#galra squad

[angstandhappiness]

HAH

Interview Quote:

Lauren: We have a great story for how [Lotor’s generals] were named. … There were a few names, Narti was the only one we kept. We have some weird name weirdness where we’re just like, “This one’s okay. This one sounds too much like this. This one weirds us out.”

Joaquim: It would drive the writers absolutely insane. …

Lauren: So Narti we liked, so Narti stuck. So we’re like okay, we’ve got that name, now we need three more. And so they came up with—It was Esor, Ythorod, and Aihpos. And we went with those for awhile until, literally Studio Mir—Korean studio with Korean speaking people—told us, “Hey, these are all old lady names backwards.”

Joaquim: Backwards, yea. So we were like, “Is this— ? These are the Golden Girls!”

Lauren: And they’re like, “Yes. Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia.” ….

Joaquim: [The Voltron writers] were pulling a fast one on us. And we fancy ourselves, you know, 80s enthusiasts. So when we didn’t catch it, we were like, “Double jerks. You guys really got it past us.”

Lauren: We were just mad because we felt like idiots.

Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos discuss naming Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa

[lilflowerpot]

How much better is the galra sense of smell than humans? I remember you mentioned it once but as tumblr is a barely functioning site I can’t get to the links on mobile. I’m asking bc it would create a pretty funny/painfully awkward situation if Keith and Lotor were like returning from a quickie or something way in the future looking put together but the those in attendance are like… Sa save me from having to be here

It took me a hot minute to find, and frankly I don't blame you for being unable to locate it if you're on mobile, rip, but this is the only post (I think?) in which I've notably addressed the galra sense of smell!

While I do think of the galra having a heightened sense of smell in comparison to humans, it only really comes into play for stronger scents, such as that triggered by the fight or flight response; pheromones serve as an early warning sign to nearby galra that there is a potentially dangerous situation afoot, assisting them in locating the distressed individual as well as preemptively protecting those members of the group who may not be able to protect themselves. So while I suppose you could argue that this means the galra can ��smell fear” as it were (though technically these pheromones would release due to arousal of any kind: be that horror, anxiety, surprise, excitement, or -yes- sexual stimulation), they cannot smell moods/emotions as a general rule of thumb.

So, yes, your funny/awkward situation of Keith & Lotor being betrayed by their own scents technically //could// happen lmao, but probably not if they actually had time to -ahem- calm down afterwards, and properly put themselves back together.

Though pheromones can linger for around 6-8 hours after being released, a great deal of this would be dispersed into the air—and given that the galra do have a somewhat decent sense of smell, they'd likely invest in ventilation of equal quality for enclosed areas—and therefore be too weak to really pick out the nuances of who exactly they belonged to. Those pheromones that were applied directly to skin, clothes, or various surfaces would, naturally, stick around that bit longer, but these would only really be detectable up close; it's less a case of Keith & Lotor walking into a room and all it's occupants immediately Knowing™, and more that of someone who leans over to pass something directly into their personal space that might get a hint of their scents being intermingled... though even that wouldn't be particularly surprising. The galra are, remember, an incredibly affectionate people (Zarkon's inner-circle notwithstanding) and given that Lotor so obviously values Keith's council and companionship, it would be far weirder if they //didn't// smell a little like one another.

Of course, this is all dependent on them having a respectable amount of time to compose themselves. If they failed in this regard—by which I mean if it was more an unexpected knock on the door that barely allows more than a dobash of hasty scrambling to look halfway put together—then all those pheromones from their canoodling would only be exacerbated by a healthy dose of adrenaline,,, and that wouldn't be subtle at all.

[lovevalley45]

i have to make a confession,,, my friends n i were talking abt ‘hear me out’ cakes n like non-human characters that were our hear me outs. which was surprisingly hard for me but i still have voltron on the mind so i was like. ‘oh yeah there’s smth from vld’ and my friend went ‘THE ROBOT?’ n i have to be like. no it’s worse its one of the furry looking aliens

[vrepit-sa]

tell me stuff about galra gender xeno

Not much to tell tbh. They're dimorphic like humans are. Galra also don't really seem to acknowledge it much at all. Whether one is male or female, it simply does not matter to them. I suppose on a culture-by-culture basis this could vary, but otherwise the Empire at large doesn't treat one sex any differently from the other. I'd imagine for most galra it would be bizarre to segregate like that.

For your consideration of sending this prompt tho:

Gnov would eat Xaallo for fucking breakfast.

[cosmicpack]

A klance ending.

Where after everything is said and done; Allura lives, Lance takes time off to be with his family (not a farmer, just a break). Lance and Allura break up shortly after the war. They both realize they were two hurt people trying to find comfort in each other, but Allura was using Lance as a rebound and Lance realizes they both deserve better. It’s mutual and only a little awkward.

Keith is helping the Blade of Mamora make the transition into a relief group.

He taken on a leadership position (along side Kolvian and Krolia)

Acxa joined as well and together they convince Ezor and Zethrid to join.

Note: I wish more people added them in post canon fics. I think it’s so funny that they are now Keith’s squad. And I think there is a lot of fun that can be had with those relationships. Whether wholesome as Keith unknowingly expands his found family, or angst as the girls compare their new lives to their lives with Lotor, but that’s another post.

Anyway Voltron has their one year post war meeting. And Keith is telling everyone about the Blade work and how they are working with the rest of the Galra to figure things out.

Lance teases him about them asking Keith to lead and Keith turning it down. When Keith confirms, they all laugh.

Everyone stops laughing when Axca, Ezor and Zethrid show up running towards Keith.

Keith is out of his chair in an instant. He worried something horrible has happened. Is Krolia hurt? What about Kolvian? Did something happen with the blade? There are planets with extreme prejudice against the Galra and they’ve had attacks against their relief teams before.

He’s not ready for what leaves their lips.

Apparently after Keith refused to lead, no one has been able to gather enough support to become the leader of the New Galra government. Keith was an easy pick because of his connections to the Blade, Voltron, and the Atlas. He has fallible connections and experience. No one else can gain the over all support he did.

And you know he’s also pretty. Like unfairly so (for a halfbreed) and somehow the remaining candidates come to the conclusion that whoever can gain Keith as their mate will be the one to lead the Bew Galra Empire.

After all if Keith doesn’t want to lead he doesn’t have to, he can just sit in the arm of whoever is leading. Give the people reassurance that they are in good hands.

So know at least 15 different Galra, from members of Zarcon’s old regime, to High ranking Blade members, anyone who wants to lead the Galra. Are making their way here to try and court Keith and or force him into Marriage/Mating.

Shiro is instantly in over protective Big Brother mode. They need to get Keith out of there.

Kolivan and Krolia had sent Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid for that reason and to back Keith up if he had to fight.

The rest of Voltron is moving to try and help Keith.

But Lance

Lance is a mix between indignant for his friend who has somehow become a trophy for people to win. Enrage that there is talk about people trying to force Keith to mate them. And also a burning need to keep Keith safe.

But there are also old feelings. He’s mature enough now to know he’s had a crush on Keith for a long time now. And now Keith is apparently the most desired bachelor in the universe!!!

Anyhow I think you can have a lot of fun with this

You can have Keith dealing with a lot of stupid/rude proposals

Gossipy Girl squad. They’d do anything for Keith but they are also going to Mike each of these horrible proposals

Jealous and protective Lance

Big brother Shiro

Maybe even bring in the Lions being protective

You can also go the route of lance just declaring that he and Keith are engaged/courting.

He’s trying to get everyone to stop bothering Keith.

But it puts these two, who have been pinning for each other for years in a fake dating situation.

Also Lance suddenly is enemy number one for anyone wanting to ascend to the Galra thrown.

I just think it’s a fun idea

Part 2

[ang-900]

The Original Voltron Adaptations Vs Their Original Japanese Counterparts.

Beast King Go-Lion:

Go-Lion/Voltron's backstory is that he got split due to his hubris after thinking he could take on the space goddess.

Voltron is a sentient being who lived long before time.

Voltron's title is king of the beasts.

All the pilots, save Fala/Allura, are from Earth.

All the boys are effectively in the same boat as VLD Shiro and have the gladiator backstory.

Earth is dead and gone, consumed by World War 3 by the start of the show.

Allura is canonically 16.

Raible/Coran's a strategist.

Altea/Arus's people were assumed to all be destroyed (especially the royal family), but they're all hiding out.

Allura's parents and siblings are executed by Daibazaal/Zarkon's hand while she was a year old baby. Zarkon didn't know she existed.

Hiroshi Suzuishi/Pidge is descended from Ninja.

There's so much blood and gore. People get cut in half vertically and horizontally. We get the privilege of watching people drop dead on screen with these horrifying faces and screams. Zarkon and Sincline/Lotor drink blood, too.

Honerva/Haggar has this bs called occult science.

Akira Kogane/Keith and Allura are so slowburn to the point it might not exist between them.

King Raimon/Alfor's ghost comes back from the grave to tell the paladins how much they suck.

Pidge threatens to eat the space mice twice.

Shirogane Takashi/Sven dies and and a later episode introduces his younger brother, Ryou/Sven, who was captured as a slave among others before Earth was fully destroyed.

