#vld meta

excellent. i want all the hugs for him. GIVE THIS BOY EVERY HUG HE HAS BEEN DEPRIVED OF

I rewatched this entire scene like three times and I got more emotional every single time. The entire sequence leading up to the hug is just INCREDIBLY satisfying. I cannot remember the last time I experienced hurt-comfort this effective. This show is SO GOOD at building up emotional hurt and then actually making the comfort feel earned.

I just wrote a whole post about the dynamic between Keith and Allura in S2 and how much her rejection hurts him and now we get the emotional payoff.

Keith's entire arc here has been so painful because the show keeps attacking exactly the places where he is most vulnerable. First he finds out that he is half Galra and suddenly doesn't even know what that means for his identity or whether he still belongs with the team. Then Allura, someone he had literally just grown closer to, starts treating him differently, becomes distant. She makes him feel like the thing he was terrified people would discover about him is enough to make them reject him.

And then Keith goes on a fucking suicide mission.

That is what finally pushes Allura to go talk to him.

She tells him that he is family.

And I LOVE the way this conversation is handled because Keith doesn't even ask for an explanation, he isn't waiting for an apology, he isn't angry at her. He basically accepts that she had her reasons.

But Allura explains anyway.

She tells him why she behaved the way she did. She apologizes. She actually takes responsibility for her behavior instead of making Keith responsible for managing her feelings.

That she can't hate him.

AND THEN SHE HUGS HIM.

A REAL HUG. A genuinely caring, reassuring, vulnerable hug.

And Keith is initially so surprised lmao his gay ass doesn't know what to do but then he hugs her back. He doesn't quite melt into it the way he does with Shiro, because obviously Keith has different levels of physical comfort with different people, but he lets her and he does hold her too.

And then she tells him, essentially, that it doesn't matter what is in his blood. He's still one of them. He's still family. She accepts him.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THIS BOY NEEDED TO HEAR THAT?????

He has spent all these episodes feeling alienated and unwanted and a huge part of that hurt has specifically come from Allura. And now she is the one giving him exactly the reassurance he needed from her.

It is like an emotional warm blanket after episodes of watching this poor kid suffer

But then.

THEN.

She says:

“Please come back to us”

Almost whispering.

Almost desperately.

And Keith looks with this determination on his face and says that he will.

BUT WAIT I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND

THE MISSION WAS LITERALLY CALLED A SUICIDE MISSION

What if Keith didn't realy care that much whether he came back?

Not necessarily in the sense that he consciously wanted to die but… what if somewhere in his mind he had already accepted that maybe he wasn't coming back? He had spent all this time feeling unwanted. He had just been confronted with the possibility that the people he cared about might reject him. Maybe throwing himself into an extremely dangerous mission was, on some level, easier than having to sit with all of that.

Maybe if he died at least his life would have been useful.

And then Allura tells him

Please come back to us.

We want you here.

You have a family.

You have somewhere to return to.

And Keith says “I will”

And WHAT IF this is truly the moment he actually decides that he wants to come back.

Maybe before this surving this mission was just something Keith considered as an option because that's what he does.

But now he has somewhere to go back to.

Now he knows someone is waiting for him.

Now he knows that someone actually wants him to return!!!!!

And maybe that changes everything.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S WHAT THE SHOW IS INTENDING, but emotionally???? It works so painfully well.

This entire arc is basically

Keith: I don't know if I belong here anymore.

Allura: I was afraid you weren't one of us.

Keith: It's okay.

Allura: No. It isn't. You are family.

Keith: …

Allura: Please come back to us.

Keith: I will.

I am going to throw up from how satisfying this hurt-comfort is.

This is EXACTLY the kind of emotional payoff I want from fiction. The hurt was specific, the comfort addresses the exact wound and the physical affection isn't just there because awww hug!, it means something because of everything that happened before it

KEITH GETS TO BE LOVED. KEITH GETS TO BE WANTED. KEITH GETS TO HAVE SOMEONE TELL HIM TO COME HOME.

