#Lotor LITERALLY KILLED his dad | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

raziroo · 4 years ago

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Chapter 3 | I Am Not At All Wise

Pairing: There's hints, but none

Genre: Angst?

Warnings: Overly Casual Mentions of Depression and Anxiety, Mentions of Trading of Lives

Word Count: 1,926

Author's Note: This might appear a little rushed, because I got this sudden surge of inspiration and sat down to write this and this isn't even proofread. Sorry, hehe.

‘Guys, what’s wrong with you?! This my father we’re talking about, my father! Why are you so hesitant to trade him for Lotor?’

The tense energy in the room only became even more suffocating when Pidge let that question, among others, loose like cannonballs. I was glad I was sitting even a bit away from the ongoing discussion, because the questions and not up to par answers were succeeding in making me uncomfortable. After all, the topic at hand wasn’t light at all – a topic such as trading of lives is one that questions your morals, your beliefs, literally everything you, as a person, stand for. I stared at Pidge, her absolutely enraged expression making me gulp nervously`. If Pidge didn’t get her father back now, after finding out his destination, then God knows how many shots are going to get fired at whom. And although I’m not saying that Pidge is wrong, she isn’t even right.

That’s confusing.

What I meant to say was, that although Pidge’s actions and fury and incredulousness were fully justified, it didn’t mean that we could all just nod heads in tandem and send Lotor off as some sort of pig for slaughter in exchange of Pidge’s dad. It wasn’t fair.

As my eyes lost focus, I recalled Captain America��s words – we don’t trade lives.

I snapped out of my thoughts. I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t, ultimately. Heading to my room now instead of just sitting there and making myself look like an unopinionated fool wasn’t helping me anyways, and neither was Lotor’s presence a couple feet beside me.

I decided to head to my room.

After all, that was what I was best at, wasn’t it? After finally accepting that I was a time traveler and couldn’t ever see my friends or family ever again and that aliens did actually exist, and not just on Mars (wait, did aliens exist on Mars? I never asked that), all I did for a good sum of time was hide in my room. Activities except hiding in my room included roaming through the castle and running to my room as soon as I deducted any trace of intelligent life near me, being strangely intimate with the white lion – intimacy including venting about how I was probably depressed, possibly had anxiety, caressing the lioness because she’s beautiful, and nestling in her cockpit because she felt like home – and running to my room when Shiro questioned me about my connection with White.

A bit after, when I felt more reassured and had begun craving human communication, I finally emerged from my cave, only to find that some of the Paladins didn’t seem too happy with my presence. Time went on, spirits fell, only to rise once again in blazing hopes of dethroning Zarkon, and my naturally social abilities helped me blend in with the Paladins soon. A lot of the comfort I felt among the Paladins, I owed to Shiro and Hunk. Those two were literally angels, especially to me. I couldn’t count on all the fingers of the Paladins and Allura combined how may times those two, and occasionally Lance, came to offer me a hug or talk to me when I looked glum. Even Allura and Pidge talked to meif they were free. The only person I had problems interacting with was Keith. But we’d nod to each other, say our greetings, and I accepted that. I couldn’t be besties with everyone. However, mine and Keith’s communication skills only worsened and problems only increased once Shiro disappeared. Keith straight up would refuse to pilot the Black Lion, and even when he finally agreed, he was so unorganized and his decisions so rash it was costing the coalition. When Lions started becoming unstable to fight after longer, tougher battles, White was expected to fill in. After all, it was the White Lion’s purpose – to be the mind of Voltron when the Paladins couldn’t, to keep the soul, fire, water, air and flora elements in check, Allura had once said to me. Only, White needed a pilot, a Paladin. And all expectations of being White’s pilot were pinned on me, naturally, because I was the one who seemingly materialized in her cockpit out of nowhere.

I, obviously, failed to do that. Because apparently (and quite obviously, if I do say so myself) even though White warmed up the cockpit for me when I slept there and seemed to purr when I caressed her face, I wasn’t worthy enough, in her gaze, to be a Paladin. And I truly had no qualms about that. The only issue was that Keith wasn’t satisfied with that. Pidge and Lance tried to hide it, but they too, felt that I should try harder. Hunk comforted me when I accidentally let the hurt I was feeling shine through. Allura tried to convince everyone that it wasn’t my fault at all, that the Lions only accepted whom they deemed fit to Pilot them, and the reason the White Lion even was the “extra” Lion in the first place was that it was hardest than any of the other Lions to convince to be Pilot of. It was simply too calculating and cynical and choosy – and I agreed with White wholly, because stepping in as the voice of reason, as the mind of Voltron when all these worthy, noble, brave people who were specifically selected to be the defender and judge of the universe when no one else could failed to do their jobs, then you needed to be one hell of a person to be honoured with the name “White Paladin of Voltron”.

When Shiro had come back, or as he said, when Keith brought him back, the Castle seemed to light up more. I understood why he was chosen to be the soul to combine the other elements and form Voltron. I was ecstatic, perhaps happier than some of the Paladins even, but that didn’t mean I didn’t notice – or rather, didn’t choose to shrug off - his strange and simply out of character behaviour at times. I wasn’t the only one that did. It was when I voiced to White about my concerns, and she glowed – literally glowed as if in agreement did I know that shit was serious. White, as weirdly impossible as it sounds, also noticed. She knew, too, that something wasn’t right with Shiro. It was beyond me how she did, but I didn’t get to ponder on that for too long.

Why?

Because Lotor happened. He arrived as our saviour at the most unexpected moment and in the most unexpected way, and then became unpredictability, unanswered questions, and uncertainty personified for us. How many rifts and arguments he alone had caused between the Paladins was the slightest bit alarming, but justified, in my opinion. Lotor had succeeded in messing up our functioning. It didn’t matter if it was only a tad – he was the anthropomorphic form of all the flaws and hesitancies and wrongs and uncertainties in the coalition that we’d turned a blind eye to.

And now Zarkon had offered us Pidge’s dad’s freedom in exchange of Lotor, but I would be lying if I said if I wasn’t the tiniest bit worried as to just what Zarkon would do to Lotor. I know, I know, I really was no one to be straining my brain for that, since Lotor was an alien Prince who had equal chances of being good and evil, was capable of killing us all if he wished to, and had probably endured worse than his father’s wrath. But that wasn’t even the biggest issue we had. Pidge getting fired up was reasonable enough, I was aware of how emotionally driven she could become at times despite being a genius. And her brain refusing to work when her family came into play was the reason I was bothered most – even if she convinced the other Paladins to go through with the exchange, there was absolutely no surety that Zarkon would keep his part of the deal. It was legit the dumbest, most irrational thing the protagonist could do. If that happened, we’d lose both Pidge’s father, and an extremely valuable asset to the coalition.

I didn’t really realize that during my very acceptable train of self-depreciating thoughts I’d changed my route and had instinctively begun for White. I guess it was only right, as I felt more at ease there than anywhere. It was only when I reached her and stroked her, she seemed to… close in on her herself. I furrowed my brow, a small frown on my lips.

I sighed. It was probably nothing.

Relaxing my facial muscles, I closed my eyes, leaned forward, and nudged White’s snout. I jumped back with a start when instead of the usual purr or whimper, she growled at me. The crease between my brows returned with a higher intensity.

‘What is it, girl? Hmm?’ I cooed at her, not risking touching her. ‘Is something wrong? Do you not want to talk? Should I go?’

Silence was what I received in exchange.

‘My love,’ yes I called White “my love”, “girl”, have and will continue to call her “babe”, and no you cannot do jack about it. ‘You need to tell me, please,’ I continued, my voice gentle as ever, ‘how am I supposed to know what you want to say? You’ve never growled at me before. I don’t know how to interpret that gesture. Do I take it as you being upset? Angry? Sad?’ She still didn’t answer. All the life seemed to leave her.

I tilted my head. My sigh bounced off the walls.

‘The White Lion is said to be the mind of Voltron,’ a naturally assertive, deep, thunder-like voice called. I was sure I jumped at least a foot before whipping my head to where the voice resonated from. Lotor. What -?

‘Forgive me if I scared you. I thought it wise to offer some assistance; you seemed to be in need of help.’

I didn’t answer. He took it as a “yes, I need your help”. ‘The most probable reason it is not responding to your calls, is because you are contradicting what the White Lion stands for, you aren’t being wise. That is, assuming the Lion does answer you typically.’

I turned back to White, my jaw setting. My lingering suspicion turned into certainty at Lotor’s remarks.

Well. As much as I cherished my relations with White, I wasn’t going to voice my thoughts and concerns regarding the life trade. I wasn’t particularly keen on getting involved. I wasn’t the White Paladin. I wasn’t the voice of reason. I couldn’t be. This was the exact reason as to why I couldn’t be the White Paladin. I had many a thought, but didn’t always think it wise to share them with others.

Especially not when “others” included a leader that was not being himself, a princess who wanted to get rid of the Galra empire and Zarkon as soon as possible no matter the cost, and a Paladin who was going feral and becoming blind by rage at the thought of not getting her father back when she was so close.

Yes. Now definitely not.

Without sparing Lotor or White another glance, I headed to my room, for real this time. I didn’t notice both of their piercing gazes aimed at my retreating figure.

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 4 years ago

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Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 204

204

Extreme fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and dehydration was Coran’s official diagnosis with a small milk duct blockage in Lance’s left breast. Wanting to keep Lance in for a couple of days so he could rest and recuperate, Lance found himself tired of sleeping. Keith having to go back to Garrison for the full moon left him feeling lonely, though Rieva had brought Blue up to stay with him for company, and Shiro was taking care of Kosmo.

With their friends being their usual selves, they’d all come to visit. Pidge smacking him for ending up “in hospital again”. It hadn’t been his plan to. Sleeping all the time felt like a waste of time. Time he should be using to clean the nursery and make sure everything was organised for the birth. The vampire felt awful that Keith was stuck babysitting him when he wasn’t even awake to keep his lover company. He also felt awful that fresh human blood had perked him up more than Keith’s blood. Keith was his everything and tried his hardest for him. Now he was stuck with a fiancé that just wanted sleep, and if he wasn’t sleeping he was eating or expressing milk to ease the blockage... Keith seemed overly eager to help with that bit.

Of all the nights for insomnia to finally kick in, it was the first night of the full moon. He’d fallen asleep talking to Keith. Matt and Rieva swore to take care of Keith in his absence, but that wasn’t the same as him being there to help Keith during the daytime. He wanted to see for himself that Keith was safe. The idea Keith would be howling at their window for him, only for him not to be there hurt. If he hadn’t taken Lance’s bronco back to Garrison, Lance would have probably planned his escape, even if it meant being yelled at over it later.

Sighing to himself, Lance glared at the ticking clock on the bedside table. He really missed Keith. Blue was snuggled against his stomach, happy that her human was back to give her the attention she rightly deserved. He’d missed her. Kosmo came for a short visit before Keith had Shiro take him back to the apartment. Their best boy fur son hadn’t meant for one of his big paws to collide with Lance’s junk, but in his excitement that was exactly what had happened, whole body wiggling with excitement as he was hauled away. The time read a little after 9pm. Keith would have turned by now. He, Matt, and Rieva, would be doing whatever werewolves did when the moon was full... unlike him who was stuck waiting for the full moon to pass completely before he could finally go home to his bed.

A soft knock on the room door went ignored as Lance didn’t particularly want company, no matter how lonely he was. Cracking the door open, there came a giggle followed by a stumble and quick closing of the door, then a sigh a relief

“Pidgeon?”

Shrieking, Pidge clapped her hand over her mouth cutting off the noise. Evidently their little gremlin thought she was being sneaky about something. When a moment or two passed with no one coming to check, Pidge let out a whooshing breath of relief as Lance rolled himself back to prop himself up and stare at her in confusion

“Dude! You totally scared me! What are you doing awake?!”

Now he was slightly afraid. A sneaky Pidge was a planning Pidge

“Uh, you do realise this is my room...? Should I ask what you had planned if you found me sleeping?”

“That’s for the lord to know. Scooch over, I brought snacks”

Year of experience told Lance to do what Pidge said, even if he couldn’t scooch that much over. Coming over to the bed, Pidge was well stocked, her backpack over stuffed as she pushed it at him. Climbing up beside him, under the blankets, Pidge took her backpack back and started unpacking

“I’ve got snacks. I’ve got drinks. I’ve got my laptop... I think I’ve got everything we need”

“Everything “we need” for what?”

“A movie night. Me and you. Coran was totally like “let him rest!”. So I snuck down here to keep you company, because I’m like the best friend ever”

“You didn’t know I was going to be awake. What were you planning on doing if I was sleeping?”

