#castle 1x10 quote

[castle-dominion]

c1x10 a death in the family ooh this is the last episode!

I like how I started with s2 so that i had a feel for the characters as they should be before going to s1 where they are figuring things out & I'd be saying "this isn't right" for the rest of the series but I actually kind of wish that my solo binge watch could have been in order, I feel like it would have made more sense. Tho I didn't HAVE s1 by the time I started. It was (obviously) the most requested castle disc set. (I just found out in canada disk is computer related disc is for everything else.)

Ok I get it not seeing the fellow from the front bc of the cover & the sides bc of the tint but the back window? They should be able to see this fellow Fun song

wow 10 years. I don't make promises Martha: dr death Me: doctor death defying from the killjoys? MR: Well, you ever stop to think you're invading her privacy? RC: I'm not poking through her underwear drawer. I'm investigating her mother's murder. Me: is that any BETTER?

I love alexis, this reminds me a ton of myself & my mom. AC: Dad, all we've done is hold hands. RC: Ew. Okay, Please. Don't need details. Just... Martha is the greatest

KB: I'm not running a background check on your daughter's date. RC: Oh, come on. She says he's quiet. He keeps to himself and he lives with his parents. Tell me that doesn't sound like a serial killer to you. [They join Ryan and Esposito.] JE: Who's a serial killer? (XD) KB: Castle's daughter, Alexis, got invited to prom. RC: It's her first real date. KR: And you're worried he's a serial killer? You should be more worried he's a teenage boy. (tbh yeah) RC: Oh, he's only fifteen. KR: Between satellite TV and the Internet, 15 the new 25. (he's right tbh) JE: Dude's right. I was fifteen once. *cringes* (most people have been... Thomas brackenreid: what do you know about kids? george crabtree: well I was one!) KR: Still are : ) (XD) JE: If I had a daughter her age, I'd never let her out of the house. (So you know & participate in this behaviour. This sort of line always makes me a bit mad.) RC: Thanks, guys. (https://scriptline.livejournal.com/21496.html) Outfits: ryan has a very unbuttoned shirt, esposito has the nice tie.

I remember this episode now! Probs smells p bad lol Fingernails for ripping off the plastic or...? just pinch it bro. It must be the "or" Broken how much before death? I think it might have been close enough that it would present as peri mortem.

Poor gal. Plastic surgery? That sounds like it could be useful to criminals bro. Just like you mom! If you're going to be late, you call!

When did ryan put on a real shirt & cover up his cleavage? Castle: *deadpans some random theory just as an example* Castle: HWoah! That's a good one! *shocked at himself for coming up with a good story?*

He asks permission when it's about smth like this.

KB: Same reason a recovering alcoholic doesn't drink. You don't think I haven't been down there? You don't think I haven't memorized every line in that file? My first three years on the force, every off-duty moment was spent looking for something someone missed. It took me a year of therapy to realize, if I didn't let it go, it was going to destroy me. And so I let it go. So she HAS been to therapy, she HAS let it go before, she LET IT GO after a YEAR of THERAPY. I feel like they forgot this information during s4.

Boobs are designed to look like butts actually. Santa's not real!

So is the clinic still working even tho the doctor is gone? Or maybe he shared the space with someone? OH WAIT they didn't realize he was dead

New fic idea: this surgeon is the one who transed [character's] gener. Or maybe was planning on it & now the person needs to get a new surgeon, possibly bc they had plans or a deadline of some sort. Or fic idea where they are talking about how "gross" plastic surgery is & beckett is like "I had braces as a kid, how different is it?" & one of the others is like (monkey with eyes meme that got deleted when my post went kaput) thinking "i didn't trans my gener no-sir-ee"

from here on out the liveblog comments are recreated (you will see the point which tumblr broke)

RC: Mentally unstable plastic surgery chick. That is way better than harvesting organs.

KB: Well, apparently, quite a lot. Me, trans: don't u know it

castle is right but unhelpful

MR: Her ears stick out, her... *sees mirror* Oh, God, her butt's too flat

love the rysposito banter it's his WORK computer, ofc it's pornless

castle is so right abt billing vs patient info

Not reformatting & adding my comments like I did when I wrote this the first time before tumblr went stupid but here:

BECKETT (CONT'D) So, did Alexis find a dress yet?

CASTLE Yeah. Yeah. Cute one, too. Boy, I can't believe my little girl's going to prom. My only comfort now is the longstanding tradition of torturing the boyfriend.

BECKETT What do you mean?

CASTLE You know, the time-honored hazing that goes on in those few moments we share, where he and I are alone, just before my daughter descends the stairs.

RYAN I remember the terror of meeting my date's old man.

CASTLE What'd he do?

RYAN Checked my wallet for condoms, showed me his gun collection. My hands were shaking so bad, I could barely put on the corsage. (never uses a pronoun)

CASTLE What'd your dad do?

BECKETT I... I don't know. I was in my room.

CASTLE How was your date when you finally came out?

BECKETT You know, actually, now that you mention it, he looked terrified. And this whole time, I thought he was scared of me.

CASTLE Nope. And now it's my turn.

RYAN What are you planning?

CASTLE Something befitting the name of Castle.

girl ur vic is dead he can't care

CASTLE So, what if we ask the other side?

BECKETT You want to ask the mob who the witness is?

i didn;t KNOW beckett read plays

lmao sal

ESPOSITO Jimmy "the Rat" Moran, aka Jimmy Pretty. Been linked to gambling, loansharking, and extortion schemes.

RYAN You know, you want a guy to be loyal, you probably shouldn't nickname him "the Rat."

BECKETT Okay, so let's start off by digging up all known associates of the Spolano family.

RYAN Yeah, sure. And while we're at it, we'll just bang our heads against a brick wall. You know, just for fun.

[Castle looks confused

ESPOSITO Professional hits are the hardest to close because of the anonymous nature of the murders. The usual rules - like motive and relationship to victim - don't apply.

y he confused tho? he should know, he's a crime novelist & actually rly smart, haven't you seen the pilot where he pulls a sherlock holmes & lifts beckett's entire backstory?

sprinkles ARE a metaphor! (I didn't know they were already a metaphor this early but it makes sense)

castle would look more like a dork than a threatening dad

CASTLE What? Whoa, whoa! Wait, wait, wait. Whoa, whoa! That's it? I don't even get a chance to ask him if he's killed a man?

ALEXIS Dad, he hasn't. But I might.

CASTLE Alright. Get out of here. Don't do anything I would do.

voice is not funny bro

she calls it an "unmitigated disaster" before the real disaster even got worse

i looked it up & still don't know how teflon bullets work

castle u could watch the kiss to make sure it doesn't last too long

CASTLE In a couple of years, you're gonna go off to college. You're gonna get married. You're gonna have kids. And I'm only gonna see you on holidays. Until some gold-digger steals all my money, but then I get to move in with you.

ALEXIS Wow. I feel like I just lost thirty years of my life.

CASTLE That's how it happens. One day you're in tutus, and the next day you're too old for severed heads. (u only have 5% of your shared time left or smth)

ALEXIS Dad, don't worry. No matter how old I get, I'll always be your little girl.

my mom @/nowtransparent: unless she's trans

oof reminds me of culinary school. I made a lot of comments about this but I'm not rewriting them

BECKETT It's just... Doesn't that seem like a weird thing to be doing on a Friday night?

RYAN Yeah, well. When you're a low man on the totem pole, that's what life is like. People think they can call you into work at 6 a.m. on a Saturday.

y they tell the hospital to remove the IV but not the fbi to arrest her? bc they don't have enough evidence for the first murder?

WHEN did she join the plastic surgery? was it specifically for jimmy?

"What's that going for these days" as if it's money not years in jail lol

she's allowed to just turn state?

ok idky why but i rewrote (in a crappy summary) some of my comments. here is when I found out I broke things, it goes back to real-time liveblogging now:

FUUUUUUUUUUUUdge

MY LIVECOMMENT GOT DELETED & IDK WHY. I HIT CTRL Z & IT GOT RID OF WAY WAY MORE THAN MY LAST LINE; THEN WHEN I HIT CTRL Y IT DIDN'T DO A GOSHDARN THING WHAT THE HECK MAN?

Lady hit man. A real blow for women's rights.

it's called girl power not girl morals

or whatever the fuck i said before TUMBLR ATE MY FRIDGING POST

well

i'm frickng pissed.

dun dun dun it's bad news about beckett wow i'm so thrilled about it but not rly bc i'm mad

martha is sort of right but why can't castle skip beckett & tell esposito who gave him the file or montgomery maybe? (except I know how the future seasons go)

sprinkles is a metaphor

good to tell her to sit

oof

& I love the style of the credits this season.

now that I spent WAY MORE time than I wanted to watching JUST TWO episodes, I need to go make supper.

