So...this happened...
Season 7 is as expected an average season. It's average. There was stuff I like and there was dubious stuff that I just don't understand. You guys can enjoy it whatever. I'm still going to watch S8, mainly so I can give my judgment. I won't ruin anybody's enjoyment; if you enjoyed it, go forth. Personally, for me, it's just meh and average.
In regards of LGBT matters in VLD...I'm actually not as surprised and just tired, not mad, just tired.
I will have this as a set reminder: There was no shipping involved. Hell, I'm not even expecting Klance or Sheith or anybody to be canon. This was never about the shipping. It's about the promises of LGBT material and the use of gross LGBT tropes damaged this.
If you did watch it solely for LGBT material, I don't know what to tell you. I don't watch VLD for the story - since the story is just everywhere and the writers are not good with writing plot. They had a plot but actually extrapolating on that is less than great in their hands - but for the potential that it could have. I'm just disappointed that the potential was left achieved in some stances and not so much in others. For the most part, it's just average.
I've got into VLD somewhere S3 was released. So that's my first exposure. While I don't consider it ATLA or even LOK's answer since that is more likely Samurai Jack, it's just okay. I enjoyed the animation, characters, plot...sometimes, and the music. Overall, from what I know, it's average and not even close to the quality I see in OTGW/GF/SJ/ATLA.
Congrats, Voltron. Showrunners, writers, marketing staff of Netflix and Voltron staff, and anyone involved... How was this a good idea?!
For anybody who does not know what kind of trope this is: Bury Your Gays. An insanely problematic trope where LGBT individuals were killed off pointlessly especially in a realm populated with cis heterosexuals.
Supernatural did this with Charlie, a good character who should have stayed alive for Godoka's sake. Her death did nothing to further the plot but the Winchesters bros' insane trauma conga line.
Look...For better or worse, I actually had little faith in the writers and showrunners to actually develop Adam. Adam, a minor character in a season that explored the Garrison to the detriment of the characters that should have the most appropriate amount of attention. The writers had shown they were bad at plot-driven instead of character-driven writing... Repeatedly.
I am well-aware the show had been completed long before its airing. From what I know, the writers and showrunners were putting the finishing touches.
Burying your Gays was a horrendous trope that should die already. LGBT individuals already saw how they couldn't have a happy ending, not without any pointless suffering involved. They couldn't be treated as well-developed human characters.
Before anyone said "Shiro is the rep! Not Adam!", I want to make this clear. Show that Shiro is the rep. Make it explicit.
What's worse and the issue was that there was little to no evidence of Adam/Shiro relationship being LGBT in any matter and Shiro even was LGBT.
For all I know, Shiro was not even LGBT. This was why Shallura was a thing, you know before Shadam. Now Shadam as a ship can exist but within canon so far, it's nonexistent. Nobody can make any headcanon for them because it's vague and made non-explicit. People who just watch the damn thing without any creator's word would just see close friends or brothers at best and close roommates at worst. Again, if you did not know from outside sources, then Shiro could be any interpretation of the straight to LGBT spectrum whatever you like.
Anyway, Adam... I know better than to get attached. Especially within the canon, you would hardly believe that they're former gay lovers at all. Nowhere did it make explicit. Instead of making something like a remark from goddamn Shiro - like "yeah, he's my ex...I love him so much and I wanted to make up to him" - but nope. Adam's death was nothing more than to further Shiro's suffering and nothing more.
No, you showed him mourning him for 3 seconds at most. You didn't even show him crying once it's private. Show that instead of three-second mourning and he's done for the day. Show more than we were given.
Adam was nothing more than a blip on Shiro's endless suffering. Adam was reduced to a non-character, a character that was hyped simply because of his former relationship with Shiro. There were no flashbacks about their dating history or even just a kiss. Instead of crying at his grave or in private or saying something explicit to questions, you had no idea why Adam was so special to Shiro in the first place. If I had not learned from outside sources that Shiro and Adam were gay, then I could say they were close friends or brothers.
I love Portgas D. Ace to the point of buying a tote bag of his remembrance of the Marineford arc. I love the ASL brothers a lot, starting from the Alabasta arc. I saw how close Ace and Luffy was, not just from flashbacks, but from their interactions in the Alabasta arc even just from the anime. Filler included. Disregarding AceLu shipping, they were depicted as sworn brothers in a society that did not have brotherhood much so the ASL Brothers and the Elric Brothers were welcoming.
Don't you get it? I know these guys were brothers and had a close relationship that their love shined through so many people loves it.
If it hadn't been for the creators saying so, Shiro and Adam might as well been the ASL brothers. Without the added benefit of interactions and/or explicit nature of Shadam's LGBT status.
