#mentions of shallura

[breezycheezyart]

Hi! :D

Do you have any Shallura headcannons?

They kiss. Especially hand kisses.

Allura likes to dress them up to the nines. Shiro is all for looking fancy. Baddest bitches at the ball.

Shiro works very hard to be able to do Allura's hair because she deserves the best.

Ever since she carried his soul in her, they've been very in tune with each other's quintessence. Their cuddle sessions to recharge are the best 💜.

Sometimes, they just gaze into each other's eyes. Not a word spoken, but so tender all the same.

They co-pilot the Black Lion if needed.

Shiro is going to call her beautiful at every chance he gets.

Allura has not made it a secret that she oogles him in his tight clothes.

Please help the paladins, they're suffering here.

They're work married. And also regular married.

Just very married.

[materassassino]

fic writer questions

I wasn't strictly tagged by @liesmyth but I was told to do it, so that counts, in my book!

how many works do you have on AO3?

Precisely 120. I've not anoned or orphaned anything so that's the exact number I've ever posted, as well. (although I guess if it's just fics it's 118, because two of those are artworks, and even then it's probably 117 because I'm listed as a co-author for a fic I just had the idea for, and I will never touch that to change it because it was written by my friend Socks who passed away.)

what's your total ao3 word count?

921,788. We'll break a million at some point, I imagine. I'm a slow writer.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ever Decreasing Circles [Star Wars]: 2478 (makes sense, it's my only real multichapter)

Not Going Anywhere [Voltron]: 1832 (I have no excuse for this, the brief Klance lunacy at the beginning was a shameful moment)

Smile with the Rising Sun [DC Comics]: 1354 (this genuinely surprised me, I guess the people yearn for JayRoy Christmas fic?)

Fledging [Star Wars]: 1191 (this one makes sense, the people yearn for happy Skywalkers)

Kick the Beam [Dragon Age 2]: 1037

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I do genuinely try to respond to all of them, I love getting comments most out of everything. If I didn't respond, it's because I forgor.

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do unhappy endings, it's just not my style, but I think it's either Schwanengesang [Hetalia], a human AU where Gilbert freezes to death on the Russian front, or The Baffled King Composing [The Silmarillion], which superficially ends on a hopeful note but The Reader knows exactly what happens to these very characters, and it's not good, so the characters are blissfully unaware of their own doom.

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Write What You Know [Star Wars], I think. Not entirely sure. It's a lot more lighthearted, imo, and it ends with a wedding and a fuckton of money, so that seems pretty happy to me, lol.

do you write crossovers?

Not usually. It takes a very specific set of circumstances to make me write them, and that's the two different canons being able to mash together coherently in my head. I've written two, and the issue with those is they're both crossovers with fucking Neil Gaiman shit, which makes me annoyed because Sandman crosses over so fucking well with The Old Guard (When Shall We Threen Meet Again?).

(The other was Rise of the Guardians+American Gods. Don't know why I wrote that, it made sense at the time and does not in hindsight.)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Only bot hate, unfortunately. I don't really write anything super controversial, I'm mortally vanilla, so I dodge a lot of aggro, tbh. There is an instance of something where I strove for historical accuracy, but even that only sparked an actual mature discussion on Twitter and not any flames. Context helped there, I believe.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. I would say I prefer to write m/m, but tbh the most smut I ever wrote was for Shallura (to the point where that was my reputation lmao). I've struggled with it a bit over the last few years but I'm getting back into it. I tend towards like really fucking sappy emotional stuff between people who are in love, like I said, I'm very vanilla and not kinky at all, it doesn't interest me.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I don't think I've ever been big enough in any fandom to attract that sort of attention.

have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Three of them, two in Chinese for Write What You Know and The Jacket Fic, and one in French for a Free! fic. I like it when people ask first, but I will usually give permission. :>

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not actively. I'm a co-author for the fic mentioned in the first question, but other than that, nothing. I'd like to, though, I feel like the accountability would be useful to me, lol.

what's your all-time favorite ship?

This is not a question that's possible to answer. I hyperfixate and then move on while maintaining a general fondness for the old ship once I've switched fandoms. So it's more of a current OTP thing going on than One Ship to Rule Them All. Also there's things I've shipped really strongly and never written anything for. At the moment the big OTP is JoeNicky, before that it was DinLuke, before that it was Wangxian and so on and so forth. A comprehensive list would be tedious.

And the HMS Terror, of course.

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I'd like to finish my handful of DinLuke WIPs, but I don't exactly foresee that happening now. I've pretty much moved on (although to be fair once you've been into Star Wars it does become a cornerstone of your personality, a bit like Tolkien). I will try extremely hard to finish the Battle of Yavin Anniversary Gala one, at least.

There's also a Glorestor fic I've had jangling around in my head since 2014, in two different iterations, but when that will ever be actually witten is anybody's guess, lol.

what are your writing strengths?

I'm never good at self-analysis, tbh. I think my prose is pretty good in general, and I'm good at character voice and staying in character. I've been told I'm good at developing well-rounded and enjoyable OCs with very little actual information on the page, so I'll call that a strength because it doesn't detract from the canon characters.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Action: writing punchy, effective scenes that are actually exciting to read is really freaking hard, especially with any form of combat. There are only so many ways to describe a swordfight. Environmental description: people who take three paragraphs to describe a room are fucking insane, I'm sorry, I can use my imagination perfectly well, thanks. Smut: I'm ace so I always feel like a goddamn imposter, despite the fact that I've also never been a freaking Jedi, or I've never been to Renaissance Rome, and yet I'm perfectly fine writing that.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on the context. I am guilty of huge blocks of text in other languages (conlang or not) but I do try and always include interactable footnotes for those. Like idk, learn Italian ya wimps, lmao. I've put whole speeches in Mando'a in Ever Decreasing Circles, and bits and pieces of other languages in Old Guard fic. That said I will always, ALWAYS transliterate if it's a language that doesn't use the Latin alphabet. Never leave that shit unreadable for people. I can't read Mandarin, I can't read Cyrillic, if you put that in the text all I am reading is Charlie Brown adult noises, it's like hitting a brick wall (as much as my transliteration requests constantly annoy the people who help me translate those languages, sorry guys!). Also, unless it's a single word, never use Google translate ever. Always find someone who actually knows those languages and get them to do a quick translation for you. The global nature of fandom shouldn't make it that hard, it's not really an excuse for using Google translate. It'll stop your bilingual readers' eyes from bleeding.

