#who happened to be lost in space-time life-death astral plane

[wrathyforest]

Another collab crossover with @mimicha-arts :3 Sketch and coloring by Micha, lineart by me

[midnighter13]

the world in mutable delight

Y'all I'm so full of feelings. So many of them. Anyway I've been shouting about Caleb using his Transmuter's Stone on Molly to anyone who will listen for actual years so now, please have more soft pre-widomauk feelings about it.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31672169

The process of recovery, Caleb knows, can be a strange one. Of course, there is hardly anyone stranger than the singular Mollymauk Tealeaf, to begin with. Between the circumstances of his deaths, his lives, and all the magic that brought him back to them, it is hardly a surprise that he needs some time to gather up all the patchwork pieces of himself again. Caleb has no doubt that he will reclaim everything he wishes to, in time; after all, he has never known anyone better at creating beauty from shattered glass. The massive stained-glass tribute within his tower is as close as Caleb could come to capturing the artistry with which Molly created his style and his life and his whole self, and seeing him in vivid, vibrant life again has reminded Caleb that even his best effort could never possibly do him justice.

It is best that way, though. Mollymauk Tealeaf should never be captured in something so still as glass, so static as paint. A whirling dervish of color and laughter and terrible ideas and sheer wonder needs a living canvas to flourish, and thanks to a miracle, he has that chance again.

 One day soon perhaps, Caleb would like to ask Molly about the decor of the tower. He is still fond of his best effort, the beauty that Molly’s memory lends to his library, but it needn’t be the same forever. It would be equally wonderful to listen to Mollymauk create something new, to see if Caleb can create with magic what Molly’s endless font of color and bullshit can imagine.

… Of course, that would require Caleb to overcome the way his mind goes blank every time he thinks about approaching Molly. There are so many things he wants to say, needs to say where Molly can hear him this time, but he doesn’t seem to have the language to express the maelstrom of emotions trapped inside his chest. There is so much happiness and relief and affection and amusement and delight and and and— 

And it is all stopped at the back of his throat by the sharp point of the memory that springs up every time, the fact that the manifestation of all of Caleb’s magic, all of his drive and talent and hope and hunger, failed when Molly needed him. Again. Nine months ago, on Glory Run Road, Caleb’s magic was not enough to keep him alive. And two days ago, in the crumbling city in the Astral Sea, Caleb’s magic was not enough to bring him back.

So. There are a few things he must grapple with himself, before he can indulge in everything he wants to say to Molly.

It has been fairly easy to hang back, so far. He has managed to distance himself enough from the celebrations to keep from spilling his heart across the ground at Mollymauk’s feet. Simply looking at him, vibrant and energetic again, is enough to sustain him—simply hearing his voice, the handful of words he speaks with endless inflections, is a feast when he has been starving. So Caleb stands a handful of feet away at all times, and watches the rest of his family hug and touch and reconnect until his eyes go dry.

The first night of their return to the Material Plane would have been no good, anyway. With how tired they all are, how nearly broken and still very bruised each and every body among them is, it is not the time to show Molly around the whole tower. There will be time for that later, always time for that later, to his greatest elation—later, he will take Molly by the hand and show him everything that he built, every piece of his heart that he conjures to house his friends, his family. He will show him that no matter the time that passed, he kept Molly safe in his mind and gave him a place here, always waiting for him to come home. 

But that will have to wait until Caleb’s hands no longer shake with the phantom weight of his Transmuter’s Stone; and besides, he would have to wait anyway until Molly and Yasha willingly part from each other, and those two certainly have shown no signs of budging from each other’s sides, not through the exhausted pile the (whole, finally whole) Mighty Nein slept in that first night, nor at meals with the welcoming Clay family the next day, nor the hours full of odd conversation and new acquainting and re-familiarizing that followed. There has been plenty to occupy Molly upon his return, more than enough to let Caleb sit outside of arm’s reach and drink in everyone else’s stories, and pretend that his heart has not leapt every time Molly’s bright, lively eyes have turned to him and lingered in return.

Now, basking in the afternoon sun on the second bright day since their family saved the world and was made whole, Caleb knows that he should be taking more action to recover his arcane stores. But each time he tells himself that he will get up and look for a suitable stone, his throat becomes tight again. He makes excuses to Essek, to Veth, when they ask: they are safe here in the Grove so he does not need the protection it grants him; they are among a family that seems very partial to glowing crystals as light sources, so he is in no rush to regain the darkvision he lost with the Eyes; why bother to make himself quicker to move, when they are all enjoying a well-earned rest? Neither of them question him further on it, though there is deep understanding in Essek’s eyes and a shrewd worry in Veth’s. They let him lie back and look up at the endlessly-shifting canopy of green, and try to reorganize his thoughts in peace.

Someone, however, does not abide by that peace. Only a half-hour into his meditation, and having made very little progress in unsnarling his tangled heart, Caleb hears the soft sound of bare feet on moss approach, and stop beside him. When he turns his head, there, of course, is Mollymauk.

“Magician,” Molly says firmly, and plunks himself down on the ground beside Caleb’s head. He settles in, wiggling his toes in the moss. One foot has nails freshly painted in bright teall, the other in charming pink. Both colors, of course, suit him perfectly. Then he says, “Mister Caleb,” with a widening grin, and Caleb’s breath catches once more in his throat.

“Hallo, Mister Mollymauk,” he says in return, the smallest greeting that settles sweetly on his tongue. He pushes himself upright, and turns to face Molly in kind. “Your words are returning to you, it seems.”

“Some,” Molly says, and the word that is not empty is accompanied by a decisive little nod. It takes effort, it seems, but Mollymauk has always been an obstinate individual. Regaining all his words may be like trying to pick up pieces of confetti one at a time, but if Mollymauk wants them back he will have the time to do so now. And hopefully, his friends can continue to help.

“That is very good to hear,” Caleb replies, and he cannot stop the smile that spreads across his face at Molly’s pleased expression.

“Magician,” Molly repeats, and holds out a closed fist between them. Caleb hesitates, unsure if this is a greeting or a request—then Molly shakes his hand a little, impatiently, and Caleb obligingly holds out his own open palm beneath it. Mollymauk’s tail swishes in broad strokes behind him, and he opens his hand to drop something into Caleb’s palm.

A blue-grey stone the size of a hen’s egg hits his palm with a soft sound. There is no ring around this one like his first, but when it catches the light it sparkles with countless tiny deposits of mica, glittering like stars. Caleb blinks at it, then up at Mollymauk. “Ah… thank you?”

“Magician,” Molly insists; then, after a pause, “lucky,” accompanied by that little flicker of his fingers that he used many times before, whenever he mentioned how little he understood about magic or asked Caleb if he could cast a spell. And perhaps it is not elegant, no kind of official communication that even a Comprehend Language could parse, but Caleb understands him perfectly, and his throat stings as though he might cry.

“Oh,” he says, and stares down at the stone in his hand. “Th-thank you, Molly. How did you know…?”

“Joy—” Molly clears his throat, a quick little cough and a wrinkle of his nose that spells frustration with his voice. “Jester,” he says carefully, clearly, “told me. What—hmm. Happened. Empty—”

He takes a deep breath, seems to gather his thoughts. He reaches out and closes Caleb’s fingers around the rock in his palm. “Empty,” he says again, softer now. Then he says, “Caleb,” and brings his hand up and presses his lips to Caleb’s fingers.

Caleb’s heart is nearly tripping with how quickly it hums. His ears are hot, and he knows that the afternoon sun cannot be to blame in the pleasant shade of the Grove. “Molly,” he says, helplessly. “Molly, I—I’m sor—”

Molly’s tail smacks gently into his knee. His eyes narrow as he looks up at Caleb, somewhere between playful and warning. Caleb swallows hard. He takes in the sight of Mollymauk’s face before him, and memorizes the new weight of the stone in his hand.

“Ja, okay,” he manages. “I can use this, Molly. Thank you.”

“Ja, ja,” Molly says, grinning wide and cheeky once again, and the laugh that bursts from Caleb feels like lightness, like relief, like forgiveness.

Molly is still smiling at him, his tail tapping softly against the moss. He releases Caleb’s hand from his grasp, the stone safely inside. Then he puts one hand up and crooks his finger at Caleb, in a universal gesture of come here.

Obligingly, Caleb leans forward, narrowing the space between them and trying very hard not to blush all the way to the roots of his hair. Molly puts his hand on the side of Caleb’s face—warm, his touch is so warm and firm and real again. It’s almost enough to distract him, enough that it takes him by surprise when Molly leans forward and kisses him firmly on the forehead. Then he lingers there, and Caleb lets his eyes close just for the moment as he memorizes the feeling of being here, with Mollymauk Tealeaf, safe and happy once more.

When Molly sits back, he folds his hands in his lap, contentment written so plainly across his face that he hardly needs the words to say it. Caleb thinks of five things he could say, a dozen, a hundred possibilities like fragments of fate. But Molly only has so many words to give, and it is better, for right now, that Caleb can speak his language in return.

He holds up his free hand and crooks his finger at Mollymauk in the same gesture of come here. Molly’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and his tail patters rapidly against his shin—but he leans forward, a smile lurking at the corners of his lips, just enough to show the dimples in his cheeks and the light dancing in his eyes. Caleb puts his hand to Molly’s cheek, and gives in to the temptation to run his thumb gently along the vibrant peacock feather there. Molly’s smile grows wide, showing teeth and crinkling the corners of his eyes, as Caleb leans forward and presses his lips gently to Molly’s forehead. He holds him there for a long moment, savoring the warmth of his skin and the once-again inescapable whiff of sandalwood and incense.

Words are few and far between, right now, but words are not the only thing they need. For now there is touch, and there is warmth, and there is magic, and there is Molly. And for anything else, there will be time for that later. 

[creativerogues]

Discord Highlights #4: Green Lands Far & New...

After the last instalment of highlights, a lot has happened, from negotiating with immortal Death Knights to winning big in a Feywild fighting pit, to now wanting to talk to the Queen of the Feywild herself, so let’s get into some explanations, shall we?

Shattered Souls: Bustin’ Heads & Winning Big!

After arriving in the Feywild a few sessions ago, the Party gathered and discovered that the famed Cultist of the Red Star that they had been hunting down was working in the Feywild Fighting Pits of the Starlight City, and after pulling off a few displays of daring dauntlessness, the Party challenged the Gladiator himself, going by the title of “The White Ram” due to his albino tiefling skin, to a Fighting Match on the Day of Mid-Summer, when Lady Shandria, Leader of the Starlight City and Niece to the Queen of the Feywild, could observe their fight.

Following some more preparations and a few bets made of the Party’s behalf, Ibernia, a Former Champion of the Fighting Pits and Monk of the Astral Self, stepped forward to duel The White Ram, but quickly fell to his blade...

That is until Blanche, the Sorcerer and Warlock of the Group, abused her knowledge of The White Ram’s True Name to rack his mind with psychic pain, allowing Ibernia to recover from her near lethal injuries (thanks to a Natural 20 on a Death Check) and rise up after nearly being bisected horizontally, now able to turn the pretty face of The White Ram into a bloody caved-in mess of broken bones.

Now, with their fight won and their spoils of war received (as well as a few tens of thousands of Gold Pieces in bets), the Party finds out that Blanche requires the body of The White Ram in order to complete a sinister deal she made with “An Old Swamp Witch”, who just happens to go by the name Baba Yaga.

What does Baba Yaga have in store for Blanche, how will the Party cross a Feywild Swamp the size of a small sea to find this ‘Old Witch’, and how will they leave the Feywild if they don’t even know how they entered?

Looks like the only way to find out is to listen to Shattered Souls Live in our D&D Discord Server…

Heaven & Hel: Making Friends & Crossing Planes...

When we last left our heroes, they were floating around in the Astral Sea looking for a Lost Library, carved from the skull of a long dead goddess.

Well, as it turns out, they found it!

And after completing their travels through the Astral Plane, and managing to find a Colour Pool back home, the Party quickly realised they needed some rest and relaxation, as their time away from the Material Plane quickly caught up with them as soon as they arrived back, causing the Party to gain a whole 5 Level of Exhaustion (let’s just thank them for not staying in the Astral Sea any longer...)

But after a short amount of Downtime and rest, the Party had finally awoken in their forest camp outside of the small forest town of Thanlo, feeling refreshed and rid of their Exhaustion.

And so, after recovering from their time away catching up with them, the Party now plans to investigate the local ruined Farmhouses and Mill to the north of Town, with the hopes of finding a Fey Crossing into the Feywild, so that Maltuul, the Elven Wizard of the Party who has been trying to convince the World that the Prophecy of Ragnarok (Known also as “The Old Apocalypse”) is real, may cross over into the Feywild and convince The Summer Court of his Homeland to aid him in his Quest to halt Ragnarok.

Will Maltuul and the Party be able to convince the many Archfey of The Summer Court to aid them in their time of need, or are these Demi-God like powers a-ok with the destruction of the Material Plane?

Looks like the only way to find out is to listen to Heaven & Hel as it happens, Live in our D&D Discord Server!

Debt & Darkness: Welcome to the Jungle...

After exploring the many rooms of the Demi-Plane Donjon of Tulkaz the Lich’s Astral Dreadnought, and dealing with its many traps and dangers therein, the Party discovered a Concealed Room within the Donjon, finding within a Grey Gateway into the Ethereal Plane.

With some hesitation, the Party entered and fought off a few denizens, before finding the forgotten mass of bones described in Tulkaz’s notes.

Following a few conversations with the denizens of the town’s twisting necropolis, the Group was directed to a Man known as "Lord Ran", an undying Death Knight who spoke to them of his life in Tulkaz's service, and how the Key to The Second Ward of Tulkaz was magically tethered to his Life Force, and his Body bound to the town itself.

However, after a flash of genius and some quickly planning, the Party was able to use Tulkaz's own magical Wards against him, as they brought the floating Grey Gateway of Tulkaz's Astral Dreadnought into the civilization known as Bonetown and convinced Lord Ran to step through, where upon his first steps into the Aura of Anti-Magic that surrounded The Second Ward, the necromantic energies that sustained him were stripped away, leaving only a corpse that crumpled to the floor, while also rendering Tulkaz’s Puzzle Box nothing more than a piece of mundane wood, which was then broken open to reveal a serrated Key.

This is honesty one of the proudest and funniest moments there’s been in the Campaign so far, as absolutely zero Party Members wanted to fight Lord Ran, a CR 19 Death Knight, and so had to “Get Creative!” to find a way of getting the Key from him without fighting him...

Using this Key, the Party was able to open The Metal Door that was The Second Ward of Tulkaz, where they found an empty space beyond, with a single pink jewel suspended in place.

Carina, being the bold scientist of the Group and willing to test her hypothesis, touched the pink gemstone and was scattered into a Pocket Dimension, as she was then shortly followed by Innocence, as they both found themselves falling into a deep blue ocean.

And so, after a brief stint of panic from falling into the ocean, Carina and Innocence swam to the shore of this otherworldly jungle, arriving on the beaches of an Otherworldly Isle in the middle of a vast blue expanse, where they now hope to navigate the new place they find themselves in, still on the hunt for Tulkaz’s Hidden Phylactery.

Like The Highlights? Join The Server!

Do you like what you see? Want some more context on the Party’s shenanigans or an end to those massive cliff-hangers?

Well come on down and enjoy the Games as they happen by joining the Official CreativeRogues Discord Server, and perhaps even join or create your own Games!

You can join the Server as a New Member right now by using our Link: Right Here!

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Wait a minute, Logan, you said the "spellplage" was /in roman's lifetime??/ Like, that huge event where the weave caught on fire and Sune's plane of existence burned down around her?? that was RECENT? Can you be a bit more specific about what happened during the Spellplague?! (I mean, that sounds pretty /important!/)

(Logan nods,)

Logan: ...Yes? The Spellplague was fairly recent. So was the Time of Troubles, if that’s what you consider “recent;” It was only two years after Remy was born, and nine before Roman and his brother.

Roman: --Woah, how do you know what year I was born??

Logan: Do not interrupt my story. --The Spellplague was a cataclysmic event caused by the murder of Mystra, aka Midnight. Shar, the goddess of the Underdark, convinced Cyric, the god of Lies, to use his roguish skill to sneak into Mystra’s home and kill her. Shar intended to replace Mystra and take control of the Weave through the Shadow Weave she had recently created, but this failed, and both systems were completely destroyed...

Logan: The collision and destruction of the two planes of Magic somehow caused a vacuum in the space between the Material plane and the Far Realm, which allowed the Far Realm’s energy to bleed into the Material Plane at an alarming rate. The violent combination of the three energies created a phenomenon called The Storm of Blue Fire. These flames appeared across all the planes in existence, and even got so out of hand that Yggdrasil -- the giant tree-like structure of the Godplanes, basically their “Earth” -- was burned down, and all of the different cities, realms, and spheres of the Gods were cast into the astral sea.

Logan: On the Godplanes, it was utter chaos. Hundreds of Deities and Thousands of souls were destroyed while entire worlds ripped apart, collided, and spun out of control. Sune, Lathander, and Tyr eventually joined together to judge Cyric for his crime, and banish him to a prison in Pandemonium, but nothing could be done to stop the fire. The various planes re-settled into the new Wheel cosmology in ten years, but many of the Gods are still severely weakened from the entire ordeal, and most of those who died or disappeared have never resurrected.

(Roman nods,)

Roman: My mother’s home, Brightwater, was completely destroyed. She was only able to save a few hundred souls in her care -- Mama’s being one of them, thank goodness! -- but the rest had already burned away... She was able to recreate Brightwater in Ysguard, but she’s never fully recovered from all she’s lost... 

Logan: ...And, things weren’t fairing much better on the Material Plane. All of the magic in the realms -- magic items, magic users, active spells, any presence of magic -- started rupturing, looking like they had exploded into blue flame and lightning. For ten years, Arcane magic was too unreliable to attempt, and almost every wizard, sorcerer, and other non-religious castor was killed by the fire. Those who touched it and somehow survived usually went mad, unleashing uncontrollable bouts of magic on unsuspecting towns and people. 

Logan: By 1395, -- one hundred years ago, if you are keeping track -- Arcane magic had finally, safely stabilized again. But, the damage had already been done: Most of the living arcane castors had been killed, with many of the few who remained having fallen to madness. No new sorcerers had been born in the ten years while the Weave was destroyed, and becoming an arcane castor by choice was seen as dangerous, heretical, and sometimes even life-threatening. The use of arcane magic had even become illegal in many cities, and having a child who showed an aptitude for it was ‘bad luck,’ if not a death sentence. Many places still hold these beliefs even today... And then, there were the Spellscarred. 

Logan: Those who came into contact with the Blue Flame but were not destroyed by it -- including unlucky mundane people who had simply walked into a Wild Magic burst, and arcane castors who consciously attempted magic -- were left with scars, often in the form of blue electric burns. People with these burns, or “spell scars,” were shunned at best, and hunted down at worst.

(Roman pipes up at this, and gives Virgil a shocked look. Virgil pales and turns away from him, clutching his left arm...)

(...Roman doesn’t say anything.)

Logan: These scars often accompanied the Blue Flame’s madness, so the presence of them was interpreted as a deadly threat. --This notion is ridiculous, seeing that they are both symptoms of the same injury and do not always dictate the presence of the other, but... People will be suspicious, I suppose.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

VLD S8 – The Purpose of Lance’s Altean Markings, Allura’s Canonically Inconsistent “Death,” and Voltron’s Mysterious Interstellar Road Trip in the End: Are Things Really As They Seem?

Hello dear ones, I received asks to follow up on my previous post about Allura’s capability to live a very long life if she hadn’t died in s8. I’d mentioned in this post that Alfor had connected Allura’s life force to the indestructible Voltron, and that this had significant implications for Lance’s strange Altean marks and Allura’s “death” in s8. So this is me, attempting to follow up on those requests! 

