#voltron wank

[wintermoth]

Me: It's a shame Voltron only got 7 seasons.

ppl online: the 8th one just came out actually--

Me: IT'S A SHAME VOLTRON ONLY GOT SEVEN SEASONS

[wearethecyclones]

Going through my day knowing Voltron is gonna ultimately disappoint me like

[vetivervelvetviolet]

I feel like many people in fandom unintentionally conflate liking a character or characters with needing to perform performative allyship or morality. Like they like a character or two characters for one reason or another, and they like the idea of them in a relationship/fucking (which is normal and reasonable for someone who likes romance and sex themselves to do), but then they feel like they have to back up or justify their appreciation for fictional characters by presenting it as a form of allyship with real people who have something in common with the characters, or as evidence of moral superiorty over fans who don't like those characters as much as another one.

Why else would people send death threats to creators/show runners/actors over ships if they hadn't convinced themselves that their own reputation as an ally or good person was on the line if they didn't?

[wallmakerrelict]

I feel like I’ve made good decisions in my life when fandom drama goes down in the tags but the general consensus on my dash is, “Um, I’m trying to celebrate Keith’s birthday?”

[ketchupzombie]

Let’s rename all the characters in a series that we don’t agree with to something we want, steal the appearances with minor tweaks, steal the backstory, steal the personalities, and call it ours. Wow. Yeah. Good thinking!!!!!!

[missoyashirou]

I dunno, I’m just tired of both sides at this point as well as the show itself. I really liked the first few seasons, and I was excited to see where Lotor was going, and between the constant fan-wank and the choices made by staff in the last season, I just really don’t want to interact save for maybe small, small, small amounts of fandom, after curating and vetting every single member I work with.  Because there’s a happy medium between ‘the writers are horrid bigots and we must steal everything we can from them to make a new version of the show featuring massive amounts of unintended racism’ and ‘the writers have done nothing wrong and you yourself are a horrible bigot if you disagree with one iota of the choices made’. Like, I’m really not pleased with the constant harassment the staff gets, especially in regards to klantis and people doing things like sneaking back-stage photos of their work or sending death threats to VAs and artists who have no control over events in the plot. At the same time, I am really uncomfortable with the continued plot device of ‘Shiro is suffering, and needs to be saved by Keith to prove how strong Keith is’. And while I didn’t expect or really want Shiro to go back to his ex, it’s disingenuous to play off being upset a queer character in the show being killed off for yet more sorrow for the other (constantly abused and suffering) queer character as being homophobic because your ship didn’t get together. Especially since they introduced several new characters in this season, like you couldn’t throw a third gay man into the mix? Have someone to develop a connection to Shiro, much like the Garrison trio has the connection to their families and the other cadets, and how Keith has mourning for his father (as well as the heightened connection to the Galra and Krolia)? Shiro has nothing but his connection to Voltron, which is repeatedly stolen away and used as a reason to beat and destroy him. I don’t think it’s unfair to want him to have something pleasant for once in his character arc. 

And that’s without even considering how it feels like they’re going out of their way to confirm the rest of the cast straight. I like Klaxca alright (althought I had the ‘long lost siblings’ headcanon so I accidentally made it incest, not DW’s fault, totally on me there but still funny I Lannister’d), and I really like Allurance, but both together, plus Pidge/Hunk, plus Shiro being routinely denied everything including arms and healthy coping mechanisms is just...  It leaves me with less a great gay icon, and more of a tragic gay figure who is meant to suffer so the children can save him, and then he can go off in the shadow of their inevitable success and love, alone, scarred, and empty.  Maybe I’m just spoiled by Steven Universe, and a lot of online works in general. Throwing gay characters out by the bushel, trying to avoid burying their gays or self-correcting in massive ways (looking at you Griffin McElroy, and bringing Sloane and Hurley back as beautiful dryad racers who own their own racing league), (as well as you, Andrew Hussie, with having the best part of your ending being Rose Lalonde and Kanaya Maryam getting married and everyone else overdosing on joy and becoming literally happiness goblins at the wedding), and then having a show make a big to-do about what they were planning about their gay main character and what role his former lover would be playing, up to including him in promo splash art. And then that role is ‘to die’ and ‘to be rescued at the end of the series, once again’.  I think I’ll give Voltron fandom a year or two before I really try to go back into it. Let the anger dissipate from everyone, let the fans making the AU grow a bit and hopefully realize ‘naming a Japanese character after a dog who’s most notable quality was waiting for a master who would never come is pretty racist’, and let the worse of the fans swarm off to whatever hip new fandom they find. 

