#female galra general

[sonekwi]

☆ ⸻ the white paladin, keith x reader

chapter four: discoveries

characters/pairings: keith, female reader

genre: fanfiction

summary: the red lion is in the possession of a ruthless galra general and taking it back is no small feat. although, you never expected to find another lion.

word count: 2,216

links: previous, next, wattpad, masterlist

a/n: i'm sorry about the shorter chapter. i just couldn't find the right flow for this one no matter how many times i rewrote it. i still hope you enjoy!

You, Pidge, Shiro, and Keith sneak inside the Galra ship, crawling through the hole in the metal hull Pidge had cut out. As you look around, you notice that you're inside some sort of engine control room. Pillars of raw electricity arch from floor to ceiling along the entire length of the room, crackling and buzzing. You nervously keep your distance.

"Pidge, what's your ETA?" Lance asks over the intercom.

"We're in," Pidge responds.

"We shouldn't stay in one spot for long," you say.

Shiro nods. "You're right, let's get moving."

The group sneaks throughout the ship, carefully avoiding the Galra soldiers patrolling around. The purple lights illuminating your path seem to pulse with an eerie and malicious energy, constantly reminding you of the danger you're in.

Shiro stops as the group comes up to an intersection, staring down each of the two halls that stretch out before you. For a moment he tenses up, almost as if he's paralyzed. You reach out and grab his arm, and he flinches away from you.

"Are you okay?" you ask.

"I've been here before," Shiro says, his voice barely above a whisper. "When the Galra had taken us, they– they brought us here."

Pidge perks up, "That means the rest of your crew might still be here. We have to rescue them!" he exclaims.

Shiro shakes his head, "Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion back to Arus.

"But we can't just leave prisoners here!" Pidge shouts. You hiss at him to keep his voice down, but he glares at you instead.

Shiro steps closer to Pidge, "Look, no one understands that more than me, but in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let's get moving," he says and begins to walk down one of the halls.

"No!" Pidge shouts again and Shiro stops. "Commander Holt is my father... He and my brother were the ones on Kerberos mission with you."

You give Pidge a quizzical look. That doesn't make sense. Commander Holt only had one son, Matt, and as Pidge said, he was on the Kerberos mission. So how the heck is Pidge his child?

Your eyes go wide, the dots finally connecting. No freaking way! You're his daughter Katie!? You're the kid that was blacklisted from the Garrison!

The only thing different is the glasses and short hair. How did Iverson not see it? How did you not see it? You met Commander Holt's children before the Kerberos crew left Earth. You were there with Keith to say goodbye to Shiro. You literally shook Pidge's hand that day!

     Wow, that is freaking embarrassing.

"Commander Holt is your father?" Shiro repeats.

"Yes! I have been searching everywhere for my family and I am not going to give up when I am this close!" Pidge says.

"We can split up," you blurt out, still caught up in your revelation. "Keith and I can go look for the Red Lion while you guys go look for the prisoners."

"Alright," Shrio says, agreeing with your idea. "Let's go then, I remember where they are held."

Keith glances between you and Shiro. "Are you sure that's a good idea? There are Galra soldiers everywhere."

Shiro places a hand on his shoulder. "Minor change of plans, but you'll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus-"

     A door down one of the halls opens, the sound of footsteps echoing along the walls. The group splits frantically, and you and Keith sprint down one of the halls. You skid to a stop as you quickly come upon another intersection. But you don't have time to think as the Galra soldiers are heading in your direction. You grab Keith's arm and run in a random direction.

     When you can't hear any footsteps other than your own, you slow down and eventually come upon another intersection of halls. You hum, wondering if you can feel the same pulsing energy you did when searching for the Blue Lion, but you have nothing.

     "Where do we even go?" Keith says, pacing between the two available directions. You can't feel the Red Lion, but you can definitely feel his growing impatience. "We don't even know where we are."

     You grab his hand to force his attention on you, "Hey, remember what Shiro said? Patience yields focus," you say. "Try feeling the Red Lion's energy. You'll find it."

     "Right," Keith huffs and closes his eyes. You watch his expression shift, his brows furrowing as he focuses. As he stands there, your eyes slowly begin to wander around his face. They drift from his eyes, to his nose, to his cheeks... to his mouth. You've never been able to keep yourself from admiring him when he wasn't looking.

     It's something you've come to do subconsciously.

     "I can feel it..." Keith says softly and his voice snaps you out of your trance. You frantically drop his hand and look away, your heart pounding wildly in your chest. For a split second, you thought he was talking about you staring at him.

     You mentally cuss at yourself and feel your cheeks heat up with embarrassment. You're supposed to be mad at him, not hopelessly crushing on him. You seriously need to get out of your head.

     Keith opens his eyes, "I got it. This way!" he says and you follow him.

     The two of you avoid the patrolling soldiers as Keith tracks down the Red Lion, and eventually, you enter a large hangar. Cargo boxes and supplies are scattered about, but what's in the center is what catches your attention.

     "What the heck?" Keith mutters.

You pause, "Allura? Are you seeing this?" you ask over the intercom.

"Hold on, (y/n), let me pull up your feed," she says and then there's a very long silence.

Not one, but two Voltron Lions sit in the middle of the hangar, protected by their force fields. The Red Lion is there, as expected, but you stare at the other. Its metal body is entirely white, save for the few crystal blue and yellow accents consistent with Altean architecture and design.

The strange Lion's bright eyes seem to eagerly lock onto you as you approach it.

     "I don't understand," Allura's voice barely crackles through the speakers in your helmet. "There's only five Lions..."

     "Do you think the Galra built it?" Keith asks, running up to his Lion. As surprised as he is, he needs to focus on bonding with the Red Lion.

     "That would be impossible," Allura says. "The blueprints died with my father."

You suddenly feel a pulse of energy, but not in the same way as you did with the Blue Lion. It's as if the strange Lion's very essence is tethered to you, and you can feel that tether tug throughout your whole body, urging you. You stop right in front of it and place your hands against the force field. The material ripples at your touch, but it doesn't open. The Lion purrs deeply.

"It's me! Keith!"

     You look over at your friend, wondering what's going on. He stands in front of the Red Lion, who doesn't let him in either. His hands push against the force field.

      "I am your Paladin!" he shouts, but the Red Lion continues to ignore him. "I'm bonding with you! Hey, we're connected–"

     A group of soldiers burst into the hangar and begin shooting at the two of you. You raise your arm in front of you, activating your shield.

     "Why did you have to be so loud?" you snap at Keith and run over to him.

     "Why weren't you watching our backs?" Keith says to you. He transforms his bayard into a sword and rushes at the Galra soldiers.

"Oh, well I'm sorry!" you sneer at him and activate your bayard. You stop for a small moment as it materializes into a double-bladed scythe, the weapon feeling balanced and weighted in your hand. "This is new–"

A Galra soldier shoots at you, interrupting your gawking. You brace yourself behind your shield, the lasers dispersing in bright flashes upon impact. Then, for a small moment, there's a pause. You take the opportunity to charge the Galra soldier.

As you join the battle, you try your best to remember what you learned at the Garrison. students were required to take a hand-to-hand combat class, but you're much more used to the small batons and wooden knives they provided rather than a lengthy scythe.

You swing the blade at the feet of a Galra soldier, knocking it down on its back. You swiftly bring the other blade down right on its chest. It penetrates the armor, exposing a bundle of wires and computers.

     "Robots?" you mutter, then grunt when another Galra soldier body slams you.

     You stumble and catch yourself on one of the cargo boxes. The soldier doesn't waste a second and swings its fist. You manage to move just in time, its knuckles slamming right next to your head. As you side-step, you raise your scythe and swing at the soldier. The blade pierces through its back and it falls limp to the ground.

     "(y/n)!" Keith calls out. "Hold onto something!"

     "What?" you look over at him and see him standing at a control panel. You grab onto the cargo box, your fingers wrapping around the rope strapped across it.

     Keith presses a button and the hangar door opens. Your body jerks as everything gets sucked out into space. You cuss under your breath and you fight to hold on.

     Keith holds onto the panel. He struggles to reach the button and close the doors, the vacuum of space overpowering him. You watch as his grip slips and your heart leaps into your throat.

     "Keith!" you scream when he gets sucked into space. You let go of the cargo box and follow after him. As your body is thrown out of the hangar, you reach out for your friend.

     "What are you doing!?" he shouts.

     "What do you think I'm doing?" you shout back. You're almost to him. Just a little more and you can grab onto him.

In a flash of red and white, Keith is gone. You scream, terrified of what space monster could have eaten him. But you stop when you see the Red Lion circle back around. It saved him.

