#lets fix voltron

[stratos-ane]

keith!!

[sockdooe]

My white lion design based off old sketches from December I never posted :p

I 🤍 🦁

[cheshire-castle-library]

The op who made that "wahh why isn't fandom fun anymore" post LITERALLY maintags their hate lol, they've done it for ATLA characters and ATSV characters among others. It's so embarrassing.

See this is why I don't participate in many fandoms.

Honestly, everyone is a little blind about themselves once in a while. And you and I are no exception. I'm not in the business of checking into every op on every post on this website. I have like,,, a job and shit. I don't have time for that.

OP can be right and still mess up. OP might just have unpopular opinions that you don't like, and are assuming malice where there isn't any. I don't know, and I'm not here to put that OP on the coroner's table. All I can do is reply to you.

People are allowed to have opinions. People are allowed to share their opinions in fandom space (which is the main tag, I can send you scientific papers that explain this). People are allowed to have unpopular opinions, Publicly, and SHARE THEM. What they are not supposed to do, is lord those opinions over others and use them to hurt people.

What I was agreeing with when I peer reviewed those tags was when people vent into main tags, or frankly this kind of thing? Like, when people can't stay in their lane and have to make a "judgement call" on other people? Or when people are just straight up resentful of a character or fandom, and so they like spit vinegar at everyone over it? I don't know anything about the person you are talking about, and I don't plan to look for it, but unless they're literally pointing fingers and calling people evil for liking 'unlikable' characters, I doubt it's as serious as you're concerned it is.

Like for example, I don't like Twilight. I don't personally find it interesting. I've never read it, but my friends were really into it when it came out, and what I heard of it didn't like... sound fun to me at all. There was a while in my life when I was a little bitch about that, and I'd like make fun of Twilight and I didn't think about how that might upset my friends, and it absolutely never crossed my mind to try and read it and like idk trust my friends to have good taste?

So I try to be better now that I look back on that and see how much of a tool I was. Twilight has stuff in it that's unique. It has stuff in it that's silly and melodramatic too, but its pulp and it explores some interesting themes of romance and "otherness" and age and mental health and stuff like that. So I understand that it appeals to people and it has value, regardless of whether I personally find or make use of that value.

But if I were on tumblr in 8th grade when it came out, I 100% would have been maintagging Twilight hate memes, because I was just kinda tonedef and dumb. That's being a kid. But being a kid doesn't excuse the hurt it causes.

And that is what I think people need to be careful about. Not making fun of things they don't like. Not hurting people for no damn reason, when it would be healthier for everyone to just not interact in the first place.

So also like... this anon message you sent counts as that same thing. Sending an anonymous message (so there's no accountability for what you say) to someone over the character of a third party is not a responsible way to act, and innately causes drama and stress. The OP has nothing to do with me. I have nothing to do with them. I literally don't even know their URL, and I don't plan to go looking for it. Because I know how to stay in my lane and not go looking for drama. That's an important part of adulthood, is choosing your battles. Choosing what to spend your energy on, and not looking to cause problems for yourself and others where it's not absolutely necessary.

For instance, I'm choosing to reply to this, because I think there's something important I can share about my long years in fandom with not just you, but the rest of Tumblr as a whole. I also can take this time to clarify something that obviously wasn't as intuitive as I assumed it was.

Anon, I don't know why you sent this. I don't know whether your intent was out of innocence, whether you were cross with me for some reason, or some secret third thing that I can't fathom. But if you'd like to talk about it more, my dm's are open to everyone. I won't keep replying to anon's, because that's just going to gum up my followers and friends' dashboards; but I'd be more than happy to have a one on one conversation about what you are concerned about, and your fandom experiences, and mine and how fandom has changed over the years.

This type of message isn't very effective at communicating problems.

The best possible outcome of the message you sent me is me not taking it personally as an attack or judgement, and either replying like I am here with civil and clear communication, or me just deleting it and going on with my day. Which, isn't much of a positive impact. The worst possible outcome is you hurt me badly, trigger past traumas, scare me or cow me from ever voicing my opinion again, and cause me to cut myself out of fandom again. Which has happened to me, and enough that I only interact with precious few fandoms as it stands - something you should already know since I mentioned it in the tags of the post we're talking about.

So again, please DM me if you want to talk about this or have other concerns you need help working through. But hiding behind anon and not fully explaining yourself doesn't give me a lot to go on. I just don't know what your intent is, and I'm not going to bend myself into funny shapes trying to guess.

In all honesty, the words you wrote kind of feel like you want me to feel embarrassed about OP or about agreeing with OP or about something I did? And if not, you are asking me to agree to throw a stranger that I don't know and have no interactions with under the bus to validate your opinion.

This sort of thing is why its hard to exist in fandom spaces. This is "big brother" behavior, and turns fandom into a police state. Pointing fingers only makes people retaliate, it doesn't help fandom heal or grow.

That is what people need to stop themselves from doing.

[rorimoon9597]

He was tired. Physically, and mentally. That was a side effect of being the captain of the Atlas and finding out that your ex-fiancé that you were definitely still in love with was still alive and being held captive by your enemies.

So yeah, Shiro was tired. But he couldn't afford to go to sleep just yet. Not when Adam was in the medbay, unconscious and hooked up to fluids. He took in Adam's appearance, the feeling of his hand under his own, the warmth from it. The peaceful look on his face, how Adam's chest rose and fell steadily with each breath.

"You need to sleep."

"Do you think I can?" Shiro asked. His voice was flat, void of emotion. A hand rested on his shoulder.

"You need to sleep, Shiro. He'd want you to." Shiro sighed. Keith was right. He knew that. In the time that Keith had spent with Shiro and Adam, he'd learned that when Shiro was neck-deep in work that Adam would drag him to bed.

Shiro had always repaid that by doing the same thing to Adam.

"Fine. You win," he admitted.

"Don't worry. You'll be the first to know when he wakes up." The thing was, Shiro knew that already. He was the captain of the Atlas, it would be illogical for the captain of the ship that finds and frees prisoners to not know when the person woke up.

He didn't point that out to Keith. Part of Shiro wanted to be told because he still loved Adam, not because he was the captain of the ship that had saved him.

He squeezed Adam's hand. "I'll come visit you tomorrow," he promised in a whisper. He left, Keith walking with him.

They parted ways in front of the door that led to the room that Keith shared with Lance. Everyone on the ship knew that they were together. The amount of times they'd kissed before getting into their lions were too numerous to count on both of Shiro's hands.

He went to his quarters, which had a couch, something that the other rooms didn't have. That was it. There was a couch in the captain's quarters.

He changed out of his uniform and into his pajamas. Then he collapsed onto the couch and laid down.

It wasn't comfortable, but he'd rather sleep on something that made him uncomfortable than have to sleep in a bed by himself. He'd been having that problem since him and Adam broke up.

Adam... Would he want to get back with Shiro? He didn't think so. The thought hurt.

He curled into himself, trying to give himself warmth, even though he knew that it was useless. Only Adam's warmth could help him.

Nevertheless, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

It was the lights brightening for the day cycle that woke him. He sighed, got up, and got ready for the day. He went to assign everyone their tasks for the day, listened to the status reports of the Paladin and MFE pilots mission and the Atlas, and made decisions based off of those.

Why the hell was he put in charge of an entire fucking ship? Because he'd had the most experience fighting the Galra and he wasn't a Paladin and had military training?

He didn't even remember what happened when he was held captive by the Galra.

He went through the paces of the day again, practically on autopilot.

"Shiro," Sam's voice said through his comm.

"Sam, do you need something?" Shiro asked.

"It's Adam. He's awake." Shiro froze. Adam...

"I'll be right there," he said. He handed Curtis the thing he was supposed to be looking over and made his way down to the medbay.

Adam was awake, talking to one of the medics and Sam. Shiro stood in the doorway, unsure. Sam looked up and motioned for him to come closer. Shiro's feet moved on their own, even when Adam looked up at him.

"Adam..." Sam said something to the medic. They left, leaving Adam and Shiro alone together.

For the first time since their fight. The fight about Kerberos.

"Takashi... You're really here," Adam whispered, barely loud enough for Shiro to hear him.

That's when the dam broke. That's when all of the tears that Shiro hadn't been able to cry decided to release themselves. He sat on the chair next to Adam's bed.