[bathroombreaks]

masterpost of all my edits and fanfics pt.2

everything i’ve created can be found here. all good girls edits can be found here. all good girls fanfics can be found here. all anne with an e edits can be found here. all shadow and bone edits can be found here. my collection of gifsets of random tv shows and movies can be found here. my rainbow edits can be found here. things that i like the most/am proudest of, for whatever reason, can be found here.

this masterpost is divided into:

1. anne with an e

a. anne x gilbert edits

b. other edits

2. shadow and bone

a. alina edits

b. other edits

3. good girls

a. gifset collections

b. quote edits

c. parallel edits

d. specific scene/episode edits

e. other beth x rio edits

f. other edits

g. fanfics

--

3.a. good girls - gifset collections

good girls episode titles

countdown to s3 premiere

good girls underrated moments

top 15 good girls moments

good girls appreciation week 2020

our favourite good girls in every episode

christmas gif(t)sets

countdown to season 4

girls in season 4

good girls meme

3.b. good girls - quote edits

beth - now is the time of monsters

annie, beth and ruby - friendships between women

beth and rio - i should go

beth and rio - how to write a tragedy in three acts

beth - everything i wanted

beth and rio - the next time i smile

beth and rio - from eden

beth and rio - steadier with you by my side

beth and dean - one of you is lying

rio - rang each syllable: e-liz-a-beth

beth and rio - nothing’s fair in love and war

beth and rio - entertainer

beth and rio - my love will never die

annie - the human heart

beth and rio - the (greater) fear

beth - the mask and the wearer

beth and rio - 11pm

beth and rio - you know me too well

beth and dean - positions

beth and rio - pov

beth - #girlboss

beth and rio - let it be hell

annie and ben - slipping through my fingers all the time

beth, dean, fitzpatrick and rio - my wife is a bitch and i like her so much

beth and rio - pumped up kicks

beth and rio - we wanna be with each other but we hate each other

beth and dean - a dress like that

beth - it’s not easy for me

3.c. good girls - parallel edits

beth - baking pastries vs cooking cash [2x13]

beth and ruby - hearteyes [1x01, 1x02, 2x02, 2x09]

annie, beth and ruby - robberies [1x01, 1x08, 1x10, 2x09]

annie - throwing cash into a fireplace [season 3 promo, 3x01]

annie and beth - without kids [1x05, 1x07, 2x08, 2x09, 3x01]

beth - drinking slushies [2x05 vs 3x02]

boomer - injured [1x01, 2x02, 2x03]

beth - asking kenny to watch tv/youtube [1x02, 3x02]

rio - realising he can’t/deciding he won’t kill beth [1x02, 2x02, 2x06, 3x03]

rio - saying he needs/doesn’t need beth [1x09, 2x06, 3x04]

annie and beth - loss of vision [3x04]

annie - running [2x12, 3x04]

annie - stuffing bills on her person [2x04, 3x01]

beth, lucy and rio - rio calling someone his girl [3x03, 3x05]

beth - sarcastically using important titles to refer to rio [2x12, 3x06]

beth and rio - hitting it vs making love [1x05, 2x04, 2x09]

beth and rio - facing off [2x04, 2x06, 2x11, 3x04]

beth and rio - standing close enough to kiss [2x04, 2x09, 2x11]

rio - heavy-lidded look [2x06, 3x04]

beth and rio - rio touching beth’s shoulder [1x08, 2x09]

max and turner - boards [1x04, 3x07]

beth, danny and jane - beth not knowing how to answer [2x12, 3x07]

beth, dean and rio - trust [2x05, 3x08]

beth and rio - beth making rio laugh at the bar [2x09, 3x08]

annie - captain can do t-shirt [3x07]

beth and rio - negotiating cuts [1x04, 2x04, 2x06, 3x08]

rio - walking [3x01, 3x08]

rio - expressions [3x01, 3x08]

rio - expressions [2x05, 2x07, 3x01, 3x08]

annie, beth and rio - my girl/your boy [3x03, 3x09]

beth - lying to rio during their meetings in season 3 [3x06, 3x09]

beth - beth finding out about dean’s cheating [1x01, 2x05, 3x09]

beth and rio - standing back to back while talking [2x10, 3x06]

beth and rio - smashing things [1x02, 3x08]

beth and rio - beth being bored with normal life [1x08, 2x10, 3x10]

beth and rio - rio surprising beth in her kitchen [1x01, 3x10]

beth and rio - rio smiling after beth is awkward [2x05, 3x10]

beth and rio - beth rejecting rio’s advances [2x06, 3x11]

rio - reiterating that beth is stuck with him [2x04, 2x11, 3x11]

rio - looking at beth with a lot of emotion in his eyes [3x03, 3x11]

beth and rio - looking at each other and smiling [2x09, 2x11]

beth and rio - kissing with sunlight streaming through the window [2x09, merlin 2x02]

beth, dean, kenny and rio - how dean’s speech applies to what he thinks is happening and what’s really happening [3x10, 3x11]

beth and rio - almost up and running, walk me through it [3x11]

beth - destruction [1x01, 1x09, 2x02, 2x05, 2x10, 3x09]

beth and rio - beth realising rio is alive [3x02, 3x10]

annie, cohen and mick - annie being protective of beth [3x03, 4x01]

beth - wearing apron with lemon print [2x13, 4x01]

beth and rio - eating weirdly [3x09, 4x02]

beth - reacting to seeing boomer’s and mick’s penises [1x02, 4x02]

beth - the state of that woman’s marriage was written all over her face [1x01, 1x05, 1x06, 2x02, 2x04, 2x05, 3x09, 3x11, 4x02]

beth and rio - touching hands [2x05, 3x04, 4x03]

beth and rio - beth bending over [2x04, 4x03]

beth and dean - ignoring “i love you” [1x01, 4x03]

beth - celebrating [1x02, 4x03]

beth - pta activities [2x02, 2x10, 4x04]

rio - looking at beth [2x09, 4x04]

beth and rio - beth looking surprised when rio agrees with her [4x01, 4x04]

beth, phoebe - wire [1x05, 4x05]

beth and rio - fall guy [2x12, 4x02, 4x05]

beth and rio - beth channeling rio [3x09, 4x05]

dean - misunderstanding tattoos [3x01, 4x05]

beth and rio - hooking up [2x04, 4x06]

rio - throwing his head back laughing [2x08, 4x06]

beth and rio - business [2x12, 3x06, 4x06]

beth and rio - rio’s family pictures [2x11, 4x06]

beth, dean, nick and rio - beth being called “elizabeth“ [2x09, 4x03, 4x06]

beth and rio - #bethany, why? [2x09, 4x06]

beth - panicking [3x02, 4x01, 4x06]

rio - beth imagining rio [2x05, 3x03, 4x06]

beth, fitzpatrick, rio - beth going to unbuckle a man and being rejected [4x04, 4x06]

annie and ben - annie taking the ged test [3x10, 4x06]

beth and rio - glovebox [3x10, 4x07]

beth and rio - hook-ups and callbacks [2x04, 2x05, 2x09, 3x03, 4x06, 4x07]

beth and rio - rio touching beths’ back and shoulders [1x08, 2x02, 2x04, 2x06, 2x09, 3x07, 4x04, 4x06]

beth and rio - a dress like that [1x08, 2x04, 2x06, 3x08, 4x06]

fitzpatrick and rio - saying “i can’t talk shop on an empty stomach” [3x09, 4x07]

