#because gaLRA HERITAGE MAKES HIS ALLIANCE TO THE FORCE QUESTIONABLE

[whalechief]

OK but hear me out.

Keith’s in the BoM searching for the last jedis that Lotor (Kylo Ren) didnt kill off from the padawan academy. Keith was able to escape along with Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, and Lance thanks to the BoM’s quick infiltration during the slaughtering, but got separated young so that if they were compromised, the wouldnt ALL get taken out. Keith stayed with the BoM because he was from their planet. Shiro was given a new identity, but his planetside village was taken over and all the youth were reconditioned to become storm troopers (and he kinda Finn’ed it when Keith gets captured trying to gain the map to the rest of the missing padawans (like Luke’s map).

BOOM, AND ALLURA IS GENERAL ORGANA BECAUSE FUCK YOU THATS WHY.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Hey Lightning, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on something. One take that seems to keep returning every once in a while is the "Allura fell for Lotor only after he revealed his Altean heritage," but I know u and others have disproven this many times, which does reassure me. While I love Allura, I definitely think one of her weaknesses was her devotion to Altea and singing Alfor's praises, which sometimes became too much. At the same time, it bothers me when I see some ppl (1/?)

Continuing anon message: “ say that she thought Alteans were superior to all other races, and that when the colony plot twist happened, she became repulsed by Lotor's Galra side, which is why she rejected him. For them, that's why she forced violent memories onto an uncorrupted Zarkon, but somehow "saw the good/redeemed" Honerva, the Altean. I can kind of understand where they're coming from, but for me, it just didn't make sense that Allura suddenly had a change of heart considering for most of s8, she was angry and dead set on going after Honerva. Even with that, I think to a lot of her fans, s8 made Allura so ooc that she became unrecognizable, which hurt to watch. I guess for me it's hard seeing antis and people who don't like her claim that that's just how she is and has always been. Haha sorry for rambling, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, since your arguments ease my mind on a lot of things when it comes to Allura :)”

Hi, anon. Wow, thanks for your extended note! I don’t know anywhere in canon that Allura champions Alteans as a superior race. The definition of racial supremacy is a belief that inherent genetic differences between races determine cultural or individual achievement, with social/governmental policies championing intolerance of other races. To get Allura to fit into such a label:

1.      A viewer has to ignore or undermine all the evidence available about who the main-universe Alteans really were before main-universe Zarkon’s massacre of them.

2.      A viewer has to ignore or undermine how Allura actually responds to a variety of different races in the show, including her own.  

So let’s start with issue one. To support an “Allura was a racial supremacist” opinion, a lot of antis (and even non-militant, average viewers) are favorable to the opinion that Alteans as a group, including Alfor, were actually evil and violent colonizer elitists before Galrans killed them off. In other words, they question Altean victimhood, and this allows the militant antis to poison and undermine scenes of a woman mourning her home and her beloved family. And it just gets to be a really unsettling conversation, to listen to someone actually try to justify genocide. They’ll also have suspicions that all of our foundational backstory in the s3 finale was just “cleansed” propaganda from Coran. So if antis can undermine Allura’s entire race and family as corrupt, then they can intentionally undermine any of her canonical statements about or efforts toward peace. Which is hilarious, because this racist tactic applied to Allura is actually what a lot of antis accuse Allura of doing with Lotor.

For the record, I don’t think the show production team actually intended the subliminal messaging/cognitive dissonance that I’m about to discuss. The people who designed and developed this show are fans of robot kitties and aren’t PhDs in social issues. But I think there is a very serious issue about the portrayal of genocide victims that feeds into some very real problems in our world, especially regarding the concept of racial supremacy and conspiracy theories about genocide victims.

VLD tried to play with both genocide politics for edge™ points while ALSO playing with shatterglass theory (shatterglass meaning an AU where the heroes are villains and villains are heroes). Combining these two concepts into the same universe creates some incredibly disturbing subliminal messaging about Alteans that very closely mimics ongoing neo-Nazi propaganda against Jews. Nazis and other anti-Semitists justify their hatred of Jews by equating them as terrible villains out for world domination via some underhanded shadow control of the mass populace. It’s an incredibly malicious form of propaganda, because it works so terribly well. And what do you know, VLD plays right into this kind of propaganda. In the season 3 episode, Hole in the Sky, we’re faced with team Voltron confronting an Altean Empire that was actually evil and out for multiverse domination. And oh by the way, they’re using malicious shadow tech to control a mass populace.

It’s like someone on the production team read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and then just copied/pasted that incredibly damaging and widely accepted conspiracy theory right onto Alteans for s3 funsies because edge content.

This is incredibly punishing, for the narrative to wave the carrot stick in front of genocide survivors that maybe some others survived—and then to suggest that Alteans were the evil ones all along. A shatterglass twist worked very well in Captain Marvel (2019) for a lot of reasons, for example, but it just doesn’t work well in the VLD universe given that the show explicitly portrays the genocide victims as evil and validates this concept. And this episode unfortunately feeds ongoing cognitive dissonance in antis that if AU Alteans could be so evil…how certain are you that they aren’t in the main universe too? On the reverse side, the main-universe goes out of its way to portray that not all Galrans are evil, and even that Galrans were the primary resistance (BOM). But in this singular episode, we see a united Altean empire. And the only Altean who moves to stand against it once the shine wears off…is Allura. There is no AU Altean actually shown in the Guns of Gamara. So Allura stands alone as an Altean against her own people.

For this reason, this episode doesn’t function very well as a shatterglass AU either, because the moral “flip” isn’t a mirror balance to main universe. The Alteans of the AU world appear as fully united in their evil plans. And then, no doubt, anti-alluras point out other quirky things about main-universe Alteans throughout the show—the violent language-learning system that scares Pidge, and the ancient Altean terraforming technology that Haggar activates, and the fact that Oriande is a hidden place that keeps out the less magical with a violent guardian. These details, when removed from main-universe world building, create a cognitive dissonance about whether main-universe Allura and Alteans were actually genuine in how they depicted respectful “peace and diplomacy.” So anti alluras who believe Allura was a racial supremacist really rely on this s3 episode and these details to uphold their conspiracy theory.

So let’s focus on Allura in this episode, because it says a lot about who she ultimately is as a person, and people have forgotten how she actually responded in this episode. Allura is unquestionably hopeful at the thought that her and Coran might not be the last Alteans alive. Pretty understandable. If I were the last human, I’d be darn excited to find out there’s more of me left, lol. So her experience as a genocide victim initially blinds her to the evilness of these Alteans. You can even see the ache on her face, of how badly she wants to believe their narrative of peace.

So Allura is initially star-struck that she and Coran are not the last Alteans, yes, and that somehow they’ve achieved a “peace.” She is also not afraid to admit that they would be valuable allies in the war:

And she’s not wrong there, considering that they have what appears to be extensive military resources and a robot force of their own. But she makes a critical mistake in assuming that “these are my people” means that they share main-universe cultural sentiments. The instant Allura hears Slav (so not someone of her own race) call these Alteans out as actually evil colonizers turning people into slaves, she begins to question the narrative she’s received.

In this instance, she actually affords the Alteans the same courtesy she afforded Lotor—the opportunity to deny the accusations.

But in the AU Altean’s case, they try to turn blame back on other parties. Allura listens to Keith when he grows increasingly fearful of what the Alteans might do to the others, and she tries to plead for actual peace:

And actually, this is a pretty interesting moment for Allura. She tries to salvage an alliance…until she realizes that their differences are irreconcilable, and that their definition of peace is inherently different from her own. This probably sets the stage for why Allura was so triggered by Lotor talking about peace while also killing people—because she’s seen people misappropriate that term before. And also probably informs why she trusts the information of both Keith and Krolia (both of whom have Galran blood, btw).

Ultimately, Allura turns against her own people. Violently:

When they get angry about her wanting actual peace, Allura draws a weapon against them and rejects them from her people. This mimics how she spends several seasons fighting an Altean Haggar/Honerva for her crimes, and how she turns against Lotor too.

So case in point here, Allura loves her people, obviously—but she also is holding them to moral standards regarding their behavior, which is something that a genuine racist doesn’t do. As a matter of fact, Lotor is the only person of Altean blood that Allura genuinely bonds with ever again in the series. She’s distant with Romelle, she’s distant with the s8 Alteans… In s8, Allura even says this about Luca, which refers back to her own mistakes she made with initially being star-struck by the s3 AU Alteans who came in “peace”:

Allura herself had been manipulated in s3, wanting so desperately to not be the last Altean alive that it initially blinded her to how Commander Hira was manipulating her. The plight of the s8 Alteans who are deceived by Honerva is inherently frustrating to her, because she can see herself in them.

Absolutely none of this correlates with Allura seeing or perpetuating Alteans as a superior race. At every turn, her own people continue to disappoint her, and she increasingly and progressively separates herself from them in hopelessness, because they’re so brainwashed that they can’t see they’re just cannon fodder for someone else’s military agendas. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a superior race, lol.

So let’s think about anti accusations here. Allura is a racial supremacist…but she’s arguing against her people who believe unquestionably in Honerva, another full Altean like herself? Nothing about that accusation makes sense with her actions.

The fact is, consistently from season 3 and onward, Allura is faced with her own people morally disappointing her.

The good news for the s8 Alteans like Tavo is that Allura is able to remove the dark entity Honerva is using to control him. Which allows other Alteans to “wake up” from being manipulated and try to make amends.

Regardless, Allura makes a very clear line that simply being Altean doesn’t make someone “right.” She sees herself fully at odds with her own people who are drawn in by Honerva’s lies. And she experienced well back in s2 (revealing Haggar as Honerva) and s3 (evil AU Alteans) that any given race, including her own, can house people who do bad things.

The fact is, she’s consistently and willingly drawn weapons against even her own people when they didn’t meet her moral expectations. So her response to Lotor isn’t particularly out of line there. She’s repulsed by a moral flaw.

And actually, Lotor himself wouldn’t have known this, but he very oddly echoed the AU Alteans by getting angry that Allura was angry over the means through which he was trying to get peace:

So Lotor actually reverts to the same logic of the AU Alteans—peace at any cost, just look at the results—

And keep in mind that the AU Alteans also manipulated Allura’s excitement about them, to get her to make the transreality comet usable so they could go into other realities. So Allura has felt betrayed and used before, by her own people.

So when she says this:

Yes, it’s a reference back to how Zarkon manipulated his friends in order to get access to the quintessence field, at the explicit cost of potentially killing his own people. But it’s not without understanding that yes, Alteans can be just as manipulative and betraying as Zarkon. Because she’s experienced it, again and again.  

As a matter of fact, six out of the eight seasons of Voltron: Legendary Defender feature villainous Alteans/Alteans on the wrong side of the war, and we continuously see Allura punished again and again for wishing that Alteans still lived.

No wonder she wanted to die.

This is something that I find uncomfortable about the narrative of the show. Previous iterations of Voltron did in fact have a “blood on everyone’s hands” perspective, such as within the ages 16+ Dynamic Comics. However, Arusians/Alteans in those old Voltron narratives were not victims of genocide. VLD turns Alteans into victims of the worst racial crime possible and then also consistently portrays them as inherently antagonistic to genuine peace efforts in some way, instead of focusing on the evil of the oppressors.

And this is such a double whammy for Lotor’s characters as well, given that he was abused by his parents and threatened with slavery via his Galran culture, and that he was half-Altean too trying to connect to his lost culture.

As a matter of fact, the larger show’s narrative interest in “victims as antagonists” makes it such that when we see victims try to enact actual justice, it feels almost jarring. Let’s look at that s8 Zarkon moment you brought up as an example, where Allura destroys his innocent perspective by showing him his evil deeds.

The s8 Zarkon is a weird topic because 1) This Zarkon actually doesn’t exist outside of Honerva’s mind, so how he has any kind of actual free-will is beyond me, unless someone wants to argue that Honerva actually cursed his true soul just as she cursed the other paladins. It’s hilarious too, because Honerva-mind-Zarkon also calls Honerva a psychopath, so I guess now Honerva is psychoanalyzing herself using her dead husband as the vehicle, while also discreetly helping the paladins to stop herself—

ANYWAY, using this Zarkon as a “proof” of Allura’s “racism” is also cherry picking in the weirdest of ways. Is she angry about his horrific and incalculable crimes, including even how he betrayed the OG paladins and ruined his own planet? Absolutely. Does she want him to be aware of his crimes instead of having to pretend like nothing’s wrong? Yes.

But notice here, this Zarkon actually shows remorse. He is actually crying over those memories and recognizing that he had done something wrong. And Allura can work with that. In fact, out of everyone standing around and doing nothing, it’s Allura who gives him a second chance and offers an alliance with Zarkon in order to stop a crazy Altean: 

Keep in mind too, Honerva didn’t have memory loss at the end of s8. She knew exactly what she’d done and had given up and had to actually be convinced to do anything halfway constructive. That’s a very different circumstance than mind-Zarkon had, who jumped at the chance to do something to fix what all had happened, and gets even morally righteous about it, calling his own wife a psychopath, lol.

So generally, antis who believe Allura was a racial supremacist haven’t watched the show holistically. We see her hold the same standards to her own people as she expects out of others. This show would look incredibly different if Allura were a true racial supremacist.

Ah, you ask. Okay, so we’ve refuted the big pieces of “evidence” used to incriminate Allura. But what about all of those weird details about ancient Altean history? The violent language-learning program that scared Pidge? The violent terraforming tech that almost kills Voltron? The concept that Alfor tried to play “police” over the Galra and actually blew up their planet? The Alteans’ ongoing discussions of “peace and diplomacy” and spreading it throughout the universe while they happen to sit on a massive load of ancient power?

The s3 finale and other facts throughout the series very heavily smash the claim that our canon, in-universe Alteans were evil colonizers like the AU Alteans. The biggest piece of evidence to the contrary is that the Altea we know was one (1) planet. You counted right. One planet. Not an empire, but a singular planet. The s3 finale corroborates this, showing Altea as being largely isolationist from a military perspective while Daibazaal and Nalquod warred "for generations," right in front of their salad.

So some viewers would have you believe that Alteans were these big bad, intergalactic police state colonizers. But for all of its great power and knowledge, the singular planet of Altea didn't even canonically interfere in the wars of its own galaxy for actual millennia? And looking at the screenshots upon the stabilization of the alliance, Alfor is revealed to not have had experience with a neighboring culture. His face while exploring Gyrgan’s homeworld is an indication that it’s all rather new for him too. So again, we have evidence showing that Alteans were not colonizing or even functioning as a police state.

Note here that in the s3 flashbacks, the show confirms that it actually wasn’t just Alfor who suggested an alliance. All five leaders had common interests in protecting their galaxy from even worse threats, so all five came together at the same time. This is actually the first piece of evidence we have of Altea entering into some kind of intergalactic military agreement to stave off said worse threats.

