#half-altean lotor

[oliveden]

allura and lotor's interactions are... harsh, to put it kindly.

to lotor, she is everything he could never be. kind, empathetic, beloved by (what remains of) her followers. a true altean alchemist, instead of whatever corrupted version lotor knows that he is.

he's the sole heir of the galra empire. gentle was never something he would've been allowed to be, and he knows he's seen as some halfbreed witch-prince, too kind for the galra and too monstrous for the rest. it's not like they're wrong, anyway. he's had a long, long time to get used to the way that everything he knows is ever-so-slightly twisted.

it doesn't mean that the reminder doesn't hurt.

to allura, lotor is everything she feared and yet everything she would've wanted. he's undoubtedly cruel, villainous, a mockery of the altean race. he's the future emperor, the sum of all the worst things in the world.

and yet, somehow, he's a better alchemist than her. his quintessence is warped, certainly, and healing doesn't come naturally to him, but his control over lightning is masterful and his quintessence sensitivity is equal to hers. she is an full-blooded altean royal, and yet she is not enough.

needless to say, it takes them a while to warm up to each other.

i keep thinking about the general keith au where i made lotor a witch-prince. it has so much potential.

his entire youth he is disrespected for his mixed status, especially being half-altean of all species, and yet simultaneously he is feared for what he can do.

he is young the first time a general insults him and is promptly burned with a streak of lightning down his side. it had taken far less out of him than it should've - the druids were capable and yet they required more effort to use lightning than he did.

haggar tells him that it is due to his altean heritage. that is a gift. lotor doesn't know how much of that he is willing to believe, but she's right in that it successfully scared off the rest of the dissenters.

(he is old the first time his general ally friend is carried back onto the flagship by her brother, bleeding through her armor, and he knows what he can do. it is with shaky fingers that he calls upon his quintessence and it is with a hesitance that he has not held for centa-phoebs that he brings it towards her.)

(it is with relief, however, and a joy he refuses to acknowledge when the torn flesh mends itself back together, and acxa looks up at him with wide eyes. wide, conscious, living eyes.)

(he has never healed, before.)

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Lotura Week 2024: Day 1, Fairytales and Mythology

The Jinni in the Bottle

Rated: T

Lotor sits upon the beach, the waves crashing over his bare calves as he holds the strange bottle in his trembling hands. Behind him, makeshift living quarters out of his prison pod gleam in the three suns. “Come on,” he breathes desperately.

His lavender skin is darkened from many days of little shade, his skin scarred from grappling with the sharp bark of the planet’s trees and the fanged sharks of the waters.

“I sense the power within,” he says. His voice carries an unsteady edge as he struggles to open the bottle. “Perhaps you are a lost belonging of other previously stranded souls on this gods-forsaken planet. A civilization like mine that knew quintessence.”

He has grown fond of speaking to inanimate objects. The nearby rock structure is now named Varzax, and the bottle itself is quickly cruising toward a name of its own.

(But if he cannot open the bottle, he may end up naming it Annoying.)

With his Galran strength, he crunches the metal top and wrenches it away, tossing it into the tide. But as he peers into the bottle, instead of seeing a Balmeran crystal or other quintessence-based artifact, all that flies in his face is pink smoke.

Lotor coughs, then his eyes widen as the smoke storms out more intentionally.

The next thing he knows, a warm and hard body slams him down into the tide, lithe figures crunching in on his throat.

His claws protract.

He swings to attack his strange new opponent—only for another hand to slam his arm down above his head, splashing the water hard.

Lotor stares up into purple and blue eyes from a beautiful, feminine face as soft thighs press against his hips.

His cracked lips drop open as his cheeks flame.

(Surely, he has lost his mind.)

The woman’s white curls tumble down her shoulders, her flowing shirt and pants glittering with royal finery. “A Galran,” she hisses, alto voice twisted in fear and hatred. “With the eyes of Zarkon. You must be of his blood.” She looks up in paranoia. “Are there more of you?”

Lotor struggles for words as the magical woman holds him down, the tide washing over them. “Ah,” he says in mild disbelief. “Apologies, I’ve only had conversation with rocks as of late. I thought you’d be a stone, a fragment of quintessence.” With a wily move and twist of his unnatural joints, he slips his wrist away from her sharp grip, only to pat her face. “And you are far too tangible to be a hallucination.”

She sputters against his fingers, jerking her face away.

With a huff, she grabs for his hand and forces it back down. “I am no hallucination,” she declares haughtily. “Emperor Zarkon imprisoned me in that cursed bottle after overrunning my planet, and I have sworn to annihilate his blood for it.”

A little at a time, Lotor’s sun-addled mind catches up with the blush across his face. “A jinni,” he whispers. “That is what you are. A demon who must grants wishes for the one who releases you.”

The magical being holding him down tilts her head, her eyes swirling with the power of entire universes.

Her lips quiver. “And you are blood of Zarkon.”

Lotor huffs at her, half-amused. “Are you to kill me then, or will you grant me a wish as the one who has freed you?” He searches her eyes. “Admittedly, a death by your hand would be far lovelier compared to life on this planet.”

Water crashes against her, spinning her white curls as she sits in the water beside him. “Is that a wish, then?”

Lotor sits up, rubbing his abused throat. His face remains flushed by the memory of her heat upon him. “No. I wish only to know your name.”

The word wish revs up the power that emanates from her, of its own accord.

She hesitates before whispering, “Allura.”

He leans his elbows on his knees, not quite caring that he sits in his underclothes before her, having long lost his shame. “Why did my father also abandon you here to die forgotten, Allura? I wish to know it.”

Allura grows more apprehensive the more he uses the word wish. “I was a princess once,” she says, voice halted. “When he—when he invaded, I…gave up my mortal life in exchange for great power. But it came at great cost and with unusual weaknesses.”

Lotor searches her face again. “Yes, jinnis are easily captured and manipulated, according to legend.” His head tilts. “And yet also devious and wily."