(I did always swear to myself I would never put random endearments in other languages if the characters were speaking English in general... but I've failed miserably at that by now, lmao.)

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Naruto, in like 2007/2008. I never transferred those fics over to Ao3, they're too old and terrible.

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

When I was in the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom I really wanted to write some Wangxian, but I was far too intimidated by the fandom. A lot of people on Twitter talked about how white people shouldn't be writing any fic for it and I internalised that heavily to the point where I just... didn't. Looking back it was a little silly of me, no one is the sole arbiter of what should and shouldn't be written and what counts is doing research and being respectful, but it's too late now. I have written a little bit of SangCheng now and that's enough for me.

As for the future, who knows? I do not control the hyperfixation.

what's your favourite fic you've written?

Even in Another Time [The Old Guard] and Toccata [Hetalia] (yeah, sue me, I'm still proud of it 12 years later, it still reads well).

Now I get to tag people~

@dangerouscommiesubversive, @wingsofbadass (sorry I make you translate so much stuff), @veradragonjedi, @non-un-topo, @raedear, @maered613 and @ctrldao3.

[thaliagrayce]

i've been talking abt my voltron playlists and @iveofficiallygonemad asked to hear them and i want to share with anybody who wants!! i know they're not perfect, i'm working on them & trying to make them better. if you have any recommendations for any of them, let me know!! there's like A Lot and i want to give a lil explanation for most of them, so i'm putting them under the cut ^-^

SO first i have my favorite one <3 it's just. all of them. it's the whole team. it's a mess and it's a bunch of different genres because it's them fighting over the aux cord on a road trip. it's them trying to make each other laugh or annoy each other or play something catchy enough it will infect everyone in the vicinity with brain worms.

Hunk: i'm pretty happy with my Hunk playlist! chill vibes. he strikes me as the kind of guy who listens to calm music to try to find his own calm, and that's what i got here :)

Pidge: this is messier and less cohesive than my usual playlist because frankly i think pidge would have a shit taste in music. all over the board. this is a mix of meme songs and 8-bit covers and vocaloid and stuff that i think pidge would genuinely connect with, and i think pidge listens to all their music on shuffle without any regards for genre or mood because they're a gremlin. nobody gives pidge sole control of the aux.

Coran hears 80's music for the first time and loses his mind. He thinks ABBA is humanity's single greatest achievement.

Lance: i have ideas about where I'm going with this but haven't really settled yet. Lance seems like the kind of boy that loves to dance (is that canon? i forgot) so most of these are Bops That Make You Move in some way or another. he likes to present an upbeat face to the world, so there's no angsting in this playlist! we are clinging to the things that make us happy with both hands until our knuckles turn white!

Keith: i'm gonna be honest. i made him a playlist but i honestly don't think he cares about music very much. it's very important to some people! he's just not one of them! i haven't cracked this playlist open in a while but i'm pretty sure it's full of songs that i think he would conceivably train/work out to.

Shiro: this playlist involves the dumbest headcanon i have for shiro that has just not left me alone since i first thought of it. most of the playlist reflects the fact that he had an emo phase in middle school (that one isn't a headcanon, you just have to look at him to know) but BUT there are a few songs on here that are on here because. little known fact. he also went through a Twilight phase that he told nobody about. (keith knows. keith was there.) he has the entire twilight soundtrack memorized. he moved past the story but the music stays forever. he used to daydream about slow dancing to Flightless Bird, American Mouth. the first time Coran mentions that they have to avoid a place because there's a supermassive black hole there, he has to bite his tongue in order to keep a straight face. do NOT ask me why i believe this so wholeheartedly.

Allura's playlist sucks right now. I think it's because in my heart of hearts i know that, were she on earth today, she would go fucking nuts for taylor swift. i have ambivalent feelings for taylor swift. i cannot do allura justice like this. if you see my vision and have recs as to what might actually fit her, PLEASE.

Klance: i haven't done it yet but i'm gonna go through this and sort it to be a sort of progression of their relationship, starting with the more combative Rivalry songs, then slipping into "oh shit oh shit" songs, then maybe ending on the more lighthearted purely romantic songs <3

(i have two songs in a shallura playlist which does not at all encapsulate how much i'm obsessed with them. the tiny cop inside my head is just constantly screaming at me that i'm going to get yelled at for liking shallura. i am going to kill the cop inside my head.)

[lazlolullaby]

Catfishing, a Shallura Fic

Here’s a shallura fic that I’m working on~ I’ve been pulling it up every October or so and keep getting stalled, so here’s the opening. I hope you like it!

Quick summary: Witch!Allura summons Cat!Shiro to be her Familiar. But of course, he lied on his online profile. Still, she tries to keep her head up.

Allura read the directions three times over.

There was always a nervous pit in her stomach when it came to new spells. A frizzle of excitement at her fingertips; like her powers were ready to pour out of her at any moment. Allura knelt down on a blanket, as to not hurt her knees. She inhaled, steadying her hands before drawing the circle. She put the sigils on the inside, then laid alternating tributes of snowflake obsidian and Oreos over them.

