#sendak: ok but can you keep it up

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

Rewriting Haggar/Honerva’s redemption arc

One of the many things that bothered me about VLD S8 is Honerva’s redemption arc. While I was never fully against the idea of Honerva getting a redemption arc, I just didn’t want VLD to do it because I knew that they would fuck it up if they tried. And low and behold, I was right!

But yeah, I wasn’t against the idea of her being redeemed. And I don’t mean “redeemed” as in “all is forgiven and she’s just a good guy now,” but more like a Darth Vader, “the things she did were inexcusable and she would never be able to right all her wrongs but she goes out on one good act to show that there was still good in her deep down and she at least had the potential to change.”

I know a lot of people don’t like the whole, “redemption=death” thing, which I understand, but I personally never had a problem with it.

Ok, so why didn’t Honerva’s redemption work? Well there are a few reasons but the one that baffles me the most is that, instead of trying to make her more sympathetic, season 8 seemed to go out of its way to show her being more evil and vile than ever.

And because I have nothing better to do, I’m gonna go through Honerva’s story in VLD and explain what I would change to make her redemption more believable.

(Keep in mind I am not a writer, this is just me ranting about my favorite character and how I personally would’ve written her.)

1. Realizing she’s Altean

I always thought it’s was weird that when Allura said “you’re...Altean!?” In the S2 finale, Haggar didn’t seem to react at all, she just kept attacking. It’s as if she didn’t care or already knew, which doesn’t make sense considering in the S3 finale and S8E2 it’s established that Haggar has no memory of who she was before she died. And in S4E3 she seems shocked by her Altean face (which also doesn’t make sense because her blue skin isn’t camouflage that’s just how she looks after the rift) so it seems like she didn’t know.

Wouldn’t it have made more sence if after Allura said “you’re...Altean!?” Honerva looked confused/shocked? If she became defensive and said Allura was lying/trying to insult her? There’s def anti-Altean propaganda in the empire so it would be considered an insult.

After that she starts questioning Zarkon. And when she looks into his mind, it’s out of genuine curiosity and desire to know the truth, not because, “the empire needs him” or whatever that meant.

And isn’t it a bit odd that she doesn’t seem betrayed at all when she finds out Zarkon has been keeping all this from her? She’s just like, “oh, you’re my husband? Cool.” Wtf???

2. Her past relationship with Zarkon

Okay, I love Zonerva, but if we’re being honest, Zarkon was not the best husband. He enabled the shit out of Honerva, even when it was obvious that the rift was doing serious damage to her physical and mental health. To me, it seems like Zarkon was so blinded by the power the rift gave him that he didn’t realize/ignored the negative effect it was having on Honerva. In the same way he downplayed the negative impact the rift had on the planet.

I think that should’ve been explored more. Maybe Honerva notices that she’s been acting differently and is worried somethings wrong (think S5 Kuron). And Honerva tries to tell Zarkon that she feels strange and Zarkon just brushes it off.

And later, when Alfor visits Diaibazaal years later. Things are pretty much the same except when we sees Honerva, she is very obviously pregnant and Alfor’s there when Honerva falls and goes into labor (instead of a random quintessence seizure). Alfor and many Galran doctors try their best to save her and the baby but she dies in childbirth.

Zarkon goes ballistic. He’s yelling, throwing doctors across the room, and Alfor turns to the doctor holding Lotor and tells them to get the baby to safely, fearing Zarkon will take his grief out on the baby.

Zarkon turns on Alfor, blaming him for Honerva’s death and accusing him of letting her die so that he could get his way and close the rift. He lunges Alfor and roars at him to leave.

He spends the rest of the night grieving at Honerva’s bedside, when Kova jumps on the bed and starts gnawing on her finger trying to wake her up. This is what gives him the idea to bring her back with quintessence.

3. Her current relationship with Zarkon

I think it’s pretty safe to say that they’re relationship didn’t get better after the war began. Zarkon hid her identity and her child from her for 10,000 years and essentially used her as a tool of war. It’s pretty fucked up.

I know it’s pretty well established that Zarkon treats Haggar with more respect than his other underlings, but I feel like it would be interesting to see that change overtime. We see that after Voltron comes back, Zarkon becomes very obsessed with Voltron/Black, and he and Haggar start disagreeing more and more.

Remember the moment where one of Haggar’s druids told Zarkon Haggar said he needed to rest and Zarkon hit them with his bayard and told them, “remember who your master is”? What if, instead of a random druid, it was Haggar who he hit?

I feel like that would be a good way to show Haggar and the audience just how much Zarkon’s obsession with Voltron is affecting him, and make the audience feel a tiny bit bad for her.

Then later in season 4, when Zarkon wakes up from his coma and finds out Haggar brought Lotor back to take his place he gets pissed. He puts a price on Lotor’s head and has Haggar arrested for treason. She steals a ship, escapes, and later on meets up with Lotor’s generals.

Her and Zarkon are officially broken up and her quest to reclaim her identity and get her son back begins.

4. Oriande

I never liked the concept of chosen/sacred Alteans. The idea that some Alteans are just born more powerful than others just feels iffy. My idea of Oriande is that it’s an Altean holly land, any Altean can enter it just depends on whether or not you can pass the White Lion’s trial. Passing the trial proves that your intentions are pure and and the White Lion will bless you with power.

I didn’t like how Honerva seemed to force her way into Oriande, I think it would be more effective if she had gone through normally because, at this point, her intentions were pure. She was going there to purge herself of the dark magic corrupting her and reclaim her memories so she could go get her son back.

I also like the idea that Oriande is a sorta link to the Altean after life, and you can speak with people you’ve lost. Allura gets to speak with Alfor, and Honerva speaks with her mother.

You could also have her be confronted by the spirits of the Alteans she helped destroy. Have the weight of her past actions bear down on her. An important part of any redemption arc is acknowledging the terrible shit you’ve done in the past, and that was severely lacking in Honerva’s arc.

Another interesting thing you could do is have Honerva talk to her younger self. The one that died 10,000 years ago. This kinda thing actually happened in 80s Voltron, young Haggar appearing in Haggar’s head trying to convince her to be good again.

5. Her relationship with Lotor

Now this is where the redemption arc really falls apart. I forget who, but one of the writers said after S5 that Haggar/Honerva was motivated purely by love for her son, but man did they do a bad job of showing that.

And it would’ve been so easy to fix that problem, just have her not be horrible to him. Have them have actual civil conversations, have her protect and defend him. Don’t have her reject him as a fucking baby!

Imagine if, after Zarkon destroys Lotor’s planet, instead of immediately deciding to

exile him, Zarkon says that this is the final straw and he’s going to have Lotor executed. But Haggar speaks up to defend Him. There’s actually a scene in DOTU where Zarkon tries to kill Lotor and Haggar gets on her knees and begs for him to be spared. (Though the scene was mostly played for laughs.)

she asks for mercy and justifies it by saying it would be unwise to kill his only heir. It’s a weak argument, Lotor’s a half breed and couldn’t realistically take the throne, but Zarkon does concede, he still loves her after all, and has Lotor exiled.

And Haggar isn’t spying on him because she doesn’t trust him, but because she’s concerned for him. When Lotor confronts Haggar about sending her cronies after him, she says she knows he’s hiding something. Lotor asks if she’s threatening him, thinking she’s going to rat him out, but she says no, she’s not threatening him, she’s just trying to warn him against doing anything stupid because, with Zarkon seemingly on his death bed, the empire needs Lotor’s leadership.

At this point in the story, Haggar is questioning her loyalty to Zarkon, so I feel like it would make sense for her to be silently supporting Lotor from the shadows.

Then at the Kral Zera in season 5, It was weird to me how she was helping Lotor through Kuron while also telling him he couldn’t be emperor and trying to put Sendak on the throne. I feel like it would’ve made more sense for Sendak to just show up on his own without Haggar.

Haggar wouldn’t even be at the Kral Zera, she would just watch through Kuron.

And then we get to S6 when she actually reveals to Lotor that she’s his mom. This scene was just so poorly done. She never actually apologizes to him, she’s just like “yeah I forgot you were my kid and I never loved you, but were cool now right?” I remember when I saw S8E2 and it shows her after Lotor rejects her and she looks like she’s about to cry, I was just thinking, “this would be very emotional and sad IF she had actually apologized and made it clear that she genuinely loved him.” But she didn’t and I don’t know why!

And then we get to season 8, and of course everything in S8 is bad but Honerva’s story is particularly bad. She’s supposed to be motivated by love for Lotor yet she doesn’t act like she actually cares about him at all.

She manipulates his corpse and when she sees his gross melted body, she doesn’t even react that much. When a mother sees her child’s mutilated corpse, how do you think she reacts? Screaming? Crying?? Hurling??? But no. She’s just like, “...”

And then when she goes to the alternate reality and meets baby Lotor and he rejects her, her reaction isn’t disappointment or sadness, it’s anger and entitlement. She immediately decides, “ok, fuck this kid. Let’s destroy this reality.”

It just doesn’t make sense! This is the season you’re trying to REDEEM her! Why are you going out of your way to make her so vile?

6. Her S7-S8 plan

(Keep in mind I haven’t watched S7/S8 since they came out and barely even watched S8 to begin with, so I don’t remember some things and I can’t be bothered to rewatch them.)

Okay, starting with S7, she’s not in this season at all but in “The Ruins” the druid dude says that her final order was to hunt and destroy the Blade of Marmora. I guess it makes a certain amount of sense because she saw that it was Keith who brought Lotor’s actions to light, but that whole plot was really pointless in my opinion. (Was anybody really hoping for a rematch between Keith and that one random druid?)

If you want us to forgive Honerva for her crimes, you really shouldn’t keep adding more unnecessary crimes. It’s established that there were a lot of Galra war lords vying for power and pirates looking for money, just have it be that Kolivan got kidnapped by one of them.

Then you have her season 8 plan and I’m gonna be real with y’all, I have no idea how to fix this mess.

I feel like the basics of her plan could work. She tries to get Lotor and Sincline out of the rift but when she gets him he’s a melted corpse so the plan then becomes to use sincline to go to another reality to find a living Lotor, but opening all these rifts causes problems and the paladins have to stop her.

But all the shit with manipulating the colony Alteans, killing the White Lion, desecrating Oriande, and destroying Olkarion and entire realities, it was all so unnecessary.

Personally I would cut the colony Alteans from the story all together, there are other ways for Lotor to betray the team. It was a lazy way of making Lotor 100% evil and having Honerva manipulate them is unnecessarily cruel, especially in the season you’re trying to redeem her.

Here’s a very basic outline of how I would do this plot.

If we’re going by season 8’s logic that she needs a sacrifice to bring back Sincline, I would’ve had the Galra she killed at the Kral Zera be the sacrifice, not the White Lion. She stands on the pyramid and talks about how the empire stole her life from her and she wants revenge as she absorbs their quintessence into herself and then uses that to bring back Sincline.

Then when she finds Lotor dead she takes Sincline and uses it to go to another reality where she can be with her family.

The danger comes when she opens rifts to the other realities and rift creatures start coming out and causing damage. The paladins fight them and follow her into the rift to stop whatever evil plan she may have. Because the paladins don’t know that Haggar is now Honerva and all this is just to get Lotor back. They think this is all some plan for multiverse domination or some shit.

Meanwhile Honerva has just been rejected by little Lotor and seeing Voltron show up pushes her over the edge and they fight.

But when they find out the real reason she’s doing all this they start trying to appeal to her and convince her to give up and close the rift peacefully. And similarly to how the paladins had to sacrifice the castle to close the rifts created by the fight with Lotor, Honerva has to sacrifice herself to close the rifts.

In the end, I feel like a Honerva redemption arc could’ve worked if the writers were actually competent and actually made an effort to have her be sympathetic, but In canon, her reasoning, “If I can’t indulge in the simple joys of life, why should anybody else?” just doesn’t cut it.

It’s disappointing. VLD had so much potential. I’m thinking of just rewriting the entire series from the beginning. Hopefully putting all my thoughts out into the universe will help me move on.

[voltron-for-ever]

🎃 Whumptober 2021 🎃

first | previous | next

No. 3 - STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MY BONES BUT…

taunting | insults | “Who did this to you?”

⚠️ Read the tags for warnings ⚠️ ——————————————————

The mission with the blades had been a huge failure not that the paladins who waited patiently in the control room knew that. They had expected Keith to have a few scraps and bruises but nothing compared to the state he limped into the room in.  His left side was sliced fairly deep, his right eye purple, black and swollen shut , blood dripped from multiple places from his torn up blades uniform and his legs are wobbling trying to keep his weight up.

He tried to compose himself and stand up straight but his knees betrayed him as he collapsed towards the floor of the control room. The paladins quickly turned at the loud thud.

Lance- Oh my god ! Who did this to you Keith?

Keith- T... the galra, the blades and I we , w..we where on mission gathering intel when they spotted us, I .. I ...

Before Keith could finish explaining exactly who did this to him and how he ended up like this he blacked out. They knew they should probably get him to a healing pod and they will as soon as Allura extracts the memory from today's blade mission. Allura put her hands at both sides of Keith's head and mumbled something in Altean drawing the memory from his mind. Once the memory was uploaded to one of the screens in the control room the paladins hurried to get Keith to a healing pod. Then they headed back to the control room to watch the memory. They where determined to find out who did this to him and well exactly what they did.

—————————Memory——————————

The screen opened up to reveal Keith strapped to an operating table. His arms and legs where tightly strapped to his sides and he was sweating. There was silence for a few moments until Sendak walked through the huge metal doors.

Sendak- Well hello red paladin, shall we get started?

Keith- Fuck you Sendak !

Keith struggled against the restraint for a moment before Sendak appeared beside Keith and he stilled. Sendak pulled a blade against Keith’s neck.

Sendak- Tell me the names of everyone in the blades ...

Keith- Never !

Sendak called two druids into the room and they began to shock Keith until his head lulled forward and his eyes closed. When he woke up again Sendak had the druids shock him again and tried asking the question again but Keith’s answer remained the same.

Sendak repeated this method of torture until he realised it was getting him no where he moved onto taking a blade and slashing at Keith’s legs with it leaving huge cuts. Keith’s screams echoed around the large empty room. Finally Sendak was summoned by Zarkon and left the room, that’s when Keith planned his escape. He managed to wiggle his way out of the restraints and stand on shaking legs. His entire body ached, his legs only managed to hold him for a few seconds before he was crashing to the ground beside the bed. He blacked out for who knows how long but he had to get out ...

He grabbed the side of the operating table and pulled himself up holding onto it to regain his balance. Blood was still dripping from the wounds. His head was still pounding from the shocks from the druids. His whole body ached, begging him to stop but he couldn’t he had to get out. He managed to make it to the blade of marmora ship he arrived in but he was growing weaker by the second with blood dripping from his legs and his hole body ached from the druids shocks. He flew the ship body shaking the whole way to the castle. He barely made it to the main dec before all he can see is complete darkness.

———————End of memory—————————

Lance- Oh my god ! How could Sendak do that to him.

Shiro- I don't know but I'm going to make him pay for this.

Pidge- We all will, he won't get away with hurting Keith like that.

Hunk- Yeah, but before we plot revenge we should make sure Keith's ok.

Coran- Number 2 is right, Keith should be exiting the pod any minute.

Allura- Yes and we should inform Kolivan that Sendak and Zarkon are aware of the blades presents.

Keith exited the pod falling into Shiro’s arms. His body was still weak and his legs still shook beneath him. Shiro must have realised the younger boy in his arms was struggling to stand because he picked him up carrying him towards the bedrooms.

Shiro- He’s still weak he needs to get some sleep. I’ll take him back to his room, the rest of you should inform Kolivan.

Princess- Yes, you should stay with Keith he’s in pretty bad shape.

[ Word count - 793]

[f-117-nighthawk]

Playlist Update? From MY Brain? More Likely Than You Think

can't remember the last time I posted these all together but I just put a few new songs in. I've been playing Arknights bc STARSET songs keep being used in the trailers, and then I was listening to Transmissions while making dinner, and uhhhhh there's two new Transmissions songs on the playlists, plus whatever else the spotify links needed to update to my ever-changing apple versions.

This is just the main playlist, because this one is now 3h 40m, and the other three playlists are about an hour each. I’ll give them their own post tomorrow. Under the cut, because it's also Write Random Snippits and Include Important Lyrics time

Dark Matter

Surprise surprise, this one’s got probably the most work done on it. A lot of that is moving things around, a few deletions, and the additions.

DM now starts with Your World Will Fail, Dark Matter, and Eater of Worlds. Turn the Lights Out still kinda applies, but I stopped vibing with it starting everything, and wasn’t really sure where else it should go so it got dropped. It’s role is sort of picked up by a UtA song later? Anyway, the opening three are still very much about not only the birth of [REDACTED], but the birth of the universe itself. And that’s why it feels better to start out with YWWF. Because it is the start.

(Your world will fail my love/It’s far beyond repair/Your world will fail my love/It is already there)

(Bring me your soul/Bring me your hate/In my name you will create/Bring me your fear/Bring me your pain/You will destroy in my name)

(Can’t imagine the violence/The rage and the love in my madness/I am the eater of worlds and I’m looking for someone to feed me)

Remnants of Stars is a hook to Filaments at this point, but stays way up here because the thing it’s about connects back up to those three ^ and is something slowly realized by the Paladins throughout the series. There’s kinda three different points that they realize something new about this (at the moment, I Am the One, Cosmic Vertigo, and Centigrade).

(Shed all you know and make way for a galaxy of light/Answers found hidden inside the smallest stone/Bringing forth a new way of life/Open your heart to the sky)

Apocalypse 1992 hasn’t changed. Still about The Fall, still the turning point for the entire damn war. Still about poor Krolia. Still the Rogue One of DM. It happens between parts of Awakenings, detailing the rise of [REDACTED] and the final hours before the destruction of everything sentient species knew beforehand.

(Fly high through apocalypse skies/Fight for the world we must save/Like tears of a unicorn lost in the rain/Chaos will triumph this day)

Apex is the final moments of Apocalypse 1992 from the Red Lion’s perspective, and connects nicely (just as in the albums lol) to the next UtA songs. Which we’ll get to in a bit.

(Brother mountain/Now we sleep/For a thousand years/I will see you again/Something is coming/Coming for me)

You Keep What You Kill covers the slow degeneration of the Empire between The Fall and the Battle of Arus. The knowledge harshly taught by the Thuanial War is forgotten under the influence of Zarkon, Haggar, and [REDACTED]. Marzin and Galraasa quickly rise the ranks as the Empire’s left and right hands, like omens of destruction before them. The four are the ‘holy half-dead,’ the ones who shape the devouring of the universe before them.