3.d. good girls - specific scene/episode edits

annie, beth and ruby - flashbacks in 2x08

annie, beth and ruby - ruby saying she shot a guy in 3x01

beth - smiling as lucy leaves in 3x01

annie, beth and ruby - montage of them making counterfeit cash in 3x01

annie, beth and ruby - annie looking for coffee in ruby’s kitchen in 1x08

annie, beth and ruby - deciding to rob nancy’s spas in 1x08

ruby - getting high with stan in 1x09

beth and turner - parking lot at night in 2x05

beth - sitting on the couch in 3x01

ruby - talking on the phone with gwen in 3x01

annie, beth, nancy, rhea and ruby - looking pretty in 3x02

annie, beth, judy and ruby - talking about rouge in 3x02

rio - looking at the ultrasound in 3x03

ruby and stan - together in 3x03

beth and rio - fighting in her backyard in 2x06

beth and rio - drinking and talking at the bar in 2x09

beth - destroying her thanksgiving-themed baked goods in 2x10

beth - walking home in 2x13

beth and rio - bar in 2x05

annie, beth and ruby - talking about when they’ll reopen in 1x08

beth and rio - blue and pink gifs of them in 2x09

beth - wearing the red polka dot dress in 2x04

beth and rio - kissing in her bedroom in 2x09

annie and dean - talking in the bolands’ kitchen in 1x05

annie, beth, boomer and ruby - talking in beth’s car about marion in 3x08

beth - pretending to freak out about her husband in 3x11

annie and ruby - fight in 2x10

beth and pta moms - beth finds out that lucy’s body was found in 4x01

beth - alley in 2x03

beth and rio - bar in 4x01

dean and eric - boland bubbles showroom in 4x01

beth - wearing the strawberry dress in 4x02

beth and rio - rio checking beth out during the 4x03 pool scene

beth and annie - young beth and annie in 4x03

beth and rio - talking at the bar in 4x04

beth and rio - in the bedroom in grandma’s house in 4x06

beth and rio - hands in 4x06

rosa - barbecue in 4x06

beth - thigh shots in 4x06

beth - strip club scene in 4x08

3.e. good girls - other beth x rio edits

rio touching beth

looking at each other in season 1

looking at each other in season 2

looking at each other in season 3

in every episode of season 3

rio looking at beth’s cleavage

softly smiling at each other

playlist

favourite lines of dialogue between them

faceless

tv tropes

text posts

incorrect quotes

3.f. good girls - other edits

annie, beth and ruby - icons

annie, beth, lucy, rio, ruby and stan - season 3 first look and official trailer

beth - looking pretty in season 2

annie, beth and ruby - making funny faces [1x02, 2x05, 3x05]

beth - coping mechanisms

beth - hands

annie, beth, dean, rio, ruby and stan -  colours

annie, ben, beth, dean, rio, ruby and stan - onion headlines

beth - black and white

beth - drawing

ruby - drawing

annie - drawing

rio’s golden gun, book club, paper porcupine - drawings

annie, beth, dean, rio, ruby and stan - planets

annie, beth, marcus, rio, ruby - seasons in the park

season 4 promo

good girls + rainbow

stan and diane

beth and mick in s4 trailer

annie, beth and ruby in s4 trailer

blue and yellow

annie, beth and ruby in pink, blue and purple

beth and turner

3.g. good girls - fanfics

bleed me a river - my take on how rio could’ve popped back into beth’s life after 2x13

little league (never felt so sweet) - beth and rio meet when beth picks up jane from little league practice

the bittersweet salt cracks my heart - pg-13 hate sex post-s3

a heart’s a heavy burden - howl’s moving castle au

everything you love will burn up in the light - rio is a vampire au

my heart burns there, too - beth and rio get married

aita for wanting to stop paying my wife’s “business partner” and yelling at her? - dean posts on reddit post s3

you think that by now i’d know - beth inadvertently asks out rio

“you’re being too loud, ma” prompt

“the lasagna here isn’t nearly as good as she remembered” prompt

“i told you: no dungarees” prompt

[shiroallura]

hi! i was wondering if you could explain shallura to me! i don't ship it, nor to i see the pull towards the ship. so i was hoping you could explain to me what lead you to love the ship and why you think they are good together (canon or otherwise). i want to understand why people ship certain things and broaden my view of the fandom! i would really appreciate it!

Hey nonny! Just want to say thank you for sending this in, it’s super sweet and open minded of you, and I greatly appreciate it. I am going to apologize now because this answer is probably going to be way longer than you expected, but also wanted to thank you for coming to me with your questions, I’m very honoured I’m someone you consider a voice for, or in, the Shallura fandom. If you want the very short, bare bones answer, you can actually look at a powerpoint I’ve made on why Shallura is amazing.

I’ll start by talking about my personal experience, and then the fandom at large.

MY EXPERIENCE:

I watched Voltron within days of s1’s premiere, having seen none of the previous incarnations, because I love Dreamworks and Studio Mir. I expected to go in for the found family dynamic, and hadn’t been pre-exposed to any ships, nor did I expect to have a ship at all. Certain shows I get very invested in ships (ie, “Superstore,” with Jonah/Amy since the pilot) or they’re a side thing, or largely non relevant (ie. all the platonic and familial bonds, particuarly between Hiccup and Toothless, is why “How to Train Your Dragon” is my favourite film).

That being said, when it comes to ships I’m passionate about, rather than ships I like because they’re great, but central to and get a lot of screentime, I ship passion ships very fast.(ie. Harry and Ginny from Harry Potter are the first and I’ll read fanfic or make edits for them sometimes because they’re perfect and I love them, VS something like Castle/Beckett from Castle are the second, where their relationship is the crux of the entire show so either you ship it or you don’t watch the show, basically.) So within the Shallura fandom I’m a bit unique, because a lot of people got onboard in 1x10, “Collection and Extraction,” but Shallura actually grabbed me from 1x02, “Some Assembly Required”.

Specifically, at this line: “Only Shiro is in uniform.” That line, after Allura and Coran run a fake drill to test the paladins, and they all, to her displeasure, ultimately fail (they take too long, Hunk’s in his PJs, Lance shows up late and completely unaware of what was going on), spoke volumes to me.

It said, Allura is terrified and shouldering responsibility of getting ready to fight a war with basically nothing, more importantly, and that Shiro was willing and ready and already matching her, beat for beat, in whatever ways he could from the very start.

1x02 just reaffirmed that initial dynamic for me, that they were in this and shouldering the responsibility of leadership together. They both try to cajole the paladins into taking their training seriously throughout the episode, even while the other paladins bicker or attempt to goof off. They had the same work ethic, the same drive, the basic understanding between them, only one day in, at how seriously this war had to be taken. And more than that, they kept giving each other credit for it. As with the line already quoted, Allura holds him up as the only paladin seemingly meeting her, admittedly not high, standards, given the circumstances. Then, throughout the episode, we get lines like this: “The princess is right. Let’s get to our Lions and start training.” // “Shiro is right. You should be training.” All of these are in front of each other, and in front of the team.

They’re a day in, and both suffering. Allura woke up and had to realize she’s lost everything and almost everyone she’s ever loved. Shiro crash landed on Earth after a year of being experimented on, most likely tortured, and a prisoner forced to fight for his life. And they immediately present a unified force both in word and in action.

I’ve also always had a penchant for “strong, self sacrificial leaders who feel like they have to protect their team, and carries the weight of the world on their shoulders,” and Shiro and Allura both fit that archetype. And I’ve always loved “leader/second in command” ships because of the partnership and trust found there, particularly for battle couples. My favourite characters also tend to be ones who, in my eyes, have suffered the most (Aang from A:TLA, Harry from Harry Potter, etc.) and while Shiro and Allura’s losses/suffering were different, they were still broad in scope. So in addition to already having an earnest sort of partnership from the start, which is normally very appealing to me in a ship, they had a few of my favourite all time character tropes/types rolled into each of them, and their dynamic. So really, I was doomed from the start.

So that’s what set me on the path of shipping Shallura, and by the end of s1 I already knew I had hardly loved a ship the way I loved them. But since we’ll be talking about 1x10 in a moment, let’s move onto…

THE FANDOM AT LARGE

There is, I would say, six main reasons people ship Shallura, as follows:

Their partnership as co-leaders, and how supportive they are of each other, and how well they work together (in extension, their status as equals)

Shiro’s devotion to her

Allura’s trust in him

How much they value each other

The unique relationship they have with each other

Their shared trauma, and how they can help each other heal

(Bonus: Aesthetically, they look amazing together)

Let’s go through each point, shall we?

1. Their partnership as co-leaders, and how supportive they are of each other, and how well they work together (in extension, their status as equals)

1x02 already outlined some of the instances as to how well they work together, but it’s sprinkled throughout all of the seasons. 1x10 highlights it particularly, as they have to rely on each other in the Galra cruiser, figuring out how to sneak around and get the information they need. They bicker, Shiro corrects her on how to hold a gun, she wows him with her strength, the casual touching as they tug each other along down hallways. It’s a great EP for them just in general, and one I can completely see why people began shipping them.

For starters, it’s the first episode we see Shiro and Allura disagree on something, and – quite literally – they have a small tuft about who should get to protect who. Shiro supports her decision to go on the mission, not doubting her the way Coran and the rest of the team does, but he “can’t let [her] go alone.” He knows there’s a risk on this mission, and wants to protect her, and go with her, and Allura doesn’t want him to, because she knows there’s a risk on this mission, too.

If there was no danger, there would be no reason to not allow him to come, so there must be something holding her back. AKA, she wants to protect him to, and only relents once Pidge brings up the pragmatic reason of Shiro’s Galra arm allowing them to access the cruiser’s technology. The scene very much gives off a vibe of, “Mom and Dad are fighting, let’s see which one is going to win.”

