#i just hope lance and shiro are able to bond in the future because of that damn lgbt sign art

[ayylmaokeith]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Lance & Shiro (Voltron) Characters: Lance (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Black Lion (Voltron) Additional Tags: Season/Series 06, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), shiro and lance finally are able to BOND!!!! Summary:

Lance forms a connection with the Black Lion while clone Shiro is in the Castle. He's able to communicate with the real Shiro, who's chilling in the astral plane in Black. They're finally able to bond and Shiro gives Lance advice about his feelings. Lance is also able to learn a bit more about Shiro's personal life.

Takes place in an alternative Season 6, or at least before it's revealed Shiro is a clone.

[popurikat]

Trying to make sense of parts of Future (Mystery Skulls)

Since my last analysis went so well I thought I’d make this post as well, especially because Future really did confuse me and I know others might be lost as well; so lets discuss this together! It will be lengthy as I am basically spewing my thoughts out right on the videos immediate release date (there will be a read more option after my first thought to avoid long positng). Well first things first, I wanna address that I've been curious about what kind of spirit Arthur's arm could be (since I am not too well acquainted with any canon on its background part at least) and I think I have concluded that the closest thing to it could be is a Tenome; which is a Yochai that possesses a man's body and moves the eyes to the palms. "found lurking in cemeteries, hands outstretched, as if he has only recently lost his vision and is searching for something. Get close enough, and you’ll find out in quick succession that a) he’s not blind, but looking with eyes embedded in his hands, and b) what he’s looking for is a snack." (fyi, most of my mythos information is coming from Wiki just as a heads up)

And sure enough he found a great source for his hunger. Something he has been EYEING since the start. Which now leads me to my next points on the video...

At first watch I was convinced that each strand found on Mystery’s heart represented a singular soul bond, I thought that blue was for Vivi, Green was for the hand, pink for Lewis, purple for Shiro, Yellow for Lance, Orange for Arthur, and black and white were unknown. Which, didn’t settle right for me. SO I went in and re-watched the clip a couple more times and saw this:

Vivi’s (blue created after she got hurt) and Shiro’s (white created after she died) strands were connected to the strands located next to them. A start and an end. Mystery’s promise to Vivi to stay at her side for generations as he was spared upon prior defeat of Mushi. And then of course we have the promise of power and sustenance for Shrio as they held a symbiotic relationship for most of their lives that was only severed due to an interference. These double strands of fate are especially clearer in the scene with Shiro in Future. As the black strand gets clearer the more she gets injured or emotionally hurt, it eventually leads to the leak of the white strand on her death. Meaning; Black/white=Shiro; Purple/Pink=Lewis; Blue/Green: Vivi; and Orange/Yellow: Arthur. And why am I inclined to believe Lewis and Arthur are apart of Mystery’s heart? Well that's because those two were the only ones fully streaming before Vivi’s and Shiro’s appeared. We know that Arthur lost an arm to Mystery and discovered his identity (ergo losing most of his trust in him) insinuating both strands to arise early on of his color scheme, as well as with Lewis’ death occurring under the protection of Mystery when they were grouped and having his soul go restless/ in pain. It wouldn’t make sense to add family members or side characters not included in the mainline story to this grouping unless they would play an important role in the finale, which isn’t likely since we have only one more video left as Ben stated it was going to be a 5 video series. I am also inclined to believe each person has two strands because of Kitsune lore: “ Kitsune keep their promises and strive to repay any favor. Occasionally a kitsune attaches itself to a person or household. They follow their word of honor. They become self-destructive if they break a promise, and when someone else breaks a promise, they become deadly enemies.” Plus, It would make sense as to why in this short battle Mystery sprouted his last 3 tails when it came to Vivi and Shiro and how their connections affect his power. (more on this in a bit) But, furthermore; if anyone else notices, the Band-Aids on the heart are also remotely located on the sections of Vivi’s and Shiro’s strands specifically because for both, Mystery has vowed to protect them and has failed. 

Now then lets talk about a few things on Mystery’s ultimate form shall we? The final form of a Kitsune, its celestial form as shown here is called a Tenko. (yes I am aware of the Kumiho, but that is a fully evil, flesh eating, 9 tailed fox that specialize in illusions and well Mystery has never been portrayed as human). The Tenko makes even more sense when taken into consideration that Mystery’s third eye (typically a form of wisdom connected to overpowering the mortality of ones self) opens. So how was this done in such a short amount of time? “Kitsune do not accept aid from those who are not willing. they do not ask for help, and as such, most aid must come from another's initiative. Kitsune are emotional and very vengeful. Kitsune will lose their temper at the slightest provocation. Once someone has earned a kitsune's enmity, the kitsune will begin enacting revenge that can become quite extreme. On the other hand, those who have earned a kitsune's trust and loyalty will see a friendship that can last through many trials. Freedom is very important to the kitsune. They do not accept being forced into something they do not wish, and do not like being bound or trapped. Doing so weakens the kitsune.” Mystery as we know is very much controlled by his emotions, going head first into things constantly based on reaction and his inability to control his power under distress. His tails arose in the fight sequence every time he fulfilled his oath AND used 100% of his form/power. Therefore, his tails grew because he wasn’t holding back anymore, not his grievances, not his appearance, nor his hesitance in his evident distress of being bound to two entities that both required his aid.  My last note on these images comes from a tumblr user’s reverse audio clipping (https://nebulous-rain.tumblr.com/post/633555549749952512/ok-so-yknow-that-one-reversed-part-of-future). The rewind of the clip of Mystery’s transformation plays “When I’m With You”, which yes, cool a possible Easter egg to the next song! BUT what is this song about? Let me just bring up the first line of the song: “You got me hanging by a THREAD...I wish I could turn back time...I wish I could rewind life...” and before the chorus “I’m gonna make it right”. We know that this can refer to rectifying the wrongs of Lewis’ death, but more accurately to do so we need to defeat the evil inside this mutt that is pulling the strings of this whole fiasco. And this might just be the intro portion of the next mystery skulls mind you as we’ve also gotten many false starts with the previous two videos where hellbent used “every note” and future used “enemies” alongside the main song. BUT WE HAVE TWO YEARS ANYWAY, WHY BABBLE ON ABOUT THIS. LETS MOVE ON!

Hearts in this series have not been just for identifying the dead or for aesthetic purposes, they are the life force of each powerful legend. I am actually surprised to see Shiro have a heart as she started off as a creation from Mystery and therefore her lifeforce is just his blood and without it she is nothing. I am curious about her color pallet though, her heart is purple and pink. Lewis’ is gold/yellow with touches of orange. And Mystery’s is just red, but it has a mix of everyone’s essence within it to keep it tied and whole. Shiro’s could be colored this way in reference to Lewis’ aid to help find her creator; which would explain why Mystery surrounds himself by color as he required outside help and how Lewis’ heart is yellow in reference to how recently Arthur helped him remember his friends/hidden memories. One thing we have learned about hearts is that they can be broken repeatedly and can be ripped apart from the body, but they can be repaired too through resolution/hope. Lewis restored his heart in hellbent by using Vivi’s flower petals and finding hope that he will get revenge, only for his heart to be repaired again through Arthur’s touch. Shiro may have withered away, but her heart is essentially not broken, she’d need Mystery to restore it as it was flung into space (and that again relies on Mystery finding his sanity and finding it in himself to even bring her back). And as for Mystery himself, he’s gonna need the whole gang to reach out to him to extract the parasite within and restore balance. I really want to know more about the heart properties and how they give their users their powers as well Vivi is able to summon her strength through a material connection (bat) that function in its own way as the vessel a heart does since its connecting her to her ancestry.

NOW to finalize, I offer you two queries:

WHO IS ARTHURS HAND REACHING FOR!? I know it seems like Mystery, but that would be counter productive for the hand demon if he has Arthur interfering with his control. Is it still after Lewis as we’ve seen previous times where his arm acts up only in Lewis’ presence and when specifically other “magic” is at play? If so, is the goal to ward off Lewis and Vivi from defeating Mystery? Is Arthur gonna use the arm to find his own power as we’ve seen when he is able to momentarily cease control of it he kinda ruins anything electrical he touches and well, electricity is currently running rampant in there.

and lastly, I am really curious how touch sensitive hearts are, We know that even the smallest of brushes can detect memory/links to the person holding it (as seen with how Shiro managed to get soul flowers in hellbent), but the fact that Lewis was so in touch with the feeling of Arthur EVEN THOUGH ARTHUR GRABBED HIS HEART THROUGH HIS METAL HAND MIND YOU!, that he still managed to feel the disturbance instantly. So my question is, is the touch sensitivity reliant on how close someone is to someone? I would like to say yes cause when Shiro touched his heart he didn’t react instantly, he felt her rummaging his memories and was awoken, but he didn’t kick her butt by fully reforming until after she had long since stepped on his heart and then forced the memory of Mystery to arise. But yeah, its a nice little detail.

Either way, thanks for reading! Feel free to add on, comment, or even dm me about more Mystery Skulls information and theories! Love to hear them!

[aprxl-showers]

klance x pirates of the caribbean

bc apparently when i'm upset i listen to newsies live and think up weird klance aus

in my head this could go one of two ways:

keith and lance as will and elizabeth

keith and lance as jack and will (i'll explain later)

a lot more under the cut bc i got a bit carried away...

if it follows the canon love story i picture lance as will and keith as elizabeth. (i could see it the other way around bc keith could be the orphan pirate boy but i’ve written too much to go back now).

when they were young, keith was on a ship with his father and he spots lance on a piece of driftwood. they save him ofc and keith spots a jewel necklace around lance's neck. he takes it and later has it fused in the hilt of his mother's knife that is now his.

keith hates being the governor's son with a passion. he hates the formality of it and how restrictive it is. lance is the weaponsmaster's apprentice (that's how he gets good with a gun) and he is always under appreciated! give this guy some recignition!

anyway, he has been silently pining for keith for ages. little does he know, keith kind of likes him too. a lot of mutual pining has been going on for longer than either can recall.

anyhoo, pirates invade the town and kidnap keith. he puts up a fight but in the end he's outnumbered and taken aboard the ship as leverage. he says his surname is mcclain bc it's on his mind. wink wonk. captain of the evil pirates is zarkon and when the pirates who kidnapped keith hand him the knife he realises it is the jewel that can break their spell. since keith uses lance's surname, he also thinks it is keith's blood they need to finish the ritual since lance's family are the one's who sent the jewel away with lance. but it's not. obvs.

lance, after saving a baby, watches keith get taken in horror and tries to call out but is knocked out before he can act. once he's awake he hears that there's a pirate who was caught in the dungeon. that's allura. yes, eccentric captain allura is a choice i am making.

lance manages to break her out of jail, thinking she is one of the evil pirates and he can persuade her to help him. she is not but decides to help him anyway in an attempt to retrieve her ship 'the voltron' from zarkon. the two of them go off on a quest to save keith.

meanwhile, hunk and pidge are guarding keith. they are new recruits to zarkon's crew after their other crew threw pidge out when they discovered she was a girl (silly pirate superstitions). hunk went with her. they are easily persuaded to help keith bc zarkon's a meanie and promise that they'll help him out when they make it to land.

lance and allura arrive on an island and find coran who is allura's closest friend and ally. shiro is also there. he has a peg arm (is that a thing? idk it's a weird mechanism but it does the trick). coran explains that the ship keith is on is cursed and they will be going to the mysterious isle of daibazaal to break the curse.

they get there and watch zarkon attempt to break the curse using the jewel (which he pried out of the blade) and keith's blood. nah, it don't work. they still turn into creepy looking skeletons in the moonlight. damn. he threatens keith and then all hell breaks loose bc lance shoots him. it would have definitely killed zarkon but he can't die bc... the whole undead thing, and in doing so all lance does is reveal their position. they fight a bit, as you do. keith gets hold of a sword and kills three evil pirates in about five seconds. lance falls a little bit in love with him.

in the midst of the battle, lance makes a deal with zarkon that he will stay if keith and the others can go (this now includes hunk and pidge bc they helped keith get free). lance is stripped of visible weapons and zarkon agrees to break the curse immediately. lance cuts his hand and drops the jewel into the chest.

then he grabs keith's jewel-less knife from where it lies beside the chest. zarkon, distracted, doesn't notice until the blade is buried in his gut. he dies. keith and the rest act immediately and kill any other pirates who don't surrender. keith kills an evil pirate about to shoot lance.

they return keith in exchange for allura, coran, shiro, pidge, hunk and lance's pardon. keith expresses his wish not to be governor in the future and allura invites them on 'the voltron' ship with her since she reclaimed it from zarkon. keith and lance then have a moment where they thank each other for saving each other's life. keith thanks lance for coming after him and lance confesses. it's all very sappy and they kiss for ages.

OR

lance is still will. i stand by everything i said about him in the previous version. his parents caused the curse to endure and sent him off. but instead of keith finding him, it's allura. she's the governor's (in this case, alfor's) daughter. she takes the jewel and keeps it as a necklace. lance and allura are more like besties but they're not really allowed to see each other because of their differing classes.

keith arrives and escapes the navy. hides in weaponsmaster’s shop. lance tries to fight him but he’s not as good with a sword as he is with a gun. lots of sassy banter where lance is tryna be noble and keith doesn’t care for it.

anyway, we sort of know what happens. allura gets kidnapped and uses lance's surname bc they had a conversation beforehand. lance stresses, hears about a pirate they captured, assumes it's one of the evil ones he can persuade to help him.

but instead he gets keith who he met earlier. in the time they’ve been apart he’s got himself landed in the dungeon. and he’s notoriously one of the most stubborn, grumy pirate captains in all the seven seas.

he's overall unimpressed with lance as a person and with his plan, only agreeing when he realises he might be able to get his ship, this time called 'the red lion', back. lance decides he's going to prove himself to keith. he doesn't know why he's so offended by a pirate's opinion but he just is. hmmm...

they pick up shiro and coran, pidge and hunk promise to help allura out yada yada yada and they start making their way towards the island.

they run into lotor and his crew (acxa, ezor, zethrid etc) who are unrelated to zarkon and that whole... thing but they're your typical pirates and they want their stuff. which is annoying af bc allura is missing and they have somewhere to be thank you very much.

they put up a good fight. lance has plenty of opportunities to impress keith with his pistol skills. consider keith very impressed and mildly enamoured. but he doesn't do feelings so he stuffs them down inside him as you do. they win and move on. afterwards keith asks lance where he learned those moves and lance tells him stories of his time in the weaponsmaster's workshop. they bond.

they get to the island and find allura. they fight and keith and lance save each other's backs too many times to count. lance has a revelation (inconveniently mid battle) that he actually really likes this. this is fun. this is exciting.

then keith fucks up. he says that he'll hand lance over if zarkon gives him his ship back. lance is fucking fuming and feeling very betrayed and hurt bc he actually felt like he was getting somewhere with keith. keith gets what he deserves though bc zarkon dumps him and allura on an island and takes lance away.

while they're on the island allura knocks some sense into him regarding his life generally and lance specifically. she tells him loads of cute lance-as-a-teenager stories and keith feels awful. he helps her light a signal fire using some rum he has on his person.

they spot the ship alfor sent to find allura. they persuade them to go to where lance and the rest of the crew is. keith tries to act like he's on zarkon's side when they get back to the cave and then he takes one of the cursed jewels so he's now immortal. aha! while this is happening allura has infiltrated zarkon's ship, 'the red lion', so shiro, coran, pidge and hunk can be freed.

allura then frees lance from where they were keeping him in the hull. lance runs to where keith is. they share a look. keith cuts his hand and throws the jewel to lance who does the same and drops it into the water. the curse is broken. keith goes to grab zarkon's sword so he can kill him but zarkon grabs him by the throat. lance shoots zarkon in the side before keith can pass out. he runs to keith who has collapsed. keith apologises and thanks him and promises not to betray him again. lance laughs, says he better not and helps him up.

they return allura safely in exchange for their pardon. keith asks lance to join the crew of 'the red lion' and gives him loads of reasons that are really just disguised compliments. safe to say lance kisses him senseless and they run away together, sailing off into the sunset. bc. klance. there's got to be a sunset somewhere.

hope you liked my what-were-meant-to-be-headcanons-but-just-became-plot-summaries!! i promise i’ll post some general pirate voltron headcanons unrelated to this au at some point. i wrote a pirate au piece for klance au month on my ao3 so some might be related to that?

if you want to send asks or whatever that would be cool - even if they're just random ideas for the au or changes/additions to the plot. i also might write little snippets for this at some point (i’ll tag them under ‘kl potc au’ like this post) bc i'm suddenly crazy invested so if you have any scenes from this you want (from version 1 or 2 or any scene in the plethora of potc movies) send a message and i'll probably get around to it :))

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Do you think quintessence exposure prolonged Allura’s life and she would’ve lived an unnaturally long life for even an Altean if she’d lived? I think about this question a lot because this girl got blasted by and was exposed to insane amounts of it.

Hi, asennnaa. Ah, those are good questions! I’m not sure I have a perfect answer because I’m still grappling with how to handle some of the holes or contradictions in this show. I do think VLD’s entire universe confirms that infusions of quintessence into a body, as you suggest, can unnaturally prolong a life. But what counts as “enough” quintessence exposure to really make one immortal? Just “how immortal” can Allura get? Because other characters are shown to require multiple infusions of quintessence in order to remain even marginally immortal.

It looks like Zarkon was still aging, even with quintessence infusion. Here is a fresh Zark:

And here he is again ~10,000 years later with the wrinkly lips, sunken-in cheeks, and big eye baggies that are all standard signs of aging.

Old zarkturtle status achieved.

So despite standard access to quintessence infusions, and even being overcome with quintessence in the rift itself, both he and Haggar seem like they’re fighting a battle with the clock and still losing. Could their lack of immortality and constant need to infuse with quintessence be because they were accosted by rift creatures (so not experiencing “pure” quintessence infusion in the rift)? I suppose it’s possible.

And a lack of ongoing access to pure quintessence might also be part of the entire Galra Empire’s continuous desire to get to purer and larger amounts of quintessence. Because it’s not just power on the line.

Zarkon himself confirms what he hopes to achieve through quintessence in s3:

Desire for immortality is a huge motivator for the entire empire harvesting quintessence in the first place. Zarkon wants to live forever with his friends and family. But oh nu, he’s still aging. And even Lotor?? What is ten or one-hundred-thousand years in the face of a universe that is billions of years old? Is anyone technically immortal in this show? How long can anyone actually live?

An “imperfect-immortality” would also explain the strange reality of Lotor. He is a beautiful boi and is also 10,000 years old as well. Executive Producers Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos suggest in a Season 5 AfterbuzzTV interview that Lotor’s infusion with quintessence in utero results in him aging very, very slowly.

(Here’s the dialogue from the interview if you want it, from around the 13:30 mark:

JDS: It’s pretty safe to say that Lotor’s kind got that Daywalker kind of thing going on.

Interview: —Little vampire—

LM: Being in…in her womb, as [Honerva] was being exposed to all of this quintessence—it’s part of his DNA. It almost puts him on a level with Allura, pretty much who her quintessence is a part of her DNA. So it’s interesting to see.

JDS: And it’s allowed him to stay so beautifully young.

LM: He’s aged at a much slower rate than your average Galra.

Interviewer: So he IS a vampire.

LM: I think all Galra are kinda space vampires.

JDS: They’re kinda space vampires, yeah. Safe to say. You’re getting instead of blood, you’re getting like…planet juice.)

And it just so happens that, in the active plot of VLD, we’re introduced to Lotor at a point in time where he’s aged physically and mentally to the point of, what, maybe early twenties? The canon’s not clear about it. Despite the lack of a canon-backed “mental-to-physical human-age equivalent,” Lotor appears to careen between a tricky mastermind and a boi who’s still a bit embarrassed about his nanny:

(While I tend to think he’s early 20s in physical and mental agility, you could probably even argue Lotor acts like an older teenager still sometimes, lol. Quality eye-roll and pout right here. Does anyone else get, “Mom, shut up” vibes from this gif? And even his idealism, his unshakable belief that simply giving the empire what it wants will result in peace--it lacks a critical foresight about other people experiencing quintessence madness, dangers from within the rift, and the inevitable wars to “control the gates” and such technology. And there’s some things to be said about humans obtaining full brain development around age 25, as the prefrontal cortex, which inhibits impulses and assists with critical decision-making, is the last section to develop in full. So it makes me think, for all his intelligence and schemes, that he’s mentally a bit younger than he’d like to appear. And obviously doesn’t want to appear, considering how embarrassed he is about his nanny in front of his new-found friends, lol.)

But I digress. So just based on the evidence and the extra-canon commentary from EPs, it seems that if we panned out 20,000 years in the future, we might see a significantly aged Lotor, with the deep face lines and lip wrinkles and gaunt cheeks. Because he’s never stopped aging. His body clock is just totally and utterly creeping along, lucky boy.

If you want to trust the extra-canon text, then you might be able to extrapolate that like Lotor’s DNA, Allura’s DNA gives her an extended life. Although unlike slow-age Lotor, Allura appears to have had a more accelerated childhood. She can’t be more than Kova’s 28 decaphoebs (years), given that the season 3 finale shows Allura was born after Kova’s introduction. And yet, unlike Lotor’s strange history of taking forever to grow up, Allura presents as physically mature within a fairly normal timeline.

This would actually suggest that something is a bit weird about Allura’s DNA. And its something that makes her quintessence more intense than even Lotor’s own quintessence signature, if you want to go by the interviews where LM says, “It almost puts him on a level with Allura.”  

So what was this mysterious event?

Allura certainly could still infuse herself or be infused with quintessence to prolong her life, but that wouldn’t prolong her life indefinitely or put her even within range of what’s naturally going on with Lotor’s DNA.

Is there something inherently unique about Allura’s lineage or species, then, that could answer this?

Let’s look at Alteans first. The canon seems oddly contradictory about the natural age of Alteans. Coran is at least 600 years old because he was alive with the Castle of Lions was being built. But yet executive producer LM states that there’s something inherent in Allura’s DNA that makes her even more special than the average person, and even more strangely…Allura’s father, Alfor, doesn’t seem to fall into either of these two categories.

??

Despite Alfor understanding the deep secrets of the universe via Oriande, and having personal direct exposure with unlimited pure quintessence through building and even fighting in Voltron, he ages. Hard.

Here’s Alfor as a young man:

Here’s Alfor, only decaphoebs later, not long before he died.

So here we have an aging Alfor. And oof, in less than 28 decaphoebs, with no explanation as to why Coran would be doing so well in comparison. (Feel free to speculate!)

So whatever is wrong with Alfor’s life cycle, it would seem to be an isolated incident that not even exposure to Voltron or to the rift could undo. In which case, it’s hard to know if Allura’s DNA would naturally have the same weaknesses from her lineage. If not, then she should at least be able to reach 1,000 years naturally, if the spunky Coran is any measure to go by.

But Alfor did do something that I think places Allura as entirely unnatural and probably the most likely candidate to have a form of true immortality in this entire show:

So right in season 1, episode 1, Coran admits that Alfor has done some pretty wild alchemy. He physically connected Allura’s essence with the essence of Voltron—the single source of self-regenerating, infinite quintessence throughout the whole of the entire universe.

I’m not sure if this alchemical forge-bond would protect Allura from physically aging, but it would suggest that Voltron’s life force and Allura’s life force are intimately tied on the material plane. There is no other canonically shown bond like this in a living person, in the VLD universe. It makes Allura entirely unique as a character and likely helps to explain why she is so consistently over-powered compared to even Haggar/Honerva.

Because unlike ANY other Altean, including Honerva, Allura has an infinite, massive battery of pure quintessence to pull from at will. And it’s tied to her very life force.

I don’t know if a person’s life force being personally connected to Voltron would confer physical immortality, but I do think there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that as long as Voltron exists, Allura’s essence would be preserved within it. And as we saw in season 6, Shiro was capable of interacting with other paladins despite his physical death, because Black Lion had preserved his essence.