Cannibalism

A tragic side character commits suicide at the end of an episode

Amue/Romelle's older brother is willingly turned into a robeast. Her older brother and father are both murdered by the Galra during a battle with Voltron.

Earth is completely destroyed and uninhabitable. The boys become honorary citizens of Arus.

A scene depicting Pidge's mother shows her seeing him off his mission. It's the last time he sees her.

Lotor has a dream about his mother where it suggests Zarkon had a hand in her disappearance. A flashback occurs showing us she was a good person and was killed for moral differences.

Coran's son, Saint/Garret, died as an infant while he and his mother were escaping from the castle. They are buried by a local group of people. The Galra dig up this grave to clone him.

Hys/Nanny is shot by Garret and dies.

A father-daughter bond is implied between Coran and Allura when the latter comforts the former after the Garret incident.

The Galran foot soldiers are living beings.

Romelle almost died via firing squad.

One notable robeast involved a snake like being who survived a civil massacre amongst her people and was introduced burying her deceased child. She adopts Pidge within the same episode. She dies at the end from blood loss.

Another notable side character was a sand person. Allura befriends this one by giving it her bracelet. The sand person is turned into a robeast. It's implied the sand person dies at the end, though it is unclear why.

During the final battle, Lotor sends out trapped prisoners in bubbles as bombs so Voltron can't move without killing them. Lotor also shoots them as missles. Haggar also shoots at the prisoners so Voltron can move and end Lotor's career.

Haggar's motive in helping Voltron lies in that Lotor killed Zarkon.

Haggar is Zarkon's mother.

Ryou dies fighting Lotor.

Honerva dies. Zarkon dies. Lotor dies.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe:

"We don't need clothes." Keith, 1984.

Arus is still alive, they just get attacked.

Voltron's backstory is that Haggar disguised herself as said space goddess and wrecked Voltron into five pieces.

Coran's a diplomat.

Voltron's title is King of the Robots

Galaxy Garrison exists here.

Allura grew up an only child and seldom saw her parents because they were busy.

Sven is severely injured and is, instead, sent to another planet to recuperate, but gets captured as a slave on planet Doom and thinks he's crazy.

Zarkon disrespects Haggar likes it's nobody's business.

King Alfor built Voltron.

Zarkon has a nephew

Pidge has a sister who's stated to be training as a pilot.

That same tragic side character is said to have returned to her home planet offscreen

Romelle's older brother is willingly turned into a robeast. He swims out to see in the middle of a battle with Voltron. Romelle's father in consequence goes mad and is implied to have died as a result.

Balto is ravaged by Lotor's forces. Pidge becomes an honourary citizen of Arus.

Pidge is an orphan and the scene of his mother depicts his adoption

Lotor has a dream about Allura instead. Allura's nightmare shows us she's afraid of Zarkon.

"Lotor, my beloved son, you're a nitwit." -Zarkon, 1984

Doom/Drule council.

Coran's son, Garret, and his wife are said to be alive in another dimension they were beamed to when the Galra attacked them. The clone is robotic like.

Allura when comforting Coran after the Garret incident, calls him a good man.

Lance is a country boy.

The Doom foot soldiers are robots.

Romelle was sentenced to be shot by a firing squad with stun guns.

Lotor and Haggar look for a new robeast victim among the Medusans. Audibly noting that they're all in a deep rest. That Medusan lady chooses to adopt Pidge. She also gets hurt, but it's implied she lives.

The episode about the sand people goes relatively the same way. However, the sand person is stated to be exhausted, but alive.

Sven is injured and sent back to planet Pollux to heal.

During the final battle, Lotor sends out robots in bubbles to trap Voltron. Keith can't move him because the bombs would blow up in their face. Lotor shoots them as missiles. Haggar shoots them down so Voltron can end Lotor's career.

Zarkon lives. Haggar lives. Lotor lives.

Pidge has a brother, Chip.

The same:

The Robeasts sometimes have unique tits (long, metallic, and spiky).

Lotor has three different kinds of chins and noses he alternates between.

Allura's only living relative is her aunt.

Armoured Fleet Dairugger XV:

The show begins with a strong theme linked to the lifestyle and aspirations of young sailors staking their life on the sea.

The Galaxy Alliance's goal is to create a star map of the universe, explore planets, and potentially colonize one.

Shinji Ise/Commander Hawkins is unsure if there are any lifeforms other than the three species in the Galaxy Alliance.

There are three planets in the Galaxy Alliance: Earth, Mira, and Sala.

Miranda Keats/Krik has telepathy.

Barros Karateya/Zandee is possibly from New York.

The cook can sing and cook.

Krik and Moya Kirigas/Cinda are Mirans.

Shota Kreutz/Wolo and Saruka Katz/Tangor are Salans.

The main fleet has spent 7 months in space.

Manabu Aki/Jeff hates spicy food.

Tatsuo Izumo/Shannon has no deeper reason to hate the Galveston/Drule other than they've been fighting one another recently.

Sim/Sandu dies as a pilot with his ship.

Wolo's brother dies.

Haruka Kaga/Lisa's singing when the force is stalled on the weather planet.

Murder

Captain Barataria/Brak kills himself.

Walter Jack/Cliff's brother's name is Jimmy.

Cliff has a magic hobby. He wants to be a member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

The Dairugger crew/Vehicle force sing the theme song when sending off Captain Dick Asimov/Stanley.

The planet Hawkins saw blow up was a consequence of the Galra not wanting a base to be built on that planet - Planet Apollo.

Krik on his shift as commander simply orders the teams to head to their vehicles.

The Vehicle Force are observing the artifact they collected in a previous episode with hopes and doubts the civilization survived.

Commander Hagi/Kernel Klaus dies.

Director Wakasa/Marshal Graham is peeved the people aren't taking Drule threat seriously.

Drake/Mongo dies. Teles/Hazar has a devastating reaction to it.

Graves

Krik is implied to be a prince.

Sirk/Dorma has no biological relation to Hazar and instead is his adjutant.

Hazar's father is a Homeworld secretary socrat and he's immediately dismissed from this position when Hazar returns to Galveston.

Planet Mira has flowers similar to purple orange-spotted flowers.

The Vehicle team learned space combat at the space fortress.

The queen of Eldora states the Galran frontline base is east of the planet Eldora, in the area where the blue light shines.

Earth gets attacked, and are fending off the Galra.

Yasuo Mutsu/Chip trained really hard at the space fortress' juvenile school in terms of science.

The pendant Lisa gives Jeff is what her mother gave her before Dairugger's departure from Earth. Lisa considers this a souvenir.

Commander Date/Kernel Kerbert* and crew die due to how damaged the ship is.

Patty Ellington/Ginger planted a seed she found in her room. She compares the growth of the plant to their perseverance.

A sunset reminds Cliff of his hometown.

Hazar gets promoted to commander of the attack fleet.

Pidge dreams of driving his mother to Mt. Fuji. We see her physically in the back seat.

Krik's letter is from his father who states harvest is good on Mira. Cliff's letter's from his father who sends his greetings to Ginger.

The photo of the baby is Jeff's newborn nephew. He has at least one sibling.

Chip is a lonely single child.

Lisa and Chip are childhood friends. They were in the same class in juvenile school, and they trained together at the space fortress.

Kazuto Nagato/Hutch and Tasuku Izu/Marvin insult the three girls. They're mad because Kai Shinobu/Rocky previously talked about Emma/Twyla continuously, whilst Hutch says he grows tired of the three. Ginger trips Hutch and he cries.

Commander Twyla dies.

The crew of the Space Explorer play rugby with a squad of Galra soldiers. They all die.

Both the buck and the fawn die.

The two dolphins die. One was a calf. The mother swims head on to a bomb.

Ginger is grievously injured, and is piloting her machine while fighting off sleep medication. She is dedicated to fighting by her team.

Hazar hesitates to land a killing blow and his gun is shot from his hand. Dorma shoots the body guard and in pain he shoots about wildly, accidentally striking Emperor Corsair/Zeppo - who dies.

The date by the time of the Drule evacuation is Feb 9 in the space year 2203.

Commander Newley agrees the Drules should have the third planet of the 26 system as they have nowhere to go.

Commander Hazar is assassinated by three Galveston soldiers. One of whom is Sandu's younger brother.

Jeff gives Lisa's necklace to Hazar's corpse.

Voltron: Defender of The Universe - Vehicle:

The Galaxy Garrison's motive is to find a second planet because Earth is suffering overpopulation.

It's implied the Vehicle Team and crew already encountered Hazar. He is described as a pirate.

The Vehicle Force call themselves the Voltron Force.

The Vehicle Force can only stay combined for five minutes.

Lisa is implied go be an alien.

Wolo's planet has seven moons.

There is a spy aboard the Galaxy Cruiser for the Drules. This is never touched upon again.

The food is crap.

Krik's from a water planet and it was at one point saved by Voltron.

Krik has ESP abilities.

The Drule have a confirmed child soldier among their ranks.

Shannon's brother was taken prisoner and is currently being held on Planet Doom.

Commander Hawkins pours hot chocolate from kettles.

Wolo's brother is implied to have survived the encounter with the beast.

Lisa talks about past African civilization when the Force is stalled on the weather planet.

Commander Brak says he'll move to another planet if the Galra choose to be peaceful.

