#Captain Lotor

[icypantherwrites]

Fic Update: Bottled Ocean, Chapter 58

Bottled Ocean -- a 250,000 word AU Mer!Lance fic also featuring Keith, Shiro and Lotor -- is a Patreon exclusive fanfiction and will not publish anywhere else.

Chapter snippet:

Lance’s eyes fluttered closed a moment later, his head tilting to rest against Keith’s shoulder above the water with a little sigh and puff of warm air.

Keith resumed counting minutes and watching the moon’s too slow journey across the night sky, glancing down at times to where Lance had indeed fallen asleep and aside from the little shivers he made every few minutes he was resting as peacefully as he could.

Keith was grateful for both of them as his arms and back needed the reprieve.

At his newest count of forty minutes Lance gave a twitch in his arms stronger than his regular shivers.

And then he was coming awake with a flail and a strangled scream, back arching and head tipping back that Keith barely intercepted before it hit the water and—

And was that blood? 

There was definitely something oozing and wet looking on Lance’s face and—

Keith’s breath hitched as Lance gave another scream, body contorting and revealing it wasn’t just on Lance’s face.

There was blood showing everywhere the film was.

Tiny little almost pinprick like spots of blood, welling and growing larger as they dripped, were spreading like a disease from Lance’s cheeks — bloodied crescent moons below his eyes — to a speckling all across his stomach where the scales had stretched up around his navel and then his tail…

Keith had never considered himself squeamish but his stomach flipped over as blood began to show and well all down Lance’s lower body, his hand growing hot and sticky where he had it supporting Lance’s tail where his thighs would be and God, this was…

Was…

Lance shrieked, veins protruding all along his neck — no gills yet, Keith faintly noted — and threw his body upwards again.

The second sick realization struck Keith.

Lance was trying to get out of the water.

The water was hurting him.

Read it here

[bluegirl-14]

Listen, I don't care how long ago the final season of Voltron was aired, I don't care if anyone is still in the Voltron fandom. I will ALWAYS be pressed over how they did these characters SO dirty.

First off, the final episode of the series was such a damn copout. Ending the series with Allura dying to 'save the multiverse' and having the paladins forgive Honerva? After everything she had done in the 8 seasons leading up to this? After she tore apart the same multiverse she destroyed because the one timeline she found where Lotor knew she was a fucking liar? Make it make so much sense Dreamworks.

And then the 10 years later shit. Shiro had a wedding. Okay, yeah, he got out of the Garrison and settled down. He should, after all he had been through. I bet dying and being stuck in Black for months would lead to some introspective work. But killing Adam so there was no gay relationships, and then to pair him with a character who had like, what? Two lines in the full series, and we saw Shiro interact with once, as a Captain and crew setting? No build up, no hints during the full season?

Don't get me wrong. If the writers wanted to give Shiro the chance to shed everything from his past life, then by all means, they had the right to. But the way they did it was not only poorly written, but it also left those who had been hoping to FINALY see Shiro interact with his partner, that had been teased at outside of the show.

Hunk is another one I had a big problem with. As a plus size person, who felt like she was just that 'fat best friend' during the airing of the final season, I related to Hunk. I loved how he was more than the foodie. He's an engineer, he's smart. He matches Pidge in intellect. He's kind, he's brave despite his anxiety. He had nausea a lot. He's fleshed out, he's more than fat and food jokes.

And they took that all away, to make him Gordan Ramsey of space. They took 8 seasons of character arcs to make him that. A fucking fat person likes food joke. Once again, I wouldn't have had a problem if that wouldn't have been it. Make it a soup kitchen for those displaced during the Empires rule. Make him donate food to needy planets. Hell, have him travel with Keith, giving food to the planets they go to for help. Just, something that acknowledges Hunks generous nature, his kindness. Not Food Wars.

Speaking of Keith, I found that while I expected his ending to be similar to what it was, I didn't have any real emotion about it. He was a displaced child, who was, from what we can assume about what little we really know about his childhood, outside of him meeting Shiro and how his parents met. He always felt like he didn't belong, with the Paladins, and struggled being leader because he didn't feel like he lived up to Shiro's expectation or his legacy after he died.

So Keith teaming up with Lotor's generals to basically continue what Voltron did makes sense, I guess. But, I would have loved to see something else. If anyone deserves to settle down, aside from Shiro, I think it would be Keith. I can see him as the type of person to give a child, either adopted or biological, the childhood he wished he had.

Pidge's end is as to be expected. She's working with her parents and her brother, working for the Garrison. Out of all the characters, I honestly think Pidge had the least amount of true character arks. She had the moment in season 1 or 2 when she wanted to ditch Voltron to find her brother, and Keith called her out. And when she bonded with Green in season one on Olkyn. But once she found Matt and Sam, Pidge had stayed consistent in her behavior and beliefs till the end of the show. She, like Hunk, was a stereotype. She was the nerdy, smart friend, the guy in the chair.

I would have loved to see her do something with botany, like her mother. Something that ties her back to Green. Because even though the Lion is gone, the bond and the respect she gained would have still been there. So for her to just immediately go back to that tech guy was a disservice.

Lance's and Lotor's endings are by far the ones I hated the most. With Lance, there was NO reason that Lance had to become a fucking farmer. After everything that happened to him during the season, for him to immediately quit was ill planned and just a bad move. If they wanted to write Allura out at the end of the series, then sure. Lance steps back to grieve, starts replanting the flowers on New Altea in honor of her.

But Lance has so much more potential than. Make him a pilot, make him a teacher. Hell, pull a Keith and have him volunteer around the planets. Anything that would show off his pride in himself, and to she Allura that he would live his life for her, because she died saving it. Yeah, he can keep a cabin close or in the field, so he always has a memory of her, but he needs something else.

The final season with Lotor was just dumb. The writing had set him up as this exiled prince, who never wanted to be like his father, who watched him blow up a planet that Lotor had spent YEARS on, because his son pissed him off. Lotor killed his father, was conspiring against Haggar, wanted to study Altean alchemy with Allura. He was finally going to learn about his mother's people from those who actually knew her.

And then they make him just like Zarkon.

I. Hate. That they made that planet of Alteans, and Lotor was harvesting them for quintessence. I get they were setting it up for Haggar to use them as pilot in the final season. But there were SO many other ways to do that with a similar affect.

Especially considering the fact that those people had been in hiding since Altea exploded, and Lotor was a fucking baby then. Like...have Haggar keep them hidden instead? It would have made more fucking sense. She still felt a sliver of a connection, despite not knowing why because she lost her memory.

Lotor grew up wishing he could know more about his other side, and having no one to ask about it, because no information remained after the race died. So to satisfy his curiosity, he started studying other cultures, other planets so he could compare. Maybe he'll find something similar to Altea, and can guess from that.

And then, wow, there are Alteans left. And they have Voltron, isn't that so great? But wait, my father want's the Black Lion, and his witch is acting shady. That's odd, I wonder what that's about?

Holy crap, she's been hiding more Alteans for the past 10,000 years, and they have no idea what's been happening outside of their planet. And even more holy crap, she's been harvesting them so they don't get to powerful, and so she can sap up their power for herself. Why didn't anyone know about this?

Then continue on, with Lotor eventually teaming up with the Alteans and liberating them, but obviously they don't all go, because they don't trust him (Galra, duh.) And the ship that is carrying them all is attacked, and the ship explodes, or something. The Alteans get angry and Haggar, now starting to remember and realizes who she is, uses this to her advantage, and now boom, we have the pilots in season 8.

And this way, if you want to keep Keith and Krolia finding the Alteans, you have it. If you want Romelle, you have it. If you want more Alteans living with the Paladins, or at least have Allura and Coran meet them, you have. And of course, Lotor doesn't die. And for his ending, have him and Keith work together. Have him travel the stars, studying the different planets. Have him become a scholar, a archivist, a librarying. Anything! The possibilities are endless.

