#and Keith can go back to flying red all happy | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jxsatlas · 3 years ago

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍 ⇢ keith kogane, ch. 3

keith kogane x gn! reader – previous

DISCLAIMER! this story does not originally belong to me, the author is @MaddieWolf37 on Wattpad. i have simply received permission to rewrite and continue her story. go and check out her profile for the original version!

SYNOPSIS! a story in which you are thrown into the middle of an intergalactic space war and have the undesirable weight of being a symbol of peace dropped on your shoulders. but maybe if you look past the constant danger and endless fighting, there's some good to being a paladin of voltron.

MATURE CONTENT! swearing, violence, gore, war, graphic descriptions, mentions of self-harm

You step into the tent, eyes wide at the sight of three unconscious scientists scattered around the ground. Straight ahead, Keith is carefully pulling Shiro off of the metal table and trying to sling Shiro's arm around him.

"Nope! No! I'm saving Shiro," Lance says and takes Shiro's other arm and tosses it around his shoulders.

"Uh... who are you?" Keith asks, furrowing his brows at Lance in confusion.

"The name's Lance?" your brother says, but Keith only blinks at him. Lance feigns a look of hurt and disappointment. How could his self-proclaimed rival not recognise him? "We were in the same class at the Garrison? We were like rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck?"

"Really? Are you... an engineer?" Keith asks.

"What? No! I'm a pilot," Lance frowns.

Keith narrows his eyes at Lance for a moment before it clicks. His face relaxes. "Oh... yeah, I remember you. You're a cargo pilot."

"Well, not anymore. I'm fighter class now, thanks to you washing out," Lance sasses.

"Congratulations," Keith says in a low tone, not interested.

You roll your eyes at their interaction and place a hand on your hip. "Are you two just gonna sweet talk each other or are we gonna take Shiro and get out of here?" you ask.

Keith looks up at the sound of your voice, recognising it. He stares at you for a bit, unintentionally. It's been a while since he's seen you, and he could honestly that say he missed you.

You were the only person he truly got along with at the Garrison, so it's reasonable for him to feel that way.

"Well?" you ask, quirking an eyebrow.

Keith blinks, breaking his stare and bringing him back to reality. "Taking Shiro and getting out of here," he says.

You all rush out of the tent as fast as you can with an unconscious person in your arms. As the others make their way to Keith's hoverbike, You take a quick look to see what's going on with the Garrison.

"Oh, that's not good," you say and spin on your heel quickly. You scurry over to the hoverbike. "We should really get moving! The Garrison is coming back and they do not look happy!"

Pidge climbs onto the hoverbike. "Hey, is this gonna fit all of us?"

As Keith sits down at the helm, Hunk climbs onto the back, causing the back to drop downwards. "No," he grumbles.

But he doesn't bother wasting time when all of you are on and ready to go. He revs the engine and the hoverbike roars to life, lifting up into the air a few feet.

And right as the Garrison comes around the tent, Keith does a sharp 180 and heads in the opposite direction. He speeds away with the Garrison pursuing without hesitation.

To fight against the inertia, you grab ahold of Keith who you sit right behind. And you don't plan on letting go anytime soon, scared you'll fall off.

Pidge has his arms hooked under Shiro's. "Why am I holding this guy?" he asks, but he's left unanswered.

Lance looks at the Garrison behind us. They were getting closer by the second. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

"We can toss off some non-essential weight," Keith says bitterly.

"Oh, right!" Lance chirps and looks around to see what could be tossed off the hoverbike. But when he finds nothing and realises Keith was talking about Hunk, he rolls his eyes. "Okay, so that was an insult."

Keith shouts over his shoulder at Hunk. "Big man, lean left!"

Hunk does so and the hoverbike sharply veers left, quickly evading the gaining pursuers. The Garrison tries to match the sudden movement, but two of the vehicles chasing after you crash into each other.

"Aw, man!" Hunk whines. "Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!"

You look over your shoulder behind you and see the two vehicles rolling and flipping. You frown. You hope they're okay.

"Big man! Lean right!" Keith orders and Hunk listens to him again. As the hoverbike tips to the right, jumping over a canyon and to the narrow ledge on the other side, you make the mistake of looking down below.

Your body tingles with adrenaline as you watch the ground disappear for a second too long, not enjoying the sight at all.

"Not cool! Not cool!" You say and squeeze your eyes shut. You don't usually have a fear of heights. But it's one thing when you're piloting an aircraft, and a completely different thing when you're riding on the back of a hoverbike where falling off is a very prominent thing.

"Are you seriously scared of heights?" Lance asks, picking up on the reason why you suddenly got anxious. "You're a freaking pilot!"

"This is different!" you bark back at him.

"Wait! Guys! Is that cliff up ahead?" Hunk asks, pointing ahead. You turn back around and you squeak at the sight of the sudden drop getting closer and closer.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Lance shouts.

"Yep," Keith smirks and increases the speed, practically flying towards the cliff.

Everyone, except for Keith and Shiro, who is still very much unconscious, clambers and screams incoherently as Keith heads straight for the cliff and drives right off.

You feel your stomach fly up to your chest as you fall, your butt lifting off the seat. The butterflies make your entire body buzz with fear and you tighten your arms around Keith. If you fall off now, there's no doubt you'll be dead.

And flat as a pancake.

"What are you doing!? You're gonna get us killed!" Lance shouts, his eyes wide with fear. His grip is tight on the hoverbike. He doesn't want to fall off either.

"Just shut up and trust me!" Keith shouts back at him.

"I trust you!" you shout, squeezing your eyes shut once again. You truly do. Even though Keith was reckless and quite the trouble maker back at the Garrison, You know he wouldn't intentionally put you in danger without a way to get you out of it.

You fall for what seems like an eternity before Keith rolls the throttle all the way, maxing out the power of the engines. The hoverbike stops just before it hits the ground. Your butt hits the seat pretty hard and you wince.

That's definitely gonna be a bruised tailbone.

With the Garrison having no way to get down the cliff and chase after you, Keith drives off into the desert.

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

Inside of an old cabin in the middle of what seems to be nowhere, the group lays about. Lance sits on the edge of a surprisingly soft sofa with you laying across the majority of it, your head in his lap. He has his arms hanging on the back and his head resting on his shoulder. The two of you snooze away.

Pidge and Hunk are across the room sitting on the floor, talking about tech and engineering. Keith is outside with Shiro.

When you were waiting for Shiro to wake up, you had a chance to catch up with Keith. You hugged him and conversed with him happily. He seemed to enjoy talking to me too again, a faint smile on his face.

Although Lance glared at you from across the room the entire time. The boys have a mutual dislike for each other, so Lance didn't take too kindly to you talking to Keith. But you think Lance feels the said dislike more. Keith doesn't seem to care most of the time, but Lance can and will get on his nerves.

Nevertheless, you genuinely missed Keith. You were pretty good friends with him. In fact, you think you were his only friend at the Garrison.

You stir awake when Keith and Shiro walk back into the cabin rather loudly. You rub the sleep from your eyes and sit up. You stretch your arms out with a yawn, accidentally smacking your brother in the face.

Lance jolts awake with a small yelp.

"Oh, sorry," you say. Lance grumbles under his breath and sits up. He yawns as well.

"What have you been working on?" Shiro asks slowly.

You turn my attention to the other side of the room. Keith holds a large cloth in his hands, having pulled it off of the wall. And on the wall are pictures of caves carvings and odd locations and maps of the desert pinned onto it with tacs and tape. Messy red arrows and circles are marked onto said maps, pointing out places in the desert. But not as much as an area at the center of the map, where a large, overlapping circle was scribbled down.

With curiosity overpowering your sleepiness, you rest your chin in your palm and lean forward with interest. "What's that?" you ask.

"It's... kinda hard to explain?" Keith says with a shrug. "After getting booted from the Garrison, I felt... lost?" he says with a somber expression.

Keith points to the large circle on the map. "But I was drawn to this place. It was like something, some energy, was telling me to search," he says.

"For what?" Shiro asks.

"I'm not sure," Keith answers. "But when I did search, I came across a cave system with all these ancient carvings. Each depicting a slightly different story about a Blue Lion, and some... arrival happening," he explains and points to the photos on the wall before looking at Shiro. "Then you showed up."

Shiro hums, a small, impressed smile tugging at his lips. He turns to you, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, who are clumped together across the room. "I should thank you all for getting me out of there," he says.

Shiro reaches his robotic arm out to Lance. An awestruck expression takes over my brother's face. On the outside, he appears rather calm. But on the inside, he's most likely freaking out about the fact that his idol is wanting to shake his hand.

"You're Lance, right?" Shiro asks.

Lance nods with a wide smile, firmly grasping Shiro's metal hand and shaking it.

Shiro turns to you. "And... [y/n]?" he guesses your name and you nod.

"Yep! That's me!" you affirm and shake Shiro's hand as well.

"I'm Pidge, and the nervous guy is Hunk," the short ginger says and points to Hunk, who is pulling at his fingers, with his thumb. "Do you know if the rest of your crew made it?"

You glance at Pidge. He seems to be pretty hung up on Shiro's crewmates. You slowly get lost in your thoughts wondering why.

Could he possibly be related to any of them? Or at least a good friend to one?

Pidge gives you a strange look and you realise you're staring. You flash him an embarrassed smile and look away.

"I don't know," Shiro says after taking a moment to dig through his memories. "My brain is still pretty scrambled. But one thing sticks out. I kept hearing the word Voltron, over and over. It's some kind of weapon."

You blink. "That's what Pidge was hearing on the radio!" you point out.

Pidge nods. "Yeah, I picked it up on alien radio chatter when scanning the solar system," he rephrases.

"Maybe those were the aliens that captured Shiro?" Lance suggests.

"Well, we need to find this Voltron before the aliens do," Shiro says with a sharp tone of determination.

"But how are we gonna do that?" Lance asks.

He's got a point. "Yeah, we don't even know what Voltron looks like," you say.

"I got that doodle in my notebook?" Pidge says.

"Sorry, Pidge, but your artist's rendition isn't the best," Lance says. You smack his arm and he smacks yours in return.

Hunks smiles. "I don't think Pidge's drawing skills will be a problem," he says and picks up Pidge's backpack. "Because I was looking through his stuff–"

Pidge snatches his bag from Hunk and holds it away from him. "What were you doing looking through my stuff?" he asks sharply.

Hunk rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Looking for a snack," he says. "Anyways, I was looking through his diary and–"

"You did what?" Pidge growls. He seems to like his privacy.

"–and I noticed a repeating series of numbers that kinda look like a Fraunhofer line," Hunk quickly finishes talking before Pidge has a chance to interrupt him again.

"A frown-what?" Keith asks and you, him, and Lance give a quizzical look.

"Sorry, we have the brains of pilots," you say.

"That's fine," Hunk shrugs and proceeds to explain what he's talking about. "It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element. But this element doesn't exist on earth, so I was thinking it could be this Voltron?"

You nod, understanding a little bit more of his engineer mind, but not really. He used too big of words.

"I think I can build something to track it, like a Voltron Geiger counter," Hunk says.

Lance flashes an impressed grin and crosses his arms. "Hunk, you big gassy genius!" he praises.

"It's pretty great," Hunk smiles bashfully at the compliment. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sheet of paper with a sort of graph on it. He holds it up for everyone to see. "It looks like this."

Keith snatches the paper from Hunk and examines it closely. He furrows his brows and turns to one of the photos pinned up on the wall, something connecting in his brain. He holds the graph up next to a photo of rocky outcropping somewhere in the desert.

The line matches the shape of the tall, jagged rocks eerily well. You all share a look, concluding that that's the next place you need to go.

#voltron legendary defender #vld keith #vld fanfic #vld #voltron #voltron keith #keith kogane #keith x reader #reader insert #gender neutral reader #fanfiction #wattpad

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thorin-is-a-cuddler · 4 years ago

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Beach Rules

A/N: Paladins at the beach? Sure! Platonic everyone. This is Keith and Shiro centric. And there’s loads of tickling and simping, yay :D

„Is that…“

„No, it can’t be!!“

„Oh, but, but… guys, it’s…“

„A beach!“ Shiro stepped out of the castle, joining Pidge, Lance and Hunk on the surface of this vacation worthy planet with a disbelieving expression.

Allura followed, taking her helmet off and actually giving one of her rare honest smiles. „Yes, a beach. This is the planet of Basoria. 10 000 years ago, this planet has already been one of my favorite places to be. It seems incredible that the Galra haven’t taken over it. But since there are no intelligent beings on here, they probably didn’t see the point. It’s a save place. Coran and I wanted to offer you this. A day off at the beach. With everything you’ve already done, paladins, I am happy if I can give you something back.“

The three younger paladins shrieked happily, shouting their thanks as they took off running for the shore, shoes flying and jackets landing in the sand. Shiro turned his head to look at Allura with a smile. „This is amazing, Allura. I think you couldn’t have made them happier.“

Allura tilted her head and put a hand on Shiro’s left arm. „I was hoping you would enjoy this as well, Shiro. You have been working harder than anyone of us. You deserve a day’s rest.“

Shiro opened his mouth in surprise, a little overwhelmed by so much attention and a little lost for words. Fortunately Keith chose excatly this moment to step out between them, a grumpy expression on his face. „A beach?“ He asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously sceptical about something that involved such a big amount of fun.

Allura narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, having hoped for a rather different reaction. „Yes, Keith. A beach. A place for relaxation and happiness. I’m glad to see that it disgusts you so much.“

Allura went to take off her armor inside the castle, mumbling intelligibly under her breath. Keith merely sniffed and shrugged as the princess moved away, crossing his arms over his chest and looking outside with a wary expression. Three cheerful paladins were splashing around in turquoise water. They were still dressed in t-shirts and pants, but didn’t seem to care a bit about the additional soaked weight. Keith had never seen them this outgoingly happy.