Let’s start with those strange marks. It seems like a lot of us who have watched Voltron: Legendary Defender season 8 scratched our heads over Lance receiving Altean marks at all:

This event happens when Allura and the paladins are standing in the “connected consciousness of all existence”—which is this…Mother-Brain realm for every consciousness that ever existed ever. Allura is preparing to sacrifice herself alongside Honerva, because they both have to give of their energy to regenerate the fallen multiverse. Honerva is already accepting of this and already interacting with her dead family whose minds and forms are preserved within the Mother-Brain space. It seems, even so, Honerva is still alive because she hasn’t yet completed the foretold Wild Sacrifice Move of Ultimate Alchemy alongside Allura: 

The Big Boom of Life happens after this point, so there’s something fascinatingly screwy about this realm. The typical separations between the Living and the Death are just…totally meaningless. We’re actively seeing a living Honerva physically interact with the minds and forms of her fallen son and husband. And if this Mother-Brain location truly preserves the consciousness of all existence, then I suppose it actually makes sense to me that Allura and Honerva could still be alive themselves while also being able to interact with the Dead who are preserved within this realm…

But Allura—she turns to the paladins and tells them that they’re all about to experience a massive fragmentation from her. It seems pretty heavily suggested that she’s going to die. In doing so, she kisses Lance and then gives him Altean marks: 

And the first question I have is….whyyyy the marks? What the heck was that for? Because I think it’s really weird that she’d just give Lance the most visually identifying mark for her own species. At least, I think it’s weird on the surface. The more important question may lie within Allura’s motives...and that gets into some much larger implications for ways to view those marks and the show’s ending. Some of the theories I’ve seen about those marks:

Theory 1: Lance as Trans-Species to Preserve Allura’s Species and/or Allura Giving Lance Some Unknown Gift/Power

I want to bring this up because it appears to be a largely accepted theory that I’m now heavily questioning. I’m not sure who first vocalized this understanding of canon, but Neko Chicana offers the theory in their Youtube video “Why did Lance get Altean markings!?” The theory is that in Allura’s last-minute panic about dying, she was trying to ensure The Chosen Altean vibes got passed down. This would mean that Allura infused Lance with deep Altean powers to inherently change him from being human into being a trans-species human/Altean.

But I struggle with this interpretation, because…she already had an entire colony of Alteans, many of whom clearly were presenting with high quintessence sensitivity and would have been even potentially fit for Oriande. And it’s not like Lance was going to know how to apply alchemy without learning it anyway.

In terms of the transformation itself, it’s incredibly superficial. It’s a face-lift and that’s it, as Lance never exhibits any other features of a standard Altean. And not just from a visual perspective, but also from a physiological one. He definitely is not shown suddenly freaking out over having alchemy powers. He isn’t shown connecting with anything on the astral plane. I would even posit that he appears to be aging right alongside his fellow humans, given his more adult/less baby-face facial structure in the epilogue, just like everyone else:

This article here seems to contain a similar level of skepticism about a genuinely trans-species Lance. 

And what would even be the point of converting Lance to have a token visage of Alteans, if Allura knows that his true heart and soul lies with his human family? Just by Allura’s reaction of disgust to his rounded ears in season 1, it seems pretty obvious that other Alteans would see him as “other.” If anything, a trans-species interpretation overly complicates the show here and generally can’t provide a self-contained, meaningful reason for its existence at all. 

Theory Two: The Markings as a Token of a Lost Lover/Remembrances

Another suggestion has been that Allura gives Lance such markings just as…a reminder? Of herself? But I don’t feel this at all makes sense with seven previous seasons of her character behavior.

Allura is shown consistently trying to sacrifice herself and her things at all costs, without anything in return or demanding that people remember her. She did it in season 1 to regenerate a Balmera, knowing full well she could die. But we don’t see her asking Coran to sing a pretty song for her. She sacrifices herself again for Shiro, by tossing him out of the way of Galran soldiers, without even begging that he come back for her. She sacrifices herself in Oriande to the White Lion. She sacrifices her crown in season 7 to stabilize Shiro. She even gives up her dresses and her station as a princess in order to better fit in with the humans in season 7. It’s not inherent in Allura’s character to demand anything in return for her sacrifices, much less that she be remembered for them. As a matter of fact, she’s very particular about ensuring that other people get recognized for their actions, and she’ll often place her own good work as part of a “whole” accomplished by the many. Here’s an example from season 6, episode 1:

So here we see her raising up other people and their contributions rather than demanding some offering or worship for her actions.

Princess Allura doesn’t even hold a grudge for Keith being accepted as Black Paladin or Lance as Red Paladin in s3, despite the fact that she secretly cried over it.

So, Allura wanting anything in return for what she sacrifices, or trying to intentionally drag down someone’s spirit for her own comfort, is not inherent to her character. If anything in s8, Allura consistently seems to want the paladins to move on without her:

In response to the emotional distress of the other paladins, she doesn’t give them an everlasting token to memorialize herself, but instead gives encouragement for the future:

And even Shiro! He warns her that she’s about to become the multiverse’s most anonymous hero:

And Allura’s response to this?

So Princess Allura went into this s8 self-sacrifice, fully expecting that the paladins would keep her actions totally secret. She was completely and utterly prepared to accept the very reality that Lotor had threatened her with in season 6:

So literally the only reason in s8 that anyone remembers Princess Allura…is because the paladins choose to honor her memory despite her stated sentiments against it:

So…all of this is to say, I don’t think it makes sense to assume that suddenly, Allura would want to forever keep Lance from moving on. She’s literally handed them her blessing to move on, and suggested that they even hide what she’s done. It’s the paladins who choose to remember her. So I think there’s a lot of evidence to suggest against an interpretation where Allura was intentionally trying to mark Lance to be her forever-doomed lost love. It’s completely inconsistent with other surrounding details about who Allura is.

I think there’s instead evidence to suggest a new theory about these marks. And if anyone’s suggested this before, please feel free to jump in, lol. I’m like, 1.5 years behind the times here, although I did find this article that also would seem to support the theory: 

Theory Three: Lance’s Altean Marks as a Tactical Homing/Location Beacon, Strengthened by His and Allura’s Shared Bonds With Blue Lion

Before she casually walks off to her alleged death, Allura tells Lance, “I’ll always be with you.” And then she gives him the Altean marks:

While I think this “I’ll always be with you” statement has some classic lessen the hurt of impending death vibes, Allura herself actually states she’ll always be with him. How certain are we that she’s not being actually serious? That this isn’t an intentional decision to ensure some kind of ongoing link?

So backing up here, we know from previous seasons that Altean markings can glow, unlike the rest of their body. They appear to glow in response to external stimuli. For example, in season 5, Allura and Lotor’s markings glow because they are within the vicinity of Oriande and have a deep well of quintessence within them. And this glowy activity is discriminatory, because Coran’s marks don’t glow:

Lance’s own markings initially glow when activated by Allura:

So for Lance’s markings to glow at all, that means something is happening. It means that an all-new, external stimulus is making those markings react, and that the magic of it is active. And that Lance is now housing enough magic to react.

That article I linked to earlier suggests that perhaps Allura intended to use the marks as….a communicative link with Lance. However, in a full year since Allura’s disappearance, we see no evidence that Lance has been talking to a mysterious spirit!Allura. He seems pretty depressed, and everyone seems largely accepting of the concept that Allura is dead and also is incapable of interaction.

In which case, if you did have a link to a supposedly dead person, even if you wanted to keep it secret, wouldn’t you at least look a little more…happy? That they’re not actually gone? So something’s a little screwy there too, that makes me think Lance wasn’t in some kind of interdimensional communication with Allura.

But I do think Lance’s markings, and how they glow in response to external power sources in the final episode, suggest something about Allura’s state of being.

So let’s jump in. We know that Allura’s life force is inherently tied to Voltron:

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post of mine: Right in season 1, episode 1, Coran admits that Alfor has done some pretty wild alchemy. He physically connected Allura’s essence with the essence of Voltron—the single source of self-regenerating, infinite quintessence throughout the whole of the entire universe.

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

All of this backstory and worldbuilding means at the very least that Allura was also capable of linking some part of her quintessence to Lance as well. And that, even if she hypothetically didn’t have a body on the material plane, that she would be very active on the astral one.

So why specifically Altean marks, then?

This isn’t the first time in the show that strangely powerful bonds have been made by the touching of faces and the transfer of energy around Altean marks. As a matter of fact, we might have even seen Alfor actively bind Allura’s life-force with Voltron, right here:

In which case, Allura was simply mimicking the work of her father as she knew it, but on a much smaller scale. Because she knew from her father that it was possible to bond life-forces, and for some reason, that alchemy trick appears to involve the face or else something to do with Altean markings.

So therefore, the activation of this marking “link” and alchemical bond might help to explain why Lance actually appears to be smiling with tears in his eyes when the Voltron lions fly away:

But why even Lance specifically?? What about all the other paladins she’s made connections? What makes Lance so totally special?

It might not be unintentional that, out of all the lions possible, the one to respond to some unknown activator one year later—with massive amounts of quintessence in the bond—is Blue Lion.

Notice that while the other lions are in flight, none of them are glowing like Blue Lion. There’s something inherently special about Blue Lion right now, especially given that it’s not even the leader of the pack.

In this scene, we see the paladins rushing out per all the ruckus. Lance’s markings start to glow:

And then the lions powerfully surge off on their merry, totally unexplained way:

So…in looking back at this, it’s interesting that Lance’s marks are shown glowing in ONLY two instances: 1) When Allura first activates them, and 2) When the marks themselves mysterious activate again in response to Blue Lion glowing outrageously blue, and the lions soaring off into space as well…

Is it a mistake that Lance just so happens to be the only other living Blue Paladin in the universe?

Allura’s life force might have been connected to the full of Voltron, but season 3 shows that her communicative/mental connection to it is through Blue Lion alone. Because Black Lion certainly had nothing to say to her, at the very least.

So Allura’s life force is connected to Voltron…Blue Lion responds to an unknown source of massive, pure quintessence, and then Voltron follows…Lance’s markings start to glow....

Could it be that in order to even re-locate Voltron and the paladins again in the larger scheme of the multiverse, Allura needed Lance’s connection to Blue Lion as well? To keep Allura in spiritual/mental communion with Voltron and with that universe?

With Allura gone and the Atlas portion of Voltron totally missing from Voltron, there’s the hint that possibly the Lion Musical Chairs event has undone itself and reconfigured once more. Blue Lion has re-accepted Lance, with Keith and Shiro piloting Red and Black. The lineup in the screenshot below would suggest that Shiro’s the one in Red this time, resulting in an interesting addition to the Keith and Shiro relationship arc. It suggests that Shiro is now back on the team as an established paladin, as the right hand of the Black Paladin, and is actively supporting Keith’s ongoing growth as a leader:

But if Blue Lion were Allura’s only true connection to “speak” with and interact with Voltron on a material plane, then it would make sense that she would intentionally connect her own life-force to the last Blue Paladin.

Lance, out of all of the paladins and with respect to this lineup shown here, is the only one who would be even remotely capable of ensuring this link in their universe (notwithstanding as well that canonically, Allura was in a romantic relationship with him, which might have something to do with this too, idk).

So what does this mean for Allura’s state of being? What’s exactly happening in this moment? Why do the lions leave their paladins? Is everything truly so pointless and nihilistic?

So Lance’s markings and the exit of the Voltron lions result in what I feel are two interpretations of the entire end of Voltron. And I think one is potentially more consistent with the overall show than the other:

Theory One: Allura Really Died/Shed Her Physical Body/Was Lost to the Material Plane After a Year of Hard Work

So, we do have evidence that the work to restore the full of the multiverse began pretty quickly, and that there was an explosive event to jumpstart it:

We otherwise have no evidence to support that this image meant the work (to restore every thread and all things within the threads) was DONE. Yet. It may have taken an entire year to regenerate the multiverse, which would explain the Voltron lions suddenly reacting strangely after that span of time. If we assume that Allura really died, then this would suggest that—with the overarching multiverses finally totally restored—her energy is spent up. She’s physically dying. And per the extinguishing of her own life force, Voltron….somehow can’t exist on the material plane without her? Because let’s not forget, the whole mecha is connected to her life force. So this interpretation would suggest that in her dying/being unable to remain on the material plane, Voltron itself has to die as well. This could explain why at the end here, they activate to go be with Allura and team in the shiny afterlife party in the Mother-Brain dimension. Lance may be crying here because he feels or recognizes the last of Allura’s energy slipping away. And it’s possible I was misinterpreting his smile earlier, because it’s, idk, maybe a sob.

And there does seem to be some canon support for a potentially permanent break between Allura and the material plane, as well as for why Voltron would leave:

But I’m really struggling to understand the deathy interpretation of these events at the end of s8, from SEVERAL angles, haha.

Strike One:

This scene would appear to blatantly and outrageously contradict previous show worldbuilding. To accept a “death” interpretation, one must also accept that s8 completely rewrites the inherent properties and behavior of quintessence, as well as show details that Alteans/Altean technologies more consistently function as conduits/capacitors of external energy sources rather than as massive batteries by themselves. The true batteries, even into season 7 with Shiro and Atlas, appear to be becoming from sources external to the power-wielder. This reality largely relieves the personal cost of any alchemical action/draining oneself, just so long as you have a powerful enough battery. In which case, given the resources and deep knowledge available to Allura and Honerva even in this apocalyptic moment, any action resulting in physical death feels...unearned.

If you’re interested in more specifically about this, I have a few other posts looking at these basic worldbuilding details:

Question on Quintessence and General Worldbuilding in     VLD S8

The Search for the “Bluest Quintessence” and S6 - The Most     Unnecessary Conspiracy In VLD?

It’s entirely possible I could be missing some information that would reconcile the s8 worldbuilding contradictions about quintessence and Altean energy back to the previous seven seasons. I suppose it’s possible that this s8 regeneration trick resulted in Allura and Honerva being physically unable to handle the amount of power they were conducting. But just after casually re-watching the show, I heavily question whether this is possible or consistent with everything else, haha.

Strike Two:

The concept of Voltron not being needed in a peaceful universe is nonsensical. So this show is telling me that a gigantic mecha capable of massive construction projects and space anomaly protection services couldn’t reorganize its paladins or get new ones, and transition to a new day job? Because Voltron has to exist in a combat theater only? This is wildly myopic, especially considering that Voltron already has a team of five who could pilot it again via a little game of musical chairs…and even the final lineup shown would suggest that Shiro had already taken over Red. I guess if the Galra aren’t attacking?? This must mean that there won’t be any civilizations in need of help or in need of being protected from imminent natural disasters?? At the very least, a new day job would be an incredibly meaningful way to convert Voltron from a war machine to a champion of the people. And it would still give the paladins a reason to come back together as a team and to exercise the bonds they’ve forged together as defenders of the universe.

Strike Three:

After this s8 scene, and even assuming Allura has physically died, Voltron existed before Allura got linked to it. And it existed as a largely infinite and indestructible source of energy. Even if Allura did die, the loss of her personal quintessence was of no account to its existence. The worldbuilding of Voltron as a mecha suggests it didn’t need her to continue existing on the material plane like it had existed before their alchemical link from Alfor. And even if she’d died, taking Voltron’s life-force with her away from the material plane, then why in the world wouldn’t Voltron just…totally power down? Become completely inert with the lights fading from its eyes? But then, oh wait, according to the last seven seasons, Voltron is supposed to be indestructible and constantly self-regenerating even when temporarily drained, so how could it power down forever? Even the concept that Voltron could physically destroy/remove itself from the material world to fully join Allura on the astral plane is an oxymoron.

And even if Allura’s life force was fading out and the Voltron lions are dying too, how in the world could Lance’s Altean markings suddenly even manage to glow in response to an active and powerful external stimulus? And why would the lions themselves suddenly be lighting up and capable of expending massive amounts of energy on a sudden, random interstellar space trip?

Even if the Lions themselves longed to reunite with its dead creator or its missing piece per their Allurian life-force link (despite them clearly not caring when Alfor died or when Allura got put in stasis 10k years ago), this show would have me believe that Voltron wanted to die or give up? And...for what? To lounge about in an afterlife Cabana for Retired Mechas, sipping quintessence drinks while the universe experiences ongoing natural physical disasters or anomalies that could endanger entire galaxies? What if more trans-reality comets fell from the sky? They appear to not be an isolated incident, and where there’s one, there’s usually more…What if that causes more rifts to open? And let’s just assume for a moment that those two comets are the only two trans-reality comets in the multiverse. I guess we can all sleep tight tonight because Voltron is unconcerned that the universe still has several weak stitches between it and the quintessence field, where dark entities and rift creatures roam? Lol, what?

Lotor even confirms these weaknesses in season 4:

“Zarkon believed Alfor’s plan to blow up Daibazaal and destroy the rift between realities actually worked. No one comprehended that the experiments of my mother, Honerva, could never be undone.”

Lotor’s statement here would suggest that after everything that’s happened, it might be even easier to break open rifts. But okay cool, time for Voltron’s retirement/death, I guess. Just leave a peaceful universe to be one day swallowed up and destroyed by shadow rift creatures, dark entities, apocalyptic comets, and natural disasters…

Everything about the Allura/Voltron death theory doesn’t make sense to me and raises more questions than answers. So let’s look at another way of viewing this ending!

Theory Two: Allura Didn’t Die At All—She Just Finished Working for the Year And Needs a Ride Home

The fact that Voltron survives and is activated into movement by an external source of massive, pure quintessence suggests that Allura is likely NOT dead and is STILL ALIVE. In this case, the astronomical undertaking of regenerating a multiverse still took a full year to complete. We do know there’s no major time slippage between the paladin’s universe and the Universal Consciousness realm, because the paladins were seen right back in the heart of establishing/confirming peace when they returned to their universe. And again, s8 also shows people being able to interact on the border between the Living and the Dead, so Allura simply existing within this realm should not be enough to kill her. Because life and death are largely meaningless concepts in this space where all consciousnesses are preserved.

So, if Allura is alive and just finished her work, then oop, now she’s stuck in the middle of Space Nowhere without a certain ride home. So who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters. Voltron is the only ship that Allura has a deep psychical and life-force link to, so it would be within canonical bounds that if she just helped resurrect the multiverse, then surely one hard-working princess could use Lance’s markings (her own life force) to relocate her own universe, and then use that bond on the material plane to call Voltron from across the universe to come pick her up, lol.

I really like this re-interpretation of canon for several reasons:

One, it feels a lot more consistent with the world-building and the overall tone of the show.

Two, it suggests a much happier ending where canon confirms—sort of like the Iron Giant (1999) ending—that Allura would eventually reunite on the material plane with the paladins.

Three, it suggests that there’s been a full one-year span of time where Allura and Honerva were both working together to restore the universe…while in the presence of and even interacting with Alfor, Zarkon, and Lotor, and probably a billion other dead people they thought were gone forever, but who were preserved in form and mind within the Consciousness of the universe. I feel like there’s just LOADs of possible content someone could get out of this. Did Honerva and Zarkon reunite? Did Alfor get to hug his baby girl again? Did Allura and Lotor have a major heart-to-heart discussion about the Altean colony and his quintessence insanity, and positively reconcile? Which, regardless of however you interpret what Lotor’s accused of, Allura had already…exonerated his motives and turned him into, like, a Joan of Arc figure well before she saw him again. And she even wanted Honerva to honor his memory by doing the right thing:

So there’s some clear signs that Allura and Lotor could have reconciled now that there’s no apparent quintessence insanity or witch shenanigans afoot... And it’s very likely that Allura might have even reconciled with the true, uncorrupted Emperor Zarkon himself:

 And in the meantime, what would the paladins of old be like? Were there other victims of this war who would have found it meaningful to interact in some way to obtain justice for themselves…or to obtain something more??

And this gets into reason four of why I like this re-interpretation of the ending. So canonically, mechas created out of the trans-reality comet are infinitely regenerating and indestructible. So not just Voltron, but also the Honervian/Sincline mecha. This suggests that Allura already had a ride home.

So why would Allura need more ships?

This interpretation has the potential to reverse all the painful deaths that happened throughout the show. The original paladins, the Alteans and Galrans who perished for various reasons...Alfor, Bandor, Lotor, Kova…even deaths we didn’t see.