Now, on to Allura. To be completely honest, and you can burn me for this, I never really loved Allura. It wasn't really anything specific I didn't like, I just didn't grow any strong attachments to her as a character. I felt bad for her, sure. But nothing much outside of that.

But I do believe that she deserved a better ending. Even if she does still die in the end, she shouldn't have had to bounce from guy to guy to hide grief, because that shit was still there. She should have been allowed to continue her relationship with Lotor, because that was cute damn it.

It wasn't fair for her to have been in a relationship for what, a month before she died? It sure as shit wasn't fair to Lance, who had spent the whole series chasing after her, to get her, and see her die directly after. Not cool.

And if the whole reason they did it was to stop Klance, or what the fuck ever people believe they did it, pull a Curtis, give Keith someone else. He meets someone after Allura dies, he settles down, or continues with his red cross in space shtick. Or have him stay single, because some people just don't want a relationship. It doesn't matter because people would have written them together in fanfic anyway.

And last, but certainly not least, Coran.

Coran, the gorgeous man, was done so dirty, it's not even funny. To start from the top, he was the only main cast who didn't get to say goodbye to Allura at the end, and is the sole Altean left who remembers Altea. What the fuck.

Even if they are making New Altea, it's not the same. He lost his child, the only other person who understood the grief of loosing a whole PLANET. Family, friends, homes, graves, photos, memories. Gone. History destroyed, never to truly be brought back. Anything that Coran forgets is gone. Well and truly gone, because the Castleship would have possibly had records still, but that was destroyed when Lotor died.

He doesn't have her crown anymore, because the crystal is in Shiro's prosthetic, he doesn't have the ship, he doesn't have the Lions. All he has are the Paladins, and the mice. And a handful of Alteans who never were on Altea, and probably don't know all the customs he does, because of the 10,000 years difference. That's a pretty shitty ending.

So, long story long, my ending.

Adam doesn't die. He is in the piolet accident, but survives by a miracle. He's in the med bay for the entirety of the final two season, and wakes up during the final stretch of season 8. The whole time, before they leave for space, Shiro has flashbacks to times spent with Adam, and we see Shiro have regrets for going into space. He talks to Keith about retiring after everything is over.

Either Lotor and Allura, or they end things in space and Lance and Allura go on their date (I personally would rute for Lotor and Allura, the are so cute) and get their heartfelt scene, foreshadowing the end of the series.

Hunk reunites with his family, and he watches the people of the camps struggle to get back on their feet, and Hunk help them out however he can. We get a scene of him watching a local soup kitchen that had been swamped with people, and Hunk rolls up his sleeves, make a remark bout cooking with less/weirder items, and knock the people in the soup kitchen off their feet with is food. A shot of him watching everyone eat, and Hunk feels pride, in watching the affects of his food. It's different than feeding his friends, and even different than the parades and the dinners planets through Voltron.

Pidge, who is still grounded for sneaking off to space, spends time in the greenhouse with her mom, watching her work. It reminds her of Reiner, and makes her miss Okyry. She mentions Green and nature to her mom, and her mom jokes back about her finally starting to get into nature. They bond over plants, and Pidge grows a little bit fonder to grass and dirt.

Them space time, series progresses, OMG Haggar is sending mechas after us, and Alteans are the piolets. OMG x2, the piolets are dying , what is happening. Allura, what are you doing with that symbiot, that literally just killed that piolet?

Then, the end.

The multiverse is falling apart, Haggar is going to destroy everything. What do we do?

Lotor, in a desperate final act, confronts Haggar as his mother, finally acknowledging that yes, the woman who he had despised his whole life is he mother. He finally speaks to her as his mother... and denounces her.

Honerva is heartbroken. She curses him, swears that if he will not be her son, then there will be no world period. In retaliation, just like he had his father, Lotor lunges forward, and kills Honerva. As she dies, he cradles her in his arms, and listens as she mumbles about her beautiful son, before finally passing on.

But the events do not end there, because time and space is unraveling apart. They can't fix it, only Allura has an idea, and she's crying. She tells them, and despite everyone's protests, they know what must be done. She says her goodbyes, parting with a kiss to Lotor/Lance, strong hugs to the other Paladins and then...

She turns to Coran, who despite his quietness, has been sobbing the whole time. He pulls her into a hug, face pressed into her curly white hair, breathing in the flower she adored so much, and says their finally goodbyes.

The universe is saved, and everyone grieves a tragic loss. They start traveling back to earth, the Paladins and Coran and Lotor keeping to themselves for the most part, Lance/Lotor barely making it from their room most days, when they come across an alert. A planet that had not been in the charted maps they had, and certainly not in the area they had traveled mear days ago.

Upon closer looking, it looks almost exactly like...Altea.

With the last of her quintessence, Allura had somehow made a new Altea for Coran and the other Alteans to live. Coran breaks down upon seeing a field of flowers that smell like his princess, and imminently starts planning for a tribute for her, right on the top of the hill facing out towards the flowers.

Time skip follows, and Adam waeks up, Shiro asleep at his bedside. Adam, with such slow, shaky movements, wakes up Shiro, and the two finally meet again after years of being apart. Shiro imminently proposes on the spot, not baring to loose the man he loves again.

Keith starts traveling the plants, heling out where he can. The remaining Marmora's help him, tending to villages or injured people, when Hunk asks if he can come too. He wants to help, and he's smart, and strong. And Keith mentions that the best thing these people need is a warm meal, and there's no one who knows that better tank Hunk. So they travel, heling the planets, meeting more people, bonding (Because yeah! Hunk and Keith are the best!)

Pidge is on Altea, helping Lance and Coran with setting up the Alteans. Her electronic skills are unmatched, and she takes this time to pick a couple samples for her mom. Lance catches her, and offers to take her around the fields, and they do. It's peaceful, the sun setting and breeze. The best sunset she'd seen since before Voltron, in her opinion.

Lotor slowly opens back up to the others, grief pushing him away from everyone. Coran is the first he goes to, asking the older man about Allura, and Altea, anything to keep is mind off his loss. Coran indulges him, going on about the old Castel (which still blows up some how, just cant think of it now) and Lotor listens like his life depends on it. After everything is set up on new Altea, Coran askes him to become and advisor, which Lotor accepts.

Then we go to the final scene, which is a couple years in the future. Lance is teaching fighter piolet classes at the Garrison, Shiro is happily married, Keith and Hunk are still red crossing it up in space, Pidge is a Botanists and Cyber Scientist (or whatever the hell she is) and freelances across the universe, and Coran and Lotor are co-advisors for new Altea with Romelle as one in training, which Lotor writing a full, in depth history of the Galran war and Altean history. Nothing will be lost again.

They are at dinner, under Allura's statue, it's growing dark. They finish, they have drinks, and go to bed. Lance wakes up first, in a symbolism for the first episode, him finding his lion first. The others follow, and soon, they are under Allura's statue once again. The lions are all active, which they haven't been since they saved the multiverse. The group watches the Lions stand, and roar, before a shimmering blue figure fades into existence. Allura. She doesn't see them, because she's only there for the Lions, or so the others think. As the Lions start flying into the sky, she turns around, waiving slowly to the Paladins and others, a smile on her face, before fading.

A camera shot of the group on the ground, like the series, zooming out as they all watch the Lions leave, for the final time feeling the connection of Voltron, before the Lions fly through the galaxy, into a new one, in the shape of a woman curled into a ball.

End of series.

Okay, its 6:30 now, I'm going to bed

[klaissance]

nobody asked but here is my pitch for a princess and the pauper klance au

Princess Allura of Altea generally likes her life. She lives in a palace with her father, King Alfor, her quirky tutor and longtime friend Coran, and her lady-in-waiting Romelle who she definitely is not in love with. Don't worry about it.