Cliff is a country boy. Has a confirmed younger brother named Ginny* and two other brothers.

The Voltron Force are singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" for Captain Newley's farewell party.

Commander Hawkins saw a planet, Orus*, get blown up. The reason for its destruction is unknown.

Krik on his round as commander gives orders with great enthusiasm which is noted by his teammates.

The chef paints as a hobby and the Vehicle Force spend an entire scene roasting his painting.

Kernel Klaus lives and wants to continue building bases.

Marshal Graham is down in the dumps when people joke about him and other high ranking personnel.

Mongo took an experimental time travel ship 😭 and left the empire for good because he no longer wanted to be a part of war.

Hazar drops the photo of him and Mongo because he's clumsy. He looks at it and wishes the latter luck.

The Drule are searching for a new planet due to a transient sun while the Galaxy Garrison are searching due to overpopulation.

Commander Hawkins and Jeff's relationship is funnier than it needs to be.

Ginger got run over twice by joggers.

Lisa invented a carrot and cabbage cocktail she calls 'C & C'.

Pidge and Chip are twins.

Jeff's favourite food is spaghetti.

Jeff has been intentionally skipping Professor Page's plant seminars.

We see Krik's family photo.

Hazar and Dorma are brother sister and he has a good relationship with her.

Commander Nerok escapes in an escape shuttle.

The crew drinks hot chocolate in their downtime.

Earth gets attacked and wins against the Drule.

Ginger brought an unknown plant seed aboard ship and is growing a small plant.

Jeff explains a learned philosophical viewpoint to Commander Hawkins, and the latter's answer is that Jeff would make a great politician.

Lisa bought a good luck charm from a wizard on Planet Korb*. Jeff doesn't believe in that, but he wears the necklace the following episode.

"There is a good chance the lieutenant could be damaged." & "You're a brave fool." -Krik, 1985

Pidge and Chip studied solar energy as a hobby.

Kernel Kerbert* and his crew survive by fleeing in escape ships.

Jeff has a dog named Rover. He named a planet after said dog, an idea Commander Hawkins shoots down.

Krik's father bought another hydro bionic farm that he will inherit one day.

It's implied Cliff writes about Ginger to his brother as they want to meet 'that smashing Ginger'.

Jeff's family sent his baby photo. He thinks he's still cute.

Lisa and Chip are close enough she recognizes his hand writing.

Chip dreams about Pidge. He worries greatly about his brother after the lack of a letter.

Hutch insults the three girls based on their looks implying Twyla is hotter. Ginger trips Hutch after he, Marvin, and Rocky insult all three female members of the Voltron Force and he cries.

Commander Twyla escapes in an escape shuttle.

The Voltron Force play football with the Drule. Jeff finds Lieutenant Antor seriously hurt under rubble, but they heal him and he lives.

The buck dies but the fawn lives.

The dolphin is a single dolphin who somehow managed to disable a missile and survive.

"We just signed an important peace treaty right at this table. I've agreed to let Ginger slurp up her spaghetti, and she's agreed to let me slurp up my soup." -Cliff to Jeff, (Ginger present).

"Well I didn't sign and I want my own table away from you." -Krik to Cliff and possibly Jeff, (Ginger present).

Episode 45. Episode 45 is way too funny. Krik and Cinda crave coconuts out of the blue, ask Commander Hawkins if they can stop at a planet for some, and Krik salutes to his commander that it was a 'dumb idea'.

Ginger has PTSD from an experience as a child where she survived a ship blowing up.

The Drule home-world had destructive material buried under the surface.

Hazar spares Zeppo, but the latter's body is slumped on the throne.

Captain Newley relocates the Drule to a planet in the fourth quadrant in the far galaxy.

Hazar lives.

Krik is passive-aggressive.

The Drule blow up perfectly good planets they can't have.

The Same:

Krik has ESP abilities.

Krik can possibly play an instrument. He holds it the entire time, however.

Jeff, when he takes the first shift as Commander, is disgusted and reluctant to sit beside Commander Hawkins much to the amusement of the man.

Commander Hawkins is passive aggressive.

The Drule homeworld is getting hotter. All the residents have moved below ground, and starvation is prominent.

Krik pilots Voltron when Jeff is out of commission.

Krik shoves a whole gun into Jeff's pants.

The Sky Team ft. Krik drive a tank/enemy patrol car.

Dorma is kidnapped and asked to join the resistance which she steadily accepts.

Original Japanese:

All the foot soldiers are organic.

Consequences. Consequences everywhere.

A good portion of one note characters die.

Adapted Shows:

Stun guns. Stun guns everywhere.

All the foot soldiers are robots.

Bonus Voltron season 3:

King Alfor's ghost can bend the fabric of space. He can also shoot lasers without a gun.

Nanny lives.

Pidge has formed murderous intent towards the castle mice.

Fifth castle mouse.

Commander Cossack a.k.a. Cossack the Terrible.

Lotor drinks something called a mean potion that increases his meanness.

Queen Merla.

King Deus Ex Machina Alfor.

Lotor gets put in jail and has his allowance revoked.

"You don't know Zarkon like I do." -Lance, 1985.

Bonus Bonus Fleet of Doom:

Chip is taller than Pidge.

Hunk is buddies with Modac.

Wolo and Lance used to lightly "bully" Cliff.

Keith and Jeff are competitive with each other.

6 year-old Keith got lost in a forest.

Haggar has two wolves within her (not literal wolves).

*Not sure what the confirmed spelling is but I did my best to spell it like it sounds.

[astralscrivener]

✨ fic directory ✨

i’ve created a post to keep all of my fics in one place. all fics can be found on ao3. (last updated may 4th, 2024)

major ongoing works

STEALING OUR OWN PLACE IN THE SUN

- voltron: legendary defender: a rewrite of vld seasons 4-8. - team focus, broganes, klance, adashi, romellura - rated M, graphic depictions of violence + other warnings in author notes - 22/45 chapters, 251k words (december 25th, 2022) - last posted: chapter 22: season 7, episode 3: elliptical orbit

AT SKYFALL

- voltron: legendary defender: canon-divergent au in which keith and shiro are captured by the galra at a coalition gala. things become more complicated when the team’s search for shiro turns up someone else: adam, shiro’s fiancé.  - broganes, klance, adashi - rated M, graphic depictions of violence + other warnings in author notes - 8/? chapters, 25k words (september 2nd, 2023) - last posted: chapter 8: division and discord

ABCS OF KLANCE

- voltron: legendary defender: oneshots, one prompt for each letter of the alphabet, focused on keith and lance’s relationship - variety of aus, some overlap with squad up (2017-19 modern au), mostly established relationship klance - 18 works, 87k words (may 4th, 2024) - a: artistry • b: brutality • c: comfort • d: defeat • e: elegance • f: faithfulness • g: grief • h: homelessness • i: information • j: jealousy • k: knell • l: loyalty • m: mercy • n: need • o: opportunity • p: pain • q: quest • r: rumor • s: sleep • t: trust • u: uncertainty • v: victory • w: worry • x: xenon • y: yearning • z: zero - last posted: lightning in a bottle (y: yearning)

other ongoing works

THESE 20S ARE RAWRING AND THESE DUNGEONS ARE DRAGONING

- voltron: legendary defender: modern au + d&d series started in 2020 as a stress response to quarantine - team focus, klance, adashi, romellua, hunay

• main work: the rawring 20s XD - chatfic that only updates if i think it will be funny - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author notes - 5/5 chapters, 17k words - last posted: chapter 5: there is no easter bunny, there is no tooth fairy, (september 8th, 2022)

- other works include klance-centric oneshots + snippets of the group’s ongoing d&d campaign - 5 works, 37k words - last posted: midnight into morning coffee (february 7th, 2024)

VLD FIC REQUESTS

- voltron: legendary defender: oneshots across a variety of aus written in response to prompts from friends and followers - variety of ships, but mainly klance and adashi - some overlap with squad up  - 15 works, 92k words (july 8th, 2023) - last posted: distraction

major completed works

DECEIT SO NATURAL

- voltron: legendary defender: canon-divergent trilogy in which lance and keith fool their way behind enemy lines and onto lotor’s ship to steal vital information on the galra empire—only for lotor to become far more dangerous than anyone anticipated. - mainly klance, extremely one-sided lancelot - written before gay shiro reveal + age discourse, contains side shallura - 3 works, 315k words - completed june 15th, 2018

• WHERE PEOPLE GO TO DIE - lotor mistakenly believes that lance is a galra soldier spying on the paladins, and invites him to return home. keith follows him undercover as a prisoner, and quickly draws lotor’s ire as things spiral rapidly out of control. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence - 14/14 chapters, 49k words - completed july 9th, 2017

• DYNASTY DECAPITATED - lotor becomes vindictive after having been played for a fool by team voltron, and the team struggles to hold the voltron alliance together while fending off his rapid advances. meanwhile, keith and lance explore a new stage of their relationship and learn exactly what the other means to them. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence - 18/18 chapters, 67k words - completed august 7th, 2017