FUCKING COME HOME, KEITH

I'M MELTING, CRYING THROWING UP

HELP MEEEEE

after everyone finds out that Keith is half Galra, Allura keeps Keith at a distance . I don’t really blame her for it. (It would be like blaming Katara for being prejudiced against the Fire Nation). I imagine Allura has been through an horrific amount of trauma because of the Galra and she has every reason to be suspicious. She also never really does anything openly hostile toward Keith. It's mostly her own emotions with it.

What I actually find really interesting is how much of this is communicated through small interactions. Allura ignores him, she looks at him suspiciously. There is just this subtle sense that something between them is suddenly off

But what makes it hurt so much more is that the show makes sure we know that Keith notices

WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE A KICKED PUPPY HERE

He notices the way she treats him. He reacts to it. And he isn't angry.

Keith seems to accept her behavior almost humbly as though he thinks she has the right to feel this way or maybe even as though he thinks she is justified. When they talked in the space she told him how she feels about Galra. He doesn't argue with her, doesn't try to convince her that she's wrong. He doesn't defend himself.

He just… takes it.

And he's visibly hurt.

Allura is not just some random person to him.

She is literally the person Keith just had a bonding episode with.

They were together alone in space. They had a kind of near death experience. They talked. They opened up to each other. I think Keith could feel like they were becoming something resembling family.

And then she finds out the truth about him and pulls away.

That has to be Keith's absolute worst nightmare.

He lets someone get close to him, he allows himself to believe that he belongs somewhere and that someone sees him as family. And then that person learns something about him that he had absolutely no control over, something that doesn't make him a bad person, something he didn't even know about himself, and suddenly she distances herself

She doesn't accept him the way he is

And Keith isn't even angry about it!!!!!

Anger is usually Keith's armor. He gets defensive, snaps, pushes back.

But this?

This feels like a hit underneath the armor

Like there is nothing for him to fight here because somewhere deep down this is exactly what he was afraid would happen if people found out who he really was.

He doesn't have to be afraid that Allura will hurt him physically. She has already hurt him simply by looking at him differently.

And that's why I think Keith keeps people at arm's length in the first place. Because letting people close means giving them the ability to hurt you in places where your usual defenses can't protect you.

And Allura just… hit that place

Again absolutely no shade toward Allura. I actually think that she isn't behaving this way because she's deliberately trying to hurt Keith, she has her own trauma, her own fears, and I think her reaction makes perfect sense given everything she's been through as far as we know

And I LOVE that the show lets this play out over multiple episodes through these small, almost understated interactions rather than turning it into one open confrontation. Allura is consistentlymore distant. Keith consistently notices. And Keith has no idea what he's supposed to do about it.

She is basically playing directly into his deepest fear while having no idea how much it hurts him.

The difference when Keith asks her something and she's all cold and doesn't even look at him.

And the second later when Lance asks her, she smiles and turns towards him.

Or when she thanks Hunk but doesn't recognise Keith, even when Hunk points it out.

I don’t have much to add to it at the moment!! It’s perfect !! Mwah !!

However, what/who I’ll be yapping about today surprisingly isn’t Klance! Or any main characters!!

It’s Slav!! Who cheered!!

Okay probably nobody.

Anywayysssss

I honestly completely blocked him out of my mind and glossed over him on my first watch! And yeah, he was kind of annoying from the bits and pieces I recalled. I just loved seeing Shiro actually get mad. (PLEASE let him snap more it’s genuinely so satisfying and I’m shocked he doesn’t more often. He deserves to be angry.)

Then I watched that episode again later on. Almost a whole year later!

And wow.

I really see myself in this ugly ass weird slug caterpillar cat alien thing 💀

To me, he really reads as an OCD coded character. The way he needs things to be a certain way for a sense of security or else he feels that something could go horribly wrong ?? So real I fear ?? While of course it’s annoying to hear him be all like “NOOO the blanket has to be a certain way!!! No I can’t go in that puddle what if I drown!!”