Here's the thing: If Adam wasn't in the original script and added later, then don't add him. It might've been good and all to have him on the cast but don't think for a second that the first thing you think of was to get rid of him. You could've just put him on a bus and say...I don't know...that he was too busy in his strategy room and help to negotiate with Allura and Sanda's vice-something. Don't wrap him up in a get-this-character-out-of-the-way-asap ball with a helping of fuck-you because you don't know what else to do with him. Do you know what kind of message you sent by killing him? Even he had always been a minor character, don't just kill him off. Use him when necessary. This is why Oda or Hiromu Arakawa never killed off their characters until it's absolutely necessary for the main plot.
The creators had the audacity to pat themselves on the back just for this LGBT rep. This is not LGBT representation.
If they were going to make Shadam or any queer relationship explicit, they should make it clear this season. A season heavily advertised to have LGBT rep, not the next season. Don't advertise this season if you aren't going to never make it clear and burying your gays on top of that.
The show became the first kid's show in America to kill a gay man of color onscreen. Congrats on this dubious honor. I hope you were happy with the recognition.
I understand war was shitty for everyone and everyone can die. But when you specifically show straight characters like Colleen and Sam surviving, Adam was a casualty that was never addressed. When James and the Holts and Iverson had more development, even the shitty Sanda, Adam receiving none when it was hyped to hell and back... His death literally meant nothing.
For the record, he was one of the two gay men that canon or the fans known so far. But to kill him off with no payoff/closure with his expected relationship with Shiro was horrible. What was more horrible is its lack of explicitness. Without that explicitness, then it's subtext.
And that's on the actual canon LGBT's side.
Don't you dare say that Adashi and Ezor/Zethrid were red herrings. Just don't.
Given how much the word of gay and the way they were written in some form of romantic fashion would not erase they used toxic LGBT tropes that existed for so long now. Burying your gays and psycho lesbians was not the way to go about in a season advertised to have LGBT content.
These relationships - Adashi and Ezor/Zethrid - should not be written off unceremoniously with no closure or suddenness to their deaths. They shouldn't be red herrings to the so-called true LGBT rep. This was not supposed to be written for LGBT rep. Whether you like it or not, Adam and Ezor/Zethrid was still LGBT rep and treated horribly in the text.
Again, it's not because of shipping. I could care less if Shadam gets back together or not in-canon. The problem was the empty promises of this season advertised heavily to have LGBT material.
As a rule of thumb, do not posture yourself for having LGBT material before or during or after the fact. Let the piece of media say it for itself but with these notes: explicitness and confirmation, not from Word of God although that would be a big help yet it is in-story that was the most important.
Let's talk about how the marketing staff and the creators and VAs talked up Klance a lot. It's fine if they shipped it. Don't blame the VAs for egging the Klance on when they really don't know what's going on behind the scenes. It's not like going to be heavily reported like how Midnight's Edge reporting the Hollywood movie scene.
However, the way they marketed the hell out of Klance to draw in viewers, likely knowing it will never happen...was horrendous...
If Klance was not happening, then say so. The marketing is on the said marketing staff at Dreamworks and Netflix. The writers and showrunners had nothing to do with them.
Look at Narita. He wrote a Shizaya BL fic as an April Fool's but he never ever meant any harm by it. He even had help from friends who love BL. He was willing to encourage shippers and did not mind them shipping Shizaya by any means. He did not hate Shizaya shippers which were a plus.
Since an AssClass chapter/episode just seemed to hate fan shipping despite it being a fan thing since forever. I hate fan-hating so much, even for something as measly and meaningless as shipping. Fandom and shipping was niche. It's not going to change the world. While Spirk was one of the oldest slash couples to ever exist, did people have to ship it or even care about it? I shipped Spirk and McKirk but do you see me hating on Spuhura? No. Shipping was so niched that its ridiculous people are fighting back against yaoi shipping...when that had been existing since the dawn of time. They can't stop it.
Anyways, I'm going off-topic since I really dislike the chapter of AssClass for something as meaningless as shipping. Shipping did not hurt AssClass in any way.
Where was I? Ah, yes, Klance.
They used Klance to draw in people to continue watching the show. This was on the marketing staff at Netflix and Dreamworks. While the showrunners, writers, and VAs did not help one bit...
Don't posture yourself for having LGBT rep and promising it. Don't pat yourself on the back for having a gay man of color in there just for a couple minutes before killed off unceremoniously. If there was an LGBT relationship at the end, then that wouldn't erase what you did the previous season. Promising it yet using offensive and gross LGBT tropes - BURY YOUR FUCKING GAYS and GAY MEN (OF COLOR)'S ENDLESS SUFFERING OR A PLOT DEVICE WHEN THERE SHOULD'NT BE THE NEED - in the very season you promoted to have LGBT material was awful.
For the record, if Klance happened and Adam miraculously survived and married Shiro in the last season, the hurt they caused will not go away. It will hang over the heads of the creators and writers like the Sword of Damocles.