They also never stop giving credit to each other where credit is due. “The princess / Allura is right / Shiro is right,” is sprinkled throughout the seasons. When Allura leaves the team with Keith in 2x06, she says “This was a terrible mistake, Shiro was right, we never should have left them,” and “But clearly you were correct Shiro: we are always stronger together.” She never struggles to admit she was wrong when it comes to him, he never holds it against her (save, perhaps, one exception, which we’ll get to later) and they always move on together.

All four of the episodes where you could say Shiro and Allura ‘fight,’ or really disagree with each other, are all some of my favourite episodes of Voltron. 1x10 “Collection and Extraction,” 2x03 “Shiro’s Escape,” 5x03, “Postmortem,” and 5x04, “Kral Zera,” are always interesting and hard hitting, and not even from a shipping standpoint. Yes, that contributes to it too, but there’s also the fact that, as co-leaders, when Shiro and Allura fight, the team is affected by it. When Keith and Lance fight, or any of the others, usually, yes, it’s there, but it doesn’t affect the plot. It’s just another instance of disagreement.

But when Shiro and Allura disagree, not only is rare, but it drives the plot, because they’re the ones making the big decisions and the hard calls you have to make. Most notably in seasons one and two, as in those seasons, Shiro and Allura are quite literally all the other has to rely on. They don’t have any other allies. Even when they save the Balmerans, we never see the team really getting assistance from them until late s2, and they don’t get the Blade’s help until then too, and the Coalition and Rebellion only come into play in seasons three and four. In season one and two, when Shiro and Allura have the biggest task ahead of them, and the smallest amount of resources to accomplish it – five paladins, two alteans, and a single castleship – they’re the ones who have to make all the calls, and as previously established, they’re often on the same wave length, are good at working together, and can take the other person’s opinion into account. The intense bond those intense circumstances would create is ample shipping fodder, or even just as the foundation for a very strong friendship.

Shiro and Allura know they cannot individually fall apart, nor collectively, lest everything else will too. 5x03 shows that, in seasons one and two, they were very close and worked extremely well together, because Allura comments on how much things have changed and makes it clear how much it has unsettled her: “Shiro has been quite difficult lately. I’m not sure what to do. We seem to constantly be at odds.” It’s not that they don’t have disagreements, it’s that, since Lotor has come around, that the man she believes to be Shiro suddenly feels like someone she’s constantly fighting against, when it was never that way before. She relies on him and trusts him, and he’s been her steady ground, her eye of the storm, and now that he’s back and things are still wrong, Allura, who is always coming up with a plan and doing her best to look towards the future with an optimistic lens, doesn’t know what to do.

So Shiro and Allura are unequivocally equals, co-leaders, and in this together. An undeniably strong basis for a strong relationship, but what makes people think that this is something beyond friendship? Well…

2. Shiro’s devotion to her

Regardless of shipping goggles, I am not being biased when I say, quite wholeheartedly, that Shiro is wildly devoted to her. Her distress is what spurs him into action in 1x01. In 1x09, “Crystal Venom,” as soon as he knows she’s in distress when the castle’s going haywire, he never leaves her side except to help save their lives, and then immediately comes back to her. He also shows how much he cares for her emotional well-being, as he’s the one to comfort her after the second loss of her father, not Coran, the two men framed on either side of her, even though Coran actually knew Alfor, and Shiro had just been through a horrible emotional ideal himself, he still put her first. In 2x05, despite being just as tired as everyone else, knows that someone needs to keep watch over everything while everyone else, especially Allura, gets some well earned rest. Shiro puts that on his own shoulders, and gently urges Allura to take care of herself when she tries to alleviate that weight from his shoulders before she’s struggling to get rid of her own. He’s gentle and patient, incredibly soft, and intimately tactile with her in both of these situations, and it’s beautiful to behold.

In addition, during 2x05 and 2x06, when Allura believes she’s the one being tracked and endangering the team, Shiro doesn’t say her theory is wrong the way he others do. His response makes it clear that even if it’s true, it “doesn’t matter. We’re in this together and we’re gonna get out together,” even when the Castle is being attacked, they can hardly wormhole, and have no solutions. In 2x11, in the middle of a battle, Shiro hangs back on the way to get his Lion to order Slav to help Allura with the particle barrier, as she’s the only one in the castle, and he wants to make sure she’s protected. There are also two separate occasions in 2x12 where, when the battle starts to go south, Shiro veers his Lion towards the Castleship, where she is, as though to be ready to protect her at a moment’s notice. And as a callback to 1x02, Shiro is awake, in his armour, and doing pushups, ready to leave at a moment’s notice for who knows how long before Allura starts the drill.

But all that pales in comparison to the magnitude of Shiro’s devotion to her in 1x10, and 1x11, “the Black Paladin.” First, there is the fact that Shiro goes on the reconnaissance mission to protect her. He lets her hold the one gun they have, even after she does so correctly, because he knows she won’t have a real weapon on her otherwise. 1x09 and 1x03 gave us glimpses into how terrible Shiro’s time as a prisoner was, in addition to his hair, scar, and arm. But when their time is running out, and Allura—whom, ordinarily Shiro always listens to—tells him to leave, he refuses. He doesn’t budge, doesn’t show any fear. He is willing to be captured again, face his worst fear again, and possibly die, rather than leave her. And when Allura does toss him into the pod, not only does he look devastated

but he also becomes wholeheartedly consumed by the need to get her back at any cost. He’s so devastated when he gets back to the team, his brows and eyes are shaky (an animation tell for him being on the verge of tears, that’s how badly this loss has affected him), but he can’t barely speak. And when he does, it’s only of her. The team, understandably, brings up doubts that he himself had expressed earlier in the episode: you said going there would be a huge mistake, you said going [to zarkon’s central command] would be the single dumbest thing we could ever do. And Shiro’s response is the same as always when it comes to obstacles in the way of her safety: It doesn’t matter.

And there’s three things that are especially notable about this arc in the last two episodes of s1. The first is that, omitting 1x09, s1 goes from having a “Hunk likes Shay who he really wants to rescue arc,” and immediately into “Shiro is desperate to rescue Allura,” arc, with the first relationship being established explicitly as romantic. So therefore, the second relationship that has a very similar arc to Hunk and Shay (and even, Zarkon and Haggar, with a Black Paladin risking Voltron and the galaxy for their Altean alchemist) should be romantic as well.

The second is that Shiro should know better than anyone that Allura made the rational decision, and that going after her is largely irrational. Shiro is crucial for piloting Voltron, one of the leaders needed to make it back to give the team direction. Shiro also made a similar decision to offer himself up in Matt’s place in the arena, so it’s not like he’s a stranger to sacrifice and doing it himself. They don’t have the resources or skill, frankly, to pull off such a high stakes mission like this, with no allies to fall back on. If they go after her, and fail, they and the Lions will be captured. The war will be over. Zarkon can kill or put all of them into the prison system, will have all the Lions, and hope will be lost. Indeed, that’s what would have happened had Thace and the Blade of Marmora not been there to help. Worse still, Coran points out that once they wormhole to central command, they won’t have enough of Allura’s essence to wormhole out without her.

And, for the third point, say it with me, what’s Shiro’s response to that? It doesn’t matter. We’re not leaving without her. Because the thing about Shiro in this arc is that, for someone who usually reacts with a very level head, allows room for negotiation, and knows war better than anyone, he reacts completely emotionally and irrationally to her being gone. And the thing is, he doesn’t have to. There would still be the rational decision of “we need Allura to pilot the castle,” or they could have had one of the other paladins, or Coran, be the one vigorously pushing to rescue Allura. But it’s never framed that way. Shiro is the one who is resolute, unwavering, in his devotion and this mad plan to save the woman who saved him. He’s devastated by her loss, won’t hear any discussion or counter arguments and outright dismisses them, knows the consequences and just how insane / dangerous this plan is for all of them, and still ploughs ahead anyway, because, to him, on an emotional level, nothing matters but her. What even Coran, who was the 2nd most upset about her being captured, brings up as a flaw, Shiro doesn’t even see as something worth of note, because either they’re coming back with Allura, or they’re not coming back at all, and he won’t leave her again (not that he ever left her willingly, in the first place).

And he’s been with her since day one, since Allura said “We’re the universe’s only hope,” and he said, “We’re with you, princess.” And he meant it.

So if the biggest draw, for me, and many Shallura shippers I think, on Shiro’s part, is his devotion to Allura, then what is Allura’s biggest draw for shipping her with Shiro? Simply?

