#Let him kill someone for himself not allura not keith not his family but himself as a treat

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Saw someone talk about how Tim Stoker is Lance McClain coded and this further proves my agenda that Lance deserved a revenge obsessed arc

[dragonhybrid456]

CAN YOU WRITE KIETH OR LANCE X MALE READER

OR, OR, OR VOLTRON X READER HEADCANONS!! DATING OR CRUSHES OR COURTING IDC BUT USE GENDER NEUTRAL READER SO EVERYONE CAN READ IT ☺️

PLEASE

I went with the dating headcannons, hope you like them :)

Warning!! I have not finished Voltron completely yet, but I do know bits and pieces so this might be a bit ooc

Voltron dating headcannons (GN reader)

Keith:

* I like to think that his love language is acts of service

* He’s very new to the whole “dating” thing and isn’t really good with his words so he relies on doing things for you

* Need help training? He’s got you. Stressed out? He’s not the best at it, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try and help his lover

* I don’t see Keith as the type of guy to use a lot of pet names

* Like dont get me wrong, I love pet names, but I personally can’t see Keith using them

* As tough and mean he is to others, you see a softer side of him

* Not in a “he’s really a big baby on the inside” crap

* More of a “he feels more calm and relaxed around you”

* After a stressful mission, he will definitely enter your room without a word and just flop either next to you or on top of you

* No words would be expressed, all he needs is some quiet and you to decompress

* In no way would he EVER let you get hurt

* This man will protect you with his life

* He can’t stand the thought of losing you, it kills him just thinking about the “what if” situations

* Not a big social person, but if you are then I think he will at least tag along for the ride

* Keith definitely worries that he’s not the “best” or “ideal” boyfriend for you

* He’s part Galra, he’s mean, he’s abrasive, he’s stubborn, what could you possibly see in him?????

* He needs a reminder now and then that he’s enough for you and that you love him

* You’ll sometimes find him late at night in the training room if he’s had a tough day

* You’ll have to physically drag him into bed and hold him down for him to sleep

Lance:

* Oh boy, he’s not called “lover boy” for no reason

* Absolutely loves to compliment you every single day

* Calls you stuff like, “mi amor” and “my girl/boy/partner”

* He likes to show you off and talks about you a lot

* Honestly the rest of the team is a little sick of it but they are also happy that he found someone like you

* Takes you on joy ride in his lion when he has some downtime

* He gets an earful from Allura

* His love language is definitely physical affection

* He loves holding your hands, your hugs, kissing you any chance he gets, and cuddling you

* Thinks he’s the big spoon but is really the little spoon most of the time

* When he gets homesick, he likes to be around you and talk to you to distract himself

* But some nights he’s crying in your arms, missing home, missing his family, and not knowing if or when he gets to see them again

* He likes to tell you stories from when he was little, what his family is like, and stories from his time at the garrison

* Will complain to you about how Keith annoyed him this time

* Overall, definitely a great lover

Shiro:

* Shiro is definitely more experienced with love than the other two

* He calls you stuff like “darling” “sweetheart” and other cute older pet names

* His love languages are quality time and acts of service

* I like to think that with all the excitement and craziness that comes with being apart of Voltron that he likes to just spend time with his lover and relax

* You two don’t even have to be doing something together

* He could be reading while your in the same room doing something completely different and he wouldn’t mind, just as long as he’s around you after such a stressful day

* Has severe PTSD and get nightmares almost every night

* He’s used to dealing with it alone but once you enter the picture he’s gonna have to get used to you waking up with him to comfort him

* Always tells you to go back to sleep and that “it’s nothing” but you know better than that

* He also has some self esteem issues about his metal arm, being disgusted by it some days and wanting nothing more than for it to disappear

* Please comfort him, space dad needs some love 🥺

* Likes to listen to you talk, your voice grounding him to reality and comforting him in times of need

* Like Keith, he is also protective of you

* After Adams death, he can’t help but have nightmares of you meeting the same fate

* Sometimes he becomes so paranoid about it that you have fights about missions you are sent on

* He knows you can take care of yourself, he trained you after all, but that won’t ease his nerves and memories about Adam

Hunk

* MY FAVORITE BOY 😍😍😍

* He’s so sweet to you, you don’t understand!