She scoots away from him, as if suddenly realizing he is a man. “You will not wish for me to perform any sordid acts for you, son of Zarkon,” she demands in fear. "For the legends are true that jinnis make many regret their wishes."

He quirks an eyebrow at her.

And then tiredly, he leans his long arms on his knees and says, “Allura of the Djinn, I release you of the conditions that bind you to me. Your presence alone has given me my heart’s desire, which is simply to hear a voice besides my own.”

In that moment, the universe resettles around her, markings upon her face and arms lighting a bright pink before softening once more. She closes her eyes, her throat tightening with deep emotion. “You would release me so easily? Am I not some…some asset that your father wanted you to find?"

Lotor turns to glance out at the horizon, placing a hand over his eyes to block out the sun. “My father marooned me here after I turned against him. I suspect after his many years of pillaging planets, he forgot that he also left you here.”

Allura stares back at the crashed prison pod and clothes hanging to dry from a makeshift wooden structure. She swallows hard and repeats, “You turned against him?”

His wide mouth splits, revealing fangs, but humor does not light his eyes. “I tried to kill him. But I am not sure who is the weakest between us—my father for not killing me, or myself for not successfully completing my mission.”

It falls silent between them.

The demon princess eventually stands, the silver and gold strands on her pink clothes flashing in the light. “The Galra still reign, then.”

“Yes.”

She places a hand on her hips, pressing her full lips together as she paces in the water beside him. “You are a strange Galran man for returning my freewill to me,” she says. There is a sudden, demonic darkness in her eyes. “Now, I will decimate your father’s empire with the power of ages.”

Lotor quirks an eyebrow. “Oh, Allura,” he says in delight. “I’m afraid he’s still protected by his favorite little witch, who no doubt was the one to imprison you. If you are captured again, who will be there to reopen your bottle and free you from a lifetime of granting wishes?”

The woman steps back, face tight.

Lotor stands from the waters, his own white hair a tangled straggle. “Allura of the Djinn, I propose an alliance to take down my father once and for all,” he says. “So long as no one but me sees you, we could corrode his authority from the inside out—obtain the revenge we both desire.”  

She eyes him now with genuine, wary curiosity. “In what way, son of Zarkon?”

There is a wildness and slight insanity in Lotor after a year of solitude. “Make me a prince once more,” he pleads. “With your infinite power, you can manipulate quintessence in ways that not even the witch can. You can build spaceships with a snap of your fingers and change my very appearance so that my father does not recognize me. Through me, you could wage war once more, without fear of your weaknesses being used against you.”

She is actively considering him now, softening. “What is your name, strange man who desires to be my marionette?”

“Lotor of the Galra.”

Her eyes lower to the tides, and then she glances back up, the power of the stars swirling in her gaze. “Very well,” she says, voice echoing. “I will raise you a throne, Lotor of the Galra, and I will provide you the weaponry to kill your father when he least expects it.”

She reaches out, her fingers kind as they press against his cheek.

The instant they touch, his lavender skin bleeds a soft brown, his white hair darkens to an inky black, and from his broad shoulders streams the clothes of a rich and powerful Altean prince.

“Just like this,” Allura whispers, before pulling away in admiration of her work.

Power fades from Lotor as he stares down at his brown hands, his sharp wrists lined with gold. For one brief tick, an aching revelry lights within him, for his entire life, he had been denied finery.

And then he makes a strangled noise as Allura grabs onto his collar and pulls him out of the tide. “Come along, marionette,” she says merrily. “Let us take down an empire and break a few hearts with your new face. We’ll have to think of a new name for you, of course. I once had a mouse named Chulatt, but I do not think that is the name of a prince.”

Water sloshes against his royal boots, his golden robes streaming behind him. “It is not,” he agrees, voice strained.

Allura’s grip is strong, even beyond that of a Galran’s.

And then just as quickly as she had conjured his new clothes, she waves her hand, and in the distance of the beach, a sharp-looking golden spaceship builds itself before Allura’s form itself wavers out.

Before he knows it, a little pink bird settles upon his broad shoulder, chirping at him merrily and preening his dark hair.

Lotor scratches at the golden circlet upon his forehead, his fingers blunt without claws. “Do you not think it is rather ostentatious for all things to be gold?”

The little bird chirps at him petulantly, and Allura’s alto voice echoes in his mind.

Oh, son of Zarkon.

If we are going to kill an emperor who also happens to be your father, then we are going to do so in style.  

@loturaweek2024

[lilflowerpot]

Hey there Flower! I hope all is well with you and that you’re having a wonderful day💜 I wanted to send in an ask because I recently had this realization and did some research and found out that the act of crying is a “uniquely human trait”. This got me thinking if the galra cry too? Let me explain a bit, so as far as I know other animals are capable of shedding tears but it’s not an emotional response so much as there might be something wrong/in their eyes.

We’ve seen that alteans can cry! But I wonder about the galra because I don’t believe we’ve seen any of them cry (not even Krolia).

I wasn’t sure if you’ve been asked this before or not and I tried my best looking to see if you have but the only post I saw relating was about the differences in galra/human anatomy and it did mention their eyes!

So with this information…can galra cry as an emotional response? If they can’t, what’s their reaction to humans doing it?

(Also please correct me if I’m wrong for any of the statements I made! I’m also aware that you’ve mentioned before that we will be seeing “Lotor tears” in the future of LB but we could say that he’s able to cry because of his altean half?)

Okay so first of all I love you for diligently scouring my blog to see if I'd already answered this question (I have not) your consideration is greatly appreciated ♡

Secondly, while I was aware than humans are the only known organism that cry from emotion, and we do indeed know that Alteans can cry as proven by s1ep09, I hadn't really considered whether or not the galra are a species were in the same boat,,, only that Lotor himself has to be because not only did I have him become teary-eyed in the most recent chapter—

“Is that enough?” the question scrapes ragged and ruinous against the silence that surrounds them. “Truthfully,” the prince admits, “I do not know.” and, with a start, Keith realises that summer-sky eyes are near as glassy as his own, “Though, if anything is to be your downfall, would you not rather it be love?” - Little Blade, chapter 24

—but I have Plans™ for his future that demand it.