So I guess all of this is to say, it seems there would be a lot of reasons for why Allura could live a very long life. It does seem that if she infused herself with quintessence in an ongoing fashion, and she quite often has, then her already long Altean lifespan would become longer. And even in physical death, Allura could still “exist” like s6 Shiro to communicate and interact with the living, in a way that not even her father could.

(Which makes you wonder about that s8 ending with the Lions mysteriously flying off for an unknown reason and Lance’s Altean marks lighting up like a homing beacon, but oof, that’s perhaps another topic.)

Thank you so much for the ask! I hope my winding ramblings help to answer your question or encourage further thought about the possibilities!

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Snipets of a Red Ranger and Blue Ranger- Klance Week Day 4

I’m a simple girl, I see ‘Rangers’ I think Power Rangers and I am not sorry. And yes, it’s Samurai Rangers, I liked the season, sue me. @klanceweek​ Rangers, Cow, Lawless

Lance was restringing his bow, trying to tighten it without it snapping, which it had already done twice. Usually he wasn’t so distracted but he had a good excuse. What else was he supposed to do when he found out one of the biggest secrets the Red Samurais were hiding?

There was no easy was to explain his unique family line other than that they were the longest line of Power Rangers that existed. The appearance of some other Rangers, who hoped from the future to the past, had unintentionally unleashed another dimension filled with monsters known as Galra. Their world, the Netherworld, sat on the bank of the Sanzu River, water capable of destroying everything. A lord and his band of samurai went against these creatures and through their perseverance and using written talismans, they accessed the Morphing Grid, giving them the look and protection of the Ranger uniform and turning the talismans to Symbol Power. When the era of samurai ended, the lord made the samurai his retainers. And so, as time passed, the children would take their families place when it came time, defending their home. When the Red Ranger had first discovered a symbol to seal the Galra away, he was able to do so, allowing the group to split up and live not fighting for their lives.

They all eventually led back together back when his dad was his age. The seal had been cast again at the cost of the Red Ranger’s life, but it wasn’t strong enough. It became the next generations’ job to end this 19-generation long war. Lance didn’t think he’d be the one to be doing it. His main focus was to become one of the first biracial members of the Japanese Olympic archery team. He was close to, until every one of his siblings decided what they wanted mattered more and dumped the youngest with the responsibilities. His father tried to force him by stating that the Dragon Origami would only listen to Lance, but he that was a lie. Everyone else got off but because he was the last one, he had to obey orders. He put up a good fight, staying away from his family and proving himself to be Olympic material. But the seal officially broke the day of his biggest competition and even when he ignored the summons arrow, Lance was kidnapped by the Kuroko, the shadows who served the samurai families, and thrown into a car. He might not have wanted to be there, but he wasn’t an asshole who would walk away when people needed help. He did make his position very clear, his father had to get one of his siblings to take his place because he wouldn’t stay.

Once everyone heard his whole story, they were mostly understanding, including their leader Keith. Hearing him promise to talk to his dad almost seemed too good to be true but he’d heard him calling his dad. Then it made sense when Allura told him the big secret.

Keith, wasn’t born into the Red Ranger line, because the pervious Red and Pink ranger did the biggest no-no. they had a kid together. to make sure there was always a Ranger from each family line, they were instructed to not fall in love with one of their teammates. Keith was actually the kid of a Kuroko that somehow had caused the Lion Origami to react to him. Allura was technically the Red Ranger who could cast the Sealing Symbol. Her weekend shopping trips, were actually trips to a secret temple where ancestors of the same people who helped their lord discover the Sealing Symbol would teach it to her until it was perfect.

Keith was willing to help him, because technically he wasn’t supposed to be doing this either. He was just a stand in until the time was right. Lance still didn’t know what to do with this information. He was glad they trusted him with it, but it was only cause they all thought he’d be leaving.

“Lance?” Keith called from the other side of the door as he knocked. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Keith came in, closing the door behind him. He dropped down on Lance’s bed, looking at the mess of the low table that was covered in archery care stuff. “Guess I know why you disappeared after we got back from the baseball game.”

“It was a little league game and baseball makes no sense.” Lance threw out, feeling tense. He knew why Keith was here.

“So, Allura told me she talked to you when you guys were keeping an eye on the kid’s house.”

“Yeah, talked.”

Keith always looked so self-assured and confident, that to see him so unsure and nervous was weird.

“I hope your not upset that I’m doing this for Allura. My father was killed during a Galra attack and he was getting civilians out of harms way. Allura’s dad took me in, even when everyone said I wasn’t worth it. They kept pushing him to marry someone so he’d have a kid to carry on the Red line, but even knowing that it would be Allura, he still treated me like I was his kid. So, I don’t mind being a stand in for her. If it mostly keeps her safe, then I’ll do it.”

Lance let out a huff. “Wish my siblings cared that much. You’d give up everything to help her but everyone expects me to drop everything to make them happy. I won’t say anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I know. I get why you want to leave, but the Blue line is usually the second in command and in my opinion, someone who’d still help even when he wants a way out is a pretty worthy.”

Lance was honoured. How was he supposed to still act like a spoiled child when someone who didn’t even have to led a team and take the most hits did?

“Thanks for the compliment but,” he said instead, plucking at the string on his bow, “the Olympics are waiting for me.”

“Fair enough. And thank you for keeping this secret. We’ll tell them eventually.”

“They’ll understand.” Lance reassured. He was sure they would. It would be the 4 of them against everything. He just wished he’d be there to help if it went badly.

                                                    __________

Getting mind controlled was not fun. Just that morning things were going great. He and Keith had a sparing match and he was so close to actually beating Keith and Keith told him his dad would finally come to the Samurai House and talk. Then that annoying big talking mind controlling Galra made a mess of everything. All it took was a hit and he became a mindless drone who turned his sword against his friends. He was lucky Keith was able to snap him out of it with that burst of Symbol Power but his dad thought it was a glaring sign that he needed to stay with the team. So, he might have been thinking of maybe staying but he wanted it to be his choice, not forced by his dad. And now his head hurt more.

“Lance?”

“Come in.” he called, keeping his arm over his eyes.

He heard Keith turn the light off before he felt him tap at his arm to move it. He let out a grateful groan when he felt an ice pack drop on his face.

“I’m sorry things didn’t go well with your dad.” Keith said, the bed dipping as he sat down.

“You know, I’ve actually considered staying.” Keith stilled but stayed silent, letting Lance continue. “My whole life I’ve always been the scapegoat or had things taken just to satisfy the older ones. Much as I want to, I can’t be too mad at Marco and Veronica, they had good reasons. Everyone else, not so much. I just want one major decision in my life to be made by me.”

That sat in silence as Lance calmed down and hoped his head would stop hurting before Keith asked something.

“If you do decide to stay, would you consider being my second in command?”

Lance laid there, trying to decided if Keith was serious just from his voice alone. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s fine. Do you want me to go?”

And leave him stewing in thoughts he didn’t want to hear? Not a chance.

“Tell me about your dad.” It was the first thing that came to mind and for a moment he was gonna take it back when Keith started talking.

“He was probably one of the only Kuroko who couldn’t cook.”

                                                   ___________

In a turn of events, Lance knocked on Keith’s door. The fight against the half Galra Lotor was finally over and they were getting closer to defeating them. They’d see how much farther they could go once Shiro was able to unlock the Black Box, but for now, while Keith recovered, they could breath.

“Come in.” Lance opened the door, his eyes drawn to Keith’s exposed back as he struggled to pull his shirt off. It was getting harder and harder to not get a crush on Keith. He had to keep reminding himself that it was what got Allura’s parents into trouble in the first place. He was starting to see why they had the problem in the first place. How was he supposed to stop how he felt?

“Need help?” Lance offered.

“Sure, second-in-command.”

At dinner, he announced he’d stay with the team and publicly accepted Keith’s offer.

He was able to get Keith’s shirt off without aggravating his wounded arm too much. The view of his chest was distracting.

“I’m glad you decided to stay.” Keith said, pulling his eyes up. “It would have been hard to form the same bond with one of your siblings.”

“Yeah. I’m glad I did too. Finally feels like I can make my own decisions and not get looked down at.”

“You? Never?”

God, it was the compliments, it had to be. How else would he feel like a shy person when around Keith at times? They stood there, staring at each other when Lance couldn’t take it anymore. He kissed Keith. Keith didn’t push him away, if anything, he tried to pull him closer as he kissed back. Lance was careful as he rested his hands on Keith’s neck, not wanting to pull away when he did.

“We shouldn’t.”

“We really shouldn’t.” Keith said, using a finger to pull Lance back in and kiss him again.

This was so against the rules. Then…why did it feel so right?

                                               _______________

Lance was getting ready for bed when a quite knock came to his door. Keith slipped in when Lance opened the door. The hallway was already dark and Lance would bet that Coran would be by any minute to come check on them.

“Hi.” Keith said.

“Hey.”

The air was slightly tense. It wasn’t because of all those secret kisses and hard to keep promises about waiting until the war was over. It was what happened on that island. A small island an hour’s boat ride away that had cut off contact with the outside world because a Galra had burned a fear making talisman. The new addition to Zarkon’s crew, Sendak, had invited a Galra who believed in the blaster as opposed to the sword. It was like watching the era of samurai die, but thankfully Bandor, the same kid who led them to discover the hidden Bull Origami, had created a blaster to use with their swords. At the sight of Lotor still alive and standing had pushed Keith into overdrive. The fight had been bad and Keith got hurt. Words that Lotor said about Keith being just like him had gotten to him. Lance considered them lucky he was able to find them after Keith took off. Things were tense when the whole fight was over and they hadn’t talk anything out.

“Here.” Keith handed him a bag from LOFT. In it, was a lightweight scarf. Similar to the one Lance gave Keith as a makeshift sling and that he dropped when he went after Lotor. “I know it’s not the same colour but…”

It was red, close to the red Keith’s favourite jacket was. It was a claim and an apology.

“I shouldn’t have run off and I should have listened to you. You were right, I’m not like him, but the thing is…he’s kinda right.”

“What do you mean? Keith you can’t actually think that you care more about fighting than anything else.”

“It’s not that.” Keith started to look how he did when he first came to talk to Lance about the big secret involving him and Allura. “It’s more than just how we see fighting. It’s…down to our biology. He might have given his soul to become who he is, but…I was born like that.”

“What are you saying?”

“Lance…I’m half Galra. That’s why I kept taking Lotor’s words to heart. I didn’t want to be like him, lusting for battle.”

Half Galra? Like Lotor?

“But Coran said the House is warded against Galra. How are you not hurting right now?”

“It’s for full blooded Galra. That’s another reason most of the people who were here during your dad’s time didn’t like me. My dad was ‘spellbound’ by a female Galra. Somehow, they had be and she gave me to my dad to keep me safe.” He put spellbound in air quotes. “My dad wasn’t spellbound. My mom didn’t follow under Zarkon’s control and was actively looking for a way to be human. I don’t know what happened to her, just that I wanted to be the same kind Galra she had to be for my dad to fall in love with her. But Lotor’s words-”

“were wrong.” He should so be paying attention to what Keith said. He was half Galra, like Lotor, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The guy in front of him was Keith, his leader and the guy he liked. He fought like hell for his team and he deserved nothing less than his support. “The only thing you share in common with that guy is being half Galra. But you’re living proof that you don’t live in obsession.”

“Well, I do have one obsession.”

Lance looked confused when he realised what Keith was talking about and went red. “Oh, you mean me. Well, can’t blame your good taste. Just know that Lotor is wrong about you. When you tell the others, they’ll see that.”

Keith gave Lance a thankful smile before leaning up to kiss him.

“I thought we said no more until after the war?” Lance said, though he just wanted to pull Keith back for more.

“How am I supposed to wait when I have the best thing here? It’s starting to become hard to not kiss you all the time.”

“Good, I’m not the only one.” Lance said, capturing Keith’s lips again.

After the war, after he told his secrets, whatever. Lance knew what his next big life decision was. To stand next to Keith for as long as he could.

[lanceville]

bold of any of you to think i’ll ever let the fandom acknowledge what s8 has done. THIS is how the last season went:

the first episode starts with their discharge from the hospital. on his way out, shiro notices a familiar figure in one of the hospital rooms, sitting on the bed with his head that’s wrapped in a dozen bandages facing the window, face unseen. however, shiro thinks it’s just his imagination and tries not to dwell a lot on it and swallows his hope. he needs to stay strong for the universe, for “him”, just for a little longer.

lance asks allura out in the first episode, and she accepts. the klance sunset scene still happens the way it did. but when they go out on the actual date, she tells him that she doesn’t think a romantic relationship between them will work out, that she does care about him and cherish him, but only as a dear friend, and not in the same way he cares about her. she rejects him softly and gently, tells him that he’s a great guy and that many would be lucky to have him. it’s just that she can’t see her and his future together playing out well, and that maintaining their relationship as friends would be much better for both of them. she also tells him that he deserves someone who’d love him and cherish him the same way he would for them, a person with a heart full of kindness and love like lance’s. tells him that that person already exists, and that lance knows who they are without her specifying anybody. she thanks him for always being a good friend to her, and hugs him tight. lance accepts her rejection with no hard feelings, yes, he’s a little heartbroken, be he somehow feels relieved. relieved that he has realized that he doesn’t need to be in a romantic relationship to have others care about him and value him strongly and love him for who he is. relieved to still have allura as a friend, and relieved that she was honest with him, and that he didn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to. he just wants her to be happy. they spend the rest of the night hanging out, and lance is content.

the next day when keith sees lance, he asks him how the date went. lance smiles bittersweetly and tells him that it didn’t work out. he still feels heartbroken a little, but not at all as bad as he thought he’d be, and will feel better in a couple days. keith’s eyes become gentle, and he puts his hand on lance’s shoulder to show his support and smiles softly. he tells him that he will find happiness one day, and that he will be there for him all the way if he needs any support. that he is there for him now in case he needs some comfort. lance smiles and tells him that some sort of distraction right now would be great, so they go racing down the mountain on hoverbikes. lance feels much better afterwards.

lance still provides allura with emotional support like always, and she’s so grateful for that.

shiro gets a new prosthetic arm (this time a normal one) and it glows like the old one, though it also leaves a trail of sparkles when he swings it. romelle suggested that, and, well, shiro kinda likes it if he’s honest with himself. it also has the sky symbol of the black lion on the bicep which keith insisted on adding, since shiro will always be the rightful leader of voltron and the best of them. lance seconds that and tells shiro that he’ll always be his role model and his hero. and yes, shiro is still part of team voltron and goes on missions with them, along with krolia. he also dyes his hair black. when he looks himself in the mirror and sighs “god this looks so much better on me” allura glares at him and asks him if he has a problem with white hair. she glares daggers at him for the next five solid minutes he fumbles to find words. keith saves his ass and tells her that black happens to be shiro’s favorite hair color and that he has nothing against her white hair. allura doesn’t look convinced though.

the small, intimate, private talk between lance and keith still happens, though lance is worried about what lies ahead in the final battle, and if all of them will make it out, and even when he feels that he’s grown a lot since their journey started, he worries that he still might not have what it takes to ensure everybody’s safety. keith reassures him that it will all work out fine because they have lance on the team, and tells him that they’ll always have each other’s back and protect each other, and that he’d never let anything harm anyone on the team. lance laughs softly and points out how keith has changed a lot since the beginning too, and they spend time reminiscing about the past and how far they’ve come. they clasp hands, but it lingers longer than necessary as neither of them attempts to let go that quickly.

there has been also another thing on lance’s mind... but he doesn’t tell keith that because it revolves around keith himself.

before they all go to space again, the team takes allura, romelle, and coran to an amusement park. the alteans have the time of their lives. allura breaks the high striker strongman game. she looks so proud of herself, and everybody’s impressed, but not really surprised.

i have no idea what the plot was or who they fought or what happened outside of character interactions this season because i didn’t watch the past two, but during one of their battles, lance uses his altean broadsword. he conjures it to strike someone aiming for shiro’s back, and keith stops mid-battle to just. gape. he would’ve had his ass handed to him again if lance didn’t turn his bayard into a riffle again and accurately shot whoever was aiming for keith. lance smirks and teases him: “cat got your tongue, keith? never seen a handsome sharpshooter who’s also a swordsman in your life?” and he winks. keith’s flustered for just a second before he smiles softly and tells him while they resume fighting: “yes, lance. you’re the first handsome sharpshooter swordsman i’ve seen.” allura is heard giggling somewhere from behind them while chopping off some dicks with her battle ax bayard and krolia shouts “good one, son” while judo-flipping some guy and breaking his neck. lance just stays silent, and when keith looks over to him, his face is hidden, and lance just mumbles “let’s just get this over with.” keith and lance fight with their swords back to back.

lance unlocks his own voltron bayard upgrade, which is a cannon on each of voltron’s shoulders - one shoots magma, while the other shoots a freeze ray.

when they go to haggar/honerva to stop her from whatever she’s doing, they meet lotor trying to do the same. everyone is shocked to see him back, especially allura. hunk places his hand on her shoulder. lotor tries to ignore them, to not look at them, and focuses on defeating haggar. they’re fighting somewhere near a neutron star like the one keith and krolia orbited on a space whale. the imbalance in the threads of space-time lets them see some of the horrid memories lotor went through because of zarkon. and since haggar is trying to open a portal to jump to other realities or whatever, they got to see how other realities are like, where zarkon and his family are not zombies thirsting after quintessence - where they’re a normal family. this, however, is hard for lotor to see. he’s about to charge at haggar in anger and frustration when allura grabs his arm and tells him not to, that he wouldn’t be able to defeat her alone. long story short, allura finds a way to defeat her, though a sacrifice on her part must be made, since she holds all the magic.

so, in order for allura to let haggar and lotor die in peace and return to the realm of the dead, she sacrifices her altean alchemy knowledge and her marks of the chosen. she won’t be able to use magic anymore, and all her knowledge of altean alchemy would disappear, along with the lions’ connection to her life force. so she gives that up, and while doing that, she rises to the sky and shines like an actual angel, light that appears both plain white and vividly colorful emitting from every inch of her. the lions are heard roaring, letting go of their connection to her. the light then starts to morph into the shape of a white lion above her. her eyes glow a bright, beautiful turquoise, and when she looks down at haggar and lotor, the white lion charges at them with its fangs fully exposed, but instead of attacking them, it passes right through them, and they’re flooded with light surrounding them from all sides. before their souls disappear into sparkles, lotor and allura lock eyes, and they smile gently, and both honerva and lotor thank her. before the light fades out, alfor appears semi-transparently, and tells allura that he’s the proudest father in the universe. with that, the universe is saved.

they go back to earth to rest for a couple days after all of this. with her magic gone, the pink in allura’s eyes disappears, and they become just turquoise (that’s like, to physically showcase that she lost her magic). romelle, hunk, and lance assure her that she’s still as beautiful as ever. since the connection between the lions and her life force is gone, so is her bond to blue. she goes to her to tell her how grateful and honored she feels that she’s got to pilot her, and that she’ll never forget that experience. blue keeps purring softly at allura. lance is with her, keeping a respectful distance for some private chat between her and blue, glad to see that both of his beautiful girls are safe, happy, and doing fine.

the night they return from space, after he and allura return back from where blue was and have dinner with everyone, with lance sitting next to keith like always, lance goes to see shiro before bed. lance tells shiro that he’s always liked keith, and that he wants to start something with him, but he’s afraid that it’s still too soon and that he’s rushing things, especially that he got over allura just awhile ago and should probably wait a while longer before he starts confessing romantic feelings to anybody again. he knows that keith cares about him, because it shows, but he’s... afraid that it might not be in the same way he does. shiro breathes out a soft laugh and places a hand on lance’s shoulder, saying: “keith reciprocating your feelings is the last thing you should worry about. you’ll be surprised when you find out.” lance just stares at him confusedly, and shiro continues “if you need time to put your feelings into words, then take however long you need. keith will be waiting for you. he’s always been.”

lance spends the next two days staying close to keith, hanging out with him and stuff, contemplating whether things between them might work out after all or not. they clean their lions together, prank slav and coran, race on their hoverbikes, teach allura and romelle about pokemon and how to play it (romelle especially is hooked), make sure shiro is getting enough rest and is relaxing and not falling asleep in the gym, play with lance’s niece and nephew, and watch the sunset together (lance still doesn’t know how this part is considered “hanging out” but he’s not complaining). lance never misses the soft smiles and tender glances keith keeps sending his way, so he makes up his mind,

on the third day, lance tells keith that he wants to talk to him about something. they climb the black lion and sit on his head (this has become their usual private spot), and lance begins talking...