(Defying dimensions/These ruthless creatures will steal your soul/Breaking away from the chains of mortality/They won’t be taken down/Bow now to the holy half dead/The master to death mongers calls)

The Glory and the Scum is partially here bc I missed having Delain, I’ll freely admit that. (Delain split up! Like six months ago! I’m still sad!) Here, it’s (most) of the reason why Krolia isn’t around until MGHM. Think Winter Soldier-ish. It’s also from Krolia’s perspective as she’s talking to Kolivan in a conversation I implied in Shatterpoint. Perhaps it shall see the light of day.

(Look at what we've done/Take a step back/Shake your head at what we have become/We're the glory and the scum)

The Seven Sisters is about Keith, mostly, and connected to Closure via its influence on Child From the Stars (Lost in the Dark) and also to Memories of a Girl I Haven’t Met. Also the thing about the Pleiades has kinda become A Thing associated with my two favorite halfbloods.

(I cast my hope upon The Pleiades/The Seven Sisters who would come for me/They’d fall to Earth to grant a child’s dream/But I’m still waiting)

Starlight is the Adashi song. Here, it’s the sad part, based around the time that the SFSS Genesis launches for Kerberos. It also is sort of about Shiro’s thoughts throughout the war as he watches ‘from distant skies’ (and influences String Theory kinda)

(At night the earth will rise/And I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies/Whenever stars go down and galaxies ignite/I’ll think of you each time they wash me in their light/And I’ll fall in love with you again)

Waking Dream and Abyss are Awakenings. They’re specifically the Red Lion waking up on Sendak’s ship to her new Paladin, but also sort of the rest of the Lions as they find new Paladins for the first time since The Fall (and, also, an accidental hook to the end of Filaments just by virtue of being on the same UtA album…)

(Centuries like flowing streams as years go rushing by/Waiting in the dark for afterlife)

(Open my eyes in a daze/How long has it been? Am I so out of place?/Warmth I can no longer feel/My mountain is gone, I’m surrounded by steel/The strangest of structures arises ahead/Seems to be held up by nothing/Where have I gone, do I dream?/How can the stars be all I can see?)

Who Will Save You Now is about the Paladins in First Contact. It’s the video messages they send to their families, the warning that Something Is Out Here that they need to prepare for. It’s a declaration of protection for Earth, but a recognition that the Paladins may not be able to do what they say.

(I will not take from you and you will not owe/I will protect you from the fire below/It’s not in my mind/It’s here at my side/Go tell the world that I’m still alive)

Then there’s The End of the Beginning. Which is, well, the eponymous fic. And don’t forget the String Theory connection! Fun fact: part of the last chapter leads directly into part of String Theory at the moment.

(Every night I die just a little/All this time, I’m caught in the middle/All your life, you fought with no winning/This is just the end of the beginning)

A Simple Plan is about anything but a simple plan. Lotor is making his secret bid for the construction of the Sinkline ships, but there’s one more thing he needs before it can come to fruition. Haggar has suspicions, and knows one thing that she needs to keep from both him and Voltron. Team Voltron is still struggling to fit into their new roles, especially with a Black Paladin who adamantly does not want to be Black Paladin, and is in desperate need of one thing to fix the last of the damage done during the Battle of the Sarnan Nebula.

(How long can we hold off ending?/How long can we pretend we’re ok?/No one goes on fighting it forever/I know I’m better this way)

Memories of a Girl I Haven’t Met. Such a short song for such an important fic. It skips all the way over Naxzela to the Mission to the Baaria Shipyards, the first major offensive that isn’t somehow connected to canon (even if only a very very small part of it is actually at the shipyards lol). This is also the song that solidified Keith’s very queer identity in Dark Matter. And more Pleiades stuff!

(In this lonely place, bathed in silence and thoughts of you/I can’t see your face but I’m trying to envision you/So are you really out there? Are you awake with memories/Of a boy you haven’t met yet who’s wished upon the Pleiades?)

There’s another fic in here that I’m still waiting for a song to catch my ear, but it’s pretty big so I’m putting it in here. For the moment, it’s called MGHM 2.0: Electric Paladinloo. Featuring the Whispers, Voltron, and a few mullets.

And then. Hoh boy. The beast of beats. TRIALS (reimagine), Dark On Me, String Theory, and I Am the One. We’ve got [REDACTED], we’ve got [spoiler], we’ve got the first major turning point in the entire war, and the first revelation of the true nature of [REDACTED]. Hence the honor of being the separation point of my two main DM folders. TRIALS is the first part, the horrifying realization. Dark On Me and String Theory itself are from Shiro’s perspective. I Am the One is… an image song? I guess? That’s all I’ll say on that. (I would like to note that the STARSET songs bar OWtT tend to be about the Shiroganes…)

(Hear me from the bottom/Forged in regret, I'm the silversmith/Doomsday, you we had it coming/Marching the streets with an iron fist/Obey no more in silence/The steel in our hearts will be monuments/Today, they'll hear the violence/We'll rise from the dark like Lazarus)

(You're the cause/The antidote/The sinking ship that I could not let go/You led my way, then disappeared/How could you just walk away and leave me here?/Light the night up, you're my dark star/And now you're falling away)

(You don’t believe in space/You don’t believe in light/You don’t believe that anything is well beyond your might/We walk across the sky and beneath the ocean floor/We’re never going anywhere we’ve never been before)

(I am the one/I am the architect to rule your fate)

House on Fire is the aftermath of String Theory, and a large vibe of We ARE Struggling Together! It’s about family, never letting go of something you care about, and the slow act of trusting.

(So I’ll just hold you like a hand grenade/You touch me like a razor blade/I wish there was some other way right now/Like a house on fire we’re up in flames/I’d burn here if that’s what it takes/To let you know I won’t let go of you)

Belgrade is The klance song! It is a) a bop b) always stuck in my head because it is That Good. The line in the chorus about ‘sweet songs of seduction’ is eternally funny to me bc a)they’re both ace and b)QPR’s don’t usually involve seduction. Belgrade also leads almost directly into…

(We pretend in the darkness/We pretend the night won’t steal our youth/Singing me the sweet songs of seduction/Let me be the fool, fool, fool/Who will live and die for you)

Here to Save You is about Sam. Mostly. It’s also about Pidge. And Zaivorge cannons.

(A slave for humankind/I made sure I would survive/To stay alive/Now it’s time to move on/When there’s nothing left to prove/I’m coming to get you)

Iron is the third Closure fic (the second is End of the Beginning, forgot to mention that. They’ve slowly moved away from actually being related to it in anything but name and general idea). It’s about Keith coming to terms with parts of himself, and learning how to use them to great effect. Also has a huge info dump about the Blade.

(You can’t live without the fire/It’s the heat that makes you strong/‘Cause you’re born to live/And fight it all the way/You can’t hide what lies inside you/It’s the only thing you know/You’re embracing that, never walk away)

The second major turning point in the war is Monarch, Birthright, and Firewall. I really recommend reading the whole lyrics for Monarch, because the entire thing is very much a Lotor song. I had a bit of trouble picking a lyric to use here. Monarch is here because Lotor is also the ‘singer’ of Birthright, and both songs are to a very specific high-level target of the Coalition. Firewall is a little different as it’s a Team Voltron song not a Lotor song, but happens because of the same thing the other two do. They’re all not exactly a direct result of Iron, but they wouldn’t happen how they do without it, and then [REDACTED] swings back into the fray and things learned in String Theory/the framing story for Through Apocalypse Skies hit in full force.

(I am not the person you remember from before/The one you patronized and stepped on, the one you hurt/And I have pulled the arrows, now my skin has become stone/No longer am I prisoner to your empty fucking words)

(The voices in my head have all begun to sing/(The voices in your head have all begun to sing)/And they sure as hell hope I am listening/(I sure as hell hope you are listening!))

(They come to your dreams with illusion/They come to bring shape to your mind/You know how to stop the intrusion/We all have to fight for our lives)

and then, The Day the Earth Collapsed

(How much time has been elapsed/Since the day the earth collapsed?)

Here Comes the Reign doesn’t come into full effect until several months after Birthright/Firewall, but starts with The Day the Earth Collapsed. It’s largely about Haggar and [REDACTED]

(You made something they can’t take away/Now bring the fire of the burning sun on everyone)

Supersonic is here… kinda as a placeholder? Things have shifted around since its original purpose, and frankly it’s here still as a framework for what I like to call The Meme Battle. It’s generally about the increase in Coalition support and general winning as they go after warlords in the aftermath of Feyiv, culminating in I Need a Hero which is, of course, The Meme Battle.

Yes, it’s the Shrek version. It’s the Meme Battle.

(Supersonic, polyphonic, this is our war/Mustering the armies, marching faster than before)

(I need a hero/I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night/He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast/And he's gotta be fresh from the fight)

But Tonight We Dance isn’t exactly a klance song, but it’s here for them. On a diplomatic mission gone wrong, the Red and Blue Paladins of Voltron uncover a literally-buried government conspiracy, a rebel cell, and nearly die. A normal days work for the two of them. But they’ve really gotta stop having relationship milestones in the middle of a warzone.

Another reason it’s here is Tonight We Dance is a very aro song to me. “A language universal, but I speak not its tongue” hits hard. I felt like I needed a bit in here to remind listeners/readers that romance isn’t a language Keith speaks. And it becomes very explicit in this fic, just like Belgrade.

(Tomorrow we might wake in servitude and silence/I will give you everything if only you would have me/Tomorrow we will sweat and toil/Our hands will quiver, caked with soil/Tomorrow we'll give it one last chance/But tonight we dance/But tonight we dance!)

But Tonight We Dance is the last of the Closure fics, which is why it’s here. Closure in general is a lot of Keith’s character development and some of the struggles he goes through to accept his place in the universe and the fact that yes, he does have people that care about him. The last fic is me shining a brighter light on Closure’s chorus and taking a ‘last goodbye’ as never needing to say it again

(I am the child from the stars/That got lost in the dark/Between heaven and hell/I am forced to live on/I am the cause when you sin/I am the demon you skin/But there is no more tears to beautify/This is my last goodbye)

Then we step back into the universe-level action with Soulbound. Revelations from String Theory and Firewall swing back in with a vengeance on a joint Whispers-Voltron mission, leaving them reeling and Krolia questioning her very identity.

(Soulbound, endlessly forever/Locked between the darkness and the light/Don’t drown in the swarming, blackened rising/Hold on to humanity and fight)

About three months after that is My Darkest Hour and Faster Than Light. Haggar realizes something and goes searching for her fifth [spoiler], sending the Blade and the rest of the Coalition scrambling. These also lead directly, and I mean directly, into…

(When the sun comes crashing down/When the world is spinning round and round/I will face what must be my darkest hour)

(Once more we’re flying fast as light/Dark matter passing in the night/Pursued by a force we can’t outrun/As we hurtle towards a dying sun/We maneuver through the remnants of a moon/On the solar winds of supernovas/There is not a place to hide, the Matriarch is close behind/It’s plain to see she’s coming for us all)

Cosmic Vertigo and Other Worlds Than These. Together they are the second of two revelations in what, exactly, is [REDACTED]

(Banish me like burned down planets/Write my fate with sparkling lies/I am the universe; you're just one sky)

(Pull the wool out from your eyes/It won’t shade your frail belief/In the end we cannot hide/There are other worlds than these)

Godhunter is Team Voltron, well, hunting for gods, even as one of them disappears.

(She’s been watching for a century/With hatred, and with scorn/If you know the hunter’s coming/Then you hide or keep on running/'Cause she’s slain the gods before)

Trophy Hunter, Ember, and Redemption are the culmination of Godhunter. I’ve been thinking of them as akin to the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2, if that gives you an idea of what the hell they run into. Also I switched which specific Redemption is on the playlist, because I was listening to Red Handed Denial again and their Redemption was vibing way more than the Hammerfall one. They link up to Godhunter and Soulbound in subject matter, and lead directly into…

(You, you won’t escape me, I’ll rise from the deep/In this final moment, no words left to say/I can’t let you be when a life fades away/You, you won’t escape me ‘cause I’ll set you free)

(Dark matter falling from the sky/Dancing flames reflecting in your eyes as you watch them burn/Watching all your riches witches burn)

(Remember me not for the mess I’ve made/But who I could have been/Finally I’m going home)

World On Fire, This is a Call, The Reckoning, The Wind That Shapes the Land, and Louder Than Words. Switched the order up a bit so it makes more sense chronologically, because the message ‘sent by forces beyond salvation’ has to get there before the reckoning can begin.

(World on fire with a smoking sun/Stops everything and everyone/Brace yourself for all will pay/Help is on the way)

(This is a call to action/This is a call to arms/All lives for one, together/There are no false alarms)

(I see your face, find peace of mind/Between the madness and the sadness and the fire burning/The end of war, the great divine/We’ll see the day of reckoning)

(Search within/Uncover the will to win/Turn against the tide that washes o'er/Find the strength to fall and rise again/Open up the gates, unleash the force/I am the wind that shapes the land/Old as time and twice as strong/Oceans arise at my command/I alone can carry on)

(We have the force to fight/We have the blinding light/A war is more than heard/Coming in louder than words)

[poorrichardslegacy]

Kacxa Week 2020 Day 6 - Battle Injury

Words

SUMMARY: Keith and Acxa’s daughters have passed their Trials of Marmora and embark on their first combat mission, against the pirates of Penzarance. The girls learn that words can cut just as deeply as any Luxite Blade, and just as importantly they learn about the power of forgiveness.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26910880

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron) Characters: Acxa (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Original Blade of Marmora Character(s) Additional Tags: Kacxa Week 2020, Family Drama, Family Issues, Family Dynamics, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

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

It was the call Keith hoped he would never hear.

“Dad…please…come quickly…Mom’s down!”

His heart about to explode in his chest from its rapid beating, Keith races across the battlefield to his daughter’s position.

This raid was the first combat assignment with Blade of Marmora for both of his daughters since the successful completion of their Trials of Marmora two decaphoebs earlier. Keith had high hopes for this mission. This would be the opportunity for his girls to prove their worth, that they can function as full-fledged members of the Blade of Marmora.

Unfortunately, events began to spiral out of his control even before the start of the engagement on Penzarance.

And now it seems things have gone horribly wrong.

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

Twelve Vargas Earlier

Against Keith’s wishes, Acxa sets the assault team rosters so that Mireya is a member of her team. As Blade Master he does not countermand her decision because he does not want Acxa’s authority undermined within the Blade of Marmora. He also knows that he will catch hell from at least one of the women in his family no matter what he does.

However, he warns her about how this move will be perceived not only by the other Blades, but by Mireya.

Mireya is anything but pleased about this turn of events. To her, this is another example of her mother hovering over her, nitpicking everything she does. This time, Mireya decides to stand up for herself. She confronts her mother in front of her father, great uncle, and sister, and starts a rather vociferous argument over the assignment. Anyone observing it would call it a blowup of galactic proportions.

“Why, Mom? Dad explicitly stated that he wanted Cataleya and I assigned to Uncle Meltok’s command. I don’t get it. Why are you doing this?”

“There is nothing to ‘get’, Mireya. I’m the tactical leader of this operation, and I have the final say on team assignments. I am not used to having my orders questioned and I will not tolerate it now. You are a Blade of Marmora going on a combat mission. You are expected to obey orders, and I expect you to obey these orders.”

Mireya, just turned 18, storms out of the briefing room but not before screaming at her mother.

“You’re suffocating me, Mom! I hate you! I HOPE YOU DIE! Maybe then I can finally breathe.”

Not happy with his daughter’s choice of words, Keith calls after her just as she slams the door to the briefing room. “Mireya you don’t mean that.”

Cataleya, just as upset with the situation as her sister, takes a deep breath before trying to calm her visibly upset mother.

“Mom, she didn’t mean that.”

Cut deeply by Mireya’s words, Acxa tries to hide the hurt from Cataleya. “I don’t know Cataleya…your sister and I have been butting heads for so long now.”

“Mom that’s because you two are so much alike in personality. Stubbornness and all. Give her some space. She’ll come around.”

Keith starts to go after Mireya, but Cataleya stops him.

“Dad, wait. Let me talk to her. No offense, she might listen to me.”

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

The scene is the nightmare scenario Keith feared it would be.

His wife lay in a bomb crater, bleeding from a shrapnel wound to the stomach. Her right arm and shoulder are badly lacerated. He thinks to himself that it is a good thing she is unconscious. The pain must be unbearable.

He races to her and begins treatment to stabilize her. He does his best to keep his emotions in check as he works to save the life of the woman who said she would be his until the day she died. He does not want today to be that day.

“Mireya did you call for medical backup?”

“I…uncle…coming…”

She stands there, frozen by the sight of her critically injured mother.

Meltok leaps into the crater and quickly moves to Acxa’s side, his first-aid kit already open. “Medivac is on its way, Keith. Bars is talking to them. Let me check her.”

Keith steps back as his uncle, an accomplished field medic, hurries to stabilize Acxa until medivac arrives. Cataleya joins them and stands next to her shell-shocked sister.

Struggling against the flood of his own emotions as he battles to hold it together, Keith turns to his daughters.

“Cataleya, take your sister to the rear. I’ll meet up with you two once your mother is stabilized.”

Keith looks calmly at his daughters, both now frozen by the sight of their injured mother. He speaks to them in a calm and level voice. “Go on, soldiers. I gave you an order. Move to the rear.”

Cataleya snaps out of it and manages a shaky, “Yes sir.”

Blade of Marmora Sergeant Bars joins Keith and Meltok. “Medivac is incoming. They’ll be here in two doboshes. Master Chief, how bad?”

Meltok does not pull any punches. “Bad, Bars. Really bad.”

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

As the medivac team moves in to prep Acxa for evacuation to the field hospital, Meltok reminds Keith of something.

“Go back with her and talk to her.”

“What?”

“Remember what she did for you after you nearly got blown to kingdom come by one of Honerva’s white mechs?1 Talk to her. Give her a reason to hang on until the docs back at the field hospital can stabilize her. Don’t worry about this operation. I’ll take command and mop these pirates up. You worry about your wife.”

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

Keith goes with the Acxa and the medics to the rear. After seven hours of surgery, with Keith present, she emerges, in critical but stable condition.

His aunt Miara, a first-rate doctor in her own right and in charge of the field hospital, comes in to keep a close eye on her.

“Keith, you need to talk to Mireya. She’s been inconsolable since Cataleya took her to the rear. Come to think of it, Cataleya isn’t doing much better.”

“I guess the sight of their mother…in that state…that would do it. Aunt Miara, would you send them in. They need to see that their mother is going to be ok”

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

The girls are ushered into the room by Miara. Mireya rushes to her mother’s bedside, takes her hand, and begins sobbing inconsolably.

“Mom…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t want you to die. Please, Mom, don’t leave.”

Cataleya sits on the other side of her mother’s bed, holding Acxa’s left hand. She remains silent, but her tears flow just as freely.

Keith goes to console Mireya, taking her in his arms and letting her get her emotions out. When she finally calms down enough to speak, he asks her what happened.