A fearsome roar rattles throughout you and you turn to see the other Lion heading right for you. Its jaw opens and it scoops you up into the safety of its mouth.

You lay on the floor for a moment, panting as you try to gather your bearings. When the inside of the Lion lights up, you scramble to your feet and dust off your armor.

"Uh, thank you!" you call out and get a purr in response. You look around and the inside layout is nothing like the Blue Lion's. Granted, everything about this Lion seems different, either subtly or majorly.

"(y/n), are you okay?" Keith asks over the intercom.

"Yeah," you say, quickly finding your way to the cockpit. "Let's get back to the castle."

"Copy that."

⁀➷

     Your feet hit the solid concrete of the courtyard. Behind you, the sixth Voltron Lion sits down on its metal haunches, its eyes watching you. As the others return with their Lions, Allura and Coran come running out into the courtyard.

The two Alteans stop dead in their tracks at the sight of the sixth Lion. Allura remains as stunned as she was when you found it, but now she seems to truly believe it's real now that it's right in front of her. Coran, however, doesn't seem as surprised.

"After all these years..." he says, moving closer to the Lion.

"There's another one?" Pidge gawks as she steps out of her Lion.

"Holy crow!" Lance exclaims, running up to you.

"Can anyone explain what's going on?" Hunk asks. "Why is there a sixth Lion?"

Coran looks to everyone, then gestures to the robotic feline sitting behind you, "When King Alfor was constructing the Lions, the White Lion was the first," he says. "It was... an experimental design."

"How come I never knew of this?" Allura asks.

"Your father had swept its existence under the rug," Coran continues explaining. "Although it was powerful, the White Lion was deemed too flawed to be fit for the battlefield. It was stashed away to be used for scraps... but King Alfor couldn't get himself to take it apart."

"That doesn't explain how Zarkon had it, seeing as he didn't know about it," Shiro notes.

"King Alfor knew the White Lion would still be dangerous in the wrong hands and sent it away with the other Lions," Coran says. "Zarkon simply must have found it."

"Did it have a Paladin before... everything?" you ask, feeling a slight tug on the invisible tether between you and the White Lion. Deep down, you hope it means something, that it's real. You hope you aren't imagining things.

Coran shakes his head, "No."

"Well, it sure doesn't hurt to have some extra firepower," Shiro says. "Sendak is still coming for the Lions and we'll want all the help we can get to defeat him."

"Right, and now that we have the other Lions, let's go get the Black Lion," Allura says.

[hibiscusseaart]

Galra courting and relationships

Hey, I decided to make a whole article about it to get everything in one place and not just a twitter thread.

Warnings: 18+. Mentions of ruts, heats, a/b/o dynamics. Mention of almost non-con (nothing happens, but if that triggers you, I put a warning before that paragraph). Includes some of half-altean Lance hcs.

Galra counting in the nutshell: Klance relationships at the start (s. 1-2). Really competitive, rival-like, fighting all the time. Galra believe that every strong relationships starts with a hint of hate at first (kismesis *cough*)

A bit biology for the start: I consider galra, like humans, have two different sexes. One which can fertilize, one which bears kits. But it's okay for them to have same sex relationships. Couples like that considered to be one of the best nannies and every pack with kits wants at least one same sex couple with them. They're the best nannies cuz they usually don't have their own kits (if they didn't find or stole one (yeah that happens)), so have more time on them, but have all the urges to care for a kit. Unmated galra usually don't have interest in kits much.

For galra it's important that their mate would be able to protect them and their kits. And it's not only "males should protect", no, females also strive for their own strength. They need to be strong in case something happens to their mate and they need to tend them and take care of their kits. But it's hard so that's why they prefer to have a pack before having kits.

So ideally both galra should be equally strong for each other. If they are, they're considered as perfect mates. If one mate is much stronger than the other, then they're can be seen like they're using the weak one. Also the weaker one can be seen as lazy or shady.

In general, out of courting, galra fight each other a lot. It's the way they build their status and hierarchy in society (like alpha, omega and that shit, but without mpreg lol). Tho, being just strong isn't enough, they also have to be smart too, but it's a bit less important. No one listens to you if you’re weak, but smart. So weak galra search for some stronger friends or a pack (but not mates as I mentioned before) who can help them to make others listen.

Yeah, talking about a/b/o things. Galra aren't very emotional species. But they can understand other's mood with body language and scents. Keith got that part in him. He may be considered as an autistic human, but perfectly normal and even really emphatic galra.

Unmated galra show off their scent any way they can, so they can find someone who likes it and they try to start courting. Though, don’t be mistaken with abo pheromones and their sweet scents. Galra sweat and stink like humans. For some this scent would be too strong and disgusting, for others it’s sexy as hell.

When two galra like each other’s scents, they start to fight a lot, mostly physically, but a good banter is welcome, cuz it keeps relationships interesting. If one of them is weaker, the other can offer to help them. It's part of their flirt to ask to spar together and help with training.

So when they satisfied with each other they can have their final battle, sometimes with their family watching. Galra don't have weddings, though this battle can be considered as one. It's important for them to get a tie, but to show their best and not to hold back.

But it's not a must and not most of galra follow that tradition. The battle is mostly for warriors or high-status commanders. Usually galra satisfied with play-fights and just get closer as romantic partners with time.

When it's done, the pair is starting a serious relationship. And it's final. Galra mate for life and won't look at anyone else until their partner dies.

So, galra romance. They bite. A lot. They can kiss, cuddle at later stages of courting, but bites are saved only for mates. Also, they fall in love only when they are close to be mates and for them love at fist sight doesn't exist. But crush at the first fight? Hell yeah.

When they're mates, galra start to scent each other. They have big gland at the nape of hair (yeah, where the mullet is), lil glands near ear and jaw, armpits, between fingers and at their groin. So yeah a lof of places. It's important for them to smell as their mate. Scenting each other can bring them a lof of comfort and helps to de-stress.

If one is known to be mated, but doesn't smell like their mate (like after the shower or just sweated a lot) and just smell like themselves, they can be considered as a whore, who's trying to lure others with their scent.

It's mostly social thing, they don't have any instincts about it, but bc of that mated galra prefer to smell like their mate, perfume or not to smell like anything at all. Close analogy would be our rings after a wedding. Better to be there, but if not then sheesh, why are you trying to hide that you’re married?

So yeah, if you're mated galra, you better not to be smelly. But bc of that they're quite neat and thoughtful about their hygiene.

After galra mate and start regularly to scent each other, they go into the 2d puberty. Before that their body considered as a teen one. That means: not yet fully developed at their full potential and really low libido. But don't not mistake them as human teens, galra brain is almost done developing and they act adult. Though galra prefer to be mated sooner than later.

2d puberty is about starting to even have a libido and have it high, being with their mate a lot and growing larger and stronger. Also they start to have regular cycles of heats and ruts (3-5 days per 2-3 months). That's the only time when they can have a kit. Cycles are usually synchronized but if not, it can be helped with meds.

The first heats and ruts are really like in the messiest a/b/o fics, but with time and when the puberty ends, it's mellowing down and they're quite ok to control themselves and even go to work at this time (but it mostly depends on their own biology. Halves don’t have it that strong like pure-bloods). They're attracted only to their mate after all so no one really cares. The only problem is not to smell around much.

So yeah the first few years are the "honeymoon" years, when the pair have much more higher chance to have a kit if they’re common male/female pair. Same sex couples would get an urge to care for children of their pack or any baby they find.

Though even with that they're quite okay to leave their mate for long periods of time. It's caused by their evolution. Ancient galra would separate with their mate to find food for quite long time. But they are still okay with being around a lot and living together, they just don't miss each other much, don't long to be together all the time. They're quite fine knowing that the mate is alive and maybe some text messages or video calls would be good.

So separation anxiety can be ok only for kits and their parents. And openly missing your mate after like 1 week of separation would get you strange looks from galra.

That's why Krolia left her mate so easily. But it was harder for her to leave her kit (plus Keith was MUCH weaker than usual galra kit and Krolia had a lot of anxiety bc of that). Parents are much more hesitant to leave their kit even with other parent or members of their pack. Galra are very caring parents and prefer to have their kits with them most of the time. Zarkon is quite a deviant here.

So Keith and Lance would deffinetly get strange looks and Krolia would be concerned cuz "It's unhealthy to depend on each other so much". For galra their relationships would look like that annoying couple who shares accounts and goes EVERYWHERE together and are miserable and check their phone 100 times per second to see if they send them a new message.