Arms wrapped around him and held him close. He clung to Adam.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You were right. I shouldn't have left for Kerberos. But... I don't know if I'd change that. The war... The Galra would've come sooner," Shiro said.

"It's okay, Takashi. I'm... I'm just glad that you're here," Adam soothed. Shiro nearly sobbed harder from hearing Adam's voice. "Come on, get on." Shiro didn't have to be told twice before he was lying on the bed with Adam, face buried in Adam's hospital shirt.

"I'm sorry."

"Takashi," Adam said. His voice was soft. Gently, he lifted Shiro's face so that he was forced to look at him. His eyes were soft, looking at Shiro as if he'd never broken Adam's heart years ago. "I've already forgiven you. I... When Sam came back with news of the Galra, I decided... I decided that I didn't want to die without forgiving you. It was time for me to do that, anyway."

"I don't deserve it. I- you deserve someone who won't leave you for the stars," Shiro whispered. Adam's face became pained.

"You know that I could never stop loving you." Shiro buried his face in the crook of Adam's neck, taking time to remember the feeling of their skin touching, of how warm Adam's skin was.

"I missed you so, so much."

"I missed you too." A gentle pressure on the top of his hair. Shiro knew Adam well enough to know that it was a kiss. After all, there had been too many times when Shiro was in this exact position, lying on Adam and crying from the intensity of the pain from his disease.

That reminded him...

"I'm not sick anymore," he said. Adam's grip grew tighter.

"I'm glad to hear that."

It took a while for the medics to be able to actually check over Adam. Shiro literally clung to him, just relieved to be able to hold him again.

Nothing extreme had happened to Adam. Shiro was so glad. He'd been subject to the Druid's experiments, and they were not nice.

Shiro was just sitting on the bed with Adam leaning against him - they were taking time to enjoy being with each other again - when Keith burst into the room, followed by his team, Coran, Romelle and Krolia. He went to the bed and climbed onto it.

"Hi," he said, looking up at Adam.

"You're not as short as you were a few years ago," Adam commented. Keith pouted.

"I hate you,' he declared.

"Sure you do, if the way you barged into here says anything," Adam retorted.

"My favourite teacher's awake!" Lance said, happily. Adam smiled at the teens.

"It's good to see that my three favourite cadets are alive," he said.

"Hello, Adam was it?"

"Yes, that's me," Adam replied. Allura smiled.

"I'm Princess Allura of Altea. This is my advisor, Coran."

"Hello," Coran said.

"I'm Romelle," Romelle added.

"It's nice to meet you," Adam said, honestly.

"The Galra there is my mom, by the way," Keith piped up from his place leaned up against Adam.

"My name is Krolia." She leveled her son with A Look. Keith smiled at her. "I've heard much about you from Keith. I want to thank you for the things you have done for him."

"It's not a big deal," Adam replied. He smiled. "And it's nice to meet you." Shiro felt as if he could melt into a puddle of goo.

He was mostly quiet as Adam talked with the team, the mis-matched family Shiro became a part of when they found Blue. It was nice, hearing the children of the team be children. And Adam was making an effort to get to know the Alteans and Krolia. Shiro honestly couldn't ask for more, really.

So he kept his head on Adam's shoulder, his left arm around his waist, and listened to the conversation around him, poking in from time to time to stop the Paladins from doing something stupid. Krolia gave him and Adam knowing looks, as did Coran. He just rolled his eyes at them.

He let himself be lost in the moment.

He woke up, gasping for breath. It had just been a nightmare, but it had felt real. Adam hid his face in his hands.

"Commander Wright? Are you okay?" The medic on duty asked, voice low.

"I'm- I'm fine I just-"

"Do you think that you'll be able to go to sleep when you've calmed down?" Adam shook his head. "Would you like me to alert the captain?" It took a couple of seconds to remember that Takashi was the captain of the Atlas. He nodded.

The medic disappeared. After a few minutes, there was a warmth by his side. Adam leaned into it.

"Nightmare?" Takashi asked. Adam nodded. "It's okay. I'm here now, I won't let anything bad happen to you." Takashi exaggerated his breathing slightly. Adam hadn't even realised that he was hyperventilating until his breathing evened out.

"Stay... Please?"

"Of course," Takashi agreed. Adam faintly thought that it was nice that Takashi was the captain of the Atlas. He could do whatever he wanted to and no one could protest against him.

They laid back on the bed, Adam tucked against Takashi and in the safety of his arms. They fell asleep like that, and when Adam woke in the morning, he realised that it was the best sleep he'd had in such a long time.

[prophecyofgray]

[coughing up blood] i could fix voltron legendary defender

[metis-the-lizard-king]

my bet is that's going to be utter shit.

can we start placing bets about the live action voltron movie. everyone download draftkings right now

[mothmanavenue]

Some Voltron Headcanons

(they don’t line up with canon timelines because they adhere to my universe, Voltron: Psychopomp)

Voltron all have altean earrings they wear on a daily basis. Come events and parties they swap them out with exact replicas which are actually earpieces and mics

Keith calls Pidge birdie

Keith has struggled with chronic insomnia and sleep issues since he was little and once he started to recover from that, and the stress of constantly being aware started to fade he started to sleep a lot to recover his sleep deficit so to speak. he’s typically found knocked out on the lounge couch or in Pidge’s lab really anywhere he wants he’s a tripping hazard

Keith can’t drive a car. He can figure out literally any vehicle except cars they stump him

Pidge never learned how to style her short hair since she made Lance style her hair the entire time they were in space. She’ll be 30 and banging on Lance’s door to fix her hair in the mornings

When Shiro is too tired or stressed to do his eyeliner Lance does it for him

bPidge grew up wealthy and therefore is completely out of touch. She does NOT know how much a banana is, she’s never shopped at a thrift store, she throws out shirts she stains or tears until Lance whacks her on the head

When Keith left the blade Hunk offered to teach him how to cook as an outlet for his restless energy and for something for him to do other than train and Keith took him up on it. He and Hunk trade off on cooking duties now

Keith is a Painter. His favourite subjects are of course Voltron’s Paladins (cough, especially Lance, cough) and Voltron take great pleasure in hanging them up around the castle, much to his embarrassment. His works form an important part of Voltron’s legacy.

Hunk is the sorest loser on the planet. They CANNOT play monopoly and uno is banned

Keith proposes first to Lance but when they get to earth Lance acquires his mothers engagement ring (that she always promised he could have) and gives it to Keith, who wears it around his neck because he’s scared of losing it

Pidge calls Keith marmalade after she forgot the name of the Blade one time and keith calls her birdie cause it makes them twitch

Voltron were gone for 8 years, missing presumed dead after their belongings were found in Keith’s shack. There are some rumblings that Keith was responsible for their deaths, but they were quashed by the families of Voltron who believed Adam’s desperate plea that Keith wouldn’t have done that. In the time Voltron was gone, the families grew really close and were largely discontent with the Garrison’s findings, but largely believed their kids to be dead. Needless to say, there was one hell of a press circuit when Voltron made contact with a completely unaware Earth

Hunk and Shiro have an unacknowledged alliance to bully Lance for being shorter than them (by 1 and 3 inches respectively) and they regularly pick him up like a sack of flour much to his fluster and irritation

Hunk and Shiro also watch drag race and bad space soap operas together

Pidge broke out really bad in space and eventually got so upset about it (after pretending it didn’t bother them) that she very hesitantly asked Lance for help and Lance HAPPILY. passed down all his skincare knowledge to them

Lance loves pretending to flirt with Shiro to the point where the press genuinely think they’re in some weird love affair. Shiro is entirely exasperated and vaguely offended people would think he’d get into a relationship with Lance (who was 17 when they met) but he does find it amusing to read the tabloids

On that note, Lance had a poster of Shiro in his room when he was younger and was absolutely humiliated when he let it slip during a round of truth and dare. When they got back to Earth Lance took the poster down, stole Veronica’s red lipstick, covered the poster in kisses and gave it to shiro for his birthday. Shiro laughed so hard he cried. He promptly forces Lance to sign the poster and gets it framed. It does not help the affair rumours.

[catsushinyakajima]

tw// death (not mega angsty it's like old age stuff. more melancholy than sad) klance old man yaoi

Keith dies first of the two of them.

The death does not come as a surprise to Lance. Someone has to go first, after all. The whole lot of them have been taking turns to die like they’re picking straws from a cup. They’ve reached the top of the escarpment after a long and arduous climb up the steep slope. Lance watches his friends and family take the plummet one by one with his toes at the edge of the drop.

