#* worldbuilding ( galaxy garrison )

[stellacordis]

Military students at the Garrison fall into one of two categories: officer cadets ( referred to as junior officers/JOs ) and enlisted cadets ( referred to simply as cadets ). Upon graduation, JOs move on to become COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, and cadets are officially promoted to ENLISTED personnel.

In the United States, cadets typically refer to students in training to become commissioned military officers. However, the in-canon worldbuilding fails to note ( or realize ) that the military would fail without enlisted personnel, who are the the deck plate workers, with the officers focusing mostly on supervision and leadership. This is why I decided to include them here.

ENLISTED CADETS.

The enlisted cadets are the backbone of the Garrison and the largest group of students. They are the ones who will be trained to become SPECIALISTS in the various supporting fields.

All enlisted cadets receive the same initial training — eight weeks of boot camp the summer before their first semester at the Garrison, followed by three semesters of base classes — before moving on to take the core classes of their assigned specialties ( which will be their assigned rates ).

The most prominent rates are pilot ( sub-divided into fighter, cargo, and commercial classes ), engineer, scientist, medic, infantryman ( ground forces ), electronics technician, analyst, and communications specialist.

All cadets’ specializations are preliminarily assigned to them during their first semester and are based heavily on an initial screening exam, high school records, and boot camp performance. The prospective cadet’s personal preferences are taken into account but don’t weigh as heavily as their records.

In my ACE PILOT verse for Keith, even though he scored very highly on his screening exams and fared well in boot camp, his tarnished ‘problem child’ high school record lost him an initial assignment as a pilot. During his first semester, he was assigned to ground forces instead, which made him absolutely miserable and only fueled his rebellious nature. Later, based on his simulator performance scores and obvious natural talent, he was reassigned to pilot by Commander Iverson.

For PILOT-assigned cadets, their academic performance and sim scores are evaluated at the beginning of their fourth semester in order to sort them into their respective classes. Only cadets with the highest academic performance ( top 5% ) and simulation scores are selected for fighter class.

Upon graduation, enlisted cadets will be officially awarded their rates and will then advance as follows:

E-1: Airman Recruit

E-2: Airman Apprentice

E-3: Airman

E-4: [Rate]* Third Class

E-5: [Rate]* Second Class

E-6: [Rate]* First Class

E-7 and above: Chief [Rate] and above

*[Rate] depends on the enlisted personnel’s specialization. For example, an E-4 engineer would be Engineer Third Class, an E-6 electronics technician would be Electronics Technician First Class, and so forth.

E-7 and above are considered uncommissioned officers and are granted the same treatment as commissioned officers.

OFFICER CADETS.

Junior officers are the minority and are trained to be the leaders, problem solvers, and key influencers in the military.

They receive similar training to the cadets except more intensive, competitive, and with a focus on developing their leadership, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

Their rates are instead assigned as SPECIALIZATIONS upon promotion to a commissioned officer. The majority of officers become pilots as they are expected to lead the Garrison fleets.

Upon graduation and commissioning, officers will advance as follows:

O-1: Ensign (ENS)

O-2: Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG)

O-3: Lieutenant (LT)

O-4: Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)

O-5: Commander (CDR)

O-6: Captain (CAPN)

O-7 and above: Rear Admiral and above

I predicted Shiro being an early promoted O-3 in canon when I first came up with this post years ago and having him be an actual Lieutenant when he was assigned to the Kerberos mission was quite the validation! Shiro then goes on to receive field promotions to Commander and, subsequently, Captain of the Atlas in the heat of battle. Following Admiral Sanda’s death, he is the highest-ranking officer in the Garrison fleet, making him the most likely candidate for Admiral promotion.

For an in-depth explanation of advancement requirements, check out the accompanying ADVANCEMENT post (coming soon)!

ENLISTED-TO-OFFICER PROGRAM.

As they near their graduation date, exceptional enlisted cadets can apply to become officers via the Airman-to-Admiral (ATA) program.

Candidates selected for ATA will undergo an intensive two-year program focused on bridging the gap between the enlisted and junior officer curricula.

Upon completion of this program, trainees will be promoted to O-1 and advance through the commissioned officer ranks with slightly higher pay to account for their prior time in the military.

For more Garrison worldbuilding, check out my masterpost (coming soon)!

DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of the Garrison’s military force, I based my military rankings on those of the NAVY since that was the military structure ( and titles ) observed in canon. While I have taken many creative liberties, I’m intimately familiar with how military ranks and advancement ACTUALLY work so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

[halfbakedspuds]

I guess I should probably explain some of the organisations hierarchically parallel to the IUC (the organisation that Adrian- and later, Lyanni- works for) in Children of the Stars.

Also forewarning, this is a slight worldbuilding dump so... Be warned.

For reference, the IUC (Imperial Upliftment corps) is a branch of the Empire's Ministry of Colonial Affairs (MCA) that gets assigned to any worlds with intelligent primitive life in order to uplift them to the galactic entrance standard, which entails FTL capability, the capability of becoming a Kardashev 1 society within thirty standard years, a development index of around 0.78 (based off an improved version of the 21st century's HDI) and a stable unified* government to take them into the space age. This is done with the purpose of freeing up military garrisons defending these worlds for the warfront by giving these worlds the power to fend for themselves.

*The definition of what counts as "unified" tends to be quite flexible and situational. Mostly, the IUC praetors assigned to a planet will decide what kind of government system will work best for their current ward. As long as the species will not begin infighting and will not stand divided, loosely united governments like those of humanity are sometimes permitted, but are mostly discouraged

DeSRec (Deep-space Surveyance and Reconnaissance Corps): the main focus of the ministry's spending, DeSRec's job is to assemble and conduct expeditions to unmapped star systems to assess what worth they might hold to the Empire- be it tourism possibility, or mineral/agricultural weapth, or even precursor sites that can be delved for (hopefully) ancient technologies which may benefit humanity and the Coalition as a whole, not just the Empire.

DAA (Department of Anomalous Affairs): living on one planet your whole life, that which might be considered "supernatural" does not occur too often. However, on a galactic scale it becomes apparent that the universe has quite the tendency to break her own laws. The DAA exists to research these anomalies and determine firstly the safety of the phenomenon and ways to contain/defend against it if necessary, and secondly it exists to research whether the phenomenon is truly anomalous in nature or just misunderstood quirk of natural laws, and finally the determine if the event might serve some purpose to the Coalition (The Physics Warp fields integral to technologies like stasis, propulsion/dampening fields, and FTL bubbles were originally discovered by the DAA's scientists)

XARR (Department of Xeno-Archeological Research and Recovery): Quite simply, if ancient precursor ruins are found (before the modern races dominated the galaxy, there was another group altogether. No one knows what happened to them, but the technology they left behind may as well be magic for how little is understood about how it works), XARR sends specialists to chart the ruins and begin excavating and attempting to reverse engineer technology, and if need be, pacify whatever angry guard dog of a machine was left behind. If the situation permits, they also try to learn more about the precursors themselves, but the problem with studying a culture that died out while your own species hadn't even figured out the art of throwing rocks at things to kill them yet is that there's no common overlap for information.