He felt a weight on his shoulder and saw that Shiro had put his hand on it, an encouraging smile on his face. „Go on, Keith. Don’t worry so much. I bet it’s fun out there. Give it a try.“

Keith tilted his head slightly and looked away, a little crease appearing between his eyebrows. „Hmmm. I don’t know, Shiro.“

The warm dark eyes of the older paladin changed, giving room for worry. This guy managed to catch up to everything. „What is it?“

Keith huffed and shook his head slightly, fond of Shiro being so perceptive, yet at the same time wishing he weren’t. „It’s just… I don’t know. I- I’ve never… well, I’ve never been to a beach before. My father and I never went on vacations, you know.“

Keith shuffled around slightly, trying to act as indifferent as he could, while he was actually dying from insecurity inside. He sent a tentative side glance in Shiro’s direction and saw the realization in his expression. Keith smiled and shielded his eyes against the sun.

„I think it’ll come naturally to you, Keith.“ Shiro said softly, making Keith look at him again in surprise. „All we have to do is go out there and… do the next best thing.“

Keith blinked at him, pretty unsure about this much spontaneousness. „And what would that be?“

Shiro put his finger on his lips thoughtfully, making Keith start to consider that maybe Shiro had just as little clue what to do at a beach as he had. His features softened a little at that impression. Where Shiro knew pretty much everything about him, there was little Keith knew about Shiro in connection to his past. Shiro kept most things locked away behind so many doors that walking through all of them could take years. Keith had barely managed to walk through the half of them.

He sighed deeply and slid out of his jacket, leaving it in the castle. „Let’s start by making ourselves more… beach ready.“ Keith made an awkward motion towards his t-shirt and then bent over to take off his shoes and roll up the legs of his pants.

Shiro smiled at that and copied Keith’s actions, stripping to his sleeveless muscle shirt and rolling his pants up as well. For a second he was insecure about the bulgy skin where his right shoulder merged into the metal arm. But then a sudden feeling took over him and made him forget about any insecurities. Was that… giddiness he felt in his stomach?

There suddenly was so much energy inside of him that he had to get rid off. He looked at Keith staggering around on one leg as he tried to keep the material of his pants rolled up on the other leg. And a grin spread out on his face.

He suddenly knew exactly what he had to do.

„Keith..“

Keith looked up in time to manage a very surprised yell, before a very strong arm wrapped around his middle and lifted him off the floor. „SHIRO WHAT ARE YOU-“

„I know what we have to do!“

Keith clawed his fingers into Shiro’s foreram, holding on to him tensely as the pilot started running with Keith dangling from his side, shaking him quite thoroughly. Despite that Keith almost sighed in relief as fresh air ruffled his hair and blew under his shirt, giving him goosebumps and drying his sweat. It felt like flying through the desert with Shiro all over again. The memory of their races untied a knot in Keith’s chest and he suddenly had to let out a laugh as Shiro readjusted his grip on him, lifting him even higher than he’d been before.

„Don’t drop me!!!“

Shiro’s smirk was audible in his words as he raised his voice as well. „Oh, I will drop you in a bit!“

Keith tensed up again and looked to where Shiro was headed. Pidge, Hunk and Lance in the water had noticed their approach by now, curious happy smiles on their faces as they got closer at a dizzying speed. The realization hit Keith and he started struggling, almost causing Shiro to drop him himself.

„NO YOU WILL NOT! DON’T YOU DARE! SHIRO!“

But Shiro wasn’t bothered by Keith’s defiance in the slightest. His soft laughter mixed with Keith’s gasps and yelps and put a warm feeling in his shaking stomach.

Keith’s struggles grew stronger the closer they got to the water, forcing Shiro to swing Keith’s in front of his chest to be able to hold him there with both his arms.

Keith’s fists drummed against Shiro’s forearms, as the pilot reached the shore and took a few steps into the water. How Shiro managed to stay strong enough to hold him like that with all his laughter was a freaking mystery to the paladin of the red lion. „Enough with the violence,“ Shiro chuckled, „Time to cool your head!“

Keith’s knees were pulled up to his chest and he was eagerly trying to keep himself in that pulled up position by wrapping his hands around Shiro’s head behind him and holding on. „I DON’T THINK SO!!“

„Oh, but you will let go,“ Shiro growled, a playful tone to his voice that made Keith’s stomach drop.

„YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!“

„Ah, Keith, you really bring this upon yourself,“ Shiro chuckled and kept his metal arm wrapped around Keith’s middle, the other suddenly dangerously unoccupied and close to his side and ribs and this was when it clicked, but too late.

„SHIRO WAIT-“ Keith shouted out in panic, trying to pull himself up higher to get away, but it was to no use. Shiro’s fingers were already squeezing his side and making their way up and hell on earth, it tickled so much, Keith had never thought anything could tickle this much.

Any plans for holding back his giggles were diminished immediately, as he broke out into hysterical squeals and deep uncontrollable laughter, twitching around like a fish as Shiro’s fingers were crawling up his side, over his ribs and right in the center of his exposed armpit. He really meant to keep his hands behind Shiro’s head, pulling at his hair to keep from being dropped. But forget that, he couldn’t take this without fighting back. It felt like Shiro was tickling him with twenty fingers at least where he was only using five and it wasn’t fair and it led to Keith’s unavoidable fate.

„SHHIHIIHRO NOHOOO PLEEEHEHEHEASE!!“

„I won’t stop until you let go!!“

„BUT THEN YOU’LL DROOHOHOP MEE!!“

„Beach rules, Keith. You are obligated to have fun!“

One last arch in Shiro’s arm, then Keith couldn’t stand it anymore and he tore his arms down, trying to push Shiro’s assaulting hand as far away from his ticklish torso as possible, when it was already time for a dive in the waves of Basoria.

Keith shrieked, when Shiro’s arms suddenly stopped holding him, honest to God shrieked - as if he’d needed any more embarrassment in front of the others. The cold water caught him quite gently though. There were no burns at the impact of the water, there was no water shooting up his nose. There was just a nice feeling of floating around and having his hair fly around his head.

He welcomed the feeling happily. But only for a few seconds. Then his wish for revenge grew too strong and he speedily made his way back up to the surface. He managed to find a stand on the sandy underground, the water up to his chest where it had been up to Shiro’s waist.

Shiro. With narrowed eyes and wet hair clinging to his forehead he saw Shiro quickly making his way deeper into the water, looking over his shoulder, laughing breathlessly.

„OH YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!! JUST YOU WAIT TIL I GET YOU BACK!“

Shiro almost slipped from laughter at Keith’s bubbly attempts oto swim after him, completely out of breath, but fueled with the desire to give him a taste of his own medicine.

In the meantime Pidge was busy climbing on top of Hunk’s shoulders in her soaked shirt, where she held on to Hunk’s hair with one hand, pointing at Shiro with the other and letting out a war cry that would have scared away Galrans. „FUGITIVE ON THE RUN! GO GET HIM! AID OUR TORTURED FRIEND!!!“

Keith almost sunk under the surface from his surprised laughter. He hadn’t expected the others to come to help him. They liked to watch Shiro tickle him into madness during sparring matches rather comfortably. But this. Maybe this was also part of the beach rules. Everyone against the strongest one. It seemed like a good rule to Keith.

Shiro on the other hand was barely able to bring much more distance between himself and the others as panicked laughter started to slow him down. Lance was gaining on him, as Hunk grabbed Pidge from his shoulders and used all his strength to throw her in Shiro’s direction, getting her closer to him as well.

Shiro thought it clever apparently to change tactics and stopped swimming in the one direction to make his way in the other one now.

Keith had to chuckle as he heard Shiro’s breathless gasps for air get closer. Alright, if this was a fun time at the beach he was sold. Now they only had to catch him.

„YOU GUYS, THIS ISN’T FAIR!!“ Shiro shouted, smiling widely as Pidge and Lance were getting awfully close.

„BEACH RULES!!“ Keith yelled as he too was getting closer to Shiro who was trying to make his way to the shore to be able to run away. He’d be way too fast for the other paladins if he managed to reach it. They couldn’t let him get away.

„Oh no, you will NOT!!“ Lance exclaimed passionately as Shiro was stumbling to his feet in the ankle high water. The plue paladin took a large dive and actually managed to pull Shiro down with a splash. The two of them rolled over in the warm part of the water, Shiro breathless from laughter already while Lance was yelling almost as loud as Pidge had before.

„You did it, Lance!“ Keith cheered as he too got to his feet in the low water, throwing himself on top of the other two. Shiro groaned with laughter at the additional weight and tried to push the two of them off of him.

„Now, just wait a second, just wait…“ Another weight took away Shiro’s breath as Hunk dropped down on top of Keith, slowly but successfully building a sandwich.

„We have him! Do we have him?“ Hunk spluttered and looked at his two friends underneath himself. Keith held up a thumb, despite the lack of air.

„We’ve got him! You guys are the best!!“

Pidge arrived with a wide smile on her face and was a bit reluctant to putting herself on top of the three boys as well. She didn’t have to anyway. Instead she dropped down next to Shiro’s face and grinned at him evilly.

„Ha, you didn’t see that coming, did you?“

Shiro glared at her, still out of breath, but he just couldn’t keep it up and a soft, playful expression was back on his face again in no time. „I guess Voltron’s bond must be really strong already. Just don’t lose your head in the process…“

All four of them groaned inexplicably loud at this bad pun and Pidge felt no sympathy for him in the slightest as she told the other three to give him hell just for that. Even though he was pretty doomed in his current position. He couldn’t move out from underneath the three boys and all of them put their hands to good use some place on his tall upper body. Hunk was pinching his sides, as Keith worked his hands under his arms and Lance immediately used his position for good access to Shiro’s ribs.

Pidge was blessed with the picture of Shiro throwing his head back in ticklish agony, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth opened in the brightest smile, as beautiful laughter was shooting out of him.

He couldn’t fight off six hands with just two and Keith enjoyed strongly making him laugh this hard, especially with the aid of his friends. He could tell that Shiro was very fine with them having their fun like this and it warmed Keith’s heart that Shiro was so selfless and soft in every situation. He looked at Shiro throwing his head from side to side, shaking with incessant giggles and trying to arch his back against the overwhelming sensations and he just knew that Shiro would never stop doing whatever it took to make him happy and have fun despite the times they were living in.

He knew that there was no „Voltron losing their head“. Shiro’s love was the starting point of all bonding among the paladins. He was the heart of the group.

Keith certainly knew that. And the others would at the very latest agree now that Shiro’s determination had managed to connect all paladins in having fun together.

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erithel · 3 years ago

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I feel like If Lance had become the black paladin and got accepted when he went into the black lion (after shiro disappeared), he never would’ve grown with Keith, he never would’ve accepted Keith or accepted himself and his place on the team, and Keith wouldn’t have grown himself to become a better person and to connect deeper with the other paladins, ESPECIALLY Lance (even though it was ruined by the space whale)

In my opinion I don’t think that scene where Keith saved Shiro in the black lion should’ve happened, Instead I feel like red should’ve swooped up and saved him on Keith’s behalf or maybe she’d scoop up Keith after he got hit with one of the geysers and got tossed up in the air or something like that THEN they could rescue Shiro in the RED lion because him using black just shows that apparently anyone can fly black even without experience or any sort of leadership skills, it makes flying the black lion feel less important

And I might be biased as a klancer but I genuinely feel like after Keith got back from the space whale and brushed Lance off that maybe Keith could be stuck in a similar situation, except instead he’d be in shiros position, and Lance would have to fly black to save him

I feel like that would’ve fit so much better because at that time Lance had genuine progress as a leader, and learned to push through his own jealousy, accept himself, and feel happy about his place on the team

Not to mention how protective Lance has always been of them in the first place

Maybe Black should’ve shut Keith out after he came back, (and everyone else at first) but then later that night maybe Lance runs into him and they start a conversation about everything that happened on the space whale, krolia, Keith’s mental state, and finally the black lion

Maybe they decide to go into the hangar together to just look at her but instead, she wakes up the moment they both look up at her (I’m just using female pronouns for the lions as a baseline since they all have the shape of female lions) and she lets them both in

But when Keith sits down in the pilots chair she doesn’t move and doesn’t talk to him so Keith then has the realization of- ‘I think she’s talking to you, Lance’ and surely enough when Lance sits in the pilots chair she starts to purr

And instead of being boastful about it I can imagine him being excited and happy but determined, to make Keith and the rest of the team proud of him and to show his worth

(I hope that made sense)

OK so as much as I have said Lance had leadership qualities, I would like to clarify one thing.

He should not have been chosen as Black Paladin in season 3. He wasn't ready then. None of them were.

The rejection of it, and his following support of Keith as leader, was what sobered him up a bit, I think.

He needed to learn that being Black Paladin wasn't just for honor and glory and all that. It was literally having the lives of everyone in the Galaxy in your hands.

I think part of the reason Lance stepped up and matured and became more of a leader on the team was because he saw how much Keith was struggling. Because he still saw Keith as the golden boy around that time, and to see him struggling and failing would have been the spark that changed Lance's perspective on a lot of things – including how he saw himself and his own abilities.

I like your idea of Black not accepting Keith at first and then only opening up for both of them after they've done some quality bonding and opening up of their own.

And I agree about how much of a deus ex machina it was for Keith to just be able to pilot Black to save Shiro. I mean – we've seen Red, at least act on her own, so why couldn't it have been that? Black saving Shiro?

Or – and I'm saying this just because I wanted this to happen so badly – what if neither lion ever saved them, and instead Keith had to fight off those creatures by himself and the stress of it made him turn Galra? Because that episode happened before the Blade of Marmora trials, and it would have opened so many doors for character development for both Shiro and Keith. It would have also explained why in the episode they fought each other later on, Shiro said something like "That's the Keith I remember."

My ideal situation is having Keith and Lance co-lead, though. Because even in the scarce moments we were shown in canon, we could see how they worked better when they worked together. You know, good team and all that.

#asks #erithel's hot takes #lance mcclain #keith kogane

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monster-gut · 3 years ago

Note

Begging for headcanons pt. 2

s h r i g n o l d h e a d c a n o n s

Btw have I ever told you, that your art changed me so much? You show, that people with some disabilities or people who are ugly, can be really beautiful on the inside (Keith is the opposite lol). I learned to not rate people by their apperance. Well, at least, that's my interpretation.