He understands this truth very well—the fixed and irreversible notion of death—far more than the other engraved truth of birth and creation. It has meticulously woven itself into Lance’s shadow and lurked two steps behind him at all times, even well after the war ended.

Still, Lance hadn’t expected it to lunge forward and snatch Keith first.

From the blast that excoriated half of his back to the shock that rendered his heartbeat momentarily still, Lance had always been closer to death. War had branded him with more stamps of violence than necessary. Four fingers chomped off of one palm—at that point, just take the whole hand away. Emphysema for the lungs after all the smoke he’s ever inhaled and tendinitis from all that gun handling he’s done. And then there’s all the other conditions that come with being a human, the silly ones that Lance had never thought to consider during his prime. Diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines, foggy vision. Keith was a lucky one—he never had to deal with such things. Curse his undefeatable genes.

Keith died quietly, at least. Nothing like those rowdy days where he swooped around searching for pernicious battles to strike him down. Not at all. He simply laid down one night to sleep, next to Lance as he always had, and then never woke up. He passed right there, sometime during the creeping hours of the night. In one moment Keith had taken a deep, slumbering breath in and in the next, he didn’t. Never again would he do so. It was a peaceful death for a boy who was once a soldier. In Lance’s opinion, it was the kindest way he could go.

There were no memorable last words. Hell, Lance hardly remembers what he had for dinner the night before. They talked as they always had. Laughed as they always had. The friendly routine of their banter followed them up until the very end.

Lance misses him already.

He weeps quietly after the funeral—the real one where they buried Keith’s body in the same plot as his parents rather than the internationally broadcasted event. Lance cries into his stubby hands while Pidge sits nearby and smokes a cigarette. They’ve both got respiratory illnesses—Pidge has fucking lung cancer, but neither he nor Shiro’s daughter, a well-aged woman, tell her off. They and Coran are the only members of Voltron in attendance at the funeral.

Lance misses him so much. He finds that when he’s all alone in their big house with no job to keep him busy and a piloting license he’s well grown out of, he’s lonely. His daughter and her children come by, and he lets himself be strong, probably for the last time, in front of her. She’s distraught—even at fifty, she’s had Keith for far less time than he has. Lance holds her wrinkling hands on top of the kitchen counter and tells her encouraging words while pretending that Keith is next to him, speaking along.

He misses Keith’s leery sense of humor that didn’t particularly make sense. He misses his rigorous training schedule and he misses that era in their late forties where they decided to explore as much of Earth as they have of space. He misses seeing him at the altar. Lance craves Keith’s presence like a lung or a heart; he constantly wanders into rooms in hopes that he’ll stumble across his husband. Having him for seventy years wasn’t enough. Lance wants more. He can’t believe it’s over.

Simultaneously, this is the only way he’d be okay with letting go of Keith. The currents sweeping him away were calm and gentle. There were no storms, high tides, or downpours. Just a lulling river drifting Keith sweetly, softly. To die of old age in a home he called his own, in a warm bed next to someone he loves, with the rest of his heart only a call or flight away—there was no other end that a darling boy like Keith deserved.

Lance will follow quickly after. He knows. What more is there to do at eighty-four? He’s already accomplished his whole bucket list. Maybe he’ll pick up a minute hobby. Bug Pidge and Silvio into a rubbish knitting club. Something to keep him busy until his time comes too.

How cyclical it is, for them to die in this order. For Lance to chase Keith into death just like he chased him into space. They’ve met and parted in the same manner. It’s just like them.

Lance doesn’t know where death will take them. Maybe they’ll reunite. Maybe they’ll restart, quietly and steadily, like a slowly rising dawn. Or maybe they’ll turn into the stars, just like Allura had. The world will continue spinning and the universe will expand ever so slightly, with two stars twinkling in a little corner.

[cool-and-grizzled]

so i saw @klancer-warrior's art where keith pulls lance's hoodie over his head and i got the biggest urge to do something with it so i did. enjoy?

Keith usually doesn't mind the cold -- he's lived in the desert for years and the nights can get cold, he's been in space for a few months now. So he's usually fine with it, but with the Castle's heating system malfunctioning for three days now, he thinks it's a bit too much now.

Even Pidge had to hunt down a pair of pants that reached past her knees, and Keith himself has been walking around with his jacket zipped and hands buried in his pockets. He's honestly surprised that Hunk and Lance don't seem to be cold at all, despite both of them coming from countries with warm climates.

It's after dinner when they're walking to the common room that Keith gives up on fighting the urge and pulls Lance's hood over his head, his fingers grazing his hair. Keith's face buried in the collar of his jacket, partly because of the cold, and partly because he can feel the redness creeping up his cheeks.

Lance looks at him, surprised.

"It's cold," he says, not elaborating.

Lance looks away, a strange expression on his face, and Keith can see a glimpse of dusting of pink over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose before Lance turns away.

When they get to the common room, Pidge and Hunk are already setting up the movie of the night.

"Hey guys! Shiro should be here soon with the snacks, and Allura and Coran said we can start without them, they'll try to figure out the heating situation," Hunk says when he notices the two of them.

The rest of the evening passes in a typical team Voltron fashion: Lance talks over the movie which in turn makes Keith try to strangle him, Pidge points out all the inaccuracies, Hunk tries to get her to enjoy it but gives up halfway through, and Shiro is asleep despite all the noise. Allura popped in at one point to tell them that they think they figured out what the problem could be, so they'll try to fix it tonight. Nobody has an argument against that.

Keith and Lance are the last ones to leave, agreeing to clean up since the others set it up. They're at their rooms, and Keith is about to walk inside when he looks at Lance.

He kept his hood up, and it makes him look softer. For the second time in a few hours, Keith acts on his impulses. He grabs the edges of Lance's hood, and pulls him close, pressing a kiss on his lips. It's quick, fleeting, and he doesn't let Lance react before he's withdrawing.

"Goodnight, Lance."

He doesn't look back, just goes into his room with his heart pounding as he realizes what he's done. He doesn't see Lance turning red, doesn't see him lift a tentative hand to his lips, gently touching them still in disbelief.

But he will wake up to fervent knocking on his door in the morning.

[papasquiznak]

1 person asked and i have delivered: the guys

i have keith, lance and shiro’s funko pops that i got as a gift years ago. I was a foolish child who removed them from the box. (i know i know put the rotten tomatoes down)

lance’s foot fell off and i can’t find it so he is banished to the drawer until i can find or make a replacement. Shiro is in hiding because he’s very top heavy and honestly he deserves a break so its just keith standing on guard watching out for my plants.

[wolfwhisperertf]

Ok so I feel like I should open this rant by saying that the TF at the end of my username stands for transformers. Like I've got the starscream brain worms bad and even though my irl car is blue it has racing stripes for one reason and one reason only.🐝 So I have a lot of feeling about these fictional robots that are literally the reason I found tumblr and fanfiction in the first place.

So I've heard that the writers for s2 of Earthspark aren't the same as s1 and you can tell, omfg you can tell. Literally the entire time I was watching s1 I kept on having the thought of "plz don't let the orange man hear about this show" and at this point I'm starting to think someone snitched. (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ like wtf was that opening? all decepticons are evil cause they're decepticon?! the fuck you mean?! did the new writers even watch s1?!

Like I literally thought the opening scene for s2 was going to be a training room fake-out, where one of the decepticons was going to go a little too far and the simulation would shut down with them being all "omp I'm so sorry I had a war flashback and forgot this was training!" but nope they really just said fuck you and your freewill.

If this show kept the same quality it had in s1 I think it would've ranked higher than Transformers Prime in my eyes, I might've even ranked it higher than gen1! At this point if you like transformers and haven't watched Earthspark yet please watch it but DO NOT watch past s1! Then go on ao3 or your local fanfic site and find some good ones to help treat the brainrot cause I've never gotten this mad about a shows quality going down during different seasons and I've watched both Voltron and The Dragon Prince multiple times!

Honestly might write my own fic cause I'm so mad but plz send me any good Earthspark fix-it fics that pick up right after s1 ending too, cause all I want is for the malto fam to treat starscream like a wet kitten they found outside in a storm, and even though he keeps biting/hissing/scratching them, they refuse to give up on him until finally he falls asleep purring on someone's lap!