“Watch you. Maybe do some coding... maybe give you a monobrow and a moustache? You know, what besties do when their bestie insists on playing Sleeping Beauty... but without the kissing ‘cause that’s just gross”

He knew Pidge and Hunk had both been to visit a few times when he’d been sleeping. He’d catch their scents and feel awful for not being awake. Keith told him repeatedly they understood, which made a grand total of two people who seemed to know what was going on. That his little Gremlin would come sneaking in, knowing he’d be lonely, brought him to tears

“Pidgeon...”

“Ah! Keith will kill me if he knows I made you cry. I’ve got a full battery so all we need now is the movie. There’s this new terrible zomedy I’ve been dying to watch, but Hunk is always sucking face with Shay, meaning you get the pleasure of my company and my outstanding choice in movies. Now, I don’t want anymore tears for the rest of the night”

God he loved her. Poised on the edge of some serious wallowing over missing Keith, Pidge had turned up in time to save him. Apologising seemed the best way to sum up his currently feelings. He was sorry they were stuck underground when he could technically go home, but was staying put for Keith’s sake

“I’m sorry”

Pidge slapped his arm lightly

“So you should be. I was seriously going to bust you out, but the nurses were between me and the wheelchair. I mean, I’m sure I’m fasting them, but I’m also pretty sure Keith would have literally killed me if I tipped the chair over mid-escape. I’ve got all the best snacks, plus I’ve got my coffee...”

“Pidge, laptops and coffee aren’t friends”

Pidge sighed heavily at him as she rolled her eyes

“I know that, dad. I’m simply saying I’ve totally planned this, so you have to do your part and keep me company”

“Fiiiine. I reserve the right to be upset about in the morning. Can I request something artistic, I mean, if you’re going to all that trouble it’ll have to be something good?”

“Dude, totally. The biggest, hairiest, cock and balls I can fit. I might even sign it just so everyone knows it was me”

Chuckling, Lance shimmied down a little to take the weight off his hips. He wouldn’t be surprised if the twins pulled an “Alien” at this point and simply busted their way out with how big felt

“Pretty sure the only one game enough to spend the night with a sleepy vampire. I won’t be offended if you leave for a better offer”

“Pray tell, how does one have a better offer? I mean, we’re officially the two group loners tonight. Keith’s off with Matt and Rieva. Hunk’s always busy with Shay. He won’t even come look at spooky buildings anymore. I’d bet 50 bucks right now that Allura is on the phone to Lotor. Shiro and Curtis are probably getting it on... face it, we don’t have any better offers”

Poor Pidge. All of them had found someone, and for someone who insisted she didn’t need anyone more than she needed her precious technology, he’d stupidly let her feel lonely

“Then it’ll be us against the world, tonight. A couple of wide eyed explorers on a doomed mission to Mars. You didn’t bring cornflakes, right?”

Pidge snorted with laughter, a total sucker for a movie reference

“No. And I don’t want to see your cobwebs or talk about pigeons”

“Some of my best material is about Pidgeons”

Accentuating the word earned him a sigh from his gremlin

“You’re awful. Your jokes are lame, old man”

“Says you. Besides, the twins can hear you now. They’ve got to get used to how snarky their aunty Pidge is”

“Excuse you. I’m the best aunty out there. Unless you’re suddenly talking to your sisters again... Shit. I shouldn’t have gone there”

Half way through Pidge had lost her joking tone. Lance feeling bad because teasing was the way Pidge showed love

“Vee messaged me when I was away with Keith. I don’t know what to say to her. You don’t need to apologise”

“I kind of do. I know you’re not on good terms with them”

“Yeah... I like... feel bad I haven’t replied, but you’re more of a sister to me than them anyway. Who needs blood when they’ve got their own little gremlin?”

“Uh, you. Isn’t that your whole vampire thing?”

Now Lance was groaning. He saw what she did there...

“You call me lame, and you still went there. You know, I’m going to have to get up and pee now”

Pidge faked a gasp of surprise, Lance bumping her with his shoulder. Having Pidge smiling again was a zillion times better than having her apologise and worry

“Are you sure? It’s been a whole 5 minutes”

“Oh no. I better go before I pee on you. I’m going to remember this when you’re pregnant and need to pee”

“Dream on, loser. You just watch. I’m going to give birth to next wave of technology”

“I know you will. If anyone can, it’s you. Right, no snacking until I come back. And don’t start the movie. I want to see it in all its pirated glory”

“How do you know it’s pirated?”

“This is you. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and there’s our Pidge”

“Where’s there’s an idiot, there’s a Lance, and where there’s Lance, there’s usually a Keith. I swear. He gotten bitten once, now he’s twice as stupid as he ever was”

Lance’s ego took Pidge’s joke wrong. Keith was crazy smart... and he was his idiot. Maybe they’d called themselves idiots too many times because now everyone is on the joke?

“Keith technically didn’t get bitten... and he’s not stupid. He’s anger loaf of emo ways”

“I don’t know. When he’s around you, he gets a dumb look in his eyes... He’s so in love with you”

“Oh, so looking at me’s dumb... You’re so romantic Pidge”

Pidge waved him off

“I’m saying everyone in love goes dumb. You two are just twice as stupid. And will you go pee already? I want my raspberry licorice, but someone said I had to wait to snack”

They’d ended up watching movies most of the night, Pidge fuelled by sugar, Lance unable to stop his thoughts from drifting back to Keith, and maybe tad towards annoyance as he couldn’t really claim he’d stayed up all night. Sometime before the end of the first movie he’d drifted off, then woke up during the second. Knowing Pidge was waiting for him to comment on the clear change, Lance didn’t give her the satisfaction. He loved his little gremlin, and he’d be having words with Keith in having her come round more often so she no longer felt left out.

The third movie had just started when both of them were startled by a scratching noise at the door of his room. Both snacked out, and comfortable under the covers, the pair of them looked to each other

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

It was the only scientific way to decide who was checking the door

“Hell no. This is your room”

“Meaning I’m the patient, and you should check”

“Nope. Uh uh. I’m not opening the door to death today”

“So it’s fine for me to?”

“You’re the vampire”

Lance spluttered. What was he supposed to do? Given birth on their intruder?!

“I’m pregnant!”

“Exactly. They’re more likely to take mercy on a dad to be... you wouldn’t want little old me being hurt, would you?”

Pidge fluttered her eyelashes at him, Lance groaning in defeat as the scratching noise grew louder

“Fine. God. Remind me why I love you again?”

“Because you do”

“Touché. If I get murdered, I’m coming back to haunt you”

“Please do. Having hard evidence of life after death would be nice”

Because being a vampire totally didn’t count? Ugh. Bloody humans.

Climbing out of bed, Lance shivered, wrapping his arms around himself he shuffled over to the door. Blue had abandoned him when Pidge came in, Lance feeling she had the right idea

“Don’t die!”

Lance flipped Pidge off. She could have come and investigated with him, but nooooo. She had to use his love against him

“I’m already dead. For a smart person, you have your moments. Alright, I’m opening the door now”

Cracking the handle, something big crashed into his legs, knocking him enough that Lance had to use his strength to fall. Soft black fur brushed against him as a wet nose poked the gap between his shirt and pants

“Keith?!”

As he stepped backwards, Keith stumbled into the room. Making it past him, his boyfriend collapsed onto the floor. What the fuck was Keith doing there?!

Pidge sounded just as shocked as Lance was

“Did you say Keith?”

Keith’s ear twitched upwards, growl escaping, as rolled to lay on his belly with his eyes on the bed. His chest was heaving, as the scent of blood reached Lance’s nose. This wasn’t good. Keith wasn’t coherent enough to be in a room with Pidge. Fuck... Had Keith not gone home?!

“Pidge, I want you to very carefully climb off the bed and make your way into the bathroom. I’m going to sit down and try to keep him distracted. I need you to call Coran”

“But... is that really Keith? He’s so big...”

Keith snarled at the sound of Pidge’s voice. His muscles twitching. Moving between his best friend and his fiancé, Lance placed his hand on Keith’s head, fisting the fur between Keith’s ears lightly

“He’s big and he’s not himself right now. I don’t know how he got here, but he’s not seeing you as friend. You need to move slowly and carefully... and be quite. If he thinks you’re a threat to me, he’ll attack. Let me sit down, then you can move”

Lowering himself to sit in front of Keith physically hurt. The floor unfairly close to the ground and not kind on his poor body at all. Taking Keith’s face in his hand, his fiancé seemed to recognise him

“Awooo... woo... woooooo...”

“I’m okay. I’m okay and I’m safe. Pidge, move now. It’s alright, babe. See. No bad guys here”

Pidge failed at being quiet, Keith trying to pull his head away from being forced to stare at Lance, teeth bared in anger. Fuck...

“Don’t mind the noise. See, baby. I’m right here. Right here... shhhh... it’s okay”

Bolting towards the bathroom, Keith went to rise as he snarled at Pidge. Lance holding him tighter until the bathroom lock turned

“Nope. No. Keith, don’t fight me here”

Snarling at him for stopping him, Keith went his hand, teeth clamping into his arm. Fuck. Lance felt his bones crunch. Keith knew it was him, but he was stopping him from his prey, which made him the enemy

“Keith! Stop! I’m fine! I’m fine! Let go”

If a werewolf could look confused as fuck for having an arm in its mouth, Keith managed to express it perfectly. Kind of grimacing, he let go of Lance’s arm with his nose upturned metaphorically. He didn’t smell that great to a werewolf. He probably smelt like a freshly dug up corpse to his fiancé, like a zombie arm with too much flesh connected

“See. It’s okay. Sit back down. Sit back down, boy”

Squashing all the ego he could, he maintained eye contact until Keith slowly lowered his body down. He’d learned how to break an ego, but he couldn’t hypnotise like Lotor or Sendak

“Good. That’s a good, boy. That’s my boy... here, let me scratch your head, I know you love scratches. Did you walk here?”

“Woooo”

Lance didn’t know wolf, yet he took an educated guess that that meant yes. Keith must have walked all the way from Garrison to be with him

“Oh, babe. Babe, I’m okay. I’m okay. I know it’s scary, but nothing happened. You must be so thirsty right now”

Raising his head a little, Keith’s howls were soft

“Wooooooooooo wooo woo”

“Yeah. I know. You’re confused. But you know this means you’ve finally conquered running around as a wolf. God, babe. What if something happened to you? You can’t do that to my heart”

“Woooo”

“I love you, too. Can you stand? You’ve got to be exhausted. If you can get up on the bed, I can try to cuddle with you”

There was no way Keith was fitting up there with him. His boyfriend was way too big in this form. Trying to push himself up, Lance saw how much Keith’s body shook with the effort

“Hey, no. If you can’t that’s fine. I’ll stay down here and give you pats”

Keith growled stubbornly at him. With his arm busted, he couldn’t help him up on the bed until it’d healed

“I know. You’re a big strong wolf, I’m sorry. I don’t doubt your strength”

Nearly rising, Keith slumped back down. There was no way he was moving. As he noticed what he’d done to Lance’s arm, he let out a distressed whine

“Shhh. It barely hurts. It’ll be all healed by the morning. I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you”

Whether it be wolf instincts or Keith’s regret, his fiancé nosed at the wound, starting to lap at the blood there

“You don’t need to clean it, it’ll clear up on its own. You’re safe here, babe. You’re safe”

Lance had nearly lulled Keith back to sleep with head pats when Coran came rushing into the room, startling Keith. Snarling at the intrusion, Lance grabbed him before he could go Coran. What kind of werewolf expert comes rushing into a room where there’s a freakin’ werewolf with his pregnant mate?!

“What are you doing?! You scared him!”

Coran was flustered. His radiant orange hair not perfectly in position as it normally was, opening and closing his mouth at the sight of them, the fae quickly drew himself together under Lance’s scowl

“I’m sorry, my dear boy! I fear I was in a rush to ensure you and our Pidge were quite safe”

“We’re fine. I’m fine, Pidge maybe not. She’s locked in the bathroom... I nearly had him settled”

Tugging Keith back, the werewolf wouldn’t take his eyes off Coran. Grabbing Keith by the muzzle, he forced his gaze onto him

“Stop it! He’s a friend. You know me and you know him. Don’t make me put you in a time out!”

Keith seemed shocked that he’d consider such a thing. Pulling on Lance’s hold, he tried to look back to Coran

“No. Focus on me. See, he hasn’t hurt me. Seriously, did you have to come rushing in like that? I nearly had him sleeping”

“I do apologise. Pidge’s phone call left me quite perplexed...”

“And it took you half an hour to coming rushing to our aid?”