I love your characters and I want to know more about them. So forgive me, if I'm annoying you, but I have some ideas for future fanarts ;)

I like to draw things that other people view as "ugly" or "unattractive" because they don't fit into the norms of how people "should look". People should be allowed to dress and look however they want, their Is no right or wrong. I draw bigger and fatter bodies, disabilities, different noses and other races because I think they're beautiful and want to give them the representation they deserve. I've come a long way with my art and I think it's important that people expand their artistic abilities. And even though I've improved alot I still have more room for improvement, and If I'd ever made a mistake and did something offensive i would hope people call me out on it even if we know each other.

Also I am glad you like my characters, it makes me happy that my art can change how people view things or make them happy. You are not annoying me, and I am intrigued by these "future fanarts"👀

Also I'm sorry if that is a lot to read, anyways yes I shall give you some Shrignold hc!

Name: Shrignold Hernandez

Pronouns: Nor/mal🙄 (he/him)

Homophobic and proud (gay and scared)

Age: 21

Afro-Mexican

Is dyslexic and has epilepsy, also is bipolar

Him and one of the flowers from the cult are "inlove", they don't know that they're both homosexuals (Shrignold being gay while the flower is a lesbian)

All the cult members have a role, Shrignold is usually the one to bring a new person to the cult or "love organization" as they would put it. Also whenever Malcom is gone Shrignold is the one in charge, although he can't make any alterations to the roles or anything else. (I'll probably explain the other roles in a different post)

Dosen't remember his past as all the members memory's were taken from them before joining

He seems to have forgotten a lot of things he's done with Leandro(leo/the lamp) and some of the others

Their have been times were he's even forgotten who Leo was

Shrignolds not the only one who appears to be having these memory issues, the other cult members as well.

How or who is stealing these memories is unknown (well to me it's not)

His wings are retractable, meaning they can go in and out of his back. This is because his wings or kinda fragile, being they're butterfly wings. They can stay safe inside his back if he is not using them.

Because of that most of his clothes shows part of his back

And also yes he can in fact fly, why have them if he couldn't?

Likes ice-skating and rollerblading with Leandro

Does develop feelings for Leo

Sometimes likes to eat flowers, red roses are his favorite

This is about as much as I could think of at the moment

#not art #gutz answers 𓆏 #shrignold dhmis #dhmis shrignold #dhmis hc #dhmis ment #dhmis mention

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actress4him · 3 years ago

Text

Black, Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink...

Red

Part 16.

9/23/23 The last piece of @probablyhuntersmom ‘s amazing artwork has been added! So sorry that it took me so long to get around to it!

First | Previous | Next

Warnings: umm...this is a tough one to label. Anger, destruction of other’s property, fear of punishment, mental/emotional breakdown

A couple of days have passed since the whole Keith disappearing into the nether regions of the Castle incident, and everything seems to have gone back to normal. Well, as normal as life can get right now. What with the whole fighting aliens in outer space in a giant cat robot thing, and the whole Mullet thinking he’s not a person anymore thing.

But anyway, it seems like Keith is doing okay, maybe a tiny bit quieter than normal, which is honestly kinda hard to judge since he barely says anything anyway.

Which is one of several reasons why Lance is surprised to walk into his own bedroom and find Keith standing in the middle of it.

“Um...Keith? Whatcha doin’ there, buddy?” They’re all very adamant on not making him feel like he’s doing something he’s not supposed to, no matter what. And Lance isn’t about to make another mistake like he did when ordering him to speak...even though that did, in the long run, help them.

Keith whirls around, his eyes widening. A series of unidentifiable emotions play across his face before hardening into something almost like a cross between terrified and determined.

Then he lunges.

In one swipe, an entire shelf full of knick-knacks Lance has collected from various planets hits the floor.

“Whoa!” Lance jumps, but he isn’t sure whether to go forward, to stop him, or back, away from him. “Dude! What are you doing?”

Keith has turned to face him again, the terror momentarily taking over his expression, but after a few seconds of tense stare down he seems to grow angry and leaps into action again. The second shelf gets cleared. Stones, dried flowers, and a little handmade doll go flying through the air and clatter to the ground.

This time Lance does move forward, anger rising. Sure, Keith has been through a lot of crap, but that doesn’t mean he’s just going to sit here and let him destroy all the stuff that he’s worked so hard to collect, all his mementos from crazy, amazing, beautiful planets that no one from Earth has seen and he might never see again. This is his room, and his stuff, and Keith has no right to -

He steps forward with his arms outstretched and Keith is sprawled on the floor an instant later. He didn’t even touch him. But obviously Keith thought he was going to, because he’s now scrambling backwards, completely terrified, until his head hits the far wall and he has nowhere else to go. He lays there, panting, watching Lance who is frozen in place.

His mind is swirling. He still wants to be mad. He’s surrounded by his things, eyes flitting over them, hoping nothing is broken, but at the same time he can’t avoid the teammate in front of him who obviously is broken.

Lance sucks in a deep breath. “Listen, Keith...I don’t know what’s going on right now, and...and I’m not happy about what you just did. But I’m not going to hurt you.”

Apparently it’s the wrong thing to say.

——————————

He picked Blue’s room for a reason, and it wasn’t just because it was right next to his own. He had been watching all of the Paladins, and it was fairly obvious that Blue was the most volatile of them all, the most prone to getting upset over even little things. If anyone was going to snap and hurt him, he thought it had to be Blue.

He’d invaded his private space. Blue had caught him in the act. He had messed with his possessions, treated them terribly. He knew that Blue was mad. He’d come so close to reaching out and grabbing him.

But now he’s just...standing there, saying, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

And it’s a lie. He knows it is. It has to be a lie.

But what else does he have to do to get somebody to stop lying?

His vision goes blurry with anger, lying there on the floor. Opening his mouth, he lets out something between a scream and a growl.

“Why?” Vaguely he registers that he’s back on his feet. “Why won’t you hurt me?” Something purple catches his attention from the corner of his eye. He grabs it without thinking and hurls it across the room, where it shatters against the wall with a deafening sound.

“Keith...Keith! Come on, man, it’s okay.”

No, no it’s not okay, nothing’s okay. Out of desperation he rushes straight at Blue, slamming into him and knocking him back against the wall with an impact that forces the air out of the Paladin’s lungs.

“Stop lying to me! Just hurt me!” There’s something hot on his cheeks, but he can’t stop to determine what it is. His fists are pounding against Blue’s chest, a pitiful attempt at an attack, especially considering what he’d been so carefully trained for. He doesn’t actually want to injure him, though, despite his anger. He just wants something in his life to make sense again.

Blue’s arms come up and lock around his body, trapping his arms in between their torsos, and he freezes. It’s coming. Surely, finally, it’s coming. He can’t breathe.

But Blue buries his face into his overgrown mop of hair, his hold firm but gentle, and murmurs in a small, cracking voice, “You're okay. You’re safe. I promise, Keith. You’re safe.”

Something wilts inside of him, and he chokes out a sob, then another, and another. He didn’t even know he remembered how to cry. His legs give out, and Blue - Lance, his name is Lance - slowly lowers him to the floor, settling him up against him, never letting go.

“That’s it. Let it out. You’re okay now. You’re okay.”

They sit like that for a long, long time.

He’s never felt quite this safe before.

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chaoticevilbean · 4 years ago

Text

Headcabon that Lance can Sew and knit and stuff bc he would Hang with his grandmother and she taught Him.

Pidge figures out the Earth date and Makes a calendar for them. Christmas comes and They decide it’ll be something Simple to celebrate and it’ll Just be a gift exchange.

The 25th comes and Allura gives them all some Old Paladin stuff. Coran made them Some Altean food. Hunk has Earth food and he and Pidge give everyone Upgrades on armor and The same for the Lions. Shiro made Cards and some ornaments. His craft Skills are atrocious but the Thought counts. Keith gives Knives In everyone’s colors.

They get to Lance’s presents, expecting something else simple that He just Threw together.

Hunk opens his and Starts crying. Lance’s family made Sweaters in the winter for new members and Passed down the old ones If possible. A tradition. Lance made a gold and blue Sweater, a bit rough, but it’s his way of saying, “Welcome to my family.”

Pidge gets Misty-eyed as well, but denies it Later. Her sweater is Purple and silver, and It has pockets. Big pockets. She puts it on Immediately.

Coran has a Cape. It’s bright orange and matches his Mustache. He also puts it on. That night, he realizes the Bottom says, “SuperUncle.” He’ll start Crying.

Allura is confused by her Gift. Lance smiles softly and ties the Bow into her hair. He says his Sisters all had Them. It’s dark blue bc Allura said Pink was a funeral Color and he wanted it To match her outfit. Allura realizes that means He thinks of her as a Sister.

Shiro gets fingerless Gloves. Lance says it’s so he can show Off the cool metal Arm. No one acknowledges the Man’s tears. They all have Watering eyes.

Keith thinks his Is a joke. He got a Red jacket, identical to the one He’s wearing. But then he holds it Up. The sleeves are longer. Lance always commented on The fact that his Jacket couldn’t keep him warm With such short sleeves. He wasn’t Joking.

Lance smiles and accepts his Team’s gratitude as if they Were simple presents, like what everyone else Gave. Just items that were handed over. Thrown together. He walks to the Kitchen to get the Eggnog they made.

The others Look at each other. They come to a Silent agreement. There is no way They’ll ever let go of Lance.

The next day, Pidge wears her sweater While working on some Codes. Lance comes to give her lunch and asks Why. She claims she’s Cold bc the air conditioning has to Keep the computers from Overheating. Lance thought that Altean computers wouldn’t do That, but Pidge knows better.

Coran is wearing his Cape when they clean The healing pods together. He says he used To wear them all the Time. It’s weird enough to Fly as another hard-to-believe Story.

Allura asks to Be taught how to Put her bow in. It keeps her Hair back, she tells Lance. He’s happy to Help. He says he Used to help His sisters all the time. Allura’s eyes water a little. Lance’s do as well.

Hunk blatantly tells Lance he’s Gonna wear his sweater Whenever possible. They hug and spend some time Making cookies.

Keith and Shiro are sparring When Lance calls them to Dinner. He notices they’re wearing they’re Gifts. None of them Say anything.

They keep wearing the Presents, and no one questions it. Then some Galra attack During a festival. One of them Rips Hunk’s sweater. The Paladins freeze. The Galra are confused bc it’s Just a sweater. And it belonged to The Softest Paladin.

Then Hunk Rips into them. There is no mercy. They get the alliance they Were there for, and Lance fixes the sweater. Word spreads. The Paladins wear strange, highly colorful clothes. Harm coming to the clothes Means harm coming To whoever is Responsible.

#Lance #hunk #Pidge #Shiro #Keith #Allura #coran coran the gorgeous man #Christmas #sewing #knitting #vld #Voltron #Voltron headcanon #vld headcanon #Lance can sew

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furys-burn · 2 years ago

Text

.Adam Lore Dump !

Pre-series:

Adam Wurren is the only child of Laura Wurren, sitting member of the Garrison Council. He kept to himself growing up aware of how his mother’s position afforded him the chance to go to such a prestigious school. He starts out on path to be a pilot but switches to teaching in his mid-teens. He also rooms with Shiro around this time. They quickly become best friends and, later on, begin dating with Shiro proposing a couple of years out from their graduation.

Adam accepts a position at the school and keeps with himself while Shiro splits teaching with flying with a plan to fly out on a mission once he’s approved. Soon after their engagement is announced, Shiro gets pinged for the mission and thus starts the 2-3 years of bullshit that was their would be wedding and the Krobus mission.

Garrison jerks them around and never settles on a date for the mission leaving them high and dry with wedding planning. They settle on something, the mission gets updated, more wedding, shiro is out, they say fuck it and settle on a date, and then boom, shiro is going to be in space and everything they have worked for is done.

Adam shuts down half out of anger at the school and half terror over how shoddy everything is and shiro is still going. A large part of him wanted to be married before he left for just logistical reasons in case something happened. A bitter part of him wishing he had just told Shiro he didn’t want him to go at all. Things turn nasty the day before Shiro leaves and rings are not worn for final interviews and fittings.

Series:

And then Shiro goes missing. They blame it on pilot error and he sees red but very quickly (and a lot of useless red tape) realizes he’ll never learn what actually happened. Him and Shiro were technically not “together” when he left so anything private is quickly sealed from him. Adam went to work and never looked up content to spend his days until retirement prepping a new generation of pilots.

And then his students go missing. First a couple of the new kids that they say left the school again regulation which he can accept. Keith’s kicking out leaves a bad taste in his mouth but he knows he was struggling with Shiro’s disappearance already. Roughly a year passes and more students go and when Sam reveals Voltron it all slots into place. So when they need pilots to defend Earth he volunteers.

And then he realizes how bad it is and about 10 mins into the mission realizes he was sent out there to die.

He crashlands somewhere in the desert and actually misses a good chunk of the invasion just trying to survive out on his own. He is counted amongst the dead and in the haze that is trying to make his way back to the Garrison gets lost in the shuffle, etc. He eventually meets back up with Shiro but not until after he is thought to be dead. (Romance is when you think your husband-to-be is dead but they come back to life in a startling fashion)

Post series:

Adam himself retired from teaching as he cannot work with the Garrison after learning how much they were hiding and actively lying about. He buys a small home in nowhere and settles in. Shiro has a room so they can stay close but their relationship never leaves that space of complicated. Sometimes he wakes up and Shiro is gone in space patrolling and he just trusts he’ll come back this time. He hates flying and mostly wastes time gardening and taking care of his (And Shiro’s) service dog and their awful cat.

Other than that, he is content to live his life in a nice ranch house with a severance (Please shut up forever) package from Garrison. It is weird and not what he imagined life would be but admittedly, he’s happy.

#text #»🔭—Adam Wurren | MUSINGS.#»🔭—Adam Wurren | GEN.#.been putting this off but hey! lore!

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quintessenceofdust73 · 3 years ago

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Chapter 15: The Undiscovered Country

Summary:

After dying to save the Multiverse, the Paladins are reunited with dead friends and family on the other side. Each of them must make a choice to go back or go on.