ANNI (Department of Astronautical Navigation and Navigational infrastructure): They follow close behind DeSRec expeditions and are responsible for plotting FTL corridors, setting up gates at either end of the planned corridors to 'catch' and 'fling' ships across the void between stars, and maintain these routes until a civilized presence can make an appearance to maintain it themselves.

DCA (Department of Colonial Administration): nothing interesting here. These guys are just responsible for the organisational logistics of the Ministry.

CD Civ-Sec (Civil Security: Colonial Defense branch) [Sometimes called the 'Collies' by the rest of Civil Security]: Civil Security is an organisation which permeates much of civilian Imperial society, functioning as a mixture of an incredibly militarized police force and the first line of defense if a planet is attacked. Officially, all branches of Civ-Sec fall under the Ministry of Internal Security, however they also fall under whatever ministry they work for. The Colonial Defense Branch is deployed to protect fledgling human colonies from pirates, wildlife and crime, but also serves on IUC prime worlds (planets assigned to the IUC) as a military force should it become necessary to more directly intervene in a escalating situation that the Praetors have lost control of. They are also known to be some of the toughest members of civil security because of what they make through on a daily basis, on par with only the Coreworld Defense Branch.

AILPC (Auto-Industrial Logistics and planetary Pre-preparatory Corps): With the advent of Nano Welders and Nano Forges, the need for massive teams of engineers in the construction of factories dwindled, cutting operations of formerly hundreds if not thousands of engineers and workers down to at most four. This change in requirements, and the substantial boost to the speed with which sprawling industrial complexes could be brought into existence created the AILPC. Any planet deemed fit for Agriculture, industry or mining would have a small fleet stationed around it, and teams of four people would be sent down to each pre-marked region to slowly convert a world in its entirety to be ready for production once colonists arrive. If you've ever played Satisfactory or Factorio, that's more-or-less their job.

DCP (Department of Colonial Propaganda): these are the guys who try to get people to pack up and move to the new colonies with shiny promises of a better future.

[differentdancesfandom]

So the VLD wiki suggests that the Galra power structure is basically

Emperor>Commander>General>Subcommander>Lieutenant>Basic soldier. Contrary to my beliefs, a Galra Commander outranks a General, apparently? Or maybe General is just an honorary title? IDK.

Emperor

Commander

General

Subcommander

Lieutenant

Basic soldier

6 levels. That's a really fucking flat structure for a massive organization spanning literal lightyears. Tempting to leave it as is because given 10,000 years the Galra's abysmally glacial pace of technological advancement can be readily explained by the micromanagement from the top for every little thing plus the big boss's obsessive pet project that takes full priority and interrupts all other workflows at a moment's notice.

By contrast, Starfleet (depending on which version of Star Trek you're referring to as your canon), had Fleet Admiral>Admiral>Vice admiral>Rear admiral>Commodore>Captain>Commander>Lieutenant Commander>Lieutenant> Lieutenant Junior Grade>Ensign.

Fleet Admiral

Admiral

Vice admiral

Rear admiral

Commodore

Captain

Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant

Lieutenant Junior Grade

Ensign

That's 11 levels of organization just for officer ranks (those who attended Starfleet Academy graduate into Ensign rank or higher depending). There's an additional five ranks for non-commissioned officers from Master Chief Petty Officer to Crewman.

Not even going to go into the mess that is the VLD Galaxy Garrison. How Iverson, who runs a whole damn school and is privy to top secret files, has the same 'Commander' rank as Shiro, a mission pilot, is beyond me. That power gap is too big to be believable.

I'll come back to this, maybe. But I'm getting too much of a headache trying to make sense of US military ranks (spoiler: despite technically outranking the Chief Master Sergeant on paper, a Second Lieutenant is, in fact, a snot-nosed newbie) to try to make a Galra org chart that makes more sense to me, nevermind tackling the debate of ripping off Starfleet's org completely for the Garrison or trying to adapt some unholy combination of the Air Force/astronaut organization systems/the US Space Force which is apparently Air Force-based temporarily but is moving to a Navy system?

I know franchises like Starfleet had decades and multiple shows/movies to hash out piddly details (like the different rank equivalencies for different empires), but a space-themed show that relaunched in 2016 should've done more than such sloppy, cursory work. You could maybe get away with that in the 80s and 90s when launching a brand new show that may not get more than a single season, but a flagship legacy franchise like Voltron in an era of internet wikis deserved more careful thought.

Like c'mon, they didn't have a single sci-fi geek or somebody who liked military history and fiction on staff that said, "Hey, uh, maybe let's use the 'commander' rank a little less often so the power structure is not so confusing." ?

I'm trying to figure out a reasonable and consistent organization of ranks for the Galaxy Garrison and the Galra and ugh. It feels like there's zero information. Everybody's a Commander rank in the Garrison, and the Galra seem to operate on Emperor>Generals>Commanders>RankNFile. Where does a Warlord fit into the Galra system?

This micromanagement from the top down might explain why despite expanding across the universe, the Galra tech is still only on a comparable level to 10,000 year old Altean tech.

Does anyone have a working organization chart for either the Garrison or the Galra?

[f-117-nighthawk]

thing that I’m not sure could actually happen but you know what this is fiction we’re doing it anyway (feat worldbuilding!):

So the USA has had four named Mars rovers: Sojourn, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. Sojourn, Spirit, and Oppy have lost contact with NASA. 

fast forward a hundred and fifty years ish, when the Federation is starting to build its Mars colonies in the aftermath of almost launching a few nukes. Someone suggests Home Plate, just by Spirit’s final resting place, as the first full colony, not just a military base like Vanguard Station. And thus, Spirit Colony is born. Soon after, another is built into the crags of the Margaritifer Terra, next to Sojourn. Sojourn Colony is christened. Opportunity Colony is created in Endeavour Crater, near Opportunity. All three colonies start as farms, but they quickly grow into full colonies with families and entertainment, even if they are still primarily farmers for Earth. All three colonies have monuments to the rovers in them.

But what about Curiosity, you ask?

Curiosity is still going, even when the Blue Lion leaves Earth for the first time in millennia in 2220. 

Curiosity becomes something of a mythological symbol to Humanity. Here’s this little rover, two hundred years old, and still collecting data. FGG (Federation Galaxy Garrison) still keeps contact with it, despite having their own rovers and science probes and colonies on Mars. They have engineers go out and retrofit it with better solar panels and clean it off every so often, just so it can keep going. Vanguard Station was built on the place where Carden Tindall and Carrie Rischer first landed on Mars, in a spot picked out by Curiosity itself. Curiosity’s data leads the first explorers to water catches deep underground. 

Curiosity is Humanity’s vanguard into the future. It’s a symbol of hope, of the past and all that Humanity accomplished to get to where it is, with not only the Mars colonies, but Armstrong Lunar Base, the Jemison and Lawrence Dyson rings, and the space elevators, foremost the one in Shepard Station. Curiosity will never die, and the Federation will not let it.

Because Humanity’s curiosity cannot be sated. 

[bladechosen]

Verse.

    Seventeen-year-old Keith is a lonely first-year student at the Garrison. Though he scored very highly on his entrance and screening exams and fared well in boot camp, his tarnished ‘problem child’ record lost him a rate assignment as a pilot during his first semester. He was instead assigned to ground forces, something that made him absolutely miserable and only fueled his defiant behavior. It’s not until a few weeks into the semester, after he commandeers a sim pod after-hours and breaks several long-standing records when Commander Iverson takes note of his performance and reassigns him as a pilot.

