Do you ever have a favorite kind of cereal? And it’s like the best cereal, and it’s pretty much the only thing you’ll eat for breakfast?
But then one day you run out of that cereal, and you can’t find it in any store anywhere?
So you end up eating something else for breakfast, which you tried once a while ago, and it wasn’t too bad, so you guess you can eat it until you’re able to find your favorite cereal.
But then one day you’re in the store and you think you’ve found your cereal, and you’re so excited that you just hurry grab it, and go home.
But then when you get home, you realize that you got the off brand/different flavor of your cereal.
and you want your cereal not this fake cereal, so you don’t eat it-
and you go back to what you were eating instead of your normal cereal.
But then you run out of that replacement food, and you still really need to eat something before you go take on the day, so you finally eat the fake cereal you accidentally bought.
and it’s not terrible, but you still would rather have your original cereal back…..
just, Has that ever happened to you? It’s happened to Black
hi guys! im remaking the post because the last one failed to gain any traction. i’ll keep it short and straight to the point.
a childhood and current friend of mine was raped in may. since they did not file a police report at the hospital, all the bills are on them, and they do not have health insurance. since the bills were outstanding for several months, they are now over $3000 in debt at the age of 19.
please reblog this post and give what you can. even $5 starts to add up, i promise.
did the math its been about 2 weeks and we have 2.5% of our goal 😩😩😩 if you havent shared this yet i beg you to because they have nowhere else to go for help
This may be old hat, but I have seen people talk about how Shiro clearly favors Keith to the detriment of other team members. Namely, Lance. I don't feel like this very IC, but I wanted to get other opinions and I enjoy your meta.
This is something in fanon that’s always kind of bothered me honestly. I have a whole meta here about how Shiro protects Lance and cares for him throughout Sendak’s takeover. I honestly don’t understand how people could say Shiro doesn’t care enough about Lance when Shiro was literally willing to get captured and tortured again for his sake. “But that was one time!” some fans will say. As if putting your life on the line and getting a few thousand volts of electricity surging down your spine isn’t a big deal apparently?? Shiro cares for Lance, he does. He could’ve won that fight, but he threw it for Lance’s sake.
Something that I repeatedly see people cite as a sign Shiro “favors” Keith over Lance is their talk before the BOM. Shiro decides he’s going to take Keith with him, and Lance lashes out. He claims Keith is unable to stay calm, and yet, he’s the one losing his temper. And this is only the latest in a long line of instances in which their supposed “rivalry” is really just a one-sided game where Lance is the instigator and Keith repeatedly has to remain calm and either try to make peace or just tune him out. Throughout season 2, he really snaps back. In contrast, Lance has demonstrated again and again that he is childish and self-centered, that he himself has a quick temper. And yet, he’s quick to direct the blame at Keith. Who handles it quite gracefully, might I add.
So yeah, anyway, Shiro was right. It was a good call to bring Keith instead of Lance. But because Lance is often placed upon a pedestal, somehow not coddling him 24/7 can be misconstrued as abuse. I think another reason people are so quick to say Shiro doesn’t treat Lance the way he deserves is because he doesn’t talk Lance through all his insecurity issues. But you know what? If Lance wants to talk about it, then he has to bring it up. The only two people that have actually addressed that directly are Allura and Keith. And both of them only do so after Lance brings it to their attention. If Lance doesn’t speak up or keeps up an act, how is Shiro supposed to see the signs and help?
More importantly, people act as though all of Lance’s insecurities are somehow Shiro’s fault. Why is that? Shiro has been imprisoned and tortured for a year. His PTSD and consequential paranoia, depression, and anxiety are far more difficult to deal with than Lance feeling upstaged. And yet, Shiro would never presume that this was somehow everyone else’s burden, or that they owed him more because of it. So why should Lance merit special treatment? Yes, Shiro isn’t as attentive with Lance and Hunk. But that’s because they’re so much more well adjusted.
I don’t mean this badly, it’s just a fact. They came from good, loving homes. Hunk feels fondly enough about his family to want to return, and seems to have no baggage associated it. Lance meanwhile we know was the youngest sibling and somewhat spoiled. They had it good before. There’s nothing wrong with that. Characters don’t have to have traumatic backstories to be deep or meaningful. But this also means that these two aren’t dealing with the same shit as Keith and Pidge. They don’t have Keith’s abandonment issues or the shared grief he and and Pidge feel over losing their family. These two need more reassurance and guidance and comfort, and Shiro is of course there to provide it.