Allura was glad her potential partner had sweet tooth like she did. The online profile was fitting most of her criteria in a Familiar; not too old to feel babysat by them, not too young she feels like a babysitter, a shared interest in astrology, a patient disposition, and experience in potion making.

Her dear Uncle Coran would complain that there was no fun in it anymore. The elder used to slapdash a Summoning together just to see whatever popped up. While ignoring whatever popped up was angry they were pulled away from something.

The internet expanded their worlds, yet made it seem so much smaller. Modern society didn’t know about the actual power she could wield; and Allura liked it that way. She was merely a young woman who practiced her religion. It was comforting, keeping the rituals passed down from her mother and grandmother. If the key-chains she made were never lost, or her mugs kept tea at just the right temperature, that was just a bonus.

There was only so much one could do alone, which was why she sought a Familiar. Their heightened senses and connection to magic itself aided a witch in their studies. A partner that understood their ability in its fullest, and helped it grow.

She had been trying with several these past few months. Her poor neighbors thought she was bringing her veterinary work home with her; an absentminded parrot, an overactive Xoloitzcuintle dog, a string of indecisive geckos and distracting budgies. But as Coran pointed out; Allura was a traditionalist. When she saw the listing for a house cat, it was like fate.

Allura chanted the spell softly under her breath, and placed her hands on the markings. There was a surge of power in her hands, the vertigo made her head spin. And suddenly it was over. Allura opened her eyes.

A black and white cat was in the center of the circle, as promised. Wide gray eyes were looking at her, it’s body tensed for a moment, as if ready to jump away. The profile may need updating – the picture promised a classic tuxedo, but she could see sprinklings of white hairs here and there. She could chalk it up to stress, or an outdated photo. Then she saw his front paws. There was a prosthetic made of gray and black plastic, with a shield up to his shoulder, and small parts molded to look like toes. That wasn’t typical, most feline prosthesis only had a nub to walk on. The problem was that he didn’t let her know.

She’s met with her share of liars over the internet. The Xolo dog “forgetting to mention” he hadn’t had experience in potions, a Witch and Familiar trying to add a third, an errant Demon Hunter (as if Demons existed)...it was a wonder she still tried at all.

An injury like that would require some permanent changes to her home, even if he keep his prosthetic on. Ergonomic door handles, specialized cutting boards, maybe even a shower chair? At least she already had an electric jar opener. (And Coran said it was a waste! Well, it paid for itself in pickles and kimchi more than a partner ever could!)

Allura was getting ahead of herself, as usual. She turned to the side, picking up the contract she had prepared. The unusual terms made even more sense now. “Good afternoon,” she bowed politely. “I am Allura of Clan Altea, and I ask for your partnership as a Familiar. I understand your request and have modified the standard terms.”

The Familiar blinked, then seemed to recover and bowed in turn. “Good morning Allura.” his voice was deep, held steady by composure. “I am Shiro, and I...would like a minute.” he backed up, picking up the Oreos and the contract. They seemed to disappear out of view behind him. An essential trait of a Familiar. “Do you have a bathroom I could use?”

Her welcoming smile didn’t falter, “Yes, through that hallway, first on the right.”

Shiro nodded, his feline body gracefully dipping before nearly running out of sight.

Allura waited until she heard the door close and then she sighed and stood up. This was starting out spectacularly. .

.

.

So - there’s more. And an outline. This could be the year I finish it~ Thank you~

[lavein2drz]

ALRIGHT ITS BELOW THE CUT (this may be a silly mess but bear w/ me)

So Lance is on varsity for his high school's air riflery team, alongside Hunk. They have practices in the gym at mostly the same time and days as the girls' volleyball team (shoutout to my homie Pidge all the homies love Pidge); the gym is split in half by a bunch of bleachers that they pulled over to the middle so the two sports teams don't mess up each other's practices.

Occasionally, volleyballs will go over or past the bleachers, which are usually thrown back to volleyball's side once our shooters are done shooting the current position. Sometimes the balls go past the firing line, but they usually don't or disturb the air riflery team.

The keyword is 'usually.'

They were just getting ready to shoot their sight-in (starting) shots for prone (lying down) position. And then out of nowhere, Lance feels something whack his ass.

He turns his head, ready to see who in the world just violated his beautiful butt with apparently a freaking volleyball (okay yeah, it was an accident BUT IT STILL HURT A LITTLE), when he sees this really pretty guy?? Who in the world is he (it's Keith wow really? I didn't know)??

That is literally all I have down for this AU rn BUT I will probably come up w/ more. 😁👍

Other stuff I didn't mention:

Keith actually does baseball but he's helping out w/ vb practices (like a manager basically) because Shiro said it would be "good for him" since he's off season.

Shiro is not-so-subtly trying to get Keith to make some friends. This boy is so asocial (Shiro is shaking his head).

Allura is the vb team coach; Shiro is assistant coach (?)

There's Klance (obviously)

Ft. background Shallura (I literally love them you don't understand)

Main group (excluding The Adults™) is in junior year (I think I'll have Pidge be a grade below the others though?).

Do you guys want to hear abt my voltron high school AU of air riflery shooter!lance and (probably) volleyball player!keith? Lance gets hit in the butt w/ a volleyball (based off irl experience)

It is so dumb but ive been thinking abt it for a week & 3 days

(Yes its klance & there will be shallura)

[fabficrex]

The One Where Keith Learns ASL

The One Where Keith Learns ASL by BleuSarcelle on AO3 ~ 1,415 words ~ Oneshot ~ Teens and Up ~ No Warnings ~ Klance 

Keith knows what really makes the entire situation a fanfic troop: the cute brunet on the left side of the bus, third row, next to the window and who he keeps trying to establish a conversation with no success.