That being said, when I think about it, it really doesn't make an awful lot of sense for the galra to cry from emotion due to Daibazaal having been such an arid planet that any unnecessary loss of fluid would have been a distinct evolutionary weakness for them, and so would likely have been evolved out (if ever it was something they were capable of in the first place). This, of course, begs the question: what displays of sorrow/emotional distress do the galra have?

As a direct result of this ask, I've once again expanded upon my galra body language post, adding to the "bad noises" bullet point:

Though they cannot cry tears as humans do, the galra expression of grief is—according to those who've heard it—one of the most harrowing sounds in the known universe; the drehvi is a distinctly mournful vocalisation unique to the galra people, taking the form of a raw, guttural, bellowing wail that stems from deep within the chest cavity and can be heard from up to half a league away.

If you can imagine the noise a bear might make upon suffering a sudden but mortal wound, and that sound echoing across an otherwise silent valley devoid of all life,,, that would be the drehvi.

So........... on that not-at-all-heartbreaking note, you also asked for the galra reaction to humans crying, which I am going to keep much lighter (because I am internally weeping now goddammit) so I'd have to say it's likely a mixture of confused and alarmed, because the human is,,, leaking?? Are humans supposed to do that?? Their breathing has also become remarkably erratic and hiccupy which is almost certainly Not Good if they do not regulate their oxygen intake they will DIE because humans are SMALL and FRAGILE, but they are also not currently in a state to explain themselves nor how to help??

[laughableillusions]

Does anyone remember that episode in VLD where Allura was racist to Keith bc it was found out he was half-Galra

[wolfeyedwitch]

Of all the cryofrozen fics I have living in my head, I did NOT expect my Voltron + OC fic to be the one that I got inspiration for on this day, but you are 100% right about Keith and Lotor and that is TOTALLY a thing that we should have gotten

Lotor and Keith: The Duo We Deserved

Disclaimer: it's been around 8 months since I've last watched voltron. details may be inaccurate

Sometimes I think we were robbed of what could've been an amazing friendship. Keith's discovery of his Galran lineage and Lotor's of his Altean heritage, and their indirect parallel of upbringing, I hoped these two would form an amazing bond as they're the only people that could relate to each other in terms of ostracization due to their race. But that hope eventually dwindled down when I realized that the showrunners were definitely not planning that, and in fact, even makes Lotor a bad guy again. At the very least, I had hoped for a heart-to-heart conversation about them being mixed race and flesh out that aspect of them more. Yet again, I was let down. During Keith's entire life, he has been ostracized by his peers and constantly bullied for being different. It has been the fundamental characteristic of him— his preordained Galran traits— embedded into every crevice of his disposition and being unable to do anything about it. When he finds out about his Galran heritage, we finally conclude the reason, in profound realization, why he's never fit in much back in Earth. Ultimately, this would give clarity and closure to Keith about why he's the way he is, but what the showrunners overlooked is the inevitable, imminent consequence of an identity crisis. He's too galra to be human (antisocial, rebellious, fierce and stubborn), but too human to be galra. (compassionate, warm, weaker and smaller in stature, humanly physical features)

This is his reality everyday. I distinctly remember Sendak belittling Krolia because of her half-breed son, Keith. It went something along the lines of: "Is the Blade of Marmora so low on soldiers that they recruit a half-breed and his mommy in?" Which, most likely, amplified his identity crisis. Poor guy. I feel as though the same case could be applied to Lotor. Raised by only Galrans and raised to be one, his father, Zarkon, would also say that something was quite fundamentally different about him. Compared to a stereotypical, standard Galra, he seemed to be quite more compassionate and carefree as a child, showing great intellect and promise in other aspects yet lacking in the personality traits as a Galra and embracing more of his Altean characteristics. Growing up, Lotor always believed in goodwill, altruism, and attempted to prove to Zarkon that he could successfully subjugate planets by sheer goodwill without repercussions. However, his father's constant abuse for millennia, and cruelly destroying said planet, would of course, send him to spirals and awaken his long repressed Galran characteristics: Tyrannous, vindictive, cruel and spiteful. Both Keith and Lotor had been abandoned by their biological parents, one in a literal way, and the other, emotionally. Both of them had something just fundamentally, unutterably different about them that they couldn't quite explain, thus thwarting the standards of "what they should be". If Keith and Lotor had formed a genuine, wholesome familial friendship to replace their absent/abusive parents, they could've established an actual safe space where they felt belonged and heard. The rest of the team may also provide an emotional connection towards them, however, nobody knows their pain more than each other. After all, they both went through similar experiences. Mixed race solidarity! Also. I think it could've been a great way to represent mixed race people (I'm sorry. Is that how you call them? Is this offensive?). I'm not one myself, so I'm not sure, but this would've been so great to promote inclusivity and accurately represent their struggles in the actual world. This also could've been an amazing plot point for Lotor's character development and fleshing out his character more onto a much more profound and raw level. Instead, they threw it all down the drain by betraying VOLTRON then dying. Disappointed. Also, I'll be diving deeper into Keith's identity crisis more in one of my next posts, and Lotor's tragic fate. Get me out of this VOLTRON hellhole. The hyperfixation is too much.

[artsyjesseblue]

Lotura Celestial Wedding

My latest labour of love, doodled in small increments over the course of a few weeks. 💜 Here they are, waltzing among nebulae and galaxies.

Allura’s gown is my own adaptation of her regular dress into a silken, gossamer ballroom gown, attempting to preserve the little Altean details.

Lotor’s suit is a compilation of his own armor and his mother’s uniform in S8, as a nod to his Altean heritage. Don’t worry, he’s still half-Galra; he’s got many ways to express his Zarkonian side 😉. His little diadem is also of Altean design. Simple enough not to compete with his beautiful portrait.