And all of this is on top of a history where in s6, the Galran Archivist confirms that the Galran Empire had existed before Zarkon for 3,000 years, with times of “expansion.” It’s very easy to see that Blaytz’s people were actively fighting off Galran occupation of their homeworld within this past.

And that’s actually what I think makes Alfor and the OG paladins some pretty interesting characters. Here, we had colonizing Galran empire setting down its sword and accepting the value and space of its neighbors. Here, we had master alchemist Alfor giving up military power within their group by acknowledging Zarkon as the superior strategist. Here, we had Blaytz who had previously been battling Galran occupation…fully accepting the Galra?   

So the OG Paladin backstory represents a pretty incredible alliance that removed a lot of intergalactic toxicity and helped heal broken bonds. But it required all five leaders to agree to that. Alfor did not throw his weight or power around within this. There were several checks and balances here.

But this backstory also helps to explain some of the quirky details about Alteans. Their planet existed within an active war zone, and it’s very likely that they’d had to fight off Galran occupation just as Blaytz’s people did. So the violent robot trainers and fear-based language learning systems start to make sense. Alteans weren’t just simpering people playing harps all day and eating grapes. They were actively prepared to defend their planet and their culture.

So when Allura says in season 1 that Alteans were “spreading diplomacy” across the universe, the only pieces of evidence we have of that is the OG paladins themselves, in which Alfor was a big part in creating that alliance—and then possibly the Alteans with the Balmerans, given their deep collective rituals with that planet while the Galra literally just came in and ripped the planet nearly to death. Allura tries to mimic what it means to accept and interact with a culture without changing it well in season 1, when she stumbles through trying to respect Arusian culture and its demands on its people. Also, there is a big fact that antis like to overlook:

The fact is, despite the untold numbers of civilizations we interact with across 76 episodes, no outside race remembers Alteans as evil colonizers. If they were really so big and bad, we would have heard it, like, “Man, yeah the Galrans are bad. Just as bad as those Alteans, back in the day.” Or something. But nope, nothing.

So I heavily question the history of Altea as an ancient colonizing race. If they were, then Altea wouldn't have just been a single planet with limited resources to fight wars in even its own galaxy. All of this supports the idea of Altean children being raised to fight--because they were preparing to defend themselves when/if diplomacy fails.... But the fact that the Balmerans see Alteans fondly and that literally every other race we run into is explicitly suspicious of Galrans and not at all of Alteans says something.

I think the only piece of evidence there might be for a genuinely colonizing ancient Altea is the use of terraforming technology, as mentioned in s4. Haggar discovers it and activates it to try and kill Voltron--and she nearly succeeds, because said tech destroys the entire crust of the planet to reform it. But you have to step back for a second and wonder--if ancient Alteans were so powerful, why was Alfor struggling so hard to even hold his own planet together in the midst of all these other cultures warring and larger threats? If they had this technology--and they did know about it because Allura recognized it right away as ancient technology--why the heck wouldn't they use it? Or were they using it, and it was to reform uninhabited planets to help sustain displaced peoples? Why is it, if Alteans were so terribly bad, we have no record across ANY of the many alien races being cautious of them? Even Galran Lieutenant Lahn snapped at Allura only because he was jealous of the general security she had back on, you guessed it, explicitly Altea. There's a lot of potential explanations for a positive use of terraforming technology, and the evidence against colonization and Altea committing omnicide against other races is incredibly more aligned with the other details in the canon.

And even Alfor’s creation of Voltron and the blowing up of Daibazaal—that’s something that antis like to position as evidence of his police-state ways to underhandedly control other cultures.

So let’s tackle those too while we’re at it.

Honestly, I know people like to hate on Alfor, and I do think his character picks up some misogynism just from the writers....But I don't think he was as much of a controller as people think he was. He was already in an alliance with four other leaders to try and stop bad things from happening in their galaxy. That meant they were expending incredible amounts of time and resources to accomplish that end—resources that were not renewable and may have been straining various planets. We know that he started building Voltron with Zarkon and everyone else's blessing because he called them "clean ships," but it's only after the rift creatures attack that suddenly Alfor's perception of Voltron moves from "clean energy" to "omg we need a more powerful weapon against this unknown enemy.”

So these are his intentions BEFORE he discovers rift creatures are a threat to the universe. While Zarkon states that these new ships are to be endlessly powerful for the Galra Empire, Alfor shames him by offering what his desire is for them:

  After the rift creatures nearly destroy Daibazaal, intentions change.

So here, we see the game change in a BIG way. Voltron is not just about offering a more renewable way of sustaining peace-keeping efforts. Alfor is now adjusting and finishing these ships with the explicit knowledge that if they are not powerful enough, then Daibazaal and the Galran people will die. Alfor’s got a LOT of pressure on him now to deliver a mighty and powerful weapon to stop this new threat. So even his creation of Voltron as a superweapon involved using it to protect people from imminent death—not to police them.

And about Alfor blowing up Daibazaal—once again, it’s Alfor trying to clean up Honerva and Zarkon’s mess. Honerva had convinced Zarkon that the rift needed to be wider, and so Zarkon deceived the paladins into widening it.

So keep in mind here, at this point in time—the rift was destabilizing and eating an entire planet. The entire universe was now at stake. Alfor had to choose between a bad fix and an even worse option of allowing everyone to die, but he very clearly evacuated people before destroying Daibazaal, as part of his promise to keep Galrans safe. So that no one would have to die.

And as a matter of fact—about that terraforming technology. How sure are you that Alfor didn’t intend to use it to build Galrans a new home? It’s entirely within the realm of acceptable conjecture that he allowed for the existence of that technology because it could restore what had been lost.

And here’s where the story gets really screwy and feeds into some anti hate. Because when Zarkon wakes up as a zombie, he desires more quintessence as zombies do.

So he’s pissed that Alfor just cut off his gateway, and he manipulates his people:

And it’s here where we get the idea that Alfor was an evil controller. The idea came from Zarkon, who—we can look around pretty easily and see that he was not a man of honor, ultimately. Even if you chose to not believe the s3 finale flashbacks as being objective, there’s something wrong with Zarkon. (It’s clear that the show thought using Coran was a smart way to shell off massive amounts of info, because clearly if this were truly in Coran’s perspective, we would NOT have had intimate looks into Zarkon and Honerva’s bedroom as Zarkon is tending to her, like omg.) Numerous sources, histories, and cultures outside of Coran confirm that Zarkon hit a point of no return on the evil scale, and that he projected his own blame for Daibazaal’s destabilization onto Alfor in order to raise up his new regime in the name of Quintessence™.

So at the end of the day, even Alfor was a victim. But yet somehow, various antis choose to believe Zarkon’s victim-punishing narrative because said antis can’t or else refuse to connect one scene to another since it undermines their justifications for why they can hate on Allura. And that’s not so much an issue with the story itself as it is just poor critical analysis or malicious weaponization of content against other fans.

Now, at this point, we’ve talked about Allura and we’ve talked about Altean history. I have numerous other posts about Allura’s interactions with other races and Galrans and overcoming trauma to give the entire universe a second chance. So if there is anything in this show that suggests Alteans were in any way a superior race, then it’s probably within the show’s own worldbuilding. The show contradicts its own definitions of what quintessence even is by suggesting Alteans have “bluer/purer quintessence” in order to justify why Lotor would even be trying to sacrifice them for anything. The show-championed concept that Alteans have a bluer, purer life force above all other people, and that only Altean energy could interface with the fabric of space-time. Now, this is a problem in the later seasons’ world building itself. And you know who wrote that in? The production team. So once again, we do have racial issues in this show, in ways that shows like Star Wars desperately try avoid by showing racial diversity in who has Midi-chlorians.

That said, I’m not a perfectly woke storyteller either. I think every story and show is going to have something problematic™, but with VLD it’s very clear that its disrespectful handling of genocide politics and shatterglass conspiracy theories, on top of its weird master race angle created the perfect storm. These mishandled and quirky details have created a cognitive dissonance with the provided narrative, resulting in some people in the anti fandoms to champion what aligns very closely to actual neo-Nazi propaganda against Jews, who according to them are not victims but instead the true perpetrators of all bad things. For the sake of the antis, I’m pretty sure they’re not intentionally looking at VLD this way and are probably just looking for any easily graspable reason to hate on Allura for interfering with their ship or something.

But this kind of subliminal propaganda that undermines victims, and the effect it has had on fandom morality politics, is deeply concerning to me. I really wish that we’d had an opportunity to respectfully and critically discuss this with the production team of the show, because a Y7-FV show about “strength in unity” should NOT result in us needing to have a conversation about people walking away with neo-Nazi-ish propaganda sentiments against genocide survivors. Like. Clearly, VLD is fictional, but it’s feeding into a real-life beast that it does NOT need to feed. And it’s keeping alive ongoing conspiracy narratives against some of our most vulnerable populations on the planet.

So, we need better stories. We need a production team that, if they’re going to get paid to do something involving portrayals of genocide and politics, that they need to do their research on those topics. Nobody is going to be perfect with a creation, but VLD validated some very damaging things—and it ALL is something that could have been fixable. I think it would have been incredibly validating to hear the production talk about and accept that these were issues that cropped up unintentionally, and to hear them confirm that these issues are not the sorts of things that VLD was supposed to champion.

The greatest tragedy of all of this is the potential that this show had to really champion some great and validating messages, and the potential that we as a fandom had to come together and do something that fandom was meant to do—which was celebrate the things we love. Because that’s why we’re all here. That’s why this crazy tumblr of mine even exists. It was supposed to celebrate things.

For that reason, I’m going to end this here. I’ve written several responses now as to my thoughts on the inappropriate narrative lens of the show, its contradictory and damaging worldbuilding about the purest race, and how it champions demonizing or punishing genocide survivors again and again. Within all of that, I’ve talked at length about Allura’s character and behavior over 8 seasons and how she built even empathetic connections with militant Galrans like Commander Lahn. In fact even her own homesickness is how she emotionally connects with Lahn, because she understands that desire to call something one’s own. To have a home. A family.

I now really would like to get back to writing stories that I find meaningful to me using these characters and these worlds—and trying to find the hope in all of this darkness, haha. And maybe with any luck, I can hope to do VLD some justice, knowing that I am still on a learning journey as well.

But I appreciate your note, and I hope this very extensive response helps to settle your questions and concerns once and for all regarding VLD Allura. If you should have any remaining questions, please feel free to reach out via a private message to discuss. Thank you!

[echodrops]

Home and Half Galra Headcanons

I have owed @latransmearnsi this for forever, finally trying to squeeze a few drops of blood minutes out of a stone out of my day to share a whole bunch more worldbuilding Galra headcanons connected to my fic Home and a Half.

How long do Galra live?

I know the show was all about Alteans living hundreds of years compared to humans, but then considering that plot line was promptly dropped and never brought up again, and the fact that Zarkon and co. are the only Galra implied to have lived for 10,000 years due to the power of the rift, I’m just going to go with Galra living slightly but not much longer than humans. In fact, since it was never clear if Coran’s comment about years meant 600 Earth years or 600 Altean years, I’ve elected to just go with the idea of Altean years being notably shorter than Earth years. And since Altea and Daibazaal are in the same system in my personal headcanon--more on this later--they share somewhat similar year lengths. Altea’s years are 8 Earth months long, and Daibazaal’s are 10. Of the three species, Alteans live the longest (max about 150 Earth years), and Galra the second longest (max about 125-130 Earth years).

But this is somewhat a moot point, since military service is mandatory for a huge portion of the adult Galra population, and casualties are high; therefore, most Galra do not live long enough to reach the maximum lifespan.

What are some other traditions or games? 

I think I’ve mentioned two games so far: Renni, which is a card-based game that is similar to both Magic the Gathering/Yugi-Oh and chess (there are multiple types of cards--such as defensive, trap, spell, and attackers--and certain cards are placed in certain locations on a set board. Each card can move in a set way and distance; the objective is to get an attacking card through the enemy’s defenses and traps to strike their “castle”). Although I’m saying “card” here, of course what I mean is paper-thin electronics that project holograms in the shapes of monsters and weaponry.

Renni is a favorite past-time of Prince Lotor, by the way!

A second tradition/game is “Marfeil,” the hunting game children play on their clan day. A high-powered flying device (basically the equivalent of a super-powered Earth drone) is released in a set area, and all the clan’s children are set loose to track, hunt, and capture it. It’s a free-for-all where alliances are made and broken in an instant, and only one kid can make it back victorious with the prize in hand. It’s a test of the children’s athleticism and ability to tenaciously pursue a target. Big bragging rights go to the winner!

In terms of stuff I haven’t talked about before... The Galra battle arena is about as “ancient tradition” as they come, although the violent, horrific battles of Zarkon’s late reign are not what it was always like (just like the gladiatorial fights in Rome were not originally intended to be fights to the death). According to headcanons I wrote earlier, the Galra population was originally divided into autonomous clan groups that were eventually united under a king. However, especially in early centuries, the union of the clans was tenuous at best, and disagreements over territory and resources frequently sparked up into small-scale combat. Originally the arena was founded as a way for clans to do battle with each other in a relatively organized and more civilized manner--the two clans would send representatives who would duel fairly; the winner of the duel would correspondingly “win” the feud for his whole clan.

Eventually, clan feuds died out as power began to accumulate in the hands of the monarchy. Over time, religious views--more on this in a bit too--were altered to promote the kings and queens of Daibazaal as absolute monarchs, invested with the power of the goddess, and the arena took on a new meaning: it became the primary vehicle for choosing Daibazaal’s “champion,” the planet’s strongest fighter, who, once crowned, was appointed the right-hand of the king or queen. (Check out the religious question below for more on the symbolism here.) The champion was entrusted with protecting the lives of the ruling family, and enforcing the monarch’s word as law. It was once am extremely noble and revered position that Galra would train their whole lives hoping to attain, and even to this day, the concept of the “champion” is so engrained in Galra’s cultural consciousness that finding out Shiro is the current champion would absolutely blow Dulsara’s mind and she’d never want to hang out with anyone else ever again.

What determines the treatment of the natives of conquered planets?

This depends on two things: 1) who conquers them and 2) what they’re being conquered for. Although all of Zarkon’s generals and fleets report back to high command, there’s still flexibility in the way they carry out their orders. I.e., ten generals in a galaxy might be given the same order to conquer new systems, but each general might conquer in a different way--some in a bloody massacre and some in a significantly less violent manner. Generals are effectively the rulers of the planets they conquer (until they are called to conquer a new planet, and a viceroy is appointed instead), and therefore each of the conquered planets is ruled uniquely. Many of Zarkon’s generals are hand-picked for their violent, bloodthirsty behavior though, so unfortunately, many conquered peoples are brutally slaughtered or oppressed. There are a few rare situations where the opposite is true, however. In certain cases, Galra intervention has provided planets with lifesaving technologies that improve quality of life for the original inhabitants, leading to a few somewhat mutually beneficial situations.