Sure, alright, he has stared at the brunet boy for like...the entire semester, maybe, but in his defense, Keith has tried to talk to him because Keith’s not as social constipated as he looks.

The problem is that, well, the guy’s deaf.

[Or the one where Keith pines over the Cute Deaf Guy on the bus on his daily ride to campus and learns ASL to hold a conversation with said Cute Deaf Guy and maybe even ask him out on a date. Things go somewhat his way.]

This was cute - Jess 

[raspberry-radiation]

I'd asked for people to send in ideas and prompts for either oneshots or drawings and @princeasimdiya12 brought the great idea of Shiro and Allura in the Aladdin world!

I ended up going a little wild with this and instead of my expected 1,000 words, I finished this at a little over 4k 😅 And I might just rewrite the whole movie in fact, the main premise of street rat meets princess would still be there but fundamental points would be changed. So at least for now, until I decide whether I will do that or not, enjoy what I've written! Also posted on my archive account.

Send me some more in!

............

Princess Allura has lived her whole life within the walls of the palace, never able to stray far from her parents’ ever watchful and cautious eyes. She dearly loved her parents and their dear Grand Vizier and close companion Coran. In fact, everyone in the palace was almost as close as family and as dear to Allura as one.

But having to stay within the same area for each increasing year of life with no sign of it changing brought her increasing irritation. As the years of pleading to her father, King Alfor, for a small trip to the marketplace was met with rejection time and time again she decided it was now time to ask for her father’s forgiveness rather than his permission.

It was after an especially aggravating meeting with a potential suitor that she decided to execute her plan. He was just one of many recently. She had guessed that it was because alliances were needed to prevent or to side with in an upcoming war – but of course, asking her father only resolved into him giving her a pat on the head with a hearty laugh. The prideful Prince Lotor seemed to be within a few years of her age but he hadn’t had a chance to tell her just how close in age they were as one of her preciously cared for big cats had found his unsuspecting butt to be a fun chew toy.

Being the only beloved daughter of the king brought many eyes onto Allura, and so for her protection from any fearful situations, her father sought the finest pedigreed and ferocious felines to accompany his princess. She had one of each and she was aware how honoring this was. Rather than just the extraordinary Tiger that roams her lands, she had raised and tamed four other species of the world. Powerful and beautiful big cat species, each carrying a name that she as a child had given.

There was the largest, her homeland’s tiger that her younger self had named Black, the seemingly second in command was a fiery-spirited Jaguar she named Red – who's temper set him above the milder mannered but wide-set Lion she had lovingly named Yellow. The Leopard named Blue was a constant bothering creature to Red, cajoling the larger cat into chases, usually growing into a playful scrap between them and the smaller but lively Lynx Allura had named Green after finding it when it escaped into the greenery of the garden as a kit. She used her youth and having just learned colors as an excuse for the simplistic names in standards to what her father and her people expected her to name such magnificent beasts.

With so many wild hearted personal guards around her, it was difficult to climb the trees in her personal garden in the palace without them trying to snag her cloak’s edge or join her on the branch. But she had succeeded after some time and shushing the frantic mewls and rumbles of her many animal companions. But she was able to exit the castle, the guards distracted by the dramatic long haired prince’s commotion had drawn their focus momentarily from her strictly guarded wall.

She leapt from the top of the wall, landing roughly with a roll. The dusty road and breeze that carried up from it revealed, not the rich satins and silks she was used to wearing, but the still-finer pants and dresswear of a servant of the princess. Although with her hair tied and hidden underneath a dark strip of fabric she may not be recognized as the princess herself, but she would still be seen as a higher noble by those who paid attention.

Walking distractedly and being shoved by the many people thronging the busy marketplace was more than new to her. There were very few people – even in the castle – who would find themselves in close presence to her royal self, so this new environment – although shocking – was not quite awful when she had longed to not be so isolated.

She had approached one of few stalls selling fruit in a ripe and fresh state where a small dirt mottled child stood with his eyes glued to one of the many fruits held on the distracted vendor’s display. He seemed to have something to do with a trio of people popping up and around his shop and disappearing quickly.  Without hesitation, the young woman looked over for the largest and in best shape apple on display. She gently grabbed the solid red fruit and squatted down to be eye level with the child and gave it to him with a smile. 

The vendor, seemingly no longer distracted with what had been happening around him, told her the price of that one fruit. It was six Dinar. Allura, having no need for carrying any form of currency before hadn’t been prepared for such a small scale of funds. As she paused to think of how she could pay with what she brought he had grabbed her wrist in anger. The vendor held tightly to her wrist as she tried to think of a way to explain to him that she would pay, he just needed to let her wrist go.

 Although not having the funds in a currency sense, she did carry with her a small hidden satchel of jewelry. Surely solid gold and gem rings and earrings would be well worth six Dinar at least. Currently she had thought to the smallest one she had in her direct possession to be a reasonable exchange for the fruit. A small golden ring that no longer fit any of her fingers. It had a Spinel gem inlay and was given as one of many birthday presents in her early years.

She stumbled over her words, the anxiety of being suddenly grabbed had her thoughts racing faster than she could speak. With her seemingly unable to give the vendor an excuse, he called for the market place’s patrolling soldiers to approach. Rather than the soldiers, a large body slipped between the vendor and the disguised princess. He – in the shock of the moment – was able to release her grip from the vendor and started to defend her, holding her released wrist in his hand now. She couldn’t see anything other than his broad back – much like the soldiers she well knew – and the surprisingly pale skin it was wrapped in from underneath his roughly worn clothes.

The soldiers were approaching as the strange man was seemingly telling the vendor some story of them being acquainted in some way or another. There was a moment’s pause as she wondered why the mood was getting anxious and enraged. All this over an apple? 