And gold sparkles, because I said so.

[torveiglyart]

Due to my inability to post a comic page today, I have some more fleshing out of the Avicorians… and a Lance AU.

Due to the unique materials that many Avicorian’s body parts are made of, this race has been poached to extinction. The feathers, bones, teeth, claws, and eyes of an avicorian are held in high regard on the black market. Although they are universally known as extinct, there was a rather large group of Avicorians that escaped the mass poaching epidemic by fleeing to a small outer-rim planet known as Earth, and hiding there.

As generations came and went, the degree of chameleonisation rose, making it impossible to tell an Avicorian from a human, 2,000 years after the genocide. The only indicator that a person could be Avicorian or of that descent is heterochromia, yet even that genetic factor happens in regular humans, so there is no sure way to identify them.

Like Alteans, Avicorians have a unique connection to quintessence. The light markings on their wings indicate a person’s connection, or “power”, to the quintessence they feel strongest. for Avicorians, the composition of quintessence differs based on the colour: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal, Blue, Violet, and White. Coincidentally, this colour action works similarly to Earthling’s “Auras” in that personalities can be identified by the quintessence colour. Unlike Alteans, Avicorians cannot “wield” quintessence or manipulate it in the way alchemists can. They can react to and with it, like recharging a Balmera, but cannot utilise it, like Oriande shows. Avicorians require quintessence usage to shape-shift (to morph, not sustain), while Alteans do not.

Quintessence and meaning

Red: Passion, agression, impulsion, heart

Orange: Energetic, creative, impatient, skittish

Yellow: Stubborn, support, compassion, caution

Green: Inquisitive, petty, productive, amicable

Blue: Fluid, thoughtful, trust, fawning

Violet: Decisive, level-head, weary, calm

White: “Purity” White quintessence does not normally appear naturally as it is a refined version. There are no traits, as there are none with a connection to white.

Teal: “Raw Quintessence” Balmeran crystals are the easiest example of quintessence in a raw form. Curiosity, kindness, flexibility, empathy

And now the Lance AU:

Unknown to Lance McClain, he is half Avicorian. His parents, who were actually a full-blood Avicorian and his “aunt” Rosa, were killed in a car accident when he was only 2, and so he was taken in by his aunt Sophia, who he knows as his mom. He was never told of his true parentage, as no one felt it was important for him to know. He was a McClain anyways.

Lance always had heterochromatic eyes, brown on bottom, blue on top, but preferred to wear coloured contacts to hide the unusual colouration, especially after a bad spout of bullying when he first moved to America.

Years later, when Voltron went to aid an Empire outpost with broken shields, Lance sacrificed himself to save Allura from a beam of electricity and was revived by her newfound knowledge of Altean alchemy. Upon revival, he began to have strange pains in his back and nails, yet continuously brushed them off as battle scars or “the whole dying thing”. Months later, when they fight Lotor in the quintessence field, Lance passes out after their victory and wakes up in Red, his armor broken on the ground in front of him and eyes burning. He doesn’t actually take note of the changes until Red is packed with his things and the castle is gone. No one ran into him during the packing trips, but now that things have settled, Pidge is the first to point out Lance’s silence. It is then that Lance freaks out about the wings, blue sclera, and claws.

[atlas7seo]

Everytime I think I'm free, Voltron comes and grabs me in a choke hold. So I'm dragging yall down with me. Here's season summaries of the Voltron Rewrite I'm working on that has taken over my life. I call it my Bootstrap AU which will make sense later.

Inhales* yes this happening...

Season 1 -Defenders of the Universe

Garrison student(Lance, Hunk, and Pidge), expelled student Keith, and Lieutenant Shirogane suddenly find themselves in an alien castle courtesy of a giant Blue Mechnical Lion. Upon arrival they stumble into a 10,000 year long war against an Alien Race called the Galra. Voltron, an ancient weapon, is the only way to stop them, however, no one knows where it is. Follow the Crew aboard the Altean ship as they attempt to get the ship operational, track down lions, and discover their destiny as fated Paladins of Voltron all in a fight against the Galra. Season 1 ends with the Paladins forming Voltron for the first time and becoming Defenders of the Universe

Season 2 - The Voltron Coalition

Now that Voltron has finally been found and formed, the Paladins and Alteans attempt to form allies and liberate planets. Follow our crew as they free planets, negotiate with rebel forces, and infiltrate Galra occupation. All the while searching for a mysterious Ulaz who rescued Shiro and Ulaz's mysterious organization. Season 2 ends with the Paladins meeting the Blade of Marmora and one of their leaders, Lotor, disgraced Prince of the Galra.

(Let's address the elephant in the room. Lotor. Okay, so when I was planning my rewrite, I realized that Lotor is both so compelling and so flat. So, instead, in my rewrite, Lotor is a disgraced prince (still like the original). He sees how the empire is hurting his people who are just civilians, and when he tries to reason with his father, he is disgraced. Lotor didn't make the Blade, but he allied with them in an attempt to return the Galra to what they once were. Lotor is somewhat selfish because if it was between Galran citizens or another planet, he'd pick his people. He only rebelled because he saw how his father was hurting his people. He doesn’t actually care about the universe, his people are what he values, but that changes with *character growth*)

(Also Pidge has found Matt by the end of this season)

Season 3 - The Galran Empire

Season 3 follows our crew and the Voltron Coalition as they formulate plans to end the war at its head. They will form an alliance and plan with the Blade and Lotor. This will be an all out attack on Zarkon including the allies in the Coalition. Half the season will be the plan in motion with multiple parts in an attempt to finally stem the problem at its root. The season ends with Shiro and Lotor dealing the final blow on Zarkon and a rogue wormhole begins to pull him through, but in Zarkon's rage drags Shiro with him.