“i’ve always wanted to explore the skies and to become a pilot. i loved looking at the stars and dreaming of discovering the secrets they hold as much as i loved the ocean and- and you know how much i love swimming, haha.... anyway, when i got into the garrison, i was extremely joyful and excited. there, i met you.... the little bratty lonewolf mullethead who never talked to anyone and kept breaking the rules and- yes it’s true, keith, don’t deny that, you were such a brat when you were a kid i swear- but- but as much as you annoyed me and got on my nerves, i loved seeing you fly. you made it seem so natural, so smooth, so easy, so liberating. you were... really amazing... and you were my goal. you made me want to become better and better, and do my best to be as good as you are. i admired you so, so much. i won’t deny that i didn’t have any feelings of jealousy though.... haha..... i was...... pretty jealous of you too.... like you were close to shiro, my number one hero, and you’re a natural prodigy who barely put in any effort in training and yet bested everyone, even the instructors, and you were really popular, man, like even i- *awkward cough* anyway, i tried my best to reach you on the top, because if i reached the place where the best pilot is and then surpassed him, i’d be considered the best, and then i’d be recognized and acknowledged, and gain what i’ve always wanted before: attention and glory. but you never noticed me, and that really saddened me and got on my nerves.... made it seem like you were a stuck up belittling me and thinking that i’m not worthy of your attention, so.... so i created this rivalry with you... deluded myself that i hated you.... tried to grab your attention in the pettiest ways because you would never look at me otherwise........ but when we got trapped together in space and were forced into a team together, i learned more about you, and even though you look like an intimidating mulletted emo from the outside, especially with that intense frown of yours that never left your face and that made me think you’re always plotting someone’s murder, you’re just a stupid dork with a soft heart from the inside... and..... and i grew to like your soft mullet, your murderous frown, your rough voice that can grow exceptionally soft at times, your eyes that harbor numerous galaxies inside of them, your impulsive tendencies - even though they make you seem suicidal sometimes which is not acceptable at all, you idiot - your cute smile, your fighting style....... i grew to like you, keith. deep down i knew it, but for some reason, i didn’t wanna admit it. allura... allura was my ideal. she’s a perfect goddess who everybody is captivated by, and it was only natural that young, stupid, flirtatious, immature me would try to score with her..... but i grew to genuinely care about her too.... though it was... more platonic than romantic at first. i started caring about her as a friend more than anything... and i was about to give up on liking her romantically in favor of being friends especially that... that you and i grew closer after shiro disappeared, and i thought- i thought there might be... some chance for me to accept my feelings for you and to voice them when i’m ready, but you left for the blades, and any hope i had for anything between us shattered... heh... i know it might sound silly coming from me of all people at that point of time but - but i took your abandonment of the team pretty hard.... you have become the closest person to me, and i used to spend most of my time with you... so when you left... i felt so lonely, especially that the rest of the team have each other and know their place... i used to be your right hand man after shiro disappeared, and you always listened to what i had to say... gave me the acknowledgement and validation that i was in need of.... treated me as an equal.... and listened to my worries and reassured me... so when you were gone, i lost all of that... clone shiro didn’t need a right hand man in the first place, and nobody seemed to need me around.... so i started doubting my place on the team and my self-worth again, and i thought maybe... maybe if i found love, i wouldn’t feel like that anymore... so i turned to the only other person i’ve had feelings for - allura, and i... tried projecting my feelings for you onto her, but somewhere along the line, those feelings became genuine, and i truly liked her, and i thought, maybe this would work out after all, and when i came to you, you encouraged me too, which... which made me think that maybe it’s time to move on from you now but.... when allura rejected me, i was heartbroken, but not as much as i thought i would be? i felt some kind of... relief. i felt complete. that i’m my own person, and that i should be proud of that... and i finally realized that i don’t need a romantic relationship to feel validated... allura still cares about me and i care about her too, and that didn’t change and won’t change, whether we were in a relationship or not. romance isn’t the solution to everything, and i shouldn’t pursue it thinking that it is. i’m really glad that it ended like that between allura and i. this way we can comfortably be friends without any awkwardness or discomfort or mixed feelings, and it’s not just allura who accepts me for who i am. i have a lot of people who i cherish and cherish me back - shiro, romelle, coran, hunk, pidge, my family, and most importantly.... you, keith. you were actually the one who provided me with the most emotional support that i badly needed to realize my worth and place in the universe. you are always there for me when i need to talk and you always comfort me.... i feel most comfortable around you. talking to you is easy and comes naturally to me, and you always make me feel better when i’m feeling down. this is why- this is why i want to always be with you, keith. you make me feel happy, and i want to make you feel happy too. i really, really, really like you, kei- whoa! dude?!?!!?”

when lance turns his head away from the sunset to look at keith after the longass heartfelt speach he gave, he sees that keith’s face is smudged with tears... no wonder keith stayed silent without a word for this long because the boy looks barely able to breathe, let alone speak. lance is taken aback, and tries to ask keith if he maybe said too much or something wrong when keith jumps on him and stuffs his face into lance’s neck, holding him really tight. lance relaxes into the hug and holds keith just as tight. keith mumbles through the tears: “i really like you too, lance. i always have”

the next day, the go on a date to the beach, except that everyone else tags along, and they only spend like 30 minutes of walking alone together on the beach shore, fingers intertwined and swinging between them, before they hear everybody shouting and race back to see that coran thought that the watermelon was a beach ball and threw it to allura and romelle who wanted to play beach volleyball, and when allura tried to spike it, the watermelon burst open and fell all over her face. they thought hunk was crying because he was scared allura got hurt, but it turns out he’s just tearing up with his face in the sand because he’s laughing too hard. when he looks up with his face covered in sand and tears, he says: “me? scared that allura would get hurt by a watermelon???? this is the funniest thing i’ve ever heard since we knew zarkon had a son!” and then he dissolves into half-laughing-half-crying in the sand like a dying ostrich.

the garrison along with the rest of the planets in the galaxy prepare a prodigious festival to celebrate the defenders of the universe’s victory. when shiro is about to pass a corner to go to his room to get ready, he bumps into a tall man with slightly wavy chestnut hair, bangs falling to his eyes, one of which is lightless, rectangular glasses framing them, right side of his face paler than the rest of his tan skin due to a scar extending from his neck to the corner of his eyebrow. he forgets how to breathe, and so does the other person. me manages to let out a chocked “adam...?” before his vision goes blurry and his eyes well with tears. they hug, forgetting everything else for now that they’ve finally found each other after so long, and go to talk in shiro’s room. when shiro tells adam that he thought he was dead, still dumbfounded that he’s alive, adam deadpans: “talk for yourself. if you think i’ll ever forgive you for making me believe you were dead for good and have me grieve over your stupid soul for years without even thinking of sending me a text message once to reassure me you’re not and then coming back with the title of “defender of the universe” after you’ve adopted like five kids besides keith and transferring your soul into body that was your clone’s is just straight out unacceptable, takashi, hope you’re ready to pay for all of the compensations.” and shiro is horrified and feels really guilty for not taking adam’s feelings into consideration, so he tries to make it up to adam and take responsibility: “i’m ready to pay all the compensations and more if it means that you won’t be mad at me anymore.” adam looks at him and says: “well, the first thing you have to pay for is a house. if you want to move in together again then at least buy a better house this time than that ugly apartment, takashi.” shiro looks up at adam and stares. adam’s face softens and he continues: “i was mad at you because i loved you, and i’m still mad at you because i still love you. you make me worry too much about you, takashi. if you promise you’d take better care of yourself, i’d consider participating in paying the expenses of the wedding we planned before instead of throwing all of them in your face. so, what do you say?” shiro is still staring at him. he snaps out of it a few moments later, and his eyes go tender and teary: “trust me, i have experienced enough things to last me ten lifetimes. i want to do nothing for the rest of my life besides drinking orange juice on the beach sand with you.”

“are you really solo-planning out the rest of my life for me, takashi?”

“you still have the option to accept it or reject it”

“you idiot. you know that i’ll accept it”

shiro and adam have their wedding that they’ve always deserved and it’s a huuuge one! when adam throws the flowers, they fall into lance’s hands. a second later, another bouquet falls into keith’s, and when they both look up, they see shiro and adam winking at them, and adam says: “takashi and i both bought flower bouquets for each other. convenient, huh? now you both get to have one to gift the other after the wedding.”

as for their future, they rebuild altea all together as their final mission as voltron. allura becomes the queen of the new altea, with coran and romelle as her advisors (romelle is only an advisor in title though, she mostly spends her time gossiping with allura). hunk is a galactic diplomat, and he visits shay constantly, and sometimes works alongside allura, or for her. he also still works in the garrison as engineer, but only when he’s needed. pidge builds a robot factory, and works as a technician and inventor in the garrison. despite what shiro said, adam and shiro still work in the garrison as instructors, but only part-time. they love flying way too much to abandon their jobs, honestly. keith stays in the blade with his mom along with lotor’s generals, and the blade of marmora becomes a humanitarian and direct relief organization. lance becomes one of the best instructors of the garrison and a renowned pilot. he’s sometimes asked to do other, very unrelated jobs, like modeling for a fashion magazine, or helping out hunk with his diplomatic work, or teaching kids how to milk cows. he’s also become part of the blade of marmora with keith and helps him out occasionally. keith and lance take vacations from time to time and go to different planets on dates.

they’re all happy and safe. and that’s a constant in every reality.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under A Purple Rain prt 57

Food was a thing Keith had forgotten. A very important thing that filled the hole his forgotten hunger had gnawed into the pit of his stomach. Lance was on a strict liquid diet, the sign above his bed so, but with how high his husband was, and his current state, Keith severely doubted that Lance gave two quiznaks when it came to food. Laying on his side, Laith and Hunter lay before him. Lance transfixed on their baby boy, while Pidge and Krolia chatted on the bed his mother had gotten for him, Korra awake and propped up in the crook of his mother’s elbow. Keith watching as Pidge kept glancing over from her laptop at his little sister, for a Gremlin she seemed pretty ok with babies. In his chair, Coran was talking softly to Lance. More at Lance. Mami had come shuffling back into Lance’s room, the personification of worry as the first of the medical staff left. Her nose had been wrinkled up at Lance’s not so nice scent, then wide eyed and concerned as they were told to watch for seizures. Having promised Lance he could cuddle with his sons, that had to wait as a nappy change was needed. Miriam talking him through it, Keith not sure he’d ever get over what he’d seen in Hunter’s nappy, though kind of proud he’d done the hands on side, even if it’d made him gag. They’d barely settled Lance down, who’d gotten “slightly” excited when Laith was laid in his sight, when Coran, bearing food for him and Miriam. His mother had arrived a few minutes later with Pidge who seemed to escaping from whatever she was supposedly to be doing by bringing her laptop with her. Feeling second hand embarrassment for his husband, dusty redness still in Keith’s cheeks as he attempted to pretend what had happened hadn’t. Lance had proudly declared that “Keith’s huge dick had made the most perfect babies and he was his baby, and that he wanted another one”. This came with the declaration that “Keith wasn’t allowed to destroy his arse again” and “if Keith came at him with that thing he might end up with it cut off and shoved up his own arse”. His husband happily telling Coran all of this when all Coran had wanted to do was sit by him and their boys. Given Lance had done similar, Keith wasn’t going to get too close... He was rather attached to his junk. Performing his first true parenting duty by “sacrificing” his boys to their loved up father for food, he scarfed down half the plate without tasting anything. He might have gone a day or three back in the Blades without food due to missions, but living with Lance and Curtis always meant he was well fed. His stomach not impressed over having been neglected now that he could breathe. His mother’s scent seemed more muted than it had, Lance was busy with their boys and he had food. What more could their little bubble ask for? Apparently the universe decided Keith needed an answer to the unposed question. With a loud knock, the door to Lance’s hospital room was opened. A stream of half muttered commands came from the hallway, Curtis holding the door open as Colleen Holt carried through a bouquet of alien flowers nearly as wide as the doorway. Behind her Jorge shuffled in, the poor man having not been returned to his natural habit of his farm in Cuba. In the hall Shiro was scolding Kosmo, Curtis laughing at whatever his boyfriend was up to “Katie!” “Oh quiznak... uh... Hi, mum!” Colleen shot Pidge a scowl, her face then brightening as she made her way over to where Keith was sitting mid-forkful. Placing the fork back down, his stomach growled at the food in front of him he’d have to temporarily neglect. Rising up he took the flowers from Colleen, a little flustered as they weren’t exactly close “Congratulations! I hope you don’t me stopping by, it seems I’m a little late as my own daughter neglected to tell me your big news. Luckily I ran into Shiro and Jorge here. Jorge and I had quite the nice talk about agriculture and how a certain daughter of mine saved his son’s life” Huffing, Pidge rolled her eyes at her mother “I’ve been busy...” Colleen wasn’t having it, the woman honestly scared Keith. He absolutely never wanted to get on the wrong side of her “I heard. Stealing Garrison property. Abducting staff and skipping out on the lecture you were due to give to this years class of new students today” Pidge pushes her glasses up her nose, Krolia raising an eyebrow at her. His mother knew Lance had issues with her, but to him it seemed she’d restored her faith in the former Green Paladin “I’m not skipping out. Lance is vulnerable right now, he needs our support” “Lance gave birth out his arse!” Keith hung his head, Colleen covering her mouth at his husband’s words. Coran hushed Lance, while Lance would have forgotten what he was saying the moment it passed his lips “Sorry, he’s been given pain medication. He’s been staring at our boys for so long that I didn’t think he was listening. He... uh... he pretty much has no filter and we have no idea when he’s actually listening” Colleen waved at him with her free hand, thankfully she found it funny “No worries. I had already worked that out for myself. Do you mind...?” Keith looked over his shoulder to Lance and their boys “He might not remember you dropped by, but you can say hello. Maybe... don’t move the twins from his side. Not yet. He’s not allowed to hold them yet. He’s pretty gutted over it, and we need to keep him as calm as possible. He already had a minor seizure today” Colleen’s eyes got watery, Keith feeling even more awkward about addressing her. She was the adult here and there he was, telling her what she could and couldn’t do “Oh, poor boy. There’s nothing greater than holding your newborn child. Hopefully yours doesn’t run away to space to become a Paladin without telling you where they’re going!” Snapping her laptop closed loudly, Pidge glared at her mother “Mum! How long are you going to hold that over my head?!” “I don’t know. Katie. Until you understand that there’s consequences to your actions” “Lance might have died if I hadn’t gone out! How was I supposed to leave them stranded at the cabin?! Lance could never have walked out on his own!” “I’m not saying you didn’t do the right thing, but you didn’t stop to think. I would have offered you my assistance...” “I just wanted to help them!” “You left in the middle of a category 3 storm... The fleet was grounded for a reason. You wouldn’t have been able to help them if you’d crashed!” “I flew through worse in Voltron!” “Whoa! What’s with all the yelling?” Shiro saved them from the erupting argument... for all thirty seconds. Walking Kosmo into the room, his fur son was displeased with his current predicament. Tied to his collar were a collection shiny metallic balloons reading “congratulations”, “it’s a... girl” with “girl” crossed out and “boys” written in black marker. Tugging on his lead Kosmo was attempting to make a beeline for him, his eyes begging to be released from the indignation of being a delivery boy. Deserting his food, Keith went to his fur son, relieved Kosmo has survived being abandoned by them. Kneeling down, he was knocked on his arse as Kosmo head butted him, then tried to climb into his lap. Wrapping his arms around his wolf, he distracted Kosmo with cuddles as he untied the balloons from his collar “Did you miss me, boy? Let’s get these things off. You just want to look handsome for your other human, don’t you” Kosmo whined at him, Keith snorting through his nose. His fur son may love him, but Lance was where his true loyalties lie. “Keith, you’re ruining it. Those were for Lance. Do you have any idea how long it took us to tie them to his collar?” Arranging his features into a hurt pout, Shiro got no sympathy from him “Lance is off his head again, and Kosmo is miserable” “Can we at least show Lance before we take them off? He could use a little happiness” Curtis was supposed to be the adult of their small family, yet there he was, backing up his boyfriend. Beside, Lance couldn’t be happier, he was high and he was in love with their boys. He may have had that small hiccup with the examination, but now he was too drugged up to be stressed. The problem was if Kosmo would accept the twins... It was like ripping off a bandaid, it he continued to think about it, he’d get too anxious about Kosmo meeting the boys “Coran, can you move Hunter, Jorge, can you take Laith. I’ll hold Kosmo... I’m surprised he hasn’t teleported over there yet...” Kosmo always knew when Lance was hurting, they seemed to have a bond beyond words and scents. Whether it was taking Lance by the hand and walking with him when he was sleep walking, dragging his hand away before he could self harm, or stealing his spot in bed because Lance needed cuddles, he always seemed to just know what to do. Keith didn’t think Kosmo would go the twins, not with how attached to Lance’s baby bump he’d been, but he’d rather be prepared in case it did. Gathering up both baby boys, Keith led Kosmo over to Coran and Jorge. Miriam had her smile hidden by her hand. Colleen had missed out on seeing them laying with Lance, but now Kosmo was there he could preoccupy Lance while the twins did the cuddles rounds. With his tail between his legs, Kosmo slowly edged toward his new brothers, his belly nearly dragging on the floor as he tried to make himself smaller. Not that the idiot could. He looked so pathetic that Keith had to suck his lips in from laughing as he shuffled with Kosmo between his legs. His wolf was too damn big for this behaviour, but Kosmo seemed to want his paw held “Hello, Kosmo my boy... You remember me, right?” Coran seemed nervous, Kosmo dipping lower. With balloons in his face, Keith knew how ridiculous he looked. As much as he prayed Pidge wasn’t filming this, he kind of hoped she was so future Lance could share in it. Whining softly, Kosmo them sat with a huff. His idiot fur son staring up at him “These are your brothers. Laith and Hunter. Lance gave birth... I know you know that, you were hiding you big fat coward” Behind him, Shiro supplied “At least he didn’t faint when Lance’s water broke” You faint once and they never let you forget it. Rolling his eyes, he nudged Kosmo with his heel “Go on, say hello” Lowering Hunter, Coran tucked back the blue blanket he was swaddled in. All at once Kosmo forgetting he was pathetic mess. His arse started wiggling from his tail wags. Giving a yip, he nosed into Hunter’s cheek. Hunter had no idea what was happening, starting to cry from his “wet nose” attack. Reeling back at the fact it made noise, he raised a paw and placed it lightly on their sons face... covering his eyes with his hand, Keith shook his head “Kosmo, you can’t gag your baby brother because he cries. They do that” Tilting his back up to it, Kosmo’s eyes were saying “I don’t like it, dad. I don’t want it to do that” “Try saying hello to Laith. Maybe not a wet nose this time” Still not sure over this crying thing, Kosmo looked to Jorge, Coran holding his paw off of Hunter’s face. Laith was already crying, so it wasn’t like he was going to set him off. Leaning in, Kosmo quickly sniffed at his baby brother, then licked Laith across the face before yipping and teleporting from between Keith’s legs and over to the now empty chair Coran had been sitting in before moving Hunter. Placing both paws on the bed in front of Lance, he immediately nosed at Lance’s face. Lance starting to laugh as Kosmo began wriggling and trying to lick him, while his husband snaked his arm loosely around Kosmo neck “Who’s the best boy in the universe, you’re the best boy, yes you are. Yes, you are. Yes, I missed you too” Taking that as an invitation, Kosmo tried to squeeze himself into the small amount of bed space available, Lance too high to care that their fur son was moving him way too much. Not fitting in the small space, he climbed up to sit on Lance’s hip, bringing forth a whole lot of scolding as he did. Everyone in the space objected, even Lance tried to say no, but Kosmo wasn’t listening. Flopping his whole weight down, Lance yelped from under him, a stray paw ending up somewhere it shouldn’t before Keith could get there and wrestle him down. Growling at him, Keith continued to pull on Kosmo until finally he’d hefted him off the bed and down beside it “You can’t sleep with him, you need to stay off the bed. Lance is very hurt right now” Kosmo whined at him, his tail no longer wagging “Kosmo...” Lance sounded as sad as Kosmo looked, patting the side of the bed Kosmo’s ears pricked up at the sound. Between his husband and Kosmo, keeping Kosmo off the bed was going to be a challenge. Bristling in, Miriam took Lance’s patting hand in hers “Lance, you can’t have him on the bed with you. You’re recovering” “Kosmo. I want Kosmo” “He’s here, but he can’t be on the bed with you. You need your rest, Mijo” Lance sniffled, Keith was weak when it came to a crying Lance. His husband had cried enough tears in his short life as it was. Tugging against his grip on his collar, Kosmo wasn’t making things easy on that front either “I want Kosmo...” Miriam sighed, losing some of her softness as she scolded him “You can’t, Mijo. Kosmo has to stay off the bed. There’s no need getting this upset, he’s still right here. With these balloons for you. Did you see the balloons? Curtis and Shiro organised it, don’t you want to thank them” “I want Kosmo!” Lance’s voice was slightly above an acceptable tone, after the examination Kosmo probably made Lance feel safe and secure “Lance, no. Kosmo’s still in the room, but he absolutely cannot be on the bed with you. He just hurt you as it is” “P-p-papi...” The machine monitoring Lance’s heart rate started to beep loudly. Kosmo barking an actual bark, not his usual “Yip”. Watching Lance’s body tense, Miriam was ill prepared as Lance started seizing. Releasing Kosmo, Keith was by his husband’s side in an instant, Miriam pulled back so he would be the first one Lance saw when it finally passed. The stress of the examination, then a room full of scents... plus the one thing that could make Lance feel safer than he could being denied to him, everything had piled up. As Lance continued to seize, Keith hit the call button, afraid when it passed the 30 second mark “Everyone out, now!” Seizing until he lost conciseness, they were all evicted from Lance’s room so the hospital staff had space to work. Kosmo a sad mess as he collapsed across Keith’s feet, Keith leaning against the wall, closest to Lance’s room. Being pulled away from his husband never sat right with him. Lance needed a solid presence with him. He didn’t feel safe being unconscious. They weren’t fond memories for him... “Is this... are they always that bad?” Right. Colleen. Colleen hadn’t seen Lance’s seizures. Pidge was pulled up against her, Pidge teary eyed as she nodded at her mother’s question. Taking a deep breath, Keith shook his head “No. Not always. The one he had earlier was smaller. He... uh, has seizures from brain damage. He did have a device in his head that seemed to work, but... since he gave birth...” Beside her, Miriam was just as shaken as Pidge. Shiro had his arm around Curtis who had his hand to his mouth. Jorge was wringing his hands, and Keith was left with the realisation that he and Shiro were the only ones who knew how to approach or deal with Lance’s seizures. His heart still clenched with panic each time Lance seized, but he couldn’t pin point the exact moment that they... they didn’t stop being scary, but he had accepted it... “Is there anything they can do?” “They’ve stopped... they aren’t... They’ve stopped plans for surgery, and I think he’s supposed to be on anti-convulsants. They’re... waiting on Coran and advice from Altea” Being on the outside of his own husband’s medical care sucked quiznak. Colleen’s questioning came from a good place, but he wasn’t equipped to answer “What does Lance say about it? Surely there’s medication he can take to control them?” “Lance doesn’t like taking pills. They... uh, make him gag. He’s placed me in charge of his medical care. He’s not been lucid enough to discuss things, really. He also doesn’t like the idea of having something in his head... Maybe now we have the boys he might consider it?” Not immediately. Lance needed to calm and bond with his boys first, but they’d have to work something out. If Lance seized then that held the risk of their sons possibly being injured in the process. Keith had no idea what’d been in Lance’s head as he asked? for his papi “Keith, do you mind if I look into this further? I have a few ideas on how to help” Keith nodded at Colleen “You should talk to Daehra. She’s been treating him, even made a compound he could drink like a shake. He had something put in his head on Erathus when he had surgery... but now... I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. They haven’t told me anything” Why was he getting teary? Hadn’t he just told himself he’d accepted Lance’s seizures? Before he knew what was happening, Keith found himself pulled into a hug by Coran. Careful not to crush Hunter between them, Coran kissed his hair in a classic move he’d seen the older Altean do to Lance a hundred times. Kosmo whined his annoyance at being forced to move the whole few centimetres to avoid Coran’s feet “We’re working hard to figure out what the next step is for young Lance. He suffered quite a bit of damage down there, as you know. He’s going to need surgery to repair the internal damage, then surgery to repair the external damage. I’m waiting for a reply from his obstetrician. Erathus seems to have remarkable surgical capabilities. If we can perform one procedure rather than a series, I feel Lance’s prospects will be greatly risen. When all hope seems swallowed, remember there’s always a ray of light to be found. You’re a father now, Keith. Though I wish you’d considered “Coran”, Hunter and Laith are both fine names for the sons of fine young men. Lance has been through worse and made it through. You’ll see” “I-I know... it’s... it’s not fair. All he wants to do is hold his boys. He should be allowed to. He went through... he went through so much. He hates being in hospital. He hates everyone seeing him like this... He hates being treated differently here... He doesn’t feel wanted here. He’s so scared he’s a burden and they all think he’s a freak. It’s not fair. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be for him” Coran hushed him, Keith knew he’d overshared but he was angry that his husband felt that way “When he’s more lucid he’ll understand. In the mean time, this little one needs his father” Keith wiped at his teary eyes, nodding as he moved to take Hunter into his hold. His son was way too adorable to be his child. So small and innocent, staring up at him without a care. How they’d created something as incredible as their boys, he’d never know “I know. I’m sorry... I just...” “You hate seeing him this way. We all do” “Yeah. Dios...” Moving to his side, Shiro wrapped his arms around the three of them “He’s going to be ok. Curtis and I might go. He’s had a big day and he’s clearly overwhelmed. You need to take a shower and get some rest” “I’m...” “You’ll be more help to him when he wakes up, if you take care of yourself. He’d be the first to tell you that you stink” Keith snorted “Thanks for that... Thank you... I’m sure he’ll love the balloons once he’s calmed down” “We know he will. I’ll bring you something for dinner, and check in with you then” Curtis cleared his throat from behind his boyfriend “We’ll bring you something for dinner, and something fresher l wear. We can swap out, so Lance won’t be alone when you shower” “Can you bring a couple of extra shirts?” “Sure. We’ll see you soon” When Shiro and Curtis left, Colleen was the next to hug him. It was weird... he kind of felt like he was at funeral or something with all the hugging going on. Coran was beaming as he backed up to make space for Mrs Holt “I’ll research further into herbal medication that will help with his seizures. I’ll let you know what I find. If you two need anything, you let me know” “Thank you, Co-Mrs Holt” “You’re most welcome. When he’s up and feeling better, we’ll have a big dinner here on the base. There’s no need to rush it” Lance would hate it “Thanks... that sounds good” “Come along, Katie. You have a class to teach” Wrinkling her nose at the use of “Katie”, Pidge wrapped her arms around his waist next “You call me. I’ll be back for my minions if you need any help” “I know... and thank you. Not everyone would steal a pod to help us out” “Not everyone has two great big idiots like you two for brothers. I have no idea how you managed to make such cute minions” “I don’t know either... They have to get it from Lance” Pidge released him, wrinkling up her nose as she did “Ewww... I’m out of here before you get all mushy. Babies are one thing. That look in your eyes as you gush about Lance is another. Later loser. Take care of my minions for me!” “Bye, Gremlin” Pidge flipped him off, the action not missed by her mother. The pair beginning to bicker as they headed the opposite way to Curtis and Shiro. With the majority of their group now gone, Keith turned to Miriam and Jorge, Miriam giving a tired nod “I’ll be staying, at least until Lance is out of the woods. Jorge needs to get back to the farm” “I can take you, if you don’t mind?” Making the offer, Krolia patted Korra’s butt as she moved closer. Keith knew he had to go, but Lance would be upset if he didn’t get to say goodbye “I think it’s best you stay until he wakes up. He’s really missed you, both... I mean... I get it if you can’t... I...” English hard. His brain wasn’t doing the thunk. His tone was accusing, not asking, and not what he’d been going for “I know I’m an old man who thinks too much of his farm, but I’m not about to leave my son without saying goodbye” Miriam patted his arm “Now dear, Keith clearly didn’t mean it to sound as it did. It’s all over his exhausted face. We might take a few hours and get some sleep. You’ll call when he wakes up?” “Yeah... Seiz-Seizures like this take a lot out of him. He probably won’t be waking up until pretty late” “Ok, sweetheart. You call us if you need anything. Jorge, why don’t you lay Laith down once the doctor leaves the room? I know you want to keep ahold of him, but Lance wouldn’t be happy to hear you kidnapped your grandson” Jorge grumbled, Keith dared to say “playfully” “It’s his fault for doing such a good job. It feels like only yesterday he was tucked up like this...” “I know. They’re simply beautiful. I’m sure he’ll be happy for the help once things settle down” “We’ll both be... I... you...” Keith pauses to take a deep breath through his nose. He wasn’t going to stuff this up “You guys showed me what it was like to have a big warm family. You didn’t have to accept me... or even want me around... but you did. I... Shiro did his best... but... I didn’t know what it was really like until Lance... He... he’s my world and you’re both... You both raised an amazing son. You took me in. You showed me what it was like to have that. To be loved...” Miriam left her husband’s side, her arms warmed as she wrapped them around him “Mijo, we love you. You’ll always be welcome at our farm. You’ll always be part of our family. Lance choose you, and we can all see why. You’re a good man. You’re good for our son. He often talked about you, about how he missed you. I think he always wanted you to come find him, and I thank the Lord every night you did. You gave us our boy back” “I... I love you too... I didn’t mean to sound... I just knew Lance wanted both of you” “I know, Mijo” “When he’s... better, we’re going to come down to Cuba. He wants to introduce the twins to everyone” “I’ll make sure his room is ready for you both. You can bring Kosmo and stay as long as you want” Kosmo would love the space. He’d love chasing the chickens, and being able to roam. Mami wouldn’t be able to stop herself from feeding him treats, and Lance would love to see Kaltenecker again “We... we will. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying. Thank you for being here” “Anytime, Mijo. And not just for Lance. You’re part of our family. Don’t you forget that. We all love you, and we’ll all be waiting for you in Cuba when the time comes. Even Rachel and Luis” A real family. A family who wanted him. Who didn’t lock him in the dark. Didn’t beat him for asking questions or standing his ground. A family that actually cared and wanted him. Accepted him, flaws and all. If his younger self could have seen this, he never would have believed it. Miriam loved him. She loved him for him, as well as loving him for being Lance’s husband, and the father of their children... He’d found a brother in Shiro, a family with the Paladin’s, and the place he belonged at Lance’s side. Lance might think he was a constant strain or burden, and sure they still fought, and things weren’t always perfect, but... but he was okay with that. He could do absolutely anything if Lance was by his side... even be a father to the two boys he’d thought he’d never have. Quiznak. The only reason he’d found a family in Voltron was because Lance was there. Lance who insisted everything had to be a competition. Lance the shameless flirt that was so desperate for someone to see him for him. Lance who’d carefully fixed the broken pieces of him one shard at a time with so much love that he could drown in it. His husband was the salve that healed his weary soul, that made all the chaos around them bearable. That always believed in him, even when he couldn’t believe in himself. Lance who could have wallowed in self pity over his seizures, but instead kept moving forward as he tried to shake the shackles of his traumas. He’d never be the man he’d been when he was a Paladin, but where any of them really? He’d changed. He’d grown. He’d fallen in love with his best friend and couldn’t ask for a better partner to go through life with. Maybe this was why he was crying? Not because Lance had seized, but because even though he had, their family remained by their sides. It wasn’t just the two of them against the world anymore. It was the four of them, and each and every one of their friends and weird little family they’d made themselves.