[grumpycakes]

I had anxiety a few nights ago over voltron/keith and finally think I figured out why, stupid rambling under the cut

First off haven’t seen season six and I’m probably anxious about all the shit that’s gonna happen and this is just making things worse BUT

I’m always so surprised by ppl who say they don’t like Lance (yes I know I said this was about keith GIVE ME A SECOND) cause in my anxiety colored lens Lance would be the friend, if not also someone who deals with anxiety. Yes he’s over the top and a little obnoxious and FLIRTS FAR TOO MUCH but I look at that and see a TRYING TO FIT IN front. I have been that person I have KNOWN those persons, those persons were the kids who told me their parents spanked them mercilessly if they got bad grades. The kid who told me his favorite color was pink but he couldn’t say that to the other kids. The kid who still chatted with me even tho most of the class made fun of me. THAT KID WAS ME TRYING TO BE FUNNY AT A CAMP CAUSE I’D LIED AND SAID I WAS THE JOKEY FRIEND. Lance is kind, lance is smart, lance is hardworking, and Lance is desperately trying to be useful or relevant. And that RESONATES with me so hard.

So when someone says they don’t like Lance but their fav is Keith I get very confused.

Keith hurts. Like not that he hurts other ppl ( tho haha stabby keith) but like he hurts to care about for me. I love him, I was like SUPER DISTRESSED when he chose to go be in the blade of malmora and not be with the Paladins anymore. I want him around, I want him safe, I want him happy. but caring about him makes my chest ache

and while I sitll don’t totally get why, I think I might have figured it out

Keith is the “cool kid”

He’s conventionally attractive, broody, HYPER SKILLED, and REFUSES to get close to anyone but the friends (LBR JUST SHIRO) he’s deemed acceptable. Lance isn’t acceptable. I’m not acceptable. He would hate me. He would treat my interests with disgust. So it hurts to care. Cause he wouldn’t care about me. Oh he’d self sacrifice for the greater good. But other than ARE YOU ALIVE he wouldn’t CARE

The only person I’ve ever seen him care about is Shiro. And that’s scary and SAD. I DON’T GET IT REALLY. WHY THE WRITERS NEVER FUCKING HAD HIM BOND WITH ANYONE ELSE. LIKE FUCK. BOY COULD HAVE 4 AMAZING FRIENDS AND A WEIRD UNCLE BUT INSTEAD HE’S JUST LIKE, I MUST GO ALONE AND BE STOIC AND SAD.

and I GET that he could very well be presenting anxiety too, and I think that’s why I get him and care despite it hurting. I GET that he hates himself to a degree and is on this ridiculous quest to find himself. But in the process of all his bullshit he just hurts everyone around him?!?!?!! He doesn’t HAVE to like lance but he doesn’t even give Lance the TIME OF DAY. He’s barely even polite!! (not that Lance is a whoooole lot better but jfc) He maroons himself and the princess distressing and hurting the whole team. His only goal when he was the black lion was to find shiro AND I GET that Shiro’s basically a family member to him but like SHIT DUDE YOU GOTTA THINK OF THE WHOLE TEAM AND THE BETTERMENT OF THE GALAXY. And then when they have “shiro” back he’s like WELP NO ONE WANTS ME HERE SO IMMA GO TO MALMORA TO LIKE FIND MYSELF I GUESS. and finding yourself is all well and good but he’s like NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME WHICH IS SUCH. FUCKING. BULLSHIT. LIKE DUDE, THESE IDIOTS ALL CARE ABOUT YOU SO MUCH. IF YOU JUST STOPPED RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CRAZY PERSON LOOKING FOR SHIRO AND SELF FULFILMENT MAYBE BECOMING CLOSER WITH UR PALADIN FRIENDS WOULD!! BE!!! FULFILLING!!!!!

But yeah, I think it’s just. He reminds me of the kids in school who were hot and “cool” who wouldn’t give me the time of day and didn’t like me and or bullied me. So when you say you’re fav is keith I’m just like HAHAHA SO YOU LIKE PAIN AND UNATTAINABLE APPROVAL????!?!

ugh -flops- and again this isn’t ALL OF IT there’s something else (probably tied into my whole deal with self sacrifice ever since I read xxxholic) but this is what I figured out after stressing about it. 

I want to care about him, I want to help him, but I know he doesn’t want it, wouldn’t care about me, and is too up his own issues to try and be friends with anyone.

AND!!! AS ALWAYS!!!! YOU ARE MORE THAN FREE TO HATE MY OPINION, AND LIKE KEITH. NO EXPLANATIONS NEEDED. YOU ARE VALID, HE IS A GOOD SWEET BOY.

I just feel like crying when I think about him and I’m desperately trying to figure out why

[angry-keith]

This is gonna sound super controversial, but I want to make sure that all forms of abuse and harassment get called out.

The Voltron fandom can be pretty shitty, especially with klantis, and especially on tumblr. However, those soccer-mom-wannabes got NOTHING on the celebrity “fandoms,” if we can even call them out. Kpop groups like BTS receive so much horrible treatment, from people not respecting their personality space or autonomy, or even openly trying to cause harm to real people. Those psychos (and I don’t use that word casually, I literally mean these people are PSYCHOTIC and need IMMEDIATE help) will stalk, harass, harm, or even attempt to kill a celebrity.

These “fans” need to be called out, perhaps even more so than the petty jackasses on here. But make no mistake, as Voltron fans, we cannot ever let our fandom get even close to what happens to real fucking people.