• STARS GO DOWN - lotor has captured lance and sentenced keith to death halfway across the universe. lance struggles to hold onto himself as he plays the role of an amnesiac, while keith attempts to fight his way back to the team, alone. meanwhile, the team, down two lions and two paladins, scrambles to bring keith and lance home amidst betrayals and tumult in the voltron alliance. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence, temporary major character death + other warnings in author notes - 37/37 chapters, 198k words - completed june 15th, 2018

SQUAD UP

- voltron: legendary defender: modern au written from 2017-19 to cope with the horrors of being in high school and the transition into college - written before gay shiro reveal + age discourse, contains side shallura and shiro/allura/matt - 25 works, 561k words - completed may 10th, 2019

• main work: squad up - chatfic chronicling the gang’s last year of high school - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 140/140 chapters, 327k words - completed june 15th, 2018

• main work: a midsummer night’s meme - chatfic chronicling the gang’s last summer before college - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 27/27 chapters, 79k words - completed august 31st, 2018

• main work: because guys like us are cool in college - series of oneshots/snippets following keith and lance’s freshman year of college - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 84/84 chapters, 83k words - completed may 10th, 2019

LIGHT UP THE PATH (THROUGH A SKY FULL OF STARS)

- voltron: legendary defender: 28 oneshots completed for klance au month february 2019. - klance - variety of aus, including but not limited to modern au, canon-divergent/other paladinsverse, fantasy au, and more - rated M, creator chose not to use archive warnings + other warnings in author note - 28/28 chapters, 49k words - completed february 28th, 2019

additional oneshots not mentioned here can be found on archive of our own ✨ other writing (including drabbles, snippets, and prompts from tumblr ask games) can be found in my writing tag ✨

happy reading!

[klanceintergalactichub]

Do you love creating klance fanworks?

Do you have thoughts on whether Galra would like chin scratches? (And how Lance would use this against Keith?)

Do you long to discuss what animal each of the Voltron squad would be? (Otter Lance, anyone?)

Join the Klance Intergalactic Hub Discord Server!

Link in our bio.

[simplyfandomish]

Imagine being a Captain of a rebel resistance force against the Galra Empire...

Simplyfandomish’s Masterlist 

Word Count: 4,444

Warnings: None! Other than cheesy fluff, Lance being a flirt, and badass female fighter pilots

(Totally stole the plane design from Star Wars lol and character descriptions were inspired by @ctchrysler​‘s Original Characters💕) 

Set in Voltron Season 2, Episode 3: “Greening the Cube”

“Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Hello world! I'm your wild girl.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

Nova’s blue eyes twitched in frustration as tools and small gadgets jumped off of the table and shelves as a result from the high bass setting that echoed through the ship.

Even with her earplugs pushed tight into her ears and her sole attention drawn to the weird space spore connected to her computers and scopes, the obnoxious music managed to penetrate her small bubble.

It seemed to be a religious practice for the ship's captain to blare annoying Earthen 80's music whenever they could. And it annoyed the other ship’s occupants to death.

“Stone age love and strange sounds too.

Come on, baby, let me get to you.

Bad nights causing teenage blues.

Get down ladies, you've got nothin' to lose.”

On the floor above, Nexia was being restricted to a much-needed nap.

The upbeat music caused her to groan in frustration and slam her pillow onto her face, desperate to at least muffle the infuriating sound. She continued to steam in anger as she reached over for her belt and buckled the pillow around her head. She began to smash her head against the wall.

“Hey, street boy, want some style?

Your dead end dreams don't make you smile.

I'll give you something to live for.

Have you and grab you until you're sore.”

Ishoël was busy in the ship’s hull with her maps and coordinates. Her large purple ears twitched and rang slightly due to their sensitivity to the blaring music, but she couldn’t help but tap her foot and swish her tail along with the beat.  

Being of Galran descent, she had never heard such upbeat music before, only monotone hymns and war chants. As much as her squad would whine and complain, she quite liked Earthen music. It was so different!

“Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Hello world! I'm your wild girl.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

In the center of it all, the bringer of suffering was you. You danced around the ship’s deck like no one was watching - and even when Nexus and Nova would sit by, glare, and judge you, you wouldn’t stop anyways.

You would always argue these moments of dance and song were all in honor of your team’s success of the many successful liberation missions against the Galra Empire. The twins and Ishoël would always agree with your statements and let you return to your goofy, silly party state.

Oh, the perks of being Captain!

Your long pink hair swished and swayed with every movement, you enjoyed having your hair down once in a while. You loved these rare moments, when you could blare your foreign music and dance wildly.

“Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!”

Back under the decks, Nexus trudged out of her barracks with her pillow still tied tightly around her ears and entered her sister’s lab. Nova glanced up from her test subject towards her miserable twin.

Any other day the scientist would smirk and revel in her twin’s irritation, but both of the twins were suffering terribly at the moment.

“I swear, I’m going to kill that nerdy Earth kid for introducing her to this crap.” The eldest twin grumbled as she slammed her head onto the messy work desk in front of her. Her pillow knocked over a pencil cup and an empty test tube.

The younger twin nodded her head silently, her eyes never breaking from one of her many computer screens, her pale nimble fingers flying over the keys.

“What’re you doing anyways? Trying to make electricity with your space potato?” The ship was blessed with a moment of silence as the sound system was preparing for the next terrible Earthen song.

Nova ignored her guest and carried on with her business. “Isn’t that the squishy asteroid thing we picked up outside?” Another round of silence. The eldest grew a tick mark from her sister’s kuudere personality, but the expression was turned into one of confusion when Nova read the computer screen, “Under attack...Galra...Help.”

“What?!”

Nova ignored Nexus again as she typed in the coordinates the space spore produced. With a chime from her computer, she turned the screen to her Nexus. The image on the screen provided all the answers.

“The Olkari?” Nexus asked. Nova nodded in affirmation. Nexus nodded firmly, “Let’s get this to miss leader, before she makes us all deaf.”

“We're no strangers to love

You know the rules and so do I~”

Nova and Nexus shared a horrified look before sprinting out of the lab and to the main deck. “Not this song! It’s awful!”

______________________________

The sight before the mighty Paladins of the Legendary Voltron was not at all what they were expecting.

When the Paladins heard whimpers and wails behind the cell door, their immediate thoughts went to torture, but last time they checked, a romantic movie with the Romeo and Juliet troupe wasn’t torture.

The Black, Red, Blue, and Yellow paladins shared a dumbfounded look with each other.

“She loves you!” Their mission’s target was sobbing like a baby, his eyes never tearing away from the holographic movie screen.

The paladins approached the kidnapped king. “King Lubos?” The black paladin asked. Confusion swam in all of the paladins’ minds. Both the king and his chained assistant turned to the newcomers.

“Who are you? The jesters I requested?”

“Ummm…” The blue paladin started awkwardly, “We’re here to like...rescue you?”

The king made a noise in the back of his throat and discreetly pressed a button on the side of his recliner. The lights flashed on momentarily blinding the occupants, and the main doors slid open. Red lights and sirens flashed all around.

The Galran base leader stalked into the room with a vicious smirk. They were caught!

“You could’ve just said ‘no thanks’.” The yellow paladin remarked towards the traitorous king.

“Looks like someone came to rescue you, your highness.” The base leader smirked in amusement.

“You turned your back on your own people to save your own skin.” The black paladin accused, offending the Olkarian King.

“I’m doing this for my people! They wanted to fight the Galra, but they’re too powerful. The gala could destroy us!” The king tried to defend his actions, but it was a blatant excuse and the Paladins knew it.

“So you helped enslave your people to build some super weapon?” The blue paladin hissed.

“Don’t make me the bad guy!” King Lubos snapped and pointed a finger toward the base leader, “He forced me to do it!”

“Did he force-feed you too?”

The silence spoke a thousand words.

“You’re no king.” The red paladin piped up before charging at the Olkarian king. The royal tried to scramble away, but was head-butted by the chained assistant and thrown into the paladin’s grasp.

The red paladin raised his bayard toward the king’s throat. “Ok! We’re walking out of here! Anyone who tries to stop us and Lubos gets it!” The paladin’s teammates spluttered from shock of Keith’s sudden declaration.

“La-sai, what’re you doing?” The king whimpered towards the angered assistant. “You betrayed our people, I can’t live this lie anymore!” La-sai stated with a deep glare.

“You don’t want me to hurt your genius engineer, right?” The red paladin returned his attention to the Galra commander.

“Oh, be my guest~ His work is done. The cube is complete.”

“What?” King Lubos exclaimed, sweat dripping from his forehead. “B-But, I thought we had a deal!”

“Guards, put them all out of their misery.” The commander smirked. The Galra soldier bots’ guns lit up as they began to charge its ammo, but before anything could happen, an explosion shook the entire building. Red laser blasts cut through the wall and separated the paladins and the Galra.

Through the newly formed hole was a mysterious ship. One that only the Galra could identify.

“Valkries!” The Galra leader was choked on the large clouds of smoke.

“Need a lift?” A female voice called out through the plane’s speakers. The paladins didn’t know who or what side they were on, but they needed a quick escape and the world presented itself with one. Hastily, those who sided with Team Voltron climbed onto the ship’s nose and held on tight. The pilot backed out from the building and sped off towards the forest.

“I got pick up, Artemis. Light ‘em up!”

“Roger, Luna!”