And in calling Voltron back to her, is Allura maybe…planning to bring some new friends with her too? If she already has the Honervian/Sincline mecha to fly home, why does she need all five lions, anyway? Who would pilot them? Who else is waiting patiently in the celestial mind/heart of the multiverse to return to reality with her?

And reason five, on a simpler and maybe less galaxy-brain note, this interpretation provides a completely different context, however apparently sorrowful, for Allura’s canonical goodbyes:

Allura’s path did end here...at least as a paladin of Voltron. Because that position was temporary anyway. Restoring the multiverse was going to be an ultimate act. And there’s probably nothing after this that Allura could perform to outdo herself in saving things, lol. This is the height of everything she is and has worked for. She intentionally identifies this as her purpose:

“It is my purpose.”

Her action in s8 is the full and total culmination of everything she has learned and grown capable of doing since s1. Everything has been leading up to this. It’s her one chance to undo all the universal pain. And through restoring the multiverse, she’d be restoring balance in her own life too—to reconnect with her fragmented past, to give those from her past a chance to live in the new universe with her….

The other paladins, though—they were still needed in the meantime to confirm peace with the Galran empire, to convert it (however questionably) to a democracy, and to establish relations between Earth and other vast galaxies of people. Allura was not wrong that their paths as paladins had not ended. Because she needed them to ensure their universe would be truly at peace while she was up in the stars, working to restore and reconcile with all that had been lost in painful war.

And all of this would ultimately suggest that she would return to the universe, to the paladins, and probably take back the piece of her life force she’d given Lance that ensured a link with Blue Lion. Because…that homing beacon wouldn’t be needed anymore. Perhaps Allura would even consider decoupling the remainder of her life-force from Voltron, to fully reconcile herself to herself. To finally be whole and just Allura again, idk.

The only major problem with the “Allura is Alive and Bringing Some Friends/Family Home” interpretation is that...lol, the development team for the show doesn’t subscribe to it, at least not in any outward way I’ve heard. Based on their March 28, 2019 interview with Let’s Voltron, the executive producers talk about Allura like she’s dead. They say that they wanted to show sacrifice, the impact of death, and how important it is to honor the memory of the dead:

And we definitely feel it. There is a massive weight of loss and memorial in the finale here. Coran looks just this side of totally broken as he remembers Allura, and he didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. He reiterates just how much Allura means to the people still alive in this universe:

“For some of us she was a diplomat, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. But to those of us around this table, she will always be family.”

The EPs have suggested that, like other shows, there may be ways to resurrect Allura, and there may have been happier endings possible. But again, please see the Theory 1 statements above regarding the massive worldbuilding contradictions when assuming that Allura had to die in the first place.

In which case, hilariously, the EPs have also expressed their interest in creative works that keep going, with plot tensions that require even supposedly dead heroes to return, as in this article here: 

“You can kill Captain America a million times and he’ll always show back up.”

So creator statements are just all over the place regarding the finality of “death” or even of “separation” in this universe. We definitely don’t get a body to prove that Allura is dead. And we also know that canonically, there is a place where the rift between the Dead and Living breaks down. And oh, by the way, Allura just regenerated entire multiverse strands that had been destroyed. So even if it’s not as simple as…holding someone’s hand as they step out of the consciousness realm, what canonical detail or limitation would keep her from resurrecting them herself? It is well within Allura’s canonical range to bring back all of these people without dying herself. 

Conclusion

Regardless of creator intention, the various contradictions in the worldbuilding itself make the angst of Allura’s death, the memorial statue, the lingering pain of the characters (oof, poor Coran and Lance especially), and all the interviews talking about Allura’s death feel excessively unnecessary. And at the same time, I’ve been very fascinated by what one can do with the details about the Consciousness Realm; the inherent properties of comet-based mechas, quintessence, and alchemy; Lance’s strange marks; and even the odd, last-minute Voltron interstellar space trip surging toward the Allura in the stars, with Blue Lion in the lead:

It appears that Allura could be very much alive in the final screenshot of her in the stars. Through Lance and their shared connection via Blue Lion, she’s maintained a homing beacon for her own reality, activated Voltron to complete a massive interstellar trip to come get her and likely several others—and now, she’s faithfully waiting in the Consciousness Realm with everyone, preparing for a family trip back to their resurrected worlds, in their trusty mechas.

I watched s8 on the day it dropped. I was in a daze about all of its wild and painful messaging. I wrote some unhappy metas about the sheer nihilism of this show. It’s taken me, lol, 1.5 years to actually go back and re-watch several episodes at a time. And I don’t believe this interpretation of the ending would fix every problem in Voltron: Legendary Defender. Sometimes, trying to make sense of this show feels like trying to reconcile quantum theory with classical mechanics, haha. So I’m sure one could poke holes in this post. And to even arrive at these conclusions, I had to throw out or reinterpret some of the worldbuilding and scenes, in direct conflict with the stated perspective of the show’s development team.

But even so...I derived most everything for this interpretation from the show itself. And even if the development team didn’t intend this happy ending of resurrections and reconciliations as I’ve suggested…it seems that this finale—at least while I’m thinking about it right now—is canonically possible and an attempt at consistency with the material provided across multiple seasons. It offers resurrections, redemptions, reconciliations...

Its ultimate message even genuinely coincides with the last episode’s title.

The End Is the Beginning.

And I really like that.

[aion-rsa]

Insidious: Is The Further Real?

https://ift.tt/39C1Z8d

“The Further is a world far beyond our own, yet it’s all around us, a place without time as we know it,” Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) explains in the 2011 occult horror film Insidious. “It’s a dark realm filled with the tortured souls of the dead, a place not meant for the living.” Director James Wan saw the astral world through the eyes of fear. It was how he was able to evoke the most terror from the nether regions of soul and thought.

Horror films have made a spiritual ghetto out of the universe which lies between dream, sleep and death. They focus on the malevolent realm of incubi, succubae and the Red-Lipstick-Face Demon. The map to the Further is not limited to shadowy studies. Many mystical practices are divided into black and white magic out of fear and superstition, but there can be room for both.

Insidious starts off like a fairly typical haunted house movie. It opens shortly after Renai (Rose Byrne) and Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) move into a spooky new house with their three children. When the property progresses from ominous to hazardous, the family move into an even spookier house, fire their real estate broker, and contact an astral travel agent. The psychically gifted supernatural expert, Shaye’s Elise, explains the hauntings are not a feature of the multiple houses, but the results of a family member embarking on nocturnal astral projection missions which he believes are dreams.

The concept that the soul can leave the body during dream states is ancient. But for all the purported cosmic intelligence culled from out-of-body incidents, practitioners have found no way to scientifically measure if a spirit leaves or enters a body. It is a concept rejected by scientists but beloved by filmmakers and other artists.

In the film, the first person to put the notes together is Renai, the mother of young Dalton (Ty Simpkins), who falls into a mysterious coma early in the first act. Renai, who is a songwriter, experiences two initial contacts. The first comes in a box of missing sheet music. Musicians have always been pioneers when it comes to gray areas of society and spirituality, and rockers chose to embrace the Further. George Harrison melodically rhapsodizes about the extracorporeal aspects of certain Hindu practices in the Beatles’ song “The Inner Light.” The Moody Blues harmonize on the idea that “Thinking is the best way to travel” on their 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord, itself a musical blueprint for transcendental journeying. Through sonics, these artists ventured happily into the transformative aspects of the Further. Among true believers, “the Further” is also called Liṅga Śarīra, Akasha, and prana. But it’s probably best known as the astral plane, a shallow tag in itself.

“The term ‘astral plane’ is a poetic description, at best, or more accurately a misnomer,” says Zeena, a Tibetan tantric Buddhist yogini, and iconic occult authority and artist. “When our consciousness pierces the veil of our ordinary, everyday scope of perception, there are infinite other realities one might experience, not just one ‘astral plane.’”

In Insidious, the paranormal hunting psychic Elise explains that Dalton is a “traveler,” who was born with the ability to pierce that veil.

“Everybody possesses the potential for astral projection,” Zeena says. “It’s a natural part of being human, just as many other metaphysical or paranormal experiences can naturally occur. But the ability to actualize it is relatively rare, and the effects from the occurrences vary greatly depending on many factors.”

Rebecca Halladay, an occult writer, scholar, and lifelong practitioner and witch, describes astral projection as “working on the Inner Planes of consciousness. In terms of ‘dimensions,’ this would be considered [fifth-dimensional] or above. Journeying is work within the physical, Earthly realm, which is [three-dimensional].”

Certain practices are believed to bridge these dimensions.

“Astral projection during deep states of unconsciousness like sleeping, fainting, or coma, could be achieved by a master of such techniques,” Zeena says. “For one who’s trained most of their life in the esoteric method of willed astral projection, and has become highly skilled in the ability to focus the mind under all circumstances, then deep states of unconsciousness wouldn’t impede their ability.”

The cinematic spiritualist doesn’t believe Dalton fell into a coma because he slipped off a ladder in a creepy attic. Elise believes the boy, being only a child, couldn’t tell the astral projection from a dream and had no fear about going too far.

“The Further looks like your surroundings, but a different lighting shade of it,” says Emi Rose, a psychotherapist and founder of Paragon Solstice. “You can see yourself.”

Rose finds that “Insidious depicts the astral plane in similar levels. It is similar in respect to the idea of a ‘physical’ mirror image of your waking life. Your surroundings around you as you sleep are remarkably similar. The difference is the state of consciousness you are now in can shape and change that experience that exists out of time and space.”

Because of the familiarity and relative comfort of these projected surroundings, Dalton gets lost in his adventures, leaving only a lifeless body behind. Elise, a veteran soul-traveler herself in the movie, is ever mindful of the dangers.

It all amounts to a very literal translation of eastern philosophical contemplations. The Buddhist meditation practice Maraṇasati is constant remembering that death can strike at any time. Thukdam is a Buddhist phenomenon in which a realized master’s consciousness remains in the body despite physical death. While this isn’t what is happening with the young Dalton, he is plugged into medical sensors which, during at least one frightening pop-up, flatline.

Practitioners and researchers are divided on whether it is possible to slip away and die during astral travel.

“There is a risk that could happen if done incorrectly,” Zeena tells us. Kristna Saikia, who is a metaphysics and meditation teacher and filmmaker, as well as a fellow astral travel facilitator, disagrees.

“No one dies in Astral travel,” Saikia says “There is a silver cord which is always connected with our etheric body. When you astral travel, you are always aware of what is happening in the earthly dimension with your body. It’s an intentional out-of-body experience. You can come back to your physical body whenever you decide.”

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In Wan’s film, tormented souls vie against demonic forces for the chance to possess Dalton. Possession is a horror film mainstay, and Insidious offers an interesting alternative arc to the usual spectral evictions enforced by Hollywood. But is it possible for an entity to take over a body during an astral trip?

“If done incorrectly, yes,” Zeena tells us. It is also something which can be done with intent. “In ceremonial magic, this is the entire purpose of entering the Inner Planes,” says Halladay. “During the Rite of Isis, the Priestess goes into the Inner Planes to invoke the Goddess Isis to bring her into the Earthly realm. Now can an entity ‘possess’ a physical being while on the planes? I would have to say it is absolutely possible.”

It turns out Dalton isn’t the only traveler in the Insidious family. He gets it from his father, who was terrorized by the spirit of an old woman during his childhood. Josh suppressed the memory, but Elise opens old wounds and new ones for the patriarch. She hypnotizes Josh, triggering his long-resting phantasmal dislocation, and sends him into the Further to find his son and bring him back.

Zeena confirms people can be guided through the experience, but insists “it’s a very delicate process requiring a qualified teacher from reputable metaphysical lineages that specialize in that. And even then, astral projection, or directing one’s consciousness, is not the main goal, but rather a way to gauge preparedness for more advanced training on the path toward spiritual enlightenment. When done improperly, the results of attempting astral projection simply for experimentation, entertainment, or curiosity can be disastrous.”

The film presents a cinematically dark alternative to the physical plane, a netherworld of unlocked doors and an overarching feeling of dread. Insidious doesn’t imply the Further is Hell, but it does look like one of the many highways AC/DC bypassed.

“They gave the darker energies too much power in the movie,” says Emi Rose. “In the astral plane, we always have a balanced choice to engage on a subconscious or conscious level. On a conscious level you can power your will, create scenarios.”

Josh’s first encounter in the Further is with the Crying Woman, not the most inviting of hosts. Citizens in Insidious’ cinematic spectral realm include the spirits of a family doomed to relive their violent deaths on a spectral loop; a long-haired, leather jacketed ghoul with a sex-fiend tongue; and a mischievous little boy. At its center is the Lipstick-Face Demon. It is tall with horns, pointed ears, snake-eyes, spidery fingers, and hooves for feet. Its skin is black as the night sky, its eyes are blacker holes.

“When one has a mind-expanding experience through any number of means, whether astral projection, meditation, or psychedelics, one encounters infinite types of beings,” Zeena says. “Recently deceased beings; beings we knew in a former incarnation but recognize in their new reincarnated state; celestial beings; demons and hell beings; mythological or magical beings; Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; Gods and demigods.” They’re all among the usual suspects.

But what you encounter is also contingent on who you call. “It all depends on the law of polarity,” Saikia says. “If you project fear, you will encounter energy vampires and evil entities.”

Halladay agrees that there are other entities in the astral planes, but says “I have never personally met other travelers, only those I have astralled with.”

The Red-Faced Demon never speaks in the film. It has, however, spoken with Josh’s mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), in her dreams, which also appear to be of a special class: lucid dreaming.

“Astral traveling is a combination of Insidious and Inception,” quips Emi Rose. Inception is technically about lucid dreaming, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Dom is technically-aided to enter dreams to steal information or implant ideas. It is often mistaken for astral travel, but not usually weaponized in the way that film presents it. Reddit’s rogue “Astral Army” community claims they combine astral travel and remote viewing to post out-of-body surveillance reports on popular conspiracy theory obsessions like Area 51.

The different practices are often mistakenly considered interchangeable, but are quite different. 

“With astral projection, one is sending one’s consciousness–either in part or fully–away from their body to a designated place or realm, in this world or others, for a particular purpose,” Zeena explains. “Remote viewing is when consciousness remains in the body but one can view anywhere else from afar. These two phenomena are also different from the involuntary experience colloquially known as OBE (out of body experiences), which usually spontaneously occurs in conjunction with trauma, near death experiences, or extreme stressors or ecstasy.”

In the overall arc of the Insidious franchise, the Further is much vaster than originally imagined, and the source and tool of mystical workings.

“There is a difference between Occultist practices and some, though not all, Esoteric Traditions,” says Halladay. “Occultists, past and present, generally accept astral projection as a regular part of their practice. Eurocentric pagan traditions do not make it a part of their regular practice.”

Though a fan of the film, Rose thought “Insidious focused too much on the shadow side of the astral plane. The movie portrayed the astral world as a scary dark place with only negative entities waiting to take over your body. So many more things occur in our dream world that we can conceive beyond bad scenarios. It is where we can conduct unfinished business, live out fantasies, replay or create scenarios, and travel to places we cannot do in our waking life.”

Late 18th century occult orders Golden Dawn and the Theosophists believed they could journey to other worlds, heavens and hells, and astrological spheres through etheric travel. In the 1999 book, Astral Dynamics, Robert Bruce calls it the “Real Time Zone,” and says it is the non-physical dimension-level closest to the physical. The New Age movement actively promotes the brighter, more enlightening aspects of the Further, to the point where the practice is on the precipice of mainstream thought.

Insidious isn’t the first film to venture beyond physical realms, but its ongoing franchise is proof the inner universe is expanding.

Insidious is streaming on Netflix now.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Insidious: Is The Further Real? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[dandelionpath]

ANIMAL SPIRIT WORK - MASSIVE HOW-TO

okay because there's not a ton of information out there (at least info that's easy to find without clicking through a bunch of pages and stuff) on animal spirit work and how to do it, i thought i'd try to tackle this issue by writing my own post lmao. (as always, some of this is UPG, but there's also some SPG in this post - shared personal gnosis)

a brief intro: "wtf is animal spirit work? is this that sPirIT anIMaL stuff? how does it differ from normal spirit work?" first, no, this has nothing to do with spirit animals or whatever else you might be thinking of that fall in with that line of thinking. here's my take on animal spirit work explained in one sentence: animal spirit work is working with spirits of dead physical earth animals. it's different from regular spirit work in the way that you're working with spirits of deceased earth animals, rather than spirits of the astral plane or earth spirits that are not of deceased animals (i.e. nature spirits, fae, merfolk, landgods, dragons, houseplants, trees, etc). animal spirit work is when you interact with dead animals, whether it's by finding them around randomly, or by using animal remains to connect with them. you can talk to them, make friends with them, help them to "move on" to the "other side" of death, and even have them help you in spellwork or other magical workings. 

how it works: find an animal spirit. "well, how do i do that, comet?" either find a random animal spirit somewhere on earth, or (the easier way) use animal remains to connect with an animal spirit. talk to that spirit. make friends if both of you want to do so. profit? "what do you mean by 'remains', comet? it sounds disgusting ew." remains are anything left behind after an animal dies. this can be bones or hides (the fur and skin). i guess it's kind of gross, but it depends on your opinion on that kind of thing. circle of life and all that! when finding animal remains in the wild, please don't touch it with your bare hands; you don't know what's been crawling over it or where that animal has been before it got there! grab some gloves, and maybe do a bit of research beforehand (in some places, it's actually illegal to "harvest" certain animal remains. be safe and try to be as legal as possible, those laws are in place to protect the animals and other nature). if you're interested in "harvesting" animal remains, try the 'vulture culture' tag for more information. i personally highly recommend buying animal remains that are already prepared for human contact. oftentimes, the spirit in the remains is used to human contact then, too, and you'll have an easier time bonding with them! check the laws in your country beforehand, though, please. if you live in canada and are wondering where you can legally buy some animal remains, hmu bc I've done a lot of looking around for myself and i can give you a couple suggestions (skullstore.ca skullstore.ca skullstore.ca !!! im not sponsored by them lmao; i actually haven't even purchased from them quite yet, but their customer service is incredible when I've asked questions, and they have so many great reviews, including some reviews from friends/acquaintances of mine!)

how to actually do the thing - with animal remains:

I'll link a couple things at the end of this post that are in other people's words, and that have helped me learn and figure out how to do this whole thang. but let me try and explain it first because i love talking apparently.

step 1. figure out how "dead" the dead thing is. this is where you figure out if there's any spirit at home in the remains. oftentimes, animals will move on to whatever comes after death after they do the whole dying thing. sometimes they stick around, though, for whatever reason (sometimes they're lost and confused, and this is generally when i help them to "move on" to the OtherSide, whatever that may be). how do we do this, though? good question. let me give you some pointers. first off, you're going to want to wash your hands before handling your remains. actually, scratch that, first i want you to use some common sense and figure out whether or not the remains are safe to handle. if they're not, don't touch it! you can do this without touching it, it's just a bit more difficult if you're a beginner to this. however, you can still do it with a bit of patience. now that you're sure you can touch the animal remains, wash your hands before you handle it! it's just respectful and also better for the remains themselves. think of it like you're about to shake hands with a new person. you don't want to shake hands when your hands are all grimy, right? hopefully not. anyways, once you've washed your hands, pick up the animal remains, whatever they may be. get acquainted with the remains (not the spirit quite yet) by stroking the fur, feeling the bone, just touch it and learn your way around it without using just your eyes. if you feel like the spirit is uncomfortable with you doing this, stop doing it. try again another day if you feel like the spirit is starting to panic. once you've become better acquainted with the actual piece of animal you've got in your hands, kind of "knock on the door" of the animal remains. this is by far the most difficult part to explain. you might feel a bit silly or frustrated, but that's okay! you just kind of.... gotta figure it out. If it helps, imagine a door in your mind. Close your eyes if that feels easier or right. Imagine the door being an entrance to the animal's remains, where the spirit resides. Knock on it (don't actually hit the remains, though, that probably wouldn't be appreciated lmao). See if you feel like anything answers. Do you feel anything behind the door? Does anything answer you? Do you feel like there might be anything energetically there? Or does it just feel... empty. Like there's no energy there, like there might be a big void inside? If it feel likes there's something there, congratulations! There's most likely a spirit residing there still! If it feels like there's nothing there, the spirit has probably moved on. That's okay, though, because now you can use the remains for something: either a ritual/magic tool, or you can offer it as a home to any wandering animal spirits!