Notes:

This chapter was inspired by the Voltron Defender of the Universe episodes “The Captive Comet” and “The Little Prince.”

An excerpt:

Lance looked down to see his lifeless body still seated in the pilot’s chair of the Red Lion.

No, he thought, I can’t be dead. But as much as he wanted to resist that thought, the light was all around him, guiding him through the tunnel to another place.

“You’ve made a long journey, Lance McClain, but your journey is nearly over. Be not afraid.” The mysterious voice that spoke to him both terrified and comforted him at the same time.

Lance found himself standing on the sandy shore of a vast ocean at sundown. He was nearly overwhelmed by one of the most breathtaking sunsets he had ever seen. The vista before him made him immediately think of home, of Varadero Beach. He had thought often of taking Pidge there and of introducing her to his family. His parents and siblings and young niece and nephew were not to be found in the beautiful place where he was now, though.

Deep down inside he knew he was on a journey that he would have to make without his friends, and the thought of it terrified him as much as it broke his heart.

“Lance,” a gentle voice called to him.

“Abuela!” He exclaimed. He ran along the sandy shore until he could envelop her in an embrace. “Grandma! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I was away in space when you and Grandpa—“

“I know, mi vida. I’ve been watching over you, my brave nieto. I am so proud of you!” She held him as he wept in her arms. “You have had so many adventures, like one of the brave knights in the stories I read to you when you were a little boy. Do you remember?”

“I haven’t forgotten. Your stories always inspired me to face my fears and do what’s right.” He pulled away from her a little so he could see her face, which was streaked with as many happy tears as his own. “I liked the parts about the monsters and battles, but my favorite parts were always about rescuing the beautiful girl and living happily ever after.” She laughed at him, cupping his cheek. He continued. “I finally found her, you know, in real life.”

“That beautiful alien princess? The one with the flying castle?”

“No, Grandma,” Lance replied as she lovingly ruffled his hair the way she did when he was a little boy. “It’s Katie—Pidge,” he said with a soft smile.

“The little one who says so many big words?”

Lance chuckled. “She’s as courageous as any of the knights in your stories, and she’s just as beautiful as she is intelligent. She’s the one I’ve been searching for my whole life. I’m sure of it.”

“I see,” she said with a knowing smile that made her eyes twinkle.

“Will she be there? Will Pidge be in the place that I’m going?” Lance asked, gently gripping his grandmother’s shoulders. “What about Hunk? And Allura and Keith? Will I see them again?”

Lance’s grandmother looked away at a far distant shore that he could not yet see. After a long silence she said solemnly, “Like the greatest of the heroes in any of my stories, you sacrificed your life to save all of existence. Because of this, you have been given a great gift. You must decide if you want to go back to the world of the living, where you must continue to suffer and fight the good fight against the evils of your time, or you can decide if you want to go on. You can continue your journey to a place where there is no more pain or sorrow, a place where there is no more death, only peace and joy.”

The tears came once more. He wanted that peace and serenity so desperately. Lance wept silently as he studied his grandmother’s face, and finally he said, “I want to go wherever Pidge is, in life or in death. I love her, Grandma. I just want to be wherever she is.”

“Dear heart,” she said, wiping the dampness from his cheeks with her thumbs, “though friends and loved ones may walk by your side, ultimately life is a journey you must make alone. A hero must choose his own path through the dark forest.”

Lance shut his eyes, trying in vain to stop the flow of his tears. “I choose to live. I really hope I’ll see you again someday, Grandma. I love you. Tell Grandpa that I love him too.”

Lance felt his grandmother brush his cheek with a kiss that was feather light. After that his eyes did not open again for a long time.

#plance #kallura #pidge #katie holt #Allura #hunk garrett #lance mcclain #keith kogane #voltron #vld

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galindathrop · 1 year ago

Text

Eras Tour Setlist and Surprise/Secret Songs (as of November 10, 2023)

Taylor Swift

Tim McGraw - March 17

Picture to Burn - July 14

Teardrops on My Guitar - May 5

A Place in this World - April 22

Cold as You - April 23

The Outside

Tied Together with a Smile - July 23

Stay Beautiful

Should’ve Said No - May 19

Mary’s Song

Our Song - March 24 and August 4 (Guitar Surprise song in Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour film)

I’m Only Me When I’m with You - June 30

Invisible - May 20

A Perfectly Good Heart

Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Fearless

Fifteen - May 6

Love Story

Hey Stephen - May 14

White Horse - March 25

You Belong With Me

Breathe (feat. Colbie Callait) - June 10

Tell Me Why - August 25

You’re Not Sorry - April 21

The Way I Loved You

Forever & Always - May 13

The Best Day - May 14

Change

Jump Then Fall - April 2

Untouchable

Come In with the Rain

Superstar

The Other Side of the Door - April 28

Today Was a Fairytale - April 22

You All Over Me (feat. Maureen Morris) - June 3

Mr. Perfectly Fine - June 16

We Were Happy

That’s When (feat. Keith Urban)

Don’t You

Bye Bye Baby

If This Was a Movie - June 23

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) - Announced May 5th, 2023. Released on July 7th, 2023.

Mine - May 7

Sparks Fly - May 5

Back to December - July 15

Speak Now - April 13

Dear John - June 24

Mean - April 15

The Story of Us - June 17

Never Grow Up - July 7

Enchanted

Better than Revenge

Innocent

Haunted - June 9

Last Kiss - July 8

Long Live (added to setlist on July 7th for the release of Speak Now TV. Performed on the same koi fish guitar from the Speak Now Tour) (removed from Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour movie.)

Ours - March 31

Superman

Electric Touch (featuring Fall Out Boy)

When Emma Falls in Love - July 7

I Can See You (music video released to concertgoers on July 7 and online on July 8) - August 3

Castles Crumbling (featuring Hayley Williams) - July 28

Foolish One

Timeless - July 14

Red (Taylor’s Version)

State of Grace - March 18

Red - May 21 (Performed on Guitar instead of Piano due to rain damage from May 20)

Treacherous - April 13

I Knew You Were Trouble

I Almost Do - June 9

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Stay Stay Stay - July 29

The Last Time (featuring Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol) - June 16

Holy Ground - May 27

Sad Beautiful Tragic - March 31

The Lucky One - April 2

Everything Has Changed (featuring Ed Sheeran) - July 22

Starlight - July 15

Begin Again - April 23

The Moment I Knew - June 4

Come Back… Be Here - May 12

Girl at Home

Ronan

Better Man - May 19

Nothing New (featuring Phoebe Bridgers) (added to the setlist on May 5, only to be performed when Phoebe Bridgers is one of the opening acts.)

Babe

Message in a Bottle - July 23

I Bet You Think About Me (featuring Chris Stapleton) - April 30

Forever Winter

Run (featuring Ed Sheeran)

The Very First Night - November 9

All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

Eyes Open

Safe and Sound

1989 (Taylor’s Version) - Announced August 8th, 2023. Released October 27, 2023.

Welcome to New York - May 28

Blank Space

Style

Out of the Woods - May 6

All You Had to Do Was Stay - June 10

Shake It Off

I Wish You Would - June 2

Bad Blood

Wildest Dreams

How You Get the Girl - April 30

This Love - May 13

I Know Places - August 8

Clean - April 1 and May 28

Wonderland - April 21

You Are in Love - August 4

New Romantics - August 9

"Slut!"

Say Don't Go

Now That We Don't Talk

Suburban Legends

Is It Over Now?

Sweeter Than Fiction

Reputation

…Ready for It?

End Game (featuring Ed Sheeran and Future)

I Did Something Bad

Don’t Blame Me

Delicate

Look What You Made Me Do

So It Goes…

Gorgeous - April 29

Getaway Car (w/ Jack Antonoff) - May 26

King of My Heart - August 8

Dancing with Our Hands Tied

Dress - August 23

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things - July 22

Call It What You Want - July 1

New Year’s Day - August 9

I Don’t Want to Live Forever - June 3

Lover

I Forgot That You Existed - August 24

Cruel Summer

Lover

The Man

The Archer (removed from Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour movie)

I Think He Knows - May 21

Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince

Paper Rings - June 23

Cornelia Street - August 26

Death by a Thousand Cuts - April 1 and August 5

London Boy

Soon You’ll Get Better (featuring The Chicks)

False God - May 27

You Need to Calm Down

Afterglow - August 27

Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)

It’s Nice to Have a Friend

Daylight - June 24

Beautiful Ghosts

Only the Young

All of the Girls You Loved Before - July 29

Folklore

The 1

Cardigan (removed from Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour movie)

The Last Great American Dynasty

Exile (featuring Bon Iver) - August 23

My Tears Ricochet

Mirrorball - March 17

Seven (spoken transition part of setlist) - (w/ Aaron Dessner) June 17

August

This Is Me Trying - March 18

Illicit Affairs

Invisible String

Mad Woman (w/ Aaron Dessner) - April 15

Epiphany

Betty

Peace

Hoax

The Lakes - June 2

Evermore

Willow

Champagne Problems

Gold Rush - May 12

‘Tis the Damn Season

Tolerate It

No Body, No Crime (feat. Haim) (replacing ‘Tis the Damn Season, during the shows where Haim is one of the openers) (removed from Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour movie)

Happiness

Dorothea - July 8

Coney Island (feat. the National) - April 28

Ivy (w/ Aaron Dessner) - July 1

Cowboy Like Me (w/ special guest Marcus Mumford) - March 25

Long Story Short

Marjorie

Closure

Evermore (feat. Bon Iver) - June 30

Right Where You Left Me (w/ Aaron Dessner) - July 28

It’s Time to Go

Midnights - Midnights: The Til Dawn Edition and The Late-Night Edition released on May 26.

Lavender Haze

Maroon - May 26, August 3, and August 27

Anti-Hero

Snow on the Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey) - March 24 and August 25

You’re on Your Own, Kid - April 14, August 5, and August 26 (Piano Surprise song in Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour film)

Midnight Rain

Question…? - May 20

Vigilante Shit

Bejeweled

Labyrinth - November 9

Karma

Sweet Nothing - August 24

Mastermind

The Great War (w/ Aaron Dessner) - April 14

Bigger Than the Whole Sky

Paris

High Infidelity - April 29

Glitch

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (w/ Aaron Dessner) - May 7

Dear Reader

Hits Different - June 4

Karma (featuring Ice Spice) (Added to the setlist for shows on May 26, 27, and 28. Music video released for concertgoers on May 26 and online on May 27)

You’re Losing Me (From the Vault)

Other

I Miss You, I’m Sorry (w/ Gracie Abrams) - July 1

#taylor swift #the eras tour #taylor swift | the eras tour setlist #the eras tour setlist

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 4 years ago

Note

Hey, I saw your post about a head canon world where Lotor becomes the black Paladin, and it made me wonder how you feel about a different head canon, one that I personally don’t really have but find very interesting- the head canon of Lotor as a Blade of Marmora agent. How do you think that would change the plot of Voltron, and what do you think would happen with that? Just curious.

P.S. When’s the next chapter of Adrenaline Rush coming out? I love it so much and I’m at the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens-

Hi, anon. Thanks for the note! I’ve definitely thought about Lotor as a Blade before, and a while back last year, I posted a little drabble called The Awakening introducing that plot bunny. You can read it here as well as access links for other BOM Lotor stories!

Outside of that drabble, I do think transitioning Lotor to be a Blade pretty heavily shifts VLD. There’s probably a million interesting ways a person could write such a VLD AU, but I guess my initial thoughts would be something like this (heads up, this is a monster outline for a whole series rewrite):

After the disastrous end of the mining colony, Zarkon doesn’t just exile Lotor. He imprisons Lotor with the idea that Lotor either submit to “remedial training” or death.

When Lotor chooses death over kneeling before his father again, the Blades are convinced that Lotor is in fact truly different from Zarkon. Kolivan moves in to save him, offering him a secondary life in the shadows as an operative.

Lotor rises to the rank of Lieutenant within the BOM and helps establish a surviving Altean colony. In doing so, he discovers the legends of Oriande. He spends his time convincing the Blades that there is deeper knowledge of the universe they could use to defeat Zarkon and his witch.

The Blades share that they are aware at least Blue Lion survived the destruction of Altea, and they suspect that more Lions still exist. Kolivan orders Lotor to stand down from pursuing Oriande in favor of uncovering the location of the remaining lions.

Lotor ends up working with Krolia to better understand how she came to find the Blue Lion on Earth. He grows to see her as something of a mother figure or role model and is aware that she had to leave behind a mixed-race son of her own to ensure the war would never reach Keith.

Lotor warns that the pull to know one’s own heritage is significant, and that her half-human son will likely go to dangerous lengths to know the truth, especially if his more Galran attributes arise.

Krolia assures that her son’s father would keep the truth a secret and that Keith had no known signs of Galran blood.

Krolia missed that her son could sense things a normal human couldn’t.

All of that would be background information to be revealed in time.

VLD s1 would still pick up with Keith sensing the energy of the Blue Lion.

Lotor has by this time identified the location of the Red Lion, also following legends of a Lion Goddess upon Arus to suspect that perhaps more may exist on that planet. But Sendak has also picked up coordinates for the Red Lion.

Kolivan orders Lotor to stay hidden and send out squadrons to extract Red Lion, only for the extraction to fail and for the Red Lion to fall officially into Sendak’s hands.

At this time, Shiro crash-lands back on Earth. Sendak’s squadrons were also trailing his escape. The witch Haggar turns her eye to Earth and senses ancient power—the Blue Lion.

Kolivan is at a crossroads to determine next best steps. Lotor convinces him that it’s better to let Red Lion go temporarily than to lose even more to Sendak. Lotor argues that an elite squadron be sent to Earth to extract Blue Lion, and that he receive approval to pursue his lead for a possible lion on Arus.

Kolivan approves Lotor’s plan and realigns assets to Earth and to Lotor’s extraction team. Some Blades on Lotor’s extraction team are in fact Alteans and other survivors of other planets they have rescued over the years. Backup teams suit up for battle.