A plane nearly identical to their rescue vessel, other than its color scheme, soared past them and began laser assaults on the main building as well as taking out all the Galra posts surrounding the base.

“Who are you?” The black paladin shouted over the wind. He tried his best to distinguish their rescuer, but with both the tinted window and helmet visor, the Shiro could only see the pilot’s silhouette.  

“An ally!” She answered with a thumb’s up.

“Shiro, Lance, you guys okay?! Who is this?” The green paladin asked through their comm link, tailing the foreign plane into the woods.

“We don’t know, they said they’re an ally.” Shiro answered back.  

“Here’s your stop!” The pilot said as she hovered above the ground, nearest to where the Olkari village was settled.

“It’s the Geidi Prime Valkyries!” An Olkarian exclaimed, triggering the rest of the populace to flock towards the plane, all cheering and waving.

King Lubos practically threw himself off of the plane’s nose and went onto his knees, his forehead buried deep into the ground. With the Valkyries here, he was toast now! He began to vomit out praises and apologizes, beginning for his safety.

“The what?” Lance asked the nearest Olkarian to him. The alien brought their hand down from the air and clasped them to their chest in a lovesick manner. “The Geidi Prime Valkyries! They’re the best of the Geidi Prime brigades whose mission is to stop all Galra! Much like yours, mighty paladins.”

The paladins observed the medium-sized ship. It had more length than height with its nose being the most prominent and decorative. Along the hood was painted outstretched wings with a sword running through the middle. Down its body was a mint green stripe, and numerous painted tally marks dotted the line. It had four thrust engines with a laser cannon on each of its four wings. The wings themselves formed an ‘x’ shape.

The pilot saluted to the crowd through the window, before swinging back around towards the Galra base and hitting its thrusters. As seemingly fast as their own lions, the vessel swerved through the trees and out of sight.

The Olkari crowd continued their cheering even after she left. Pidge was unashamedly a part of this crowd.

The paladins stared at their youngest with raised eyebrows.

Pidge chuckled sheepishly when she finally realized the looks her team was throwing at her. “What??” She asked innocently. “Did you see those Incom 5H5 fusial thrust engines?! And the LP8 laser cannons?!” Pidge continued on with her fangirl rave.

Hunk, Lance, and Keith recoiled when Pidge began to drool.

______________________________

“All bystanders are free from the battle zone.”

“About time! What’d you do? Have a pint of mead and flirt?” You snorted.

Artemis was always the first to respond, and always with a sassy comment. “I wouldn’t have minded, the one in black was cute.”

“Whatever, Luna.” You grinned at Nova’s annoyance.

“Are you two done with your lovers’ quarrel up there, because the Galra’s newest weapon is on the move.” Gemini was the next to come through the link.

“Alright, alright, what you got for us, Apollo?” You asked. Your eyes trailed on the weird black floating cube in front of you.

“So far it hasn’t done anything, but cruising along the planet’s surface.” Nova’s smooth, monotone voice answered. “Gemini and I are still trying to hack into the main base to get intel.”

Both Valkyrie ships cruised parallel to each other, staying a good distance from the cruising cube: the Galra’s newest war machine.

“It’s just a dumb cube, what’s it gonna do? Shoot lasers at us?” Nexus wisecracked with a smirk.

The purple lining of the cube flashed and formed a- “GAH! I didn’t mean it!” It seemed the weaponry had heard Artemis’ taunts and fired a laser at her.

“You just had to go and taunt the thing didn’t you?”

“Shut up and help me!”

You rolled your eyes and went to assist your partner, who became the target for the cube’s lasers. You fired lasers at the cube, the bullets only being absorbed and no damage coming to the cube. You became the next target, as the cube started firing its lasers back at your ship. You just managed to flip your plan just in time to avoid being hit with the rapidly fired lasers.

“Great! It absorbs power!” Artemis shouted angrily. Both female pilots swerved out of the way from lasers as the cube continued to relentlessly fire at them.

“Apollo, get me a weakness!” You exclaimed over the comm.

“Trying.”

“Artemis, fall back so Apollo can figure it out.” Nexus sighed in frustration and pouted. She came out for a fight and now-! “AH!” She screamed out again when a large vessel flew past her, nearly clipping the end of her right wing.

Gemini gasped, “Oh my stars...I-Its…”

“Is that-?”

“It’s Voltron!”

The four Valkyrie’s stared at the robot in awe.

“So it’s true…” You breathed.

They all watched as Voltron tried to fight off the cube, but the Paladins had yet to realize the cube’s power as they used one of the robot’s special powers to try and defeat the weaponry. Not even a moment later did the cube retaliate with its own power and the mighty robot was thrown to the ground like a rag doll.

______________________________

“Ouch!” The Paladins yelped from the hard landing.  

“You all alright?!” Shrio asked through the comms. He sighed in relief when he got responses back. “Good! Now let’s: Form Sword!”

______________________________

The Valkyries watched Voltron summon its sword and slice the cube straight down the middle.

“T-that couldn't have worked...right??” There were now two cubes floating. The pair flashed a blinding light, before returning to their black and purple coloring.

“It can split up?!” Nexus shrieked in the comms.

“Weakness! Now!” You commanded.

“We’re trying!” Ishoël answered back.

Voltron retaliated and sliced the cubes through the middle, but their victory didn't last long as now four cubes flashed and came back online. They began to surround Voltron and fire their lasers at the large robot.

Voltron used its shield to deflect the lasers, but in no time the robot had difficulty protecting all its sides from the four fierce cubes, and eventually, the robot separated into five individual lions.

“I’m going in!” You punched your right throttle forward, your ship lurched back into the fray.

“Finally!” Artemis cackled and followed you in.

You flew past one of the cubes that chased after the red lion, instantly gaining the cube’s attention. The cube fired its lasers at your plane, but you were quicker.

With both throttles, you maneuvered your plane into summersault to avoid the lasers. Upside down, but leveled you fire your lasers against a second cube that was relentless upon the black lion. You swerved your plane to avoid colliding with the weakened lion robot, but now you had two cubes chasing you.

"T-there's no weakness!" Gemini stuttered through the comm link.

"What do you mean there’s no weakness?!" Artemis screeched as she did the same flip maneuver to save the blue lion.

"The cubes were made by the Olkari, they make their tech flawless with no abnormality. No matter who or what the weapon is for.” Apollo piped up.

To make matters worse, the green lion was shot down by a cube. Its mechanical cat body rocketed back into the tall forest.

“Ah!” Artemis grunted when a rogue laser struck the tip of her X-wing. “Oh no you didn’t!!” She roared in anger and fired upon the third cube. The Valkyries’ lasers did nothing to the four cubes, but with all chasing the pair, the beaten-up Voltron lions sat out and tried to recuperate.

______________________________

"What are they doing?!" Keith grunted out as he and the rest of the Paladins watched as the Valkyries played tag with the cubes. Pidge had been shot down and was unresponsive and now these strange planes were doing another reckless thing!

"I don't know, but that is probably the best piloting skills I have ever seen," Shiro stated in awe as the two planes dodged and spun away from the array of lasers.

Keith and Lance pursed their lips, mainly the latter. Both thought their flying skills were exceptional, yet only to get shown up by a group of mystery pilots.

"They can't hold on much longer," Keith said as the purple-painted Valkyrie had smoke trailing out its wings.

"We gotta get back in there!" Hunk exclaimed as he and the paladins moved to enter back into the field.

"Guys, hang on!"

"Pidge!"

______________________________

"I can't keep this up all day, miss leader!" Artemis clenched her teeth as she dove into another nosedive. She winced again when another laser shaved off a piece of metal from her laser cannon.

As much as you never wanted to admit defeat and raise a white flag of surrender, you couldn’t help but agree. Sweat had built around your temples and your knuckles began to throb from how tight you squeezed the throttles.  

Would this be it?? Would you and Artemis be shot down because these stupid cubes couldn’t be defeated?? Would this be the end of the Geidi Prime Valkyries??

“Got ya!” Pidge cheered in victory as she shot a large bright green laser at one of the cube’s on Artemis’ tail. The laser hit the second cube, causing the glowing purple lights to turn green for a moment before an army of vines erupted from the center of the cube. The long, heavy vines coiled around the edges of the cube and the Galra weapon fell out of the sky.  

The second cube left Artemis and chased after the green lion, but Pidge was ready. The lion simply spun around and aimed its newly formed cannon at the cubes.

“Aw come on!” Artemis whined. “He just stole my thunder!” She pouted, hands loose on the throttles now that the enemy was off her six.

“Want some of mine then?!” You grunted out as you spun your ship into a tight freefall. You could feel your seat growing hot and on your screen, the left bottom engine began to illuminate orange.

“Luna!” Artemis punched her ship back into gear and intercepted the second cube trailing you.

It felt like you were back to square one with cubes following both planes. "Thanks, Artemis! Now, let's line it up for him!"

Both Valkyries did one last aerial flip; You pulled up from low in the air and flipped upside down again. Artemis did the same, coming from high above.

You both grinned up at one another through your cockpits as you passed each other. Green lasers came from the side and shot at the final cubes.

You sighed out in exhaustion and relief, while Artemis did flips and spirals as she whooped and cheered.

“Did you see that flip?! I’ve never flown upside before!” She cheered.