step 2. say hello to the spirit: again, sit with the remains. get to know the material remains; run your hands over it if that feels okay to do. just sit with it for a while, so that you can get used to each other's presences. if you've just completed step one, ignore all that. make sure you're in a calm and safe and comfortable space when you're going to try to say hello to the spirit. clear your mind. meditate if you need to. empty your mind out as much as you can, or at least calm yourself down so that you're at a good calm and collected blank state to meet the spirit. now: open yourself up to whatever presence might be there. there's a couple ways you can do this with visualizing if you need to visualize. ~ a) visualize a door again. knock on the door and see if anyone answers. b) visualize a cord connecting you from your head to the animal remains. ~ keep yourself open to any presence or energy or shifts you feel. it's important that you don't go into this with any expectations, or else you might start making things up without realizing it. if you notice anything, don't do anything quite yet. sit with your observations calmly and quietly. after a bit, if you can feel a spirit there, say hello! explain who you are, what your intentions are, and that you're not a danger to the spirit. help them to feel safe as they might feel a bit skittish or confused at first. some spirits will jump on the chance to talk with you, and others are a bit more shy. if you can't feel the spirit interacting with you at all, don't worry! either you need to practice spirit communication a bit more, or the spirit doesn't feel like talking quite yet. sometimes they need a bit of help. one thing that Lupa has said that really helped me out with a couple animal spirits is this: "One way to help this along is to basically create a vessel for the animal to use. Visualize the animal, whole and alive, in your mind. Start with letting it just stand there. Don’t try to make it do anything else. If the animal starts to move or speak of its own volition, let it do so at its own pace. This is the spirit taking the vessel you have created and using it as a conduit for communication." [x] if the spirit really doesn't want to talk right now, you can talk to it a bit to reassure it that you mean it no harm and what your whole deal is (aka who you are and what your intentions are). you can kind of talk to thin air if you really want (doesn't have to be verbally, but sometimes it helps if you're not very confident in your spirit communication skills). sometimes it'll help the spirit get used to you and help it feel more comfortable. sometimes the spirit is just not interested in talking, or can actually feel quite aggressive. if this happens, leave them alone lmao and try another day after being around the animal remains to help you both get used to each other's energies. sometimes the spirit will lay dormant for quite a while, or just be very shy. this happens! Bear has talked about his experiences on his blog with a few shy spirits, and I've had a spirit or two that didn't want to talk for a long while. you can carry the spirit remain with you as you go about your days (if safe to do so), and it'll help the spirit get acquainted with your energy. offer it water, a burning candle, spare energy, or some other offerings if that feels right. i feel that it's important to note that it can take days, weeks, even months for some spirits to finally communicate with you. this isn't something for those that are seeking instant gratification or other similar kind of thing. this is a practice and path that takes time and effort! frustration comes with the whole deal of spirit work in general. don't go into this expecting instant results. keep yourself open and patient as much as possible.

step 3. keep talking to it, get to know the spirit. easiest one to explain. get to know the spirit just like you would with any other spirit or human! sometimes animal spirits don't speak in words, and only give off feelings/"vibes", or other non-word communication methods. I've noticed that insects and smaller animals (i.e. rodents) often won't use words. experiment and learn and use the good ol' trial-and-error and you'll figure it all out, slowly but surely!

how to actually do the thing - without animal remains:

this is definitely the more difficult way to do it, but sometimes necessary if you don't have access to animal remains (i've been there!). the first animal spirit I ever met (and one of my best friends) was a bear cub who'd been hit and was by the side of the road. unfortunately my parents were driving and didn't want to pull over, so I wasn't able to get anywhere near it. so i flung my astral body out to it and met it that way. i did have it easy since there'd been a physical body (corpse) that I saw and could use that as a jumping off point to meeting the spirit. chances are, though, that you're not going to be able to find any animal remains around, especially in urban areas! (keep an eye out for roadkill, though, if you really want to have a physical body as a jumping off point to meeting a spirit. roadkill spirits are often very confused, skittish, and disoriented, and most of them want to just move on to the "OtherSide" of death, so sometimes you can help them along with that!) if you have no animal remains whatsoever, here's what you might do:

step 1. find a spirit. this is going to be the most difficult step probably, especially if you're just starting out with spirit work and your senses aren't very strong yet. i'm going to try to explain what to do, but to be honest? it all just comes down to skills (practice!) and luck. the best place to meet animal spirits is parks, forests, or other more "wild" (naturey) areas around you. if you're stuck in the middle of the big city with no nature areas around, try going to a park. it might not be the greatest, but they'll most likely be a couple spirits around. do you know any houses or friends that have animal remains of sorts? the most common remains i can think of and that i've seen are antlers! sometimes their will be a spirit attached to those. for instance, a friend's house has antlers lining their house (her dad is a hunter), and there's actually an entire herd of deer outside their house; it's really beautiful to walk past and energetically see! if you have a friend that has dead animal bits, see if you can sit in the same room with those remains and sense if there's anything there. if there's a house somewhere with animal remains, is there a bench nearby or somewhere you can stay a while without looking like a creep? sit there and see if you can sense animal spirits around there. if there's no animal remains around you at all, then do what I said earlier and go to a park or other naturey area. sit there. calm your mind, make sure you feel at ease. once you're as calm as you can get, let down the walls in your mind and open it up to the area around you. feel the nature surrounding you, such as the trees, the grass, any flowers, even the sky! are there people walking nearby? what does their energy feel like? perhaps there's a few birds (pigeons and crows count!) or squirrels or other critters around - what do their energies feel like? once you've gotten acquainted with your surroundings, open yourself up a bit further and reach a little farther into the energetic spaces. do you feel any unusual energies that you wouldn't expect to be there? any flashes of sudden intuition like there might be an animal spirit around you? this will feel differently than just suddenly thinking of an animal - it'll be a bit more like you know there's something there. if you're not sure if it's your imagination or not, try and send out some energetic "feelers", and check out the space around you to see if there's any unusual energies that you wouldn't expect to be there. if you can astral project/travel in this realm of existence, you can also do this to see if there's any animal spirits about! they're often on a lower vibrational existence/layer than naturally occuring nature spirits (animal spirits are natural and whatever, but like... you know what i mean hopefully lmao). fae and tree spirits that have always existed in spirit form, for example, are often of a bit higher of a vibrational frequency than spirits of animals that used to be physical.  I'm not entirely sure why that is, although i have a few theories. that's another post for another time, though. back to what i was saying earlier, however, if you're going to astral project to look for animal spirits, try viewing things a bit more.... "close to home", than what you'd do when looking for fae and the like. you might not find a spirit right away, as many animals move on to whatever comes after death quite quickly. if you can't find a spirit, keep practicing your spirit sensing skills! and of course, you can always try again another day or at a different time of day.

step 2. greet the spirit. similar to step two of the other list, this is when you say hello to the spirit and introduce yourself. many spirits will be skittish, but certainly not all of them will be! if you're astral projecting, you can approach them with your energy/astral body. if you're not astral projecting, and are just feeling out the space energetically, you can approach them energetically! you might want to physically move closer to where they are, so you don't have to extend your energy too far away from your physical body, as this can often tire you out faster. if you're unsure what i mean by "approach them energetically" or you don't know how to do this, it's really quite simple once you've figured out how to! each entity (including yourself!) has a certain energy signature, a unique energetic presence in existence. when you're feeling around you for different energies, you're most likely sending out some sort of energy of your own to have a presence that is able to feel other energies (and presences). using this energetic presence of yours (i'd call this an energetic body, although it isn't your full energy body), you can move about in the world and interact with other energies. you can actually communicate with other presences using your energetic body! when you focus on your energetic body and put intention into it to say/emit a certain feeling, thought, or any other thing you might want to communicate, this will transfer through your energy into that energetic body (since all of your energy is connected). if you want to say hello to the animal spirit, simply put the intention of a friendly and safe greeting into your mind and visualize it moving into your energetic body. let me know if you need more explanation than that, and i'll hopefully be able to help you out. (also this is all hugely UPG, I haven't really seen/heard anyone saying anything similar to that, but this is what's worked for me) approach with caution and patience in mind. also make sure that you're safely warded and/or shielded, as well as any other protective measures you may want (a guardian spirit is always helpful!). it's best to approach the spirit slowly, without any sudden movements. after all, they are still animals, even in spirit form! extend a gentle energetic presence toward the animal and say hello. after this, do what feels right. trust your gut, your intuition. take cues from the spirit, and you should be fine! not all animal spirits are going to want to interact with people. if the spirit runs away, don't pursue it - treat the spirit similar to how you would treat a potential new human friend. if you ran after a potential new human friend, that'd be really creepy and invasive, so don't do that with the spirit lmao. if the spirit starts to act aggressively or something else along those lines, take the hint and back off. there will be other animal spirits you can get to know.

step 3. invite the animal to spend time with you. if you think you're getting along well with the spirit, and the spirit would be alright with it, ask if you can meet up again sometime. the spirit may not have a good sense of human time, especially since it's dead now, so you'll have to just figure out how to deal with that. i'm not going to completely spoon feed you all this, and things are going to be different with every spirit you interact with anyways! if y'all are getting to know each other pretty well or it feels right to do so, offer the spirit a place at your house. this can sound good to a lot of smaller spirits, especially, since they probably still have a little bit of that animal instinct to find a safe place! don't manipulate them into it, just be cool and normal lmao. be a good person and hopefully the spirit will be good back to you. okay i think that's everything i can think of, really. i'm getting pretty tired and spaced out after trying to explain all that, so i'm going to end the post here lol

links/resources:

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/129535345176/my-dad-found-a-gorgeous-skunk-skull-about-a-year

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/129383060211/hi-so-my-grandfather-gave-me-a-horn-from-a-bull

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/129571554586/do-you-have-any-tips-for-connecting-with-animal

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/tagged/animal-spirit-work

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/153659564901/could-one-potentially-cannect-with-a-species

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/148176794631/i-dont-know-if-this-has-been-answered-or-not-but (this one is just about washing ur hands before handling animal remains lol)

https://therioshamanism.com/category/skin-spirits/

https://therioshamanism.com/2011/04/04/how-to-talk-to-dead-things/

https://therioshamanism.com/2011/05/25/vegan-skindancing/

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/144452081656/when-you-speak-to-spirits-do-they-respond-in-a

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/144204188206/what-is-a-good-spirit-to-begin-working-with-if-you

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/139825580571/what-happens-if-you-have-two-companion-spirits

https://blackbearmagic.tumblr.com/post/142974236946/i-saw-the-fox-anon-and-it-got-me-thinking-do-you

@blackbearmagic

@thegreenwolf

and there’s other tumblrs out there but I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head at the moment

i really hope this helps some of you to get a good start on animal spirit work! don't be scared to drop any questions in my inbox or DMs (inbox is always best because someone else might have the exact same question as you! but DMS work too if you're uncomfortable ^-^). let me know if you have any success with this as well! i love to hear people's spirit stories and experiences!

[amethyst-noir]

Part 1: After Mordo is defeated, the sorcerers decide that Strange should be the new sorcerer supreme. Stephen doesn't accept, claiming that he betrayed the sorcerer and the world's trust. No one can make Strange change his mind. But then Thor comes to visit. He talks to Strange about how depressed and guilty he felt for five years, says that even though Strange is coping better, he still feels the same way.

I love this. I mean, it tears my heart apart, but I love it so much. So, this happened. I don’t know exactly what it is but I know that the idea of Thor and Stephen bonding over their experiences gives me life. Both of them are precious and must be protected at all costs.

Stephen’s going to be the new Sorcerer Supreme, no question about that, and it’s equally written in the stars that Stephen doesn’t feel worthy. He hasn’t before the whole Titan debacle and he sure as hell doesn’t now after dooming Tony.

So, he says no and wants to vanish but he’s duty bound to the Sanctum and so he stays there, hiding himself away from the world even more than before. Wallowing in his pain and grief, never allowing himself to forget for even a second. Now, with Mordo gone and no new threat on the horizon, he can fully concentrate on everything that happened and he breaks down, completely useless, with his body and soul in constant agony. Maybe he got hurt in defeating Mordo and has to heal from that, too.

Wong and the other sorcerers frantically search for a way to help him - they need a new Sorcerer Supreme, yes, but more than that they want to help a good friend and valued colleague through this. Wong ends up contacting Pepper, who makes the connection between Stephen and Thor and who has the means to contact Thor.

Thor, of course, comes immediately. He rather liked Stephen in their short interaction and he hates the idea of someone suffering because of things that couldn’t be helped and can’t be changed.

He’s gentle and careful with Stephen, first talking while Stephen stays silent, later the monologue becomes a dialogue. Thor speaks about many things he’s never spoken about before - concerning his brother, his sister, his father and the fate of Asgard. Stephen is a good listener but when he starts to ask questions and make comments? Thor realizes that this is helping him, too.

He can see the truth in Stephen’s eyes and his careful phrasing but it takes a long time before Stephen actually speaks about his love for Tony. How he’d grown to know and love the man, how it felt worse like killing himself to raise that single finger and send him off to certain death. How hard it was to project an air of cool detachment and watch as all the concern and well-wishes went to Pepper while nobody except Wong knows what exactly he has lost.

This is when Thor gives him Mjolnir. Stephen takes it with trepidation but Thor has been so nice and encouraging and he doesn’t want to repay his kindness with a refusal. So he carefully wraps his fingers around the hilt and prepares himself for the pain.

Instead lifting Mjolnir is as easy as conjuring a butterfly. Stephen stares, unable to comprehend, while Thor laughs out loud for the first time in way too long.

“See, wizard? You’re worthy. You did nothing wrong and you’re heart is in the right place,” he says and Stephen sets it down gently before he begins to sob.

“How? Why?” he asks but Thor can’t answer that; knows that Stephen has to discover that on his own.

So he just takes Stephen into an embrace, not saying a word. He sheds a few tears, too. For his father and the sister he never really got to know, for his brother and for Tony, the friend he lost too soon.

When they both have recovered they smile at each other, insecure and not knowing how to go on from there. Thor suggests a bear, Stephen smiles, uncertain and fragile, but a smile. Instead of tea he joins Thor in drinking beer.

They talk a little bit more but the tone has shifted. Thor tells tales of his adventures and funny little anecdotes about Loki while Stephen opens up and tells a little bit about the times he had with Tony. About a few magical mishaps.

Stephen is hilarious, Thor realizes.

Thor has a gentle soul and a subtle wit that’s very well hidden, Stephen discovers.

They mesh well.

Thor goes off to have adventures with the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy again while Stephen accepts the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

They stay in contact, two lost souls who have lost so much, and will lose even more because they’re cursed with a much longer lifespan than their friends and colleagues.

One day, when everyone Stephen knew in his old life is gone, he searches for his successor and joins Thor out there in space to learn and explore. They never go near Titan.

Stephen never stops loving Tony. But he learns to draw strength from it. He remembers Tony’s smile, his witty remarks and the way his hands felt on Stephen’s body. He remembers how it was to be loved and accepted irrevocably.

And maybe, someday, they meet each other on the astral plane. Tony’s been waiting and watching for a long time. His smile as he looks at Stephen is gentle and forgiving and full of love.

There are no tears. All of them have been cried ages ago. There is only happiness. And love. So much love. Enough to span death and centuries.

💫

[myhauntedsalem]

Astral Projection: Doorway to a New Dimension

The concept of astral projection has been around for a long time, but until today, it has been hidden from most of humanity. Now, with the aid of astral projection, new levels of knowledge and power enable us to discover the answer to Man's eternal question about life in the physical body. Death takes on a ​new meaning as we begin to realize that it is only a transition to another dimension, or place of existence. By learning to astral project, we can learn many things about ourselves, and unlearn many things that were previously thought to be true. This leads us to the realization that our physical bodies are only a part of our entire selves, and there is more to our existence than meets the eye!

In our limited awareness, the reality we live and breathe on Earth, with its beautiful landscapes, mountains, rivers, streams, animals and insects, can be compared with the petals on a flower. What we see is not the whole flower, but only a part. This is because man has lost touch with the use of his own mind. He concludes, erroneously, that the physical world is the only reality there is. He believes that his life as an individual has only to do with the flesh body of himself, and concludes that the physical world is solid and real because his senses tell him it "feels" solid and real.

The mind has abilities that go beyond the five senses of the physical world. The petal of the flower that we now experience is the material world or physical plane of existence. It has a specific vibration, just as all creatures on this level vibrate at the same rate. Because of this, regardless of where we go on this level, all things take on the appearance of being solid, material objects. Just as the colors of the rainbow show the effects of the different vibrations of light, and the melodies on the piano show the effect of the different notes, so, too, does the entire universe contain various octaves, or rates of vibration. These universal harmonics comprise the different levels of existence.

So the Earth plane we live on is only one of many dimensions. There are other spheres that we describe as being above or below us. Actually, they are not really above or below us, but rather at all times around us, permeating all things. Astral projection allows us to discover that the people and objects existing on these other realms can be just as solid and real as any object on the earth terrain. And if we happened to be on another level, looking back "down" into this region, we would view an earth that was not solid. Right now, at every instant, we are living, coexisting with, and walking through people and objects of another dimension! When a person astral projects, he or she can see these other frontiers.

Our Astral Bodies

When we were born into this physical world, we were provided with a physical body to carry out our duties. Astral projection allows us to project "out of the body" and into the next plane of existence, which is the astral plane. When we do this, we are in another body, which is called the "astral body." We already possess this astral body, just as all other people, animals, creatures and everything on earth possess an astral body.

The astral body has some amazing properties. Unlike the physical body, which is held down by gravity, the astral body can overcome this limitation by the effort of thought alone. While out of the body, we can not only walk around as if in the physical, but also soar above the trees, or go out into space. Another property of the astral body is that it cannot be injured. One of the greatest fears while on earth is pain or injury. While out of the body, this normal human reaction can be unlearned, because there is absolutely nothing that will cause damage to the astral body! In the next dimension, fire, knives, guns, falling from great heights, electrical shocks, disease, wild animals or being run over by a steamroller can do no harm. Many people receive lessons about this in their dreams. Watch for them, because you'll discover that you always survive -- don't you?

In this next level of existence, which all of us can visit, there are many familiar things, such as cars, trains, planes, and highways. Everything that is on this Earth right now comes from the astral plane. Many people get this backward. They think the astral dimension was molded from earth. The truth is, the Earth was fashioned from the ideas and discoveries which originated on the astral.

When we are out of the body, communication is accomplished by thought. Another word for this is telepathy. In other words, it is not necessary to move our lips in order to be heard, although we can do this if we wish. Sometimes, when we hear what we think is just a thought, this could actually be someone communicating to us from the astral.

This next plane of existence has been sought after, researched, and argued about by philosophers and religious people from time immemorial. Until now, it has remained elusive and has evaded discovery to all but the most diligent. The individual who looks within instead of without, who looks to correct his own imperfections, and who treats others as he wishes to be treated will have the door of discovery swing wide open for him.

Conquering Our Fears

When we begin to explore this, we must first overcome the obstacle of fear, which will present itself in many forms. The fear of death, pain, injury, the unknown, evil, devils, hell and Satan may loom up before us. We must conquer our own fears head on, and they will rapidly disappear.

We are mental creators, and out of the ether of the next dimension, we can create that which we wish around us. If we are convinced a devil is out there to trick or deceive us, and if we have already pictured in our minds what this devil looks like and what he plans on doing, we should really not be surprised when our worst fears are confirmed. The devils we create become real and solid in the next dimension because we created them.

In the astral plane, we can meet those we love, or that which we fear. If we have no fear, we won't meet fear. It's as simple as that. So we can save ourselves trouble by putting nonsense like that out of our mind. Remember there is nothing that can harm us while we are out of our bodies. This teaching of fear has held people in mental bondage long enough! Its exposure is sure to cause a fury in those who have become trapped in the habit of their own thinking. We must release ourselves from the death grip of fear and set ourselves free.

