Poll of the Day > Voltron: Legendary Queerbaiters (Voltron spoilers, especially season 7)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not sure if any of you watch Voltron, but if you do, what did you think of the queerbaiting this season?

I know a good handful of people in real life who are OUTRAGED
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Its already gone awfully. I thought the internet was exaggerating, but its actu pretty bad lmao
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I dont even know what that term means
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Queerbaiting is strongly hinting at or saying that there will be LGBTQ representation in a show or film to attract a queer audience, then not doing it.
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Is that what the Q in LGBTQ stands for? Is queer a different thing than gay?
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Yes and yes. Its basically just an umbrella for other, for anything not included in LGBT
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MrMelodramatic posted...

Yes and yes. Its basically just an umbrella for other, for r anything not included in LGBT

Yeah uh, still don't understand it.

And I thiught they confirmed one of the characters was gay?
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So - again, spoilers - the Voltron fan base has always shipped a few gay ships. Two are super popular within the fandom, and have been acknowledged by the writers/creators, but were never confirmed or anything.

Before season 7 came out, it was announced that Shiro, a character long thought to be gay, was in fact canonically gay, and this season would introduce his fianc.

It was a major announcement, and they used his fianc, Adam, in promotional art, and whatnot. There was a lot of hinting that Adam and Shiros relationship would be a big topic of the season, since Shiro had been gone from earth for years, and had been through a lot and was thought to be dead.

Then, Adam only actually ended up appearing in one episode, for less than three minutes. He gave a generic please dont go talk to Shiro IN A FLASHBACK, and is then never heard from again. No mention that theyre about to get married, or in a relationship at all. They could be just friends. Or even just coworkers. This was taken as an extreme slap in the face by the fandom.

Then, like ten episodes later, its revealed that Adam died trying to protect Earth, and they dont give any screen time to Shiro grieving.

Pretty shitty tbh
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MrMelodramatic posted...

So - again, spoilers - the Voltron fan base has always shipped a few gay ships. Two are super popular within the fandom, and have been acknowledged by the writers/creators, but were never confirmed or anything.

Before season 7 came out, it was announced that Shiro, a character long thought to be gay, was in fact canonically gay, and this season would introduce his fianc.

It was a major announcement, and they used his fianc, Adam, in promotional art, and whatnot. There was a lot of hinting that Adam and Shiros relationship would be a big topic of the season, since Shiro had been gone from earth for years, and had been through a lot and was thought to be dead.

Then, Adam only actually ended up appearing in one episode, for less than three minutes. He gave a generic please dont go talk to Shiro IN A FLASHBACK, and is then never heard from again. No mention that theyre about to get married, or in a relationship at all. They could be just friends. Or even just coworkers. This was taken as an extreme slap in the face by the fandom.

Then, like ten episodes later, its revealed that Adam died trying to protect Earth, and they dont give any screen time to Shiro grieving.

Pretty shitty tbh

Oof, that is pretty shitty.
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Cruddy_horse posted...

MrMelodramatic posted...

Yes and yes. Its basically just an umbrella for other, for r anything not included in LGBT

Yeah uh, still don't understand it.

And I thiught they confirmed one of the characters was gay?

What dont you understand? Queer just covers any minority sexuality group, like asexuals or genderfluids. So instead of LGBTAGFJFSBINRDHIJVSWGHBDRYBH, its LGBTQ.

And yes, one confirmed gay, but they made a big deal of announcing it, even adding in his fianc to promotional art, then give absolutely no payoff. The Voltron crew was obviously just using this (false) gay representation to attract viewers, then fell through on their promise. Unless you follow the show behind the scenes there was no way to know those characters were gay.
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Part of me thinks the backlash is going to cause them to bring Adam back, after finding out he was the lone survivor or whatever they come up with. But honestly that might just make it worse. They could keep bringing him up through flashbacks, and make Shiro losing him a plot point, but thatll suck because ultimately they still killed off the one ship they hyped and that anyone cared about.

They messed up! Cartoons know no fury like an angry tumblr blog.
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Okay everyone Im going to need you to go watch Voltron so you can care.
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MrMelodramatic posted...

Okay everyone Im going to need you to go watch Voltron so you can care.