     As a pilot, Keith exhibits prodigious innate talent from the get-go. He likes to rely more on his own instincts than on textbook knowledge and lets himself be guided by what he feels, which is something most of his instructors see as too reckless. Despite it all, he is still lauded by many as the best pilot of his generation. This title, paired with his disinterest in by-the-book maneuvers and his aloof attitude, makes him come across as arrogant and drives other jealous cadets to greatly dislike him.

     Though accused of being aggressive and undisciplined, in reality, Keith is more of a trouble magnet than a troublemaker. He’s constantly on the defensive and tries to shield himself from others who want nothing more than to see him fail. He has few friends, but those select few that’s he’s allowed close to him he trusts implicitly.

For more on the Galaxy Garrison, check out my worldbuilding masterpost HERE!

[sheithdirectory]

The Sheith Directory (Mobile Version)

❤️🖤 Direct Sheith: Events ❤️🖤

Big Bangs:

Sheith Big Bang ★ Big Bang with minimum 10k for writers and at least 1 artwork for artists. First ran from Winter 2016 to Summer 2017. Second round from February to August 2018.

Sheith Reverse Bang ★ Reverse Bang with 10k word minimum for writers and at least 3 artworks for artists. First ran from Fall 2017 to July 2018.

Sheith Prompt Bang ★ Big Bang in which writers and artists will be matched based on criteria of interests, and given a set of prompts to choose and create a work for. Run from August 2018 to April 2019.

Event Weeks:

Sheith Week ★ Sheith-centered week that ran on Twitter from August 21st to the 27th, 2016. Included SFW and NSFW (prompts)

Sheith Week Unlimited ★ Sheith-centered Week that ran from January 27th to February 2nd (prompts). Second round March 18-24 (prompts).

Sheith Positivity Week ★ Sheith-centered weeks. Sheith Summer Week ran from July 24-July 30th in 2017 (prompts).

Sheith Quote Week ★ Sheith-centered Week featuring relevant quotes as prompts. Ran on December 17th to 23rd 2017 (prompts, explanation of quotes.)

Sheith Participation Week ★ A week where all Sheith fans can participate such as sharing headcanons, favorite fics, and so forth. First run May 2018. (prompts)

Sheith Anniversary Week ★ A week celebrating the ship’s name with prompts. First run from May 28 to June 3rd, 2018. Hosted by SheithNetwork.

Sheith Summer Week ★ A Sheith-centered week for summer-themed fanworks. First run July 15-July 21, 2018. (Prompts) 

Event Months:

Sheith Month ★ A full month celebrating the relationship of Sheith, with a prompt or two for each day of the month. First ran on August 2017. Second round July 2018.

Exchanges:

Sheithlentines ★ Valentine’s Day Exchange. Posting of gifts from 14th to the 24th.

Sheith Flower Exchange ★ Exchange centered around the language of flowers. First ran during Spring 2017. Second round from March to July 2018.

Sheith Birthday ★ Celebrating Keith’s birthday; run on VLD Exchange during the Fall Season 2017. Postings on October 23rd. AO3 Collection.

Sheith Halloween ★ Sheith Halloween gift exchange. Run on VLD Exchange during the Fall Season. Postings were between October 24 to the 31st. AO3 Collection.

Sheith Secret Santa ★ Winter holiday exchange. 2016 round hosted here.

Kink Memes:

Sheith Kink Meme ★ Hosted on Dreamwidth. NSFW.

Sheith Kink Meme on AO3 ★ Hosted on AO3. NSFW. 

Zines:

Silver & Gold ★ Sheith zine that ran during Spring 2017 by Amegafuru.

Guiding Light ★ Sheith zine that ran during early months of 2018 by Amegafuru.

Infinite: Sheith Zine ★ Charity zine that ran during Summer 2017.  

Between Two Points ★Collaborative zine between writers and artists that ran during Fall 2017.

Stargazing: Sheith AU Zine ★ Twitter-run zine being run during Winter 2017-2018.

Hanakotoba ★ Sheith zine centered on the language of flowers. Profits to benefit charity: water. Being run during Winter 2017-2018.

Lightning Strikes ★ Numerous Sheith zines on sale 2018.

Sunkissed ★ A Sheith zine by Owlette. On sale during Spring 2018.

As Many Times/When You’re Away Zine ★ A Sheith zine by rou-tan-tan (and guest artists and writer) 

Heartlines ★ Sheith wedding-themed zine. Preorders to open on June 23 2018.

This And Every Other Universe: Sheith Edition ★ Sheith-centric zine happening summer 2018 on the theme of whatever universes the creators enjoy. Preorders opening June 16, 2018. 

Miscellaneous:

Sheith Prompt Party ★ Give a prompt. Take a prompt. Create fanworks based on your prompt. Run from May 2018 to October 2018.

Sheith-a-Palooza ★ Prompt fest. First run from August 2017 to October 2017. Hosted by SheithParty on Dreamwidth.

❤️🖤 Direct Sheith: Resources & Other Sites ❤️🖤

Shirogane Network ★ Shiro-centric network

Kogane Network ★ Keith-centric network (gen and ships)

Sheith Network ★ Sheith-centric network (gen and ships)

Fuck Yeah Sheith ★ Sheith-centric blog

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Fuck Yeah Kagone ★ Keith-centric blog (gen)

Positively Shiro ★ Shiro-centric blog (gen and ships)

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Pics of Sheith ★  Screencaps of Sheith from the series.

a Sheith Every Day ★ Sheith Pics every Day for your Twitter timeline.

Songs That Are Sheith ★  Sheith-centric blog of songs that are Sheith. 

Wreath of Sheith ★ Sheith-centric blog; part of the Shance Support Squad, Klancin’ Around network!

Sheith Fic Ideas ★ Sheith fic ideas looking for a good home.

Sheith Fiction Catalogue ★ Blog dedicated to categorizing Sheith fics into a A-Z library based on genres and tropes.

Sheith Fanfics ★ Blog dedicated to fanfic recommendations.

SheithParty ★ Sheith Community on Dreamwidth

Sheith Tag ★ on AO3

AO3Feed_KeithShiro ★ AO3 feed on Tumblr

Sheith Tag ★ on Tumblr

The-Sheith-Tag ★ Tumblr blog that reblogs all relevant content from Sheith Tumblr tag.

Shiro-x-Keith ★ Sheith community on DeviantArt

Sheith Community ★ Sheith community on AminoApps

Sheith Network ★  Sheith-centric message board! 

Sheith Fanlore Article ★ Sheith page on Fanlore, preserving our history. 

❤️🖤 Indirect Sheith ❤️🖤

Bangs:

Keith Baby Bang ★ Keith-centric bang, with works posting beginning on Keith's birthday. Sheith welcome. Running from May 2018 to October 2018.

Alt Shiro Big Bang ★ Big Bang focusing on all alternate versions of Shiro (such as Kuro, Kuron, Sven, Ryou.) Sheith welcome. Running from July 2018 to January 2019. 

