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ethereance · 2 months ago

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Aʅϝυʂισɳ αυ

Where shapeshifting isn’t the only trick up alteans’ sleeves.

Basically, this is an au where, among their other abilities, alteans can fuse SU style. They’re a diplomatic species, and so as well as being able to fuse amongst themselves, they can do so with those from other planets. It’s just easier to both initiate and hold when they’re both altean.

-The first people Allura sees fuse are her parents. The dance is magnetising, effortlessly elegant, so different from the stiff dances from Altea she’s used to, such a departure from tradition. It comes straight from the heart, from their very being, their quintessence aligning perfectly to form a person so wholly new, yet familiar, those eyes loving and kind in the way she had known her parents to be.

-She decides, right then and there, she will find herself a bond like that, someone who will dance with her and make sparks fly across the dance floor. She wants what her parents have, a fusion like Melfor, born of love and trust.

-Then she sees Coran fuse with Alfor, a dance somewhat more traditional, but no less loving, that unconditional trust in those eyes there as Alran forms. As Allura will later learn, any fusion Coran’s part of will include a moustache. Always. No exception. Even when Allura eventually fuses with him, a boundless rush of energy in her veins, popping and crackling, their fusion is not exempt from this rule.

-Coran has fused with both Melenor and Alfor at the same time. They are the ultimate parent to Allura.

-Coran and Allura fuse into Cora after cryosleep, when the paladins have retrieved the lions and they are alone and bound by their grief. It doesn’t last long, and the unfuse when they realise what is happening. It’s doubly crushing, but with it, what sticks with them is the small sense of comfort, knowing that they have each other.

-Coran has so many tales to tell about his past fusions (they’re all gone now. Will never exist again).

-Coran doesn’t really fuse anymore. But if he did, you just know a fusion between him Pidge and Hunk would be an engineering wizard.

-Fusions speak a medley of whatever languages are in their brains. You don’t notice it with the universal translators on though.

-They also gain their own accent.

-They can also wield their normal paladin weapons + their own special fusion one.

-The first paladin Allura fuses with is Shiro. (Lance has a sexuality crisis when he first looks at Shallura but that’s neither here nor there). She’s known the paladins for a while at this point and is steadily warming up to them, steadily gaining hope and trust in them. They’re not much yet, but one day they will be. Hopefully. At least Shiro seems dependable.

-Their fusion feels strong, a true leader, the only responsible one in the room ™.

-Still only one flesh arm.

-Shallura also has a bottomless well of material for their gallows humour. Please don’t let them participate in standup comedy.

-So much PTSD from the galra.

-Most likely of the fusions to give a lecture.

-They’re the first fusion the team meet, and for a second Keith goes through all the stages of grief thinking they’ve lost Shiro again. “What have you done with Shiro?!”

“Keith, I’m right here. Kind of.”

-Hunk, Pidge and Lance absolutely want a turn afterwards. Pidge is interested because science ™ and Lance for reasons his two friends will tease him about.

-Pidge is very younger sibling in Shallura’s eyes. Shiro’s protectiveness over Matt’s sister and Allura’s want to become closer to the only other girl on the team meshes. Pidge gets free piggybacks (she acts like a disgruntled cat about this).

-Keith has no idea how to act around them. Sometimes he starts treating them like Shiro, then catches himself. It makes Shallura feel a little put out, having known Keith for so long, so much trust built up there (well, with Shiro anyway). They just want him to be comfortable around them.

-Knowing Keith the way Shiro has helps soften the revelation of Keith being part galra (also by fusing with Keith herself later on).

-When fusing with Kuron, something feels so unimaginably off, though Allura can’t quite place it. It leaves her with a slight headache in her head afterwards, almost like someone was whispering to her. Kura (Kuron and Allura) fusion doesn’t happen many times, and those fusions don’t last. Kuron is hesitant to fuse, but doesn’t know why.

-Bayard form is a rapier. Because why not (the reason I’ll use for all bayard forms I give). Or maybe just another form of sword.

-Hunk, ever friendly Hunk, is Allura’s next fusion. He’s determined to create a dish that reminds her of home, only with their limited ingredients at the time he’s struggling to even make food that tastes like his own home. He’s unfamiliar with what is out here, so far out in space. But, eventually, he gains an eye for picking out ones that are edible and won’t give you a nasty space rash. And, with the help of coran, makes a flan that somewhat tastes like altea as it once was. It’s not exact, but the dish is filled with so much heart, so much flavour, that she’s thankful nonetheless.

-They fuse as she hugs him in thanks.