Bizarrely enough, it also feels like fans are unable to believe that Shiro has friends. Lance treats Hunk significantly better than Keith from day one, and in fact forces his personal vendetta on Keith for purely selfish reasons. But Keith is expected to graciously accept this because “it’s just from Lance’s insecurities.” Meanwhile, Shiro clearly has nothing against Lance and has never singled him out or treated him poorly out of nowhere. Yet he’s accused of favoritism. This favoritism is really just friendship. He knew Keith before Kerberos, was so close with him he literally brought Keith to the launch instead of his own family. They’ve clearly been side by side for a long time, long enough for Keith to develop an intense desire to be with him when he shuts out everyone else. Long enough for Shiro to not be surprised that it’s Keith of all people who shows up to save him.
Romantic or not, “Shiro and Keith have the closest relationship.” In Joaquim’s own words, that’s canon (source). So of course their interactions will be different from everyone else’s. That gravity and vulnerability is unique to them alone. And honestly? Removing that link is clearly detrimental to both their coping mechanisms. I think it’s selfish for people to expect Shiro to either push Keith away or pull everyone else in. He’s not ready for something like that, and it shouldn’t be forced on him. Everyone else is allowed to have best friends or romance or whatever’s happening here. Why can’t Shiro? Why is that so wrong? And, to take this in another direction–were Lance to somehow become Black Paladin, does that mean he has to distance himself from Hunk? That he can’t still be interested in Allura? No, I don’t think so.
And I mean, Shiro does trust Lance, you know? He does still take Lance’s input into account. When Lance says he wants to try to make that impossible shot in Beta Traz, Shiro lets him. Shiro trusts him. And when he makes it? Shiro compliments him! And the reaction is immediate–Lance is clearly thrilled. So yes, Shiro does think Lance is capable of great things. Yes, Shiro lets Lance know when he does a good job and wants to be supportive of him. That much is clear.
I think the other reason why people assume Shiro is somehow biased against Lance because he made Keith Black Paladin instead. And, I’m going to be completely straightforward here–the idea of Black Paladin Lance just makes no sense to me. Neither in the narrative nor thematically and it certainly doesn’t fit with his character development. The thing is, I think people have lost sight of what Black Paladin really means. It’s not a popularity contest. It doesn’t mean you’re the “best” and you shouldn’t just want your fav to have that spot. Lance is far more suited to the role of a Red Paladin, as reflected in his parallels with Alfor, his talk with Allura, and his character arc. To quote my other meta:
It’d be a huge setback and really detract from his character development. When he sits in the Black Lion for “like half a varga” Lance’s main motivation here is seeking his own glory. His character arc is about learning to grow past that and see the bigger picture and realize everyone in Voltron is part of a whole and you’re not better because you’re the leader.
The way he treated Keith earlier in that episode was also incredibly malicious considering the guy was grieving the loss of the person he loved most. And Lance still has the audacity to spit on Shiro’s last “dying” will and continually provoke Keith until he lashes out or leaves. Learning to see the wrong in that and instead supporting Keith was a huge step for him, and I don’t see why he’d ever still take Black after that.
It also makes no sense thematically. When Keith steps into Black again, he says, “I know this is what you wanted for me, Shiro. But I’m not you. I can’t lead them like you.” And Lance just goes, “This is your moment.” Keith’s concern first and foremost is with what Shiro wanted and what’s best for the team. Lance just wants to steal the spotlight. He has no intrinsic connection to the Black lion through his bond with Shiro the way Keith does. He also doesn’t have those thematic parallels to Zarkon the way Keith does–instead, he’s recognized as being very similar to Alfor.
People act like Shiro and Keith stole away Lance’s chance at leadership, but Shiro wasn’t even considering anyone else. Lance was never even in the running.
The thing is, I kind of understand where people are coming from. To my knowledge, a lot of fans find Lance to be the most relatable, and reflect on him–likewise, I often do this with Keith. But anyway, people really feel for Lance and see their own insecurities through him. But that still doesn’t mean everyone should drop everything to immediately focus on him. Shiro is a good leader. Shiro cares about all of his paladins. Shiro by no means has anything against Lance. But that doesn’t mean he should be given the spot as Black Paladin just because he’s Lance, or that Shiro should be micromanaging his and the other paladins’ emotional needs 24/7 when he’s just trying to get by himself. I understand people feeling for Lance and wanting to see him reach his full potential. But that doesn’t mean everyone has to bow down to him. In fact, going by his daydreams and personal arc–this would significantly negate a good amount of his character development.
