#altean lotor is good

[klanced]

you are so lucky to not have watched s4-8

people always ask me 'katie why did you only watch half of voltron??' and i'm just like guys i thought we all agreed that voltron was not a very good show 💀

[an0nwr1tes]

Dreamworks fix your fucking shifters-

Allura and Coran have no concept of gender, because they are Altean and Alteans are A CHAMELEON LIKE SPECIES WHICH THEY FUCKING ARENT DREAMKWORKS BECAUSE WHAT U FUCKING SHOWED US IN SEAOSN WHATEVER WAS SHAPESHIFTING-

Ahem, Alteans are born with the ability to do one of two things; Altean Alchemy or Shapeshifting, some are even born with the affinity for both but that’s rare and people born without a talent for either are also rare but most have a basic ability to do both.

Alteans are born with a simple understanding of “Oh, I’m going swiming? I should probably grow some gills so I don’t quiznaking drown.” So when Lance walks into the kitchen in the middle of the night to get some water he passes by the bridge only to pause as he sees a duo of three armed multi eyed monsters he rightfully screams.

Altean flight suits are built to change and shift with the user so most of the Altean clothing is too.

Both Coran and Allura had been under the impression that the Paladins didn’t trust them and so had chosen not to shift in front of them, when the Paladins find out they explain that humans can’t do that and Coran and Allura go.

“So you don’t hate us???”

And the Paladins go.

“Why would that mean we hate you???”

Alteans culture runs on a bases of masculinity and femininity instead of women or men, as they can shape shift they are quite literally above gender, wish that were me-

So, Allura and Coran saw Pidge admit they were actually a girl and in their brains it was, “Ah, so they change as well.”

When he’s working on the Castleship Coran tends to grow multiple arms as he can hold things up while he works, when reading through diplomatic treaty’s Allura will grow multiple hands and eyes as well.

I’m bringing Romelle and Altean!Lance into this too.

Romelle likes keeping an eye on things so she’ll occasionally grown an extra set of eyes to keep an eye on her brother while she’s doing something else, Lance will grow multiple eyes as well but he does it to help keep an eye on the battle field.

Alteans go through this thing called the change which is kinda like their version of puberty if it was a gender identity crisis and they turned into Eldridge horror abominations.

Lotor also went through this one, it’s why he looks more Galra than Altean and why Altean!Lance would look more human than Altean most of the time, it’s their default forms, what they’re most comfortable with.

When Alteans go through the change they aren’t the most in control of their shifts, and it winds up with a lot of them being an amalgamation of different races that they’ve thought were cool or even parts of people they admire, sometimes Alteans wind up looking completely different than what they originally looked like.

When threatened Alteans will SHAPE SHIFT to protect themselves or simply like we saw in the show they’ll shape shift to hide among the native people.

What I’m saying is please use the Alteans ability to shapeshifting more in fanfiction I’m dying theirs no good representation for my boy.

[imhereformysciencefriends]

Day 6: Galra Allura

Tags: @loturaweek2024 Species swap, alien culture, Galran Empire, helping someone you dislike and hating it the whole time, deep seated propaganda/brainwashing, touch starvation

Read on AO3

Prince Lotor was an embarrassment to the Galra name and species. Everyone knew that. To even touch him was to risk being polluted by the filth that tainted his bloodline and made him soft, pathetic, vulnerable. To associate with him? Was to practically volunteer to join him at the bottom of the pecking order. He was alive only because he had half-inherited his father’s martial prowess (and how powerful was the mighty Emperor Zarkon, that even half his strength should best any Galra that challenged Lotor!) and because Galran custom forbade even Zarkon from ridding the universe of his own child.

Allura knew that.

Allura was a good, dutiful, honorable, hardworking Galra. She was proud, as all Galra were proud, she was fearsome, as all Galra were fearsome. She was cutthroat and coldhearted—and maybe that was a lie.

The smell of blood was not foreign to her. She’d spilled plenty of it, herself. His shouldn’t move her. It was good, she justified to herself, that she concerned herself with the wounds and wellbeings of other Galra, for Galra were all as one, united under their glorious emperor, and to uphold and uplift the Galra around her was to uphold the empire as a whole, she self-rationalized. But Lotor was only half Galra, his blood tainted with Altean genetics, she shouldn’t care if he bled, if he ached, if he hurt, if he gasped as he rolled himself onto his knees and hand, the other wrist too damaged to put his weight on.

Really, she would be doing him a favor just for walking by. If she just strode past him and the unconscious bodies strewn around him, hell, she should be concerned about them, not the one left standing (or, well, kneeling. Getting there).

…Maybe, since he was half Galra, it would be alright if she half-cared?

She didn’t ask or offer, simply walked up to him, got his good arm slung over her shoulders, and lifted. He growled at her, and she growled back, not exactly happy about this either (damn her soft heart! A Galra should be better!), but his anger settled into confusion when she merely pulled him to his feet.

“...To what do I owe the honor?”

“Can it,” she snarled. “Let’s just get you out of here before any of these fools wake up and try for a round two.”

Because yes, that was it, they were the fools. Everyone knew Prince Lotor inherited half the emperor’s strength, it was their fault for thinking that they could best even that.

As a group.

Against one man.

She grit her fangs. Life wasn’t fair. Of course Galra didn’t play fair. It wasn’t honorable, exactly, but she doubted this was an official challenge for anything. And how did a prince get picked on this much anyway!? It was embarrassing for him.

“I rather must admit, I had thought when you approached me you intended to finish what they’d started.”

“If you keep chatting so much, I just might,” she snapped, with less heat than she’d intended. The line of his arm across her armor was distracting (it was always distracting) (she had yet to shake off the childish need to be touched outside of battle. Shameful). It was distracting her. This was a distracting situation.

“...Thank you.”

“Please,” she muttered quietly, “don’t ever mention it.”

And, see, again, Allura was distracted, it was a distracting situation, she wasn’t thinking about where she was going, because she’d just finished her shift and had been heading back to her apartment, and in lieu of actually taking Lotor somewhere her body just. Finished the trek home.

She stopped in front of the door to her room, very clearly in one of the residential halls, very clearly embarrassed with herself, even with her downturned ears hidden by her helmet and her blush underneath her fur.

He laughed, damn him, a soft, breathy, barely-there sound. “And where, precisely, has my valiant savior taken me?” Lotor asked, teasing and very knowing and sounding quite amused, the bastard. She shoved him off of her into the wall.

“You know I’ve had about enough of your sass!” she snarled, fangs bared, and he laughed again, louder, though his eyes were sharp on her, treating her like a threat. Good. She was one.

“Forgive me,” Lotor said, still sounding amused, if cautious, “I’m afraid my mouth has played the culprit in many of my altercations. I just can’t seem to control it.”

“Perhaps you should learn.”

“Perhaps.”

She crossed her arms and huffed, then. Well. Conceded in looking away first. It bristled, to be the one to look away from Lotor, embarrassment of the Empire, but she could admit she was being just slightly ridiculous (she’d been the one to bring him here, after all), and even if he did take advantage of the deliberate show of weakness, she doubted he could do much against her, down a wrist and limping like that.

“Your breath seems caught enough,” she muttered, still turned away. “You can make your own way from here. I’m going to rest.”

She slammed her hand down on the ID pad and her door slid open for her, allowing her to storm in.

“Wait!” Lotor called, soft but urgent, and she stilled in the doorway, cocking her head to look at him and her lip lifted just enough to snarl with one fang.

“Please, at least tell me your name.”

“...Allura. Now go away.”

The door didn’t slam behind her, just neatly closed like it always did, and she found herself resenting the emotionless metal for its lack of force. Good riddance. She was supposed to be enjoying a varga or two of personal time before she slept and went back to work the next day. Not dealing with stupid princes and their stupid faces and their stupid injuries and their stupid, breathy, lilting laughs that sounded so soft and inviting and their stupid smug faces and stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

Her face burned as she stripped off her armor, flinging it roughly at the armor stand. Whatever! She hoped she never saw him again!!!

(Except she did, she did, she wanted to see him. Stupid. Pathetic. Weak Allura).

[lokimilf]

I FIGURED OUT LOTORS ORIGINAL PLOT

okay so this is just a theory, but i was thinking about it, and i have a feeling that i am somewhat correct.

this is the what lotor was actually doing at the colony:

yes, he technically “killed” those alteans. i think that they were in a type of death like stasis and that’s why bandor thought he was killing them. BUT. i have a theory that they weren’t supposed to stay dead.

i think lotor took their quintessence because he didn’t have a way into the quintessence field yet. he needed it right away and fast to keep the empire going. BUT. i don’t think he intended to just straight up leave them dead in a pod.

it was proven in season 6 that quintessence can bring someone back from the brink of death, example allura healing lance after pretty much dying from an electric shock.

i think lotors plan was to use the alteans temporarily, and then once he got access to his unlimited quintessence, restore them. they were never supposed to stay dead/on the brink of death.

lotor also states “we’re a few lives lost in the process? yes.” and we clearly see HUNDREDS of alteans still in the tubes. i have a feeling he’s referring to people who Actually died from this experiment and not the people in the tubes he was going to restore.

i’m typing this fast so hopefully it makes sense, but if this was not lotors original plan, i don’t know what was. just straight up killing his race for a dumb reason is out of character. this makes more sense to me, especially since his whole mission was preserving life.

