#Kuron not knowing that Lance was the one who brought him back until much later

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Me: I don't know what to do with Veronica's character in post s8 au, I don't want her to be Just Lance's sister and Kuron's friend with Pidge's storyline slapped on her, but also I'm not really sure about her character. Sure there's the whole lying to her family thing but I don't think that's enough?

Brain: ok so what if Veronica started out as trying to look for what was Lance upto but she ends up being so obsessed with finding the truth that not only she repeatedly puts herself in harms way but also the original goal falls on wayside.

This could be her way of dealing with trauma which is getting engrossed in the Mission and a problem to fix while suppressing her grief and refusing to actually acknowledge her problems and her own emotions a foil to Kuron's arc that is him being literally driven by emotions. She's angry at Lance for leaving without a word and angry at her family for their clinginess, however she keeps it to herself and just avoid them pretending everything is fine and normal

Also a foil to Lance who started as trying to figure out what was going on but as soon as he realized that 1) Allura and Kuron are still sorta alive 2) he can bring them back, he got obsessed with it consequences by damned.

Plus through her we can actually explore how quintessence actually effects and changes humans rather than become aware of the end result

Also there's something a character who is obsessed with truth but is also such a frequent liar

[puppetmaster55]

A Fix-It to Canon

At the interest of @ieshavevo here is my extensive fix-it to vld!

So, uh, wouldn’t change much about seasons 1 and 2, those are actually pretty solid seasons. At best, I would adjust season 1 to be a bit longer, including an episode where they travel to an old colony planet of Alteans to really set in that Allura and Coran are the last of the Alteans. In season 2 I would add an episode later on, mostly revolving around the adjustment of Voltron working with the Blade, to get a sense of the two having a rough start working together.

Also, I’d have a slight change in focus, with more knowledge that Voltron is a myth and nobody really believes in it or has hope in season 1, leading up to the initial assault on the empire’s central command. From there, season 2 is the universe taking notice, word spreading that Voltron is back and is fighting against the empire and Zarkon, and winning.

Then, there would be a little more to season 3, with a slower start that’s time without Shiro and time with only four of the lions. There’d be more people starting to fight back, more planets and systems rebelling against the empire, and word spreading that Zarkon faced off against Voltron and lost. There’d be, as well, time for adjustment after the lion swap. A “Some Assembly Required 2.0” episode. 

Speaking of, the Lion Swap wouldn’t be Keith into Black or Lance into Red. I’d put Lance in Black, and Allura in Blue. Honestly there would be discussion about Allura taking up the role, and a little about Keith being Shiro’s pick, but ultimately it would be Lance. Allura taking on the title of Black Paladin would be something permanent instead of temporary, and Keith doesn’t want it and isn’t a good fit. 

There would be a name-drop of an Empress Merla in the alternate Altean Empire reality, for later on. Lotor, too, would have more of a plan in motion, and would be the source of the Zaiforge Cannons as a show of his progression of the empire in his rule. There would be more buildup toward Naxzela, as well, with Voltron coming across a planetary particle barrier and an Altean terraforming device. Haggar’s entire plan toward Naxzela would be made more clear when it happens, that this is her revenge for the plan that took down Zarkon. She will take down every single rebel faction, Voltron included, in a massive show of force to ensure that there is no more opposition. 

Lotor’s plans will be more about establishing his own foothold as a progressive leader and shift toward a more peaceful rule over the universe. He’ll buy into the Galra Empire’s superiority, but only so far that he can change it into being more sustainable and infinitely less likely to end up consuming itself as more and more planets are killed for their quinessence. 

Voltron finds the rebels, learning that former smugglers Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer joined their ranks. Matt is discovered among their numbers, having had to fake his death in a massive battle to avoid having a bounty on his head collected. 

As for Operation Kuron… the Shiro that returns to Voltron is the real, original Shiro. He’s got programming in his arm, something that wasn’t there before, that makes me more willing to gather every single rebel in on one huge attack on Naxzela and the surrounding systems. 

Something that his clone, Ryou, very nearly succeeded in doing just before the Blue Lion was found. Ryou will be Shiro’s clone, sent into the rebels when they were gathering and a mighty force, with no initial clue that he’s a clone. The “trash nebula” that Pidge crashes into ends up being revealed as the remains of the rebel fleets when Kuron brought Zarkon down upon them. Ryou, in the battle, took damage to the head and to the robot arm, which disabled the mind control and left him realizing everything. 

The rebels are scattered, but they’re coming back together, and under Voltron they can do so much more than they could before. 

Anyway, Naxzela happens, and Lotor in the process of avoiding Haggar gets pushed into going on the run and negotiating his surrender to Voltron. There’s big blowback on Voltron’s side, with the Coalition not wanting to be so into bargaining with Lotor, the rebels wanting to dispose of him, and Voltron wanting to keep him prisoner. Time passes, and with it Haggar brings back Zarkon to right all the failures of Lotor’s rule. 

Lotor and the Generals split, the Generals with Narti (who is comatose following the attempt by Haggar to mind control her), untle the Generals realize that they need Voltron and to return to Lotor. So they pick up a human prisoner that some value to trade for their safety: Keith’s Dad. 

What they don’t know, is that Keith’s Dad is also Acxa’s Dad, and it’s revealed that their shared mother is Lotor’s dead sister, Marmora. 

Keith, angry at his father for abandoning him, avoids the man. 

Lotor gets closer to the Paladins, and with it he reveals more about his life: his time ruling over a planet that Zarkon destroyed, and even that he’s got Sam Holt working for him in a special work camp full of scientists working for Lotor. He’s one of the scientists who worked toward reverse engineering the teludav and that it can reopen the rift on Daibazaal. Sam helps to convince the Paladins that Lotor isn’t all bad and that he can be trusted. Acxa reveals that she had the bounty placed on Matt to return him to the Empire so he could be reunited with his father. Both Sam and Keith’s Dad are sent back to Earth. 

Lotor manages to gain their favor in time to call upon a Kral Zera: an honor battle for the throne of the empire. He fights against Zarkon, almost gaining the win until Haggar intervenes, nearly taking full control over Shiro. Somewhere in the time Lotor’s under Voltron’s care, Sendak comes back, and is as honorable Galra as ever. He begins having doubts about Zarkon’s leadership when Haggar intervenes to “force” a win. Haggar, meanwhile, takes Sendak to act as her protector. 

Allura looks into her powers, looking and training with Lotor’s aid, to the point that they all go to Oriande. There, they find the Protector of the White Lion, Queen Melenor. Allura learns of the true origin of Voltron, and is given the opportunity to learn the secrets of Alchemy. However, Haggar uses her control over Shiro to learn about Oriande and attacks it, causing Lotor to become suspicious of the Paladins. Melenor is lost in the attack, but passes on her role of Guardian to Allura. Allura trains with her powers, managing to capture a druid and interrogate it about their origins and powers. There, they learn that the druids are actually the research team Honerva led. 

The Coalition and rebels are furious about Voltron’s gamble, straining Voltron’s allies into breaking from their alliance. One of the rebels, Romelle, makes an attempt on Lotor, revealing herself as Altean and pushing Lotor into revealing that the planet he was in control over was an Altean colony. She claims that he is behind the death of the planet and all the Alteans on it, with herself as the only surviver, forcing Voltron to follow Allura’s lead and attack Lotor. 

Lotor flees with the Generals, all of them going toward the rift gate as the last safe place to lay low and hide until everyone fights each other and then they can emerge from the ashes and rebuild everything better. Unfortunately, Haggar used her connections to Narti and Shiro to learn the location of the rift gate and continued working on it. Haggar begins to activate the rift gate, and to distract Voltron takes full control over Shiro. Shiro comes along to Sendak’s side, and they manage to keep the Paladins distracted. Ultimately, Shiro, with the help of the Paladins, is broken free of Haggar’s control and fights Sendak to a standstill. 

Sincline and Voltron fight, with the Paladins thinking that all of this is Lotor’s fault. The two battle, until they both are hit and the Sincline caught in a tractor beam. Through the rift comes a number of ships, all Altean in design. 

Empress Merla has arrived, intent on bringing the Altean Peace to this and every other universe. Haggar goes to her side, claiming her old self as Honerva, while Lotor and the Sincline is captured. Merla created her own prototype gate using a teludav built by the Sincline Comet of her own reality, as found on her Oriande. Being obsessed with Honerva’s studies, Merla accepts Haggar to her side. The Generals manage to escape, Sendak flees back to Zarkon’s side to report about the arrival of the Alteans, and Voltron flees. 