Krolia volunteers to lead the Earth squadron. She fears that her son and his people may be in danger.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance follow Keith and Shiro to the Blue Lion. But at this time, the Galra have already discovered the Blue Lion. Krolia is desperately attempting to fend them off, but the Galra had taken out several of her squadron members, and she herself is injured.

The Galaxy Garrison recognizes that alien squadrons have landed on Earth, endangering several cities with their warfare. In fear that Earth is under invasion, they activate various militarized assets to contain the problem and capture any aliens, dead or alive.

Keith, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all panic, realizing they’re about to be caught in an alien war, the firepower of their trigger-happy superiors, and the biggest national security breach in human history.

Krolia meanwhile, desperate, tosses some weapons over to the humans and begs for their help. She tells them that keeping this Blue Lion out of the hands of Emperor Zarkon is imperative to universal safety.

Keith and Shiro move in to assist Krolia. Pidge is trying to contact Galaxy Garrison about the situation, panicking in an attempt to explain that not everyone in the fire zone is an enemy. Hunk is hesitantly like, “Is this a real thing? Am I actually seeing aliens right now? Omg, is this actually a weapon? I don’t think I’m trained for this!” And Lance meanwhile is distracted. He’s sensing Blue Lion, and it’s responding to him, because out of everyone, he’s the only with the tenacity to actually get in this thing and fly it out of harm’s way.

Shiro realizes if they don’t get Krolia and her team out, the Garrison might not be so kind to her either. Once he sees Lance is able to operate controls, he agrees best thing to do is to get Blue Lion off Earth entirely.

The instant Krolia gets a good look at Keith, she realizes that he is her son and panics when she realizes she willingly begged for this boy to get involved in the battle.

Long story short, the future paladins + Krolia and the surviving Blades operatives escape through a wormhole using Blue Lion, which takes them back to the Castle of Lions on Arus. They narrowly escape both death at the hands of Galra and capture by Galaxy Garrison.

Galaxy Garrison is blaring alarms that Earth has experienced what appears to be its first true alien invasion. It recognizes that several cadets were caught up in the crossfire. They assume those cadets and Shiro to be Missing In Action and feared dead. Earth leaders convene to discuss defense strategies, in fear that this will not be the end.

Meanwhile, Lotor has already landed on Planet Arus with his team. But he soon realizes that this isn’t just the location of the Castle of Lions—it’s also housing the Black Lion’s energy force and the long-lost Princess Allura, the “Lion Goddess” that Arusians had seen through the glass of her pod.

Lotor makes the decision to wake up the princess and her Altean advisor, Coran. In fear that he would scare them as a Galran, he keeps his face mask on. He begs the princess to fly the ship to safety, as he does not know how to use a teladuv but understands what they are.

Princess Allura is very confused for a time, demanding to know who he is and what exactly is going on.

Sendak hears from Haggar that she senses new energy on Arus.

Lotor is distracted, attempting to reach Krolia and strategize a full, double-wormhole back to BOM headquarters with the Castle and Blue Lion in tow. The fight on Earth temporarily distracted Sendak, but with Blue Lion gone, Sendak is now racing his way back to the Castle’s position. Time is very limited.

Lotor stumbles a bit at the sight of Allura, who is very beautiful.

Coran is flailing about that Alfor’s plan to hide the lions is ruined—

At this time, the paladins + Krolia and team land on Arus via wormhole.

Keith is helping his mother to rush into the Castle of Lions for cover, as she is still injured.

Princess Allura is beginning to realize that Altea had been completely destroyed, and she is very distraught that Emperor Zarkon has become an unstoppable tyrant, killing and enslaving millions.

Lotor kneels down beside her and convinces her that if she can operate the castle for just a very short time, then they can save the entire galaxy and take back a Lion from Zarkon, together.

The princess senses his goodwill and agrees, pulling herself together. She admits she knows where the other lions are, as Alfor had tied her life-force to all of the Lions.

Allura is surprised to realize that Blue Lion is just outside.

Lotor’s squadron guides the paladins and company into the heart of the Castle. Princess Allura is surprised again to discover that a human named Lance had bonded with the Blue Lion so easily. She begins to search out the bond ties of the other lions and realizes they are attempting to sort through options for new paladins.

Allura helps Keith with placing Krolia in a healing pod. She senses the energy between them is quite similar, and that they are perhaps related.

The Blue Lion and other Lions communicate to Allura that they need a fresh team that can function as one immediately. A team with new perspectives, a desire to protect, and without the painful history or conflicts of interest that resulted in Alfor’s leniency with Zarkon. They hone in on the humans, and Allura sees their auras as clearly aligned with their respective lions.

She communicates to the larger team that they are in desperate need of paladins for the other lions—and that the lions have chosen these humans who were willing to defend Blue and their home world.

Lotor hesitates, having had plans for those lions that didn’t involve humans. But he acknowledges that alchemical magic is above his understanding. He glances over at Keith, catching that his scent is similar to Krolia’s—and that his prophecy of a family reunion has come true in the strangest of ways.

Princess Allura quickly sets to revealing the location of the other lions and activating wormholes for them to retrieve them.

Meanwhile, the Castle has experienced 10,000 years of rust and degradation of lesser systems. Coran and Lotor team up to fix the particle barrier, anticipating that they may need to provide backup for the new paladins. Coran and Lotor bicker over many things, and Coran warns that he can see Lotor making cow eyes at the princess even beneath his mask. Lotor vehemently denies it.

Krolia, stubbornly moving her way out of a healing pod, pleads with Allura that Keith not be chosen to pilot Red Lion—that he might find a way to go back and be safe with his father.

Allura apologizes that she is not in control of the lions and that they choose their paladins. “If Red Lion chose your son, it is because Keith can save the universe. That it’s his destiny to be a part of this fight with us.” But Allura is unsettled too, as she’s actively trying to test systems with Coran and this mysterious, masked Blade whose name she doesn’t even know yet, except that his title is Lieutenant. Meanwhile, she’s also trying to keep the wormholes open for the paladins.

The new paladins return in time for the arrival of Sendak, who still has Red Lion in his grasp.

The newly minted Team Voltron make a stand with the lions they have available to reclaim Red Lion and activate Black Lion.

The BOM forces assist in the overtake and attempt to suppress the battle from affecting locals on the planet of Arus.

Lotor realizes that Keith is in significant trouble, as Sendak is moving in protect Red Lion himself. Lotor runs to activate his own ship as backup, knowing Sendak’s fighting weaknesses.

The battle ends up with Keith struggling to connect with Red Lion while Lotor fights off Sendak.

Sendak manages to knock Lotor’s face mask loose and startles in surprise to see Zarkon’s supposedly dead son.

Lotor uses the moment of surprise to critically injure Sendak, escaping up to the Red Lion that Keith has taken command of.

All lions and teams retreat back to the Castle of Lions, which wormholes out before Sendak’s forces can catch them.

Sendak haltingly conveys to Emperor Zarkon that his son yet lives, fighting in the armor of an unknown rebel group.

Zarkon whips into a rage that his darkest shame is still alive and fighting against him.

The witch, Haggar, promises to end Lotor’s life once and for all, and to reclaim the lions for Zarkon’s glory.

Team Voltron meanwhile celebrates their first win in a panic-relief that they were able to form Voltron.

Various Blade operatives take off their masks. Some are revealed to be Alteans, including a grown Bandor and Romelle who were rescued long ago and now fight as part of Lotor’s squadron. Princess Allura and Coran are comforted greatly to know that many Alteans yet live, and that there is a colony where juniberries grow too.

Princess Allura still wants to know who the mysterious Lieutenant is who woke her up and managed to fight off Sendak.

Bandor, a big Lotor fan, nearly breaks the truth that “Lieutenant Lotor is—” and Romelle nudges him to be quiet, interjecting that their lieutenant is a very private person and that no one knows much about him.

Meanwhile, Kolivan is incredibly unhappy that Lotor has revealed himself on an active battle field.

Lotor argues that he did it to protect Krolia’s son, who was chosen to be the paladin of Red Lion—and isn’t that the more important objective?

Kolivan reassigns Krolia immediately to ensure that her ties to Keith do not interfere with Keith’s new mission. Keith still doesn’t know Krolia is his mother.

Kolivan then grounds Lotor from engaging in an active battle again, and admits that it is best if Lotor remain with Team Voltron in his own stylized armor.

Lotor asks if this is a demotion for insubordination.

Kolivan hesitates and says it’s possibly a promotion, if he can help to keep these human children alive long enough to save the universe. If all goes well, then the Blades will back Lotor’s bid at the resulting Kral Zera after Zarkon’s defeat.

Lotor hesitates, then adds, “And my secondary mission, to search for Oriande?”

“…Approved.”

Lotor then asks if it’s in fact cruel to hide from Keith that Krolia is his mother, but Kolivan convinces him that sometimes, the consequences of knowing outweigh the consequences of ignorance.

Kolivan knows that Haggar is Lotor’s true mother, but corrupted.

He fears what Lotor might do with that information.

Lotor, meanwhile, designs new armor for himself that is separate from that of the Blades.

He appears to Princess Allura, offering to help train the new paladins in the art of war if she can assist them with the spiritual aspects of connecting with Voltron.

Princess Allura accepts, but corrects him to say that she knows quite a bit about the art of war, thank you very much.

He searches her curiously and asks to see what she can do—as it is imperative she remain battle-ready herself.

The princess very casually grabs for his own sword and holds it to his throat, in a challenge for a duel.

Lotor’s lips split wide in a smile of delight. He likes this princess and her spirit.

He discovers that the princess really can hold her own, and it’s at that point he realizes he will struggle to remain objective about her in his missions.

Allura is not entirely unaffected either, fighting to maintain a level of professionalism around him.

At some point, Lotor’s cat Kova sneaks in from Lotor’s ship to the Castle of Lions. Kova is a lazy, happy cat who likes to hold a mouse in his mouth but doesn’t actually try to eat it. Princess Allura’s mice get used to be carried around in this way. Chulatt often rides atop Kova’s head.

Kova is something of a therapy cat for the whole team. He likes lots of scritches and the way Pidge rubs his belly. He often steals Hunk’s burritos and sleeps on Allura’s comfy pillow when she is busy.

Dayak, Lotor’s old governess, hears through the grapevine of Galra High Command that Lotor is in fact still alive. Kolivan and other Blade operatives track her, debating if she could possibly be turned to their side. They believe she can be a very valuable asset for future missions.

Meanwhile, it’s been a long time since Lotor had to train children.

The Castle of Lions still ends up with everyone in a food goo fight at least twice.

Shiro is suffering significant PTSD, and the reality is that this is something Lotor fights as well from his time under his father’s command. He tries to help when he can and forms a deep bond with Shiro too.

Lotor mother-hens the paladins because he made a promise to Krolia that he would keep her child safe, but soon, they all worm their way into his heart. He feels very protective of them, and of the princess, who has not yet had the opportunity even to see the colony of her people, safely tucked away in the Quantum Abyss.

Lotor activates Romelle and Bandor for their assistance in tracking down leads on the existence of Oriande or other helpful relics worth having or keeping out of the witch’s hands. Allura argues that Oriande is just a fairy tale, and Lotor argues in return that Alfor simply had to have advanced knowledge to build Voltron as he did. He begs Allura to at least be open to the possibility that more exists about Altean heritage than she ever thought possible.

Allura pauses, then quietly confesses that she is quite sure she’ll never be the alchemist her father was. That he had a gift no one else had ever seen.

Lotor grows impassioned to say that neither of them have to be limited by what their fathers did or accomplished. That they can be so much more, something different—he can feel it. He gets a little too close in saying this. Coran jumps in, noticing that Lotor’s usual strong command of Altean etiquette slips when around Allura.

In thanks for listening, Allura leaves a little juniberry flower for Lotor.

He spins it in his fingers, face in a flush over what it could mean. But he tries to stifle his emotions, knowing that the Princess of Altea would not accept an exiled son of Zarkon in such a way.

Occasionally, Lotor feels like Black Lion is watching him. He can’t tell if it’s because he’s paranoid, or if it’s because Black Lion actually knows his true parentage. He struggles to be in the same space as it, often unsettled.

Princess Allura and Shiro both notice this.

Meanwhile, Haggar uses a significant barrage of robeasts to distract Voltron while she completes building the Komar and perfecting other means of quintessence manipulation.

Haggar convinces Zarkon that Lotor is better to them alive than dead, and that if they could simply capture him again for a short time, she could turn him into Zarkon’s most loyal soldier, and undo Voltron’s advantages from the inside out.

Zarkon hesitantly approves. He demands that Lotor still be killed immediately upon fulfilling such a role, as Lotor would no doubt attempt to dethrone him.

Meanwhile, Princess Allura often catches Lotor reading up voraciously in the library of the Castle of Lions while the paladins complete their assigned training. At first, she thinks this activity has to do with Lotor’s fixation on the legend of Oriande. But then she catches him reading a book about Altean cuisines and asking for Hunk’s help in reproducing them—and she starts to suspect that Lotor’s not entirely Galran.

Occasionally, Lotor assists in BOM side-work, whether it’s breaking from the paladins to assist on an Oriande lead or helping Kolivan to unravel Galran records and codes.

Lotor has incredibly strong opinions about modulation.

Lotor is also very good at acting as a representative while Earth flails over getting in contact with its lost cadets and aliens.

He remains in communication with Krolia often, reporting on Keith’s progress. But Keith is starting to ask questions as well, about how the dagger he found in his father’s stuff one day has the same exact symbol as that of the Blades.

Krolia helps to continue funnel lost people of mixed heritage toward the Blades. As Team Voltron grows more confident in their abilities, Lotor is called away to help train new recruits named Acxa, Zethrid, Narti, and Ezor.

Keith joins along briefly because he wants to learn more about the Blades themselves and why his father would have a Blade dagger.

Lotor discusses Keith’s application for the Blades with Shiro, who tentatively agrees that training with the Blades could be a good way to start ramping Keith up with leadership skills and advanced tactical knowledge. Lotor agrees that the boy is more capable than what his mother would allow him to be.

Shiro was trained to always have a line of command in place in case someone falls. He knows he could very well fall, and Keith as his right-hand is the most worthy in the group to take on the mantle of Black Lion in that case.

