it was announced that DreamWorks was going to create a new Voltron series, I was incredibly pessimistic because all prior attempts were broken for me based on those three criteria. Excluding the Robotech/Voltron crossover and Vol 2 of the DDP comics, the characterization of Lotor just could never rise beyond the limitations of Voltron DotU (and those two continuities still had issues).

I love Sincline as a villain within the setting of Golion because he’s completely appropriate for the type of story that Golion was telling. I can’t blame the non-Japanese speaking DotU writers who were given raw Golion tapes (while expecting Daltanius tapes instead) and no script to work from for giving us “Problematic 80s Lotor”, and not being able to wipe out the misogyny towards Allura that was baked into the animation—however—successive series/continuities had no damn excuse for not trying to do better by both of those characters.

I have a complex about both Lotor and Allura and how—as much as I love 80s Voltron and can laugh at it now—that show really affected me as a child and gave me a high bar for any form of fiction that portrayed similar characters, for as you so eloquently put it—“suffering through” the kinds of scenes that continuously happen to female characters—have their start in 80s Voltron for me and I had to stop watching/reading a lot of fiction for a while, as I waited for writers to catch the fuck up with the times. So that’s the baggage that I sat down with when VLD first dropped.

The bar has been low for so long, that I was overjoyed that there was no Lotor at the start of VLD, and after the first few episodes I was so pleased with how so many content/context problems that have plagued the franchise were being inverted, fixed, played with, and solved, that I was excited but anxious to see what they would do with Lotor. It was clear that we weren’t going to get another iteration of Stalker-Space-Barbarian-Lotor, but I was anxious that his characterization wouldn’t break the show for me as it has in the past.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled with the way both Lotor and Allura are written and designed and I can even enjoy a Lotura ship which I certainly never did before. I’m ship agnostic, but always down for ships that subvert tropes or do something otherwise unexpected in a story.

But, like you said, “Lady of War Lotor”: I’m loving it.

That is such a great lens with which to view this iteration of his character. The scene in Oriande really gave me Magical Girl show vibes (Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Wedding Peach, Revolutionary Girl Utena, etc) but more on the Utena side of things for the gender inversion. I’m totally down for Allura playing the protector role (e.g. princess saves the prince), because in any other concept of Allura x Lotor, it would be assumed that he would be her Knight Protector, but in that scene, she’s the one doing the protecting, and he’s the “smart nerdy plot device” that is Allura’s vehicle for her story fulfillment and not the other way around like it usually is.

That was the conclusion that I came to in my answer to @blackmoonbabe ’s question about lotura, when thinking about how the writers handled their dynamic. I still think that we might see this revisited on the flip side, with Lotor doing something to protect Allura, but it’s better that she’s the one who gets that scene first. I don’t think that we’ve seen the last of magical girl show moments with those two.

And that slave comment from Sendak was really interesting because it reveals another layer of how Lotor has been viewed by other Galra, especially those with power. In a way, that’s always been a part of his characterization in prior continuities, in that Zarkon views him as a “tool of the empire” or “instrument of evil.” We’ve just never seen that objectification taken to this level before.

You really nailed that comparison to how that’s never a comment directed at a man by another man. Even with Lotor’s feminine qualities, it’s not a stretch to assume both Sendak and Lotor are coded as cis-gender and straight.

Additionally, Zarkon’s line in Blacksite, referring to Lotor as “my wayward son” really struck me as something that a strict, 1950s father in-denial would say about their not-quite-closeted gay son. I wonder if that was an intentional connection to make—especially with Zarkon’s “my darkest shame” comment in Blood Duel (which can also be read in multiple ways).

To me it feels like Lotor is a byronic archetype that has these gender trope inversions applied (which works very well for byronic archetypes), I’m not sure if he’s meant as a faux action girl, but I can see where that’s coming from.

All iterations of Lotor usually end up having predictable paths to failure based on his obsessions and over-confidence, and that’s mostly how I viewed the times where he’s come up short. His losses definitely makes for a better story because if he won all the time (and he does have wins) then there wouldn’t be any challenge. A character can be competent and still come up short, and in the past this was usually only seen with female characters and some male villains.

The writers still pull from prior continuities (not just DotU), and core concepts behind Lotor’s character remain, but VLD Lotor is a really fresh take on it, and those gender trope inversions you’ve identified are a key part of that.

[ace-pidge]

@superheroladies replied to your post “@superheroladies replied to your post “Tiny salt: I wish people...”

If there’s one person fandom should worry about it’s kolivan. If he really is Krolias father he might die so that she can lead the blade. Voltron has a thing for killing -and nearly for Sam- fathers, not mothers. People need to have faith in voltron and the team behind it. The fact that Haggar is now Lotor’s mother and a respected right hand of Zarkon proves that. She could have been fridged or a slave like previous incarnations but the show said no to that bs.

eastofthemoon replied to your post “@superheroladies replied to your post “Tiny salt: I wish people...”