[minamorsart]

Heyy , I love your fanfictions , so beautifully written especially the ones about Lotor and Allura , which brings me to my question , do you think that if Lotor survived , he would make his way to Allura to win back her heart 💖 (AWESOME ART BTW💯🤗🙌)

Firstly, hello!!! Thank you for taking the time to write me an ask, these always make my day! Secondly, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Not only for your kind words, but also taking the time to read my fanfictions and look at my art??! 😭😭 I'm so honored!!! 😖🙏💖

In regards to your question, short answer: YES ABSOLUTELY! I can't help it, it's the romantic in me 😆 And below the cut I'd like to get into the why!

Also lookit that height difference, so cute~~

One of the most compelling things about Lotor's character is how ambitious he is. Not only is it a desirable trait in a potential partner, especially from Allura's perspective ;) but it makes his behavior and choices that much more interesting to watch. Although it's hard to say exactly what his endgame was in the show, particularly when it comes to the Altean colonies (we're supposed to believe he was using them as batteries, but to what end??! something still don't add up), there are some things that can be explained, both from actual given information from the show and personal conjectures I've made for myself ^^

Let's start with him becoming emperor. I personally like to believe that he actively wanted the throne. His relationship with other Galra overall is unfortunately not good at all, which you can see in his interactions with other Galra such as Throk and Sendak. But once he is given the opportunity, Lotor puts everything into becoming emperor and making the Galra Empire his. His appearance at the Kral Zera comes as a shock to everyone, and his demanding and domineering regard towards them all is awesome to watch. Plus it's his right! He is the prince after all, so I just love the idea of him coming into his own, demonstrating his birthright and his capabilities, and taking what's rightfully his.

Also what a power move it was to finally make Lotor the emperor in this version of Voltron??! The only other iteration I've seen is DotU, so it is possible that in the other shows and comics he also became emperor, but it's just SO satisfying to watch in VLD this banished, pariah prince quickly become ruler of the most powerful empire in the universe! You love to see it.

After he becomes emperor he takes his title seriously and uses it to acquire one of the things he wants, which is gaining access to the Rift with Allura's help and providing unlimited quintessence for all of the Galra. I'm sure there is more that he wanted to do with it, but again, some things don't add up and we sadly don't have all of the information, so I'm afraid we can only guess from here! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But in the meantime he doesn't take his role as emperor lightly. In his big speech in season 6 he is harsh, demanding, and even threatening. And I am all about it!!!

Don't get me wrong, while I absolutely love kind, soft, and romantic Lotor, I also dearly love cold, devious, and even malicious Lotor as well. You see this a lot with complicated male characters in epic stories: Kylo Ren and Qimir from Star Wars, Paul Atreides from Dune, Michael Corleone from The Godfather, and Sauron from The Rings of Power! What exactly I find so compelling about these kinds of characters can be summed up perfectly in this quote from Dune:

"...the Duke is really two men. One of them I love very much. He's charming, witty, considerate... tender—everything a woman could desire. But the other man is... cold, callous, demanding, selfish—as harsh and cruel as a winter wind."

- Dune by Frank Herbert, page 104

Lotor's unwielding ambition I think at times can give him tunnel vision, as we can see at the start of season 6 when Lotor wanted Allura to stay and help him with getting quintessence (again, using his resources and title as emperor to pursue what he wants) before Allura reminded him of his duties to his people in the moment. So he can be reasoned with lol!

And so! The reason why I bring all of this up, why I love thinking about the many sides of Lotor and how differently he acts with certain people, the many masks he will wear depending on what he wants, is to invite you to consider how he views his relationship with Allura. His growing feelings for her I'd say are more internalized until the last two episodes of season 5, but until then I like to think that it was never in his plans to get close to her. He wanted to team up with Voltron, yes, but he never could have anticipated falling for the Altean princess ;) What started out as a reluctant alliance and a simple means to accomplish his own end soon blossomed into genuine respect and love.

I have my own ideas as to how I would want Lotor to survive and redeem himself, just as I am certain you and all of us Lotura fans have our own ideas! And they are 1000% valid!!! At its foundation, if Lotor was to live and prove that he can be trusted again, I absolutely believe that he would do everything he could to make things right with Allura. Again, he is ambitious! Once he's decided on something, he will not stop until he's succeeded. If one plan doesn't work he forms a new one. He never gives up. He definitely respects Allura's agency, so of course he would never push her into a relationship with him (looking at you Lance ¬_¬) but I do sincerely believe Lotor would persist in terms of proving to her and the others that he can be trusted as an ally again.

And now we get into Allura's opinion in all of this!! What would she think were Lotor to survive and come back into her life again? And well, I have a really long answer for that too lol! We already see in the series finale how she came to understand Lotor's perspective. We also could see in seasons 5 and 6 how much she really liked him and how head over heels she was for him. Like how adorable was that?? Our girl deserves to be that much in love ;_; After Sincline's return and Lotor appearing in Allura's room in season 8, it is clear that she was still torn up about him, and that she still had feelings for him.

This tweet sums up basically all of my favorite ships:

Of course in this context I mean this as a joke lol, but there's truth to it! Because at the end of the day, no one is going to understand Allura like Lotor understands her. Even Coran, who comes from the same planet and circumstances as she, would frequently express his doubts about her decisions. His heart is in the right place, and they have a very sweet father-daughter-type relationship and he just wants to protect her. But he just doesn't get her the way Lotor gets her. Nowadays when I think about the difference between how Coran treats Allura and how Lotor treats Allura, I think of this quote from The Acolyte showrunner:

“'Do you want to be a part of this thing that I'm a part of?' Most fathers do this with their sons and their daughters, but when fathers do it to daughters, it's tricky, in my opinion. When an equal, like The Stranger, like a partner, says, 'I've experienced something, and I think you would benefit from it. I have a similar history to you, and in adulthood, I would lay it at your feet as a possible tool kit for you to pick up and forge your life with, unlike something that's instilled in you the way that your father instilled a lot of your hopes and dreams in you.'”

- Lesyle Headland, interview with Collider

Though this quote is very specific to Osha's different relationships with Sol and Qimir, I think it applies to Allura, Coran, and Lotor too! Like all parents with their children, Coran has this idea in his head as to what is best for Allura. And I love the man with my whole heart, but it's clear that he would rather keep her safe than let her grow.

Lotor, on the other hand, wants to see Allura grow and thrive. He not only wants to see her reach her full potential, but he also sincerely views her as an equal. They also have so much more in common than they do with literally any other character in the show. He alone can see her power, her potential, her greatness. In turn, he wants to share with her his experiences, his ambitions, as well as his desires. And she is drawn to him in part because of them!

So I genuinely believe that, given enough time, they would both be able to reconcile, to heal the wounds left behind by their hurtful words and their parting, and resume their relationship which had only just begun. Because despite all of the pain they went through and all of the things they said to each other, some of which I'm sure they didn't mean in the moment, they still cared for each other. After all, Allura was the only one who didn't want to leave Lotor behind in the Rift! Between the two of them, the feelings were still there. They never left <3

As more time passes after the show's finale I find more and more things to appreciate about both of Lotor and Allura's characters. Your question has enabled me to dive deep into these new appreciations, so I sincerely thank you for that! They are my number #1 ship of all time, and I am always happy to go on suuuuper long tangents about them 😆 And if you disagree with anything I said, that's okay too! In the end I do hope you were able to get something out of it, and thank you once again for asking! Have a wonderful rest of your day!!! 💖💜

[disgruntled-screaming]

As my rewatch of Voltron season 6 comes to a close, here are my thoughts on it. Mind you, as I'm writing this, it is past midnight. I took my medication, and one of the pills I take makes me a bit sleepy. I wholeheartedly apologize for any repeated sentences, nonsensical phrases, poor spelling of certain words, and poor grammar.

Keith and Krolia's adventure to the area where the other Alteans are should have been at least two episodes - there are moments that should have been more fleshed out, but were unfortunately cut short by production, and possibly absences of Steven Yuen since he is a popular actor in both America and South Korea

Season 6 was ordered, it started production with a certain number of episodes, then one of the suits decided to cut down on the number of episodes - that explains the weird montages

Monsters and Mana, while the best episode of the season (and I stand by it) was definitely written as either a needed filler episode (which is fine) or a special episode to release between season 6 and season 7

Anything that I said about Lotor, in terms of how he ruined Allura's character, is wrong. Allura is just not a good character in this season. I can understand that she needs that connection to her people, and Lotor is able to help her. But I genuinely stand with Lance when comes to not trusting Lotor, since he could not shut the ever loving fuck up about their fathers being friends. My brother in Christ, Lotor, we fucking get it. Your dad and her dad rubbed elbows.