Sheepishly Coran ducked his head as he scratched the back of it. So much if they had been in any actual danger, or attacked by a stranger

“I was reviewing the camera footage... He seems to have let himself in through the front door and used the elevator to come down here, then avoiding the staff, he made his way right to your room”

That was impressive. Lance was impressed, if not a little scared that werewolves could suddenly operate elevators

“That’s my wolf. He don’t need no fingers, do you, babe?”

“Wooo”

“Yes, I know. You’re just a big sook who missed me... yes, you are”

Keith thumped his tail under Lance’s praise. No wolf should be this damn scary looking and so damn cute at the same time

“Whooooo”

“I know. I don’t think I’m in any danger, but he’s not letting anyone close to me. He would have gone Pidge if I hadn’t held him back, but he’s really too exhausted to do that. I thought he was in Garrison”

“He seems to have walked back. Marvellous, even miraculous really. He doesn’t seem to have gotten lost”

“Keith doesn’t get lost, he gets directionally misplaced and sometimes advances in the opposite direction...”

Keith turned his head to scowl. So damn cute... and fluffy. Keith was so fluffy he was going to die. Whether from a fluff overload or choking on stray fur... He’d have to take a grooming brush to Keith’s fur when they were home, his fiancé would love it

“Coran, can you help get him up on my bed? I mean, like clear the bed? Pidge and I were watching movies, so if I can get him to settle then she should be able to escape without him snarling at her”

“I don’t believe he’d hurt her”

Lance could have rolled his eyes at Coran. If Keith hurt Pidge it never would be intentionally. Just like Keith would never intentionally bite him if he was completely in the right frame of mind

“I’d rather not take the risk and have to explain things to Colleen. Matt’s enough to deal with. He bit before when she moved. So I’m going to air on the side of caution here”

“He did? Gracious... he seems so attached...”

“It was my fault for restraining him. It’s already starting to heal, but I can’t move the things on the bed and hold him back at the same time. I think after this moon you really need to get Matt and Rieva onto helping him more with his wolf side. He’s scared being like this”

Keith let out a soft whine, his paw coming up to paw at Lance’s leg

“I know. It’s all so big and scary right now. We’re going to get you up on the bed and get some water into you”

Coran cleared the bed, Keith snapping at his fingers when the fae went to physically help him up. Undeterred, Keith yelped as the man hefted him off the floor like he weighed nothing. Soon his giant black mass was taking up all of Lance’s bed, Lance pulling the blankets over him and rustling Keith’s fur as Keith blinked at him

“Much better than the floor, isn’t it? You probably smell me and Pidge, but focus on me. You did such a good job getting here”

The scent of blood came from the dried blood on Keith’s paw. He’d healed as he walked, but it’d had to hurt at the time. Such a silly werewolf.

“He seems content”

He should be. With his head on the pillow, Keith looked ready to zonk out

“He’s exhausted. I’ll stay with him tonight. He clearly wants to be here with me. Tomorrow we’ll have to find another room for him to shift in. If we send him back to Garrison, he’ll only walk back again. Pidge has probably already let the others know he’s here. Shiro’s going to flip out”

“Just you leave that to me. Should I set up an IV line?”

“Nah, just a bowl with some water. I still can’t believe he came all this way. He’s damn lucky he wasn’t hit by a car”

“He loves you very deeply. He probably wanted the comfort of his mate”

“Yeah... he’s an idiot like that... Can you stay until he drifts off? Then if he wakes I can keep him preoccupied while you let Pidge out”

“I did tell our Pidge you needed your rest. I’m surprised to find you so awake”

“That’s what she said. It’s fine, she’s welcome to come see me whenever she wants, and it’s not like any of us expected Keith to walk here”

“He must have started walking soon after shifting. He’s covered an impressive amount of ground for his second moon”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to have to put a shock collar or something on him so he can’t leave the property when he wolfs out”

Keith let out an unhappy whine at Lance’s suggestion

“Fine. No shock collar, but at least a GPS so I don’t have to worry about you deciding to walk back to Platt each time it’s a full moon. I much prefer you in one piece, babe”

Keith thudded his tail, such a good boy...

“Yes, I know. You love me. Get some rest, I won’t be surprised if you sleep all day after your big big walk. I’ll be right here with you”

Keith huffed, wiggling his body beneath the sheets. Lance confused until he realised he was trying to make space for him to sleep next to him. If Keith wiggled anymore, he risked falling out the bed backwards

“Babe, it’s okay. I’m okay. I’m not going to fit in there with you”

His fiancé’s wiggling stopped with an unhappy huff

“I know, but this place doesn’t have a big bed like we do at home. You sleep there. It’ll all be okay and I’ll climb in with you once you’ve shifted back. I promise. Just be a good boy and rest. You did so good finding me... so good”

Keith melted into the scratched between his ears. Lance torn between wanting to enjoy how tame his werewolf was acting, and kind of hoping he’d fall asleep soon as Pidge would be stuck in the bathroom until he did, which would be awkward for everyone as he had to pee. The woes of being a pregnant vampire were only growing.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

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panda0919 · 4 years ago

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A rant about Voltron: Legendary Defender because ... apparently I feel like embarrassing myself on main 🤷‍♀️ (beware of spoilers ahead if you're a few years late to this party and you care)

When the Netflix series originally came out (in 2016-ish, I believe?), I didn't really give it any thought because it's based on a mecha anime and I have zero interest in space robots. But I love animation and I eventually came under the impression that there was decent POC and queer representation in the show. I finally started watching it a couple of weeks ago. I finished the series today.

Here are some of my thoughts/impressions, in no particular order, because I feel like rambling about something other than politics for once:

I'm glad I didn't watch the show when it was a "thing", because I've read that its fandom was scary. So I guess I dodged a mess there.

Pidge is precious and is probably my favorite character. She is so determined and nerdy and resourceful and androgynous and I loooooove her. She has the universe on her shoulders and takes herself very seriously, but she also gets several moments to be the fifteen-year-old kid that she is. I love that nobody on the team treats her any differently (even if Lance is initially shocked) when she tells them about her gender.

Hunk is also precious. Media in general really needs to move the fuck away from fatphobic "humor", though. He was definitely written to be more than his size and his love for food, but ... those things were still running jokes and the way he was treated just didn't sit right with me (more about that in a bit). He's such a caring soul and I found him to be an endearing character.

I guess there is decent representation? I have mixed feelings about how it is/isn't shown.

Like ... Shiro's endgame love interest and wedding both come out (lol) of nowhere (who is that guy? how did they meet? where's the buildup?) Of course, we already know that Shiro is queer because there are brief references to his ex boyfriend, but once we learn about this part of his back story, his role in the remainder of the series is kind of sidelined. Sure he's not a paladin anymore but his overall story is a huge part of the broader show. You can't tell me that, at the very least, he and Keith don't continue to spend time together outside of work or combat settings. He has been through so much and they are each others' rocks.

Allura fucking DIES??? Yes, let's just kill off the only brown female central character. She's already survived a genocide; lost her entire family, culture, and planet; and frequently shares her healing powers with others to the point of falling ill, but that's not enough - she has to literally sacrifice her own life as well. It doesn't sit right with me at all. She deserves better. (On a lighter note, I like that Allura has a very feminine appearance and that this is not implied to be a weakness. Additionally, she and Pidge are never placed into any sort of hierarchy with each other as women).

Keith is a super interesting character. He doesn't come off as someone who has serious "discipline issues" so much as someone who struggles with social situations. I like that he has the opportunity to learn how to trust and care for other people in addition to Shiro. He works to reign in his self sabotaging tendencies and finds that his life has just as much value as anyone else's. Also: Keith is the only person, animated or real, who will ever look good with a mullet.

A Keith/Lance rivals-to-lovers storyline would have been *chef's kiss* I would have enjoyed more screen time between the two of them not only because their interpersonal antics are hilarious, but also because I just get the ~vibe~ that Lance in particular is aggressively performing heterosexuality and that this somehow ties into the way that the show explores his general struggle with feelings of inadequacy. He's silly, but complex. I do appreciate that Lance begins to grow into his own and that he and Keith develop some level of mutual respect for each other by the end of the series, though.

The Lance/Allura thing is cute but doesn't make much sense because there is no buildup. Lance obviously has a crush on her throughout the series, but Allura's reciprocation feels really random.

Slav is what anxiety feels like.

I know that Voltron is a mecha war story, but I just would have loved to see more of a focus on the dynamics between the characters. The writers have said that the show is not really about relationships, which is fine, but that assertion kind of betrays the reality of the series, doesn't it? We learn a lot about Pidge's family, and her dedication to finding her dad and brother. We piece together Keith's and Shiro's traumatic backgrounds, and how they have come to be such close friends. We learn about the complicated, abusive dynamics between Lotor, Haggar/Honerva, and Zarkon, including their implications for broader relations throughout the universe (also: I think Lotor could have had an interesting redemption arc). But in addition to all of this ... What about Hunk's and Lance's backgrounds? What were their lives like before the garrison? What about Allura's memories of her life before Altea was destroyed (e.g., her relationship with her father in particular)? What about how Keith patched things up with his mom when they suddenly came back into each others' lives (we just ... watched them come out of the quantum abyss after a brief montage that's supposed to represent a span of two years and now they're okay)? I think these things would have added a lot of substance and nuance to the show, and may have also heightened its stakes. I don't know.

It was an engaging series. I liked the animation and (many of) the characters. I just think that it could have been more.

Anyway ... look at me railing on about a show aimed at children. I think I'm gonna go watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power next lmao

#voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #i cant believe i typed this all up hahaHA

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jackdaniel69nice · 4 years ago

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Ninjago Voltron au where it follows similar plot as canon (without all the poor shit that happened) but it switches up who it’s happening to depending on who it suits more

Voltron spoilers obviously

lloyd, who is a child, sneaking onto the spaceship because he knows his dad is in space and gets captured during the Kerberos mission, he escapes somehow and gets back to earth where Kai and the others rescue him and find the blue lion

Nya/pidge pretending to be an older boy so she can go to the garrison in place of Kai (who was kicked out) to help search for their parents who were lost on the Kerberos mission

Cole would start out leading Voltron in place of shiro

Their bayards are the same as their normal weapons

All of their lions match up with their colors and elements and there are 6 of them now because I said so

Jay as lance who so dearly misses his parents on earth, acts like a goofball to hide his depression, has huge self esteem issues, is actually really skilled but no one takes him seriously, occasionally picks fights with Cole/Keith because of a rivalry, was forced into a terrible romance where nya/allura ended up dying, AND is a bi icon (yeah he literally is just lance)

Zane as hunk helping out this lovely alien chick pixel (shay) liberate her father and “Nindroid” civilization from the overlords rule (cryptor is her brother that doesn’t like him)

Vania would act as allura most of the time and she would control the castle/bounty

Dareth as coran

The alteans are the serpentine

pithor is lotor (they both had a pseudo redemption arc and killed their own kind)

Skylor is Acxa

lloyd/Keith being worried about being the spawn of evil (garmadon is krolia) and running off joining the resistance

Ronin as Kolivan or thace

Lloyd finds his dad and bonds with him while in the weird time place (he also gets aged up) and finds the serpentine colony pithor made

Akita is cosmo (lmao)

Zane is the one who dies and gets cloned. Lloyd is the one who has to save him in “that scene” (much like how Zane died in season 3 and Lloyd talked him down when he was the ice emperor)

Instead of getting kaltenecker, jay gets the electro chicken

jay has to rescue his parents when they get back to earth and gets a good character arc for once

I’m entirely biased but bruise is klance

Lloyd acts as Coles right hand man untill he leaves and jay takes his “spot”

#ninjago #jay walker #ninjago jay #lego ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago fanart #ninjago zane #zane julien #cole brookstone #kai smith #ninjago kai #ninjago au #voltron au #voltron #voltron legendary defender #ninjago voltron au

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collisiondiscourse · 4 years ago

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did i accidentially mirror the canon ship from the end of vtron? yes, and i regret all the decisions that lead to that fact. Which is to say i rlly wanted baku to think midoriya would understand his big confusion at kiri kissing him because "oh hes partially altean so obv hell understand" but No izukus like wtf man its a Kiss That Is Romantic.

ROLES WOO

wtf-was-her-name-queen: bakugo because he deserves to kick ass and have glowy marks

Keith-Midoriya because 2 reckless buffoons that need to learn to trust others to support them

Lance- Kiri except theres no klance parallels in this au because kiri simps for One Man Only. and its cause he ties everyone together and always tries to support and protect everyone

Pidge- Uraraka. Have you seen her sports fest fight? She may not be as tech savvy as Pidge but she definitely has some damn brains in there

Shiro-Momo. Needs to work towards trusting in her decisions, is a really good leader. Shiros role would give her the most confidence in her leadership capabilities while also making sure they dont all accidentially kill themselves

Hunk-Iida. He just wants everyone to be safe and happy, to the point that when his brother gets hurt he literally goes and attempts murder.

