I am over 5‘5“/ I wear glasses/contacts / I have blond hair / I wear sweatshirts a lot / I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing / I have one or more piercings/ I have at least one tattoo / I have blue eyes (grey but they look blue sometimes) / I have dyed or highlighted my hair / I have gotten plastic surgery / I have or had braces / I sunburn easily / I have freckles / I paint my nails / I typically wear makeup / I don’t often smile / I am pleased with how I look / I prefer Nike to Adidas / I wear baseball hats backwards
HOBBIES AND TALENTS
I play a sport/ I can play an instrument / I am artistic / I know more than one language / I have won a trophy in some sort of competition /I can cook or bake without a recipe / I know how to swim / I enjoy writing / I can do origami / I prefer movies to TV shows / I can execute a perfect somersault / I enjoy singing / I could survive in the wild on my own / I have read a new book series this year / I enjoy spending time with friends / I travel during school or work breaks / I can do a handstand
EXPERIENCES
I have had my first kiss / I have gotten drunk / I have told a crush I like them / I have traveled outside of the country / I have flown on an airplane / I have stayed awake for more than 48 hours / I have had a near-death experience / I have caught something on fire / I have performed in a talent show / I have shot a gun / I have been on TV / I have gone scuba diving / I have broken a bone / I have slow-danced / I have gone on a shopping spree
RELATIONSHIPS
I am in a relationship / I have been single for over a year / I have a crush / I have a best friend / I have known a friend for over ten years / I have a brother / I have dated my best friend / I am adopted / My crush has confessed to me / I have had a long-distance relationship / I am an only child / I give advice to my friends / I have made an online friend / I met up with someone I have met online
AESTHETICS
I have heard the ocean in a conch shell / I have watched the sunrise / I enjoy rainy days / I have slept under the stars / I meditate outside / The sound of chirping calms me / I enjoy the smell of the beach / I know what snow tastes like / I listen to music to fall asleep / I enjoy thunderstorms / I enjoy cloud watching / I have attended a bonfire / I pay close attention to colors/ I find mystery in the ocean / I enjoy hiking on nature paths / Autumn is my favorite season
MISCELLANEOUS
I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle / I am the mom friend / I live by a certain quote / I like the smell of Sharpies / I am involved in extracurricular activities / I enjoy Mexican food / I can drive stick-shift / I have memorized an entire song in a day / I believe in true love / I dream up scenarios to fall asleep / I sing in the shower / I wish I lived in a video game / I have a canopy above my bed / I am multi-racial / I am a redhead / I own at least three dogs / I am LGBTQ
Oh boy if you’re mad about the US separating children from their parents, putting people in camps, and having a zero tolerance policy towards asylum seekers that has led to deliberate extensive cruelty as a futile deterrent wait until you hear about Australia.
…what’s going on in Australia?
Buddy! Strap in because there are two parts to this:
The past 100+ years of ripping kids from their families, racism, and attempted genocide
The past 20+ years of racism, but now island torture prisons! LEVEL UP!
Australia has had a long history of separating children from their parents. The government decided that mixed raced children of Indigenous Australians were not OK so literally kidnapped them and raised them to assimilate into white society and “breed the colour out.” This started about 1905 and ended about 1970. We call them the Stolen Generations. This has had long lasting negative effects on Indigenous Australians as it was a decades long attempt to absolutely destroy their culture and commit genocide. “But that was the past?” Surprise! By “ended in 1970″ I mean “the reasons in which we en masse tear children away from their families now has a different reason” and Indigenous children are now being taken away at even higher rates than during the stolen generations. Australia saw its Indigenous population, thought “how do we destroy their culture?” and when we were done thought “gee, how do we blame them for having all these issues in their communities?”
BUT THAT’S JUST THE BEGINNING!
Fast forward to now: Trump is using kids as political leverage to stop people from coming to the US right? Buddy he’s ripping Australia off. Scott Morrison, Minister for Immigration at the time once did that.