The fact that the show runners decided to make Captain Olia, a mother character and to mention it in an interview so it was know, says to me they enjoy mother characters and Krolia will likely stick around for the long run. *Cough* If Kolivan dies, Krolia can run the blades *cough*

As much as I hate the idea of ANYONE in the main cast dying, I do agree I see Kolivan sacrificing himself and Krolia taking over the Blade as a more likely outcome than Krolia dying/sacrificing herself. Before now there was no named Blade member “important” enough that they could take over the organization if Kolivan died--Thace, Antok and Ulaz were already dead--so Kolivan had plot armour. With Krolia added to the story he no longer has that narrative protection, and given the high mortality rate of Blade members, well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Now how about Kolivan sacrificing himself FOR Krolia...

[hyena-frog]

I feel personally attacked by your Sincline fight is Pokemon the first movie gifset. How dare you

You can’t hide from the truth forever. Wake up sheeple!

(seriously tho I am absolutely delighted to receive this ask haha 😄)

[saltwife]

superheroladies replied to your post “eatyourgrapes replied to your post “i was going through your salt...”

As for Zarkon, I think both she and Lotor kinda saw that he was no longer the man they knew. A hollow shell. The scene with Zarkon back on the throne and Haggar bowing to him signify that there is a distance now and what was left of his humanity is gone.

Yeah, I do think she saw that; and it’s possible she armed Lotor as a mercy killing, but either way you’d think she’d have some reaction to his actual final death like Lotor did. So did she not, or did we just not see it? Is that just part of her fractured identity atm?

[blacklionshiro-backup]

superheroladies replied to your photo “@chibiarmygeneral @superheroladies Yup, you’re both correct! I’m both...”

I also realized. The second act has given us no Robeasts. It was more Galra politics and power struggles and creating an alliance. I miss the robot fights frankly I hope Haggar gets back to making giant monsters.

Honestly big mood. I love the robeasts and how crazy and dangerous they are. I think the last one we saw was in 2x3 during the Ulaz episode and that was so long ago.

I think I am spoiled by VF having robeasts every five seconds, but I miss them a great deal in VLD.

[d-cockroach-blog]

I want your HCs about the generals!

YES so this is gonna be long.

Ezor

- Comes from a large, but very poor family

- Her father was galra, and he loved his wife and kids very much and was a good dad and husband. Alas, he was a low-ranking soldier in the empire and died in battle, leaving his wife and ten kids behind.

- Ezor herself is a middle child, but often acted as the older one because her eldest siblings were not supportive and left the home when they came of age and never came back. Ezor is very bitter towards them.

- Often had to take odd jobs to support her family, mainly in retail and entertainment (where she honed her skills as a gymnast). These jobs (and pressure from being a good older sister) forced her to put on a “mask” of positivism and hide her actual feelings.

- After a number of years in this system she met Lotor who offered her a job as one of his generals after seeing her preform. She initially declined as she didn’t want to abandon her family like her older siblings while also harboring resentment towards the empire for her father’s death.

- Lotor eventually proved himself to be honest and she joined the generals after talking it over with her mother and younger siblings.

- Ezor makes a habit to this day of sending money home and face-timing her family when she has the time.

- Her non-galra species can reproduce  sexually and asexually, so one of Ezor’s younger sisters is actually am asexual clone of their mother. Because the sister a product of asexual reproduction, she grew up faster than Ezor and looks older than her.

- Said sister has clone daughters of her own and Ezor loves her nieces very much and sends them presents everytime Lotor’s squad stops at a new place.

- Ezor herself cannot reproduce asexually because of her galra genes, (but she doesn’t mind at all, she’s not ready for kids).

- When Ezor first joined Lotor’s squad she didn’t tell the other generals that she could turn invisible (Lotor knew because he saw her performance) and often played tricks on them (like moving their stuff, stealing little things like their toothbrush). Zethrid never figured it out until Lotor made a plan that required Ezor to spy and use her invisibility powers. You can image Zethrid’s rage.

Narti

- Her blindness is congenital. In fact, her non-galra species naturally don’t have eyes and communicate through telepathy.

- The other generals and Lotor don’t know much about her past, or even her age for that matter.

- She was an experiment at one point, and was infused with quintessence that turned her telepathy from simple communication to mind-control abilities.

- She met Lotor when he went to “visit” the lab in question. He originally wanted to steal some of the information they’ve gathered there. He learned of her powers and asked if she wanted to join to which she agreed.