Lotor- Todoroki. Except instead of being a Bastard, Todoroki runs away from his dick dad and starts working to just dismantling the galra empire alongside the BoM. Then he meets the paladins and decides to help them with their kill endeavore mission

OBJECTIVELY THIS IS ALL CORRECT

@theyeeyeetbois come look at ur vast kingdom !!

#submissions #not mine #submission #i dont ship krbk but i love all of these doodles so much sobs you dont even know #todoroki as lotor makes so much sense but also ToDOROKI WITH LONG HAIR PLEASE #CATBOY (cough i mean galran) DEKU IS MY J A M #would like 2 kiss urarakas dumb face shes so pretty omg can she get classes too pls #ALSO I NEED IIDACHAKO IN THIS AU FOR. REASONS #please #AAAAAAAAAAAAA #i love this a lot

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backupblogforjg · 5 years ago

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The racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and cruel tropes in Voltron

So, it’s the anniversary of the ending of Voltron. And I’m getting really, really tired of people saying that only shippers hated the ending. There were many issues with Voltron, and they were neither limited to shipping nor to S8.

So, I’ve decided to compile a list.

It gets LONG. Turns out there was a hell of a lot of racist, sexist, ableist and cruel tropes in VLD.

In fact, I had originally planned on writing a list of both the terrible tropes and the plot holes. But there just wasn’t enough room for both. The post is huge as it is, and with the plot holes, it would have been twice as long, so I had to focus on only one thing.

Salt, obviously. So, so, so much salt. I could turn a lake into a sea here. You’ve been warned.

RACISM:

1) The Alteans are genocide survivors. Out of all the Alteans, only the black Altean was used for a Reverse Racism story where she resents a teammate for belonging to the race that exterminated hers. The white Alteans are totally cool with him, and with his race in general, and only hate the bad people. But the black one had to be taught that hating people because of their race is wrong.

2) VLD Allura is also the only version of Allura who is black. In every other Voltron media (several different cartoons and comics), Allura is blond with blue eyes. All the white versions of the character get a happy ending, while only the black version ends up dying to save the world.

While "hero sacrifices their life to save the world" is not a bad trope in and of itself, it becomes bad when it kills off one of the extremely few black female characters in leading roles. You kill off a white male hero, there are 463278462387 more. You kill off the black female hero, you are kinda screwed. Making it worse, Allura had been portrayed as suffering from depression throughout the latest seasons, so that her death comes across less as heroic sacrifice and more as suicide.

3) The brown Cuban kid who dreamed of being a pilot, and never once in 78 episodes ever expressed anything but sheer love for an exciting life, in the final two minutes of the final episode ends up realizing that the place for him is a farm.

4) As told in interviews, Lotor was meant to be a bad example of mixed-race person, to contrast him with Keith as good example of mixed race person. Do I even have to point out how messed up this is?

5) Even before they became Space Nazis, back when they were still on the side of the angels, the Galra invaded and conquered planets. This is portrayed as totally cool when they happily name the prince after a "hero" who invaded and conquered a lot of worlds, and the peaceful Alteans think the guy is just as heroic as one of their greatest scientists. Apparently there is such a thing as ethically killing people to steal their land.

6) They whitewashed Keith, a character who is poc in every other iteration of Voltron.

I’m sure a lot of people are going to get angry here, claiming that I hate Keith. Let me assure you, I don’t. I love Keith, and I hate what was done to him. I hate that they took a traditionally poc character and went to frankly ridiculous lengths to erase that part of his character. Keith should be Asian, and it would be incredibly easy to make him so in VLD (seriously, all they’d have to do is update the freaking bios, an intern could do it right now in 5 minutes). But they refuse to do it.

A lot of people don’t realise that the surname “Kogane” in VLD is fanon.

I’m serious. Check his official bios page. Keith is not actually called Keith Kogane in VLD. Fans started calling him that in fanfiction, and it stuck, but it’s not canon.

In every other Voltron media, Keith is an Asian guy. But in VLD, they:

- went out of their way to always avoid giving him an Asian surname

- gave him a Texan father

- refused to confirm his race, even when every other character had a specific race. Again, check his official bios. All the other characters got a race, Keith gets “human.” It got so ridiculous it would be funny if it weren’t sad. It pretty much went like this:

Fans: Keith is half alien, but about his human half, what is his ethnicity? EPs: oh, we couldn't possibly say, because the story takes place in the future, and in the future, everybody is mixed up! So, Keith is HUMAN, we can't give him a specific race because there are no specific races in the future! Fans: ok. And what are the races of the other characters? EPs: Pidge is Italian, Lance is Cuban, Hunk is half-black half- Samoan, Shiro is Japanese. Fans: but Keith...? EPs: HUMAN! There is no such thing as race in the future!

Some people at least hoped that Keith's Texan father had Asian ancestry because he kinda looked like Shiro, who is Japanese. But the EPs confirmed that the resemblance was just a coincidence, they never meant for the dad to look Japanese.

At this point pretty much the only evidence that Keith is Asian is that he is voiced by an Asian person. But then, Josh Keaton is not Japanese, is he?

7) After whitewashing Keith, they claimed he is the best leader of Voltron, better than his poc predecessor, because he has Galra blood.

So, instead of bringing up any sort of legit reason to justify why Keith should be in charge (like his empathy or pilot skills), they go with "the half-white guy is also half space-nazi and that's why he should give the orders instead of the poc guy."

If you think I’m bashing Keith here, please ask yourself why you are getting angry at the person pointing out the whitewashing instead of getting angry at the whitewashing. Especially when, again, making VLD Keith canonically poc could be done anytime with zero cost and zero effort, and DW just doesn’t want to.

- Hunk, the half-black half-Samoan guy, was going to be killed and replaced as Paladin by a blue alien. The EPs were pissed when DW forbade them to, and complained in the interview about it.

SEXISM:

Every single woman who is ever put in charge ends up going insane, making terrible decisions that endanger her planet, or losing all of her authority.

Allura starts out as co-leader of Voltron and leader of the Coalition. Ends up as a foot soldier who takes orders from the new leader and his right-hand man, and is treated as a cadet by the Earth military.

HOMOPHOBIA:

1) Dreamworks, Netflix and the EPs very, very, very heavily promoted S7 as GLBT-friendly. The EPs gave whole interviews about the past relationship between Shiro and new character Adam, retweeted a ton of posts celebrating Shiro’s homosexuality, and enthusiastically sent tweets like "you are going to see more of Adam in S7! :D" from their personal accounts after they showed the episode that introduced him.

In S7:

- Shiro's homosexuality is so ambiguous that even the Brazilian voice actor didn't realize that he was supposed to be gay. Just by watching the show, without knowing the World Of God, you can’t tell he and the other guy were engaged.

- Adam gets about 30 seconds of screentime after that one episode they had already shown. Then he dies screaming in pain and terror in a fire.

A lot of people claimed that it was okay to kill Adam because Shiro was supposed to be our rep, not Adam, who was a brand new character we knew little about. And, out of context, that would be true. Adam was pretty much a NPC, why would his death matter?

But the problem here is the context:

- Shiro is closeted in S7, you need to read interviews to know he is gay. So, if only Shiro is meant to be the rep, they couldn’t even do that right.

- They very heavily marketed both Shiro and Adam as gay rep, and specifically talked at length about Adam in several interviews.

In THAT context, REGARDLESS of what you ship, killing off Adam revealed a complete willingness to manipulate the audience to the point of outright lying. Even if you hated Adam, even if Adashi is your NOTP, the clear evidence that the creators had absolutely no problem making empty promises was NOT a good sign.

2) The moment Shiro is revealed to be gay in interviews, he is practically quarantined from the Team.

3) Shiro is also given a Totally Not AIDS deadly disease.

Making it even worse, Shiro never actually gets cured in canon. We are told he is cured in interviews, but the show itself drops the topic entirely. Depending on where you lean in the Word Of God VS Death Of The Author debate, Shiro may be doomed to die.

4) A female villain is revealed to be a lesbian. 30 seconds later she gleefully tortures a little girl. Then she, too, dies in a fire.

(Fan outrage about pulling two Bury Your Gays in the Season that had been very heavily promoted as GLBT-friendly caused DW to retcon her death and bring her back in S8, but she was originally meant to die in the explosion)

5) Shiro ends up marrying a random character who doesn’t even get a name in the show.

ABLEISM:

1) Shiro's PTSD magically disappears offscreen. In interviews, the EPs claimed that he "got over it" between S6 and S7 because "he is a professional." Wow! Who knew being a professional magically cures mental illnesses!

2) Shiro is an amputee. The EPs admitted that they never put any thought into his status as disabled rep, they just wanted a character with a cool-looking arm. It literally didn't occur to them that making him lose his arm (TWICE! First up to the biceps, then up to the shoulder) meant anything. Also worth noting that Shiro’s new arm makes him look like the guy who tormented him.

3) Shiro is systematically robbed of his agency.

- He is the only Paladin who never gets to use his bayard.

- He loses his bond with Black for no given canon reason (and the reason they give in interviews makes no sense, they basically say that transferring his soul out of the Black Lion makes her stop loving him. But she still lets Zarkon fly her!).

I know that Keith is traditionally Black’s pilot in Voltron media (although that shouldn’t matter, because VLD made a lot of huge changes to the traditional status quo). But if they wanted Black Paladin Keith that badly, they could have given some non-insulting reason for it. For example, say “because Shiro has spent so much time within Black, their bond is now so strong that he will get absorbed again if he flies her again.” Or co-pilots in Black (if Pidge can co-pilot with Matt, why can’t Shiro co-pilot with Keith?).

- He is defeated not only by Sendak, but also by a bunch of random Alteans. He basically can’t win a fight anymore unless it’s played for laughs.

- His new robot Atlas is bigger than Voltron, but also much weaker, and can only buy a few minutes for Voltron to come save the day.

- Every single enemy he ever defeated comes back to be finished off by somebody else (even the friggin' Gladiator from S1 comes back in S8). In the epilogue, he retires in his twenties.

4) Narti, the disabled General, is fridged shortly after her introduction. For a while at least it seemed like her death had affected the remaining three Generals, but then it turns out that the "For Narti" line was a trick and they never actually planned on avenging her.

CRUEL TROPES:

1) They intentionally baited the fans by pushing the plot thread that Lotor would be redeemed. They named the episode where he defects "A New Defender," they kept saying in interviews that they come from Avatar and they are very familiar with Zuko *hint hint*, they showed his family as incredibly abusive and Lotor himself as desperate, they showed that Lotor was a victim of severe racism (he is mixed race, and as stated above, the Galra are Space Nazis and are pretty obsessed with blood purity).

Then, after revealing him to be a villain, they gave an interview where they practically dislocated their shoulders by patting themselves on the back as they gleefully bragged that "we made them think we would give them a Zuko, but we gave them an Azula!"

(Nevermind the fact that Azula herself was a 14-year-old child, not a monster, and that Aaron Ehasz himself confirmed that he always wanted her to be redeemed).

When fans who are survivors of child abuse told them that the bait-and-switch was really hurtful, they laughed it off, and claimed that Lotor was just beyond redemption. Then they proceeded to redeem Lotor's abusive parents, who were objectively much worse.

2) Shiro’s clone, who sincerely believed he was Shiro and always meant well, was dehumanised, demonised and discarded like his life meant nothing. His short existence was full of pain from literally the moment he first opened his eyes, as Haggar kept torturing him with migraines to manipulate him. In the end, she brutally violates him body and mind, and brainwashes him to force him to turn on the family he was so desperate to find in The Journey. He dies in incredibly questionable circumstances, without ever getting to learn that his family survived Haggar’s plans. He is victim-blamed for the things she forced him to do against his will with mind-control, and is never mourned because the only family he ever had writes him off as a “thing” and “evil.”

In fact, the horrific treatment of Kuron foreshadowed S8. The Medium article “It never stops at one - Why Voltron: Legendary Defender's tragic ending wasn't a surprise and why more DreamWorks' series will follow suit” explains how.

The tl;dr version is that, when a story posits that the circumstances of your birth determine the value of your life, so that good intentions and hard work mean nothing, and long-established bonds can be discarded with zero thought and care, and your very humanity can be revoked over something you have absolutely no control over, and the whole sociopathic disaster is celebrated as a happy ending... it really, really can’t end well. Not just for you, but for the entire cast.

#voltron critical #vld shiro #vld keith #vld lance #vld allura #vld lotor #voltron #voltron salt #takashi shirogane

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onyour-right · 5 years ago

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Ok so I binge watched the first season of the dragon prince in one day and I love it already. These are literally just some of my end of season thoughts.