* He likes to call you “baby” “baking partner” or just a shorten version of your name if you have one

* His love languages is definitely gift giving and physical affection

* He loves cooking and baking new recipes for you to try and give him feedback

* With physical affection, he’s gonna be a bit nervous in the beginning about it, having never been in a relationship before, but he slowly starts to get more into it

* Hand holding, cuddling, hugging, there all his favorite ways to say he loves you

* He definitely one of the more nervous one when it comes to you fighting along side Voltron

* Hunk himself is more of a pacifist and is therefore already a little uneasy about even HIMSELF fighting

* So for you, his lover, to be put in the front lines with them has him very uneasy and nervous

* He just loves you so much he would never forgive himself if something happened to you 🥺

* He is always there if you have something on your mind that’s bothering you

* Whether it’s something small or large, he will always listen to you

* And vice versa, if he has something on his mind, be there for him cause he sometimes feels like he’s not listened to by the others

Pidge

* Definitely the least experienced out of the group (her and Keith are like neck and neck)

* I don’t see her using pet names, much like Keith

* Idk it just strikes me as odd for her to use pet names

* She definitely has stupid nicknames for you, but not stuff like baby or sweetheart

* If you don’t like that, sue me

* Her love language is definitely quality time

* She likes when you come around while she’s working on a new project so she can geek out about it

* You don’t even have to understand anything she says, she just likes when you’re around her when she’s working

* Also has you test some of the safer projects, she would never let you NEAR the more outrageous ones

* Unlike the others, she’s actually really open to you fighting along side her

* Don’t get me wrong, she would murder everyone if you got hurt, but she likes working with you and strategizing

* Will make you a weapon and enhanced suit if you asked

* Even if you don’t, she probably already has them in the works

[keithsautism]

Lance is the space nerd trying to impress his crush, Allura, by finding an alien. They're like, Totally Real, btw.

Keith is the Area 51 escapee living in a shack trying to cover up his tracker and hide from the government agents sent to recapture him, Lotor's generals.

With Pidge and Hunk's help, Lance gets a doohickey that finds him the frequency of Keith's tracker, and catches him before the generals do...

Keith thinks lance is insufferable and just wants him to leave him alone. Lance thinks this alien boy is a pain in the ass and is trying to get them both killed. Why won't Keith just do him a solid and prove to his friends and crush that he's not crazy and aliens exist after all? They have no choice but to stick together for the time being.. and on the run, trying to track down the missing tech from Keith's crash landing, there's plenty of close calls evading the generals who want them dead or alive. Plenty of close encounters of a.. certain kind.

As the plan to get Keith home nears completion, lance starts to realise that Keith has captured him too. At first Lance thought he got what he wanted by finding Keith, but now he realises he got so much more. How is he supposed to say goodbye to the alien that proved him right; who was supposed to be his ticket to getting with Allura; who showed him he can do great things?

How is he supposed to say goodbye to the first time he's truly felt discovered by someone else? Keith, from a completely different world who managed to see right into his being and get him to believe in himself?

Who would've thought that here on Earth where he's been captured, interrogated and now hunted, lightyears away from his own planet, Keith finally feels at home in the arms of Lance, the human who managed to make Keith feel like he finally belonged?

//anyway there's fight scenes, huddling for warmth, only one bed, roadtrip, search and rescue, bamf!lance, lance learning to believe in himself, s1&2 klance dynamics that become brothers in arms, overcoming internalised biphobia, found family, garrison trio are the best team, autistic!Keith, first love, action adventure becomes romance, they are so gay and angsty, lance self sacrificing and then hurt/comfort, trying to teach keith cards, pidge frothing at the mouth over alien tech, hunk loving his best friend

After a heartbreaking farewell, Keith departs and lance goes back to his life at the garrison with Pidge and hunk. No longer interested in Allura, unable to let Keith go. If Hunk and Pidge weren't there to help with the spaceship recovery mission.. to back up that Keith really existed, Lance would feel totally lost.

Then Keith finds him again. He comes back, after finding out how to remove the government tracker on him at home. Under an alias, he joins the garrison for the final year, a prodigal pilot (no more crashes this time) and then they live happily ever after. (Tracking down and rescuing other alien lifeforms on earth with Hunk and Pidge's help).

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

My complicated opinion on Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane is definitely one of the more popular characters in the VLD fandom. People love brooding emo bad boys.

My feelings on Keith are... complicated. I definitely don’t hate him. I have a lot of problems with the character but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to actually hate him. Mainly because I kinda relate to him. We both have problems controlling our emotions, interacting with people, and making friends.

And we both have trouble believing there are people who truly have our best interests at heart and won’t abandon us because we’re a burden.

What I do hate is the way his character was written and the way it negatively impacted the characters around him.

There are definitely a lot of factors that contributed to VLD ending up the way it did. But to me, Keith and the writers insistence on pushing him to the forefront was the poison that killed the show.