Lotor and the Blades agree to train Keith as a Blade, in preparation for a future where Shiro might not be able to fulfill his duties.

Keith sees this as a serious honor and doesn’t want to screw it up.

Meanwhile, Princess Allura discovers a journal from her father, with one of the final notes mentioning that Zarkon had declared he was to have a son soon, and that his chosen name would be Lotor—his day of birth to be on the fourth quintant of the 11th phoebe.

Allura shakily realizes that Lotor’s eyes are Zarkon’s eyes even if they are blue. She keeps her discovery to herself, in surprise that Lotor had so firmly denied his father, and out of respect that he has not willingly shared this history.

Meanwhile, Lotor keeps eyeing the Black Lion, then Shiro, wondering exactly why Shiro is so insistent about a replacement.

Shiro hesitantly admits that Black Lion has started sending him visions—that something is wrong on the astral plane, and that it will likely take everything Shiro has to burn it out.

Lotor, fearful, goes to Allura and demands to understand more about the Black Lion, admitting that he’s felt watched by it.

Allura hesitates to admit the old history that Black Lion was once piloted by Zarkon, but that it should not be affecting Shiro’s connection with the lion…unless Zarkon were still somehow connected.

Lotor recalls that Shiro was missing his bayard—that this could be significant if it were still in Zarkon’s hands.

Cue a wild crash of shenanigans involving Haggar crashing in with Komar to drain Voltron while Zarkon attacks the Black Lion to take it over, while various forces of Sendak hone in on Lotor as an asset to capture for Haggar’s experimentation.

In the insanity, Lotor is captured.

Princess Allura, fearful that her team is breaking apart, unleashes a level of alchemical power that digs deep into her connection with Voltron and far outpaces any retaliation Haggar was expecting.

The Komar powers down, and Zarkon loses his connection to Black Lion, with Shiro overpowering him.

Haggar digs deep into Lotor’s mind, attempting to plant a dark entity within him. She extracts memories of his attempts to find Oriande.

Lotor might not have magical abilities, but his cheeks begin to glow with his Altean marks as he concentrates deeply on Blade and Altean practices for preserving the mind. But Haggar is relentless, and evermore curious about his marks.

He realizes he might have to die to protect Oriande and Team Voltron, in the way some Blades have gone before to protect the whole.

His fears do not pan out, as Team Voltron and Allura rescue Lotor from imprisonment, with help from the Blades. Allura is carrying Lotor out as the paladins provide cover. Zarkon is roaring that he will ensure his son dies the worst death possible for his treason.

Lotor is genuinely shaken for the first time since the Blades recovered him from Zarkon all those years ago. His secret is out for the whole of Team Voltron. Allura tries to comfort him that it’s alright, and that they would never leave him behind.

He looks up, and Allura confirms that she knows and accepted that he’s a son of Zarkon a long time ago, and that if he ever tries to kill himself again, she’ll kill him herself. She embraces him.

He as an emotional moment because she is the first outside the Blades to accept him upon discovering his parentage.

Meanwhile, Shiro regains the black bayard in a sneaky trick beneath Zarkon’s nose, cutting off any of Zarkon’s remaining connection to Black Lion. But the team discovers in their retreat that Haggar has all the pure quintessence it’d harvested from Voltron—and that she hasn’t used it yet. Pidge also had hacked into the mainframe to discover that the Galra had located a transreallity comet.

During the breach into Zarkon’s flagship, Bandor and Romelle stole what they could of Haggar’s things, to keep power out of her hands. They grabbed a strange stone as part of their loot.

Cue another stream of shenanigans where Team Voltron attempts to keep the comet out of Galran hands unsuccessfully. But in the midst of that defeat, Allura and Lotor discover that the item found by Bandor and Romelle provides a map directly to Oriande.

Plot twist that Haggar had still managed to possess at least Kova and use his eyes to access insight into Team Voltron’s movements. She sees Oriande’s location and leaves for it immediately.

It’s Narti who senses something is deeply wrong with Kova and tries to alert the team.

They realize too late that Haggar has probably already reached Oriande.

They desperately wormhole to reach it, while keep Kova locked up, which is a painful thing for Lotor but necessary. Allura promises that she’ll help find a way to purge Kova of Haggar’s influence.

Lotor’s Altean marks light up just as Allura’s do as they reach Oriande.

Upon arriving at Oriande, the landscape has been corrupted entirely by Haggar. Its defense systems had degenerated over the years since no one had visited in over 10,000 years to bond with the larger life force keeping it intact. Because Haggar infused it with her own life force, it took on her personality and interests.

The White Lion is glitchy, sending both Lotor and Allura in circles around the island.

Allura and Lotor both see unnatural visions and experience harrowing dangers in an attempt to reach the summit with the temple.

Allura isn’t sure that she can gain anything from Oriande if it is so truly corrupt by Haggar. Lotor tells her that he trusts her ability to see through all things, and to discover something that could end the witch’s reign.

Oriande is haunted by phantom beasts.

Lotor chooses to remain behind to fight off those beasts while Allura climbs into the decayed temple and completes the mission. The glitchy white lion is watching him and struggles in some way to assist Lotor before its power wanes. Lotor mourns its loss as a valuable fighting partner, even if it glitched at odd times.

Allura discovers the art of healing and of infusing objects with power, but she also discovers that at the heart of Oriande, Haggar had left an imprint of some of her own self behind.

Allura realizes with a startle that she sees some of Honerva of Altea’s own memories mixed in with Haggar’s imprint. She realizes quickly that Honerva was Lotor’s true mother, 10,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, Krolia has appeared alongside various other squadrons of the Blades, in an attempt to help Voltron hold off increasing numbers of Galran forces from attempting to enter the white hole entrance of Oriande, which has gone dark.

Krolia sees Red Lion take a critical hit. She breaks rank to place herself directly in front of Keith, to protect him while he recalibrates.

In doing so, she reveals that she is so proud of what he’s capable of doing—but that he still needs to learn to watch his six.

Keith is surprised for a few ticks, but then moves to help protect Krolia too, saying that he has a lot of questions when this battle is over, like why she mothers over him so much.

Krolia cannot believe her son is actually this oblivious since she’s been trying to send him messages that she is his mother, but she agrees to talk.

Haggar has at this time returned to Zarkon’s flagship, infusing it with alchemy and the pure quintessence, coaxing the transreality comet to do her bidding to melt into molten ore and cover the flagship. This converts it to a massive transreality mecha, with Zarkon at the helm.

Voltron is at a disadvantage against the much larger, much stronger mecha.

Allura, in a last-ditch desperation, drops her hand to Oriande and activates its stone, begging Oriande to respond to her need for a second defender. The temples begin to adjust. She realizes that because Lotor had subconsciously infused part of himself in Oriande too, the resulting mecha is actually of his own design—Sincline.

The interface is slightly glitchy from Haggar, and Lotor affectionately calls it the White Lion, sensing that his friend is still somewhere in the stone. And even deeper, he senses the memories of all the Alteans who’d infused their lives into stone—resulting in him feeling a few uncorrupted memories from Honerva, before she became Haggar.

He isn’t quite sure what to do with that, but shoves the emotions down for now.

Allura and Lotor pilot the mecha out of Oriande. Because the stones are connected to the Life Givers and the Ones Who Came Before, it is interdimensional in a way the other mechas are not, even if it cannot take a heavy hit. Their addition levels the playing field

Zarkon accesses the quintessence field, discovering he can do so, and Voltron quickly follows behind.

Lotor and Allura follow to stabilize the rift before it can upset the space-time continuum, calling upon the Life Givers for help in holding the threads of the universe together.

Team Voltron manages to successfully beat back Zarkon within the quintessence field, with Allura and Lotor using Zarkon’s own energy against him in a moment of distraction.

The distraction happens because the rift creatures possessing him realize that they are back in their natural universe.

The rift creatures call in their buddies, who begin to cannibalize the great source of power in Zarkon’s mecha.

The paladins take the opportunity to fry Zarkon out of existence, taking a large chunk of rift creatures with him.

Meanwhile, Haggar is on a small ship trying to escape in the regular universe, slipping between Galran factions and Blade squadrons.

Team Voltron return and pick her up before she can run away.

The battle ceases without Zarkon to provide orders—Sendak orders a full retreat upon seeing Voltron return without Zarkon.

Post-battle, Allura performs something completely novel with quintessence. After being in the rift, she realizes she can see different motivations within quintessence. In doing so, she searches out Kova and purifies his mind of dark alchemy. Then she goes to the imprisoned Haggar and purifies out the rift creatures possessing her, who disappear on the material plane the instant they are outside a host body.

Honerva wakes up, fully confused and largely unaware of what she’s done or how much time has passed. She is very convinced that she should be pregnant with a son named Lotor, and that she needs quintessence to stabilize her pregnancy.

It takes Honerva quite some time to realize that it’s been 10,000 years, and a grown Blade named Lotor is in fact her true son.

Lotor is very hesitant with her but sees she was not in control as Haggar. He still can’t look at her. Honerva promises to find some way to make up for her past.

Allura gets to see the Altean colony, returning Honerva to it in hopes that maybe a larger group and some normality could help her recalibrate and reconnect somehow. Bandor oddly takes pity on her, his parents having died long ago. Lotor cautions to Romelle to keep an eye out on his mother, and Romelle promises she will do so.

Allura works with several others to heal and rebuild Oriande to its former glory, as a place of open learning for any who have a deep enough spiritual connection with reality to grasp its secrets. She realizes that most things in Oriande appear as gibberish otherwise to the unmagical.

The Blades and Team Voltron back Lotor for the Kral Zera, and Lotor becomes Emperor.

The human paladins get to go home and celebrate that everything is okay now. Their voices make the human governments stand down from actively firing on alien ships.

Lotor disbands his father’s enslaved planets from the empire, offering reparations and working with Kolivan, the Blades, and Team Voltron to provide assistance to those planets as they rebuild.

Some Galra remember Lotor mostly as a traitor to his father and a bad overseer of a mining colony. The Fires of Purification rise, in time with increasing concerns over how the Galra will sustain its reliance on quintessence without conquering and enslaving.

Princess Allura—now crowned Queen of the New Altean Colony—works on the strange, quite sentient Sincline mecha that she and Lotor had built. She removes any glitch left over from Haggar’s influence on Oriande and realizes that she has a mobile, self-protecting entity that is a direct connection to the Life Givers.

Allura makes a deal with the Life Givers through the Sincline mecha, that it will open the rift twice a movement for the leader of any planet, so that quintessence can be collected from the rift. In exchange, it would have the right to judge the heart of the leader and enact justice against any who abused such a position. And that its older sibling, Voltron, would continue to ensure that no one else abuse the power either in a way that would harm others.

The mecha agrees to the condition on the astral plane. Voltron softly chimes in, agreeing as well.

Lotor approaches as the first leader to test this new system. He tears up when he hears the voices of the Life Givers sing to him through Sincline and offer him a well of quintessence for his people. They ask that he one day return to Oriande so that they can embrace him.

The Galra grow to accept Lotor and his strange ways of doing things.

Lotor finds himself oddly in the same position that began his entire journey—leaning on Kolivan for guidance. But Kolivan is no longer his only ally in a sea of enemies. As a matter of fact, Lotor has deepened several bonds and made many friends.

Lotor goes to Allura and says they make a pretty good team, and that he’s feeling cute, how about they marry.

Allura says yes.

The paladins cry happily at their wedding, and for once in 10,000 years, the galaxy is united and at peace.

Dayak reappears in time for the wedding, and Kolivan reveals that she had been giving the Blades tips for how to operate in the background to get around Zarkon’s defenses, and that she had even been instrumental in Shiro retrieving the black bayard from Zarkon.

Dayak is emotional about seeing Lotor again after all this time.

She’s not the only one.

Kolivan’s eyes are twitching during the ceremony. He’s fond and protective of his operatives, but there is a lot of space dust in the air as he watches Lotor marry, remembering that fateful day he’d saved Lotor from imminent death.

Lotor one day tries to give his BOM dagger back to Kolivan, recognizing that he has not been in the field for a long time—and that managing a planet and helping with New Altea is quite a lot of work.

Kolivan gently presses the dagger hilt back into Lotor’s hand. “Once a Blade, always a Blade.”

Lotor tears up because Kolivan is probably the closest he has come to a true father figure.

Somewhere, Coran is still crying of space dust, and the paladins crash the scene to demand a beach party. Because once Team Voltron, always Team Voltron.

Krolia and Kolivan are watching over the group.

There are gratuitous laugh scenes with two mechas standing guard in the distance, gleaming in the sunlight.

The end!

(Ahhh yeah, so this was yet another unexpected and extensive rewrite of VLD, loll. I hope these long outlines don’t bother anyone asdljfsa. But I enjoyed the ask, thank you for the prompt! Also I’m still steadily trying to work on Adrenaline Rush in the background. For some reason, I’m just having some writer’s block with it. I hope to update it soon, though!)

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vldkeith · 4 years ago

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klancemas prompt #4: wish list

“A Wii?!” Keith snorts, pointing mockingly down at the crumpled, torn piece of paper in front of him. “You really put a Wii on your Christmas list?”

“It was, like, 2010!” Lance defends, but he’s grinning bright and wide. “Everyone wanted a Wii. It had the coolest family games.”

Keith shakes his head. “I didn’t want a Wii. Look—not even a game console on my list!”

Lance consults the second piece of paper in front of them, yellowed and softened with age. He narrows his eyes, trying to read the childish, scrawled handwriting on it. Suddenly, he pulls his head back up and shoves the paper in Keith’s face, grinning madly. “That says ‘Nintendo DS’ right there, Keith! Look—” Lance brings the paper closer to his eyes again. “You even wrote what color you wanted it! Red!”

“The DS doesn’t count,” Keith says with the air of someone who knows a lot about something that they definitely don’t actually know a lot about. “It’s, like, portable. That makes it different from a home console.”

“You’re so pretentious.” Lance shakes his head, then drops a kiss onto Keith’s cheek, causing him to roll his eyes. “What else did you want…?”

