Honestly, I Kind Of Hate How Lance Was Given Altean Symbols. Unlike My Other Posts, However, This Isn't

Honestly, I kind of hate how Lance was given altean symbols. Unlike my other posts, however, this isn't hating on him. I mean, his relationship with Allura felt so one-sided. Allura was clearly rebounding on him and the show just didn't want to acknowledge it. She was still hung up on Lotor, even imagining Lotor's face when they kissed, which is wrong. She was basically using him at that point and it actually made me feel bad for him.

But the worst part is the altean markings. Every time he looks in the mirror, he will only be reminded of the fact that Allura is dead. If he ever decided to move on and start seeing other people, they're going to ask about the markings and bringing up your dead ex is never going to make a first date go well.

He's marked by this memory of Allura and it is wrong. I feel as though my previous posts have made it seem as though I hate lance full-stop, when this isn't exactly the case. He had some really good potential and it's mostly the writers whom I dislike for making Lance's character go down hill. Unlike other character who I despise (not really in Voltron, though Haggar comes close to that point), there are moments where I genuinely like Lance.

I liked Lance in season one and two, and I appreciated him through season five. I just find myself disliking him more than I like him which is a shame.

The markings are the cherry on top of the cake. The writers really felt like screwing everyone over in season eight. Just that last shot of Lance with the markings that will always remind him of his dead ex who rebounded on him, as he's farming like a Cuban stereotype, (probably the only Cuban thing he's done in the series which is a whole other can of worms), really sets my teeth on edge.

I promise. I will try to talk about other things, maybe Voltron related, maybe other things like... KHR, Owl House, Gravity Falls, BNHA, One Piece, ect... But I'm currently hyperfixated and it will be a while before I stop. Sorry teehee

Heyhey! I'm a huge fan of voltron, and of he who shall not be named from it. I really want to say I respect the fuck out of you. You laid out your reasoning on why you dislike that character INCREDIBLY well in my opinion. I totally see where you are coming from, and I'm truly sorry you cannot escape this character you hate. It's totally valid to hate him, you proved it. I may not dislike him, but holy shit I adore what you said. He really would not be a good fit for the black paladin, I'm gonna be honest. You explained why so well, in words I never could obtain myself even if I've had the same opinion for years. I think the fandom comes up with these headcanons for certain characters that become false reality, and that can make people who have not engaged in them incredibly frustrated for good reason. .. Have a great day, you deserve cold pillows and for your socks to never be wet.

Thank you!! Tbh, I did not expect much to come from that post, I was just kind of frustrated and it was five am, so I was really shocked to see this.

Yeah, it is hard when you hate the most popular character. I lived in it silently for so long and only now have decided to be vocal about my hate, so I'm glad that my first verbal/written feedback isn't immediately nasty.

Also, thank you. That is the kindest thing someone has wished for me 💗

he sounds like a Nice Guy.

yeah, no i get you. i, too, am aro, possibly ace? and bc i'm still a teen, my old friendship group was very much boy and girl crazy. and i was sitting there, like: ? and? it was really annoying bc i was interested in other people, but nowhere near to their extent, simply because people wouldn't consider dating me when we i have to actually know them and i dont really care for sexual stuff.

for real, though. he sounds like a dick? like, i'm not about to dictate what you do with your friends. they're your friends, not mine. i will, however, say that he doesn't sound like a good friend if he's not even considering your feelings. as well as the fact that he thinks he's entitled to a girl just because 'she's not happy with' her partner.

if he really wants to settle down, he should try being their friend first. without any, like, hidden intentions. you're right. that is creepy

Can I vent a little? I need to vent.

So I dated this guy for about a month last year, let's call him Eddie. Eventually we hit a dealbreaker topic. I'm AroAce and not interested in the physical side of a relationship, he thought he was Demi but is very much interested in intimacy. To keep us from ending up in an awkward situation, we agreed to be friends.

And we have stayed friends! It's been pretty great! But he keeps talking to me about his current dating endeavors and complaining how girls are so quick to shoot him down or get uncomfortable after he makes advances on them, and today he spent a solid forty-five minutes going on about how the dating world sucks and I'm just.