“She’s my dear cousin and had gotten confused. We came here to talk to a doctor for her mind.” He turned to her with a desperate look that Allura didn’t quite understand. Did he want her to play along? The soldiers were now much closer to them in the ever-surging crowd.

“That may be so, but I can easily pay for an individual fruit.” Allura spoke and tugged her hand free to grab the small pouch from its hiding place in her robes. “What I was trying to tell you sir, was that I was going to pay you. I just needed to reach my purse.” She reached into the small pouch and set the ring in the impatiently outstretched calloused hand of the man on the other side of the wooden display. At the sight of the yellow gold and shining gem both of the men held shocked faces that the vendor – now gnawing on the ring to test it – had barely registered the almost full approach of the two soldiers. 

When the ring passed the vendor’s quality, he waved his had to dismiss the two-armed men. Allura let out an internal sigh of relief. With how close they were to the palace it was safe to say that at least one of the two would recognize their royal family.

“Now, dear customer, haha. Is there any other of my wares that catch your eye?” The vendor now asked, his voice now sweet and giving. Hm. 

“N-" “Of course.” The strange man interrupted. “She will be getting her rings full worth of your produce and then we will be on our way.” He paused for a moment “to the doctor.” He supplemented after a thought. The vendor’s smile turned to a sneer at the large man’s words, but merely waived his hand. 

With an exaggeratingly pleased “thank you" the man and passed a large armful of apples, grapefruit, plums and he himself carried two sizeable watermelons. They left, the man giving a small bow for a farewell and her staring at the marketplace vendor who smiled largely at her before she turned and followed the man with the watermelons.

It took some time catching up to him. He had very long legs and thick cords of muscle on each, giving him a fairly wide and powerful stride.

“Even though he charges exceedingly high for his goods, you were able to get a week's worth of food from just a small ring. Where did you get it?” He asked happily. Six Dinar was high for an apple? What was regular pricing then? 

“It was mine… as a child.” She slowly gave out the truth. They kept walking, the streets now well less populated than before. “I didn’t have any Dinar, so I had to use it in exchange.” 

“A childhood ring? It must have been part of your dowry.” He seemed to want to say something else but held his tongue “many people here have to use everything they have just to eat. Some even give the clothes on their backs for a crumb of bread… you were lucky you had that… save it well.” He decidedly spoke the words, but Allura could still detect a hint of his resistance of saying such words.

“Well then. Let us go and give some of these fruits of yours and mine labor to them.” The exotic looking man turned to her in shock, “I have no need for them. I intended to just use that ring to buy a young boy an apple, but I had greatly underestimated the worth of such a small ring.” He had fully turned and stopped his walking to stare at her now and she too stared at him, taking in his features. 

He had black hair, as black as the stripes on her tiger, with a streak of pure white through a section of his hair. His eyes were naturally thin, even with his eyes widened staring at her they still seemed foreign to hers – along with the slight slant they seemed to hold. He had a large pinkish scar across the bridge of his nose, very noticeable against his extremely pale skin. The only time Allura had seen such a color was on foreign dignitaries from lands that were seas away. It gave her many questions.

“Well, let us go.” She said after a long pause and clearing of her throat. It may just be the heat and the sun, but her face felt oddly warm under his gaze.

“You were leading me somewhere. Do you not want to go there any more?” He blinked quickly a few times and looked to the fruit in his hands and nodded.

“Ah, yeah! Uh, follow me... We – I'll take you to my friends.” He stumbles over his words and gestures with his shoulder to follow him and she does, “Just … stay close to me. The streets can be a little hard to navigate in the evening.” It was at his words that she noticed; the sky was indeed much darker than it had been when she left. Night was still hours away, but it was quickly approaching. And with that, she and the man – who she learned was named Takashi Shirogane. It was a very strange name and she felt embarrassed at not being able to pronounce it properly. He – with an understanding and generous laugh – allowed her to call him “Shiro” like his friends did. They climbed up boxes and rung ladders until they were crossing roofs and leaping over gaps. 

More than one leap had left Shiro gaping at the mysteriously shrouded woman as she leaped with nothing more than a slim pole and the fruit tied tightly into a bundle in her hooded cloak. All he could see was her face, but even if he couldn’t see that he could still tell that she was an elegant and beautiful lady.

They arrived at the doorway of a building made of a tan stone material that was a little more than worse for wear. And he led her farther up the stairs... well, he started to. She hesitated before climbing with him – of course she was wondering if he was a dangerous individual, after all they had just met! But he paused a few steps in and turned to her. As he did so, she heard a rush of feet echo from the top of the stairwell along with an accompanying chatter.

Shiro laughed and spoke to whoever the feet belonged to before turning to Allura and shifting one of the watermelons to join the other in his grip. Now having a free arm, he gently held it out. She softly grasped the tips of the fingers as he directed her around the collapsed beams that blocked a portion of the path up the steps. As she did, she noticed how stiff the fingers were. They were too stiff for a human hand and out slipped out a curious hum before she noticed to stop it.

He smiled again at her and she dipped beneath and around large wooden timbers that laid felled between broken slabs of the roof and wall. What was once exposed and now lay broken at her feet was patched with boards of wood and thick canvas. 

It smelled of spice and wood and what might have been stiflingly hot in the day was now cooling into a mild warmth as the sun was now painting the sky with golds and reds. As Allura’s head peaked above the surface of the higher level, she was greeted to the feet, legs and then bodies of three other individuals. Shiro passed the watermelons he held to the black-haired individual who stared at Allura stiffly and with suspicion.