“We were pinned down. We were taking heavy ion rifle fire and we couldn’t move forward. Mom was so calm. Dad, she was amazing. She said the only way we could beat them was to distract them, flank them, so that we could get close enough to lob grenades into their position to take them out. She asked me if I could do that…I said I could. I wanted her to trust me and this was my chance. Two of us made a flanking maneuver around the right side of the pirate defensive line. We drew their fire, and Mom was able to get close enough to throw two grenades into their position.”

“One went off. The fuse on the other was defective. One of the pirates threw the grenade back into her position. It exploded before she could take cover. I saw Mom go down…and I freaked out.”

“Freaked out in what way, honey.”

“I was so mad that I charged the pirate position single handedly. I think I took out, seven, eight pirates?”

While Mireya explains what happened, Meltok joins them and, standing at the entrance to the room listens to most of her explanation. When she gets to the part where she guesses at how many pirates she took down, he clears his throat to get Keith’s attention.

“That’s not quite true, Mireya. You didn’t take out 8 pirates. It was more like 20.”

Shocked, Keith looks first at Mireya, then at Meltok. “She did what?”

“You would have been proud of her, Keith. She took out twelve with her blaster pistol. Twelve shots, twelve kills. The last eight she took down with her Blade. Watching her with the pistol, she reminded me of her mother; watching her with her Blade, she reminded me of her father.”

“For the record…Cataleya is no slouch in those categories either. She’s just as good as her sister and she proved it today. She took out and entire gun line in the bunker complex, about 20 pirates, by herself.”

Mireya looks at her father hopefully. “Dad…is Mom going to be ok?”

Keith calls his daughters to him and gives them both a tight hug.

“She’s going to be sore, honey, but she’ll pull through. Your mother is tough. She’s been through worse than this. Let’s see, she’s crash-landed inside the belly of an intergalactic space worm, she was poisoned by Bralarian Hyenas after flying her ship to Braylar IV with a broken arm2 , she was almost skewered by Sendak after fighting him on top of a cruiser that was plummeting to Earth3…and she gave birth to you two hellions. She’ll pull through. Besides, she loves you girls too much to leave you now.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. Mom heard everything we just said. She heard Uncle Meltok say what you both did today. I know when she wakes up, she’ll tell you proud she is of her daughters.”

A still very agitated Mireya is not so sure. “Yeah…if she ever forgives me for being an ungrateful little bitch…”

“She knows you are not that, honey. Hey, I have an idea. I think Mom would like it if the three of us sat here with her and talked to her for a bit. Would you be willing to do that with me?”

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

Six vargas later, Acxa wakes up from her ordeal.

Vaguely aware of her husband’s presence, she reaches out for him. “Keith…?”

Keith squeezes her hand and leans closer so she can see him. “I’m here, love.”

“Thank you…for staying here with me. And talking to me. I heard you. Where…where are the girls? Are they…?”

“They are safe, and they are well. Aunt Miara took them to get something to eat.” Keith gently strokes her hair and horns. “You my dear have two heroes on your hands. Cataleya took out an entire gun line in the middle sector by herself. Mireya single-handedly took out the heavy rifle emplacements in your sector. It would seem that our daughters are now seasoned combat veterans. They’re not little girls anymore, Acxa.”

Acxa closes her eyes for a moment as she desperately tries to hold back the tears. Opening them, she turns towards Keith, sadness reflected in her deep blue eyes. “Where are my girls? I need to see them. I need to…”

From the shadows, her daughters tentatively emerge. “We…we’re here Mom.”

Mireya rushes to Acxa’s side and buries her head against her mother’s arm. “Mom, I’m so sorry about what I said before the mission. I didn’t mean any of that. When I saw you go down, I…I went crazy. Mom, please forgive me. I’m a horrible daughter.”

Fully awake now and aware of her daughter’s mental state, Acxa easily slips back into Mom mode. “No Mireya…you are a wonderful daughter. I forgot how much you’ve grown these past two decaphoebs. You’re an adult now. It’s time I started treating you like one.”

She looks at Cataleya and calls her over. “It’s time I started treating both of you like the adults you are. I’m so proud of both of you.”

Keith looks on with pride at his family.

“Acxa, you need to rest. I’ll sit with you. You girls need to get some rest as well.”

Cataleya does not want to hear that. “Dad, we’re not leaving. We’re staying with you and Mom.”

Acxa looks at Keith. “You know they get their stubbornness from their father.”

“Said the pot to the kettle. Go to sleep, woman!”

“No! I’m going to lay hear and let my daughters entertain me with stories of their exploits.”

Keith looks first at Acxa, then at his daughters.

“And your mother says I’m the stubborn one…”

1 Rejected by the Galra, Chapter 14 The Shared Path

2 Return of the Prince, Chapter 14, Cry of the Wolf

3 Rejected by the Galra, Chapter 12 Lions Pride

[thenixkat]

Voltron notes 1 (edited?)

Ep 1

No spoiler opening theme

Those are some skinny ass space suits. Shouldn’t they have like tethers and shit to keep them from accidently floating off?

Harvesting ice cores on Pluto or Kerberos or whatever

They wanna meet aliens

No one notices the ship until its right on top of them. Shiro just assumes its a hostile ship

Bullshit and lazy. Fuckin aliens speaking and understanding English

Also Shiro looks so much better with the darker skin. Like, bring back this look.

This ship is very green and that’s unusual compared to later lighting schemes 

Lance is a dick to his friend

Also, you’d think an air and space program would weed out the folks with motion sickness

Lance is overestimating the abilities of himself, the crew, and the ship

Welp, Hunk fucked up the electronics with the barf. Pidge fell from not using her seatbelt. 

Mutanious comments.  

Lance got the team killed

Iverson called them jackasses

I know I shouldn’t be mentioning stuff that hasent happened yet but like? How the fuck does Iverson not recognise Pidge? She looks just like her brother but tiny and that didn’t raise any alarms? She didn’t even dye her hair or anything? Also is her mom ok with this? Is she skipping out on her classes that she should be having as Katie?

Vomit is not an approved lubricant. Heh 

One of those chicks has green hair

Military exploration school

Pidge doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut

Lance is a fuckin bro

Why is Iverson chewin out Lance for something Pidge said?

Poor Lance

Lights out by five? And it's already getting dark?

Ok but Lance and Hunk in civilian clothes makes them stand out so much while they’re trying to sneak around. WHy not carry backpacks with their regular clothes in them while they wear the uniforms until they find a safe place to change. 

Lance is that friend who gets everyone into trouble

Have I mentioned that I hate fat jokes?

Also these kids are shit at sneaking. They didn’t even wait a minute to make sure the patrol dude couldn’t just turn his head and see them. They also made a shit ton of noise.

Pidge is bad at sneaking too, didn’t make sure she wasn’t followed and didn’t keep an eye out for anyone who might spot her on the roof.

Hunk is scared of heights

Pidge is bad at lying

Hunk is nosey af

Lance is trying to be a good team leader

Pidge is trying to uncover a government conspiracy and picked up alien radio chatter. 

If a teenager with little funds and homemade equipment can pick up alien radio chatter than the people who listen to the stars for a living sure as shit picked this shit up.

Lance doesn’t believe in aliens.

Hunk is scared of aliens

School is on lock down

Holy crow. Lance is a potty mouth

Hunk didn’t believe in aliens either

Pidge and Lance jump at the chance to go check out a crashed alien ship. Hunk doesn’t like this.

How the fuck did Pidge remotely hack a camera feed?

Ok but like it makes total sense for them to quarantine Shiro. He might have space pox.

Also Shiro’s skintone changes between 2 dif frames

Hunk neither knows nor cares who Shiro is. And is trying to be the voice of reason

I’m taking that as a fat joke. So fuck you show.

Where’d Keith get the hover car?

Where does Keith get all the explosives? Does he make them?

Lance spotted his eternal rival and doesn’t want to be beat in rescuing the hero. Hunk knows who Keith is

Pidge doesn’t know who Keith is

Why’d they choose that ugly ass tone for Shiro there? He looks kinda grey

Lance was not important enough for Keith to remember him

They’re making Keith take them along for the ride. Also that is not a vehicle designed to carry so many people.

Keith’s got snark.

Pidge yer not doing anything else the least you can do is be useful and keep Shiro from falling off the bike.

Hunk can identify every teacher chasing them

Keith is having fun driving while everyone else screams in terror

So Shiro’s just wearing Keith’s dad’s clothes

Convenient amnesia

Also Shiro’s got a generic ass masculine face

Keith can sense energy

So, those markings and paintings had to have been made by some Native Americans. Which group? What’s the timeframe? Those paintings are showing Blue do stuff so how long was her pilot still around and kicking for? Did she have other pilots before going into lockdown and just chose to stay on Earth? How’d she get to Earth in the first place if fish dude probably died in battle with Galra forces?

Lance hesitates b4 shaking the mystery alien cyborg hand

Hunk is nervous that there might be an alien invasion soon.

Hunk is nosey as hell and a bit of a dick

If I point out everything that is or probably is a fat joke I’ll be here forever

Hunk is smart as hell

Matching a wavelength of an element to a terrain carved by erosion? What? That’s not how anything works

Wait, if Keith has pics of the murals why didn’t they start looking there?

Yeah no those kids are hurt, possibly dead from that fall

The Voltron

The eyes have no pupils and the head isn’t moving, how can you tell the eyes are following you?

So did all of the lions pick these kids and college student from seeing them through Blue’s perspective? How does the lion choosing thing work?

Hunk states the obvious

How is Lance supposed to read the screen when the text is constantly changing. That’s not how computer.

Lance takes Blue on a joy ride and even Keith is not having fun

Also Blue is just fucking up the poor desert

Hunk is a little bitch who thinks giving people what they want will stop them

Holy crow. Hunk has a potty mouth.

So there’s just like a Galra ship right at Earth. The Galra know where Earth is and probably invade it. We just gonna forget about that? Like yes that ship is chasing the lion but nothing is stopping more galra going to Earth.

Shiro is the senior officer so Lance defers to him

So the lions can open wormholes on their own.

Hunk vomits inside Blue

Lance why?

How did none of them notice the castle. Like that is a massive ass castle

They just didn’t check to see if the air was human breathable

Pidge, why the fuck would the steps be bigger if the control seat of the lion was human sized?

Alien tech speaks english

Why do they reuse Cree’s voice for so much

Why do aliens from 10000 yrs ago fucking speak english

Also fucking elves

Also fucking Europeans

Rude. Allura’s first response to meeting an alien is insulting his species looks

Quiznak. Coran has a potty mouth

Also how the fuck do you know anything about this alien’s biology? Why the fuck would a sleeper hold fucking work?

SO why didn’t Alfor use the ‘strongest weapon in the universe’ to fight Zarkon? What, did Black not want any other paladin than Zarkon?

Alfor lies to children.

So how did they send away the other 4 lions? Alfor probably got caught and killed but like from that flashback ep the other three og paladins weren’t in their armor nor shown near the lions or anything. Did the lions hide themselves? Did they have other paladins that piloted them away?

King of the Galra? Bitch he was an emperor well before his fall you should know this.

Convenient amnesia.

How long is the average Galra lifespan?

Could Haggar not? Sense the Blue lion on Earth? How?

Also Haggar really went and got herself a whole ass monster husband

Zarkon calls in the squad. Sends Sendak to fuck shit up

Lance is not good with numbers

Sigh

How do yall even know the food in the castle is safe for humans?

Coran how the fuck u know yall the last Alteans left? Did ya fuckin look?

How the fuck did some nasty ass mice get into the fucking cryopod? How did they survive in a cryopod calibrated for an altean? Why are the mice necessary to the story?

How do the alteans recognize a galra battleship after 10000 yrs?

Lance starts a fight with Keith for no reason. Shiro breaks up the fight.

Did I mention that I hate body functions humor? 

Why and how did Alfor connect the lions to Allura’s life force?

Coran just straight up called Pidge a slightly less stupid than average primitive. Racist as fuck.

Lion’s choose their paladin so Allura just fucking assigns lions to aliens she’s known for less than an hour.

How does she know anything about these aliens? Its been less than 5 mins since she met them.

How the fuck does Allura know here all the lions are but the red one?

How do we know Voltron is the most powerful in the universe? They ain’t seen the entire universe

How do the Alteans know how long an earth hour is?

So an altean brought Green to this planet?

What the fuck kinda dumb ass rabbits come out of hiding when they know strange creatures are near?

To be fair, peaceful might mean something else in Altean. They are fucking space Brits

Hunk asks good questions when he’s not stating the obvious

Also that is a barren ass planet. But it was formerly inhabited.

Hunk rewires alien machinery while under heavy fire

Why does it take so long for yellow’s murals to start glowing? Was Yellow thinking about whether or not she wanted Hunk as her Paladin? Yellow really said if you want me you gotta put in effort.

The Galra were this close to getting Yellow too.

Pidge asks questions.

Who built that pyramid for Green and why did they let it get overgrown?

Pidge somehow didn’t break a leg from that jump

So I’m gonna assume that Blue told Yellow what was up

How well can Yellow move through rock?

Green really wanted Pidge. Like she was lighting shit up immediately.

So Blue actually got pretty damaged from regular ship fire and hiding the ground wrong

Hunk would apparently have let Lance die

Pidge and Shiro are some lyin ass bitches

Lord of the Known Universe. Most of the Galra empire is empty space

It took 600 yrs between a grandfather and grandson altean?

Lance and Hunk vote run

Pidge votes stay and fight

Um. Why would the Galra fuck up Arus when yall are the top priority? Like, sure they can come back for it but the lions are a bigger deal and thus they would chase yall over take Arus

Hunk is making very good points

Also Keith, while Sendak could destroy Arus and then come after yall. It’d be a waste of time and resources. 

Keith votes stay and fight

Shiro chooses not to vote

Alfor’s hologram admits he fucked up with sending the lions away

Allura votes stay and fight and I guess Coran isn’t voting like Shiro

Fuck you show. Why did we need eighteen thousand fuckin fat jokes?

Coran is an asshole

Ok but like that doesn’t look like a good chest plate? Like it looks like if they bent over they’d get poked/stabbed by it? And what’s up with the high sides of the belts?

What the fuck Pidge?! That coulda killed Lance or taken him out for a good while?

Wait, if the ship has a thing that can like just fucking make suits? Why can't they just make more bayards? Why wouldn’t Alfor design something to make more bayards?

Why doesn’t the galra ship have rear view cameras?

Wait! How the fuck do you cut a hole in a space ship and that not fuck with pressurization or set off any safety allarms?! The fuck kinda bullshit is that?

Sendak? Why do you expect aliens to know what that beam was for if you didn’t tell them?

~False surrender is a fucking war crime b/c it removed the option of surrendering for real if the need arrives so it leads to more fucking people dying~

No they didn’t Shiro. Battleships are things that get mass produced. If this is the exact same ship u got put in after the green one then that is bullshit on a cosmic scale.

Shiro is ok with letting prisoners die. Pidge is not, granted it's probably b/c she thinks her family might be on there.

Poor Mrs. Holt. She just got fuckin forgotten by everyone.

So Pidge has an outburst and fucking disobeys the mission leader. Shiro decides to help her just b/c he might know one or two of the people he was willing to let die. And they leave Keith with no fucking backup.

Keith would have legit died if the guards remembered that they have fucking guns and can shoot him when he dropped his shield. Which means Keith would have died if not for plot bullshit b/c his teammates don’t particularly care about his health and safety. Pidge and Shiro care more about the male Holts than Keith and all of the other prisoners that might be on the ship.

Wow.

How does Keith not hold this against them?

No the mice were not necessary, not if either of these dunces whent and opened the control panel from the other side.

That sounds like bullshit. 

Ya know I didn’t have any problems with Hunk the engineer being able to operate an alien elevator or drill by hotwiring shit. But I do call bullshit on Pidge reprogramming a sentry pod thing by changing the connection of one wire.

I still call bullshit on aliens speaking english and all atmospheres being 100% agreeable to humans. B/c that is bullshit

And why the fuck would the color of Rover’s lights fucking change?

… they only checked one fucking room for prisoners but that’s  it I guess? The fuck

Why did the Red lion let the Galra take her? Did she consider that one of the galra on the ship might make a good paladin for her?

Keith gets caught b/c his dumb ass starts shouting on a stealth mission

Keith, they already have the lion. Yer the one trying to take it

Like I said previously the guards forget they have guns and thus Keith lives.

So… how did Keith impress the Red lion? He fought people, lost and blew out the airlock. Which is still a loss if the lion didn’t feel like saving him.

Vore

Guards continue to forget they have fucking guns for plot reasons.

Hunk and the gang leave without destroying the enemy ship or making sure that its irreparably damaged

Coran, Lance, and Hunk have foul mouths

And this is why you fucking confirm yer kill

Why isn’t there a combine button?

Heh, Yellow’s face after slamming Red. Also Red looks so offended about being rammed. 

What the cheese

Hunk’s gone into panic mode and Keith has accepted death.

Shiro gives a speech and they form Voltron

Why are the bad guys giving them the time to form voltron?

Why doesn’t Voltron have a tail? Where does Black’s tail go? Voltron should have a tail.

Any other prisoners on that ship are dead as fuck

How did I watch this show  the first time? It's not good. It’s pretty but it is not good.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

My starlight- Shallura Week Day 1

I’ve been a big shallura shipper since the start and when it came out that Shiro was gay, it didn’t change as I headcannoned him as pan anyway. I was a bit worried when a lot of people changed their stance and had asked if anyone, his charaecter, creators, anyone had said he was exclusively into guys. If he was, I’d put my ship to rest but still love their very good chemistry as great friends. No one said there was and then I found out through @breezycheezyart​ blog, when I was looking for her Juniberry art to use as inspo for this space related quest I’m doing that’s gonna be a Sailor Moon au, that @shalluraweek​ is still happening. Back in like, maybe the first year, maybe after s2 came out, I saw shallura week but didn’t do it because of writers block, so I’m really happy that I can do this and celebrate one of my fav vld ships. When I was looking for insporation on tumblr, I found a lot of Star Wars art so I decided to go with it. I’ll be honest, I found the Star Wars movies kinda boring growing up but Clone Wars was the only thing I’d willingly sit through, so my info might not be totally correct. Probably cause I love Ashoka so much. Anyway, please enjoy. Star/Sky

Shiro moved quietly across the room, heading for the door when he heard someone call his name.

“Shiro? Where are you going?”

he turned to look at his Padawan who’d only come back an hour ago from hanging out with Senator Lance, the two the same age and equally good at fighting and breaking rules. He needed the distraction after coming back from their last war effort. They’d lost a lot of good men and going up against Sendak, who’d run off again, was never fun. Keith had collapsed into bed once he got back and Shiro waited until he knew for sure he was knocked out before getting up to leave, but it seemed Keith wasn’t as knocked out as he thought.

“The Chancalor asked me to do something for him.”

A lie. Not for a second did he trust Chancellor Zarkon, who always seemed to find a way to insert himself into Jedi issues, but also seemed way too interested in him.