OK so for context: when people try to come to Australia via boat seeking asylum because they’re fleeing war/persecution we do either 2 things: turn them back and let them just… die elsewhere… Or we lock them up in detention centres on Manus/Nauru Island. That’s where we keep them indefinitely in bad conditions, give them dodgy medical care, smear them in the press, and react indifferently when they die from suicide/negligence/assault… and cover up sexual assaults from guards and the incredibly high rate of self harm and depression even in children. The entire idea is to be as cruel as possible so other people hear about it and go “geez, let’s not go to Australia. They’ll literally torture us before they give us a protective visa.” And when I say indefinitely I mean indefinitely. Some refugees have spent 5 years wasting away in these prisons. Some children have spent their entire life in these prisons. And the government openly admits that they’re genuine refugees. They’ve been rigorously vetted and known to be safe people with no intention of harming us but it’s the zero tolerance principle. You tried to come here via boat? You go jail but we call it “detention.”
The main line of attack against refugees: “they’re just coming here to take advantage of our welfare.” Oh no! It’ll cost the taxpayer money to subsidise a refugee to live in a safe country! So instead of having them “rip off” the taxpayer with a couple hundred a fortnight we’ll just lock them up on an island where it costs $1 million per person on average over the past 4 years and operational costs have wasted $5 billion in 4 years. Why help someone for barely enough money to survive when you can torture them and keep them imprisoned for several times more!
Scott Morrison, or Sco-Mo as we kids call them, loved the US’s Muslim Ban idea by the way. He said it was proof that the rest of the world was “catching up to Australia.” Yeah. Geez guys. What took you so long to be as bad as Australia?
Mandatory detention has had bipartisan support from the two major parties since its creation by the Keating government in 1992. We have been keeping people in prison for seeking asylum for 26 years.
We also don’t want to get rid of them. There was a deal under the Obama administration to take some of these refugees but this process has carried on into the Trump administration. He was livid the idea that he should uphold this deal because 1) OooOBaMaaaa!! 2) REFUGEES?? In America??? So that’s currently going nowhere. Meanwhile New Zealand, our good ally and close neighbour, has said “I’ll take some of them” and the current PM (Turnbull) has said no. His excuse? We have a deal with the US. We should see where that goes. It’s going nowhere. So he conveniently can just pretend his hands are tied and let refugees continue to be tortured and die under his care.
(And he hasn’t said it but I bet he’ll never let refugees settle in New Zealand because if they become NZ citizens they’ll have travel rights to come to Australia without the same visa restrictions as other countries AND THEN THE REFUGEES WOULD WIN).
So let’s top this all off with the icing on the cake: a phone call between Trump and Turnbull when Trump was getting acquainted with all the world leaders last year. Turnbull explained our zero tolerance refugee policy and the cruelty as a deterrent that is employed and Trump said “That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.”
“That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.”
Let that sink in.
And that’s where we’re up to now in modern history. See everyone likes to go to the obvious big example we have of the Nazis and their camps but the truth is… this never stopped. There are similar examples of this abhorrent behaviour happening right now and have been for decades. Governments have been putting people in camps and trying to destroy cultures, or ethnicities, or deny people safe havens from wars, and be utterly heartless and deliberately cruel since forever. This is the ongoing drive of conservatism: keep people out, keep people a certain way, and the current example in the US is just that bubbling over the horribly inescapable surface. We are deluded to think that this cruelty took a 70 year respite when WW2 ended and it’s taken this long to get this strong.
The world has always been racist. Trump just doesn’t bother to filter it. And Australia just wants to keep it on an island so no one can see it.
Also, that Australia/New Zealand immigration deal? Australia has slowly been taking away the rights of New Zealanders resident in Australia - including children born in Australia to Kiwi parents - and making it nigh-impossible for them to actually get Australian citizenship, basically all because of paranoia that brown people will move from NZ to Australia. They’re aggressively deporting Māori and Pasifika New Zealanders, even those who may have come as small children and have no memory of New Zealand, both for things like being convicted of any crime and for things like “being of bad character”. Or, rather, they don’t deport them. They put them in offshore prison camps and tell them they can’t leave until they agree to leave Australia. (It’s not that these things don’t affect Pākehā NZers, it’s that we’re not the real targets.)
During our election campaign last year, the Deputy PM of Australia openly said that if Labour were elected to government it would be bad for Australia because they would encourage refugees to try and get to Australia hoping to be taken by New Zealand. They have an island fortress mentality Trump hasn’t even started to achieve.
