Season 4 of VLD is a disappointment, to say the least. The writing is filler entirely all the way and not the good kind of filler either. It's the kind of filler that does not do good for the story. Most of the characters are relegated to the background with only spoken parts at the climax (poor Lance, his role as the right-hand man is useless and evident that he's Keith's right hand, not Shiro's) or reduce to jokes (Hunk was supposed to be the diplomat or learning to be one...yet Allura was the one who did all the work). Some characters arcs still continued (Keith, Allura, Pidge, however, some of it could be considered fluff at best and certainly does show some impact on their character, one way or another but it's so minimal when the plot overshadowed them). At least we got Pidge's story in the right direction. The half-season did not do a good job with the foundation at all.
Season 5 actually did a better foundation and a better direction than S4 ever did.
...Just beware of the One Piece in this one.
....also prepare for an angry rant down there too. Because this fandom and the way it presents itself...would leave me cursing a storm like a sailor.
So in a nutshell, better paced and characterized. Of course, it's plot-heavy but at least it didn't neglect its characters. Of course, not all the characters got the spotlight. But the narrative has better direction than S3b/S4. Some arcs are starting or becoming relevant like Lance's connecting to Shiro's which Keith's had always been tied to since the beginning.
You know that I have a problem with S3b/S4's tension problem, especially at the end? Easily solved with the tension of saving Sam Holt and Lotor and Clone Shiro being around. It helped raise more tension better than the stupidity of the Voltron Show. The Voltron Show is the poor man's Ember Players. I am so sorry but there is literally no relevance of Coran at all in that episode despite it being a spotlight. Instead of getting anything interesting about his character, it turned out to be so stupid I hate it so much. Coran got the more interesting spotlight when he was fucking fighting Zarkon at the end of S2 and when he revealed the story of the original Paladins where we see his past self. He's more interesting when we see his faces. Look I get he was the comedic relief but seriously, use levity for serious moments when we seriously need it. Not to dismantle what should be proper characterization and a day in the limelight perfectly.
Speaking of Sam Holt, he is heading back to Earth! While I do think the Garrison is a Starfleet-lite, I think the Garrison and Earth, in general, would play a role. Come on, we were given just how grey the Garrison seemed to be including the aliens thing. In Golion, Earth was fucking destroyed and I do think Montgomery and Dos Santos would totally make Earth a site of an important battle. I don't think they would destroy Earth though, given how important it is to the Paladins. The reason why the Galra never attacked Earth in the first place was it's primitive by technology and have little resources (unless it has massive quintessence that nobody knew about...seriously, come on, in Power Rangers, Earth is a place where all the stuff of magic and aliens invade every time); seriously the only the Galra can have over the Paladins is that they can literally invade it just because they can. I think VLD takes place a century from now. I don't think Allura would let Earth be destroyed either, given what happened to Altea.
I love the Garrison Trio's shenanigans. I love to see Lotor's reaction towards his robot's change due to hyper genius yet childish Paladins. I mean Matt is a meme in flesh.
I seriously wonder how the Alteans and Galra see humans based on their weird habits. They can be ingenious but can be horrendously childish and stupid, no matter what maturity they portrayed.
While it is not perfect, it's better than S4/S3b where it just failed in the direction it trying to tell.
So...Lotor and Allura.
I think I should have expected that. Because in the original series, Lotor/Sincline is in some way attracted to Allura/Fala, fucked up or not.
The showrunners did say they didn't want to have the same stuff as the original Voltron and Golion for the Allura and Lotor's dynamic. They certainly referenced the past dynamic in the third episode of S3a.
The two are foils just like Keith and Lance & Zarkon and Shiro & Keith and Lotor.
Anyway, I do genuinely think there is something between the two that didn't happen between Shallura or Allurance. For better or worse, there is a romance between the two that wasn't present in Allurance (which is more friendship and I don't see it developing any further. Yes, they have nice moments but they have a severe disconnect what the other wants in life. Lance didn't seem to understand just how important these things Allura was doing in this season personally. They are less romantically compatible than ever before and I am talking about Allura's complete romantic disinterest in Lance.) or Shallura.
You guys can still ship Allurance and Shallura. I am talking about canon viability here, folks.
The pair just seemed to connect. A spark. Especially during the Altean stuff in the end. Yeah...
