Boy, that finale though: the VLD Season 8 Sheith Salt Post

[kari_izumi]

Because I'm glad I can post that here without it getting jumped by idiot antis

...or more likely the angry Sheith fans, some of who have declared Shiro dead ro them or assume he and Keith are now merely business associates, because as baffling as the ending is, I don't agree with those takes in the slightest for reasons I'm sure I'll have tons of opportunity to discuss as they descend into Enterprise fan level livid, but I'll just stick a pin in that.

Anyway:

Yeeeeeeeeeah, don't feel at all bad about saying Sheith fans got shipbated (NOT queerbaited, to be clear). Like, after the season 6 interview about them being closer after all they've been through and the bond they shared and all that was pretty much absent this season. Like, I think they had like two conversations this seasons?

Far be it from me to suggest this was intentional, since it was an uphill battle to get even a gay Shiro on screen. Maybe there were scrapped plans for Sheith. IDK, it feels a lot more like VLD's notorious tendency to bite off way more than it could chew than any other kind of slight, which is disappointing after the peak of season 6.

It's not like we wanted or expected canon Sheith, but...some catharsis to that incredible fight or a last moment together before the show ended would've been neat.

I mean, this ain't the worst kick.in the pants to a fandom, buuuuuuuut I can understand why the part of fandom that's defended them from harrassment and unfounded accusations feel like they've gotten egg on their face.

And that's all I gotta say about that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Now, y'all got halfway of an excuse on this, but I'm pretty sure DW didn't order you to kill off Allura. But that's for my next post.

Comments

[zarabithia]

It wasn't great, and not just on the ship front. I'm old and cranky and used to shitty finales, though.

It isn't just the ship front, though. It's ... everything is ... not at all the end these people deserve. I still really love seasons 1-7, but oh, this season was certainly a let down on all fronts. And Allura's death will never make any sense to me.

Arm wrestling Shiro was great, though. :)

[kari_izumi]

I'm old and cranky and used to shitty finales, though.

Yeah, it isn't quite up there with dying so that someone can give a speech, but still bad.

I do have a post in drafts about Allura separately, but honestly? Aside from those two things, I actually did find a lot to like about the season, which I'll make another post on it's own but...yikes.

[lysanatt]

I like this. Nah, far from being the worst kick, but it sure hit where it hurt. Poor Shiro.

[kari_izumi]

OTOH, Shiro is finally gonna get that well deserved rest, so there's that, lol

[ashacrone]

Y'know, when I imagined 'let Shiro rest' I meant a spa day. I would have loved for the narrative to give Shiro a chance to visit an onsen, or get a massage, or just hang out. It's why so many people loved the Monsters and Mana episode, despite how the whole thing being a means to piss on Kuron for loving being a paladin. They were having fun and bonding, something we hadn't seen in ages.

Shiro resting shouldn't mean leaving the fight. He's the ultimate survivor. I doubt he knows how to hold still.

[ashacrone]

I pretty much saw this entire last season as an attempt by the EPs to break all the toys because they weren't being allowed a spin off.

Really. They destroyed all we liked about the characters. Hunk is reduced to cook, Keith is not allowed to grow, Pidge does pretty much nothing, Shiro 'leaves the fight' what the hell the boy wanted nothing more than to EXPLORE, even in the face of a chronic illness, Allura was never allowed to see her people thrive again and had nothing to do with their restoration, ultimately. Lance was reduced to farmer when his dream had been to be a pilot.

I think what pissed me off the most about Allura is that they've actually teased her doing a great sacrifice in s1 and s2, but then let the entire idea drop, only to try to force it in at the last minute where it makes no sense. An Evil Allura storyline would have been interesting, but we've seen that the EPs can't handle nuance.

The fight with Haggar would have made WAY more sense during the Road Trip arc, and returning to earth with a Scouring of the Shire arc with Sendak. There just wasn't enough story with her.

There was so much potential in this story. I wish we had gotten to see it come to fruition. As for fandom old... 20 years now for me. sigh.

[kari_izumi]

The fight with Haggar would have made WAY more sense during the Road Trip arc, and returning to earth with a Scouring of the Shire arc with Sendak. There just wasn't enough story with her.

+100 for that.

As for fandom old... 20 years now for me. sigh.
LOL. It's been nearly that long for me, too. My first ff.net account is old enough to drive this year :p

[ashacrone]

My account number has only 4 digits. *snerk* I remember being able to read ALL of the back catalogue of a specific fandom's fic that was archived there.

I think that's what pisses me off so much at times. There are genuinely good ideas and plot points. But none of those scenes grow organically from each other because the characters just seem to be along for the ride. None of their decisions have lead to where they are. Just because Destiny Says So.

[har0]

GOD I feel you. I appreciate the distinction of ship/queer bait, since that's absolutely the truth of it, but yeah.

Disappointed but not surprised, except for the Epilogue content which, tbeh, I just... don't really acknowledge. Those two are pining morons forever and they live out their gay space lives being stupid about it. Epilogue who?

And yeah.... don't really think Allura should've died. IMHO they should've stopped her when she said she would need to give up her life force, and told her "then take ours too. We're all in this together" and then the souls of everyone they've ever helped/met/saved/befriended join in and the collective heart of the universe is what rekindles it's life. But that's just me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[kari_izumi]

I missed since I'm rarely on DW, bit I'm with you about Allura. I would've gone with the Lion Sacrifice idea as well.