Oh, about jealousy and cheating. Galra usually don't cheat at all, they don't have hook ups or something like that, they're extremely loyal. The problem lays with the other species who don't mate for life. If they do, galra can easily be turned into crazy yanderes and would try to remove "the problem" and get their mate back to them. Or if the mate tries to "break up", heartbroken, they can kill them and end their relationships once and for all. Yeah, they are dramatic.

Getting back to Klance.

Basically Keith and Lance already married and Keith is a REALLY jealous partner. But, we’re gonna start from the beginning.

Keith was fucking SURE that Lance was flirting with him from the day 1, but he didn't really done much with it because:

a) Lance should prove himself first;

b) Keith's shy. It's the first time when a cute boy flirts with him just in the right way after all! But that what he thinks, on Earth people were constantly flirting with him, but it went right over his head.

So when they got together, oh boy, they are fucking inseparable. Keith would cling to Lance like his life depends on it, but would be really shy at first. But when he got over it, Keith would start to bite Lance A LOT and to scent him like a mad man. Keith have smaller glands, he doesn't have a big gland oh his nape, but a few smaller ones there and near jaw, also usual ones everywhere else. But because his glands are smaller, his scent is weaker and it takes more time to build up his scent on Lance.

He always cuddles Lance when they have time and rub his face all over him. Lance is like "ok that's prob some keitn/galra (depends when they started dating) thing" and just reading something or play with his phone while Keith rubbing his face on his neck, biting it and purring the whole time.

i've got a fanart of Keith scenting Lance! thank you!!

One time Lance went to breakfast with almost fully purple-blue neck.

The team obviously panics.

"WTF DID SOMETHING BITE YOU ON THE LAST PLANET??"

"Nah, the 'thing' that bit me is hiding in his room"

"What"

"Well, Keith BETTER be sorry and embarrassed, it fucking hurts!"

Coran let Lance use a pod for 10 mins. Keith was hiding for the rest of the day.

Also Keith’s possessive af and jealous of every alien who looks at Lance the wrong way. Keith doesn't really know why he acts like that and he almost thinks that he's going crazy. But once they meet some friendly galra (or maybe Krolia) they explain to him that he's going through 2d puberty and it's only starting.

(Non-con mention here)

Yeah, Keith is actually starting to go crazy with his high ass libido and first ruts. At first, Lance is amused and quite horny too so it's perfect for him. Though, it wasn't really fun, when Keith tried to get into Lance’s pants with force once cuz his dumb hormone brain thought that Lance is playing and not trying to get Keith off. But Lance is quite capable to wrestle him down. If he didn't Keith wouldn't even got interested at the first place.

(Okay you're good now)

They talk and discuss their limits and it's quite okay next. Though Keith would deffinetly get this "I’m a monster" mindset for some time after what happened. It would take time to get comfortable with this kind of thing, cuz first ruts are quite brutal.

I won't go into any details with galra anatomy here, but Keith deffinetly have a knot (though it's not big due to human half of his biology). Lance sure is scared of that, cuz they don't have anything for this kind of sex in space, plus Lance didn't do anal before. So they stick with other activities for some time. Though who knows what they'd do next. In his rut Keith doesn't care if he's the one giving or receiving, the important thing is orgasms.

With his mate and time Keith starts growing a bit faster than in canon. He got grizzled much faster and Lance's LOVING it. Before Keith had a "teen" body, like almost none body hair. Guess what now. He can grow purple beard (he doesn't cuz it looks dumb) and has hairy legs, arms, chest. For him it's uncomfortable, just he lived without it quite fine, thank you. He prob would like to get it removed lol (Lance's against it cuz hairy bf hot and sexy).

In contrast Lance doesn't have hair on his body at all cuz of his altean heritage. Alteans, like an advanced race, just removed that shit from their DNA.

Oh, funny thing: Galran word for "mate" translates on altean as "life-partner" and that thing translates on english as "husband/wife".

Imagine the team surprise when on some meeting with Blades Keith just casually says "Oh, Lance's my husband" when they ask him about it. (For galra Keith is quite young one and marmorites are like "What? You're already mated? Isn't it a bit too soon?" so that's why the asked Keith why Lance smells so much like mated galra.)

"Wow, babe, at least give me the ring first"

"Huh? Isn't it a bit too fast?.."

"You just said that I'm your husband!"

“I said that you're my mate!"

"Well, you see, number 4, galra mate for life, so you can say, that you're already married"

"..."

"Say what now"

"Okay… but we still need a wedding for my family, they'd kill me if we don't! And I want a pretty ring! I have size 9!"

And Keith after his first embarrassment is just like "Well, I did wanted to marry you anyway..."

"JGUHGUJSHUF KEITH"

Krolia would have lose her mind (internally cuz she has a reputation) about it and def go to threaten Lance and give him a shovel talk. Not-galra mates can be not really loyal after all.

"You, human, threat him well"

"You, the mother that left him, threat him well yourself!"

Krolia thinks that she likes her son's mate.

Well, that's it, don't have anything to wrap it up. Though, I could talk about Klance and kids. Keith would def have an urge to steal some galra baby to take care of. Sometimes it'd be hard to convince him to give the baby back to their parents. Plus they're at war and Lance is like really not ready for that kind of shit.

But if this is all after s8... They could start a family with baby galra on their hands.

Thank you for reading this long text! Please don't be shy to let me know your own thoughts and hcs!

[electricsynthesis]

life as a galra prior to the galra empire was so long ago that any records have been easily burned and scrubbed out of existence

the galra are relatively mammalian and reproduce similar to most earth mammals, i.e. there are two sexes, the sex that carries the eggs and the sex that fertilizes them. however galra are space cats so they often have twins or triplets, more often than they bear singular children.

galra raise their children in group homes not unlike real life orphanages. within the empire, fertile adults are assigned a partner by the sages that they’re expected to (attempt to) breed with. this arrangement does not involve anything resembling marriage, love or even affection (though sometimes affection is born regardless). the two adults are sent to a facility in which they have weird sex rooms where they attempt to breed. Generally speaking they then leave and never see each other again. this is considered an awkward if necessary way one must serve the empire. sort of like the way we see going to the dmv . if the “”””female”””” partner is pregnant within the next few months, then they will be given mandatory leave from their duties to focus on the pregnancy. after the child is born, the medical facility they are born in takes them away from their parent and sends them to the children’s home.

to be a nurse/nanny/whatever we’re calling it is a revered job that is not envied. multiple nurses will oversee the raising and teaching of young galra. young galra are taught about the history of the empire (propaganda), the glory of the empire (obviously) and, depending on the nurse’s opinion of the child’s prospects, things related to skills they will need in their adulthood careers. galran children do not choose their path in life. instead, the nurses decide where the child would be best suited to serve the empire. this is generally decided very young, as to have a more focused education.

parents do not get to see their children after they are born. they do not even get to name them. the “”””male”””” parent often will not even be informed if the “”””female”””” parent was successfully impregnated. this is not considered cruel, this is their normal. parents do not know their children.

this is sort of also true for the blade of marmora, but manifests slightly differently. the blade do raise their children away from the adults, but they are communally raised by the group. they take shifts on who plays nanny for the younger children, but there are dedicated teachers for the older ones. this means that in the BoM, parents a) do usually name their children, though not always, and b) often at least know their children. but this does not lead to a parent-child relationship as we would conceive of one

galra relationships in general are a game of distance. the galra actually value manners, politeness and following social rules of conduct very highly. intimacy in public is a huge no. and by intimacy, I don’t just mean physical affection, but rather, any display of any kind of connection. even if you are madly in love with someone, in public you are expected to be as cold and distant with them as everyone else. this leads to a sort of event horizon in which galra find ways to communicate with one another in shared glances and code that don’t violate the rules of conduct. this differs depending on the people; it may be double entendres, outright aggression, or a designed code to speak in. all just to do things like ask the other to swing around their room later or something

it’s normal and expected for galra to form relationships of course. but the people involved will be judged on their ability to be subtle. if people can figure out your relationship, you are failing. all of this goes for all types of relationships, from platonic to familial to romantic. plus, they have no concept of marriage, or a life partner. romance is as fleeting as anything else in the galra empire. (You will be similarly judged if you start noticeably acting pissed off around someone as well. if people can figure out you just went through a breakup, you are failing the social rules of conduct.)

parent-child relationships are the only place where the social rules of conduct are different. because encountering one’s adult children unawares is a pretty common situation in the galra empire, it is expected that, if both parties come to realize this, the child should try to best their parent at what it is their parent specializes in. (so people in the military would duel, that sort of thing.) this is because the point of “breeding” in the galra cultural consciousness is, pretty specifically, to make better and stronger children. government matches are chosen based on favorable traits that will lead to stronger children. so a child is expected to “prove” themselves so to speak. so a lot of the time parents won’t reveal themselves to their children in order to avoid unnecessary hardship

and now I present to you: keith and krolia

[docgold13]

Profiles in Villainy

Prince Lotar

Charming and duplicitous, Lotor is the prince of the Galra Empire and the son of Emperor Zarkon.  His father is of the Galraian race while his mother is an Altean mystic named Haggar (thus making Lotar a rare Altean/Galraian hybrid).  