Keith thankfully thought the same. “We’re not that guy’s errand boys.”

“I know, but he does hold the power. I’m sure we’ll eventually find a way to get away from his grip and end the war too. I’ll be back soon. We have shore leave and you don’t have classes, why don’t you join Senator Lance for breakfast tomorrow? You can take Pidge with you.” he said, mentioning one of the other Padawans Keith was friends with.

“Alright. Be safe ok?” Keith said before disappearing back into his room.

Shiro didn’t like lying to Keith, he really didn’t. The kid was a special case, being raised by a Sith Lord who didn’t care much about Keith, willing to turn him into an assassin. He was older than most Younglings but as a newly knighted Jedi himself, Shiro insisted Keith could be trained and offered up his own job if he was wrong. So far, he had the Council eating their words that Keith was untrainable. Break rules? Yes, but only the rules he thought didn’t make much sense to him within the code. Keith might be a special case but he was Shiro’s family. It made it so much harder to keep the secret he had.

He took a speeder to the more costly apartments of Coruscant, where a lot of Senators tended to home themselves when not at their home planets. He easily made his way to one apartment, home of someone who was more than just a Senator. He easily typed in the passcode and walked to the balcony when the door opened. Standing outside on it, was a woman. Her long white hair seemed to shine in the city lights, like it was made of the stars he’d fallen in love with.

“Hey.” he called.

The woman turned, her blue purple eyes widening when she saw him.

“Takashi!” she ran over and he swept her up in his arms. “I missed you. Are you ok? I heard what happened.”

“Everything is fine now. I’m with you.”

Poster boy for the Jedi Takashi Shirogane in a secret relationship to Senator Allura Fara? The scandal, but Shiro could care less. He’d still been a Padawan himself when he and his master had gone to Allura’s planet to try and help them stop in invasion from happening. He was instructed to look after the girl, who was practically royalty, but he quickly learned she didn’t like being protected. While they could argue whether or not she was putting herself in danger, in the quieter moments, they grew closer. Even after they grew older, the invasion stopped and their meeting few, the feelings they’d gained never faded. When they could meet again, it was like they hit unpause and doubled up the feelings. He broke the rules of forming attachments and formed the ultimate one, he fell in love. They were going to marry in secret when the war broke out. They wanted to, badly, but they knew a connection that intense would put them both in danger. For now, only sweet kisses and secret meetings could happen. But once this was over, once he was sure Keith was taken care of and a Knight, he’d leave. He’d leave to Order for her. He didn’t even have to think about it. Unless they changed their views on a few things, he would leave to be happy then force to give up something he couldn’t.

When he could, he’d sneak out of the Temple and come to Allura’s apartment. To most, the two were good friends. The only one privy to their relationship was Allura’s Protocol Droid and Shiro’s former master, who he could never lie to. Here, he could relax away from the rules of the Order and just be Takashi.

He pulled away to look at her, the woman who took his heart. “What about you? Any senators who’s heads you want to rip off?”

“The list is ever growing, but let’s forget about that for now.” she said hugging him close again, hiding her face in his chest, where she always felt safe.

Shiro pulled her close, easily hiding his face in her hair. When he’d first seen Allura, he asked if her hair was made from stars. She’d gone red, redder even when he started calling her Starlight. It was a soft as a cloud inn the sky and smelled like the flowers that grew in this special garden they had always gone to on her home planet. She told him that while they looked pretty, they could also be used to make a powerful parallelizing agent. They were Allura in a flower, beautiful with looks and a warrior with her electric whip and blaster. She might be able to quell rising wars with her powerful speeches, but if there was ever a time she needed to fight, you only needed to point her in the direction. She never felt like she needed protecting, even when every part of Shiro screamed to.

This woman, someone he was willing to turn his back on his teaching for, his Starlight, made him feel like a better person. She was his drive to end the war that affected their whole galaxy. And when it was finally over, he would get on his knee and ask for her to finally be his.

[angstalottle]

Instinct

The thing about spending a year fighting for your life was that it meant you couldn’t stop until either you or your opponent was down.

Shiro thought this habit was actually a good thing. It kept him going and able to fight to keep his team safe.

However it was also what made him put Lance down in the first place.

Lance, who had just taken the full force of an explosion and was unconscious.

Who was helpless and in danger from his own body failing him let alone the enemy intruding the castle.

Shiro has planned to get him out of the castle and hide somewhere until the rest of the team came back.

But then he saw Sendak and then he saw red.

He wasn’t really thinking when he placed Lance down in full view of the enemy so he could fight.

It was almost like he was offering up a lamb for slaughter.

Now as he stared at Lance being held roughly by the neck not even aware of what was going on around him horror washed over him.

Horror over the realisation that he didn’t want to save him, that he wanted to continue the fight.

It all happened so quickly, Shiro was the one to do it yet he still had no idea how or why he did it.

Just that in the moment of distraction he lunged towards Sendak letting out a battle cry that was drowned out by Lance’s screams.

Later the team would come back one by one to find Shiro sitting in a pool of blood little of it belonging to him.

Dead Galra littered the ground forgotten about. The only thing that anyone really cared about was Shiro and the still blue paladin he held in his lap.

“Shiro?” Allura asked softly kneeling down in front of him.

He didn’t answer. He just held Lance tighter his body turned to Lance from view.

“Shiro are your hurt? We must get Lance to the infirmary to be ready when Hunk and Coran return.”

Again he remained silent.

Keith pushes her out the way to take her place putting a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Are you ok?” He asked with a voice so soft it surprised even himself.

Slowly.

So very slowly.

Shiro shook his head no.

Any questions they had about what exactly was wrong we’re forgotten when Hunk and Coran announced their arrivals.

They worked to set up the Crystal while the others followed after Shiro who ran for the infirmary soon as he heard they were back.

Shiro was fast and beat them by a few minuets.

Keith got there first to see Shiro sobbing as he held the healing pods door closed.

“Shiro it’s ok he’s going to be ok now.” Keith stepped forwards to comfort his brother but instead saw something that turned his stomach.

He threw up just as the others arrived to see what left that horrified look in Keith’s eyes.

Lance was slouched against the glass with a trail of blood from his nose and mouth smearing the clear glass red.

The blood pulled the eyes down to the red neck that was about half the size it should be.

Lance’s neck wasn’t just broken, it looked like a can that had been crushed beneath someone’s hand before being tossed away.

Going off the hand mark bruised into the destroyed skin this is exactly what happened.

“No... god no” Pidge covered her mouth looking to Allura “you can save him right? Y-you said the pods could heal him.”

Allura ignored her as she walked over to Shiro and gently yet firmly pulled him away from the pod.

The door opened and Lance fell to the ground in a pile his head flopping back like a rag doll.

“It’s all my fault” Shiro sobbed as he struggled to get out of her hold and back to the boy “I should have surrendered I should have done more!”

Allura pulled his face away from Lance and into her shoulder looking away from where Lance stared unblinkingly up at her.

“Powers on.” Hunk chirped as he entered only for Pidge to tackle him.

“Hunk don’t look!” She tried. She really did but Hunk was so big and so strong that he simply pushed her aside.

All the colour drained from his face as he ran to his best friend.

“Lance? Please oh god Lance?!” Hunk pulled him into his arms hugging him like that would return the warmth to his cold friend.

“No no no no... this can’t be real. Help him.” Hunk looked to Allura who just looked away.

“HELP HIM!”

“I’m... I’m so sorry Hunk... he’s gone.”

Hunk began to scream and Shiro wanted nothing more then to join Lance.

They all thought it was the Galra that did it.

That they clamped down on his neck and shattered the bones like glass.

Sendak’s hand was too big and a non robotic one could never use enough force.

The only hand that could have done this belonged to Shiro.

And it was the hand that did it.

The hand that in a moment of rage and instinct driven panic reached out to pull Lance away only to clamp down too hard and steal life of child away.

The team may have blamed the Galra but Shiro knew the truth.

And he would spend the rest of his life living with the knowledge that he killed Lance.

[lazlolullaby]

The Champion Problem

Ok so in the start of VLD, Shiro was recognized on sight to be The Champion. Granted, they were also prisoners of the Empire at the same time, who 'witnessed his first grab for power'. Shiro was feared and respected due to his time in the Arena.

This wasn't picked up again at all, but that's what you get when the executive producers find you "boring" ! Ah ha hah...*grumble grumble*

Anyway. When writing with VLD'S universe and characters, it's tricky for me to decide on how they react to Shiro. Here are some standbys that I like and change depending on what works.

1. The Arena was a closely guarded secret. Only prisoners and the higher up Galras know. The rest of the universe thinks it's a rumor. The Blades of Marmora give Shiro full respect.

- this is good for "sendak/ ruler Galras know about my Dark Past, oh no I can't let anyone know I'm broken" angst.

Or the better option!

2. The Empire broadcasts the fights, as a threat and a show of strength. Someone following the trail of information would be on the lookout for his prosthetic hand and his nose scar as defining features.

There's *plenty* of things you can do with option #2.

- Shiro being kicked out of meetings due to his supposed "bloodthirsty nature", people being either overly aggressive with him, or terrified.

- conversely, Shiro is the only one a species will talk to. He has to play the part, over exaggerating his anger and pride. He signs plenty of merchandise.

- plenty of well-intentioned murder attempts, protecting Allura and the other Paladins against a "potential traitor". Allura is practically praying "no don't you dare hurt the only one of them that has SENSE!"

- someone who doesn't believe Allura to be a true Princess or worthy to be listened to? The Champion, a notoriously fierce fighter, is escorting her. Boom. If she can tame an absolute maniac, she can help them fight the Galra.

- more than one race "putting the pieces together" and they are convinced they are the only ones who know. Like only telling the Alteans, or just Shiro. They all keep a list, though.

- Earth completely denies Shiro being The Champion. They can't believe "that dork" could be that violent.

- Or the Earth wanting to make Shiro retire from being the Black Paladin due to the trauma, running from non subtle hints to outright kidnapping.

- Or the Galaxy Garrison creates a false identity, an unknown twin "Ryou Shirogane" to protect Shiro from other forces.

- this gets...complicated when the clones enter the picture. It's a race trying to save some clones from declaring themselves "guilty" and being locked up/executed. As elaborated earlier, they create a huge, complex family tree.

- in the end, if they can't find a way to remove all doubt that there was a Champion matching Shiro's description, they have to find a Champion.

The answer is a grave of an unlucky Shiro clone and pin it on him. The trial was sobering, a reminder of what happens when people are put in extreme situations with no morally good options. They dig up his grave for the trial and then put him to rest as respectfully as possible.

- the Paladins guest starring in the alien equivalent of "buzzfeed unsolved" and giving supremely conflicting reports about what Shiro is like and how he got on the team.

[barbitone]

So Aaravos x Lotor crossover

Before you read this keep in mind that it was developed in two hours on four hours of sleep. Entirely in text messages. (And feel free to change anything about it I just want to read Aary and Lotor)

Lotor’s ship crashes or he just lands there to hide

But we don’t know exactly how old he is just that he’s roughly ten thousand. And idk when Voltron takes place so I’ll make Lotor like 9000 since tdp takes place in medieval Europe

So he lands there because earths atmosphere is oxygen and he’s like “I got air and it looks like they have a lot of stuff I could eat to survive”

OH FUCK IF SENDAK FINDS HIM THE ELVES ARE GONNA THINK HES A MAGICAL ANIMAL AND ATTEMPT TO TAME HIM JSJSJSJSKJS

Anyways he lands in a forest in human territory and they attack him thinking he’s some sort of elf and try to capture him but they have wooden spears and Lotor’s been training for nine thousand years with the galra so he has to kill them when he can’t reason with them

And he starts walking and survives in the forest

And like it’s really easy because you just havevall these small animals?? just running around?? and fruits? everywhere?

And he ends up in Xadia. And he’s smart so after a few days he figures out the moonstone path

And he gets there and he gets a few weird looks because he’s in full armor and also where are his horns? Is it birth defect? But he has pointy ears and white hair so he passes mostly unnoticed. But some of the attention is also from the purple skin because “startouch elf?? Here?”

And there’s the headcanon that startouch elves are pompous douchebags that are too good to hang out with the rest of the elves. Also they do weird rich ppl stuff

So they just assume Lotor is a startouch elf but dimmed the stars on his skin

And startouch elves aren’t warriors but Lotor is wearing full armor

But they brush it off because nobody understands startouch elves

“Why did he cut off his horns?” “Idk man but why do startouch elves do anything?”

And idk if I should set it before Aaravos is inprisoned

Cause if I do it before then he meets Aaravos while walking through Xadia

Because Aaravos hangs out with everyone and doesn’t give a shit about startouch fancyness (also humans. He’s a human fucker too)

And Lotor is intrigued “you have the literal sky on your skin? Such an intriguing speeches. I’ve never seen these constellations before? What galaxies are they from?”

So Aaravos is intrigued by him bc “I thought you were a startouch elf. I must admit I did find it strange that you have no horns but given that my own mother broke hers in half for ”“fashion”“ I assumed you did the same. My father attempted to dip his in molten gold. Oh that’s a story ”

And ong the magic systems just CRASHING

Because quintessence is pretty ominous like they never explain what exactly it does

Meanwhile tdp developed this big ass lore and have everything set up

“I have the power of the universe at my fingertips”

“Oh I didn’t know planet Earth discovered quintessence”

“Quin- no! I’m a startouch elf. ????!!!”

And technically star elves do control the universe since they are the universe

And Aaravos doesn’t care about the Galra succeeding or anything he’ll still rule the universe

And just- I love this

AND AND

Then they leave each other for a while and Aaravos gets inprisoned in the mirror and Lotor kinda moves on bc “1000 years?? ok he left me”

But wait

So

They meet way before Aaravos was inprisoned

Let’s go with Lotor is almost 8050? And meets Aaravos and they explore space

And Aary reruns to earth at some point

Maybe I’ll make Elarion his child or student?

He’s like “I have to go back. The plan is in motion ”(since he can see the future and all that. And like I’m headcanoning that he set up everything. The whole war and dark magic. Cause I assume elves were just looking for an excuse to kick people out and Aary saw the opportunity and started dark magic)

And teaches Elarion but something goes wrong and he ends up inprisoned

Maybe Elarion was supposed to be trapped in the mirror but she placed the blame on him and ran away. Or they discovered that Aary helped and they’re both inprisoned separately

So he doesn’t come back for a thousand years so Lotor eventually moves on

“Did we really have anything?” And waits for him to come back but you know it’s been a thousand years and he started developing feelings for Allura and then the show happens

Then he gets trapped in the quintessence rift and Aaravos finally escapes the mirror (he manipulates Viren and I’m not gonna ramble about Viravos because you already know the deal)

So idk if he does develop feelings for Viren or just manipulates him. We’ll see

AND AND Voltron makes a big deal out of time and realities

And Lotor arrives on earth through a worm hole. So he was supposed to arrive in idk the 90s but the worm hole landed him in medieval Europe

So basically he accidentally time traveled and when he went back to the universe with Aaravos- so like

>they travel through space

>Aary says “I gotta go and do my star magic plan”

>(Aary kisses him right before he leaves and that’s their first kiss and Lotor is surprised but doesn’t have time to reply. And basically [ill wait for you to come back speech] [kiss] [Aary disappears]

>Lotor leaves earth through a worm hole

>worm hole takes him to the future where VLD events happen

>he doesn’t hear from Aary since he left and when he meets Allura he decides its time to move on. Maybe he’s dead? Lotor doesn’t know and Aary has no way of contacting him

>when Lotor dies in the quintessence fiend he gets reunited with Aaravos because Aary is literally the universe and Lotor got consumed by it

[rainbowravioli]

The marie kondo post reminds me of EXACTLY why 1. Most people stan Keith (s1-s8) 2. Why his leadership arc was ”inevitable” (bitch where?) 1. Keith (s3-8) got everything handed to him. By nature of the ’rewards’ belonging to others, he didn’t need to do the work to become The Big Hero. Allura and Shiro, the /born/ leaders who worked hard to come into themselves earned everything that Keith has. Not only is it such a /white/ fantasy, it’s a lazy one. It appeals to people because the idea of (1

Being born into it (I heard s8 Zarkon said the black lion needed a galra to pilot it), means they can hope to someday wake up and find themselves Special ™ , and there’s no onus to work on themselves. By having Shiro as the hero (archetype) that doesn’t comfort ((white/privileged ppl)) people because his entire character stands for hard work and earning every single thing that ’comes’ his way (aka nothing came his way. Garrison didnt want him on Kerb. He FORCED his way into it. He was standing up for what he earned. And having Keith as right hand, and the narrative NOT punishing Shiro (Adam leaving, demotion, wobbification, damsel-ing, being grounded/married and retired), is uncomfortable for ppl with privilege. Cus it means they have to face themselves. That it’s only moral to give people what they’ve worked hard for (Marie offers the reward of less clutter, but people gotta work for it), even at the cost of a mediocre white ”losing” to a poc/minority. And that, they AND society has just pampered them, let them skate by, believing they can be anything, do anything, without any work. And if they don’t get something they haven’t worked for? : ’( poor babies. Lol sorry idk y i ranted.

(This was the post x)

I find the connection you made there very interesting because indeed, Shiro in particular represents a type of hero that had to fight for everything he had, nothing was simply handed to him. He even had to fight for his place as Black Paladin and for his bayard, unlike the others. Perseverance defines Shiro. He fought his disease, he fought the Garrison’s authority, he fought everyone who disbelieved him to become the best pilot at the Garrison and achieve his dream of exploring space. He fought for survival in Galra captivity for one year, being forced to fight in the gladiator arena, being tortured, being maimed. He comes out of it missing an arm and with PTSD and he still keeps fighting. He fights for his team, he fights for the whole universe. He fights for his Lion and his bayard. Everything he got was earned through his own efforts.

And in the end he got punished for it, just like the way fandom asked him to be punished. “Let Shiro rest”. And rest he did, being forcefully stripped of everything he earned. Adam was right all along, Shiro should have never gone on the Kerberos mission he should have stayed with his boyfriend and live out the rest of his healthy days in retired domestic bliss~. Sendak was right all along, Shiro could never be Paladin and the strongest part of him was a Galra prosthetic forced upon him, nothing more. Zombie Zarkon was right all along, Shiro was too feeble to pilot the black Lion. The fandom was right all along in that Shiro was too weak and unstable (and selfish and prideful in the minds of some people) to lead. 

But why? Why should such inspiring characters like Shiro and Allura who struggled and rose above all adversity have to be continuously punished on screen (Shiro to the point of being killed more than once) and stripped of their identity, achievements and place in the story? Why was this celebrated as something good for the characters and the story? Why did these characters specifically had to be humbled and sacrificed? Why was the fandom ok with this for 5 seasons???