I know it sucks??? Try dating when you don't want to have sex, most guys won't even talk to me if that's off the table. And maybe if he didn't try to center his whole life around finding a girlfriend he'd be happier, because he does come on strong when he's interested but he can also switch girls so fast. Every week he brings up another girl he's interested in, to the point that I'm not even sure why he's interested in them or if he's just going "Pretty girl must ask out"

He also spent like three weeks trying to ask out one of his coworkers that he knew already had a boyfriend and then got mad when she wouldn't dump, in his opinion, someone she wasn't happy with for him. (Where he got the opinion she wasn't happy I don't know, I think he was projecting)

Like. I don't know how he expected that to go. I'd have been more concerned if his coworker did dump one boy for him.

ANYWAY I'm frustrated he keeps detailing his dating endeavors to me. I get that he wants to find "the one" and settle down but if he keeps asking out every remotely pretty girl he sees, it's no wonder they all find him creepy.

that feeling when you see that the comments are at a perfectly round number so you hesitate to comment because you have ocd

i might make the playlists public later on, who knows

I just made multiple playlists for my Voltron Rewrite, (private, sorry), so I know I'm going to finish it because I've never done that for any of my other long fics which were quickly abandoned. LET'S GO VOLTRON

Hello, I saw your tumblr pop up and I saw that you are very critical of lances character. I mean absolutely no harm and want to have just have a conversation.

I’m not going to bash you completely because that’d get absolutely no where. I understand a lot of the points you’ve made. The way Lance treats his other teammates (especially Keith and allura) are to say the least… not great.

His one sided rivalry is terrible especially because Keith really is just a kid. He’s got a lot of family issues and now he’s being hated on by some kid he doesn’t even remember/recognize. Allura is dealing with 10,000 years of guilt not being able to save her planet and especially her father. Then ofc Lance comes in and immediately flirts with her.

Neither of these are good things. However, I’d argue that it helps in largely with his growth (if the writers actually cared).

In the first episode when the trio get in trouble Iverson immediately states to Lance that he’s only here because Keith isn’t.

And considering how easily he says this it very much feels like something that’s said often to him.

I don’t think Lance just started the rivalry because he just decided to hate Keith’s guys but because he’s having to be reminded that all he is, is a “cheap replacement” in a sense.

If they (writers) explored this idea more thoroughly I feel as though it would’ve made lances character more understandable. Not better (because even tho something happens doesn’t give anyone the excuse of whatever) but more to show that he’s human.

I would’ve loved to see an apology to Keith for this but obv it never happens.

I will say he does grow more with Allura though. Yes he still flirts but considering in season 5 the scene where Lance is comforting Allura really shows a change in lance.

I feel as though he really changes but the thing is Allura treats him in the end almost as a rebound (not bashing on her or anything). She clearly is more in favor of Lotor and even kisses the hallucination of him and never tells Lance when they’re together.

Moving on, I believe you’re characterizing Lance a little too unfairly. He does not get everything on a silver patter. He gets to be a fighter pilot because he’s the only thing closest to Keith’s record. He is constantly made the joke to the point where even Veronica his older sister find out that they’re being killed because she thinks Lance is an idiot (despite actual evidence mere 5 seconds ago proving it wrong). The whole bob episode makes fun of him. The team kinda leaves him behind. Hunk who’s supposed to be his best friend rarely interacts with him and is more pidges best friend than anything. Season 5s whole thing with Kuron and Lance gets scrapped instantly.

Is Lance a flawed character? Absolutely. But he is very much not given everything. In all honesty I believe Keith is the one who is the most “spoiled” in the show.

Season 1 and 2 lovely. However when shiro dies everything kinda changes.

I understand what the writers were going with but in truth Keith is by far (in my opinion) the worst option for being the black paladin.

Yea Keith has a fucked up backstory. He didn’t want to be the black paladin. he was forced into it.

But that doesn’t mean he is the right one. When he starts he almost kills everyone. Yes he’s starting out but afterwards he doesn’t become his own leader. He just steals shiros character.