“Very impressive, sister.”

“Nice job, Artemis!”

“Watch out, Luna! I’m on my way to steal your wings!”

You rolled your eyes in amusement. “Whatever you say, Artemis.”

Gemini came through the comm links again. "Information has been extracted, and the Olkari are invading. All Galra ships are fleeing."

“Roger that, Gemini. Let's go, Artemis." Both Valkyries turned their planes toward the Galra base and cruised off. The Voltron lions followed close behind.

The blue lion appeared at Artemis' side and started to pull ahead. The pilot narrowed her eyes, he wasn’t....was he?

Artemis smirked before hitting her thrusters, leaving the blue lion in her dust.

Lance blinked in confusion before gaining a smirk of his own. “A race, huh? Not on our watch! Let's hit it, Blue!”

"I want to thank you and the rest of your team." Ryner shook Nova and Ishoël’s hands in gratitude.

"We're just doing our duty to the galaxy!" Ishoël grinned before the three of them turned their attention toward the sky. They blinked to avoid dust flying in their eyes as two Valkyrie ships and five Voltron lions landed.

Nova and Ishoël rushed up to the x-wing fighter planes; Ishoël looked like a goofball as she ran with her arms high in greeting. Nova simply followed behind her with a small smile.

The Voltron Paladins rushed out of their own lions to properly meet the Giedi Prime Valkyries. Their attention went from the planes towards the two people on the ground, all of them gasped when they spotted a human girl with dark blue hair tied in a low ponytail that hung loosely on her shoulder, a pair of goggles sat on her head, and tool belt hanging loosely from her hips.

But what surprised the Paladins was the- “Galra!” Keith snarled as he pulled out his bayard. He charged at the tall Galra female with his teammates right on his heels with their own bayards.

The pilot of the purple Valkyrie plane hopped out of her cockpit and landed in between the red paladin and her own teammates.

The Paladins, minus the raging red, were surprised she made such a landing from that height without injury. “Hold your horses, tomato head!” The pilot shouted as she held her hands up and peeled off her helmet.

And it was like slow motion.

The pilot was female and looked nearly identical to other on the ground. Identical twins, they all presumed. But half of the pilot’s head was shaved down with the other half being a sweaty, windswept mess.

Hunk snorted, “Tomato head.” Keith snarled at him.

Lance was all goo-goo eyes and hearts.

“What's going on here?” Their attention turned to the new voice.

And it was like slow motion.

You approached the group and peeled off your helmet. Your long bubblegum pink hair spilled out of the helmet and down her back in a high ponytail. You looked between both groups for answers.  

“Just another Galra mistake, Luna,” Ishoël answered with a wave of dismissal. Her fluffy purple ears flicked as she smiled shyly, showing off her sharp, pearly white fangs. Her golden eyes turned into little crescent moons with her adorable smile.

The black paladin cleared his throat and stepped forward. He took off his helmet to show peace.

And it was like slow motion.

He was tall, handsome, and boy were his gray eyes pretty. His hair was jet black except for the tuft of white that hung into his eyes. A long, jagged pink scar covered his nose, but to you, it made him even more interesting.

Nova elbowed you out of your daydream.

“We’re sorry for our mistake. I-I’m sure you can understand why-”

“Please don’t worry about it. I’m well aware of what my people are doing. You don’t need to apologize.” Ishoël waved off his apology.

“Ishoël, you’re such a saint.” You cooed as you stepped beside her and wrapped your arms around her forearms. She was too tall to properly wrap your arms around her neck.

“You work with a Galra?” Keith couldn’t believe his eyes.

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge had taken off their helmets and sheathed their bayards; Keith hesitated for a moment before following his team.

“There are many Galras that don’t follow the regime. We have lots of Galran refugees in our ranks.” You answered simply. Nexus nodded firmly with her arms crossed, she shot a stink eye on the red paladin.

Your small smile dropped into immense surprise when the green paladin launched herself at your face. Stars had replaced Pidge’s eyes and she stared up at your squad as if you were royalty. “On Geidi Prime right?? We’ve only heard about your planet here and there, but actually seeing you guys in action! Your planes are gorgeous by the way! They’re technological masterpieces and the engines and laser canons- WOW!” Her team also had looks of surprise, never had they seen Pidge fangirl so hard.

Nova stepped forward and- “Thank you! Finally, someone appreciates all my hard work!” The Valkyries matched the Paladins’ shock as they watched their tech wizard come out of her shell and speak so happily.

“You made them?!” Nova nodded with a loud hum.

“That’s AMAZING! I have to see the technological advancements and mechanisms you guys have!”

Stars floated around the pair.

“Of course!” Nova took Pidge by her wrist and dragged her towards Nexus’ beaten plane.

The two battle squads continued to watch the pair with wide eyes and gobsmacked.

“Guess Nova’s found a new friend,” Ishoël commented.

Nexus flushed pink with jealousy and marched over to her plane, angrily grumbling about how no one will steal her twin away from her.

Lance slinked up next to you and Ishoël with his usual cheesy smirk. “So what’re your guys’ names?”

Ishoël smiled with her fangs again. “My name is Ishoël. Nova took off with your friend and Nexus is her twin.” She pointed over to the plane with the purple-painted pinstripe.

“ ‘Nexus’, huh?” He slicked back his short brown hair and readjusted his blue and white chest piece. “I can work with that.” He strutted off confidently towards the older twin.

The remaining Valkyries watched him go with surprise.

“Ignore him.” Shiro huffed in amusement and annoyance.

“That’s Lance, our resident flirt,” Hunk answered with a snort.

“He’s terrible at it though.” Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“So, there’s Lance, Pidge was stolen by your friend, this is Hunk and Keith.” He introduced the yellow and red paladins at his side. “And I’m Shiro. You are?”

Ishoël pinched your side so you wouldn’t sigh out the black paladin’s name like some love-sick fool. You cleared your throat and swallowed down the butterflies. Good thing Ishoël was good at reading you. “Captain (Y/n) of the Geidi Prime Valkyrie Squadron, a multi-awarded Ace and one of the leading generals for the resistance~”

You grew pink as your hair at Ishoël’s words. She didn’t have to give your full title!

Shiro stepped forward and held out his hand. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m eager to work with you in the future to liberate the universe from the Galra Empire.”

You smiled and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go end a war.”

[discordiansamba]

other fun facts about the AU that I haven't mentioned yet:

Krolia forged some imperial records for Keith before she left Earth, just in case he ever needed them. She might have only gotten to officially make Yorak his middle name on Earth, but the name on his imperial records is Yorak, which is why the Galra think that's his name.

(he's really grateful he had them on him before getting yeeted through the corrupted wormhole)

both Matt and Pidge are big cryptid enthusiasts so of course they know about the existence of the golden-eyed cryptid that lurks on the fringes of Garrison property. they just do not connect the dots- at least not until after Keith bolts for the second time.

Keith and his dad are the ones who guide them to the blue lion's location after they rescue Shiro. Nobody thinks this is that weird, since the blue lion is on their property, and those two are nature freaks who camp out in the desert regularly. It'd be weirder if they hadn't found it.

Heath stays back on Earth. This is a good thing because a year or so later, he stops Admiral Sanda from launching the standard base protocol and getting Adam and the rest of his squad killed. he also does this by holding her at gunpoint with his rifle and gets thrown in the brig for it but like. worth it.

(but then, Heath's always been at odds with the Garrison, ever since he hid the alien that crash landed on his property years ago.)

Keith did graffiti back on earth too.

keith: aw man. I left the jacket and boots I really like back on the Castle. oh well. time to get some new ones.

lance: why are my bad fashion choices senses tingling

Heath trained Keith to use the blade that Krolia left behind, which means he can awaken it already. very useful since he sent the red bayard back with the red lion.

Shiro tries to be a moral, upstanding example for Keith. Unfortunately it does not take. He understands a little better why Keith is the way he is the first time he meets his father.

[autisticlancemcclain]

idk if you'll know this fic but I got a new phone a little over a year ago and none of my tabs were saved so a bunch of stuff I was in the middle of was lost, including a fic that has, fittingly been driving me crazy as I try to find it. it's a time loop fic with lance being the only one going thru the loop amd I swear he repeated the day like 500 times or something, and he'd only wake up on that day again if he died - so the day is them trying to finish this mission and some funny weird tech thing went kaboom and started the whole thing. however! a few times lance got captured by the galra so he actually managed to last like months past that day, but then when he eventually died again he got thrown right back there even tho he'd moved on past it in time, if that makes sense? so it' not a fic where the day resets at midnight or anything. I can't remember a ton of details, but I think part of it was that hunk (or pidge?) went with him to extract the thing that blew up and started the mess but he could never make it work going in with pidge(?) I think, so it always had to be hunk. plus I think there were people from the coalition or the blades helping, like 2 squadrons? and there were some fatalities and lance was like well if I'm repeating this day I'm not gonna let that happened so he convinced them to change the plan so the squads weren't sent in but idr how. plus while he was captured he met Matt holt (idr if he knew it was Matt but I think he did?). I don't even know if the thing was finished, but it was pretty long. when I was first trying to remember it I thought it was ad infinitum or smt similar but apparently that's a DIFFERENT time loop fic. and then I thought it was re:do but that's also a different one. there are like 50 results for the time loop tag under voltron and 9 for groundhog day but none of them are right 😭 I've even tried searching thru my ao3 history and STILL can't find it so I'm a little worried it was deleted 😔 if you know anything, any help would be appreciated <3 I am so desperate

omg i don't remember this but it sounds INSANELY cool. i took a look around but ur right i couldnt find anything. does anyone else recognise it??