The kiss shared between Lotor and Allura still makes me gag. Nothing against the shippers of this specific ship. I just hate Lotor and how he manipulated Allura. I've been through my own kind of manipulation, so I can't seem to like the character as a person.

I am still right in the theory that Lance and Shiro's relationship was supposed to be important. As much as I adore the fight that Keith has with Kuron, and he tries to being Shiro back and Keith says "I love you", shocking the clone enough for Keith to get the final blow... Lance was given the shaft once again. I could try to work with this in my fix it fic, despite sacrificing my favorite moment in the finale. I'm still outlining my fic, and still on chapter 1, so only time will tell.

That Galra robot that was programmed to have fun was amazing and the scene of it being tied to a rocket getting shot into space as Amazing Grace played in the background is iconic and I wish people talked about it more. Because it was insanely funny and I loved it too much. Fly high, random robot. I will always love you.

Despite me bashing Lotor for all that he is, I will still say that he is a well written character that I would love to punch in the face. Unfortunately he is like 7ft tall, and I am the same height as Krillin from DBZ. So I'm either going to have to learn how to do a Shoryuken a la Street Fighter.

As much as I love the finale of Season 6, I genuinely have to say that Keith's inclusion after being away from Team Voltron just seems convenient.

The Black Lion is the most disloyal bitch I have ever seen. I love the Black Lion's design, as I should. I'm a basic Voltron: Legendary Defender fan. But the Black Lion instantly took Keith back after leaving the team to be with the Blade of Marmora. Also the Black Lion had no problem with Kuron after a certain point, which is stupid. How dare it not be a continuous struggle for Kuron to gain its trust. Then again, this is the same lion that was still loyal to Zarkon despite the fact that Zarkon was evil. Never understood why Zarkon's bond with the Black Lion was so strong when Shiro proved himself to be the better paladin, but that's none of my business at this time.

I personally felt like the Blade of Marmora overstayed their welcome after a certain point. This could just be a me problem, and I am wholeheartedly willing to be the only person on this hill.

Coran is consistently amazing.

I don't know when the writers started making Hunk more of a tech savy character (I genuinely have no idea), but it's quite eye opening when you notice the change in archetypes.

Matt is still an okay character to me. When he was revealed, a good chunk of the fanbase was madly in love with him, which I understand, but I just look at him and shrug.

[voltrons-legendary-defender]

Unpopular opinion but I don't hate the Altean Colony plot. It's just another wasted plot line that could've been very interesting.

A lot of people think it ruined Lotors character but I'd argue it didn't. Him not getting a redemption did. The white lion is episode is a perfect depiction of Lotors character.

This is just an opinion, and a poorly done analysis.

Essentially, even if Lotor despises Galran culture/heritage it's clearly had an impact on him. Allura was wrong when she said he's just like his father, Lotor is exactly like his mother.

Lotor shouts at the lion "victory or death" That's all he's been taught. That's how he had to survive too, considering he's an outcast hated by his own father.

(And then Honerva takes her chances with the white lion by killing it too....she was just successful..)

Another thing is, Lotor never had the time to explain the colony to Allura. We never got to see Lotors perspective of this colony. I'm not saying Lotor is a liar, he's meticulous, manipulative but honest when it came to team Voltron and I do think his allegiance go them was true.

So...why the colony? So here's two things.

Some things are earned the hard way. If anyone knows about loss, it should be Allura. In his furious state Lotor threatened to wipe out any enemies in the way of him and his new Altean followers.

His word is true. That may be hard to accept but victory or death. I always found that so interesting about Lotor, how complex things are for him. Had he gained the secrets of Oriande or whatever would he have found another way?

Secondly, all those bodies being used. This is just a theory here because I don't know. But, none of those bodies were disposed of.

And you know what quintessence does? Well I don't know if it has the ability to ressurect but it gives you immortality. Considering the fact that the Altean bodies were still kept, Lotors promise may have been good. He could easily restore their lives, now given with immortality.

On top of that, if the Alteans are immortal, Lotors reign can last forever. That's probably what Lotor wants.

His 'death' or so doesn't make sense because last I heard Lotor had some sort of immunity to the quintessence field...(allegedly) The Altean colony plot gets left behind, Romelle is a useless character, the way his character is set up. It just makes sense honestly for him to be this anti villian. People mistake him for an anti hero. He's not.

Because Lotors reasons are understandable. His redemption arc starts with him realizing it's not always about victory or death. Too bad he died fighting that way.

[harukamitsuki]

Honestly, I kind of hate how Lance was given altean symbols. Unlike my other posts, however, this isn't hating on him. I mean, his relationship with Allura felt so one-sided. Allura was clearly rebounding on him and the show just didn't want to acknowledge it. She was still hung up on Lotor, even imagining Lotor's face when they kissed, which is wrong. She was basically using him at that point and it actually made me feel bad for him.

But the worst part is the altean markings. Every time he looks in the mirror, he will only be reminded of the fact that Allura is dead. If he ever decided to move on and start seeing other people, they're going to ask about the markings and bringing up your dead ex is never going to make a first date go well.

He's marked by this memory of Allura and it is wrong. I feel as though my previous posts have made it seem as though I hate lance full-stop, when this isn't exactly the case. He had some really good potential and it's mostly the writers whom I dislike for making Lance's character go down hill. Unlike other character who I despise (not really in Voltron, though Haggar comes close to that point), there are moments where I genuinely like Lance.

I liked Lance in season one and two, and I appreciated him through season five. I just find myself disliking him more than I like him which is a shame.

The markings are the cherry on top of the cake. The writers really felt like screwing everyone over in season eight. Just that last shot of Lance with the markings that will always remind him of his dead ex who rebounded on him, as he's farming like a Cuban stereotype, (probably the only Cuban thing he's done in the series which is a whole other can of worms), really sets my teeth on edge.

I promise. I will try to talk about other things, maybe Voltron related, maybe other things like... KHR, Owl House, Gravity Falls, BNHA, One Piece, ect... But I'm currently hyperfixated and it will be a while before I stop. Sorry teehee

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

I'm so sorry to hear you were in an accident im glad you are alive and feeling okay again <3<3

I'd love to send you a lotura prompt, hopefully it lifts your spirits to be back on that sweet ship.

How about Lotor and Allura talking about weapons? (i.e. Like how Allura prefers a staff and Lotors sword designs (like the one he was first shown with) )

Hey, good to hear from you and thanks for your super kind note!! I'm doing a little better each day and am excited to get back to regular routines! While I was on hold over the phone about paperwork today, I managed to exercise my brain with the prompt you gave me! <3

Staff vs. Sword

Emperor Lotor leans against a wall, crossing his arms and quirking a slim, white eyebrow at the princess before him. “Surely, you jest with me,” he murmurs. “A staff again?”

Princess Allura beams, and she grabs her favorite staff from the blunted practice weapons with a solid grip, fingers tight. With a quick flick of her wrist, she spins it and sets the end solidly on the ground. “My bayard for Blue Lion also turns into a whip,” she says nonchalantly, “but that seems entirely unfair to use against you, as it produces an electric shock.”

“Ah, yes.” His eyes crinkle, his slit pupils dilating with softness. He adds dryly, “Because we do not already create enough sparks on the courts.”

She brushes back her long, thick braid and waggles her eyebrows. “You said it, not me.” And then she pokes his chest plate with the end of her staff. “Do tell me you’re not afraid of a second round after I defeated you.”

“And nearly caused an intergalactic incident,” he says, voice halted. “The training grounds are intended for practicing the art of combat—not the art of catching one’s opponent off-guard with a kiss.”  

With a giggle, Allura pulls the staff back, her Altean markings glowing a bright pink. “Yes, well, we Alteans have a saying that all’s fair in love and war. Now, pick your weapon, dear emperor, so that I may defeat you once more. And do choose something other than a sword this time—at least mix it up for me?”

Lotor eyes her before grabbing a blunted sword from the wall, inspecting its balance. His long fingers grip the hilt tightly. “A sword is the best extension of a warrior’s will,” he declares, raising his chin with a petulant chin. “It is simple. It is efficient. It is my favorite weapon.”

Allura sighs dramatically at him. “It does not have quite the—” she waves her hand—“the impact of a staff, though.”

He raises the silver sword to her. “The staff is an impact weapon,” he says dryly. “You simply seek to showcase your Altean strength to the Galra who prowl these courts, and that is why you prefer it as of late."

“Tish tosh,” she says, planting her feet properly on the training mat and eyeing him with an increased wariness. She knows Lotor likes to strike unexpectedly. “I also happen to like the way training robots crumple to bits beneath a staff. It relieves the stress I feel after a large conference with intergalactic leaders.”