Ok, before we get into this whole rant I feel like I should talk about the things I do like about Keith.

I like the premise of Keith’s character. He’s half Galra and never really fit in on Earth. He didn’t act like the other “normal” kids so kids made fun of him and adults didn’t want to deal with him. So in order to protect himself from the pain of rejection he would put up a tough angry facade and push people away and reject them before they could reject him.

This is something that really resonates with me personally having grown up neurodivergent. It’s awful growing up in a world that isn’t made for people like you and not knowing how to interact with or connect with your peers. Especially when you don’t know why you’re like that.

You learn to avoid social interaction because it always ends up negative. You put up walls because you don’t feel like anybody understands you or what you’re going through.

I know the writers probably didn’t intend to code Keith as neurodivergent. They just wanted Keith to be a hothead with abandonment issues, but nonetheless, this interpretation means a lot to me.

I also really like his relationship with Shiro. Keith is so used to being left behind and abandoned that when he meets someone like Shiro who’s patient and genuinely cares it’s new and strange. He’s so ready for Shiro to abandon him, even telling Shiro to send him back to the home, but Shiro refuses to leave him and tells Keith ethat he’s never going to give up on him.

It’s also interesting to see how their relationship develops over time. It’s clear Keith trusts Shiro, but you can tell that that fear of abandonment is still there deep down. In S2, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him, and then in season 6, he takes the extra step and tells Shiro that he IS his brother and that he loves him. And for someone like Keith, telling their friend they love them is a big scary thing.

And also it’s just great to see a platonic “I love you,” especially between two guys. Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them!!!

Now let’s talk about the stuff I didn’t like.

Keith doesn’t have much going for him in terms of personality. He’s just sorta brooding and serious all the time. He does make jokes occasionally but it’s rare. The writers were more focused on making him cool and badass rather than fun.

I always loved the idea of Keith as a cocky carefree asshole who doesn’t give a shit about rules/laws and is kinda rude/aggressive but has a heart of gold deep down and would do anything for the people he cares about. (Just like a cat.)

I would also make him more alien esc. In terms of design I like the idea of Keith having red eyes with narrow pupils and fangs. And also just small things like the way he walks and holds himself. He growls and bears his teeth when he’s angry, his hair puffs up when scared, he’s fast and agile, disappearing and reappearing without making much noise, small things.

Then you have his race and sexuality. I have no doubt in my mind that Keith was intended to be a straight white dude. A lot of people see him as gay and Asian but there’s no evidence for this in canon. Acxa was originally intended to be his love interest and his race was never mentioned in canon. His name isn’t even Kogane in canon. (And the race of the voice actor doesn’t equal the race of the character. If that was the case Shiro, Hunk, and Lance would be white.)

They should’ve totally made Keith Japanese like he was in the original. It would’ve been so easy! Just canonize Kogane as his last name and have the book say he’s half Japanese half Galra. They could’ve also done what they did with Shiro and keep his og GoLion name. Just have him be Akira Kogane. Definitely cooler than “Keith.”

And as for his sexuality, I definitely think they should’ve had Keith be gay. But well get to that Later...

I also don’t like how they handled the whole Krolia thing. Not only was it crazy rushed, but it completely goes against the shows theme of found family.

Keith’s arc should’ve been about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to accept the paladins as family. But instead they just get rid of the abandonment issues by just giving him his mom back.

I know a lot of people love Krolia but I don’t feel like she should’ve been introduced in anything other than flashbacks. Because Keith’s mom isn’t really that important. The show is about found family and friendship, not blood relation.

You can definitely have Keith learn about his mom and his family, but I feel like giving him his mom back was too much.

Personally, I always headcanoned that Kolivan was Keith’s grandfather or just a close friend of Krolia’s, and when Keith showed up at the Blade’s base Kolivan recognized the blade as his Krolia’s. Keith could learn about his mom through Kolivan telling him about her, how she was a great person and warrior who died fighting to make the universe a safer place for her son.

Another thing I didn’t like was the whole Keith leaving the team for the Blades thing. I know why he did it, he felt like the team was gonna reject him, he wanted to be more useful, and wanted to learn about his family, but I feel like you could’ve touched on all that without having him abandon his team.

One of the biggest problems with the show is that they did a bad job at establishing the paladins as friends, they feel like coworkers more than anything, and I feel like Keith being absent for two seasons contributed to that.

And his absence is hardly addressed. The team forms Voltron perfectly without him and no one ever says they miss him. Keith doesn’t even seem like he missed them after being gone for two years.