Likewise, the reasons for occupying a planet also change how the populace is treated. Sometimes planets are conquered merely to eliminate strongholds for allied anti-Galra forces, and the conquered planet itself has no special use for the Galra. In these cases, sometimes nothing more than a single large base is built on the occupied planet, resulting in a situation where Galra occupation doesn’t massively inhibit the original lives of the planet’s people. This was case with the base where Niresh, Dulsara, and Xerci’s families lived--they were a military outpost for moving supplies and information, but the planet itself had no meaning to the Galra and therefore the original inhabitants were mostly left alone unless they attempted to interfere with the operations of the base. On other planet, Galra occupation has prompted important economic revivals that have turned impoverished civilizations into flourishing galactic hubs.

Unfortunately this is not the case everywhere--on planets rich with natural resources that the Galra empire needs, the planet’s original inhabitants are typically enslaved to serve as a workforce to extract the planet’s resources until the planet is no longer valuable; then the inhabitants are rounded up and exported for service elsewhere in the empire.

It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s also not a simple “The Galra are always bad.”

What do Galra eat? Mealtime customs and etiquette?

Galra are mesocarnivores with strong metabolisms. Traditionally their diets consisted of primarily meat proteins (about 60% of their diet was meat and eggs), with the rest being made up of fruits, mushrooms, and what would qualify on Earth as leafy greens. Nowadays, the Galra Empire largely runs on synthetic food goo, which is significantly cheaper and less resource-demanding than actual food and prevents the likelihood of Galra troops ingesting poisonous matter on the wide variety of planets they conquer. Galra stationed in space will pay large amounts of GAC for illicitly traded foodstuffs gathered by those stationed on planets, but food poisoning is alarmingly common because, despite their physical strength, Galra are chemically sensitive to many compounds which are not naturally found in their own star system. The list of things Keith is “allergic” to is actually obnoxiously long; Neuhahn once accidentally sent him into shock by allowing him to eat vanilla ice cream. When he’s in a good state, Keith is the team’s notoriously picky-eater, right up there with Pidge (who has issues with strange textures). Unfortunately, when Keith gets reallyyyy hungry, his thought process usually devolves into: “Nothing I’ve eaten has successfully killed me so far, so I’m sure I’ll survive.” Chomp.

On the other hand, there are some things Galra are not allergic to that would straight up kill humans; fugu fish and deathcap mushrooms are no problem for purple space cats.

One other aside about eating: there are a lot, a lot of mixed Galra in the universe since their DNA (if not their behavior) plays well with other species; generally a mixed Galra will still be sensitive to the same chemical commands that affect full-blooded Galra, but may have slightly different dietary needs. For example, Xerci is a granivore whose diet leans more toward staple grains and plant matter than meat. This actually makes the lives of mixed Galra much harder, as they have to account for their dietary limits as a Galra while also attempting to appease the diet needs of their other species.

In the current Galra Empire, mealtime customs are kind of a thing of the past for most people--soldiers just don’t have the time or energy to make a big fuss over food goo. As the empire spans on and Galra colonies become more and more remote from the source of their own heritage, the complex etiquette of the past is going by the wayside somewhat. Traditionally, Galra coalitions would gather together at mealtimes to eat as a family unit, and proper table manners were drilled into the younger generation by the older members of the family--sit up straight, no elbows on the table, etc. One notable faux pas that is still true today is sharing food directly from your plate to someone else’s. Doing so is a big insult to the cook--because either you didn’t like the food enough to eat it all, or your host didn’t serve their guests properly (Why are you trying to feed someone else? Are you saying I didn’t give them enough?). Because of this, Galra have a reputation among other species for being stingy with food--do not ask your Galra friend for a fry, you won’t get one--but it’s really just a matter of finding it rude not to eat everything that is placed on one’s plate. Keith has never heard of this rule. His habit of pinching from Shiro’s plate is an absolute scandal to the Blade of Marmora.

Table manners among royal families is a Big Deal(tm). Lotor has the rules for silverware on 200 different planets burned into his brain.

What exactly does Galra courtship entail?

Most of the answer to this is “I can’t tell you because spoilers.” But there are some things I can say, chief among which is: at all levels of the social hierarchy, Galra courting is just really, really... different.

In most human societies, the (highly heteronormative) goal is to meet a person, marry them, and raise a family. The opposite is true for Galra: having children isn’t at all tied to being in a couple relationship (there is no baby mama drama in the Galra world), so many of them have children first and then go looking for a permanent life partner later. The basic reason for this is that Galra are a lot more serious about the “’til death do us part” concept than humans are; when they finally settle on a person, that’s it, they’ve settled for the rest of their lives.

I don’t mean this in a soulmates AU kind of way--it’s not “this person I met at 17-years-old is my One True Love” it’s a lot closer to “Wow, I can’t believe it only took me until 52 to find the person I’d be happy to live with for the rest of my life!” They wait until they are absolutely, 100% sure of their choice before courting and formally settling down. (Caveat: Not everyone gets to choose. The higher up the social hierarchy, the less likely it is that a Galra would be free to pick their eventual match; Niresh’s parents had an arranged marriage, for example. The only reason Lotor isn’t betrothed to anyone is that Zarkon doesn’t want to run the risk of challenges from multiple potential heirs and also Lotor is not about that life thank you.)

So, long story longer, courting happens more among older Galra and less among impetuous teens. Also, it would be extremely rare (and foolish--ah, but they do say love makes fools of us all) for a Galra to court someone they don’t already know very, very well. That 100% sureness comes specifically from knowing the other person inside and out. It’s not unusual for Galra to be living together for years before finally declaring their intention to formally court.

The actual courting is... equally weird. The most common way to signal interest in courting is engaging the other person’s coalition in the Galra equivalent of “flyting”--you insult the person you’re interested in in front of every one of their family members. Your insults serve two purposes: first of all, the more detailed and personal your insults are, the more obvious it is that you completely and fully know the person you’re interested in. If you can fairly point out every single bad habit and negative point about them, then you’ve paid close enough attention to know them deeply, as well as their family does. Second, being brave enough to insult someone in front of their very close-knit family is a must in Galra courting. If you shy away from the challenge of facing the family, you’re not worth anyone’s time.

After your insults, the family answers back in the opposite, with nothing but praise for their family member, and a back-and-forth battle begins assessing the person in question. The final goal is for the courter to "be persuaded” that of course, of course the family is right and the person in question is worth all the effort in the universe and more. It’s a game designed to demonstrate your knowledge of the other person as well as air out any grievances or sticking points before the courtship proceeds.

(You can see where other species’ might struggle with this--many an intentional insult has been mistaken for the opposite.)

After that, things get even sillier, but in the interest of time and space, I’ll leave this answer here.

What are their views on pets?

Galra are big pet keepers! Historically the “pets” were war animals that aided the clans in their conflicts with other clans, but over time pets have come to just be beloved household companions. Unfortunately, military members are not allowed to keep pets, no matter HOW incredible the critters they find on their space travels are. This doesn’t stop everyone. Many an escaped secret pet has caused serious issues on-board Galra battlecruisers. Civilian Galra family groups often have a motley collection of pets. Two problems: 1) The illegal pet trade is hyper-aggressive in the Galra Empire. They import thousands upon thousands of species of animals, without too much regard for the long-term species survival of these animals. 2) What qualifies as a “pet” to the Galra sometimes includes the citizens of other planets. It does not pay to be a small fuzzy person (or a big scary fuzzy person) in the Galra Empire. Sometimes slaves who escape the arena end up in the pet trade instead. Pet abuse is strangely not okay in the Galra Empire, but that doesn’t mean that being treated like a pet instead of a person is any less horrific.

(God help Keith when the kids finally reason out the argument, “Allura has mouses, so why can’t WE have a pet?”)

What's Galra mythology like? Religions?

I’m glad you asked this because this is actually at the heart of a lot of Galra plot line in HaaH. As I mentioned earlier, in this fic, Daibazaal and Altea were both in the same quadrant and although they weren’t particularly near each geographically, they were close enough to each other that they inherited some surprisingly parallel mythologies, shared with numerous other planets in their general region of space. In particular, both Altea and Daibazaal prominently feature legends related to a lion goddess. On Daibazaal, the legend goes that the creation of everything we know began with the lion goddess, the first star. The roar of the goddess shook the universe and created the ever-expanding waves of space and time; the shine of her eyes in the void became the burning cores of stars; the weight of her swift passages formed gravity and orbit. She breathes and life flows over planets. (In short, the lion goddess is a sort of visual representation or embodiment for what we humans would just call “energy” or “order”.)

But the very existence of the goddess ensured the existence of her diametric opposite--the antithesis of all creation, the extermination of all life, all energy, all differentiation. This being has no form of its own (it is what all things will become when they become nothing--entropy or chaos itself, if you will), but it constantly fights to upset the balance in the universe, to claim more than its fair share.

The legends say that four times the lion goddess took a physical form and came to defend Daibazaal from the onslaught of darkness--once by fire, once by water, once by earth, and once by vine--and at last when the whole planet rang with the force of her being, she put part of her soul itself into a mortal, her first champion, that he and all his descendants would be blessed with the power to combat evil wherever they roamed.

Of course, you can see how this kind of origin story might lend itself to propaganda. The early kings and queens of unified Daibazaal used the legend to their advantage, first claiming that they were direct descendants of the blessed champion, and then a step further--that, by possessing the strongest remnants of her soul, they ought to be treated and revered as physical manifestations of the goddess herself. This evolved over time alongside other cultural fixtures like the arena, until religion became irreparably tied to politics for the Galra: by the time Zarkon took the throne, the general agreement was that whoever was emperor/empress was the representation of the goddess made physical, and the champion crowned in the arena was the one blessed and bound to carry out both the power--and the will--of that “goddess.”

Over Zarkon’s reign, the influence of the religious aspects have waned significantly--it was not beneficial for the Galra to believe in a higher power instead of their immortal emperor--and so the importance of the goddess has been continually downplayed while the importance of the emperor has grown. Although most people still treat Zarkon as if he were a god and “the champion” is still an awe-inspiring figure, the significance behind “the goddess gave us power so that we could fight evil” has definitely been lost behind “we have power and it’s only right for us to use it.”

(You can see the obvious links to Voltron here. It’s definitely not accidental, but I’m not going to say much more than that.)

What are some common Galran phrases?

Ha ha oh man, I don’t want to write anything here and then have to take it back later when I inevitably over-think language stuff...

"Sticks and flungr” is a very unflattering why of saying someone doesn’t have their shit in order. A messy house might be described with this saying, or turning in a half-assed report at work. (For reference, it’s referring to the Frinunnel bird’s habit of making lopsided, disheveled nests out of well... sticks and poo.)

“Vrepitsatir” is a “yes man,” a military flunkie who mindlessly agrees to everything the higher-ups say without questioning it.

“Notches” is a way of referring to past lovers, based on the common habit of ear-nipping between partners.

“Be careful--Zarkon’s watching!” is an empire-wide joke, especially among the lower-level military, when you find out someone is up to something they shouldn’t be. The effect is pretty close to the joking Earth phrase “Ooohh, I’m tellinggg.”

Phew, I think that covers it!

[some-cookie-crumbz]

A Little Sweet Treat

A Little Sweet Treat Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Shiro/OC Summary: Super late, self-indulgent Valentine’s Day fic about my Galra OC, Adwru, developing a crush on Shiro and trying to find a way to make his interest known. I’m also dedicated this one to @kdxart because the developing of this ship was something she suggested and now I’m in deep. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. 

Human customs were certainly… Strange, to say the least.

Adwru hadn’t initially thought much of the Paladin’s home planet upon meeting them, as he already knew a little bit about it from what he’d heard from Keith. A primitive world with – judging by his first few encounters with the Paladins themselves – rather primitive denizens, who ran primarily on instinct with very little knowledge of the actual scope the universe beyond their familiar stars. They were noisy and ran their mouths like mad – especially the blue one – to the point he often wished his ears were less wide and tall and sensitive to sound. Sometimes, though, he found himself endeared by their giddy excitement about everything around them. They reminded him of himself when he’d been a young whelp, so long ago now, being taken on his first exploration of the dunes surrounding the ravine where his family’s den was homed. This led to a bit of curiosity, wondering what kind of society and environment could cultivate beings like these humans.

And, in the end, he found his questions being mostly answered by the Black Paladin, the most approachable of them all.

When Kolivan had opted to move Blade resources to focus on helping Team Voltron, Adwru himself had been skeptical about how it would all work out. The Blade wasn’t perceived in a particularly fond light by the parts of the universe that were aware of them, given whom it was primarily comprised of. He’d joined the Blade in hopes of doing good deeds and protecting or improving innocent lives, of proving that there were Galra whom were trying to stop Zarkon’s tyranny and disagreed with his cruelty. More times than not, though, their help was taken but then they themselves were scorned because of their heritage. It was disheartening, in a way. He certainly understood why those that they tried to help were distrustful of them, considering all they’d suffered, and he took more pride in knowing they were able give some kind of assistance. He didn’t need to be praised for what he did, but a part of him longed to at least not be called every derogatory insult possible upon giving assistance.

And then Takashi Shirogane happened.

Initially, their interactions were primarily simple business. He tended to speak with Shiro the most when relating to concerns including the Paladins, given he was the Paladin of the Black Lion and the leader. Queen Melenor and Coran were both clearly matured, responsible adults with loads of experience in regards to serving as delegates and warriors, and Coran’s son, Garrett, had inherited his father’s outgoing nature, which tended to draw people in to him. Even Princess Allura was a charismatic and considerate delegate, even if she didn’t show that side of herself to the Blade operatives very often. However, none of them were actively engaging in the physical side of the war, so Shiro was the one it made the most sense to speak with about such matters.

Additionally, he was the Paladin with the most experience in regards to working together in a setting such as this. The Green, Blue and Yellow Paladins were all there incredibly talented, but they were also much younger than most of the other instrumental players in the development of the growing resistance. The Green and Yellow Paladins were both highly intelligent with repairing or developing new technologies, and the Blue Paladin’s charisma and personality couldn’t be understated. They were doing a good job taking to their roles as Paladins, given the circumstances, but they were still rather immature and sometimes the gravity of what their titles actually meant.