A tick of silence stretches between them.

And then in a blur, Lotor races toward her, slashing down.

She blocks with the staff and swings, and he ducks smoothly before stepping back, flipping the sword in his hand.

He paces the mat, the overhead lights capturing the glow of his eyes like a predator in the dark wilderness. “Poor Princess Allura,” he teases. “All the power in the universe, and yet you fear the peace we have wrought together, instead longing for means of violence. Are you certain you are not of Galran blood somewhere in that long ancestry of yours?”

Alura’s voice strains as she circles him as well, resetting her staff. “I can’t think of a single species that doesn’t enjoy a rough tumble now and again, in a safe, non-war environment. Why, the humans even have something called, um—” Her concentration breaks as she pauses, snapping her fingers. “Um, wrestling. And something called rugby. And then they have a very large, worldwide competition for their various violent sports, called the Olympics.”

Lotor pauses.

His slit pupils widen in curiosity of other cultures. “Olympics? Is that similar to a Kral Zera?”

“Somewhat,” she nods, “but instead of choosing a world leader by, um, killing everyone, these tournaments are for medals that they wear around their necks and then bite in front of cameras. And no one dies generally.”

He lunges again, and in a blur, wrenches the staff away from her hands and presses her up against a wall.

Allura squeaks, eyes wide.

His nose is inches from her own, his breath a hot puff against her face. “How very curious.”  

Her breath stalls as her cheeks heat hard enough to radiate to him. “Um, y-yes.”

Lotor’s wide mouth splits as he whispers against her mouth, “Fortunately for you, princess, I’ve no intent to fight you truly, or you would already be dead with your silly staff. And if it were these Olympics, you would have no medal to bite.”

Face flushed, her eyes narrow to slits, and before Lotor can avoid it, she hooks her ankle against his and unbalances him. Surprised claws protract from his hands, gripping into her practice armor and his eyes widen.

And the two royals fall in a pile of limbs upon the mat, with Allura sprawled on top of a stunned Lotor, his sword clattering to the mat beside them.  

“Oh, no,” she says with a triumphant giggle, hands planted over his chest plate. Her curly flyaways are an angelic halo around her face. “You lowered your weapon but did not fully secure me, so I still win.”

Lotor grumps beneath her, his lavender cheeks flushing as he grips her forearms.

And despite Galra leadership watching the courts and murmuring with gossip in the far distance, Lotor softens. His rough, calloused thumbs stroke a pink marking along her bare forearm. “Best two out of three, then? I promise to secure you fully next time and cause another scandal for it.”

Allura leans forward, eyes sparkling. “Very well, Emperor Lotor. You’re on.”

[foolinafable]

ii. the greatest

SYNOPSIS: He doesn’t know how to love. You know this and yet you would still give everything just to be with him- even for just a moment. Or the story of how you and Keith finally get together. PAIRING: Keith Kogane x Altean reader WORD COUNT: 4.3k TAGS: Slowburn, Angst, extreme cannon compliance, fighting SERIES LINK: a love as cold as ours

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Up to now, all his information was spot on, not even a hair out of line. You had just come back from another successful mission infiltrating and destroying a galran base using Lotor’s intel. You were sitting with the rest of the paladins in the lounge room discussing Lotor and the mission 

“I mean it’s a lot easier going on successful missions when you have all the information you need before you get there” Hunk claimed as he put his arms behind his head resting on the couch.

 “And yet you still manage to run your lion into a wall” Lance teases, causing a small laugh to escape your lips

 “Yeah well, information is one thing. Ability is something completely different” Hunk complained

“There's no doubt about it, we haven't encountered a single problem.” Shiro spoke standing in front of you with all arms crossed.

 “I must admit, we took down a vital target today” Allura admitted and you knew that was hard for her to trust not just a galaran but the son of the man who killed your entire planet.

 “And we made it look pretty easy! Except for the drowning in the lava part.” Pidge concluded

 “It may be time to consider taking the next step” Shiro stated and you put your hand on Alluras as she was next to you feeling the worry encasing her form 

“I’m still not comfortable with this. It just doesn't feel right.”  she ranted as you tapped her hand to get her attention 

“But sometimes that is just what you have to do, as a leader, is make those uncomfortable choices. Time has proven that we cannot always trust our gut instincts, Allura, and I think he deserves a chance to prove to us that we were wrong about him. “you took a shaky breath before continuing

“We already know that galran is not synonymous with evil, so let's let him prove to us that he is more than just a product of Zarkons creation.” 

── ✧

You stood in between Allura and Shiro as you made the way towards Lotor's cell, waiting in complete silence as the doors opened to the room he was kept in. Walking along the catwalk towards his circular prison, where he sat diligently waiting. 

“Your intel checked out” Shiro started

“You still feign surprise” Lotor uttered 

“And you still act as though you don’t know why” you replied tilting your head slightly in disbelief.

All of the good he has and could do will never take away from the evil he has done. You find it silly that he believes it could. 

“All of the information I've given has proved correct” he continued, unfazed by your comment

“Every target I've provided, easily dispatched. And yet you still look at me-” 

He was interrupted this time by Allura

“As if you were the leader of the most blood-thirsty race of murders this universe has ever known?”

He looked up somewhat exacerbated

“Can people not change? Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the galran empire to a bygone era of peace?” 

To which you quipped

“Of course people can change, your father is evidence enough of that. But, you need to own your mistakes, not pretend as though you haven't killed millions of innocents just because he asked you to. You say you are remorseful for it, but the way you act contradicts that completely.” 

He simply nodded at you, executing defeat once again to your words as he turned to Allura

“Our fathers were once friends, long ago. Can there be hope for us?”

To which Shiro replied “I guess we still need convincing” 

Lotor somewhat shocked tried again “The facts speak for themselves, the galra empire is completely reliant on quintessence, serve that need peacefully and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new dawn for the old empire.” 

Allura, somewhat annoyed, spoke “And you're the man to make this happen?” 

As Lotor continued to defend himself you couldn't help but zone out, how many times must he say the same thing for Allura to give him a little leeway, the more freedom he has the more ability he has to be useful to Voltron, there is only so much information he can give before Zarkon and his generals catch on and change anything he may know about.

“Cleary, princess you are not ready to end this war” you heard Lotor grouch as Allura and Shiro turned away, you quickly followed them not daring to say a word as you knew just as they did, that he had a point. 

── ✧

You stood to the right of Allura, in between Shiro and Lance as Allura addressed the coalition, deciding to look forward instead of up at the screens showing the coalition members, knowing that the second you looked up you would search for his face as you always do. There is no time for these unrequited feelings now or ever and as Allura says

“We have only got this far by the sacrifices we have made”

It reminds you of why you will never try to be with him, it is simply a liberty you cannot allow yourself your mission is to free the galaxy and then build up a new Altea with Allura and Coran. The rest of the coalition left the meeting beside the Blade of Marmora who had a video which showed only Kolivan and Keith. 

“Did you complete raids on the targets we sent you on our last communication?” Shiro asked 

“Yes, the information we received has consistently checked out” Kolivan replied.

“With all of these successful missions taking place, in such a short period of time, it won't be long before the gala realises we have an inside source” You were glad Pidge was bringing this up, matching your own thoughts.

“That's true, we should expect the enemy to change protocol soon” Kolivan adds. 

“Then we need to act fast and hit as many targets as possible.” Lance concludes you turn to Shiro

“I will go speak to Lotor then” And he nods

 “Yes go see if there is anything else he can give us” but before you could turn to leave Allura turns to you

 “I can’t help but feel like we are a small part of a much larger ulterior motive” to which you reply

 “I understand, but what other choice do we have?” Then you turn and walk out of the room, failing to see how the silent boy standing next to Kolivan follows your moves with his eyes, eyebrows slightly furrowed. 

── ✧

You stood in the control room with the others, looking towards Pidge and Matt. You should’ve known to wait until the teledev was repaired to tell them about the lead on their father that Lotor had given you, but you were just so excited to tell them and now you sat, looking over a Pidge as Matt comforted her when a communication link was sent through to the castle, and it showed Zarkon

“Paladins of Voltron, I am making a one time offer. I have someone of value to you,” he turned his body away from the camera to show Samuel Holt, Pidge and Matt's dad

“I will hand him over and in exchange, you will give me my son, Lotor.”

The moment after Zarkon made his terms for the swap, time seemed to go too fast. The arguing between the paladins, Matt and Pidge's desperation, even Lotors pleading- it was all too much.

But now being sat waiting above the planet the trade was being made on with the rest of the paladins time couldn't be slower. Dread wracking all of your forms, because like Lotor said could we really trust Zarkon to uphold his end of the bargain and even thoughts about if this was right, Having Lotor as a part of the coalition may be the only way to see peace from the galra there will always be another tyrant who will try to take over the empire and Lotor was, unfortunately, the best out of a bad bunch. You knew that when Zarkon got his hands on Lotor that this plan would come to its end much like Lotor will. So while you are happy that Pidge finally might have her family back, you feel a sense of grieving for the prosperous future of peace the galran price spoke of.