[angels17324]

The Violet Paladin (Keith x Reader) Ch 1

Summary: (Y/n) was just a normal girl with a normal life. She’s always been a dreamer looking to the stars and the future. When one fateful night changes her whole life what secrets lie beyond in the unknown?

[masterlist]

Word Count: 2447

It was just a normal day of classes at the garrison. I was standing in the back watching my best friend Katie and her teammates fly, unsuccessfully I might add... the simulator, which had resulted in a failure. I watched as Commander Iverson slammed open the pod door and yelled at the trio to get out. He used them as an example of a bad team. 

Comparing them to my own team I think they're better than us. I'm on the team of Ina and Jacob, I hardly knew either of them before getting teamed up and even still I don't know much other than the basics like their flying and comm skills. I'm the team's engineer, I hope after I graduate I'll be able to help build new ships with my idea's.

I had been so zoned out in my thought's that I hadn't realized it was finally my teams turn in the simulator. Unlike with Katie's team, we hadn't crashed or anything so the rest of the class was as uneventful as usual. Thinking about it, it wasn't always like this. It used to be kind of fun, though I never really got to see it being in the engineer's class I had always heard of these two boys, I only learned the name of one, which was Keith because we were in a class together but he got kicked out not long ago.

He used to be one of the perfect models for when I was drawing, having this look about him that made it seem like he was never really here. I probably have more drawings of him than I'm willing to admit but I could help it. I grabbed my backpack with my drawing pad, pencils, and some snacks to go meet Katie on the roof. It had become a nightly routine for us, ever since she sneaked in after her father and brother went missing. I would spend the time sitting next to her either sketching the sky or when I listened to her machine I'd try to sketch what I imagined the voices to look like.

Tonight wasn't going to be any different, I walked onto the roof seeing I was alone I plopped down dangling my feet over the edge and grabbed my sketch pad and a pencil. I began drawing as I heard footsteps behind me and a heavy backpack sat next to me.

I looked over to see Katie. She quickly set up her machine and plugged in the headphone to listen.

"I hope we find out what Voltron is." She said with her eyes closed. "Me too, If it's as dangerous as I think it is, I hope those people we hear never find it," I told her. I went back to sketching the stars again but was soon after interrupted.

"You know it's not polite to ignore your girlfriend." I heard the familiar voice speak from behind. I turned to see none other than Lance and Hunk. "Oh, Lance, Hunk..." It seemed like it took her a moment to register what he had said, "For the last time we're not dating!"

"We're just looking at the stars," I told the Cuban teen. He'd looked pasted Pidge and me to see her tech.

"Man where'd you get that stuff it doesn't look like garrison tech at all," Lance remarked.

"I built it," Pidge smirked.

"You built all this?" Hunk slowly approached her gear to touch it but was slapped away.

"With this puppy, I can scan all the way to the edge of our solar system," She proudly started.

"All the way to Kerberos?" Lance retorted, Pidge immediately shrunk at the mention of that. "You go ballistic anytime a teacher mentions it!" I turned to Lance, "There are just things you don't understand," I took the liberty to slap Hunk's hand away for the second time.

"Well Pidge, if we're gonna bond as a real team we can't have any secrets and it seems like you're most comfortable with (Y/n) so we can bring her along too," Lance gave me one of his looks like he was trying to flirt with me, I had only known the looks cause I've seen him use them on other girls in the garrison. "Fine..." Pidge sighed. "The world as you know it is about to change," She had a sad look in her eye.

"The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of pilot error or otherwise-"

"STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!" Pidge shouted angrily at Hunk. You took note of this to keep an extra close eye on your sketch pad. "Anyways," She said after calming down, "I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter," She turned to look at Lance.

"Woah! Wait, Alien?!" Hunk panicked.

"Okay, so you're both insane," Lance crossed his arms and glared at us. "We're serious," I matched his glare.

"They've just been repeating one thing, and that's Voltron, and from what I've heard tonight it's been going crazier than ever," Pidge informed them.

"How crazy?" Lance questioned. We were interrupted by Iverson over the P.A. system

"What's going on?" Hunk looked around. "Is that a meteorite?" He pointed out something in the sky.

"Can't be," I mumbled.

"It's a ship!" Pidge announced.

"Holy cow! I can't believe what I am seeing! It's not one of ours,"

"That's because it's one of theirs," I almost wanted to smirk.

"So wait there really are aliens out there?" Hunk began to freak out yet again. Pidge and I immediately packed up and started to leave.

"I've gotta see that ship!" She cheered.

"Hunk come on!" Lance called following us.

The four of you sat on rocks near the base they set up but far enough away that we wouldn't be caught. I watched as Pidge hacked their systems to get a look inside. We watched Shiro on the feed surrounded by men in hazard suits. We had all perked up at the mention of Voltron from Shiro.

"We need to get down there and save him," I said.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news but weren't we watching on this because there's no way to get down there past those guards?" Hunk pleaded.

"That was before we were properly motivated. Now we just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?" Lance was talking to himself. We all bounced ideas of how to get in (Or to go back to the dorms in Hunk's case), before agreeing on needing a distraction. That's when you heard explosions in the distance.

"Like that!" Lance shouted. Hunk began to freak out thinking it was aliens.

"No, that was a distraction," You commented.

"Yeah, for him," Pidge pointed out someone approaching from opposite of where the garrison had left.

"Oh no way, that guy is always trying to one-up me!" Lance shouted looking through the binoculars.

"Who?" Hunk asked as Lance jumped down.

"Keith!" Lance shouted as Hunk followed him down.

"Who's Keith?" Pidge asked, then turned to me since I was the only one with her still.

"He got kicked out," I told her as we followed the boys. When we made it down everyone but Lance (who ran in) stayed by the entrance and watched the exchange between him and Keith.

Pidge, Hunk and I all kept watching for a minute while Lance and Keith carried Shiro back to Keith's hoverbike.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked.

"No," Keith replied. Lance handed Shiro over to Pidge and I as he sat on the wing. Keith quickly took off with the Garrison not far behind us. I helped Pidge keep Shiro on the bike as Keith was telling Hunk what to do to get the officers off our trail. So far it was successful except for one very persistent pursuer.

"Guys it that a cliff up ahead?" Hunk asked.

"Yup." Keith almost playfully said as he speeds up with us all screaming no.

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Lance shouted.

"Just trust me!" Keith said. How we survived that I may never know but we did.

Keith drove to a small shack in the middle of nowhere and parked, by this time it was almost morning and Shiro had woken up.

Everyone except Keith and Shiro was inside just kind of talking. "You realize how much trouble we will be in when we go back right?" I asked. We all remained silent for a moment that's when Keith and Shiro walked in.

Keith walked over to a board covered by a white sheet and ripped it off to reveal a bunch of pictures and diagrams.

"What is this?" Shiro asked.

"I don't really know, I've been working on it basically since I was booted from the Garrison, like some energy out here was telling me to search,"

"For what exactly?" I slightly zoned out from the conversation as I looked at the picture of the lion carvings. I only started paying attention again when I saw Shiro had turned to us.

"I guess I should thank you all, Lance right?" He shook Lance's hand. Then turned to Pidge, Hunk and I.

"(Y/n)," I shook his hand as well.

"The nervous guy is Hunk I'm Pidge," She introduced herself. "So did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

"I'm not sure. The last things I remember are the mission and when we got captured, other than that it's just bits and pieces,"

"Yeah sorry to interrupt but back to the aliens. Where exactly are they now?" Hunk began to panic yet again.

"I can't really put it together, I just remember "Voltron", Its some weapon they're searching for, but I think we need to find it before they do,"

"Well, last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff," As soon as I heard that come from Hunk's mouth I clutched mine tighter. "I found this picture, look it's his girlfriend," He chuckled a bit.

"Hey, give me that! Why were you in my stuff?" She asked him.

"I was looking for snacks."

"Did you go through mine?" I asked.

"No," He replied "Anyway's I found these series of number that looks like a Fraunhofer Line,"

"A what?" Keith asked.

"It's a number that describes the emission spectrum of an element, that is not found on earth, So it might be this Voltron and I can probably build a machine to look for it," Hunk quickly explained. "The wavelength looks like this," He pulled out a paper which Keith took and held to his board and it matched up with a series of rock formations.

After Hunk built his machine the six of us traveled out there and followed Hunk and Pidge to a cave with more drawings of the lions. I looked at each one, they were all fascinating. When they started to glow, I backed up a bit when the floor crumbled. We all screamed as we were on almost like a water slide and landed in a little pool of water at the bottom.

"Ow," I mumbled and looked up to see a lion.

"Is this it?" Pidge asked.

"It must be," Shiro said.

"This has got to be what's been causing all this crazy energy out here," Keith walked towards it.

"There's a force field around it." I said, "And probably for a good reason." I mumbled the last part, everyone had already started walking towards it I sighed and followed. Keith put his hands on the force field.

"I wonder how we get through?" He asked no one.

"Maybe we just have to knock?" Lance knocked and the Lion roared to life it seemed like we all had the same vision of six lions forming one giant mecha.

"Whoa," We all said.

"This is only one part of Voltron," Shiro said.

"I wonder where the rest are?" Pidge questioned. The lion lowered down and opened its mouth.

"Hey we probably shouldn't," I started but Lance already ran inside. "Touch anything..." as everyone else walked up.

"Come on (y/n)," Pidge said, I walked up behind her and into the head. The controls all powered on and were in a language we couldn't understand. I stood in the back between Keith and Shiro.

"Okay, guys, I feel like I need to point out just so we're all aware, we're in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now," Hunk said.

"Whoa did you guys just hear that?"

"What?" Keith asked.

"I think it's talking to me," Lance turned to look at the controls.

"Wait Lance don't touch anything," I said but too late he already started to push buttons.

"Don't worry I've got this," He said and blasted out of the cave and started flying crazily. I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be Keith who was also holding onto something for dear life.

"You are the worst pilot ever!" Keith yelled.

"This is awesome!" Lance cheered.

"Make it stop!" Hunk pleaded.

"I'm not making it do anything,"

"Where are you going?" Keith asked as we took off towards space.

"I just said I'm not doing anything, it says there is an alien ship approaching Earth I think we're supposed to stop it," Lance said.

"What did it say exactly?" Pidge asked.

"It's not saying words just idea's... Kinda,"

"If that's them and this is what they're coming for maybe we should just give it to them," Hunk said.

"You don't understand, these monsters spread like a plague through the galaxy, giving them this won't stop them," We all glared at Hunk who shrunk back. As we turned back, we were face to face with a large Alien cruiser which began firing at us.

Lance avoided the blasts. "Okay, I think I know what to do,"

"Be careful man this isn't the simulator!" Pidge warned.

"Oh, good, cause I always crash those," Lance said. That didn't make any of us feel any better but Lance shot a beam from the lion and attacked it before flying us away from the planet and towards deep space. We passed Kerberos and we were all in shock, and a wormhole had opened in the distance. "Where does it go?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know, Shiro, you're the senior officer, what should we do?" We all turned to Shiro.

"I don't know what's happening but the lion seems to know more than we do, so, for now, we should trust it. However we're a team now, so we decide together," We were all silent but it seemed like we agreed to go through the wormhole was the best option.

[Next] Tag list~

@somebodytouchedmysaeran @ittie-bittie-tittie 

[enlacinglineswrites]

Part 2 of a 3 part request series! Sometimes, you just need your brother. 

I love Broganes, and I don’t write them enough, so this was fun. Expect more in the future!

Hopefully this helps mend some of the hearts I broke in part 1...

Read part 1 here. 

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Things you said when I was crying

Everyone assumes Shiro knows exactly what he’s doing, all of the time. Quite often he does, that’s what training and experience brings you; the knowledge others don’t have, primarily in how to stay calm and think through problems when they occur, no matter how dire the situation.

He’s also, unwittingly, become somewhat of an expert on certain things only a handful of  people on this planet know. With that, comes an aura and assumptions which are useful in themselves. Therefore, he lets them be, as at times it’s more beneficial to appear as a fountain of knowledge than a flawed human. 

Because honestly? Shiro doesn’t always know what to do. Now being a prime example.

It’s late, probably bordering on 3am, and Shiro’s eyes sting with every dry blink. He’s in a small, dimly lit hospital waiting room, one obviously used for breaking bad news, his back against the wall near the door. 

Keith sits in the chair furthest away, head on his knees, the hand that’s not in a hastily fashioned splint tugging at his long hair. 

His sobs echo through the silence. 

Shiro met Keith when he was eleven, really got to know him at fourteen. They are brothers, bound by bonds thicker than blood, but it’s times like this he wishes they’d grown up together. He can count the number of times on one hand he’s seen Keith cry, and he’s never seen him break in this way. 

He’s crying like a child, all soul shattering devastation, throwing his body into his grief. Shiro thinks that maybe, he would have seen this before if they’d known each other longer, that he’d already know the magic words to say, what to do, if he’d seen something similar before. 

He doesn’t though. And his mind terrifyingly blank. 

But his little brother is almost choking on his own tears, and Shiro is slightly terrified he’ll either vomit or further damage the wrist which is already broken (and still not set, he needs to get Keith to a doctor). There is no more time to stall. 

So with no plans, no ideas, no backup, he makes his way across the room and takes a seat next to Keith, whose sobs do not stall. 

The thing is, Shiro knowns from his own similar experience, that there are no words which can allay the pain. Adam has slowly regained enough strength to walk unaided again, but the weeks he spent unmoving, unconscious in the hospital, were some of the worst of Shiro’s life. And no words could ever change that. 

But the fact that people tried, despite the failure in language, meant the world at the time, and still does now. So he too, will return the favour. 

“Keith. Keith,” he begins, just trying to get his attention. There is a hitch in the sobs, a quietening even if Keith doesn’t lift his head, and the shaking of his body doesn’t cease. 

Shiro swallows, a hard and uncomfortable motion. “We need to get your arm in a cast, that one isn’t going to hold,” he says gently placing his human hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

Keith just shakes his head though, a mirror of the stubborn youth Shiro had first known. He sighs heavily, and a strange calm moves over him. For in this moment, he realises that these steps they’ve taken in bizarre fashions which led them to the here and now, give him all the knowledge he needs to be something to his brother right now. 

As hard as it seems, he can do this.

“You need to get fixed up, Keith. You cannot punish yourself by sitting in the dark remaining in pain. Lance wouldn’t want you to do that,” Shiro says, his voice almost tripping up on the name. 

For Lance to him is another piece of family, and it’s soul destroying to be where they are. But he must keep his own grief locked and secured;  he can give into it when he’s far from Keith. Now though, he has another focus. 

“It’s not your fault. So please, let’s go see a doctor. You have nothing to make up for,” Shiro says, voice falling to a whisper as he moves his arm to wrap around Keith, who is by no means small, but in this moment feels as if he is, in stature and presence. 

His words have stopped Keith’s crying. There’s silence; just heavy, wet breathing in the half light. Then, all of a sudden, Keith drops, leaning heavily onto Shiro, whose arm squeezes him back. 

“He pushed me out of the way,” Keith croaks, voice so clogged it’s almost unrecognisable. 

Shiro’s eyes close against the onslaught of pain that resurfaces. “He does that,” he says, remembering vividly carrying an extremely injured Lance, who did the same thing for Coran many years ago. 

“He told me he loved me. I didn’t get to say it back.” 

And this might be what breaks Shiro. For Keith’s voice is at a cadence beyond grief, beyond hurt, beyond suffering. It pains him more than any wound the Galra have ever inflicted, and he wishes with his entire self that he could take all of these feelings from Keith and experience them in his place. He’d do that in a heartbeat. 

But he can’t. And he cannot make it right with any words or gesture, so he does the only thing he can. 

“You still might be able to,” he says in reply, his own voice rough and shredded. 

For Lance is still alive. 

And if he makes it through the night, then re-evaluations of his condition will take place. These next few hours are the turning point, the ones that indicate if there is a sliver of hope. 

And even then, it’s still a sliver. 

For his body is so broken, it’s a miracle Red and Keith returned with any of Lance to save. He’s on life support, with the best doctors in the world at his call, trying with their combined knowledge to reverse the effects of the laser. The laser that was designed so Altean technology could not restore anyone who was hit by it. 

Shiro clenches his robotic fist, channeling his hatred through the metal. 

But Lance is still alive. And all they can do now, is wait and hope his stubborn nature will pull through once more. Wait, and gather themselves back together, piece by broken piece 

And little does Shiro know, that the things he says while Keith is crying are the things that get him through the night, without falling apart completely.

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Final part coming soon!

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My Ao3 | Instagram | Twitter

[draconida]

Shance Fic Recs (Part two)

And here more Shance's stories! 

41- Prettier than most by MissBluebelles [Explicit]

Shiro has fallen hard for the pretty blue paladin he woke up to in Keith's shack. There's no denying it. But while trying to keep those feelings in check, he notices how the beautiful young man slowly distances himself from the team.

When Lance overhears some of his team-mates talking about him behind his back, he finds himself crumbling under the pressure of the responsibilities he has as a paladin. Will he ever be enough? Will he ever be as good as his team?

42- The Alpha Prime of District Six by keir [Explicit and omegaverse]

Lance isn't getting any younger and he desperately wants a kit, but he's been jaded on love ever since his mate left him. It was just something silly at first when he went on a website meant for anonymous hookups; he didn't really think anything would come of it. But when someone catches his interest, he decides to take a risk and ends up with more than he had ever bargained for.

43- Lean On Me by KnightNuraStar

It was the first time Lance would meet any merfolk.

But, he thinks he'll get used to it.

Yup, he could definitely get used to it.

44- You and Her, Forever by starboyshiro

Lance spends Valentine’s Day absorbed in how much his life has changed in just a few short years. Especially about how much of an impact Takashi and Aria had on his life.

45- The Florist Next Door by starboyshiro

Hunk deflates a little, sinking back into the couch. "Just do something, please? I'm tired of seeing moping around because Shiro isn't your Valentine, yet."

"You seem really confident in Shiro's so-called feelings."

"It's easy to tell it's him dude. I know it, you know it. Hell, Blue probably even knows it! The whole damn world knows that Takashi Shirogane likes you!"

46- A Treat for the Eyes by PuppetMaster55 [Explicit]

Lance enjoys teasing his boyfriend with suggestive pics and videos.

Shiro decides to respond in kind.

47- All You Have To Do Is Ask by sitswithcats [Explicit]

Lance is desperate to get fucked, Shiro is happy to help out

Or

The fic where Lance rides Shiro while he flies the black lion that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.

48- The True Freshman by orphan_account

Shiro's sophomore year at Garrison Tech was already off to an unexpected start. Due to an injury, he was forced to take a medical redshirt year, making it his second year of ineligibility to play the sport he loved; his plans were ruined before the first day of classes even began.

His year gets even more interesting after his brother Keith ropes him into taking him to the first party of the year, where he meets another freshman named Lance.

49- Eye of the Storm by ThereWillBeCubes [Explicit, omegaverse and non-con]

Lance alone in the middle of a storm, and a stranger at his doorstep.

50- Ain't No God Where We're From, Darling by PastelClark [References To Rape/Torture]

“You want to release a group of the world’s worst criminals, complete with weapons, and try to get them to work for us.” Idly, Shiro wonders if he’d accidentally ingested a hallucinogen earlier in the day. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“No,” Allura’s voice is disturbingly calm. “I want to temporarily let out a group of incarcerated people I think could be useful for us, under heavy supervision.”