- The world building and lore? I’m in love. I love everything fantasy and this really scratches an itch of mine that’s been left untreated for such a long time.

- The brotherly relationship between Callum and Ezran. I love it, I’m so here for it. It’s so realistically written and just makes me feel so smushy. Like, I really have a thing for close brotherly relationships. I hope we get to see more emotional moments between those two. Individually I love them, I love that they both have gifts instead of it being just one having gifts and the other being “normal”.

- Soren and Claudia. Listen. I love this duo, I love them so much. They make me CACKLE with their great banter. I love them, I love how they’re fed up with each other but there’s also no denying they’ll do anything for each other. I want them to leave their father because he’s such an asshole and they both deserve better.

- Raylaaaaaa. My precious baby assassin warrior. I adore her relationship with Ezran and Callum (also wondering whether she’s gonna tell them about her unc killing their dad, bcos yikes) and I hope it continues to grow. I also like how she’s not afraid to go against the grain and do what she feels is right.

- Runaan. I LOVE HIM, HE IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. I WANT HIM BACK NOWWWWW. They better bring his ass back somehow. Goddamn it. I swear I have a type y’all, first Lotor and now him. I need to find me a purple, 6ft2 elf. BRING HIM BACK. That scream when he got sucked into the coin killed me, literally it did. My heart still aches.

- Captain Amaya. My wife. My girlfriend. Love of my life. She’s so badass and her sense of humour is just 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾 she also knows Viren is trash and I’m 100% here for it. She needs to come back and whoop his ass for me.

- King Harrow. I respect this dude. He died way too early but I respect that he wasn’t afraid to face death, he wasn’t afraid to own up to his mistakes. He also put that Lord Viren in his place and I commend him for that. The scene where he reminded Viren that he was nothing more than a servant? Somebody get him a motherfuckin’ Oscar for that. ( I wish we would have seen more with him and his sons, but eh )

- Ava and Ellis. Another duo that just makes my heart warm. Ava is adorable, Ellis is also adorable. Their backstory was so sad and cute but also happy. I hope there’s more of them to come.

- As for Lord Viren. He can kick rocks in flip flops for all I care. This dude needs to be taken OUT. I don’t like him. The only thing about him that makes me smile (a very small smile, hardly a smile at all if I’m being honest, very very small smile) is his exasperation over his goofy ass kids 😂😂😂😂 those kids are gooofy and their dad is TIRED.

- Also, the dragon egg that hatched. I cant seem to remember the name of the dragon, but that bby dragon is the CUTEST thing I ever saw with my two eyes. I hope nothing bad happens to that dragon egg otherwise imma riot.

Anyways. Great first season. I really enjoyed. Glad I watched. Can’t wait to see season 2 and meet all the new characters introduced into the story.

#g's thoughts #the dragon prince #tdp #tdp callum #tdp ezran #tdp soren #tdp claudia #tdp runaan #tdp rayla #tdp amaya #king harrow #lord viren #tdp ellis #this show is great #feel free to interact

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whatthehelliswrongwithme · 3 years ago

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Voltron Part 28

Everyone says that S7 and S8 are bad. But at least they dont have this stupid half-season thing going on. Season 6, episodes 5+6! These ones were pretty wild. Let's go!:

The aaangst! So much aaaangst!

Also. Congatulations, it’s a Sheith!

Keith once again went off on his his own because of Shiro...

Colourful Ty Lee, Big Gal! Don’t call Shiro “it”. He’s our fucking space daddy!

Space witch calling Keith the “Red Paladin” is literally me. Like. Guys, you’ve had your new lions long enough! Colour coordinate accordingly!

This entire episode, I'm just that meme, “Hey. Check out how hard I can cry”

Stone Cold Bitch is hesitant to shoot Keith! The brOTP continues!

Is the virus affecting the castle supposed to be created by Shiro/space witch? And therefore it knows what Pidge would do?

Lotor don’t talk to your mother like that. She may be an ass, but you’re the bigger ass

Lotor got his girlsquad back, eventhough he doesn't deserve them

OH FUCK! OH SHIT! OH FUCKING SHIT! OH SHITTING FUCK!

That stupid fucking clone theory got it right!

AND I FUCKING HATE THAT!

NO!!!! THAT'S DUMB! I DON'T LIKE THAT

Okay. First of all: How did people think of this theory? I only knew that it existed because of old Voltron-fandom videos on YouTube. Did I miss so much foreshadowing?

Second: I absolutely hate this. I want MY Shiro. Not some stupid clone

Third: That discovery scene was really well done! Kudos to the people responsible

(Fourth: There probably exist a Sheith Gangbang fic on AO3 based on this scene. And i will find it)

It’s time for more ANGST!

That fight scene is SO anime

Tam Voltron, don’t fucking mistrust Shiro (even though you now know that the virus is his doing)

Did Keith just have goddamn yellow eyes? It’s probably a Galra thing, but I just wanna send him to an optometrist

“Shiro”, honey. That “Your parents abandoned you”-thing won’t work on Keith. He basically just had a 2 year pep talk with his mom

I know it’s an animation thing, to show that Keith's breathing heavily. But the Paladins armor must be really shitty if it just bends like that

Keith said “I love you”. I repeat: Keith said “I love you”

(I know it won’t be canon because apparently !No! shippers were happy with the ending. But just let me have this)

And their backstory is so cute!!!

Is Shiro good again? Because of the power of love, or something like that?

God. This episode was just an emotional roller coaster...

.-•-°-•-.-•-°-•-.-•-°-•-.-~☆

Hey, it's the spirit realm where Shiro fought Zarkon!

It's good-haircut-Shiro!

God. Him telling Keith he died broke my fucking heart...

Sooooo. What are you gonna do with "Shiro" ?

~I predicted it~ ~It's time for some Allura-angst because of this whole situation with Lotor~

Is it bad that I don't feel that sorry for her? Because, like. Lotor was obviously still an evil ass

And being a Leader, she should have a better judge of character

But. At least we got a good Allurance moment out of that

Big Gal and colourful Ty Lee are suprisingly okay with siding with Lotor again. That's either non-developed character motivation. Or part of some greater scheme(?)

Moustache man, sorry but I do not care about your b-plot of trying to fix the castle.

(But also: Good for you, for living this ~Disney princess life~ with all these animal companions)

Lotor. I don't think that anyone still believes that you're a good guy

Does Allura get to kill Lotor?

His reaction to being compared with Zarkon sure was something. Dude got some serious daddy-issues to work through

Wow, Lotor you're such a great guy~♡. Talking about, being the Altean's great leader and erasing Allura+her dad from history. Such a good guy~ ^^

And the girlsquad abandoned him again. Nevermind

Why did Lotor decide to have his 99cent-version of Voltron be a scalie?

It's kinda sad that Keith has to listen to his friends potentially dying.... But I'm also pretty impressed that he's still getting signal all the way in space...

Shiro said his line! "Patience yields focus".

And now Keith had his magical-girl transformation sequence with the black lion!

So the final episode gonna be an epic mecha battle? Again? Like in season 2?

Is Allura gonna "die"? Again? Like in every other season-finale-episode?

Also they still have to figure out, what to do about this entire Shiro and "Shiro"-thing

55 notes · View notes

tiny-opal-essence · 5 years ago

Text

Pocket Paladin Chpt 17

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong

Previously...

Team Voltron has discovered that the person they rescued from Lotor was not Shiro, but a clone with Shiro's memories. While initially unsure of how to proceed, they are fully supportive of the renamed Ryo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance blearily opened his eyes. It was still dark in the room.

How long until breakfast?

He shoved Keith’s bandana off and got out of his bed. He walked over to the edge of the dollhouse floor to check the clock on Keith’s wall.

Still a few varga. Yay.

Lance had been having some trouble sleeping through the night lately. Even though the doll bed was a huge improvement from the improvised cotton balls and Kleenex, it still wasn’t designed for someone to actually sleep in comfortably. He didn’t think it was really that important to mention to anyone. There are more important things than one person’s comfort.

He looked over and saw Keith was still asleep in his bed.

At least one of us is comfortable. Glad I didn’t wake him up.

Keith’s face was relaxed for once.

He looks so soft. Huh. Never thought “soft” would be a word associated with Keith.

Lance sat down on the edge of the floor, kicking his legs slightly.

I’m glad he and Ryo were able to talk things out yesterday. It would kind of suck for Voltron if the black and red paladins weren’t speaking to each other. We don’t really have anyone who can sub. At least, not until I’m back to normal. And who knows when that’s going to be.

Lance leaned back on the floor keeping his ankles dangling off the edge.

Even if I do get back to normal, would Blue want me back? Allura’s done such a great job with her.

‘The team does work better without you. You’d hate to ruin all of their progress, right?’

Yeah.

‘They’re better off without you.’

Before Lance could dwell more on those thoughts, he heard a soft *groan*. He sat up and looked over.

Keith’s face that had been relaxed just a moment ago was now scrunched up in discomfort. He started shifting around in his bed while mumbling out something unintelligible.

He’s having a nightmare! I have to help him.

“Keith! Wake up!” Lance called out, but Keith did not wake up.

Maybe I’m too far away. I need to get closer.

Lance stood up and looked off the edge of the dollhouse floor.

Yeah, nothing there to break my fall if I jump. Guess the quickest route is the stairs.

He ran across the room and opened the door to the hallway. He nearly tripped down the stairs in his haste. He stepped down onto the nightstand and saw that Keith was now laying on his back.

“Yo, Mullet!” Keith showed no signs that he heard him.

Quiznak. Still not close enough. Okay. There’s only a couple inches between the nightstand and the pillow. That’s not too far, right?

‘It might as well be the grand canyon at your height.’

Well, if I get a running start, I should make it. I was always good at long jump in gym class.

‘But in class you didn’t have to worry about falling to your death.’

Ok, that’s enough from you, stupid voice. I’m going to make it. Just you watch.

Lance hurried over to the far side of the nightstand and took a deep breath.

Ok, here goes nothing.

He ran back towards Keith and leaped off the edge.

Yes! I made it!

He had landed on the edge of the pillow that was hanging off the bed.

Phew. Wait, no no no no no!

He started sliding down towards the chasm between the bed and nightstand but managed to grab ahold of the pillowcase. He could feel the pillow shifting somewhat beneath him.

Oh yeah, the pillow would shake because Keith’s twitching in his sleep.

Lance began climbing up the pillow making sure to keep a good grip on it in case Keith really started moving around. He could see the beads of sweat on Keith’s forehead.

He looks hot. And not in the good looking kind of way. Ok, maybe partly in the good looking way, but now’s really not the time to focus on my stupid crush on him.

Lance continued climbing along the pillow until he reached the indent caused by Keith’s head. He slid down the incline and came to a stop in front of his cheek. As Lance tried to stand up on the soft pillow, Keith let out another *groan* and moved his head slightly, causing Lance to fall back against his face.

“Really, Keith? I try to help you out and this is the thanks I get? *sigh* You’re lucky you’re cute.” Lance said in good humor as he tried to stand again, this time bracing himself against Keith who had become still once more.

That means he probably didn’t hear me call him cute. Good. Don’t know what he’d think if he found out I like him.

Lance was now standing in front of Keith’s ear.

Let’s hope he can hear me now.

“Keith! Buddy, pal, my dude! Despierta!”

Keith shot awake, causing the pillow to rise up and Lance to fall down on his butt yet again, but he wasn’t too concerned about that since it was a soft landing.

Keith looked around the room as he got his breathing under control. Once his breathing sounded normal, Lance called up to him.

“Glad you finally heard me.”

“Of course I heard you,” Keith said as he turned to sit facing Lance. “You were yelling right in my ear.”

“Heh heh, sorry. You didn’t seem to hear me until I got closer. Did you hear anything else I said?”

Please don’t have heard me say you’re cute, please don’t have heard me say you’re cute.

“No.” Keith lied. “Why?”

“No reason.”

Phew. He didn’t hear that.

But Keith had heard. He had heard Lance say that he was lucky he was cute. He had also heard the sarcasm in the lines before that and assumed the last line was also meant sarcastically. It was a common saying after all.

“Wait a minute, why are you here?”

“Why are any of us here?”

“Lance, you know I mean why are you here sitting on my pillow? And how did you get there?”

“I jumped.”

“What?” Keith said with a blank look on his face as his brain tried to piece things together.

“Well, you were having a nightmare and couldn’t hear me from my bed, so I came over to help you wake up from it.”

“And you jumped down from your room!?”

“No. I would have broken a leg or something if I jumped down from there. I jumped from the nightstand to your pillow.”

Keith looked over and saw the gap between those two objects. He realized just how far of a jump and how long of a fall that would be for Lance at his height.

“What the hell, Lance? Do you realize how dangerous that was for you!?”