It was admirable to see that one of the Paladin’s seemed to acknowledge the severity of the situation. Keith was the second most serious about his post, but even then, he’d noticed that sometimes Keith tended to act in a more kit-like fashion when interacting with the other three Paladins. It was admittedly kind of nice to see him cut loose and act a bit more in line with his age, even if it wasn’t the best of circumstances for it. Adwru knew that like in the Blade hadn’t always been easy for Keith, given he was a few years younger than both himself and Nihaar, who were the other two youngest members. So, he figured that the universe would be fine if he wanted to go gallivanting about to space malls or mosh-pitting at rock concerts.

This led to him interacting with Shiro even more and, from there, he noticed the strange way Shiro addressed the Blade and its dealings.

As the Coalition grew, Shiro took the time to praise and thank all their associates for their help; and, surprisingly, made sure to mention the Blade. After missions, he would make sure to thank any Blade members present for their assistance before concluding the debriefing. At public statements to planets they liberated, Shiro would take the time in his speeches to mention that they were only able to succeed as far as they did thanks to Blade intelligence. And, even still, he would always mention the Blade at meet-and-greet conventions where they were trying to enlist more planets into the Voltron Coalition. It seemed contradictory to their end goals in beginning the Coalition in the first place. Why admit to working with individuals with ties back to the very Empire you are trying to dismantle at recruitment meetings? It would only cause many of those planets you want in your alliance to become leery of your true intentions. It could make outsides uncertain of where Voltron’s loyalties lay, which would lead to lower recruitment numbers.

Somehow, though, they seemed significantly less effected than Adwru had anticipated. The Coalition continued to grow, despite the awareness of these planets that the Blade was involved in Voltron’s movements.

Then, his theory changed to one that he thought made a bit more sense. The Blade was one of the few allies Voltron had upon the new generation of Paladins stepping up and bringing hope back to the universe. It only made sense that, until they could grow their forces, they’d be sure to express their gratitude for the work they did. Once they had accumulated an impressive support system, though, the shows of gratitude continued. And Adwru, not one to accept being toyed with, had confronted the other on it.

"I'm… I’m sorry, but I don’t follow. Why would I lie about being grateful to what you and the other Blades do for us?” he asked, tone calm if not a bit confused. He’d been looking through a few battle simulations that Coran had suggested for their next training session on his tablet. While Adwru normally disliked pestering someone while they were working, this was the closest to down time as they’d most likely get for some time, and he had to take the chance.

"Because you have no other option but to do so. At least until your Coalition has grown large enough in size that you don’t need to, that is,” he scoffs, eyes narrowing slightly in growing frustration. He hadn’t anticipated the other to try and politely deflate the truth being let out.

"I think you’re overthinking it a bit. I make sure to thank you and the other Blade members for what you do to help us because you deserve it, and I always will. You all work so hard, risk so much, and ask for so little in return,"

"But we are Galra, the same as Zarkon and the rest of his Empire. We are the kin of those that have committed heinous acts to countless innocents for thousands of years,” he asserted firmly, brow kitting. The other looked up from the screen of his tablet, head tilting a bit, and blinked at him slowly. Adwru’s gaze briefly flittered over to the Galra prosthetic the human sported then looked back up, thinking that perhaps he could trigger the other to react more honestly if he struck the right nerve. “You should know quite well what Zarkon and his followers are willing to do to those in their clutches from your own experiences.”

Shiro tracked his gaze, the fist of his prosthetic clenching a bit. Adwru prepared himself for the other to explode, but he never did. The hand slowly unfurled and Shiro set his tablet aside to give him his full attention. "It wasn’t a Blade member that did this to me; it was one of the Galra that obeys Zarkon that did. It wouldn’t be fair of me to hold that against you or any other Blade when you’ve been trying to put a stop to things like this for years yourselves,” he pointed out. “I've never heard a Blade member try to justify Zarkon or the Empire's actions. I’ve never heard a Blade member try to make excuses or downplay the cruelty of Zarkon’s actions. None of you agree with what he does. I mean, you're all working actively to stop him! You're trying to right the wrongs of the Empire, Adwru, and you deserve to be thanked for that."

And Adwru didn’t know how to respond to that. And how should he, really? For someone to finally tell him that he was doing good, to reaffirm that he had made the right decision in joining the Blade of Marmora? With a quick, curt nod and mumbled, “thank you” he darted away. For the rest of the day, he had pondered over this and every other interaction he’d had with the human. Shiro was always so eager to offer assistance, to answer questions, as well as learn about the cultures and customs of those they were aligned with. For Adwru, whom had always been passionate about learning and growing better insight into those around him, there was something rather appealing about that.

Adwru had left briefly for a mission with the Blade to gather intel on the next planet they intended to liberate.

When he’d returned, late into what the Castle denizens had determined to be their equivalent of night time, he’d spotted Shiro settled in the lounge, a juice pouch in his hands, and his eyes cast to the floor. The look on his face was one that spoke of a forlorn exhaustion that he’d seen countless times before in the ones they saved from the Galra, as well as some of the older Blade members. He was still clad in his evening wear of some slack pants and a loose shirt, meaning he’d probably been stirred from his sleep by something; whether that something was a physical form or a dark, looming shadow, Adwru couldn’t say.

“Black Paladin?” He asked quietly. The other didn’t respond, though, so he stepped a little closer. “Shiro?”

The other visibly flinched and looked up at him, dark eyes flickering in anxiety and his prosthetic arm starting to spark with color. When he realized it was just Adwru, though, he visibly slumped. “Oh, Adwru, welcome back. How was the mission?” He asked, readjusting in his seat a bit. It didn’t hide the slight tremors, though.

“Good,” Adwru mused, ears tipping down slightly in concern. His gaze shifted down briefly to the small device the information as enclosed in.

The human’s eyes fell to the device and he moved to stand up. “Are those the files we needed? I’ll help you get it imported to the Castle Ship’s mainframe. I may not be as skilled as Pidge or Coran, but I can at least help with that much,” He offered.

A part of him wanted to insist that Shiro go back to bed, try to get some rest. He would need to be at his peak in order to assure that Voltron functioned properly, after all. But another part of him suspected that the other wouldn’t listen to him. He held up a hand and walked around, settling a comfortable distance away from Shiro on the couch. “There are things in this file that would be best to discuss with the team as a whole, actually. But, I’d like to talk to you about something else,”

This caused the other to blink in surprise, but he settled back against the cushions of the couch. “Of course. What’s on your mind?”

“I’d like to know more about the specifics of the assignment you were on before you were taken in by the Empire,” He said, carefully tucking the device into one of the pouches in his uniform. “I know your planet isn’t as advanced as some of the others we work with, but I’ve been led to believe that this Kerberos you were on is quite a ways off from your Earth, yes? It must have been an important mission.”

And, after a moment of pause, Shiro chuckled and took a sip from his pouch. “It was,” He mused before beginning to get into the logistics of it all.

This began a new routine between them. When Adwru was up late working on projects, as his people were typically of a nocturnal nature, Shiro would come and join him. As he worked, they would talk about this or that; normally Adwru asking questions about Earth technology and space exploration approaches. It didn’t start as something he asked out of genuine interest but more to offer a distraction, to help Shiro’s mind escape from the troubles rattling around in his head. His feelings changed, however, as he saw how excited and passionate the other became about his work back on Earth. The conversations always left him glowing, wearing a softer smile and the tension in his body relenting just a bit. Seeing this side of him and seeing how much he cared about the work he’d been doing before and how much he cared about his work as a Paladin now had left him with a strange feelings in his chest.

It grew, however, when Shiro began to express an interest in Adwru’s own history. He asked about what his home planet had been like, or when he started working with the Blade. And so Adwru had opened up and talked a little bit. He explained how his Mother was of a planet called Cenlonas, who specifically belonged to a race called the Fendosians. His Mama was a half-Galran Blade member whom had been sent to track down another Blade member that had gone traitor and tried to flee. His Mother and Mama worked together to find the traitor and execute them before they could potentially reach out to their allies within the Empire, and their relationship grew from there. He told Shiro about the time when, upon his second chance to leave the ravine for exploration, he stumbled into a large, prickly bush and ended up covered in small burrs. His Mama had spent the whole night helping him to pluck them from his coat.

The story caused a deep laugh, that rumbled all throughout his being, to escape Shiro, and Adwru’s ears perked up in delight at the sound.

He liked being able to offer Shiro a safe place to just be himself without worrying about the expectations of his title. And, he realized, something about seeing the man beneath the helmet left him feelings that he could only deem to be infatuation. This put him in a bit of an odd spot, though, because Earth being so far removed from the rest of the going-ons meant that very little was known about Earth courtship and customs. What, for example, would be seen as a gesture to show romantic interest?

Thankfully enough, the incredibly loud Blue Paladin offered him some insight when he started shouting about something called “Valentine’s Day”.

“What is this holiday about?” Romelle asked curiously when Lance suddenly proclaimed that it was coming up.

“Depends,” Pidge mused from her perch settled on the couch. She was skimming through some prisoner logs, most likely trying to snuff out any sign of her father or brother. “For younger kids, it’s a day to give little paper cards to all your classmates to pretend you’re all best friends and such. For teenagers, it’s a day where excessive, explicit PDA is seen as completely acceptable. For adults, it’s a day to get gifts for and from your partner, as well as some hot tail in some cases.”

Lance’s face screwed inward and he made a displeased noise. “Ugh, you’re making it so cynical,” He huffed, sticking his tongue out as if her words had left a foul taste in his mouth. “Valentine’s Day is a day for amore~! It’s a day in which lovers are allowed to openly express their feelings, to articulate just how deeply their feelings run~!” He proclaimed, gesturing dramatically, turning to drop on one knee and hold one hand out towards Allura, settled on the couch beside Pidge.

She blinked then giggled and rolled her eyes when he waggled his eyebrows at her playfully. “It certainly sounds interesting, when you put it that way,” She mused.

“So it’s only lovers and small children? If so, why would you want to celebrate it here? No one on the ship is dating,” Romelle pointed out.

“Well, no,” Lance said as he carefully stood back up, setting one hand on his hip. “See, it’s typically seen as a holiday for lovers, but it’s much more about love itself. The love between lovers, the love between friends, or a chance to expression that you are in love with someone.”

Adwru’s ears twitched and he glanced over briefly. He could do something for Shiro on Valentine’s Day to make his affections known, but how? He briefly entertained the idea to outright ask the Blue Paladin, but that seemed like a bad idea. For as tactical and clever he could be, he wasn’t exactly very skilled at keeping from gossiping. He would tell Romelle and Allura, who would then tell Coran and Garrett, who would then tell the remaining Paladins; including Shiro himself. Keith, despite being half-human himself, had limited knowledge of Earth traditions due to him being in the Blade for most of his years. Pidge seeming to have a rather cynical view of the holiday most likely wouldn’t be of much help.

But then there was Hunk, the Yellow Paladin, who was a bit nervous but also incredibly kind and smart and practical. He carefully slunk out of the commons area and headed off for the hanger, where he was certain the other was. Hunk was humming happily, bent over his work desk as he sketched out the drafts for a new shield device. They were trying to design shields akin to the particle barriers of the Lions and Castle Ship to give to allied forces, so that in the situation of a Galra attack, they’d be able to defend themselves until Voltron could swoop in and help them. “Excuse me, Yellow Paladin?” He asked calmly, peering over his shoulder.

The other let out a loud squawk and spun around to face him, flailing his bayard between his hands anxiously. He got a good grip on it but before he could shift it into its proper form, blinked and slumped back into his seat. “Dude, why do you Blade guys constantly sneak up on us like that? Can we, like, put bells on you guys while you’re in the Castle or something?” He whined with a small sigh, carefully setting his bayard back down and starting to turn around. “Also, if Pidge sent you to whine at me about how she wants to get to work, you can tell her that-!”

“What are the customs associated with your Valentine’s holiday?” Adwru cut in, paying no mind to the other’s prepared lecture about boundaries and patience.

He halted in turning back to his task to look at him inquisitively. “What?”

“The Blue Paladin was discussing your Valentine holiday. What, exactly, is anticipated for this holiday?”

“Well, I mean, it kinda depends,” He said as he spun around fully to face him. There was a glint in his dark brown eyes that implied he knew there was more than just casual interest behind the questions, but didn’t press it. “If you’re just giving to someone you’re friends with than normally small things like cards are typically the norm.”

“And if you mean to make a gesture of interest?”

“Like, you want to tell someone you like like them?”

“I… Believe so? Your terminology seems to be rather odd but I believe it is what I intend,” He stated. He carefully lifted his head and peered around, just to be safe, before squatting down so he was eye-level with young male. “I would like to offer a gift to Shiro as a sign of my interest in him. What is a good tactic to take in a situation such as this?”

The young man gawked at him for a moment before nodding slowly. “Okay… So, it really depends. Normally, you’ll want to make sure you pick something that’s, like, thoughtful, you know? Something that shows you’ve been paying attention to his interests and such,”

Adwru’s left ear twitched a bit and looked off to the side for a moment, his mind reeling through all the conversations they’d had. What stood out was one from a few quintants prior where a groggy Shiro, the two settled in the lounge, had lamented about some of the things he missed from Earth. “I have an idea. A snack that he may enjoy. But I will need the assistance of someone with a skilled palate to accomplish this,” He mused, pushing himself upright again.

“Are you thinking something Earth-based? Because, like, that might be a bit of a challenge. I mean, I’ve got a good idea of what goes good together, but I haven’t really tried to recreate anything Eart-centric,” Hunk said worriedly.

“I know a place where we can most likely find the materials needed. If you agree to go with me, taste-test to find things that have the right flavor, and help me get things figured out, I will serve as your bodyguard while we are there and purchase any additional goods you would like,” He vowed.

Hunk’s eye lit up and he nodded eagerly. “You give me the date and time and I’ll have Yellow ready to bail!”

It was difficult to get the okay to go from Shiro on the day of their intended escape. “I have a meeting to collect some intelligence gathered by a covert operative. Hunk has agreed to take me to the designated location,”

“Wouldn’t it be better to have Pidge or Keith take you? I mean, Green has the cloaking ability and all. Or, Red would be good since she’s the fastest Lion, and Keith would most likely be familiar with how Blade meetings go down,” Shiro pointed out.

Hunk looked a bit panicked, opening his mouth to most likely blurt out some kind of excuse, but Adwru cut in smoothly, “You’ve been implying you’d like the other Paladins to be a bit more hands-on, so I thought that it’d be good to allow someone other than Keith to accompany me. And, of all the Paladins, the Yellow Paladin seems to be the most outgoing and respectable. I thought he’d be the most logical option between himself, the Green Paladin, and the Blue Paladin.”

That had seemed to not only placate the leader, as he allowed them to leave, as well as endear him some to the Yellow Paladin. “Did you mean what you said? About me?” Hunk asked as they left the hanger.