When the clone comes in he dips. Sure ita because there isn’t space anymore but considering how easy it is for him to leave is what makes me think of him as spoiled.

The others don’t get an out. If the others had to leave they couldn’t. They don’t have galra genetics that can make them a marmora. They don’t have a space mom to travel with.

They’d have to stay in the castle because there is no where else to go for them.

Keith in the other hand gets an out. He is half galra he has a mom out there in space.

We never see him interact with the others again or even think about them. He only ever thinks about shiro.

When he comes back all of a sudden everything that the paladins have been working on is flipped on their heads. Now Keith has to save the day. Kuron goes bonkers and instead of using all that build up with Lance it’s Keith.

Keith leaves the team defenseless and without Voltron to deal with Lotor.

Gives absolutely no remorse on killing Kuron and just allows shiros mind to be put into his body.

Then he doesn’t give a rats ass about shiro anymore. He never gives him the black lion back (despite that being the original reason he left in the first place)

Shiro becomes a cardboard cutout of who he used to be. And to top that off despite the buildup between shiro and sendak Keith kills him off (despite shiro not even getting injured)

Now as a shiro fan yes I am biased. But, even then this doesn’t give Keith the excuse of being a Mary sue.

The mission where Veronica calls Lance stupid is the one where he leaves the team again to do his own thing.

Despite him agreeing with the others to take off the armor their tracking to run and hide the next scene we see is all of a sudden him being the savior of the episode.

no one else gets this. especially not Lance.

Yes lance is selfish. But I’d rather watch him be the black paladin than Keith.

Because in that Lance can learn and grow. Show that yea being a leader of a team isn’t as “cool” as you think. I wouldn’t loved the paladins being mad at him and him having to actually learn to grow up and be better.

Keith being the black paladin is just him being a recycled shiro.

I wish in all honestly that we got to see the characters be more flawed. and see them ACTUALLY grow instead of being either a carbon copy of another or just completely being thrown.

I hope you see this and I’d love to see your feedback.

Okay. At first, I was really liking this ask. I agreed with a lot of your points about Lance. While I have been heavily critical of him, that's only really because of how much people adore him and are afraid to criticise him. I've already stated, in my original 'Lance bad' post, that I didn't have an issue with Lance in season 1. I liked where his character started, but it was only in later seasons that I started disliking him.

I liked that he was insecure, but there was no pay-off to it. Maybe there were a few times he was reassured by someone, whether it be Allura, Shiro, Keith or whoever, but it feels like less of a trait/flaw and more of a way for him to be comforted. There's no scene in which Lance's insecurity puts the team in actual jeopardy, which would be a great way for his character to develop and to put some actual meaning to making him insecure.

I liked that he was flirty and goofy, because the cast needed a balance between the serious characters and the comedic ones. I liked that, even though he was goofy and comedic, the staff still tried to take him seriously. (Unlike Hunk).

So, yeah. There is stuff I do like about Lance, which is why I'm still treating him as fairly as possible in my rewrite. His insecurity is alluded to early, he's actually best friends with Hunk and it's not just saying that, he at least tries to defend his friends against Iverson, he is quite protective of Pidge, and he is capable of speaking to Allura (in SEASON ONE) without flirting every ten seconds.

But. In canon? I can't stand him. You say he doesn't get everything handed to him on a silver platter, but I don't see your point being proven. Instead, you point out how he's the constant butt of a joke. In season 7 and season 8. Yes, he's made fun of, but that doesn't mean he's not spoilt?

You also say that Keith is spoilt the most, because he gets the Black Lion and 'gets an out'. I feel like you just wanted to see Lance in the Black Lion more.

You claim that Keith is the worst option. That just because he has a fucked up backstory and was forced into it, it doesn't mean he's the good option. Um. That isn't why the Black Lion chose him?? Keith was the only one who didn't have selfish reasons for entering Black. Pidge and Hunk were basically goofing around but they're mostly comfortable where they already are. Lance wanted Black for selfish reasons, to prove himself. That's fine and all but it's not what Black was looking for.