-Ank or Hura??? Is somehow more disney princess than Allura. They will give those little guys as many baths as their heart desires. They are also the first fusion out of the paladins that gets photographed because they love taking silly selfies with the mice.

-Has made the mice blanket burritos because they’re cute.

-Will kill you with kindness.

-Ultimate diplomat. Not only will they win you over with words, but also food.

-(After Allura becomes a paladin) They’re two legs!!! Team leg!

-The mix of Allura’s tastebuds and Hunk’s gives them a strange palette. Yes, they know logically that space chocolate should never be mixed with space mustard and argleberries and yellolian pie. But wouldn’t it be interesting to try?

-Ank won’t let anyone try those dishes though. They know that would be considered a disgrace to cooking.

-They get on well with Pidge and end up helping her through the altean language simulator once they realise she has an interest in learning.

-When unfusing with Allura, Hunk eventually realises that a few altean words do stay in his brain even without the universal translators.

-As comforting as the fusion is, being Ank does heighten insecurities about winning this war. It’s best to fuse when neither of them are in a downwards spiral.

-Has a very, very large fear of loneliness.

-As Allura’s relationship with Lance ends up improving, it reflects in his friendship with Ank. “It’s like having two best friends in one!”

-Bayard form is some sort of grenade launcher.

-Pidge has had less walls up for a fair while now that the secret of her identity is out, so, though a little hesitant, she really wants to try this fusion thing. She knows she’s not the best at people, which is another reason why she’s interested in this. It’s like a shortcut, a hack into the system. Instant bonding. Only they don’t fuse right away, that ridiculous dance seeming like it was all for nothing.

-But you can’t force a fusion. Like bonding with a lion, it requires trust.

-Eventually Allura and Pidge bond over talking about family. Allura becomes even more determined to help find Pidge’s brother and dad. If Allura can’t have her family anymore, at least she can help Pidge find hers.

-Pallura is incredibly smart, and whilst Pidge’s understanding of altean tech is way above average, fusing with Allura gives Pallura that extra edge.

-Sometimes the need to see her family is debilitating.

-She’s pretty insane about Monsters & Mana.

-Bayard form is a chakram. Or perhaps a flail?

-Give her a crossword or space puzzle cube any day.

-Matt is so confused when he first meets her.

-Palunk/Hillura/Hida (think I like Hillura more?) is Allura’s first three person fusion and they don’t stay fused for long because of it.

-Kallura first fuse when they both try and run away to stop Zarkon tracking the team.

-The team finds out when on that call.

-“You fused with Allura before me?!!!” - Lance

-Lance is upset about Kallura having a mullet. “You’re better than this!” He’s very conflicted on how to interact with them. On one hand, they’re Keith. On the other, they’re Allura. But they are also both and neither.

-Their bayard is a rope dart.

-Kallura has a lot of suppressed anger from grief. Bottling up and compartmentalising works for them until it doesn’t. They feel things so intensely.

-they feel like a ticking time bomb at times but do not want others to see that. -They just end up unfusing if that happens.

-Nevertheless, Keith appreciates the fusion, finding it difficult to connect with people, so it’s meaningful when he does.

-Keith and Allura end up with a stronger bond because of this.

-Stick them in bubblewrap and save them from themselves. They are prone to self sacrifice. Please stop.

-Later, upon that revelation ™ , Allura doesn’t know how to feel about fusing with someone who is part galra.

-But Keith is Keith.

-Their fusion’s thoughts were genuine. So maybe, just maybe, Keith’s are too.

-Lotor and her can never quite fuse. They almost get it, both driven by an aligning desire to connect with the lost culture of Altea, and Lotor wants to fuse, he does, it’s something he’d learned of during his research, though he himself couldn’t on his own, but even together it never quite works. Lotor has too many secrets, too many things he keeps hidden to open up enough for a fusion to work.

-Then, as Allura hurls him across the room, she’s ultimately glad they never did (but she has to wonder, what would she have seen, have felt? Would there have been love there, or endless lies?).

(Heads up for romantic allurance)

-Lallura eventually fuses sometime during s3.

-Lance grew on Allura after he shielded Coran, but they never really click until they make an effort to do so around the time of the lion swap.

-Lallura is hot and they know it.

-:3

-Also very good with people. Lance’s natural peopleing charisma shines through into Lallura. Allura wonders, if she had fused into Lallura earlier on, it would have helped with that outsider feeling when trying to connect to the other paladins.

-Great at parties. You want Lallura at your social gathering. This skill comes in handy when the paladins need to dress up fancy and interact with diplomats.

-Has a strong sense of homesickness. Both for homes they have never been to (and yet they have).