You were all sitting in the control room completely powerless but Allura insisted that we must

“Hold our positions” as if we were to move in so would Zarkons fleet. You were sitting hand in hand unable to look at the screen when Hunk exclaimed

 “Pidge, Matt and Shiro are moving in!” causing you to look up at the screen in alarm as beeps began to show the gala moving in as Coran pointed out. 

Then Lance commanded “Everybody get to your lions, we need to protect our team, and get Sam.” quickly the four of you suited up and got into your lions, racing towards the rendezvous point. It seems your timing was impeccable as Shiro commed in 

“Lance, we need some backup!” and luckily like the paladin pointed out

 “We are already on our way.” The group quickly made their way towards the moving galra shutter and its ships, the lions quickly blasted at the ships, destroying them as quickly as they could. While you were fighting and doing the galra ships you noticed white lasers being shot from the castle of lions, clearly Coran wanted a piece of all the action you all called out to him in glee to which he responded

 “i thought you could all use a bit of help!” Soon after you were able to get rid of the last ships.

“Shiro, Pidge, the sky is clear of all galra. What's your status?” Lance asked to which Pidge quickly replied 

“shuttle is not clear yet!” Then you saw what looked like Lotors old comrades falling out of the shuttle and Shiro comed in, sounding very calm 

“the shuttle is clear.” The four lions surrounded the shuttle as Lance congratulated the team when Shiro asked 

“Where are Lotor and Zarkon?” which made your face drop in worry, clearly this mission was far from over.

You looked to the left of the planet to see large plums of smoke, you and the rest of the team quickly made your way over to it and found Zarkon with the black bayard pointing it towards Lotor for the kill shot, without thinking you activated your laser shooting it at zarkon, causing an explosion right where he stood, luckily the other paladins quickly followed suit shooting their lasers towards Zarkon causing more smoke and fire to envelope the area, then you saw a purple light peeking out of the smoke, growing larger, then a large purple beam erupted from the smoke along with an agonising scream from- Zarkon.

As the smoke cleared all you could see was Lotor standing over his father as the sun began to rise over them.

Zarkon was dead and by his own son's hand.

── ✧

A few days later, you found yourself on Alkarion, while the rest of the paladins were busy scouting the area, ensuring its safety while they put in place new protection measures and Matt and Pidge were having some time with their father. You found yourself in the control room of the castle of lions with Allura and Lotor.

“They should be here any minute.” Allura said arms crossed not looking behind her in the prince's direction 

“Good, there is much to discuss” he replied and sat on the steps that lead to the main podium.

 “Are you alright?” you asked the galran man making Allura finally turn her attention towards him clearly also noticing his melancholy nature to which he simply said 

“i’ll be fine” not even looking towards the two of you. 

“What you did was for the greater good, and for many of us proof of your intentions for peace.” Allura complimented a slight smile on her face. Before any of you could get another word in, the keypad beeps allowing the door to open relieving the rest of the paladins and Coran all here for the meeting.

 “Look at its prince Lotor just hanging out on the bridge!” Lance proclaimed and to your amusement, sounding quite annoyed at the fact. 

“Why, what else would he be doing while waiting for you all to show up, great punctuality by the way” You interrupted the rest of the paladins as they went on about how strange this was because while you agree with them, there isn't much time for this. Luckily Shiro also seemed to agree with you walking towards the man 

“What’s going on, Lotor.” happy to finally get to business Lotor spoke

“Since the death of my father, it has created a power vacuum in the galra empire, the most formidable galra leaders will gather for what is called the Kral Zera sometime in the next two days to decide who will take the throne. We must be there” looking towards the other paladins who looked at him as if he had just said the most insane thing imaginable

“So you want us to fly you into the middle of a meeting with all of the most powerful galra leaders?” Lance questioned, almost unable to believe what he was saying.

“Lotor, we appreciate everything you have sacrificed, but this sounds far too dangerous” to which you replied

“While it may be dangerous Allura, I cannot help but think that it is crucial Lotor is there to defend his claim to the empire, otherwise Zarkons death would’ve been for nothing. We would simply be replacing one evil tyrant with another.” it seemed Shiro agreed with you

“I mean we have been in more dangerous situations with much less to gain. Putting Lotor on the galra throne is what we have been discussing” to which Pidge quipped 

“Yeah, but nobody told us that would mean flying into a warzone.” 

“We cannot plan an operation this important so quickly” Allura concluded to which Shiro argued

 “We don't have a choice” and he was right this was a one-time event, “It’s the only chance we’ve got” you reminded them. 

“I’m with Allura, we need time to think this over.” Lance decided but Shiro quickly shut him down

 “Lance this is not your call” You looked towards the boy with alarmed eyes and he met your gaze with widened eyes of his own both of you bewildered by this sudden attitude change in Shiro.

“Allura, the coalition wouldn't be where it is right now without Lotor, we need to listen to him.” 

The rest of the paladins and Coran chimed in with their decisions leaving it “four-three in the princess' favour” as Coran put it. But Shiro still dismissed this

“I’m the leader of Voltron, I’m making this decision.” to which Allura commented

“Like when you armed Lotor with your bayard without consulting the rest of us?” to which Shiro simply nodded his head

“That's right. Making that decision resulted in the removal of Zarkon” to which Allura exclaimed 

“You put the entire operation in jeopardy” but Shiro rebutted

“I put an end to Zarkons reign, now this is the time to finish the job.” Lance decided to step in as the second in command to try and dial down the tension 

“Shiro, we are all on the same side here” But Shiro quickly dismissed him 

“I told you to stay out of this'' looking towards him with venom making Lance look once again shocked at what Shiro was saying.

 “While you all waste time squabbling” Lotor started clearly annoyed by this turn of events “Sinister forces are conspiring to fill the galra power void, if I do not return to claim the throne then there is no telling on who will.” To which Shiro replied

“Good then it’s settled” to which Pidge complained 

“How is it settled?”

 “Our hands are tied, the Kral Zera is happening. If we want to stop the galra, we need to put Lotor on the throne immediately.”  Shiro responded.

── ✧

Sitting in the Black lion with Shiro and Lotor wasn't how you thought today would go, but clearly, you and Shiro were the only ones willing to do what was necessary.

After the attack on Alkarion it only solidified to you and Shiro how important it was to get Lotor on the throne. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to sway the other paladins so here you were only 2 out of 6 paladins ready to jump into a pit full of the most powerful galra in the entire empire.

The black lion arrived at planet Feyiv landing seemingly right in the centre of the action, you as instructed stood behind Lotor, slightly to the left of him as the entrance to the black lion was opened, showing the galran officials below you.

You took a deep breath as the wind blew rapidly looking at Lotor for a moment before turning your focus to the enemy eyebrows raising as you saw the looks on their faces, more shock than anger and that you could definitely work with.

You suppose you to would be shocked to see a half galran hybrid and an altean arriving together peacefully, probably the last time this combination was seen was with Lotors parents and his father wasn't even a hybrid- so the pair of you are really a sight to behold and it probably doesn't help that you're a paladin of Voltron leaving the black lion either. 

“Halt. Your true emperor has arrived” Lotor commanded as the black lion's mouth lowered to the ground you both walked towards the fire as Sendak questioned 

“You? Lead the galra empire? What could possibly make you think that you could be our emperor” You tightened your grip on your bayard- a bo staff with a razor-sharp edge at the top waiting for Lotors command 

“My father's blood is not just in my veins, it is also on my sword. The emperor fell to me and so will anyone else that stands in my way.” you could see the way Sendak's face changed from one of amusement to one of anger 

“You think treachery makes you qualified to lead us?” you followed slowly behind the Lotor as he walked towards Sendak

 “I will light the flame, not for defeating my father and not even for being the strongest galra here. But because I did something no one else could do, I returned the black lion to the galra and had one of Voltron paladins at my side. Stand aside, Sendak."

This clearly did not sit well with the galran and quickly the two began to fight to get up the stairs. However, as quickly as the fighting started it was seized as large explosions began to emit from underneath the stairs. You looked to Lotor in alarm as Sendak concluded 

“Lotor has betrayed us for Voltron!” you quickly turned around towards the other garlans, bracing yourself for a fight, Shiro quickly lept to the sky as the galra ships began to fire at him.

Quickly all the galran began to fight each other and in extension you. You took down the galran in front of you grabbing their arm before they could shoot at you, sending them to the ground making sure to crush their gun as you did, before quickly moving on to the next, it was a whirlwind of purple flying everywhere as you tried to find your way towards Lotor. Quickly knocking out anyone who got in the way when a gloved hand grabbed your arm from behind, you quickly turned towards them the sharp edge of your staff pressing against their neck

 “Woah” a familiar voice croaked out making you move your staff back as you noticed the suit- what where the blade doing here?