In the astral plane, we can also visit our loved ones who have passed on before us. We can then ask them face-to-face how they like their new surroundings. We can see schools and universities, and may even find ourselves in a classroom, listening to a lecture.

This is also where we can discover the history of the world, and the history of our lives. The "Hall of Records" contains our present lives as well as our past. In it, are recorded our accomplishments and our failures. We can meet our spiritual teachers - which the churches have termed our "guardian angels" -- and we can ask them for advice and guidance on our problems.

The astral plane is a vast dimension of existence and contains life in abundance. It does not operate by the very same laws of the earth plane, and so many things that are quite impossible on earth, are quite commonplace in the astral. Mind over matter is common. Colors are more beautiful, and we may experience endless fascination with new and exciting things that there are to see and discover.

For many centuries, the teachings of certain churches have been that some things are mysteries and are not to be questioned. Eve eating from the tree of knowledge and the subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden was sighted as proof. This erroneous interpretation was made by those who were ignorant, or by those who wanted to keep the masses of people in subjugation. Man's redemption, in the final analysis, will come from his knowledge of himself and his love of his neighbor, not from his ignorance.

Tapping the Subconscious

The astral plane contains many things that are not on earth at this time. Some of them may appear in the future on earth, and some are from the Earth's past. Many different types of animals that have become extinct on earth exist in the astral. Remember, there is no death.

Astral projection enables us to use the part of our mind that has been dormant or sleeping. We can wake up this part and put it to work. It is called the subconscious, and it can be used to give us the knowledge we need to find out more about ourselves, our purpose on Earth, and our relationship with God. Most people think of their mind as only that portion they recognize as their conscious mind, or waking mind. It has been said that the mind is 10 percent conscious, and 90 percent subconscious. We can learn to expand this 10 percent.

Everyone goes to the astral plane at night while they are asleep. Think of this! Astral projection takes place without a person even being aware of it! As strange and hard to believe as this sounds, it is true. To begin exploring astral projection, pay attention to your dreams each night. Eventually, you will come to the realization that you were in the astral plane, but did not realize it.

When we take the first step, of allowing for the possibility of multiple dimensions and astral projection as realities, we can then focus on ways to understand, explore, and actually experience these things. In doing so, we can open the door to an amazing and expansive existence that was heretofore beyond our wildest imagination!

[tarotdeckshuffle]

IgNyx Day Five!

Super late, but it’s been a roller coaster of a week. Hope you enjoy!

All is revealed, including the feelings that have been suppressed for so long. 

Rating: T

Prefer to read this on AO3? You can do so here!

Taglist: @idiotflowerex, @laststory1013, @sayaoqueen, @jophinabean, @mysme-already,  @ffxvignyxzine

If you like what you read, please consider supporting me on Patreon or buying me a Ko-fi!

Spectral: Chapter 5

For so long, memories are all they had of each other. It felt so surreal to be here. 

The men had camped at the crystal for days, hoping that Noctis would soon be released. It was the seventh day when even Prompto admitted that he wasn’t returning anytime soon. 

So began the long trek out of Gralea. Dameons and MTs still patrolled the abandoned halls, stressing the need for calculated steps and quiet movements.

Nearly lost in the maze of concrete tunnels, the men walked single file, stopping briefly only to rest. 

“We’re lost…” Gladio grumbled, looking down at the shoddy beds of their current bunk room. Prompto peeked around the great shield to see what he was staring at. As it was, the bed just looked horribly unmade, with the sheets balled up at the foot of the mattress. But Ignis stood in the corner of the room, quickly realising what was going on. 

Nyx walked to the opposite side of the bed. “Leaving a breadcrumb, eh?” The Glaive stared down at the bed. 

“So, I’m guessing that’s your signature ‘messy bed’ style?” Propto piped up, finally realizing what was going on. 

Gladio didn’t find humor in the moment, though. He roared and flipped over the bunk beds. The metal frame toppled over onto the terrified Glaive staring up at it!

“NO!” Ignis yelled, reaching out for Nyx, but he needn’t have worried. Where man and metal should have collided, there stood only mist. The bed had passed straight through Nyx and clattered to the floor. 

Both Gladio and Prompto turned to Ignis, alarmed. It took a moment for the stratigan’s nerves to catch up to his mind as he realized what was going on. 

His outstretched hand came to his mouth as he cleared his throat. “We are lost if we lose our wits now. We must remain calm and figure our way out of this. One mistake is not the end of us...not yet.” Ignis paused to take a deep breath. “Now, I suggest both of you rest and collect yourselves. I’ll take first watch.” 

Gladio grumbled as he and Prompto slinked away to find beds. Ignis made for the bench just outside of the bunkroom. 

As he sat down, the normally composed man stared down at his hands. So much had happened and so much was still happening. But everything felt...numb. 

“I think you’re going to need a manicure after this,” a voice chimed next to him. 

Turning, Ignis saw him: the Glaive that walked in his dreams. 

“This must all be some sort of dream. Some final illusion the gods have bestowed upon me. You’re not actually here…” he lamented, running his hands over his face. Ignis let his racing thoughts run away with him. 

This couldn’t be real.

It wasn’t real.

Why was this happening?

Until he was brought back by the feeling of a warm hand over his. 

“I promise you, it’s real. But only for you.” 

“But...how?” Ignis was on the verge of breaking down from all of the days of stress. 

“That’s...a long story…” 

A frazzled stratigen looked up to meet Nyx’s gaze, daring him to see if this story even compared to what had already happened. 

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For years, everything Nyx had done had been in the hopes of saving Ignis. From reconnaissance and sabotage on the Empire, to personally outfitting the Prince’s regime. 

But sacrifices must be made in war. Nyx knew he was the only one who could save the people of Insomnia. The only one who could give the world a fighting chance to see tomorrow. In a moment of truth, he made the decision: he had to save the city, even if it meant his own life. This was his small part in saving all of Eos. If he didn’t help save the planet, his love would be lost as well. 

As the sun rose on that fateful morning, Nyx’s world turned to black. He didn’t know what the afterlife would look like, but he expected something bright. A place like old Galahd where his family was waiting on him. 

The Glaive opened his eyes, only to find darkness. Silence echoed throughout the space. Nyx called out, but no sound left his lips. 

Click...click...click…

Footsteps rang through the nothingness.

Click..click...click…

They grew louder. 

Soon, there was a light on the horizon. 

Nyx squinted as a figure came into view. It was Shiva in full icey beauty. 

“Do not forget your vow,young Guardian.” Her cool voice rang but her lips did not move. 

“I haven’t, but I thought…” Nyx thought more than he said. 

“Now is when your duty begins…” Shiva turned, gesturing with her hand to a scene playing out on Eos. 

The astral plane could weave through time as the user saw fit. Nyx was seeing Ignis’s sacrifice play out before him, long after his own death. 

In a matter of seconds, the Glaive watched as his love was struck down by the Usurper, even with the power of the Lucii. A silent scream left his lungs.

“Do you uphold your vow?” The cool voice asked again. 

“YES!” Every fiber of Nyx’s being screamed his answer as soon as the question left Shiva.

“Then you have my blessing. Go…” The icy goddess snapped her fingers with a smile.

Instantly, Nyx was at his love’s side. “Not him…” he cried to himself as he ran to hold Ignis. 

The young advisor was on the cusp of death, his body unfit to hold life. Tears ran from Nyx’s eyes as he saw what his sacrifice had amounted to.

“You’re still needed,” he plead, holding onto the man he had dreamed of for so long. 

From his place on the edge of the beyond, the Glaive saw both the physical and the astral. The late monarchs of Lucis stared down at the men from the astral plane. 

“I have been warned that you wish to bargain for this man’s life…” a great voice boomed. 

Nyx definitely looked up at the Old Wall. “Yes! I will give whatever I must to save his life.” 

“You cannot,” a woman’s voice rang out. “For he has bargained with his life, of which you can not substitute.” 

“I don’t care if he made a deal, let me make another one!” Nyx cried out. He stared down at the dying face in his arms, trying his best to think of what he had to bargain with. 

“Take my death in exchange for not taking this man’s life! Let him live and in exchange, I shall never leave this plain!” 

For a moment, the late monarchs were silent. Simply turning to one another for guidance. 

A familiar voice spoke up. “Young Glaive, you would have a place on this wall should you wish to join us, for you died under the Ring of the Lucii. Are you truly willing to give this up?” It was King Regis, ever kind, even in death. 

Without hesitation, Nyx spoke up. “Yes.” 

“And the gods vouch for him,” Shiva’s voice added, ringing out from all directions. 

The Founder King’s figure looked down at the new Guardian. “Then it is so.”

The Old Wall disappeared into a blinding light as Nyx felt a heavy weight fall over his features. But he smiled, as his love began to heal before his very eyes. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The clock overhead ticked the hours away as Ignis listened to Nyx’s story. The whole while, he sat in silence. 

Finally, the advisor spoke, “Then I assume I’m the only one who can see you…” 

“I would agree with your assumption.” Nyx replied, trying to match Ignis’s tone. “I signed up to be your Guardian, so I guess I only exist for you.” 

But the advisor scoffed. “Signed up? That’s what you make of all this? You simply ‘volunteered’ to become the guardian for a stranger?!” His voice rose as he became more irate. “You sacrificed DEATH for me?! Do you even begin to comprehend the gravity of the situation?!” 

Just as Ignis finished, the door to the bunkroom creaked open. A sleepy Prompto rubbed his eyes. “Iggy? You okay?”

Quickly, Ignis pulled on a mask of serenity. “Yes, Prompto. I’m fine. Go back to bed, I’ll come get you when it’s your shift.” 

The gunslinger mumbled and stumbled back to his bunk. 

As Ignis turned his attention back to the specter before him, he was met with a determined gaze. Nyx had stood up to his full height, inches above him. 

“I know what I gave up. And I didn’t do it for a stranger.”

Ignis stared up into the dark sky of Nyx’s eyes. His body couldn’t comprehend what was before it, for his eyes saw the man in front of him, but his body could feel no warmth, his ears no breathing, and his nose no scent. It was like the stratigan was still dreaming and this fantasy would soon disappear before his eyes. 

Ignis swallowed, trying not to show how flustered he was. “If not for a stranger, they why did you do this?” 

The Glaive’s eyes softened. “I did it for a man I couldn’t get over. For a man who deserves more than this world has granted him. The one who deserves his happy ending. The one I needed to help.”

Ignis blushed as he turned away. “I didn’t ask for whom you did this, I asked why…”

A gentle smile crossed Nyx’s face as he gently turned Ignis’s head back towards him. “I did this because I love you.” 

Although he heard them, Ignis wasn’t sure how to comprehend those words. He felt shocked but so joyful. Questions began to race through his mind before Nyx silenced them. 

And in that moment, the greatest desire both men had gently carried with them for so long, was fulfilled. 

Ignis had never imagined he would kiss a ghost, but in this moment, Nyx felt more real to him than anything else in the world. He could feel warmth against his lips and magic against his body. Every thought vanished from his mind as his whole body gave in to the touch he had wanted for so long. But new sensations, sensations he had experienced with no other lover, also came to greet him. 

These foreign sensations flowed like a river through his own senses. He felt warmth throughout his body and a glowing happiness in his soul. But he also felt something strange: a weight on the very fiber of his soul that wasn’t meant to be there, like he was being weighed down in deep water. 

Just as Ignis thought his consciousness would be overwhelmed by the contradictory sensations, they ended. He opened his eyes and gazed upon the sight of his Glaive.

Nyx leaned his forehead against Ignis’s. “Did you feel it too?” 

The advisor nodded lightly. “Everything felt...heavy. Was that what you feel?” 

The Glaive smiled. “Yes, that is the weight of duty. That is the weight of what I would do for you.” Ignis started to pull away. “Shhh, don’t worry. It’s not so bad. Through you, I felt...real...again.” 

The advisor pulled his love close. “Than that is how I shall repay you, my Guardian.”

[no-i-didnt-notice-im-short]

Hey so like, I love your writing and I saw you posting about how Lance died and no one addressed it, so I was wondering (if you take prompts or anything, if not just dismiss this message), if you write a scene where the team does address it. Specifically a Keith and/or Shiro reaction to it? Thanks for your time ^^;

Both? Both. 

Hope you like this ❤ Ao3

Saying the last couple days were hectic would be theunderstatement of the year.

All the castle’s ex-members, plus Romelle and Krolia, weresitting around the fire telling stories and trying to catch up and, in Romelle’scase, get to know their new friends. Keith and his mother told the story of thetwo years they spent alone while the team began about their scattered missionshere and there to help Lotor’s rise to power, something they obviously feelguilty about now.

Hunk was telling the story with so much enthusiasm, hishands waving animatedly trying to get in every detail before Pidge interruptedhim to give her own in. Allura was sitting next Coran with her head rested onhis shoulders, a fond smile curving her lips as she looked at her paladinsrelishing in the fact that they were all here around her.

“And so we were fixing the shields in our lions, okay?,Shiro, clone of course, and Pidge were trying to give us the power to reset thesystem but then the power cuts and like the shield breaks and Lance justfucking stopped responding and Allura leaves her lion!  Everything wasn’t working! But Pidge pullsthrough at the end and I activate another special ability for Yellow and I pushthe piece back to its place…”

As everyone was telling their stories, Shiro was the onlyone allowed to ask questions. He told them that he saw everything but hecouldn’t say anything due to the weakness of the connection, this resulted in afew questions piling up for answers.

He sat with his back leaning against Black’s paw with Keithand Lance on both his sides; they wanted to be as close as possible afterlearning he was technically dead for the past few months, years in Keith’scase. Keith’s head rested on Shiro’s shoulder, mirroring Allura and Coran, andLance had his hands intertwined with Shiro. None of them thought much of thisnewfound closeness and blamed it on circumstance. They hopefully had enoughtime to figure everything out later.

“Wait I don’t get one part of that story.” Shiro informedhesitantly. “You said that Lance stopped responding for no reason and thatAllura left her lion, Why? In the astral plane I saw Red’s presence completelydisappear… What happened?”

As he was finishing his question, he was looking between Alluraand Lance. He knew Lance might act reckless but not Allura. Leaving her lion inthe middle of a mission like that, especially with a deadly radiation beamtargeted at their location, was so un-like her.

“Oh. Um… Lance wa-“

Allura started but was cut off by Lance. “Nothing I just dida bad move.”

“I don’t believe that. Lance, I’ve seen all you guys’ badmoves, it wasn’t like this. Red’s connection disappeared.” Shiro’s eyebrowscreased looking at Lance. Shiro was getting a bad feeling about this.

“It was a really bad move.” Lance said sheepishly.

“Lance what happened?” Shiro straightened and decided toturn to Allura for answers. “Princess, what happened?”

“There was beam.”

“Yeah I know that part, what happened?”

Allura eyed Lance apologetically before going forward withwhat happened, her eyes focused on a small spot of dirt in front of her.

“After Shi… the clone cut the power, a bolt or a beam shotfrom the crack we had just wielded together. It was coming straight at me and Ididn’t notice it or I froze, I don’t remember everything happened so fast,Lance did though.”

Shiro caught the sight of the few tears that were fallingdown Allura’s face.

“He pushed me out of the way and got caught at the receivingend, instead of me. Red disappeared from the astral plane because Lance had… hedidn’t survive the bolt. I went out of Blue to him to see what happened.”

“Did you do to him what you just did to the Black Paladin?”Surprisingly Krolia asked, as everyone else seemed frozen.

“No… I couldn’t” Allura looked like every word was morepainful than the other and Shiro didn’t blame her at the slightest. The merethought of one of them dying was enough to make him lightheaded. And for somereason, it always seemed to be Lance.

“Pieces of Shiro’s soul were left preserved in Black, byBlack, while Lance’s was completely gone. I… I transferred to him some of mineand Red’s life force to bring him back.”

The shock of the news was unlike anything else. A few hoursago, when Keith told them of Shiro’s situation, he had quickly added in thefact that there was hope straight away. But now, hearing this, Shiro realisedthat if Allura was even a few minutes late, his body would’ve turned cold andit would’ve been too late and Lance would have actually died.

“He… died?” Hunk’s voice was too small and quiet in contrastwith a few minutes ago.

Hunk’s reaction must’ve set off something in Lance as hestood up and ran off to Red.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?! That was not the kind ofinformation you keep to yourself. How do you think he was feeling all the timeafter that incident, huh?!”

Keith was practically fuming. The last time Shiro had seenhim this angry was years ago when he would get into fights at Garrison. Later,after many anger management classes they had found out that he was alwaysdefending himself or standing up for what he thought was right, meaning he wasincredibly observant and sometimes too sensitive. He figured out how peoplewould think in certain situations, especially when it was in a negative light.

Keith bolted to Red’s direction, in Lance’s direction. Shirolooked at Allura and noticed the utter resignation and guilt in her eyes.

“Keith just feels bad that he wasn’t there for any of it.Hell, I feel that way too.” He stood up and put a hand on Allura’s shoulder inwhat he hoped was a comforting manner. “It’s just Hunk and Pidge’s reactionshowed that they didn’t know but on the other hand, Lance must’ve clearlythought no one cared about him… dying.”

He hated that word when describing Lance. The Cuban alwaysseemed so alive and present that thinking of him in any way less than thatseemed wrong. Hunk and Pidge were holding each other talking about possible wayto make it up to their friend. He frowned as he heard something about themmaking fun of Lance and how they probably made shit worse.

As he reached Red, who purred in his mind welcoming him backto the land of the living, he made his way towards the cockpit to find Lancesitting in the corner with his knees held in a death grip toward his chest as ifto protect himself from them. He noticed the tear tracks on Lance’s face andthe slight tremble that seemed to overtake his entire being. Keith was next tohim speaking softly and rubbing his back calming him from the obvious panicattack he just had.

Shiro wasn’t yet noticed, so he walked closer and gentlytapped Keith’s shoulder to motion him to give him some space to sit closer toLance. He kneeled down and wrapped an arm around the crying boy’s shoulder andnuzzled him under his chin.

After about 20 minutes Lance had finally calmed down enoughto break the silence.

“I am so sorry for overreacting. God I’m so stu-“

“Don’t say that.” Shiro peeled Lance from him and moved himfurther away to get a better look at his face. “You died. You had all the rightto freak out, to cry and be angry.”

“But you didn’t do all those things… I was dead for a fewminutes and I was brought back straight away and everything was well. It makessense they didn’t know; I didn’t tell them.”

“Why didn’t you, by the way?” Keith was sitting next toLance supporting him from a distance. “I mean, you usually don’t keep yourmouth shut and shake everything with Hunk.”

Lance frowned a bit at Keith’s comment but didn’t sayanything about it; he seems to be gathering his thoughts trying to sort themout.

“I didn’t want to bother anyone. Besides, everyone was busywith something. Pidge and Hunk had all these projects and updates they wereworking on. Allura and Lotor were building that ship and Coran was busy keepingus all sane through it all. I genuinely thought Allura told Coran or Hunk.”

“Why would they not have addressed it with you then? Hunk isyour best friend, he loves you and don’t you think you dying for even a fewminutes would have upset him?” Shiro was trying to understand Lance’s point ofview.

“I am a set back to the team. They probably didn’t care enough.”

And, God, he said it like it was one of the known facts ofthe universe. Like Shiro and Keith were crazy to think otherwise. This wassituation was beyond bad in Shiro’s books. That clone had rooted into Lancethese thoughts that brought out crippling insecurities that right now seemed torun so deep within Lance. It was breaking his heart.

“Lance. Look at me for a second. You will not be botheringanyone if you told them you died for a few minutes.” Keith brought his handunder Lance’s chin and moved it toward him so he could look at him properly.“Your feelings about this are one hundred percent valid. You were sacred andconfused and lost, rightfully so, and you expected them to help you. But youshouldn’t have assumed they did care. They do very, very much.”

“Dying, even for a few minutes, is hard. Do you remember itwell?” Shiro asked lance gently.

“Vividly.” Lance whispered.

“All the more reasons why you needed someone to help youthrough this. Lance, I promise you I will never leave you to go through thisalone, never again.”