That’s honestly just … really real and unfortunately a lot of people with OCD’s mindset. I’m not actually diagnosed (actively trying to get both a proper therapist and a diagnosis… sighs) so I won’t speak too obsessively on this matter. But I genuinely am that way sometimes. Of course I’m not gonna list everything— this isn’t a vent or anything, just noticing coding and relating !

But again, I really do relate to Slav’s “annoying” obsessive compulsions. I genuinely need to knock at least twice on my wooden headboard every night, and make sure the final digit of the time is an even number, or else I just won’t be able to sleep cause I fear that I’ll literally die in my sleep. It’s so annoying to live with, and seeing it in a silly stupid character in a show I like, even if it’s a more extreme case?? Peak, I fear. So peak 🥹

Of course, OCD is different for everyone, and Slav does obviously lack a lot of other characteristics that people struggle with. He probably wasn’t even intended to have OCD, so it’s probably such a niche thing that I’m over analyzing. Again, just nice to see myself and my mindset (to an extent) in a random little side character.

Little different from my usual asks, maybe slightly more personal ? But I hope it was at least somewhat interesting !

thank you for the message! I always love reading these even when they make me go wait we’re analyzing SLAV now? lmao

Slav is such a bizarre character to me. i don't think I've ever really seen people talk about him in the fandom so im kind of confused that this specific creature even exists

do we like him?

is he staying?

and is he going to become relevant later???

your OCD reading of him does make sense to me! I can absolutely see what you mean. the one thing I’m not sure about is whether his behavior is supposed to come from something like OCD/anxiety or if it’s more connected to the fact that he’s a genius who can calculate the probability of everything that could possibly go wrong which would naturally make him insufferably aware of every possible danger lmao or maybe both

thank you for sharing the more personal part of this, I really appreciate that!

ALSO YES SHIRO ACTUALLY SNAPPING IN THAT EPISODE????? PEAK. ABSOLUTE PEAK

get this man in a gay club

let him be pissed!!! he has earned it!!!!

At leat as through S1 & S2

It doesn't feel like they're simply opposites

I would say it feels like they're psychologically complementary

And I don't even mean in like they complete each other soulmate kind of way but that their fears, emotional needs, strengths and blind spots interlock perfectly like gears

Lance's defining insecurity is established since S1 very clearly. He desperately wants to feel chosen, significant, irreplaceable. He craves recognition because he fundamentally struggles to believe he deserves it.

Keith is probably the last person who would hand out praise just to make someone feel better. He's blunt, honest and he's so fed up with Lance's bs. Which means that if recognition comes from Keith it carries weight. Lance spends the early s1 comparing himself to him, envying him, seeing him as "the better one" Ironically that makes Keith's opinion one of the few opinions that could satisfy the need Lance is chasing.

Meanwhile Keith wants to belong. He wants to know where home is, who his people are, whether someone will still accept him once they know everything about him.

Lance almost effortlessly creates belonging. He grew up in a huge family so he instinctively brings people together. He fills awkward silence, notices when someone is drifting away from the group. That's simply how he moves through life.

And that's exactly what Keith needs.

The more I watch them, the more I notice this pattern repeating itself.

Lance's emotional intelligence compensates for Keith's social inexperience.

Keith's unwavering sincerity cuts through Lance's performative confidence.

Neither of them consciously sets out to heal the other.

They're becoming the kind of person the other one happens to need.

nooooooooooooooo

lance my beloved

it hit me so hard

i relate to his insecurity so much that it's almost uncomfortable

that line they wouldn't keep me on the team if i didn't contribute in some way is painfully familiar to me

i literally catch myself thinking about my job that way, constantly wondering if i'm actually contributing anything, if i'm good enough, if someone else could do everything i do better than i can. and then i end up trying to reassure myself with the exact same logic: they hired me for a reason, if i truly brought no value they wouldn't keep me here... right?

it hurts watchinglance because he's so convinced that everyone else is more important than he is. he cannot see the things that make him valuable

YESSSS FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING LANGST

normally I’m not one to write much about ships because I don’t want to get into the mess that is the shipping fandom side of VLD, since I’m a multishipper & honestly have no real preference for any ship.

that being said, however, I’m very happy to acknowledge when writing has genuine potential & chemistry with two (or more!) characters. “Hole in the Sky” (s3, ep4) is a great example of this.