This relationship is directly linked to the plot. Seriously, it has quintessence which is the motive and cause of the tragedy. Allura and Lotor seemed to know about the tragedy of Zarkon and Honerva regarding the Quintessence. It doesn't help the imagery between them and Lotor's parents.
What I think is that Lotor is genuine about his claims about peace and using quintessence for good. It's idealistic but misguided because he is under some false assumptions about quintessence and the circumstances. He idolized his mother for Godoka's sake and certainly try to ignore the implications.
So here are the options:
A: Lotor betrays Team Voltron. Predictable but I doubt that. Allura is grounded and levelheaded, not naive and gullible. She may be young by earth standards but she was forced to mature during the time Zarkon was becoming eviler. Now I don't know who is an excellent judge of character like Luffy with Blackbeard and the Strawhats. I trust Luffy to tell between good and evil. Luffy has always been a good judge of character.
B: Team Voltron betrays Lotor. Possibly but given how only Lance so far distrusts Lotor since he is in close proximity now. Well, there's clone Shiro and Keith too but since Keith is currently detached from the Team Voltron, he doesn't seem to realize the full extent of the situation. Allura trusts Lotor and gives her full support in his plans.
C: The exposure of clone Shiro either by the Laith co-leadership or Lotor that will lead to the fracturing of Team Voltron. We already saw the foils of Zarkon dead now which meant that Shiro should and need to step back from the Black Lion forever. Please. The Galra Empire is broken now but still powerful enough given Haggar is now the Big Bad of the series.
D: Lotor will go against Team Voltron and especially Allura's warnings about quintessence. Coupled with the heartbreaking truth about his mom, and how everyone seemed to stamp Lotor as his father's son, therefore, he has the same ideas (well he is manipulative), he will go against them because what he believed to be true or embrace the evil that everyone seemed to think he is as Zarkon's son.
The true evil of the entire thing might be the rift thingies.
I don't know if they can get rid of quintessence because it is useful as an energy source, etc, etc.
So I do think there will be higher stakes when or if Lotor turns against Allura.
Because I do think Lotor is developing feelings for Allura and so is she for him. For better or worse, you decide.
Because I really would like to see Shiro interact with Romelle. I want that so much, I am drowning myself in sangria. Come on, if there is one pairing that I am pretty sure you guys would choose to have a canon from the previous canon is Sven X Romelle.
Because Laura Montgomery loves Romelle too much to include her in her Voltron epic. Seriously, I don't think Allura's mom would appear in this series beyond flashbacks.
Besides Romelle is sitting right there in the canon. For her not to appear and what a fab character she always is, how can the writers and showrunners let her rot in the background when the story is right there for the picking? She is just sitting in canon, waiting for her appearance. And to not let her appear in any shape or form in the conflict of the splitting Galra forces and the rift and the quintessence... tell me one good reason why she shouldn't appear? When a supposed Allura's mother or an alternate Allura who came from another world? Romelle is sitting right there! We already got hints of other Altean survivors with the shapeshifting thing so... Let Romelle appear for the love of The Man of the Beginning. Lotor was such an important character and he finally appeared in S3/S3a. So to not have Romelle in VLD would be stupid when she even appeared in the last Voltron series, Force.
Yes, the series is different (Lotor's mom's counterpart is different) but they play around with the previous canon. The bayards are basically Force's weapons for Godoka's sake. They are willing to have Shiro as Black Lion's pilot for awhile until he will eventually step down. For the love of Philemon, they added quintessence, something that was certainly not in the original.
The showrunners wanted an epic in the vein of ATLA and Korra, just they are smashing together their childhood with Golion, a really bloody and dark series. They went out of their way to watch the previous series up to including selected episodes of their favorites DotU in Netflix for all to see. They must have watched Force because where else had the bayards come from?
So let that girl be Romelle. I'm starting to dislike the DND Allura or Allura's mom theory for the Allura look-alike when I know the only person who looked like Allura in canon is Romelle. I loathe certain theories (not crack because crack is supposed to be crazy and nonsensical), just hating theories that made no sense to the narrative or made no sense in general.
The showrunners would have to be stupid to leave out Romelle when she is a legit character in her own right. She would fit right in with the modern interpretation of Voltron.