So I’m a phlebotomist. And sometimes, I work at a site that is directly adjacent to an endocrinologist. Which means I see and take blood from a lot of folks that are trans, or nonbinary, or gender nonconforming.
Do you have any fucking idea how easy it is, in customer-service speak, to respect someone’s gender?
I mean, I’ve had super awkward situations where I have to say things like ‘I’m sorry, that name isn’t coming up in our system. Is there another name…“ And without fail they provide their deadname and I plug it in and I say ‘Ok, that came up, do you want me to fix that in our system?” And they say ‘Yes’ and then I ADD IT AS A SYNOMYMOUS NAME. Same as I would for someone recently married or divorced. The end.
I have never experienced a situation in which I have felt motivated to ask someone’s pronouns.
I have had situations in which I have thought to myself ‘I have no idea if this person is ‘sir’ or ‘ma'am’ and instead have gone ‘Next patient please?’ or ‘I can help who’s next’ or ‘I can help you now’ while looking directly at them.
I have had situations where I’ve gone ‘I’m like 90% certain that I’ve been given a record with this person’s deadname because this name does not match at all the gender presentation of the person I’m looking at’ And I say ‘Ok, can you spell your last name for me? Ok, spell your first name? And your date of birth?’
and then I quietly write ‘preferred name [the name they just spelled] on the top of thier record.
THIS IS NOT HARD.
And if this is not hard for me, as a person working in medicine who has to make certain that the person I’m talking to is the same person on the medical record that I’m looking up, how much easier must it be for, say, a barista who doesn’t give half a fuck who you are? I’ve BEEN a barista in the past. If a Barista is asking your pronouns, that person is an asshole.
Man @ my fellow white people sometimes you gotta take a step back and realize that even if you have been oppressed for some reason (whether ur queer or a woman or disabled) that we still… have white privilege like I know that’s hard for some of y'all to understand but plain and simple, we have ever since race as it is known today was conceptualized (about 500 years ago at least) benefited from white privileged and we continue to do so today.
Like when a poc (especially someone who is black since we yknow enslaved their ancestors and continue to keep them disenfranchised and enslaved through the prison system) says they don’t feel sympathy for a white group historically isn’t saying that what happened to them is okay, but even oppressed groups (like white women in the 17th century 👀👀) can still oppress other oppressed groups. White women may have been “considered property” and been subjected to marital rape but like, not only did black people experience all of that and more, (considering you know, black people actually were property) white women had a hand in the oppression and foul treatment of slaves, we know this for a fact. No one is saying that white women weren’t and aren’t to some extent still oppressed just that black women experience everything we do and worse because they are both female and black. Black folk have a reason to dislike white people, and honestly most white peoples utter lack of empathy towards the black struggle is not only disgusting but isn’t going to engender any sort of sympathy towards white people, especially women.
(Particularly when historically speaking, black women have always been key movers in the white womens feminist movements and then receive none of the benefits)
heyyy ummm my white followers maybe yall should yknow, reblog this instead of just liking it. even tho im addressing specifics this applies elsewhere
Lotor tries to get Keith on his side, thinking he can make Keith fall in love with him and do a Face Heel Turn, but in a stunning twist of fate, he falls in love with Keith and does a Heel Face Turn himself instead (courtesy of Keith, to use AJ’s words, “bring[ing] out the person in him, and grounding him”).
There’s a sentiment I’ve seen circulating ever since season four’s
premier that the Blade of Marmora willfully and readily sacrifices their
members without giving a damn about their lives, and that Kolivan especially is
cold and doesn’t care at all about the Marmorites who die on their missions.
This is a sentiment that I strongly disagree with, because I feel that evidence
to the contrary is all over their
appearances in the show itself, to the point where you have to be willfully
ignoring the canon in order to express it.
Let’s look at Kolivan in specific. We’re first introduced to Kolivan in
2x08 when Shiro and Keith visit the Marmora base in the hopes of forming an
alliance. Kolivan does not greet them warmly; instead, he greets them
professionally, albeit with a slight edge to his voice. He knows who they are,
he says, and he affirms what Shiro says when Shiro says that he must know that
one of their own sent them. The fact that Ulaz sent Shiro and Keith to the
Marmora base is something Kolivan is not happy about. However, more
specifically, Kolivan is not happy about the fact that Ulaz died to save Team Voltron:
Ulaz broke protocol in two major ways: He divulged information about
the Blade of Marmora to Team Voltron, and he also gave his life to save theirs.