3. She trusts him above any and everyone else

No, seriously, she does. There are instances of it in cases like 1x10, of her trusting him to take care of the team and lead Voltron for her in her stead, as proven by 1x11, she wasn’t expecting the team to come back for her. Then, the fact that she chose him as Black Paladin at all. She knew she was giving him the hardest job: he didn’t have a bayard, his previous Paladin was alive, he’d have to shoulder the burden of leadership, he’d been a prisoner of the Galra for a year (which was the first thing she learned about him before even his name). And yet even when everything goes wrong in the s1 finale, she never doubts him as Black Paladin for a second, even if he’s a leader, who, arguably, just made a very bad decision: “I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins […] You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon.”

But the season that shows Allura’s insane amount of trust in Shiro, quite honestly, is s2. Namely, in regards to trusting the Blade of Marmora. Because here’s the thing: she doesn’t. She doesn’t trust them, she doesn’t even want to try. And when it comes to Ulaz’s introduction in 2x03, “Shiro’s Escape,” she has every reason to not trust him. He broke into the ship, was attacking them until Shiro showed up, is a Galra claiming to work for something they have no idea if it actually exists, and the rest of the team agrees with her: trusting him is too much of a risk. Even Keith thinks it’s a bad idea, and if they trust him and it’s the wrong decision, their ship could be blown to pieces.

So, Allura shouldn’t make the choice to trust him, except… Shiro wants to trust him. Shiro wants answers. Shiro has nothing but a gut feeling, a memory — that could be fake, implanted, and hazy at best — to go on, and ask her to risk all of their lives on the slight chance Ulaz may be telling the truth. Allura has every single damn reason to say no.

But she doesn’t, and she agrees to give it a chance, because she trusts Shiro. And this isn’t just because she feels bad about not telling him about Zarkon, as just checking out the coordinates in his arm was already something she had reluctantly agreed to. “We can check the location, but I do not like it.”

Meanwhile, when the risk is infinitely bigger, and the whole team is on her side, not his, Allura still chooses him. Over everyone. And her faith in Shiro making the right call, even when he’s emotionally driven by something, comes through when the team goes to leave with Ulaz to the base, and she tells Shiro, “Keep an eye on him.” She knows no matter what Shiro hopes this trip may bring, if/when things go wrong, Shiro will be the leader she knows him to be and make the right decisions.

And then, even when they don’t know for sure if Ulaz was trustworthy — as Allura says, one life means nothing to Zarkon, and she is right — Allura doesn’t hold it over Shiro’s head. Hell, she goes to check up on him at the end of the episode, and only acts coldly after he, emotionally drained and already very loyal to Ulaz, responds with some hostility. And even then, they’re still open with each other. Shiro turns around to face her and Allura never shies away from his gaze or turns to avoid it. There’s hardly any scenes between these two where they don’t make eye contact when they can, actually.

Then, there’s 2x08, where once again, Allura “doesn’t feel right,” about following Ulaz’s coordinates to the new base, but Shiro wants to go, and so she lets him. She gets increasingly worried about him, till the point when she hears his voice again she looks like she’s about to cry tears of joy, but still: she lets him go. And when the Blade seemingly won’t cooperate at the base, Shiro isn’t afraid to cut his losses, AKA have to admit he was wrong, and leave. Not to mention, Allura’s reaction to hearing his voice and knowing that he and Keith are okay? Unreal.

So yeah, Allura trusts him, repeatedly, wholeheartedly, without question, even when the odds are against them and everything’s going to shit and she has every reason not to, and to trust everyone else instead, she still chooses to trust him.

Bonus mini analysis about how Shiro and Allura each fulfill what the other needs most, in a relationship.

And for a man who believes he has every reason to doubt himself, that means everything.

4. How much they value each other

This area treads into the others, namely Shiro’s devotion, Allura’s trust, and their co-leadership. But I also think it comes down to how much they value each other, just as people.

The hand touch scene in 2x05 proves Shiro values Allura above just the work she does, or can do for the cause. He cares for her emotional state, for her physical safety, even when perhaps there is little or no time for it.  He shuts down Lance’s flirting towards her in 1x01 because he knows it’s inappropriate and not the time. He does his best to ease the responsibility on her shoulders whenever he can, in whatever he way he can, whether it’s pulling the team together, reassuring her in the middle of a mission (1x08, “Guys, get it together! Allura, we’ll get there as soon as we can”) or doing his best to make sure she’s okay. His devotion to her is an extension of how much he values her, how much he values her life and her opinion, and how that dominates his behaviour in both large and small ways.

Then, on Allura’s side, we also have how much she values his opinion, hence why she trusts him to the extent that she does. Even in the pilot episode, when she expresses concern that he doesn’t have a bayard, it makes it clear to Shiro, who’s spent the past year battling for his life for other people’s entertainment, that he’s more than a soldier to her. She values his life, as his, and will always fight alongside him, and we particularly see that in s3 and in other small instances.

She calls him “completely irreplaceable.” She wears pink for him and holds him in just as high esteem as her father and the paladins of old. Her breakdown in the Red Lion is as much about him as it is about her father. The most recent paladin handbook has her saying that “Shiro was one of the best Paladins Voltron has ever had. I know his leadership would have made my father proud.” She unabashedly holds him up as a model paladin.

So they both value each other highly, and that translates into one of my absolute favourite things about Shiro and Allura’s bond:

5. Their relationship is unique

Simply put, Shiro and Allura treat each other differently then they treat the other characters. Allura is shown to have the same closeness to Shiro as Keith with none of the history, and the same can be said of Shiro to Allura as Coran, but again, while having a very different bond. Shiro sits next to her in 1x09, alongside Coran, but he’s the one who comforts her. Allura shares the loss of Shiro and the reunion alongside Keith.  In 2x12, he comms Coran specifically to ask how she is, and tells Coran to “take care of her.”

And, as shown in 1x10, they bicker with each other. They can be a bit snarky too, behaviour we don’t see them express with any of the others. They both express occasional “done-ness” with Coran’s eccentrics, and Lance’s flirting. Allura’s relationship with Keith is strained in the latter half of s2, but it isn’t shown to bother her the way her and Shiro/Kuron’s fighting in s5 does. Similarly, Shiro/Kuron is shown to have multiple instances of mirroring Lance’s reactions to Lotor and Allura’s relationship.

Allura also talks about Shiro to other characters on different occasions. To Keith, the rest of the team, to Lance, twice. When Lance blames ‘Shiro’ for the mess they’re in, in 6x06, Allura shuts him down. “No. This is my fault.” Even if she doesn’t have an explanation, she knows that something is wrong, and that there must be a reason for Shiro’s behaviour. Shiro is also always very soft with her, doing his best to take care of her, and has a slight furrow in his brow often, whenever he smiles or looks at her.

In the team, even in s3 when any version of Shiro is gone, they’re shown to be co-leaders. They’re snarky and let their guards down around each other. They take things more seriously than everyone else, they trust and rely on each other. They work together more than anyone else to make plans. They’ve both known from the start how terrible the Galra and the war truly is. In the team, they’re equals. Between themselves, they’re good friends.

But again, what makes people think they have the capacity to come more, is their unique relationship to each other, even in battle. For example, in 2x13, the Castleship hits and we hear Allura scream. But not only do we see the explosion from Shiro’s Lion’s cockpit

We also immediately see his reaction to it, and yes, the Castle getting hit is a serious blow. Coran, Allura, and Kolivan and Antok are all in there. VLD could have just had Shiro yell, “No!” and be done with it. But no. He yells “ALLURA!” and then we get brief shots of the team, before circling back to Shiro, and watching him process what he believes to be her death. And in the few battle scenes that follow, on my rewatch I noticed there seems to be a new edge to him. Unlike the others, who are worried or determined (Keith actually smiles like 7 seconds after this, but regardless) Shiro seems angry. Vengeful. The fact that this is about Shiro’s relationship with Allura is also made explicit when the paladins hear Coran over the commlink. They’re all overjoyed, but Shiro is the only one to stop and ask, “Is everyone okay?” because even if Coran is, that doesn’t mean Allura is, and that’s what matters to him.

And then, when the paladins are all hit by a blast, we see Allura’s reaction to it initially, horrified. Coran then expresses worry, and says, “Paladins, can you hear me?” which Allura says as well. But then we get: “Paladins! Shiro! Can you hear me?” And Shiro, heavily drained, responds to her specifically. “Yes, princess, we’re alive.”

And once again, her reaction to hearing his voice and knowing he’s okay? Unreal.