I will only allow DND Allura if there is an episode similar to such a game. Allura's mom theory would only make sense if and only if she came from another world or she somehow survived the destruction and living longer. I do think Alteans have a long life but how long is the question here?
Krolia!
We finally meet the mother!
We're definitely going to see more of Keith's family at this point. With his mother, now all we need to do is meet the rest of the family.
I like the theory that Keith and Acxa are siblings, more so the theory they are fraternal twins.
Now that we see Krolia use both fighting styles, it should be the final nail in the coffin, right?
At this point, anything is possible.
They are willing to put Keith's development as a leader of Voltron on standby with the clone Shiro taking over to the point that Lance couldn't get any development as a right-hand man in. Yes, we do see him try to act as a right-hand but Shiro didn't need a second in command, now or ever.
Seriously, Shiro is Zarkon's foil. Yes, I will keep repeating this because it bears repeating. Shiro should never get back being the Black Paladin....ever. It is awful for his precious team's development as people. It will suck for Shiro who desperately needs a break. He can handle being with the rebels or with Coran on the support team. Just anywhere but a Lion. I want to steer him away from the White Lion too because I don't think he can fulfill his life in that way meaningfully. Seriously, his Golion counterparts are dead while his DotU counterpart never returned to a lion.
At least, Ace's death has some kind of fulfillment for his character. I don't think a death for Shiro would be fulfilling his character nor it would be good for Keith either.
That is why I hate people who hate on Keith for being the Black Paladin.
Do you know anything about character development?
Change is what the team needs, not static flatness. Complexity is what the series needs, not characters stuck in one place.
Perhaps Krolia is one of the catalysts to lead Keith back to Team Voltron.
Because Voltron seriously needs him more than Shiro, real and clone.
Ya know, the last time I used the clone/real designation was when Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles revealed the revelation.
So regardless, we met Keith's mother that should be a catalyst for him to get back to Team Voltron where he is better there than at BoM.
Keith will have to return. BoM has not been good to him, aside from allowing him to meet his mom. The very fact that his character arc aside from the identity quest is to become a leader that requires communication and restraint.
I cannot believe that Black Paladin Keith is such an unpopular opinion when Black Paladin Shiro and Lance is more popular. No, Lance will not be getting Black because it will usurp whatever development from Keith as a leader, it will send his development down the drain. The only times I can see him even pilot that damn Black Lion is when there is an emergency with Keith out of commission or simply that a moment. Given how much it's a part of the Lance fandom lately and seeing it everywhere with the Red Paladin Keith, it makes me seethe with rage. It would have been fine as a theory or just a fantasy but no, these guys seemed so certain that it makes me sick.
The point is co-leadership. They are best when they are together, working in tandem. That is the point of their story. They are good when they are alone but together, they can take on the world.
Think the Strawhats. They are individually one-man armies who can stomp your ass into the ground but with their teamwork, they are hell. Just look at only two, Zoro and Sanji, in the Groggy Ring for example. Or Nami and Luffy in the battle against Cracker.
Yeah, Black Paladin Lance is becoming something I really hate these days in the Klance fandom. Preferring to have one guy have all the development but not the other guy even though they ship the two guys together. In fact, Keith is really hated in the fandom. Because no matter what he does, he will still be hated for it. Becoming a leader even though he has the potential? Pitchforks! Make a mistake even when he clearly learned from that mistake? Pitchforks! Literally, think he did nothing wrong when he made mistakes that YOU hold over him despite him learning from those mistakes? Pitchforks! The stupid excuses for not seeing growth in a character and the potential of becoming someone they can become in the future is something I really hate to see in fandoms. I hate it when characters are put down because they are just given screen time more than their favorite. Favorite or not, growth is more important than your damn favorite characters.
Forget nuance and complexity. You want static and preference of fave favorites. You want the status fucking quo. The only change you want is for your favorite character hogging all the spotlight and development from other characters who deserved their character development.
Not change when there is evidence of change to be made. Not potential to become the best people they can ever be. Not the narrative that placed characters in a spot where your favorite character will get different development.
The fandom deserves none of my sympathies once you decided that you would rather have your favorite character take all the spotlight, usurping others' development.