-  Her tail is strong enough to pick up Zethrid, and can pick up Acxa and Ezor simultaneously. She has picked up her friends on occasion (this bothers Acxa more than anyone as it disrupts her while she works).

- Not surprisingly, is the only one who Kova would not bite if she tries to give him a bath.

- Loves audio books and always gets a new one when the group goes to a city with a bookstore. Her favorite genre is classical fantasy.

- Is unnaturally good at space bowling and Zethrid considers her her personal rival.

Zethrid

- is the daugther of a wealthy commander, but illegitimate. And as such was hidden away when growing up.

- Her mother died when she was young, and thus Zethrid has little connect to her non-galra species.

- She was raised by her father learning to fight, and he expected her to become a soldier of the empire. He also didn’t wanted to be publically associated with her. She became a gladiator fighter instead.

- Not only did Zethrid ignore her fathers’ desires she actively declared her parentage live in front of all the spectators.

- Despite being a gladiator, she refused to fight anyone who would obviously lose to her (someone like Matt, for example). It was out of mercy, but she would publically word it as it were an insult to her might. 

- Received a lot of hate from racist people on account of her mixed heritage, and the aforementioned refusals.

- Was the first general Lotor recruited before he was  exiled, when he was forced to go see a match of her’s with Zarkon.

- She loves playing with Kova, and is one of the only people besides Narti who could brush him without protest from Kova himself.

- Is actually well-eductaed, and knows a lot about weapon creation and mechanics. She is well versed in history and math as well.

- besides gladiator fights Zethrid is champ at space bowling and has gone pro in the past. Almost always gets perfect games and get really upset if she gets a spare.

Acxa

- Is the quintessential nerd, knows a lot of things over a variety of topics. Her main love, however, is chemistry. Once was a in a bad mood for a week because they named a newly-discovered element after the creator and not after the fact that it resembled peanut butter (No one except Narti figured out why she was so upset).

- She knows the space periodic table (over 400 elements) by heart and can recite it normally, by individual rows and columns, by order of electronegativity and metallic character. She is currently working on memorizing all the atomic masses.

- Doesn’t really know what her non-galra species is, but after meeting Keith and Hunk she has a vague idea that it might be human.

- Is the only general who actually has a menstrual cycle, which is a major inconvenience to her. Since galra don’t get periods she thought she was dying when had her first one. (Ezor also freaked out when she heard that Acxa bleeds for a week once a month every month).

- Was an orphan and has vague memories of her mother. Doesn’t like talking about her past.

- Grew up in a combination orphanage + boarding school, where she received her early education and exposure to science, and was often bullied because of mixed-race and the fact that she was actually real smart and also real small. Has self-esteem issues as a result.

- She accidentally (well it was kinda an accident) spilled hydrofluoric acid* on one of her bullies who was also her lab partner, when he “jokingly” tried to stick her head under a fume hood filled with NO2** gas. She got in deep trouble as a result, and was actually scheduled to be sent to the druids for “correction” when Lotor visited the school. He had heard of her talent and was interested in recruiting her. She joined immediately.

- Is a touch starved individual, and while she outwardly acts like she hates physical affection, she loves it when her friends hug her.

- Often falls asleep on her desk. Like it’s a regular thing. The other generals or Lotor have to carry her back to her room. Ezor often doodles on her face. Kova has actually sat on her face and slept as well.

- wears night glasses. While most galra can see in the dark and in very dim settings Acxa cannot. So when the squad go out at night she wears these big things that sit on her face. They make her look like a nerd.

Lotor

- was a test-tube baby where Haggar experimented with combining her genes with Zarkon’s.

- Haggar didn’t expect him to survive past infancy, as he was often a sickly infant (and later child).

- gets real bad hay fever and hates it when he has to go to a planet that has a lot of greenery. Also allergic to space cockroaches for some reason.

- Has the sweetest genuine smile, it’s very lopsided and cute and makes him look quite earnest. Very few people have seen it though, these people being the generals.

- Is closer (very loose usage of the term) to Haggar than Zarkon. Is pretty confident that she wouldn’t use him as a test subject for her experiments.

- was actually born intersex, but presents as male. Unrelated, but he is also asexual and doesn’t really have an interest in romance currently.

- Has ocular albinism and bright lights hurts his eyes. Really terrible eyesight overall, and gets cross-eyed a lot.

- Initially studied psychology so could actually try to understand his parents. (He still doesn’t).

*hydrofluoric acid is one of the most corrosive acids known. It leaves real deep burns that go through the bone. Inhalation can give you a heart attack. (Acxa’s bully was didn’t die though, and it wasn’t a bad spill).

**NO2 - nitrogen dioxide is a very poisonous gas and can cause respiratory emergencies