51- The Best Wingman Ever by magisterpavus

“I don’t understand,” Keith said flatly.

“IthinkIhaveabigfatstupidcrushonLance,” Shiro repeated.

Keith rubbed his eyes. “No, yeah, I got that; I just mean I don’t understand what you want me to do about it, Shiro.”

Shiro gawked at him. “Help me, Keith! That’s what best friends are supposed to do, you know, you’re supposed to be my, uh...wingman.” As soon as he said it, Shiro realized what an awful idea it was.

52- The Tailor by DuskBeforeDawn

Now, Lance knows a thing or two about kids, after all he had like a million cousins so he figured he may as well give a helping hand. Not like it was totally for the insanely hot officer, nope, not at all.

53- Nearly Witches (Read: Actually Witches) by TheLanceShow

Shiro, one day, decides to go to a shoppe to stop his nightmares. In the process, he becomes infatuated with a certain witch.

Or;

Lance is a witch and Shiro is under his spell.

54- Super Nanny by mettaverse [Trans Lance, in process]

Shiro has come back from war crippled- his arm is gone, PTSD rules his life, and he barely remembers how to smile. His wife, unable to handle the state Shiro came home in, has left him with their son Keith.

Thus enters Lance, the new nanny. His job, technically, is to take care of Keith at all times. But seeing Shiro, how sad he is, how broken, prompts Lance to personally take over Shiro's life, trying hard to help him pick up the pieces of his life.

55- Get Me Home by singtolife [omegaverse]

“Do you really think all omegas want to be fucked by you? Sorry to break it to you, but you can fuck off “

When Lance's car breaks down before he can even begin the journey home from college, Keith sends his brother Shiro over to help him out. As Lance waits, he's hit on by some asshole alpha who can't take no for an answer.

56- Brace for Impact by shyfoxes

"Not to be rude, my guy,” Lance said, “but you’re wrong. You are worth it. I’m going to prove it to you.”

“By doing what exactly?” Shiro asked, exasperated. “Standing outside Galra Tech with a sign? Spray-painting Zarkon’s car? There’s nothing you can do, Lance.”

Lance held his chin up. “What if I fight you?”

Shiro blinked, jaw dropping. “What?”

“What if I fight you? What if I fight everyone on that list to get to you?” Lance exclaimed. “If I win, you come with me. If I lose - I’ll leave you alone, forever.”

Or, underground fighter Shiro finally learns how to hope again from a persistent guy named Lance.

57- The Call of the Sea by Red_Ce

Lance watched the surface grow farther and farther away, bubbles rising all round, spiraling toward the sky. The waves pulled at his hair to surround his face, strands tickling his lips and freckles. His heartbeat pounded loud in his ears. His heart pulled him down. His fingertips pulled him down. His inadequacy pulled him down. He was drowning in it all.

Then- a flash to his right. Something grey and sleek. Lance righted himself, terror taking hold of his body for two infinite seconds. Prey, his subconscious whispered to him. To whatever this creature is, you are prey.

Lance is insecure and loves the water. Shiro is a carnivorous merman who probably wants to eat him. They meet, and bond.

58- Fluffy Bites by KnightNuraStar

Lance was trying to find a home to settle in.

Though, he's surprised when his home finds him.

Or well.. bites him.

59- Home by starboyshiro

Shiro knows a little bit more about flowers than Lance had anticipated.

60- vivir sin ellos, ya no podría by slimeys

Shiro tries to occupy himself in his surroundings, taking in the cloudy sky, the clanking of the train, the cute guy sitting across from him wearing the exact same outfit.

He's, like, really cute. Shiro doesn’t think he’s seen him before, because if he did, he’d definitely remember that bronze skin and those long legs. His cap is backwards, pulling dark waves off his forehead and revealing the cutest widow’s peak on this side of Snowqualmie. This is too much. Even as he looks down at his phone with a light smile—is he looking at a meme? Does he like memes? Shiro really hopes so—he exudes charisma and charm. Shiro is starting to think that it isn’t the matching clothes that drew his attention.

61- do you got plans tonight? by kalakauuas

Lance doesn’t know this guy, but he knows that being stood up is no fun, so. He takes matters into his own hands.

(and maybe holds Shiro’s while he’s at it.)

62- Shiro, You Horndog You! (Oneshot) by orphan_account [Explicit]

So basically, Shiro gets horny when him and Lance hand wrestle. Because who doesn't get horny af after a good hand wrestle amirite?. Lance says that the loser has to do anything the winner says. You know where that goes. Shiro takes full advantage of this and smut happens, as well as fluff, cuzz who doesn't love a good fluff.

63- Strobes and Stilettos by SpicyRedPaladin [Explicit]

Keith drags Shiro to a rave and promptly disappears. But Shiro finds company in a gorgeous Latino instead.

64- Platform 5 by after_midnightmunchies

To the gorgeous man with the ocean blue eyes whose phone I saved from plummeting off of Platform 5 last Tuesday: I forgot to put my number in it. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since then. If you feel the same, please meet me there again on Friday, February 14th at 5 pm.

“Who even reads the newspaper anymore?” Hunk snorted.

Lance never expected to be swept off of his feet by a classified ad in the newspaper, but there truly is a first time for everything.

65- Keeping Up Appearances by starboyshiro

“We have a date for you.”

“What!?” Shiro nearly chokes on his own spit.

“She’s a lovely girl. We think you would really like her.”

This time Shiro does choke on his own spit. Coughing wildly for a moment while his mother yells over the phone, asking if he’s okay. Her, oh my god. Quick Shiro think of something!

“I— uh, I have a date already!” Shit, Shiro, not that.

“Oh really? Who is she?”

“He is a very lovely man.” Whoever he is. Shiro’s really digging his own grave at this point.

66- To Dream Of Water by HedonistInk [Explicit, Shape of Water inspired]

For as long as he could remember, Lance had dreamed of water. His dreams felt more real than his waking life, a world swathed in shades of blue and green. Twisting, twirling in the water, it was the one place he felt complete, the only place he felt whole and unbroken and entirely himself. It was the only place he felt free.

And that was when he'd met him, the man from the sea who would change his life forever.

67- Of love and the art of ice cream future telling by taovol

The tale of how Lance solved the riddle that is Mystery Whitepatch Man and gained his phone number in the process.

OR

Lance has the hots for a mysterious costumer.

68- Seashells and Magic by KnightNuraStar

Lance was a water mage who moved into a tiny cottage by the sea.

During one of his disastrous flight lessons he gets to meet not only his neighbor...

But, also his admirer.

69- Magic Cats and Hot Wizards?! by AbandonedLibrary

Lance moves into a new town and finds it very strange. He goes into a store that has a strange cat and GASP! IS HARRY POTTER REAL?!

70- Unicorn Printed Toothbrush by AshesTheTerrible [Explicit, omegaverse and mpreg]

Lance and Shiro have their hands full with a two, four and six year old. Parenting is a challenge, finding alone time even more so. Their date nights once consisted of lavish restaurants and black tie affairs...now they are more along the lines of spending a night in, adorned in sweatpants.

71- An Old Tattoo by AshesTheTerrible [Explicit and omegaverse]

The tattoo is aged now, ink faded, colors years old. It's a time stamp from another phase of Lance's life, a postcard from his past. He was a different Omega then, lust drunk and wild...until he'd met Shiro.

Shiro changed everything.

72- Want You by starboyshiro

Despite Keith often complaining about Lance, he insists Shiro should go on a date with him. For once, Keith had a good idea.

73- My Friend's Hot Roommate by Aesthetic_Demon [Trans Lance]

After Shiro finished college alongside his best friend Keith they settled back in their home town. A few months later Keith announces that a very close friend of theirs will be staying over for a week- and although he's changed quite a bit, Shiro's big ass crush on him hasn't.

74- All For The Best by CrypticGabriel [Explicit, Trans Lance and pregnancy]

It was just one night. Prom night. After being together for a couple years, Lance and his boyfriend Shiro had their first time after a wonderful night of dancing and stargazing. Nothing was supposed to really… come from it.

Much to his dismay, the results he found were not the ones he’d intended to have.

In which Lance gets pregnant and feels it's best to handle it all on his own. But after five years of trying to hide it from Shiro, he had to go back on his word.

75- Unforgettable by HedonistInk

Like a song of love that clings to me | How the thought of you does things to me | Never before | Has someone been more...

Unforgettable.

When Shiro showed up on Lance's ward, Lance didn't expect him to be anything other than just another patient. He never dreamed he would miss him so much when he left.

76- Lost and Found by mysticmajestic

Shiro loses his daughter in the mall. Lance finds her.

77- Something Just Like This by Sarolonde

[19:09] Lance glad my photos were accidentally sent 2 a nice guy like u <3 thank u for not being a creep [19:22] Shiro Uh, you’re welcome. I guess? I don’t know what else I would have even done with the situation. [22:11] Lance u innocent sweet angel unicorn ^_^ g’night kind sir *tips hat* [22:13] Shiro Goodnight, Interesting Stranger.

The wonderful, unexpected consequences of Lance sending partially-nude pictures of himself to a stranger.

78- The Doctor Is In by HedonistInk, ZeroCrowe [Explicit and Trans Lance]

Lance had always hated going to the doctors for anything to do with his reproductive biology. But transitioning and other medical issues meant that Lance had spent more than his fair share of hours around doctors. It wasn’t until he was nineteen and having serious pain issues that his local GP finally referred him to the Gynaecology department at the hospital in the next town over. Fortunately for Lance, it wasn't that far of a drive. Unfortunately for Lance, his doctor turned out to be young and hot. Fortunately for Lance, that doctor thinks Lance is temptingly hot as well.

79- The Engine's Growl by AshesTheTerrible [Explicit and Trans Lance]

Lance had no idea that motorcyles vibrated so much.

The sleek, black, Harley was like a purring beast between his legs. He hadn't been keen on the idea of riding on one. But Shiro had convinced him and now he was having a strikingly fast change of heart towards the entire situation.

80- Rekindling by CrypticGabriel [Explicit, Trans Lance and kids]

Lance was happily married to a Marine Drill Instructor. At least, he thought he was. They'd been married for twelve years and had four kids together, and now he was worried the love was dying.

81- The Other by SuccubustyKisses [Explicit and Non-con]

When another Shiro comes from another dimension, asking Lance to run away with him, and threatening the life of his friends if he doesn’t. Who is Lance to say no?

Preview: “Oh! Right!” Other Pidge sat up straight again, pushing small half moon glasses back up on her nose. “My name is Kate Holt, though I’m sure you all know that. I’m chief communications officer of the Guns of Gamora. We had a recent… betrayal… that we believe will lead to issues for you guys and Sven asked me to contact you and well… give you, Lance, a warning.”

“Wait, me specifically?” Lance pointed up to himself confusion covering his face.

Kate nods. “You see one of our old members, Sven’s twin brother actually… he betrayed us, stole the Altean technology Hunk was using to try to find a cure for the whole mind control thing, used it on our own Lance turning him against us, and with the technology we were developing together to do dimensional jumps… well… he’s in your dimension now.” She shrugs. Guilt written across her face. “We’re not actually sure if he’s after anything, but the fact that he took our own Lance makes us think that he could also go after you.”

“But, why?” Lance looked down at his hands. “I’m nothing special.”

Parts 1 / 2 / 3

[kcwcommentary]

VLD8x12 – “The Zenith” (part 1)

8x12 – “The Zenith” 

I have written more for this episode than I have for any episode before. Because of that, I’m going to post this commentary in two parts. This show has had some truly messy episodes, episodes where things happen that contradict previous things, episodes where characters behave oddly or out of character, episodes where things are presented as set-up but never resolved, episodes where trying to follow what’s happening is hard because of bad logistics. If you’re familiar with this series and/or you’ve read my previous commentaries, you know this. This episode is all those things but to an even greater degree.

This episode baffles me, not just in how it uses its characters, not just in the frequent, confusing shifts in plot, but it baffles me that it was made like this. This episode feels like a school essay, written hastily and turned in at the last minute, hoping that it makes sense. Of course, it is possible to do an okay job creating like that, but more likely the work won’t be as successful as it could have been. This episode is not a success.

The only thing I can say that I like about this episode is there is some good music in it, especially the arrival of the Balmeras and the combining of Voltron and the Atlas. Though that bit of story, like most of the episode, makes little-to-no sense, it has an atmospheric quality to it that I did enjoy. It’s weird to have to ignore what’s happening in order to enjoy what’s happening.

EDIT: I wanted to add (as I’m working on revisions to the second half of this episode’s commentary and just revisited the moment) that I really like young alternate reality Lotor’s clear recognition that Honerva is not his mother and his rejection of her. Aside from killing Narti and what this show did to Lotor between 6x04 “The Colony” and 6x07 “Defender of All Universes,” I have really enjoyed his character. Even being a little kid from an alternate reality, Lotor is still an interesting character.

The episode starts right where the last one ended. Honerva, with her mecha and Sincline combined, is doing her thing. The Atlas and the Balmera are there. The Lions are floating without power. The Paladins seem a bit baffled about what Honerva is doing, so Pidge comments, “That’s how she’s getting in,” and Keith responds, “What do you mean?” Maybe this was written this way to catch up any viewers who didn’t watch the previous episode or who totally forgot what happened last episode? It doesn’t really make sense that the Paladins would be baffled about what Honerva’s doing right now. Allura is heading toward her Lion, as she’s the only Paladin not yet in the field. Allura continues the recap that Honerva combined her mecha with Sincline.

Coran says, “Our universe is collapsing. Just like the day we lost the Castle of Lions. Those wings are causing the very fabric of our reality to disintegrate.” I don’t remember anyone in 6x07 “Defender of All Universes” saying that the rifts then were causing the universe to specifically collapse. Also, I’m still amazed by how willingly the creative team is ignoring 3x04 “Hole in the Sky.” Again, in that episode, we learn that the same comet that Sincline is made from had opened a tear from this reality through the rift between realities and into another reality, and that it had been holding that tear in reality open for 10,000 years. The universe didn’t collapse during that time. I know the show tried to handwave that last episode by having Pidge say that the comet was natural but Sincline is not, but it still seems like it’s more that this plot is ignoring the way the show had established the comet ore to work.

The Yellow Lion comes back online to give Hunk narrative time to get Coran, Romelle, and Tova to the Atlas.

Honerva starts talking, “My loyal warriors. Merla proved disloyal. She turned her back on our mission and the future of Altea.” So, Merla’s name is spoken in this series. And surprise-twist, Merla isn’t dead, despite having been blown up last episode. This show’s fake character deaths are so tiresome. So many characters are made to look like they die but don’t that it’s hard to take any of it seriously. At this point, it’s just blatantly manipulative. The other two Robeast Alteans, bolstered by Honerva’s speech, fly toward the Atlas. Pidge says, “Those Robeasts are headed our way,” but the logistics of the episode are already falling apart. Pidge and the Green Lion are shown, based on her visual perspective out of her cockpit, to be close to Honerva’s mecha. The Robeasts were shown blasting off toward the Atlas. They’re not heading toward Pidge.

The other Lions come online. Keith asks Allura if she can get to her Lion. She’s been heading to Blue for a good while now. I don’t think it’s taken a Paladin this long to get to their Lion since the extended fat-people-are-slow joke about Hunk in 1x04 “Some Assembly Required.” Shiro says that the Atlas has the Lions covered.

Coran interjects, “What about the collapsing universe?” I mean, what else does he think Voltron and the Atlas can do other than try to fight Honerva? Keith says, “Coran, we’re counting on you to figure something out.” Since the story eventually has the universe collapse and be destroyed, setting up the idea that Coran can actually do anything that benefits the plot here is just empty set-up. I guess they’re trying to give Coran something to do, but none of it really has any narrative relevance.

Keith says, “Paladins, do everything you can to keep the Robeasts distracted. Let’s give the Atlas a shot.” Literally 20 seconds ago, Shiro said, “The Atlas has you covered.” Now, it’s Keith saying that they’re covering for the Atlas. The writing on this show can’t even stay consistent for 20 seconds. The EPs and the writers don’t seem to have actually been able to decide who is doing what in this plot.

Also, Hunk is shown to have dropped Coran, Romelle, and Tova off on the Atlas and has now returned to be with Keith, Lance, and Pidge. Hunk had enough time to start out with the other Paladins near Honerva, jet to the Atlas, drop off Coran and crew, and return to the other Paladins. But in that same time, Allura has not been able to get from the wormhole generator on the Atlas to the Blue Lion in its hangar.

Shiro orders the Atlas to prepare for transformation. The Lions keep fighting the Robeasts. Keith has Black produce its wings spontaneously to fly past a Robeast, and he then declares he “is going in to stop Honerva.” At this point, isn’t Keith supposed to have developed out of his “lone wolf” attitude? So, what does he think he can do by himself? Also, what happened to Keith’s order to the other Paladins that they were going to distract the Robeasts so that the Atlas could shoot Honerva?

It’s impossible to follow what’s happening because things change without any regard to what happened before. First Shiro says that the Atlas is going to provide cover for Voltron, then Keith orders the Paladins to cover for the Atlas, now Keith is ignoring his previous order and ignoring the Atlas, which is supposed to be setting up to shoot Honerva, all so Keith can fly in by himself and “stop Honerva.” The narrative is so uncontrolled right now that it’s easy to see why people argue that there’s been a major, late-production edit of episodes, especially this one. This is just an absolute mess.

Honerva looks at the incoming Black Lion, says the word “Still,” a sigil appears around the Black Lion, and it stops. Since when can Honerva control the Lions remotely? This is a massive power spike for her character. It’s excessive. If she can do this, then the Lions shouldn’t be a threat whatsoever to her. It also actually offends me. Why can she do this? Zarkon had been a previous Paladin of the Black Lion who still had influence over Black, but Honerva has no bond, so how is she able to do this? This has long been a problem with her character, even from the beginning, and it’s rooted in the creative team refusing to establish definitive rules about how the magic of this story works. Honerva just suddenly does things because the creative team just has her do them. They seem to think, Honerva’s really powerful, is enough of an explanation. It’s not. It feels cheap and lazy, or at least woefully underdeveloped.

With the Black Lion “still,” and Honerva about to smash it with a fist, Atlas, which changed into mecha form offscreen, slams into Honerva at the last second. On the Atlas, Iverson over shipwide communication orders “MFE pilots, report to your hangars, standby for launch.” Even without announcing it, the MFE pilots should already be on standby by sheer nature of the fact that the ship has been in battle for a long time already. Iverson having to order them to the hangar and to be on standby is not how serving in the military during combat would work. Also, Shiro had already ordered the MFEs to standby prior to jumping into this battle last episode, so they should already be there. Iverson’s line seems like it was added to fill empty air/time, and it seems like it comes from someone who doesn’t have an understanding of how a military vessel like this would actually function.

Coran tells Romelle and Tova that he has an idea about how to stop the collapse of the universe. He says he’s going to get Slav and Sam and for Romelle and Tova to get the other Alteans. The Alteans were last seen unconscious after having been possessed by Honerva. We have no idea if they’re now conscious or still possessed, so we have no idea if they would even be able to help. We don’t learn of their status until they’re already on their way for this mission.

So, Allura never made it from the wormhole pedestal to the Blue Lion before Atlas changed. With Atlas now close enough to be in a fist fight with Honerva’s mecha, where is Allura and the Blue Lion? She doesn’t even have to travel the distance from where the Atlas was to where the Lions are because they’re all in the same spot now. This really feels like it’s totally contrived, done to justify not having the Lions form Voltron yet. It’s artificial.

Shiro screams, “Allura, now’s your chance!” That phrasing implies that she was waiting for something. What in the world was she waiting for?

The Robeasts continue to attack the Lions. Keith says, “We can’t get past them—” get past them to do what? I guess this is supposed to reference the eventual attempt at attacking the wing-blade mechanism, but the show hasn’t set that up as their ultimate target, so Keith’s comment is totally missing context. Also, there are two Robeasts currently fighting and now five Lions on the battlefield, surely if there’s some need to get past the Robeasts, at least one of the Lions should be able to do so. Moments like this fragment of dialog from Keith really do make this feel like it’s two completely different battles happening that have been edited together.

They form Voltron. The formation music has been changed. Forming Voltron now feels odd to me. I know that Voltron is more powerful than the Lions individually, but they’ve now gone from a five-on-two to a one-on-two situation. If the goal was to “get past them” per Keith’s statement, then they’ve made it easier for the two Robeasts to just focus fire on one target now.

Keith tells Pidge to use her special arm cannon and seemingly blows up one Robeast. She also blows up a lot of… rocks? There’s a lot of smaller explosions along the line of the cannon’s beam, so something has to be exploding, but the only thing there is rock. The blast might pulverize the rock, but why would the rock explode?

They make it look like the other Robeast is within literal inches of hitting Voltron with its scythe, but then cut to a different shot, and surprise-twist, Merla comes to Voltron’s defense and blocks the other Altean’s attack. Anyone remember when Honerva blew up Merla last episode? Merla was one of the few Colony Alteans to be actually given a voice in the show. She was depicted as one of the, if not the most zealous and devout of Honerva’s followers. Her turn against Honerva does not feel earned. It’s more of this show being written not to ensure that characters behave consistently, but written to produce surprise-twists. This form of writing causes characters to be hollow. I know she had a pivot point in the narrative: watching Honerva order the Alteans on the Atlas to give up their quintessence to fuel her action, but Merla has always been one of those who has been shown to believe in Honerva so much that they’d be willing to die for her. Like I said, it just doesn’t feel earned. Merla’s change is too sudden.

Also, what is up with this shot composition? This looks like they just flung together a bunch of unassociated images of various characters. Allura and Lance both only get half their face shown, but that’s more than Hunk gets. It looks like he’s only half a shoulder. The male Altean and Merla are supposed to be in direct combat, but their eyelines give an impression that they’re not currently directly against one another. There is no visual unity to this shot. No two characters in this shot look like they’re reacting to the same thing. It’s really, really weird.

Lance says, “Why is she helping us?” Did he miss last episode when Merla first shot and damaged one of the spires of the pyramid, producing a setback (though temporary, of course) for Honerva, and then later tried to blow up Honerva, resulting in Honerva blowing her up? Having Lance surprised that Merla’s turned when she’s done multiple things clearly showing that turn last episode makes it feel like Lance’s comment is out of place.

Merla says, “Do not harm them. They were misguided much like I was. We all were.” This is such unrealistic, simplistic writing. This feels like more of the show being unwilling to have consequences for characters’ actions (except for Lotor, the show didn’t mind killing him). It’s like the show is unwilling to have any of its villains (except Lotor) ultimately be a villain. And Merla’s massive psychological change that has occurred in just a few minutes is not even slightly realistic behavior. No one changes their entire world view this suddenly. Sure, people can undergo massive changes, but not as fast as Merla has done. This feels like a cheat. It shows how the creative team of this show think that having surprise plot twists is the height of storytelling.

So, Voltron’s sword, with one swipe, cuts through the Robeast in order to carve out the “pilot capsule” from the rest of the Robeast. That is absurd. We have seen one single Robeast hold off both Voltron and the Atlas in 7x13 “Lions’ Pride Part 2,” but now one Robeast is easily dispatched with a single swipe of Voltron’s regular-mode sword. I hate that I keep using the word “inconsistent,” but this really, really is.