With no allies and their name sullied by their siding with Lotor, Voltron flies to Earth to hide and recouperate. There, the Paladins nearly separate, returning to their families and reconsidering their duties and resolve. Meanwhile, Merla has taken up the trust and leadership of the Coalition, although there is a deal of mistrust within the rebels. She expands her presence, using the Hoktril to control and silence anyone who would dare dissent. Lotor, in his prison, looks upon Merla and sees everything that he was working toward. 

Shiro gets a new arm built. Keith gets quiet reconciliation with his father. Hunk discovers that he’s become so much braver than before. Lance reconnects with his family, and finds he misses space. Allura and Coran get into some lighthearted Earth shenanigans with each of the Paladins, maybe visit a zoo while they’re at it. Lance reaches out to Shiro, and speaks about his time leading Voltron, and also that he has more about his sexuality than he thought. There’s a small confession of feelings, and they decide to enjoy their time together, going on a date. 

They all find they miss traveling through space and realize that it is their love of the universe that brought them to fight for it, and that their failures do not define them. Also, they decide, when this is all over and done with they’ll go on a road trip across the universe. 

The Galaxy Garrison does their best to run the Paladins around any actual duties, until it’s revealed that the GG is reaching out toward Merla, and building their own Voltron out of fifteen vehicles. The Paladins gather together, fleeing Earth after a brief clash with Vehicle Voltron. The clash leaves doubt in the pilots and various members of the GG about the alliance with Merla. 

Voltron is on the run now, reaching out to old allies, finding the Hoktril in place on those planets. 

The rebels build their own Gladiator Voltron to protect against Merla after discovering the existence of the Hoktril. They take their team and Gladiator Voltron and flee, going to help others and join back up with Voltron. The Coalition shows unease at Merla’s rule. 

Merla clashes with Haggar, who takes the prototype teludav made of the Sincline Comet and is working on something. Haggar takes the upper hand, sending Merla on the defensive and fleeing back to Zarkon, revealing that she’s been playing both sides and that despite her past as Honerva, Haggar is her true self and her ends are her own to achieve. 

Lotor escapes, broken out of his prison by his own engenuity and with the help of his Generals. Narti, now awake, joins in as the five flee in the Sincline to find Voltron and warn them. 

Zarkon’s own rule over the Empire is crumbling, more and more of his subordinates showing a lack of faith and trust and obedience in him. Haggar proposes her new rift gate, and that they use the rift creatures within to cement Zarkon’s rule. 

Everyone is on the move, the forces gathering and reaching out to Voltron. Merla begins sending out combat mechas, ones originally prototyped under Merla and improved by Haggar, to sow fear and attempt to regain control. Sendak defects from Zarkon, finding Voltron and Sincline and fighting Shiro, this time to Shiro’s win. Sendak’s sense of honor is such that Zarkon’s win at the Kral Zera was dishonerable and while he does still hate Voltron, he would rather see someone with true Galra Honor like Lotor seated upon the throne of the Empire instead of Zarkon. 

Lotor reaches out to Voltron, and in the process finally tells Acxa, Keith, and the rest of the various allies about Marmora and the circumstances of her death. Marmora had gone to Earth, then returned, and with it Haggar had placed a same kind of mind control as Shiro and Narti were victims to. Through her, Zarkon had learned of the true method Lotor was using to rule over the Altean planet Pollux. Romelle had managed to escape, but what she saw was Lotor watching Pollux burn. In his panic, Lotor had killed his sister, and since then has regretted his actions and worked toward the peace that she had wanted for the Empire. 

Lotor has decided that while he will stand up as the new leader of the Galra, the Empire reduced and dismantled down into a small number of systems capable of safely being the new home of the Galra. He will not see the Galra as conquerors, and will not see the Empire continue to exist. Sendak shared what he learned about Zarkon’s plans, while Lotor and the Generals share what knowledge they’ve gained about Merla and, more importantly, Haggar’s plans. 

The prep for the final battle begins, with Voltron’s return to the stage by battling Merla’s mechas, and even joining in with the Gladiator Voltron. Vehicle Voltron turns up, Earth and the rest of the Coalition having defected away from Merla. Together, Allura and Lotor discover a means of breaking the Hoktril, and dig deeper into Voltron’s past. 

They learn about the rift creatures, beings of Chaos and Void, and of the Defenders that fought against it: the Lions, the Sincline, and the Oriande. Oriande is discovered to be what the White Lion is named, and is the Paladin of Light. Sincline is similar, and its Paladin of Dark. They, along with Voltron, are the Seven Paladins of Creation, the Defenders of the Universe. They learn that the Cosmic Abyss is where the Ancients come from, who began the universe and where Voltron called home. The great calamity that turned it into the Cosmic Abyss is from when the rift creatures touched it, and Voltron and Sincline battled it and ended up as the comets scattered around the universe. 

Allura is established as the leader of the Coalition. 

Lotor becomes the true Emperor of the Galra Empire. 

The Blade makes contact, having managed to gain knowledge of where the final battle will happen. 

Haggar enacts her rift gate, letting loose the Void Creatures from the rift. Zarkon takes one of the creatures within himself, transforming into a robeast that battles off Merla’s own attack. 

THe heroes arrive, fighting the Void Creatures. Voltron is joined by Sincline, Vehicle Voltron, Gladiator Voltron, the rebels, the Blade, and the Coalition. Allura directs them all from the Castle, until she brings the Castle into the battle. Merla and her remaining mechas join as well, realizing that she’s failed and when this is over she will have to stand for her crimes in both this universe and her own. From inside the rift, more realities join in: the Guns of Gamara, and even other version of Voltron from different realities. 

The Castle transforms, Allura realizing that she has passed on the White Lion spirit into the Castle of Lions itself. They join the battle, and gain the upper hand. Voltron fights Zarkon, striking him down as he leads the Void Creatures. Allura and Lotor both fight Haggar, ultimately leading to her defeat. The Void Creatures are defeated, and the rift gate, now the void gate, is destroyed. 

The universe is saved.

The various other Voltrons are returned to their universes, and Merla is taken into custody by the Guns of Gamara. With the universe moving toward peace, the Paladins go and kidnap Allura and Coran, promising to return the president of the Coalition once their road trip across the universe is done. In the meantime, Vehicle Voltron prepares to go out and ensure that there continues to be peace within the Coalition and no pirates or factions of the Empire try to rise up. Gladiator Voltron prepares for a long journey around the universe, fighting for justice wherever it is needed.

And the Paladins? They finally get that road trip.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

A blessed meeting at dusk- Klance Month Week 2

It wasn’t planned at first but House of Night just came to mind when I started this. I also wrote a good chunk of this on like an hour of sleep, so any mistakes, I apologize for. I caught a few when looking over it but I know I didn’t get all. Even writing this, I’m making basic spelling errors and my dyslexia is really switching words. Again, just pre-klance in this but I plan for it to definitly expand in the next fic. So hopefully you enjoy.

@monthlyklance Dusk/Healing

Lance should be asleep. He should be but sleep alluded him. If he’d been new to this whole vampyre thing, he would of said it was because he wasn’t used to sleeping the whole day away. But he’d been a vampyre for a while now, almost a year. Plus with extra nights being up later because of Dark Daughters and Sons meetings, he had every reason to want to fall asleep.

Maybe his mind was still buzzing with everything that happened. Honerva, their High Priestess and headmistress of their School of Night, said that war was coming. Humans had to be taught their place and they would teach it to them. Nyx wanted this. That was a lie. Allura heard the words herself and Lance considered her to be his High Priestess more than Honerva. It was hard for others to believe her though.

It was a gigantic mess really. Allura was blessed by Nyx, the stories went. The mark of Nyx that every vampyre had was different for her. Her own was fully coloured in and she had markings as if she was a full fledged vampyre and not a fledgling. But she wasn’t the only one with markings like that. Hunk, Pidge, Shiro and Lance all had markings like that, their extra markings matching the elements they’d been affiliated with. Expect Shiro. While Lance had Water, Pidge, Air and Hunk, Earth, Shiro didn’t seem to have a special ability given to him by Nyx. He never complained about it.

“I was dying from a disease with no cure and thanks to her, my parents never have to be in fear of whether or not I’ll die. Well, assuming I live through the Change.”