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t think it were true. I’m not fond of speaking just for the pleasure of hearing my own voice, you see,” He mused. Hunk had chuckled a bit at the answer and then focused on inputting the information he’d been giving.

The location was an intergalactic foods mart, where different vegetation from different worlds could be exchanged. It was located on a large asteroid just outside the orbit of the planet Hyna, and was one of the few locations in the Fefage galaxy that wasn’t Empire territory. The look on the young Paladin’s face reminded him of a pup getting their first bite of grilled turel meat. They wandered from booth to booth until they managed to find the things that Hunk felt would be most inclined to create the desired treat he had in mind.

When they returned to the Castle Ship, Shiro was in a meeting with Queen Melenor, Coran, and a few of the bigger names that had enlisted into the Coalition. While he was preoccupied, Hunk and Adwru got to work. Or, rather, Adwru insisted that he be the one to do the brunt of the work, as it was meant to be a gift from him. Hunk was patient as he helped walk him through, the two of them testing and experimenting to figure out the right consistency. It took them a little longer than intended, but they got it worked out.

The wrap job on the gift wasn’t the tidiest, with how the white bow on top was askew and uneven, but he supposed it was the best he could do. Gifts typically didn’t get wrapped in his culture, but Hunk had been adamant as he shoved the bow and glossy lavender paper into his hands. Adwru’s handwriting as he tried to use the English alphabet from Earth to spell out Shiro’s name looked more like a pup’s sand sketches than an actual word, but he supposed it was the best he could do with next to no experience. The packaging wouldn’t be important, he hoped, so long as the gift itself turned out to be a good choice. Hunk offered him a reassuring grin and thumbs-up before nudging him along his way.

He headed off down the hall, staying close to the wall, instincts kicking in at the prospect of his “mission”.  He realized he should have asked more questions. How did the offering a gift work in human culture? The meeting had just ended as he rounded the corner, Shiro speaking quietly with Queen Melenor as they exited. It was the ruler who saw him first, noticing his tense posture and the object clutched in his grasp. A small smile turned up on her lips and she leaned over, saying something to Shiro before motioning Coran to herself and heading along. Shiro looked a bit bemused before he turned and spotted Adwru, seeming surprised. “Hello, Adwru,” He said, turning to fully face him.

“Hello,” He greeted back with a curt nod of his head. He carefully adjusted the gift in his hands before holding it into the open space between the two of them. “This is for you.”

Shiro blinked a bit in surprise. “Oh, thanks. What’s the occasion?” He asked, taking the gift and gently tugging at the bow.

“The Blue Paladin informed me that a holiday was approaching that is of significance to many humans. Valentine’s Day, he called it,” He explained, his eyes skirting from the human before him to his boots. The young man took in a small gasp, his cheeks turning a bit pink at his explanation. “The Yellow Paladin observed my efforts to assure the quality. I hope you enjoy.” He explained quickly, his stomach roiling uneasily.

“Adwru, um, Valentine’s Day… It’s, well, how do I say?” Shiro stammered out with a small nervous smile.

“The Blue Paladin explained what, exactly, this holiday meant. And that is specifically why I chose to offer you this gift now,” He said, forcing his tone to keep from warbling out of nervousness. Shiro’s eyes widened a bit, the flush lightening a bit, as his eyes tracked back down to the top of the gift in his hands. The look on his face was something soft and sentimental but also a bit contemplative. What was he thinking, he wondered? Was it possible that Shiro was interested in him in such a way as well?

And then, because he wasn’t sure what else to do once that thought hit him, he offered a quick nod before darting off to find himself a good place to hide. Maybe try and coerce Keith to join him for a small patrol of the galaxy they were in.

“Adwru, wait!” Shiro called, trying to catch his arm, but the other was around the corner before he could give proper chase. He frowned before looking back down at the gift in his hands, plucking the card off and looking at it. A small smile crept on his lips when he saw the attempt the other had made at using the English alphabet to write his name, finding it sweet how far he’d gone. He’d seen the written language of Adwru’s people before and surmised that he should offer to teach him how to write in Japanese. It’d most likely be much easier for him to learn, since the two styles were similar to one another.

He then carefully pulled apart the box and popped the top off, looking down at what rested inside with his head cocked. Inside, was a small cluster of what he assumed were some kind of fruit, but they were shaped something similar to the number 9 without the empty gap in the circular portion. They were a bright yellow color, with white stems and leaves at the very top. The lower half of it was covered in a turquoise colored sort of coating that gleamed almost like it was made of glass.

Were these some kind of trinket or decoration piece? Well, he figured, that didn’t make much sense. If he’d requested Hunk’s request in preparing this, it only made sense that it be some kind of snack. He plucked one out and gave it a small sniff. It had a pleasant, sweet smell to it. With a small shrug, he took a bite and his eyes widened at the incredible, sweet flavor followed by the smooth, slight bite in his mouth. He pulled it back and licked his lips, staring at the small fruit in his mouth in disbelief.

“I miss a lot of things about Earth, but you what I miss the most?” Shiro asked, staring from the ceiling of the lounge to look over at Adwru. The other had originally been working on decrypting some files on his holo-pad, but as they swapped stories he’d set it aside to award him his full attention. He always liked it when Adwru would become fully invested in what he had to say. It was always so cute how the other’s large, fox-like ears would twitch and dip in accordance to what Shiro said or how he said it.

“Other than not having to trapeze through space in a giant, psychic robotic Lion leading a team of adolescents?” He prompted back dryly, ears perked upright.

Shiro laughed and gave him a playful shove, recognizing the dry wit he’d learned Adwru leaned towards. “Okay, that,” He said before leaning back against the couch, “but I really miss strawberries.”

“Strawberries?” The other parroted curiously.

“Mmhm. They’re these sweet fruits that are just so good. Especially if you get them dipped in chocolate; dark chocolate, especially!” He explained excitedly.

“It certainly sounds like something interesting,” Adwru prompted. Shiro had rambled a few times about the different snacks and treats that could be found on Earth and, while Adwru’d never had a chance to try any of them, he was familiar with basic things like chocolate and candy bars.

“Oh, it’s amazing. I mean, dark chocolate makes everything better,” He continued, his sleepy mind falling into a prattle about dark chocolate and what else it paired with well.

Shiro smiled as he tossed the remaining bite into his mouth and closed his eyes in pure bliss. “I can’t believe he remembered that,” He said softly carefully putting the lid back on the box. He then headed off in the direction Adwru headed off on. He wanted to approach the subject of a potentially shared interest with him, and let him get a small taste of just how good these little treats were.

[therecusant]

VLD S8: Keith vs Haggar

This week I started seeing some posts about how Haggar might go after Keith in season 8 and that Acxa might be secretly evil and still aligned with Haggar. While I’m pretty sure these are more from a shipping angle (likely out of a dislike for Kacxa), I started thinking about how a Haggar/Keith dynamic might work in season 8 and actually found it to be really interesting.

Where this first drew my attention was in rewatching season 7 episode 5, ‘The Ruins’. In that episode we see Keith having a rematch with the Druid from season 1 episode 10, ‘Collection and Extraction’. During the rematch, Macidus (the Druid’s name) says something very interesting to Keith about Haggar.

Treachery. The Druid specifically refers to Keith’s actions as traitorous. At first this was confusing because, obviously, Keith never was aligned with the Galra Empire. It had me scratching my head when I first watched and others were too.

Now the obvious implication is that Macidus is accusing Keith of being a traitor since he’s half-Galra. Why this was so weird to viewers though is that this is first time in the show (to my understanding) that a villain has addressed Keith’s Galra heritage (Zarkon did in season 1 during their fight but that was more to hint at the Galra hybrid twist for the audience than for any actual in-universe implication).

Why this is significant is that then we are finally having the lineage addressed by the antagonists and its specifically the Druids. This made me ask the question, what is Keith’s connection to them in the story? From there, I started going back through the show for moments that would lead to the discussion/analysis I’m now presenting which is:

Haggar blames for Keith for everything and wants revenge.

Let’s start off with the first interaction Keith has with Haggar/the Druids.

As mentioned above, in season 1 Keith ended up in a battle with the Druid called Macidus, interfering in his quintessence work and starting a long list of conflicts that lead to Haggar wanting revenge.

In the following episode, s1e11 ‘The Black Paladin,’ Keith prevents Zarkon from taking the Black Lion by knocking it away and then defending the lion in a battle with him in the Red Lion. In doing so, Keith prevents Zarkon from fulfilling his desire to reacquire his lion, a goal that becomes self-destructive by season 2.

In season 2 episode 12, ‘Best Laid Plans,’ Keith sneaks onto Zarkon’s ship and, with the help of BoM spy Thace, manages to kill two druids and turn the central hub into a bomb that shuts down Zarkon’s ship to allow the Coalition and BoM to infect it with a virus.

This forces her to abandon her previous work, powering Zarkon, and try and stop Keith and Thace in the Central Hub. Keith manages to escape with instruction by Thace who holds off Haggar and the sentries in the meantime, leading to their plan succeeding as the bomb goes off and nearly kills Haggar.

As the season 2 finale (s2e13 ‘Blackout’) begins, Zarkon decides to face Voltron himself against Haggar’s suggestion. He’s endangering himself, just like in season 1′s battle with the Red Lion and Paladin, to regain the Black Lion. She knows it’s a bad idea and also knows this would never have happened if Keith didn’t interfere back in season 1 when Shiro was expelled from his lion. Similarly, if Keith had not worked with Thace in activating the bomb, Zarkon would not need to make himself so vulnerable.

Like she suggested in the beginning of that episode, Zarkon is left nearly dead by the end of season 2, with Keith being the one to add the extra touch of shoving the blazing blade into Zarkon a second time at the end of the conflict.

Her husband is on the brink of death and it’s Voltron’s fault but more specifically the intervention of Keith and the BoM.

Following up on this is Keith and Haggar’s conflict in the season 4 finale, ‘A New Defender,’ where she and the other Druids have trapped the Paladins on Naxcela and Keith leads the Voltron Coalition to stop her.

In this space battle, Keith attempts to sacrifice himself to stop her before Lotor interferes. Now, while the series has only used this moment for Lotor and Haggar’s relationship and his later alliance with the Paladins, we still need a follow-up on Keith’s attempted sacrifice and a new conflict with Haggar could bring this to light. At the very least, it is worth acknowledging how Keith lead a battle against her and the Druids.

This is then followed up with season 5 episode 4′s ‘Kral Zera’ in which Haggar, Lotor and other factions of the Galra Empire arrive at the Kral Zera ritual in order to take over the throne in the wake of Zarkon’s death.

Haggar arrives in order to establish Sendak as the new emperor but things go bad quickly as the BoM and Keith set off bombs that send everyone into chaos and leads to Haggar having to give up on her plan. It’s very possible she sees Keith specifically to blame because he’s fighting without his mask in the latter part of the episode wherein Acxa helps him against a Galra general.

The potential Haggar/Keith plot point then escalates in season 6 episode 4′s the Colony when she activates Kuron, a Shiro clone allowing her to spy on the Paladins. This lets her learn about Keith’s work with the BoM and specifically the Altean Colony.

After she manages to get Kuron and her generals to abduct Lotor from the Castle of Lions, Keith interferes in her plans yet again by managing to pass through the wormhole in the Black Lion and attacking the ship harboring them. She does manage to lead him away though, using his connection to Shiro.

This is significant because the dialogue reveals that she knows who Keith is. She knows it’s the Red Paladin in the Black Lion, knows how deep the connection to Shiro is. Some of this is just from Kuron’s vision of course, but remembering Keith was the Red Paladin when she saw him in the BoM outfit just before? Sounds like he left an impression on her in those first two seasons.

Kuron vs Keith happens, like she plans, and it seems things have worked out. Kuron is Keith’s worst fear, knows all his insecurities, and seems impossible for Keith to beat.

But Keith does manage to beat Kuron and in doing so he’s indirectly defeated Haggar.

Lotor gets free and nearly kills the other four paladins before Keith and Black arrive and stop him in s6e6 ‘All Good Things’. This interruption leads to Keith leading the team to defeating Lotor and leaving him in the Quintessence field.

Now she’s lost her son too.

Through every foiled scheme, Keith manages to stop Haggar, Zarkon and Lotor and destroy their family. He’s a member of the Blade of Marmora, meaning he’s a traitor to the Galra Empire. He’s the Black Paladin, meaning he’s stolen from her husband the thing he’s been trying to find for thousands of years. According to some fan theories about Galra Keith, Kacxa, Kallura, etc. Keith might have stolen Lotor’s place in the universe too, if not just his life.

Keith.

Haggar blames Keith for all these things and in season 8 will do her best to get whatever revenge she can. Targeting Shiro? She’s done it countless times before, it’s possible she’ll try to make death stick this time. Maybe Allura or Acxa? Depending on if and how those relationships develop, maybe they’ll be her targets. Potential lovers as revenge for Zarkon. But, there is an even more frightening possibility.

What would be a bigger blow to Keith, a more satisfying revenge for Haggar, than taking from him the very same thing he took from her: family. All Keith has left is his mother. Surely killing Krolia would be the perfect punishment for his constant defiance, his treachery, his stealing the Black Lion and killing her son?

It’s a frightening thought, for sure.

I hope you like that little analysis, I’ve got a few more thoughts somewhat separate and others I’m just not sure if they should be added to the main point so I’m adding them at the end here

Keith is Quintessence Sensitive:

A lot of people have talked about this, particularly after his managing to detect Macidus in season 7, and I think there’s a possibility people haven’t mentioned (or at least I haven’t seen yet):

Back in season 1, in his first fight with Macidus, he was contaminated by quintessence harvested by the Galra Empire and Druids. Now, at the time people thought the Quintessence healing him was all there was to the scene and I did too. Others thought it was covering up the Galra skin underneath which we now know isn’t the case since Macidus himself says Keith’s hand was injured (I believe the ‘Form Podcast’ creators on for that episode similarly said that was the case).

While that scene seems to be foreshadowing the effects of quintessence, what if it’s more than that? What if being contaminated by quintessence gave Keith...abilities? It’s why he ends up having such a strong bond with Red, is able to bond with Black so easily, is able to link with Allura to enter the Quintessence field immediately and is, aside from Allura, the only paladin who does not become violent due to its effects? What if that douse of quintessence is what made him be able to sense Macidus in that moment and kill him? It’s just a thought but it’s possible and I honestly love the idea a lot.

Haggar and Druids vs BoM:

Multiple times throughout the series, Haggar or something connected to her have gone up against the BoM.

Ulaz takes out her Robeast, Thace and Keith kill some Druids, Kolivan is captured by Macidus, etc.

There’s one particular interaction I want to address, from s4e1′s ‘Code of Honor.’