Something nearly blasts Voltron with an energy beam attack. I am baffled by what this shot is showing us. Who fired? Voltron is currently slightly offscreen near the camera’s location just a bit off to the right side of the screen. The energy blast was not shown coming from Honerva, and she’s not in position to have shot the beam rightward toward near-camera and also have that beam destroy things near the pyramid on the left side of the shot. The Honerva/Atlas part of this shot to me honestly feels like it was added into the shot after all the rest of the animation of the shot was done. It’s really hard to see, but very close to the direct center of the shot, silhouetted by one of the explosions, is a Robeast that’s doing a bank turn and is swooping toward the camera, thus swooping toward where Voltron is. The shape of its movement has it originally heading from right to left, toward the whole Honerva/Atlas/pyramid morass on the left side of the screen. But it couldn’t have been what caused the blast that nearly hit Voltron either because that blast came from left to right, the complete opposite direction than the Robeast was moving. Maybe it’s all a fault in the logistics of the shot, but I don’t know who fired that beam and caused all these explosions.

Also, how is this Robeast still functioning? The episode was very dramatic about Pidge blowing this Robeast up. There have only been three Robeasts in this extended fight sequence across this episode and last. Merla has turned against Honerva. Pidge blew up one. And Voltron just carved the pilot out of the third. So, this has to be the one Pidge blew up. It is so incredibly frustrating that this show has done this so damn much. It’s all audience manipulation. We’re shown enemies being conclusively dealt with, but then surprise-twist, they’re still alive. You cannot believe any of the plot developments on this show because it’s only a matter of time before the show says that they didn’t actually happen despite showing them happening.

Honerva punches Atlas in the face. I literally laughed out loud. It’s not supposed to be funny. The voice acting of Honerva saying, “No!” right before throwing the punch is devoid of emotion. It just sounds flat. So that primed me to bust out a laugh when she literally punches Atlas in the face. This fist fight between the two of them is animated slow because the animators are trying to give a sense of size and weight to their mechas, but a punch that looks like slow-motion even though it’s real-time just feels weird.

Coran announces that he needs “an escort to Honerva’s pyramid structure.” At first, I thought: Atlas is directly fighting Honerva, there’s only one Robeast (even if it shouldn’t be functioning since Pidge/Voltron blew it up) that, between Voltron and Merla, they should be able to keep it occupied, so why would Coran need an escort? (And guess what, I’m right. Coran’s transit from the Atlas to the pyramid doesn’t have anything happen, so the escort is pointless.) Shiro even says, “What!? Right now!?” But then I realized, if they need an escort, there’s an easy option: the MFEs. They’re not doing anything, despite Iverson having said a long time ago for the pilots to “standby for launch.” They never did launch, despite Iverson’s line of dialog acting as if that launch was imminent.

Slav tells Shiro that “the sooner we go, the higher the probability that we can use the Atleans to stop the space-time rupture.” Coran, Slav, and Sam are in whatever room it is where Slav and Sam work. They’re not in a hangar boarding a transport, which when Coran first announced his need for an escort I expected him to be. Coran tells Shiro that his plan is “similar to how we stopped the rupture when Voltron entered the quintessence field.” This has to be just a clumsy way of Coran referencing the fight with Lotor in “Defender of All Universes.” The way it’s phrased, his specific words could be interpreted to mean that the means of stopping a rupture was by having Voltron enter the quintessence field. It’s just odd that he phrased it as “when Voltron entered the quintessence field” instead of something like, when Voltron defeated Lotor. Of course, the means of stopping that rupture was that they blew up a teludav. What Sam next describes sounds nothing like that.

Sam says, “Only this time, that superstructure will be the energy amplification conductor, and the Alteans will be the energy source.”

Can I tell you how much this infuriates me? Like, this is offensively infuriating. Remember how this show declared Lotor to be “evil” because he drew quintessence out of Alteans from the Colony? And how this narrative condemned Lotor to disgrace and death because he did that? Well now, the heroes want to use the Alteans as an energy source. The show doesn’t condemn the heroes for thinking of and using the Alteans as an energy source like it did when Lotor did the exact same thing. I doubt the executive producers, story editor, writers or anyone whatsoever working on this show realized how hypocritical this is. Through their storytelling, this show’s creative team absolutely condemned Lotor for using Alteans to produce energy. Just last episode, the show, at least temporarily, condemned Honerva for demanding the Alteans give up their quintessence to power her attempt to tear through reality to the point that her doing so was such a severe action that her own lieutenant, Merla, turned against her. But now, using the Alteans as a source of energy is okay because it’s the officially labeled heroes and not the officially labeled villains who’re the ones doing it. Nothing about this plan has established the idea that the Alteans are willing participants in this. We’re left to have to assume that once we see them in action. And the specifics of what the Alteans end up doing is different than what Coran, Sam, and Slav are planning here because the Alteans end up going to the Balmeras, not to the pyramid.

When the teludav was used to close the rupture, there was a huge explosion. This plan is being described here as being similar. So, wouldn’t there then be an explosion at the energy source the same way the teludav caused its explosion? So, won’t the people at the pyramid explode? (This gets even more complicated once this plan is in process because why they’re doing it keeps changing.)

Shiro concludes this discussion by telling Curtis, “Get a team in place.” I’m surprised that Shiro didn’t instantly think of ordering the MFEs to fly escort. Again, it’s not like the MFEs are doing anything.

The Robeast that had once been destroyed by Pidge’s cannon blast but then was surprise-twist okay continues to fight Voltron. Merla slams into it, and then Voltron swoops in and, like when they carved out the cockpit from the other Robeast, cuts this Robeast in half with Voltron’s sword in one single swing. How was Luca’s Robeast able to endure being attacked by both Voltron and Atlas in “Lions’ Pride Part 2” when twice here Voltron has been able to take two Robeasts out with a single swing of the sword?

So, the MFEs are part of the escort. I never knew that Curtis had the authority to order the MFEs on a mission.

Also, since Coran, Slav, and Sam are working on this plan now, and Hunk, of course, is part of Voltron, this reveals how absolutely pointless part of last episode was. Last episode, Hunk, Coran, Romelle, and Tova went to the Balmera to get a crystal to power an upgrade to Atlas’s weapons that Sam, Slav, and Pidge were putting together. But now, none of that is happening. Why did this show waste time last episode by having Team Coran go to the Balmera for a crystal and Team Sam working to design a weapons’ upgrade for the Atlas if the upgrade never happens? And Coran had Allura wormhole the Balmera to here because he couldn’t find a crystal big enough to power the weapon upgrade, though there was nothing said about what Coran was thinking they would do that required them to bring the Balmera here.

All of that – Coran, Hunk, Romelle, and Tova going to the Balmera, the introduction of new Balmerans who look nothing like the long-established Balmerans – Allura standing by at the wormhole generator specifically to bring Hunk and crew back and ultimately bringing the Balmera here, and thus Allura taking forever to get from the wormhole generator to the Blue Lion in this episode – Sam, Slav, and Pidge working together to engineer the Atlas weapons’ upgrade, and Pidge getting annoyed with Slav’s OCD – none of that means anything. It was all a giant waste of time.

Out of curiosity, I went through last episode and counted the time the episode spent on having characters talk about the weapons’ upgrade, going to the Balmera, actually going and coming, and Honerva’s attack on the Balmera. If I’ve done my math correctly:

Excluding Honerva’s attack on the Balmera, last episode spent 4 minutes 35 seconds on this weapons’ upgrade/Balmera crystal plot.

If you include Honerva’s attack on the Balmera, the time spent was 5 minutes 40 seconds.

These numbers are just last episode. These numbers do not include any time this episode spent recovering from that plan, like Hunk having to drop Coran and crew off on the Atlas or how much time Allura wasn’t in the Blue Lion because she was moving from the wormhole generator to her Lion (I don’t even know how one would actually calculate this latter element since it takes unusually long for her to make the trip).

The length of last episode between the end of the opening title sequence to the start of the end credits is 21 minutes 50 seconds.

Without Honerva’s attack on the Balmera included, last episode spent 1/5 of its time on the weapons’ upgrade/Balmera crystal plotline.

If you include Honerva’s attack on the Balmera, last episode spent 1/4 of its time on the plotline.

Spending one-fifth to one-quarter of an episode on a plot that is never resolved, never manifests, goes nowhere, means nothing, is totally forgotten, etc. is outrageous. It’s not like this is a plotline introduced seasons ago or even at the beginning of the season but then forgotten or abandoned much later. This is a plot that was introduced just last episode. Now, seven minutes (including the opening title sequence) into this episode, with Coran, Sam, and Slav now going to the pyramid to stop the universe from collapsing, the weapons’ upgrade plot is abandoned. Why spend so much screen-time last episode and have logistics ramifications this episode that had to be resolved for a plot that had no purpose in the narrative?

We finally see that the Alteans are conscious and seemingly unpossessed now. Team Coran is travelling to the pyramid on a rebel ship that includes Matt and his girlfriend.

Voltron swooshes, past Honerva and Atlas fighting, toward the rift. Keith has Hunk form Voltron’s shoulder cannon to shoot, I guess, the spinning wing-blade device. The cannon fires, everything goes black, and then there’s a huge explosion. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if the cannon caused the explosion or if the explosion was just the natural end of the cycle of the spinning wing-blades doing their thing. With no reason explained, Voltron and Atlas are now drifting without power, while Honerva’s mecha is positioned, fully functional, directly in front of the spinning wing-blades. Atlas is now between Voltron and Honerva, so given the size differential between Voltron and Atlas, the explosion had to send Voltron flying back far past where it had passed Atlas and Honerva fighting. How Honerva is now suddenly directly in front of the wing-blades is not explained either. It definitely feels like a transition is missing. The episode has totally just skipped over something again.

Honerva causes the wings-blades to stop spinning and to return to their wing-like position around her mecha. She flies into the rift, everything goes white, then the light from the rift fades. Then there’s a shot that places Voltron in between the Atlas and the rift, when the last we saw them, the Atlas was between Voltron and the rift. The logistics of this episode are a mess.

Keith says that they’re going in and orders the Atlas to follow him (because Keith is in command of everything, apparently). Coran reports that the Atlas can’t, and Pidge confirms, the Atlas isn’t made of transreality comet ore, so it can’t go through the rift. This makes me realize that the ship that the transreality comet was on in 3x04 “Hole in the Sky” was not made of the ore, but it somehow sat with one half of the ship in this reality and the other half of the ship in the other reality for 10,000 years. How was it able to transverse realities if it wasn’t made of the ore?

If Atlas can’t come with them, Keith says Voltron will go in alone. Slav says that won’t work because Voltron alone is unlikely to defeat Honerva.

Then, literally out of nowhere eight more Balmeras warp into the area. As others have pointed out, if Balmeras can warp like this (and they’ve never been shown to be able to do so before), then why did Allura have to remain in standby waiting to wormhole the Balmera to this location last episode?

Beyond the abandonment of the weapons’ upgrade plot making the trip to the Balmera last episode absolutely pointless, and thus negating a need for Allura to have been kept away from her Lion and out of the fight for so long, the fact that the Balmera can apparently travel at super speeds necessary to all warp in like this now is a second reason that Allura did not have to be written to be out of the fight. It makes you question: Why did they write Allura out of the fight then? Keeping her out of it is clearly artificially created since it has nothing to do with anything necessary to the narrative. Was it solely that the creative team for this show couldn’t think of what to have Voltron doing during this battle if Voltron was formed for all of it?

Also, how did these Balmeras know to come here now? Why didn’t they come earlier? This is all completely contrived. To deal with the Atlas not being made of comet ore, and thus (if you ignore the ship in “Hole in the Sky”) not able to enter the rift per the rule that only ships made of ore can go in, the show needed to do what Honerva had already done for herself. To balance Honerva’s creating a new, unified mecha of Sincline and her mecha, the show wanted to combine Voltron and the Atlas. But there is no mechanism for that to happen. Honerva used the energy she tore out of the Balmera to power her mecha combination. So, here come a bunch of Balmeras to power the Voltron-Atlas combination. There is no other reason for this to happen but to produce the combination. But because literally no characters planned for this, it happens out of nowhere. Again, the arrival of the Balmeras is completely contrived. No character has to do anything, and boom, magical power upgrade.

I actively try to avoid ever referring to anything in any story as being a deus ex machina. But the arrival of the Balmeras to cause Voltron and the Atlas to combine is a clear and blatant deus ex machina.

One of the Balmeras has Shay and her people on it. Bringing in this species, who’ve been exclusively presented as Balmerans the whole series until a new species was introduced last episode emphasizes the discrepancy or dissonance of there being two different species who’re called Balmeran.

Lance actually asks, “What called them here,” and Hunk answers, “Shay.” This is not an answer. This is a writing cheat. Just because the writing has Hunk say Shay did this does not explain how this situation came to be. How did Shay know to come here and to do so now? She had no ability to know that now is precisely when Voltron and the Atlas would need power to merge mechas. Even if Shay somehow magically knew to come, how did the other Balmeras know? This is absolutely absurd.

The music of this moment is really nice, at least. There is an atmospheric quality to the moment that, though it makes no sense, feels kind of cool.

Voltron and Atlas combine. Maybe I’m wrong for thinking this, but the design of the combined form totally looks like it has feminine high-heeled shoes/boots. That would make so much more sense if Allura, not Shiro, was the captain of the Atlas. The closest they can get to try to explain it away is that Allura is the pilot of the Blue Lion, which is one leg of Voltron, so somehow her being a leg causes her femininity to influence the feet of the combined mecha. That’s me really stretching to try to give them an explanation for the design aesthetic that works with what made it into the final product of this show.

Shiro orders Coran, “We need you to secure this area and find a way to suppress this rift.” Like with the weapons’ upgrade plot, why is the show spending time having Coran organize and act on a plan to stop the collapse of the universe when the show has everything he’s doing as part of that rendered meaningless because the universe ceases to exist?

Coran suddenly realizes “how to get the Altean energy into the structure.” It’s still really weird that they’re going to use the Alteans as energy generators while having condemned Lotor for his having done so. Anyway, he’s going to have the Alteans do something with the Balmerans. He, Sam, and Slav, meanwhile are going to the pyramid. None of this matters though because it doesn’t affect anything.

Voltron travels through the rift to an alternate Altea. Lance says, “It looks like this reality is crumbling, just like ours.” At least Hunk points out that it’s happening really quickly. Pidge tries to say that it’s specifically because the wing-blades are what opened the rift, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Pidge says, “The rift must lead directly to the reality that Honerva’s been looking for.” So, the reality that they’re in is not the reality that Honerva was looking for, so then why did Honerva tear into this specific reality then? She tore into this one and then tore out of it to another one. Why? She’s supposed to have already found the specific reality she wants to go to, so it’s not like she has to go into each one and spend time looking around to figure out if any particular reality will suit her desires.

There’s a shot of Shiro. He’s floating in the air in front of his control screens. His floating looks odd. There is no other bridge crew, so that makes me wonder, what happened to the rest of the crew of the Atlas during this merger with Voltron?

Shiro says, “Any reality that those wings bore through is falling apart.” Well, Pidge just said that the new rift (the one up in the sky, not the one behind them that they just came through) “must lead directly to the reality that Honerva’s been looking for.” So, that means only three realities should then be affected by Honerva. It seems clear that this line of dialog from Shiro is set up to negate what Pidge said. So, why did the writer not just revise Pidge’s line of dialog so that she wasn’t saying something that wasn’t true?

I just realized that I am only halfway through this episode.

(Here’s a link: This episode’s commentary continues in part 2.)

[calligraphist-artemisia]

I’ll Take Her Place (Chapter 25)

Summary: AU. When Allura breaks the news that she is to wed Prince Lotor in order to continue the peaceful relationship between Altea and Daibazaal, Pidge knows that she has to do something to change that. And so, with a little help, she comes up with a new plan. A better plan

Pairings: Keith/Pidge (main) ; Shiro/Allura (minor) and Hunk/Lance (minor) ; one-sided Lotor/Allura

Also posted on AO3 and fanfiction.net (under the username Kishirokitsune)

Chapter 25

Katie quietly stood behind Keithir, one hand gripping the back of his chair, as the Red Lion sped through space faster than she'd ever been able to go in the Green Lion. She could hardly believe she was there in the cockpit of the missing Lion and that Keithir was the paladin they'd been searching for.

Keithir was her partner.

The right arm of Voltron, to mirror her left.

A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the unexpected turn of events. What did it mean for them? She and Keithir were getting married because the Daibazaal council wanted to strengthen their alliance, but Keithir's role as the Red Paladin gave them exactly that. Would the council still wish for a wedding? Or would they be asked to break it off?

And which one of those did Katie want?

She watched Keithir get a feel for the controls, running his hands over the knobs and switches. By the subtle flickers of emotion on his face, she could only guess that he was figuring out how to communicate with his Lion. She knew from experience that was tricky to determine what they were trying to convey, so she stayed quiet so he could concentrate.

After a few minutes, the Red Lion began to slow.

“What? No, don't do that!” Keithir protested, reaching for the throttle to try and speed up again. “Come on!”

Red deliberately slowed more.

Keithir scowled as he sat back in his seat and glared at the controls.

Katie wondered if she should ask what was going on or wait until he told her. He seemed to be in some sort of mental disagreement with Red, which wasn't an altogether uncommon occurrence with the Lions, especially considering how new their bond was.

He took a moment to calm himself after his small outburst and then turned to Katie. “I promised you an explanation.”

“You did,” Katie agreed. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest as all of her questions came rushing back. Where should she start?

Keithir answered that for her.

“What I told you the very first time we spoke – about being half human – that was true,” he told her. “My mom was a member of the Blade of Marmora. She was sent undercover to help find and protect the Lions from anyone who wanted to use them for harm. The group she infiltrated was one determined to overthrow Emperor Zarkon. They never liked that he took an Altean wife. Said that it weakened the empire to have her as Empress and that having Lotor as prince was a threat to the Galra way of life.

“So when they tracked down one of the Lions, she did everything she could to try and keep it a secret. She attacked the others who were scouting the area with her and destroyed their ships, but not before one of them critically damaged hers. She crashed on the planet and that was where she met my father.”

“She crashed on Earth... the Blue Lion!” Katie realized.

Keithir nodded. “She managed to send a message to Kolivan about what happened, but refused a rescue shuttle. She stayed to continue protecting the Lion. And then she fell in love.”

“So how did you end up as a prince? Your parents...” Katie trailed off.

“There were others who came looking for the scouting party and when they found her, they weren't so forgiving.” Keithir looked away and clenched his jaw. “My mom gave her life to protect the Lion and the two people who mattered most to her.

“When he didn't hear from her again, Kolivan traveled to Earth to find out what happened. He found me instead. I didn't know I could shift until I was almost ten, so for most of my childhood I looked like this.” He gestured to his current form. “My dad knew I wouldn't have a life on Earth, so he asked Kolivan to take me. I would have been exclusively raised by the Blade of Marmora, except Kolivan knew the Emperor and Empress wanted a second cub, so they compromised.”

Katie said nothing for a moment, taking the time to process what she'd learned.

Keithir was adopted, which explained his lack of resemblance to Zarkon and Honerva. And while it was surprising that the Galra would accept a prince not of royal blood, she could faintly remember reading something about a challenge that could be issued whenever a new emperor was to be crowned. Bloodlines weren't an all-important factor to the Galra; a strong leader was.

“Do you... do you ever talk to him? Your human dad?” Katie asked.

“Twice a deca-phoeb. We video call on our birthdays. Thace and Ulaz helped me set up a special line just for that,” Keithir said with a soft smile. “We can't always get a clear connection, but it's something.”

“You should visit him while we're on Earth. I bet he'd like that,” Katie suggested.

Keithir chuckled. “You know, I haven't even told him that I'll be there. He's going to be so surprised.”

His father wouldn't be the only one. Katie realized with dawning horror that she hadn't exactly gotten around to sending a message to her mother. “Oh no,” she groaned. “Mom's going to be so mad at me.”

They met each others eyes and broke out into laughter. And from that, Katie could feel a spark of something. An emotion that wasn't her own. A burgeoning connection formed between them.

There was a flicker of guilt there and she wasn't sure which of them it originated from.

“I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to explain earlier,” Katie apologized.

“What? Katie, that's not...” Keithir struggled to get his thoughts together, taken aback by the apology. He stood up and took her hands, keeping her attention solely on him. “Katie, you were right to be mad. The whole reason I went to find you that night was to tell you the truth, and I completely messed it up. I never should have kissed you like that. It wasn't right.”

Katie looked up at him, taking in the sincerity in his voice and expression. She didn't need the subtle nudge from her Lion in order to forgive him. “I think we've both made mistakes, but they're not so big that we can't heal and move on. I know that whatever the future brings, whatever Lotor has waiting for us when we reach the Castle, I still want to face it with you.”

The Red Lion purred in satisfaction and sped up once again.

A smile bloomed across Keithir's face. “Together,” he agreed.

In the end, they couldn't find the slightest hint to where Lotor's ship had gone. No amount of calculations or re-examining the security footage was enough to point them in a clear direction. They had to admit defeat as they flew past Pluto's orbital path and made contact with the Galaxy Garrison on Earth.

“What are we going to tell mom?” Matt worried as he paced on the bridge. There was little else for him to do and if he tried to sit still, he would drive himself crazy.

He knew he should calm down, but after three years of little hope of escape, he thought he deserved to have his whole family together and safe. How could he possibly go home without Pidge, after she refused to do so without him? All that mattered was finding her.

“We'll tell her the truth,” Sam said from where he sat. “That Katie is missing and we're doing everything we can to find her. The real question is, how much will we tell the Garrison?”

Matt looked around the room. Hunk and Lance were still seated at their stations, slumped in defeat. Kolivan stood against a far wall, silent unless one of his subordinates arrived to speak with him. Shiro stood with Allura and Coran at the helm.

“We could tell the Garrison that Pidge and Keithir took on a mission along the way, and we haven't heard back from them yet,” Shiro said.

Allura frowned. “While it is believable, they are expecting someone there to represent Daibazaal. If he truly did leave on a mission, he would have appointed someone to take his place.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Okay, this might sound like a really dumb idea. Like, really dumb. But what if we use Lotor as the representative?” Lance suggested. He was met with noisy protest from nearly everyone in the room,  but Allura looked thoughtful rather than outright dismissive.

“It's not a bad idea,” she murmured.

Shiro turned to stare at her in shock. “You're not really considering this, are you? Allura, you know Lotor can't be trusted! He knows Pidge and Keithir are on his ship and not away on mission. He'd never go along with any of our plans.”

“I know, which is why we must plan this carefully,” Allura said. “As much as I loathe to get him involved, I would feel better if he was someplace we can all keep an eye on him. I believe that he still thinks he can use me to get whatever it is that he wants. If he thinks there's still a chance for that, he won't risk turning me against him. Kolivan, you have more experience in matters like this than any of us. What do you suggest?”

Kolivan stepped forward to properly address the room. “We will let Lotor believe that is is his idea to join you. Much of our plan up until now relies on Lotor believing that he has the upper hand and we will continue to reinforce that belief.”

“How will we do that?” Sam asked.

“By letting him know we are aware of their disappearance, I believe Lotor will then come to us. He will offer to take Keithir's place, to act the part of the flawless prince, as he always has. We will let him. It must be done with reluctance-” (“No problem there,” Hunk grumbled.) “-or else he will suspect that something is amiss.”

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest. “A lot of this relies on predicting what his next move is, but that's something we've always struggled with. How can you be so sure that this will work?”

“Because it has already been set in motion. I gave Thace the order fifteen doboshes ago and he reports Lotor has already begun to make his move,” Kolivan said calmly.

Allura opened her mouth to argue that he should have said something sooner, but snapped it shut instead. They didn't have time to spare on bickering among themselves at the moment, but she would be having words with him later.

She breathed in deeply. “This will not be easy for us, but I believe we can get through it. Be diplomatic. Don't let Lotor bait you into losing your temper.”

Taking a moment to look around, Allura began to formulate a plan. For the most part, they would have to wing it, but there were a few things they could do to sway the odds in their favor; to buy more time until Keithir and Pidge returned. “I know what we need to do.”