Again, if Klance or any m/m or w/w couple was the endgame LGBT couple, don't add another gay man of color just to kill him off because you don't know what else to do with him.
The marketing and the endless posturing of LGBT rep was a bad icing on top of an underbaked cake. The hyping of Shiro and Adam and Shiro's endless suffering which should not happen. This hurt the most for fans. The promise but when put especially when it comes to Adam and Shiro, it's reduced to nothing.
Now knowing some details that the execs screwed up the storylines, particularly the LGBT plotlines, unfortunately leading to the poor burying our gays Adam example... All we know now was that the showrunners tried so hard for Adashi until the very end and the best they could do when they got the approval, the best they could do apparently was well...what I just ranted above should say why it's wrong in the first place.
Yeah, it was still terrible that all the staff could do with Adam was to kill him off when there shouldn't be the need. Again, they should've just put him on the bus via strategy room or anything else but death.
Even then, that doesn't excuse the writers and showrunners from using the toxic LGBT tropes when there should not be the need to use them. If it's the best they could do for Adashi and still used those said disgusting tropes, I don't know what to say really. Even if it wasn't intentional, it was still a conscious decision to kill him off for shock value and loss.
Too bad we don't know him, therefore, we can't feel the loss. And the only indication non-vague evidence of Shadam was only in the first episode.
I wouldn't blame the showrunners for fighting so hard and their hands were forced to do these toxic tropes. But still, they did these tropes at a huge detriment to their fanbase's faith.
At least, what the world learned was what not to do for LGBT representation. Especially when you promised it.
Edit: However, rereading VA and EP's interviews out of pure whim, I'm starting to think the EPs are the true roadblocks to the actual LGBT presentation in VLD. Because Montgomery and Dos Santos stuck too close to Shiro's death, it seemed they were to blame and should carry that blame for not recognizing why killing off a gay character is too horrible.
Now DW should at least be held accountable still just like Montgomery and Dos Santos. It's just that Montgomery and Dos Santos should be held to their mistakes just as much. Instead of reverting to their narrative they are selling to fans and people.
Listen, I read this book called The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding. And it's fucking great. And read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli or watch Love, Simon.
On another note, it's frustrating that we're getting the "Nice Guy" trope with Allurance. I have no problem with Allurance as a ship and I know Lance was not a typical self-entitled asshole "Nice Guy", yet the Allurance writing aligned with the said trope. Within canon with the Nice Guy trope in play, it's just cringing especially what happened with Lotura. Because even Lotura seemed to just be an engine for the "Nice Guy" trope to keep going in VLD when it shouldn't. VLD shouldn't have played this sexist trope ever in their pursuit of any of their endgames.
Titan was the Nice Guy embodiment.
Now I'm seriously want to watch other Dreamworks movies right now. Megamind would be the first and I would recommend watching it. So underrated. While not a flop, it didn't make enough money to greenlight a sequel.
If you must, please stay away from Voltron and anything regarding it for your own health.
Do not insult or witchhunt anybody - VAs, showrunners, writers, executives - involved. Anything of that level would actually demean your message.
You have the right to be angry and sad. But do not take it out on them, be kind to them and make sure they got the messages.
It's understandable if you don't trust the word of VLD staff ever again and won't see any of their future works.
Even disregarding what I just talked about above, the season was just average. I'm not too personally invested in VLD. I'm already interested in other forms of media and even now with my previous post about VLD. This was not going to be the last VLD post in this blog.
Every piece of media would hurt somebody in this world in some way. Any piece of media was not going to be perfect by any means.
If you still want to watch it despite everything that hurt you in this season - disregarding the shipping since shipping was totally different from rep - then it's your choice. If you still want to go back but right now stirring with anger, step back and breathe. Find something else to enjoy before going back, no matter how long that takes to soothe your feelings.
See it to the end if you want. Drop it or step back now if you want.
For those who are still watching VLD, go forth! Just understand that it's not about shipping that people are being negative but about the queerbaiting. Yes, it's not a good reason to watch solely for the LGBT material or for shipping; even if for better or worse, it's a legitimate reason nonetheless. But understand that the creators promised in this season they'll get the LGBT they'll get and VLD failed to deliver. Please understand that side.
Also, the one who had a negative experience after watching S7, don't ruin others' enjoyment just because you didn't enjoy it. Again, I know the writing in VLD is messy and a pendulum of well-written one second and badly written the next, mainly due to lack of context and natural progression - they could have entire novels about VLD but couldn't fit it in so that was their detriment. Just don't ruin others for enjoying something you don't. Go watch or read or anything else for your enjoyment.
As for me, I will happily consume fluffy Shizaya by tastewithouttalent and the read the informative yet hilarious TFWiki.Net.
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