So ya feel free to add your rant/praises of this show in the comments, reblogs or my dms cause I have so many feels and 0 friends that had Starscream as their sexual awakening like transformers.

[sexisbetteronthemoon]

Sex is Better on the Moon - Chapter 23 - Anonymous - Voltron: Legendary Defender [Archive of Our Own]

Bottom lip pinched between his teeth, Lance looked at him, tentative. “Your hair,” he said.  “Let me fix it.” The immediate gut reaction Keith had was to say yes, followed by a sweeping repression that screamed no.  They had spent too much time too close.  Like clay, his flesh was beginning to mold itself to the shape of Lance.  Already, his hands missed the soft skin of his belly, and his chest the warmth of Lance's back.  Even the scent of the damp cave and the whiff of rotten eggs was stronger without the gentleness of the sea in Lance's hair. He was growing too used to having him, and it boded ill for the future when Lance would no longer be there to fill the crevasse in his heart, and his unfired clay flesh would crumble without the support.

[foolinafable]

iv. genesis

SYNOPSIS: He doesn’t know how to love. You know this and yet you would still give everything just to be with him- even for just a moment. Or the story of how you and Keith finally get together. PAIRING: Keith Kogane x Altean reader WORD COUNT: 4.9k TAGS: Slowburn, Angst, extreme cannon compliance, fighting SERIES LINK: a love as cold as ours

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You aren't sure if this could get any worse, sat in the control room of the Castle of lions which has completely shut down because Shiro put in a kill protocol. Pidge was able to turn it off but the castle has lost significant power and the battle with Lotor is far from finished so you needed to keep your energy and strength.

Everything happened so fast, earlier on today you, Lotor and Allura had just made it into the quintessence field, all of your hard work had paid off and you were so happy and now- now you struggled to know how to feel.

Your heart hurt from Lotors betrayal as he had become a very close friend, a brother almost in the time you spent together but you were sure that wasn't the only reason you were feeling this way.

Keith's sudden return has sent you spiralling all the emotions you locked away after your confrontation during the Kral Vera have been thirsty to the surface leaving you upset and angry. It hurts you to know that while he was one of the most important people in your life he just saw you as a nuisance. You have come to terms with the idea that you did love him, it wasn't just some factless infatuation that went away when he did and even now when you would rather be face to face with Lotor than with him, deep down you still love him and you hate yourself for it greatly- I mean there is nobody else to blame it’s like he told you he can’t love and even if he could he really doesn't want to. You were stupid to think that maybe one day he would change his mind, especially for you of all people who he clearly just want to leave him alone.

“You still bleeding” Lance huffed from behind you, hand on your shoulder to make you aware of his presence, you simply turned to him in confusion eyebrows knitted together as he pointed to the nash on your forehead from when Shiro knocked you out your eyes brightened in recognition smiling in thanks but before you could get around to fixing yourself up Keith appeared on the comms, you averted your gaze when it seemed like he staring right at you and simply blocked him out as you used your powers to heal your forehead letting Lance and Allura take control of the situation- not that he would want your input anyway.

You simply skimpier off towards the lions when he shows Lotor’s location to prepare yourself and the rest of the lions for another altercation not even bothering to say anything. 

You didn’t like Allura’s plan. Not one bit.

Trapping Lotor in the quintessence field would probably not only kill him but also any chances of finding a permanent source of natural quintessence a clear way to bring peace to the Galaran empire and stop this war. If you break the entrance we would never be able to return meaning all the work put towards this would be for nothing. Alas, Allura was correct that this was the only way to stop Lotor. 

“Lotor will be here any second, what's the plan?” Pidge asked, looking at the destruction the lions had just created. 

“Well, the castle of lions has broken down. So there's no help there.” Allura spoke her thoughts aloud trying to find a pathway for the group. “The black lion isn't with us, so we can’t form Voltron. We are just going to need to do what we can” she finished sounding dejected.

“Got it, attempt to survive,” Pidge replied 

“Last time we fought Lotor, we had six ships and Lotor had two and he still kicked our butts. This time he has three ships while we have five” Hunk reminded us you simply took a shaky breath before speaking 

“Well it was never going to be easy” while Lance, annoyed, responded

“We don't have time for your maths equations hunk! Especially ones that result in us taking a beating” the rest of the team went quiet as Allura spoke to Coran.

When you saw the three ships appear, you tried to control your breathing as they got closer and you tightened your hands on the lion's controls. 

“We need not fight today, We are all on the same side” you heard Lotor speak over the comms tears filling your eyes as you thought about everything he had done- all the innocent lives he had taken and found yourself quickly filling with rage at the idea that he would ever be on the same side as you again- if he ever truly was.

“I know what you all must think of me now that you know my past. It doesn't have to change our future together. The truth is I want to harness the power of the quintessence field to better the universe, just like I said. Nothing has changed” you quickly interjected

“Everything has changed” your voice so sharp you heard him inhale in shock.

“You enslaved countless Alteans harnessing their life source for your personal gain. How many innocent lives did you destroy?” Allura raged at him

“Allura-” he tried to interject but she didn't let him

“How many?” 

“It’s true many alteans perished in my quest to unlock the mysteries of the quintessence. But I protected thousands more, and I rescued their culture- our culture. Both of you must understand I've given everything I have to plumb the depths of King Alfor’s knowledge, to unlock the mysteries of Oridane. We have come too far together, surely you can see the greatness we have accomplished and the greatness we have yet to. Join me, we are on the same side.” 

“No, we're not!” Allura roared as she sent a laser beam towards Lotors ship which he quickly dodged. You braced yourself knowing that now the real battle was about to begin. 

Everything was a blur, Lotor’s words afterwards and Alluras bites the only words echoing in your head were his “destroy the lions” the way he said it so easily, as if it was of no consequence to him and maybe it wasn't but it sent you spiralling barely able to dodge incoming attacks from Lotor and his generals and consistently missing your targets.

You knew Coran was able to get the castle working but only due to it nearly crashing into you and Lance.

Lotor was constantly trying to hit you and Allura raged in a way you had never seen before something crazed in the way he spoke about ridding of you all even the galra a fact that shocked not just you but also his generals who tried to escape when learning of his plans only to be ejected from there ships leaving them in space while the ships joined knot his to create a large robot similar to that of Voltron.   

“What is that thing?” Pidge questioned as the five of you looked up at the robot “He's created his own voltron.” Lance spoke your thoughts aloud 

“That is why he was using us- using me” Allura concluded 

“We helped him build this” you announced shock evident in your voice 

“Well the good news is it’s now four on one” Hunk spoke recalling his earlier words but before any more words could be spoken Lotor came rushing towards the group

 “Watch out” Allura shouted as you all quickly tried to disperse but he was too quick catching you and Lance with the robot’s fingers sending you flying and whipping Hunk backwards with its tail, Pidge tried to fire at the robot but it quickly dodged 

“It’s way faster than us” she hollered out as you all tried to get a hit in before being quickly body-slammed by the robot. Coran was able to get a shot in from the castle of lions but Lotor quickly sent one back sending the ship into a panic 

“Impossible, Lotor’s weapon has completely repelled the castle's attack!” Pidge screamed,

 “Coran shoot it with the cannon again!” Lance pleaded

 “I can’t” Coran replied the ship was now completely out of action 

“Pidge get out of his line of sight!” Lance screamed as she nearly got hit only for you to push her lion out of the way with your own causing the rest of them to scream your name in worry as you let out pained noises

“What are you doing?” Lance shouted at you as you moved once again into Lotors sight in the hope he would hit you again 

“If I can absorb enough of his power-” you stopped to grunt in pain as he hit you again “I might be able to give it back” Lance made a noise of confusion

“What do you mean- you going to get yourself killed” as he tried to move you lion away with his own

“I gave his ship the ability to do this so I must be able to do it myself” is all you replied as you once again moved towards Lotor

“But it's not safe” Lance pleaded 

“What other choice do we have- just sit around and let him destroy us all?” you shouted back when a choked gasp came from you once you were hit again sending you flying forward your  head hitting the console of your ship, you simply gritted your teeth as the team called out to you in worry but they were quickly all grunting and screaming themselves as Lotor locked onto them 

“We can’t take this much longer!” Allura shouted fear evident in her tone while Hunk was shouting for Lance as he went flying from Lotor’s impact. Before you could gather enough energy to send something his way all the lions had shut down, seemingly unable to fight any longer and the paladins were completely out of options.