Event Weeks:

Shiro Ship Week ★ Shiro-centric event week focusing on all ships. Sheith welcome. 2018 week runs from June 24 to June 30th. (prompts) 

Desert Keith Week ★ Event week focusing on Keith's time in the desert. Sheith welcome. 2018 running from July 2 to July 8th. (prompts) 

Exchanges:

Shiro Birthday Exchange ★ Shiro-centric exchange centered around character’s birthday. Sheith and all Shaladin ships allowed. First ran from January to February 2018.

Voltron Secret Santa ★ Fandom-wide winter exchange that runs annually from September to December. Sheith welcome.

Shaladin Secret Santa ★ Winter exchange for all ships with Shiro. First ran in winter 2018.

Shklance Summer Exchange ★ Summer exchange for the ships of Shklane, Sheith, Shance, and Klance. First run between May to July 2018.

VLD Ship Exchange ★ Exchange that encourages ship exploration. Create a work for a ship you haven’t explored or shipped before. Sheith welcome. First ran in 2018.

Monstertron Exchange ★ For works involving horror and monsters. Sheith welcome. First ran in summer of 2018, from May to August.

AO3 Gift Exchanges ★ This is a special section for all AO3 gift exchanges where you can nominate, request, offer, and create fanworks for Sheith. Each AO3 exchange has its own exchange focus and rules, eligibility requirements, minimums, and other information so do please go to the DW community link provided to familiarize yourself with any exchange you’re interested in. I will only provide a brief summary here. These exchanges are all multifandom, meaning you will need to request/offer multiple fandoms (the numbers vary by exchange rules.)

Chocolate Box ★ Can request Sheith as ship. Theme is Valentine’s Day. Short minimums for fic (300 words) and art (sketch.) Runs from December to February of every year.

Worldbuilding Exchange ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as characters but may request ship in your letter/optional details. Focus of the exchange is worldbuilding such as Galaxy Garrison, History of the Blade of Marmora, or Mechanics of Shiro’s Galra Arm. Runs from January to March every year.

Age Gap Exchange ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship. Focus of the exchange is for all pairings with an age difference. Runs from January to March.

Unusual Bearings ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship. Focus of the exchange is on any pregnancy fanworks that is not cis man impregnating cis woman. (Mpreg of cis man, trans man, nb man are all allowed, as are oviposition, tentacles, and so forth.) Runs from January to May.

Space Swap ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship. Focus of the exchange is on space canons. Runs from February to April.

Smut Swap ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship. Focus of the exchange is on smutty fanworks. Must be of age to participate. Runs from February to April.

Fandom 5k ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship. Focus is to give your recipient a fanfic of at least 5,000 words. Runs from March to June.

Multifandom Drabble ★ Drabbles (100 words.) You request by fandoms but can request ships in your optional details. Runs from June to July.

Nonconathon ★ Nominate scenarios as “A noncons B” or “A noncons B & C” or “A makes B noncon C,” and so forth. Focus of the exchange is on noncon/rape fanworks for any darkfic needs. Runs from May to July.

AU Exchange ★ Can nominate/request Sheith as a ship in any AU setting of choice, from Bee AU or “what if it was Keith who went on the Kerberos mission.” Focus of the exchange is all on AUs. Runs from June to September.

Darkest Night ★ May request single character or pairings. Focus of the exchange is on dark subjects. Runs from July to October.

Trick or Treat ★ Can nominate/request them as character but may request ship in your letter/optional details. Short minimums for fic (300 words) and art (sketch). Focus of the exchange is Halloween: may ask for Tricks (dark work) or Treats (fluff works.) Runs from September to October.

Multifandom Tropefest ★ Can request them as ship. The focus of the exchange are tropes, trope variations, and trope subversions (such as: soulmates, hanahaki, hurt/comfort, and so forth.) Fics must be at least 2,000 words long, and art must be at least a clean lineart illustration on unlined paper. Beginning in August and reveals are Thanksgiving weekend. 

[ao3feed-keithshiro]

Why You Should Buy the Cow (Even If the Milk Is Free)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2KEb6GK

by Xyriath

Bovids: a subspecies that sprang up from extraterrestrial meddling with humanity’s genes. Modeled after Earth’s cows, a solution to widespread famine due to their ability to produce milk.

Many are content to find a home on ranches or with owners, their genetic predisposition towards a need to be spoiled, cared for, and owned meshing well with the entrepreneurs who are willing to stable, milk, and breed them. Not slavery—happy bovids provide milk—but certainly rote and predictable.

Shiro doesn’t want that life. Ever since he was a child, he dreamt of flying, of touching the stars. And though he might be the Galaxy Garrison’s first bovid student, he’s already proven to be the best pilot in its history.

But instincts aren’t quashed so easily. Though Shiro has no desire to drop out and sign on to a life of dull, if pleasurable, servitude, a bovid still has... needs.

He’s not as subtle at hiding it as he thinks, either. His best friend, Keith, might be awkward, but he isn’t blind. Luckily for Shiro, he is practical, so when Keith offers to help him with a few… problems, Shiro figures there shouldn’t really be any issues.

But Shiro’s always been one for defying expectations—including his own.

Words: 11433, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron)

Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Galaxy Garrison, Lactation Kink, Male Lactation, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Breeding, Referenced but not Present mpreg, Milking, Cows, Loss of Virginity, Barebacking, Biological Sexual Impulses, ridiculous worldbuilding played straight, drink the milk, it's kowgane fresh

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2KEb6GK

[madefate-a]

anyway. we’re going to ground a YA Streaming Television Show in some pseudo-reality that doesn’t even matter so i’m gonna !! sort out how garrison ranks actually work for my lil sandbox. 

o b v i o u s l y no one’s adhering to US equivalent military ranks & i don’t know enough about international militaries to know if there’s any basis for using those as a metric. so i’m going to go ahead ~ & make my own assumptions here. it looks like the show tends towards either the air force or the army for its ranking system, as well as the navy ( hewwo ?? laur*n, please ) so for my purposes, i’m going to go with a mix of the two that leans more heavily on the air force designations. i’m also working off the assumption that the garrison is para military, and that enrollment in the program is not a straight pipeline to military service. after all, iverson addresses the cadets in s1 as astro explorers and the holts working with the organization is proof that they engage in NASA style exploration missions & scientific endeavors as well. so -- it’s going to be kind of a mess but bear with me. 

before we get into the classification system, i’m going to go ahead and say that there are two designations that can be used in the field without an official rank attached* ( i’ll get to that asterisk ): captain and commander. both of these refer to the point person or leader of a mission in a specific setting: captain in a contained environment ( battle class craft, ship ) and commander when given authority in an assignment or a mission ( the kerberos mission, the galaxy garrison academy ). the asterisk: these are also official designations as well, ones that are earned by following the flow of promotions. promotion to a field captain or field commander is not necessarily a promotion in rank outside of the designated mission or assignment. 

for reference, these are extremely truncated and played around with. most of the intervening ranks have been cut leaving only one or two of each designation ( for example: out of the four US airman ranks, only two have carried over ). additionally, this is only for the active duty pilot path. since, well ! it’s most relevant to my worldbuilding at the moment. i’ve skipped swaths of other designations ( such as sergeant ) as i have vaguely plans to use those for other branches of the academy & the military. there’s also a really glaring promotion of first lieutenant to the level of “senior officer” when, technically, it should still be a junior officer position. there’s -- a lot of playing around that we’re doing here. 

so here it is! a rough outline of the path that follows from graduating the pilot program, passenger / fighter class. *** the board member positions do not have to promote from the fighter class path -- but we saw them in s7 so i figured why not! 

the second title of each pane ( ie, the “airman first class” of the designation junior officer / airman first class ) is the official rank of any given garrison member. junior / senior officer does affect things like pay and security clearance, but generally it’s used as shorthand more than anything else. 

revisiting that asterisk: iverson holds both the rank of commander, as well as the designation of commander as the head of an assignment ( head of the academy ). additionally, this is where the confusion comes in -- shiro is promoted over the course of the battle for earth -- but not in the heat of the moment. or, at least, not intentionally. as the leading officer of the atlas, he receives the designation captain during the fight but retains his rank of first lieutenant. however, his direct commanding officer, CO, iverson is present and makes the executive decision to promote his rank as well. it’s not official until the paperwork goes through -- but it takes weeks after that before shiro realizes that he’s been officially promoted. 