So their relationship to one another, as friends, within and outside of the team, and in battle, is undeniably unique, consistent, and important. What else is there? Well, as the next point touches upon, we haven’t even gotten into one of the most attractive initial elements of Shallura, first expressed most adequately in 1x09. Namely:

6. Their shared trauma, and how they can help each other heal

“Crystal Venom,” is the episode that established the fault lines in Shiro and Allura’s strength, and the weight of what they’ve both lost, and how it haunts him. Both are deeply scarred individuals due to the harm Haggar, Zarkon, and the Galra empire have inflicted on them. Shiro lost a whole year of his life in a living hell, fighting for his life, being experimented on, losing his arm, getting his scar, etc. Allura saw people she trusted, maybe even loved, turn on her and her people. She woke up and had to deal with the fact that everything and everyone she knew, save for Coran, was dead, and that the universe had left her 10,000 years ago in the past.

Both of them know what it is to have their autonomy robbed, to have their minds manipulated and their hearts broken. Now, with slight spoilers some s7, we know both of them were in a previous relationship with someone else and were the ones to have their hearts broken.

The way their trauma is linked is clear from 1x01, where moments after Allura’s flashback, her saying “Zarkon,” propels Shiro to remember the basics of his trauma: “I remember now. I was his prisoner.” In 1x09, Shiro suffers from a ‘headache’ with Sendak getting in his head, and Allura suffers heartache due to her father’s corrupted A.I. and having to lose him a second time. A similar scenario plays out in 6x04, where the man we believe to be Shiro loses his mind to Haggar, and Allura deals with two crushing betrayals in a matter of minutes. Her devastated look as ‘Shiro’ walks away never fails to break my heart.

But more than that, because they’re two damaged individuals, they’re in the best position to help each other heal. They’d understand nightmares, the restlessness that doing work can seemingly heal, but also make sure the other doesn’t push themselves too hard, and thereby also help each other take care of themselves.

By trusting Shiro as Black Paladin, always, Allura helped Shiro believe he wasn’t the “monster” Sendak said he was. She saved him from Haggar, the manifestation of all the abuse he suffered. Likewise, Shiro helped take down Zarkon and comforted Allura after her father’s death, or when her anxiety about Zarkon robbed her of sleep.

With s6, Allura was able to save Shiro and Kuron from Haggar’s influence, and bring him back to life. She was the first thing he saw when he awoke, and the last before he fell asleep, letting her take care of him by telling him to rest. So she helps heal him from his trauma, but in extension, saving Shiro would have been a way for Allura to reclaim her alchemy, after having used it for nothing but helping and battling Lotor for months. If one good thing came from Oriande, it was the ability save him when she knew he needed her.

And really, after all this meta, I think it’s clear that on some intrinsic level, they both do.

7. Bonus: Aesthetically, they look amazing together

It’s no secret that their designs are, and always have been, extremely complimentary. Shiro’s streamlined monochromatic black-white-gray, both in and out of his paladin armour, goes well with the various colours of both Allura’s princess gown and battle armour (white, pink, blue, and gold with her circlet). S4 showed that their paladin armour is complimentary in colour as well. Shiro’s primarily dark hair with a white tuft complimented her wholly dark hair well, and the slightly different shades of white they now both sport will also go well. Shiro’s paler complexion against Allura’s darker one is easily identifiable, and beautiful as both of them. Lastly, there’s the fact that Shiro’s scar crosses over his nose, while Allura’s pink markings rest under her eyes, as though they should make one full arc.

Plus, due to Allura’s shapeshifting abilities, they have an adjustable height difference. Who doesn’t want that?

BONUS THOUGHTS:

Supportive Shiro / Allura series

As stated before, both of them are extremely supportive of each other, but here’s an almost wholly completed list (with pictures and text) of them being supportive of each other.

Shiro // Allura

Head and Heart of Voltron

Pertains to their roles of leadership, and also the way their trauma was largely suffered. Shiro is stated as the Head of Voltron initially in 1x01, and then reaffirmed as such throughout all six — yes, all six — seasons of Voltron. Allura, meanwhile, is only established as the Heart of Voltron in 4x06, but is seen, thematically, to embrace and embolden the title and simultaneously fulfill and be fulfilled by it. Her Voltron power up in 6x07, with getting Voltron’s central V to light up and shoot at Lotor, mimics her status as Voltron’s heart. Lastly, there’s the framing of these scene from 6x07, with Keith as the right hand to both Shiro and Allura, Shiro as the Head (with his head in Allura’s hands) and Allura being, as previously established, the Heart that is, for the moment, restoring him. Plus, Keith’s scar is on the right side of his face, while Shiro and Allura’s markings, as I’ve already talked about aesthetically, both take up similar but different places on their facial design, likewise mimicking their places in Voltron and to one another.

It is interesting though, because I remember back in early Shallura fandom days, I know people, myself included, liked to imagine Shiro, even though he was the Head of Voltron, being a bit more of the Heart in making decisions (largely because he is more openly emotionally, and interpersonal driven) and Allura being a bit more of the Head (because she tends to be a bit more logical, from what we had seen, and is more big picture focused).

Black/White Symbolism

Shiro and Allura’s complimentary colour scheme was something I loved since s1. It was there on a surface level, ie. Shiro’s design and Lion largely being black, while Allura, with her hair and uniform, was primarily white. As many VLD fans are also “Avatar: The Last Airbender fans,” and that black-white symbolism is common, additionally with Shiro being black but with a white tuft, this was, in fanon spaces, a fun example of them being yin-yang coded with each other. I have a post I made almost a year ago in July 2017, but I know it was a consistent enough idea within fanon to have already existed, but I know I for one, although there was fun speculation about a White Lion (primarily bc it’d be fun to see Allura in a Lion, and all the other colours had been taken), never expected any of it to come to fruition.

And then the end of s5 happen and blew it out of the water, because not only was there a White Lion, Allura had gained its favour in its astral plane, whereas her Galra emperor counterpart had failed, and it was a direct parallel to Shiro gaining the Black Lion’s favour in its astral plane. Or so to speak, what had been a fun detail noticed by us and some fun speculation, had suddenly come bursting forth into canon, concrete and heavy-handed. Shallura really Did That.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

So yeah, I know this is probably far longer than you were expecting, and if you read it all, congrats! Hopefully you are a few steps closer to understanding why myself and others really, really love this ship. If this was the exact length you wanted and/or were expecting, fantastic! And if you just clicked on the powerpoint, well, that’s what it’s there for.

But yeah, I really love Shallura, and I always will, so I hope this answers your questions.

— dragons out

[tallskinnyvanillalatte]

Castle Episodes (Seasons 1+2)

So, I decided to do a Castle rewatch because I miss the show a lot. And I thought I could write down some of my favorite moments and some important moments and just some random thoughts. Not on every episode but those that I thought needed to be mentioned. It’s a personal post, so I might mention episodes that you wouldn’t and it’s possible that I won’t mention episodes that you would. This post is for seasons 1 and 2 only, I’ll start with season 3 now and will publish the post once I’m done with season 3.

1x01 Flowers for your Grave: The pilot. Where everything gets started. Classic.

1x02 Nanny McDead: Some lovely Castle/Alexis moments. Also, “So what” is the ringtone of the dead person.

1x03 Hedge Fund Homeboys: There’s this adorable scene where Castle watches Alexis sleep and he’s really worried about her because of the case and makes sure that she knows that she could tell him everything. Also the next day, there’s this silly moment where Alexis beats herself up over not paying for the subway and not telling Castle about it and he’s like “yeah you need to be punished - mandatory ice cream for breakfast for a week”. It’s super silly but also super adorable.

1x05 A Chill Goes Through Her Veins: We get some first information on Beckett’s mother’s death. Also, Joshua Radin’s “No envy, no fear” plays at the end.

1x06 Always Buy Retail: We meet Alexis’ mom <3 Meredith is exhausting, but I wish we’d seen her more frequently on the show. Especially in the episode where Alexis was kidnapped. Also, Castle gets his “writer” vest in this one. Also the scene where Castle receives a message on his phone with his “dad! dad! dad!” ringtone is HILARIOUS. Also, Castle saves Beckett’s life in this episode. The last scene is too adorable where Meredith tells them that she got a job offer and thus can’t stay in New York. Castle looks super good in this scene and the way he hugs Alexis is so adorable. He looks so cute the way he smiles and how he holds her and my heart just <3 <3

1x07 Home is where the heart stops: Beckett saves Castle’s life.

1x09 Little Girl Lost: A two-year-old girl is abducted. Of course this gets a little personal for Castle. There’s an adorable scene with him and Alexis, where he hugs here. It’s a “pea-pod thing”.”I can’t imagine anything like this ever happening to Alexis” I used that quote on a gifset I made about Alexis’ abduction. (this one) 

1x10 A death in the family: Alexis wants to go to the junior-senior prom with Owen and she’s like “please say yes” and Castle goes “If I say yes, will you promise to stay up past your bedtime, have a good time?” It’s so cute <3 And then Martha goes “you’re letting her go out with someone you’ve never met? What kind of a father are you?” and he’s not too sure about it anymore lol and even asks Beckett for a background check on the boy. “Sweety, I want you to know that no matter what you think you look, you’re perfect exactly the way you are” There are so many cute Castle-Alexis moments. The scene where Alexis returns from prom and she and Castle talk - it’s so adorable and he loves his daughter so much, I wanna cry. Also, Castle has some new information on Beckett’s mother’s murder.