[xochitai]

Was thinking of sapphic Lotura again the other night and ran into the question: would fem!Lotor be butch? [ramble below]

This section is partially inspired by a headcanon [or maybe it was a theory; I can't remember] post I saw on tumblr [which I tried to find to link here but I could not] because canon doesn't give us much to work with when it comes to civillian Galran culture. Gist of the post was sexual dimorphism in Galra and links to gender. So traits like being larger and/or more colorful are perceived as feminine [ex. Zethrid, Kolivan] and being smaller with fewer colors is perceived as masculine [ex. Lotor]. The original post has more detail and expands on how fem-/masc- ulinity tie into Galran society, but back to the point. Assuming fem!Lotor looks the same as canon!Lotor, viewed through this hc/theory, she would be perceived as masc. However, just because someone has fem/masc features doesn't mean they identify with that or want to dress in a way that "matches." So we are back to square one.

There was a drawing made by one of the people who worked on the show that featured the paladins, blade of marmora, and sincline squad at a restaurant[?] in winter. [I could probably look this up and find it to put here but I am lazy]. Lotor is walking in, wearing a beanie and puffy coat. Very typical winter clothes in typical winter colors. Not much to work with here. Next.

For this part, I know I have the pic already on my computer so I'll insert it here:

The mix of greys canon!L wears don't seem to be gendered. Whether dress or tunic/overcoat/leggings combo, there's an even mix of dark and light grey. None of the Galra here wear orange or blue, so can't really do anything with that. Lotor's waist cape does resemble what some of the male Galra are wearing, particularly the ones behind Blaytz on the stairs, but those are an over layer being bound by a belt. Similar shape, different construction. Don't really have anything else to go off of though so I will give 0.5 point to team masc.

In terms of actions, I will not lie to you dear reader, it's been a while since I watched the latter half of the show so my memory is fuzzy. Maybe there is some big thing I missed. I wouldn't know; I missed it. Anyways. Ik it's a bit of a stereotype but Lotor designs and builds things. Would it be so far fetched for Ladytor to be a diy/builder wife? With all her little projects? She says she's gonna renovate the space porch but gets distracted and designs a house for the cat and builds a robot.

I feel like I'm reaching the part where I'm grasping at straws. Clothing analysis can only do so much because Lotor wears ONE OUTFIT FOR HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE. Not even death can separate him from that damn armor. But does it matter? Do I need canon approval to draw fem!Lotor in dapper fits?

Deleted a little bit because I started to lose the plot. I guess the conclusion is: data inconclusive. Requires further discussion.

As always, hope this was legible enough. I fixed some spelling errors but that's about it. I'm not going through this again to clean up sentence structure.

+ can't remember how many total rambles i have. not sure if it is time for a ramble tag. i don't think anyone reads them enough to warrant one but idk.

[lilflowerpot]

Hi! I was wondering what other vld ships you like/ship? If you don’t mind me asking

Though it's been a hot minute since I've really indulged in vld outside of working on LB, I'm one of those multishippers who can be persuaded on mostly anything so long as the narrative is compelling enough (particularly so far as Keith is involved)! My staples tend to be keitor (obviously) & sheith, but I have a fondness for fics that explore keith/kuron, keith/james, keith/regris, keith/allura, keith/matt in an interesting manner, and I've even read a few solid pieces featuring keith/lance, keith/kolivan, and (most surprisingly of all) keith/zarkon.

So far as non-keith-centric ships are concerned, I'm far choosier, but lotura is always a heartbreaker, ezor/zethird is cute but seldom written (bonus points if axca is their fwb third), shiro/ulaz lends itself to a tender sort of angst, and zarkon/honerva is just outright sad.

I can also go for all the above in a non-romantic sense, of course, but my major platonic dynamics are Pidge & mostly everyone, Keith & the entire BoM, and Lotor & the galra girl squad.

Less so than the ships themselves, it's actually the manner in which any given dynamic is written that sees me become particular: the portrayal of the characters, their mannerisms, their interactions with one another, the circumstances in which they've come together, etc etc... but if you have any fics that you would absolutely swear by—whether they feature a ship listed here or not—then by all means send them my way!

[aspenmissing]

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 (𝙿𝚝 𝟸)

Later Allura carries a crate towards the ship, she's dawning the guard's armour with only a portion of her face showing. Shiro, Y/N and Soul lay in the crate which is filled with other things. Soul is squished between their heads as the two are cramped in.

"I'm so glad I stretch every morning" Y/N mutters. Shiro groans.

"Lucky you" He says, playfully rolling his eyes. Allura walks up to the ship which is protected by many guards and drones.

"Halt" A Galran sentry says, lifting his hand. Allura stops, making Shiro and Y/N freeze and widen their eyes. Soul flicks her tongue, making a slight hiss noise until Y/N quietly shushes her. Outside, Allira watches as two sentry's carry two large containers of a yellow substance of the ship "Move along" Allura begins walking up the path and lets out a sigh of relief.

Once inside, Shiro, Y/N and Soul exit the crate and they sneak through the ship until they get to an intersection full of sentries guarding. They hide behind a wall as they await a few sentries to pass by. As they do, Shiro quietly gasps. Y/N places her hand on his arm, looking up at her brother in concern.

"You okay?" She asks. Allura puts her attention on him, seeing his expression.

"I just remembered how I escaped from the Galra prison ship. Listen, most of the ship's personnel are sentries."

"So?" Allura asks.

"When I was a prisoner, I timed their pattern." Shiro answers.

"Do you remember it?" Allura asks before he grabs a hold of their wrists. Soul jumps onto Y/N's shoulder.

"Let's find out" Shiro says before dragging the two girls after him. He brought them around the corner just as sentries came down the hallway they were just in. They continue down a series of halls, avoiding each sentry group that came through. They enter the room Pidge instructed them to do and inside stood two sentries.

"I've got this" Y/N says, summoning her bayard as Soul jumps onto Shiro's shoulder. Y/N runs at the two sentries and strikes one of them down with a single hit. The other comes towards her and she quickly strikes that one too. Her and Shiro then throw the two sentries at a wall.

"We only have a few minutes  before the next patrol comes by. Watch the door." Shiro commands as Allura.

"Got it" Allura heads over to the door and begins looking down both ways. Shiro and Y/N head over to the control panel and Shiro places his hand on the panel.

"Okay, Pidge, start the download" Shiro says.

"Generating access code" Pidge says as the computer beeps before allowing access "We're in" Suddenly a red marking appears on the screen and the computer starts beeping more. Soul points with her tail frantically.

"Pidge, I think there's a problem" Y/N says.

"Sit tight. I'm trying to work around this" Pidge says as she types away on her computer. Lance and Hunk watch her do so.

"Scanning for information." The computer says.

"Pidge?" Shiro questions.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!"

"What's going on here?" A Galran sentry asks. Allura quickly pushes her body to the wall to cover up Shiro, Y/N and Soul "Who are you?" Shiro and Y/N gasp.

"It's about time you got here. Where is the rest of your squad?" Allura asks, moving her head as the Galran sentry try's to look around her.

"Uh, what squad?" He asks.

"Hurry up, Pidge" Y/N whispers into her comm, looking back at the door then back to the screen.

"Almost there" Pidge replies.

"The squad that is to escort me and my associates to our ship." Allura says

"Who's back there? What's going on?" The Galran sentry asks, trying to look into the room but Allura's hand on his chest stops him.

"We are part of Zarkon's high command. Out work must not be disturbed" Allura says strictly, pushing the Galran sentry back against the wall.

"Where's Chief Information Officer Plytox?" The Galran sentry asks.

"Uh, he's in there. Say hello, Plyrox." Allura says, turning her head back into the room. Shiro and Y/N share a look before Shiro closes his eyes.

"Uh...." Shiro thinks before letting out a deep voice "It's "Plytox"!" He says. Y/N closes her eyes, wincing and hoping it worked.

"Oh, sorry. See?"

"Oh. Vrepit sa, sir! I get his name wrong all the time, too." The Galran soldier says, whispering the last part before walking away. Allura lets out a sigh of relief as Y/N lets out a small laugh.

"Didn't know you could go that low" Not a minute later the same Galran Sentry comes back.

"Um.."

"Huh?" Allura says, turning to face him.

"Do you think I could get assigned to Zarkon's unit?" The Galran sentry laughs "Nothing happens on this ship."

"Oh, well, I don't know. What's your bloodthirstiness on a scale of one to five? One being "No, thanks, I'm full," and five being "Unquenchable."" Allura says, leaning her arm on the wall. Shiro and Y/N share a look of confusion before shrugging.

"Hmm... If I'm being honest, about a three."

"We can work on that" Allura says. Suddenly red light emits from the room and alarms blare loudly.