“It didn’t need to end like this, but you have made your choice” Lotor spoke as he went to deal the final blow when the black lion finally appeared- it seemed that the fight was far from over. 

“Keith, how did you get here so fast?” Lance questioned, clearly astonished 

“I had some help” was all he replied “Now hurry we don’t have much time. Form voltron!” Keith quickly sent a space pod with Shiro's body inside towards the castle

“Coran you’ve got incoming” and he couldn’t have gotten Shiro away at a better time as Lotor quickly sent a blast towards Voltron but Lance and Pidge quickly activated the shield protecting you from the blast

“Hunk form canon” Keith commanded 

“You’ve got it” the yellow paladin grunted as he activated his weapon, sending a blast towards the Lotor who quickly moved out of its path even as the laser chased him not once did it hit his robot. 

“He’s too fast!” Lance called out alarmed 

“Then we will have to get in close, form a sword” Keith responded, his voice sounding raspier from all the shouting.

You quickly formed the sword and in retaliation, Lotor’s robot formed its own swords, one for each hand and came bounding towards Voltron causing the robot to move backwards due to Lotor’s robot’s momentum swords clashing against each other like a moth drawn to a flame.

Lotor sent you all flying back with a whip of his robot's tail as Pidge called out

“We can’t touch him, he's still too fast!”

“We need to stop him moving around, back him into a corner or something” Hunk strategised 

“Hunk is right, we need to eliminate his speed advantage, and limit his movements” Keith agrees. You all turned your heads to take notice of a large asteroid to the left of you

“There” Keith announced as you flew towards it hoping the curvature of the rock would allow you to trap Lotor within

“Now we lure him in close” and luckily Lotor took the bait following you right into the trap sending a blast towards you which you used the shield to block pushing you into the rock below solidifying your position and his continuous blasts caused the area to fill with ash from the rocks making him unable to see you anymore, he circled back trying to attack from behind

“Wait for him” Keith spoke softly as you heard him getting closer from behind the rock “Let him build up speed” you could hear the whirring of his engine get louder and faster

“Now!” Keith screamed as you moved the Voltron as quickly as you could as Lotor crashed into the rock from behind leaving an explosion of ash in his way.

Before he could realise what was happening you quickly threw Voltron in front of him firing both arm cannons right the robot’s body sending him crashing backwards as the middle of the asteroid caved in due to the weight and power.

“Where'd he go?” Hunk questions when you look into the hole as you see nothing. You all move the robot around looking for him when Pidge calls out worriedly 

“He’s behind us!”

Keith, quick to take action, calls out “Hunk, Hit him with the shoulder cannon!” to which the yellow paladin responds before preparing a blast

“Fire” Keith called out as Hunk sent the shot but as it got closer to Lotor he disappeared. 

“Did we get him?” Lance questioned 

“I don't know” Hunk responds hastily 

“I think we got him” Lance smiled 

“It looked like he just disappeared” Pidge spoke eyebrows furrowing in confusion

“Yeah! We got him!” Lance sounded out overjoyed

“I’m not so sure” Allura complained 

“That was too easy, that can’t be it” you spat out head whirling with ideas of where he could've gone and how you heard Keith make a noise of unease through the comms as your head turned to the side when you saw a hole open up with Lotor inside as he quickly sent a punch towards Voltron sending you flying back a strange purple hue surrounding his spaceship. 

“Is everyone okay” Keith grunts as he tries to recover from falling backwards into a rock

“How is he moving so fast?” Pidge interrupts 

“We’ve gotta get up and attack” Keith responds sending Voltron hurtling back towards him but he disappeared again before you could get close 

“Okay, so that time we definitely didn't get him” Lance says confused but before anyone else could speak you gasped out as Lotor appeared once again sending you backwards and then again appeared behind you sending another hit to the robot and then another causing you all to grunt in pain as he kept hitting you around like a ball on a ping pong table expect he was the only player.

He disappeared again, not immediately coming back when Hunk next spoke

“How can he keep disappearing like that?” to which Allura responded clearly shaken up

“He is, entering the quintessence field- at will!” causing you to take a shocked intake of breath while the other continued to question her idea

“How is able to do it?: you heard Pidge chime to which you responded

“I gave his ships the ability didn't I?” to which Allura sighed telling everyone that you were correct but before anything could be said Allura grunted as Lotor reappeared sending the ship backwards as you stayed the ship the shield quickly had to be activated as Lotor sent an extremely powerful blast towards you, much stronger than the ones previous sending the robot backwards due its sheer power causing a large explosion completely knocking down Voltron before disappearing once again into what you now released what the quintessence field.

“We have to go after him” Keith spoke clearly exhausted “Getting power from the quintessence is the only way we can match his strength”

“Can we do that” the yellow paladin questioned

“If he can, so can Voltron right?” Pidge asked you 

“My father did it once, but it was extremely dangerous” Allura called out

“Well I don’t think we have much of a choice princess” you called out 

“There right Allura, we have to try” Keith agreed with you sending annoyance to curl up into your being but now isn't the time to be upset- you could be upset if you make it out alive.

“I might be able to guide us in, but I don’t think I’m powerful enough” Allura concluded 

“Then I will do it just tell me what to do” you replied solemnly hoping that you were strong enough for this, that Alfor was correct to keep you alive in that sleeping pod instead of himself. 

“I will need everyone to focus their energy” Allura commanded “While you need to picture the quintessence field” You closed your eyes quickly picturing the abyss you had seen only hours prior when you could feel the energy of the paladins right next to you, guiding you.

You opened your eyes as a bright light appeared

“Form sword” you heard Allura call out as you flew towards the light hitting it in the centre with your sword causing light to reflect everywhere as the hole grew, your vision clouded in the brightness. 

You could hear the astonishment of the paladins as you began to open your eyes, in disbelief that you were here- the quintessence field

“I did it” you mumbled to yourself in relief but before you could bask in the beauty of the area you saw him, standing opposite you in the field, swords drawn both robots flew towards each other ready to engage in another battle purple meeting blue once more as the robots fought against one another. 

“We took a major shot, but I feel fine” Pidge comments to which Allura responded 

“All this quintessence is keeping us at full power” a comment that made you still worry

 “It’s more than that, can you hear your lions talking to you?” Keith asks and he was right you could feel your lion purring in the back of your head commanding you on what to do

“Voltron is capable of more than we imagined” he finished sending a laser towards Lotors ship while your hands and body were buzzing with power glowing even without you thinking about it an idea that amazed you but also made a feeling of dread appear in my stomach but you weren't sure why.

But you didn’t have enough time to voice it as Lotor came rushing back

“Attack!” Keith shouted and you went flying back into him sending shot after shot at him but you felt as if time was going too fast, barely able to keep up with what the other paladins were doing, a fog seeding to haze over your mind as your body began shaking and flinching. 

“Let's end this!” you heard Pidge scream

“Finish him!” Lance responded 

“Let's destroy that guy!” Hunk exclaimed 

“We have to get out here!” you heard Allura shout as she called out your name in worry at your lack of response while the other paladins sounded out confusion at her words

 “What are you talking about” Keith asked 

“This is exactly what happened to Zarkon! Exposure to all the quintessence turned him into a monster!” Allura shouted 

“She's right” you spoke breathlessly a lot quieter than normal “There’s too much of it everything- I don't know how much longer we have” but before anyone could question you more you heard Lotor’s voice calling out mockingly

“Poor alteans, all the power of the universe at your fingertips and your too afraid to use it!” then he flew towards you again 

“They are right we are out of control” Lance stated 

“All our systems are overloaded” Pidge called out 

“I know the feeling” you grunted out as the power signed through your body your sensitivity to quintessence was greater due to your power

“Here comes Lotor” Keith warned as you flew Voltron away from him now trying to escape him rather than fight him. 

“How do we stop this?” Hunk questioned 

“We give Lotor all the power he wants” Allura concluded as she pulled Voltron backwards to face him. 

“All this excess energy, I will just give it to him” you called out to paladins blocking away any of their worries as you closed your eyes and focused on the power within you, the connection to your lion caused you to also channel the burning power exceeding from Voltron causing a large beam to shoot out of lion chest right into Lotor robot that was still trying to inch closer to you, as the blast died down you could see Lotors robot was down sizzling and defeated as the haziness withdrew from your being, no longer shaking from all the quintessence your body was trying channel.