Her being totally not in love with Romelle is something to not worry about at all because actually, as of fairly recently, Allura is engaged! To a man (ew) she's never met (double ew): Prince Keith of Marmora. Their matrimony is to solidify an alliance between Altea and Marmora which, if everyone's being honest, is mostly to haul Altea out of its recent troubles. The kingdom is floundering and its people have been suffering for too long; this alliance with Marmora offers a fresh start and a royal wedding promotes economic stimulation, etc etc politics politics

Allura loves her people and her father so she's gonna suck it up and do this. But she can't and won't be jazzed about it all the time. Sometimes she wishes she could be anyone but herself, with the freedom to make selfish choices.

Anyway down in the town there is this boy named Lance McClain and he just so happens to have a vaguely similar facial structure to Altea's princess (rip this has to be a blue-eyed Lance story to work, huh) and he works at the dress emporium under Monsieur Iverson who is, frankly, an abusive boss. But Iverson is funding Lance's sister's education. The McClains need this, and so Lance pricks his fingers and works every waking hour for pennies that he never even gets to see. Lance loves his family so he's gonna do it but he can't and won't be jazzed about it all the time. Sometimes he wishes he could be anyone but himself, with the freedom to make selfish choices.

do u feel me on this guys

also Allura has five cats named Onyx, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, and Topaz and she loves them very much. But Sapphire has been acting strange recently...

Lance has this cat that he calls Blue that he doesn't actually have but she shows up night after night at his window and he feeds her and she lays on his lap while he works and he loves her very much

......it's the same cat *hold for applause*

anyway Romelle takes Allura into town to "run errands" or something but really it's just a date and one of Allura's last tastes of freedom before she gets hitched to whoever this Keith dude is

and Sapphire slips away and dashes through the streets and Allura chases her down and finds her perched on a windowsill in an alley being fed by a stranger who looks a little familiar and oh--

Lance and Allura finally meet and look at each other and are like woah we could definitely be siblings genetics are so weird

Bonded by their shared cat they get along splendidly and have a nice and surprisingly deep talk about their respective plights, and Allura promises to call on Lance soon

The next morning Coran and Romelle go to the princess only to find her bed empty save for a note that says she's taken the cats and run away...

The note is sus and then Sapphire shows up (from spending the night at Lance's.) Coran and Romelle know Allura would never leave just Sapphire behind, so they're immediately Not Buying It but they don't know who they can trust, and also this is a disaster because Prince Keith and his entourage are literally coming to visit today so they need to fix this asap

Romelle remembers the boy from the village who looked weirdly like Allura and she has the best/worst idea of all time...

Cue "To Be A Princess" as performed by Coran and Romelle at Lance, who by the end of the song is unclockable he's so good at princess cosplay

When "Allura" appears at dinner as scheduled, Alfor's advisor Zarkon and his shitty son Lotor are shook but they stay quiet

you guys lotor as preminger is so funny pLEASE

AND THEN KEITH SHOWS UP

Keith and his diplomat friends, The Holts, and his captain of the guard Shiro, pull up to dinner to meet Keith's future wife

Keith's a gay man he's not thrilled about this. She's certainly a handsome woman, if her portraits are to be believed, but there's nothing to be done about it. Lifelong bummer for Keith. Such is princedom.

So Keith and co. show up in Altea and they meet the princess and Keith swears she's a little broader in the shoulders and sharper in the jaw than he'd expected but chalks it up to shitty portraiture. He'll hire the court painter from Marmora when they're married.

Lance in his princess costume is like "oh lord he's fine" but then they go on a bunch of weird dates and mostly bicker a bunch because Keith hates that he's forced to be here and Lance is just sort of like that

meanwhile Allura's like busting her own ass out of the mines and lotor sings how can i refuse *hold for standing ovation*

and since Sapphire didn't get kidnapped with the other cats she's still around and Lance talks to her in the bath and is generally just being silly goofy and Keith happens to walk by and hear Lance talking in his normal tone to somebody named "Blue" and the door happens to be a little open and Keith happens to peek--he doesn't even know why he literally doesn't even like women--and wait just a fucking second that is a boy and a wig on the floor and Keith to himself is like 'um should i complain about being lied to, something wack is going on here' and then he's like 'wait I'm gay and he's hot let's see how this plays out' and says nothing LMAO

but then their little dates get way more interesting because Keith is trying to tease out this secret and also is like,, actually interested

maybe they do a horseback riding date where Lance gets to wear pants and have the big platinum wig tied back and he feels a little more like himself and he and Keith hardly even bicker anymore they just sort of have a great time together and Lance feels a little insane for this whole thing but he really likes him but he has to tell him the truth and he's literally about to admit it

but then Lotor comes back from checking on Allura in the mines and knows the princess at the palace is a fake so he calls Lance out and rips the wig off, the whole thing, and Lance is thrown in the dungeon when moments ago he was literally a hair's breadth away from kissing Keith on the mouth UGH life is so cruel

Lotor and Zarkon convince Alfor that Allura is dead and they plot to strike and stage their coup during her funeral or something idk

But meanwhile Romelle and Allura and the cats are power-lesbianing their way out of the mines, and meanwhile meanwhile Keith busts Lance out of jail and they go also to the mines to try to save Allura

just four gays and their cats standing at the mines like ok what now

they bust into the funeral proceedings and wreck Lotor's shit, Allura definitely throws him over her shoulder and skips him like a rock and they explain everything to Alfor

Lotor and Zarkon go to jail and Altea is saved even without the marriage alliance because Allura and Romelle found extra stores of quintessence locked in the geodes in the mines or whatever

Lance is now so thoroughly sponsored by not one but two royal families that his family will want for nothing ever again--his siblings are put on royal scholarship to any school of their choosing in either Altea or Marmora. Lance himself has always wanted to travel, so he does, and he writes letters to Keith the whole time and when he returns Keith is waiting for him and they do a big gay double wedding with Allura and Romelle just like in the Barbie movie <3

the end

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 50

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

you've got to take a chance on something, sometime by spirkylurkey

Lance McClain is the office secretary. Salesman Keith is smitten, but Lance is dating Lotor from Corporate. (An Office AU in which I just TORTURE PINING KEITH)

I LOVE THIS FIC. im not generally huge on office aus, but i LOVE this one. messy gay love triangles, GNC lance, and pining keith being the one who shows UP. god i love them. and keith. just so goddamn badly. he is loyalty personified.

2. Something Borrowed, Something Blue, by @shyfoxes

Keith asks Shiro to help him make Lance a betrothal necklace. The results are less than stellar, but that’s okay. ATLA AU.

atla au!!! proposal fic!!! 2016 fic!!! dorky broganes!!!! this fic is so fucking cute. also this line: "He stepped aside to let Keith in then swiftly kicked him in the behind as revenge." is siblings at the core of them truly

3. Kitten Sneezes by @tomminowrites

Imagine: Keith’s kitten sneezes - The Red paladin wiggles his face desperately, trying to cram the sneeze back down to the depths. Instead, the feeling just crescendos, until… “ha-tchu!” There’s a beat of silence. Then Hunk and Lance are cooing into the mics with an infuriating awwwwwww.

keith having kitten sneezes is so goddamn funny to me. like here is this gruff guy who is awkward but does his best and is also obsessed with knives. and when he sneezes it sounds like a cat. ALSO. lance calls keith kitten in this

4. to tell the truth by @tomminowrites

Other than a few scuffs on his armor, Lance looks unharmed - but he just stares stupidly at the Red paladin’s outstretched hand instead of trying to rise. Keith leans closer. “The fight’s still on, you coming?” Lance looks up suddenly. “Dude you… you have really beautiful eyes, did you know that? I feel like nobody has told you that.” Uhhhhhhh. -- Lance is hit with a truth serum, and his unintended honesty hour will continue until Voltron finds the cure planet-side. Keith, meanwhile, can't shake off the part where Lance is... flirting? With him??