[kaliblu]

So If you guys didn’t know the only thing I read regularly nowadays is Voltron fanfiction.... And one of my fave writers @saltyshiro recently started writing a witch!keith and demon!shiro(incubus!kuro?) au you can start reading now here! https://archiveofourown.org/works/13935108/chapters/32076702

I thought my all time Sheith fave would be Between the Shadow and the Soul by the same author, but once I read the fist chapter I fell head over heels for SIWAK... It has a lot of elements that I love (Plus demisexual Keith!!) and I got into the story way more easily, Elena has a talent for worldbuilding that sucks you in dramatically easy, check their account with uthermost caution if you’re a busy person, you won’t be able to stop once you start reading her stuff.

Since the action takes place in some sort of magic citadel, I thought It would be fun to sketch a uniform for the novices! So have a Keef rocking it. Heavily inspired in the galaxy garrison’s uniforms itself and priest robes. If it weren’t for how busy I am right now, I would’ve liked to draw something more elaborate rip

(Elena if you’re reading this I love you and I can’t wait to see how you will tear us apart on the future, after BTSATS I don’t trust you one bit cry)

[xcallmepidge]

💞💞

Send me a 💞 and I’ll @ an rpc blog and say 3 nice things about them.

@bladechosen

ari is super cute and has the cutest cat ever, oh my goodness, i love all the munday posts

ari is a badass at worldbuilding, like holy shit, she’s gotten so detailed into the galaxy garrison. it is so damn impressive

her keith is so well written, like short tempered but also has so much depth to him

@embersiisms

the mun is super sweet! we’ve only talked a little bit but i’ve enjoyed them so far and i love how much they love their oc!!

speaking of which, their oc is so precious! i love all the threads i see with jack and am super excited for our thread together

they also have so many interesting verese for their oc too, its great!! 

[stellacordis]

GALAXY ALLIANCE MISSION STATEMENT.

To be the vanguard of scientific, technological, and aeronautical advances in order to fuel space exploration.

To enhance knowledge, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of planet Earth.

To identify and train promising individuals to become the future leaders of the space exploration community.

ABOUT THE GALAXY ALLIANCE.

The Galaxy Alliance (GA) is a dual-purposed, military-supported research and higher education organization with the purpose of fueling technological advancement and training military personnel for space exploration.

GA Headquarters is located in California with its main military training base, the Galaxy Garrison, nestled in the midst of the Sonoran Desert. Other major facilities exist in Northern Arizona, Texas, Maryland, and Florida. Overseas support and training facilities have been established in Antarctica, Italy, Germany, Panama, and Australia.

( For the purpose of my worldbuilding, I will be focusing solely on the Garrison in California. )

GARRISON PROGRAM.

The Garrison couples a premier military training program for hopeful space explorers with a world-class higher education focused on aero/astronautics and their supporting fields. All students enrolled at the Garrison have completed secondary education at traditional schools and have joined the military either as enlisted or officer cadets.

In canon, the Garrison is presented as replacing some part of secondary education with their program seeing as how Keith was seventeen (17) when he was expelled and had obviously already spent a year or two at the Garrison. This worldbuilding ( and my characters ) deviate from canon ; Keith in particular did not enlist until right before he turned eighteen, an allowance that was made for him due to his October birthday.

On average, the program spans four to six years based on the student’s area of specialty and offers military scholarships based on merit and financial need. Students on scholarship are expected to serve either the Garrison armed forces or scientific research units post-graduation for the length of studies paid for by the military.

In addition to military and pilot training, the major educational departments include but are not limited to Engineering and Mechanics, Communications, Intelligence Analysis, Medicine, Economics and Finance, various branches of Physics and Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science and Programming, Chemistry and Materials, and History.

Upon graduation, alumni have several employment options. Most stay with the military and support Garrison operations for several years. Graduates can also work for defense contractors, serve as active-duty military overseas, become full-time Garrison staff ( researchers, instructors, etc. ) or apply to be sent on deep space missions. 

GARRISON INFRASTRUCTURE.

The Garrison is a fortified military base, with a broad campus spanning 5,983 acres within. Major buildings include the administrative offices, a bursar office, a large medical center, satellite communication rooms, various academic and research buildings, technical shops and laboratories, an auditory, and the simulation facilities. Additionally, there are several blocks of barracks and student dormitories, six gymnasiums, four airfields, and various recreation and sports fields.

Above: Overview of the Galaxy Garrison’s main facility in California.

Above: View of the training simulators

For more Garrison worldbuilding, check out my MASTERPOST (Coming soon)!

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #48

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Why it sucks to be a snake in space by EboniObsydian for polarspaz Words: 31,825 (8/?) Author’s Summary: It had been a month since the transformations, since the ill trip through an electrical storm transformed the humans into creatures of myth - Shiro became a dragon, Hunk became a troll, Lance became a centaur, Keith became a naga, and Pidge became a gorgon - and there were still things and quirks to get used to. Even so, the castle floors were still cold and slick and Lance still slipped on them when he was unawares. Shiro still scared the heebeegeebeez out of everyone with smoke occasionally emitting from his nose and mouth and his icy touch, Pidge still didn’t dare remove her blindfold around anyone and Hunk still lurked indoors during light hours when planetside. Between him and Shiro though, no one knew whose hoard was bigger. Alternatively titled “Myths in a Space Castle" — Inspired by @polarspaz’s Snakes & Horses AU where Keith is a Naga and Lance is a Centaur. Not strictly adhereing to the AU since Shiro is a chuvash dragon instead of a vampire and Pidge uses female pronouns. Updates sporadically.now you can find me on tumblr! @bucketoffudgeinamuffin My Comments: This is such a FUN fic. It reminds me of a survival fic where characters have to deal with a new and crazy situation and learn how to survive and find food and build a fire and all that. The mythical creatures the paladins turn into are all very fun and interesting and fitting, and the way they have to adapt is so well thought-out and fascinating to read. I’m really enjoying this, and I’m really looking forward to more. This one sucked me in, for sure. The Keith and Lance friendship is especially good, but no one is neglected.