“But you-“

“Don’t underestimate your pain by comparing it to mine. Yeswhat I went through was bad, but so did you. Going through all this timethinking your team didn’t care is kind of worse, isn’t it?”

Lance looked down as he fidgeted with his fingers, he didn’tseem to believe them, not entirely.

“I am so sorry for leaving you, Lance, for leaving all ofyou. I found my mom and we got carried away when all our information seemed toclick together and we just kept going and-“

“I don’t blame you. I never did. Yeah, I was angry you left,but once I saw that you brought your mom I was happy for you. I still am. Youbrought Shiro home too. I don’t have any reason to be angry… I am not.”

Shiro hated how Lance always turns the tables and comfortsthem when they are here to comfort him. He has been doing this for too longthat he became naturally good at it, and it made him sick that no one noticedhow Lance was never comforted, not truly at least. He seemed to always havethis doubt-ness that made itself visible whenever Lance was at his limit; whenhe couldn’t hide anymore.

“We will be here to always remind you of your importance andhow much your opinions and thoughts matter. Never think for one second thatjust because someone had it worse at some point that it cancels out your hurt.”Shiro spoke clearly and slowly. He meant every word and wanted them to residein Lance’s brain for future reference.

What Lance feels isn’t something that can be cancelled by afew words. It needs time. And he and Keith are willing to give Lance that timeas he was sure the rest of the team too. They wronged him and now, finally,Lance is starting to realize that. He needs to know that there are certainactions you shouldn’t leave unattended to.

Yes I am taking prompts, they will give me the motivation to write :)

Did I mention enough times how much i loved this season?

[ptw30]

Ficlet: Resurrection

Summary: On the journey to Earth, the team struggles to form Voltron. Lance knows the answer. (Minor AU)

A/N: I wrote this prior to Season 7 for a whump prompt and totally forgot about it until I stumbled across it in my email. 

Shipping: Gen; found family; team bonding. 

The gray-white hair took some getting used to, and maybe Shiro wasn’t a fan of the “space grandad” jokes. But he couldn’t hide his indulgence. He ruffled Lance’s hair, swung an arm about Keith’s shoulders, and listened to Pidge’s navigation. He assisted Hunk in preparing the team meals and strategized with Allura over their next move. With Coran, he worked to regain his strength. 

Eventually, Shiro battled Keith to a near stand-still, managed to set up camp and make breakfast by himself, and taught Keith’s wolf how to fetch. 

When it came to battles, though, Keith was always the first to stay, “You’re still recovering, Shiro. You should stay here and rest. We’ll be back soon.”

Allura squeezed his shoulder, offered him an apologetic smile, but didn’t object. Lance gave a teasing salute coupled with a shaky smile, and Pidge waved. Hunk stopped on his way to Yellow and sighed. 

“It was hard, y’know. When we thought we lost you. Lance still hasn’t recovered. He thought he couldn’t help you, and Keith – ” He glanced at Red instead of Black. “Give it time. They’ll come around.”

Shiro tried to hold back his disappointment as the lions took off. While he couldn’t deny it was comforting, heart-warming, even, to be loved, he was their leader once. They listened to him, trusted him. He was on the frontlines, ready to fight for the universe and those he loved. For more than a year, he had to watch from afar, but now he couldn’t even do that.

The paladins returned exhausted but elated, and Shiro smiled. A pat on the back, a ruffle of hair. He’d join them again, hopefully, but for now, he would celebrate their victories. 

Until one fight they returned battered and defeated, staggering from their lions’ ramps. 

“We couldn’t form Voltron,” Lance spouted. “Why couldn’t we form Voltron?”

Keith looked like he held himself personally responsible, and Hunk sniffled. Pidge appeared dazed, leaning against him, while Allura clasped her hands before her. 

Coran circled the team, offering drink pouches. “Now, now. Don’t be too hard on yourselves. You still managed to save the planet and defeat the robeast.”

“But we’re going to need Voltron eventually,” Keith growled and squeezed his pouch until it burst. “We haven’t tried since the battle with Lotor. Maybe…leaving the rift did something to – to the lions?”

“To us?” Lance offered. 

“But we are still bonded to our lions,” Allura said between sips. “Perhaps our own bond weakened after the fight with Lotor?”

“It should be stronger now, shouldn’t it?” Hunk asked. “We went into the rift. We defeated Zarkon and Lotor. Why aren’t we stronger?” 

Shiro thought back to the feeling of being in the Black Lion. Even though the others didn’t know he was there, he lived for the moments when the lions came together. The brief connection allowed him to experience the paladins’ emotions, to feel them as he had when he was alive. Excitement. Fear. Anger. Determination. 

Love. 

Every time they formed Voltron, Shiro was with them. He lived again. 

It also allowed him to feel the intense loss the others felt when he was missing. Perhaps Keith was the only one who didn’t give up on him, but the others’ grief reached him. When each came to the conclusion they wouldn’t find him, that he was dead, overwhelming agony swept through him and the lions – and it usually happened after the team formed Voltron.

Maybe they just needed to start all over again. 

“Coran, do we still have the mind melding headbands?”

“Oh, come on! We’re not kids anymore, Shiro,” Lance complained. “This is bigger than just – ”

“It’s been a struggle to form Voltron before, Lance,” Shiro said, calm but firm. “First, we struggled on Arus, and then you five struggled on Thayserix. Each time, you were able to come together. You can do it again. You just have to find what you lost and reforge the bond.”

They sat around in their new places – Keith in Black’s position, flanked by Lance and Pidge, then Allura and Hunk. They strapped on their headbands, and one by one, images formed before their faces. Keith’s shack remained his main focus, but now his mother, father, and cosmic wolf joined the picture. On either side of the family stood the paladins with a white-haired Shiro closest to him, an arm flung about Keith’s neck. 

Lance’s family photo remained unchanged as well, though the paladins and Coran joined their ranks, somehow fitting seamlessly into the group. 

The Kerberos Mission photo flashed in front of Pidge’s face, the rocket behind her and Matt, but Matt was now dressed as a rebel. Sam and Colleen stood behind them, Sam now dressed in Olkari wear with a beard, while the paladins were arranged about them in a semi-circle.

Hunk’s picture included all the paladins’ favorite meals, including Shiro’s favorite dish – macaroni and cheese from the garrison’s cafeteria. 

Allura’s picture wasn’t a revelation but a confirmation for Shiro. On one side of Allura stood the current paladins and on the other stood the original - including Zarkon, who looked upon Allura with all the love and affection of a favorite uncle.  

The team’s photos shifted to be their lions, but as they started toward one another, they couldn’t line up. 

“Guys, focus,” Keith ordered, but Allura sighed. “It’s not working.”

“We’re still missing that Voltron feeling,” Hunk agreed. 

Pidge opened her eyes. “We’re definitely missing something.” 

Shiro sorted through the different pictures in his mind, trying to figure out where the team lost focus. All of their pictures included the paladins. The team managed to come together as a unit, a family. Together, they created Voltron’s soul. And yet – somehow, they were still incomplete. 

“It’s you,” Lance said in awe, drawing Shiro’s attention. Shiro almost flinched at the intense stare. “You’re the missing link.”

“Me?”

Lance didn’t wait for a reply, instead shouting for the team to make room for Shiro in the circle. He snatched a headband from Coran, snagged Shiro’s wrist, and dragged him over to the space created, right between Keith and Pidge. After situating the headband upon Shiro’s head, Lance retreated to his designated space. 

“All right. Now we can form Voltron.”

Shiro still wasn’t sure what to do. What did Lance mean that he was the missing piece? He was right there. 

At Keith’s assurance, Shiro closed his eyes and focused on what meant most to him. It was no longer the Kerberos Mission, though that would always hold a special place in his heart. Instead, he thought of Black and Red, of Green, Yellow, and Blue. He thought of the bridge of the castle-ship and he thought of the people on it. 

Yes, the bridge – with Allura, Keith, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Coran. Shiro wasn’t sure when that had become his home, but it had. And with Black, he’d found the family he’d been missing most of his life. 

Between him and Keith, Black formed. Between Keith and Lance, Red formed. Between Lance and Allura, Blue formed, and like he remembered from his time in the Black’s consciousness, Shiro’s soul synced with the others. He lived again, and together, they formed Voltron. 

When they finished, Shiro brought down his headband and stared at it. “Lance, I – I don’t understand.”

“You were in Black, all that time,” Lance said, gazing down at the Red Bayard in his hands. “We never formed Voltron without you. We can’t.” He looked up, eyes shimmering in the low light of the campfire. “We’re always stronger together.”

Shiro held the gaze for a long as he could before finding himself the object of six competing smiles. Coran winked, while Pidge muttered, “Welcome back to active duty.”

“We have missed you,” Allura said. 

He had always been right here, even if they hadn’t been able to see him most of the time.

“No, not yet.” Hunk pinned Shiro with an intense glower. Hunk, who told Shiro to be patient. “Not again. You can’t leave again.”

Shiro clenched his remaining hand. “I didn’t want to leave the first time – or the second. Or any – ”

“No, Hunk’s right.” Lance put up a shaky finger for each point. “You were hurt by Sendak, on the castle-ship, then you went onto a battlecruiser before you were ejected by Black. Blasted by a space witch. Mauled by giant lizards. Attacked in the Astral Plane and hunted by Zarkon himself. Knocked unconscious in your own lion, then killed. Oh, and then almost starved to death before being compromised by said space witched, kidnapped again, maimed by Keith – ”

Keith perked up. “Wait. What! Me?”

“ – and almost killed yet again.” Lance swiped his hands in front of him. “Never again, okay? We can’t see you die or hurt again.”

“You forgot Sven,” Pidge added. 

“Oh, yeah. We saw you die in another dimension, too!”

Shiro didn’t remember that, for which he was grateful. Taking a deep breath, Shiro tried to calm his heartbeat and only managed a weak smile. “It has been a tough few years, hasn’t it?”

He looked to Keith, whose eyes were wide, fear alive in them. Shiro reached out to him and threaded his fingers with Keith’s, squeezing gently. 

“I can’t promise you something won’t happen again,” Shiro said, low and raw, “just like you can’t promise something won’t happen to you. But – I can’t sit on the sidelines and watch you all put your lives on the line and not be there with you.”

Allura placed her hand over Shiro’s and Keith’s. “Do not do this because we cannot form Voltron without you.”

“I’m not,” Shiro assured, “but even if it was – somethings are bigger than one person.”

“Somehow, you are always that one person,” Lance snorted. 

Shiro wouldn’t fight them on that. “We all have to make sacrifices.”

Keith whispered, gripping Shiro’s hand back. “The universe can’t have you. I won’t let it.”

“Keith…”

“We won’t let it.” 

A force slammed into Shiro, and he found himself with a lap full of Lance. Allura joined the hug next, followed by Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran. 

“We will save you, Shiro,” Keith whispered against his cheek. “As many times as it takes.”

A moment passed and then another. 

“Back at you,” he promised. And he meant it. 

Lance, Hunk, and Coran openly wept, while Keith nuzzled against Shiro’s neck. 

Pidge rested her head on Shiro’s shoulder, and Allura pressed her cheek against his. 

Allura might have put his essence in a body, but it was this moment when Shiro truly came back to life. 

The End

[oflgtfol]

this may be an unpopular opinion, especially among shiro stans, but i honestly don’t like the atlas storyline.

since the beginning of the show voltron has been explained to be the most powerful weapon in the universe. each individual lion was forged from an inter-dimensional comet, and each lion houses a sentient, mystical being. a paladin must bond extensively with their lion in order to pilot it, to form voltron, to unlock new powers.

atlas, however, was created from human materials and the salvaged pieces of an altean travel pod. it’s powered by the human take on altean technology, and human tech is incredibly primitive compared to literally almost every alien species shown.

despite the seemingly huge difference in power, atlas is also somehow able to transform into a Giant Fighting Robot. and its introduction as such makes it appear vastly more powerful than voltron, both in the sheer size of it compared to voltron and how it only appeared when voltron was in peril (as if it could do anything to save voltron when voltron is supposed to be The Most Powerful).

atlas’s introduction goes against what we know about voltron and so it feels poorly written and not thought out, as if the idea behind it was Two Giant Robots Fighting, But Wait! An Even Bigger Robot Joins! and shiro deserves better than being stuck with this.

from the very beginning of the show, shiro has been the only true black paladin. he’s a natural leader, able to organize the team and best utilize everybody’s strengths and weaknesses. he’s inspirational and provides hope when everyone else thinks they’ve lost. the first two seasons saw him growing closer to black, closer to his lion than any of the other paladins would achieve for several more seasons. he fought zarkon in the astral plane for her! when zarkon killed him, black took his consciousness and put him on the astral plane to save his life, and she stored him within her for three and a half seasons. their relationship is so strong and rewarding, and to see that go to waste is heart breaking.

for the entire first half of season 7, shiro barely spoke. he was away from the action unless the action involved Literally The Entire Main Cast, he was only in the background, few lines. hell he didn’t even get to travel in the black lion - his former lion, the one who literally saved him from death, and also the one being piloted by his brother. he’s just shoehorned into the green lion because they couldn’t figure out which Extra Passengers to put in there.

once they got to earth his role started to pick up. he took control over earth matters, and he became the captain of the atlas. the best part would be when the atlas awoke and turned into the giant robot atlas.

but it’s still.. disingenuous to shiro’s character and especially his relationship with black. the best thing about him being black paladin was his connection to his lion. with atlas, there is no connection. it’s just a machine. there’s nothing special about it. with lions, the paladin must work for the bond, they must struggle and be worthy of their lion. shiro fought zarkon, the 10,000+ year old space dictator who conquered nearly the entire universe, on the astral plane to prove his dedication to the black lion. and it’s rewarded when she saves him from zarkon. shiro didn’t need to physically defeat zarkon, he just needed to prove that he was willing to and that he understood the depth of the lion bond.

the atlas? has none of this. the atlas is just handed to him. he’s on the bridge and suddenly the atlas starts changing into a robot that he can control. there is no bond. there is no being worthy of it. there is no fighting or friendship or love or safety. it just is. the atlas is just a machine and nothing more and shiro’s ability to wield it feels like nothing special.

it completely eradicates everything he had with black and every reason why that was so special and important to him. yeah, he may have gotten his own robot, but the robot just feels like Voltron 2.0 and he doesn’t even get any personal impact from it. it doesn’t serve as any important culmination in an arc of his. 

shiro’s part in voltron had meaning. it gave him the ability to lead a group of young kids through a scary war, to keep their spirits up, hopes high. it gave him the ability to give hope when he just got out of a hopeless situation. it gave him the ability to fight back against the people who abused him, and prevent others from reaching that same cruel fate.

no paladin or lion in voltron is inherently better than the other. they are all a piece among four others that come together to accomplish great things. shiro was not a great character because he was the black paladin. he wasn’t a great character because he was The Leader. he’s a great character because he’s kind and helps others and he leads the team, and he acknowledges that he isn’t The Paladin. he works with everyone’s strengths and helps them use it to their benefit. whenever one of the other paladins needed to do what they did to save the day on their own, he would sit back and let them do it without argument. he isn’t a great character because he’s super powerful, he’s a great character because he believes in the power of others, and he makes them believe in it too.

thus, shiro is at his best in a group situation. that’s what voltron is at its core - a group. and by delegating him to the atlas, he is removed from this group setting. the atlas isn’t made of five parts and five paladins, it is only controlled by shiro. he doesn’t get to be the fantastic leader he is when there isn’t a team. you could argue that the other garrison people in the atlas with him are a team, and yeah i guess that is a valid interpretation, but it’s not a team in the same sense as voltron. ultimately it’s shiro calling the shots as well as executing them. the rest of the atlas team is only there to collect data really, maybe navigation?? but when atlas is in a fight it’s solely shiro doing the fighting. it all depends on him - his strengths, his weaknesses. in voltron, there was a varied set of strengths and weaknesses that shiro knew how to use, and you could argue that that was his strength in team voltron.

by just sticking him in the atlas, it suddenly feels like he’s incredibly isolated. the team dynamic that he was so adept at maintaining is gone. and even if you look at the other people in the atlas as his team, it’s nothing like team voltron just in terms of relationships as well. he was genuinely friends with the voltron kids, they all cared for each other. in the atlas, they’re all employees at the garrison. there is a chain of command here. it feels so stiff and formal, and yeah a camaraderie will most likely develop over time but there’s nothing quite like being the space older brother/dad of a group of teens in voltron, yknow? they literally had to bond together in order to form voltron, meanwhile the people on the atlas probably barely know each other beyond the formalities of the garrison, and that unfamiliarity doesn’t even matter because it’s not like they need to form voltron when shiro’s the only one piloting this thing.

shiro is not, and has never been, a Chosen One. he’s just a genuinely nice dude who wants to do good things but happened to get abducted by aliens. he’s just some guy from earth who has had horrible horrible things continue to happen to him. but he’s such a good character because he continues to be a good person despite this. he wants to save people from the same fate he’s already met. he fights so that maybe someday everyone across the universe is able to feel safe and happy, without the danger and tyranny that zarkon spread. by making him the only pilot of the atlas, the only one able to pilot the atlas, it’s just... why? what’s the use of making him so special that he’s the only one able to do this, especially when teamwork and leadership has been so important to his introduction and growth as a character? maybe special isn’t the right word. what’s the use of making him separate from everyone else, separated by the ability to pilot the atlas? all it does it does is keep him separate from everyone else, his original team, his current “team.” he used to be able to pilot a lion and relate to four other people in that way, but now he’s the only one. it’s just... isolating.

shiro deserves better than to be isolated from his friends, his team, and the black lion. he deserves to be able to shine as the leader and kind person he is. and the worst part is that the atlas is literally just there. it’s just a plot point and it feels like a gotcha so that when shiro fans say he got sidelined, there’s always a “but what about the atlas!” there so that no one has any valid reason to complain. it’s a cop out and it’s disappointing. but hey, at least he got a big robot of his own huh? (:

[my-one-love-is-music]

If Not In One Life, Then Maybe In the Next Ch. 2

Thank you to everyone who's already taken an interest in this fic! I'm still so in love with the idea and couldn't help myself so you get a new chapter today, too!

Hope you enjoy it and happy new year! May 2019 be full of sheith and happiness!

Also on AO3!

A puff of warm air washed over Keith’s face before a warm tongue licked a stripe over his cheek.

“Ugh, Wolf,” he grumbled, lightly swatting at the furry muzzle pressing against his cheek. He furrowed his brow, feeling a warmth surrounding him that was unfamiliar. He blinked his eyes open and jolted upright when he recognized the walls of the shack.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice grumbled next to him. “What’s wrong?”

A thumb rubbed circles into his side and Keith glanced down, finding an arm resting over his waist that connected him to Shiro.

“Baby?”

The hand moved from his waist to his cheek and turned his head so his gaze met Shiro’s concerned eyes.

Keith let out a breath as everything came back to him. The interdimensional travel, being accepted by Shiro and begged to stay, the shared dinner they’d had on the couch the night before, and finally settling into bed to get some sleep.

“Sorry,” he apologized, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Just panicked a little bit when I woke up in the shack. It’s been a long time since I last slept here so it was a little unfamiliar.”

Shiro’s worry eased and a gentle smile pulled at his lips. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “As long as you’re not regretting staying…?”

Keith shook his head. “Not at all. This is just going to take some getting used to is all,” he reassured.

“You want to lay in bed for a little longer or are you ready for breakfast?”

Wolf whined and rested his muzzle over Keith’s shoulder, nuzzling into his cheek. Keith chuckled and reached behind him, scratching him on the side of the neck.

“As much as I would like to stay here, I think Wolf is ready for us to get up. I never really had much of a habit of staying in bed and Wolf unfortunately knows the routine.”

“Breakfast it is then,” Shiro sighed, shoving the blankets off their legs. He pulled Keith from the mattress with spun him around, drawing him into a tight hug and making him grin.

“You go get things started and I’ll make the bed,” Keith said, nudging him towards the door.

Shiro nodded, eyes lingering on his form before he pulled himself away and disappeared through the doorway, almost as though he was afraid of what would happen if he left him alone. Keith sighed and crossed his arms, his heart feeling like it was ready to burst with the sudden outpouring of love and affection he was getting.