The closer they got to Earth, the more nervous Keithir began to feel. He wasn't sure if it was his own or Katie's or if their emotions were mixing together to become even stronger. Adding to that, Red's delight at finally being free bled over to him, no matter how much he tried to keep distant until he could adjust to her constant presence.

It was almost too much.

He watched Katie from the corner of his eye, wondering how she was faring with it all. She'd just been reunited with her family, only to be torn away from them again. He couldn't help but feel like he was partly to blame.

“I'm sorry I got you involved in this,” he said.

Katie made a confused sound. “More apologies?”

“Lotor never would have targeted you if it wasn't for me.” He frowned when she shook her head. “It's the truth, Katie.”

“No, it isn't. I put a target on my back the moment I asked to take Allura's place. And honestly, I wouldn't change that for anything in the universe,” Katie said, leaving no room for argument.”The fact that he kept the Red Lion hidden proves that he only sees me and the others as a threat. You heard what he said earlier.”

Keithir knew she had a good point, but couldn't shake his reasoning that he'd only escalated it. At the same time...

“I wish you weren't put in danger like this, but I am glad you're here,” he admitted. “I don't know what I would have done if you weren't.”

Katie's gaze softened. “I know it sounds crazy, but I'm glad we went through this together. As much as we don't understand what Lotor wants, he seems to underestimate us time and time again. If he only had one threat to think about, it would be easier for him, but that's no longer the case. Maybe that's why it's taken us so long, because up until now he's only had to worry about the Blade or the Paladins and now we're working together. Now there are individuals collaborating against him.”

“You've been thinking about this for a while,” Keithir guessed.

“A little. That thought came about while I was working on trying to make sense of of his recent actions. We've proposed so many hypothetical's lately that I think it's clouding our view. I figured if we start over from what we know for certain, maybe we can get a clearer picture,” Katie said.

“Makes sense,” Keithir agreed. “What do you need from me?”

Katie eagerly passed her hand over her bracelet, bringing up the screen from earlier, and with a few practiced swipes revealed the data she'd carefully gathered. “I thought about compiling it into a timeline at first, but then I found that there's a lot I can only guess at chronologically. So instead I put everything in its own little block and drew lines if there was a connection.”

“It's colorful,” Keithir noted with some amusement. He thought it was rather cute, though he was sure she had some logical reason for it.

“Color-coded and tagged for easier reference,” Katie said proudly. “You can see that there are a lot of things that connect together, but I do have a few outliers.” She quickly highlighted the ones she was talking about and zoomed in so Keithir could see them for himself.

Lotor's insistence that he marry Allura was there, as was the attack on the Altean satellite. The unexpected alliance with the pirates who held her family captive. Shiro's first prosthetic arm. (Added on the same day as the pirates, interestingly enough.) Pidge had already added the Red Lion to that list. And the other...

“Oriande?” Keithir asked in confusion. “Lotor is looking for Oriande?”

“He's the reason Allura and Shiro went looking for it. I never told you that?”

Keithir shook his head. “I had wondered what inspired them to go look, but...”

That was strange.

The timing was strange.

Everything about it.

How convenient was it that Shiro and Allura heard of Oriande around the same time that the Blade learned the location of Sam and Matt Holt? Keithir found it hard to believe that it was only coincidence. But how were they connected?

Was Oriande a test, meant to show Lotor who the traitor was? Was it just a distraction, to split the group apart and lessen their strength? Or maybe it had been a trap, and Lotor hoped whoever went would perish in the white hole?

Keithir didn't know how Katie could stand to compile everything without driving herself crazy with theories, but it was yet another thing he admired her for.

Still, there was one connection and he was surprised she didn't see it.

“Princess Allura is the connection,” he told her. “I don't know why it's specifically her, but everything he's done lately revolves around her. It could go back even further than we know.”

Katie stared hard at the screen. “If that's true, then Allura's in more danger than any  of us. And we still don't know why!”

“Maybe we never will. I'm not sure I really want to,” Keithir said honestly. “What we need to focus on is a way to stop him. I think I know a way to do that, but I'll need your help.”

Katie looked away from the screen and met his eyes unflinchingly. “What's your plan?”

Allura stood tall and plastered the most pleasant smile she could muster on her face. Commander Iverson had proven to be surprisingly welcoming as he personally greeted the Castle of Lions and offered a tour of Garrison property. She had no illusions that he was only doing it because she and Lotor were the visiting royalty, but she appreciated it never-the-less.

At least it meant she didn't have to hold a steady conversation with Lotor.

What was that thing Shiro liked to say? Something about patience and focusing? She tried to keep that in mind whenever she felt her ire spike, as well as the fact that her plan to keep Lotor distracted was working.

And when all of that stopped helping, she thought back to the moment they landed and left the Castle. Of the pure joy in Lance's voice when he spotted his sister. Of Hunk, already crying as Lance dragged him along to see her. She remembered a woman shoving her way past Garrison officials to run into Sam's arms. It had been heartwarming to witness.

Allura smiled to herself.

“I'm glad she meets your approval, Princess.” Iverson's rough voice jolted her from her thoughts. “The IGF Atlas is the culmination of everything we've learned so far from the technology that you've allowed us to have. Perhaps she isn't as impressive as your Castle, but we'll get there in time.”

There was a gleam in his eyes that spoke of pride for all that they'd accomplished so far.

“I look forward to the day when she is ready to take to the stars,” Allura said warmly. “If there is anything you'd like my advice on while I'm here, please don't hesitate to ask.”

“I may have a few engineers who'd love to pick your brain, but that can wait for another day,” Iverson said.

And so, it was back to their tour.

Allura tuned out the Commander's chatter once again, her mind straying to thoughts of Keithir and Pidge and why they hadn't heard anything from them yet. Shiro and Coran had remained on the Castle for the express purpose of continuing their search, but so far had maintained radio silence. Allura couldn't help but worry.

She wished Shiro had joined her on the ground. She knew her whole plan of keeping Lotor distracted meant he couldn't find out about the Altean markings on Shiro's face, but she would have felt much better if he was by her side. At least she had Kolivan and Thace with her, as they had tagged along as her protection and to keep an eye on the nameless pretender who had taken the place of a true member of the Blade of Marmora.

And then she felt it.

A rippling of activity across her recent bond with the Black Lion. A wave of concern from Shiro. A flurry of excitement from all of the Lions.

Allura abruptly stopped and turned to look at the Castle of Lions just in time to witness the Green Lion shooting up into the sky. She watched the Lion until she faded from sight, her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

She glanced back at Lotor to see his lips pressed in a thin line and his eyes narrowed as he also stared up at the sky.

“Princess, the Green Lion!”

“I saw her, Coran,” Allura said. “Have you found anything? Do you think she can sense Pidge?”

Coran hesitated. “There is something, but... it can't be! We've been looking for so long!”

A shiver ran down her spine. Allura raised her eyes back to the sky, waiting. Kolivan moved closer to her, every muscle tense as he tried to prepare for whatever was coming.

Allura blinked and there was a spot of red in the distance. She watched it closely. Was it just her imagination?

No, it was getting closer.

Her breath lodged in her throat. Everything but the sound of her heartbeat faded away as she watched the unmistakable form of the Red Lion descend with Green following closely behind. As the Lion opened her mouth, all sound returned to Allura with the strength of her roar.

Iverson muttered uneasily and Lotor appeared almost paralyzed, unmoving as Red landed heavily on the ground in front of them. Green flew overhead and set down behind them with a low growl.

Coran and Shiro were both shouting so loudly in her ears that Allura had no choice but to turn off her earrings.

The Red Lion bowed her head and opened her mouth, letting Keithir and Pidge step out into the bright sunlight. Keithir's mouth was set into a hard scowl, his eyes dark with promised retribution, and Pidge's expression wasn't far off from that.

“Brother!” Lotor sounded as though the word pained him to say. “How good to see-”

“Save it, Lotor!” Keithir snapped.

“You can't talk yourself out of this. Not this time,” Pidge added.

Lotor frowned. “I haven't the faintest idea what the two of you are talking about. I merely wished to visit Earth for myself. The two of you are the ones who stole my ship and vanished without a trace!”

Iverson looked taken aback by the new information. “Now wait just a minute, you told me that the two of them took on a mission on the way here!”

“I did, and I apologize for not being truthful,” Allura said soothingly. “If you would give Prince Keithir and Pidge a moment to explain, I'm sure we can clear everything up.”

“We didn't steal Lotor's ship,” Pidge said.

“Lies,” Lotor said dismissively.

Pidge fixed him with a hard glare. “We didn't steal anything. We saw that Lotor's ship was docked on the Castle and got curious, so we boarded it to find him.”

That was a lie, Allura noted. More likely the two sneaked on board to investigate.

“The ship took off on its own while we were inside,” Keithir picked up the story. “No matter what we tried, we couldn't get it to stop or turn around. It was on autopilot and headed straight into a star, but you already knew about all of this, don't you, brother.”

There was a flicker of ugly rage across Lotor's face, but it lasted only a split second before he schooled his features into something more neutral. “I know we have our differences, but for you to blindly accuse me of trying to kill you is ridiculous. Why would I ever want such a thing?”

Pidge smirked and held out her wrist. She waved her hand over the bracelet she wore, pulling up a video of Lotor.

“At last I will be rid of the biggest obstacles to my plans. After this, there will be no hope of ever forming Voltron. There will be nothing in the universe that can stop me. It hardly matters that your precious paladins and Blade of Marmora will blame me for your disappearances. Their word means nothing if they don't have proof...”

Pidge paused it there. “I think they have all of the proof they need.”

Lotor's facade crumbled with his fury. “You cannot do this to me! I am the Crown Prince of Daibazaal!”

“And while aboard the Castle of Lions, you are under my jurisdiction and Altean law,” Allura reminded him. “You will be held in a cell while we investigate these claims against you. Kolivan, if you would?”

Kolivan inclined his head towards her and stepped forward, but Lotor backed away looking for a way out.

“Acxa, it's time!” he said, turning to the nameless pretender for help. Unfortunately for him, Thace was already a step ahead and had his blade pressed to her throat, keeping her in place.

Helplessly, Lotor looked to Allura. “You can't do this to me! We were meant to marry! We could have ruled the universe together!”

“I would never marry a monster like you,” Allura said, watching calmly as Kolivan bound Lotor's hands behind his back. Her gaze slid to Thace, who was a bit more gentle as he did the same to Lotor's associate. “Take them both back to the Castle and put them in separate cells. I will join you shortly.”

As they left, Allura turned her earrings back on, not surprised at all to hear Coran frantically trying to reach her. “Coran,” she said, interrupting whatever he was saying. “I need you to get in touch with Emperor Zarkon and Empress Honerva. Get a call set up at their earliest convenience, but no sooner than one varga. I will explain everything once I get back.”

“Understood, princess.”

Allura took a moment to breathe and then turned to Iverson with an apologetic smile. “I'm truly sorry for all of this. I promise that all of this will be explained to you, but right now there are other things I must take care of.”

Without waiting for a response, she made her way over to Keithir and Pidge.

“I can't believe it. Is it really over?” Pidge asked, sounding faint.

Allura nodded. “You have visual and audio evidence of what he tried to do. No one will be able to deny that.”

“He had the Red Lion this whole time.”

Allura blinked, unsure if she'd heard that correctly. She had assumed they'd just been close enough that the Red Lion could sense that there was a paladin in danger, but to hear that Lotor had dared to keep one of the Lions hidden from them...

“That was why I could never find her like I did the others. I doubt I could have even if we did know who her paladin is,” Allura realized.

“Speaking of,” Pidge said as she looked up at Keithir with a tiny grin. She took his hand and squeezed gently.

“Oh,” Allura breathed out as everything clicked into place. The younger prince was a paladin – the missing piece they'd been looking for. “Well that's...I am glad that there is something good that came from all of this. Welcome to the team, Prince Keithir.”

“Is it awful that I kind of want to thank Lotor for trapping us on his ship and trying to kill us? If not for that, we never would have found her,” Pidge said cheekily.

Her words got Keithir to crack a smile. “He'd hate that.”

Allura let herself relax as the two joked, taking a moment to let her stress ebb away. There was still a lot she had to do, but for a moment she could revel in their safe return and the fact that finally, all of the Lions were together again.

[stardust-and-blades]

Lost Future AU

Hi welcome to part 4. Should i link the others? Yes.  MORE ANGST WHOOP (Hot tip: listen to “carry on my wayward son” by Facing West and imagine Keith turning his back on Lance for the afterlife yes i too am crying)

part 1 part 2 part 3

(EDIT): I fixed the font finally bc tumblr was being a bITCH --------------------------

“Hey Hunk, can I talk to you about something?” Keith asked.

Hunk’s head popped up from his shake, cocking his head to the side. “Of course. What’s up, bud?”

Keith looked down at his untouched drink, his hand tightening around the plastic. The diner they sat at was loud, rush hour for the corner food restaurant finally hitting at the stroke of 5. Keith ran into Hunk on his way from work, the other inviting them to dinner since Lance would not be home until later and knowing full well he hasn’t seen the boy in quite awhile. Hunk is usually with Pidge or Lance, and when Keith and him are able to hang out they jump at the chance. Before they got to know each other, Keith was reluctant in getting to know Pidge’s engineer partner, resistant towards any form of human bonding. But after several encounters with him and Lance, as well as dating his best friend, they warmed up to each other in dual time. They weren’t as close as Shiro and Keith, but they weren’t strangers either. And Keith found it nice to be around Hunk, who had a permanent aura of welcoming. 

Which is what led him to agree to grab a shake with him. There was something that kept nagging at him for the past week, unable to talk to Lance about it because of the sensitive subject. Because, not too long ago Lance lost his grandmother, and Keith did not want to rip open the healing wound. Lance was barely getting back on his feet, Keith didn’t want to be the one to push him down again.

But he couldn’t keep it to himself. He had to tell someone. While logically he could confine in Shiro, Keith has been on the fence about it. But with Hunk, it was different. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but with Hunk he felt his request would be met with a calm demeanor than an overly concerned one (aka Shiro).

He just wanted a friend to confide in. Hunk is a pretty good option.

Without lifting his eyes, he twirled the straw in his chocolate shake around, mixing the whipped cream and losing the cherry that sat elegantly on top.

“If I ever suddenly die, will you make sure Lance is okay?”

Hunk, believing Keith had a less grim question, choked on his shake, the substance almost exiting out of his nose. 

He looked at Keith incredulously. “What the--Keith, you’re not going to die. You’re 22!”

Keith’s jaw clenched, squeezing the cup further. “Yeah, I know.”

“If this is about Lance’s grandmother, Lance saw it coming. She was 86 years old, and while he is hurting he knew she was going to pass eventually. But this--”

“I’m young, I see that, Hunk.” Keith stated, his voice flat. “But my parents were in their late twenties when they died. Not all people live until a ripe old age.”

“Yeah, not all. But the odds are very different from the elderly.” Hunk’s brows furrowed. “You still have, what, 60 years on your side? I don’t see why you’re worrying about death now. Unless...” Hunk gasped, grabbing Keith’s wrist and pulling him close enough Keith can see his own reflection in his brown irises. “Oh no, Keith do you have a deadly disease? Cancer? Did you tell Shiro? Why haven’t you told Lance?”

Hunk ceased his babbling when Keith shook his head. “No, no my health is fine. There is no disease or cancer in my family besides insomnia.”

“Oh.” Hunk said, releasing Keith. He still stared at Keith, perplexed. “Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because while I want to believe I’ll live a long life, that isn’t always insured.” He reached inside his hoodie’s front pockets, extracting a thick envelope. “After seeing Lance deal with his grandmother’s death, I began thinking. What if something happened to me? What if I didn’t die of old age, but something else? What would I leave behind?”

Hunk gazed at him with sympathy, seeing his point but not wanting to put it out in the universe. When Keith pushed the envelope towards him, he didn’t take it. “I...see where the anxiety is coming from. But I don’t think it is necessary. Keith, I think you will live a long life. It’s not like we are in a middle of a war.” Hunk attempted to emphasize a joke, but it fell flat at the end. Keith gave him a small smile, not angry Hunk wanted to place faith in a positive future. And who was to say Keith is right? He has been wrong before, and for once he hopes Hunk’s resistance towards his epiphany meant his worries were for nothing.

But he can’t leave a stone unturned. So he continued.

“We aren’t, but just in case.” He slid the parchment closer to him. “Hunk, you’re one of Lance’s closest friends and one of the few people I let in. I know this is a lot to ask for, but there is no one else I can ask this from. Shiro is stressed enough, and knowing Pidge they would accidentally let it slip what is going on too early. I don’t want to worry Lance. Not when it is necessary. And who knows, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m being paranoid. But I won’t take any chances. Not now.”

Hunk wanted to reach over and hug the guy. He seemed so...so sad. As if he just announced his death date. As if he is dying in the moment, unable to stop it and needing to release his last words. What’s worse is he won’t be able to really talk to Lance about it. Because despite him telling his love everything, despite wanting to inform him of this issue, both of them knew Lance wouldn’t take it well. He would be strong and reassure Keith, yes. But Hunk knew it would linger in the back of his mind just like Keith, whether something bad happened or not.

Why worry him over something that may not even happen?

“Is this because of what happened to your parents?” Hunk asked softly, hoping he wasn’t reopening old wounds. Keith’s eyes flash to Hunk, immediately on guard and set to strike. 

“What?”

Hunk hesitates, but went on. “Your parents died in a fire when you were little. Is it because of that incident that you’re telling me this? Because you weren’t left with a last word?”

“I...” Keith struggled to find words. “I...uh...I...” He pushed away his now melted shake and combed his fingers through his hair, pulling at it and the furrow on his brow deepening.

Hunk regretted speaking. He placed a gentle hand on his arm, trying to dispel Keith’s shocked and unhinged thoughts. He never talked about his parents. Why would it be any different with Hunk? The poor boy is bordering on distraught.

“Keith,” Hunk said. “It’s okay. Breathe. Take your time.”

“I’m fine.” He grunted.

“Uh, no you’re not. I’m not dumb. I know when a friend is hurting.”

“I’m okay.”

Hunk crossed his arms and leaned back against the booth, settling Keith with an admonishing look for lying. Keith withered under it, his tough attitude nothing but a shield towards outsiders when it comes to his emotions. But Hunk is no regular outsider. Hunk is the empath; the mediator. The one most in tune with his and everyone else’s emotions, the slightest twitch of a muscle instantly alerting him of whether a person is experiencing positive or negative emotions. 

“Okay, so you’re not wrong,” Keith mumbled. “I...didn’t think about it until you mentioned it. Which makes sense. Why I’m on edge. Why I’m doing this. One moment they were around, the next they weren’t. I was...left with so many questions.”

“And you don’t want Lance to be left without a word. You want him to have closure and move on.”

Keith nodded. “It is what I would have appreciated.”

“But you were ten. You didn’t want a letter, you wanted your parents back.”

“Still. As I got older, I wished they left...something. A letter. A will. a card. I don’t know. Anything that...um..” Keith began to lose his voice. He wasn’t one to be vulnerable in front of anyone. He has done that in very few moments--one being around Shiro. Heck, Lance and him are together and Lance himself says Keith had a bad habit of locking all his thoughts and emotions up until they burst. Him and Hunk may be friends, but he still struggled with the habit. Of letting people in. 

Hunk is patient. He waited for Keith to go on, melting his stern eyes into smooth, shining chocolate. The waitress stopped by the ask if they wanted anything else, and Hunk knowing what Keith liked, ordered a plate of cheese fries.

“Lance probably is home now.” Keith commented.

“Tough. He can wait.” He flung a fry into his mouth when it arrived. “Serves him right for keeping you all to himself.”

“I’m really not that great.” He said mid-chew, a little quiet.

Hunk threw a fry at him. “Stop it. I see him all the time but seeing you is like waiting for a fish to do a trick. I deserve to spend time with his boyfriend platonically. I AM going to be best man at your guys’ wedding afterall.”

Keith inhaled his soupy shake all too fast as Hunk said that, it going down the wrong throat and was thrust into a coughing fit. What the fuck.

“We have been dating for a year!”

Hunk waved his finger around and clicked his tongue. “My good man, I know love when I see it. And you two aren’t separating anytime soon.”

“Y-you don’t know that!”

“I do. I better, or else Pidge wins the bet.”

“There is a bet!?”

“Between them, Shiro, and I yeah.” Hunk gave him an innocent smile, as if he were talking about the weather. Keith is tomato red, matching the sweatshirt he adorned and wished for a hole to swallow him up. Lance and he only talked about it once and it just resulted in Keith being a gay disaster.

“I’m going to murder my brother.”

“Go easy on him, he’s old.” Hunk joked.

“no shit.”

They laughed, the bleak atmosphere lifting for the moment. They gabbed away at other topics, the envelope not coming back until they were heading out the door, Hunk almost forgetting about it and Keith having to stop him before he drove away.

“You sure about this?” Hunk asked.

Keith pushed it in his hand as an answer. He nervously glanced around the parking lot, dusk drawing near, but his tone remaining steady.

“You were right. About my parents.” He started, the gravel becoming incredibly interesting. “I know Lance.With a big heart comes much bleeding if cut. Deep in my gut I know if I were to die prematurely and we still loved each other, he would take a huge blow.” He closed his eyes, his hands wrapping around his bag’s strap and head bending down. He is soft; a whisper amidst the raging wind, meant to be casted to the unknown if it weren’t for Hunk’s good hearing. 

“I maybe wouldn’t have handled my parent’s death well even with a letter or will. I was a kid. I just wanted them back. Knowing Lance, he’d want me back. Though I wouldn’t be able to return to his side, I want to know I’d leave this earth with something for him to find. To grasp onto. To hear--or I guess read--how I want him to be my Lance and move on. Because that is the hardest thing someone can do when they are left behind without a goodbye. Without truly knowing what the deceased wanted for them.”

Hunk saw Keith’s eyes glisten, knocking him breathless. He held a waterfall at bay, refusing to let go of the ache and chose to maintain a soldier-like stance. But Hunk knew his armor, and it is not an effective protector against the heart. 

“Please, Hunk. Don’t let him suffer like I did when my mother and father passed. Don’t let him chase after me. I want his light to stay lit. He has so much to live for, and the thought of his goofy, adorable smile twisting into a permanent wail kills me.”

Hunk gave in to his desires and pulled the boy to him, his big arms encompassing his smaller frame in a bear hug. He squeezed him close, the letter clutched in one hand and not forgotten, but a secondary issue compared to his friend’s distress. It may seem absurd, but to Hunk the future is scary. Anything can be scary, and a person’s fear of death is as valid as any other fear. He could not judge him. Could not tell him he is invalid in his logic, since he isn’t wrong. Neither of them knew what the future held, and though Hunk hoped the letter would gather dust and rot into pure pulp, there was also the possibility it would be torn open and stained with tears.

Keith did not cry that not. He didn’t fully grasp Hunk in a hug, his arms laid at his sides. But his fists were bundled up, nails digging into his palms as he leaned in. 

His head fit on Hunk’s shoulders, and that is all the other boy needed to know Keith accepted (and needed) the embrace.

Keith never brought it up again after. Hunk did not breathe a word to Lance, Pidge, Allura, or Shiro. 

It is a secret deal between friends. A promise for the worst case scenario, an insurance policy for their future being lost.

----------------------------------

Hunk stares at the letter. 

It has remained in the very back of his desk drawer for years, completely forgotten to merry holidays, loud birthdays, and weekly meet-ups with the gang. It has attracted enough dust Hunk has to blow it away, the flakes falling to the ground like ash. Hunk almost forgot about it.

Almost.

It has been a week since Lance returned from the hospital. Since he found out about Keith’s demise, the ambulance five minutes too late. Five minutes behind. Five minutes that could have saved him if it weren’t for the snow.

Five. Fucking. Minutes.

