Tag: Sheith

I finished the Voltron rewatch just in time…not that I’ll get to watch S7 until tomorrow evening on account of my schedule. The plot makes more sense now, even if I still don’t find it highly engaging or as well integrated into the various character dramas as in AtLA and LoK. I also still don’t get the extreme popularity of the fandom’s big ship, considering these characters haven’t interacted in any meaningful way since S3 or so. I can certainly understand where it came from – rival ships always have their fans – but how we got from that innocuous start to…everything that it is now…is a question I’ve yet to answer.

And incidentally, canonically gay* Shiro does make the Sheith content all the more narratively satisfying.

*Bi/pan/other headcanons being fine as well, just not for me personally because I headcanon almost male characters I ship as gay to be closer to my own experiences.

It occurs to me that if I plan to rewatch Voltron in anticipation of S7’s release next Friday I’m going to have to start soon or else I won’t be finished in time. It’ll be good to remind myself of all those plot points I couldn’t recall when I watched S6 without refreshing myself, and in light of certain recent revelations it’ll be good for some new character examination.

(I’m also going to be looking at ships, less so the one for which I already have a pretty solid grounding and more so the very loud and infamous fandom juggernaut whose popularity eludes me to this day. But, you know, gay-or-otherwise-into-men Shiro helps out with the former anyway.)

razielim:

I’m constantly bewildered by people thinking that No True Scotsman MLM would ever ship Sheith, that the only representation that matters is Klance, and that only Klance has mlm fans while every other ship has nothing but “straight women.” Listen, if Klance is what does it for you, great, but not everyone has the same tastes and emotional needs as you. 

I just get so tired of being spoken for by people who know nothing about me and think that their own little bubble of dudes who ship Klance is all there is. I personally know a lot of other queer men in the Sheith fandom, particularly on the discord. 

Maybe the problem is that we’re not bothering to make our numbers visible, and antis are taking advantage of that silence? I don’t know. Maybe that’s an easy fix.

Hi, hello. I’m a gay man that really thinks canon Shiro&Keith interaction is an incredible basis for romance between two men. Their relationship that’s built on mutual trust, equality, comfort, and tenderness is exactly what I enjoy seeing in love stories. It’s valid as a platonic relationship too, and I’m not saying it must be made canon, but if I could choose any one VLD ship that would make amazing canon rep, it would be Sheith.

(@ any other men who love Sheith, feel free to reblog/comment and sound off on why you think Sheith is a great ship)

Not very active in shipping it (or anything else in VLD), but Sheith is definitely a strong and well-developed emotional core to a show I wouldn’t care much for otherwise on account of genre. It’s not that I dislike or ignore the other characters or oppose any other ships – although the extreme popularity of Klance in fanon continues to perplex me, when there’s comparatively so little there – but those two are a major draw.

paragonred said

To me Keith’s sudden age up seemed as if it was done so that people could ship Sheith without worrying about the age gap

Yeah, that story choice seemed rather deliberate, almost to the point of feeling artificial. Of course it also gave Keith time to bond with his mother (most of it implied/off-screen), but it also dropped a wolf pet on him out of nowhere that I’m still trying to decide if I want it to be relevant to anything. These showrunners have demonstrated a willingness to address fandom controversy directly in canon since back in AtLA, but at the same time I don’t think they wanted to be too definitive when there’s still a few seasons left. The “You’re my brother. I love you!” bit encouraged shippers and antis alike, with the latter now moving on from the age gap to complain even more loudly about alleged incest or pseudo-incest. This only reinforces the belief I’ve held for years that many of the female and other AFAB supporters of M/M ships in online fandom spaces have had little to no interaction with gay/bi male culture. And also, naturally, that ship wars will always rage on in spite of everything.

@paragonred asked for Shiro for the meme.

Sexuality Headcanon:

Pretty definitely gay. It’s hard to tell based off his canon interactions since there’s nothing sexual and not much that could be construed as romantic, so that could just be the predominantly male cast surrounding him and also my own biases.

Gender Headcanon:

Cis male

A ship I have with said character:

Sheith, mostly. Shance/Shklance has merits for smut fic but I don’t see it being plausible otherwise.

A BROTP I have with said character:

All the paladins other than Keith since they’re clearly on their own level, but Pidge mostly because they had a few good episodes of bonding. Possibly Lance if they did more with the two of them.

A NOTP I have with said character:

It takes a lot to get me to NOTP something for any reason other than “it’s M/F so I really don’t care” which still isn’t a matter of being passionately opposed, but on that note – Allura, and also Romelle if they decide to lean toward what was (I think?) Shiro’s canon pairing in earlier versions of the show.

A random headcanon:

Shiro always seems like he’s used to being the oldest and most experienced guy around, so it’s no wonder his sense of humor is (humorously) a bit lacking. He reminds me of Mako from The Legend of Korra in that it’s funny to imagine him trying to cut loose and enjoy himself and…not be very good at it. The D&D episode in S6 was great for this.

General opinion over said character:

A strong leader figure with more personality conflicts than I initially expected, and I can absolutely see him as a guy who’d have a mentor relationship with someone younger that would grow into something stronger. That kind of dynamic is central to a lot of the literature surrounding the gay male experience, and it’s annoying that antis like to reduce that to “pedophilia” (actually ephebophilia) and “incest” (actually not, though I’d hate to be the one to tell them about the prominence of self-identified daddies in gay male circles, or what twinks are). Shipping wars aside, I’d like to see what they do with Shiro now that the clone project has been exposed. I’m not crazy about his new all white hair, but maybe it’ll grow on me.

I found enough time to take a break and catch up on the new season of Voltron. 

Still barely interested in the main plot? Check.

Still shipping Sheith, albeit without serious investment? Check.

Still mildly amused and disturbed in equal measure at the consistent level of vitriol in the fandom’s myriad shipping wars and representation quibbles? Check.