I am sorry but Red Paladin Keith will be a no-go. He will not get character development if he went back to Red. Red Paladin Keith will not get any character development because that will still cater to his solo personality and will not make him communicate to others on an equal scale, hiding behind the leaders instead of participating himself. As Black, he's growing into his greatest potential.
The same goes for Lance. Going back to Blue, not because she's inferior, but the chances he got as a second-in-command would be rendered null and void. His goals to be a leader-type would be void. He is Keith's right hand, not Shiro's. Get it through your thick head. Going to Black would not make anything better for him either because that is not where he will thrive. As the leader, his insecurities will pop up again especially if Keith remained with Red where he won't get any character development.
For Shiro, going back to Black will ultimately render what he could have outside the Lions useless. He has PTSD which is highly inconvenient in a battle that Keith could take over, in fact, Keith had taken over when Shiro was out of commission in the inconvenient timing due to his PTSD. Let him not get a Lion. Let him grow somewhere else. Let him recover from his pain instead of forcing him into a position where he would not grow as a person, but probably worsening him.
The only reason I recall from the showrunner was that the color didn't match up. That is the only reason why Shiro was in Black, Keith Red, and Lance Blue. The showrunners are huge childhood fans of VDotU and had watched Golion so not switching up to the original team would be disingenuous to the series that always had Keith in Black, Lance in Red, and Allura in Blue. And Sven/Shiro on the sidelines working with Romelle. The showrunners are huge fans of the original so why in the seven hells would they permanently make Shiro in Black, Keith in Red, and Lance in Blue when there are chances of character development?
Do you want stagnating characters? Do you want characters to stay in one place because it's what you are used to? Instead of making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, becoming something they have the chance to become? Do you want to go back to the so-called status quo? Even though it will not be good for anybody?
I know my narrative shit here, people. And this fandom pushes a lot of my literary NO buttons a lot.
I hate this fandom so much. This toxic fandom that is willing to spread negativity in the name of SJW Purity regardless of actual adults on site who expect you to regulate your own consumption. That they are not their parents. If you are allowed to be on the internet, then it is you who should regulate your consumption of materials. This toxic fandom who was willing to hurt the showrunner, cast, and anyone related to him in the name of their selfish intent of a trivial and meaningless pairing. This fandom's personal bias for Lance and put down Keith despite his goddamn potential.
I hate this fandom so much. Hate it. I generally hate fandoms for a long-ass time but having a fandom where all the modern trends come together is likely to push all my buttons.
I'm far more concerned about real life worries than having to deal with young teens and young adults trying to put themselves up on a pedestal. Look it is great for tolerance and whatnot outside of fandom. Look what happened to the White Rose Society and Berkeley. It's wonderful to see high-schoolers tackling real-world issues.
However, it's stupid when you are railing off on shipping and hatred on characters regardless of characters' development.
Go and fight the good fight. Protest, Research. Be active. Just don't hurt other people just for having an opinion on a fanon ship. There is a difference between fandom stuff and real life stuff. You know, real-life consequences as opposed to just fandom gifs, theories, and whatnot.
I hate this fandom so much for its Lance stans and its unnecessary hatred of Keith and its reverence for Hunk and Shiro and Pidge and Allura and its refusal to see Lotor as a nuanced character. I hate just how black and white this fandom is and I will not participate in this fandom ever. I only gleaned from the fandom alone that it's exhausting to even participate. Sure you can still put out art and fanfiction and meta but anger someone with a ship and somehow that's more serious than human lives being threatened by people who don't seem to have no life but to hurt other people, making themselves bullies for a cause that seemed noble at first but too high a standard to accomplish. Instead of providing nuanced lessons for identifying sexual predators, they would protect hypothetical 'children' on the fucking internet.
The internet has dark depths. I accidentally came across porn sites then and there..without any credit card access. There are more things worse than a fanfiction and fanart of shipping.
Do you know anything about narrative comprehension?
There had been way too many comparisons to Lance to Alfor already. There had been way too many hints as far back as S2 that Keith will eventually take over as the leader of Voltron. In S3, we fucking saw the growth of Keith, Lance, and Allura in their respective lions when they could not get it before. There had been the narrative parallel between Keith and Lance where they are best when they're together.
You need to understand narrative comprehension, stupid fandom of VLD.