“Is... this your home?” She asked with a pause. It was more of a sort of awe rather than any negative emotions. It was dusty and had chipped pottery bunched together on slabs of what she assumed to be the roof like the other fallen pieces. It was worn in and was clearly a place of residence. As Shiro confirmed her question, his tall and lithe companion grasped her hand and gave her an exaggeratedly suave greeting and attempted a kiss to her fingers but was taken down with a harsh yank by the third new stranger. A small wiry androgynous individual who had some slips of glass settled on their nose wrapped in thin strips of metal.

There was a distinct similarity among them all despite their greatly varying appearances. It took Allura a moment to notice that it was the look in their eyes. It was a bright fire that seemed to lighten the room around them. 

They passed a brief greeting where she had learned all of their names. They had indeed come from all over the continent like she had wondered and became a sort of found-family – as they had described it – as they searched for the smallest (surprisingly) adult’s family. They had each introduced themselves as Keith being the wary raven-haired man, Lance was the tall and animated man and Pidge was the small woman looking for her brother who shared many features.

Allura, though having not seen him before, said she would keep an eye out in the case she could reunite the siblings. And with that, Allura had remembered the fruits she tied in her cloak and offered them to the many surely hungry people that shared the dilapidated home. After some refusal and her ceaseless insisting to take it. And just as suddenly as they had appeared, the three people left the room to take the fruit to wherever they kept their food with Pidge turning partway through the door to give a wide smile and a playful slight bow. This had caused Allura to flinch reflexively. Did she know? Had Shiro seen?

Allura turned to Shiro, the glimmer of meeting so many new people at once in her eyes. Her unrestrained joy made him smile and he wanted to wow her more than this evening had already done so far. 

What could he do? What could he show her? He- oh. That will work... He thinks to himself glancing out the window.

“Um... I don’t know - come over here, I’ve got something to show you.” He motioned with his wooden hand. The stiff wood shaped in a relaxed hand so he can place things if needed. Had she noticed it? She hadn’t said anything if she had, she just approached him as he stepped over to the window.

He was nervous as he started speaking again, “Our home isn’t much... but it’s cool at night and it has a breeze during the day... so it isn’t as hot as it could be...” He trailed as he tried to think of an interesting way to tell her what he wanted to show her.

“My friends and I, though we aren’t as well off as many, we have this place. And it may not be much, but it has the best view I’ve ever seen.” He pulled back the wide strip of fabric that was used to cover the doorway, rather than a window, it was so large.

As the patched fabric moved from the window, golden light of beautiful shades flooded into the room. Allura’s eyes hurt from the sudden brightness for only a second before the mass of colors filled her chest with what she had been missing in the palace.

The palace... that she could see. The palace that broke the magical sunset into beams that shot into all directions around it. And it was as beautiful inside it as it looked now... but she still could not hold back her lips twitching into a frown.

“It’s beautiful.” He sighed as he stared at the highlighted building.  - “It is.” She agreed softly.

“I wonder what it would be like to live there.” He dreamily mulled over the thought. “I’m sure it’d be amazing. - “It could be smothering.” She brought up.

“Never having to dress yourself, eating meat every day and wearing the finest of things.” He turned to her, noticing her annoyed face. “Yes, never getting to dress for yourself, fed and cared for like a pet.” she responded bitterly.

“It’d be better than struggling to eat each night. Having to steal just to avoid starving in the night. Where any moment the guards will come to snatch you up on any charge they claim.” He stepped further inside, dropping the curtain and letting the yellow light slip back behind the curtain.

“Never allowed to step out of line without fear of a harsh punishment...” She sighed.

“You’d feel so...” they spoke in sync, “trapped.” They finished while holding each other’s gaze.

Shiro looked at her again. Not just seeing the beauty who shrouded herself in dark clothes, but seeing the girl she also was. A young woman who had clearly fled somewhere and was unprepared for the world she stumbled into, tired and nervous of what was to come and what had already.

“So... where are you from...?” He trailed, watching the exhaustion slip from her face to be replaced by annoyance. 

“Does it matter?” She roughly asked, “I’m not going back... ever.” The finality in her tone caught Shiro in surprise.

“Wh-why do you feel that way?” He asked softly, hoping that his asking would help relieve her stress and calm her down.

Allura stared for a moment at him, seeing no sign of mock or ill intent – but it was his honest concern that seemed to stick with her the most. It was something that even her closest and most friendly servant Romelle didn’t have... the care of an equal. Everyone in the palace always held her two levels above themselves solely because she was the princess.

Since he didn’t know... she was almost seen as a real person with him.

“My father wants me to marry. And I do not love the man” She didn’t break her stare on him as she told him. His face changed into many expressions in a flash before settling on sorrow.

“That... that isn’t right. That’s awful...” Shiro almost whispered as he turned to glance at the window, the light behind the curtain now a deep orange and almost seemed to stain their fingers from where it poked through the well-worn fabric.

“Yes. That is why I left.” Allura picked up a small red cap that was set on the window sill beside her. 

“Well... if you’d like... you ca-” Allura wouldn’t hear the rest of his offer, as just when he was saying it there was a loud shout from the stairwell.

“You! STREET RATS! We’ve found you!” Called a hate-filled voice. Shiro knew who held the voice well, as it was he and Lance who did most of the “food runs” but Allura – who had never known a day out of wherever she came from – would not recognize the head of the guard.

“The royal guard!” Shiro called loudly, shockingly looking at Allura when she called “Razoul!”

The captain of the guards seemed to register her call a little bit – but did not glance away from Shiro.

Razoul had learned that even blinking with the bicolored haired individual could give him time to disappear. 

“Street rat! It’s time for you to face punishment!” He spat. “You have crossed the line this time and you will pay with your life!”  

Shiro was confused, and said as much. “I didn’t steal anything! The fruit was legally obtained!”

“You can barely say as much with the bloody gold that you used you vulgar filth! I will kill you myself!” Allura looked confusedly from Razoul to Shiro, never having heard such cruel joy in the usually docile man.