Keith looks on fondly as Lance continues to scan his ten-year-old Christmas wish list, from back when his dad was still alive and he had someone to write a wish list for. In fairness, Lance had given him his own as well, which is exceptionally entertaining given child-Lance’s apparent tendency to pick the weirdest shit to put on his list right next to the most generic shit; the item sitting below the Wii, for example, is a Sky Dancer—the little doll-things that, when a string is pulled at their base, launch into the sky and “fly” down. Keith would hazard to guess that Lance didn’t get that one, because he can only imagine the hell a hyperactive-child-Lance with a flying toy could raise.

If he’s being honest, Keith’s list isn’t much better, though. He’s pretty sure a motorcycle is written on there somewhere, but he’s not going to point it out until Lance finds it for himself.

“How were you so edgy even as a ten-year-old?” Lance bemoans, shooting Keith an amused look. “’Black and red heelys.’” Lance quirks an eyebrow at Keith. “Heelys?!”

“They’re cool, shut up! I never got them, anyway,” Keith says, sounding disappointed. Lance chuckles, leaning back against Keith’s side.

“I know what I’m getting you for Christmas, then.”

“I’m gonna get you a blue iDog.”

“Hey, I’d actually love that,” Lance points out. He nuzzles into Keith then, giving him a lazy, content smile. Keith can’t help but smile back. This—just sitting here, curled up on a plush couch looking through their childhood Christmas lists—makes Keith so utterly, ridiculously happy that he feels like it’s not allowed. But the best part is that it is, he is allowed to enjoy little moments like this, to look back on his childhood with some fondness instead of complete trauma. He credits a lot of that to Lance; he’s the one who urged them to get their old Christmas lists, and he’s the one working hard to keep things light right now. Keith will be forever grateful.

“I love you,” Keith says abruptly, craning his neck to look around and at Lance, who startles a bit but then pushes happily into him again.

“I love you too, cheesy,” he replies, and then reaches around to grab Keith’s hand, caressing it slightly. “And I love seeing your lame childhood wants.”

“As if yours are any better,” Keith retorts. Nestling back against Lance, though, he has to admit: if he were to make a Christmas list today, there’d probably only be one thing on it. And it’s no surprise what that might be.

“Aww, babe, you wanted Yu-Gi-Oh cards? Embarrassing.”

Yeah, no surprise at all.

a/n: check the notes for a link to my ko-fi if you'd like to support me/my work this december! thank you :)

#klancemas #klancemas 2020 #monthly klance #klance #klance fanfiction #renfic #this might be shit but if it is don't tell me gfksjhgksf

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Amphibia: Night Drivers/Return to Wartwood Review “Many Happy Returns”

Hello you happy people. And Amphibia is back and that means my reviews are back! As for why this reviews a bit late despite it leaking, I wanted to wait for today, and long story short both focused on finishing a review that WASN’T time senstive, instead of finishing it Sunday, and overestimated how much time i’d have to do two reviews on a day that included my first covid shot, grocery shopping, helping mom clean the car, and my friend coming over to watch Judas and the Black Messiah. Excellent film by hte way, as was the Sound of Metal which we watched after. Point is I done goofed and I will try to at the very least actually get the reviews of the episodes out on the same day they come out.

But slip up or not i’m happy to be back in the saddle, and back to Wartwood. I’m pumped for the heavier second half, with more secrets to uncover, some zelda style temple action, and some heavy drama with just a whiff of keith david, as well as to see the supporting cast from Wartwood again after far too long. So how’d the mid-season premire pair fair? Join me under the cut to find out.

Night Drivers: I was really excited by the Road Trip idea when first announced for season 2. A chance to expand the world and get the plantars out of their comfort zone was an amazing concept and it did lead to some really great stories and interesting locales.. mixed with episodes that had interesting locations but no interesting plot or character stuff. It was a mixed bag, and disappointing after close to a year’s wait to continue the plot that it really didn’t outside of “Toadcatcher”. Anne never really dealt with her trauma and the show never dealt with hop pop’s poularity or anything else. Again there were GOOD episodes and ideas but it felt like the show stalled for a good chunk of the season till we got to Netwopia which while still having tons of slice of life stuff felt a lot fresher with it, and had a lot more fun playing with stock plots and gave us a fresh new setting to dig into.

So I was a bit hesitant to go back to the road for an episode.. even if it was just one episode. Thankfully I was very wrong there as Night Drivers was a pretty good episode and would fit well among the best of the road trip arc like “Truck Stop Polly” “Fort in the Road” “Anne Hunter” “Toadcatcher” and “Wax Museum”.

The plot is straightforward: Sprig and Polly are excited that their almost home to wartwood and if Anne and Hop Pop drive all night they’ll be there by morning. Polly will get pillbug pancakes and Sprig will see Ivy again. This is part of a long tradtion of “skiping over the journey home because we’re tired and we wanna go home” in fiction. Jokes aside it’s a resonable device used to prevent ending fatigue and in this case to free up episodes for the second half. We already saw the journey once, we usually don’t need to see it again. To Amphibia’s credit they have valid reasons for it: The journey is LITERALLY sped up, as Hop Pop and Anne have been driving for 20 hours straight.. and their on a timer. As was established last time.. well the last time that wasn’t a spooky halloween episode, The Plantars have to get back for the harvest and really don’t have time to sightsee, while they all have to be there for whenever Marcy comes back to take Anne to the first temple. They’ve also traveled these roads before so while their going a whole other directoin, they know what perils to avoid.

But as anyone whose taken a long cartrip can tell you, you can’t shotgun it forever and the two eventually tap out with Hop Pop telling Sprig and Polly not to night drive as it’s dangerous and blah blah blah standard parental warning that will be swiftly ignored. So once Hop Pop and Anne are conked out they swiftly ignore it after we get their dreams.. which are the best gags of the episode: Hop Pop has a dream with weird, really cool looking monsters that represent his faults, only for it to turn Lucid and him to start flying and take his shirt off and whip it around Muscle Man style.

While Anne’s is about a yogurt world where there’s only one flavor... BLACK LICORICE. Yeah it quickly turns from Shopkins to the Lich From Adventure Time really fucking quick.

So while Anne has a nightmare and Hop Pop becomes unto a god, Sprig and Polly drive all night, repreadtly running into a creepy hitchiker and realizing it is as dangerous as they said with bolders, even worse creatures than usual because of course theye’d be a lot of nasty things lurk in the dark why wouldn’t they on froggy death world, a nightmarish fog and nearly dying on said foggy road they took to evade the hitchiker. Naturally the scary hook handed hitchiker.. is a friendly one, simply trying to help them and saving them from going over a cliff. They do make it three miles from Wartwood and Hop Pop wakes up angry to find they disobeyed him.. but Anne gets him to back off as they clearly learned their lesson from the sleep deprviation and nearly dying, and our heroes head for home.

Night Drivers isn’t an exceptional episode, but it is decent and still does belong with the other good road trip episodes, with some good dream sequences and a nice dynamic between Sprig and Polly. It was nice to have an episode with the two that was good unlike Quarallers Pass which made me want to run full speed into my nearest wall until I was given the sweet gift of unconciousness. While the Hook Handed man thing was a bit obvious it lead to some great gags. It’s a nice breather after the tearjerking mid-season finale and while we’ve obviously had months and a haloween episode between that, the creators rightfully realized a lot of people will be binging the series in the future. The issue I had with the first quarter of the season was it was ALL break and only a little plot progression. Here we’ve had a lot of plot progression in the last episode chronlogically, and are going to have a lot in the coming episodes with ‘After the Rain” coming next week. It’s nice to take a break and see the forest for the hook handed ghosts.

Return to Wartwood: I was excited and terrified of this one. I was excited because I missed the supporting cast from season one, mostly Ivy and Maddie, and was delighted to see them again in full. But I was also worried the show might pull out a melancholy breakup plot and having gotten attached to Ivy/Sprig and Hop Pop/Sylvia I was worried. And I was delightfully wrong as instead it’s another breather episode and an utterly fantastic one after the simply decent one above.

Our heroes return, without being drawn by rob liefield or replaced by the Squadron Supreme first, and are happily greeted by the town. Aformentoined fears died a happy death as Sylvia squeezes Hop Pop and as for Sprig, Ivy unsuprisingly ambushes him. Everyone’s back and the Mayor, who I also badly missed is back using Toadie as a gong to get everyone back to buisness, with Swampy inviting them for a big dinner at his diner that night to celebrate and welcome them back.. and to give out their gifts.

Sprig and Anne are equally confused while Polly and Hop Pop are sweating bullets. Turns out when they got the Fwagon they agreed to get a bunch of stuff for the town and forgot and now everyone’s on the hook for it and want to lie their butts off to solve it. In a nice show of character development, Anne has learned that the lying never solves anything “I think we’ve learned that lesson by now”. After SO many plots of the characters lying and it going terribly, it’s nice to have someone speak up. Sprig also wants to lie but only becuase he’s deeply afraid Ivy will break up with him as she wanted a Red Sun shell to go with the blue moon shell she gave him. Awwww. And oh crap.

So our heroes head home to plan and kick Chuck out (“I grew tulips”). So they do the natural thing... and decide to summon an edltich beast from the necronomicon... which of course Maddie gave Sprig as a present (”Aww that’s nice”. Agreed Polly, agreed.). I also can’t help but love the line “We’re all cull with practicing the dark arts to solve our problem right?” So our heroes get the proper summoning horn, thing to go with the horn and some candles.. i’ts not part of the ritual but Anne says it helps with ambience and it’s right.

So our heroes summon the Chikalisk, an edltich god that’s naturally basalisk in all but name, which dosen’t attack unless attacked and goes after gold. So they fake some golden presents, and the beast attacks at the party.. but the town naturally fights back, and our heroes are forced to help fight the monster as it stonifies people. So we get a truly glorious battle sequences as the whole town shows off how badass they are, with Maddie curing people, Sylvia showing she can keep up with Hop Pop and Ivy showing her already established badass bonafieds. It’s just awesome. Also the Mayor uses Toadie as a shield not realizing he’s turned to stone which can only remind me of this.

Once the townsfolk are freed they get into Chickalisk formation (”We have a formation for that?” “We have a formation for everything!”) And it’s offended enough to just nope out. The townsfolk are depressed though the presents got destroyed and Anne glares the family into coming clean. And while the mayor seems mad at first... he just laughs with everyone taking it in stride: It was boring without them getting into trouble and learning lessons every week, and they missed them. Ivy likewise dosen’t care about a gift she just missed her boyfriend.. and asks Sprig to take her on a proper date and smooches him on the cheek leaving both him and Anne catatonic, with Polly dragging Anne away and sprig just falling over before Maddie hits him with the potion. It dosen’t work that way, end episode.

Return To Wartwood was a standout episode, with tons of great jokes, pacing and a nice plot that showed growth in anne. While Night Drivers was decent, this was the show at it’s : Sweet, deranged and adventurous all in one episode. While Night Drivers was a good appitizer this was one hell of an entree. Or an appetizer sampler which I often use as an entree. Great episode and a nice high note to start on.

Next Time: We get an Ivy focused episode!

And Hop Pop is finally forced to own up to his lies!

As the twin kermits sooth you if you liked this review, follow me for more, check the amphibia tag for more reviews from this season and join me on patreon. If I get another patreon, i’ll add reviewing season 1 to my 25 dollar stretch goal so look out for that and my next one at 20 dollars, only 5 dollars away, nets a monthly review of a darkwing duck episode. Check it out and i’ll see you at the next rainbow.

#amphibia #night drivers #return to wartwood #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #hopidiah plantar #polly plantar #ivy sundew #maddie flour #sylvia sundew #mayor toadstool #disney channel #disney #animation #amphibia spoilers

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bishreview · 4 years ago

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Track by Track Review - Hottest 100 2020

Wrote this article a little bit ago just for fun. Decided to post it on here with the thought of maybe getting back to the Bish Review. Also, put an asterix next to my votes (songs that made my top 10). Anyway, here we go:

100. Kool - BENEE

One of the many gems from ‘Hey u x’. Unlucky to hear her biggest hit so early on.

99. Itch - Hockey Dad

I thought ‘Brain Candy’ was a little bit of a disappointment, but Itch was one of the strongest tracks they duo have released.

98. Your Man - Joji

Surprised to hear this track in the countdown. Pretty solid tune though

97. Audacity (feat. Headie One) - Stormzy

He’s still one of the best from the UK rap scene and this track shows why.

96. Germaphobe - Hockey Dad

One of the weaker tracks, I thought, off Brain Candy, but not surprised a lot of Hockey Dad fans liked this one. Definitely plays into their audience’s taste.

95. Loose Ends (feat. G Flip) - Illy

I do not like Aussie Hip Pop. This track is not an exception.

94. Rain (feat. Tay Keith) - Aitch and AJ Tracey

The piano in this is very ‘Humble’ - Kendrick Lamar. Still a banger though.

93. Lemonade (feat. Gunna, Don Toliver and NAV) - Internet Money

Bit of a forgettable track. It’s okay, but feels like there’s a lot better like this out there.

92. These Days - Thelma Plum

First cover of the countdown. Still one of the best Hottest 100 number ones, and Thelma does it justice.

91. Charlie - Bugs

Second cover of the countdown. I do like this but I feel it doesn’t reach the same heights as the original.

90. No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

A little expected from Eilish but still a solid Bond song (the second in history to make it).

89. In Her Eyes - The Jungle Giants

I cannot wait for the new Jungle Giants album. They’ve gotten better and better with each release.

88. Heart Attack (feat. lau.ra) - BRONSON*

I fell deeply in love with this song the second I heard it. It just has this quiet yet strong emotion behind it. The production on it is something else as well.

87. Three Leaf Clover - Teenage Joans

A really solid debut single by the Unearthed High winners. Can’t wait to hear more from them.

86. Laugh Now Cry Now (feat. Lil Durk) - Drake

I still don’t get the hype for Drake. The falsetto “baby” in the chorus also never ceases to make me laugh.

85. Too Tough Terry - Dune Rats

Dunies slow descent from mature stoner pop to edgy tracks for teens has been hard to watch. This song just seems like a parody of the band.