They said one side of his body was demolished; his whole right side cracked and brittle. Lance said Keith tried to protect him from the impact, though he held no real control over the car hitting the semi. But he still threw his body against Lance, allowing the impact the break his ribs and punctured his lungs. The jostling of the car didn’t help, it harming the organs beyond repair. Lance came out with a couple of broken ribs, severe enough head trauma he has more migraines than usual, a broken leg, bruising and cuts everywhere from the glass, and a second engagement ring with no owner.

They said Lance should have been the one to die since a lot of damage was done to the driver’s side. But somehow--and the doctors don’t understand it nor believed Lance’s story--he came out with less fatal injuries than Keith. 

While Lance should have ended up with a fractured or broken skull by hitting the steering wheel, his head only hit the back of the seat by Keith’s arms cradling him.

Hunk would have said Lance was crazy, but then again Keith was always one to act fast and think later.

Except now he is dead. 

Now someone Hunk could deem as a best friend is gone, leaving him with a task that makes him want to jump in a time machine and prevent all of this from happening. To keep that letter in the back of his desk and continue gathering dust.

But now, after not hearing from Lance since his release, he has a job to do.

He didn’t leave the house without throwing his wedding gift at the wall, angry tears cascading down his face as the ceramic mugs with a bear on both surfaces holding a heart shattered.

Shay watches him go, noting how he hugged her far tighter than ever before.

[chaoticbyebyebye]

!!RANT W/ SPOILERS!! (skip this if you haven’t finished the show)

Okay, I'm gonna say it.

I don't care that Sheith didn't become canon. Was I kind of hoping for it? Yes. But am I upset that it didn’t happen? NO.

Let's all just agree that Shiro deserves happiness. I understand that a lot of people are upset that Shiro marries Curtis (the guy who showed up in the Atlas a few times and was one of the last arm wrestling scenes), but that doesn't mean things didn't happen between them off-screen.

As a bisexual, I am very happy that we got LGBT representation. Shiro might not have married Keith, but he is happy. Can’t we just enjoy that??

I love Sheith with all my heart (though my main OTP will always be Heith), but I love that Shiro got married to a man and that we were able to see him fucking KISS said man. Just fucking be happy for him for once, you ungrateful shits!!

We weren’t queerbaited because Shiro is a part of the queer community and we got our LGBT representation through him. You guys (the ones who are raging and being whiny brats) only interpreted Sheith as being endgame because that’s what you wanted.

The show has ended. It’s over and even though we got information on what the Paladins are doing in the future after the show, you all can still write fanfics or draw fanart about what you want to happen because we won’t get anymore canon details.

So, continue to ship Klance and Sheith and any other ship. Continue to create headcanons about the Paladins and what they’re doing with their lives after the ending. But don’t be little shits about what we did get before the end. 

Allura and Lance said I love you to each other and I cried because they were canon. Shiro had a relationship with Adam, who died fighting for Earth’s freedom. Allura is gone and Lance is currently learning to live without her while still loving her. Shiro and Keith have a close bond that they don’t have with anyone else and Keith expressed that by saying that he loves Shiro (whether that was platonic, romantic, or familial we don’t know).

All of things were a part of a wonderful show that I fell in love with since the beginning and I’ll be damned if people shit on this show just because their ship didn’t become canon.

So, suck it up and be happy for all the good things we did receive from this amazing show. 

[vegafiction]

Can you do a fic of verbally abused lance by like a parent when he was younger and the team was doing the memory seeing thing ( the one with the weird head things when they all say in a circle ) and that's how they found out? Please?

Count: ~2.4kPairing(s): KlanceChara(s): Lance-centric, Keith & PaladinsFandom: VoltronPrompt: Verbal AbuseWarning(s): Parental Verbal Abuse

This prompt was a little difficult to wirte for because it was a tad too close to home for my comfort. It still ended up way longer than I wanted it to be, but i hope you Anons enjoy it! I’m so close to a bingo lmao. Thank you both for the compliment and the request!!

Get your own card @badthingshappenbingo

Bonding exercises with the team weren’t unusual occurrences. Being able to form Voltron relied on their ability to connect with each other as a team and as a family, and in spite of the number of arguments that would happen because personalities would collide, the Paladins of Voltron knew each other well enough to form the giant robot with ease.

Maybe they didn’t quite need to know everything about each other, but Lance felt what had happened in the past wasn’t necessary for their future. He was a firm believer in leaving things behind—even if he often struggled to do it himself.

Today’s training session involved melding their minds. Lance couldn’t stifle his groan. (Luckily for him, he wasn’t the only one.) Mind melding was everyone’s least favorite training technique. It involved a surprisingly large amount of concentration, some of which many of the Paladins didn’t have depending on the circumstances, but it wasn’t the countless hours of meditation and sitting around that bothered Lance. It was the idea of having anyone dig around in his mind without his permission.

Not that he had many secrets to hide – he was quite open to his makeshift family – it was just… there were certain things Lance didn’t want to have to explain. They weren’t necessary.

It wasn’t important.

Coran had the team gather into a circle and promised them bags of water and delicious snacks he had prepared (Hunk approved this time) for when they successfully completed their hour of training. He distributed the neuro-helmets to every member of the circle and gave them a thumbs up.

“You all have done exceptionally well forming Voltron as of late,” he praised. “This session will be done in a jiffy! I’ll be watching from above, good luck!” He hurried out of the room.

Keith turned his attention to Shiro, brows furrowed in concern. “Are you sure you want to do this? You said you wanted to retire.”

“Retirement doesn’t mean I can’t keep up with everyone’s training,” he said with a soft smile. “Mind melding is all about building stronger bonds between each of us. I think that’s a useful thing to do, even if I won’t be piloting Black anymore.”

“Shiro is right,” Allura nodded. “Forming Voltron is not the only purpose of the mind meld. Our bonds with each other as friends is also extremely important to ensure our continued survival in this war. Besides, don’t you guys find this fun?” She smiled brightly.

Pidge groaned. “Fun for you maybe.”

Coran’s voice filtered into the room. “Alright everyone, close your eyes and clear your minds. For the next five doboshes, I want everyone to concentrate on their breathing.”

That’s easy enough. Lance thought. He closed his eyes on Coran’s orders and focused on the way he breathed. He inhaled deeply, feeling the way his diaphragm expanded then slowly blew out his breath through his nose.

The first time they’d done this, Lance couldn’t stop himself from thinking of his family. The images of their faces were engraved into his mind and the sounds of their voices would play in his ears like a record player. Now, it was easier to keep his memories of them from invading his meditative blankness. It pained him deeply that he could barely remember what they sounded like let alone recall the exact details of their facial features. He didn’t like to think about that, though.

“Now concentrate,” Coran’s voice wafted into the training room, soft and smooth. “Try to feel the presence of the others around you, but don’t connect. Only feel.”

That was easy enough.

Lance focused on the blankness. He kept his mind at ease, made sure to clamp down hard on any image that involved his family in any way and reached out into the void for the person he knew was waiting for him on the other side. He felt the warmth of Keith’s mental presence before he actually saw him. Coran had told them not to connect, but it was hard to keep himself out of Keith’s mind, especially when they were so physically close.

Keith probed back, acknowledging Lance’s presence.

“Connect with each other, but keep it surface level for now.” They heard Coran say, his voice oddly muffled.

Lance felt the others probe into his mind. He steeled himself, suddenly anxious. He felt careful, yet hesitate probes of Hunk, who prodded carefully on the memory of their first encounter in the garrison. Pidge followed soon after, her probing more curious and bold. Shiro’s presence felt uncertain, as though he doubted his reasoning for connecting with the others. (They flooded him with thoughts of kindness and assurance and played images of Shiro’s best moments through their eyes to calm him.)

Allura’s presence in his mind felt as elegant as she looked, yet uncomfortably strong and powerful. A part of him grew embarrassed as memories of her played through his mind without control. He sensed her humor before her own memories of Lance flashed before his eyes.

“Excellent! You guys are doing wonderful! Now try to probe a little deeper, but be mindful of everyone’s privacy!”

Going deep was not something Lance wanted to do. He felt various waves of hesitance wash through him from his fellow paladins. Hunk was more of an open book. He was the first to open himself to them and accepted their careful examining. Images of his family and friends played through Lance’s eyes. They were memories of Hunk’s youth, from his earliest memories to his time in the Garrison. He laid himself out bare for them all until the image of Shay popped into Lance’s eyes.

Suddenly, Hunk’s embarrassed warmth flooded through them like a wave.

He broke out of their connection.

“Hunk!” Lance heard Coran call. “You were doing so well!”

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean for them to see that.”

They each pulled out of the meld.

“I thought it was sweet,” Allura smiled warmly. “What a beautiful memory.”

“Aw, Hunk has a girlfriend,” Pidge teased.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He clarified with a sniff. “I didn’t get a chance to ask.”

“Well, maybe you should the next time we find the Balmera,” Keith suggested.

“You think she’d say yes?”

“Why wouldn’t she? She’d be crazy not to.” Lance patted his shoulder. “You’d make a great boyfriend! Maybe even better than me. Probably. Maybe. That’s still debatable.”

The Samoan chuckled. “Thanks, buddy.”

“Should we try again?” Shiro asked.

The Paladins settled back into a meditative trance. Quicker than before, they fell into the first layer of the mind meld, and with Coran’s instructions, they dived one level deeper.

Lance felt his palms begin to sweat. In the back of his mind, he visualized the locked door he kept his memories behind. A sense of familiar curiosity swept through him. He realized, belatedly, that was Pidge’s curious nature who probed into his mind and grazed her senses against the door.

Alarm shot through him. Don’t. Don’t open that.

Keith joined Pidge then Hunk. They each investigated around the door, various emotions radiated from them and into Lance. He urged them to move on, but they persisted. He flooded their minds with memories of the beach from an alien planet – it looked remarkably like the beach in Cu—Lance thought about the various alien females he’d flirted with on their journey.

Keith’s irritation came to him from the memory.

An image from the Garrison assaulted his senses. In it was a freshman Cuban boy, pimples marred his brown skin but blue eyes wide with excitement. He was all gangly with long limbs and barely any muscles – he looked excited.

Lance felt embarrassment wash through him. He could already feel the amused and teasing emotions from the others until the memory shifted. Young Lance stood with his father. He loomed over the boy, eyes dark and unkind. His arms were crossed against his chest, his lips moved though the words spoken were unintelligible in their ears.

But Lance remembered.

And just like that, sound came into the memory. His father spoke harshly, his words were not in English but the meaning was clear.

Lance ripped himself from the circle.

“What the heck you guys?!” He snapped. “Why are you probing around in my head when I just told you not to!?”Keith plucked the helmet from his head and stared into the anxious expression of his partner. “What… was that?”

Lance bristled. “That was you guys invading my privacy, that’s what that was!”

“Lance—”

“Oh no, don’t ‘Lance’ me, Keith! Did you guys completely ignore what I was sending?”

“Why was your dad yelling at you?” Pidge frowned. “And what was with that door?”

“None of your business!” he snapped. “We’re supposed to be bonding, not invading my privacy like that!” He threw the helmet to the ground in frustration then turned on his heel. “I’m gonna cool down. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wait, Lance–!”

He marched out of the room without a look back.

Memories of his father flooded into Lance’s mind hours after the mind meld. Having seen the man clear as day through the altean machine brought forth unpleasant experiences he thought he’d long since forgotten.

The very first time Lance had developed a crush on a boy and foolishly told his parents about it played before his eyes like an unwanted film reel. He could already hear the gruff accented voice of his father berate him for his stupidity, could practically feel the disgusted rage that rolled from his body as he switched from English to Spanish and called Lance a plethora of names he never wanted to hear again.

The time Lance had failed to get into the Garrison as a fighter pilot pushed into the forefront of his mind. The sheer disappointment his father faced him with when, instead of becoming a fighter pilot, he’d been placed into the cargo pilot division, had haunted the boy’s dreams for years. But his words were the worst part of the memory:

“Me has decepcionadouna y otraves. Me avergüenza que seas mi hijo.”

Lance’s hands formed into a fist. He slammed it against the wall beside his door, hoping the action would dispel the mixture of rage and heartbreak swirling in his chest.

“Lance!”

Keith came around the corner and hurried toward him. He opened his mouth to say something but, much to Lance’s surprise, he snapped it shut. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around the lankier boy and held him tight.

“I’m sorry,” He murmured. “You were right. We invaded your privacy and that was wrong of us.” He pulled them apart, far enough to stare into the boy’s face. “You know I’m not very good with emotions and, uh, personal stuff but… Lance… you can talk to me. If you want to.” He added on hastily. “Not as your leader but as y-you know, as your partner.”

Lance heaved a heavy sigh. “Man, you really have a hard time saying ‘boyfriend’, don’t you?”

Keith blushed. “It’s not like I ever had one of those before! Talking is something we’re supposed to do right?” He grabbed Lance’s hand and stepped toward the door. It slid open with a quiet whoosh and pulled him inside. “So let’s talk!”

Keith led him to the bed and sat him down. He joined him stubbornly and stared intently into the Cuban boy’s face. Lance couldn’t help the small smile from creeping along his lips. They were still holding hands.

“I’m not going to force you to talk about it, but I’m here.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” Lance took advantage of their close proximity and rested his head on Keith’s shoulder. “My dad is old fashioned. When I was little, I did a lot of things that disappointed him and scolding me was just… one of those ways.”

“He called you a fag, Lance.”

Lance pulled away, surprised. “How do you know that? He was speaking Spanish.”

“You’re bilingual. Your memories translated themselves.” Keith stared intently into Lance’s eyes. “That wasn’t the first time he’s called you that and I’m willing to bet he’s called you a bunch of other names too, hasn’t he?”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly tired.

“Yeah, he’s called me a lot of things, but like I said, my dad is old fashioned. He doesn’t do well with expressing emotions so calling me names was just one way of doing that. Its okay, Keith, really. You get used to it.”

He felt the older boy’s grip grow tighter on his own. Keith’s eyes were comforting despite the barely contained ranger swimming within them. Lance leaned back onto his shoulder in the hopes of appeasing him.

“What about the locked door?” Keith asked after a few minutes of silence. “Does that have something to do with your dad?”

“My family mostly.” He sighed. “I love them and I miss them more than I can bear, but I didn’t… I didn’t want to burden anyone with those kinds of feelings anymore. We all have family.”

Even when Lance’s father berated him for his stupidity, even when he was called faggot or queer or told that he would someday perish in hell because of his unnatural sexuality; his “disgusting” effeminate behavior; his failure as a fighter pilot or his borderline, unnatural obsession for “besting” his rival – Lance still loved his dad.

He was a flawed man. He was only human after all.

Keith rubbed small, soothing circles into Lance’s back. He couldn’t recall how they had ended up in this position, him on top of the Red Paladin as they laid comfortably on his bed, but Lance wasn’t complaining.

“I’m sorry.”

Lance frowned in confusion. “For what?”

“For trying to snoop. I know we haven’t been dating for long, but I… I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to get to know you better, outside of our stupid rivalry.”

“Hey man, our rivalry is not stupid! It got your attention didn’t it?”

Keith laughed. “Oh yeah, sure it did.”

Lance nuzzled into the boy’s neck. He heard his father’s voice playback in his mind calling him disgusting for daring to cuddle with another man and the shame he would bring upon his family if they ever found out. He should have felt disappointed in himself, perhaps even a little terrified, but Lance found, much to his surprise, that he wasn’t worried. Instead, he felt hopeful—hopeful for the chance to come back to Earth as an intergalactic hero and maybe even proud of who he is.

He stared up Keith, who gazed off into the ceiling looking thoughtful.

Maybe he’ll get the chance to show off Keith to his family someday.

[plance-analysis]

Pidge and Lance Analysis: Romantic

While I said I am not biased, it would be a shame to not make my first post anything but a plance post! Below the cut, I will dive into some of my favorite aspects of the relationship and then further evidence that may prove its possibility. 

(This is a long post with many images!)

Relationship Basics

Pidge and Lance were introduced to us as the audience as part of the original trio including Hunk. It started of as a regular group of mischievous kids who just had a knack for getting into trouble. This was mostly true and upon becoming paladins of Voltron, not much changed. Pidge and Lanced dynamic started as classmates, but through their individual character developments (Lance maturing into the role of a paladin, and Pidge finally finding her family) their relationship has a large opportunity to flourish. 

Starting with the first episode, Lance and Pidge didn’t have much problem with personal space, which in itself shows how easily they became friends from the get go. It is known that not a lot of time passed between the time Pidge joined the Garrison and the landing of Shiro, but yet upon seeing Pidge sneaking out Lance was immediately intrigued as to where she was going, following her rather that continuing to sneak out for some fun. Upon finding her, Lance is quickly intrigued by her set up and her ability to pick up alien signals. It’s no secret that Pidge is impressed by her own work, but for a non-science man like Lance to be even remotely interested is a feat she is very easily pleased by. Once in space, they continue to bond in ways similar to the rest of the team and there relationship becomes stagnant and very casual. The perfect base for a deeper connection.

Show Evidence

Protectiveness

Pidge and Lance are both characters who throughout the show grow to become protective of their teammates and friends, but there is evidence of their sacrifices for each other specifically. Their actions in the following scenes are the most pivotal plance moments and therefore I’ll go through each one individually. The first instance is the first Sendak attack.

Upon Pidge’s capture, while Keith and Allura do make moves to take her back, the first move is made by Lance.While this doesn't seem like it would be much different from any one of them rescuing Pidge from Sendak, it is to be noted that prior to, and then immediately afterward, Lance was in critical condition and unconscious. 

He uses the word “apparently” inferring that he does not remember the event and that it was a completely unconscious (literally) decision. What are the chances that the writers would have Lance be the one to rescue Pidge rather than any of the other equally as abled, not to mention conscious and ready for battle, characters?

This moment is almost exactly paralleled in the episode Escape from Beta Traz. She is not as successful, but her intent and persistence is there, as she goes in again for a couple more attacks. This is the first time we’ve seen Pidge enraged, with the exception of anything relating to her family being found. 

In the alternate reality episode, when the team first encounters Sven and Slav, Pidge’s rescue is a scene done entirely in slow motion. Why would the staff have any reason to have the shooting of Pidge’s attack be in slow motion, rather than the actual reveal of Sven/Shiro? To showcase the fact that it was Pidge and not Allura who was directly next to her, with a similarly ranged bayard, taking the shot to save Lance.

We cannot continue without the mention of everyone’s favorite season seven plance moment, the “Don’t you touch her!” moment. This moment of Lance’s protective nature is very different from his usual, and it is an important scene for all future planned development.

The writers chose the phrase “this group of heroes has a soft spot for the small one” specifically for Zethrid, implying that she was hoping to torture the entire team at once. What we got instead, was Lance’s surprising lash out, cutting away from the team to protect Pidge. Lance, having gone through a lot of character growth and maturing, is a very rational and accepting of fate person. He has had many instances where he sacrifices himself for the good of the team, but what sets this moment apart from the rest is his obvious anger. When Lance runs into the face of danger for someone else, he does so as sacrifice, taking the hit to save another, but here, he does not offer himself instead. He runs full force towards Ezor, as though she had crossed some line deep seeded in Lance.

His choice of words is also very important. “Don’t you touch her!” He very well could have exclaimed “Stop!” “No!” “Pidge!” or even “Don’t hurt her!” Single word exclamations are a usual when it comes to Voltron writing, but Lance’s specific choice of the words “don’t you touch her” may reveal something deeper to his idea of Pidge, feeling he may not even be aware of. The idea of Pidge being hurt had no time to register, because his first priority is that no one even touch her.

Jealousy

There have been moments sprinkled in the show hinting to Pidge having at least some feelings of affection toward Lance, shown through the ways of jealousy.

Pidge is a smart girl, who knows that the mission of saving the universe is the most important thing, even before saving her family. She knows that should anything get in the way of her doing her duty, it must be suppressed to a later time. Perhaps she does this with her feelings for Lance. From the very first episode, every time Pidge is around to hear Lance mention girls, she almost instantly reacts. Whether it be through her face, or slapping Lance, she almost always shows her discomfort. Except for when Allura had been busy with Lotor. She was specifically teasing Lance that his chances with Allura were gone, giving Lance more time to spend with her, and possibly return her feelings for him.

Noticing

Out of all the Paladins, the one who gives Pidge the most private attention, is Lance. He has noticed her moods and reacted accordingly, even when she doesn’t seek him herself. Pidge, on the other hand, is a lot more introverted, but despite that, she still notices Lance. Based on the show’s scenes, there have been many more Lance watching Pidge scenes (like the ones pictured above). When she becomes upset, Pidge either stands her ground or isolates herself. In both instances, the scenes show that Lance is visibly upset and cares for her, but something stops him from acting. When Pidge unlocks the green lion’s vine cannon, Lance is the only member to speak out about it. In both the first season and the latest game show episode, Lance remember’s Pidge and her favorite robots, Rover and Beezer. He recalled Pidge loving Beezer more than Nyma stealing the blue lion, who at the time, he was the paladin of. He was the first out of him and Coran to notice Rover without the immediate Pidge attached to it. He even at time’s teases Pidge about all her smart talk and skills, much to her delight.

Blushing

Beside the occasional tech, Lance is the only person that Pidge has blushed at. In her vlog, she states that she’s always been better with technology than other people, so connecting with a person to the point that there was an opportunity to fluster her is a feat in itself. Lance, Lover boy Lance, has blushed many times with many pretty, space girls, but the only Earth girl to make Lance blush is none other than Pidge. As it is most commonly known, blushing is almost completely involuntary. The two are some of the only ones shown to blush in the show, and that they’ve blushed at each other multiple times says something.

Final Thoughts

While the plance fandom started small, after the release of the recent seasons, it has grown at an impressive rate, even making the top ten on @fandom ‘s ranked ships list. There is many a theory that plance can end up canon by the end of the series. Fans and supporters of the show constantly bring up more evidence everyday and with every content. I’ll go through a few that I believe have some footing.

Speculation

In an interview long ago, Jeremy Shada (voice of Lance) opened the interview  with drama of Lance dying, and later it was revealed that it did come to happen, regardless of his joking tone. In a separate interview with Shada and Bex Taylor-Klaus (voice of Pidge), he opened with Lance and Pidge falling in love followed by a “I’m just kidding.” 

In the opening of season 2, Pidge is known to make trash versions of all of Team Voltron, which she takes back with her, along with the puff ball aliens. Many shots of her room and the trash versions of the paladins seem to give focus to the Lance one. At one point, it was shown in the foreground with two, a blue and a green, puffball aliens floating on him. 

Many fans already deduced that Monsters & Mana, an episode of season six, heavily parallel and even foreshadow the series’ plot. Meklavar (Pidge) and Pike (Lance) are given similar markings on their characters. Pike is shown to gain an invisibility cloak when the team enter the room of loot. With many of the members gaining an object similar to their personalities, fans theorize that this is a nod to Pidge and the green lion’s cloaking ability.

In the most recent season, the episode The Journey Within, Pidge and Lance hold on to each others left hands. Left hands are commonly associated with marriage in western cultures. In the same episode, they are shown to never switch their position implying that they’ve stayed linked almost the entire time. A fan favorite moment is when tensions were beginning to run, as the other paladins were unlinking, Pidge and Lance were the only two to remain linked.

Bex Taylor-Klaus is also a known supporter of the pairing, and being that they are the voice of Pidge makes fans go wild. 

On July 2nd Taylor-Klaus tweeted a gif of Lance with the tweet being a plant emoji. Plant emoji’s are a very common motif of the plance fandom.

While many wait in anticipation for season eight at the end of this year, fans only become more anxious for any endgame relationships. Plance has a lot of potential, and it can stand on its feet with a decent amount of evidence to support it. With the end nearing, more content is created everyday with hopes, speculation, and beautiful artworks.

Pidge and Lance don’t need any romance to complete themselves, but with the terms of their relationship, being for the most part only love and understanding, plance has a chance.

What do you think will happen to plance? I would love to hear more ideas!

Have a wonderful day and thank you for your time!