Allura and Keith are the only ones who didn't want the Black Lion for themselves. A lot of people think Allura should have been the Black Paladin, which is fine but I honestly prefer Allura in Red and Keith in Black. Keith only went into Black's cockpit because Shiro wanted him to and the universe needed a Black Paladin. He did it for selfless reasons.

Onto your next point. About how Keith led them into danger and near death when he started. Um. He's just started out? And nobody has comforted him about losing Shiro (AGAIN). Instead, we have Pidge calling him a loner, Lance accusing him of using Shiro's death for his own gain, and everyone just being overall mean and nasty to Keith, RIGHT AFTER SHIRO DIED.

Honestly, I'd love to see you try to lead a team that seems to hate you. At least Keith gets his head screwed back into place before long. And calling him a B-tech Shiro? Should I remind you of: "You want me to lead Voltron? This is how I lead!" The whole point of that was to show how different their leading is. Shiro would rather play it safe unless he's emotionally compromised like at the end of season 1. Keith would rather hold nothing back and go at it 100 percent.

Also, I seem to keep having to bring this up. When Shiro was still there but was knocked out or unavailable, guess who was the one issuing orders? Yeah, that's right. It was Keith. Keith was always the first to ask Shiro what's wrong and then issue orders until Shiro gets back. He was always meant to be the Black Paladin, it's you guys who refuse to see it. I mean, if you look at his clothes, you will very quickly notice that it's not Red's colours. Mostly black with some red, white and yellow? Hmm, that's-- Oh yeah! That's Black's colour scheme. He was always meant to be in Black.

Also saying that Keith is spoilt because he 'gets an out' is stupid. Yes, I am insulting you because that's so far from the truth? Lance could have been dropped off on Earth while Allura stays as Blue and Keith goes back to Red. Allura could have taken a step back and let Lance go back to Blue and Keith to Red and Shiro to Black. Shiro could have stayed dead like he was supposed to and let nothing change.

That first episode of season four? Voltron are doing parades. The BOM are searching for important information to take down the Galra Empire. What, did you want Keith to do the parades? Surely, the people could understand that the Black Lion is out on a mission. There's no need for all five to be there. But, no. Of course, Keith is in the wrong. Regris dies right in front of him and he nearly dies out in space and he's doing incredibly dangerous and important work. But when he gets back, surely the others will be there for him after a fellow Blade died and he nearly did? Right? Nope. They just glare at him because there was an attack nobody could have predicted.

Keith leaves and nobody stops him. Keith leaves so Lance can stay happy in Red and Allura can stay happy in Blue and Shiro can get Black back. He leaves, not because he gets an out or is spoilt. The work he's doing is arguably MORE dangerous than Voltron's work. He isn't hiding inside a Lion, he's doing all this in person.

Saying that he gets to go around on Space Whale with his mother? The same one who abandoned him? While reliving past memories such as his father's death? While having to go through future scenarios again and again, essentially dying over and over to Shiro. His brother.

The whole point of setting some stuff up between Lance and Kuron is to compare with Keith and Kuron. Keith who would have been able to hear Shiro. He would have heard Shiro be cruel and snappy and he would have been on that case immediately. He would have done everything to find out what the hell is happening.

Keith is not spoilt. Lance is not spoilt either. Yes, Lance is given mostly everything he wants, but he still suffers. It's not directly correlated to what he wants/gets, but he suffers nonetheless. Keith is the furthest from spoilt. The only time he can get to relax? Um... He doesn't. Not even in the two-year time skip on the Space Whale because he's constantly suffering from images of the past and the events of the future.

Also, it's ironic that you call Keith a carbon-copy of Shiro, even if they're completely different. Because that's what viewers want Lance to be. They never admit or outright say it, but they want it. They want him to be traumatised, kind and serious, and they want the Galra to take something from him (like, say, a limb), and they want him to struggle to rely on others. That's Shiro. They want Lance to be Shiro but Cuban.

Lance would be a horrible pick for Black Paladin. As I've said time and time again. The reasons are in a pervious post if you want to find it. I've only just woken up at the time of writing this. It's kind of funny to me that I can provide a good reponse to this while I still have sleep in my eyes and I can barely remember the multiples of seven.

If Lance was white, I wonder how many people would still love him.