(side note, we have an honorable mention of a tiny Allurance moment here— when Allura’s freaked out by the sirens going off, Lance specifically TURNS TO ALLURA, & asks, “Allura, what is it?” Anyway. I think it’s cute. <3 but this is about kallura.)

Allura almost immediately wants to go find out the source of the sirens, even though Keith’s hypervigilance immediately brings up his guard (rightfully so, admittedly). Once the paladins send out the probe, & we see it literally BLOW UP in the wormhole rift, Allura’s STILL insistent on finding the Alteans. She even says, “As Paladins of Voltron, it is our duty to help.”

Keith??? My man immediately argues. He replies with, “Princess. I still think there’s a chance that this whole thing could be a trap.” With Coran’s agreement, it probably makes Allura feel a lil ganged up on.

but then there’s this moment— Allura goes, “I’ll do it myself if I have to,” & storms the fuck off the bridge, because she’s miffed (again, rightfully so. Even though Keith DOES have a point [& later ends up being correct], this is more so his hypervigilance speaking, rather than genuine knowledge of the situation ahead. Allura has EVERY RIGHT to be so determined to find people of her same race who have literally been genocided). Keith doesn’t stop her— he just STANDS UP, TURNS AROUND TO FACE HER, & we get a close-up of his face.

later on, we see that Keith & Allura are speaking with Hira, & Lance/Hunk/Pidge are speaking with the other Altean (in canon, he doesn’t have a name, but in my fic, I’ve named him Zeryn). When Allura talks to Hira about peace, Keith pushes back. He points out that things might not be as black-and-white as Hira’s making them out to be.

(which. Uh. Side note, is rich coming from Keith, & really ironic for him to say, because he canonically thinks like that A LOT, including in the following eps “Tailing a Comet” & “Code of Honor”, so on. But my guess is that here, they’re trying to show that Keith is pointing out that this is all too good to be true, because it is, & ALSO, he’s hypervigilant as fuck.)

anyway, Allura does initially brush him off, but to me it’s important that she LISTENED to begin with. She TURNS to Keith & lets him talk before speaking her mind.

much much later on, when the Guns of Gamora show up & Lance, Hunk, & Pidge are captured, there’s a moment where Slav briefly says something along the lines of, “You and General Hira have turned this universe into an army of slaves. Peace at the sake of freedom!” & Zeryn argues that non-cogs aren’t slaves.

KEITH LOOKS TO ALLURA. He’s already panicking, having shouted, “Let our friends go!” & now he TURNS TO THE PRINCESS rather than jumping into rash action as he normally does. & he pleads, “Allura, you cannot let this happen.”

& more importantly, Allura LISTENS. In response, she moves to Hira & begs her to not turn against the paladins.

I know it’s not much & I sound like one of those crazy shippers right now, but to me, it’s the small moments. Keith didn’t immediately fight. He could’ve. He WOULD have, probably. But he turned to Allura— these are HER people.

& then there’s the whole conversation after the battle. THIS is where I really feel the kallura coding. Not only is it specifically & VERY CLEARLY portrayed as a private moment between Allura & Keith (who don’t have much interaction otherwise), but this is Keith specifically seeking out Allura to comfort her about the disaster of a mission. He tells her, “You did the right thing. You couldn’t let Hira get that ore.”

(which, I also really love that Keith isn’t giving some grandiose speech the way Shiro might. I really hated that they had Keith give a buncha fancy speeches in the later seasons. Keith is NOT a verbally expressive person. He’s just not good with words. Language isn’t enough for him [& in some cases, it’s too much]. So it’s so nice to see him still trying to comfort Allura, but doing it in his very blunt, straightforward manner.)