There’s a Galra ship Keith, Kolivan and another BoM named Regris intercept and try to plant a tracker on before finding out it’s a bomb and nearly dying. For me, it’s unclear if that was Lotor or Haggar’s doing. For a while, I thought it was Lotor and assumed the show would address him nearly killing Keith, killing his comrade and the like. It hasn’t which makes me wonder (and also hope because otherwise Keith letting Lotor be around the Paladins is weird, as well as the BoM trusting him enough to reveal their identities) if maybe that was Haggar instead.

Not to mention, if what Macidus said was true, Haggar’s last order was to kill all the Blades of Marmora, (especially Keith?).

If so, this adds to the Keith/Haggar possible dynamic moving into season 8.

[omggiogiothings]

Newborn & Disneyland

Here’s the Disneyland Au with word building I shouldn’t be putting into a drabble series but WhaTEVER.

Here’s the other drabble where baby Fumiko is older LINK

Here’s the link to ao3!

“Lance, I dunno.” Keith dried off his hands, coming into the living room to fix his friend with a harsh stare. Fumiko was curled up in Lance’s arms, reaching out with her chubby hands to occasionally bat at his face. He only replied by playing with her fingers and cooing at her.

Lance jostled her with a grin as Keith joined him. He had washed out a few bottles that were piling up and while Shiro was at work, dealing with some Galaxy Garrison stuff, Lance came to keep him company. Shiro was somehow making it work for them by taking up Keith’s shifts if he could. Keith was on paternity leave, recovering from birth and taking care of their newborn.

“Come on! We have to check out Disney, I’m surprised we haven’t! Plus, it’s a thing parents do to their kids!” Lance held Fumi in the crook of his arm, cooing at her, “Yes we do, yes.”

“What? Take her to Disney? She won’t remember it.” Keith smiled as Fumi wiggled and managed to jab Lance in the eye when he wandered too close. Lance took it in stride, merely wincing and embracing his fate.

“That’s the point! So when she’s older and complains you never took her. Blam! Slam those pictures down!”

Keith shook his head, “I don’t think this would be a problem, like. Ever. Especially with us.”

“Keith,” He drawled out. “Have you ever been to Disney?”

Keith snapped his mouth shut, annoyed instantly.

Lance grinned, “Good. We can take you both for your first trip to Disney then!”

“It’s expensive.” Keith complained. “I’m out of work, until my leave is completely done with.”

“Keith, have you been without Fumi ever since you had her?” Lance asked, giving him a side look that meant he was about to open a problem and tell Keith how it was. Keith hated it.

He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. His one-month leave had just finished and Shiro had pushed it for another two weeks just because they needed to find a sitter. But Keith was unsure how he could leave Fumiko with someone he didn’t trust. Fumiko was his baby, just seeing her unhappy made him upset.

“Look, I don’t wanna pry in your business, but you have to remember you got your life to live too. And I told you, if you ever need a sitter I could ask my mom, maybe even my sisters.”

Keith pursed his lips, watching Fumiko stare around at them, snuggling back near Lance. “I know, but. Ughhh.”

He held his arms out and Lance sighed, handing over his bundle of joy. The first time Shiro had to go into work after they brought Fumiko home was a wreck. Shiro cried, Fumiko cried, Keith cried. Everyone was crying.

He cradled her close, smiling at her hazel eyes as she stared around at him. She sucked on her pacifier, almost completely oblivious. She was perfect. “I don’t think I’m ready.” He mumbled.

“You can't take her to work strapped to your chest.” Lance pointed out casually. “Look, I get why you’re hesitant about dropping her off at daycares. She has glowy eyes. My family can keep it under wraps, just gotta make out the longer drive. Let us help out with the baby and get this alliance with the universe on the road.”

Keith sighed, nestling his baby close as she closed her eyes. The glowing eyes had come as a surprise. She looked human enough but there were small things here and there that gave away to her Galra heritage (Shiro had kissed his shoulder when they noticed, whispering “Well, at least we know it skips a generation.”). Keith didn’t even have himself to base it on. All records of him as a baby didn’t even exist. By all research and studies into biology, Keith shouldn’t exist, Fumiko should exist even less but here she was, in his arms.

The thought of someone noticing her alien differences made them especially cautious. The last thing they needed to do was tell the U.N that Keith had parentage from aliens.

Keith had met Lance’s mother. The woman had demanded to meet them once Lance got in contact with them when they first arrived. She had hugged them all and invited them to thanksgiving and Christmas every year. She had also knitted beanies and dresses and a bundle of store bought clothes for Fumiko too. When Keith first announced his pregnancy, Lance had passed on the news and apparently his mother had screamed.

Lance’s family would take care of Fumiko. He had no doubt about it. But his nervousness of releasing his baby to other people still struck him. He was sure there was a handbook that said what he was feeling was normal for an Omega but he wanted to shove that book up some pretentious person’s ass (All the baby books were about the joys of reproduction and the happiness of being an Omega. The only good part of it was letting him know what was gonna happen and if it was good or bad depending on how sugar coated the words were).

“I’ll think about it.” He decided, and Lance figured that was as far as he was going to push today so he got up and picked up some stuff on the coffee table.

“Good, now about Disneyland.”

“Ughhhhhhhh.”

By the time Fumiko was two months Keith and Shiro had a long discussion on taking her to Lance’s mothers place.

Keith couldn’t push leave longer, so he embraced the fact he’d have to return and let someone watch his baby.

He also spent hours on the phone with Laura (Lance’s mother) who reassured him constantly on the wellbeing of his child. She also confirmed his weird instincts and his disgruntled voice made her laugh. She let him ask question over question and didn’t care when they were about how she’d take care of Fumiko.

Lance had given him a knowing grin afterwards and Keith tossed a bottle at his stupid face.

Getting back into the swing of work was hard too. He was mostly Shiro’s second hand, overseeing decisions and adding input when he could (Lance had filled in his role well when he was on leave, but Lance had his own sector on earth overseeing a completely different mission, allowing the immigration of alien life on earth). But Shiro was the driving force in getting some sort of treaty with laws in policies in trading between earth and other galaxies. Keith quickly took place in paperwork and getting things clear between parties. He was also the scary face that could get politicians sweating with a single look. They had been hailed as heroes for saving the earth (that battle had been broadcasted worldwide with their identities kept a secret). But now that they were here, they worked to advocate on helping Earth progress. The United Nation hated them but only because they learned how to work the system in their favor after doing so for thousands of different planets. Allura was also a major force around the world and the galaxy. They all were working hard to get her on earth. She deserved to have a family with Lance. She deserved to meet the McClain family.

It was worse staying still when he knew his baby was somewhere without him. But it got easier as she got older and he got used to Laura taking care of her.

He watched her reach milestone after milestone and his phone filled up with photos of her that he shared with the others when he could. Allura seemed to love the ones he took with her wearing lion and Voltron related pun shirts (I’m not lion, I'm the mane attraction). Coran was delighted in the ones where she wore tiny costumes. His typing was outrageous, but they appreciated it.

Disneyland came back when she was five months, bigger and starting to make more noise. Lance brought it up, roping Hunk and Pidge into it, and then Shiro betrayed him the moment he learned Keith had never gone.

“It’s fun.” Shiro tried, smiling despite the glare on Keith’s face. “Everyone’s gone to Disney, at least once. I promise it will be totally worth it.”

It took a few months before Keith caved.

Lance bought Fumiko a princess dress (there was a lot of fighting on who it would be and Keith was ready to call it off before everyone called a truce) with matching earrings and pacifier. Keith had taken bibs because he knew with the way she drooled when she was teething it would ruin the dress in an instant.

He spent days deciding what to take and even longer finally realizing he was going. The night before Shiro had taken apart the diaper bag when they couldn’t find Fumi’s favorite teething ring before realizing it had been thrown into the corner of her crib.

“We’re a little bad at this.” Shiro admitted, the next morning with Fumiko strapped to his chest with a baby carrier. Keith fastened the buckles, throwing a blanket over the slumbering baby and making sure Shiro was set. He paused, seeing the look on Shiro’s face.

“Shiro, weren’t you the one who told me no one was perfect with parenting?”

Shiro frowned, looking down at Keith. “Yeah. Guess I did. I’m just a little worried I guess. Which is a little dumb after the mess we went through getting you to go.”

Keith gently patted his cheek, curling his hand when Shiro leaned into it with a sigh. “We can always back out. We’re new to this. But I think she’s perfect and she has a bunch of uncles and one tiny aunt looking after her. Not to mention her fathers.”

Shiro opened his eyes, smiling and kissing the palm of Keith’s hand. “Of course she’s perfect. She’s your daughter.”

Keith rolled his eyes darting up to kiss him gently. “So, what’s the call?”

Shiro hummed, licking his lips. “Let’s go.”

“Good. Now let me take the carrier off you and we can get all this stuff in the car.”

“I can’t believe we decided to check if it fit the day we were going.”

“Didn’t we just say we weren't perfect? That isn't changing anytime soon.”

Shiro laughed.

They picked up Pidge and Hunk with Lance meeting them there with the tickets. Lance was trying to win over Fumiko for favorite uncle (a spot Hunk and he were fighting each other for) and wanted to make sure everything was set for her.

Shiro drove, sticking his tongue out at Keith in the rearview mirror when Keith caught his eye. Leaning over the car seat to feed Fumiko, he grinned and flipped him off, making Shiro bark out a laugh.

Arriving in the parking lot they took their time getting everything out. Pidge took first baby carrying watch as Keith fitted the carrier to her smaller form. Fumiko chewed on Pidge’s shirt without rest, pretty grey eyes staring at the freckles on Pidge’s chest (the color had darkened, quickly changing to match Shiro’s eyes). They saddled themselves with their packs stuffed into Fumiko’s stroller and got ready to meet with Lance.

It was packed, as they all had expected, and it was surreal to think they were galactic warriors going to Disneyland of all places. There was no threat of the world on the balance. Only an eight-month-old baby covered in spit.

Lance greeted them, giving them all tickets and leaning around Shiro with a wide grin as he mapped out their trip. Keith would begrudgingly give spot of favorite uncle to Lance if it didn’t mean Hunk would cut them off of his famous cookie supply (a god send when Keith was pregnant).

Keith had to admit, as the day went on that Disney was great. It was flamboyant and over the top. Everything was decorated the best it could have been. They took cheesy pictures in front of the castle and rode basic rides that Fumiko was able to go on. Keith stayed out with the baby when they went on rides not meant for her. Mainly because Fumiko was anxious at first, being around people she couldn’t recognize by smell. Having her close to his heartbeat made her relax. Eventually he was able to put her in the stroller where she played with her toys and made noises at everybody that passed.

She was adorable. She was really the best of them both.

“Wanna go on space mountain?” Lance asked them, kneeled in front of Fumiko’s stroller and playing with her as Shiro and Keith looked over a map together.

Keith hummed, frowning at the ride on the corner of the map. “Who will sit out with Fumiko?”

“Actually.” Lance grinned. “I was thinking we can take her to the nemo ride and you two can try out space mountain?”

Both turned to him insanely fast.

Lance held out his hands in a surrender fashion. He held it for a second before Fumi’s outraged cry for the toy wrapped on one of his fingers made him put them back into her reach. “Hear me out. You two haven’t gone a ride together yet without her. She will be fine. You have all three of us watching her.”

Keith frowned, already feeling nervous but knowing it would be nice to have just Shiro to himself. He shared a look with Shiro who was frowning, considering. Shiro gave a small shrug, “It would be nice for a bit. But promise you’ll only take her to Nemo and you won’t let her out of your sight.”

Shiro’s commanding voice made them all straighten up. If anything happened to her there was no doubt in all their minds they’d have to face Shiro’s wrath.

Keith, glaring from behind him reminded them they’d have hell to pay from him too.

“Got it. I promise.”

With that settled they headed their separate ways with Keith kissing Fumiko goodbye.

In line together, Keith took the chance to appreciate his husband and mate. Shiro was wearing a jacket over a tank top (that had a mickey face on it, a gift from Pidge that said I’m his) and a pair of mickey mouse sunglasses pushed up his forehead, white bangs peeled away from his face. He was handsome and Keith wasn’t the only one appreciating the view if the shy looks he saw from teenage and older women and men.

Keith grinned, linking their hands together. Shiro had the idea to throw on some gloves, only to hide the prosthetic (was it cheating if the material his arm was made out of technically not metal? He didn’t get signaled out by the metal detector and it was a weapon technically made by the Alteans. Not that anyone knew that last part). But still looked endearing.

Shiro’s slim figure did make him just a bit jealous. They had been a fit couple for a very long time, but Keith was still carrying some baby weight from Fumiko. It wasn’t as easy to shed but Shiro had never made him feel like it mattered. Only Keith thought it was gross when he saw the stretch marks and thought of what his body used to be. But then, thinking about Fumiko and the absolute elation they both had when she had come into the world made it worth it. He could lose the weight, but Fumiko wasn’t something he would ever think about losing.

They chatted about easy things. They made fun of the ducks fighting around them and then talked about the day itself. The line was taking forever but Keith enjoyed being tucked under Shiro’s arm, flicking through his phone to pull up images from the day and decide which ones to send Coran and Allura.

Shiro sighed, squeezing Keith close. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve all this.”

Keith looked up at him, finger stilling over the screen. “What do you mean?”

Shiro smiled softly as he looked at the flashing lights of the ride. “You. I feel like I don’t deserve you or what you’ve given to me. Fumiko and you are the center of my world. And family outings like this is something I had never considered. I guess I’m kind of sappy right now.”

Keith gently nudged him. “You deserve it. Sometimes… I feel like I don’t deserve you.” He grinned at the look Shiro shot him. “Can’t blame me. Having a family seemed like such an insane possibility. I’m really glad I got to share one with you.”

Shiro held his gaze before they leaned in for a kiss, a soft brush of lips that still melted Keith’s heart every time.

“God, Fumiko is gonna hate us when she gets older. Having two saps for dads.”

Keith laughed, gently shoving Shiro back.

Lance was going to die.

Not a good death either. Maybe Shiro will spare him and make it quick.

Hunk and Pidge had left for a second and Lance had parked the stroller to give Fumiko some juice but the bottle had slipped, rolling down the pathway. He quickly moved to grab it, glancing back to the stroller and then grabbing it. He was momentarily hit by a crowd but found the stroller and leaned over to give Fumiko her drink only to freeze.

Blue eyes stared back at him. He gazed at the baby in the stroller, older then Fumiko and not Fumiko.

“Oh my god.” He whispered, pulling back and looking around. The other strollers were empty and none the same brand as the one he was holding and the one that had his darling niece in it.

Oh my god, Shiro was going to kill him.

He looked back at the baby and realized he wasn’t the only one who fucked up.