“Wait!” She called. But neither the captain of the guard, nor his accompanying guards even looked at her.

“You will not be unpunished too, street mouse!” He pointed his sword tip at her, “You associate with this scum and as such are just as guilty as him for what has transpired tonight.”

“What did I do that warrants this?!” Shiro yelled. Behind his solid words, Allura heard the softest of padded steps above her. That’s why he was yelling. Extraordinary... he was seemingly willing to give everything for them. 

“You have kidnapped her royal highness, the princess Allura! An unforgivable crime worthy of death!” Razoul shouted, seemingly angrier than he just was. “What have you done with her?!” Shiro looked dumbfounded. 

“I've never even met the princess! Why do you think I kidnapped her?!” Shiro stepped back, real fear now peaking up from under his stiff bravado.

“You and your grimy pack of rats used a very distinct ring to pay for your latest bounty.” Razoul was suddenly eerily calm as he spoke. 

“How was it distinct? It was simply a golden band!” Allura called confused. Razoul turned to her, face flushing red yet his voice still the calm level that chilled her blood.

“There are many identifying traits of anything belonging to the royal family. Especially when I know what to look for.” He raised the slim ring as the light winked weakly off of it in the dark home. "You street rats think that you are so smart, but you never think to check the gem.” 

At this, Razoul gripped the ring tightly in his left hand as he swung his sword with his right. It easily sliced through and smashed the timber that Allura had previously ducked under when she entered. Razoul approached Shiro, Allura tried to block him or stop him but was only shoved out of the way.

She did not fall, but had stumbled back at his harsh treatment.

“I demand that you leave that man alone Razoul.” She spoke coldly. The captain of the guard seemed to realize something. He clearly showed doubt over what he had heard and turned to analyze her face carefully.

“Who... are you to demand that of me?” He looked over her face, but seemed to still not be able to recognize her, so without hesitation Allura unbound her head and threw the wrap to the side. This revealed her silvery blue hair, having only been pulled back but not restrained caused a few strands to fly loose and show the full length of what was a clear indicator of her heritage.

Razoul’s eyes widened in shame and recognition and he and his fellow men dropped to their knees and dropped their weapons, each begging for her forgiveness and offering their lives.

“I am the only princess of this country, the daughter of your leader and king, Alfor. I am Princess Allura. And I was NOT kidnapped.” She spoke, the strict and cold tone of a sovereign addressing her vassals that she had been raised to use had caused Shiro to gape at her. She gave him a thin smile, sad to bid farewell to the freeing moments she had up until it was forced out from under her.

She turned back to Razoul, no longer the “street mouse” she had become within that dark cloak, instead she was the crown princess as she had been born to be and as she would surely live the rest of her life as before until becoming merely someone’s wife.

With a soft farewell directed to Shiro, Allura led the escort of guards to the gates of the Palace where her father would surely do what he could so she couldn’t “get kidnapped” again.

[aaron-royal]

Chapter 4 is up! For some reason I really wanted to call it Palace Parlor Parties, get in a good triple P. Who fucking knows why, but it didn’t make any sense so, enjoy guys. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23769838/chapters/58090594

[sleepyssnail]

Summary: Shiro and Allura have been friends since they were kids, and they'll stay friends through it all. Some snapshots of their relationship growing up and dealing with what life throws at them.

I had this as a request and kinda...love it too much. I ran away with the idea

[hope-vs-disbear]

Am I the only one confused

What was Adam's purpose

Why was he there

Why did he HAVE to die

Like was he just there to show that

"Oh Shiros gay you guys"

Cause even without Adam

If ya just told us

Or had him flirt with a guy

Or had a guy flirt with him and have him be cool with it

We probably would've guessed

So like why Adam

Why give us Adam

Who was his fiance apparently

Only to kill him

Ya can't say it's to show the ravages of war

We've seen enough of that already

Can't say it's to make Shiro suffer and grow as a person

Have you MET Shiro

The man is suffering incarnate

Like he deserves a fucking break

So like what the hell was the point

You didn't need Adam

And you didn't need to kill him as far as I'm concerned

Hell Shiro knew Keith the same time he knew Adam so wouldn't Keith have met Adam at some point

For all we know Adam was also a brother/father figure to Keith so wouldn't he be the least bit sad

Pretty sure Shiro would be the type to introduce his fiance to his, at the time, sorta little brother

Like what

What was this

((Also who was that guy Shiro was married too I've seen one clip of him speaking and that's it))

((Sheith and Shatt would've made more sense))

((Hell Shidge or Shallura or Shance would've made more damn sense come on))

[shiroallura]

What’s a soulmate?

[kselavie]

just facts: in the light of the shiro reveal, i thought i should point out one thing about the shallura moment at the momocon panel, specifically - bex’ reaction. bex is openly gay, she’s the driving force behind lgbt+ rep in vld, she already knows about s7 reveal and yet she isn’t appalled or annoyed or in any way unhappy at how kim explicitly displays support of the relationship. moreover, she is thrilled when it’s mentioned, she’s joyful, look at that huge smile. if that alone isn’t enough to end the unsubstantiated biphobic “leave shiro out of your straight ships” bs, then what is. 

[uniiiquehecrt]

After the disappointment that was Voltron s8,  I thought it would be high time to put together a long-awaited series of Shallura AMVs to pay homage to the show's prime. Starting, of course, with this one, as a bittersweet farewell to soulmates who never got to be. 

 CREDITS &. DISCLAIMERS: Video editing done by me @uniiiquehecrt / @uniiiqueart Voltron and all of its characters © Dreamworks Animation, Netflix SONG: M83 - "Soon, My Friend" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lETgm... PROGRAM: Sony VEGAS Movie Studio 15

[braincoins]

He was late on his first night back. “Forget how to get here?” she teased lightly, glad to see him again. He’d been out of the office all this time, too, though still checking in. She honestly wouldn’t put it past him to keep working while injured.