Fearful of his son’s guile and potential ambitions to overthrow him, Zarkon sent Lotor away to govern a remote region of the empire.  When Zarkon was severely injured in battle against Voltron, however, the prince was summoned by Haggar to lead the Galra Empire in his father’s stead.  Herein, Lotar was aided by his three generals, a trio of female half-Galraian hybrids who served as Lotor's primary lieutenants. This included  Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid.

Orchestrating his own secretive plans, Lotor would go on to join the Voltron Force, becoming a trusted alley to the humans as well as quite close with Princess Allura of the Altean.  Upon Zarkon’s revival, he declares his son a traitor and enemy of the Empire. The prince eventually killed his father and took the throne as the new emperor.

Hereafter, Lotar’s alliance with the Voltron Force was revealed as a ruse created so to gain access to the powerful Quintessence.  Lotar battled Voltron with his own super-powered robot, The Sincline. Voltron was ultimately victorious and Lotor was left marooned within the Quintessence.

In the original version of Voltron, Lotar is known as Prince Sincline, son and heir to the Emperor Daibazaal. A dangerous and cunning adversary, his only weakness is the fact that he fell in love with Princess Fala.  His plot was to overthrow his father and marry Fala. He is a sly, scheming villain with a sense of honor, preferring to fight fair over his father's dirty tactics, and is Akira's frequent rival. 

In the next iteration of Voltron, Lotar is the son of Emperor Zarkon and his top lieutenant in the battle against Voltron the Defender of the Universe.  This version of Lotar is more dutiful toward his father and fights against Voltron in a desperate effort to earn his father’s respect.  He was seemingly killed in battle against Voltron but was later revived by Maahox, using the power of Haggarium. Hereafter he becomes the new Emperor of the Galraians and resumes his battle with the Votron Force.  

Actor Akira Kamiya voiced the character in his initial appearances; whereas actors Lennie Weinrib, Tim Curry, Mark Hildreth and A. J. Locascio have provided the voice for the villain in the English language dubs of his various iterations.  Lotar first appeared in the fourteenth episode of Beast King GoLion, airing on June 3rd, 1981.  

[lilflowerpot]

I was wondering as a child of teenage pregnancy what would that be like in the galran empire and if its even possible for galrans to get pregnant durring their teenage years. And if it is possible what would the discussion around that be like and what are the resources for the parents and chlid. And if it isnt how would they react to the fact humans as young as 14 can get pregnat.

Sorry if this make u uncomfortable and u dont have to answer. I just rarely even see the topic talked about in general and got curious.

Aging & Lifespans | Pregnancy & Children | Galra Fertility | Q'tskraal

Infancy: 0–13 idp Childhood: 14–38 idp Adolescence: 39–63 idp Young Adult: 64–139 idp Older Adult: 140–229 idp Elder: 230–280 idp

The above illustrates the broad strokes of different galra life stages, though for this question we're obviously focusing on adolescence. So galra adolescence (and therefore puberty) occurs between the ages of 39–63 imperial decaphoebs, with female galra typically reaching reproductive maturity a little later than their male counterparts; the absolute youngest a female galra could likely conceive would be around 50idp (the human equivalent of 14y), but remember that galra pregnancy is high-risk enough as it is, and even more so if the host's body is not yet fully grown. Then, of course, there's that monestrous fertility cycle to consider: unlike humans, whose menstrual cycle occurs year-round, female galra only experience a single phoeb of fertility per decaphoeb, meaning that an accidental pregnancy is infinitely less likely to occur.

All that being said, it is still possible for an adolescent galra to find themselves with child.

I here want to address the particular relevance of my Q'tskraal post, as there is technically a small overlap of 4idp between the youngest one could be when they succeed in the galra rite of passage (and therefore are considered an adult in Imperial society), and those last few decaphoebs of adolescence: if someone of 61idp who had passed their Q'tskraal were to fall pregnant, this would not be considered a "teenage pregnancy" by Imperial standards! In contrast, however, you could have someone who is 72idp and technically better equipped biologically to carry a pregnancy, but has not yet passed their Q'tskraal and so is still deemed a child themselves.

But I digress.

As I've said countless times before, the galra foster a collectivist culture, and so the very first social instinct would be for the entire local community to rally around the expectant parent(s) to provide them with all the emotional and practical support they could require—including unequivocal love if the pregnant galra decides they would like/need to terminate the pregnancy altogether. I thought I'd addressed the topic of abortion before (though if I did I cannot for find it for the life of me) but essentially, though Imperial culture puts great value on children, a foetus is not yet that: ever more important and therefore the priority is the bodily autonomy and right of the host parent to make their own damn decisions. In particularly dangerous cases, abortion may in fact be heavily recommended, if to proceed with the pregnancy is likely to result in fatality, but again,,, this decision is utterly at the discretion of the individual in question.

In the modern Empire, there is a third choice beyond those of child-pregnancy vs abortion: gestation pods! These serve as an artificial controlled environment within which a foetus can be carefully monitored and supplied with all the necessary nutrients it might require—the only caveat being that if a pregnancy is being transferred from a biological womb into this artificial one (rather than having been fostered within the gestation pod from the beginning as an intentional form of surrogacy) then the foetus must be transferred before the placenta takes over the transfer of nutrients to the embryo (at the end of the first quarter of the pregnancy), as at this point it has become entirely reliant on its host body for survival.

If, however, the pregnant galra decides they neither wish to abort nor transfer their pregnancy—or if it is too late for the latter—then every care would be taken by both their family and medical services to keep them as comfortable as possible; they'd likely be relocated to a local medical facility where they could be carefully monitored for the full duration of the pregnancy so as to minimise the associated danger, and all being well both they and the resultant kiting would end the experience hale and healthy. After this point, neither they nor their child would be treated especially differently from any other new family: the Imperial government would still grant them the allotted child support, while the local community would assist in child-rearing just as they do in all things.

The only thing that would induce a resoundingly negative reaction would be if one of the parents had passed their Q'tskraal while the other hadn't... unless conception had occurred prior to the Q'tskraal (in which case both parties were still legally children) this would be considered predatory behaviour on the part of the adult galra, even if the two are of the same age.

[aemoglobin]

had a wonderful conversation with my roomie, iscah, last night about various series we would and wouldn't like to be isekai-d into and honestly we came up with some gems.

agreed that game of thrones is generally The Worst series to get isekai-d to mostly because neither of us really know Anything about the series as a whole but also because in general it fucking sucks. your safe choices are the Church (if you're a woman) and Academia (if you're a man) but even then we're not sure if that's entirely the case! i'm entering their equivalent of the catholic church and making it Gay. the ice zombies and dragons are NOT my problem!!

star wars would suck bc the chances of ending up a slave are just way too high and if you're force-sensitive oh boy. oh man. there's generally no safe era but old republic or the eu (may she rest in peace) are probably the safest eras if you're not on a planet that is plot-relevant!!!

star trek is the easy win bc it's more or less utopia. you don't have to do anything you don't want to. personally i would be committing lesbian atrocities in the enterprise's holodeck as the episode's B-plot for nearly every episode i show up in, i am the most polarizing female character in stng, simultaneously setting the development of lesbians in tv back two decades and also doing more for lesbians in tv than anyone has ever done before and will ever do again.

both agreed that hp is also easy-peasy since it's just modern england with extra steps. and also if you left england you could do whatever you want bc no other countries were involved with all of that.

retail worker voltron au but i'm the retail worker who got isekai-d to the planet Target (this is an entire planet that's just Target. like how Coruscant in star wars is a whole city) and then i am so fed up with this job i commit unionization (i don't know anything about unionizing a workplace let alone a planet) and take over the work force. workers of the galaxy unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains etc

the alternate to THAT au is getting transmigrated into a middle management galra army officer where my job is still basically the same (logistics and maybe working at the bx) but now i have a much higher chance of dying on the job (the chances of dying on the job at Target are low but never zero btw). this is NOT the type of catgirl isekai i was thinking of and i want a refund!!