[metalotaku-da]

MerMay Shance

Prompts stolen from @justshance. all pieces are up for grabs if anyone wants to take them further or rework them. @shancemermay

15. He’s a pirate.

Pirate shiro returns for his ship with the aid of the merman lance who saved him (cont 6)

“Return my ship to me sendak, and I might just let you live out your days in the Queen's dungeon.” Shiro shouted proudly from deck of his current ship. Keith beside him armed and ready. The ship crewed by the royal navy. Having been able to sneak up next to his OLd ship and crew in the fog covering the sea.

“It's a ghost come to seek his revenge.” A pitiful pirate called out in terror.

“Fools, just had the fortune to be spat out by Davy Jones. To weak to stomaches him.” Haxus shouted out over the crew while sendak stared down his foe.

“I don't believe I'll be handing anything over to you shirogane. Nor will you be seeing me to any dungeon. But I'll send you back to Davy Jones and make sure you stay there. You won't be getting a second chance from me.” Sendak seethed.

“Very well then. Your choice sendak. Remember my attempt at Mercy.” Shiro said pulling his sword from it's scabbard, Keith following his lead along with the soldiers on the deck. He gave a sardonic smirk to sendak before yelling out a sentence that brought confusion to sendak and haxus's faces. “Ok Lance, you can rock the boat. Just don't sink her please.”

“No promises. Blue is better.” Before anyone could respond the “ship” the royal navy was on tilted back out of the water and started to separate, the pieces attached to the body of a large cephalopod, it’s skin blue hued as the water. The soldiers were able to keep on their feet though as the arms extended to grab shiro’s first ship and pull it towards the water’s surface, effectively making the cannons useless as they were pointed at the ocean’s surface. The crew on the deck taken off guard sliding into the railing or into the ocean below to be captured by mers waiting in the water. Haxus and sendak managed to stay on board. The tentacles forming a bridge for the soldiers to cross to the other ship.

“Care to change your mind sendak? Surrender is still an option.” shiro smirked at his foe as he stepped onto the bridge blue made for him.

[voltron-for-ever]

🎃 Whumptober 2021 🎃

First | previous | next

No. 4 - TRUST FALL

“Do you trust me?” | taken hostage | pushed

@whumptober2021 @whumptober-archive

⚠️ Read the tags for warnings ⚠️ ——————————————————

His body was getting weaker by the second the adrenaline was starting to wear off but they galran soldiers just kept coming. Shiro, Lance, Hunk and pidge where fighting galra below the cliffs Keith however was surrounded until he was one miss step from plunging to the base of the cliff. He couldn't give up now so he willed his body to keep going, to keep fighting. One day he'll learn not to bring a sword to a gun fight but unfortunately his bayard was the only weapon he had. Caught up in the fight he missed the fact that he was running out of ground beneath his feet, he needed to call for back up soon otherwise he'd plunge to the bottom of the cliff that had to have been at least 2000 feet off the ground.

Keith- Shiro I need back up they have me cornered !

Shiro- Where are you ? we will start making are way to you.

Keith- Look up ...

Shiro- Wha- OMG KEITH ! We're on are way try and get them to move back.

Shiro and the others began trying to fight their way through the galra soldiers over to where Keith was but it was going to take some time, time which from Shiro's quick glances up they didn't have. Keith on the other hand was still only inches from falling 2000 feet and still fighting galra left and right until ... he isn't, there's only one galran soldier left standing.

The galra that the paladins new all to well, Sendak. Keith waited for him to charge up his arm ready for an attack but for some time they both stood looking into each other's eye until Sendak curved his mouth into a ominous smile.

Sendak- Any last words paladin ?

Keith- Screw you Sendak

Keith lunged forward activating his bayard unfortunately for Keith Sendak caught his bayard with his metal hand. Sendak used his grip on the sword to push Keith backwards before completely letting go of the bayard.

Keith's eyes snapped shut as he felt the force of the wind around him, he could hear Shiro and the other paladins screaming but all he could do was try to find something to grab onto. But of course the cliffs on this planet are all relatively smooth so despite his efforts of grasping out to the cliff side he was still hurtling to the ground at rapid speed, though to the paladins it felt like a life time as they where running towards were Keith was bound to land. They where too late, Keith's body hit the ground with a loud cracking sound. All he felt was pain, tears began to well in his eyes but he could just about make out a blurry face crouched down by his side.

Shiro- KEITH ! Hey can you hear me, Keith can you hear me buddy ?

Keith- S... S ... Shiro ....

Shiro- Yeah buddy it's me, don't move ok.

Keith- O... Ok

It was obvious to Shiro the second he got close enough to see Keith that at least 85% of his bones where broken he couldn't even begin to imagine the pain Keith was in right now. Keith unfortunately didn't have that luxury, every inch of his body felt like it was being stabbed, his cheeks where stained with tears and every time he breathed he felt a shooting pain that started at his feet and ended in his head. He supposed the only good thing was that he slowly started drifting into darkness until the voices telling him to stay awake where nothing but a whisper until ... nothing, complete silence.

Keith was woken by a bright light that had a blue tint to it glowing around him, once his eyes calmed the blurred vision he could tell he was laying in the castle with Shiro sat by his side holding his hand gently. He had assumed the paladins had placed him into a healing pod because the throbbing pain from before was hardly noticeable now. He had survived, but how ? Though when he looked down at the blanket covering his legs that was the last question on his mind... his legs they where gone ...

Keith- SHIRO WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY LEGS ?!

Shiro- Keith, calm down buddy. When you fell you landed on your back if we had left them you never would have been able to walk again. This way you can have prosthetics and we thought it was best to do it while you where unconscious.

Keith- You didn't think to ask me first Shiro!

Shiro- I know you Keith, I know you'd rather learn to walk again than to never be able to walk at all. I did what I thought was best bud.

Keith- I ... I know I'm sorry .... it's ... it's just ...

He tried to be strong but he couldn't hold it any longer, the tears stated pouring out whilst he sobbed onto Shiro's shoulder just as the other paladins entered the room. They cautiously approached the bed that Keith was laying in and gently joined the pair in a hug. Sendak would pay for this... Shiro would make sure of that. But for now all Shiro or any of the paladins was worried about was getting Keith back on his feet. This of course is going to be a challenge but Keith's brave, strong and if anyone can overcome this it's him.

[ Word count - 900]

[freetobeeyouandme]

Adam Lives - Headcanon

Ok so I started writing a fanfic about this yesterday on my way to pride. The thing is this hc is getting more extensive the more I think about it, and I feel like it’s healthier for me to work on my original fiction than to fix something someone else broke, so I’m not actually going to write this (if you want to, feel free to do it tho. I’d love to read it!). Regardless, here’s how Season 7 could have gone down the exact same way but without the dumb queerbait-y and bury-your-gays bullshit:

Adam, seeing his fellow fighter pilots die around him, decides he wants to live

It’s a split second decision. He sees a laser beam headed right for him. And he just hits the eject button. 

The ship goes boom around him but he’s out and tumbling to the ground. 

In the battle his parachute is probably hit or something. He hits earth hard. Is definitely unconscious for a while. But he’s alive.

When he gets to he’s got burns everywhere, and definitely a couple of broken bones. The fight’s over but the Galra are still there. In the distance he can see the particle barrier of the Garrison, but it’s so far away. He’s not sure he can make it. Plath City is closer, so that’s where he’s headed. 

Halfway there he watches a Galra cruiser descend. But it’s too late to turn around now, so he drags himself on. 

The Galra are corralling the humans by the time he makes it to Plath City. He stumbles on, practically collapsing into the arms of an Galra officer.

When he comes to again he’s in a bed. The architecture is unlike anything he’s ever seen, but whoever put him there gave him something against his burns. His leg is still broken but in a cast. And he can see without his glasses, so he guesses they must have corrected his vision too. He knows it was the Galra, but for a moment he relaxes because the pain is gone

Then the Galra come. They recognized him by his uniform. He’s Garrison. They expect information in return for them patching him up.

Adam doesn’t give it to them. He alternates from silence to telling them to go fuck themselves, but he’s trying his hardest not to break. Not even when the Galra turn from guilting him into talking to violence. 

Adam doesn’t give in, not even when Sendak himself pays him a visit. 

He’s not going to talk, and the attempts are not worth it, Sendak decides.

Should we just kill him, an underling asks. 

But that too would just be a waste, so they just put him back down on earth, into a labor camp.

At first Adam doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but during his torture on the ship he’s started to pray for a miracle. He’s started to pray for Sam Holt’s alien stories about a giant robot named Voltron coming to earth and saving them. He starts dreaming about Takashi freeing him, first from the torture chamber, then from the labor camp. 

Adam definitely doesn’t want to admit that part of the Takashi coming to rescue him fantasy involves desperate declarations of love and steamy kisses. 

Sam said Takashi looked different now, that he’d lost an arm, had a scar across his face, that part of his hair was white now, but in Adam’s dreams he still looks the same. He feels the same too. Adam misses him now more than ever.

Labor camp is hell. He makes some friends there, because humans are social animals and even in hell they form groups. They find companions in their suffering. But at night, when the fire goes out and they’re thrust into darkness, he’s alone. They’re almost twenty to a room, all sleeping on the floor, shivering in the cold, and even though there are bodies surrounding him, he’s alone. 

At night he’s back in the torture chambers. At night he tries to hold onto the miracle. But every day Voltron doesn’t come it gets harder.

He meets a woman with a little child who is not getting enough rations. None of them are, but she is worse off than the rest of them. He doesn’t hesitate before giving her some of his. 

The woman refuses, but he insists. He helps, because that’s all he can do. With the heavy work and the small rations his body’s going to give out sooner or later, so making sure someone else might survive long enough to make it out alive is going to be his way of going out with a blaze of glory. Not in a cockpit, but here, wasting away slowly in a labor camp.

Sometimes he wishes he’d never pushed that button. At least the other death would have been quick. Less painful. But it’s the same wish for survival that led him to push the eject button that keeps him moving.

He’s getting weaker every day. By now others pitch in to help feed the woman and her child. They take turns giving up their rations.

But still they’re all going to die.

He’s going to die.

Then the miracle happens. 

Others see it first, and it’s their shouts that direct his attention to the sky: There’s movement. Disruption of order. There’s a battle in the sky, and even though they’re too far away to make out much of what is happening, he knows it’s Voltron. 

It has to be. 

There’s big purple laser beams, there’s ships crashing to the ground. The Galra try to round them up at first, to get them back into their confines, but they refuse. And in the end the Galra themselves are just as curious. 

The battle ends with something large and yellow hurtling through the sky. It lands nearby, but he’s not close enough to make it out. The Galra start ushering them back into their barracks, try getting things back under control, but then cars come from the garrison. Soldiers march through the streets, overwhelming the Galra easily. Many shoot back, but the Garrison outnumbers them, and they are easily subdued. 

A few Galra prisoners are led away in handcuffs, the most part of the Garrison troupes moves forward. Adam catches a few words about a Lion. 

Lion. A Voltron lion. Right here. 

Part of him wonders if it was Takashi’s lion. 

A Garrison officer explains to them that they are free now, but Adam barely registers. His legs start shaking, and he finds himself grabbing for his neighbor to keep upright. 

Except he collapses anyway. The Galra have lost, and he’s free, and after the battle, after the torture, after the labor camp, his body can’t hold him up any longer. 

He wakes up in a human hospital, curtains all around. There’s an IV in his arm, and his first reaction is panic. But before he can pull it out, a nurse is at his side. 

She’s got brown skin, long hair in a messy pony tail, and some of the saddest eyes Adam’s ever seen. And most importantly she’s human.

She tells him that he’s save and that he needs to calm down. Slowly, he does. And then he starts crying, because he’s save. After everything he’s been through, he’s safe. 

The nurse sits with him for a while, holding his hand, catching him up on what has happened and keeping him calm. 

Afterwards he drifts in and out of sleep. Despite the knowledge that he’s safe, his body is still on high alert. That’s not going to change any time soon, he knows, so he just accepts it, trying to keep himself calm.

At some point a woman comes in, dressed in a Garrison uniform. At first he thinks she’s here for him, but she’s not. She just asks every person for their names. 

When it’s his turn, the woman types his name into her tablet and a frown plasters itself onto her face. She asks him to repeat himself, then to spell it. It’s hard, because he hasn’t spoken much during his time as a prisoner, and not at all since he’s first woken up in the hospital. His voice sounds rough and weak, and speaking hurts. 

But he has to speak, because the woman explains that he’s not in the system. So he explains to her who he is. Garrison pilot. Galra prisoner since the first battle, since his fighter jet exploded. 

Something gleams in the woman’s eyes, and then she excuses herself to make a phone call. 

When she comes back she promises him she’ll be with him again shortly and leaves to talk to the rest of the people in the room and in the hospital. It only hits him then that his jet blew up and he hasn’t had contact with the Garrison since. It hits him that the Garrison must think he’s dead. That’s why he’s not in the system anymore. 

Does Takashi know? How did he receive the news? The thought makes him sick. 

The woman returns later, in the company of someone else. A part of him wishes it’s Takashi, but the man at her side is Commander Iverson.

Who is now Admiral Iverson. 

When he asks, he’s told Admiral Sanda died at Galra hands. 

He tells Iverson everything that happened to him since the first battle with the Galra. Iverson listens with a concentrated face. The woman takes notes. 

When he’s done, she tells Iverson that they should proceed with caution. He could be a clone. 

Adam didn’t even know the Galra could clone people.

He wants to defend himself, but Iverson has already made his decision. He wants to speed up the identification process in all hospitals in every liberated area. There are probably more pilots believed dead who were Galra prisoners the whole time. And he wants them all moved to the Garrison. The infirmary is short staffed there too, but they’re their people, and besides, the local hospitals are probably glad about everyone they can take off their hands. 

Iverson and the woman leave, but not before Iverson’s told him that he’s glad to have him back.

The transfer is uneventful. They put him into a room that fits four people, but with him is now housing six. Orange curtains are separating the beds, and something about the Garrison orange all around him wakes him up inside.

He’s back on the Garrison compound now. Takashi is on the Garrison compound too. They’re so close, and his brain won’t stop running. After everything he really should have different priorities than the man that left him almost eight years ago for a two year mission into space that was only going to steal years from his life that he didn’t have. But he can’t stop thinking about him. 

Later the woman comes again, asking him to repeat his story for an official mission report. She types it all down and asks him to sign it.

His hand can barely hold the pen, but he does. 

Shiro finds out Adam is alive the day they release him from the infirmary. 

Iverson is there when the doctor clears him, holding his pad in his hand. 

When the doctor is gone, he hands it to him. It’s a mission report. 

Iverson summarizes it for him. The woman was a pilot in the first battle against the Galra, where she died. Her name is on the memorial. But they found her in a hospital after the liberation of Plath City. Her jet was hit in the wing and crashed to earth. She made it out before the whole thing went up in flames and has been a Galra prisoner ever since. 

There will be more, Iverson says, they’ll be all over the world, working in Galra labor camps. 

The news sends Shiro’s heart racing, because if this woman survived, Adam might have too. Adam might still be out there. He doesn’t know what that means for him or for him-and-Adam, but alone the thought of seeing Adam again is enough to make him want to weep. 

Before he can ask Iverson if there are any news, Iverson smiles down on him and swipes up on his pad. I thought this one might interest you, personally, captain, he says. 

It’s another mission report, but this one has Adam’s name at the top. He’s crying before he even read the first words, because this means Adam’s alive. Adam’s alive and- Adam’s alive. Period. His brain can’t think further. 

He reads the whole thing twice, because this is too good to be true and he doesn’t believe it the first time. 

Near death in an exploding fighter jet. Galra prisoner. Torture. Labor camp. It’s awful, but at the end of it Adam could tell about it, because he’s alive.

Iverson informs him that the Atlas crew is expecting him in the morning to oversee repairs and that Sam has some improvement ideas, but the most important information he gives Shiro as he leaves is where to find Adam. 

He’s in the infirmary, just like Shiro. His legs carry him to the room before his brain can catch up with the fact that he’s fresh out of the infirmary, dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants. 

Does he really want to go see Adam like this?

Then again, does he have anything else? His space suits are too formal. He could put on the Garrison uniform. Shower first, maybe. Does it even matter? 

Yes, he decides, it matters. 

He turns around, signing out of the infirmary and heading to the quarters given to the Voltron crew. The rooms are empty, the paladins still in the infirmary and Coran working on the Atlas. Where Romelle is he has no idea. 

He showers, gets dressed, and then he gets caught up in the mirror. He’s had a while to get used to the scar across his nose, to his missing arm. The hair less so, and the arm is new too, but it’s still no surprise. But it will be to Adam. Adam, who hasn’t seen him in eight years. Adam, whom he left eight years ago, for Kerberos. He doesn’t regret Kerberos, but he regrets leaving Adam. He’s missed Adam. He’s got no idea what to say to Adam now. 

In the end he tears himself away from the mirror and marches himself to the infirmary, because he has to do this. He needs to see Adam to believe that he’s really alive. He needs to go, even if he’ll only to be told that they’re over. But it’s been eight years, and they need to talk. 

He pushes the door open apprehensively. Inside it’s six beds, separated by curtains. Adam’s the second one on the right. He slips into the tiny cubicle created by the walls of orange. 

The man in the bed seems asleep the first moment, but when Shiro steps closer to him, his eyes snap open. He looks horrible, stick thin, a skeleton with barely any flesh. His cheeks are sunken, and a scraggly stubble clings to it. His hair is patchy and incredibly short, and it’s clear it would look worse if someone hadn’t shaved and cut it. The man’s eyes are the same color Adam’s had been, except that where Adam’s usually glinted with life, these eyes were tired.

But they gleam with recognition. The man’s voice is weak and rough, and Shiro can’t tell if it’s an exclamation or a statement: Takashi. Imperceptibly a small smile makes it onto the man’s face.

His apprehension breaks, and when he says his name, it comes out as a sob: Adam!

Takashi is by his bed in seconds, grabbing his hand, squeezing it hard. Adam tries squeezing back, but it’s weak. But Takashi smiles at his effort, and it’s all worth it. 

I thought you were dead, he says, eyes shining with tears.

He shushes Adam as he starts to explain. He’s read the report. He knows. Adam should save his strength. 

Your arm, Adam says instead. Sam Holt had told them about that, but still, Adam had envisioned something different. Something at least solid.

Takashi shakes his head, chuckling. It’s a new development. I used to have a different one.

No shit, Adam wants to say, but talking his awful. Instead he coughs out a laugh. 

Tell me.

And Takashi does. He talks about everything that’s happened since Kerberos first, then Voltron, the other Paladins and the Alteans. He talks about things they’ve seen, people they’ve met. The universe. Adam reacts without saying much, and before they know it, they’ve spent the whole afternoon talking. They don’t talk about them, but they don’t have to right now. They’ve got time.

I’ll be working on the Atlas all day tomorrow, Takashi says before he leaves, but I could come by afterwards, if you want to?

The offer hits Adam somewhere he’d thought his body had gone numb, reminding him that there are people outside this room, a society, a tomorrow that he’s part of. It makes him realize that after everything he’s been through, all the pain and the suffering, he survived. He’s still alive, and whether  or not he and Takashi make it, he’s got a life out there, waiting for him. A future.