2x01 Deep in death: Beckett saves Castle’s life. Also, Castle to Alexis “Thank you. For just... being you.” <3 And Castle apologizes to Beckett.

2x02 The Double Down: Alexis has her first heartbreak. Also the scene where Castle hears Martha and Alexis fighting and he’s worried that Martha is beating Alexis, so he rushes into the apartment only to find them rehearsing for a play lol

2x04 Fool me once: “There’s no one in the world that I trust more than I trust you” <3 Alexis has violin lessons in this episode and her teacher happens to be “a hottie”, so Castle goes into full protective mode and wants his background checked and all that which causes a fight between Castle and Alexis. Also, Beckett reads Heat Wave in the bathtub and later in the precinct bathroom where she checks out the sex scene lol.

2x05 When the bough breaks: Meredith “Cruella” Blake from The Parent Trap is in this one.

2x06 Vampire Weekend: It’s Castle in his Firefly outfit. “Yes, you can go [to the party]. But if anything happens that makes you feel uncomfortable, anything at all, you call me. I don’t care what it is. And there’ll be no punishments, no recriminations, nothing, I promise, so long as you just call.” <3 Also Castle’s evil laughter and then choking. When Alexis calls because Paige is drunk, he just goes “I’m on my way” and takes care of them <3 It’s just so great to see Castle this caring and responsible, you know. He’s this silly child all the time and now he’s actually responsible and a parent. “There’s nothing that you could do that would stop me from protecting you or supporting you.” I just love their relationship.

2x07 Famous Last Words: “Angel” <3 The lead singer of a band Alexis likes is killed. “He called her a ... [realizes Alexis is in the room] B-I-T-C-H” “She can spell, detective” greatest scene. The way Castle looks at her when she leaves is pure love. He loves his daughter so much, it’s beautiful. “Weren’t you opening for P!nk?” OPENING FOR PINK OH MY GOD. lol “what about Alexis? She’s perfect, she has no alibi” lol Castle, your suspecting your own daughter.

2x08 Kill The Messenger: It’s Ryan, Esposito and Castle on the couch with a teacup and a bunch of kittens ;D Martha signs up on “MyFace” and meets Chet. “Are you looking at porn?” “I use Ryan’s computer for that.” 

2x09 Love me dead: “You know you can tell me anything, right?” Castle is worried because Alexis is clearly hiding something from him. He got even more concerned when Alexis called Beckett asking for advice and still not talking to him. And Ryan and Esposito aren’t really helping either :D “Maybe she got kicked out of school.” “Or she’s doing drugs.” “M-hm, teen pregnancies are on the rise.” “Woah, you met my daughter. You know that she’s the closest thing to perfect as humanly possible.” <3 Turns out, Alexis only wanted to ask Beckett about an exchange program to France because Beckett had studied abroad. There’s also this scene I’ve seen as a reaction-gif a couple of times where Alexis says that she wants to study in Oxford and Castle goes “You know that’s in England, right” “yeah”.

2x10 One Man’s Treasure: “Big Castle likes to get in the way. I’m sure little Castle is a pleasure.” Alexis is volunteering at the precinct. “First days of preschool, I used to hide in the bushes to make sure she was alright”. “Fact Fiction” plays in this one <3 Alexis closes her “who does that book full of personal pictures belong to” case. The way that Castle looks at her and smiles is just pure pride and love.

2x13 Sucker Punch: The storyline of Beckett’s mother’s murder continues. We meet Beckett’s dad. “I have a hard job, Castle, and having you around makes it a little more fun.” Beckett finds the guy who killed her mother, she just doesn’t know who hired that person. And she has to shoot the guy to protect Castle. The scene in which she tries to get him back is heart breaking. Maybe you should’ve aimed for his shoulder. You weren’t that far apart and he wasn’t in movement, so...?

2x14 The Third Man: Castle ranks #9 as the hottest Bachelor’s in town or something. Alexis’ principal wants a date. And her German teacher Fräulein Sonnenberg (no one is called Fräulein in Germany anymore but we) wanted Alexis to tell Castle auf Deutsch “du hast Sexappeal” lol it’s too cute. Also, Alexis is kinda pissed and annoyed at all this. And when Castle realizes that he grins all over and goes “Oh you hate me a little bit right now, don’t you”. Castle to Alexis: “You’re number one on mine [my list]. Look, it’s my job to worry about you, not the other way round.” Castle’s tie looks slighty different in the restaurant, the color is different. Maybe it’s the light or maybe they messed up.

2x15 Suicide Squeeze: Castle’s father is addressed once again.

2x16 The mistress always spanks twice: We meet Ryan’s girlfriend Jenny <3

2x17 Tick Tick Tick /2x18 Boom: so intense, such a ride, such a thrill. Need I say more?

2x19 Wrapped up: Love the episode, it’s hilarious! Castle thinks he’s cursed because he looked at an ancient mummy. Some weird things happen to him (some of which can be explained because the team tampers with them, others remain unexplained). There’s a scene where the elevator stops and he’s afraid it’s gonna fall, so he lays on the ground while the doors open. I’ve seen this as a gif several times (with the #dead writing on it). When he explains the situation, there’s a random cop just pissing himself in the background, it’s hilarious when you watch him. Also, Castle asks Martha if she would look after Alexis if something happened to him. And later, he asks Beckett, too, because “she looks up to you” <3

2x20 The Late Shaft: The final scene is so adorable when Alexis returns from her five-day-trip and Castle hugs her and goes “my best girl, oh I missed you so much, i’m so glad you’re home”. This scene is so beautiful. The way he speaks and hugs her, it’s just so beautiful, so much love.

2x22 Food to die for: Alexis wants to go on a weekend trip with her friends, but she also has exams coming up and wants/needs to study for those. She feels bad about every decision she makes, so eventually she asks her dad to tell her to stay home and study. That scene is adorable. And then Castle is like “1,001 ways to distract someone who’s studying. We start by freezing ping-pong balls.” Ah I just love their relationship <3

2x23 Overkill: Castle is so jealous of that guy that’s been working with Beckett all the time. He’s always been jealous but it gets even worse in this episode. And at the end of the episode (Lifehouse’s Crash and Burn is playing), he watches Beckett and the guy kiss and it basically kills him. The look on his face, oh boy.

2x24 A Deadly Game: Ah, the episode is so frustrating. Castle and Beckett clearly care a lot about each other, yet they both mess up and don’t get it right. Beckett breaks up with her boyfriend and starts to talk to Castle, thanking him, telling him that she had a great time with him. And then Gina shows up and Castle says they are off to the Hamptons for the summer and it really sounds and looks like Castle and Gina are back together. And I - as a viewer - get so frustrated because Castle and Beckett can’t get their shit together. Man, how did everyone feel when the episode aired for the very first time, not knowing what would happen after the hiatus. Anyway. Alexis is off to a summer program by Princeton University and Castle is so over-protective and in ‘jealous dad-mode’ because the rooms are mixed-gender and Alexis already met with a boy that’s going to the program too. It’s super adorable how jealous and protective he is. And when Castle tells the boys at the precinct about their goodbye, he goes “it was really emotional, there were a lot of tears. ... Alexis was fine, by the way.” :D

[shiroallura]

allura + talking to the other paladins about shiro

One of the things that stands out to me, as I’ve been making my way through the first few seasons of Voltron, and as we get new content in the later seasons, is how many differences there are between Allura and Shiro’s relationship to one another compared to the ones they hold with the rest of the paladins and Coran. The difference we’ll be examining is that compared to if/how many times Allura talks about the others... is that she largely doesn’t. And in comparison to that, she kind of talks about Shiro. Like a lot.

The first instance is the one that made me ship them in the first place, in 1x02 during the fake attack drill. “Look at you!” She admonishes. “Only Shiro is in uniform.” While he’s been chided, same as the others, for taking too long to arrive on the bridge, at least he’s adequately prepared, Keith and Pidge in their casual clothes, Hunk in his pajamas, and Lance, as Allura remarks, hasn’t shown up at all. Among the paladins, Shiro is a shining model, and she holds him up as such. It isn’t the only time too, as she and Shiro quite constantly reaffirm each other’s opinions and decisions, and she does so later in this episode as well (as does he): “Shiro is right. You should be training.”