When You Are Alone by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 26,355 Author’s Summary: 5 times Shiro and Ryou disagreed. Updates every other day. My Comments: Part of an excellent, wonderful series in which “Kuron” is redeemed by Team Voltron and stays on as Shiro’s twin, Ryou. This entry is a great exploration of both characters learning to adapt to the changes and exploring their own personalities. Humor, angst, comfort, deep conversations, everything I like in fanfic is there. It’s so good.

humility by bobtheacorn Words: 1,446 Author’s Summary: “Before I turn this on,” Pidge begins, “I’d like to just go on the record and say that Hunk is hands down the best member of this team.” “Seconded,” Lance says without hesitation.Pidge continues, “And his tireless contributions to the emotional well being of his fellow paladins is commendable and beyond reproach. If I had a medal, I would give it to you, Hunk. As a matter of fact, I’m making you one first thing tomorrow.” “Stop, you guys,” Hunk says, and whether he’s feigning being emotional or it’s genuine is hard to say. He’s fanning a hand in front of his face, blinking at the ceiling. His voice is a little choked, “Man, I said I wouldn’t cry.” Keith is sitting beside him on the couch with his arms crossed, bewildered by the formalities. //Keith doesn’t know anything about video games. Outrage ensues. My Comments: This is so cute and funny and adorable. Love these kids hanging out and having fun.

CUPS by SerenePhenix Words: 4,385 Author’s Summary: Coran was willing to sacrifice far more than just his wellbeing for the sake of these young people in his care. Anything to ensure that they could win this war. Anything to ensure they did not have to worry about something like making an alliance. My Comments: When you find a good hurt!Coran fic, you gotta hold on to it, because it’s rare and precious like a jewel. This is great, though of course Coran is kind of an idiot for not just telling someone. But of course he has to be strong. For all the kids. Sigh.

Exploration by luoup (ravenic) Words: 1,573 Author’s Summary: Day 4 Prompt 2: Exploration Shiro & Lance&Hunk: going somewhere new and interesting and fun My Comments: What a great trio! It’s so nice to see them hanging out and chilling and enjoying a cool area. Fun, relaxing read.

in the places where it is soft and quiet by kingwise Words: 2,807 Author’s Summary: Pidge found this rose quartz room one day while exploring what would be her new home. She didn’t quite want to call it that though. Home was rumbling laughter, round glasses, and the smell of frozen peas heating in the microwave. And now, the only thing she had left were the glasses. (When she wore them, it felt like back when she played dress up with Matt. They were a burning memory she clung stubbornly to.) or, where pidge feels terribly sad and misses her family, and lance tries to help in the end (takes place pre-s4) My Comments: Love Lance being such a sweetheart with sad Pidge. Always good to have more of those two.

Sugar Cookies by Gootbuttheichou Words: 2,538 Author’s Summary: Lance is more than thrilled to be attending the Galaxy Garrison in order to become the world’s best pilot; however, he didn’t expect there would be so much studying to do. Luckily, his roommate Hunk is happy to study with him, and happy to bake treats when his friend is gloomy from studying. My Comments: Aw, sweet boys. Hunk is such a good friend. I want them to be roommates in canon so bad, but for now at least I have fics.

Fever Can Wait by oldmythologies Words: 2,138 Author’s Summary: Prompt fill: “Hey there! Can I request a sickfic where Shiro gets a fever so high he starts babbling and gets disoriented. Maybe he gets a cold bath before it gets worse? :O” from crazy-indigo-child on tumblr. My Comments: Really sweet sickfic with delirious Shiro and gentle Keith. Hits the spot.

Fireworks by AmnesiaticRoses Words: 7,397 Author’s Summary: Voltron is treated to a victory party – a planet-wide one. But not all of the locals are celebrating, and are instead looking to exploit the party as the paladins let their guards down. Written from prompts provided from Grimkohai, technically using the one for the third week of October – “Festival” – but if I don’t get this out of my hands I’m going to tweak it into a mess. My Comments: This is an EXCELLENT fic, and the fact that my comment is the only one is an absolute travesty. The action, characterization, and worldbuilding are all fantastic. It feels like an adventure in a place you’ve never been but would like to visit someday. The paladins are all smart and competent, but special spotlight on Lance for being smart and brave while concussed and captured. It’s so good, you guys. Read this fic. Comment. It deserves more love.

as the lion loves the lamb by Demenior Words: 3,986 Author’s Summary: The Lions are powerful, ancient machines that have existed for eons. To be chosen by them is an honor only few have, for they pick only the greatest of heroes to serve them. But to serve a Lion is a life sentence. And a Paladins life is always a short one. The Lions are hungry. My Comments: Seriously horrifying take on what the lions are and what they want. This creeped me out, and it’s pretty rare for words on a page to do that. Excellent stuff.

Cold As Ice (With No Sign Of Life) by PastelClark Words: 1,826 Author’s Summary: It is a dark, terrible thing that only crawls to the surface, like frost over metal, when she is alone. When she feels her paladin go with one of her siblings somewhere far away enough that her hold over the bond fuzzes and fades out, flat-lining into the barest of sensations, and she is left with only herself. And she must be broken, she decides, to feel this way—because she is a leg, meant to be stable and secure and strong, as she has known from the beginning of her creation. Legs do not get paranoid, or frightened, or…or lonely. But she does. When her paladin leaves, the cold sets in. And the cold, it is nothing but lonely. My Comments: Angsty little Blue POV on losing Lance. It hurts.

Chamomile Tea by SerenePhenix Words: 3,937 Author’s Summary: Deciding what’s best for oneself is never easy and just a long process of trial and error. OR: Pidge fucked up and Shiro’s there to help. My Comments: Part of a series, a modern AU where the paladins are roommates and take care of each other. So here’s Shiro taking care of Pidge. Lovely.

Light of the Galaxy by thekingoftrash Words: 5,308 Author’s Summary: Sometimes, it’s the aftermath of freeing a planet that gets you. OR Shiro’s hurt, Hunk’s helpful, and Lance and Keith argue over the proper grammar usage of quiznak. My Comments: Hurt Shiro, supportive team, what else can you ask for?

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This by tymedfire for mssstilinski Words: 3,172 Author’s Summary: Lance gets Earth music again. My Comments: Cute fic with the team appreciating dancer!Lance.

Nose Knows by sedna_mode Words: 1,861 Author’s Summary: Following a one-off comment from Hunk about how good his sense of smell is, the team devise a challenge to test him. The only thing is they… forgot to involve Hunk himself. Good thing he’s always up for a challenge, and Hunk is good.And he knows it. My Comments: Absolutely perfect fic based on a preview from one of the comics. I love this view of Hunk and the team.

Made of Stardust by itsthevoid Words: 3,819 Author’s Summary: Altea was destroyed long ago, and since then, Allura hasn’t had a planet to call her home, not even Earth. This doesn’t mean that she’s homeless. My Comments: Really lovely futurefic in which all of Team Voltron gets to go home, even if it isn’t what they expected. I loved the conclusion.

Spring Gifts by wingedflower Words: 3,535 Author’s Summary: Lance is always homesick, but some days are harder than others. Especially this day, when he would give anything in the universe to be back on Earth with his family. For the time being, his space family will have to do. But maybe it’s not so bad after all. My Comments: I adore the way everyone was so supportive of Lance once they realized he was having a rough time, emotionally. They treated his sadness like a wound, something that deserved to be acknowledged and cared for, and they were all willing to drop everything to do it. Just lovely.