“Let's grab Lotor and get out of here” Keith announced as the alarms blared within the robot 

“No, we can’t! We need to leave now” Pidge responded and she was right there was only a matter of time before the quintessence got too much again

“We have to try!” Allura pleaded 

“Pidge is right, if we stay in here much longer and Voltron is done for” Hunk announced when a large crackle of energy hit Voltron sending you all groaning in pain 

“But we can't just leave him!” Allura argued as the ship was starting to sway electricity jolts electrocuting you all 

“Allura we have to go now” Lance pleaded 

“There isn't anything we can do for him anymore Allura” you spoke guilt wracking your voice that you were going to leave him here to die, a man you thought of even still as a brother

“Lotor made his choice. Let's get out of here Allura” Keith reasoned and Voltron finally moved away from him blasting out of the quintessence field through the hole you had created. 

“If we had stayed in the quintessence field, we would've kept fighting until we destroyed ourselves” Allura theorised “Just like Lotor.” 

“What did you do to him?” Keith asked you, his face appearing on your comms but you refused to look at him. “I transferred all the excess energy from myself and Voltron, it’s a technique I learned on Oridane, thanks to Lotor.”

“Thank you, you saved us” Lace replied solemnly as you stared at all the holes Lotor left into the quintessence field

“Not just us, the entire universe” Hunk concluded as the castle of lions drew closer behind you

“Oh! Your back” Coran declared relieved 

“Lotor is no longer a threat” Keith spoke mournfully 

“Right I’m afraid we face a bigger threat now” Coran began “All of Lotors jumping in and out of the quintessence field has created multiple growing rifts in the fabric of space and time”

“What does that mean?” Lance questioned dejectedly 

“It means unless we do something fast, those tears will continue to expand until all of existence as we know it has been destroyed” Pidge answered

“There has to be something we can do” Keith announced and he was right everything couldn't end here 

“Scanning the rift for any strand refabrication possibilities” Pidge announced 

“I’m running a few different models to see if there's any chance it can close on its own” Hunk added but both came up empty-handed. 

“How long do we have?” Keith asked 

“Well based on the way those rifts are expanding I’d say about 15 doboshes” Coran theorised 

“Allura, is there anything either of you can do?” Lance questioned

“I don’t know” Allura started “I just don’t have that alchemical knowledge” 

“The only thing that could possibly pull that rift close would be a source of gravity more powerful than a supermassive black hole” Pidge called out 

“Allura, Coran” you spoke hesitantly as an idea was brought forth into your mind “The teleduv” 

“What about it?” Keith questioned 

“They’re right, to make wormhole jumps, the teleduv creates a brief flash of infinite mass. There might be a way I can overload the reactor to seal the rifts. If one of the flashes went off on the rift it may be enough to close it- do the job”

Coran answered for you and despite him not being able to see you you smiled slightly in thanks, glad to know your idea wasn't crazy and that you didn't need to speak to him more than you needed to. 

“But that would mean, sacrificing the castle of lions” Hunk realised gloomily

“Well, what choice do we have? Either way, the castle would be wiped out.” Pidge reminded him

“But still” Hunk began pausing for a moment in contemplation “it’s been our home”

“I hate to say goodbye to my grandfather’s creation” Coran called out wistfully “The last piece of the real altea”

“That's not completely true- we are the last pieces of altea Coran don’t forget that” you attempted to comfort the older man

“Coran begin preparations” Allura called out

“Everyone else start unloading the castle, we need to evacuate immediately” You quickly transformed back into the lions and made your way for the last time into the hangers collecting items as you made your way into your rooms and other various location surround the castle collecting personal items but also weapons and technology that you could need.

Subconsciously you tried to stay out of Keith’s way just in case he tried to speak to you. The idea of having a conversation with him makes your throat feel tight and a pit arises in your stomach, your body trying to warn you away from him for safety, something it used to draw you towards him. Luckily he seemed disinterested in speaking with you at this moment, very busy clearing up and getting Shiro situated with his mother and space wolf within his lion.

You stood with Coran as he said goodbye to the castle waiting with him before he entered your lion with you

“Goodbye old friend” he called out as he initiated the teleduv before running with you to your lion and then rushing out the way with the rest of lions praying that this would work you looked at him with tears in your eyes as he touched your shoulder going to hold his hand as he stared at you with the same pain in his eyes.

You all grunted at the impact of the rift closing before it all disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

“It worked” Hunk called out cheerfully 

“You did it Coran” Allura called out over comms as you looked at him again smiling sadly at him 

“And look” Hunk commented going closer to a blue light where the castle once was 

“What is it?” Keith asked 

“It’s a diamond” Hunk responded as his lion opened its mouth to take the crystal “The pressure crushed the castle of lions into this little crystal” You all smiled that the castle survived into something that Coran would always have- his grandfather's last surviving creation far from gone.

“Well, we saved all realties everywhere, what do you guys wanna do now?” Lance questioned glum 

“We need to find someplace to land,” Keith began, “and see if there is some way we can help Shiro.” so you all went flying forward looking for somewhere safe. 

── ✧

You landed on some sort of destroyed rocky planet and got Shiro out of the healing pod, Keith lay him on the ground as you all looked at him woefully “This body is barely living but Shiro’s spirit is still alive. It’s inside the Black lion, I've heard him talk to me.” Keith told you all

“He-he tried to tell me but I didn’t realise” Lance realised falling to his knees as tears shed from his eyes “I’m so sorry Shiro. I-I didn’t know. I- I could’ve-” Lance sobbed feeling defeated as you came up behind him to try and comfort him but he only stopped crying once Allura came up to the two of you grabbing your hand and moving you towards Shiro and the black lion while she touched Lance’s shoulder with the other, you immediately understood what she knew you could do.

You quickly connected with the black lion, hands glowing as you did, the black lion outlined in your purple quintessence as its eyes glowed. Your body quickly became purple like the lion as it transferred Shiro's soul to you. You walked towards Shrio’s hands on his head as you began to transfer his soul into this body, the glow transferring to him making his hair go white.

Everyone held a berated breath as they waited for something, anything to happen and then his eyes opened- Shiro was alive.

He quickly sat up coughing before he once again collapsed into Keith but the black lion roared in happiness causing the rest of the lions to roar in response causing a smile to grace your face as the others cheered and cried.

“You found me” you heard Shiro speak quietly to Kieth using all his strength

“We’re glad you’re back Shiro” was all he replied while Allura came up to you

“Rest,” she said directed at Shiro but you knew from how her eyes drifted to you it was meant for you also, she could take it from here for the time being. 

“So what are we going to do?” Hunk questioned “The castles been destroyed” 

“There is only one place that has the plans necessary to build a replacement” Pidge announced “Coran gave them to my dad” 

“We’re going home.” Keith announced.

[larothoughts]

anti-ship adjacent ships: liujiu and qijiu

so there's this weird thing that's happening in svsss of all fandoms that reminds me a lot of voltron's klance and sheith fiasco AKA the formation of what i like to call anti-ship adjacent ships

basically, when someone's favorite ship is more indicative of them being an anti-shipper of another ship.

i've had to start excluding liujiu in my ao3 searches because more often than not, the fics that come up are yqy-bashing and what?? this is svsss, right? mxtx's trashiest, most problematic, harem-bicycle-shen-yuan svsss? what is this moral outrage doing in my degenerate danmei fic space, and why are you mischaracterizing yqy just to make an excuse to hate on him??

i've had a few thoughts on the rising dichotomy of shen jiu sympathizers both validating sj's bad behavior and hating yqy for enabling the same behavior. and then shipping him with lqg because liujiu is 'less toxic.' As an old lady fanfic reader who's trawled through all the godforsaken dead dove ships of the old livejournal kink_meme, i'm writing these out because making sense of things helps me cope and i am too old for this shit

(this is actually more 'why anti-qijiu' word vomit than liujiu specific--it just so happens that so many liujiu fics are bizarrely anti-qijiu.)

narrative reasons for anti-yqy liujiu fic:

aka why an author finds it easier for the plot to bash qi-ge

accepting either romantic or platonic qijiu means trying to fix qijiu. this is hard. yqy and sj already have a proven history of failure, while sj and lqg (aka author's ideal white-knight love interest) would be the perfect do-over. making yqy a clear abusive villain sj must cut off ties with 'for his mental health' solves the problem without having to fix things. it frees the author to write what they thought qi-ge should have done to 'save shen jiu right.'