But also, who the fuck would take the wrong stroller?!

“Hey man, do you wanna wait by the-what’s wrong?” Hunk held a water bottle only stopping when Lance didn’t look up.

“I’m gonna die.”

Pidge popped up and looked down before freezing too. “Who is that?”

“I don’t know! I dropped the bottle and went to grab it really quick! I came back, and this kid is here!”

“What do you mean?!” She shrieked. She quickly scaled Hunk, making him yelp but Hunk didn’t care, only holstering her up on his shoulders for her to look. “Someone just came in and stole her?”

“Yes! Who the fuck does that?!”

He ignored the dirty looks parents shot him. It’s their fault, they just let some random ass family take his niece!

“Oh my god, Shiro is going to kill us.” Hunk whispered and they both swallowed. Shiro was terrifying, they knew from experience.

Pidge scowled, ripping open her purse and pulling out a pair of binoculars she had stolen from Coran ages ago. She looked around, scanning the crowd and then gasping. “I’m so stupid! This thing is a Galra scanner!”

They had never in their lives been so happy that Fumiko had that strand of DNA in her.

She clicked and looked around, before freezing and screeching. “THEY’RE HEADED FOR THE STAR WARS RIDE! GO, GO, GO!”

Hunk ran in an instant, holding onto Pidge. Lance grabbed their bags and put them onto the stroller and took the little boy with him. This kid was in for a ride because Lance was booking it.

Thinking back on it, jumping the mother holding Fumiko’s stroller wasn’t Pidge’s greatest idea but Lance had followed her lead and taken down the other adult with her. Hunk had screeched and tried to separate them while stopping to smile at Fumiko and the other kid in the stroller to keep them calm.

They were making a scene and the possibility of being escorted out by security was becoming very probable.

Until Keith said, “What the hell is going on?”

Lance and Pidge froze, Hunk almost sobbing while the other mother stretched out his shirt collar.

Shiro and Keith stared at them, holding hands and confused.

“She took Fumiko!” Hunk screamed, always the first to cave under pressure.

“Who are you?! You jumped on me!”

“Nice try lady! I left to pick up a bottle and you snatched her up!” Lance looked like he was going to bite her again and she growled.

But then she saw the stroller to the side with her son in it and paled. “Oh my god we took the wrong stroller.”

Shiro and Keith stared for the longest moment before Keith let go of Shiro and ripped everyone apart.

“Get the bags Lance.”

Lance did as told, making no quips even as the lady went to fuss with her son. “There was no reason to jump on me.”

Keith cut her off quickly. “If you were better at looking at who was in the stroller, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So buzz off before I kick your ass. I don’t care if I’m kicked out of disney or not.”

She hightailed it out there at the sight of his glare.

Keith sighed, undoing Fumiko from her stroller and glaring at the three guilty ex-paladins. “Not a word.”

Keith and Shiro ripped into them the moment they all had their ice cream cups and Fumiko was being fed by Shiro. Keith held her close, refusing to let go of her. Shiro refused to let either of them wander too far.

Getting scolded by Shiro was one thing. When Keith did it, it was like disappointing two parents.

“I’m sorry.” Lance admitted, not even budging on starting his ice cream like Pidge and Hunk. “I promised you we’d look after her and fucked up. I swear it was just a second. I didn’t think it would be long enough to lose her. If anything had happened to her. I would have never forgiven myself. I’m so sorry.”

Keith stared at Lance for a long moment and sighed. He knew the others cared about Funiko deeply. They had all loved her when she hadn’t been born yet just because she was Keith and Shiro’s baby. Lance had slaved for their tickets and had been the best friend Keith could have asked for. Lance was a dick, there was no doubt about that and it may have taken years, but Keith wasn’t scared to tear him down when he was being a jerk to him. And Lance learned from his mistakes. He knows when he fucks up and he knows when to make it better. When Keith finally told him off when they were younger, Lance didn’t make an excuse. He understood, and he made amends.

That’s why Keith knows Lance would have done everything he could if something serious had happened to Fumiko.

Well, biting on the ankle of an innocent civilian was endearing when you think about it.

Shiro looked like he was still stewing over it, but Keith knew it was just the fear that she could have been lost and they weren’t even there to stop it.

He leaned and took Shiro’s hand, making him look up. Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I know. I know you this was an accident. I am still really disappointed, but I’m also scared. I trust you guys with my family because you are my family. But Fumiko’s safety is always my top priority. You guys have to understand nothing matters more.”

“We know.” Pidge whispered, looking up with shinning eyes. “We know that because she’s our priority too. We love her, Shiro. We’d fight another war for her. We’d never do this intentionally.”

Shiro softened, looking aytall of them hunched over like sad puppies. He caved and shared a look with Keith.

Keith took a second and instantly knew what to do.

“Here’s how you guys can make it up to us.”

They went home with a stuffed Stitch nearly 3 times Fumiko’s size.

Pidge, Hunk’s and Lance’s wallet would bleed for the next month.

[darkspellmaster]

Voltron Theory Part 2 Season 3: Lotor’s Parentage

So, we’ve now been introduced to Prince Lotor, and he’s a heck of a lot to un-package.

Smart and charismatic, but also manipulative and doesn’t suffer failure. It’s clear that there’s more to this man, he also seems to hold grudges and allows others to be harmed for his actions, such as in the case of Throk.

And yet, there is a nicer side to him. He’s protective of his generals, it’s clear that he respects them and their opinions. He’s also a man of action, showing that he can get into the thick of it, and yet knows how to pull back when there’s not much to gain.

It’s clear that he was trained hard in becoming very well versed in military strategy, but why? We also know for sure that he was exiled by the Galra for some reason, and has since been off doing something else. What’s interesting is that he picked up the Generals, all female too mind you, and have been using him as his elite squad of sorts.

Unlike Zarkon, there’s a clear equality that he sees in his team, something that…on the one hand is awesome, on the other hand, given his reaction to Acxa’s failure with the Teledav, one has to wonder how far his equal view of his men goes?

Physically he’s an interesting Specimen to the eye.

He’s tall, but smaller than a lot of Galra, meaning he’s roughly about the size of a Human or an Altean.

He has white hair, which again is unusual because there are only a few people that have that hair: Alfor, his wife, Allura, Keith apparently (as per Lauren’s comment about him dying it black was part of an idea they had for the series) and surprisingly Kolivan (the long end of his hair is white).

He also has a very narrow chin and features distinctive Altean ears, something that hints at his being half, and also, importantly, is something carried over from the main series in both the original Go lion and the American Voltron Defender of the Universe.

Lotor also has yellow eyes, but blueish irises, and a very sharp chin, unlike his father who has more of a square jaw. 

Again Altean features as far as we’ve seen in the show, save for some of the Galra, like Throck and Haxus who both have pointed chins but seem to lack some of the qualities that these two had.

There’s also the fact that he doesn’t wear the same sort of armor as the other members of the military, and that his helmet is distinctly Altean in design, much like Allura’s Paladin look.

What’s also interesting with Lotor is the fact that he bears no markings of the Altean people like his mother. Although there’s some question if that is his mother but more on that later. He also seems to have the smoother skin for the Galra rather than a more fuzzy aspect. Which is again rather different than other members of his species.

So this got me thinking, exactly who is Lotor. Or rather who is his parents? There are a few options, so let’s dive into them and hopefully we can come up with a good theory about where his blood line is coming from.

Let’s start by looking to the past to get an idea of who we can rule in and out of this versions heritage.

Lotor from the original series was born from King Zarkon and a young woman from Arus, who was taken as his slave. Haggar (Honerva in Go Lion), the former Queen of Planet Doom and Zarkon’s Mother, was Lotor’s grandmother, both of which Lotor didn’t know about. In the updated comic Lotor’s mother Lora, given an actual name, is the royal consort (although I don’t know if the marriage was an alliance deal or something that was a willing deal) of king Zarkon and actually does things in his name, and seems to have been there for Lotor as he grew up to a point. In both cases his mother seems to be Altean, and his father Zarkon.

We know for sure that we can rule out the idea of Haggar (points for using both aspects of the original series with that one guys) being his grandmother as we’ve seen that she came from Honerva, Zarkon’s wife. And we can probably rule out the idea of Zarkon enslaving someone to give him a child, since even Zombified Zarkon is somewhat honorable. So where does that leave us to figuring this out.

Well we know that Lotor claims that Zarkon’s his father so we can go with that as a Start and list all the ways that Zarkon can be Lotor’s father.

If Zarkon is Lotor’s dad Theories:

1.       Zarkon and Honerva had Lotor biologically

Now in Episode 7: The legend begings, we see the back story of how Zarkon met Honerva met and got married.

 During this time we also saw the birth of Princess Allura and, during none of the time while they were alive, did we see either of them mention having a child. 

This would be a big thing, as given how friendly the two men were before things went down, it wouldn’t have been that hard to believe that they could have arranged to have Lotor and Allura marry.

This doesn’t even touch on if Galra and Alteans can have kids together, however the show has been hinting at the fact that it’s a possibility with the hybrids and Keith’s existence.

As @radioactivesupersonic post pointed out, it seems really weird for the two to conceive a child after being Zombified. I’m going to go one further on this, I don’t just think they are Zombified, I think they are actively being controlled and possessed. So if that’s the case, why would they want to have a child? Given that Haggar couldn’t remember being married until she went into Zarkon’s mind, and he clearly wasn’t showing that he recalled her (even if they were still emotionally bonded) it would be hard to believe that they would want to have a child together.

Lotor clearly was born after Allura went into her sleep as she would have recalled him, and Coran indicated that they didn’t know he had a son. This means that Lotor wasn’t born before the Zombification of Zarkon and Honerva. So they had to have him after, but how? If they are dead, that would mean that they don’t have the living options in their body, as Haggar is shown to have gone from her normal brown color to a dark purple, which could be either from the thing that attached to them, or (like Transformer that turn gray) Altean’s bodies turn a darker color when they die. Thus making it clear that both are living on borrowed time.

Regardless, Haggred’s one track mind on experimentation and Zarkon’s desire for Voltron, indicate to me that neither of them would have the mind to, nor the inclination, to create a child though a union of their own. This also doesn’t explain why Lotor only sees Zarkon as his father and doesn’t mention Honerva, nor does it imply why he calls her his father’s witch. Unless Lotor has no clue of his mother at all, and this is going to be a situation where he wigs out and kills her like in the original Go Lion. But given the way they’re building up Lotor, I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen, as he’s more like the Devil’s Due version in that he’s a more honorable person…to a point.

So if that’s the case then…

2.       Lotor is an experiment by Haggar

This one is another thing brought up by @radioactivesupersonic, and I think it’s a good one. The idea is that Haggar created Lotor by building a child based on the DNA from herself and Zarkon, and possibly Alfor or his wife.

Now I can believe that. We know that Haggar can create things, and alter people (Shiro and the other cyborgs) and infuse people into the Robeasts (as we’ve seen with the first and second season) and we know that they’re creating clone technology (as per Kuro –fake Shiro). So the idea of her creating a child possibly from various bits of DNA and mixing them to give birth to him.

In that case, he would know that Zarkon is his father, but when was this done, and how long ago did this take? We have no info on that, and I would think that, if Lotor was going to be a test subject for Haggar, there would be more clues given.

On the other hand he could be from only one parent with add ons put in him. As in Lotor is a clone of Zarkon, the problem with that is that Lotor bears no significant traits with Zarkon, and only has the purple skin tone. And he certainly has more qualities with an Altean and has the white hair, which we now know is connected only two a hand full of people (Alfor, Allura, Allura’s mom, Kolivan and Keith). So did Haggar clone Alfor and alter him? There is that option since Lotor does have a similar eye color to the late King.

Then again, if Zarkon couldn’t remember her, could he have forced a child from another Altean?

3.       Zarkon’s the dad, but another woman is the mom

There is a chance that given Zarkon not recalling his past, he could have taken on an Altean woman to have Lotor and then left her behind.

However, this is less likely because people point out that Lauren Montgomery has noted that Lotor has a connection to Princess Allura. Something that being born from an unknown woman wouldn’t allow to happen.

The other option is that Zarkon and Allura’s mom had Lotor. We are told over and over that Alfor was killed by him and Altea was blown up. However I don’t fully believe that the Alteans are dead, due to the fact that Lotor had his ship built and the only ones that can do that are the Olkari, who probably wouldn’t do so, and the Altean’s since they built the first set of lions.

If Lotor is Allura’s brother through her mom and Zarkon, the issue is how has he stayed alive? Unlike Zarkon and Haggar, it’s clear that Lotor hasn’t imbibed in the Quintessense since his eyes still have irises, and we’ve seen other Galra not have glowing yellow eyes. These are Galra that look closer to the original form of the Galra (see the captain of the ship that the Blue Lion attacked in the first season) or seem to be halfs. So unless he’s being corrupted by the Quintessense I don’t think Lotor is that old, and can’t be Allura’s brother that way, unless he was frozen as part of his exile.

4.       Lotor is Zarkon’s son from another reality.

This one is weird but there is this option. We know that there are other realities and we’ve seen how things can pass through. So there is that option, but…and I say this hard, if Lotor did come through he would have had to have passed through via ship like Voltron and been picked up by the Galra. Now we know that he’s interested in building a teledev and that he seemed to have an idea of other realities, or at least that the meteorite can go between ala Voltron.

However the main problem also is that he was able to control the Altean ship, which means that he has to have some connection to the royal family to do anything to that ship. However he could very well be a descendent from both the Empress Allura and the Zarkon of another universe. We’ve only seen one so far, and the idea that there are more out there indicates that there’s a chance for that reality to have had some form of peace between the two forces.

The problem with this is, how do you prove he’s from another reality?

On the plus side, if he is from another reality and thus connected to Allura as a brother, then that could explain the whole issue of him moving the ship.

There is also a chance that Lotor is not the Son of Zarkon but may be another person’s child all together.

1.       Lotor could be the son of Empress Allura

While this is the least likely choice, there is a small hint that it could be. We know that Lotor has a very close look physically to Allura, and this isn’t just by design. If Lotor came from that world, how did he get to our known universe? The only way I can think of is due to a number of situations that allowed for him not to be affected by the rift.

However he clearly wants to travel between worlds as he purposely built that ship from that meteorite. He knows about the way it works, and the only way he could know that is if he was able to test that factor. He also wants a teleduv which means that he knows how to use that too.

If he is the son of Allura that could explain the whole idea of him being connected to her.  If he is from another universe, this might be a case of him wanting to go home, rather than continue Haggar’s tests. The issue is still how did he get across the rift without being vaporized.

2.       Lotor is Allura’s brother

Okay this one is one that keeps going around my head. There are still issues with it, but there’s some very interesting ways this could be.