Siren’s Curse by Internal_Screaming Words: 2,051 (½) Author’s Summary: Galra are slowly taking over the kingdom, only a few villages stand against the empire, and even those are disappearing quickly.Pidge remembers the day they took her family, and every day since, she had tried to find a way to get to them. Then her answer comes, as she finds Shiro during a storm. She believes this may be her chance to get on land and find her lost family.Galra are a specific race on earth, mermaids and sirens are different species and believed to be myths. Pirates roam the seas and are known to either give no shits about the war against the Galra or have chosen a side. Usually the side being that of the Galra. My Comments: Really cute fantasy AU with mermaids, sirens, humans, and pirates. Fun read, and I’m looking forward to more.

Survivor’s Guilt by Agapostemon Words: 8,281 Author’s Summary: “What were you doing at my house in pajamas this morning?” Shiro groans.“Oh, uh…” Matt stammers, “Y-your boss called me? You didn’t show up to work, and she was worried. And then I got worried, because… your texts last night were a little scary to begin with, but then you didn’t show up to work? Anyways, I drove over to check on you, and your door was unlocked, so…” he gestures vaguely. My Comments: Modern AU in which Matt supports Shiro through PTSD, depression, and a suicide attempt. It’s pretty dark, but with a hopeful ending. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

stillness by bobtheacorn Words: 3,088 Author’s Summary: “You’re all too young to really understand the nuances of Pac man,” Shiro says, trying to get a rise out of them, though it backfires.“Vintage is cool, Shiro.” “Yeah, old things are in! Why do you think we have so much respect for you?” “Oohoho! Pidge!!” //Coran finds something interesting on the scanners and takes everyone on a detour for some well-deserved rest and reflection. My Comments: It’s so nice to see the Voltron crew just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. Fun, relaxing read.

Lost in Translation by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 22,178 Author’s Summary: “Keith shook his head, not knowing how to communicate that he didn’t understand him. Kolivan’s face turned to stone.” My Comments: Keith accidentally goes to an alternate universe and runs into a BoM where no one understands him, and when they do, they don’t believe him. It’s brutal, especially if you’ve read the other fics in this story where Kolivan and Antok are father figures to Keith. Very intense read, I couldn’t stop once I started.

Kiss From a Rose by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 14,176 Author’s Summary: 5 times Shiro got kisses from the team, and one time he returned them My Comments: Absolutely adorable fic, notwithstanding some pain and suffering along the way. All of the platonic kisses were incredibly sweet and cute, and the ending was ridiculously satisfying.

Casting Shadows by BlackFriar Words: 74,777 Author’s Summary: An encounter with an ancient creature leaves Keith a child and Shiro reliving the past. While searching for a way to get their red paladin back, the team uncover a connection between a savage race of aliens and one of the universe’s oldest mysteries…and learn the past is never truly behind anyone. My Comments: This is an absolutely home run of a fic. Intense and horrific at times, but a thrill ride. It weaves together past and present in a great way. This is not a cute, fluffy deaged fic, though. Young Keith is terrified, for good reason, and that never really goes away, though the ending is perfectly satisfying. There’s also a lot about past child abuse that gets really awful at times, and the enemies in this fic are particularly disgusting (think the Reavers from Firefly/Serenity). Warnings aside, though, this is a fantastic fic. Plot, characterization, and worldbuilding are all spot-on. I really enjoyed it.

Muzzled by Emls479 Words: 5,181 Author’s Summary: The blade of Marmora aren’t the only ones with time altering technology. Days on the outside can be months within. Keith finds this out a little too late. My Comments: Holy crap, poor Keith. This was brutal, most especially because from his perspective, he was abandoned by his team, even while they were doing everything they could to rescue him. The comfort at the end was very good, but oh man, Keith goes through some awful stuff in this one.

If It Helps You Breathe by LynnLarsh Words: 5,632 Author’s Summary: A bad night with alien liquor puts Lance in a headspace he’s spent years trying to get out of. It’s a downward spiral that he eventually realizes he needs help dealing with.Trigger warning for self harm. The tags are important on this one. Please tread carefully. My Comments: Warning for self harm, so mind the tags. I really appreciate that Lance sought help on his own, eventually, because I know how hard that is. The hurt/comfort is good, and it’s realistic about how hard it is to deal with issues like this.

Grey by Skiewrites Words: 4,281 Author’s Summary: Grey is a secondary quintessence, made of Black and White quintessences. It represents the movement and manipulation of quintessence from one host to either another host or outside the host in an unnatural form. The most common use for Grey quintessence is during attacks in the form of lightning bolts. The physical representation of Grey quintessence is storm. Lance learns a lot from his family during his childhood, ranging from him being an alien and about the species that destroyed his home planet 10,000 years ago, to the legends of Voltron and the quintessence they use to protect the lion they’re currently hiding with.It’s a shame he never really said goodbye. My Comments: Really interesting twist on the concept of Altean Lance, with great worldbuilding and family interactions. I’d be interested to read more in this ‘verse.

Honest Work by juniperallura Words: 1,365 Author’s Summary: Based on my random HC that Shiro likes to garden because it’s peaceful and dear god someone give that man some rest My Comments: A relaxing little fic with Shiro getting some satisfaction from working with his hands.

cutthroat by buttered_onions Words: 1,363 Author’s Summary: Lance volunteers.(A Voltron/Hunger Games AU.) My Comments: Another amazing AU from buttered_onions, though Hunger Games scenarios always make me sick. There’s going to be more, but this is already brilliant.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Shadows of Stars (33466 words) Coran's Guide to the Care and Keeping of Earthling Humans (37525 words)

[galrakythel]

re: voltron rewatch marathon

Quick Notes: There may be a lot of stuff under the cut just to keep things cleaner. For this episode in particular, I rewatched it prior to season three (Spoilers for all three seasons.)

01x05: Tears of the Balmera

So, here I go again with my feelings on VLD’s worldbuilding in terms of their alien races. I have gone on and on about how I think the Galra are especially interesting and well thought out, but I also think that so are the Balmerans. 

But before I get into that: The Holt family. Maybe it’s just supposed to be foreshadowing, but it’s just so weird that Holt is telling his daughter how she’s going to be a part of something really great (which albeit, many parents tell their children to encourage them to do great things), but the way he says it is almost too specific to what Pidge ends up doing in space: piloting the Green Lion. More theory, but I really think that senior officers like Iverson and Holt already knew that the Galra existed. And maybe Holt didn’t know his daughter was going to be a paladin, maybe he doesn’t know Voltron exists, but it’s just way too specific to tell you daughter that she’s going to have a team of her own that is going to make the universe pay attention. Like how much does he know and how much does the Galaxy Garrison know about what is going on in the universe. Assuming that this story takes place in the future or present that has evolved to the point where they can do missions to the outer reaches of the solar system, the Galaxy Garrison (or other space related agencies) had to have sent highly advanced probes into deep space.

Back to Holt: It’s just strange to me that we only get a few scenes with him throughout the show and it’s almost specific that Pidge pays more attention to her brother’s whereabouts and health rather than her dad’s. I don’t think that means Pidge loves her father any less, but (and I remember reading and reblogging this meta) it’s almost as if the writers want the audience to not pay attention to Holt and his whereabouts. 