A scary thought, but they all knew Shiro would be fine. And when he was with Allura, they were the power couple who could do anything. Until Allura slipped up. Lance wasn’t mad at her, not when he heard from Shiro about how his own feelings had been wavering. Allura had fallen for Honerva’s son, Lotor. Except, no one knew that little fact until he went spouting about his conquest with Allura and they couldn’t even beat him up for it. People saw Allura as a slut and her break up with Shiro didn’t make it any better. He was glad that they’d all stopped and talked, letting Allura and Shiro talk about the wavering affections for each other, how as much as they cared for each other, the spark was gone. Even in the midst of the chaos, their group could stand strong. But they still looked weak in the eyes of the whole school. Not a laughing stock, since they knew Nyx wouldn’t appreciate that, but they had no standing in trying to prove Honerva wrong. The woman had the school eating out of her hand, and as of right now, there was nothing they could do.

Just as they were dismissed to go back to their rooms, the Sons of Erebus, warriors who served the vampyre council arrived, acting as soldiers for a war that shouldn’t happen.

“If this continues, darkness and evil will overtake everything and vampyres will never be seen as good again. This war will destroy everything.” Allura had said that night by the oak tree they had dubbed as theirs.

With everything going on, Lance should of taken the excuse to rest after the effects of the day before, so he could be ready to help Allura spread the truth. But worry was eating him alive. Nyx was powerful, but she never controlled her children. They had to believe the truth of their own well being. Other than her soothing and caring words, there wasn’t much she could do.

Lance pushed the comforter off him, grabbing his Fourth Former pull over and stuffing his feet in his nearby high tops. If he couldn’t sleep, he’d at least do something to distract him.

The sun was still out, even as it approached dusk and Lance could feel the slight discomforts a fledging felt around the sun. he quickly darted across the grass until he reached the Gymnasium. Lance took a deep breath. He enjoyed being in here, though he’d love it more if the fencing students picked up after themselves. Lance pulled out targets and went to his locker to pull out his usual gear. He grabbed his bow, making sure his hip quiver was adjusted just how he liked it. With his glove in place, he notched his first arrow, pulling it back and taking a breath, before letting go.

Archery was something he’d done in school when he was human. He’d never been more glad that muscle heads wanted to challenge themselves and convinced the school to do a trail class, which was filled by more than just muscle heads. His friends always said that if they knew Nyx didn’t give him the affinity of Water, they’d swear she blessed him with archery skills. This was Lance’s release, his way of escaping everything. He feared that his skill would be used in this stupid war.

“Hey!” the sudden shout surprised Lance so much that the crescent moon design he’d been shooting was thrown off by an extra arrow on the back side on the moon. “What are you doing in here?”

Standing by the doors was a member of the Sons of Erebus. Lance recognised the armour from when they appeared at Honerva’s announcement. This one though had a hood on his head, blocking most of the top half of his face. Lance could only really make out black hair and the barest hints of the markings of a fully turned Vampyre on his cheeks.

“Aren’t teachers supposed to be in bed also?”

Teachers? Oh, Lance’s mark. Like Pidge, Hunk and Shiro, his own was filled with a different colour as opposed to the normal turned Vampyre. Apparently there were said to be Red vampyres, though they were rare, but nothing like the 3 of them. Lance woke up after passing out at home as his parents got him ready to come to House of Night with a bright blue filled crescent moon and wave like markings framing his face. He had gotten mistaken for a teacher by new fledglings all the time. To a warrior who didn’t know him, that same mistake wasn’t much of a leap.

“I’m not a teacher.” Lance tugged at his pullover. “I’m a student. I have permission from Professor Slav to be here.”

“It’s 7 pm. The sun has barely gone down yet. Why in Nyx’s name are you in here?” the guy approached him, clearly smart enough not to stand in front of Lance while he was armed. Lance still couldn’t see his face that well, though he could see his eyes now. The were purple, kinda like the sky just before it goes dark. Lance missed seeing the sky like that.

“Wait 7? it was like 5:30 when I got here? When did it get so late?”

“Aren’t classes delayed for you anyway since the sun will still be setting by the time 7:45 comes around?” the guard asked, watching Lance pull his glove off and his hip quiver.

“By 15 minutes. I’m heading back now, you don’t have to stick around.”

“I’d feel better escorting you back myself. High Priestess Honerva wants her students protected.”

“Yeah I’m sure.” Lance muttered under his breath as he headed to his locker and put his things away. He decided to leave the targets, give the fencers a taste of their own medicine. He got a look from the warrior but he didn’t say anything as they left the building.

The sun was mostly gone, the dark purples and reds taking to the sky as it got closer to night time. It didn’t feel as bad to be outside so Lance took his time walking across the lawn. Just because he was being escorted back to his room didn’t mean he was gonna make it easy. The Sons of Erebus, as far as Lance was concerned, was just as much the enemy as Honerva was. They followed the High Priestess and it wasn’t Allura.

He stopped when he heard barking and the yowling of a cat. Yowling he fully recognised.

“Zuko!”

“Kosmo!”

Zuko was an odd cat. Most cats at House Of Night either roamed free or bonded with a vampyre. All his friends including him had one. Zuko, a small British Shorthair who had the temper of a banished prince, didn’t belong to anyone but included himself in their group. They guessed it had to do with them always following Shiro’s cat Kuron around. With no owner of his own, they all took care of him. And now Lance had to do it again from a...dog? A large fluffy Husky to be exact.

Zuko was up in a tree, one he was usually found in, hissing down at the dog. With him was Lance’s cat, Katara, which he fondly named after seeing how the two could swat at each other but Nyx forbid if another cat tried attacking while the two were together. (Lance wasn’t afraid to admit he was Zutara trash)

the guy aimed for the dog, grabbing it’s collar and pulling. “Kosmo down!” the dog listened, still barking away at Zuko and Katara. Clearly they didn’t appreciate that and they jumped from the tree, onto the guys head and into Lance’s arms.

Lance scrambled to hold two fluffy cats and not inhale a lot of fur. He could feel the claws digging into his skin as the two hissed at the dog.

“Kosmo, sit! Be quiet!”

Lance took a look at the guy, who’s hood had fallen off, no doubt from when the two used his head like a spring board. His hair was long, though from the back, it looked a bit like a mullet.

“How did you even get out?” the guy scolded the dog, who seemed to be pouting.

“Why do you have a dog in a campus full of cats? Was your school different or something?” Lance asked, trying to figure out what a dog was doing here. Cats were the animals of Nyx. Who in their right mind brought a dog to a place that was filled with cats?

“Or something. I didn’t bond with a cat, I bonded with a dog.” the guy said, facing him.

Lance stared. When he was gifted with his affinity to water, Allura had told him the reason his, Shiro, Pidge and Hunk’s marks were so different. His blue was for his water, Pidge’s green for air and Hunk’s yellow for earth. Shiro’s purple should of meant Spirit but no such luck. He always stood in place for the fire candle during blessings, because no one ever arrived with a red filled crescent moon.

Until now it seemed. What had been hiding under the hood was a red filled moon and flame like marks on the guy’s forehead.

“You. You have...” Lance trailed off.

“Didn’t think you’d be one to judge.” the warrior snapped, pulling his hood back up, once again hiding his marks.

“I’m not judging. it’s just, we never thought we’d…Shiro and Allura are Fifth Formers and the whole time since me and my friends came here and became part of her court, she’s never seen anyone with your markings.”

“So you’re not the only one?” the hostility in the guy’s voice disappeared, leaving caution.

“the whole main court of the Dark Daughters and Sons have them. Well, except Shiro doesn’t have an affinity but his mark was still filled when he arrived here.”

“High Priestess Honerva has said things about you.”

Lance glared. “I’m sure she has. Look, your decision is all your own, but I hope you understand Nyx enough to know this war of hers is going to get everyone killed.”

“The High Priestess thinks the humans are out to get us.”

“So is the Church of People. Nyx sees everyone, including the humans as her children. You guys call yourselves the Sons of Erebus, who was Nyx’s lover. If you listen to Honerva and go along with this, you’ll be disgracing Nyx.”

“You don’t make that call.”

“No but I’ve heard enough of her and Allura’s cries to know this isn’t right.”

Lance knew if he continued to stay here, he’d dissolve into a fight with the guy and probably put their group in even worse light. So he turned and left, ignoring the fiery stare of the vampyre behind him.

                                                  ________________

“He had the mark?” Allura asked, as they all walked to their home room classes, almost 2 hours later.