“I’ve always been good at long jump. I knew I would make it, and besides. You needed help. Your nightmare seemed pretty bad.”

Keith was too tired to argue with Lance about the dangers of parkour at his height, so he decided to move the conversation in a different direction.

“It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory.”

“Oh.” Lance paused for a moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe…I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, Keith. If you want to talk, I’m here. If you want to just go back to sleep, that’s fine.”

Keith let out a small *yawn*.

“Maybe you should lie down.”

Don’t want you literally falling asleep on me.

“I should move you back to the nightstand first.”

“Dude, I don’t take up that much room. Here, I’ll even scoot over.” Lance did just that. “Now you’ve got plenty of space.” Lance patted the pillow next to him to emphasize his point.

“But-”

“Lie down, Keith. As long as you go slow it shouldn’t be too shaky for me.”

Keith hesitatingly lied back down on his side. As his head sunk into the pillow, he was only able to keep one eye on Lance as the other one’s vision was blocked by the pillow itself.

Once Keith was still, Lance lied down on his side facing him.

“Draw me like one of your French girls,” Lance said with dramatic flair as he struck the pose.

This earned him a *snicker* from Keith.

“Ha! I got you to laugh!”

“That wasn’t a laugh.”

“It’s close enough!”

Keith rolled his eyes while Lance let out a *snicker* of his own.

“All seriousness though, are you ok, Keith?”

“Yeah. Or mostly, I guess. A lot happened yesterday and it brought up some memories.”

“I can understand that. We were all pretty shocked with Ryo’s reveal.”

“It’s more than that. It just…it feels like everyone who cares about me winds up leaving in the end, willing or not. My mom, my dad, Shiro, twice.”

“Keith-”

“And I know why my mom left. I understand. But that doesn’t change the fact that she left. And I haven’t heard anything from her since finding the Blade of Marmora.”

“Keith, Kolivan told us how much danger she would be put in if any attempts were made to contact her. Remember what happened to his sister, Keerthana?” Lance gently mentioned.

Keith *sighed* “Yeah, I know. It might blow her cover because of how high up in the chain of command she is. But I don’t even know her name! My dad never got the chance to tell me before he died. And Kolivan thinks that if I knew her name I would get Pidge to find her in the Galra Empire’s database.”

“Well, would you?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t contact her though. I know how important her mission is. And I don’t even know what I’d say. It’s just…what if we’re fighting the empire and just happen to kill her before realizing who she is?”

Lance could tell how worried Keith was about that happening.

“Have you told Kolivan why you want to know?”

“No. It’s a stupid thing to worry about.”

“It’s not stupid to worry about your family, Keith.”

Lord knows I worry about mine all the time.

“Easy for you to say. You and your family are close. My mom’s the only family I have and I don’t know her. All I ever got from her was a lockbox with a self-storage key in it. That’s where I found the hoverbike, Marmora sword, and a letter saying that since I was old enough then, my dad would explain everything. Too bad my dad had died 8 years before that.”

“Do you still have the letter?”

“I tore it up after I read it. I was angry.”

“*dramatic gasp* Keith? Angry?” Lance said while trying to hide a smile.

“I was 16, I had anger issues.”

“Newsflash, you still have anger issues.” Lance teasingly responded.

“I’ve gotten better.”

“And we are all proud of you for that.”

There was a bit of comfortable silence between them.

“So…your dad died when you were…8?” Lance did the math in his head.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. I got so sick of people saying that to me at his funeral. Everyone said that if I needed anything all I had to do was ask. What I needed was my dad. It had always been just the two of us. He didn’t talk about my mom much, but when he did, you could see how much he missed her. There was always this hidden sad look on his face. I hated that she was making my dad feel upset by not being there. He said that mom was working and would come back to us someday. I thought she might come to his funeral, but that didn’t happen. Now I know why. He always said she was out of this world. I never realized how literal he was being.”

“Not to interrupt, but props to your dad for one of the best dad jokes ever with the whole ‘out of this world’ cause your mom’s an alien thing.”

“Yeah. He’d’ve liked you.”

Lance perked up slightly at hearing that.

My crush’s dad would have liked me!?

“You both have terrible jokes,” Keith said.

“Hey, my jokes aren’t terrible!” Lance sat up indignantly.

“Okay, they’re not terrible.”

Lance saw the amusement in Keith’s eyes.

“Darn right!” Lance said as he lied back down. He let out a *yawn* a moment later.

“Do you need me to give you a hand back to your bed?” Keith asked.

“Keith, was that a pun?"

“Not an answer.”

“Ok, maybe eventually, but I can stay up a bit longer. I’m comfy.”

“If you say so.”

There was more comfortable silence before Keith spoke up again.

“Sorry for talking so much.”

“Dude, it’s fine. I’m glad you trust me enough to open up more about what you’re going through.”

“You’re not going to tell anyone else, are you?” Keith asked.

“Of course not. This is your tragic backstory. I’m not going to force you to tell the others. That would be rude.” Lance paused for a moment. “I am a bit curious about one thing. How did your dad die? Please don’t feel like you have to answer. I totally understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s ok.” Keith *sighed*. “That’s actually what I was remembering in my dream. He died in a fire. Some sort of freak accident. He barely managed to push me out the door before the house collapsed on him. The only part that didn’t burn down was the shack.”

“Wait, the shack in the desert?”

“*mhmm* I lived there after being kicked out of the Garrison.”

“But you said earlier you grew up in the system. Why didn’t you go to your foster family?”

“I had already aged out of the system by then. I went through a few different foster homes. The last one was nice, but their house never felt like home. It’s ok though. I spent most of my free time at the shack with my hoverbike anyways. Living there just made more sense. My dad had already paid for the land and left it all to me in his will, so I didn’t have to worry about rent.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Keith paused for a moment. “You know what’s ironic? My dad was a firefighter and he died in a fire in his own home. And now I’m the red paladin, the paladin of fire.”

“The universe has a twisted sense of humor sometimes.”

“*mhmm*” Keith agreed. “I can still remember so many details from that day. It had been a dry summer. The house lit up like kindling. I was so scared I couldn’t move. I could hardly hear my dad over the roaring of the fire. He gave me his bandana and told me to put it over my mouth and close my eyes while he grabbed me and ran for the door. That was the last time I saw him alive.”

“Keith, are you ok?” Lance sat up as he saw Keith’s eyes starting to tear up.

“…No.”

“I’m going to hug you now. Is that ok?”

“Yeah.”

Lance moved closer to hug Keith’s face, albeit awkwardly due to the unique surface of the pillow.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that. And I hope that you know none of us would ever leave you by choice. You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not!”

“*heh* Thanks.” Keith sniffled out.

“Anytime.”

Lance tried to make it seem natural, but after several minutes of comforting Keith, even he had to admit

“This is a weird kind of angle for a hug, isn’t it?” Lance felt the air blow past him as Keith *sighed* through his nose.

“-s fine.”

“Yeah, but are you fine?”

“I will be.” Keith’s eyes were clearer now.

“Do you want me to stay with you? In case the nightmare memory comes back?”

Keith had to stop himself from blurting out ‘Yes’. He was surprised how quickly he wanted to respond ‘Yes’ to Lance. He wanted Lance to stay. But that might not be the safest place for Lance to be.

“Aren’t you already technically staying with me since you’re rooming here?”

“Good point, but I wasn’t able to wake you up yelling from the dollhouse. I had to get closer, so it would make sense for me to stay closer to you in case the dream happens again, but I would only do that if you’re ok with it. Do you want me to stay?”

“That might not be the safest idea. What if I roll over in my sleep and hurt you?”

“You’re a pretty sound sleeper. You don’t move around at all. Well, except for nightmares. And as soon as I feel the pillow move, I would know what’s happening and help wake you up from it. It would be fine, long as you’re ok with it.”

“*sigh* Ok. You can stay. Just for tonight.”

“Deal.”

Keith knew he rarely moved in his sleep, yet he was still worried about accidentally hurting Lance. But he trusted that Lance understood the risks. He sat up slowly and reached over towards the dollhouse, grabbed the bandana, and handed it over to Lance before lying back down.

“Thanks, Keith.”

“No problem.”

“Wait, is this the bandana from the fire?”

“Yes?”

“Dude, this is like the only thing you have left of your dad’s. I shouldn’t be using this!” Lance pushed the bandana away from himself.

“It’s fine.”

“But this is probably really special and significant to you.” Lance paused as he realized something. “Oh my God. I’ve been drooling all over the last thing your dad ever gave you!”

“It’s ok. It does mean a lot to me, but you need it more than I do. Besides, your drooling’s not really that noticeable at your height.”

“Yeah, but-“

“I said it’s fine, so it’s fine.”

“If you say so.”

Lance grabbed the bandana and pulled it up to his chin. A part of him still felt a bit guilty about using something that meant so much to Keith, but Keith had said it was fine.

“*heh* Usually I’m the one telling you it’s fine.”

“*heh* Yeah, I guess you are,” Keith responded with a small smile.

Lance could feel his eyelids growing heavy.

Keith *yawned* a moment later and looked over at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late.”

“Or is it getting early?” Lance joked while trying to stifle a *yawn* of his own.

“Either way, it’s probably time for us to get some sleep.” He paused for a moment. “Thanks for listening.”

“No worries, Keith. If you ever want to talk about that stuff again, my door is always open. Or I guess my wall is always open since the wall of the dollhouse is open.”

“Does everything have to be a pun with you?”

“You know you love it.”

-me. But that’s just wishful thinking.

Keith rolled his eyes with a smile. “Goodnight, Lance.”

“Night, Keith.”

It was quiet for a minute.

“You’re staring again,” Lance said teasingly before he opened his eyes.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I’ll just turn around and-”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it. Besides, I know how hard it is to take your eyes off all of this.”

“Oh my God, Lance, just go to sleep.” Keith *groaned* out into his pillow to hide his smile.

“Ok, fine. Buenas Noches, Keith.”

“G’night, Lance.”

This time, they both closed their eyes and fell asleep once more.

It was the best sleep Lance had had in a long time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance had lost track of how long they had been walking. Well, how long everyone but him had been walking given that he was riding in Keith’s utility belt pocket. He would have preferred a jacket pocket, but since the savanna-like planet of Gefahr was so warm, Allura thought it best that everyone wear their armor as it regulated temperature. There was no need for added layers.

Lance had tried to argue for riding on someone’s shoulder since the planet was uninhabited, but was quickly shot down by Hunk pointing out that just cause there are no people on the planet doesn’t mean there aren’t other creatures who might mean Lance harm. So Lance was stuck in the utility belt pocket.

Hunk had finally gotten around to fixing his own utility belt pockets so Lance had assumed he would go with him, but was surprised when Keith had volunteered to be the one to bring him along. Lance had jokingly said that he ‘could do with a change of scenery’, but once you’ve ridden in one utility belt pocket, you’ve ridden in them all. There was only the slightest of differences in material.

He kept watching the tall blue grass go by through the partially open zipper.

I’d ask how much longer it’s going to be, but I’d just get the same answer as all the other times.

‘You don’t want to bother them, right? Though you’ll find another way to bother them regardless.’

I don’t remember asking for your opinion.

Lance worked to ignore those thoughts and relax with the slight swaying of the pocket he was in. He could tell Keith and the rest of the group were moving slower than usual, most likely so it was a less bumpy ride for him. He was grateful but wanted to get out of the pocket sooner rather than later. It was starting to get a bit claustrophobic, but Lance didn’t want anyone else to know that. He didn’t want them to see him as weak.

Ok, it can’t be that much longer, right? Hunk was so excited to find a planet with new types of food to work with in the kitchen. Allura would have parked the castleship closer if we could, but apparently, the ground is too soft for the castleship to land without damaging it. She wouldn’t make us walk farther than we had to. Actually, no. She might consider it part of training, like pulling your weight.

‘You’re certainly not pulling your own weight.’

Hey, I have less weight to pull, so I don’t have to do as much.

‘And a good thing too. There’s not much you actually can do.’

I can do things!

‘Like what?’

Stuff…things…umm…

Lance was shaken from his thoughts as he felt the pocket stop swaying.

Finally.

“Can I come out yet?” Lance asked through the comms.

“Not yet. Pidge still has to do a scan of the nearby area to make sure there’s no animals that might be a threat to you.” Ryo answered.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take more than a few tics,” Hunk added on.

Lance heard the wrist scanner boot up and make a few sounds.

“Looks like we’re all clear. You’re good, Lance.” Pidge stated.

Thank God.

The zipper was opened all the way and Lance climbed onto Keith’s offered hand.

Keith brought him up to his shoulder.

“I’ll keep the scanner running so if something does get too close we’ll get a heads up since the castleships scanners are down while Coran works on them,” Pidge stated as she pushed a few buttons on said scanner.