Now to the aliens: The Balmerans have an interesting dialect. They use words that are necessary to convey their meaning. It’s almost really limited, but purposefully limited. But the Balmerans still baffle me. (Edit: At this point, they don’t, but when I had originally written this and took notes, it really confused me.) I’m just calling them Balmerans for the sake of my brain, but I wonder if her species was transplanted to Balmera, or to the individual Balmeras, to do slave labor and mining. Or did they just evolve from the rock itself. When I listen to her conversation with Hunk and Coran, I’m still not sure how they got there. Okay... so on one of the VLD wikia pages, Shay’s entry says that her race is Balmeran and it seems that Balmera entities are given numbers in conjunction with their location in space. 

It seems like it’s congruent to how the Galra label their systems. ....which leads me to my next topic of the Galra. I noticed how there are different boots that the Galra wear. I think it’s kind of cool. Some have boots like we do in real life with a rounded toe, others have two-toed or three-toed boots. I don’t really think that it has any kind of meaning towards them having different types of feet. I headcanon that they have five digits on their feet and hands like humans. I also headcanon that different Galra soldiers/officers use different types of boots based on their fighting techniques, ranking, and stats. Two-toed or three-toed boots have a distinct point that could allow them to grip surfaces better, something similar to their proto-, pre-technology, primitive society, when that was needed on their planet. Then you have Galra like Haxus who wears rounded, human-looking boots. His rank and fighting technique may need something less claw-like and more smooth for espionage. I also think that Galra, or more specifically biracial Galra, like Antok who has three digits on their hands get those characteristics from their non-Galra parents. (Edit: Another example would be Lotor’s generals.) But those Galra who mate with others who have more of the basic physiology of humans or Alteans... their hybrid offspring would have those basic five digit hands and feet. 

But there are basic differences between those three races, such as humans having a smaller build and body density compared to Alteans and Galra; Alteans have distinct elf-like ears compared to humans and Galra; Galra have tails that I headcanon they get docked some time after birth or during infancy due to mandatory military service or druid training. I believe that Antok is probably pretty young compared to Kolivan, Thace, and Ulaz. He’s definitely older than Keith, but I also think that Antok has his tail because he was probably born into the Blade of Marmora like Keith (even though Keith was born on Earth). Their both second or third generational Blades rather than some of the first people who formed the resistance. So, that being said Antok may have not had his tail docked because he wasn’t exposed to Zarkon’s mandatory military service laws and induction like Kolivan or Thace. This is of course mostly headcanons and my own thoughts on Galra biology and culture.

For someone of such high rank, to be trained by Zarkon himself, I think Sendak and a lot of other Galra commanders and lieutenants have been left in the dark about some key things. Whether that be what Voltron’s true use is really for or whether many of them aren’t aware of Lotor’s existence (Edit: Of course this has changed, since it seems that Lotor may have put himself in self-exile. Because many people had not seen him in a long while.) My main point is that Sendak seems to not know that there have been Galra on Earth. Whether it’s Keith, his mother, or those he saw in his dream/vision, Sendak still doesn’t know that Earth has had first contact before. This depends on whether or not that vision in season two was actually valid. It seems to be a developing narrative that was the Galra at some point observing Earth (whether that be Zarkon’s regime or Kolivan’s revolutionaries). What prompted my thoughts on this is because when Pidge overhears Sendak talking to a barely conscious Shiro, Sendak first commends Shiro on his resilience and how he was able to survive Galra captivity. I’m definitely one of those people who believe that Sendak and Shiro may have fought at some point in the arena or Sendak had witnessed Shiro fighting pre-amputation. But Sendak then goes on to say that the rest of the human race would be broken if the Galra seized Earth. I don’t know if that’s to show the audience that even the highest ranking commanders are kept in the dark or to keep the audience in the dark about certain facts. All I truly know, and it’s my biggest opinion about VLD, is that there is a running theme of unreliable narrators throughout the show, most of it’s done by high ranking characters such as Shiro, Zarkon, Allura, Coran, and Iverson for various reasons.  

[ao3feed-shatt]

Soulmarks and Skidmarks

read it on ao3 at http://ift.tt/2f3g8ln by FallingNarwhals

by FallingNarwhals

Keith didn't want much. A steady job, a place to call home, and maybe figure out the soulmark on his ankle that kept him emotionally tied to a stranger.

Hunk is fresh off of a bigoted and terror ridden Earth all but clutching his degree by his fingertips, and decides that the small outpost town is perfect to live.

And neither of them can deny the small throbbing of happiness though their marks.

Words: 1397, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Hunk (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro (Voltron), Original Characters, Allura (Voltron), Lotor (Voltron), Haggar (Voltron)

Relationships: Hunk/Keith (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro, Allura/Shay (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Racing, as in furteristic bike/pod racing, Lance has breathing problems, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, well genderfluid pidge so their pronouns change a lot, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, or more like 'i found this trash boy on the street hes mine now', mechanic keith, mechanic hunk, GUESS HOW THEY MEET HUH, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Hunk has two moms, New Houston - voltron, Russian Galaxy Garrison, (its minor), lots of worldbuilding

read it on ao3 at http://ift.tt/2f3g8ln

[ao3feed-voltronlegendarydefender]

Soulmarks and Skidmarks

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2f3g8ln

by FallingNarwhals

Keith didn't want much. A steady job, a place to call home, and maybe figure out the soulmark on his ankle that kept him emotionally tied to a stranger.

Hunk is fresh off of a bigoted and terror ridden Earth all but clutching his degree by his fingertips, and decides that the small outpost town is perfect to live.

And neither of them can deny the small throbbing of happiness though their marks.

Words: 1397, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Hunk (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro (Voltron), Original Characters, Allura (Voltron), Lotor (Voltron), Haggar (Voltron)

Relationships: Hunk/Keith (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro, Allura/Shay (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Racing, as in furteristic bike/pod racing, Lance has breathing problems, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, well genderfluid pidge so their pronouns change a lot, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, or more like 'i found this trash boy on the street hes mine now', mechanic keith, mechanic hunk, GUESS HOW THEY MEET HUH, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Hunk has two moms, New Houston - voltron, Russian Galaxy Garrison, (its minor), lots of worldbuilding

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2f3g8ln

[bladechosen]

This is a master post for all of my Galaxy Garrison worldbuilding and headcanons. As my writing partners, you are more than welcome to reference and apply any and/or all of this content — I just ask that you please don’t claim them as your own. I’ve spent hours upon hours creating these and presenting them in a way that is hopefully clear and easy to follow.

Galaxy Garrison: A summary of the Galaxy Alliance’s mission statement and about, the location of its major support facilities, and some basic information on the Garrison’s training program and campus infrastructure. 

Military Structure: Clarification on the Garrison’s military structure, and the differences between junior officers and enlisted cadets.

Advancement: Explains how military personnel advance through the ranks outlined in the Military Structure post.

Base Housing: A comprehensive guide to all student housing options on the Garrison campus, as well as a glimpse of what’s available for those that linger post-graduation.

Officers  & Enlisted: Defining the hierarchy among officers and enlisted personnel, to include students. 

Uniforms: Expands on military dress and appearance, as well as how the different ranks can be differentiated via their uniforms.

Rates: A series dedicated to elaborating more on each of the rates assigned to military personnel upon graduation from the Garrison cadet program.

Entry 1: Military Analyst