this is the only truth serum fic ive ever really liked bc it's super respectul u know?? doesn't rly feel like it's crossing boundaries. just sweet and funny. lance flirting with keith like its fact is so real

5. Starsong by @tomminowrites

The paladins are crewmates aboard a mercenary space vessel, sent to the outer reaches of the system to investigate the recent disappearance of Empire ships. Keith discovers that the ship's captain, Sendak, has actually been hired to capture a different prize: mermaids. With siren calls that interfere with ship scanners and songs that mimic the distress beacons of friendly crafts, astral mermaids are a threat commonly believed to be myth among most spacefarers. But when lives are at stake, the crew is soon to discover that one among them is not quite as human as he appears to be...

i feel like there's NO way i havent recced this before but onward regardless!!! this fic has the COOLEST premise ever like holy shit. mermaids?? who SWIM in SPACE?? among the STARS??? LIKE???and in an au with an atlantis like crew??? SIGN ME UP

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[danceylancey]

Lance who finds Lotor to be the embodiment of the word ‘dashing’ and willingly accepts the others flirts. He feeds of his praise and touch, letting his eyes go wide and deer like when the other ticks his hair behind his ear. He listens to Lotors vile words, takes in ever syllable as he tells Lance he deserves better than his team. He believes him when he says that his team don’t know him, don’t know his strengths or his pain, his heart. When Lotor suggests they run away together, that Lance should join him as they cover the stars, he goes to Blue. The next time he returns to Lotor and instead of answering his request, his begs the other to kiss him. The sex that follows is nothing like Lance had ever had, it’s passionate and slightly painful, every inch of his body covered in kisses and climax. Lance knows he’s going to become addicted. Lance leaves that night, making a single stop before hand, then dropping to his knees when they enter Lotors private rooms in his ships, ignoring that he’s supposed to be meeting his new teammates, and gives his thanks through pleasure. The next several years are both bliss and agony. He trains with his new teammates, getting smarter and stronger. He learns more about the Galra, the universe, Hagger, quintessence, all of it. Every night he lets Lotor praise him with his tongue and body, fucking him hard and sweet.

Lance knows Lotor wanted to control him and played his part well, acting stupid and naive or like a cock hungry whore who just wanted to fuck and suck till he dropped.

Lance knows wanted to manipulate him from the start, that’s why he went to Blue to see if Allura was comparable with her. Why he went to Coran the night he left and told him what he was doing, to stay quiet and wait for transmissions.

He spent years collecting information, sending it to Voltron and the coalition, pouting and acting the child when Lotors team accused him of being a traitor.

Lance made Lotor depend on him, made him fall in love, made him forget his true mission and only want Lance. He used aphrodisiacs, his body and his wit, all of it to his advantage.

When he finally finds out where Lotor’s mother had been keeping the Alteans, where she’s been living and training her Druids, he dresses in golden jewels and a sheer purple dress that covers nothing and spends one last night with Lotor before waiting in the captains quarters for his old team, his family to arrive and greet him and his now dead husband.

[cassied03]

something i love is making characters be other characters . like keith and tim. he grew up as tim but after his mom died and his dad was in a wheelchair, and steph was robin becus his dad found out, his dad sent him to his biological father (that tim disnt knkw about cus he didnt know he was adopted) only for that father to die a month after captain boomerang or whatever killed jack drake in a fire, then him meeting shiro and getting adopted by him for a lil bit and changing his name (apparently) back to keith (the drakes changed it because Keith didnt sound as rich as timothy did). Noe bruce has been looking for keith for ages, but since he changed his name back bruce hasnt found him. Then shiro gets captured in space, cannon voltron ensues, ‘n then sometime after they defeat zarkon but brfore they defeat lotor when keith is with the BOM he meets Hal Jourdan. And he wants to ask how batman is but it wiuld seem weird so he refrains and theres a bunch of scenes where you can see Hal talking to a blade member and Keith glancing at him every now and then, and then he’s sent to meet his mom.

while on the weblum, i think it was, maybe, he and krolia bond so he ends up telling her evrrything about robin, his young justicd team, what hapoened with the past robins, and vatman. of course krolia understands nothing because when she was on earth it was in the desert with no internet but she makes sure to rememver everything because it’s her baby boys life that she’s learning about because she wasnt able tk be there for him. when they get back on eartth, keiths only worry is looking up brice wayne and seeing if he’s okay, only to find iut that the entire family was captured regardless of their fighting skills, and that jason todd was actually alive, and that bruce had a bio kid. Pulling a proper keith move, he only tells his mom and they both disappear so that they can go save his family.

they do save them, eveyone lf them. And they’re all wondering who this random guy with a good galra is only for either steph or bruce to look into his eyes and recognize him and whisler “..Tim?” and him to go “its keith actually, i was adopted by the drakes and they changed my name.”

idk, its like, too late and im in so muxh pain. idk why my body hurts butbhave this. im not fixing the gramare

[hood-ex]

Finally finished all of Voltron. Some thoughts:

The last seasons actually weren't as bad as I thought they'd be based on what I heard. I mean, yeah the Lance/Allura ship was unnecessary, and yeah the final episode wasn't super satisfying or good lmao, but all in all, the plot still kept me invested. Only time I felt truly bored was during those god awful filler episodes. Genuinely only liked one filler episode which was the carnival one where Shiro was arm wrestling people.

Wish Shiro had a heavier presence in the show after he got his conscience shifted into the clone body, but at the same time, it was cool to see him captain Atlas. I was so glad they at least included him in the final battle with Honerva.

Lance and Hunk definitely felt like they took more of a backseat in the character focus department. Like yeah, they had arcs of sorts though not super obvious ones imo. Lance was a big flirt who could be cocky, and he matured and became a reliable second hand. Hunk ended up showing more courage and willingness to bring people together, and he did have a passion for food, so I like that he had least had a hobby/passion of sorts. I just feel like I didn't really know them quite as well as the other paladins, Lance especially. I'm honestly very surprised Lance didn't get more focus as say Shiro or Keith. He seems like the type of character to have a bigger focus.

My main beef with Shiro is that he didn't really have any flaws over the course of the show. He was always the loyal and caring leader. Of course, we got to see him lose his patience with Slav which was really fun. Other than that... he was almost just like... too nice. Too perfect. The change for his character mostly happened through life events. I think if they had fleshed out that side of Shiro more, Shiro would've been my favorite character.

It wasn't until maybe Season 3 or so that I finally got over the fact that the paladins were flying lions around. I'm sorry but I thought flying lions were so lame when I first started watching it. These are supposed to be made by King Alfor, an Altean, so why did he choose an Earth animal as the design for Voltron? Like huh? Allura and Coran didn't even know what a cow was, how did they know what a lion was alkdjsa. Whatever, I got over it eventually. (Edit: I just remembered that the white lion is a thing that exists and that Alfor knew about it sooo I suppose he got inspo from that).

"Form Voltron!" and then the long ass sequence of all the lions forming together. I got so sick of seeing that every single episode. Voltron actually would've been cooler had the paladins only transformed into it like once or twice every season rather than every episode. Like only bring Voltron out for the biggest baddies. I found it so much more fun when the paladins all fought separately. And a lot of the time, the paladins had to end up dissolving Voltron to win a fight so like??

Black lion my beloathed, red lion my beloved. Nah idc, I have beef with the black lion. The red lion was by far my favorite lion, but I liked it more when Keith was with the red lion. Feels like they could've done more with the red lion as well with it being the fastest and all.