& Allura argues back that Lotor has it now. Keith says, “You didn’t know.” (Which is true. AND AGAIN. He does NOT fault her for wanting to find out more about the Alteans, even though Keith specifically advised against it. This is so so so important to me. Both Allura & Keith were correct for acting the way they did in THEIR minds, & neither of them were “wrong” necessarily. I’m so glad Keith doesn’t blame her. It doesn’t seem like it’s in his nature much to misplace blame unless he doesn’t have all of the information.) & Keith, again, a bit awkwardly but still trying his best, says they’ll get it back. He doesn’t know this.

Why would he lie? To comfort Allura, of course, whom he cares deeply for (either in a platonic or romantic sense— that’s up for you to decide; I choose to interpret it both ways).

so idk. This whole episode feels really Kallura-coded to me. I know lots of people have issues with this ep (& I get why) but I personally think it did a lot for the characters. (Also we got to see Sven!!! From DotU!!! Mah boy!!!)

There’s tons of other stuff I’m willing to pick apart in this ep (& really all of Voltron) regarding character analysis & how each person acts, but this particular episode is one I wanted to really talk about. Klance is cool, yes. I agree. I love em & do indeed ship em. But sometimes I feel like the fandom is so OVERWHELMINGLY “Klance” that it leaves out the fact that other characters (and ships) exist too, yknow???

ANYWAYYYYSSSS

I’m here to yap about this scene with screencaps this time because first of all .

HE LOOKS DEVASTATED ARE WE JOKING . ☹️

He just had a vulnerable moment with Allura in space . They bonded in a way over thinking that they were the problem. That they were what was attracting Zarkon.

And one thing people kinda forget I feel is that Keith KNEW he was Galra way before it was confirmed. He just really didn’t want it to be true, cause he feared what would happen if it was. And then … ofc it was true, and now Allura hates him.

That’s why he tried easing into it in the episode where they ran away together !! Saying maybe not all Galra are bad … and then Allura ofc shut it down.

Also this scene . He looks so sad . And also notice how if you zoom in EVERYONE is looking at Hunk . Nobody . Not even Shiro is looking at Keith . Hunk is looking back at everyone, and Keith’s looking away.

Not gonna talk about this episode much cause I don’t know how much of it you’ve watched and I don’t wanna spoil anything !! (You probably finished it since you’re posting about it, but since you’ve only posted about earlier parts of the ep I don’t wanna take any chances hehe…)

I also just wish SO badly that they didn’t skip over the scene of everybody finding out Keith’s Galra. Why didn’t we get to see everyone’s individual reactions?? Why weren’t people MORE mad??? Allura makes sense… why not Coran? Does he not feel essentially the same way?? Pidge’s family was captured by the Galra ??? Huh ??? Their faces are killing me why don’t they gaf 😭

I mean I get it in a way. Lance and Hunk obviously knew Keith prior at the Garrison … obviously the poor guy didn’t know he was part alien at the time so I get why there’s not much anger realistically— because again. Everybody should know Keith had NO clue. But at LEAST adding Coran to the angry gang would’ve been impactful. Now it’s just some weird rivalry with Allura ??

And again, I really would’ve loved to see everybody’s reactions. At least something akin to the “I’m a girl” scene with Pidge. The fact that they skipped such a scene is beyond me. The angst potential was insane.

As much as I love the earlier seasons, there’s still a few things they leave out that pisses me off SO much … ☹️ this has to be one of them . It really pushes me further and further into doing a Voltron rewrite … which I’m tempted to at least write down/make a rant video series about at some point…

Another great opportunity would’ve been Keith hiding that he’s Galra, and it coming out in a WAY more emotionally charged moment that would severely split the team... The idea I have for that scene will have to wait until you finish season three, though!!!

Anyways… that’s all I think!!!