“Yep, red crescent moon, flame marks, everything. Clearly he knew who I was but I’m pretty sure he would of kept his hidden were it not for the cats. I shouldn’t of fought with him. I was just, mad that someone who was blessed by Nyx would think this war was ok. we’ve been blessed by Nyx and we’re made out to be the enemy. What does that say about Nyx?” Lance said.

“Lance, I know dealing with this is hard and we want to defend Nyx with our dying breath, but this guy deserves to make his own choices. He hasn’t been through what we have, so his experiences aren’t the same. We can’t force him.” Shiro said, putting his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Not to mention that Honerva and her precious little boy twisted everything to work in their favour.” Pidge complained from her spot in the front. “the Sons of Erebus might not be able to do anything anyway. The serve the council, which Honerva rules over. Unless the Head High Priestess of the all High Priestesses decides Honerva is in the wrong, even if he did believe us, he’d be no help.”

Lance sighed. He knew it was true. Until Honerva slipped up or Nyx herself appeared, they were on their own.

“Allura.” a silky voice called. They all stopped and Lance could see Allura tensing.

She turned with a fake smile, a staple to what she’d been wearing the past few days. “High Priestess Honerva. How can I help you?”

the guy from last night, along with a few other warriors followed Honerva. The glee she had from holding such power over them was so evident, but to anyone else, she just looked like her regular self, High Priestess of the House of Night.

“I would like to introduce you to Kolivan. he’s head of the Sons of Erebus. This is Allura, Preistess-in-Training of the Dark Daughters and Sons. In fact, this is her court.”

the tall muscled man with a stern look and a scar on his face, bowed his head. “A pleasure to meet the ones blessed by our great Goddess.”

he meant that. Lance could tell and judging from Honerva’s face, she wasn’t happy about it.

“Yes, blessed by Nyx. I hear you have one in your midst as well?”

Kolivan nodded to the hooded guy, who pulled it down, revealing his red markings. “This is Keith. he’s a student at the House of Night in Texas. His proficiency in fighting skills has allowed him to advance into training with us. The High Council has asked that he guards the blessed ones.”

it was clearly the first time Honerva had heard of this.

“The High Council? I was not informed of this.”

“You weren’t supposed to. The Head High Priestess of the Council is a seer and saw great danger to us if anything were to happen Priestess Allura and her court. We decided one of their own and one of our bests should be the one to protect them. Should he say the word, we would be there to defend them. Of course, I’m sure you’d agree.” Kolivan explained with a look that said he didn’t need her approval.

“It’s like a blessing from Nyx herself.” Hunk whispered.

He wasn’t wrong. Here they thought the arrival of the Sons of Erebus meant they had no way of stopping his war, but now it looked like they might have a chance, to at least try.

Keith stepped forward, not taking his eyes from Lance and bowed his head. “I look forward to getting to know you all. Please place your trust in me.”

As Lance stared back at those dusk purple eyes, he hoped that Nyx blessed them all. He had a feeling they’d need it.

[welcometoyournewhell]

The End Was Only the Start of a New Beginning  Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my third attempt at a “fix it AU” series for Voltron. Ships are involved, their are two offspring so far... but they are babies. Please enjoy!

----

The former captain of the Atlas couldn’t believe his eyes. How was this possible? He felt the soft skin of a loved one’s face softly as he watched for a reaction. A slight twitch and warm flesh indicated their was life... but how?

Gray met blue as Coran wept with joy. His baby was alive, Allura! He had been seated in a chair as his legs shook and head spun. He held her hand, feeling such joy. “My baby,” he sighed softly. 

Curtis stood by his husband as they looked over the princess. He placed a hand on Shiro’s lower back as he observed his expression. “You okay?” The shorter gripped onto the table edge a bit as his head also began to spin. “Need a chair.” Matt was quick to move one under him as Adam and Curtis helped him down. 

“How is this even possible?” Adam turned to face Sam who shrugged. “We took the kids on a field trip into the blue lion’s cave and... we found her. Due to Keith’s calculations from years ago... I’d say it was the same spot Blue was found.“

Shiro peered up a bit. “Has Blue been showing any... emotions? Has she been active or flying off without a pilot?” The eldest Holt shook his head. “No... she’s been practically lifeless since Allura disappeared..” That was three years ago.

Curtis furrowed his brow a bit as he looked over the girl again. “Did you look for injury before changing her outfit?” It was a dumb question but... he was confused on how she could just appear out of no where... under ground. 

“We found her like this,” Coran stated. It didn’t make sense to the other. “So she died in space, reappeared, fully dressed in something completely different, underground?” Matt nodded. “I know.. it sounds odd. We have teams searching for traces of anything as we speak. Pidge is leading them as her and mom look for more advanced things.

“Iverson has reached out to the blades and any other group we’re allied with in fear someone else may have just reappeared.” It appears they’d already taken into consideration the shared paranoia. Another ten thousand year war was not one they wanted to deal with. 

“Have you contacted the paladins,” Adam asked as he handed Shiro a water. “Not yet, Iverson wanted orders from Shiro before moving on.” The veteran looked up in confusion. “Why me?” 

Matt shrugged before Sam butted in. “You lead an army though space Shiro, he was hoping you could give him a judgement call based on the information we have... which so far is close to nothing.” 

The veteran looked back down at his friend before looking to Adam. “It’ll take Hunk a while to get here... even with the yellow lion. If your going to call him.. I would now. Keith and Lance could crash in Keith’s old room until we figure out if there may be a bigger threat than what were seeing.” 

Looking from Adam, the captain looked to the others who nodded. “I can call Keith,” Curtis said softly as he pulled out his phone. Shiro frowned a bit as he looked back down at Allura. If she wasn’t the only one to survive... history seemed doomed to repeat it’s self. 

And that was a history Shiro was ready to re-live. 

“So she was found in the cave,” Adam asked. He was talking to Coran. The man nodded slowly. “One girl.... this small Galran girl didn’t want to go in there. She said it... it was giving off a strange feeling. We reassured her it was nothing but..... she was right. Somehow.” 

The red head shook his head slightly as he covered his mouth with a free hand. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. “Are we sure this is... actually Allura?” He didn’t mean to upset the older man. As Coran looked up to yell at him, he watched as Adam nodded to Shiro. 

Frowning he bit his lip. “I.... I hope so.” They all did. Sam shrugged. “Everything seems to be in order, but that’s not saying much. It just means she’s alive with natural body functions.” White hair pressed into the other’s sleep shirt as he spoke. Shiro knew what Adam was getting at. 

“Well it’s not like we can really compare. Even in a new clone body, Kuron and Shiro are more genetically matched than identical twins. The only difference is their memories and personalities.” Yes, their likes and dislikes too and things like that, but from appearance and tests.... they were the same person. 

Matt sighed before looking to his father. “So.... how are we supposed to know?” The older looked to the others. “They didn’t realize it wasn’t me until... after Haggar took control. Even then... it’s... it’s hard to tell I guess?” No one spoke of the unprofessional stand point. 

Adam was cradling his husband’s head into his abdomen, trying to calm him down. “I mean... we could question her, like a memory test... but I don’t want to just interrogate her when she gets up. We need someone with no basis of her to spend time with her and see how she acts. The paladins and Coran’s interpretation and feelings would be blinded by their love for her.”

A hand gripped Adam’s arm. “You okay?” Sam grumbled as he called the main staff again. It was seven in the morning! They should have been here hours ago. Shiro nodded. “Room’s spinning.” It was... a lot to take in. It didn’t help his brain was taking him through his personal experience that was much too similar. 

“I’m here. Your okay, your safe.” Matt had gotten another chair for Adam. Sitting down he held his husband close as he continued to whisper soothing things into his ear. Coran looked at them before frowning. What if the professor was right? What if this wasn’t his baby? 

“Coran,” Sam smiled at the gorgeous man. “I promise we’ll et her up soon. For now... we need to figure out the basic questions. Why don’t you rest?” The older Altean looked over the princess before shaking his head. “I’d feel better if I stayed here.” 

The father understood when he was coming from. He placed a hand on Coran’s back. “She’ll be okay... I promise.” Curtis had entered the room once more, Iverson close behind. “No one has seen anything, but they’ll all report if they do.” He rubbed Shiro’s back a bit as he spoke. “Krolia brought something to my attention, it’s far fetched but it’s better than saying she just appeared underground. 