The Blade of Marmora was cooler than Voltron to me. All their fight sequences were sick. Also, Keith looked so good in that uniform, hello. I definitely enjoyed the hand-to-hand combat in this show possibly more than I enjoyed the lion fights.

Lotor/Allura was the only ship I enjoyed until Lotor went off the rails. Idc, Lotor was a fun character with an interesting backstory. It's too bad his character arc had to go the way that it did. Also not totally opposed to how it ended up though.

Matt gave me the ick as soon as he started fawning over Allura in an obnoxious way. Felt kinda ooc for him as well. But after that was over with, I enjoyed him well enough. That one episode where Pidge went to the memorial planet with all the graves... that was heavy as hell. Kinda wish Matt actually had died for the full weight of that episode to hit bc that was such an intense moment.

Loved how Pidge was shown to do basically anything to get cool video games in some episodes lmao. I also thought it was interesting how she was the most tech savvy of the team, but she formed a connection with the natural world, as did her lion.

The first 2 seasons were definitely funnier than the rest. The first season had me laughing at least once every episode. The jokes tapered off later on, which I suppose makes sense bc the plots got heavier.

Loved the Hunk and Shay relationship. Balmerans were pretty cool in general.

Tbh, I didn't really care that Shiro's boyfriend died because we only saw him in a short flashback. I do think they should've given Shiro a longer or better reaction to finding out that his boyfriend died though. Also, speaking of Shiro and men, it was so fruity how the last scene of the entire show was Shiro kissing his husband. Voltron said gay rights for space dads.

Kosmo was cool, and I especially liked how he was Nightwing color coded. Plus teleportation powers?? Nice.

Keith and Shiro's bond was really touching. I just wish they would've divulged their shared backstory together earlier on in the series to help me understand why Keith had so much respect and loyalty to Shiro from the jump. That goes for a lot of the paladins, actually. A lot of their backstory info should've been released earlier on in the series instead of shoved into the last few seasons. The only ones who didn't suffer from this were Pidge and Allura.

Some seasons were only 6-7 episodes which was wack.

Keith definitely had some good moments giving advice to Lance or Hunk. He had a pretty satisfying arc overall. Well, out of all the other characters anyway. He's gotta be my favorite character in the show. He had flaws that he worked through, and he came out as a strong leader. I also can't forget how he and the Blade of Marmora planted bombs to destroy the Galras in line to rule the Galra empire, but when Keith realized Shiro was with the Galras, he immediately raced back to deactivate the bombs. We love a loyal man who will do anything for his brother.

Shiro took on a lot of damage and trauma that just wasn't addressed in any satisfying way, especially in regard to his arm. He did make one sarcastic remark to Lance about how he wasn't in tip top shape because he got his arm cut off/his conscience moved into a clone body. Wish they would've touched on the loss of his arm more. And not just his human arm, but his other arms as well.

Allura's death was just like... I don't remember what she said to Keith before she decided to give up her life, but all I could think about was when she was cold to him because he was half Galra.

I thought it was so funny in the last episode when they showed all the realities in every universe and there were just like... 50 of them or something lmao. Like Honerva really didn't have to do much to end them all. They really did rush the ending, huh?

Even though I haven't watched the original series this was based off of, I enjoyed the small references I did catch like with Sven and such.

All in all, I had a fun time. Will I rewatch it any time soon? No... but I will definitely be reading fanfics of it going forward.

[differentdancesfandom]

I have risen from the dead

(and fuck, what happened to Tumblr? Is Xkit not working anymore??)

If you're not subscribed to my AO3 author account, you may have missed:

They're Your Paladins, Allura (genfic, humans are weird) (1,159 words)

Pobody's Nerfect (Lotidge fluff) (469 words)

Let Me Cut In (Lotidge if you squint, fluff) (738 words)

These were also from the 2023 Fandom Empire Monopoly challenge on Dreamwidth, and I hadn't realized that I never posted them to Ao3 despite them being short and complete.

More old VLD challenge fills from FE Monopoly 23 and half-finished drafts to come; good news is they're more substantial than the three above, bad news is because they're 2k or more words, it's taking longer to edit and polish.

And more new stuff to come, too. As if my brain wasn't always working on new ways to throw these two together.

I know it's 2024, and even if y'all are quiet, I know you're still out there!

NGL I was very sad to come back and see only one new fic tagged Lotor/Pidge since my shortfics in 2023 though. Was kinda hoping more people would join the ship.

Yes yes, be the change you want to see. Okay, I'm gonna captain this ship.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Lotura Week 2023 Day 4: Free Day

(1718) The Pirate Princess and the Water Demigod

A VLD AU drabble

It was said that in the late 17th century, humans bound a chaotic ocean goddess to a mortal form through dark magic. In the legends, kings and paupers, pirates and governors, had joined forces to defeat her, having discovered her secret name to use against her.

Lotor shut the book, his calloused hand sweeping across the soft leather front. “The legends are not quite correct,” he murmured, glancing up at his audience. He stood in the grand navy and silver coat of his father’s fleet, his white hair pulled back in a low ponytail. “The goddess tricked humanity with a false name and even later walked among them, delighting in the trinkets of the human world.”

His audience was a lone woman who sat within the captain’s chair of the great ship. She wore an ornate tailcoat jacket of blue and purple, her legs crossed to reveal sleek, thigh-high boots. She tapped a feather quill in her hand as she tilted her head, her curls cascading down her shoulder.

Her hair was white as well—a sign of being touched by the gods.

“But it was not she who saved me all those months ago,” she said, voice wavering. “I felt the ocean carry me to warmer waters, to this abandoned ship with which I could collect a remnant of my people.”

Survivors of the land-based invasions had scattered far and wide after their great king, Alfor, had fallen in the same targeted shipwreck that had left Princess Allura an orphan.

She stood up and continued, setting down her quill. “No, I’m certain it was not this old goddess. And in fact, the more I gaze upon your face, good sir, the more deeply unsettled I am.” She swallowed, a vulnerability breaking the determination that had hardened her face. “You came here to negotiate terms for the country that grew rich from plundering my father’s ships and lands, and which now complains when I take back what they stole. But I feel as though we’ve met before.”

Lotor held her gaze. “I promise you that we have, Captain Allura.” He cleared his throat, looking slightly wry. “But I had last called you princess, for that was your title as you drowned in your heavy skirts. You had worn pink—the color of mourning to your people—for you were on your way to marry a man you did not love, all in the name of expanding your father’s coffers for war.”

The silence between them thickened.

Captain Allura’s eyes brightened with fearful tears. She reached for the sword at her side on instinct. “You are not human to know such details.”

“Not entirely,” he said, tilting his head. He raised his chin, allowing his human visage to slip, holding out his palms. In doing so, his white hair lifted from his shoulders, as if swirling within water, and his blue eyes glowed with the burning light of godhood, as if his form struggled to contain him. His voice carried multiple tones—calming and rushing like the cresting of waves. “The great goddess of calamity is my mother, and it was I who reordered the ocean on that fateful day you were lost at seat.”

Her fingers trembled against the hilt of her sword. “You are a god yourself, then.”

“Demigod,” he said, voice dry, his lips tilting up with a crooked smile. “My father, the Pirate King who established the lands accosting your own, did manage to ensnare the goddess in his own way. And so part of her is yet truly tied to human form, through me.”

The princess’s breath hitched as she blinked rapidly. In that moment, she raised her sword, daring to level it at his throat.

Lotor did not move, neither afraid nor angered as his hair resettled. “Mortal weapons do not work on me,” he warned.

Her face screwed up as the sword’s sharp blade wavered. “You wear their colors. You say you are the son of the man who destroyed my life, and the son of the goddess whose storms battered our coasts and ruined our crops.” Her voice hitched up. “I’ve spent nearly a year attempting to regather the worth of simply my own dowry lost on that wreck.”