I’d like that, he answers.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under a Vanilla Sky prt 12 draft

Hitching a ride on a tourist shuttle out the Garrison, it was another hop skip and a jump over to Erathus. The ship docking station above the planet was something else. The sheer size putting the castle ship to shame as he was swept along with the visiting masses. Pulling out his communicator, he snapped a few shots before sending the photos though to his mother. She'd cried all morning as they triple checked he had everything. Rachel turning up at the very last moment with silly tourist trinkets so he wouldn't forget home. It would have been a nice sentiment if she hadn't followed up by informing him that she'd called Ronnie and told her he was heading out and to lock up all eligible women in the universe. Laughing at his sister, they missed the pain that flashed through his deep blue eyes. Lance fazing out for half a moment to come back in as Luis complained that Veronica should hurry up and ask Acxa out, suggesting Lance give the pair a push if needed. The pair had grown close. Lance was also silently hoping Veronica would ask Acxa out, purely so everyone else would leave his lack of relationship alone... that and Veronica needed to get laid. Not that he had experience in that. He'd never slept with Allura and as pathetic as it sounded, he was saving his first time for someone special. He'd wanted a future with Allura. He wanted the huge white wedding, children, growing old together. Yet as he looked back on his relationship with her, he could see all the ways it'd been lacking. Allura was still hung up on Lotor. It didn't matter to her that months had passed. He'd been her first great love. Her first choice. If he hadn't turned out to be such an evil dick Lance would never had a chance. It's fucking hurt. There hadn't been enough hours in the day to transfer the pain that weighed him down. He'd surrounded himself in junipers like a fool, and was forced to face the result each time he looked out the window of his families home. "Former Paladin Lance?" Lost in his own little world of sending photos through to his family, Lance blinked in confusion at someone calling for him. Dressed in black, three burly Galra were waiting for him. Lance swallowing hard as a lump of fear rose in his throat "Yep. Yeah. That's me" "We have come to collect you. The ambassador is most anxious to meet you" Oooooh. So these guys were also working security? They all looked hardy enough to handle anything thrown at the ambassador "Sweet. Thanks for coming to collect me. You can just call me..." He didn't want to be Lance. Lance was the loser on Earth who couldn't go without screaming nightmare more than few weeks at a time "Leandro. Leandro is fine" "Very well, Leandro. If you'll please come with us" The lack of introduction should have been Lance's first clue that something wasn't quite right. Taking the grav-elevator down to planet level, Lance tried not to gawk at the buildings so reminiscent of the "golden age of Hollywood". Even the cars were fashioned on long gone models. Keith would have had a field say. Especially when he saw the bikes. "Everything alright, Leandro?" "Yeah. I mean... yes. Just taking it all in, my dudes" Why did his anxieties have to flare up to make him sound like an absolute moron. "My dudes"?!? Seriously. What was that? God. He wanted this job so badly he could taste it, now he probably making the Galra wonder why their boss had ever hired anyone like him. His awkward sentence was only made worse when no one made any sort of reply. His mouth was urging his brain to keep talking, to somehow talk his way out of the situation. Lance would do that. But Leandro. Leandro was cool and sophisticated. Leandro would hold his tongue and not get them into any more trouble, or get them fired before he'd even met the ambassador. Waiting at the station at the bottom of the grav elevator, was a long slick black limousine with tinted windows. A forth alien also dressed in black gave a small bow as they approached "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please make yourself comfortable" Opening the door for them, Lance climbed inside first. Feeling incredibly small and grotty when compared to luxurious white leather seats, and flawlessly polished gold accents of the space "It's magnificent, isn't it?" Nearly jumping on fright, Allura popped into view across from him. Her form hovering for a second or two, before one of the Galra of the party took the seat she'd been occupying "Everything ok, Agent Leandro?" "Agent Leandro" he liked the sound of that. It was better than "former Paladin", or "Lance, the boy from Cuba" "Yes, thank you" "Excellent" Again, trying not to appear too eager, Lance watched the world outside the window as the limousine silently weaved it was through the traffic. It was both jarring and mesmerising to see this version of Earth, where they'd even put up large clocks all over the place with various Earth times and cities displayed underneath. Arriving at spacious mansion, it took everything Lance had not to gape as the door of the limousine was opened. A whole crowd of staff stood to order as their group made their way towards the front doors. Gripping the strap of his backpack nervously, Lance was mentally reciting every single prayer his mother had drummed into him in Spanish. He loved his mother, yet even at 21, he still feared her pink slipper that used to come out of nowhere when he'd stumble with his prayers. Many a time he'd dived into bed with Luis or Marco for protection from his mother's tough love. Walking through the group, he was blind to the looks and whispers cast his way, just as he was blind to the effect his trailing scent left in some of those. All he wanted to do was make a good impression, and you only had one shot at making a great first impression... The ambassador was a mammoth. Not a literal mammoth, though he would definitely rival one in size. He was huge. Bigger than Zarkon. Bigger than Sendak. He hesitated to use the word grizzled as his mind still associated it with Keith and ridiculously ripped physique. Buuut damn. He was one solid unit "Red Paladin Lance! Welcome, welcome! I am Klearo. Please come in" He was already inside. Though he was sure that if he was outside he would have heard him as clearly "He's loud, isn't he?" Goddamn Allura. He wasn't doing this "Thank you. I'm Leandro, Lance is my former name" Laughing, the large alien walked over and clamped a hand on his shoulder "It is most nice to meet you Leandro. Come let us talk. You drink, yes?" It was way too early in the morning for drinking... and he would have said "no" if he wasn't still working on creating a great impression "I do on occasion" "Then we drink! I fill you in on your mission details right? There are those out there who think they can kill the great Klearo! I laugh. Then they shoot at Klearo, so I call back the one they call the greatest shooter of Voltron!" Lance had to wonder if Klearo hadn't already started drinking before his arrival. It'd explain why the alien was so bloody loud. With his overly hairy appearance, he seemed like some kind of semi-intelligent ape rather than a diplomat. Having given his own peace talks, the kind of vibe he was picking up Klearo didn't match with what was expected. None the less. He'd come to do a job, and that he was exactly what he intended to do. * Klearo was awkward on stage. His jokes falling so flat that Lance felt a twinge of sympathy for the huge alien. He'd also learned that his presence at these kinds of things proved a hinderance more than a help. Totally not copying Keith or the Blades, Lance started employing the use of a full face mask, allowing the crowd to concentrate on Klearo rather than him. Not that Klearo seemed to care. The "warm" reception had faded the first time a person in the crowd called out of him to speak instead. He was on the outside of the rest of the team, leading to his anxieties only worsening. Part of him wanted to throw it all, go back home and play farmer, but the bigger part of him wanted to actually be useful. He didn't want go home as a failure all over again. He'd only been there for a movement before everything went quiznakking wrong. Forced to drink with an angry Klearo, it wasn't until his third of forth drink that he noticed something strange. His tongue was tingling, as were the tips of his fingers and toes. Standing beside the chair he was lounging in, Allura leaned in "Its drugged" Ignoring her, he drained the rest of his drink. What reason would they have to drug him? He was doing his job, even if he wasn't making friends. Struggling up, the world started to spin "Leandro?" "I think that's it for me" His words were slurred. Climbing to his feet, his legs wouldn't hold resulting in him landing ungainly on the floor "Did you drug me? Guys... come on..." Placing down his glass, Klearo rose "Bring him through. Don't damage him too badly" Hauled up by the arms, Lance tried to struggle against the drugs coursing through his system. Spluttering and mumbling weak objections, he was dragged along the hallway to Klearo's personal chambers. That's when Lance knew he was well and truly fucked. Thrown down on the bed in the middle of the room, Lance was flipped onto his back. His arms pulled upwards to be bound "No... let me go..." His slurred repeated utterances went ignored. The thin cloth of his casual shirt torn to pieces by a human-sized alien with four eerily green eyes. Blinking at him with his top two eyes, the alien didn't stop "Leave us!" Flinching at how loud Klearo's voice was, Lance "struggled" against his bindings. His eyelids drooping despite how hard he tried to hold open them. When the bed dipped under Klearo's weight, he screamed "Someone shut him up. His voice irritates my ears" Above him came a set of thick Galra arms, a gag shoved into his mouth causing his eyes to water. This... if this was a joke, he wasn't laughing "Do you have any idea how annoying you are? All we had to go through to get you? And you weren't even worth it in the end" That stung. Shouldn't it be a good thing if he didn't actually have to use the blaster he'd been provided with? Didn't that mean that the threats Klearo had received amounted to nothing? Feeling the aliens large hands on his hips, Lance whimpered as they were unzipped "You smell amazing. I've wanted to do this ever since I smelt you..." "Ngh!" That was the best no he could get out "And now I have my very own Paladin beneath me. I wanted your lion, but they say the lions left" He what now? What... oh... fuck. This was bad... twisting, he fought the numbness weighing him down. Trying his hardest to kick, he couldn't raise his legs off the bed "The Red Paladin. Affiliated with Fire. Show me why the people like you, instead of me!" The pain was nothing Lance could describe. The dull feeling of thick fingertips against his opening. The sharp rip as Klearo shoved a nailed finger inside, the swelling instinct to repel the foreign digit. The laughing goes Klearo as he shoved a second finger in. The moment of relief when the fingers slid out, the silent scream as his eyes shot wide when Klearo buried himself brutally between his legs in one sharp thrust. Screaming around the gag, his body rocked without his permission with each thrust Klearo gave, the haired alien taking his hips in his hands so hard Lance thought the bones were going to snap. Beside him Allura sat looking prim, a frown on her face the only sign that she felt something wrong with the situation. Vomiting into his mouth, Lance was torn a little further. Blood oozing over the blue sheets beneath him as turned red, spreading across his inner thighs as it smeared into Klearo's hair. The smell driving him into further hysteria. The sounds of wet slaps echoed in his ears. Picking up his pace, Klearo grabbed him by the hair as he grunted hard, tearing out a thick chunk as the man's dick pulsed, Klearo coming with enough force he felt as if the man was flooding him with a hose. Screaming in despair, choking on vomit and accidentally locking eyes with Allura, his body betrayed him. Dry orgasm from having his prostate pounded against incessantly rolled through him. The degree of shame was something he'd never thought possible. His employer had just raped him... and he'd come. Pulling out of him, Klearo hushed him as Lance's lower half spasmed with pain uncontrollably "My own Red Paladin painted with his own red blood... what a masterpiece" Clicking his fingers, a servant came forth. The moment the gag was removed, vomit spilt from his lips as he wretched and heaved "Pack him up. We leave tonight as planned. Make sure you don't let him die. We're getting that Red lion, and he's the key to it" The same arms came over his vision, Lance staring up at the ceiling as he was untied and gathered up onto the shoulder of a Galra. Carried out the bedroom, he could feel the cum and blood running down his thighs, the cold air of the manor slowly drying it into a crust as he bounced like a rag doll. He'd raped him and he'd come. Why?! Why did he come? He didn't want this... he didn't want any of this! Reaching a waiting vehicle, another hand came down to grab his hair, forcing his head up. Unable to raise his gaze, he stared at the red "y" shape on the arm. Was it a brand or a tattoo? He couldn't tell... he didn't know. Dropping his head, Lance's nose smacked against the fabric of his suit... a weird feeling bubbling up inside... he almost... wanted to laugh? Was it laugh? He didn't know what he wanted, his mind was foggy, slowly joining the uselessness his body held "He's still conscious. We can't have kicking up a fuss when drugs wear off. Put him under and keep him under until we arrive" "Yes, sir" * Stabled naked on the floor of a dingy room, Lance hovered in and out of consciousness as he huddled in the furtherest corner. Every few vargas someone would come in and he'd been dosed with a glowing yellow liquid. With each passing dose, a moment of euphoria would pass through him. A taste of life he'd never felt before. And one he was anxious to feel again and again, despite that with each passing dose, the effects would wear off faster and faster. On the quintants it felt like they'd forgotten him, when the doses were further apart, the feeling of satisfaction they supplied lasted longer when they did finally remember him. After he'd been initially transferred, Klearo had forced him to show his face as he gave another speech. His voice was too ruined to ask for help. His employer had promised to reveal him to the world for the disgusting pervert he was, if he didn't keep his mouth shut. How he was supposed to keep his mouth shut, and be tortured for information on the Red lion, he didn't know. When they'd realised he'd ruined his throat they finally locked him away. Left alone in the dark, Lance had all the time in the world to think. Shiro would have found a way out of here by name, his trade mark "patience yields focus" staying first and foremost in his mind. He was biding his time. Keith too would have found a way free by now. Hunk... Hunk was too fucking pure, the same went for his favourite Gremlin. If they'd gone after the other lions... god... he was almost grateful to be the one captured. He was the one stupid enough to leap right in. Hunk would have declined so he could spend more time with Shay. Pidge had never loved the limelight. Keith would have been asking questions from the get go... and Shiro.... Shiro was finally in a good place. No. He was the goddamn useless idiot who'd jumped at the job. He'd walked right into the stupid trap, and deserved all he got. Smacking his head against the wall over and over, he was so fucking done waiting for the right moment. Waiting until the drug doses came on the back of other. Waiting until they believed him too far out of it fight back. What did it all really matter anyway? Allura stood there and watched each time he was taken. She'd be there to sit beside him in the dark after they'd deposit his body back in the cold. He couldn't give them Red. He was long gone with the rest of the Lions. Lance was aware of how much Red had done to hold him together. How he'd shouldered Lance's burdens when Allura had died. How he soothed Lance with a gentle rumbling purr on the nights he woke up with no idea where he was. He didn't have Red anymore. Allura had brought him back wrong. His body was less and less his as the quintants passed, leaving him with a never ending boiling anger he could only direct inwards. Pain was the only thing that made things real. But whatever they shot him up with took away that pain... It could have movements. It could have even been phoebs, but as he'd expected his body adapted to the frequent injections. Lance now strong enough to hide the failings of their workings as he was escorted from his cell. He knew others were there somewhere. He'd heard screams night after night that attested to such. Dragged into Klearo's chambers, he stumbled as he was released and nudged towards the bed. Klearo insisted on taking him first, after him, the order didn't matter. Not moving fast enough, Lance was taken by the arm and forcible pulled across the space before being pushed down. His fingers itched to grab the blaster on his tormentors hip, yet he had to wait. He had to wait until Klearo was there, or none of this meant anything. Sitting like a doll at the end of the bed, he no longer flinched as the Galra by his side ran his hand down Lance's bare back. He no longer flinched when the beasts nails tore at his skin, adding to the already disturbing collection across his skin. Tucking a stray strand of hair back behind his ear, the Galra leaning in to sniff deeply "You smell so fucking good" Grinding his teeth together, Lance forced himself not to act. Patience yielded focus "Klearo wants you placid. Open your mouth" This was new. This wasn't in his plans. He couldn't let them force other drugs down his throat. Opening his mouth, the Galra pushed a hand flat against it, forcing tablets inside as he'd feared. They tasted as nice as the liquid they poured down his throat before they'd start whipping him for not being able to call back the Red lion. He couldn't keep waiting. He couldn't go through that again. The pain between his legs that never truly left. Biting the webbing between the thumb and pointer, Lance tore the flesh between his teeth. Howling in anger, the made it worse by tearing his hand way. Spitting out the flesh and tablets, blood ran down Lance's chin. His teeth and lips red as he smiled "You bastard!" Scrambling for his blaster, Lance snatched it up first. He felt nothing a he pulled the trigger. Nothing as he blood spurted from the shot to the neck. Firing again, he aimed for the groin, firing over and over until the Galra was dead on the floor. The piece of shit deserved it. They all fucking deserved it. Laughter bubbled up at the sight before him. The Galra's genitals shot to hell, a bloodied mess that couldn't even been called genitals. Stalking the halls of the ship Lance shot indiscriminately. He'd thought himself planet side due to the lack of the sounds of engines, and the constant streams of guests Klearo entertained. He knew the difference by now. Klearo's underlings all bore the same "y" like tattoo, Red in respect to their goal of taking the Red Lion. Despite being a largely Galra force, not all that followed Klearo were Galra. Lance's stomach had dropped when he'd learned the faction was made up of those who Voltron had failed. Klearo was indeed an ambassador. He was the ambassador of Voltron's failures. Lance no longer cared. He couldn't care. As he limped those halls, he was Leandro. Leandro got things done. Everyone associated with this fucked up... group deserved to die. So they did. It was that simple. Hunting them down as they ran, the ship's alarms blared dying the world red from the ship's flashing lights. Everything surrounding him was Red. Along the way he took clothes of smaller aliens closer to his size, at Allura's begging. Slipping them into place on his tender and bruised frame, his body was his. He was done with sharing his body without permission. It didn't matter that the clothes were bloodied, nor did it matter that the fabric was rough against his skin. They were best clothes he'd ever worn. Clearing all those he could find, Klearo had already left. Allura trailing behind him as he walked, pleading with him to take a pod and leave. Pleading with him to let those left live. He couldn't. If there was no trace of what had been done to him left, then it never happened. If it'd never happened to him, then he was just Leandro. Bodyguard and sharpshooter extraordinaire. Yeah. Lance was weak. Lance had been tricked. Leandro wouldn't be tricked. He wouldn't take mercy. He was going to track down Klearo and he was going to make sure that no one who knew what happened lived. His blue eyes were filled with humour as he strode through the bloodied halls. Laughter bubbled out his lips over how some bodies had slumped. Making his way to the control room, he strode over to the main computer, to find it locked. That wasn't very nice. He'd shown them such a good time with his body. Oh well. He was just going to have shoot the damn thing into submission. So he did. Destroying the control room with his blaster, thick acrid smoke rolled off the twisted metal as fire started to lick at the floor. It was tempting to stay, to let himself be consumed, but his mission wasn't done. His boss was out there unprotected and in need of his skills.