Keith will be in Black, Lance in Red, and Allura in Blue. That is where they'll thrive.
It's basically saying that Coby will never become Admiral or Luffy becoming the Pirate King or Zoro becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman or Sanji finding the All Blue or Nami making a world map or Robin finding the Rio Ponegliff. It's basically saying that Luffy and Sabo are unable to carry Ace's will.
It's basically saying that Luffy cannot beat Katakuri. The latter of which needed character development with his defeat. This battle meant that Luffy is truly more than a New World pirate now.
It's basically saying that Karasuno will never beat Nekoma. It's basically saying that Hinata and Kageyama will never become Olympic Gold Medalists. It's basically saying that the Oddball Duo will never receive the honor of being at the very top of the volleyball circuit. It's basically saying that Rin can never beat Haruka fair and square one day. It's saying that Deku can never become the greatest hero he can ever be. It's basically saying that Uraraka can never receive the money for her parents' Hawaii vacation. It's basically saying that All Might will never live past his fated death when the narrative all but stated that he will live.
I could go on.
Yes, we got a new White Lion now.
We still haven't seen the real Shiro nor the Romelle in actual person yet. I literally cannot wait to see Romelle. She needs to come!
You know...I wish to see Romelle meet Shiro. Have that poor meeting that referenced the original series. If there is one thing the 80s Voltron did great in, it's the romance of Sven and Romelle. I think it would be hilarious that all this time, the real Shiro had been transported to a cave where he met the rebel forces there and have to be kept hidden from both the allies' eyes. And that terrible first impression.
Hey, if they are willing to tease Lotura and Punk, then they are willing to have Shomelle. Any shipping is fair game. Any shipping should be fair game, you stupid fandom that try to police shipping. Looking at you, Klancers.
Now that Zarkon is literally out of the story that meant that Shiro should step back from being the Black Paladin forever. Shiro and Zarkon are foils. That meant that Shiro would step aside willingly unlike Zarkon's unwilling death by Lotor's hands.
I am sorry but he is not going to thrive or going to get meaningful character development there. The rebel army needs his inspirational speeches more than the Paladins. He can flourish in the rebel army when he couldn't with the Paladins. Shiro did not flourish as the Black Lion's pilot. At all. Beyond pulling away Zarkon's control, he just seemed far too comfortable...well aside from PTSD that is not good in battle. He is better behind the lines where he can direct others and could still fight. He is better at the shounen hero inspirational speeches ala Naruto. He does not have to keep Black regardless of what bond he has with Black. It will be static if he remains the Black Lion's pilot which S3b-S4a makes abundantly clear, clone and real.
Do you want static character development? I am not talking about the good kind of Asami and Toph or Nico Robin. I am not talking that these characters need the change in that form or character complexity. I am talking about the bad kind of the Megaforce Rangers who did not grow in the course of their run with all their bland glory. I am talking about the negligence of leaving character in one place without any change...despite change is and can be evident.
Coby and Helmeppo underwent massive character development under Garp than being chore boys. Sabo thrived in the Revolutionary Army than being a pirate. Sanji flourished in Kamabakka Island than in Amazon Lily where he would die of blood loss should he be sent there. Zoro thrived under Mihawk's tutelage than he would training alone. Fucking Charizard thrived at Charicific Valley than with Ash.
Voltron is about growth. We could already see the growth of the characters such as Keith and Lance in their newer lions than in Red and Blue. We saw Allura's growth in the Blue lion than she would be in the Black Lion where not only it would have ended much worse but also for the fact that she's already the commanding officer and remembers that she puts a more emotional response in the Red and Blue lion than Black altogether. It would be repetitive for Allura to be in Black because she is already the leader of the actual Voltron diplomacy team.
Let these characters grow, stretch their legs, becoming the best people they can ever become.
Let Voltron reach its fullest potential without the status quo.
Don't be stupid to neglect change or refuse to see change in character if a position where they are best at.
I cannot believe I have to say this again.
Klance fandom, canon or not, you can still ship it. Why do you need canon evidence? Have you been in fandoms as long as I have? I spent a fucking decade in fandoms...although I chose not to associate with fandom, choosing a select few to interact.
I know you guys aren't even the Pokemon fandom where there are lots of ships. Seriously, a shitload. And it's not just anime-based either.