And the thing about Australia – there isn’t the coverage that America has. Not even in our own country. It’s hard to find out what’s happening – visas for journalists to visit Nauru are prohibitively expensive – and … no one really cares. It’s so entrenched that it’s the status quo, and when I called my MP and senators to go, WTF guys? the response was like, “…oh yeah, thanks for your feelings, cool, bye”.
I honestly tune out a lot of the coverage because, at this point, I don’t know what to do. Both major parties support these policies, so I vote for the Greens. I contacted my representatives. I walked in protest marches. I donate to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and other charities.
So I guess, if I have advice for Americans, it’s to not let this become the status quo. Because you’ll wake up one day and it will have always been like this.
Holy shit, I knew it was bad here but I didn’t know it was that bad. Why don’t we hear about the depth of these things in Australia, how can they keep us so in the dark?
What you can do to help the Human Rights crisis in Australia:
If you are Australian:
Keep up to date and informed. The only major media outlets that routinely reports on this issue is The Guardian Australia. They are free online but consider donating if you can to keep it free access.
The Saturday Paper is another independent online news source that reports on this.
Follow or sign up to GetUp!. GetUp! is Australia’s largest progressive grassroots activist group and has lots of campaigns and information about this issue and many others, such as climate change, economic justice, and democratic and civil rights. Donate if you can, sign their peritions, follow their campaigns.
CONTACT YOUR MPs AND SENATORS. This is really important, especially if they are supporters of the policy. Keep public pressure on then, make them feel it. Letter templates are good, but personally written letters/emails are better. Call them if you can. And respond to them with your displeasure if they send you a cookie cutter response of their party’s policy on “stopping the boats”.
SHOW UP TO PROTESTS. Another really important one. Even if you just show up and march, your physical presence counts. They’re not as scary as it might seem.
DONATE. I really cannot stress this enough, if you can afford it, donate.
WHO SHOULD I DONATE TO?
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) provides financial and legal support, as well as counseling and community services, to refugees already in Australia.
Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) are a group of state-based advocacy groups that support refugees in Australia and advocate for those trapped in Australia’s offshore detention regime (link is for the Sydney group but contains links to other states).
GetUp! is one of the best to donate to for political action. They have options to donate to the organisation as a whole, or to specific campaigns.
If you are a member of the Australian Labor Party, please do what you can to bring up this issue and pressure the party leadership to change its policy.
If you are NOT Australian
Do what you can to contact your government and representatives to bring up this issue and pressure Australia to change their policy.
SPREAD THIS POST AND OTHERS LIKE IT. Australians do not have the numbers and influence on his site that Americans and British have. Please spread this information and resources so that other Australians might see it and feel like they have some power to change it or even know about it.
If you are a New Zealander: please continue to keep the pressure on your government to call out Australia and offer to take refugees.
So starting this off as: I am a klance shipper hardcore. I’m queer, I want queer rep in my favorite show, simple as that. Was I disappointed we didn’t get klance content in this season?
Not at all.
Because look: this season gave us SO MUCH MORE than just that, right? There was so much happening so fast I didn’t have time to whine about my boys not being together. I’m focused all on the incredible season I just watched.
The character development? I was really happy with it! I know this fandom is notorious for saying there’s none, but that’s one of the things I think the show does really remarkably well, and I was really happy with it. Even my favorite Paladin, Hunk, got some well deserved development right off the bat! Getting to see him engineer rather than just being food boy was refreshing and appreciated. Plus, all his interactions with Pidge where they discuss science?? I love it! The show is really making an effort to show this guy is at her caliber, or at least can nearly match it (I mean, Pidge is the smartest on the team).
But other than Hunk? We saw Lance grow in a really surprising but great way. He’s more open and honest about his feelings and, even though he started off flirting shamelessly in the beginning of the season, he grew even more. We’ve seen his deep respect for the people he loves, and I think he now can truly convey that to Allura. Yeah, I think he had a little two-steps-back moment at the beginning when he was being all season one again, but hey, maybe he’s been like this behind the scenes and we haven’t gotten to see it because it hasn’t been pertinent.