Wolf appeared in front of him and cocked his head to the side, whining as he held Keith’s gaze.

“I’m okay, boy,” Keith reassured, framing his face with his hands to dig his fingers into his fur. “I’m happy, as strange as it is.” He sighed and wrapped his arms around Wolf’s neck, holding him close.

“Head downstairs and try not to make things too difficult for Shiro, okay?” Keith asked, patting him on the back before he stepped back to the bed. “I need to get this made.”

Wolf yipped before he disappeared.

Keith stifled a chuckle at the surprised yelp that sounded downstairs. He busied himself with straightening the blankets and tucked the edges of the sheets under the mattress, smoothing out the wrinkles in the comforter. He took an extra moment to fluff the pillows and prop them against the headboard before he pulled himself away and slowly walked to the stairs.

He gripped the rail tightly in his hand and took one step at a time, hoping Shiro couldn’t hear his hesitation as he descended the steps.

“Wolf, no!” Shiro’s stern voice filtered through the door to the kitchen. “This isn’t for you. You’ll get your food later.”

Keith stepped into the doorway and leaned against the frame, smile pulling at his lips as he watched Shiro attempt to keep the pan he was cooking in out of Wolf’s reach.

“I said, no,” Shiro said, pointing the spatula at Wolf’s nose.

Wolf’s tongue darted out and licked some of the grease from the spatula.

“Gahhh!” Shiro exclaimed, looking ready to tear his hair out from frustration.

Keith snickered, drawing their attention.

“Your wolf doesn’t listen very well,” Shiro said, shoulders slumping.

Keith skirted around the table until he was standing next to Wolf and ran his fingers down his back. “He listens just fine when I’m telling him what to do.”

Shiro grumbled something under his breath and tossed the dirty spatula in the sink. He grabbed a spoon and divided the bacon between two plates that already housed eggs and buttered toast.

“Do you mind if we eat on the back porch?” Shiro asked, picking up the two plates.

“That’s probably for the best. Wolf can distract himself while we eat. I’m sure he’s antsy after being inside for so long.” He pushed open the back door and held it open for Wolf to dart through. He thumped down the steps and took off across the desert, running and teleporting over rocks and the wide expanse of desert sand.

Shiro chuckled as he stepped through and Keith let the door fall shut. They settled onto the top step and Keith gladly took the plate of warm food.

“Hey, Shiro?” Keith asked as he fiddled with the slice of toast on his plate.

“Hm?”

“What happened in your universe? Did you have to fight the Galra? Did you become part of Voltron? What happened in your life? What…what happened to me?” he asked, voice becoming smaller with his last question.

Shiro let out a long breath, his fork clinking against his plate as he slid his eggs around. “I was chosen to go on the Kerberos mission where I was kidnapped by the Galra. After I managed to escape and get back to Earth, you, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk found me when I crashed. Together, we found the Blue Lion and flew to the Castle of Lions where we met Coran and Allura. You know all of them, right?”

Keith nodded.

Shiro cleared his throat. “After we tracked down the rest of the Lions, Allura was captured by Zarkon. We couldn’t leave her to suffer at his hands, so we gathered a few forces strong enough to fight with us. Coran offered backup from the Castle and thanks to Pidge’s ingenuity we were able to keep their shield from activating and trapping us inside with a thousand fighters. I confronted Zarkon and learned he was the original Black Paladin, but with the help of you and the rest of our forces, I was able to defeat him. Once that happened, half of the Galra army crumbled and we were able to slowly dismantle the other forces and accept the compliant members of the Galra into the Coalition to offer security and protection for the rest of the universe.”

“Did you fight Zarkon on the Astral Plane?” Keith asked.

“On the what?” Shiro frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”

“Really?” Keith asked with a frown. “No spacey plane where nothing exists but your soul and the bond to your Lion?”

Shiro smiled. “Well, we were fighting in space, so I would call that spacey.”

“Shut up,” Keith huffed, elbowing him in the side.

Shiro chuckled. “But no, there was no Astral Plane that I’ve heard of,” he continued. “Things have gone smoothly since the fight and we even managed to get through that huge battle with minimal casualties. Allura is one of the best diplomats of the universe.”

“She’s alive?!” Keith blurted.

Shiro frowned and turned to look at him. He nodded. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

Keith dropped his gaze, feeling his heart tighten in his chest. “No reason. Never mind. Go on.”

“We discovered a rebel Galra faction. Not in the sense that they were against us, but they were against what the Galra had been doing in their attempt to take over the universe. They were called-“

“The Blade of Marmora?”

Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, yeah they were. They were a tremendous help to the coalition and you discovered your mom was working with them.”

Keith gripped the edges of his plate and tried to clear the lump in his throat. “Is she…is she still…do I…”

“She’s alive and well,” Shiro murmured, wrapping his arm around his back to pull him against his side. “She’s still mourning your death as I had been. She cared for you deeply even though you didn’t get much time together.”

Keith nodded. “And my pop?”

Shiro sighed. “I’m sorry, Keith, but he’s dead.”

Keith nodded, feeling a sliver of hope he hadn’t realized had bloomed, crumple in his chest.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Keith watched as Wolf headed back to them.

“Do you think I could meet them? All of the Paladins, I mean. And Coran and Allura. And of course, my mom,” Keith murmured.

“I think they’d really like to see you again,” Shiro sighed. “I can invite them over later. We can save a trip into town for later. Wouldn’t want to give too many people a shock at your appearance.”

Keith curled into Shiro’s side. “I’d like that. I’d really like that, Shiro.”

“Hey, Keith?”

“Hm?”

“Why doesn’t your wolf have a name?”

Keith shrugged. “I figured he’d tell me what his name was when he was ready.”

Shiro snickered. “That’s a very you thing to do,” he whispered. “You should give him a name.”

Keith huffed. “I’ve had this conversation before and just because everyone else decided to call him Cosmo doesn’t mean I-“

“Cosmo’s a great name!” Shiro exclaimed, straightening.

“Not you, too,” Keith groaned, burying his face in Shiro’s shoulder.

Shiro chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with giving him a name and that’s what he’s going to be called now.” He took Keith’s half-eaten plate when it was apparent he’d lost any remaining appetite he had, and made to stand but Keith stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

Shiro gave him a curious look and Keith smiled, leaning in for a kiss. Shiro sighed, mouth relaxing against his as they kissed and tasted their breakfast on each other’s tongues.

“I’ll go dump these in the sink and then I can give everyone a call,” Shiro said, gaze soft as he pulled back.

Keith nodded and let him have a head start into the house, the door banging lightly behind him when it shut. Wolf appeared at his side with a little huff, tail wagging.

“I guess I should start calling you Cosmo, huh?” he muttered, brushing some dirt from his fur. “Everyone else seems to be on board and they might be right that you need a name.”

Cosmo yipped next to him and Keith pushed himself to his feet, stretching his arms over his head to loosen his muscles. He winced as a few places smarted from his harsh landing the day before and he rubbed a hand against his side.

He jogged up the last two steps to the porch and strode to the door, pulling it open to let himself and Cosmo inside.

“Everything’s alright, I promise.” Shiro’s voice filtered in from the living room.

Keith gently shut the door behind him and walked through the kitchen doorway and across the entry to the living room, leaning against the frame and giving him a view of Shiro standing in front of the monitor.

He looked sheepish and was holding his hands up as though he was placating someone. Or several someones.

“Well, you can’t really blame us for being concerned when we’ve barely heard anything from you these past few months,” Pidge huffed.

“I know, Pidge, and I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have cut all of you off, but I was hurting,” Shiro tried to justify.

“And you think we weren’t?” Hunk asked. “Keith was our friend, too. We wanted to be there for you-“

“But you just went off and locked yourself in the shack in the desert,” Lance muttered.

Shiro sighed and scratched the back of his neck, gaze sliding to Keith. His mouth tilted up into a smile when their eyes met.

“Who are you looking at?” Pidge asked, voice breaking in again. “Is someone there with you?”

Keith pressed a hand over his mouth to quiet the laughter that wanted to spill from him as Shiro hastily turned his attention back to the screen.

“There is,” he admitted. “And it’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you all about. If you’re not busy this afternoon, do you think you could come out to the shack? We have a lot to discuss.”

“Of course, we’ll be there,” Allura said. “Everything else can wait. How soon can the rest of you clear your schedules?”

“I’ll be ready in an hour. We can take the land cruiser I’ve been fixing up,” Pidge said.

“Same for me,” Lance agreed.

“I’ll just need to call a chef to take my place,” Hunk said. “But it should be no trouble since the rest of my team are perfectly capable of operating without constant supervision.”

“Do you…” Shiro started, the light in his eyes dimming a bit. “Do you think you could bring Krolia, too? I’ve been too nervous to give her a call and I don’t really know what to say.”

Keith’s heart tightened, and he crossed his arms over his chest, digging his fingers into his biceps.

“Oh, Shiro,” Allura murmured.

“We’ll give her a call,” Lance said. “You can count on us.”

“Thanks everyone,” Shiro said, looking at a different point on the monitor in turn. “And I’ll see you soon.”

The Paladins agreed and said their goodbyes. Keith kept himself from moving until Shiro sighed and closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging under the weight of what Keith could only imagine was pressing down on him.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured, stepping forward to take Shiro’s hands in his own.

Shiro’s eyes were tired as he met Keith’s gaze. “I know it will be. Everything will be okay now that you’re here. I just…I don’t know what I’m going to say. This whole thing is more than a little crazy.”

“We have an hour to figure it out,” Keith reassured. “I think you should break the news to them slowly before they see me, though. I’m not exactly in the mood to be attacked if they think I’m some sort of imposter or robot or something.”

“I’d never allow them to hurt you,” Shiro swore.

Keith smiled. “I know you wouldn’t. I trust you with my life, Shiro.”

Shiro stepped closer and ducked his head, pressing another kiss to Keith’s lips.

“For now, we should probably shower and get changed. I’m sure you don’t want to look like a complete slob who wasn’t able to manage after my death,” Keith said with a smirk.

Shiro’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a little shit, you know that?”

Keith’s smirk slid into a grin and he pulled Shiro towards the stairs. “Maybe I am, but you still love me anyway.”

Shiro chuckled and chased Keith up the stairs, managing to corner him for a kiss before Keith slipped from his hold and shoved him into the bathroom so he could shower by himself.

~~

Keith absentmindedly ran his fingers through Cosmo’s hair where he was waiting in the kitchen. Shiro was giving off as much nervous energy as he was and he was in the other room.

His heart skipped a beat when a knock sounded on the door. He pressed back against the kitchen wall and tried to keep calm.

“Hi every-oof,” Shiro said. His laugh was strained. “Hug me any tighter Pidge and you just might break me in half.”

“Shut up,” she muttered. “This is what you get after so many weeks of radio silence. Now what did you want to talk about?”

“Come on into the living room and have a seat so we can talk.”

Keith listened to their footsteps over the wood flooring and the soft squeak of the couch and chairs as they took their seats.

“I can understand why you invited the rest of the Paladins, but why did you ask me here?”

Keith squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of his mom’s voice. He pressed a shaking hand to his mouth, hoping he wouldn’t lose it before even getting into the same room with them.

“Trust me, Krolia, this is just as important for you as it is for them. Come on.”

Keith let out a sigh when he heard them walk into the next room.

“Okay,” Shiro started. “Now this may be confusing to all of you. I honestly couldn’t believe it myself, but…” he cut himself off with a sigh.

“You can tell us anything Shiro,” Allura prodded, voice gentle.

“Okay, okay. It might just be better if you see him. I know this is going to be a shock, but please don’t freak out by what you’re about to see.”

“I guess that’s my cue, Cosmo,” Keith whispered, giving him one last pat on the head. He pushed off the wall and walked into the entryway, hesitating before he reached the doorway.

He stepped through and was met with a range of shocked expressions and silence before the room erupted into chaos.

“Keith?!” Lance exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

“But you died!” Pidge shouted, pressing back into the couch.

“How did you come back? You’re not a ghost, are you?” Hunk asked, looking around for some sort of escape.

“Keith, is that really you?” Krolia asked, voice gentle and hopeful, much like how Shiro’s had been when they first saw each other.

Keith smiled at all of them in turn. He walked forward until he was next to Shiro and linked their fingers together, giving his hand a squeeze.

“It’s me, but…I’m not the same person that you knew,” Keith started.

“What do you mean?” Pidge asked. “You’re Keith-“

Keith nodded, stopping her before she could go off on a tangent. “I am, but I’m a Keith from a different universe. The one you knew…the one who traveled the universe with you and became friends with you is still dead. And I’m not here to replace him. I was simply searching for my place in the universe and thought I might be able to find it here. With Shiro,” he added, sharing a look with the man next to him.  

“How did you get here?” Allura asked. “Traveling from one universe to another would take a great deal of power. Even the Castle would struggle to do that with its resources.”

“I had a ship built. The Pidge from my universe actually worked on it,” he said, flashing Pidge a smile. “I know I’m not the same person that you knew, but I’d like to get to know all of you and what you mean to Shiro. I know this might be hard but-“

He blinked when a crowd of arms wrapped around him and a strand of hair slipped into his mouth. He blew it out, trying to clear the taste from his tongue as he was nearly crushed in a group hug.

“I don’t care that you’re a different Keith, it’s so nice to have you back man,” Hunk cried.

“Life hasn’t been the same without you,” Lance agreed.

“You’ll always be welcome with us,” Coran wept, tears already sliding down his cheeks.

Keith chuckled, warmth spreading through his chest. “Thank you. That really means a lot. After everything…”

“And we’re so happy that you and Shiro are together,” Pidge said. “We always thought you two should end up together.”

Keith smiled and glanced up at Shiro who only had eyes for him. “That’s part of the reason why I’m here. I thought I finally might be able to be with Shiro and this universe is turning out to be everything I need in life.”

Keith’s gaze slid past Shiro to where his mom was standing. Her lips were parted in shock and Keith knew that aside from Shiro, this was going to be hardest on her after her son had died and a copy was standing in his place.

He gently prodded the Paladins off him and took a step towards her.

“I know I’m not your son, but-“

“Hush,” she said, stepping towards him. “It doesn’t matter if you were born to me here or in another universe. No matter where you come from or what happens in life, you’ll always be my son, Keith.” She pulled him into a crushing hug and he wrapped his arms around her back, burying his face in her neck to breath in the somehow familiar smell of his mom.

“I’m so glad to have you back,” she whispered in his ear.

“I’m glad to be here. I’m so glad to be here and to have you.”

“You know what this calls for?” Hunk asked behind him. “A celebration! And I’m cooking.”

Keith grinned and pulled back just enough to face the rest of the group even as his mom’s arms tightened around him. “That sounds like a great idea.”

If you enjoy my work, please reblog or consider buying me a ko-fi!

[girlsinthestars]

I can't decide if I'll let you save my life or if I'll drown

Pairing: Enjolras/Grantaire

Word count: 2689

Warnings: None, it’s slightly angsty to begin with, but ends happily.

Read on AO3

Usually Enjolras’ taunts had no effect on Grantaire, usually he was able to laugh them off because he knew they were coming. But today was different. Today he was out of it, today he had received a letter informing him of his eviction, telling him to be out come evening, today he had lost his home and was, therefore, homeless, with all of his belongings stuffed into his backpack. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been heading towards this but he just never thought he’d hit this kind of rock bottom. So he didn’t bother arguing any of Enjolras’ points, he didn’t bother throwing out sarcastic comments, he didn’t bother being anything other than a shadow in the corner. He figured no one would notice but it was just his luck that Enjolras did, and of course Enjolras decided to call him out on it.

“What has gotten into you Grantaire? You haven’t said a word all afternoon.”

“I haven’t had anything to say, I thought you’d be pleased.”

“Of course I’m pleased, it’s just unlike you is all.” There was an odd tone of concern in Enjolras’ voice that was entirely out of place, of course Grantaire had heard it directed at others but never him.

“Well maybe I’ve given up.”

“What on earth does that mean?”

“Maybe I just don’t care anymore, about the cause, about your speeches, about proving you wrong, I mean does it even matter?”

The room fell silent, as if everyone was holding their breath to see Enjolras’ reaction.

Enjolras glared at him. “If that is the case, perhaps you should leave. At least when you were pointing out my errors you were serving a purpose, however frustrating.”

Grantaire could only nod in response, because Enjolras was right, as always, he barely serves a purpose here. A stiff silence had settled over the room, Enjolras glaring at Grantaire who could only stare at the floor.

“Well?” Enjolras demanded, seemingly frustrated with the silence, “if you’re going to leave then leave. You’re wasting all of our time, you’re wasting our space, you’re wasting our resources, how many drinks have you had tonight?”

“Enjolras!” Combeferre hissed.

A tremor passed through Grantaire as he let those words sink in. True as it was, he never thought Enjolras would have the guts to tell him to stop wasting their time, space and resources. He nodded slightly then stood shakily.

“I’ll be going then.” Then, without even grabbing his coat he stumbled out the door into the snow.

It was cold outside, and quiet. And, god, so empty. Grantaire walked blindly in, hopefully, the direction of a motel of some description, somewhere warm at least. God, why hadn’t he fought Enjolras, why had he just got up and left? And since when had Enjolras started getting to him? He knew he was a waste of space, god forbid someone should let him forget it, so why had Enjolras saying it hurt so much? Was he really so delusional that he thought Enjolras returned his feelings on any level at all?

He had only gone a mile or so when he realised all his money was in the bag he had left in the Musain. Going back was not an option. There was no way he could face them right now. He sighed and dropped onto a bench, figuring this would be his life from now on, he curled up and made himself as warm as he could before closing his eyes and begging for sleep.

That was where Eponine found him an hour later.

“Jesus Christ R, what are you doing, it’s freezing out here you left your bag, and more importantly your coat!”

“‘Ponine? What are you doing here?” Grantaire asked blearily.

“Looking for you, you idiot! I went to your apartment after the meeting to make sure you were okay but you weren’t there.”

“Oh yeah,” He said, sitting up and brushing the snow off his sleeve, realising, as he came into consciousness, that his limbs had gone numb with cold in the time he’d been asleep, “got kicked out.”

“So you decided you’d sleep on a fucking bench?!”

“Didn’t wanna be a burden to anyone.”

“Is this about what Enjolras said? Because you know he didn’t mean it R, he was frustrated and hurt.”

“He was hurt?” Grantaire snorted, “What did he have to be hurt about?”

“By god you’re oblivious,” Eponine said, sitting down next to him and taking one of his hands, gently massaging feeling and warmth back into it, “he cares about you, he cares about your opinion. He was hurt because you said you didn’t care about him anymore.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you said you didn’t care about the cause or his speeches, which is even worse because those are everything to him R, he spends all his time planning and thinking about them.”

Grantaire was silent.

“I think there’s a communication issue happening here and I think you two need to spend some quality time together so-”

“No.” Grantaire interrupted, “whatever you’re about to say, no.”

“-So, I’m volunteering his apartment as the place you stay until you find a new apartment.”

“No.”

“R you have to.”

“He wouldn’t agree.”

“Except he already has.” Eponine said, gleefully waving her phone at him.

“What did you tell him?”

“That I found you freezing to death on a bench and you need a place to stay.”

“And I can’t stay with you because…”

“I don’t have any space, Cosette and Marius moved in.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to live with you three anyway.”

“I’ll have you know, we are very cute.”

Grantaire sighed and smiled slightly. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Now it’s your turn.” She replied, smiling back.

Eponine escorted Grantaire to Enjolras’, saying she didn’t want him to chicken out and end up on another bench. Enjolras was a wreck when he opened the door. Grantaire felt almost uncomfortable seeing the usually so well put together leader so dishevelled.

“Fuck, R, I was so worried about you.”

Grantaire let out a strained laugh. “The mighty Apollo need not worry for any mere mortal.”

“This isn’t a joke.” Enjolras tugged Grantaire inside and gave a slight nod to Eponine, who smiled and gave Grantaire a hug, making him promise to be good before she left.