I know you guys aren't the One Piece fandom where the fans are allowed to ship whatever because there will never be endgames. I ship LuNa and ZoSan but never cared much for LawLu or LuHan. I do have a liking for Luffy and his harem of girls he attracted including Nami and Robin into the mix.
Zoro and Sanji did not interact since Dressrosa and you don't see that slowing down the fans of the pairing. Luffy and Hancock had not interacted since the Strawhats Reunion Arc and you don't see that dying down any LuHan fans. Luffy had not interacted with Law since the Zou Arc and you don't see their fans dying down anytime soon. Ace is fucking dead and you don't see that hurting the MarcoAce or SaboAce or AceLu shipping in any way possible.
Don't think for a second that Keith and Lance who haven't interacted (besides a few seconds of communication of mission debrief) for nearly an entire season (S3b-S4a) will stop people from shipping them. Just because you think they will not become canon does not mean that people should stop shipping them altogether.
In the Percy Jackson fandom, did Percabeth and Solangelo stop Pernico in any way? NO!
In the CCS fandom, did SyaoSaku stopped TomoSaku? NO!
You shippers are just acting entitled brats. You seriously don't know your stuff about fandom. Thinking about yourself and not about any other opinion or fact. Not even about other fandoms apart from yourself.
Do not hurt Jeremy Shada or Joaquin Dos Santos or Josh Keaton or anyone associated with them or anyone in the cast/showrunner ever again.
You are not doing anyone favors by hurting other people, particularly the people who are creating the show you are watching. Do you have any basic human decency? Why do you care so much about ships better than human lives?
The showrunners, cast members, and anyone who was currently working or previously worked on the project are humans who are trying to be inclusive.
What you guys are doing is not good for the movement or anybody. It's selfish and entitled to even ask something trivial. It's dumb to think of shipping when human lives are ruined for your own pleasure. The anti-movement is a joke on the internet based on their stupidity alone regardless of what 'noble' intentions or legitimate concerns they have.
You are not fighting the good fight. Don't make everything about purity.
You are making a bad reputation among those who shipped the same thing. Look at the Steven Universe fandom where anybody who ships outside of the lesbian ships is demonized for so-called not supporting the actual LGBT ships.
Shipping is supposed to be fun.
Not to disagree or agree on what is canon. Not to even have canon evidence. Nor is it activism.
Seriously, do I have to point you guys to a pairing that have no canon interaction beyond a passing comment? Or just one interaction? Or no interaction at all?
There is something called crackshipping, right? People ship fictional characters with a known item they love. For example, people in the ATLA fandom shipped Sokka with his boomerang or Zuko with Honor or Iroh with tea. There are fics about fictional characters fucking with a towel or sunglasses or anything inanimate. How about shipping together two people who will never meet across franchises? Like Jack X Hiccup or Jack X Elsa which is essentially shipping. That is a thing and you don't see that hurting Disney and Dreamworks.
Do I have to bring up a fandom that long since died down? The Rise of Tangled Dragons Six. Whatever it was called. It was one of my previous posts on shipping but at its peak, it's one of the most popular shipping fandoms yet just like SuperWhoLock. I honestly don't care for both but either way, the former was a primary shipping fandom with the Hiccup X Merida or Jack X Rapunzel. And guess what? The shipping didn't hurt nobody. Not Disney. Not Dreamworks. Not Blue Sky. Not Laika.
Hell in the Pokemon fandom, they have names such as Pikashipping and Generatorshipping AKA Ash X Pikachu and Misty X Pikachu. Yes, they are real ships. Actual names.
However, the Pokemon fandom has nothing on the SPN fandom. SPN fandom has more 'sinning' than any other fandom I know of. Not even the anti-fandom purity can ever make it there; I think I barely see it there which is not surprising. I think the thing is well... "My kinks are dirtier and sexier and 'sinning' more than you. Try me. Do your worst." Basically, the fandom is a challenge of kinks. Even looking through A03 tags basically shows you just how kinky the fandom can get. And that's not getting into other platforms like LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, or Tumblr.