“An excellent idea, Pidge. This way we can ensure Lance’s safety.” Allura commented.

“So this is the schakalberry tree?” Lance asked as everyone looked at the tree in front of them.

“Yep,” Hunk responded.

“That is one tall tree,” Ryo commented as he looked up towards the top of the tree.

“It’s huge!” Pidge exclaimed.

“I feel like an ant,” Keith added on.

“Think about how I feel,” Lance said from his shoulder.

I feel like an ant around the rest of the team. If they feel like ants with this tree, what does that mean I feel like? An ant to an ant? Is there a better way to phrase that?

‘Of course there is, but you aren’t about to think of it.’

“What exactly is an ant?” Allura asked.

“They’re a type of bug on earth,” Hunk responded. “They’re pretty little, like yea big.” Hunk pressed his pointer finger and thumb closer together but kept them from touching to show Allura how small ants are.

‘And that’s exactly what you are. A little bug, a pest. And what do we do with bugs?’

Nope, not thinking about that nightmare. Never thinking about that again. They would never actually do that.

‘Not intentionally, but well, accidents do happen.’

Lance could almost hear the smirk in the voice.

“Looks like there are some low hanging branches. Keith, why don’t you and Lance work on those while the rest of us pick some from the higher branches?” Allura suggested.

“That’s where the sweetest berries are according to the Falleans.” Hunk commented.

“Sounds good,” Keith responded.

“Here’s a bucket for you two.” Pidge handed one of the 5 buckets to Keith.

“Don’t I get my own bucket?”

“You aren’t really in the position to carry a bucket right now, Lance.” Hunk said gently.

“Even if we did have a bucket in your size, it would only hold a few berries. It just makes more sense for you and Keith to share.” Pidge pointed out.

“Ok, fair point,” Lance responded from Keith’s shoulder.

Pidge gave everyone else a bucket and they used their jetpacks to fly up towards the uppermost branches of the schakalberry tree.

Lance felt a little upset that he was, in essence, grounded even though his jetpack worked just fine. He understood the others’ worries about him falling, but the jetpack would stop him from falling. Or slow his falling enough for one of them to grab him. It wouldn’t be that big a deal. He knew they wouldn’t let him fall.

Keith was now standing in front of one of the low hanging branches. He put his hand out for Lance to climb on.

“Relax, Mullet. I got a jetpack too.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Are you ever going to not have a mullet?” Lance stood up on Keith’s shoulder.

“No.”

“There’s your answer.”

With that Lance used his jetpack to fly over to the nearest branch. He almost didn’t notice Keith’s hands below him ready to catch him if he fell. Key word almost.

Does Keith think that I can’t do this too?

‘Of course he does. He’s stuck babysitting you while the others are actually doing something productive.’

Keith put the bucket down on the ground underneath the branch Lance was now standing on before walking over to another low hanging branch and starting to pick berries. Lance did the same.

The berries were the size of basketballs to him. He grabbed the closest one and started pulling on it. He could feel the resistance of the berry.

Ok, this is harder than I thought.

He looked over and saw Keith having no trouble with his branch.

Ok, maybe it’s just me. How to do this? Aha! Got it!

Lance grabbed the berry once more. This time as he pulled, he also used his jetpack for an extra boost. The berry resisted for a moment before coming free.

“Oof.” Lance landed on his back on the branch.

“Are you ok?” Lance saw the concerned look on Keith’s face.

“I’m good. Just needed a little boost strength-wise.”

“You don’t have to do this if it’s hard.”

“It’s fine, Keith.” Lance dropped the berry into the bucket below. “I want to help the team as much as I can while I’m like this. This is something I can do.”

Not well, but I can still do it.

Lance couldn’t help but feel inadequate when Keith walked over and dropped a handful of berries into the bucket.

Is this even worth the effort? At the rate I’m going, I’m only going to pick like 10 before Keith manages to fill the bucket. Every little bit counts, but my little bit is hardly a drop in the bucket. Or would it be berry in the bucket? Lance thought with a small smile.

‘You’re not funny.’

Yeah, I know.

It wasn’t too long before Keith was back with yet another handful of berries.

Lance grabbed another berry and started to pull with the help of his jetpack.

“Um, Lance?” Keith said.

“Yeah?” Lance responded after dropping the second berry into the bucket.

“I wanted to apologize for last night. The whole waking you up and-“

“You didn’t wake me up, Keith. I was awake for a bit before your nightmare memory thingee.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. The doll bed’s not really designed for actual use, so I’ve woken up in the middle of the night a few times. Last night was probably some of the best sleep I got since the whole getting shrunk thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Pillows are like clouds at this height.” Lance paused for a moment. “Thanks again for grabbing the bandana blanket for me.”

“No problem. Sorry about grabbing you in my sleep.”

“Grabbing’s a bit of a strong word, Keith. If anything, you draped your hand over me. Wait, is that the right word? Anyways, it’s more like your hand was a heated blanket of some kind. You didn’t smush me down into the pillow if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“But what if I had?”

“You wouldn’t, Keith. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. I’m fine, you’re fine,” very fine, “And everything is fine.”

That is the exact moment that things went wrong.

“Guys, something just popped up on the scanner. Make that several somethings.” Pidge warned through the comms.

“What direction are they coming from?” Keith looked around to see if he could figure it out himself.

“Overhead.” Pidge and the others landed in front of Keith and Lance.

Keith held out his hand for Lance to climb onto.

“What are they?” Ryo asked.

“Not sure. We designed the scanner to warn us of things that would be a threat. It doesn’t necessarily tell us what they are.” Hunk explained. “Bit of a design flaw on our part.”

“Well whatever it is, we should get ready,” Lance said.

“Coran, do you see anything on the ship’s scanners?” Allura asked through the comms.

“I haven’t finished updating them yet, so they’re not active. Why?”

“We have a lot of movement near us. We may need to make a quick exit. How soon can you get the castleship ready to leave?”

“Give me 15 dobashes and she’ll be ready to go.”

“You might want to hurry with that, Coran. We’ve got company.” Ryo said as an all too familiar ship came into view overhead flanked by two battle cruisers.

“How did Lotor find us here? The Falleans said that this was a safe planet!” Lance exclaimed.

“*Hmm* It has been a while since we’ve heard from the Falleans,” Keith commented mostly to himself.

“Lotor probably figured we were on their tail and would be looking to resupply somewhere,” Allura responded.

“What if there’s something you missed in my head? What if I’m the reason they found us?” Ryo worried out loud.

“We went over the data multiple times. If they had put anything in your mind we would have found it.” Pidge answered.

“Is there a chance they don’t know we’re here?” Hunk asked hopefully.

The ship started shooting at them.

“Well, that answers that question,” Keith said as he transferred Lance to one hand and activated his shield with the other.

“Coran, how much longer till the castleship’s ready to go?” Ryo asked.

“We’re working as fast as we can. It shouldn’t be more than another 13 dobashes. Do you want me to send the lions to meet you?”

“No, the planet drains their power somehow. We can’t risk them being grounded here.” Pidge responded.

“That means we can’t form Voltron. What do we do?” Hunk asked.

“We hold out until Coran can get the ship to us,” Ryo stated. “Keith, hide Lance. We don’t need Lotor to know he’s here with us.”

Keith slid Lance back into his utility belt pocket and zipped it most of the way shut.

“Everyone, protect Keith. We know he’s the intended target.” Allura reminded the group.

Lance remembered exactly what Lotor had said back then, all the way back when Lance took the hit for Keith. How it was ‘high time someone cut him down to size.’ They were lucky that Lotor hadn’t managed to hit his intended target. Lance wouldn’t want anyone else to have to go through what he’s going through.

I wonder why they’re targeting Keith anyways. Maybe because he’s half Galra? Or is it racist to assume that? Uggh. I hate not being able to see what’s going on.

“I don’t need protection,” Keith stated.

“True, but Lance does,” Allura commented. “Lotor finding us here is an unforeseen risk. We can’t afford anything happening to either of you.”

Nice to know they care, but I can protect myself.

‘Really now? Then, what would you call all the other times? You were almost stepped on, nearly crushed under a fist, trapped in a jewelry box, and let’s not forget all but dropped to your death, I could go on.’

Please don’t. That was before I knew how to handle myself at this height.

‘But that last time was only a few days ago.’

Lance ignored the voice as much as he could and tried to focus on the voices around him. He could hear Lotor speaking.

“You have something of mine, paladins.”

“Yeah? Well, you’ve got something of ours. Where’s Shiro?” Pidge demanded an answer.

“Ah, so you’ve discovered our little ruse.”

“Answer the question,” Keith growled out.

“Even if I did know his location I would not share it.”

“We will find him.” Allura declared.

“Do you hear that? They actually think they can find him.” Ezor mocked while the rest of the generals laughed.

Guess all of team Lotor is here too. Yay.

“We found Ryo.” Hunk pointed out.

“Oh, is that what the project’s calling itself these days?” Zethrid asked out loud.

“You only found this clone because we let you.” Lotor declared. “We left you a trail of breadcrumbs and you didn’t suspect a thing. True, we were hoping that it would be longer before you figured it out. We believed that with what’s happened to your most important paladin your team would fall apart, but you are still going strong. Credit where credit’s due.”

“Uh, thank you?”

“Hunk!”

“What? I’m just being polite.”

“Tell us what you’ve done with Shiro,” Ryo demanded.

“I haven’t done anything with him.”

“LIAR!"

Lance could feel how agitated Keith was. His shaking in anger was causing the utility belt pocket to shake as well.

“Believe what you will, but I was not involved in that aspect of the project.”

“Then why were you there guarding him?” Allura gestured to Ryo.

“I owed someone a favor.”

“Who?” Pidge glared at Lotor.

A look of realization came across Ryo’s face.

“The witch. Haggar.”

“I guess they did give you a brain after all.”

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Lance had managed to unzip the pocket enough for him to stick his upper body out.

The rest of his team turned and glared at him and Lance swore he could hear them all going “Boiiiii!” in their minds.

“It seems you have a little stowaway,” Lotor smirked down at Lance.

Oh, yeah, that’s scary. That is very scary.

“Good to know the spell worked.”

“What do you want, Lotor?” Allura asked while Keith put a protective hand in front of Lance to shield him from view.

“I already told you, you have something of mine. I am simply here to retrieve him.”

Lance figured Lotor had gestured towards Keith based on how the others reacted.

“We will not allow you to take him,” Allura stated.

“Yeah! Keith’s our friend!” Hunk declared.

“And teammate!” ��Pidge added.

“If you want him, you’re going to have to go through us,” Ryo said.

“So be it.”

Lance was glad that Keith had managed to zip him back in the pocket while everyone else was talking because things started moving quickly, causing him to fall down.

Ok, I’m a little sick of that happening.

He felt something press against the pocket. Whatever it was stopped and stayed in place once it felt him through the material.

“That you, Keith?” He hoped it was Keith. He couldn’t see much in the pocket with just the lights from his armor, not that there was much to see anyways.

“*mhmm*” Keith responded in the comms.

He must be using his shield to protect me. But what about him?

Lance could hear the clashing of metal around him.

There has to be something I can do.

Lance felt his surrounding shift as something hit the shield.

What was that?

Keith’s hand moved slightly but still managed to keep Lance from being shaken around in the pocket.

This kind of feels like being on that one flying saucer looking ride at the fair. The one where it spins really fast and you’re pushed against the wall and can’t move. What was that called again?

There was another sharp lurch in a different direction. Then yet another direction.

Or maybe this is more like bumper cars. With a blindfold on. Would it be better if I could see what’s happening?

Lance barely stopped himself from puking as there was a sudden drop.

Yeah, don’t think seeing would help.

The force pressing against him disappeared and he fell on his hands and knees as the pocket was jerked once more.

“I got him!” Lance heard Zethrid say.

“Good. Get him to the ship.” Axha responded as the pocket started shaking.

Keith must be trying to get away.

Lance heard a zipping sound and saw that more light was coming in.

Why would Keith be opening-? That’s not Keith!

Lance had learned to recognize his teammates’ hands from his new perspective. He was pretty sure none of them had claws or red skin.

“And he even brought his little friend along for the trip.” Ezor taunted as her hand approached Lance.

Lance backed up into a corner of the pocket in an attempt to get away. Seeing one of his friends’ hands reaching for him was intimidating enough at this height. Seeing an enemy’s hand reaching for him was downright terrifying.

“Get away from him!” Keith was still trying to break free from Zethrid’s grip causing the pocket to shake and making it harder for Ezor to grab at Lance.

Lance managed to avoid the first few attempts, but Ezor eventually snatched him up and start lifting him out of the pocket. Lance’s fight or flight instinct kicked in and he bit Ezor’s finger.

