Reflection and Analysis

VLD: Klance Pre-S4

I feel Klance becoming canon is very, very unlikely. The only time I thought it might have a chance to become canon was between season one and two, because Klance fans were shouting for LGBT representation in the show, and claimed that Klance would be it, even though there were no actually true moments between the two.

No, seriously, it is pretty bad when fans of a pairing accuse the staff of queerbaiting, or even that their pairing is canon, thus drawing more fans into the series only for the new fans to feel they got queerbaited not by the show, but the Klance fans, or to find the pairing isn't canon.

The reason I thought the pairing might become canon is because back then I didn't know if the staff might be swayed by the popularity of something, but Klance fans were dancing around shouting that their pairing was the most popular, so of course it was going to become canon. They still shout this.

I wonder though if the popularity of Klance is actually readable, as most of the sane part of fandom doesn't like the pairing. Me, I like a well written fic for the pairing that keeps them in character, but there are a few others who are the same but take it a few steps farther and actually ship the ship. Me, I don't ship it, which may shock some of the people reading Virus Among Us who think that fic is Klance, when it isn't.

Getting back to how I felt between season one and two, I found myself feeling ill with how much Klance fans claimed their pairing was going to be canon, and I was unfamiliar with the discourse as well. I ship Keith and Allura, but felt that because almost nobody shipped it before season two that the fact it was canon in the previous seasons would be forgotten in favor of popularity. I didn't feel this was at all fair to the old fans, but favored the new fans.

However, time after time the staff have said they are drawing from the original source material, building and changing things only when it's needed. They're taking time to step back to look at it as a fan of the old series, asking if the change would go over well with the fans of the old series. Believe it or not, this includes the people in Japan.

Would the fans of the old series actually be okay with the pairing between Keith and Allura being nixed? The thing is, one of the most rememberable things about the series was the love triangle between Keith, Allura and Lotar, so no, it's not going to be something that is nixed, or at least not easily. But will the plot work towards the pairing? Season two had moments because the plot worked that way, but it's not necessarily going to be the same later on.

The other thing is, the staff have clearly said that while Klance fans may interpret the moments between the two, that the story is going to head where it will, and they won't change it simply because a pairing is popular. Certain Klance fans took this as a declaration that the pairing will be canon, but this is problematic. Klance is the popular pairing, and they said they won't change it for the popular pairing.

However, this also I think says Sheith won't be canon, and that they might also make those two blood related even though Sheith is also popular, and them being blood related is not. They're not going to change things if the story is headed in a different direction just to provide what amounts to fanservice.

In addition to this, we've been hit over the head that Lance likes girls. While fans can headcanon him as bisexual, his actions show he's heterosexual. He never hits on males, only hits on females. Mongomery even used the pronoun "herself" in regards to the person who would be best for Lance to be paired with, but his VA also says Lance is only into girls. It's a major part of his character, but most Klance fans ignore it.

On top of this, in one of the recent comments it's been brought up by staff that this is a kids show, so while they'd love to explore all sorts of representation, it is after all a kids show. Dream Works got into trouble with a very subtle reveal in How to Train Your Dragon franchise, so why would they go even farther this time? Chances are they won't be as unsubtle, but instead be more subtle.

I think the important thing to remember is, it doesn't matter whether something becomes canon or not. There are always AUs, but the question of whether you really like the series, or if what you like is an illusion you've created in your mind.