Season 4 - A New Era

With the loss of Shiro fresh in their minds, Voltron struggles to find stability in this new era. First they realize that despite Zarkon being defeated, the Galra empire is still a threat so they must be able to form Voltron again. *Cue lion switches no matter how much I hate them... Now the Paladins will be allied with Lotor as he attempts to claim the Galran Throne. Throughout they will face Haggar, Robeasts, and the dying flames of the Galran empire. During this chaotic period, they will searching for Shiro and Sam Holt. The season ends with the Kral Zera where Lotor ascends the throne.

Season 5 - Fires of Purification

After facing defeat during the Kral Zera, one of Zarkon's top generals, Sendak begins to gather the remaining "loyal Galra" including Haggar to form the Fires of Purification. This season will continue the search for Shiro and Sam while also being stuck in a Galran Civil War. Voltron, Lotor, and the Coalition fight to stop Sendak from gaining control of the Universe. The season ends with Sendak offering a trade. Shiro and Sam for Lotor. (Like in the actual season 5 because I liked what it did for the story). Voltron and Lotor form a plan and rescue them as Sendak retreats with his tail between his legs.

Season 6 - Moving Foward

With the win against the Fires and the return of Shiro and Sam, it seems things are looking up, but something isn't quite right. With little fanfare Sam chooses to return to Earth to prepare them for the universe. This season is mostly made up of interpersonal conflicts and "what now". The universe is mostly free save for a few pockets of Galra uprising that the Coalition can handle relatively easily without Voltron. The Paladins face the problem of what they should do now and if they can even go back to how things were before the war. While also worrying about Sendak and the remnants of the Fires of Purification. Throughout this, Shiro is also acting really weird. Cut to the real Shiro, but on a Space Whale. (Yes I'm bringing back the weird time distortion whale) When Zarkon grabbed Shiro they landed on a space Whale. So Shiro is trying to survive and get back to Voltron by himself with only Zarkon's corpse as company. Shiro is the one who discovers the Altean Colony (in my rewrite, Haggar is the one running the colony) and he then discovers Haggar's plan to trick Voltron with a clone of him. It's a mystery thriller season switching between the Paladins and the real Shiro as he desperately attempts to get back to his crew to warn them before its too late. The season ends with Shiro warning them too late and Haggar's plan succeeds. Voltron is torn from their allies and catapulted across the universe along with a lost Romelle.

Season 7 - Dead Sector 73

(Ok before I continue the summary, I'm going to explain what I did with Earth. So Weblums eat dead planets in order to use that quintessence to make new solar systems and planets. In my rewrite, Earth's solar system and the space sector around it was a series of dead planets Weblums ate a long time ago and Earth is the first planet to begin exhibiting life in this previous dead sector. Earth is the first living planet in Dead Sector 73. Okay now onto the season summary.)

Sam returns to Earth and begins preparing them for the Galaxy. Back to the Paladins, Haggar has successfully removed Voltron from the equation and begins to rally allies to the Galra's previous motives and moves to retake the universe. Voltron finds themselves lost in Dead Sector 73, a section of the universe Weblums have already eaten and has begun the process of life. They realize they can't reach their allies through comms or anything. But they notice they are somewhat close to Earth. So they set off to reach Earth in the hopes of communicating with the Coalition. When they reach Earth, however, they find Sendak has taken over Earth as a last ditch attempt to get revenge on the Paladins for destroying the empire. And on top of that, that they have been missing for nearly a year. (Weird time distortion stuff like the space whale because of the dead space). They also discover that Sendak is the reason they can't use their comms as he's jamming all signals that travel outside the solar system. The season ends with them defeating Sendak and finally getting ahold of their allies.

(Now I'm going to do some more world building stuff. This is information previous seasons would originally have already told, but I'm putting it here. So the Blades have the motto "Knowledge or Death" and I want to use that somehow. So in my rewrite, the Blade sort of stole the philosophy from the ORIGINAL Galran empire. The war began not because of quintessence poisoning, but because the Galra believed Knowledge or Death. It was a disagreement on ethics and how far you should go in the pursuit of science and knowledge. This disagreement about how to handle the quintessence plane between Zarkon and Alfor sparked the initial conflict as Zarkon wanted to save his wife no matter what. However, due to millenia of exposure to quintessence it degraded Zarkon's mind to the point that he became the villain the show knows today)

Season 8 - Tomorrow and Yesterday

When Voltron and Earth finally reach the Galatic Stage, they discover Haggar has been reigning terror over the galaxy using the Alteans from the colony. While the Coalition and the Galra of Lotor's empire are holding ground, they are beginning to lose. This is when it's revealed that after Zarkon lost his mind to quintessence, Haggar was the one running the show. She must have progress, and now Alfor and the Alteans are no longer in the way for it. (Haggar is still Honerva and born Altean). This season focuses on defeating Haggar and freeing the Alteans from her brain washing. In the end, Honerva destroys all universes by attacking the quintessence plane in pursuit of "scientific knowledge." The Paladins kill Honerva but realize that everything is gone. This is when the Lions come to them. They reveal that sacrificing themselves can restore their universe. "Restore our universe? But what about all the others?" The Lions tell their Paladins that they in themselves are a Causal Loop. The Lions must be sacrificed to restore their universe, and sacrificing them in the quintessence plane it causes them to appear in the past as the materials that Alfor uses to create the Lions. The Lions are forever in a perpetual loop being created and destroyed to maintain the universe. However, each time they do this, they are sent back to another universe as well. It's a multiplying paradox. They are created and destroyed infinite times to restore everything Honerva destroyed. (I did this because I wanted to include the multiple universes the show had, but also, according to my rewrite, the original Voltron could also technically be canon somewhat. It just that in that universe. Allura sacrificed herself, causing the Lions to no longer go through the loop). When the Paladins return, they realize the quintessence plane is sealed off. No one in their universe can ever reach it again. The universe is saved, and the Paladins walk forward to tomorrow, knowing that yesterday is in good hands.