He leaned forward, pressing his cheek against the flat of the blade, eyes narrowed in worry. “You’ve spent the last year wreaking havoc, Captain Allura. You’ve grown cold in ways I did not expect—decimating naval fleets and pillaging villages. My mother thinks it all a delightful game, as is her way. In some regard, she even likes you as the fallen princess, but I come to you as an invested ally seeking peace.”

Allura pulled the sword away. “You have come to undo your work, no doubt. To kill me and be done with the ghost you allowed to live.”

“No,” he said, voice softening. “I should like you to live, Princess Allura. Or Captain Allura, or whatever you wish to be called nowadays.” He straightened his spine and raised his chin as he dug into his coat pocket. His long fingers pulled out a golden chain, with a large blue gem. “You had worn this necklace on the day your ship was attacked. It had snapped from your neck in your thrashing as you nearly drowned, and I watched it slip to the bottom of the ocean in interest of saving your life.”

Allura’s full lips dropped open as she stared at the necklace, which had been a gift from her mother and father. “How did you find it?”

Lotor offered the necklace to her. “I can retrieve for you all the riches you lost to the ocean, in exchange for peace against the coastal villages.” His expression carried a terrible humanity to it—a vulnerable edge of hope. “They’re simply fishermen and merchants and the children of pirates who had nearly starved on the seas, Princess Allura. Do not exact your grief upon them, for they are not the ones who killed your father or invaded your lands.”

She grabbed for the necklace, her form seeming to grow small as she brushed her fingers against the gemstone. Tears slipped from her eyes in awe at having the jewelry returned to her, pristine as if it had never been gone. “And you would so freely offer to help me, when I know your father’s edicts call for my death?”

Lotor leaned in as he walked around her, his voice a soft and steady murmur. “I can keep you safe from him and my mother, for as long as I search for your jewelry and inheritance across the ocean floor. But after that, princess, I may require compensation for my efforts.”

Her eyes flickered up and then narrowed in fear. “What sort of compensation? Take care, sir, I’m a Captain, not a strumpet.”

He managed a smile. “Oh, I very much know what you are, and that is why I like you. But there are certain…relics in in this world that decrease my power. Humanity still seeks to have full dominion over the ocean, and their wielding of magic grows more sophisticated. I need someone who can play both the demure princess and the wicked pirate captain, to obtain and destroy these relics.”

Allura’s ship, the Oriande, rocked under weaves, as if to jolt her into a decision.

Her lips trembled. “My father said never to make deals with gods.”

Lotor slicked his hair back and gave her a handsome smile—one that caused her heart to skip a beat. “Well, princess, I am only half, if you recall.” His glow dampened, and he stood before her as a man, save for his white hair that people assumed meant he’d only encountered the gods. “What say you? Your dowry for safety. And if you still desire to pillage and plunder with that dark heart of gold, then an ongoing partnership to protect each other from our respective dangers.”

Allura eyed him hesitantly. “And you would trust me to handle relics that disrupt your power as a demigod?”

“You have a heart blinded by pain,” he said, eyes narrowed with knowledge, “but you are still an honorable princess, and you dislike debts. A part of you has longed to know who saved you from drowning, so that you could repay them.”

She swallowed hard. “And…and given that you are born of a chaos goddess and the Pirate King, how do I know you are trustworthy? Or that I am not a pawn in some much larger scheme?”

Lotor brushed dust from his velvet sleeves. “I do have my visions for a more peaceful future. As a demigod born of the ocean goddess, it is our shared sacred duty to ferry souls lost at sea to the afterlife.” His expression broke. “And I tire of the death and the wrecks and all the pointless war. As I watched you struggle to swim in those heavy skirts of yours, I realized you were like me. Trapped.”

In the silence, he stepped closer to her. She did not flinch or move away.

“I will tell you my true name, in the language of the gods,” he murmured, “and with it, you may call upon me or even control me. I am willing to offer this to you as a sign of good faith, that one day you and I will explore the world of the living, free from all this madness.” His voice broke on the last word.

The fallen princess turned the gem of the necklace in her hands, her eyes watering with tears. “Did you ferry my father’s soul to the afterlife, then?”

“Yes, princess. He knows no pain and resides in bliss now, knowing that you are safe and alive.”

Her voice wavered. “And what is your true name? You introduced yourself as Prince Sincline.”

He glanced each way before leaning in. His lips nearly touched the sensitive edge of her ears as he whispered, “You may call me Lotor. Do use it when you need me.”

And between them, a raw power shifted, and she gasped, feeling hot and cold and unsteady and entirely in control all at once.

@loturaweek2023

[ragdollrory]

A, D, I and V for the letters ask please :)

Hello there anon, thanks for the ask!

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

So my own question about this point would be, what is current? Because my OTPs live within me forever, and I'm a multi-fandom multishipper, so there's like, a lot of them. But I guess I'll go with the one currently taking over the spotlight.

My current OTP is a crossover one, for which I'm the captain of the boat, with only 3 friends as passengers. One is co-captain, the other two might've been kidnapped by me lmao

Lotor (vld)/Azula (atla), named by my co-captain as Lotzula. This is where my brain has been living for the past few months.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)

Wuko is one, I just don't see Mako putting up with someone like Wu, much as he's a fun character to explore.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

Not fandoms, but ships, yes. The blue and red dynamic is almost dead to me because of how some fandoms behave with it, and about it, and in defense of it. (Twitter is guilty of that too, btw)

V - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

Okay, so-

Matchablossom (SK8), because look at them, look at Cherry! Gotta love the childhood friends to grown up rival husbands trope. Particulary mixed with the "one's a terrible flirt, and the other is a bit constipated" one.

Linko (TLOK), because look at them, look at Lin! I'm a goner for the emotional unavailable character, armed with wits and sarcasm, and with an unhealthy work and coffee balance. And here we get two!

Sheith (VLD), because look at them, look at Shiro! Listen, mentor and mentee? Brothers in arms? Co-pilots of an ancient sentient powerful as fuck machine? A half-alien and a space explorer?? Do I need to go on???

Wanna know more, ask me!

[itcanbesour]

Jator reincarnation au!! It’s crackship time yall ,, except for me this is personally a rare pair and I love it dearly :3 (James/Lotor) also a thank you to a friend on mine because I didn’t come up with everything myself. We essentially gave each other ideas 🙏🙏

KISMET

I’ve always seen Lotor as immortal. He’s lived a long time and I can’t help but think of that’s because he is immortal. ik he isn’t but for this AU he is. In this AU he joins the Voltron coalition and is helping alongside the paladins before they arrived to earth, going against his parents wishes more or less betraying them. When Lotor & paladins arrive to earth Lotor sees someone that takes his interest, despite this guy being completely normal and not having anything special whatsoever (to the public eye). Except this guy, James Griffin (fighter pilot, squad captain, and officer) didn’t exactly care for Lotors presence. He knew the guy existed and that he was helping save earth, and to him that’s all that mattered. His princely title meant nothing to James. And so by default James only spoke to Lotor when it mattered. Lotor on the other hand really, really wanted to get to know James. Something about the other drew him in and like a moth to a light, he followed. It felt natural. Like this was his fate.

As time went on Lotor figured out the best way to get to talk to James, or get the man to really look at him. There’s been talk around how James is very adamant on the rules and regulations and there for: he acts out. If he acted out, James spoke to him. If he acts out, James looks at him. It’s what he was looking for. This is an on going thing, for months he does little things that he knows 1) isn’t enough to boot him from the garrison (not to mention it’s during the war. They can’t anyway he provided information since his father was Zarkon) and 2) enough where he can engage in small talk with James.