84. Chicken Tenders - Dominic Fike

Has to be the sexiest song about the best thing in the frozen food section at the supermarket. Pity the album didn’t live up to the hype.

83. Down For You - Cosmo’s Midnight and Ruel

I was really keen for this once I heard about the collaboration between the two. Unfortunately it felt a little too much like a Ruel song and it doesn’t really feel like Cosmo’s Midnight had much of a touch on it.

82. The Clap - The Chats

It’s a bit generic for The Chats but I just like hearing them get more popular. Just hilarious dudes.

81. Weightless - Spacey Jane

One of the stronger and more unique tracks on Sunlight. The synth touches really suit the band.

80. Freaks - FISHER

Cannot wait for FISHER to just slowly fade away. His tracks all sound the same and are so basic.

79. my future - Billie Eilish

One of the best tracks Eilish has released. Love how this just turns halfway through from a really soft ballad to a bit of an electro pop song.

78. Lady Marmalade - G Flip

It’s a nice cover. The video of G Flip performing it though is really fun.

77. House Arrest - Sofi Tukker and Gorgon City

This song bangs pretty hard. I like a lot of Sofi Tukker have really been putting out some solid stuff.

76. Baby It’s You - London Grammar

This is a great track, that synth in the chorus is heavenly.

75. Photo ID - Remi Wolf

I do like this song but it reminds me of a track from the 80s or 90s and I can’t put my finger on what that track is.

74. Scream Drive Faster - LAUREL

When I first heard this I thought Ladyhawke was back in the mainstream. Little disappointed it wasn’t, but this slaps.

73. Don’t Need You - Genesis Owusu*

Possibly the best chorus of the year. Owusu has stepped up massively in the Australian Hip Hop scene.

72. Way Down - Ocean Alley

Ocean Alley have plateaued. ‘Lonely Diamond’ just felt like the band had become comfortable.

71. Obey - Bring Me The Horizon and YUNGBLUD

I just can’t take BMTH seriously anymore. They’re music has become so comically edgy.

70. Low - Chet Faker

Hey look, Nick Murphy has become Chet Faker again. Don’t know why he changes between the two when one is just slightly more soulful than the other, but he does release nice tunes.

69. Second - Hope D

I do like this female, Aussie version of Jamie T. It’s a really nice track. Also the number 69 is claimed by Hope D. haha.

68. Lie to Me - Vera Blue

I don’t know what it is exactly, but there’s something about Vera which just puts her on a different level than her counterparts. She’s just that consistently good.

67. Boss Bitch - Doja Cat

This track doesn’t get old for me. It’s so much fun, and Doja Cat owns it. Love it.

66. Fantasising - Skegss

This track really does have a very “Three Leaf Clover” vibe. I have enjoyed Skegss in the past but their new stuff hasn’t captured my attention really. Seems a bit run of the mill.

65. C’MON (feat. Travis Barker) - Amy Shark

I actually don’t mind this song, but why does it feature Travis Barker. It’s a piano ballad featuring a punk drummer, and he really doesn’t do that much. I’m confused, was he jealous of Mark Hoppus?

64. Soak Me In Bleach - The Amity Affliction

The song title reflects my thoughts when I hear that The Amity Affliction have released a new one. There are so many better Aussie metal bands out there.

63. Day & Age - Ball Park Music

BPM have a knack for writing amazing ballads. I wasn’t huge on their latest album, but tracks like this continue me having them in my good books.

62. Run - Joji

One of the best tracks Joji has released. A really mature song for the artist and a step in the right direction for him.

61. Pretty Grim - Ruby Fields

Ruby is good, but I feel she’s starting to release the same song over and over. Need something fresh.

60. Go (feat. Juice WRLD) - The Kid LAROI

Probably the strongest track by The Kid LAROI, but Juice WRLD outshines him just due to his vocal tone. He just sounds better.

59. Gimme Love - Joji

And that’s three for Joji. I really like how this song has two distinct sections and both are solid without overshadowing the other.

58. Fly Away - Tones and I

I still don’t get why Tones and I puts on that fake accent in her songs. It just detracts from what could be a nice pop song.

57. Sobercoaster - Beddy Rays

Really didn’t expect this to get so high. I’m happy though because it’s a really fun song.

56. On The Line - San Cisco

Tracks like this keep me invested in San Cisco. They can really release some brilliant stuff.

55. I Think You’re Great - Alex The Astronaut

The fine line between overly chessy and adorably optimistic is what Alex walks on with every track. I think this falls on the former side sadly.

54. Blue - Eiffel 65 (Flume Remix)

The fact that Flume puts so much of his identity into this remix is why Flume has been one of the most successful Aussie acts this past decade.

53. In Your Eyes - The Weeknd

If The Weeknd release ‘Blinding Lights’ a month later I’d believe that he would take out this countdown. He didn’t though and instead we are left with this solid track in the bottom 50.

52. The Glow - DMA’s

Why? Why did DMA’s have to get so poppy and generic. I loved their first two album, but I struggled to get through the third.

51. Your Love (Déjà Vu) - Glass Animals

Out of the three big hits the band had in 2020, this is the most underrated. There is so much going on here, yet it never feels muddled. Wavey Davey on fire here.

50. Nothing To Love About Love - Peking Duk and The Wombats

Although this is a nice song, there’s been so many 80s electro pop throwbacks recently that have been done better that this collab just fades into the background.

49. Wishing Well - Juice WRLD

This song is so beautiful and heart-breaking. Really shows why Juice WRLD became such a beloved artist so quickly.

48. Ain’t It Different (feat. AJ Tracey and Stormzy) - Headie One

This is a really cool collab. They use the Red Hot Chili Peppers sample so well and really flow so well with it that it feels almost effortless.

47. Animals - Architects

I like a lot about this track, but the chorus really hits another level. Feels cathartic to scream along to.

46. Pretty Lady - Tash Sultana

Was hoping Tash would move into a more psychedelic direction with their newer stuff, but this is still a fine track.

45. as long as you care - Ruel

A pretty by the books Ruel song, but he really does this style so well.

44. You & I - G Flip

Probably G Flips strongest release this year. The chorus has a lot of flavour.

43. together - Ziggy Alberts

Generic acoustic track by generic Byron Bay artist. He really took the cake this year for dumbest comparison, when he compared wearing a face mask to the holocaust. Thought he’d suffer a bit for it, but apparently his fanbase grew stronger.

42. WHATS POPPIN - Jack Harlow

Jack Harlow is just so much fun. He’s killing it, and WHATS POPPIN is proof of that. Keep the bangers coming Harlow.

41. I Still Dream About You - The Smith Street Band

I felt I was growing out of The Smith Street Band, their newer music just not resonating to me. Then they drop this and make me a big fan again.

40. Come & Go (with Marshmello) - Juice WRLD

Just that chorus. It is so enjoyable. He really was going places.

39. Righteous - Juice WRLD

A back to back, and from one of the more exciting songs on the album we get to one of the more sombre tracks. Everything from the guitar, the vocals, those synth notes. . . this track is just a perfect send off for the artist. R.I.P. Juice.

38. Parasite Eve - Bring Me The Horizon

This song is so unironically cringe and edgy that it somehow becomes ironically fun. It does the full circle.

37. SO DONE - The Kid LAROI

I do like The Kid LAROI, but his vocals on this, combined with the lyrics, just make him sound like a child chucking a temper tantrum. It does make me laugh though.

36. forget me too (feat. Halsey) - Machine Gun Kelly

If this song was released in the early 00s (where it belongs), it would’ve faded into oblivion. At least Halsey sounds pretty solid on her verse though.

35. Running Red Lights (feat. Rivers Cuomo & Pink Siifu) - The Avalanches*

My personal number one for the year. This song has that melancholic, nostalgic feel to it that just hits home every time. Also one of Cuomo’s strongest vocal performances.

34. Everybody Rise - Amy Shark

This song is fine. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it, but it’s fun to sing-a-long to.

33. Breathe Deeper - Tame Impala

One of the best tracks from The Slow Rush. I love that piano motif throughout, and the bass is so funky. That weird bridge section towards the end is also pretty slick.

32. Criminals - DMA’s

The real criminals are the ones who told DMA’s this was a good idea. I just can’t get around their new stuff. I miss ‘Hill’s End’ and ‘For Now’.

31. Reasons - San Cisco

Tracks like this keep me from becoming a full time fan of San Cisco. They can really release some average stuff.

30. Bagi-la-m Bargan (feat. Fred Leone) - Birdz

Powerful. Birdz really took it to another level here.

29. Dribble - Sycco

Although I find there’s a lot of similar stuff out there, I think Sycco does sound like an original voice in the Australian music scene. She’s killing it.

28. Straightfaced - Spacey Jane

Although there was a lot of good stuff on Spacey Jane’s debut album, I found it to be quite repetitive. This track was one of the ones that I found to fade into the background instead of standing out.

27. Under the Thunder - Skegss

I really want to like Skegss, they’ve released some great tunes in the past. But this just doesn’t do it for me. It’s just boring.

26. No Plans To Make Plans - Lime Cordiale

Everything that makes new The Rubens tracks so average is presented here on a Lime Cordiale track. Obnoxiously quirky.

25. Reality Check Please - Lime Cordiale

Hey back to back Lime Cordiale tracks. And another one of their weaker ones. ‘Addicted to the Sunshine’ did this chorus better.

24. Blue World - Mac Miller

Didn’t expect this to make it so high but so well deserved. This song slaps hard but still continues the tragic story that is presented on his posthumous album ‘Circles’.

23. Good News - Mac Miller*

Back to back Mac! To be honest, I am close to tears every time this track plays. If only the lyrics “there's a whole lot more for me waiting/I know maybe I'm too late, I could make it there some other time/Then I'll finally discover/That it ain't that bad” were told to Mac before his passing, because he did have so much more to offer. R.I.P. Mac.

22. Complicated - Eves Karydas

This song is so good. I’ve heard it that many times but it still hasn’t lost its shine. So damn good.

21. Energy - KLP and Stace Cadet

I was really hoping this would crack top 20. Probably the best Dance track of the year. Such a jam.

20. Addicted To The Sunshine - Lime Cordiale

Despite thinking that ‘14 Steps To A Better Living’ didn’t have many new tracks that were that good on it, this one is nice. It’s just a pleasantly nice song.

19. You Should Be Sad - Halsey

I really don’t like Pop Country music but I also find it hilarious that the genre cracked the top 20. ‘09 Taylor Swift would be proud.

18. Tangerine - Glass Animals

With Tik Tok exploding in 2020 I don’t get how this didn’t get adopted by someone on it. It’s so primed to get hyped on it.

17. Is It True - Tame Impala

I think Kevin Parker’s vocals on this are underwhelming, but that might just be because the instrumental slaps that hard. The rhythm section is so tight.

16. Screw Loose - Lime Cordiale

This sound is what Lime Cordiale do best. We need more dub influence and less elevator pop influence.

15. Skin - Spacey Jane

No matter what you think about Spacey Jane, they sure do make some emotional tracks. One of the most powerful songs on Sunlight.

14. Tombstone - Ocean Alley

The verses are average and pretty bland but the chorus is amazing. Just don’t think the album resonated with me too much, and Tombstone is another mixed track off it.

13. Rockstar - Mallrat

Possibly Mallrat’s best song yet. Her laid back, relaxed style mixed with the low-fi production really meshes well.

12. Get on the Beers (feat. Dan Andrews) - Mashd N Kutcher

I’m not going to pretend this is my style, but the way this has resonated with Australians during lockdown last year makes the track way smarter than it deserves to be. It’s both ironically and unironically good.

11. On Our Own - Lime Cordiale

I’m happy the three best new tracks of Lime Cordiale’s debut were the highest placing in this countdown. This really is a nice song.

10. Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

Not my favourite songs from Billie but she continues to be consistently good. The production on this is immense as well.

9. I’m Good? - Hilltop Hoods

I wish old school Hilltop could hear this so could prevent themselves every going this direction. Aussie Hip Pop is not a good genre. This is one of their worst tracks yet.

8. Sending Me Ur Loving - The Jungle Giants*

This song has so much flavour too it. It’s so funky and fun and the production is so tight. Also the guitar work is underrated here, not doing much but adding that icing on the cake.

7. Hyperfine - G Flip

Every time I hear this track (and I’ve heard it a lot) I completely forget about it a couple minutes later. G Flip is good, but this is forgettable.

6. WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion) - Cardi B

I understand if this isn’t your style, but I love it. I don’t think there’s ever been a song with so many quotable moments. Every line makes a statement that will get in your head. My personal favourite? “ I let him taste it, now he diabetic”.

5. Lost In Yesterday - Tame Impala

There’s a lot of songs on ‘The Slow Rush’ I like, but Lost In Yesterday I’ve always found kinda boring. It feels a little uninspired. Surprised that this was the album’s big hit.

4. Cherub - Ball Park Music*

BPM have released some great music over the decade but I think this is their best yet. It’s beautiful, emotional and has a fantastic, cathartic breakdown at the end. I love a good build up.

3. The Difference (feat. Toro y Moi) - Flume*

Everything about this track is why Flume has been so great for so long. This track is great for any situation. If I’m partying, I play it. If I’m relaxing, I play it. If I’m getting pumped up, I play it. If I’m sad, I play it. Flexibility matters.

2. Booster Seat - Spacey Jane

OHHH-OH-OHHHHHHHH AND IT FEELS LIKE THAT AGAIN! One of the best sing-a-long tracks of the year, yet massively emotional. Like damn this song is rough.

1. Heat Waves - Glass Animals*

If I had one word to express how I feel about this winning I would say “deserved”. Not many tracks were as perfect for 2020 as this one. Glass Animals love writing absolute bangers with emotional cores and this one is one of their strongest tracks. Glass Animals just continue to outdo themselves.

That’s it for now, gonna maybe start posting again. I dunno. See how I feel. Ta-ta.

#triple j #triple j hottest 100 #2020 #triple j hottest 100 2020 #Glass Animals #spacey jane #flume #Ball Park Music #tame impala #cardi b #g flip #the jungle giants #hilltop hoods #billie eilish

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