[goldstonegolem64]

Book 1 Chapter 27  Out on the town

Jay starred at Isara his head still resting on his shoulder. “ Ok” He said going back to sleep

Isara looked at the sleeping man walked over to him and grabbed the collar of his armor “ Come on hero we have work to do”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmKdjRhoy4 

Jay was tired as he was pulled out of his resting place. He stretched and hearing his joints popping. He looked toward the bed  where the brothers were sleeping with the covers half off of them . he walked over to them and pulled the blanket over them. Then he took his pain meds before leaving the room leaving his helmet behind on the bed. An walked with Isara out of the hospital he was staying at  into the early morning sunrise 

“  welcome to haven. How do you like it ?” Isara asked as she was walked toward her jeep opened the driver seat door and unlocked the rest of the car

“ Well it’s a pretty cool place and thanks for letting us in” Jay said following behind her entering the passenger seat

“ No problem kid. It’s was an easy choice to make . it’s my job to keep people safe from the queen and her court and thanks for bring those kids here we’ve trying to get then here for the past month. they kept running from my men any time they so them. i think it’s because my husbanded is a ten foot tall batman with a gruff voice an could rip a man in two or the fact that Me and most of my are galra” She said as she started up the engine 

“ yeah this is the first time scent I lifted home that I’ve meet a friendly galra “ Jay said as he looked at her and notice her ear was missing some parts and she had serval scars across her face  

“ So what your story kid “She asked

“Well I’m from a mining town call gale wind in the north east sector of the city of iron oath, Which is a mostly galra community so I spent most of my childhood getting into fights. My mom is human an she was a boxer which really helped me when I got into fight. My dad is Altean an is a florist .I’m the youngest of five.I have three and one sister. At the age of ten my mom die in a car crash .it lost my left arm in the same crash. I bought a cargo ship at twenty one. An about two weeks ago I found a giant metal dragon after I helped my friend Adam. Then I met Adam’s husband Shiro his little brother Keith, three random kids named Lance McClain, Hunk Garnet and Pidge holt. Found The missing niece to the crowed queen of atlea and a ancient super weapon .Fought a giant robeast .  Then we freed a balmare. Fought another robeast. I adopted a kid named Fitz. The castle I now called home tried to kill me. Then me and my crew had to save the Princess from Galra central commanded and now I’m here. An I think the meds are kicking in “ He said as he pulled out the bottle the nurse gave to him lasted night because in no other circumstance would he have told a random person his life story.

“ Can’t handle your pain killers kid” Isara said with a smile as she watched the young man tell hid tail

“ No I can’t. Pain meds tend to Enhance my already bad habit of rambling when I’m either stressed , excited  or tired”  He said as he tossed the bottle in to the back of the car” Please don’t tell anyone what I told you please”

“Don’t worry kid I won’t . So your a hybrid Altean huh. I thought the empire wiped your kind out ten thousand years ago” She said 

“ yeah they tried but failed So enough about me how about you what lead you down the path of queen slaying in the first place?” 

“  Well my story being on ravies nine my home world . I was about twelve to thirteen when the bugs showed up. My family left the planet before it got bad because my mom  was a fleet commander. But I hated that fact we left hundred of thousands of people to die.So when I was old enough me and my boyfriend now husband Boleslaw joined the Queen slayers and after fifty years of working my ass off and killing  some Red queens I was voted leader and now were here.”  She said as she parked next to another district door. She got out  an walked to a member of her team that was guarding the door control.

   Jay got out of the car an looked toward the man and saw him wearing  light Weight armor with a old tattered cloak with a color scheme of green and brown.  welding a heavy duty plasma rifle. Then he turned to see a women wear the same thing but instead of a cloak it was duster and was wielding what looked like a shot gun He would ask about that later. There was one thing that he notice between the two guards they were both Galra he tell by their height, eye color and their ears were similar to Sendak’s .But more specifically they were hybrids. The one Isara was taking to had some avian features like the crest on his head, His arms had  feathers going up to his shoulder and his eyes did that weird bird of prey thing where the iris shrank with it focused onto something.an the girl was Snake like .He could tell because her upper body was humanoid and her lower both was just a tail. She turned her head to look at him and she stuck out her fork tongue out a him and wave to him. He waved back  as the door to an airfield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

 ”Ok Isara when we were being let in I saw that the snake girl was holding something that didn’t look like a blaster at all what is it?”

“ First the snake girl as a name it’s Helbrum and what she had was a slug thrower” She replied 

“ A slug thrower?” Jay took a few seconds before pulling out his revolver “ is it something like this?” he asked just hold in his hand

“Dose it shoot high speed metal projectiles caused by super heating a highly explosion black powder ?”   She asked he wanting to see his responds  

“Yes “ he replied

“Then you have yourself a slug thrower kid. “ She said walking towards a parked ship

Jay looked around the area. He saw people walking from hanger to hanger carrying box of supplies. others were Doing drills or shooting at target. Some were just sitting on the ground or on crates resting before a what he guessed was Isara’s plan . He also watched as troop transports  moving out of the airfield through the door he had entered  in from.

“  Hey Isara where are those troops going?” HE asked curiously as the door closed

“ They’re going out to find some of those bugs while there a sleeping so don’t have to worry about being invaded during the night.”  she said as she entered the build that was the current hq of the slayers. Jay followed behind her. the two walked in silence for a few minutes toward a room . the two enter a meeting room with several people already there sitting around a table.

“.  Sorry I’m late I had to find this guy” She said pointing towards jay

“Hi I’m Jay by the way” He stood there just waving extremely unnerved by the three of the four people sitting there. they all were wearing very similar armor as Isara but with different symbols on them. He guessed were their ranks and one of the was just were a lab coat.   Two of them he had seen their races before. The first ne was one of Ace’s people. But unlike Ace who was about the same size of a normal person and looked like a domestic breed of dog which breed Jay couldn’t tell because he had nothing but pet fish of lizards his whole life. But this guy was a straight up a wolf with the body structure of bane with bright yellow eyes and with half of his jaw made of metal. The other was a lanky ferret like man with a wield beck like mouth his hair color was olive and green. he had multiple arms .But some of his arms were gone and he was blinded in one eye. He had seen one of his people before when he had first joined Shiro and the others but that one was a bright orange. Another person was basically a huge turtle women. Her arms and face covered in scars She looked at him with the most cold dead eye Starr that sent chill up his spine

“    Hello kid my name is Grieve head of scouting  division .Good to see you made it here safely”  the wolf man said in a calm voice.

“ I’m Rippley. Nice to meet you kid  I’m the head of the air squad”   the ferret man said 

“I am Shell razor the bold head of the mech unit” the women said 

“ Really?’ Jay asked not wanting to sound rude but was just a little suspect of the name

“ Yes that is my really name. I worked really hard to gain the title of the bold.So please show some respect ”  She said 

“  Ok Shell razor the bold I’m sorry“ Jay said as he bowed to her .His marks glowing a bright red in embarrassment 

the room erupted in laughter 

“Come on Shell stop messing with the kid he looks like he’s going to explode from embarrassment”   Isara said laughing still “ come on Jay take a seat”

“Alright come Sit here kid” Shell said pointing to the chair between her and the last person in the room 

Jay sat down next to Shell and the last person who was not paying any attraction toward him or any thing that just accord rounded them.they were just writing down something onto their data pad. They had teal skin, with Green hair and weirdly yellow colored horns. they were wearing very thick goggles that covering their eyes and a jump suit being covered by the lab coat.Jay couldn't’ tell if this person was a guy or a girl . But that didn’t matter to him at the moment because he was reading what was on the data pad and saw plans for new cybernetic for Ripley an other crew mates and the biology of the bugs  .

“ If your trying to read my work please ask and don’t hover over my shoulder like you alway do please shell? “ They asked in a tone of voice that reminded him of Pidge as they turned towards him and raised their goggles to reveal  pitch black eyes with  bright orange irises. a look of surprise came across their face” Oh your not Shell” they said as a slight blush of embarrassment can across their face at the mistake 

Jay’s marks started to glow ever so slightly do to this persons beautiful eye and cute face.

“Welcome back to the real world kid” Ripley said

“ Yeah this is Jay” Shell said laughing a bit and sapping jay on the back

“Oh Your her pilot” they said as they grabbed his Face and turned it from side to looking at his marks.” What are you I’ve never seen a being like you before?” She asked as she opened Jay’s mouth and looked at his razor sharp teeth “  then they started to pull on his checks and stretched them to there limit.” What are you boy and how can your skin do this tell me your secrets. Tell me what do you eat you beautifully weird  piece of nature”  They asked as a look of wonder and excitement on their face. 

“Well first please ask next time you want to grab my face. Secondly my diet is made up of mostly made up of fish, crustaceans ,fruits and food goo . Seeing as cows , pigs and chicks are hard to raise on a planet with no nature organic life on it that isn’t trapped in a dome. Third off I’m human altean hybrid. Forth being Altean means I can  stretch and change my body to blend in with people of other races making us great spies, Assassins, explores and diplomats. Also  Came I please have your name “   He asked with his face marks were glowing a bright red

Isara an the others know what was going to happen next and they were all trying to hold back there laugher

“ Oh Sorry I’m Ezra. commander of the science division. Also aren’t Alteans supposed to be extinction. Wait are you the last of your kind is that why your a hybrid. I could start up that cloning project  I have been working. Wait do you already have a mate Because if you don’t I could help as I work on the cloning ” Ezra said as their face and body became more feminine as a blush creeped across her face. “or do you prefer a male partner” They asked as their body became more maculate

Jay’s skin changed from his normal light tan to a deep beat red as he starred at the person in front of him. it didn’t help that the others were laughing their asses off. As Ezra’ s face was a deep shad of blue . Also what didn’t help was the fact Ezra was clearly shorter then him and was a bit rounded in the stomach which made them more attractive the longer he starred at them. Lucky for him the door to the room opened and a ten foot tall man who looked like a mixture between  goliath from gargoyles and manbat from bat batman walked into the room  wear the same armor as everyone in here with something on his shoulder. 

“ Hello honey you just missed it” Isara said as she wiped a tear from her eyes 

The big man had a look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked to the two then he realized what he had missed an then laugher erupted from him”  Ha ha ha Ezra Scared this poor boy”  He said as he slammed the body on his shoulder onto the table. then he walked over to Jay and place a massive hand on his shoulder “ I am Boleslaw second in command of the slayers and the husband of the lovely Isara. It is nice to meet you pilot of giant metal dragon lady. an do not worry about what erza had done. the face grabbing ,the mouth opening and the question about your people’s life style is just their way of saying hello to ever new person and race they meet” he said in a very thick Russian accent    

“ Do they also ask them to mate ?” Jay asked as he starred at the monster of a man then to Isara who was about the same size as him and wonder how she was alive and he wonder how this to meet 

Boleslaw looked at Ezra then to jay then back Ezra who had their head down  on the table in an embarrassment. ”Ezra my friend you can do better then this boy”

“ I know but this one is altean an the pilot of Valkyrie and I want to see what he can do. An yes I might have jumped the gun on the whole lets have kids to save your race with out even asking if there were other  and then I brought up the cloning project.An he’s kinda cute.”  Ezra began to ramble 

Jay didn’t know if he should be insulted by Boleslaw or to be happy with the fact someone found him cute. But he was more interested in the body on the table. it was the bug that tried to kill him yesterday but it had a hole in it’s chest and it’s horns were missing “ I would hate to be that guy but why did you bring that thing here?” he asked

“ Yes love why did you bring a king here” Isara asked just starring at the body

“ Oh yes I found this one by the entrains that you gave to this one “ he point to jay “ And  found it along with dozen of dead bugs all of them had died of asphyxiation. My I ask boy did you do this “ Boleslaw asked as everyone looked toward him . Isara ,grieve, Ripley,Boleslaw and Shell were just looking at him like this was a normal day while Ezra was just looking a the bug on the table with a look of pure joy has they were just cutting into this bug.

Jay thought for a few seconds thinking about saying he was the one who had kill all the bug but that was a lie he couldn’t keep up.” No that wasn’t me .The one who kill all those bugs was one of the two boys I brought in with me. His name is Usamu he has extremely powerful psychic  abilities that almost killed me along with the big guy here” He said  a little unsure that anyone would believe him

“So a child killed hundreds of bug with just his mind .Why don’t we just use him to wipe out the hive” Grieve said a little sarcastically not entirely believing a kid was that powerful

“  Because a kid of his age and body weight would most likely die if they using his full power.”   Ezra said as they removed an eye from the king 

“Also I refuse to use a child as a weapon no matter how strong their powers may or may not be.besides We have a giant metal dragon, over six hundred well armed Slayers, Several dozen gunship, twenty mechs equipped with heavy plasma cannons and a purge bomb. So we do to need a super power kill to do are job anyway were the queen slayer.but when that kid is older and has been control of his power I might give him a job offer . For right now let the kid have a childhood for now ” Isara said as she was setting up a map of the city and pushed the body off the table .”Ripley you can start when you want”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7TPvJjwhFI

“ Ok boys, girl and Ezra. We have a three or four  days till the queen wake up and we have about eighty miles of bug between us and the hive.” ripley pointed to a massive mountain covered  in a red webbing and is surround by bugs standing guard on the south side of the city. “ an we have to find away to get the ion bomb “

“the purge bomb” Shell said cutting Ripley off

“THE ION BOMB!!! We need to get this to the hive before the queen wakes up fully And we need to get the civilians off world before we do it .But here’s the problem there are over two thousand and the hail Mary can only hold about a third of them  even if we leave all are equipment here. And with the master of none and the valiant war lord off handling other red queens on E.R -6 and Amon we need another ship to help evacuation . So jay that is where you and your friend val come in. since late night she as been using are long range comms trying to connoted your friend. Also we need you to carry the ION bomb to the hive see as we need to make it bigger to kill this queens see as it’s bigger then anyone we have face before.”  ripley said he then spent the next hour explaining to jay the mission and how they need to destroy the city to make sure none of the bugs escaped the blast

“ Ok but what was stopping you from making multiply trips to the close colonized system .what was your original plan before I got here and why didn’t you just bomb it from orbit?”  He asked

“First the hail Mary’s warp engines are down so it would take us six mouths to get anywhere . Two are original plan was to collapse it’s own hive on it then fire enough heavy plasma round into it till we feel like it’s enough which is still are best plan but it will level the colony. three it’s shell is made out of osmium which is one of the dentists metals in the universe and this planet has a high level of gases though not fatal to people it is highly explosive when exposed to high levels of ions” Grieve said 

“ Well with everything said and done and the plan is set .Jay Ezra will take you to Val if you want or you can go to the hospital it’s your choice “ Isara said 

“I want to see Val then I will head back to the hospital. So Ezra please lead the way.” He said as he walked toward the door

“ oh yeah later tonight the people here are has a festival to just keep up there morale. Bring those two kid with you they might like it  and there will be a feast while it’s going on ” Ripley said as he was leaving the room as well

“ok i’ll be there “ Jay said as they left the room 

“Hey while up “ Ezra said running after him. the door opened to reveal jay leaning against a wall. Ok now follow me”

The two walk out of the ship and toward the hangers .as they walked Jay notice that most of the people here as Isara said earlier were mostly galra.Some were pure blood others were hybrids and there were other races mixed in. it was nice to see there are other places in the universe like Mar out there. then he looked towards Ezra “  So are we going to take about what happened back there”

Ezra sighed deeply and turned back to their neutral form”  Sorry about jumping the gun back there. I just got real excited when I heard that your altean an then I asked if you were the last of your kind and before you could give me an answer I asked if you wanted to be cloned or if you wanted to mate with me. Then I pried into your sex life and made you really uncomfortable. An then” they started to ramble but jay cut them off

“It’s alright to be honest I found it to be funny mostly in embarrassing .But funny none the less.“ Jay said as his marks started to glow a faint red

 A faint smile appeared on their face“ So what do you when your not being a paladin any hoboes an inters then.?”

“ Well I’m into robotic an cybernetic . The hoboes are tinkering, Gardening mainly do to my dad owning a flower shop and I started to learn how to cook from my friend hunk . An I have a kid back on the castle that I’m taking care of and i’m thinking about take both Bastion and Usamu with me when this is all said an done but I don’t think princess Allura will approve. So what do you do as head of the science division? “He asked

“well beside making better weapons for the troops. I also work on ways to kill the bug fast while learning how different environments change the hive and the Queen and her court. as well as learning about ancient tech and races that’s why I got excited when I hear you were Altean and saw the Valkyrie. But to answer my question from before Are you the last of your kind. Do you have a mate and do you prefer guys or girl as a partner just in case you don’t have ammate?” ezra asked

”  Here are my answers No, No and I really don’t care about what my partner is gender wise because I just want some one to love.”  He replied as his mark started to glow a little brighter.

As they walked toward a hanger Val’s voice came out of it “ I though you had a thing for that Nyma girl or was I just seeing things?”. She asked

“Well She and rolo Are a couple now and I found that out before the recuse mission. they started date after the alfor incident.” Jay said as he walkng to the hanger 

“good for them. They deserve each other ” She said 

He saw Val with a couple of people on her removing mud and repairing her wings an buffering out dents. She also had cable plugged into her head leading towards  a computer set up. “So have you found the others yet my metal friend?” He asked as he walked toward the computer

“Sadly no but were are on the other end of the universe so it will take a little more time for me to find them. So go and explore this city and have fun you need it after everything that has appeared the passed two days” She said as her chest opened and Jay’s speeder 

“ Ok then just tell me when you find them” Jay said as he got on the speeder

“ I will my pilot.”

“Alright Hey Ezra do you want to tag along?”

“ Sorry I still have a lot of work to do. But I will see you at the festival tonight right ?” they asked as a blush appeared on their face.

“ Yeah I will but I will have two kids with me “ he replied

“ that’s ok I just want to keep taking to you about stuff I also want to take about cybernetics and Altean biology and this is the first time someone didn’t just run away when I jumped the gun so it’s new.” their said with a smile

“Ok it’s a date then see later to night “ He said as he drove the speeder out of the hanger

“ yeah it’s a date” Ezra said with a grim on their face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aat2hwglybs

Jay had a smile on his face as he drove out of the airfield and towards the hospital.He had just got a date, A date with some he just met  But hey that how his parents met maybe it would work for him. He had rolled up to the  hospital which was actually  just a apartment build repurposed .As he walk through the front door one of the nurses stopped him     

“Oh mister Sorin  the two boy you brought in are doing well and the room you are staying in you can return to after tonights festival and any night you remain here as requested by Lady Isara. “ the nurse said

“ thank you for the info and have a nice day” He said as he walked to his room   and opened the door and found the brother just sit on the bed watching a movie he guess the nurses had put on to keep them happy “Hey you two how are you holding up?” He asked 

“ were fine it’s just boring here” Bastions said with his arm in a sling

“ Yeah where did you go Jay?’ Usamu asked with jay’s helmet on.

“ Well I was taking to Isara and the other who are in charge of this place and I found out there is a festival tonight along with other things. But do you two want to go to it?”  He asked

“ Yes “the two boys said in unisons

“ ok let’s go get some breakfast and some new clothes for all. Because we all look like hell “ He said looking at all three of them He had blueish yellow blue blood covering his armor . Bastion’s clothes was cover in dried blood and Usman’s clothes just looked dirty 

“ ok Mr. Jay come on Usamu” Bastion said pausing the movie and hoped of the bed 

“Ok Brother” Usamu follow his brother then he walked up to jay “ Uh Mr.Jay can I ride on your shoulder while we go shopping?” He asked 

“Alright hop on little bubby “ Jay said as he crotched down so Usamu could get on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5xjXxEsLxY

The three  walked out of the apartment hospital and into the busy streets of haven. Luckily for them The card He and beau Been using to steal Gac from the empire worked her and had tripled the funds they had after the balmera. they bought New clothes toys junk food and a Game console.They then walked from district to district each one being set up for the festival  that was in haven’s safe zone. one was another residential district full of people. Another was a farming district and the last was a entertainment district by a what Jay guessed was a huge salt water river full of Parks, play grounds, arcades and a indoor amusement park. The three spent the next few hours have fun. Jay wished the other were here to enjoy this with him. But there was no point in worrying about them now. Right now he need to worry about the two Boys he had save but He still worried about the other. 