The End

Okay so that was a lot. I hope that if you reached the end of this, you enjoyed it. Do you think I improved it? Or maybe it's just as convoluted and bad as the original, but I tried my best to take all the ideas from Voltron and fit them coherently. Since these were just season summaries there's a lot of stuff I didn't include that I am including in my in depth rewrite like Keith being half Galra, and shipping and stuff. But this rewrite has been eating at my brain for two weeks so I had to put it somewhere.

The reason it's called the Bootstrap AU is obviously because of the Causal Time Loop. No real reason why I added it, I just thought it was fun and funky and shows how the Lions are things that the characters can never truly understand.

[uniquecellest]

Some fun AU ideas for Adashi

- Adam is half Galra/human but remained unaware

-Adam is half Altean/human

-Adam half Altean/Galra

-Adam was sent to earth to be a spy however he was extremely young and does not recall his mission at all

-Adam was captured; Shiro gets recaptured and thrown into the Gladiator ring again, they have to fight. Adam doesn't remember Shiro

-Shiro and all Paladins get to Earth the day the Galra invade. Shiro ends up saving Adam before Adam can unalive and Shiro is p i s s e d they went after Earth, especially Adam

-Adam and Lance get captured at different times/places resulting in Keith and Shiro to go after them, only they have to make a choice who lives: Adam or Lance (bonus for Adashi/Klance parallels)

-Matt teasing his friends Adam and Shiro constantly being a little terror to them

-more Adam, Shiro, and Matt being the og Garrison trio

-Krolia meeting a young Adam while she's with Keith's dad and Keith's dad being a mentor/role model to Shiro

-Matt, Shiro, and Adam discover Voltron earlier and are the paladins

-Adam meets Zarkon, Lotor, and/or Sendak and goes ferral on them for hurting shiro, Keith, and the other paladins

-They never broke up when Shiro went to space making

-Adam went on Kerberos replacing Matt, Sam, or Shiro

-Adam gets captured but is released as if a hostage, he was brainwashed/had a chip put in him

-Shiro vs. Kuron and Kuron brings Adam up to emotionally hurt Shiro (lowkey pisses Keith off bc no disrespects his brothers like that)

-Shiro and Adam reunite but are stiff thinking the other has moved on. They're only around each other when necessary unaware that they're also spending longer times together again - /and of course I still want him, but I can't when he's clearly moved on/ (cue Matt and Keith pulling a parent trap)

-rebel leader Adam whether it be on earth or a different planet

-Adam helps make Shiro a new hand

-trouble makers Adam, Matt, and Shiro (i.e. Matt and Shiro causing chaos while Adam tries to get them to chill)

- teenage Adam wanting to impress Shiro so he does something stupid that could actually result in explosion from the Garrison

-Shiro and Adam having relationships with the other Paladins before Kerberos (Pidge especially)

-Adam making Shiro blush easily

(Shiro: you know what you're doing

Adam: what are you talking about. [Actually knows what he's doing])

-Shiro and Adam loving to observe each other from afar from when they're cadets all the way to when Shiro leaves for Kerberos

-Adam is secretly an heir to a great fortune, but he had cut ties with his family and didn't get it til his grandparents passed away (Adam is not the only living relative just a sole inheriter)

-Adam sees Kuron and Shiro fighting and is the meme of "hey what's x + x kuron: correct answer Adam: shoots him Paladins: that was the right answer Adam: yes, but Takashi always does this (cut to Shiro and Keith doing the same fucking movement)

- Adam giving Shiro a silent treatment for dying in space

-Adam thanks Haggar for curing Shiro before unaliving her

-nervous cadet crushes bc they're 50/50 if the other will say yes if asked on a date. Someone makes a remark on the other making Adam or Shiro punch someone. The fight is broken by the time the one who wasn't present gets there (or maybe they're pulling their crush off) and don't get the full story until the one who wasn't fighting is helping patch up the one who was

-they're roommates as cadets

-Adam or Shiro is roommates with Matt while the other has a single room (cue Matt doing his best in getting the two idiots together)

-young Keith unaware that Adam and Shiro are dating so he tries to get them together (he enlists Matt's help)

[oliveden]

lotor is born with red altean markings beneath his eyes that he knows are an identical copy of his mother's.

with them comes a new talent for altean alchemy. his quintessence is far stronger than they'd expected and haggar recognizes his potential in an instant.

so she mentors him, teaching him what she knows of alchemy and quintessence manipulation. he is raised on stories of magic and haggar instills within him a healthy respect for alteans, one that occasionally wars with galra history, but wins out nonetheless.

(she does not quite know why she chose to teach him, but it felt right. it's easy to rationalize it as a way of ensuring the empire's strength.)

decaphoebs later, lotor may not be as respected as his pureblooded galra counterparts - but the witch-prince is feared nonetheless.

[discordiansamba]

"Okay, show of hands. How many of us are half-human, half-Galra?"

A lot of hands go up, but surprisingly, not everyone's does. One version of himself, a Galra with red and purple markings wearing Blade armor just looks confused.

"Wait," he says, "-you guys are only half Galra?"

"See, I'm just completely human," one version of himself with gray eyes says, "-but I guess I was raised by Galra? So technically I'm still an alien."

"Wait," a puzzled version of himself wearing a more fantasy version of Blade armor tilts his head, "-what's an alien? I mean, I'm half Galra, but-"

"-actually yeah, same question," a version of himself with golden eyes wearing a cloak asks, "-what's an alien? also what's a Galra? I'm human also. By the way. Definitely human."

"That feels like a really obvious denial," another version of himself that's purple but is wearing more Altean style clothing says, "-also I'm half-Galra, half-Altean."

"I am also half-Galra, half-Altean," a version of himself that definitely looks a little too much like Lotor raises his hand.

"Half-human, Half-Altean," another version of himself wearing even fancier Altean clothing says.

"Full Altean," says another version of himself, "-it's a recent and complicated development. Don't ask."

"Y'all are aliens?" A version of himself that looks mostly human asks, arching a brow. "Huh. Guess that... might explain some stuff about me."