Kolivan disagrees with both of Ulaz’s actions. He does not feel that
sacrificing his own life to save Team Voltron’s was the right choice for Ulaz
to make. This is not because he doesn’t see the potential value of Voltron
(rather, he agrees that they would be fortunate to have the Red Lion on their
side in terms of crisis), nor is it because he has any particular beef with
Team Voltron themselves. Rather, it’s because Ulaz was a highly competent,
capable agent of the Blade of Marmora. He was a member of Kolivan’s team. And
to lose him to what Kolivan feels was a rash, impulsive action is not something that sits well with
Kolivan. In fact, one could say that the hard edge that he uses to greet Shiro
and Keith here is slight resentmenttoward them for being there before him,
alive and well, when Ulaz had to die in order to make that happen.
That said, it’s true that this is a lot of inference. One could easily
argue that Kolivan is just upset because Ulaz divulged the location of the Marmora
base. So let’s fast forward to 2x12, when everyone learns that Thace has been
compromised, and thus the plan to infiltrate Zarkon’s ship has hit a rather
rough snag.
Kolivan is the one who points out that they haven’t heard from
Thace—and that, indeed, Thace was supposed to contact them two vargas (hours)
ago. Note that when he adds that line about how Thace was supposed to contact
them, he looks down and away, breaking eye contact with Shiro. Looking down and
away like that, with slightly narrowed eyes, is upset body language. The fact that Thace is out of contact, and
that he missed the appointed contact time (when ordinarily he wouldn’t) is clearly
upsetting to Kolivan. And it’s not
upsetting just because he’s lacking information, but because of what it means. As Antok points out, Thace could
be captured. As Kolivan himself suggests,
he could have been killed. Kolivan’s
upset at the fact that Thace did not contact them when he was supposed to is
upset at the idea which he is already thinking about, though hasn’t voiced: The
idea that Thace was killed aboard Zarkon’s ship, and that’s why he hasn’t contacted them the way he was supposed to.
And it doesn’t end there. Although the fandom has been insistent that
the Blade of Marmora is bad for Keith because they (and Kolivan in particular)
will “teach him to sacrifice himself,” what we see in canon is actually in
direct opposition to that suggestion. In that very episode, 2x12, the ones who
we see calling for reckless potential sacrifice are not the Marmorites, but rather Team
Voltron, spearheaded by Allura herself when Kolivan says they must abort
the mission because Thace has been lost.
Adults dont manage our teams? Adults coach, I'm 15, thanks. And if you dont wanna be called a child rapist, maybe you shouldn't talk about how cute minors are on a public forum.
I was never in sports in high school, so TIL.
Also, it’s okay to accuse people of doing things without any proof and then blame them for it? Wow.
Queerbaiting is when two same-sex characters act like they’re in a romantic relationship, get really close to kissing or otherwise put into intimate positions, etc on screen without actually doing anything that would confirm them to be in a relationship. Queerbaiting is not when the creators shoot down a ship you like, between two characters who have neither expressed any romantic interest in one another nor been put into fanservice-y positions with each other in canon. You searched for chemistry that wasn’t there, read too far into every line they said to one another, intentionally misinterpreted their anger and insults toward one another as “romantic”, used fucking colors in the backgrounds to say that the showrunners were going to make this relationship canon. That’s all you.
The showrunners haven’t queerbaited anyone. Go back to watching shojo anime if you want to see queerbaiting.
You know what? I’m still so mad Regris exists. Because as soon as I saw him I was like Yes!! Another galra with a tail, finally!! Neat!! And he was like their team hacker? And he had a cool voice?
And Keith cared enough about him to go running back in to save him and literally carry him out in a sudden burst of strength like??
Keith says they haven’t seen Lotor in months, so he must’ve been running these missions with Kolivan and Regris for a pretty long time?? They seemed like they’ve been working as a team for a good while now–long enough for Keith to be attached, certainly?
And then they just!! Fucking killed him!! Like, thanks!! That’s what I get for liking a BOM member with a name that wasn’t Keith or Kolivan, I should have known better!! It’s literally like Antok all over again my poor heart can’t take this. I wish we could’ve got to see him at least training with Keith more…
reblogging to share the resource but I do want to point out that the code amounts to “pinterest no pinning”. like dora the explorer’s swiper the fox… but if swiper were a middle-aged stay-at-home-mom with a smartphone. technology is truly amazing