Keith quickly removed his mask as you put your staff back to the ground, “What are you doing here?” he quickly asked before looking around the battlefield

“Where is everyone else” he quickly added

“I could ask you the same, but I suppose I am not wrong to suspect that the explosions were your doing. Shiro and I are making sure that Lotor gets on the throne, everyone else didn’t think it was a good idea so we came just the three of us.” you simply explained as he took you further away from the battlefield finding yourself behind a pillar. 

“Where's your lion? What if Shiro needs help up there?” is all he responds with almost as if he's still trying to understand what exactly is happening

“Lotor decided we only needed the black lion, it made the most sense in his plan as how could one galran get two Voltron lions and I think Shiro is doing just fine on his own''

looking up you could see that the galran were more shooting at each other than at Shiro so he was able to quickly destroy them “And if he needed backup my lion is only a call away” you added he also looked up at the sky proving to him that you in fact where correct

“So what you're just acting as Lotors backup then” clearly he was still confused by the turn of events

“I mean pretty much” you rescinded shrugging your shoulders because if you were being honest you weren't completely sure as to why Lotor wanted you to come with him. But you knew better than to try and come up with another plan when he was so expertly set up.

“Oh, so are you all buddy-buddy with him now?” Keith asked, his eyes slightly twitching to which you simply looked at him confused

“What do you even mean by that?” head tilting to emphasis a needed clarification from the boy

“I just-” he starts pressing his lips together in annoyance “he must mean a lot to you for you to go against the entire team to take him here” to which you quickly respond 

“Not particularly no, and the team will understand. This was the only way-” he interrupted you eyebrows raised 

“Are you sure about that'' you are suddenly taken aback by his words

“Excuse me?” Then the venom started to pour out of his mouth. 

“I just think this is a mistake.” He pointed towards you 

“I disagree” you insisted. 

“Then you're not listening to me!” he declared voice raised “It’s not safe, you are surrounded by the most powerful galra in the empire with only Lotor as backup.” he crossed his arms against his chest speaking his name as if it were poison on his tongue 

“You don’t think I know that'' you replied but were met with silence “So you think I can't handle this alone?” you accused 

“I know you can’t, you need to leave.” he declared his words immediately triggered a fire of anger within you i mean who does he think he is 

“Some supportive friend you are-” you begin but he interrupts you again clearly angry himself 

“What and you are” he accuses you scoff at this

 “I have always supported you and your decisions, do not stand here and try to assume otherwise”

All the times you took his side flashed into your memory as your anger only seemed to grow and his next words were no help

“Or what?” he taunts 

“Or what?” you echo almost whispering looking at him incredulously 

“You know what you were right, you are a horrible cold excuse of a man and I for one am glad you left Voltron so I do not have to deal with this anymore.” You exclaim pointing towards him. 

“Good, like I want to need to protect you all the time, that I definitely haven’t missed and don’t even get me started on your opinionated nature, would it kill you not to need to butt into every conversation ever?” he shouts

You simply stare at him in shocked silence watching as the words he spoke registered in his head. You simply turned around leaving him standing there seething with anger but also trying to stop tears from falling down your face- this wasn’t about him or even you this was about the future of the galra empire. Furthermore, the future of the whole universe now is not the time to cry over him.

Luckily you quickly spot Lotor somehow not in the middle of the chaos as rush towards him, he seems relieved to see you, at least someone is. 

“This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I knew they would turn on each other.” it seems this moment of peace was quickly disturbed as Sendak came threw himself in between you to leaving smoke in his path, as you find your feet you see a general fighting with Keith who quickly falls to the ground, you quickly disarm the galan sending them to ground unconscious with a simply whack of your staff, looking up you made eye contact with Acxa, one of Lotors officials who lowered her gun staring at you, she simply nodded before turning away.

You didn’t dare turn around and meet his purple eyes feeling them glaring at you, you simply ran down the stairs as you saw the rest of Voltron coming through the wormhole with your lion hurtling towards you. You quickly got inside and joined the rest of the team as you heard Shiro shout 

“Time to form Voltron!”

As a team you quickly destroyed the rest of the galran ships. You watched from inside Voltron as Sendak got distracted by another warlord giving Lotor the chance to walk up to the galran throne, flame in hand. Then the flame was lit.

Lotor was now the emperor of the galran empire.

[lnkedmyheart]

Vld rewatch was a wild trip honestly. My general opinions are as follows:

Generic ass show. I'm not entirely sure why it took off as much as it did but it was generic af.

I still stand by that the Alteans spout some serious "white man's burden" type of shit. Very reminiscent of all the shit I spent slogging over in my postcol lectures.

I'm still shook that people never pointed out Alfor literally nuked Daibazaal and basically forced the Galrans into exile.

Haggar's character died when she remembered she's a mom.

I may not be huge on Allura given some of the really weird choices made with the Alteans but damn you really murked the victim of a genocide for the greater good, huh?

Kl fans really thought their ship was gonna be canon cause a couple people on the show drew art for it. I guess Revy and Roberta have been screwing behind the scenes.

Shiro is my son and the only good thing second to my best friend acquisition to come out of vld. I would have added Zarkon but we literally had only 2 seasons of him before his daddy ass was nuked.

I originally went in expecting ka1lura because that's how it always went and started actually liking a1lurance by the end. Yes it was developed pretty well all things considered. Only one other duo was developed more than them and it wasn't the two twinks.

I like the MFE pilots more than the paladins given that the latter's bond was non existent by the end.

Hunk and Shay were not a good couple in terms of development. Sorry it's cute but it's boring as fuck. No build up, they meet, the fat guy liked the fat girl and they immediately start dating. That's the way of the fat peeps in media. Lord forbid we give people who aren't skinny actual developed love stories.

My use of the word daddy is reserved for two fictional men. He's one of them.

Keith, Matt, Ezor and Allura were the prettiest characters. I can see why everyone wanted a piece of Keith in particular for their ships.

Keith x Axca would have been the lamest endgame. My boy is running around in space, is a part alien and with so many unique looking characters around him only to end up with the alien with the most uninteresting character design is just ridiculous. Had she looked buff like Zethrid or unusual like Ezor I'd have been down for it.

Krolia had bad character design. She's a generic fem galra Keith au fan art.

You couldn't get me to take [Man]'s existence seriously. If you put a loaded gun to my head and demanded I do I'd squeeze your trigger finger and off myself instead.

Shiro's new arm is UGLY.

The castle of lions looks like a giant fancy dildo.

Lotor's arc was dumb. Loved the racism of Lotor's Altean side being praised when he's faking goodness but a Galran when he's evil? As if it's not his Altean mother's obsessive ambition that led to his downfall while Zarkon literally went mad because of his love and devotion for Honerva? Oh right, Alteans good Galra bad. My mistake.

LM and JDS don't deserve a fraction of the slander they still keep getting. The show was bad in the way a generic idea tends to be when you have a bunch of different writers.

S8 is objectively awful but the quality declined after s2.

I hate their chins. Shiro was the only one with a chin I could get behind.

I really want to go back to that time when we used to slap "Disclaimer: I do not own *insert show name*. The show and all the characters are the property of *insert company/creator's name*". It will definitely reduce the obscene entitlement amongst modern audiences.

[snackleggg]

Keith & Lotor parallels going burr in my brain.

The fact that the reason they turned out so different in the end was that Keith found a support system while Lotor was completely alone (both due to the actions of the people around him and his own baggage later on)

Father wise, Keith's dad was obviously a good loving parent to him from the little we see. He was a genuinely good guy and had a positive impact on who Keith is even if he wasn't around in his life for long. Meanwhile, Zarkon was neglectful at best, he was heartless and caused untold amounts of emotional and psychological harm to Lotor growing up.

Mentor wise, Keith ended up having Shiro who became like a brother to him. Though we don't see alot of it, from the flashbacks we do get its obvious Shiro took on a parental role in Keith's life after he joined the Garrison. Meanwhile, Lotor's governess was painted as a cold and distant figure. She could've filled a parental role since she was presumably the adult that spent the most time around him but that wasn't her duty, her job was to educate Lotor and the Omega Shield episode shows us she does that using pain as a motivator (which isn't great considering Lotor was like 6 or something when he started learning from her)

Friends wise, Keith is equals with the other paladins. They're peers and while Keith may have been a little closed off to start he obviously opens up to them and trusts them with his life. Meanwhile, there is obviously a divide between Lotor and his generals. They respect him but there is this distance between them. He's not their peer, he's their Prince. He doesn't tell them his full plan or clue them in on his goals, he just gives orders and expects them to follow. It's why his team fell apart and betrayed him, a contrast to how Voltron is built on trust. At this point in his life, Lotor's lack of connection is no longer a direct result of negligence of the adults around him (though their negligence in his formative years is a factor) but instead is caused by his own self sabotaging and inability to trust anyone. Keith does sabotage his relationship with the paladins a little when he becomes unreliable to the team and then leaves for the Blade but he comes back to them and they have a stronger bond than ever (forever insane about the fact that the rift between Keith and the others started because he was late to missions, and when he took up the mantle of the black paladin again he unlocked an ability that let him make it to the fight against Lotor on time to save them. The parallels man)

Mother wise, boy where do I start. Neither of them knew their mothers and both were obviously desperate for closure when it comes to these missing figures in their lives. Keith seeks it through joining the Blades while Lotor seeks it by becoming obsessed with his altean heritage. Krolia & Honerva both care deeply for their sons but where Krolia express this in a healthy way, choosing to protect her son and leave him where he could grow up safe even if it was at the cost of having a relationship with him, Honerva becomes obsessed with having a relationship with Lotor even when he rejects her and even going as far as tearing the multiverse apart for it.