[hollowwhisperings]

VLD Retrospective: My POV as a Queer Biracial Asian Aspie

I don't generally enjoy listing my demographics in public spaces but for a Voltron Retrospective, I find it Quite Necessary to better convey how much VLD meant to me personally. This is one fan reconciling with a work I enjoyed for years, remain saddened for, and felt betrayed by. lf I'm good for anything, it's my being a Living Statistical Outlier.

VLD gave me explicit representation within its main cast: it gave me Shiro, who I clocked as chronically ill well before it was confirmed (Like Knows Like) & struggled with mental illness too (I'm not a war vet but Shiro's implicit Medical Trauma was Also There). Shiro is also, very obviously, an Asian &, as later revealed, a Queer Asian. There are few Queer Asians in western media who are Actual Characters: Shiro was (& remains) fun to have on board. It was, primarily, his struggles with his physical & mental health that most resonated with me.

Pidge is someone a lot of fans identified with, being a quirky genderbender maligned for her relative youth: I'm an autistic female who is gender "meh" so Pidge was "Representation" but she wasn't New nor Almost Unprecedented like Shiro or, as I'll elaborate further on, Keith. Every AFAB, every youth has felt undermined by their assumed gender & their youth: this is Not New. Pidge is fun but she wasn't Groundbreaking, not to me.

Keith and, to a lesser degree (as in assocoation with him), the "Half-Galra" Misfits were who I most identified with. Even before Keith was having Existential Crises over being Half-Galra, Keith read as someone biracial: his name, "Keith Kogane", makes him a white-passing Asian . I think current consensus is that Keith's Dad was "Mixed Asian*" but Keith's "orphan" (& secret alien) status prevented him from engaging with his heritage.

I am Not Galran (so far as I know) but I am a white-passing Asian & someone of "Two Worlds" (half white, half east asian). Star Trek's Spock established how most subsequent works of the sci-fi genre depicts half-human aliens: all the vibes of being Biracial, existential crises about Passing & feeling Disconnected ("rejected") by either/both halves of one's identity. Keith checks those boxes and Lotor's Halfsie Squad are similarly Coded (to lesser degrees).

Aliens, half-human ones especially, are very easily read as Neurodivergent as in "has ADHD &/or ASD": Keith continued this tradition & it further isolated him from his peers, especially because (like many of us on The Spectrum) he grew up "Undiagnosed". Keith knew he was Different but no one had the correct Context for his "Difference": this lead him to feeling Wrong, Rejected and Alien. This is an experience Familiar to anyone belatedly recognised as having ASD and also to Literally Any Queer Person.

To summarize the above: Shiro meant A Lot to me because he struggled with his health in silence (& was Asian); Keith meant a lot because his Human Demographics & Coding match almost entirely with my own. Shiro became "more" Important to me through his being Keith's Most Important Person (KH fans: you see where this is going): I was already Attached to Shiro, Keith made me invested in him.

KH fans knew from my invoking of "Taihetsu no Hito" [JP for "Most Important Person"] that, through being Invested in Keith & thus Shiro, I quickly Recognised that Keith? Desperately in love with Shiro. I did not, however, consider Shiro likely to Act on any Reciprocating of such feelings (which he did show signs of developing, as early on as that Stranded From Everyone Else and "when I die, you be Black Paladin" episode) due to the implied age gap between them. I knew Shiro was Younger Than Assumed (very early 20's at oldest, I figured from Contextual Clues), that Lance & Hunk were about 17 & that Keith was Older than Lance (so, 18). The age gap between Shiro & Keith was never that much of an issue: it was their difference in Rank & the ages they were at their First Meeting that were the "real" obstscles, to my mind. Season 6 or 7 did a Flashback that made Keith 14 when he first met Shiro: that very much explains why Shiro was reluctant to acknowledge attraction to Keith & unlikely to act on it. Keith did, however, read as Crushing On Shiro pretty much from their first encounter (Keith stealing Shiro's car was a very obvious effort to gain Shiro's attention & respect: something Keith was unlikely to recognise as Crush Evidence but Shiro definitely did).

And then Shiro lost 3 years to Time Dilation while Keith gained 2: their Reunion post-Space Whale was very telling. For the first time, Sheith actually seemed genuinely plausible to me. Keith had had a Glow Up that allowed Shiro to stop thinking of Keith as the kid he'd been when they first met & actually admit that his excuses to not act on any attraction had stopped holding weight. I remain completely convinced that "Kuron" had fallen, equally & just as desperately, in love with Keith over the series and that the Aggression Kuron exhibited toward Keith was as much caused by That (Gay Pining he refused to act on, even as Keith ran around in his Infamous Blades Uniform) as it was by Haggar (& Kuron's growing suspicions on his "true" nature).

Then there was the "You're my brother... I love you!" scene. Initially, given The Current Events of the time, I was irritated by the Abrupt Brother-Zoning from the Very Obviously Pining Keith to Shiro.

Then I noticed the order of these sentences: first, "you're my brother" (neither Shiro nor Keith have any siblings: in asia, there's MLM equivalent to "they were Roommates" in "they're sword/sworn brothers") and THEN, more desperately and while at the cusp of death... "I love you".

VERY ON BRAND, KEITH. It's also the "I love you" that gets through Kuron's programming enough for Keith to save them both. From my observations of VLD, the sole remaining obstacles to Sheith sailing were "will Shiro retain Kuron's memories and, if so, will he accept Kuron as being another Him" and "will the writers be able to get the execs to sign off on TWO queer paladins being queer with EACH OTHER"?

and then... the love confession was never addressed & Shiro stopped interacting with any of the Paladins beyond a professional setting.

By then, a lot of the show was looking Off and I actually looked at the online Voltron fandom to see if other people were Connecting Dots: some Meddling had happened, Shiro was being OOC as all heck, Allura and Keith seemed pretty miserable, Romelle was Sus as Heck, why was Allurance happening, where the heck is Lotor (etc)....

I was, like everyone else, greatly upset by Allura's needlessly being Killed Off and by Shiro's Stock Photo husband. I was also Not Impressed by the alleged "happiness" found by any of the Paladins: Shiro retiring his greatest dream, of flying and exploring the galaxy when he had just found out he Wasn't Going To Die from his Chronic Illness? Jim Kirk, another charismatic spaceship captain who loved to explore the universe, had a similar "retirement" ending for its Heroic Captain.

The first Star Trek film, set post-series, conveyed exactly how Shiro's "happy" ending played out for a character Shiro was almost certainly inspred by: Captain James "Jim" Tiberius Kirk.

Captain Kirk's "happy ending" was introduced in TMP as being: a promotion/retirement, marriage, & settling on Earth. Sound familiar, Shiro? TMP then shows how that "happy ending" plays out for someone like Jim (or Shiro): barely a handful of years later, Jim is miserable in his "retirement" (he was Promoted to a desk job); his Very Sudden marriage to a Previously Unknown Character is crumbling (& is even implied as being arranged by Starfleet's Brass to keep their Poster Boy on earth!); he clearly misses his Team (his Found Family) & at his first "valid" opportunity to get his Team together to fly into space again? That's exactly what Jim does.

Star Trek: TMP also, incidentally, features Jim living out some kind of Space Divorce Drama with his Right-Hand Man, the Half-Human Alien Spock. The two had apparently spent all those years apart and Spocks's "logical response" to [everything post-TOS] was... becoming a Vulcan Monk in order to Purge All His Emotions. (Krolia, please tell me that the Galra do not have an Equivalent to Vulcan's kolinahr & that, if it DOES, you Forbade Keith From Doing It).

Jim & Kirk saved each other, often very impossibly, in every other episode of TOS. They were also so widely shipped by fans that the "founding" of modern fandom cukture is often attributed to those first K/S shippers.

The easy Parallels between Spock/Kirk to Keith/Shiro were something that seemed to increase as VLD continued, likely as its creative team started recognising how naturally Keith & Shiro played out that epic space romance. The relationship between the Black Paladins was consistently emphasized within the series (until it abruptly Wasn't) and their bond was considered the strongest shared by any two paladins. A Sheith required very little effort from VLD's creative team and, given the Time Dilation plot point, that effort WAS made: Keith shows up Older & Blade-ier, Shiro Visibly Reacts and seems perfectly set up to Reevaluate his relationship with Keith, both of them visibly Adult and already established as "Equals".