“I had a citizen to save on my way here.” He cleared his throat. “And it was, uh... my ex, actually.”

She’d been ready to push for more action against the traffickers, but now she was interested. “Your ex? What happened?”

Paladin shrugged. “He was getting mugged. Simple enough to stop. And then he hit on me.” He laughed.

She couldn’t help joining in. “You sure he didn’t figure out your secret identity? Maybe he wants you back.” I hope not...

“Doubtful. He broke up with me because of all the time I spent working. Now I have my day job and my night job,” he gestured to himself in his costume, “so... yeah, if he knew who I was, I’d probably still be there, listening to him lecture me on ‘work/life balance’. AGAIN.”

“I know that lecture almost by heart,” she said. Well, she knew Coran’s version, anyway. “At least you escaped it. And it’s good you were able to save him from a mugging. I don’t suppose you got any good leads on the traffickers?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. You?”

She sighed. “I went to port authority and looked through the filed manifests. The Balboa was supposedly bringing in coffee. But neither its manifest nor any others I could see were filed by anyone with the initials ‘LK.’”

“Great. We’re not exactly at square one, but...”

“Square two, basically.” She thought for a moment. “Let’s go to the docks, see if there’s anything we can dig up around there.”

“Okay.” He held his left hand out to her, as he always did. 

The first time they’d teleported - to the deck of the Balboa, actually - they’d only been holding hands. But most of the time, he held out his left hand, she took it, and he pulled her in close to hold her. He’d said it was for safety, because he didn’t know what would happen if he teleported her into something, so it was better not to be spread out. But if he was in love with her, he no doubt wanted the excuse to hold her. And, frankly, she liked being held. It was never for very long, unless they were making multiple jumps in a row, but it was nice.

She smiled and reached for his hand to take it when there was a shriek. He pulled his hand away and blinked over to one edge of the theater, looking down into the alley. “Gotcha,” he said, and then he was gone.

She ran over to that part of the roof and looked down.

Paladin was fighting off a young man. He was standing between the assailant - she assumed - and a young woman who’d apparently come out of the theater’s back door. 

“Back off!” the stranger snarled.

“Leave me alone!” the woman yelled at him. “I told you we’re over!”

“You heard her.” Paladin grabbed hold of the man’s fist as it came in to punch him and they both vanished. Paladin was, of course, back in the alley almost immediately, and turning towards the young lady. “Are you okay, miss? Did he hurt you?”

“Just a bruise or two; I’ll be okay. What did you do with him?”

“I deposited him on the roof of the nearest police precinct. They leave the roof door locked; he’ll have to call them to come let him in and explain how he got up there.” Paladin grinned. “That should be fun.”

She laughed and stepped closer to him. “Thank you so much, uh...?”

“Paladin,” he said.

“Oh, like a knight?” She stepped closer still. “That seems fitting.”

“Just doing what I can to help.”

“A modest knight, too. Even more appealing.”

Up on the roof, Allura frowned. 

“Well... thank you. I can drop you somewhere if you’d like.”

“I’m sure you have a long night of crime-fighting ahead of you, but if I give you my address, will you come by when you’re done? You know, just to check up on me?” 

Allura jumped off the roof and landed right next to the two of them, spiderwebbing the concrete beneath their feet. “We have a very long night of crime-fighting ahead of us,” she said. “And we should get to it. You’re safe enough now, miss. Be careful getting home.”

“I will be. Excuse me.” She edged past them, and Allura watched her the whole way as she scurried out of the alley. 

“Something wrong, Starlight?” Paladin asked. “I couldn’t just let that go on...”

“No, nothing’s wrong. You were right to step in. And putting him on the roof of the police station was genius.” She had to give him that much. “But we have bigger fish to fry.”

“And it’s not because you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous. Though she might as well have just said,” she put on a simpering voice, “‘Oh, Paladin, my hero! Is there ANY way I can POSSIBLY thank you? I’ll simply do ANYTHING for you!’”

He laughed. “You are jealous. Amazing.”

“I’m not jealous. Let’s just get to the docks.”

“Now the question is, are you jealous on a professional level or...?”

“What do you mean ‘on a professional level’?”

“Well, you’re used to being the one everyone gushes over. Starlight: Hero of the City. But now it’s not just you. So it’d be understandable if you don’t like being shown up.”

“You didn’t show me up.”

“I didn’t see you helping out.”

“Did you need me to?” she asked pointedly.

“Not really.”

“Well then.”

“But if it’s not professional jealousy, then it doesn’t really make much sense. I mean, you’ve got your man, I thought? Surely he’s not dumb enough to have rejected you.”

“It wasn’t a date!”

“But it was ‘personal’.”

“I mean, he probably would have liked it if it were a date, but it wasn’t and that wasn’t ‘Mr. Lucky’ anyway.”

“Oh, it wasn’t? I’m sorry. I guess Mr. Lucky is still being oblivious?”

“YES, HE IS,” she gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Just tell him. He’s a fool if he turns you down.”

“It’s ...!” She bit it back. She wanted to say, “It’s YOU, you imbecile!” but she was still his boss for now. And she had a plan, dammit. “Look, can we just go to the docks already?”

“Love to.” He held out his left hand and, when she took it, pulled her in against him, as always. She couldn’t help smiling a little. She had little time to enjoy being in his arms; she shoved aside her annoyance. For now.

{Previously in The Adventures of Starlight & Paladin...}

[breezycheezyart]

Kim at it again, feeding my shallura heart 💜💜💜

[roseroyaly]

Tbh all Shiro ships are good ships.

Everybody deserves Shiro's gentleness.