Is it actually a good show despite this stuff? Isn't it like kid/teen show or whatever?
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Well, its definitely a cartoon aimed at kids/teens, but that doesnt mean its not good. The characters are good. The sci-fi bits are wacky and sometimes the read science is totally wrong (like confusing the Milky Way with the solor system), but almost never to the point of distraction. The action is hype, but never super violent. The animation starts weak but gets better. Its a little formulaic in the episode-to-episode, but the overarching stories and character relationships are good.

Its a fun watch.
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Your girlfriend is getting stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey by other dudes while you cry about a cartoon, ok?
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that's actually legit manipulative and shitty.

funny as fuck though lmao
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Nade Duck posted...

that's actually legit manipulative and shitty.

funny as fuck though lmao

lmao. the gf and I were watching yesterday and she was screaming when they showed he died, and then shiro was like "hmm. OKAY LET'S FIGHT SOME BAD GUYS :D"
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Mead posted...

I like it when things have a gay character but they arent defined by it, like that guy in The Last of Us some of that stuff was not as expensive plan and a lot of it Waymore than I thought it would be a while thats crazy uf

See that's fine. That's cool. But Voltron doesn't even bother with relationships usually, so there was no reason to hype this up except to queerbait.

Like, the only "relationships" before this are the comedic relief one where the dopey guy hits on the hot girl (but it's never serious), and the one where the evil guy leads on a girl because he's evil. If they didn't want to commit to a gay character they could've just left it as it was. Or if they didn't want it to define Shiro, they should've brought it up naturally instead of making a big deal out of it.
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Yeah this situation seems pretty bad, they idiots
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MrMelodramatic posted...

Then, like ten episodes later, its revealed that Adam died trying to protect Earth, and they dont give any screen time to Shiro grieving.

http://allthetropes.wikia.com/wiki/Bury_Your_Gays


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

MrMelodramatic posted...

Then, like ten episodes later, its revealed that Adam died trying to protect Earth, and they dont give any screen time to Shiro grieving.

http://allthetropes.wikia.com/wiki/Bury_Your_Gays

Yes.

Im livid
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wait... there are 7 seasons of a new voltron show?

that's just fucking weird

ReggieTheReckless posted...

wait... there are 7 seasons of a new voltron show?

that's just fucking weird

Yup. Theyre committed to 78 episodes and 65 have aired so far. Itll end after its 8th season (next season).
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As angry as I am I really hope they bring the show back up to its early greatness for this last season :(
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Maybe if these people weren't obsessed with their own sexuality and labels they wouldn't freak out about stuff like this.

Fandoms are cancer.
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Nah this is definitely on the writers/producers. Fandoms can be a bit much sometimes but they were jerked around on this one.
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e
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This is what happens when you listen to a Tumblr audience that is also likely to tongue punch fartboxes.

Bunch of savages.

It seems kind of weird because they hyped it up as a big thing but then it was... that. If they hadn't said anything and gotten people excited the backlash probably would have been not as bad. It still sucks though, I was never expecting great queer rep from voltron but did none of the staff point that out at any point?
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GanglyKhan posted...

This is what happens when you listen to a Tumblr audience that is also likely to tongue punch fartboxes.

Bunch of savages.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Nah this is definitely on the writers/producers. Fandoms can be a bit much sometimes but they were jerked around on this one.

JunkoEnoshima posted...

It seems kind of weird because they hyped it up as a big thing but then it was... that. If they hadn't said anything and gotten people excited the backlash probably would have been not as bad. It still sucks though, I was never expecting great queer rep from voltron but did none of the staff point that out at any point?

Yeah no one to blame but themselves. Honestly the best they can do is just move forward and not try to fix things with unnecessarily added romances or gay scenes in their final season.
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I'm used to it TBH. I mean I'm still hoping for Dean and Cas to happen.
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The guy had one scene. Who cares.
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Do you think the backlash would quiet if they paired the brown guy with the emo one?

Also, the animation was never good. Ive seen enough clips of every season to know that the characters look stylized and nice, but the animation is... okay. But the backgrounds suffer from Korras problem of just being boooorrrriiinnnnngggggggggg.
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