Also the contrast between how Lotor dealt with Narti being used as Haggar's puppet vs Keith's fight with clone Shiro really gets the difference between their characters across. The moment Lotor figures it out, he immediately kills her. It does seem like it's a difficult decision for him in the moment but he still does it in the end and seemingly doesn't take any time to explain to the other generals why he did it, expecting them to blindly follow him like always. Meanwhile Keith never gives up on the possibility of getting Shiro back. Even when it separates him from the team, puts his own life in danger, even when he's falling to his probable death he never let's go of Shiro. Its because of that they had a body to be able to bring Shiro back.

[lilflowerpot]

Hi flower! I hope your doing well and I just wanted to ask a question what Lotor’s reaction would be if Keith died? I remember reading a post about Keith blaming himself a while ago and was wondering what that would be if the positions were swapped.

((it took me HOURS to track down the original post on this, good god, but along the way I stumbled across a semi-adjacent post on Lotor's reaction to someone making an attempt on Keith's life (post kral zera), which may also be of interest to you))

If Keith were to die at this stage in the narrative (chapter 24), Lotor would find himself keenly affected in a way he's not truly prepared for; he knows he likes his little Blade far more than he should—he's accepted that for a good while now—but in the event of Keith's death Lotor would find himself in the position of feeling as if,,, he hadn't really the right to grieve? Because in the grand scheme of things, Keith is a blip on the raydar. By my personal plotting of events, they've only known one another for little over 2 altean phoebs (~14 altean movements), which is scarcely any time at all, not to mention that for a great deal of that Lotor wasn't even aware that Marmora-Keith and the Former-Red-Paladin were the same person.

In typical Lotor fashion, his heart would cede to his head, and as team Voltron crumbled to pieces around him Lotor would strive to take advantage of the situation so as to improve his standing and hold this flimsy excuse for an alliance together as the sole chance he has against his father, and yet—

—and yet the world has turned in on itself. Quiet in a way the prince had long since forgotten it could be. Empty and hollow and frightfully lonely, because every so often he will turn to his side to exchange a teasing smile or raised brow with a man who, in so little time, had made an easy home for himself by Lotor's side, only to find that said man simply isn't anymore.

How do you mourn someone you never really knew? Where do you even begin with picking up the pieces, when they're made up of a future that was never anything more than idle daydreams and unspoken promises?

[minamorsart]

🌌✨The Empyreal Within character designs of Lotor, Allura, and Ven'tar! I might do Honerva and Zarkon next, we'll see! This is part of an upcoming project that I am super excited about and will reveal in time!!! 💜

Explanations of the outfits below! I thought about them a LOT hehe.

18 year old Lotor: these designs I am the most pleased with! Lotor's official design in the show is very different from the rest of the Galra, which I believe is significant to him venturing further away from the precedents established by his father and cementing his own individuality. However, as an adolescent it makes sense that he would still wear Galra attire, hence the bulky armor (to make him look bigger since he is smaller than the average Galra) and red and gold colors which appear to only be worn by the royal family. I like to think that the insignia on his chest is a symbol for royalty, but is also exclusive to Lotor's identity, as no one else wears that particular insignia in the show. And despite wearing clothes specifically chosen to represent the Galra Empire, I can also picture him wanting to incorporate his own personal tastes, so there are accents of purplish-blue (as blue is part of Lotor's color scheme) and the addition of his waist cape, both of which represent his growing desire for change and independence.

Mid-20's Lotor: this is during the many years of his banishment. I imagine him hopping from planet to planet, concealing his identity as much as possible while adopting a more humble lifestyle and pursuing his passion for exploring. It is during this isolated pilgrimage that he does a lot of introspection, self-actualization, and gains self-confidence both as a man and as the Galra prince. But before that happens, the lack of identity really shows in his clothes -- lots of neutral colors (with a hint of desaturated blue), absence of any insignias or designs that would connect him to any culture, whether Galra or Altean. These clothes in particular were inspired by Jedi ponchos and Sasuke from Naruto: The Last, and perhaps are worn while Lotor is on a desert planet for a short time! And just like with his armor as seen in the show, he has started to wear gloves to cover himself up almost completely, indicating his avoidance of vulnerability and getting close to others.

Ven'tar: for her fortunately I didn't have to change much about her character design! She is Lotor's age when they meet and the only other change I made to her was to take away her big cape so that she appears younger. Since her planet and species name is not revealed in the show, I want to come up with one myself. Caelifera is the scientific name for grasshopper, so I'm thinking I could do something with that!

11 year old Lotor: this design is also taken directly from the show, so I didn't have to do much there :P The cloak he wears in the little doodle is inspired by the one adult Lotor wears in S6E4. In this case, however, it is several sizes too big for young Lotor and drags on the ground.

Allura: sadly we don't know much about Allura's life on Altea, however in S1E9 we get to see tiny snippets of different stages throughout her life and her good relationship with her father, so I used those as references! I gave her braids, short puffy sleeves, and a slightly shorter skirt to give her that innocent little princess look, and then used the colors from her dress in the show to create a cuter and more childlike aesthetic!

If you read all of that you're the best 😆🙏 I'm definitely by no means an expert in character design and have lots more to learn, but I had a lot of fun coming up with the original designs! Especially Lotor's, but no surprise there hehe. I studied many different Galra armor and clothing featured in the show worn by Lotor, Zarkon, Honerva, and Galra commanders. More than anything I just really wanted to see Lotor wearing something different for a change 😂 and then everything else took off from there!

[imhereformysciencefriends]

Day 7: Clear Day Fair

Tags: @loturaweek2024 Clear Day, festival/carnival/fairgrounds, background Shiro/Keith, background Hunk/Shay, background Matt/N-7, food and carnival prizes, flirting

Read on AO3

“It’s hard to believe that just four decaphoebes ago, we were all at war,” Allura said, sliding her hand into the crook of Lotor’s elbow and resting her head daintily against his shoulder. No use getting too cozy: they’d resume walking soon. But for the moment she held onto her betrothed, (the talsean chain he’d gifted her burning a hole in her pocket, not quite yet ready to tell the others, and Altean engagements started out private, anyway) and enjoyed the sight of people walking about, smiling, laughing, eating, playing carnival games and riding contraptions.

��It is,” he breathed. Harder to believe for him, than her, some small piece of him, she knew, believing that he would never quite get this far, his father’s empire an endless and unkillable thing.

They stood together in companionable silence a long, long moment. The breeze rustled at the hem of her dress, a scandalous little thing that went down only to her knees, fluffy and ruffled, and left her collarbone and shoulders bare. He’d dressed nice for today, too, still anxious about setting aside his armor, but today was a day of celebration and joy. He was wearing an old Altean tunic Coran had found somewhere in the castleship’s storage, his arms as bare as hers were, and she enjoyed the sight and feel of his unarmored biceps quite nicely.

He turned to her, gently dislodging her from his shoulder, and smiled, just a little bit of fang poking out. “Shall we join in?”

She smiled back, warm and with a little happy twitch to her ears. “I think we shall.”

What to do, what to do though? They were surrounded by so many options, it was a little hard to choose.

Shiro and Keith were at the arcade, racing against one another on a level so high they had a small gaggle of children surrounding the mock pilot chairs, their one token stretching much further than the arcademaster might like. That was well and good for them, but Allura had spent quite enough time piloting the Blue Lion these last few decaphoebes, and Lotor agreed that such activities were more work than pleasure in his mind.

Hunk and Shay were on a slow moving ride, cozied up and cuddling in the lovebird-shaped railcar while they were serenaded by wacky mascots and bright colors. They traded back and forth gentle knocks of their foreheads, Shay guiding Hunk through the motion, and embarrassingly public kisses, Hunk showing Shay how. The cuddling definitely seemed pleasant, but the loud music and very public shows of affection weren’t exactly what the two royals would count as a nice (or romantic, in terms of the mascots) time.

Matt and N-7 were wandering the displays, children’s 4-H projects and adolescents’ experiments and community members’ quilts and crochet and knit works and artistry and sculptures and technological wonders and photography and baked goods and insect collections and mushroom displays and favored livestock all out on display, discussing what looked to be some sort of mechanical puzzle or contraption. That looked fun, also, but felt a bit underwhelming when they were at a fair. Maybe later, Lotor and Allura agreed they wanted to do something a little more fun first.