Reading the research done by Team Purple Lion helped me understand the many degrees of unpleasantness caused by the Forced Removal of Lotor from VLD's endgame: the series' overall plot, key themes and multiple character arcs were contingent to the ugly consequences of Voltron's [murdering] him, the emotional effects Lotor had on Allura, the ways Lotor was integral to the show's themes of Redemption & Recovery & Love (of all forms). Just about every main character (and the imexplicable presence of several other characters) had their Arc underminded by Lotor's staying [murdered]: Lotor (obvs), Allura (VLD's Actual Main Character), Lance (who suddenly became Every Creepy "Nice" Guy), Pidge, Axca, Romelle, Merla, Yzor & her girlfriend, Honnerva...

I was invested in the plot, characters and themes of VLD: its ending wasn't just upsetting, it was contradictory to its own story. Though I am not invested in any VLD ships other than Sheith (for the way the characters are individually Important to me, the ways Shiro is important to Keith, the ways their relationship parallels K/S down to the syllables), the series had set certain ships up through its Themes and within its plot: Allura/Lotor, a reclamation of Allura's agency & a thematic resolution to the major conflicts of the series; Shiro/Keith, a love story the series spent 7 seasons telling; the tentative beginnings of Lance/Pidge, a Chekhov's Gun that would round their individual character development through better understanding each other; Hunk & Recognition of his Ingenuity, Bravery, Compassion (which would, incidentally, feature Hunk/Shay and Hunk's central role in the intergalactic Recovery proces). All of these ships serve a Purpose within VLD's plot, aid individual character development, reinforce the series' overarching themes, and have a solid basis within the text of VLD (as well as outside of it, in interviews and statements from the creative team).

I was able to "recover" from the betrayal of how VLD ended, largely through the detective work of fans like Team Purple Lion and reading many "fix-fic" wherein Allura Lives and Shiro is not OOC as all heck. VLD was one of many series, at the time, whose Betrayal of its themes & characters made Waves all over Fandom. It was, however, one of the Betrayals that hurt me more "personally". It was also a fantastic example of Creatives having horrid working conditions, Corporate Interests actively Hurting their consumers, of Fans being forced to Play Detective due to the modern Media Landscape: the culture of creatives being under strict NDAs, of their being without Unions, of how abruptly Projects can be undermined by the Whims of singular entities (creating additional work on an already overworked labour force, often in ways that betray their own work).

So, uh, surprise: this was a Retrospective inspired by the current Writers Strike & growing awareness (that we have known & ignored for years) of how unethical the working standards of animators are. There are Actual Americans and Actual Artists who can speak on these issues more specifically, as well as the best ways to help the affected: this was a more individual Take, from One Fan, and the ways that media has affected That Fan emotionally (though, being an Aspie, i'm pretty distanced from articulating any Specifics beyond "upset" because "this is narratively inconsistent"). The purpose of writing this was personal catharsis, a means of discovering how I feel about VLD all these years later, and perhaps as an act of microcosm within a greater fandom macrosm RE: engagement with media & correctly identifying how the faults of its business structure sabotage excellent works of fiction from staying "excellent" or becoming "magnificent".

*"Korean-Japanese" seems to ne the current consensus but as Sourced outside the text of the series. It is not his "exact amounts of Asian" that Keith is "relevant" to me but his being both Mixed & disconnected from his asian Heritage.

[aspenmissing]

𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚊 (𝙿𝚝 𝟷)

In the Bridge of the Castle of Lions, Shiro awakens to Sendak ordering Haxus to find the saboteur who is thwarting their plans.

"Haxus! I want whoever's in this ship found and terminated!" Sendak orders.

"Commander Sendak, I've received a transmission generating from somewhere inside" Haxus says. He plays Team Voltron's communication channel out loud. Allura and Pidge are heard speaking,

"There's not much time before they get the ship running again. You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get in" Y/N shuffles as her eyes open a bit.

"A-Allu-ra?" She mutters. Shiro, hearing her, looks down at her. 

"You got it. Tell me what to do" 

"P-pid-ge?"

"The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull" Allura says. Y/N tries to move, but groans in pain.

"Y/N? Y/N open your eyes. Come on" He whispers, Y/N opens her eyes and looks up at her brother staring down at her "Oh. Thank god" He sighs in relief.

 "What happened? What's going on?"

"You and Lance were in an explosion. The two of you got knocked out. Lance hasn't woke up yet." Shiro explains as she slowly gets onto her knees. She turns her head to see Lance, gasping.

 "Lance" She gently shakes him "Lance. Your gonna be alright, buddy" 

"Find that room. Kill the Paladin!" Sendak orders. The Galra sentries leave "Repair the engine. Emperor has commanded us to bring him . This ship will rise before day's end" Sendak looks to Y/N "Well. Well. Well, I see the little earthling girl has woken up" Sendak says, smirking at her "How was your sleep?"  

"This is all your fault" Y/N grits her teeth. Sendak chuckles before turning back to the controls. Y/N hears a slight noise and looks up at the vent to see Soul "Soul? Go and get help" She mouths. Soul runs off as Y/N holds Lance closer.

"We're gonna be all right" Shiro mutters. 

==

In the bottom of the mine on the Balmera, two aliens approach Hunk and Coran from the darkness. Hunk raises his cannon Bayard in defence.

"Okay, don't come any closer! I don't know how to use this very well" The aliens step into the lights, they are two local Balmerans. "Wait a minute. You're not Galra." Hunk said when they came into the light. 

"Nor are you" The female Balmeran says. A Galra fighter yet slowly descends the mine.

"A patrol! Shay, we must take leave from these ones, now" The male says, placing his hand on Shay's shoulder.

"Wait, please! We need your help. If the Galra find us, they'll kill us" Coran says.

"Or torture us." Hunk adds

"Or keep us as some sort of creepy pet to play with how they please"

"Not our problem, Hairy Lip. Galra see us near you and they kill both you and us. Shay, exeunt!" 

"No! These many years only Galra have been seen here. I will not turn my back on the skylings." She says,

"...Vex!" Shay and Rax approach the Altean flight pod "Grab a side. In here. Hurry!" Shay and Ray push the flight pod out of sight; Hunk and Coran follow. The Galra patrol passes by without detecting them.

"Thanks for saving us. I'm Hunk"

"Shay. And this one, my brother Rax. How did you fall to us?" 

 "Well, we came looking for something. And you guys might be the right people to help us find it"

==

Pidge is inside the Castle of Lions at the Generator Room: a long hall of energy arcs. Pidge speaks to Allura through the team's communication channel.

"Pidge, have you made it to the generator room?" Allura asks.

 "I'm in. This technology is so advanced, I don't know if I can figure it out"

"Yes, you can. The lives of your fellow paladins are at stake. You can't give up." Allura says. Pidge reflects on her past. 

==Flashback==

In the past, she sat with her family at dinner.

"Hope you enjoy this home-cooked meal, Matt. After our launch to Kerberos tomorrow, we'll be eating freeze-dried peas for the next two months." Sam says.

"Don't lie. I know you love those peas, Dad. Matt jokes.

"It's true. Those Garrison chefs really know how to genetically manufacture a delicious vegetable" Katie sighs.

"I wish I was going up with you guys"

"Just you wait, kiddo. Something tells me that you're going to have your own crew someday. You're going to fly with them to worlds so far away, we can't even imagine. I bet my bottom dollar you're going to be part of something that makes the whole universe sit up and take notice" Holt says. Katie smiles. 

==

Later, she witnesses the news broadcast of the Kerberos Mission Disaster along with her mother.

"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing, and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said the crash was presumably caused by pilot error. It is, indeed, a sad day for all humanity." The news anchor woman says.

==

Katie became enraged and hacked into the computers at the Galaxy Garrison. Iverson finds her in his office.

" You again? Get off my computer! How did you get past the guards?" Iverson demands.

"You said the spacecraft went down due to pilot error. I saw the video feeds from your probes. There's no evidence of a crash anywhere on Kerberos!" 

"Those feeds are classified! I could charge you with treason for hacking into them." Iverson says. He grabs Katie and drags her into the hall to a guard.

"Escort Miss Holt off the premises and make sure every guard knows she's never allowed on Garrison property ever again" The guard restrained Katie. 

"You can't keep me out! I'll find the truth! I'll never stop!" Pidge shouts. The Guard escorted her out and throws her onto the ground; walking away, leaving Katie on the ground. 

"Your Katie right? Holts kid" A soft voice says. Katie looks up to see a brown-haired girl, with cognac brown eyes "Sorry. Where are my manners" The girl smiles "Y/N Shirogane, my brother is Takashi Shirogane. He went up with your brother and father" She smiles "Now, let's get you off the ground" Y/N holds out her hand. Katie hesitates before taking her hand. Starting the unbreakable friendship between the two.