“Quintessence is almost like.... magic isn’t it? Could it have been used to some how make a worm hole like portal that would allow Allura back?” Coran shook his head. “Not from the after life... quintessence, I don’t believe, can be used for worm holes either. We have no magic strong enough. That’s something not even Haggar could do.”

The other’s frowned a bit before Adam looked up to his other husband. “How’d that go?” Curtis nodded a bit. “Their brining Kas and Kosmo but their on their way. I hope we won’t need Red though.” Coran looked up in confusion. “Why is that?” Adam frowned a bit. “Lance nearly fainted?”

Curtis thought for a moment. “Not really? Keith’s just afraid he’s too distracted to pilot. He went quiet and just... starred at the wall when he told him.” The room went quiet as the girl on the table twitched a bit. She was becoming a bit more animated. 

She twitched a bit harsher, as if she was having a nightmare. Coran was quick to comfort her as he pulled her close. “It’s alright Allura, your among family.” He stroked her hair a bit as he held his daughter. Sam was quick to record the reaction as they waited for the medical staff to arrive. She hadn’t moved this much yet. Perhaps she truly was just... asleep?

She was showing more movement as she brought her hand up. Coran was standing at this point, she gripped onto him as if she was in pain. Her other hand held her chest, tears starting to fall from closed eyes. Iverson got on to the com, screaming for medical attention.

Adam watched the heart monitor.... she wasn’t having a heart attack. It was something he’d learn to examine after a few years of scares with Shiro. “It’s a nightmare... maybe inflammation but.... it just looks like a nightmare.” Iverson paused his insults to observe. 

Adam seemed to be correct. He was a bit calmer as he spoke now. Coran hummed a soft tune by the princess’s ear. It sounded like a lullaby... and seemed to help. Allura relaxed some and curled into the body more, as a child would their parent.

The older Altean frowned softly as he closed his eyes, still humming the tune. The girl whined softly before snuggling closer to the comfort. Shiro was trying to focus in on the singing as well... but it wasn’t working. “Adam,” he hummed softly. The other looked down before frowning. Shiro was so pale. “We’re going to wait in the car until Keith and Lance get here. Matt, can you contact Hunk?”

The other nodded quickly as Curtis got a wheel chair for Shiro. He shook his head. “I can stay here.” He couldn't. It was all hitting him at onece, he wanted to forget so badly. He wrapped his arms around Adam as he and Iverson moved him into the chair.

He didn’t want to let go of Adam, he’d always clung to him as if he could take away all the pain, all the fear. ‘Kashi your going to be okay.” That’s what he always said. Kisses, snuggles, reassuring words. When the night terrors hit, the PTSD attacks..... only Adam could bring him out of it. 

He felt weak for it, and awful as he knew it upset Curtis that he couldn’t help. But today... he felt awful because it wasn’t about him. They’d found Allura, they were trying to help Allura... and here he was... head stuck up his own thoughts.

When he came back to focus he was laying down in the back seat of the car, Adam on top of him. The doors were open as to give the man air and not trigger anything. Curtis sat in the passenger seat, rubbing over the human arm with a soft smile. 

“You alright captain?” Gray eyes rolled before Shiro nodded. “Sorry just... seeing her like that. I... I couldn’t help it.” Adam moved up more, protectively holding his lover. “They understand. We’ll go back in later. Maybe seeing the small demon will distract you.” 

“Should have brought Dilly,” Curtis hummed. “She’s not a certified support dog,” Adam reminded before glaring at Shiro. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it! She was too cute, I can’t put her on a schedule. I just want to cuddle her and snuggle.” 

The professor rolled his eyes before kissing around his husband’s face. “That was the point of adopting her,” he huffed. Shiro just smiled softly while giggling. Curtis slowly moved his hand in to tickle under the shortest chin. He was rewarded with a quick snort and playful glare. 

He felt much better. As the three calmed down in the car, medical staff was finally entering the rom. As Allura calmed down they began to run more specific tests, one standing by ready to put her out if she woke up.

The thought scared Coran as she’d been out for so long now. He... he didn’t want them to be here. She was okay. She just needed to wake up! He watched nervously as they worked. Sam stood by him as they waited. Matt had to run, his mother needed him, as well as N-7 who had been watching their child during the time of the emergency. 

It was going to be a long day... or it was going to be a long few weeks. 

__

Later A/N: Okay so the story got over 10 notes, sweet! Here’s chapter 2 if you’d like!

[kaptainkoalaoshiz]

To hear your voice is enough - but I wish there was more...

Shiro

“lance?”

His breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the fizzling black screen. His mind had a hard time getting back on track due to his nightmare and subsequent panic attack so he tried to shake it off.

“Hey Shiro,” thank god his voice didn't waver or crack. “Couldn't sleep?”

“I slept maybe, two hours but it feels so… I don't know… not wrong, maybe weird?”

Lance hummed at that. It must have been really tough for Shiro to find himself being dead and to have to deal with the knowledge your team basically adopted a clone of yourself. But how could they have known? Kuron sounded so genuine. He probably had been, before Haggar took control.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lance asked, cursing the fact he dropped his tablet weeks ago and forgot to ask Hunk to repair it. It resulted in the screen and the camera not working, often an hassle when he got contacted.

“Yes, if that doesn't bother you. But can we go outside to do it? Keith and Krolia are sleeping, I wouldn't want to wake them up. And… It is making me nervous not to be able to see and touch the person I talk to.”

“That's no problem, dude. I think the 'rain’ stopped so I'll join you outside in a minute.”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Lance.”

The communication cut and Lance groaned outwardly, hiding his face in hands. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to talk to Shiro or being near him but he still felt the guilt lingering in the back of his head. The thought of being so useless in noticing that the Shiro they had hadn’t been their Shiro, but a creation so alike they still would have been fooled if it weren’t for Keith, ran deep. Keith and his stupid superpowers that apparently included “save the goddamn day, every damn time he did something as simple as entering a room.

Lance should have known something was wrong with Shiro after ‘stepping’ out of the mindscape and hearing him call after him, only for the man to be dismissive about it when Lance asked a bit later. He should have known when ‘Shiro’ had been losing his temper more and more often but the genuine way he felt guilty and apologized afterward reminded Lance that he had been trying to stay afloat, to stay ‘himself’. Lance could only think fondly of the M&M game they had played together and how the clone had been so intent on being a Paladin.

Being a paladin. That was all he wanted. To live. To laugh, to be as nerdy as possible. Yet it all came to a stop because he hadn’t been their Shiro, just a creation of the horrible witch Haggar.

And that body now hosted the mind and soul of the ‘original’ Shiro. Lance knew he wasn’t the only one who had some difficulties adjusting to the news and Lance was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who felt guilty not to have seen it sooner. But this wasn’t time to dwell upon the past; Shiro, his friend, needed him in the present and not focused somewhere else.

Lance needed to shove his mourning and guilt aside to concentrate on Shiro here and now. Shiro who  was still weak from his resurrection, missing an arm and probably horribly stressed from the whole ordeal. Shiro who was still his friend even though he had missed several months of it. Perhaps Black let him get informations from time to time? This was definitely something to ask.

Groaning again at how complicated the situation was, Lance placed the tablet on his bed, careful not to drop it again. He didn’t need any more reasons for Hunk to berate at him to take more care of his belongings.

Pulling on his shoes, he patted the interior of Red’s mouth as he slowly walked down the stairs, looking around for Shiro. He was there, just as he said, using his left hand to pet Kaltenecker who was appreciating the attention. The cow was just so chill with anything, it was kind of hard to get her something she disliked. Apparently not being with Lance was one of these things. Who could have guessed that a cow would appreciate his presence so much.

“Ahw you don't match anymore.” Lance said with good humour, crossing his arms over his torso because he unfortunately didn’t have any pockets. Shiro lift his head towards him, a small smile etching on his face. It was temptative and a bit shaky but it was there. Good. Being somber didn’t suit him that well.

“Thank you for agreeing to talk, Lance.”

“Dude, I wouldn’t be able to call myself your friend if I didn’t like spending time with you.”

“Everyone is just so hesitant with me, I can honestly say it’s making me crazy. I’ve even thought you were avoiding me.”

Uh oh, abort mission, abort mission! That was too close to the truth for Lance to be comfortable because he had been avoiding Shiro. But for his defense, the man had been sleeping 24/7 since he had been brought back to the world by Allura. It had been easy not to go to him to talk or anything else. and on the rare moments where he would go outside and walk, Lance always made sure he was busy doing something, far away from him.