And a lot of the weight was taken out of that Keith v Kuron fight by the fact that Keith and Kuron hardly interacted.

That whole thing amounted to four things, Keith meeting Krolia (which I don’t think should’ve happened), them finding the colony (which was a dumb plot I don’t think should’ve happened), Keith aging up two years (which was weird and unnecessary), and Keith meeting Kosmo (which is... complicated).

I don’t think this plot was necessary. Keith should’ve stayed with his team.

Then you have his relationship with Lance. I know people are very sensitive about this topic. People have very strong opinions about whether or not Keith and Lance were intended to be romantically coded.

Personally, I do like Klance but I don’t believe they were romantically coded. I think if you want them to get together some things would have to go differently.

For example, the bonding moment. In canon, Lance tells Keith, “we make a good team.” I don’t see this as referring to him and Keith. I think he was talking about the whole team. If you want it to be about the two of them, I feel like it should be Lance telling Keith something like, “ya know, you’re not so bad after all,” and then Keith smiles and responds, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

Another example could be the scene where Lance comes to Keith with his insecurities. (Whether it’s as a leader or a friend.) This scene was weird in canon, Lance comes to Keith for advice and Keith basically tells him to just stop thinking about it.

I would prefer if Lance brought up to Keith how he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough or that he doesn’t have, “a thing,” and Keith is completely dumbfounded like, “what are you even talking about?” He goes on about all the good shit about Lance. Talks about how Blue chose him, how he’s a great shot, how he’s good at dealing with people, meanwhile Lance is standing there in shock as Keith says all these nice things about him.

Over all you would just have to develop their relationship more. More meaningful interactions. And if you want the relationship to be romantic you would have to establish that early on. Establish that one or both has romantic feelings for the other in like S1/S2 because if you wait too long it’s gonna feel forced/out of no where.

And then... you have the Black Paladin arc... I’m gonna be real with y’all, this is the arc that killed the show for me, for a few reasons.

One, even ignoring the whole quintessence bond thing, it makes no sense for Keith to be the bp. He doesn’t fit the role. I adore Shiro but choosing Keith as his successor was a dumb move. I get that he saw potential in Keith but they’re are fighting a war, there’s no room for favoritism.

Shiro should’ve chosen Allura as his successor. Not only does she have actual leadership experience, but you would only have one paladin in a new Lion instead of three.

If a lifeguard breaks his leg and can’t work, he should choose an experienced swimmers to take his place, not his little bro that’s still in water wings in the hopes that it’ll teach him to swim.

Two, Keith being the bp doesn’t help his arc. Keith’s arc is about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to be a team player, he doesn’t need to be the leader for that.

VLD should’ve been about the paladins growing into the best versions of themselves they could be. Their development shown by unlocking new abilities in their respective lions, new forms for their bayards, and new Voltron bayard power ups. They shouldn’t have to change lions and themselves.

Keith and Red have a strong bond and work great together. Keith and Red are both temperamental, unpredictable, and have issues with trust. Keith having to fight to get Red to trust and open up to him mirrors how others have to fight to earn Keith’s trust and get him to let down his walls.

It would’ve been interesting to see them grow together. Keith has no emotional connection with Black.

We never even get to see them bond. Keith just suddenly becomes the “perfect” bp/leader because he got over his mommy issues

Three, it’s a MASSIVE disservice to Shiro’s character. Shiro put all the work in earning his position as the bp, he literally fits fought Zarkon on the astral plane to earn her trust, yet Keith is the true bp? What?

It sucks. Sendak told Shiro that a monster like him could never be a paladin and the writers went and proved him right. Hell Shiro didn’t even get to kill Sendak, Keith got that too.

And don’t tell me, “but he got the Atlas!” REALLY!? A massive Deus ex machina that required absolutely no effort from him to acquire!? Filled with a bunch of rando background characters no one gives a shit about!? You’re totally right, that 100% makes up for it.

I could go on and on about how the treatment of Shiro in this show (and fandom) is blatantly ableist but that’s a rant for another time.

It sucks. I want to like Keith! He had the potential to be an amazing character but the writers just kept on trying to turn him into something he wasn’t and it ruined him for me.

They kept trying to turn Keith into the main character and ignored that ALL the paladins are the main characters. It’s an ensemble cast! You don’t have to have everything come back to one guy.

[harukamitsuki]

I don't think Lance should have swapped to the Red Lion.

TL;DR at the end.