They began to wander, perusing their options, when Allura stopped him with a sharp tug on his hand. “Oh Lotor, look at that!” she said, pointing at a cute plush toy with giant marble eyes and soft fuzzy fur.

“Would you like it?” Lotor asked, cocking his head at the thing like he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

“That’s a tier three prize right there,” said the carnie, leaned back on their chair, “gotta get thirty points; you a good shot?”

“I am,” Lotor said confidently, walking up to the stall and paying for the game. Allura fluttered a bit to have him so willingly indulging her, and also to see him lift the mock gun with those pretty pretty arms of his.

His first shot went wildly off-mark. “Hm. The balance is off,” he murmured to himself, and corrected. The second was just shy of the center of his target, earning him two points instead of five.

Every shot that followed hit the dead center of their marks, and the carnie whistled, impressed. Allura could feel herself grinning, and extended her hands with a giggle as the carnie handed the stuffed animal to Lotor, who then promptly turned and handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said sweetly, hugging the toy to her chest.

“Of course,” he said, looking quite pleased with himself, and a little flushed beside. She raised her eyebrows, then ducked her chin into the soft fuzz of her gift.

“And does my paramour enjoy providing me with gifts?” she asked, sweet and cheeky and looking up at him from under her eyelashes, shoulders drawn close to her ears.

At “provide” she actually witnessed his pupils dilate, and he licked his lips briefly before returning, “Only if my dearest enjoys receiving them.”

Giggling, she took his hand in hers again, now having discovered how they would spend their time. She pulled him to the next game with a prize she liked—not far indeed, as there was an abundance of plushies, shining trinkets, cheap plastic jewelry of absolutely no value, and kitschy souvenirs that caught her eye.

The ring toss went fine from the first throw, winning her a long-limbed plush that had magnets sewn in its hands so it could hang around her neck, he had to try twice at the game where he filled a thin tube with water but successfully perched a little plastic tiara on top of her head, making her giggle at having two, he tossed balls into baskets and flicked marbles precise distances, looking more and more smugly pleased with himself each time he handed her whatever it was that she had pointed at. They were burning through their tokens rather quickly, but eh, they could always purchase more, and Allura was certainly not going to stop him from piling her high with stuffed toys and assorted knick-knacks.

He struggled the most at stalls run by Unalu, surprising Allura not at all, but although she insisted that she didn’t need the prize that had drawn her eye, he insisted on victory before they left. It was sweet, and deeply charming, and as Allura’s arms grew more and more full of the prizes he’d won her she found herself gigglier and gigglier.

“Voltron plushies, toss a ring, win a plush,” another Unalu hawked at passerby, and this time Lotor was the one to stop them.

“A… purple lion?” he asked, one eyebrow as arched as she’d ever seen it. “That does not exist.”

Allura bent to observe the lineup closer, the five colors she was used to, yes, but also a pink, white, and purple lion propped up at the end of the line, many more clustered on the wall of the back of the stand.

She looked up at him, just a motion of her eyes, face still close to the purple offender.

“I do want it though,” she said through the fluff of three different plush toys.

Lotor hesitated, then blushed, then looked away. “Well. If the lady wants.”

“Then the lady shall receive! Very good, sir, ten tokens to play!” the Unalu prompted, and tried to hand Lotor a set of rings much smaller than the ones scattered about the display.

“These are not correct,” Lotor said, derisive and with the low tone that made her shiver.

“Of course they are! They just look small in your strong, masculine—hands…”

Lotor loomed over the swindler, scowling impressively.

“You know, I think I did actually hand you the wrong set, here you are sir, enjoy!”

The carnie swapped the rings out for the actual size, and Lotor relaxed. Observed his targets. And made every single toss.

“Woo!” Allura cheered, jumping a little, her hands full.

“Ah. Well. Erm, according to the sign, which is in your line of sight so I wouldn’t ever tell you anything differently, nine successful throws is three small prizes or one large one. So if your lady here wants the purple one, you get two mor—”

“The pink one! The pink and blue ones!” Allura interjected excitedly, and the carnie handed them over.

“This one’s for you,” she said, setting the blue lion on his shoulder like a cat would perch. The pink and purple one she settled beneath her arm, almost immediately losing them in the mass of the other plush gifts.

“Ah—your—”

“My lion, the one that is real, and actually exists. Not these silly fakes,” she teased, smiling up at him.

“Ah,” he said, and oh, she did far too thoroughly enjoy her ability to render this man speechless. It was intoxicating, seeing her beautiful, eloquent Lotor reduced to a pleased smile half hidden by his hand, ears tinged with his blush.

The smell of funnel cake, made of ground tubers instead of grains, as she might have had on Altea, yet still unmistakable, wafted through the air.

“Oh! We must have one!” Allura insisted, dragging him away from the games and into the hall of food vendors, ciders and grilled skewers and breaded pockets of meat and air-puffed ground tubers that also should’ve been grains if this were Altea and sweets and cloudsugar lining them on either side, and Allura joined the first of the lines.

“It’s sweet!” Lotor remarked when they got theirs, a dusting of sugar falling on his chest as he bit into the fried delight.

“Of course!” Allura agreed joyfully.

“It’s good.”

“Do you not often enjoy sweets?”

Lotor snorted, taking another bite. “You might recall that standard Galran fare involves uniquely bland off-beige paste and little else.”

“Well, yes, and we Alteans have our exceedingly green goo, but surely you must eat regular food when you are planetside?”

Lotor gave her a look.

“Lotor. Only eat half of that. We are going to try everything in this aisle.”

He laughed at her sudden seriousness, but Allura was not anywhere even close to joking. He dutifully waited with her in every single line, trying out savory meats and spicy candies and more sweets and buttery tubers at her prompting, eating whatever they’d just purchased while they waited in the next line. They bumped into Pidge, Hunk, and Shay in one of the lines, chatting happily while Lotor gnawed on a well-sauced bone of meat, and Hunk reminded them to hydrate while they were here. When they finished with their final shop (a meat skewer place with crisped alliums and bell peppers that smelled divine) she decided to play another little ploy on her intended, and guided him away from the crowd.

“This is good, as well,” he praised, seeming to enjoy the meat dishes the most out of everything they’d tried.

“Good! Give me a bite,” she said, resettling all her many plush gifts in both hugging arms, so she could not reach out and take it. Instead, when he began to extend the skewer to her, she opened her mouth and leaned forward.

“Allura?” he choked, eyes blown so wide they were nearly all pupil.

For her part, she blinked her eyes as big as they would go and stared up at him innocently. “My hands are full,” she commented, high pitched and sweet, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Won’t you feed me a bite?”

Feeding one’s partner was not quite so scandalous as kissing them in public, but it wasn’t nothing, either. She opened her mouth again, doing her best impression of guileless but probably blushing, herself, and watched her fiance visibly struggle with his composure before feeding her a bite.

“Mm! It is good!” she agreed, smiling for an entirely different reason.

“You are a wicked, devilish woman.”

Allura giggled, grinning wide, and spun on the ball of her foot with a little flounce of her dress.

“That’s me! Now, whatever shall we do next?”

[association-of-ideas]

I don't know how it happened, but I'm somehow back in my Voltron phase, so have a stupid conspiracy theory that I enjoy thinking about.

Okay, so we all know how Keith is half Galra and looks nothing like it? Well, he's a spitting image of his mother, minus the actual Galra traits. And yes, I know genetics are Hell's lottery, but bare with me here!

Keith looks entirely human; from his skin tone to his size. The most we really get is that split second of his eyes going yellow. Yes, he's only half Galra, but all of the other half Galra characters are noticeably, well, Galra! From the looks of it, Galra genes seem to be pretty dominant, so by all means, Keith should have some physical traits, right? But he doesn't!

The thing is, Keith grew up on Earth, where looking like that could have been dangerous. He'd need to look human in order to survive, which brings me to the crack-headcannon itself:

What if Krolia was part Altean and passed that down to Keith as well?

Alteans are capable of changing their skin color and height in order to blend in, "Sacred Alteans" having even more control over their appearance. (I checked the wiki to clarify this.)

Krolia was a spy for the BoM, meaning she had to be good at acting and being the alien equivalent of a chameleon would definitely help with that.

Also, I just think it'd be really neat to see Allura so conflicted over this, because on one hand, Keith's part Galra, the race that destroyed her planet and took away everything she'd ever known and loved. On the other, he's also part Altean, potentially one of the only remaining Alteans, if only fractionally so, aside from herself and Coran (I'm setting this before Lotor shows up.)

I just think it'd be really cool to have some Allura-centric angst where she debates Keith's loyalty and whether blood defines a person.

I spend so much time thinking up random AUs and trying to rationalize them, so please be nice.