==Flashback End==

Pidge speaks to Allura through the communication channel.

"Okay. Talk me through it, Allura" 

"Shutting down the barrier from this room can be dangerous. Remember, the barrier is also a weapon. So, stay away from the energy arcs" Allura warns,

"Don't touch the giant lightning bolts. Got it." A blast was shot at me but rover quickly reacted and pushed me out the way. 

"Now, what I'm going to need you to do is—" Rover shoved Pidge aside just as a Galra Sentry fires lasers at her.

"Pidge! Hello? Are you there?" Pidge flees from the sentries

==

"A Pidge, what's going on?... Wait... the mice. Maybe they can help" Allura focuses and telepathically speaks to the Altean Mice "Friends, I need your help" The Mice are sleeping in Allura's room. They wake up to her talking and scurry off.

==

Pidge is trapped behind a structure in the Generator Room under laser fire; her map shows an exit shaft above her

"My only way out is two floors up? Seriously?" Pidge yells and avoid being shot. She generates a hologram of herself from her armour "Let's try this" The hologram of Pidge runs towards the energy arc.

"There!" A Sentry fires at the hologram, destroying it and hitting the energy arc, causing it to explode and takes out a Sentry. Pidge runs for the exit shaft above, using her grappling hook to reach it.

"Whoa! Can't believe that worked!" The Sentries fire lasers at Pidge; she flees with Rover. One Sentry instruct the others.

"You stay and guard the generator" One Sentry stays behind as two pursue Pidge. Pidge exits the shaft at the Training Deck. The two Sentries attack but Pidge defends with her shield and accesses the invisible maze

"The invisible maze. Let's see them get through this" The Sentries are trapped by the maze; one is destroyed by the maze's shocks. Pidge escapes through another shaft and the remaining Sentry pursues her. Pidge is hit by laser fire and falls down a shaft; she stops herself and drags the Sentry into the shaft with her Bayard. The Sentry falls and explodes, producing shock waves that make Pidge lose her footing. Rover stops Pidge from falling to her death

"Rover! Nice save, buddy" I said.

==

Hunk and Coran sit with Shay and Rax and their Balmeran family around a fire.

"Thank for the delicious soup. Are these potatoes in here?" Hunk asks. Hunk and Coran sip at bowls of soup.

"Grandma's special dish for special visitors" Shay says "Cave-root for the skin. Cave bugs for the soul"

"Oh!" Hunk and Coran retch. Coran tries to remain polite.

"Eheh...Thank you for the bugs" Shay's Grandmother gives Coran more soup. "O-okay, I think that's too many" 

"So, how many of you are down here?" I asked.

 "There are thousands here on Balmera. We worked and live In these mines" Shay's father says.

"We harvest crystals for Zarkon" Shay says.

. "Zarkon... That's so.. sad that he's enslaved an entire planet" 

"Zarkon may rule, but we still have family. That's where true happiness comes from" Rax stands.

"Galra would tear our family asunder if they found these ones. Everyone comes to Balmera and takes, but gives nothing in return" Rax says.

"In the past, those who took the Balmera's crystals would replenish her with energy. It was an equal exchange. But the Galra only take" Shay places her hand on the ground; it glows, and the Balmera is heard "It is no wonder we can feel her suffering" 

"I'm sorry that we put everyone in this situation, but the faster we get the crystal and get out, and the faster everyone is out of danger"

"We're looking for a battleship-class crystal." I said. 

"Battleship-class crystal? Those are most rare. Galra soldiers guard them ceaselessly until their harvest. Your quest is in vain" Shay's father says.

"There is one, found only weeks ago. It is almost excavated" Shay said. 

"Quite! Even if they could steal the crystal from the Galra, battle patrols wait to take down their ship. These ones have no chance of getting out of here alive, with crystal or without" He said. Coran has his arms crossed.

"Okay, so this crystal we need it basically the hardest thing in the universe to get" Hunk says, looking at Coran.

 "I don't know about the hardest. There is the scaultrite mineral found only  in the stomachs of giant weblums. Collecting that stuff's no picnic" Coran says, elbowing Hunk. Hunk looks unamused "Uh- but, yes, this seems very difficult" 

"You may stay here until the Balmera gives another crystal. One that is hidden frim Galra eyes" 

"We don't have that kind of time. I got two injured friends who need to get into a magic healing machine, stat"

"Hunk, you fix the pod" Coran stands "I'm going to do some reconnaissance and see if I can come up with another plan" Coran leaves Hunk with the Balmerans.

==

Pidge exits the shaft into an empty hallway of the Castle of Lions, taking off her helmet and recalls the day she took on the identity as Pidge. 

==Flashback==

In the past, Katie Holt stood before a mirror in a Garrison cadet uniform.

"First day of school. Time for a haircut" Katie took a pair of scissors and cuts off her hair.

==

At the Galaxy Garrison, Lance and Hunk stood before a list of names.

"I made it! I'm a fighter pilot" Lance dances in celebration "Hasta la later, Keith" Lance says"And look, you're my engineer!"

"Cool. Uh, can I do that from the ground?" Hunk asks. Lance frowns.

"And our communications officer is... Who the heck is Pidge Gunderson?" 

"Right here" Lance and Hunk turn to see Pidge.

"Welcome to the team, Gunderson. I'm Lance, your fighter pilot" 

"Hey, I'm hunk" Hunk said and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "

"We got a lot of great times ahead, so we should probably start bonding now. What do say we sneak off campus—"  Pidge overhears Iverson talking to another Garrison officer.

"--just a minute. Security for the Galaxy Garrison's mainframe is our first priority. It's been breached once. And by a little girl, no less. It can not happen again!" Iverson orders. Iverson turns and walks towards Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. Pidge saluts with her left arm to hide her face.

"Wrong arm, cadet" Pidge saluted correctly; Lance and Hunk were startled and salute as well. Iverson walks by without noticing anything amiss. Pidge sighed in relief

"Hello? Pizza? Girls? Astronauts?"

"Sorry, I don't have time to mess around with you guys. See you in the simulator." Pidge walks away.

"What's his problem?" Lance asks. The two leave. Pidge turn to watch them before leaving. She rounds the corner and bumps into someone.

"Woah, you okay kid?!" A voice says.

"Sorry" Pidge continues to look down and walks past the person, only for a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Wait, Katie?" Pidge turns and looks up to see Y/N "Wha- What have you done with your hair?"

"It was the only way to get in without them recognizing me" Katie explains "I'm going by Pidge" Y/N bends down to Pidge.

"Your secret is safe with me" She says, smiling "I better head off to see my team. Talk to you later?" 

"Yeah, sure" Katie says and walks away, leaving a frowning Y/N. 

==Flashback End==

The Flashback ends'; Pidge is frowning.

"You know, Rover, I haven't always been there for my team" Pidge puts on her helmet "But this time, I will be. Come on" Pidge runs off with Rover. The Altean Mice are also infiltrating the Castle

==

Hunk is repairing the Altean flight pod as Shay watches.

"Tell me, what is the sky like?" Shay asks.

"The sky? You seriously have never even seen the sky?"

"No... but, at night, I sneak up as high as I dare" Shay climbs on top of the flight pod "trying to imagine what it is like. Oh, lucky are you to fly in this machine to worlds far from here" 

"Well, it doesn't have to be like this. You can be free, too" Hunk says.

"Free?" Shay asks, jumping down.

"Yeah, free. It means you can go where you want, be what you want, do what you want. No Galra masters to tell you what to do"

"It makes no sense. Zarkon controls everything." I said. 

"Nope. No, things are changing. Have you heard of Voltron?" Hunk asks. 

"A child's tale" 

"It's real. I'm one of the paladins, and Voltron is going to defeat Zarkon"

"You are?" Rax appears.

"Stop filling this one's head with your shadow show! The cavern is our home. This will never change. Come" Shay reluctantly leaves with her brother. Hunk frowns as they leave.

[galraluver]

I thought this would be a bitter sweet fluff. Rhat is mopping around his job after being rejected (the poor boy bought flowers and everything 😞) but a awkward yet determined fem human (or if you feel like it, no gender works to make it more inclusive 😊) seeks to make things better for him.