Man, what guilt can make you do.

“Nah, Keith just told me to go easy on you, since I can exhaust anyone with my sparkling personality. Your body took quite a shock in such a short timeframe, it’s just normal we’re going easy on  you.”

There was that soft smile on his face again as he kept looking at Lance, his now pure white hair sparkling, dyed a soft red on the edges from Red’s barrier. It was there a short moment before disappearing again, replaced by a more concerned expression.

“Lance… you seem, distant. Not just with me but with everyone else. Did something happen?”

Going for the kill much, eh? But that was normal for someone as observant as Shiro, even as weakened as he was.

“I just…” There was no way he was going to spring it on Shiro, not after everything he had endured. Poor man had it way worse than just a two minute cardiac arrest. “I’m just bummed out we had to sacrifice the Castle. We could have gone home so much rapidly with a wormhole. But at the same time I’m kind of glad because that’s more time to prepare myself for the earful my mom is going to give me.”

He leaned toward Shiro with mischievousness in his eyes.

“She’s so scary when she’s angry, scarier than Allura, I can tell you.”

This elicited a laugh from the man and Lance sighed with relief internally. If Shiro was able to laugh and relax, then he was recovering well.

There was a lapse of silence and Lance took advantage of it for observing Shiro a bit more. Apart from the white hair and the missing arm, Shiro had dark bags under his eyes and he was still paler than habitual. His movements were hesitant and often with a delay as if he wasn't synced with his body just yet.

A high pitched whistle cut his reflection short as the heavy rain starts again, shooting down rocks from outer space. Apparently having two moons meant asteroids would be launched toward the ground at pretty irregular intervals. Good thing they were with their Lions. It was dangerous yet as he watched it inside the protection of the barrier, Lance appreciated the show it made.

Up until some of those rocks began to drop directly on their protections, muffled noises making his hair stand on the back of his neck. It would have been fine on its own if the matter those rocks were made of didn’t fizzle and spark against the particle barrier, making the whole protected zone buzz around them. Lance felt his throat closes up as his attention was enraptured by the noise, cold sweat making his whole body shivers. His gaze who had been previously turned toward the sky was becoming vacant as the noise become louder and louder.

“Guess I'm not going back to Black just yet.” Joked Shiro before turning toward Lance with a concerned expression when the later doesn't come up with a quick retort but Lance was too busy trying to regulate his breathing, trying to ground himself to something that wasn’t his mind twirling and shifting. His muscles spasmed without his consent even as his arms were tightly crossed around his lithe frame, making his shivers more pronounced and painful. His face was flaming yet his whole body was freezing cold.

“Lance?”

Shiro’s voice seemed muffled like Lance was drowning, the water rushing and roaring in his ears as the buzz was the only constant thing he could hear. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t breath, he can’t-

A hand entered his field of vision and like breaking a spell Lance lurched forward, hunching over himself as sweat rolled from his forehead and his jaw hurt from gritting his teeth. There was still a thunder in his ears but now with Shiro in front of him, looking extremely worried, Lance could focus. He realized Shiro’s hand was pointed toward him in a placating way while Lance couldn’t quite make out what Shiro was saying, he automatically nodded.

Shiro carefully pulling him into a hug and making the both of them sit on the floor wasn’t what Lance thought would happen but it did make him feel a bit better. The weight of Shiro’s arm on his back and the warmth of it made him relax and with that, his breathing got more regular. Shiro’s hand was rubbing his sweat drenched back but for the moment, Lance didn’t care. He felt safe.

He didn’t really know when he began to cry or when he stopped, cocooned by Shiro’s larger body. There was a blank and a headache, muscles hurting and feeling gross all over. He felt spend, both emotionally and physically and if it weren’t for Shiro tethering him with his touches, he would probably have floated about a lot more.

“Hey buddy, feeling better?” Shiro’s voice was soft, right next to his ear and Lance nodded slowly, sniffling. He felt like shit but it was definitely better than the high strung state his panic attack had left him in.

“Can you try and talk? I won’t push you but this, this is not something I can ignore, Lance.”

Lance wiggled his fingers from where they were gripping Shiro’s shirt, trying to get feelings back into them. It felt like having tiny branches on his hands, difficult to move. It even felt like they weren’t really attached to his body. Just like his legs but that was going to have to wait a little. Shiro’s arm was deceptively comfortable.

“Lance, you have to tell me. Bottling it up will only hurt you.”

“Did.”oh god, was that really his voice? Cracked and small. “- did it hurt when you died? Is it… ok to still be scared?”

“Lance, wha-”

“I don’t want to be s-scared, but I am! and it’s so awful because it wasn’t even that important, I just did what I thought was best but it had,” he couldn’t look at Shiro, couldn’t even talk louder than a fearful whisper because of the anvil on his ribs “,hurt, it had hurt so badly. But Allura was here and it was like, everything is alright, there’s nothing to worry about which is obviously crap but there was somewhere else to go and I felt fine! I was fine, maybe a bit jittery but we were all under duress and you - wel the other you - was under so much more stress. It seemed all unimportant and I thought I was fine.

“I had been fine for a few weeks. There was just a lot to, a lot to be concerned about like Lotor or your clone, the Galras and all so we couldn’t just take a pause - well except for the M&M game we did which had been fun - and think through it. And now, now? There’s nothing to do but think and my sleep who had been pretty bad is just going worse and I can’t hear this stupid-” his breath hitched just thinking of it, could swear he could hear it “- stupid crackling sound without going full tilt into panic but I can’t complain! I can’t complain! You died and was replaced by a clone whom had us all fooled but also he was so genuine?

“I can’t go to anyone else because they’ll just think I want to be dramatic or bother them because obviously it wasn't’t that bad but...” His breath caught on a sob as he fought really hard not to cry again. “but now I’m just pouring it all on you and that’s just unfair because you were dead for months and there was someone else in your spot and me? Nothing apart a lion swap and… “He forced his hands to stop cramping so hard, gasped on a breath that was more of a hiccup than anything, “and feeling my muscles spasming and my heart stopping but I told you, Allura was there so it’s nothing to be worried about. So why am I still scared about it?”

There was silence, a shocked, muted thing that hangs between them as Lance fought to keep his breathing under control yet again, fought not to cry even more than he already did as Shiro was looking at him with extreme concern.

“You died?” Shiro’s voice was so soft as if not to scare Lance more and the boy could only be grateful for it. he was sure that if Shiro had been a bit less in control of his reactions, that would have set off a chain of reaction none of them would have liked to endure.

Lance nodded and choked back more tears.

“I’m sorry to make it all about me, you’ve got it so much worse and I told you, it was just for not even two minutes. And now,” his laugh was clipped and rough “now I’m just whining because I had a small heart attack.”

“Lance…” Shiro’s voice was still soft but there was this edge that was making it impossible to ignore and Lance lifted his gaze to look at Shiro, tears rolling down his cheeks. "How could you do that to yourself?"

Lance frowned, not really understanding where Shiro was going.

“How can you believe for one moment you dying is ’fine’?” Shiro’s voice, albeit still low was now laced with something akin to anger but way more worried. “How can you negate your own experiences just because someone ‘had it worse’?”

“But… that’s…” Lance was cut off by Shiro, who used his hand  to lift Lance’s chin so they would be eye to eye.

“You died. This isn’t nothing. This is something traumatic that happened to you. Dying is not something one is prepared to endure, whatever the cause. Coming back… it’s even harder to know. Some will, some won’t; we’re the ones that lived on and that should be something you need to focus on. Not whether or not you are entitled to a ‘tough luck buddy’ by someone who experienced the same.

“Is this why you are so withdrawn currently? Because you think you are undeserving of comfort?”

Lance sniffled, shaking his head. His head, while clearer was still all over the place but he felt calmer.

“I’m sorry, Shiro… I thought… the longer I acted like I was fine, the quicker I would be.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“I know that, now.” Lance laughed, a sharp sound he quickly put a stop to, cheeks growing hot.

“We’re your friends, Lance. We are here to help you. I am here to help you. You just have to ask.”

Lance nodded as he placed his head back on Shiro’s shoulder. He missed this, his missed the physical contact and the reassuring presence of their friend and leader during these few days were the clone had been into cryostasis. Lance knew this conversation wasn’t going to fix everything immediately but it was a start. Tomorrow he’ll go talk to the others, tomorrow he will start walking down the path of recovery.