I can’t even begin on Keith. Wake me up from the coma that boy put me in. Embracing his heritage, learning about his mother and father, becoming the true Black Paladin and unlocking the Black Bayard and wings? Good gravy I was ready to piss myself.
Allura? My bitch queen went OFFFFF. Y’all, I cannot say how much I love her even more. Lotor scorned her and she DEMOLISHED HIM in the best way possible. And fuck, she is so powerful now. Being able to rip into the quintessence realm and power Voltron like that high key made me cry. When she connected with all of Voltron like that, it just accentuated her place as the heart of Voltron. And reviving a human by transferring his soul? Oh my god yes.
Speaking of: Lotor. This fucker. I actually really liked where his character was taken. Yes, I would have appreciated him being more morally gray as we don’t have enough of that right now, but still. The way I see it is this: yeah, he’s technically 50/50 Altean/Galran, but even his own mother says she wasn’t there. He was raised 100% Galra with their values whether with his father or being whipped into learning by his nanny. When he was exposed in Oriande we saw him revert to his core belief of vrepit sa. He may want to embrace his Altean heritage, but he simply never had the means. The nature/nurture aspects of this show are handled very well (Keith being a great example) and I think this is just another case. Altea is there, but Galra nurture was more powerful. His ultimate demise was because he was too desperate to prove himself as something much greater than everyone believed him to be. He craved power and the quintessence exploited it. It was honestly the best way for him to go: so Power hungry that it killed him off.
And lastly, Shiro. Wow. First of all, we all fucking called clone Shiro, but I wasn’t expecting that many. Are the bodies unstable? Was Haggar under the impression he would die again? His return was incredible nonetheless. I liked how the show covered up the 84 discrepancy of “Shiro died this is is twin(?) to come take his place” while also high key referencing that fuckin mistake in the DnD ep. I’m a huge Shiro fan, but I really like that he died. It shows how deep of a connection he had with the Black Lion while dealing with the sheer trauma of the battle that, for all intents and purposes, should have killed him anyway.
As for Pidge? She got a shit ton of character development before. I love her, and I can’t wait for more, but I’m glad they focused elsewhere (Hunk!) for now. I really can’t say how much I do love her character (I see myself in her and my brother in Matt) but yeah.
Other great things (I know I should wrap this up): the animation! Holy shit, Studio Mir. The final battle in the quintessence realm had me S H O O K. The expressions were fantastic, the design beautiful. They’ve wowed me before with atla, and are doing it again with vld.
Also the detailing of Galra culture! It was fascinating to learn about what is truly an inherently violent species and the meaning behind Vrepit Sa.
ROMELLE. The whole Altean arc, really. It makes so much sense! Of course it wasn’t like all of them were on the planet when the mass destruction happened. I mean, they proved themselves beyond intergalactic travel before so it would only make sense. But just. ROMELLE. Modeled after 84 Allura as a beautiful homage and named after her cousin (sister? Niece?? Relative). High key looked like Princess Zelda but shit I was down.
Final words: this season was a masterpiece. No, there wasn’t much klance shipping fodder but I’m not honestly too mad (yet. Wait a month and I’ll be wishing my boys had their time). Personally, I don’t watch the show for just that! I get my queer shows elsewhere—I watch voltron for the quality content and animation. Would I kill for some queer content in it though? Fuck yes. Focus on the other great parts first!!
tl;dr: klance isn’t canon king (yet) but I’m not mad (yet). Character development saved the show and so did everything else.
i know right? it’s almost like it impacts every part of my life
“it’s all in your head”
I know right? it’s almost like it’s a mental illness
“why do you let it affect you and stop you from being able to do things?”
I know right? It’s almost like it’s an ACTUAL ILLNESS
“You’re just trying to get attention”
I know right? It’s almost as though mental illness is misunderstood and ignored by the wider community and no matter how much I ask for help I’m being brushed aside because of it.
IT’S FINALLY HERE I’M CRYING. Sorry for the inconsistent medium. (Traditional then Digital then traditional again) But Yes! thank you for waiting for so long! huhuh I’ll be uploading the last part soon. It’s currently a WIP hehe
I’m so sorry for not replying to the messages you sent me about the child au and its update.