on the same note, liujiu have nearly no canon crumbs. the author can write them however they want without being constrained by their canon relationship.

why lqg over other possible ships? other than yqy, lqg is one of the few characters with any sort of previous relationship with sj. lqg is canonically hot, has strong (even if negative) feelings towards sj, and has no textual or subtextual canon ship (beyond a one-sided crush on shen yuan, with lbh getting in his way lol.) he is also the same generation as sj and thus avoids any age gap squicks like with sj's other ship partners (looking at you tlj)

yqy is the only person in cang qiong with higher authority than shen jiu. while other peak lords are antagonistic, all are ranked lower and can't get in liujiu's way the same way as yqy can as a sect leader. not even the old palace master has the same power because he's the head of a different sect. so if you really want to write a villain abusing their (implicit) power over shen jiu, yqy is the only one that fits the bill.

lbh, as sj's disciple, does not fit the same abuse of power trope even if he becomes an op demon lord. as for bingjiu, lbh's brand of diabolical stalkerish yandere is so over-the-top it's hard to equate him to any real relationship. it's easier to twist yqy's passivity to villainy because it's closer to reasonable human behavior.

if one is coming from the tgcf fandom, yue qingyuan is the closest junwu-adjacent character in terms of personality and rank (on the surface.) so it's easy to transfer any junwu hate to yqy by giving him all of junwu's worst traits and making him 'junwu-lite'

same thing as above but with mdzs and the lan xichen hate for his inaction regarding his own little meowmeow (jgy).

personal author-reasons for anti-yqy liujiu fic:

aka when the character himself doesn't matter

let's get a silly one out of the way: maybe the author only headcanons top shen jiu and most qijiu has sj being a bottom. lqg gives off better hot twinky bottom energy than submissive-but-still-tops yqy. this does not explain the anti-shipping though.

less silly: an author is projecting either themselves or other people in their real life onto their fic, and changing the character's personalities to match their real life projected counterparts (even if ooc). sj is a clear abuse-survivor insert, which shoe-horns other characters into roles that real people in the author's lives have. i think yqy is often seen as the insert for someone who 'could have helped but didn't.' there are many valid reasons why someone would be more mad at the person who averted their gaze rather than their actual abuser, but that doesn't change the fact that qijiu's relationship in canon is so much more complicated.

(it's easier to hate enablers instead of abusers, because hating abusers and inviting confrontation is dangerous. most of the time, enablers won't hurt you directly. they are the safer person to hate.)

an author thinks they could have saved sj better, that qi-ge had more than enough time to fix things and his failure not to do so must be punished by taking away his sj-simp-card and throwing him into the villain bin. this is similar to the phenomenon where an author hates the wife of canon anime couples b/c the author could clearly wife him better. and then writes a fic bashing said wife.

an author sees a messy relationship and equates messy with abusive. in reality many relationships can be messy but not abusive, messy but still fixable, but due to their personal experiences they see any attempt to do so as toxic. in this scenario yqy is often the abuser-insert and his ooc characterization takes after the author's own abuser.

specifically in fics where lqg has the personality of a cardboard cut-out: using liujiu to tell others they are still pro-ship, when in reality they dislike qijiu for their own reasons (and can't help but write it in their fic). it really reminds me of middle school lol like kids trying to find their identity by hating another identity. the whole 'ew pink is overrated, i hate preps which means i must be a nerdy rebel' and then two years later you realize you're not a nerdy rebel after all, you just based your entire identity on what you thought was the opposite of what you hated.

why i try not to read anti-qijiu liujiu fics:

aka write whatever you want, but sometimes i have to choose not to read

authors can write whatever they want. we're all doing this for free, so it's expected that a lot of fanfic have venting and some self-imposing onto a fictional character. i don't expect authors to NOT put themselves in their fic in some way. at the same time, however, i hope authors are self-aware enough to not bash another character just because that character reminds them of someone irl.

aka i get uncomfortable when i read a fic that has an author's obvious real-person insert. i'm not reading svsss fic anymore, i'm reading the author's version of punishing their abuser using fiction. i love transformative media that adds onto the canon! i love different interpretations even! but i'm here to read svsss? where are the svsss characters??

i'm not into character-bashing in general. i think the point of svsss and all of bingqiu's misunderstandings is the fact that good/evil is not a binary. sy spent the whole series fearing the 'evil' binghe despite the fact that post-abyss binghe was a complex person, causing a chain reaction of disaster. hell, shen jiu is the king of gray characters! he is a scum villain, evil and misunderstood, to be a sj-fan means to understand that no one is entirely good or evil. so it's even more cognitively dissonant when a pro-sj fic is so categorically anti-qijiu, as this often paints sj as good/misunderstood and yqy as bad.

(the only character-bashing i don't care about is the old palace master mxtx clearly wrote him to be bashed so throw him in a fire)

i don't mind liujiu actually, i think the dynamic has potential (see all the sj harem fic i've read lol) but qi-ge is such a big part of sj's character that vilifying/getting rid of him does sj a disservice too? sj has a shit ton of bad coping mechanisms, these aren't going to be magically fixed if yqy gets his limbs chopped off as 'just punishment' (??) for not stopping sj from abusing his own students (????)

in conclusion

there is no point to this rambling, and you don't need to agree with me on anything. these are just thoughts i had when trying to figure out why anti-ship adjacent ships even exist. the moral outrage is giving me war flashbacks of anti-sheith klance fans using their age gap as justification for their own ship, rather than liking klance for... being klance.

(I briefly considered going over all liujiu vs qijiu morality arguments, but if you're an sj fan i feel like morality arguments are pointless. he is an angry feral scum kitten who hits kids, no sj-fan has the moral high ground here.)

it's always unfortunate to see so much anti-shipping spilling into fandom, since by default most of us are living in the fringe minority anyway. further dividing us is just going to sink the whole ocean ala the death of livejournal and chinese ban on ao3. there's no point in ships if there ain't an ocean to sail in! aren't we all here because we are fans of these stories???

bonus

to make up for what must feel like a huge anti liujiu wall of text, here are some of my general thoughts on how their relationship would work. i'm more familiar with sj so most of these are from his pov.

while sj often has schemes upon schemes upon schemes, when it comes to anger/criticism/negativity, he's scathingly honest. lqg, a fellow honest asshole, is often on the same wavelength. once misunderstandings are cleared up and lqg realizes sj will do whatever it takes to protect big bro yqy (and thus the sect), they're able to work together as a ruthless team against cang qiong's enemies.

let's also assume fixing sj's emotional issues stops him from the worst of his scumminess aka whipping his disciples half to death.

teamwork -> enemies to lovers -> only one bed trope???

sj needs someone who will overtly believe in his goodness, and lqg, once he realizes the mistakes in his assumptions, is a loyal wall of support. unlike qi-ge who must always play diplomat, lqg blazes over all social cues. who cares if this looks bad on cang qiong, he'll throw down with anyone if his boo is insulted.

lqg is upfront and honest. there are no hidden plots for sj to be paranoid about in lqg, he's a Good Man through-and-through. if lqg has problems, he'll tell him. if he needs to apologize and sj tells him why, he'll do so. and if sj asks him a question, he'll always do his best to answer.

while lqg knows sj has trauma and a dark past, he will never truly understand what it was like. and that's exactly what sj wants. he likes how lqg knows him more as he is now in the present vs. someone who has lived through the same past. being with him is a reminder that he is now a powerful peak lord, not the starving street rat he once was.

for lqg, sj is like a complex puzzle box. an enigma so outside of his understanding of how the world works, he can't help but be drawn to it. he used to equate scheming with evil, but once he realizes much of sj's scheming was for the good of the sect, he lets himself be impressed by sj's intelligence. the fact that sj became a peak lord from nothing shows a certain type of strength-- and lqg has always appreciated strength.

a big roadblock in their relationship was sj's antagonism towards yqy (their sect leader whom lqg respects.) once qijiu reconcile (or sj stops being so disrespectful to yqy in public) lqg is better able to see him as an ally vs. an enemy.

sj rewards this loyalty by taking care of lqg's hidden enemies, because straightforward brutes are especially susceptible to devious snakes like that. sj would know. whether or not he tells lqg can go either way. he tells lqg if only to stop lqg from hearing it elsewhere and assuming the worst; or he doesn't tell lqg because he knows lqg trusts him and confusing his mind with schemes would just make him grumpy for not understanding.