“Shiro? I need help.”

[fangzeronos]

SDCC 2018 wrap up

Ok now that SDCC is over, I feel like I should do a little wrap up for the weekend. I got to sit and wait for all the trailers and news to come out since I couldn’t afford to go, so this is gonna be strictly from the “Nerd on the Couch” perspective. I’m putting a read more in case anyone wanna skip this.

 Titans: The trailer was alright. Robin’s in a bad place because of Batman so his “Fuck Batman” line is justified. Starfire and Beast Boy could still use some work, but it was only the first trailer, so we’ll have to reserve judgement until the show comes out. I’m looking forward to it anyway.

 Young Justice Outsiders: It’s actually real. I thought for the last two years we’ve all been thinking it’s not coming and that we’ve all been living in a dream about wanting it back. I was in the middle of the store when I saw the trailer and my heart stopped. Two minutes of Season 2 recap, including Wally’s ‘death’ (HE ISN’T DEAD ALRIGHT!? HE’S JUST IN THE SPEED FORCE AND NOBODY CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE DAMMIT!!!) before we get the new footage. The new characters look amazing, Geoforce looks like he’s going to be a good character, hopefully we’ll get Terra since she’s “been missing for two years”. Still waiting to see M’gann, Kaldur, Beast Boy, and the rest of the season 2 cast, but I’m excited for this one more then Titans.

 And since both shows above are going to be on the DC Universe Online service, I can see paying $75 a year for it if we’re going to get more Young Justice. With all the shows coming out on DCUO, like Harley Quinn, Stargirl, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, and all of the older shows like Batman The Animated Series, Wonder Woman, the older DC movies and the comics, I can justify paying that much for a yearlong subscription.

 Supergirl: Season 4 looks like it’s going to be interesting. Agent Liberty seems like a decent antagonist, but with the way this show has done in the past, hyping a villain for the first half and then swapping it with a generic bad guy for the second, I don’t have much hope. It looks like they’re toning down the relationship drama from season 2 and 3, which is good. I’m honestly thinking they’re going to screw Lena’s character development and have her go evil Luthor judging by how season 3 ended with her “We can begin phase two” line and having the Harun-El made up that she gave to Alura. A few quick shots of Alex as Director of the DEO sporting a new haircut, nothing too revealing except for the Supergirl spacesuit at the end. I saw it and my mind went to the first Injustice 2 game trailer from 2016 with the armored look. I’m looking forward to the new season, not keen on it being on Sundays before the Charmed reboot but have to get the viewers for a remake somehow.

 Arrow: Oliver Queen in prison. That’s a hell of a concept for the season. We know something’s going to change and he’s going to be out by the fourth or fifth episode, possibly earlier. Decent shots of the other characters, Dinah wearing SCPD riot gear was a nice touch, Laurel-2 denouncing vigilantism makes for an interesting idea considering what the hell she’s done in the last seasons. Diaz is fine, not enjoying having him around again but since he didn’t get killed at the end of the last season, it’s fine. Longbow Hunters might make for interesting fodder, but we can’t be sure until the show starts. I’m sick of Felicity, but that arguments been done to death. We all know it was Roy in the Green Arrow suit in the end of the trailer. If it had been Diggle, we’d have seen his face and since we know Roy’s back, it doesn’t really give us many options to choose from. I’m glad it’s on Mondays now so I can watch it and keep up instead of being behind.

 Legends of Tomorrow: It looks great. This one has become one of my favorites on the network and I’m glad to see they’re getting more episodes. Hopefully this season doesn’t get shafted and end up getting thrown to a different night or time or cut in the middle for a different show. Bringing Constantine back for a regular spot is a good move considering what they’re going to be dealing with thanks to the fallout from killing Mallus. Dragons, demons, all sorts of magical and mythical creatures. “Couldn’t we be heroes just a little longer?” made me laugh and it’s that sort of thing that makes Legends stand out to me. It can be dark and gritty but still lighthearted and fun. It’s what Flash started to be and it’s what Arrow needs to be. I’m glad it’s going to be on Mondays along with Arrow.

 Flash: Coming off of the reveal that Mystery Girl is actually Barry and Iris’ daughter (which I’d had a feeling about anyway since she was so giddy at the wedding in the Crisis crossover), Nora seems to be a fun addition to the cast this year. I’m honestly looking forward to seeing what she messed up, why she came back, and why didn’t she learn from Barry’s mistakes about screwing with the Timeline. Cicada looks to be interesting, and I hope he’s going to be the main villain for the year. I want to know more about how Caitlin was Frost before the Accelerator and Flashpoint happened, or is it a side effect of Flashpoint two years later? Guess we’ll find out in October.

 Aquaman: The trailer looked amazing. This might just be part of what the DCEU needs to get its shit together and stop being so grimdark. Wonder Woman proved DC movies can do fun and lighthearted and still hit some dark themes and notes, and this looks like it’s going to do the same thing. Jason Mamoa looks as badass as he did in Justice League, Amber Heard is beautiful as Mera. Atlantis looked amazing. I’m thoroughly excited and December can’t come quick enough to see this.

 Shazam!: One of my favorite DC heroes, man. Zachary Levi just killed it in this trailer and I was laughing the whole way through. If the movie keeps that same energy up, I’ll be damn happy. March release for this one and I’m ready to go!

 Godzilla: King of the Monsters: It’s frigging Godzilla, fighting his own list of bad guys. Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, all classics that should have been in the first one instead of the MUTO. I’ve always been a Godzilla nerd, so when I saw this trailer I was geeking the fuck out. I’m definitely excited for this one.

 Now, you’re probably wondering, “Hey, where’s Voltron in all of this?” and you’d be right that I haven’t talked about it yet. I have spent three days milling over the reveals from the Voltron panel and been trying the right ways to word things, so I don’t seem like I’m being an asshole and damning myself with what I’m going to say. Now, with that out of the way.

 The season 7 trailer looked good. We’re going back to Earth, so who knows how much time really has passed since the only indication we’ve had was the week that Kuron was in the Galra fighter before Keith and Black found him back in season 3. I’m sad to see that season 8 is going to be the last of VLD, but I can understand why, since they were only approved for so many episodes. Going back to a 13-episode season is the best thing they could have done. Keith piloting Black still kind of irks me, but with Shiro only having one arm, I guess it makes sense. I would much rather have Allura in Black, put Lance back in Blue, and give Red back to Keith, but that’s a whole other post.

 The big thing people took away from the panel was “You’ll meet Shiro’s significant other, Adam.” When I saw that on Twitter, I was…. I’m not gonna lie, I was disappointed. You’ve had six seasons of moments between Shiro and Allura, the Hand Touch, the way she looked at him when he said “You found me” at the end of the season, how adamant they are about saving each other every time they’re in danger, Shiro’s resolve to get her back in Season 1 after she threw him into the shuttle and got taken by the Galra. And now it’s all thrown out of the airlock?

 No offense to the writers, Josh Keaton who gets mad credit for keeping this close to the chest and not revealing anything, the fans that are a fan of this plot point for the next season, but I’m not a fan. Don’t get me wrong, LGBT representation in animation/kids’ media has come a long way in a few short years. Look at Steven Universe. One of the main characters is a literal fusion of two she-pronoun using space rocks. I just feel like this is shoehorned in like a checkmark on an RPG character creation. “PTSD? Check. Missing limb? Check. Male POC? Check. What else can we check to make people happy? OH! Gay! DOUBLE CHECK!!” is what it feels like to me. To me, this feels like the writers have been shadow stalking Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, everywhere else Voltron is big and made their choice but what the popular ships were in the search results.

 Make Shiro gay, fine. Make him bi, that’d be a better option because then we can ship him with whoever we want and not get comments that say that shipping Shiro with Allura or any other female member of this show is gay erasure. By saying “Shiro’s gay”, you’re shooting all of the other Shiro ships in the face. Shieth shippers are over the moon, Shallura shippers are sitting in a corner, Klance shippers are looking between the two going “WTF”, and the rest of the internet’s like “Why is it a big deal?”

 I feel like I should stop there about this. This is already more then a page in my word doc.

 SDCC 2018 was fun to watch from a distance. CW brought some good trailers, DC killed it with 8 trailers, and Voltron is what it is. Now begins the countdown for SDCC 2019.

[ptw30]

Ficlet: The Greatest Gift Remix

Shiro Week Day 2: Original/Divergent - @blackpaladinweek

Summary: Lance feels bad for not having saved Shiro from the Galra Empire sooner. Shiro thanks him for it.