“Ow!” Ezor dropped Lance back into the pocket and yanked her hand out of it.

“Babe, are you ok?” Zethrid’s grip loosened slightly at her girlfriend’s exclamation allowing Keith to break out of it and quickly re-zip his pocket shut.

“He bit me.” Ezor shot an offended look at Keith and Lance.

“That’s it. No more Mr. nice guy.” Zethrid said.

That was her being nice?! Lance thought as he worked to get his heart to stop racing.

Zethrid and Ezor started charging towards Keith but were suddenly blasted back by a flash of pink energy.

“I believe we said we would not let you take him.”

Keith looked over and saw Allura standing nearby, a small hint of a pink glow still around her outstretched hand.

“Besides,” Pidge joined Allura, “2 against 1 isn’t really fair.”

What about me? Don’t I count for something?

‘No, you don’t.’

Hey, I can fight too!

‘Yeah, cause biting someone’s finger and then cowering in a corner is a real asset to the team.’

“You ok, Lance?” Keith asked as he put his hand back protectively over the pocket and reactivated his shield.

“Yeah, you?” Lance put his hand against Keith’s through the fabric of the pocket to let him know he was alright.

“Just a scratch. No big deal.”

“You can’t keep him from us forever,” Axha commented as she fought against Ryo.

“I can do this all day.”

“And they can do this for much longer,” Lotor stated before multiple transports full of robot sentries dropped down into the fray.

“Why does every villain have an army of robots?” Hunk asked as he avoided a hit from Narti, who had Kova perched on her shoulder. “Nice kitty. I don’t want to hurt you-”

*HISS!!!*

“-But you clearly want to hurt me! Coran, what’s the ETA?”

“It’ll be at least another 4 doboshes until she’s up and running.”

More sentries dropped from the sky surrounding the group.

“That’s not going to be enough time,” Allura stated as she blasted 3 of the sentries to bits before more took their place.

“We need a new plan,” Ryo added as he sliced one up.

“Wait, Lance,” Keith said while blocking a strike from another sentry. “What about pharaohs?”

“Pharaohs? What do dead Egyptian dudes have to do with anything?”

“No, pharaohs! What we talked about yesterday."

“Wait, do you mean Feroz?”

“That’s what I said.”

That was hardly close at all.

“Why not just say ‘Red’?” Lance was honestly curious as to why Keith was trying to be cryptic.

“Think, Lance.” Keith was forced back by yet another sentry.

“Oh! Because Lotor and crew can hear what you’re saying, but not so much what I’m saying. That way they don’t know the plan!”

“Good.” Lance could hear the smile in Keith’s voice.

“I think I’m thinking what you’re thinking. Coran, would you be able to open Red’s hangar door?”

“Yes, but that would just drain her energy.”

“True, but Red’s the fastest out of the lions. She could make it to us and bring us to the ship in time for liftoff before being drained completely.”

“It’s risky,” Allura commented.

“But it might be our only chance,” Ryo added.

“It seems doable. Pidge, do you think it would work?” Hunk asked.

“Yes. It will work. Do it, Coran.”

“Red’s on her way. I’ll have Black on stand-by in case she doesn’t make it all the way back.”

“She’ll make it back” Lance stated. “She’s Feroz.”

“Whatever you and your paladins are thinking of doing, it won’t work,” Ezor stated.

“We have you surrounded and outnumbered,” Axha said from the opposite side of the group.

“You’re not getting away this time.” Zethrid threatened from another side with Kova *meowing* in agreement on Narti’s shoulders opposite her.

The sentries closed in more on team Voltron. All members of team Voltron found themselves turning between facing each of the 5 members of team Lotor, not sure which of them might strike first.

Keith was the only one to notice Axha aiming a shot at the back of Ryo’s head. He ran over and reached his arm and shield out and blocked the shot.

Ezor aimed her gun as well.

*pa-choo*

Suddenly there was a hole right through the utility belt pocket only an inch above Lance’s head from his perspective.

“¡Ah Dios!”

“Lance!” Keith quickly put his shield back in front of Lance.

“As we said before, there will be no escape for you this day.” Lotor proclaimed.

*ROAR*

All eyes turned towards the sound to see Red racing towards team Voltron.

“That’s what you think, suckers!” Pidge exclaimed as Red grabbed everyone in her tractor beam and activated her shield. Once in the cockpit, Keith grabbed the controls and Red started heading back to the castleship.

Team Lotor continued to fire until they could no longer see Red in the sky.

“What are your orders?” Axha looked over to Lotor.

“Let them leave. We’ve accomplished our goal here.”

“No way they’re letting him on any more missions after that stunt,” Zethrid commented.

“Is that really going to stop him though?” Ezor added with a smile.

“We’ll have to see what the cameras show us on their ship,” Axha answered.

“Is your finger alright, Ezor?” Zethrid let a bit of worry show on her face as she cradled her girlfriend’s hands in her own.

“It’s fine, babe. He can’t bite that hard at that height anyway. He just surprised me. Why? You gonna kiss it better?”

“Of course. Now, was it this finger?” *kiss*

“Nope.”

“Was it this one?” *kiss*

“No.” *giggle*

“How about this one?” *kiss*

*giggle*

Kova *meowed* on Narti’s shoulder.

“You’re right, Narti. It is interesting that the green paladin didn’t try to hack the sentries. And after all the trouble you went through to take down their firewalls and make it so they would self-destruct once hacked.” Lotor lamented.

“Voltron seems to still believe that the red paladin is our target,” Axha observed.

“Good. They won’t realize our true target until it’s too late. You three can head back to the ship now. I have something to discuss with Ezor.”

The other three generals headed towards one of the transports, but not before Zethrid kissed Ezor on the back of her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

Once the transport took off, Lotor turned to Ezor.

“When I chose each of you as my generals, I asked for one thing in return: Loyalty. To me and the cause. You were told to target only the red paladin. Why did you deliberately go against my orders?”

“I saw an opportunity to take the blue paladin without having to deal with the more complicated parts of the plan.” Ezor tried not to show how nervous she was.

“And what did that get you?”

“My finger got bit and he got away.” She looked down in shame.

“Exactly. You gained nothing from your actions. By targeting the blue paladin directly, you nearly alerted his team to the truth. If Voltron found out that he was our true target this early it would be disastrous. Not only that, when you were told to aim near the top of the pocket, you aimed for the middle.”

“I thought that it would be more effective if the ‘close call’ shot was closer to him. It would convince them even more that he shouldn’t be out in the field.”

“And in doing so you risked everything. If he had been sitting up any more in the pocket, your shot would have killed him. Need I remind you we need the blue paladin alive for the plan to work?”

“I understand, Lotor.”

“I’m not so sure you do.” Lotor brought a hand to the hilt of his sword.

Ezor *gulped*. She watched as Lotor seemed to debate something in his head while tightening his grip.

Lotor *sighed* to himself before letting go of the hilt and letting his hand fall back down to his side.

“You are young and naïve. There is much you do not know. Consider this a learning experience and see that it does not happen again. Fate may not be so kind to you in the future.”

“Yes, Lotor.” Ezor’s voice shook slightly from nervousness as she avoided looking him in the eyes.

“*sigh* You know I care about you.” Lotor put the hand that had grabbed his sword on Ezor’s shoulder and noticed her slight flinch. “I still hate to think about what might have happened all those years ago if I hadn’t intervened. They were hurting you. And all because you are only ¼ Galra.” Lotor used his other hand to tilt Ezor’s head up so she was looking at him. “You are Galra. That should be enough for them. I know it is enough for me. Us part Galra have to stick together. We’re family, after all.”

“I know.”

“I realize I have been unfair to you and the others. I have been keeping many details of the plan under wraps for fear of anyone beyond us learning of them. I am deeply sorry for that.”

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s ok. We all understand. If we needed to know you would let us know.”

“While on the subject, I have an important task for you and Narti tomorrow. I’ve already explained Narti’s role to her, but you are the key to this portion of the plan. Everything depends on you doing exactly as I tell you.”

“I won’t let you down again.”

“I know you won’t. Now pay attention. This is important."

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“Are you sure you’re ok, Lance?”

“Yes, Hunk. I’m fine.” Lance tried to push away Hunk’s worried hands that had been hovering around him since he came out of the healing pod. “I mean, yeah, I’m a bit shaken, but not stirred!” Lance smiled at the reference he made.

“I’m going to assume that’s another earth phrase?” Coran said.

“Something along those lines,” Keith responded.

“*ahem* If we could get back on topic, please,” Allura interjected. “Given recent events, we have a few things to discuss as a team. Coran, have you had any success in contacting the Falleans?”

“Not yet, Princess. All I’m getting is static. I’ll keep adjusting the frequency and see if I can get through.”

“We need to let them know that Gefahr is no longer safe. What could have happened that would affect the signal?” Allura wondered out loud.

“It is possible their communicator was damaged,” Pidge suggested.

“The Galra could have something to do with it.” Ryo pointed out.

“Either way, we should continue trying to contact them.” Allura declared.

“Why not just teleduv over there and see what’s going on?” Lance suggested.

“Because we can’t form Voltron right now,” Pidge answered.

“Red was barely able to make it back to the castleship before being completely power drained,” Hunk added on.

“We don’t know what’s on the other side of the wormhole,” Coran mentioned.

“If it is the Galra, as Ryo suspects, it would be best to be able to form Voltron,” Allura explained.

“True, true,” Lance commented.

“Plus, if the Galra are involved we don’t want to walk into a trap,” Ryo responded.

“When does Red say she’ll be ready?” Lance asked.

“Red says she should be ready by tomorrow morning,” Keith answered after asking Red herself through their mental link.

“*sigh* Good.” Allura switched back to her serious face. “We also need to work on our protection formations.”

“I thought we did a good job today. They didn’t get Keith.” Pidge commented.

“They almost did,” Allura responded. “It was sheer dumb luck that Keith got away. We need to be better next time.”

“I don’t need protection,” Keith said.

“Until we can figure out what Lotor wants with you, you do. And in the future, we might have to protect someone less capable of protecting themselves. It is a good idea to do some more training.” Ryo pointed out.

“Fine.” Keith accepted.

“And finally, Lance. Are you quite sure you’re alright?” Allura asked.

“Yeah, it was just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious."

“Nothing too serious?! You almost died!” Hunk exclaimed.

“But I didn’t! I’m fine.”

“You got lucky this time,” Pidge interjected. “If that shot had been a millimeter lower, you wouldn’t be here now.”

“And now we know Lotor and his team are not above targeting you in the field.” Ryo pointed out.

“It is for all these reasons and more that certain precautions must be made. Pidge, would you be able to bring up the rules list?” Allura asked.

“Give me just a sec.” Pidge typed on her laptop. “Got it.”

“From now on, Lance is not to go on any mission regardless of the risk involved.” Allura declared.

“What?” Lance said softly. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“No missions. Period.” Pidge simplified as she edited the rules list.

“We discussed it while you were in the pod and agreed that the risk is just too great.” Ryo apologetically said to Lance.

“But…but the other missions I’ve gone on like this went ok. We didn’t know that Lotor would show up!”

“Exactly,” Allura stated. “We do not always know what we will face in the field. This last mission was proof of that.”

“That was probably just a fluke or something!”

“A fluke that almost cost you your life,” Keith responded, worry showing in his voice. “You didn’t even try to stay hidden when Lotor showed up. You let them know where you were as soon as they landed.”

“Well, next time I’ll stay quiet and if Lotor and crew show up, they won’t even know I’m there.”

“Even if you could manage to be quiet that long, Lotor’s team would assume you’re tagging along on every mission now.” Pidge pointed out. “The best thing for you to do is stay on the castleship where you’re safe.”

“But I want to help!”

“You can help Coran on the bridge,” Ryo mentioned gently.

But that’s not the same.

“Please, Lance. We just want to make sure you’re safe.” Hunk said upon seeing Lance’s dejected face.

“We’re paladins of Voltron. We risk our lives every day.” Lance said while wondering

Why is it different for me?

“And we can’t risk something happening to you,” Coran responded. “You are the most vulnerable of us right now.”

‘See? Even Coran doesn’t think you can do anything. Vulnerable, weak, useless.’

“The Galra almost took you,” Keith said.

“If they had taken you, who knows what they would do?” Hunk worried out loud.

“Lotor would use you against us. He could force us to hand over Keith.” Allura stated.

‘See who she actually cares about? Surprise, surprise, it’s not you.’

“For everyone’s safety and peace of mind, yours especially, you need to stay where it’s safe, ok?” Ryo said.

“*sigh* I’ll stay where it’s safe.” Lance agreed.

“Good.”

But I never agreed that that was the castleship.

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