Shipping with age gaps, inanimate objects, animals (I'll put Pokemon and Digimon here too), beyond franchises, beyond anything is normal. Nobody gets hurts because it's a niche fandom. I don't think the world at large cares about a ship. Just look at people's outrage at the SU fandom for hurting an artist just for the Lapidot. So many people call them for such a behavior and not helped by the fandom's harassment on the basics of things.
It is your job to make sure what you consume. Not other adults. YOU. Who is allowed to be on the internet. Fandom is a voluntary action; you participate or you don't. I chose to never ever participate. Just look at my scathing hatred towards certain sub-sections of fandoms. Fandom is never a safe place. The internet is not a safe place. Sure there are discord servers. However, on Tumblr, where you can unfollow, block, or use Tumblr Savior to AVOID tags, then what the fuck are you doing hurting other people that are not even hurting you? They are either exploring their sexuality or having plain fun.
You are hurting people. You believe you are fighting for a cause. When that cause is utter nonsense when you have the utter reason. Reason that fandom has always been this way. Reason that shipping is in no way has to be canonical or play activist.
It is YOU who has to know what you consume on the internet. Again, Tumblr Savior, blocking, or unfollowing meaning avoiding is right there for you to use.
Tell me. Why hurt other people on opinions on a ship? A meaningless and trivial ship?
You can choose to not like a certain ship. You can criticize it due to execution or the fact it strangled the two together without any buildup of romance.
However, you cannot hurt others who like it. They are doing nothing but having fun or exploring their sexuality.
Even the raunchiest works in fandom are written by teens who are exploring their sexuality.
Spirk and Holmes X Watson are one of the oldest slash ships in history. It's literally on fandom history. And you don't see that hurting the actual LGBTQ movement.
So for the Klance shippers, if you know your narrative comprehension, you must know that the ship is not dead in any way canonically. The narrative is pretty much binding Lance to the Shiro and Keith's arcs now. Keith and Lance had always been depicted as a tag team as leaders and combatants. It will be intense in the coming seasons for Keith and Lance just like Korra and Asami.
Just don't think for a second that the showrunners or cast will literally spoil the ending or the endgame. That will ruin any kind of tension. That will spoil the journey.
Now speaking of Sheith shippers, ship whatever you want. Do you even know why this type of relationship would not be doable in the current atmosphere? The relationship between Yuuri and Viktor was very mature based on a colleague-turned-coach relationship. Even till this day, aside from arguments that the pairing and the show are vague on its LGBT, the ship was being argued in western grounds simply for having a teacher/student relationship, calling it a power imbalance and all that sorts.
Funny. See Sheith won't be as accepted now because America still needs to ease into it just as LGBT needed to ease into 'sensibilities'. A teacher/student relationship and gay at that would not do. LGBT representation is still new in America. Despite the avalanche, LGBT and all of its relationships, yes including age gaps and supposedly power imbalances like teacher/student - still needed to be adjusted.
So Sheith shippers, just ship. Ship when you can see reason and don't twist canon for your own agenda. This says to everyone basically from Klance to Plance to Hidge to Hunay to even across fandoms like Shizaya and Zosan.
Look at me. I'm a Shizaya shipper - which is a enemies relationship - and I shipped it good. And Narita did not disparage anyone from shipping it and even created his own slash fic with the said couple. I shipped USUK - which from all intents and purposes, is a ward/caretaker relationship and others see it as brotherly - and Hima-sensei encouraged it with his ship teasing. I'm a Sterek shipper - which is an age gap relationship - and you don't see Davis discouraging it in any way. I still shipped Victuuri - which is again a teacher/student-ish relationship - and nobody besides the fandom is making a fuss about it. I shipped Ereri - which is an age gap relationship - and you don't see people shoving Eruri down my or any Ereri shipper's throat.
Does that make me more mature for shipping a ward/caretaker, enemies, teacher/student and an age gap relationships simply due to its mature implications? I'm 23. Supposedly, around the early twenties and teens are the age of Klancers. I'm a shipper of Klance as well as Shallura; I don't mind Sheith - honestly, I don't care for it - and Shomelle and Hidge and Hunay and Hance and Plance and Lancelot and Keitor and so on.
Why does it matter that I should care for a ship like Sheith? I don't care about it because I'm not drawn to it like I am with Shizaya and USUK and Sterek.
Again, shipping does not mean that you are the more mature one of the shippers. Shipping does not mean any of that silliness. Shipping is supposed to be fun.