It doesn’t work at first, but after a while it does. Lotor made sure to be careful and respectful, letting James know that he is free anytime and would love to get to know him. James is confused by this. Someone wanted to get to know *him?* something about him mattered to another person? It wasn’t like it was shocking, just unexpected and unpredictable. And it comes to a time where they do actually, sorta hang out. It’s not as long as Lotor was hoping but when duty calls they have to answer.

James almost died that day.

And so after that the two hang out more! James successfully gets his team & Lotor to be somewhat friends (he just wanted to let them get along.) and it’s become a regular basis where he’s with Lotor. Whether it’s just strolls around the garrison, or James helping teach Lotor how to read and write in English, getting food together, maybe even training together. It didn’t exactly matter, they were by each other side no matter what. No matter what time or place.

Eventually the two men find out their feelings for each other, they go on a few dates, and in that year they spent together they start dating. It’s a fever dream, but damn was it worth it. For a time at least.

They spend their days together, even during the war and after. It takes takes to build earth but at some point Lotor learns the customs, even understands James’ culture and loves engaging with him in it. (Dabke, food, music) but all happy things must come to an end. James is admitted to the hospital and Lotor rushes to his beside.

They never got engaged. They just promised they would in years time.

And on James’ nightstand sat a note and the promise ring. The note described in detail how much he loved and was greatful to Lotor, being immensely apologetic and promising him that someday they’d find each other again.

Did I mention James doesn’t know Lotor is gonna live forever?

The funeral was on James’ birthday. (Up to you when that is.) and after that everything felt surreal. Lotor wasn’t sure what he was meant to do. His lover was gone and could’ve spent the rest of their lives together in just two years time. Must the universe forsake him like this? If this was his consequences, he could take it.

Until one morning about a year later after James’ passing there’s an all-too-familiar face walking down the street. It made Lotor freeze up. The nose was the same, the hair, the olive skin. Except he was still different. This man didn’t act the same. Unlike his former lover, the guy was quiet and kept to himself. Almost timid.

Lotor approaches anyway. It’s James. His James. The James he longed for since he passed away, his lover was back. The cycle repeats. He gets to know this new James, learns to love him and learns the way his personality clashes with his own.

But James’ fate is only repeated. They hold the funeral on his birthday, once more.

This happens a couple times actually. He finds James either a year later, or maybe even 5 years later. Falls in love with the man, learns to love him for what he is and not for what he was, and James dies. This goes on for a while and it only got worse. Sometimes James reincarnates as something unrecognizable: a flower, maybe even an animal. What is he meant to do when this brown and sandy cat walks up to him one late afternoon; rubs up against his leg and even calls for him? Well, of course. He takes in the stray as his own, crowning the animal with the name griffin.

He finds James, but he can’t *see* him. He’s almost completely different now, married to a beautiful woman, tall and gorgeous. with two little girls clutching at his legs. It was painful to watch, but he couldn’t do anything anyway. That ‘James’ lives till old age, different in contrast to how he died whilst dating Lotor.

Yet again, he finds James. It’s a bit humorous how he is now. The olive skin now pale, that hooked nose he loved to kiss was different, all recognizable features gone. It wasn’t the same anymore, learning to love this James pained him to his very core. Falling in love with this man and learning the beat of his rhythm was tough. Kissing his nose won’t ever be the same.

This wasn’t James anymore; he realizes. After what felt like forever he realizes this. He spent his years looking for the man who’d never be the same again.

And so Lotor becomes an author. An artist, didn’t matter. He’d teach and tell story’s of how two lovers came to be together in the same universe, different time lines. On how an immortal came to be with a mortal. It’s safe to say it wasn’t fictional. But that just meant Lotor stopped looking for his lover. He can’t love him for what he is now, cant love him for what he was then. He can only love him by honoring his memory, letting go and telling the story’s of how they came to be.

He really hopes james can forgive him when he falls in love with someone else.

End

Kismet

a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future events : FATE, DESTINY

[icypantherwrites]

Fic Update: Bottled Ocean, Chapter 37

Bottled Ocean summary:

Lance knew the moment he saw the one-armed Human man in pain, bleeding and tied up like bait in the ocean that the people on the nearby ship were the ones Mers like him were warned to stay far, far away from. Lance knew the moment he saw the one-armed Human man in pain, bleeding and tied up like bait in the ocean that the people on the nearby ship were the ones Mers like him were warned to stay far, far away from.

But even with such a warning there was no way of knowing how dangerous this particular ship, belonging to Night Elf Captain Lotor, could be.

And even had he known, Lance’s actions would have been the same. The man, Shiro, needed help. Shiro’s younger brother, a half blood Human / Night Elf and fellow abused slave needed rescued. And Lance could not, would not, turn away from those in need.

But all actions have consequences.

Lance is captured and now the fate that awaits him is as a test subject as Lotor seeks to unravel all of the legends, the mysteries and the magic of the Mers. His only hope is an escape alongside Shiro and Keith. But the clock is ticking as Lotor’s experiments and methods grow more cruel, more violent, and if they don’t escape soon… the only freedom any of them will find will be in death.

Chapter 37 snippet:

“As I had expected,” Lotor sounded above his sharp breaths, “your magic levels are still depleted. Pity. I suppose we shall have to move such studies to another day as,” and a hand landed upon Lance’s head, sharp nails raking both gently and painfully through his hair, “I cannot risk losing my beloved Mer.”

Lance tried to find the silver lining of relief in those few words — Lotor didn’t want to kill him accidentally by draining his magic, Lance didn’t have to feel that terrible cold and darkness again (yet), and Lance didn’t have to perform magic and have Lotor try to study it again today — but Lotor’s hand twisting his hair and the still too tight cold feeling in his chest made it difficult.

It also meant he was down to two choices of experimentation.

“The first viable option I shall offer you is a further physical exam and basic dissection,” Lotor said as pleasantly as one offering menu options while Lance’s stomach clenched as he’d known it was coming, but… but…. “Nothing too extreme, of course, as I have a great many plans for you yet, but something to get my more physical studies started.”

Lance was almost more terrified to know what the other choice was because it couldn’t be worse than dissecting him — and Alaraan, it would hurt so much and there’d be no escape and just… just…

“The secondary option would be a little experiment of sorts to study some of the ancient legends I have found in my research of Mers to see if there is more fact than fiction behind such wild tales,” Lotor continued. “That is all I am able to say on such an item as I cannot have my lovely test subject,” his thumb stroked across Lance’s head, “skewing my data with any preconceived ideas. Both are of course methods I shall be researching in full, but I shall allow you to choose which to start with.”

Lance trembled.

Either submit himself to literally being cut open and apart — and he and Lotor he was sure had different definitions of extreme to where the only thing Lance was somewhat certain of was he would not be losing any limbs at this point — or some unknown experiment involving Mer lore and possibly revealing elements of his culture and history.

One definitely promised pain while the other could hurt in so many other ways.

But…

Lance swallowed, feeling his throat bob.

He didn’t want to be cut up. He didn’t want to be taken apart in pieces. And right now, as proven, he didn’t have the strength to even try to heal any of the damage Lotor left behind.

Whatever this other option was…

It seemed, at the moment, the lesser of the two evils even if Lance knew he was just delaying the inevitable.

Read it here

[hunky-dory]

Title: paint over the scars

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Pairing: Lotor/Lance & Keith/Lance

Rating: E

Chapter One: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46209235/chapters/116334148

Summary: 

When wealthy merchant's son, Lance, is kidnapped by pirate captain Lotor Sincline and his first mate Keith, his world is turned upside down. Held for ransom on their ship, Lance finds himself inexplicably torn between his hope for freedom and his attraction to both men.

Caught in a dangerous game of love and piracy, Lance must choose where his loyalties lie: with the charming yet dangerous captain or the enigmatic first mate.

Amidst sword fights, sea battles, and a journey of self-discovery, Lance risks everything to find his place on the high seas, hoping to not lose himself in the web of lies and deceit.