Enjolras turned to Grantaire. “I’m truly sorry Grantaire, what I said was horrible and wrong, you aren’t- you have never been a waste of anything and you don’t deserve that kind of treatment.” Enjolras said, staring so intensely into Grantaire’s eyes he felt like Enjolras was looking right into his soul.

“Don’t worry,” Grantaire said, with an awkward cough, avoiding Enjolras’ eyes and pushing past him to sit on the couch, “it shouldn’t have gotten to me, it doesn’t usually, I’d just had a rough day.”

“That’s not an excuse!” Enjolras said, following him into the apartment. “You should be allowed to have bad days, you can’t be expected to be the unshakable cynic all the time… or ever.”

“It’s not your fault.” Grantaire said, in a tone that made it clear that the matter was now closed for discussion. So Enjolras just nodded and walked into the kitchen and began preparing tea. It gave Grantaire time to think about what Eponine had said, had Enjolras really been upset by what he had said? It was uncharacteristic for him, but really, Grantaire had never been the best judge of Enjolras’ emotions and it was entirely possible he’d missed a hurt tone, a hesitation, or a dropped gaze in his own upset.

“I need to apologise too.” He said, after a while, “I don’t know how much my opinion means to you, but Eponine tells me it’s a lot, and I would hate for you to think that I had really given up on you or the things you care about.”

Enjolras handed him his tea and sat on the couch beside him. “Of course your opinion matters to me, you matter to me.” He started, staring into his tea, avoiding Grantaire’s gaze. “And I was… hurt, but that is no excuse for what I said to you.”

Grantaire looked up, searching Enjolras’ expression for a sign that he was lying, that this was just a joke, but he found nothing but honesty.

“I didn't… I never… I'm sorry, it didn't even occur to me it would matter to you whether I cared or not.” Grantaire said slowly, still processing.

Enjolras looked up, smiling a little. “It seems there have been some miscommunications between us.”

“So it seems.” Grantaire replied, smiling too. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen this expression on Enjolras, all soft and open. It made his heart flutter in a different way to its usual ‘holy shit Enjolras is so hot’ way, normally they were fighting, so naturally he had always imagined that if somehow he and Enjolras ended up in a relationship it would be more of a hate sex thing. But now, with Enjolras looking up at him with a soft smile, wearing loose pyjamas and holding tea, suddenly all these domestic images pop into his head. He sighed and put down his empty tea cup. “It's getting late, I don't want to keep you up, I'm sure you have a class tomorrow morning.”

“Oh.” Enjolras sat up, the softness from his expression fading, whatever barriers he normally had were back in place as he collected their mugs and disappeared into the kitchen. “So uh, I don't have a spare bedroom as such but there's a blow up mattress in the closet.” He walked back out of the kitchen and paused in front of Grantaire.

“Yeah- uh that's fine, I'm in no position to be fussy.” Grantaire stood up as well, following Enjolras to the closet where he pulled out the most dusty blow up mattress Grantaire had ever seen.

“...I don't have visitors often.” Enjolras offered as explanation. “I don't think I can make you sleep on this…”

Grantaire looked up, shocked. “No I- it's fine, seriously I've slept on worse, I would honestly be perfectly happy with the couch.”

“No, you're my guest, look my bed is a queen bed, we could both fit if that's alright with you, and we can go buy a better mattress tomorrow.”

At this point Grantaire literally felt himself ascend to the astral plane, where he stared god in the eyes and swore at them for letting this happen. How on earth was he supposed to sleep in the same bed as Enjolras without spontaneously combusting? And yes, that was an over exaggeration but he genuinely had no idea how they were supposed to live together until he found a new place let alone sleep in the same bed, even if just for a night. They argued enough already without being around each other all day.

Somehow Grantaire managed to change in the clothes he used as pyjamas, brush his teeth, and climb into Enjolras’ bed without panicking and/or annoying Enjolras. And lying stiffly as far over on the bed as possible he could not have regretted any decision more in his life. There was no way in hell he was getting any sleep.

Grantaire woke up to a weight on his chest. He tried to shift it but it just wound it's limbs around him and clung to him. He opened his eyes to a facefull of blond hair, which meant the weight clinging to him was Enjolras. Fuck. There was no way for him to get out without waking Enjolras up.

“Enj?” Enjolras shifted a little but made no move to wake up.

Grantaire sighed, he was stuck until Enjolras woke up, and it was a weekend and Enjolras was not a morning person, so he was gonna be here for a good while. Enjolras’ legs were twisted between his own, one of his arms was stretched above his head, resting his hand on the pillow next to Grantaire’s face, while the other was looped around Grantaire’s arm and clutching the back of his shirt, and his head was resting on Grantaire’s chest. It was like something directly out of Grantaire’s dreams but Enjolras must have just latched onto him while he was asleep, there was no meaning behind it and he really needed to not read into it. And yet…

“Mmmm.” Enjolras shifted again, his hand moving into Grantaire’s hair.

“Enj?” Grantaire tried again.

“Mmm?” Enjolras’ voice was muffled in Grantaire's shirt.

“Morning.” He said softly.

“R?” Enjolras said, lifting his head and looking up at Grantaire. Grantaire's insides melted at the soft expression on Enjolras’ face, but then his eyes cleared and a combination of embarrassment and shock flooded his face.

“Fuck I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing, I'm weirdly clingy in my sleep, I'm so sorry.” Enjolras rambled, extracting himself from Grantaire.

“Hey, no, it's ok! It's fine, I uh- I don't mind.” Grantaire said, grabbing Enjolras’ wrist before he could actually get out of bed.

“Do you want some coffee?” Enjolras said, looking at anything but Grantaire.

Grantaire watched him for a minute, sitting up. “Can I ask you something first?”

“Yeah, sure.” Enjolras replied, looking nervous.

“Did that mean something?”

Enjolras shifted awkwardly, sighing and seemingly steeling himself. “Well, as established last night there have been some miscommunications between us and I believe one of them is the fact that I do in fact care deeply for you, which, I have been informed, you are not aware of.”

Grantaire stared at him, starting to smile. “I like you too.”

Enjolras nodded, finally moving back across the bed and looking Grantaire in the eye. “Did you… did you really think I didn't care?”

Grantaire’s gaze dropped to his lap. “I didn't- I just- we fight a lot, ok? I didn't realise you considered me anything other than your sparring partner.”

Enjolras reached over and threaded his fingers through Grantaire's. “Hey, I'm sorry.”

“You don't-”

“No I do, R I'm sorry, I'm sorry I spent our entire friendship so far acting like you meant nothing to me. Because that could not be further from the truth.”

Grantaire finally looked up at him, smiling a little. “I'm sorry I always fight with you, I don't know why I always end up insulting you.”

“You know, combined we probably have the communication skills of a below average person.” Enjolras said, laughing and dropping his head on Grantaire’s shoulder.

“We got to this point though didn't we?”

Enjolras smiled up at him. “Yeah we did.”

“Enj, can I kiss you?”

Enjolras blushed and nodded slightly. “Yeah, of course, please.”

Grantaire turned and cupped Enjolras’ face, kissing him gently. His lips were soft, Grantaire mused, moving one of his hands into Enjolras’ hair, god was everything about this man soft?

Enjolras’ hands had slipped under Grantaire’s shirt and he was tracing patterns on Grantaire’s hips, and Grantaire honest to god felt his insides melt. Then Enjolras gently pushed him down until he was lying with Enjolras on his chest again, before he pulled back and buried his face in Grantaire's chest.

“You wanna go back to sleep?”

“Mmmhm.” Enjolras mumbled. “You're comfortable… and you smell nice.”

Grantaire laughed and wrapped his arms around Enjolras. “Well let me know when you want coffee.”

Enjolras nodded, clearly already half asleep. Grantaire smiled down at him, threading his fingers into the blond hair. So what if it took them 6 years to get here, they did it and it was worth all the fighting and pining, if only for this moment. If only so that he got to see Enjolras, their godlike leader, fast asleep on his chest, snoring lightly and wearing baggy, yet actual, button up PJs. They were far from perfect, they both sucked at communicating, and just because they were… ok they actually hadn't discussed it but whatever they were, it didn't mean they would stop fighting Grantaire knew that. But he also knew Enjolras liked him, Enjolras cared about his opinion, cared for him, and Enjolras knew he felt the same about him and he knew that would change everything.

[beanymachine]

Voltron Season 6 Review

Hello, welcome to my Review! I hope what I say makes you think and see a different perspective on the show. If you want to say what you think I’d love to hear it! 

Anyways I’m going to list a lot of stuff I thought was well executed. The episodes did a good progression of an eerie feeling grow more and more. The first episode helps start this tone with Shiro getting headaches from Haggar, Lance dying and being revived, and Hunk learning more about the Galra’s history and culture. This and other parts of the episode help set up some important stuff throughout the season:

-What’s up with Shiro?

-Lance and Allura’s relationship and well as Allura and Lotor

-Culture

-And power (quintencess or however you spell it)

The second episode of the series then talks about Keith and his past, to start finishing the development of his character and the problems he had. Keith’s journey is also important as it leads to Lotor’s backstory and motives. Another thing the episode does is bring in a major theme of the season: Love.

Throughout the season we see how Lance deals with the fact that he IS in love with Allura and how Allura and Lotor are getting closer and closer. And we see how love can hurt when it doesn’t work out between two people, or when it isn’t reciprocated.

You know, like how Allura called out Lotor and made him flip his lid.

But we also deal with familial love. In Keith’s past we see how he was when he had a whole family and how they all loved each other (Keith was a baby so he’s really just goo goo ga ga). And how Krolia loves Keith and at one point hugged him to try to shield him from a wave of whatever.

There is also the very big and impactful scene where Keith and Shiro are battling and he tells Shiro to please stop because he’s his brother and that he loves him. It made the Possessed Clone Shiro twitch and hesitate, and then tried telling Keith to give up on him. And Keith even decides to die with him because he won’t leave him alone or give up on him, just like he did for Keith. And luckily the original Shiro and Keith are able to reunite.

Back to the tone of dread, the season does well building up to multiple climax points, like how Lotor’s dirty secret is found out, Clone Shiro being discovered as a clone and him and Keith fighting, the big battle with Voltron vs Lotor and how Lotor losing his mind, and him eventually being left to supposedly die in the quintencess realm.

The Animation was stellar (Haha get it? I’ll go now) with the fight scene of Clone Shiro vs. Keith, Lotor going mad, and the big Voltron fight.

Also it was a good choice to put Monsters and Mana for a breather episode right before things start going downhill.

Lotor’s fall into madness was excellent too along with his animation and expressions.

I’m also glad Hunk got a bit of spotlight. I know people say he doesn’t get much of a chance to rise and shine, but honestly do you really want to see him go through possibly a lot of emotional or physical pain? Plus it seemed like he was developed basically in the first season and pretty much fully developed I think. I can understand if people want more chances for him to shine. He did use his canon a lot in the last battle of this season so hopefully that will be enough for some. It’s enough for me at least.

With this being said, I’m now going to point out some things that I think could’ve been improved.

1. Keith’s abandonment issues and the two year timeskip, as well as the message sends.

Keith I’m sure is almost done developing and is almost whole like Pidge and Hunk. But the way it was done was good but left some stuff out.

First, the last season left off Keith’s relationship with his mom to be a startling new one that most would expect to be in anger and why Krolia left and the demand for answers. And we get that at the beginning of Razor’s Edge. However Keith doesn’t freak out as much as I’d suspect he would when he sees visions of his past. But what I do not like most is the two year time skip.

Keith apparently spends two years with Krolia on that space whale. That leaves many questions as to how he and Krolia talked about Keith’s issues. How did he deal with his fear that he’ll be abandoned or he’s not wanted, or that he thinks he has to prove himself useful and fast in fear of not being wanted? How did Krolia react and try to parent Keith in their strained relationship? Was their relationship even strained for long? If I found my space mom I never met before and she left me as a baby, and didn’t tell me immediately why she left, I’d be really upset and demand answers as fast as I could get it.

Also in this time Keith matured and grew. He became less hasty and when he case back to the team he immediately took the Black Lion without being scared of being a good leader or replacing Shiro. He grew that much! He went from point A to point B, but we never saw it. It’s a vital thing to see how he learned and healed from whatever he was dealing with, not just for viewers, but to perhaps reflect real life as well. I think we should’ve seen it in case anyone was dealing with the same problems as Keith and understood him as well as his thinking from the help of his mom to grow, live, and move on.

Instead we get a timeskip and miss out two years of Keith’s life. And we STILL don’t know his relationship with his mom! Are the cool now? Does he understand and forgive her? Is he at least comfortable being around her or are they at least friendly? Or are they on good terms and on the path to having a good mother and son relationship?

Also, WHAT’S THE DOG’S NAME??? Keith basically took a two year vacation with his mom and had a dog of his own. Like he got to live a little bit of the childhood that he lost without his mother. And I think that’s pretty important. It is a nice thought of how Keith got to be happy, heal, and relax with a dog he got to have and probably loves, while spending time with his mom. But we don’t know if it’s really that or he just was stuck on a whale with his unknown mom and his dog as his closest thing to a friend in a very awkward situation.

Not only that but there’s another message I don’t like as well. Maybe I interpreted wrong. It also may be a situation where one message can be sent or the other and both are equally important.

The idea that you need to know your past, who was in it, to find out who you are. Sure, the past crafts us into the person we are today, and anyone who is an orphan has the right to find out their past. But what you do in the present, and how you move on from you or others’ past mistakes to move forward is what makes you who you are. If you are trying to become a better person from mistakes you made, then you’ll slowly change into the person that you want to be.

It is good to know what runs in your blood and what race you are- Galra or Altean. But it matters to you as a living being what you do, what you want to do, how you need to get there, and if you are going to change or need to.

I thought Keith would learn about his past and see that his real family was with Shiro and the Voltron team. They were with him in a lot of life and death battles. I thought he was going to see more of how important they are to him. But it’s also the fact that no one stopped him or mentioned they missed Keith. I mean I’m sure they did but no one vocalized. Either meaning that they thought it was something they thought that wasn’t needed to be said, or that he wasn’t that important. Which is a lie since many of them hug him goodbye and some tear up when Keith is leaving for the Blade of Momora.

Hopefully they’ll tell us what he did during the two year timeskip for Keith in the next season or in the future and this is all part of their plan for the show. If not... I don’t know what to say yet.

2. The Altean Lady

The Altean Lady, or Romelle is the one that tells us of what Lotor did for the remaining Alteans and what he did with them. I would be fine if she was just introduced to bring his backstory and not be another in depth side character. But the thing is, I’m not sure if the writers were trying to chracterize her by giving her her side of the past or not.

Romelle is supposed to be a survivor and tell the crew what’s up with Lotor. She does this while telling of how her brother was caught up in it and how she reacted to it. And if this is her backstory or another one then it’s fine. But the way Keith introduced her to team Voltron made me think she was going to be a kinda important or at least a vocalized side character for the rest of the season. She takes the light for one episode, but then is just in the background later on. She reacts the same with the paladins when Shiro is on the ground in the last episode, but they way she is shown makes it seem like she is reacting strongly. Why should she? She doesn’t know these people. And yes I’d be sad or upset at seeing someone die, but it made her seem like she knew him when she didn’t.

And she’s still in the background and looks a bit plain but has enough detail on her for you to think “oh, her design makes her seem like she’ll be important this season as not just a reason for Lotor’s motivation and crimes, but as a person too) but that doesn’t happen. Maybe I’m confused on all this and maybe they’ll do something with her next season and characterize her. I hope they don’t think by giving her backstory will be enough characterization.

3. I want friendship darn it!

I wanted to see more friendship between Keith and Lance. I honestly thought these two would reunite and join together to somehow find the real Shiro. Maybe this is my own fault.

It’s just there were that red and blue star in the astral plane and I thought “oh hey, it’s foreshadowing that they are the only two that will be able to save Shiro”. I also thought that because they were both having issues about their place on the team and whether they think they are valued as not just teammates but as people and friends too. I thought the two would become closer as friends and be there to support each other and figure the puzzle pieces out as to why Shiro is acting weird and be the main characters or this season. That’s what I predicted anyway.

Also maybe I interpreted the trailer for Season 6 wrong because it made it seem like Keith and Lance’s reunion would be significant to the plot of the season. And maybe the trailer was going for that. Either way I don’t think it would’ve been the writers and animators fault but maybe the people who edited the trailer instead. But it’s not a big deal.

But now after this season, perhaps the red and blue star forshadowed the candidates closest to contacting Shiro and finding out about the Clone stuff. Or maybe it was foreshadowing Allura and Lances relationship to possible become romantic since they pilot the Red and Blue lions (I saw someone say something about this, I don’t know who said it but if you know please tell me. Just know I didn’t think that up myself or got inspired from it!)

But the stars appeared during season 2 right? So maybe it was referencing the red and blue lion switching pilots. Or the thing it’s foreshadowing still hasn’t come yet and it’s still possibly about Keith and Lance since those are their basic trademark colors.

To add to this I wish I could’ve seen more on how Pidge and Hunk reacted when they saw Keith’s return and change, as well as his family and some random Altean. It seemed only Lance really noticed which now makES ME FURTHER THINK THEIR RELATIONSHIP WILL DEVELOP MORE! ARE THEY FRIENDS OR WHAT?! SEASON 3 MADE IT SEEM LIKE THEY WERE BECOMING CLOSE FRIENDS AT LEAST AND NOT DUMB CLICHÉ RIVALRY!!!

I don’t know we’ll have to wait and see... again.

One last subject I want to note is how people are fearing Lance will be a rebound to Allura’s fast relationship and breakup with Lotor.

I know I don’t discuss ships on here, but if it’s strongly implied one character loves another one, then I’ll probably talk about it or do art on it.

Anyways, there’s no evidence Lance will be used like that from Allura of the creators yet. Allura knows Lance loves her, and knew he really, really does (or maybe did?). Not a crush but a love that can blossom into a romantic relationship. She knows this but still goes after Lotor. And I’m okay with that.

She chose Lotor because she had stronger feelings for him at that time. She didn’t feel the same way about Lance, but during Monsters and Mana, I think she saw Lance in a different light. And she didn’t really try to create feelings just because she knew Lance has some for her since those wouldn’t be true feelings and just pity, at least that’s how I saw it. After the whole thing with Lotor, perhaps she’ll think more about what to do about the two of them later.

The thing is now there are two paths. Down one, Allura deals with her breakup at a normal time and moves on, so that if she does have a romantic relationship with Lance, it will have a hopefully healthy start and actually grow to be a strong healthy one.

One another path, is the one where she tries to get over Lotor immediately and some time passes and grows to fall for Lance, but it can possibly lead to issues as to whether or not she does love Lance or had strong feelings for him, or is still confused and not completely over Lotor, or has some feelings for Lance but it hasn’t let them grown enough yet to let her possibly be in love with him and they try to date but it ends when the her feelings haven’t grown strong enough and the chances of them being together die out.

Or, there’s the third out-of-no where path where it’s nothing we guessed and we are all wrong and it’s something maybe we should’ve seen coming, or it’s an out of no where development.

Either way, we’ll probably know next season if Lance and Allura’s relationship will be endgame or stay friends, or happen but won’t work out and hopefully stay as friends.

Well, that’s my review of the season. It was my first time waiting for a new season of the show, and I guess now I’m more attached to the characters and the show. At first I really wanted to watch it just to know what’s going on and see people’s reaction to the season. It’s still that and I’m happy and laughing at some reactions because they resonate a bit with me and let me feed on their emotion (mwahahaha) but it’s also that I wanted to see if I would like the show more when getting hyped about it or people’s reactions and the payoff it would give. And I’d say it was pretty good!

So, uh... yeah! Thanks for reading! If you want to talk about stuff you can comment on this post! I’d love to hear what you have to say about the season and what you think is in store or what to expect.

Well now I hope we get the release date for the next season soon! But that’s probably wishful thinking. I just heard that they did that after the last season was realeased immediately. But that’s okay. The crew deserves a break after their hard work. And there’s so much art, comics, memes, and more we can make from this new season, so we’ll live for now. Heheh.

Thanks for reading! Bye! Have a nice day!