"You guys aren't Shifters?" A deeply confused version of himself asks. "Like? You can't change your shape? That's so weird."

"I can," one version of himself says, and demonstrates by turning themselves Galra in the blink of an eye, "-you mean y'all can't do this?"

"I wish I could do that," says an extremely tall, very Galra version of himself wearing Lotor's armor, "-but no."

"I'm... a lot of things," says a version of himself who does, in fact, look like a lot of things, "-but originally I was just half-human, half-Galra."

"...why do so many of you guys have aliens in your universe?" one version of himself asks, "-because I don't. I mean, I may be a genetically modified superhuman, but-"

"Actually being part-Galra would explain some stuff," a version of himself with visible Galra features says, "-I just thought the changes were because I'm infected with a zombie virus."

"Wait. What the fuck."

[voltron-revival]

Hi again! Back with another screenshot redraw and another popular headcanon: Altean Lance! Lemme explain:

I feel like it would have added to Lance's character (and maybe his relationship to Allura) if he was revealed to be Altean of some kind. Imagine how sweet it would be for Coran and Allura to share with him! Wasted potential. Also also omg can y'all imagine Klance with them both being some alien? Like that's adorable they have something else to bond over 🥺💕 a big gripe of mine as a fellow mixed person is that the mixed alien characters never really got to bond about it beyond just being in Lotor's gang :')

Anyway, since we've seen that marks come in many colors, thought a dark pink would suit him. :)

Also. PALADIN ARMOR IS TOUGH but it's also soooo satisfying to get right omfg, is this how actual mecha artists feel???

Fun fact: It took me two goofy movies and half of Robin Hood to finish this whole thing lol, the Keith one was faster

[association-of-ideas]

I don't know how it happened, but I'm somehow back in my Voltron phase, so have a stupid conspiracy theory that I enjoy thinking about.

Okay, so we all know how Keith is half Galra and looks nothing like it? Well, he's a spitting image of his mother, minus the actual Galra traits. And yes, I know genetics are Hell's lottery, but bare with me here!

Keith looks entirely human; from his skin tone to his size. The most we really get is that split second of his eyes going yellow. Yes, he's only half Galra, but all of the other half Galra characters are noticeably, well, Galra! From the looks of it, Galra genes seem to be pretty dominant, so by all means, Keith should have some physical traits, right? But he doesn't!

The thing is, Keith grew up on Earth, where looking like that could have been dangerous. He'd need to look human in order to survive, which brings me to the crack-headcannon itself:

What if Krolia was part Altean and passed that down to Keith as well?

Alteans are capable of changing their skin color and height in order to blend in, "Sacred Alteans" having even more control over their appearance. (I checked the wiki to clarify this.)

Krolia was a spy for the BoM, meaning she had to be good at acting and being the alien equivalent of a chameleon would definitely help with that.

Also, I just think it'd be really neat to see Allura so conflicted over this, because on one hand, Keith's part Galra, the race that destroyed her planet and took away everything she'd ever known and loved. On the other, he's also part Altean, potentially one of the only remaining Alteans, if only fractionally so, aside from herself and Coran (I'm setting this before Lotor shows up.)

I just think it'd be really cool to have some Allura-centric angst where she debates Keith's loyalty and whether blood defines a person.

I spend so much time thinking up random AUs and trying to rationalize them, so please be nice.

[stardustedstories]

.............oh, nope, okay, NOT DONE YET. Because I remembered the whole thing about Oriande.

The fact that they were like "Lotor has been researching this place for thousands of years, and we're totally gonna let him be one of the chosen few to be able to even GET to Oriande, but SURPRISE, he doesn't actually get to learn any of its secrets because he's half-Galra and therefore responds in a way that means he isn't worthy because of thousands of years of having to protect himself" PISSES ME OFF

I need to write up A Whole Thing about Oriande, honestly. Because like….., can you even IMAGINE? You're born into a people that values violence and conquest, but you put more stock in your mother's lineage because they valued research and learning and peace (I'm GROSSLY generalizing here, because there is more nuance to both the Galra AND the Alteans than that, but ANYWAY), and you FINALLY get to go to this incredible site, a place that was seen as only folklore, but that you proved to exist, and it's special to one of your peoples……..to be told you've been CHOSEN to be allowed IN, to learn more about this part of your lineage that you so value…….only to then be told it's because of the other part of your lineage that you're not actually worthy????

Lotor has been alive for 10,000+ years, and despite that fact, despite the fact that he was pretty much abandoned by BOTH of his parents, raised in a system that values war and violence and conquest, he's been trying and doing what he can within that system, to make things NOT as terrible. But there's only so much he can do on his own, especially when he's been punished for being openly lenient or trying for more peaceful means. It's only after those 10,000+ years that a viable rebellion popped up, one he could finally support, that finally had the hope of taking out his father.

(ALSO, all of the new paladins being human or at least human-passing feels kinda weird, too, when you stop and think about it. The original paladins were from all sorts of different planets, they were all different, to show that hey, even though you come from different backgrounds and might have historical reasons to be fighting, you can CHOOSE your own path, can choose to work with others towards peace. ANOTHER reason Lotor should have been the new black paladin when they changed things all up, with Lance piloting Red and Allura Blue.)

[localfanbaselurker]

Watching Voltron: Legendary Defender for the first time and recording my thoughts

S1-2 | S3 | S4 | you are here! | S6 | S7 | S8 |

_________________________________________

This one is not as long because I literally finished it like two days ago as I write this so the thoughts are still simmering down but I need to remember them before I watch s6

Pre-S5 thoughts

-> I hope we get Keith back, his near sacrifice really scared me at the end of S4. I want my son back.

-> pLEASE let that poor girl get her father back. Oh my lord. Give him back. Pls. I can’t wait anymore. Will the real Sam Holt please stand up? Please stand up?

-> FRICK Lotor I know they’re probably gonna give him some backstory or whatever on him being a good guy but I DOOOOONNNNNNT CAAAAARRRREEEEEEEEE. I do NOT like him and they can never make me. he is EVIL and you cannot tell me otherwise.