{gift for @hannaadi88}

[mysticstarlightduck]

Happy STS! 💕

Sorry for the late ask, I've actually been writing all day and I genuinely thought it was still Friday until I checked my inbox!!

If you could have one of your own characters meet another fictional character of a writer of your choice (this can include mutuals!), who would you choose and how do you imagine their interaction would go?

Hello! Thank you so much for the Ask!

I am terribly sorry for the very late answer, I have been catching up on a lot of my writing in the last few days, as it is a local holiday here in my country, and only now was I able to answer your ask, as I wanted to answer it properly.

It is a very interesting question!

I will choose some of my favorite characters from my favorite books and movies that I think my own characters would love to meet in person, but I might mention some of my mutual's characters too.

RAELEN ASHIREN: I think that Raelen would love to meet Arya Stark (Game of Thrones), Hiccup Haddock (How to Train Your Dragon), Toph Beifong (Avatar The Last Airbender), Alucard (Castlevania), Merida (Brave), Sam Winchester (Supernatural), Esmeralda (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame) and Tulio (Road to El Dorado)

AZRA MOORSWORTH: I think that Azra would love to meet, and would likely become good friends with: Lo'ak (Avatar 2: The Way of Water), Richard Grayson/Nightwing (Titans from DC Comics), Kili (The Hobbit), Jim Hawkings (Treasure Planet) and Apollo (The Trials of Apollo). Another character that I think reminds me of him is Palem from one of my Mutual's works (head to @lassiesandiego to check this character out!).

JULYAN ASHIREN: I think that Julyan would love to meet Dean Winchester (Supernatural), Hector (Castlevania), Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia), Mako (Legend of Korra), Robb Stark (Game of Thrones), Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Shiro (Voltron: Legendary Defender) and Violet (Arcane).

BRYN SEPERI: In my opinion, Bryn would like to meet (even if that interaction would probably end with someone getting stabbed): Kaz Brekker (Shadow and Bone), Theon Greyjoy (Game of Thrones), Trevor Belmont (Castlevania), Murtagh (Eragon: The Inheritance Cycle), Nico Di Angelo (Percy Jackson Books), Nanashi (Sword of The Stranger), Morgana Pendragon (Merlin) and Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher).

NYX FAESTORM: I think Nyx would like to meet Legolas (Lord of The Rings), Jaskier (The Witcher), Vax'ildan (Legend of Vox Machina), Jesper Fahey (Shadow and Bone), Vignette (Carnival Row), Julian Devorak (The Arcana), and Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)

VALLERIUS ZYNDROSAR: Vall would definitely like to meet and talk to characters like: Edmund Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia), Jayce Tallis (Arcane), Aleksander Morosova/The Darkling (Shadow and Bone), Will Turner (Pirates of The Caribbean), Callum (The Dragon Prince), James Kirk (Star Trek), and Enjolras (Les Miserables).

TANWIN LYRANDETH: I think the characters he would like to meet would be Lotor (Voltron), Bucky Barnes (Captain America: Winter Soldier), Tauriel (The Hobbit), Loki (Thor and Avenger Movies), Tim Drake (DC Comics), and Odysseus (Epic The Musical and the original Odyssey).

(and last but not least for this ask)

ELLINOR DALLANTES: She would like to meet Ciri (The Wicher), King Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Fa Mulan (Mulan), Percy De Rolo (Legend of Vox Machina), Susan Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia), Jaqen H'ghar (Game of Thrones), Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of The Caribbean), and, Lancelot (King Arthur, especially the 2004 movie) Leia Organa (Star Wars).

I choose these characters because I think that their personalities would match enough for them to have an interesting interaction, as they could discuss similar worldviews and struggles, though they would quite possibly generate far too much chaos together lol.

[lostwithspace]

@galranrepard

Danika was smart enough not to show off her weapon among the bridge. She concealed it when necessary. Only taking it out when among fellow blade members. "I can see that. Must be nice to not have to worry about getting caught here. Seems you make yourself at home wherever you go, hmm? No having to be on the fringe of getting caught aboard a large galra cruiser much less one that's a battle cruiser at that..." Danika sighed putting her weapon away as she was offered a golden apple drink. The fellow blade gladly sat down as she overhead Rio's conversation. "I wouldn't come here unless our leader advised to. Kolivan knows perfectly well who is capable of doing the mission...and since you are pretty good at making this vessel carry off-duty soldiers for a relaxing R&R it could give us a chance to finally bring the Galra Empire down. Especially now since Zarkon is on his death-bed and Haggar is making Lotor come back...there's no doubt that the Galra Empire will fall eventually, but with her at the helm and her druids...it is taking every once and viable resources to get one step ahead." The blue, red, and white galra had heard of those, like Thace, that were not so fortunate to escape the druids. Rumors in fact weren't even close to what her beloved blade brother. He was a hero among the universe for helping Voltron to escape the vile clutches of the central station where Zarkon kept a tight reign on the Galra Empire. "Good. I'm glad you understand though I think you underestimate yourself as a worthy part of the Blade of Marmora. Have some pride and confidence in yourself, Rio. After all...you are the Captain around here, hmm?" Danika reached over to reassure her fellow blade brother before taking a long swig of her drink. It was going to take all of her concentration to relay the whole mission to the captain of the Moth. She held out her data pad and gave it to Rio to look over. "Nothing that you can't handle. Just spying on this crew here while they are off-duty. If you get any vital information send that to me and I'll report back to the base. I will unfortunately have to stick with the commander in order to not get caught, but if I happen to get a break from him for a moment.. I'd like to catch up a bit if that's not a trouble of course." She didn't like fraternizing with the enemy but it was the only way to get intel, but part of her wanted to also hang out with her fellow blade member. He sounded like a lot of fun to be around with, and Danika could use any excuse or time away if only momentarily.

"It's its own beast living here at times, but sometimes you don't have an option and you make the best of it. There a different fringe you find yourself on."

"I-" Rio started to respond, but as the various names and well known officials started to be sent out, he went a little dumbstruck. He snapped out of it when Danika touched him in reassurance, and he slightly flinched, but didn't pull away. He took the pad and started to scroll through it, catching snippets of the information as it streamed pass his eyes.

"Well, a Captain, but a captain of one, plus whatever I can salvage back together." He tried to deflect the compliment offhandedly, but his voice wasn't in it, shaking off the mental stun.

He knew that their movements were tracked and probably other members of the Blades worked to directly or indirectly work against those as big in the Empire as Haggar or, well, the Empire itself as Zarkon. The former soldier just never really expected to having access or working on that level. And not just big names on one side of the conflict either...

"That should be no problem with listening in. Between the universal constant of people willing to talk about anything to a bartender, and a few of the listening devices I have. I'll need to set up a scanning script for key words or phrases so I can have the recordings highlighted without spending all my off time scanning-

"Ah, ahem, sorry, mind already working on the problem, I'm sure I'll get something." Rio pulled a wire from his padd and plugged it into Danika's, and started the data transfer.

"Um... if you feel it's safe to, you can come by. There's a rotation of when I'm open, I think it's set for after every three work rotations, I have two off and empty of any of the cruiser's crew. If you can't get to when you're off, or there's too many people, there's a hatch both above here and down below, I can show you, that bypasses the public general areas. It's been a while since I've had someone up here to socialize with, even more since another Blade member." He tried to give a reassuring smile.

It didn't last too long as he scratched the back of his neck and asked hesitantly. "So... when you say Kolivan knows; does that mean you actually know of him, or just that you heard that passed along?"

[vld-prompts]

Shiro, as Captain of the Atlas, after it’s been fused with Voltron, decides to try and bring Lotor back. Lotor wakes up with the former Black Paladin sitting beside him in a medbay, very, very confused.