It was the little things the paladins realized later. The way Shiro buttered his toast with food goo or the way he always worked out in the morning. He listened to them, gave their thoughts and battle observations credence. He never put them down, and though he yelled, he never barked

Not like the person they eventually dubbed Kuron.

After they found whom Lance affectionately called “The OG Shiro,” Keith refused to let him out of his sight. More than once the paladins saw the duo coming out of the same room in the morning. Hunk made a point to make all of Shiro’s favorite foods, despite the Black Paladin’s weak but true reassurance. Lance, too, found a spot against Shiro during movie nights and all-around meetings, and Pidge placed a tracking device in Shiro’s new arm and debated whether they should implant one in him as well. (Shiro vetoed that despite a paladin majority vote.) Allura, too, began to cling to Shiro, sharing the training deck with him almost as much as Keith.

Perhaps the biggest shock was the first time the original five paladins came together again. Hearing Shiro yell, “Form Voltron,” followed by the infectious warmth that could only come from their once-lost leader – it brought tears to Hunk’s eyes and a giddiness in Pidge’s voice, quiet but true affection from Keith, and absolute dismay from Lance.

How could they had ever thought Kuron was Shiro?

When they returned to the bridge and Shiro made his way up the few steps from the Black Paladin’s console, he slung an arm about Keith’s shoulders and ruffled Pidge’s hair. He fist-pumped Hunk but stopped when he turned to Lance, who approached him without his usual post-win glee.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, wringing the back of his neck, unable to meet Shiro’s concerned gaze. “We-We should have known, and we didn’t. And – And because of that – you went through hell, and – and I know this doesn’t make up for it.” The tears slipped down his cheeks, and his hands fell to his sides, open and helpless. “But I’m really – ”

Large, firm hands clasped his shoulders, and before he could catch himself, Lance looked up. Shiro stared at him with a wordless apology, but what would Shiro have to be sorry for? He was the one taken. He was the one trapped and lost and hurt over and over by the Galra again, and they hadn’t had a clue.

Shiro’s face blurred until Lance’s couldn’t see it, and then he felt himself being pulled forward. Shiro folded his arms over Lance’s shoulders and tucked Lance’s slighter frame against his own, and the solacing warm and comfortable hold – something Kuron had only done once with them – fueled Lance’s sobs. They became messy and loud, and he couldn’t stop them. How was it that he had wanted to comfort Shiro and instead found himself being consoled?

But Shiro never shushed him. Instead, he simply hung on until Lance wore himself out and then, in the waking silence, whispered, “Thank you, Lance.”

“Thank you?” Lance tried to tug away, only to be let go as far as arm’s length. “Why are you thanking me? We left you there. We – ”

“I actually don’t remember much. By the time I was waking up, you were already there, welcoming me back, so I wasn’t ever really alone with the Galra. Not that I remember.”

“But – ”

“But you saved me, again. You guys always find me when I’m lost, and you always bring me back. You taught me I’m not alone. I’m never alone, even when in Galran captivity. I don’t think there’s a greater gift than that, so yes. Thank you, Lance.”

Lance found the tears starting again, but then Keith was there, wrapping his strong arms around them. By his expression, Lance guessed Shiro had given him this speech, too.

Hunk and Pidge joined in, followed by Coran and Allura. And yeah, they’d lost Shiro again, but they’d gotten him back, too. And to Lance, that was the greatest gift there ever could be.

More Shiro Week Prompt Fills

[dent-de-leon]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I only got gaslighting vibes from Kuron's "how many times" line at the end of S3, because it seemed to work on Keith: turning him from awkward and uncomfortable to smiling and relieved? I didn't get anything from Kuron other than knowing that's what he needed to say to relax Keith? Because even if innocent, Kuron can deal with his own feelings of something being wrong but the second Keith notices it becomes real and Kuron feels more selfish than Shiro?

Alright, the thing is, I’ve talked a bit about how Kuron’s been affected by brainwashing–and could unknowingly be gaslighting Keith. However, I don’t think this happens until much later in the episode, after their run-in with Lotor’s comet ship. I think there’s a definitive turning point in Kuron’s mindset that happens after the bedroom scene. It’s something else I’ve touched on briefly, but “thematic haircuts” are very much a thing in narratives. And in Voltron’s case, we’ve already seen this through Pidge. For her, a haircut meant assuming a false identity. Attempting to be someone else. 

Similarly, Kuron cutting his hair to look more like Shiro, wearing similar style clothes, and attempting to resume leadership–it all indicates he’s imitating Shiro. This is part of what makes Kuron feel so off and unsettling. He can’t mimic Shiro perfectly, and the uncanny resemblance yet sharp contrast is unnerving. So, that being said–if we look at at Kuron’s behavior and outward physical changes, I think we see his true self prior to the haircut. Everything up until that point, in my mind, is mostly genuine. So, let’s take a look at that bedroom scene:

Keith sees Kuron when he’s at his most vulnerable. He’s the only one that does. Keith says, “Well, if you’re feeling up to it, the rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and moving around again.” This implies that not only has Kuron been bedridden, but he hasn’t trusted anyone else to enter his room yet. Only Keith. If he really just cared about manipulating the team, wouldn’t it be far more efficient to interact with them all as much as possible? Why just play Keith? I also don’t think Kuron was really in any state to playing mind games. He admits he might not be able to get up just yet, and it’s clear he’s been out of commission for some time–I don’t think the team would all be out on missions already otherwise. 

And I believe Keith’s demeanor is more than just “awkward.” He’s clearly very concerned for “Shiro.” There’s an implicit I need you when he says “they.” He’s also clearly crestfallen by the thought Black might have left Kuron to the mercy of the galra. Even trying to comfort him by speculating it was a misguided rescue attempt–“Could it have teleported you? Maybe it was trying to save you” “Maybe Zarkon forced it too.” He’s also had to witness the person he loves most be torn away from him by the galra again. The last time that happened, Shiro lost an arm and was clearly tortured and traumatized. Who knows what they took from him this time? Keith has every reason to be fraught with worry. 

As for what Kuron said, I think it was entirely intimate. There was a depth to it you wouldn’t find in just simple distractions. It feels to me like so much more than just a convenient line to appease Keith. The thing is, I don’t think Shiro is one to really tell people what they mean to him out loud. He shows his feelings by action–running to Keith’s defense at every turn, holding him close. Even Keith is more inclined to voice his feelings, I think. He attempts to tell Shiro how much he means–“My life would be a whole lot different without you,” only for Shiro to turn it into a morbid joke. So Shiro’s not as expressive about his feelings, and I think he’s better at concealing them than Keith. 

Which is partly why this line surprised me, I think. It seems so very forward for Shiro. But Kuron has no problem saying it. It’s a line he throws in teasingly, but there’s also a lot of gravity to it. It’s not just your standard “oh, thanks for saving me, buddy” it’s him acknowledging how Keith has rescued him time and time again. How his presence is some assured constant, how he’ll always be there for him. 

And to joke about someone’s devotion like that? Honestly, it feels somewhat flirty to me. And he’s completely unabashed in the admission, smiles knowingly rather than shying away from it. And Keith returns that sentiment in full. There’s a heart-clenching honesty in his voice when he says, “As many times as it takes,” a promise he vows with easy confidence. He’ll never abandon Shiro. For him, that’s a definite certainty. 

If you have still doubts about Kuron’s sincerity, I’d direct you back to his reunion with Keith. That sure looks like they have a meaningful connection to me. Keith is also the first of Shiro’s memories to resurface, indicating that it was perhaps the one Kuron held dearest. Given how he’d seen Keith through Shiro’s eyes, and how Keith saved him again, and also stayed at his bedside? I think Kuron has every reason to adore him. He doesn’t let himself break down in front of anyone else, doesn’t even trust the others to see him when he’s so vulnerable. To me he has a clear soft spot for Keith, and it’s what brought on the sudden confidence to say something I don’t think Shiro necessarily would. 

Also, it’s worth noting that Kuron cheered Keith up so much he tried making a little joke to lighten the mood between him and Lance later on. Lance smiles when Keith says “Leave the math to Pidge”–that’s not gaslighting. It’s just him trying to comfort a friend. Of course, you don’t get that same depth and dramatic mood from Keith’s parting words to Lance, but that’s because his dynamic with Lance is completely different from what he had with Shiro.