-Vast majority of the time they’re pretty confident. Mutual belief in each others’ abilities makes for a fusion that knows how to believe in themselves to a healthy degree.

-Though they have caught themselves a few times going into a downwards spiral of imposter syndrome and worry about their capabilities as a leader/paladin. But it doesn’t last long.

-Gives good pep talks.

-They’re a magpie. Love shinies.

-Don’t talk to them about Lotor. Just. Don’t.

-Through Lallura Lance gets the chance to fly in blue again.

-Their joint bayard form would either be a grappling hook (Pidge would claim her bayard does it better) or bayonet or maybe bow and arrow like Valayun had??? A crossbow??? I do not know

-They’re Coran’s favourite of the fusions.

-They love tying their hair up the way they used to for their sisters (not sisters. But also are?).

-Spa day is a very serious matter. Don’t interrupt it.

-Will sleep in if given the opportunity.

-Rachel (Lance’s sister) manages to get a matching jacket with them. They have no idea how when this jacket exists because of fusion.

-Nadia and Sylvio (Lance’s brother’s kids), upon meeting the fusion, request that Allura princessifies them too.

-Allura doesn’t comment on it, but she does start to feel some of the affection Lance feels for her when they fuse, especially as the seasons progress. It takes her aback, its intensity, but it also comforts her. But she’s also conflicted because of her growing crush on Lotor. She also has no idea if what she’s starting to feel for Lance is because of that fusion (it’s not).

-Lance is still very much in denial about Allura liking him back. If they do fuse over the time period of Allura starting to realise her feelings, he will still interpret it as Allura just being her usual caring self. It’s not like he has fused with anyone else to tell the difference.

-The first allurance kiss under that tree ends in them turning into Lallura again. The euphoria of that is short lived, however, once they find out what happened to Luca.

-After Allura sacrifices herself, Honerva tells her she shouldn’t pay for her mistakes with her life. So after aiding Honerva with her alchemy, Honerva immediately sends Allura back to her own universe, right after the sacrifice.

-Lallura fuse in space, with Lance immediately jumping out of red after her (+ the rest of the team in their respective lions). After almost losing each other like that, it’ll be a very long time until either of them want to unfuse again. As a long term fusion for the meantime, they start going by the name Lure.

-Lance’s family are a little thrown at first, but they adore Lure. They’re basically a bonus family member.

-Romellura fusion first happens during s7. Rora???? Rura????

-Romelle is the first altean (other than Coran) Allura has seen in a long, long time. Of course these two are bonding quickly.

-And as is this au’s way, they fuse.

-And are overwhelmed with a wave of emotions, happy, sad. The colony, all those alteans, their people still alive. Bandor, the other colony.

-It’s a lot. They lean on each other to process this grief.

-Without the translators, this fusion is a mess of old and new altean colloquialisms.

-She has a rich person accent. Lance loves it.

-A double altean fusion like this bolsters Allura’s alchemical abilities.

-She’s usually seen wearing a hair bun mixed with a plait

-If you thought bringing up Lotor around Lure was bad, well. Definitely, definitely don’t bring him up around her.

-Kallurance would have been pretty unstable had they first fused earlier on. Kurance? Lalith? Laeira? (I think I like the last one).

-But as it is, they make a really good team.

-Pray you never meet an entire team fusion. They won’t last long, too unstable for that (but more stable than you think. Used to working in unison for Voltron), but they don’t need long.

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unproduciblesmackdown · 4 months ago

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also it's something (better) like, the exercise of deliberately [art imitates life imitates art] holding up Billions to My IRL Things Perspective and going like whaaat would i want for winston. first answer is you want any character to not have been within the scope of the show in the first place, and to exit it since they are. and you kind of get that in the accidental reward in banishing winston, since like in the end it's just that the show doesn't care about him existing at that point But like it's winston sitting there quietly as everyone leaves & turns out the lights & Then he can leave too; others have peaced out & nobody remembers he exists so Now he can go off & do whatever.