->^“but laura-” idc. I don’t trust him. His voice is too American-Psyco-y. He is a little scheming cunty little elf. He’s onto something. He wants something out of this.

->^I will miss his team of lesbians tho. They ate.

->There seems to be a lot of hints towards allurance! I hope they get a good arc. They are very sweet!

-> I hope we see more of Matt! It’s like that one quote from Brooklyn 99. “I’ve only had [Matt] for [an episode and a half] but if anything were to happen to him, I’d kill everyone in this room, and then myself”

—~—~—~—~—~—///////|||||\\\\\\\—~—~—~—~—~—

Post-S5 Thoughts

-> my suspicions of Shiro grew bigger and bigger as this season progressed. I think I have it figured out by now. 🔍🧐☕️

->^Lotor low key ate her up with this

->^i think that’s her main arc: she needs to let go of the thought that all galra are evil (which she has fair reason to do so), as it is a war, and things aren’t all black and white. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like having Lotor around this season will help her character development.

->^I wrote that at the beginning of s5, I was right, it did help a little (though then they brought up the fact that Lotor was half altean so maybe she just thinks he’s good because of that—let’s hope not)

->They did not, in fact, bring Keith back. Very upsetting.

->WE GOT SAM HOLT BACK!! THE HOLTS ARE BACK!!! THEY HAVE FOUND THEIR FATHER!!!!

->^That was an emotional episode for me. I cried when they didn’t find him in the “prison” thing and I cried again when Pidge ran into the hologram thing. They make me feel so weak. I was so happy when they got him back fr.

-> And then I cried again at the end of episode 3 cus he was like “I decided im leaving, good luck out there, kids”. Bawling.

->Speaking of episode 3… 🔍🧐

->^and episode 4…and episode 6… 🧐🧐🧐🧐

->^🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

->^me rn vs. you guys probably.

->^He’s 1) been listening to everything Lotor says, ignoring the team and going behind their back/without consulting them. And 2) Being uncharacteristically hostile to everyone. I swear I felt like I was reading a really OOC fanfic nearly the whole season.

->^Yes, Shiro is leader-y, but he also (s1-2) tended to listen to his team and have unserious moments. I feel like he’s lost all of that. And I think that last picture is all I need to know.

->(moving on)There seems to be a big focus on Lance this season (yay!) I really hope it’s not for the usual reasons characters get extra screen time (because I would die). I feel like they have been leading him to be the black paladin with how leader-y he has been this season but even if that’s not the case I do still feel they are going to do something really important with him for the next season and I am so excited to see what they are going to do with him! 😊

-> if Keith doesn’t leave the Backyard of Malnutrition next season im going to make myself go inside the show and personally take him out

->/j/j/j…or is it? ☕️🧐 (someone needs to take this emoji away from me it’s made me too powerful)

->WE GOT KEITHS MOM!!!!

->^I was so shocked I literally slammed my computer shut (not that hard, im not a psycho dw)

->^HE GOT HIS MOM BACK!!! I cried after that episode because can you imagine? He just got her back and he thought she was dead/abandoned him for like his entire life. And now he has her back and oh my god I need to open ao3 where are those “first time calling <someone> mom/dad” one shots.

->^AND KROLIA. SHE JUST GOT HER BABY BACK!! Stop im fr crying as i type this. guys. Fuck. I genuinely can’t handle family-related stuff in shows like I will cry so hard. It doesn’t even have to happen on screen my brain just makes the scenarios for me and I obey and bawl my eyes out.

->They are trying to make me like Lotor and Allura together…it is almost working. Almost. I still don’t trust him. And I like allurance better.

->^i just KNOW she was internally kicking her feet and giggling at this. “Then you’re…🤔😯 Half altean 🤭🤭😍😍😍”

->^speaking of that ep, I was sooooo happy for Allura because she finally found a way to still be connected with her dad/culture after having to lose him in s1 and not being able to pilot red in s3, absolutely overjoyed for my best girl!! 🤍🩷🤍

->I absolutely LOVED episode five’s subplots. We have: A-plot) Keith+ his mom going on a mission together, B) Lotor +Allura finding altean stuff in Haggar’s lair, and C) my personal favorite, The garrison trio getting up to shenanigans with a galra robot thing.

->^Later Pala-dudes is my hero, too, lance

->^^Look at those dorks. I love them so much.

->^See this is proof that Lotor is actually Evil™️ and Not Good™️ because he immediately went to violence and trying to fight to greedily get what he wanted while Allura saw the right path and allowed the secrets to be shared with her willingly in this essay I will-

->When is Lotor gonna find out his mom is haggar?? Hopefully s6 cus I can’t take this anymore. the evidence is RIGHT THERE, bucko. Figure it out already.

->If they want me to like Lotor they better work extra hard next season. I’m beginning, BEGINNING, to actually, kinda-sorta-maybe actually like him. BEGINNING! And it is a rough start at that. But im defrosting my built-up dislike for him. It’s a burn slower than 300k words but it’s getting there. They’re gonna hold hands any chapter now.

These are thoughts I’ve been compiling for a while. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished Season 5 on 07/13/24. I have not yet started season 6. Stay tuned!

[bluestarjay]

So, I just realized something about Krolia- Is it possible she's only half Galra? I noticed that in the scenes that we see crowds of Galra, almost every single one has fully yellow eyes; very few have pupils, and the ones that do simply have small black dots for them. Krolia however, has regular humanoid pupils, and the only characters that have eyes like that are the humans and humanoid aliens (Alteans, etc), and Lotor's crew, which are all only half Galra. Also, she has legitimate hair, which like, no galra has, except for Lotor's crew as well. I understand she probably looks the way she does to make her more amiable than typical Galra and to resemble Keith more, but I think it'd be interesting if she was also only half. Also, I think she resembles Acxa a lot, and I think the headcanon of Acxa and Keith being siblings is really cute.