...even if he's cute when he's grumpy.

[disgruntled-screaming]

The absolute biggest issue I have with Voltron Legendary Defender weirdly enough isn't how the writing became a huge pile of confusing storylines and decisions.

It's the time when the show takes place. Please, let me explain, as I have pulled my hair out about this.

Confirmed by the writers, vld takes place in the year 2314. Okay. Fine. Makes sense. There's technology present in the show that we do not have in 2016/2017. Also Pidge stated that it took the Garrison ships a few months to get to Kerberos. Kerberos being one of Pluto's moons. This also implies that the space commissioners or companies that are involved in space travel and space adjacent activities declared Pluto a planet once again.

Shiro, our space dad and dilf in training, is 25 years old at the start of the series. He was born February 29, which is a date that is only available on a leap year.

Let's do some simple math, don't worry, I'll be your calculator. 2314 - 25 = 2289.

Ladies, Gentlemen, Nonbinary individuals, and possible other genders that I do not know about, 2289 is not a leap year. Neither is 2290. Would you all like to know when the next leap year is in this range of years? 2292.

Since I am a stickler for accuracy in regards to certain topics for reasons I can only blame my autism and ADHD on, the show taking place in the year 2314 bothers me. Please understand that this is simply a me problem. If Shiro was not my favorite character, or if he didn't share a birthday with my first adorable dog, I would not care about this blatant error.

If it helps to those who have the same issue as I do, my fix-it fic takes place 2317. It's not that much of a jump, but honestly it feels better knowing that the math lines up.

Thank you for taking your time to read this! Hope you all have a lovely day.

[squeakyleftsneaker]

Watching Voltron for the 1st Time: S2 Ep. 8-10

Hi so in this post I have a mild to moderate case of headloss in the extreme. Just a fair warning! I WILL lose it! MORE THAN ONCE. Anyway if you want the lore on why I'm watching this ancient show on a sketchy website in 2025, CLICK HERE! But if you don't want to read The Lore then the short version is that I am Afraid of middle schoolers. These episodes have been some of my favorites so far, and so this post is going to be A BIG ONE.

DUDE THIS SHIT RULES

Shiro said "I'm taking my emotional support Keith" and good for him

I keep singing "The Real Blade of Marmalade" in my head to the tune of Lady Marmalade by Christina Aguilera.

Keith and Shiro heart to hearts are the backbone of this show dawg. And Shiro's winged eyeliner. He really kills it there.

"Ulaz had a penchant for ignoring orders and following impulses" HM THAT SOUNDS LIKE KEITH and Shiro thinks so too because Shiro is immediately defending him. Based, true, etc.

I LOVE that Shiro has never seen this damn knife and for all he knows Keith stole it and Shiro is still willing to fucking blow it all up if he has to. For such a control freak he's got his limits

Wow Keith is SHORT I guess his alien parent we're still pretending is a surprise didn't impart the tall genes onto him

Shiro has an unshakeable faith in Keith which. I would like to see shaken for The Plot but also would love to see reinforced in a way that Saves The Plot.

Bye ofc his hallucinatory dream of deepest desires is Shiro. And ofc Shiro is deeply disturbed by this. AND THE FACT THAT HE CHANGES HIS MIND ABOUT DIGGING DEEP INTO THE KNIFE TO FOLLOW SHIRO AT THE END?

I'M. HIS DAD IS A FUCKIGN. COUNTRY BOY? A FUCKING YEEHAW ASS. WHAT

I'M .

THE FUCK YOU MEAN HIS DAD IS. A FUCKING ALIENFUCKER????? WHAT IS HAPPENING

KEITH'S MOM GOT THIS YEEHAWASS COWBOY PREGNANT AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE OKAY WITH THAT???

KEITH'S UNNAMED MOTHER FUCKED THIS YEEHAW MAN???? WHAT IS HAPPENING DAWG

I LOST MY MIND SO HARD I POSTED ABOUT THIS I CAN'T COPE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT KEITH IS THE PRODUCT OF A YEEHAWASS KENTUCKY FRIED ALIENFUCKER AND AN ALIEN AND HIS NAME IS FUCKING KEITH

I'm. Reeling. I've lost it.

Shiro murking everyone and starting a whole diplomatic incident to get to Keith is such Keith-coded behavior. Cute.

"It doesn't matter where I come from, I know who I am" Yeah you're Shiro's... whatever they are.

Lance getting a mousie smooch got me to crack a smile I am growing fond of him

Hunk and Keith are a fun duo when they stop making Hunk the butt of a cruel joke.

AND having Hunk be the one to figure out how to get the scaultrite? GOOD. LET HIM BE SMART FINALLY FFS

Keith getting betrayed by some mf he helped poor dawg

STOP KEITH IS DOING SOME BABY LEADER SHENANIGANS WITH HUNK???? CUTE. CUTEEEEEEEEE. SHIRO WOULD BE SO PROUD

Shiro with Slav is me with the writers of this show. My god. The headloss. Next level. I love. I also love Slav, who is almost at my level of compulsive ritual doing. I can match his freak I fear. Shiro absolutely losing it over this guy is like. Peak to me.

Lance's insecurity moment NAUR I SURE HOPE THEY EXPLORE THIS FURTHER AND DON'T JUST RESOLVE IT OFFSCREEN

Shiro finally feels like he's around my age and not aged 80 years by space jail and all it took was someone who matches my freak in disordered thought I COULD FIX HIM MAMA

There Is Still Some Factor Of Suckage

These trials were concocted in a way that I think was. Hamstrung. I think they could've done a little more! No shame in taking inspo from the many many tests for Jedi/force sensitives in Star Wars. The "You are not meant to go through that door" fighting is cool, but there could've been something transitioning from that better into the Acid Trip Dream

Really disappointing that Keith didn't get a magical girl transformation into an alien when his knife got a magical girl transformation.

HOW THE FUCK DID THEY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO NOT SHOW US THE FUCKING REVEAL TO THE TEAM THAT KEITH IS AN ALIEN

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM

THEY FIND OUT KEITH IS ALIENISH AND WE DON'T GET TO SEE IT???? THIS BIG PIVOTAL CHARACTER MOMENT WHERE WE CAN SEE CHARACTERS REACT IS GOING TO HAPPEN OFFSCREEN FOR W H Y

I'M SO

MY HEAD IS ON MARS FIRST THEY GET ME A HALF-ALIEN HALF-COWBOY NAMED KEITH CUNTRY NO LAST NAME AND NOW THEY DO ALL THE PIVOTAL CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP SHIFTS COMPLETELY OFFSCREEN?????? I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE DAWG I AM SEETHING

THIS IS LIKE THE ONLY SHOW I CAN THINK OF WHERE THIS WOULD HAPPEN

Would it kill these writers to stop making Hunk the butt of a cruel joke every 2 seconds it's really genuinely so grating

I'm sorry I'm still not over it tfym they had a key moment happen completely offscreen and just moved on from that

Are they

Stupid

What

This episode really felt like a nothingburger filler beyond giving us Shiro going insane with this annoying little predetermination creature, because it set up Lance feeling insecure and then we just have to. Pretend it's resolved? When it's not? Like him having one good shot isn't like... an actual resolution and. Why. Why are we. I might go insane if I keep thinking about this.

WHY DON'T WE GET MORE SHIRO AND PIDGE BONDING OVER KNOWING HER FAM

Speaking of did Keith know Pidge before? Presumably Shiro knew of Pidge because like. If your other 2 mission partners are related and have a smart lil family member they would talk about them. And Shiro seems like he'd defend his Emotional-Support-Stray-Cat-I-Mean-Keith at all costs so like.

ACTUALLY NVM THESE WRITERS WOULDN'T GIVE A FUCK

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THIS SHOW GO FUCKING CRAZY BECAUSE TFYM WE HAVE MORE THAN ONE WELL THOUGHT OUT EPISODE DETAILING THE DEGREE TO WHICH KEITH AND SHIRO RELY ON EACH OTHER AND THE WAYS THAT TRUST IS ESSENTIAL TO THEIR SURVIVAL BUT WE CAN'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE FUCKING HAPPENING ON SCREEN AND HUNK AND LANCE HAVE TO BEG FOR SCRAPS

MY HEAD IS ON MARS

NO

MY HEAD IS ON KERBEROS ATP IDK HOW I'M GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH 8 SEASONS OF TS