but like in true form i think they definitely accidentally baked in another divine reward for winston in that, like, the way he's kept around as fodder for these fun little [pov: enjoy abusing this guy] asides with him, where it Just So Happens that he's autistic as something they're unaware of but is completely relevant to the expectation we understand him to be inferior(tm), it Just So Happens that he's also ""bad"" at not ""causing"" abuse to be turned on him. he's ""bad"" at staying in line. like well yes Yes that's what i want for him. just like In Real Life it's like yeah Ideally i'd want people to be able to extricate themselves from where they're trapped in power structures & i'd want them to have the perspective about it of understanding they're not Inferior / i.e. they are as much a person as anyone else and they're not corrupting everything good / i.e. it wasn't them Bringing It Upon Themselves and it's not them being Destructive by toppling a jenga tower of a hierarchy that happened to be pressing down on them. and winston is the kind of [the ruinerrrrrr] who is Turned On exactly because he keeps acting like someone who's on the verge of breaking out of the [being in line] someone demands of him as autist, employee, whatever other supposed manifestations of [inferior]

like in the 5 second stretches in which winston's allowed to speak before retaliation, it's because he's like "matter of factly" delivering whatever Information that's useful for another plotline. then he Brings It Upon Himself by making people aware that he's Also existing in his own right as a person rather than what they think serves their own deal / what they want from him at all times, perhaps by expressing his personality (didn't appeal to them! so it was Wrong) or not b/c of anything in particular said or done at present, just b/c people have a constant / accumulating contempt for him so their being in the same room as him & able to see & hear him is already dangerous. the [we're just seeing Any Abusive Dynamic in action] continuing apace.

and it's like, well, right there. he's written as acting like someone who doesn't blame himself for how he's treated, which billions frames as being Rude & Mean, and so too does everyone's abusers lmfao like and that these are his moments that are written to be Bringing It Upon Himself. and it's like hell yeah he doesn't blame himself. hell yeah that his self-esteem can manifest as anger at all. hell yeah that he keeps expressing himself with personality & confidence & doesn't even disguise his having been hurt, & it's this [his ass is Not grey rocking] that billions frames as both him "causing" his abuse & making that abuse "successful" lol, wrow just like real life!! and when like speaking of real life yeah it's not "bad" that people Do engage in strategies to mitigate & survive, including things like blaming themselves or being too "boring" to be anything but a non dialogued background character b/c that's all that goes unpunished, it's bad b/c it's done to them at all, not [ohh they're doing it to themselvesss] and like i'm asking myself like Ideally. what do i want Ideally. and i'd want winston to know that it's being Done To Him & i'd want him to find as much room for his personhood & autonomy as possible. and that's basically how he's written anyways, and billions hates that like You See this is why he deserves it this is why he's doing it to himself. and i'm like my god if that's not Inspiration for like "so what if people don't find you Personally Likable" and not preemptively holding back all personality or anything that'd draw attention as if you exist as a person in your own right & not something that only either gets in the way of or serves their wants of a Real person (someone with more power) like hell yeah you have him out here doing it =']

another fun addendum is like, billions isn't getting into it much b/c it doesn't seem to care much about "what if some people were peers & seem to have a genuine, recipcrocal relationship?" but that it just so happened to be like "oh tuk as the next closest loser who deserves it might be nice to winston" while it's framing winston as the "worse" Loser as being....unconditionally supportive of tuk. while the one downside of billions Also giving bentuk as much as it is is that it also inevitably has that shadow of "but ben is Superior to tuk" and like that it's correct that everyone encourages tuk to Stop Bringing It Upon Himself and start being less of a loser; it's wrong for winston to be like hey let's go have a foursome. like yeah probably don't make a list of the women you work with you'd be dtf but it's not like i'm convinced "ah billions and it's strong anti misogyny stance like" roflmao and billions is Not reflecting on "the downsides of unconditional support?" there when winston was beaten up for criticising taylor earlier like we WILL take his ideas while looting his [beaten unconscious] body there but he WAS wrong to express them as though he's BETTER than taylor!!! mafee's beautiful show of loyalty in kicking his ass even when he might agree with the argument and then benefit when it's adopted by taylor anyways! so it's as usual actually purely based on hierarchy & who gets to be in charge of people. it's correct for ben to be in charge of tuk, unless he has to step aside for that bizarre dead-end subplot about how it's tuk's fault if he's treated badly, b/c it's really his own Failure to have Confidence to know he has good ideas [raising our voice to deliver this message over the sound of breaking desks and chairs and computer monitors over winston because he had the confidence to act like he deserved to talk to someone and because he knows his ideas efforts & results are good & valuable around there] like. and isn't it sooo fucked up to talk about who you're dtf in the episode that has it be neutral if your boss is dtf & lets you know but is nice about it (and you're already Correctly tending to their ego, which you're responsible for!) like hey no possible problem! it's not even so much of a problem for a boss man to have the sex they're entitled to & be rude about their leveraging their power in that acquisition that it Stays a problem into the next season. ew, winston is Known (Inferred) Dtf??? we'll use it to exploit His vulnerability, exacerbate it, & punish him further for good measure in another episode that just revels in abuse & violation with a sexual aspect once again, but like, hey tuk don't do that, winston's such a Bad Influence for being like, shrug, kneejerk intervening with the Good Friendship where the One In Charge leaps in & Tells tuk the Correct thing to do. obviously there's also the tragedy that billions will Never let winston push back against Real Winners like rian or taylor in A Way That Matters (actually gets in their way at all) lol like. one thing that would have really been fun, winston should've literal kneejerk started physically fighting wags in either pertinent scene in 7x03 for real 110%. i wouldn't be like Gasp Violence Is Never The Answer if he just hit someone to hit them b/c fuck you. or broke anything on his way out etc etc. billions would Never let him. which is the other side of the same coin of [why he should get to]