Sheith shippers, call yourself mature all you want simply for shipping Sheith or a mature relationship which does happen in real life. However, don't belittle others for shipping something you don't. Shipping is not meant to be a contest of maturity.
Shipping is supposed to be fun. It supposed to mean that everyone had their own opinions and having fun with shipping two persons together. Those who even had limited characters too. I shipped Minato X Akihiko and you don't see anyone shoving Akihiko X Mitsuru or Akihiko X Shinjiro down my throat.
In Teen Wolf, despite Derek having not been in the show since forever, there are still hints of Sterek. Stiles stared at the initials that might not be Derek's initials but the notion is still the same. Hell, in the end, the two even became the Supernatural Hunters tag team. The show did not dissolve Sterek, unlike Kira X Scott.
Know the narrative. Why do you trust Word of God so much? Make your damn interpretation. Practice Death of the Author if you must. Seriously, I practice Death of the Author alongside knowing the author's intentions. I am open-minded and I have to be, being an English major who read assorted books. I barely catch up with any Word of God at all.
After the disaster that is S4, I wanted to see these writers do better. I know they can do it. I know they aren't Eiichirou Oda who keep notebooks of his arcs and managed a satisfying payoff every time he writes his big arcs. I know they aren't Urobutcher either or Hiromu Arakawa. I think Montgomery and Dos Santos have something planned definitely for the story given their comments about Lance's future romance and the Shklance arc and just how pleased the cast are with their characters.
The shining star seasons of VLD is S3 and S5. I wouldn't mind S1 for its pacing alone and setting the beginning stage. S2 is where the cracks started to show but S4 is probably the worst written of the bunch with the award of the Worst Episode So Far is the show episode that did nothing. We could say it is setting things up...but when S5 did it better in terms of writing... I'm not saying that it's a waste but for the love of Godoka, S4 could've been a lot better written.
Isn't that why there's a stint of time between S4 and the new season?
Above all, I missed the 13 episode drop. That allows breather and flow better. The half-seasons seemed rushed by comparison. S1 was perfectly paced, S2 was slow, S3-5 seemed rushed by comparison. Well, S4 was just tedious to sit through based on filler alone.
I am waiting for the next release of Funi's One Piece dub and Sentai Filmworks' Haikyuu second season dub. They should be reaching Punk Hazard so far and Trafalgar Law's VA must be on this show for a long ass time now with TLaw will be playing an important in the upcoming three arcs excluding Whole Cake Island.
Now of the Wano arc, is it possible that we are getting something Zoro-centered? Typically, a Strawhat would get an arc for themselves to explain their whole backstory. While I don't think Zoro would need anything more than his Shimotsuki story which he may have lived there since he was presumably ten-ish (he looks ten or even six in OP standards), we still don't know what happened before he arrived. Given how strong-willed he was and how he took to swordsmanship, do you think someone inspired him and helped out of his previous situation? He has such a strong will as a child that I feared he experienced something that makes him who he is. Certainly, he spent his formative years at Shimotsuki but something before he arrived and met Kuina gotta be important.
I know there weren't any hints beforehand like Sanji's Mr. Prince/North Blue. Seriously, I think the only hint of Sabo's existence was Ace's ASCE tattoo and other than that, neither Ace nor Luffy mentioned Sabo likely because they don't like to dwell on him much. Then again, we didn't know anything about Dadan and Garp and anybody related to the Post-War arc detailing Luffy's formative years.
Probably someone from Wano who inspired him, a traveling swordsman perhaps. Zoro was a traveling swordsman who used bounty hunting as a way of survival although, by the standards of East Blue, he is pretty brutal.
Zoro, like Luffy, is a simple and straightforward guy. Like his fellow Strawhats, he isn't the type to tell their personal backstory unless they all gather together and do it. He isn't the type to divulge personal information, not because it's personal like Nami or Sanji, just that it's in the past. Just look at Enies Lobby where Robin revealed the horrors of the Buster Call to her hometown. He is not the Strawhat First Mate for a reason. Unlike Sanji, he's not too emotional now and then in the past. He says that yes, the past shaped him but here he is now with a dream and a promise that he and Kuina will keep. Seriously, his treasure was Wado for Godoka's sake.