ARE THEY FOR REAL KEITH LOOKS LIKE A KICKED PUPPY IN THIS SCREENCAP

and i didn't realize nobody was looking at keith in the second pic, why do you have to hurt me even more ahhhh

i actually have an entire draft in my notes about Allura's reaction to Keith because that whole situation absolutely pains me from Keith's perspective

The really heartbreaking part is that allura is the person keith just had a bonding episode with, they had only just connected, they had this vulnerable conversation where they both felt like they were the problem and then BOOM she's the first one to judge him for being galra

the ANGST yessssss noooo

i do agree with pretty much everything you said,, I'm just trying to hold off on judging the storyline until I see where the show actually goes with it (i hope it does go somewhere lmao)

oh no i was really hoping we'd get to see everyone's individual reactions :(

Coran especially would've been interestting! I could understand him being angry too, he has every reason to be. But unlike Allura, he has a different personality and he also treats the paladins almost like they're his own kids. i would've loved to see those two sides of him come into conflict

And yeah Lance and Hunk obviously don't really have a reason to be angry at Keith specifically but that's even more interesting to me. if they're not angry then what are they feeling?

We got such a lovely episode with Hunk which I appreciate but Lance has by far the most emotionally charged relationship with Keith I was dying to see his reaction too

i kind of wish everyone got their own little bonding episode with Keith after the reveal. I know that's probably asking way too much screentime wise but I would've loved seeing each relationship readjust . Even just a short reaction scene like we got after Pidge revealed she was a girl would be enough for me

i think it's kind of funny but i can't stop thinking about like the logistics of it being revealed to the others lmao

since we never actually see everyone finding out

How did that even happen????

Did Kieth and Shiro get back to the castle and Shiro told everyone? Did Keith tell them himself? Did they only tell Allura since she is in charge and then she informed everyone else?

did they literally gather everyone in one room and Keith basically had to "come out" as half galra the way Pidge came out as a girl lmaooo?

i think the reason this hug works so well is because it feels earned

or rather it feels necessary

it feels like keith genuinely needs it in that exact moment

look at where keith is emotionally. even before finding out he's half galra, he never seemed completely secure in his place within team voltron. he was part of their found family but there was always this underlying feeling that he stood just a little outside of everyone else.

then everything falls apart, he discovers he's half galra. half alien. the entire image he has of himself shatters. he doesn't even know who he is anymore.

will they still accept me?

it's not just that he's alien

he's half galra.

the same people (aliens?) who have spent the entire series destroying civilizations, the same enemy that voltron has dedicated themselves to fighting.

and the same people allura has every reason in the world to hate.

watching this from keith's perspective is honestly agonizing

im sitting there like "please don't reject him. none of this is his fault. he's still keith"

and then

allura does exactly what he's been afraid of

she turns away from him

AND I LOVE THE ANGST LET HIM SUFFER

weve already seen enough of keith to understand that underneath that lone wolf mask is an incredibly soft kid who desperately wants to belong somewhere, who loves deeply once he lets people in.

so now this lonely kid who has done absolutely nothing wrong feels like he might lose the only family he's ever really had????

simply because of who he was born as

and then

shiro hugs him.

and he doesn't even hesitate

"i'm still here, im not leaving. you're still keith to me, you're family"

iT DESTROYS MEEE

it isn't just comforting

it's reassuring. and gentle.

it's exactly what keith needs to hear rn but instead of saying it, shiro shows it with a hug. and remember, it's literally keith's language. physical affection vocabulary. that's what keith understands.

and you can literally see keith melting into it

it's like he can finally breathe again

like all the fear he's been carrying loosens its grip just enough for him to let himself be held

AHGFVVKDFCNZHFCJL sorry

shiro and keiths relationship is absolute gold

and you think i'm done with breaking our hearts?

there's also something painful

no one else really says goodbye to keith

i feel like keith kind of wanted to say goodbye to allura or at least talk to her but she kind of uhh

(no shade on allura, i understand her! yes queen torture him who said that)

after everyone learns he's half galra i feel like the atmosphere becomes awkward. tense.

thank god keith has shiro

but

i already know they're going to lose shiro eventually

(it's hard not to know when the show was out for 10 years now)

what is going to happen to keith when the one person who has always made him feel unquestionably accepted is gone?