Aww, poor guy 🥺. I would be happy to complete your request 😊

I ended up going with a fem! reader since it's easier for me to write

_________________________________________

For any species finding love could be really easy for some individuals while others had no luck at all and would remain single for their entire lives. For galra, finding a lover could take longer because they took their time to get to properly know someone in order to see if the other person would be a good long-term spouse; unlike humans and other races, galra only had one mate during their entire lives and they tended to only court someone they were absolutely serious about instead of seeing multiple people before settling down. For the past ten deca-phoebs Raht had been taking his time to get to know one of the female lieutenants because he'd taken an interest in her, if everything went well then he would take her as his wife. Vortir was her name and as the deca-phoebs passed they got to know each other better and she genuinely enjoyed being around him, alas it didn't occur to him that she was already interested in someone else. Raht and Vortir didn't have much of an age gap, they had a lot of similar interests and they were both wanting to find love, unfortunately he would soon find out that his interest in her was in vain.

(Y/n), a human that had originally been brought to central command as a prisoner but ended up becoming an assistant to those who needed her, was friends with Raht and she knew about his major crush on Vortir. She was all for them getting together and they were her biggest ship, the only snag was that she didn't know Vortir had eyes for someone else. Raht spent a good majority of his life working in the empire and he wasn't getting any younger, so one day he took Vortir to a nearby planet where they could be alone so he could ask her if he could court her, he bought her favorite flowers and everything, unfortunately that was the day he got his heart broken. The next day when Raht had to do his usual duties all he wanted to do was mope all day because he'd gotten his heart broken, he felt as though the past ten deca-phoebs getting to know Vortir had been wasted and he couldn't get that time back. (Y/n) was supposed to work with Raht that day and she was really excited to find out how the previous day went for him, but when she saw how depressed he looked she knew something bad happened.

“So, u-um… Is there a lot to do today?” (Y/n) hesitantly asked Raht when he looked at her, trying her best to avoid asking him what happened right off the bat.

“No, there isn't.” Raht answered simply before he turned away from her, taking a deep breath before he turned on the console he stood in front of.

(Y/n) was even more concerned than before, Raht was generally a reserved person in nature but he was usually more open around her because they were friends, she wasn't used to him acting so cold towards her. She stood in front of a slightly shorter console and turned it on, feeling even more awkward than she usually did; they were in charge of keeping track of cruisers carrying supplies that day, it was a simple job that could get a little boring sometimes. The way Raht just silently stood at his console made (Y/n) worry, if something bad happened then she wanted to know so she could attempt to cheer him up. Raht was in his own little world as he thought about the previous day when Voltir rejected him; she wasn't rude about it and she still wanted to be friends with him, although she only wanted to be friends with him and nothing more. He stared at the holoscreen in front of him, waiting for someone to make contact while spacing out at the same time, flinching a little when he heard (Y/n) quietly say something.

“H-hey, are you okay?” (Y/n) asked again since Raht didn't answer her when she asked him if he was alright the first time, albeit awkwardly.

“No.” Raht answered simply, feeling as though his heart ached worse the more he thought about the previous day.

“Oh no… Did things not go well for you and Vortir? What did she say? You- you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.” (Y/n) inquired in realization; she felt her heart sink when Raht told her that things didn't go well the previous day, she felt bad that he got his heart broken after he finally got up enough courage to ask out the woman of his dreams, she just hoped that she wasn't being too nosey because of her awkwardness.

“Vortir is already interested in someone else. I should have known sooner.” Raht spoke quietly, his deep voice dropping a few octaves.

(Y/n) opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it again because she didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing and make him feel even more depressed since she occasionally unintentionally said the wrong thing at the wrong time. She knew how hard it was to be rejected by a crush, she'd had it happen to her a time or two in the past, although it had to be even harder for Raht because he'd been waiting ten deca-phoebs for the right moment to show his interest for his long-term crush only for her to reject him. Her awkwardness around others didn't help, either; (Y/n) always strove to overcome being so awkward around people, even her friends, and it worked until a certain point, alas she would always be awkward in nature. Raht never minded (Y/n's) awkward nature, for him spending time with her was like a breath of fresh air since she wasn't as serious as everyone else living at the main hub. He felt like all was lost and that his existence was meaningless, deep down he got the inkling that he would never have a significant other.

“You- you know, if you ever need someone to talk to then you can talk to me. If- if you want to, that is… It always helps to talk it out instead of letting it fester inside of you.” (Y/n) offered as confidently as she could, taking a deep breath before she walked over to Raht and wrapped her arms around his lower torso in a comforting hug.

“I'll consider it.” Raht sighed out as he allowed himself to relax in the hug; hugging wasn't as common for galra as it was for humans, but he appreciated the friendly gesture and it even helped him feel a little better.

(Y/n) felt relieved that she didn't upset Raht when she offered her listening abilities if he ever needed someone to confide in; she respected that he needed some time to grieve the opportunity he lost, but eventually he would be more comfortable with talking it out. She was glad that she could be secret friends with most of everyone she interacted with, it gave her the hope that not everyone was as evil as Zarkon. It was her awkwardness that drew people to her, most of everyone she worked alongside thought she was cute because of it. Raht reciprocated the hug to the best of his ability until a call came in; he and (Y/n) let go of each other so they could enter the new information into the logs. (Y/n) didn't feel as awkward as before when she helped Raht with the information that came in, she was glad that her work kept her busy. Raht was grateful to have (Y/n) as his friend, friendship wasn't common in the empire but he would always value his friendship with her, just as she would with him.

[blood-starved-beast]

what are your headcanons on Acxa's sexuality/gender? In my opinion Acxa is a bisexual QUEEN

Ok so...

If you read "First Sunrise" I have this obscure headcanon that Acxa's non-galran species has this tendency to shed their skin - horns included - every year* as part of a regrowth process. Basically a headcanon to justify her different horns in act 1-2 vs Act 3, where before she had two sets of smaller horns and the latter she has one set more grown out. An additional headcanon within that larger one is that the circular nature also applies to her gender/sex.

So basically, her non-galran species has the ability to switch between biological sexes (and a sterile non-breeding form)** depending on many factors. Environment, climate, sexual partners, etc. When she goes through the aforementioned shedding process this switch might also occur in tandem. This is a normal thing in her non-galra species but of course seen as an affront to Galra cultural standards, so General Acxa identified as female exclusively, even if by galra standards she'd be considered trans, and by human standards bigender/genderfluid if going by biological presentation.

Going in with how much her act 1-2 denies herself the ability to change, that people are what they are and unchanging, I can see her being very closeted about the whole thing, and getting defensive if someone (say Coran) points out that aspect of her heritage. She cools somewhat about it after the Grudge but it's still a mindset she internalized and struggles to shake years later.

Sexuality wise I feel like Acxa, like most aliens wouldn't subscribe to human categorizations of sexuality*** and because of her biology it wouldn't scale right anyways. Veronica and other humans would say she's bisexual when in one individual morph, and pansexual overall though.

*doesn't scale to human years.

** I read the Left Hand of Darkness this year and was shocked how similar this headcanon of mine was to Gethenian biology conceptualized by Ursula K. LeGuin. I hadn't even read the book when I came up with it yet.

***For anyone reading this I suggest reading the history about LGBT sexuality and identity over time. The labels people use today have evolved and are actually very new. Societies not existing within this historical context would not use the same standards to judge sexuality, if at all.

[thepastelpeach]

Also Keith was supposed to get with Axca. That’s been going around when voltron ended. So this idea that Keith and Lance was supposed to get together is proven even more false, when Keith was meant to get with lotors female galra general and you can clearly see they wanted to go that route but didn’t.

cool👍

my post was mainly about how shiro was a piss poor attempt at queer rep but stay mad about the wrong thing bud

[mika-doodles]

do you think they just walk around the ship like this sometimes?

[galralexicon]

Collection of unique Galra designs found in Seasons 1-6.

In no particular order. Larger size under cut.

Thanks to @bentfire for their devotion to capturing the screenshots that provided these images and the amazing designs by DW.

If I missed any, please send me a message!

[mateushonrado]

Status Post #6754: Female Galra (part 2)

Galra Empire Generals

First row: Ladnok and Trugg (now deceased)

Second row: Zaiforge commander and unnamed Galra general who retreats

[juskla]

anyone do this yet?

[princess-allura-of-voltron]

I guess I'm not ready to trust Lotor to be an ally is because I wanted this really interesting villain that was presenterd to us.

Lotor was this really interesting manipulative villain foil to Zarkons brute force method. I was excited to see a villain with his own agenda really fuck around both the Galran Empire and Voltron in order to fulfill his own schemes for how he wanted to run the universe. I wanted to see more of him and his badass general crew and have flashbacks to how he gained the trust of each of them and more of the pure vs half galran heritage society schematics. But it got dropped really quick and now it's become watch Lotor work through his daddy and mommy issues.

I guess I feel cheated of an interesting villain that could have given more insight to the galran empire.