tl;dr how great that winston's being "out of line" means he's basically always noticeably flouting & rebelling against the [He Deserves Abuse] agenda lol. that IS what i want. his being "beyond hope" like ohhh he's sooo stupid he doesn't realize how much he has the bad tastes & wrong interests & annoying personality He Will Always Be This Way like hell yeah!!! billions like oh no winston's personhood will never stay tamped down & locked away such that some godawful person tolerates keeping him in their inventory :( ohhh the ABA will never work :( that's right!!!!!!!!!! although they're not sad about it because it's about relishing the promise there will always be True Inferiors you can enjoy abusing with your righteous power over, but like well you wrote him escaping anyways even while dragging other "better" characters into standing around to serve axe's need for more than 1.8 employees and [crickets, reverberating cough, sneaker scuff] like. another ""wrong"" thing for winston to do, another thing for him to not "deserve," which is itself godawful actually lol like lord what it "rewards" its Good, Deserving characters with, no thanks. meanwhile winston's punishment is that he's autistic and """bad""" at being abused like lmfao good for him, fantastic for him, just what i want

#winston billions #a series that did inadvertently power up the stances of someone who actually is Not a fan of ableism; abuse; authoritarianism; and cetera #real winston billions fans might also get written off the series into the ether....but hey. the power up #the ''i saw the autistic character. i saw the tour de force'' was there & it mattered #myself marked glad to be A Ruinerrrrr; to like be present where other people might be aware & even say & do things & [my personality]#throw it back to the last post like my experience going hahaha >:) but you made one mistake. decade old minivan in my name #enough to Get Outta There....but that naturally if it Wasn't that Would be an avenue of punishing / reeling people back in #hey you Stole this from me. hey winston that's Stolen Time and stolen data who give a shit. it's the principle of [we own winston]#my experience also indeed getting ''''worse'''' at being abused lmao i.e. more conflict & resentment as i was increasingly aware i didn't #deserve it. no thanks to much of anything i learned in; say; interacting with others as an autistic person lmao. hmm!#meanwhile even if exploring like Winston Having Fun Being Himself it's like one thing is just. never having the Site of that be like #first & foremost An Romance lol. like even if it's like sure someone could interpret this as romantic that's like; an extra thing #and it's not The Guideline like; not thinking that for winston to be okay he Needs to get on the soulmate track #(billions does think that lol) and like. while billions says winston Has dated (i do think they meant to imply Multiple Times in 5x05 #i just think we see that they usually don't care oh so much abt continuity; certainly not across the board) & that he has a crush #like then uhh yeah sure it's like. well i can readily extrapolate then that he's had abusive dating relationships.#billions does Not put forth that someone treating winston Well is where he gets the bulletproof confidence or anything lol #just cursed like again i'm not. i'm not gonna accept [wild you dropped steph into our Visuals as like 1 Confirmed Winston Ex]#but it's also like well then any Depiction would be The Perspective....not like. the abuse currently happening & in any way that is meant #to be ''''obvious'''' & ''''convincing'''' to someone w/no idea what it looks like anyways. vs the mundane ordinary parts that speak to it #or just the ways that experience & concomitant perspective could manifest outside of it even with No look inside it #running into issues like [good thing riawin didn't even hook up or that'd be More vulnerability in an abusive relationship already]#but what if they did & Montage Of Malaise? well to even brush up against inevitable more ''blatant'' things would then either be like #well immediately move Away from that then. before or after but Exit the [current] situation. Or it'd be like. rian has to Reconsider #but a) the character absolutely does not & based on everything will not. & b) if she actually Does; e.g. in a fic. well it's about her now #but i can think of ''yeah maybe winstuk fic that is also framed with bentuk b/c it's not really about Romance & if it's like sure then why #Not presume winston has experiences w/abuse & violation aplenty b/c that's the full context for the character lol it's then still like #and here's little details in which that could Manifest that would just be [??] or unnoticed to others anyways. just like real life!!''

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