Honourable mention goes to Allura and Pidge’s exchange in front of Shiro in 1x10 of whether he can go on the mission or not, as Pidge literally tells Allura that she needs him.

But the next time that Allura truly speaks about Shiro is in 2x06. I’ve talked about the episode at length here, and why it actually strengthens Shallura and shows the flaws in Keith/Allura, but the focus is on Allura’s line after her and Keith’s pod has blown up.

This is Allura’s face, as she says, “This was a terrible mistake. Shiro was right. We never should have left them.” Which are, notably, a belief she expresses again later in the episode. She apologizes to Shiro personally twice in this episode, first that she cannot come back to the castle, and then again because she left. She says he was right twice. Keith, although he agrees with her, never states it so explicitly. She regrets her choice to leave deeply, knowing she should have trusted Shiro and stayed with him and the team. He’d said splitting up the team made them more vulnerable, and she comes to see that was he right, that they “are always stronger together.”

Which is why it hurts so much in s3, and they’re apart again, and we see she does miss Shiro acutely, even if she’s much better at managing the loss and carrying on the cause he ‘died’ for. She’s also one of the only team members we see express grief over Shiro on more than one occasion. The first is in 3x01, when she adds onto Lance and the team’s points about how important Shiro was to them and talks to Keith again about how the Black Paladin.

“Keith, I know exactly how you feel. But our mission is bigger than any one individual. even those who are completely irreplaceable.” 

Not only does the quote draw a parallel to how Allura has lost her family, and how Keith has lost his (and we know, from s2, that Allura considers the paladins her family as well) but her choice of ‘exactly’ is telling. All the grief and anger that Keith has been freely expressing... she wants to express it too, but she knows she can’t. She shows her maturity in putting the mission ahead of mourning, like always, now that time has passed. But that hardly means she has forgotten her Black Paladin.

While the first two episodes of s3 lead up to it, the aftermath of her breakdown in the Red Lion in 3x02 is plain to see. It’s clear her father is on her mind—as is Shiro, with the selection of a new Black Paladin and knowing she needs to usher Keith into the role in order for Voltron to function and for their growing allies to be assured—but so is Shiro. We all know the famous moment when she chooses her paladin armour, and wears it for two reasons. The first is that pink is revealed as a mourning colour for her people, and that she wears it in honour of her father and the paladins of old. We all know how high she reveres them, and wants to follow in their footsteps in order to keep peace in the Galaxy. And it’s also devastating for her to know that Shiro has now joined them as a fallen paladin, and her face falls alongside her mentioning his name.

“I wear it to honour the paladins of old. And Shiro.”

I may be missing an occasion (in which case, please feel free to point in out or let me know in my inbox) but I believe the next instance Allura talks about Shiro to the team, once again to Lance, is in the ever painful 5x03. Everything about this scene has so much, in regards to her tone, and especially her body language and expressions. She folds in on herself, turns away from Lance, and only looks at him when he reminds her that “Shiro is not her enemy,” and her expression, very briefly, lights up with complete relief. I’ve analyzed the scene in full here, but without the context of the episode it came from (still, I think it stands on its own regardless).

“Shiro has been quite difficult lately. I don’t know what to do. We seem to constantly be at odds.”

It’s obvious how much their fight(s) has bothered her, how off she feels being at odds with him, which has happened rarely in the past and has never escalated to anything close to this, with shouting and accusing each other of things, and even if it did, not to this extent, and not without going so unresolved—or with ‘Shiro’ flat out disobeying Allura’s direct orders. She’s so troubled by it that even when Lance expresses how down he feels at how Shiro has been acting towards him, Allura has nothing to say in order to reassure Lance. She shifts the conversation onto her, and her feelings, and even if Lance’s still aren’t technically resolved by the end of their conversation—despite Lance being the one to bring up the issue of Shiro—and hers are on the mend. Shiro has become an upsetting rift in her life, one that distracts her from the emotional needs of her teammates and leaves her very emotionally vulnerable.

Lastly, there is Pidge and Allura’s quick exchange in 3x04, of Pidge asking if Allura knows where Shiro is (because of course she should know—once again implying their connection, history, and previous closeness with one another) and Allura answers in response.

“He isn’t on the ship. His Lion’s gone. Where’s Lotor?”

I’m including this last one, even if it is a bit more of an honourable mention, but because it’s a nice parallel to the earlier instance of Pidge and Allura speaking briefly of Shiro. The lines below and Allura’s reactions are a great indicator to how well she knows Shiro despite their strained relationship, and that she takes steps to decipher which ones he’s taken. Plus, how worried she looks initially when checking to see if he’s in the castle beyond breaks my heart.

While I’m not saying that Allura never talks about any of the other paladins to the others (please, feel free to point me towards those instances) none of those times (again, if they exist) reflect the plot, care, and the relationship development that Allura speaking about Shiro in four out of five seasons do. Shiro is almost always brought up by Allura, or is commented on primarily by her, her reactions and feelings in those conversations are clear in both her words, expressions, and actions. 

There’s also the fact that all of these instances reveal a peak into exactly where she is in her relationship with Shiro in each season. In season one, he’s a model paladin. In season two, he’s a fellow teammate and a friend she knows she can and should rely on. In season three, she’s navigating a team without him (and is one of the only team members to express this twice, not just once). In season five they are at odds and how much it troubles her is again, expressed twice. 

Allura’s relationship with Shiro is distinct from the ones she shares with the other paladins, and way she speaks about him to Keith and Lance and the team at large is just one example of this. And I for one can’t wait to see the trend continue in season six.

[shiroallura]

shallura analysis :: 1x08 “rebirth”

Previous analysis: episode one, episode two, episode three, episode four, [no episode five], episode six, episode seven

This episode is definitely a continuation of the last one—with plenty of little Shallura moments to look at. Without further ado, here we go:

In the middle of battle, Shiro and Allura are separated and able to communicate over commlink, however there is a nice little setup to the one quote that gets us more than anything: “I’m not leaving you.” “You have to!” from 1x10.

Allura: We're taking heavy fire up here! We're in trouble! Shiro: Princess, pull back! Get out of its range, now! Allura: We will not abandon you! Shiro: You're not abandoning us. We're about to pull back anyway.

Despite Allura knowing that the Castle cannot handle anymore heavy fire, Allura refuses to “abandon” them, Shiro included (or especially). Shiro is also just as concerned her for wellbeing, and knows that temporarily retreating is the best choice in the current moment, a scenario that Allura also considered in 1x01 of whether to stay and fight on Arus. Both of them are capable leaders who know that retreating is not a sign of weakness, but one of thoughtfulness.

Shiro: (over comm) Coran, Allura, are you there? Allura: Shiro, we're here.

It’s sweet that Allura responds when it could have easily been Coran, and these two using each other’s names instead of something more formal always makes my heart flutter. Within such a stressful situation however, they still make sure to check in on each other, and support each other.

While in the tunnels of the Balmera and trying to devise a plan, the two again show their affinity for helping each other with their ideas. Allura provides an idea and Shiro shows how they can actually execute it. The two make a near-perfect team with similar thought processes in battle.

Allura: Then our time is short. We'll evacuate the planet. We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes. […] Shiro: (over comm) We'll engage the beast in our lions. With it distracted, Allura and Coran will land the Castle and load all of its citizens.

Once the plan is put in action, they are the two to directly notify each other as to what is going on.

Shiro: (over comm) Princess, we've lured the monster away. It's time. Allura: I'll contact you all when I'm on the ground.

Allura: I'm on the ground. Shiro: Hurry! I don't know how long we can hold this thing off.

Shiro is also pretty blunt with her, willing to show fear and express weakness as she did earlier on in the episode. They are both aware of how desperate the situation is, and subsequently, how much they and everyone else are relying on each other. Her face is set with determination to keep Shiro and her Paladins, as well as all the Balmerans, safe.

Allura risks her life twice in this episode, once just getting down to the Balmera, and the second when healing it. Yet despite being completely cognitive of the danger she is placing herself in, Allura shows no fear. What an amazing role model and amazing woman.

Lastly, Shiro is the first to notice that the new robobeast Haggar has thrown their way is endangering the Castle, and knows that they need to protect it, and Allura by extension.

Shiro: We've got to defend the Castle! Everyone, follow me. Form Voltron!

He is also the Paladin who draws attention to Allura’s mighty, selfless display of strength in healing the Balmera. 

Unfortunately there’s not a good shot of Shiro’s reaction to Allura being so weakened afterwards (due to the sudden almost attack of the Robobeast), however, he is the closest after Shay and Coran and runs towards them, so obviously he is very concerned for his princess.

Bonus space parents looking beautiful (as always):

Feel free to request/use these screencaps!