"Fugitive prisoner 117-9875 detected. Remain where you are" The computer announces as Shiro takes his hand off the control "Security alerted" The Galran Sentry takes out his gun and points it at Allura before pushing her into the room and comes face to face with Shiro, Y/N and Soul.

"Uh, help! Intruders!"  He shouts until Allura shuts the door and he fires his gun, leaving intends.

"I think we're in trouble" Shiro says.

"You think?!" Y/N says sarcastically, grabbing Soul and placing her on her shoulder. Allura then rams the door into the Galran Sentry and pushes him against the wall, knocking him unconscious as he slides down the wall. Shiro, Y/N and Soul look up from the Sentry to Allura with shocked expressions.

"What?" Allura asks. They hear footsteps running down the hall as many Sentry's began running at them with guns drawn.

"Let's go!" Shiro says and they began running away while the sentries shoot at them. "Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We're coming in hot!" Two sentries block their way as Allura shoots her gun only for it to be the wrong way around and causing her to shoot the sentry behind her. Shiro activates his hand as Y/N summons her bayard and the two quickly defeated the two sentries. Allura picks up one of the defeated sentries and throws it at the sentries and knocking them down. Y/N takes the gun from Allura.

"I thought you said you'd travelled around the galaxy. I mean, you fly a spaceship. How could you possibly not know how to hold this correctly?" She questions as she fixed the gun for Allura. Allura grabs the gun off Y/N and they begin running down the hallway.

"I'm tense! This is a tense situation."

"Secure hatches. All personnel take positions for departure." A male voice says over the speakers.

"We have to get off" Y/N mutters, holding Soul in one hand while the other carries her bayard, which isn't in weapon form. They run around a corner as Allura turns to shoot the sentries.

"The escape pods are up here!" Shiro shouts as the two girls follow him.

"Formulating navigation. All crew assume secure hyper-speed positions."

"Hurry!" Allura shouts, taking off her helmet "We can't leave once the ship goes into hyper-speed!" Allura warns. They make it to the doors leading to the escape pod and they begin to close. The sentries began to arrive and try to pry the doors open but Allura tries to force them closed. Before Allura could close them fully a blast shot through the gap of the door over, which Allura ducked her head to, and shot straight over to Y/N's but before it could hit her, Soul had jumped down down from Y/N shoulder and took the blast.

"SOUL!" Y/N screams as she catches Soul in her arms just as Allura closes the door shut. Shiro activates his hand and begins to forge the door shut. Y/N's ears drown out their arguments, her eyes set on the creature laying still in her arms "Y-You can't be gone, girl. Not like this" Y/N rubs her thumb over Soul's cheek, tears spilling down "I should have never took you away from your home" She's suddenly grabbed by the back of her paladin uniform by Allura and thrown into the escape pod alongside Shiro just as it closes.

"No!" Shiro screams, banging on the window. He watches as the door behind Allura opens and sentries spill in. Allura smiles before the escape pod began to take off and the last thing he sees is Allura being taken to the ground. The ship then goes into hyper-speed and Shiro rests his head against the glass of the escape pod. Y/N however if sat on the floor, cradling Soul closely and sniffling quietly.

The Green lion heads there way and the lion picks them up. Shiro is the first to enter the cockpit with everyone turning around to greet them until they notices something.

"Where's Allura, Y/N and Soul?" Keith asks, looking around to look for them. Shiro doesn't answer. Shiro places his hand on the chair, bowing his head.

"Shiro?" Lance questions.

"She sacrificed herself to save us. Y/N and so-" Shiro cuts him self of "Soul jumped in the way of a blast meant for Y/N..." Everyone stares in shock, knowing what he's hinting at "Y/N's sat out there" Shiro gestures his head to outside the cockpit. Keith looks to where Shiro gestured and goes to walk out. He walks out the cockpit and into the small room behind to where he finds Y/N sat against the wall, her knees to her chest as she holds Soul close.

"It's my fault...the blast was meant for me, not her" Y/N mumbles, not looking up at Keith. Her eyes stay trained on the small creature in her grasp "I took her away from her home, away from her family. Now look what happened" Keith frowns and sits down besides her, legs straight out in front of him and arms crossed.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Y/N"

"How can I not!" She exclaims, looking up at Keith to show her bloodshot eyes. He slightly jumps at her outburst "I should have put my foot down and told her that she's not coming. I was to weak to stop small creature like her from coming with us, TWICE!"  Y/N looks back down at Soul.

"You didn't know that this would happen." Keith says, frowning. "No one planned for this. So don't blame yourself." Keith gently strokes Soul's head with his thumb, gently smiling down at her  "And she did do her puppy face and it's quite hard to resist" He says, remembering all the times she did it to him "No one could resist the face. Hell even Shiro and me couldn't" Y/N sniffs and lightly chuckles, blinking tears away.

"No. No you couldn't. And when she stuck her tongue out, that would be the final straw before you gave in" Y/N says, rubbing her thumb over Soul's head. She frowns again and leans onto Keith's shoulder who in return lays his head on her head. The two sit in silence, silently mourning for the loss of their friend who had helped them get to where they are now. Keith scrunched his face up, feeling something...lick his hand?

"Did you just lick my hand?" Keith asks sitting up and looking down at Y/N.

"Why on earth would I lick your hand?" She asks, her brow raised. Y/N feels shuffling on her lap and a quite squeak. The Paladin share a look before slowly lowering their heads to the creature in Y/N's arms "S-she's alive..."

[royalblades-cosmicfates]

||MUSE HC/ASK/AU MASTERPOST

______

Just alfor and Kolivan's logs of anything that relates to them((at least anything key or hc, so not just art and other! --below i added other asks related to other muses

Alfor Headcanon___Alfor has a tendency to become chaoticlly organized

Alfor Headcanon___Alfor is daring, before mellowing out when Allura was born, he was one to have one set of eyes on him at all times.

Hey, so...this probably isn't for here but what WOULD be the reality where alfor isn't with melendor? Do they have good terms? How exists? Also is alliura there or she get snapped? [[AU related]

Wait- is alfor always gonna have a kit? In all or most threads? [to mun]

《《《▪︎▪︎▪︎☆ Pizza bagels

Alfor is an extremely skilled swordsman

Antok and ____

Kolivan Headcanon___Has a strong tendency to ignore or forget his own needs

_______{{||The blade's leader practices [[Kolivn mention

|TAGGED POSTS

[[ KOLIVAN [[ALFOR [[KEITH [[ROMELLE

[[CHARACTER FLAWS__[[Alfor [[Kolivan

[[SLEEPING HABITS__[[Alfor, [[Kolivan

[[MUSE GREETINGS__[[Alfor [[Kolivan

CUTBELOW___Various headcanon/Asks/e.t.c

[[Not every ask is here but most of the important/longer ones here!

Have a Protection Squad: Which muse(s) seem the most sheltered and/or naive? Are there other characters who look out for them? Is so, who are they?

❣️ - What are their love languages? 💓 - What are some signs they’ve fallen for someone? How do they show their affection? 💖 - How and how often do they try to impress their partner(s)? How and how often do their partner(s) impress them? For anyone muse needs your attention and love~

So have you tried earth candy yet

Is your muse difficult to ship with? [mun directed

Care to give us any silly things?

Psst mun, can you bestow us HCs aside from Alfor and Kolvian???

Okay, which muse would enjoy peppermint, and who would think it takes like medicine/toothpaste?

🥃 - Alcohol! The stronger, the better, or do they have a low tolerance for those types of things? Do they drink alcohol by itself, or do they commonly have it with a meal?

Valentine's Day is coming? Are there any plans for dates, romantic or platonic?

MUSE DIRECTED

Hey Olia- are you and Ozar orphaned? You seem to be since you and him call te-osh mama or something like data

The shoebox's first mentions [ghost-thread related]

Kova is stronger than a Mlade of Mormoa. Kova is more the top kitty.

Matt, did you teach Phantasma about furries? Or did she find out that herself?

Fluffy boi___Tavo's first ask

So question, if I have a laser point and turn it on, who would chase the light? And this includes if those lions do it too.

Thace, how much do you adore alfor? I think you might be spoiling alfor in the future@

Freedom guys! What's the options on the galra? Do you hte them, want them to die? They took a lot from ye.

How many tall ladies? (Regris)

ALFOR ASKS__

Why do you have scars on your arms?

Alfor you sure you won't wanna go back? I mean you kinda have someone or commanders kiddo on the way

So how are you going to tell Thace about the kitt? Like after you get the courage to meet him?

So how many kits do you get?

How are you going to raise the baby? Also fluffy Kova

Juniberry... It's a flower... I thought it was a fruit. I feel bamboozled

Wow. Alfor gets a nice new wardrobe... while Thace only gets jammies.

You know, Halo forms are cool. I wonder what they can and can't do with it. Could they eat and digest? Could they use their original strength in such a tiny body?

Alfor, you've done a lot of harm for thousands of years. Ya know that right?

So...Alfor, what entertainment do you have with the galra? Or what have you had with entertainment with the galra? I mean they gotta have something since Zarkon's an emperor and that.

[[[experiences__Alfor's time with the empire's fleets

Alfor, what happens when sendak comes back? Will he try and take tavo or just bring you back since your kinda zarkons trophy

Tavo is gonna be sendaks spitting imagine when he grows up. Sucks.

[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.