Later the three had founded a belt restaurant 

“Hey Mr. jay what can we eat here ?” Usamu asked

“I don’t Care eat what you want I have the money so go wild” Jay replied

“Awesome thank”  Usamu said as he started grabbing random plates and eating

“ Hey Jay when this is all said and done what’s going to happen to us” Bastions asked. Worried that all this Happiness was going to disappear the moment the bugs were gone 

“Well I’m going to take both of you with me When this is all over” jay said as he grabbed a plate of fish and started eating it

Bastion’s eyes widened as he hear that and his eye started to water and he hugged Jay” Thank you” He said

“No problem kid” Jay said as he started to eat another piece of fish 

“Hey what’ s going on with you two?’ Usamu said

“ Nothing Kid your brother is just Hugging me “

“Yeah I’m Just thanking Jay for all the kind things he has done.” Bastion said

“ Ok “ Usamu said as he continued to stuff his face with food

After they were done eating they doubled back to their apartment to just watch movies and played the console jay also told the boys about Fitz . a few hour later the three boys started to get dress for the festival they were wearing a rode that looked like A monsuke. Each one was a different color. Jay’s was a light green, Bastion’s was a dark blue and Usamu’s was a violet 

“So Mr.Jay that are we going to do at the festival” Usamu’s said

“Well were just going to walk around play more games and enjoy life “ Jay said as a knocking on the door appeared. Jay walked over to the door” Oh yeah were going to have someone else with us their name is” Jay opened the door To See Ezra Wearing a dark orange kimono , A pair of glasses their hair was tied into a bun and with out all the grease and blood on their face he saw that Ezra had yellow freckles across their face.

“Hi Jay You look great “ Ezra said with a bright smile on their face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51oqNteWSo

Jay took a few more seconds to just look at the beautiful being in front of him then he spoke” Yeah you too” Jay said with a sharp tooth half smile

The two starred at each other for a few second before jay felt a weight climbing up his back and Usamu appeared piggy backing on Jay”  Hi i’m Usamu. Who are you”

“Oh I’m Ezra head of the science division of the slayers and I guess the other boy just standing there behind you two is bastion “  Ezra said waving to him

“Yeah i’m bastion are we going now” He asked

“Yes bastion lets go ” Jay said 

The four walked toward the festival. The street were alive with life there were lanterns in the air, people were Singing and dance throughout the streets. music was blasting and fireworks were exploding in the air Jay then notice that there was a particle barrier that cover the whole of Haven. As Jay was looking around he saw Slayers and civilians have the time of their live like nothing bad was about to happen. This was the one time in the passed two weeks he had felt a complete calmness it was nice.

Jay an Ezra talked about robotic as they watched  Bastion and Usamu were just running from stal to stall playing games and buying food. there was one stall jay saw that caught his eye. it was a shooting game with a giant stuffed  turtle as a prize he want that turtle. Ezra took notice of Jay starring at the turtle 

“Hey Jay do you want that stuffed animal?’ their asked smiling

“ Yeah but I don’t to ruin the date by carrying huge stuffed turtle “ He said a little sheepishly 

“ it won’ t” they said as they walked to the stall “ how much dose it costed to play” they asked the stall runner 

“Ten Gac” He said as Ezra slammed ten Gac on the table “the rules are simple shot ten targets and win a prize”  

“ Easy enough “ they said as they picked up one of the toy guns on the table 

“Yeah but this is a carnival game so it’ s not going to be-” Jay was cut off by the sounds of the stall winning chime went off a few second after it started. Jay starred at Ezra who was just hold the turtle in there hand 

“yeah but I’ve been doing these  games for the last mouth so I know what I’m doing” Ezra said handing Jay the stuffed animal 

Jay had the biggest smile on his face. As he hugged the stuffed turtle 

So time later Jay and Ezra were back in the airfield to watch a fireworks show. While Bastion ,Usamu and some other kid that were there. Jay turned to look at Ezra and notice that they were resting on his shoulder and holding on to his arm his heart shipped when he saw this. Jay wished that this moment could last for ever and he wished Fitz was here to enjoy this show

“Your starring” Ezra said as they were still watch the fireworks then they turned to face him

“Sorry Your just more interesting to watch right now “ He said 

“ that was cheese ”Ezra replied laughing a little

“ I know My dad said that when he met my mom so I wanted to see how it work. Did it work” He laughed as well

“ No but it was a cute line. But that line dose deserve a reward just for trying”  They leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek 

“ Jay marks explode with light illuminating the area the two were sitting in. Jay was going to lean down to return the favor. Only to be intruded By val calling him on his phone 

“ Yes Val “   Jay said annoy as he answered his phone  

“ Sorry to interrupted your date  but I have connotated the other they will be here soon  Val said 

“ oh that’s good to know just tell when they get here. I’m in the middle of something important “ He said as he hung up the phone before she could answer. He felt a little rude but he was on a date and his friend are alive ,”So where were we?” He asked Ezra with a sly smile on his face

“ You were about to kiss me before your partner called telling you your friend were on there way”Ezra said 

“ Ah yes let me get back to that “ Jay leaned down to finish what he start only to be interrupted again by a loud Alarm and by a even louder crashing sound the world shacking. Then a huge booming roar 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnDZeAYKXxo&t=164s

“What the hell is going on?” Jay asked as he watch as people were running into other districts as slayer were running in different directions and gun ships were taking to the sky   

“ the queen Is up “ Ezra said as they got up and started running toward the hail Mary

“I though we had a few day before that ?”   Jay yell as he ran toward the hanger that house as val ran out toward him

“ I guess we were wrong” Ezra yelled 

“ Great Just great Bastion Usamu stay with Ezra” 

“ Ok Mr. Jay “ Bastion yelled as he grabbed his little brothers hand and followed Ezra

Jay hopped in to Val’ s mouth and ran into the cock pit .He heard Isara’s voice over the comm “Alright boy and girl we were wrong on the time She was waking up So we need to hold out. Jay when are your friend getting here?” Isara asked

“A few minutes from now” Jay replied as The Valkyrie took to the sky and followed behind the gunships. the particle barrier dropped to let Her out and what he saw was terrifying When it came to height The Valkyrie was One hundred an fifty feet tall Voltron was Three hundred and seventy feet tall. This thing was About fifty feet taller then Valkyrie. The queen walked on four massive spider like legs it’ s tail was a mile long with a set of pincers at the end of it .It’s upper body was humanoid like most of it’s court it had six Thick arms covered in bright red shimmering stone like material just like the rest of it’s body it’s head remined him of a xenomorph with a huge crested on the back of it’s head with four horns in the front that curved upward to look just like a crown\

“ Alright hold this thing off until Jay’s friend get here Now GIVE IT HELL” Isara yell

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Finding light in an unexpected place- Shallura Week Day 5

I couldn’t think of an idea for yesterday’s prompt which is why this one is a big longer. When I saw the prompt, I thought of a scene from a telenovela called Rebelde. It used to be on Netflix, not anymore. One of the main girls, Lupita, was really in love with her boyfriend and they wanted to get married, but at the start of s2, he left to go to Isral and his mom, who doesn’t like Lupita, would stop any letters from going though between them, which in thinking he doesn’t love her anymore, Lupita moves on to a guy named Santos. When I think of Lupita and her first boyfriend, I realise he was kinda sufficating her and not letting her grow. Santos never hurt Lupita except for like one time he lied when he got aressted (not his fault) and I realised that Santos was actually the person who helped Lupita to be the best version of herself. So this was pulled from one of my fav scenes between them, when Lupita cuts Santos’ hair. A warning as there is mention of a principal being a preying on teenage girls, but he’s only mentioned for 3 or 4 lines. Hopefully that doesn’t take away from it, please enjoy. And yes, Noctis from FFXV is a student there. @shalluraweek Light/Dark

Allura couldn’t sleep. The light from Noctis’ lamp wasn’t the problem. She was used to the lamp being on, it was what happened earlier. She’d been trying to move on from Lotor, the guy she almost married, the same guy who hadn’t written to her, called her, texted her at all since he went to England for a semester long internship. She knew her uncle was happy to never see Lotor again – he never liked him or how he seemed to take forever to stand up to his mother – but still. Lotor was the first guy she ever liked and while she had her problems and ups and downs, she was so sure he was the guy she’d spend her life with. Most people didn’t find their person when they were in their sophomore but she was so sure she did. Now, she wasn’t sure. With no contact from Lotor and Lotor’s own mother came to tell her that Lotor’s ex-girlfriend was at the same internship and she was so sure they were together. she knew Lotor’s mom didn’t like her, but she didn’t need to hear the utter glee from her. Lotor didn’t love her anymore.

So, she tried to move on. One of the new student’s in their class was Ryan Kinkade. He was an excellent marksman, one who would surely bring their school fame in archery competitions since Lance had stopped doing them since the start of their sophomore and a lot of people took notice of him. She had stopped him from punching another new student’s lights out when he had made a mockery of Hunk and they got to talking, growing closer. He helped her gain a closer relationship with her half-sister Luka. When Luka mentioned she had a crush on someone, she would have never guessed it would be Ryan. Not until they decided to introduce their guys to each other, Ryan was the only one to meet them in the school’s formal area and Luka planted one on him, so hard they both went tumbling to the floor. She didn’t stick around after that.

It was starting to feel like she would have no luck with moving on and find love and that was the only thing she wanted. Lotor didn’t deserve her tears and hurt if he was forgetting her without even telling her goodbye. Not to mention how she was going to deal with Luka. The girl hated her already, seeing how their dad and her mom seemed to love Allura. Just this small thing was making them close and she was afraid that if Ryan told Luka the truth, they’d be right back where they started, or worse.

She got up, being as quite as possible so she didn’t wake Pidge or Noctis up and left the room. She hoped their hated prefect and lapdog to their principal wasn’t around to catch her up past curfew. She left the dorm area and went to the school area, hoping to maybe do some thinking in the statue that sat in the hallway that students would always sit on. Unfortunately, the area was occupied by Keith and Lance. Lance had been one of her first friends when she came to Garrison Elite and she was able to see the person who hid beneath his popular façade but sometimes she was jealous of him. He and Keith did not get along when they first met and now, they were the strongest couple in their whole class. She just wanted to feel that way with someone. She continued walking, eventually reaching one of the areas that students could meet their parents or people who were only here for a quick meeting before dropping on the couch, her mind still going over everything in her head. She felt completely lost on what to do and honestly, it was all Lotor’s fault. She was willing to wait for him, he only took 2 weeks to get back together with his ex and she didn’t ask for the extra stress of him while trying to make a relationship with her sister. Why was it nothing ever seemed to just be simple for her?

In a fit of anger, she picked up a magazine and threw it. One became another, and then some of the thinner coffee table books and before she knew it most of the stuff on the table in front of her had been thrown either on the floor or across the room. It was kinda nice to let her anger go and not have people judge, teacher’s pet goodie two shoes Allura Altea.

“OW!”

If of course one of the objects didn’t just land on someone. The room was empty so she peeked over the back of the couch that was against the wall. Looking a bit annoyed as his headphones were pushed off was their class’s newest black sheep, Takashi Shirogane.

“I’m so sorry.” She squeaked. Normally, even if a person looked mean, she wouldn’t go fear first. It usually paid off and she gained a new friend who’d be willing to pound a few heads in if she asked, but the last time she talked to him, he snapped at her. To be fair, she understood why.

People called him the freakish ghost. He was quiet, sullen – honestly, he gave Keith a run for his money – and looked out of place with his long hair. Their principal had gotten fired for a period of time and when he wasn’t there, the new principal, Principal Sendak, was a total nightmare. In front of the whole class, to teach them about respect, he cut Takashi’s hair off, leaving the uneven mess that sat on his head. He took off the moment they were done and Allura followed, trying to see if he was ok. She offered to fix his hair but he snapped at her, telling her to leave him alone. It had been weird how after he seemed to follow Sendak around with a camera, saying he was doing a documentary and was then shaking the head of the school board’s hand when Sendak had been removed for reasons unknown. Pidge was sure he had something to do with it, but he wouldn’t admit it.  

“It’s fine. My fault for hiding behind a couch to listen to music.” He got up and climbed up onto the couch, Allura bounding herself back onto the couch she was on before. “It’s Allura right? What are you doing up so late? Part of the club of sleepwalkers?”

“Sleepwalkers? This school has so many stairs, seems like a hazard.”

“True, it’s just weird to see someone up at this hour. I’m always up this late listening to music and lurking around like a ghost.”

“No. I just couldn’t sleep but I’ll go. Sorry again.” She got up to go when he called out to her.

“Hey, no wait. Sit, I wanted to talk to you.” He asked as he moved to the couch she’d been on before and patting the seat next to him. After hesitating a little, she took a seat. “I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize? What for?”

He pulled on a strand of his hair. “This? After Sendak cut it, you offered to fix it for me and I snapped at you. You were being nice checking on me and I shouldn’t have been so rude.”

Allura gave him a small smile. He was much different than the dark shadow who seemed to lurk in the back of their classroom. “it’s ok. You were mad and you had every right to be. Look, whenever you want me to, I can fix your hair. I’m really good at it. I do Noctis’ hair for him when it gets too long and we have to keep telling him off for his hair clogging the shower.”

He looked confused, which she got. “Isn’t Noctis a guy? Why is he taking showers in your room?”

“He is a guy, in every sense except his birth certificate.”

“He’s trans, but he still rooms with girls?”

“It’s usually not allowed yes, but there weren’t any students who needed special rooming the year he came in and, in this year, either. He had to sign a bunch of forms and get our families permission but my uncle and Pidge’s mom said he could room with us. Besides, Noctis is into guys, cringes at the idea of seeing either of us naked and any guy stupid enough to make a remark about being able to have sex with us whenever he wanted is on the receiving end of his fists. His sponsor felt better that he rooms with people who wouldn’t try to take advantage of him and we’ve proved ourselves so.” Allura shrugged, “that’s that I guess.”

“Huh. Must know way too much about girls then.”

“Yes, but he does know what to get us if we’re feeling crampy. Anyway, his bedhead style is thanks to me so if you like how his looks, come find me.”

“How about now?”

“Now? It’s like, late.”

Takashi gave his own shrug. “Well I can’t sleep and I’d actually like to fix this soon. If you can. Which of course you can’t since we don’t have a kit.”

“Oh no, don’t worry. My uncle keeps his in his office in the kitchen. Don’t worry, he keeps the kitchen and office clean. I’ll go get it, but you have to do something for me. You need to tell me why you were shaking the hand of the head of the school’s board, and no evading the question.”

“Ok. How about I give you a head start? Remember how your friend tried to point out to Sendak that he could do anything to me without my parent’s permission, which he said he had? He lied, the only calls from the school my parents got where to let them know the principal had been removed and a new one came in and that new principal was fired and the other reinstated.”

“What?” Allura didn’t divulged in gossip much but she had to know the full story for this, but Takashi just shooed her.

“Go on. You’ll get the full story when you get back.”

She let out a huff. For Mr. Doom and Gloom, he was having a lot of fun with this.

                                          ______________________

“He what!?”

Allura understood why people could gossip with their hairdressers. As she started to give Takashi an undercut and shorten the side on top, he gave her the whole story as to why he been doing a documentary of Sendak. It was a revenge plot and it all stemmed from finding out that their darling new and improved Principal had a thing for younger girls. There were pictures of students who’d been using the pool or them in the gym uniforms, even pictures of girls as they went up the stairs. They had the perverts in their classes, who usually learnt with a harsh slap to the face but never did they have a teacher or adult figure who’d do that to them. Takashi was able to get footage of Sendak spying on girls, even trying to force himself on one. He showed it to the school’s Board of Directors under the guise of showing the good Sendak had been doing for the school since he started. Sendak was removed and their old principal was reinstated, because they knew with a daughter in the school, he’d never harm any of the students.

“That’s why I was shaking his hand. He was thanking me for exposing him. He felt bad he just accepted the first good guy with a nice resume.”

“Oh my god, what a creep! I can’t believe we would have had him for ages.” Allura unclipped the white fringe she’d been able to save and took her sheering scissors and started to trim lightly. “I guess we should be thanking you. Is it also true you helped Pidge find out about her lying boyfriend?”

“It’s one thing to want to still date a girl, it’s another to use a fake illness to do it. My twin brother has an invisible illness and seeing how I couldn’t go and punch the guy for lying, I thought I might as well show him as the really sick guy as he was.”

“I was tempted to go take a stab at him myself. My youngest sister, Fara, she has down syndrome. She doesn’t let it stop her, she’s amazing and bright, but people like my mom only see a helpless person who needs constant coddling and anyone who offers to help is looking down on her.” Allura thought about how she was going to leave school with Lotor before he’d been accepted into the internship. She came to Garrison Elite so she’d have the best chance at becoming a doctor. She almost gave that up for a guy who didn’t seem worth it anymore. “I almost forgot why I was here in the first place. I want to be a doctor so I can help people like my sister, so they don’t have to feel like they’re not normal. And I almost gave it up for a guy.”

“Did he suffocate your light?”

“My light? No, Lotor was…” Lotor had been dating someone when he became interested in Allura and wouldn’t break up with his ex because he’d been scared of his parent’s reaction. When he and Allura broke up, he’d throw such a fit if she was ever around another guy who was interested in her. He wanted her to become a house wife and only dropped the idea when Professor Thace had been the one to point out how miserable she was. “Maybe he was suffocating my light.”

“Guess I should be glad he didn’t. we need more people with your kind of light. Makes the darkness look not so scary.”

They shared a smile before Allura fluffed his fringe out, dusting away any stray bits of hair and handed him a mirror.

“Wow. Allura, this is amazing.” Takashi complimented as he ran his hands over his shorter hair and the prickly feeling of his new undercut. “You are good.”

“I am the person people go to to fix their hair. I’m glad you like it. I’ve had time to think about how to fix it since it happened. I would have left it a bit long but Sendak really hacked at it, so I’m glad you like it.”

“You are truly something Allura. I can clean up the hair if you want to go put the kit away. I won’t be sleeping for a while, I know that.”

“Are you sure?” Takashi nodded, already using the towel to scoop up any hair. “Thanks Takashi.”

“Shiro, call me Shiro. My parents are the only ones to call me by my first name.”

“Shiro then. Thanks for telling me what happened and listening. Can I do that in public now or are you going to ignore me?”

Shiro let out a laugh, “Don’t worry. I won’t be throwing this little light out of my life anytime soon.”

Allura felt his face go hot but she was happy. It felt like for the first time in a while, that things were looking better, like as Shiro said, her light wasn’t suffocated anymore.