While looking at Episode 7 I noticed that Lotor does bear a striking resemblance to Alfor. They share similar eyes, not only in color but in shape.

 Also chin and nose as well.

Alfor also has the same sort of side burns as Lotor, and there’s some similarity in their hair styles as well. Then there is the ears on Alfor and Lotor. They are practically the same.

They both seem to share even their smiles, and some of their personality traits in the smug department.

We also know again that he could turn on the Altean ship which is rather important since it’s been stated that only a royal family member can move Altean ships. Coran and others have said over and over that ships that are like the one that was between the rifts can only be moved or controlled by the royal family. Which means that previously the Commander of the ship would have had to have been a member of the royal family as well, or that there was something on the ship that allowed it to move.

Furthermore when you actually examine the options for who could be Lotor’s parents, with Honerva and Zarkon you run into a few problems.

For one thing their eye colors do not match their son’s. Like at all, in any way, shape or form. Not only that but there’s the fact that Lotor’s ears are closer in shape to Alfor’s then Honerva’s. Both Honerva and Zarkon have brown eyes, and yes I checked with a hexadecimal code to see the exact color that they used in the coloring of the eyes of the characters.

Lotor’s eyes match up with the range of Alfors as both Honerva and Zarkon’s eyes are brown. The only people that have blue eyes are Acxa, Allura, Alfor, her mom, Ezor, and oddly Coran.  Unless it turns out that Coran is his dad, which would match up with the idea of Coran having a missing son.

So how would Lotor end up being under Zarkon’s control? And why would Allura not know she has a brother?

Well if Allura’s mom was with child during the events of the fall of Altea, then there’s a strong chance that she could have, and would have given birth after the castle was taken. Assuming that the Alteans didn’t all die, it wouldn’t be that hard to believe that Zarkon would kill them all as they’re actually useful to them, and there are hints about the druids being Altean, then it could very well be that he’s placed them under his control.

If Allura’s mom did have a child, it wouldn’t be that far to believe that Zarkon and Haggar wouldn’t want a child to rise up and find his sister. They could have easily put him under experimentation, and frozen him for a time to carefully grow him in a controlled environment and make him believe he is the son of Zarkon.

The other option was that he was born from Alfor and Allura’s mom through a less conventional way and at a later time, then infused with aspects of the Galra to maybe create someone that could be used to control the Alteanas or Polluxians or other races in their stand. Unfortunately he’s too independent and was sent away due to his own nature to want to do his own thing.

It’s hard to tell for sure exactly where Lotor’s from, but a lot of signs point to the idea that he is at least connected to the royal family. So those are my theories, anyone have others?

One other funny note: 

Alfor’s sword....

Lotor’s sword. 

They’re very similar in design. 

[casandratheselfinserts]

Dissection/Building Pt. 1

ORIGINS & FAMILY:

Full Name: Kexi (Do... Do Galra have last names???) Reason for name: It was the name of a nearby star Nickname(s) and how they got them: Crazy Kexi (Due to how nothing can stop her once she’s wronged) Date of Birth: 10,000 years ago Age: 27 (Stasis) Gender: Female  Place of birth: A central planet in the Galra-Altea Alliance Places lived since: 15 Social Class: Middle before the war, unknown now Parents’ names, backgrounds, occupations: Zankun (A low ranking soldier from a middle-class family not of note in the Galra) and Nohi (An Altean artist from a relatively nice Altean family, but estranged from them). Siblings: One, named Namman, who has gone his own way. Relationship with family (close? estranged?): She was close with her family, immediate and on the Galra side, until her father Nohi put Kexi and Namman into stasis--When they awoke, the universe was vastly different. Namman went his own way once they awoke, claiming Kexi would see him again “When Altea is restored.” Children of his/her own?: None If so, relationship with child’s mother/father?: None Age he/she became a parent: None

PHYSICAL

Height: 5′1 (Puny for a member of either race. Pathetic.) Weight: 150 (Fat & Muscle) Build: Hourglass figure, broad shoulders, thick thighs compared to calves & arms. Race: Galran & Light-skinned Altean Nationality: None Face Shape: Heart Distinguishing Facial Features: Altean marks when not hiding them, her large strange nose Hair Color: Teal Usual Hair Style: Down, or a low side-ponytail Eye Color: Brown Complexion (freckles, acne, skin tone, birth marks, scars): Lavender, with a scar in her left eyebrow, rosy cheeks, scars on her back and arms Disabilities (physical or mental, including mental illnesses): Nerve damage from the stasis, causing oversensitivity and chronic fatigue. Her suit helps combat some of this by supporting her muscles and protecting her from the elements. Health (usually sick? or very resilient? allergies?): Resilient to disease, but weak to injury. Allergic to some types of crystals, and metals, but luckily has been fine. What do they consider their best feature?: Her hair. No matter how much she uses her Altean abilities to alter her size & color, she treasures her bright and soft hair. Worst they’ve ever been injured (what, how did it happen)?: Not long after waking up, she got into a fight with some Galra drones, and received several scars from the battle. The worst injury in that fight was from them throwing her backwards against her own pod, the impact to her weakened back nearly breaking it, definitely breaking her skin, and leaving her unable to move from the pain for days. Ticklish: Yes, in certain spots.

APPEARANCE

Style of dress/typical outfit(s): Usually wearing her space-suit, but fond of the chance to dress in formal attire from either heritage Typical style of shoes: Flat-soled, no preference otherwise How does he/she dress up?: Dress down?: To dress up, she likes to do extravagant hairstyles with long flowing parts and equally long flowing dresses. Favorite outfit: Her space-suit Glasses? Contacts?: Rectangular glasses, or vision-correcting visor in the helmet for her suit Personal Hygiene: Very good Grooming (makeup? shower daily? wear only clean clothes? pluck eyebrows?): Showers whenever possible (daily would be preferred but... Stuff happens in space), when low on energy she puts on makeup to hide her Altean marks. Naturally perfect eyebrows (because every self-insert needs one thing too perfect) What does your OC choose to do about the, er, hair down there?: Keeps herself as smooth-shaven as possible, everywhere possible really. Jewelry? Tattoos? Piercings?: Four piercings up her left ear, one on her right, but she rarely wears jewelry on them due to the metal and gemstone allergies making jewelry-finding difficult What does their voice sound like?: She has a high, loud, smooth voice. Like, a little annoyingly high, but the smoothness helps keep it from being shrill or painful, and it doesn’t sound forced. Style of speech (loud, mumbler, articulate, etc.): Loud & articulate. Until she gets mad, when she stops being articulate and is instead just loud. Accent?: Galran (Pretty standard “TV” American accent) Unique mannerisms/physical habits (bites nails, talks with hands, taps feet when restless): She picks at her skin, digs her nails into her skin when nervous, talks with her hands, sings when stressed, and when focusing on something she doesn’t have to look at, her eyes go a bit blank--She stops trying to see so she can focus. More oversensitive when worn out. Left handed or right?: So right handed that it makes piloting hard for her because it requires both hands. What does their writing look like?: Artsy but sloppy. Do they work out/exercise?: Yes. That’s even where some of the scars come from.

BELIEFS & INTELLECT

IQ: 115 Level of self esteem: Mid-low Known Languages: Galran, Altean, “Standard” Gifts/talents: Gifted singer. Which means absolutely nothing in this war-torn universe, but she’s proud of it anyway. Shortcomings: Short-tempered, tires easily, low confidence, does not work well with leadership, fairly weak for a Galra. Most sensitive about/vulnerable to: Sensitive about racial issues, the Empire, and people trying to “parent” (read: be in charge of at all) her, and vulnerable to loud sounds, loud noises, and kindness. Happiest memory: Her first time seeing Voltron, when she was a kid still living with her parents, and her dad asked if she wanted a painting of it. Her mom looked more relieved than anything at the sight of Voltron--Looking back, Kexi guesses it was probably because, as a soldier, her mom was relieved at the idea of Voltron meaning less conflict. Namman was too young to know anything that was going on. Life philosophy: Misplaced trust caused the war. She won’t let herself make the same mistake. Pet peeves: Loud people (yes, she knows she is loud), people telling her what to do before they’ve earned her trust. Vices: “Immoral or wicked behavior” Starting fights too easily due to her short temper despite knowing she’ll probably lose counts as a vice, right? Bad habits: Skin-picking, digging her nails into her skin when she’s upset Disgusts: Loud mouth noises, slimy foods, bad smells Superstitious: Paranoia that letting anyone ever lead her again (after trusting her parents and the King led to the war and being put in stasis) will have the same bad results is a superstition right? Sense of humor: Pretty much just puns/wordplay How do they deal with stress?: Getting away from everything else living, and singing her lungs out. What do they do to get pumped up?: She DOES NOT need to be pumped up further. She’s ready. Come at her. (Except don’t) What do they do when upset?: She digs her nails into her skin when she’s upset, and to feel better she has to either go sing, or punch whatever’s upsetting her in the face. What about angry?: She’s an angry-laugher, tough-talker, and absolutely will fight everything. Which is bad for her. She needs to stop. How do they react to frustrations (get worked up, calm down and think through it logically, give up, etc)?: Get worked up, but then try to think through it logically because she’s trying to fight less. How do they accept failure (both from themselves and others)?: For herself, she punishes herself until she gets better. From others, she trusts them a bit less as she has trouble believing anyone who disappoints her actually tried their best. Level of comfort with technology: She USED to know a LOT, thank YOU, but then stasis happened, and she’s still trying to catch up. Believe in the supernatural: She has to, if she’s to believe what she saw the Alteans do in their prime. Believe in an afterlife: No. Believe in happy endings: No. How do they want to be remembered?: Fought and won for something worthwhile. Good with their hands (if so, practical/crafting or fine arts)?: She’s a bit of a tinkerer, but otherwise she’s not the best with her hands. How fast do they learn new things? Better with book knowledge or hands on approach?: She is a very fast learner... For the whole two hours a day she can handle learning. She learns best with a combination of the two--If there’s no words to the actions, her hands will forget, if there’s no actions to the words, her mind will forget. How do they feel about asking for help?: She does not do it unless it’s the only way to prevent unnecessary deaths. Anything less than death? She can handle it. Optimist or pessimist: She’s definitely a pessimist, but there is a teeny tiny bit of hope left in her for a better universe. Extrovert or introvert: Introvert, but can appear extroverted if she has to for her own gain. Leader or follower: Leader. Makes decisions based mostly on emotions, or on logic?: Tries to use logic, but her emotions frequently get the best of her. Cautious or daring: Daring. Too daring. Kexi STOP-- Spontaneous or planner: Trying to be a planner, but often spontaneous. Thinker or doer?: Doer. Even if she has to think about it first, she’s gonna do. Organized or messy: Organized. Worrier or carefree: Worrier. Artistic?: A little, but hasn’t picked up a brush since waking up. Mathematical?: Not really.

SEX & INTIMACY

Current marital/relationship/sexual status: Single Sexual orientation (is it something they question or a secret): Pansexual & polyamorous. Past relationships and sexual partners (if applicable): Only two. Despite being an adult when put into stasis, she had been perfectly content to gaze at the stars alone for the most part and put little effort or love into these relationships. Now, she longs for someone to be close to again--Yet, doesn’t let herself be vulnerable enough. What is their “type” in regards to looks in a partner?: Tall (not hard), long hair, fit, generally Altean/Galran-like (so, like... No dogs or kaltonekers) Ideal mate/qualities they look for in mate: Strong, leaderlike, assertive, charming.  Primary reason for being broken up with: Not present enough Primary reasons for breaking up with people: They weren’t strong or trustworthy enough. Views on sex (one night stands, promiscuity, etc): It’s great, and people have a right to be as promiscuous as they want so long as they aren’t deceiving or harming anyone nonconsensually in doing so. She wishes she’d had more sex back during times of peace. Age and story of first kiss (if any—if not, how does he/she want it to happen?): 17, at an Altean ball. Much like an Earth masquerade, they would all go in disguise (made more fun by Altean’s powers). Part of the game in the Altean version, though, was to try and seduce someone, and by the end of the night, see what they actually look like. She doesn’t remember the name of the girl, but she was... Breathtaking when her disguise was gone. Ashamed that she’d touched someone so beautiful, she ran away before the other girl could see her with her defenses down. All they managed to do was kiss before Kexi ran. Age and story of loss of virginity (if any—if not, how does he/she want it to happen, if at all?): 18, she had been with her girlfriend for a few months, and they’d played around a few times. The night of her first time being “penetrated” was just that playing around going further and further until it happened. Nothing special. Level of sexual experience: Average/slightly-below average. Do they have any unfulfilled sexual fantasies?: Bondage. She has yet to find the right partner for it, but she longs to be totally helpless to someone--And know she’s totally safe, and only in danger of being used until she passes out. Wildest/strangest sexual experience? Would they do it again?: Once, her first boyfriend asked to be pegged specifically with a Galran-dick-replica strapon, while she insulted and degraded him. This experience is when she vowed she would only ever date men who were strong, confident, and definitely not bottoms. Also, she thinks that whole relationship may have been a weird race fetish maybe? Do they have any fetishes or kinks?: Mostly just submitting and being tied up. Otherwise, pretty boring. At least, as far as she knows right now. Have they lied about their previous sexual partners to current/potential partners?: No. Love or Lust: Whichever fulfills the needs of all parties involved the best. Ever been in love?: Unless that girl at the ball counts... She doesn’t think so. Do they fall in love easily?: Yes, she just hasn’t cared to. Do they take relationships seriously?: Now she does. Thinking about all your previous relationships being dead now kinda wakes you up to the need to value people while you have them. Worst thing they’ve done to someone they loved?: Not romantic love, but letting herself get in that fight, which convinced her younger brother he had to go single-handedly try to fix the universe. She misses him. Do they desire marriage and/or children in their future?: Absolutely, if she can find the right partner(s) Believe in true love or soul mates?: Love is a combination of emotions, commitment, and the choice to do what is necessary to keep both of those positive. “True love” as an idea detaches love from reality. Thoughts on public displays of affection?: Lovely, as long as they don’t go too far. Genitals should stay tucked away in public, for instance. How do they flirt: Pretending to be confident for once. If you can one-up her, and also reflect back her praise as being facts (”I’m pretty” “You’re gorgeous, darling, haven’t you noticed?”) you win, she’s all yours. Probably not for long, though, unless you want to deal with her baggage.  How do they show affection/love to their partner?: Gifts, and being very cuddly and smoochy. She’s a very puppy-love kind of gal, once she knows she can be. Thoughts on cheating/cheaters? Have they ever cheated?: Cheating is a crime punishable by death DON’T @ HER. Idea of perfect date: Snuggling up together, reading or watching something together, just laughing and enjoying each other’s bodies and minds.