Lance's connection to Blue was the first connection shown in the series, which makes it all the more meaningful, and it made no sense to the series own rules. Red is temperamental and difficult to control, which is why Keith was her paladin. I have defended Lance's piloting skills in a previous post, but he is not as good as Keith and does not suit the Red Lion. His affinity is water - as emphasised by the start of season 2. Red is aligned with water.

Plus, if he stayed in Blue he would have gotten a proper character arc by living by his own rules and standards and not in Keith's shadow. I know it was supposed to be symbolism - him accepting Keith as leader and not being selfish about it made him qualify as the right-hand man, but the others accepted him as well, despite ribbing Keith about it earlier.

If anyone should have gotten the role as the Red Paladin, it should have been Allura.

Allura as the Red Paladin would, not only make sense narratively, but would also seem right. Colour-wise, she's closer to Red's hue than Blue's, but honestly, I didn't really care about the colour match-up. What is important, is that it would seem like a much bigger deal than Lance accepting Keith as the leader. Lance hates Keith, but that's probably due to being constantly in his shadow and being compared to him, consistently reminded at the Garrison that he was only moved up because Keith was expelled.

Allura, however, has a deeper reason. (Lance's reason is still valid, btw, just not as big as Allura's). She hated Keith for a good portion of Season 2 because he is half-Galra. Obviously, to us, this is a shitty reason to hate someone. It's racism and the show doesn't handle this well. It doesn't handle a lot of stuff well, but whatever. She gives Keith the cold shoulder and Keith knows she hates him. He says so himself to Hunk and doesn't listen to his reassurances. Then again, Hunk was making jokes about something Keith was clearly sensitive about, so that may have had a hand in it too.

Now, I am not condoning her actions. She made Keith feel unwelcome in a team - a family - while he already has abandonment issues, (not that they knew that), and hated him for something he cannot control. Keith probably hated himself for being born. Both of them disregarded the fact that he is still a person with feeling and blood doesn't change that. Hunk too, as much as I love him, was also wrong in his 'Galra Keith' jokes, as if Keith was someone else entirely, when nothing changed apart from their knowledge.

However, what I am saying, is that Allura's reaction was, somewhat, believable and had a genuine reason - and a good one. The Galra Empire completely annihilated her species (as far as she's aware), betrayed the people she loved, and has monopolized entire planets and controlled them - forced them to work and even fight to the death for their entertainment. Apart from Ulaz, she hadn't a single good interaction with the Galra. One good person is not enough to change your opinion about entire races. I know people who are racist, proper racist, to their own race, no joke.

Allura's reaction was actually rather tame, especially compared to how extreme racism can be in the world, even now. She never rose a hand to Keith and kept it passive-aggressive. She gave him the cold shoulder and genuinely hated him, but she never hit him and she never deliberately sent him on a death mission. The Weblum mission was dangerous, but it was also a requirement and she didn't send him in alone. She may have refused to acknowledge his achievements, but she didn't blame him or accuse him of anything. It's likely that, when she saw him, all she saw was Galra. That being said, she wasn't a bad person, simply badly written. There are many people who hurt others for no reason - people who haven't been wronged in any way, but rate a community simply because they exist or they think they're lower than them or less human, which is wrong on so many levels. Allura, at least, had a good reason, though it should have been built on and written better.

In the end, Allura acknowledged her toxic attitude and apologised to Keith. This in and of itself does not make everything okay, but it's more than what Lance did, (virtually nothing except telling Keith that he has to be the leader). Allura knows she was wrong and sets out to make it right, and this development would have been solidified by her becoming the Red Paladin. Like, let's be honest. Lance does not treat Keith right and it's never explained why, in and outside of the show. He's the one antagonising Keith, even during their first proper meeting, and he's the only starting all the arguments, especially in season 2. Keith has been volatile too, I will admit, but he stops his behaviour in the second season. Lance is the one starting everything. Allura, however, stops her behaviour before it takes extreme lengths and becomes a better person and a better friend as a result. It's then that she calls Keith family for the first time, and becoming his right-hand would have shown how serious she was and how far they've come.

Seeing Allura, who, just the season prior, hated Keith's guts, accept Keith as her leader, the Black Paladin, become his right-hand, would have meant so much more. The symbolism goes even deeper. Red's first paladin was Altean and Black's was Galran. Need I say more? (No, but I will). Many of us were incredibly disappointed with the ending of Voltron, especially with Allura dying. The reason she died was to complete the circle, so to speak. The war against the Galra Empire truly started with the death of Allura's father, Alfor, and the entire species of Altea, and the war is finally ending with Allura and Honerva's death. That being said, it was just so insulting and pointless and nobody was happy. Instead of dying to complete the circle, Allura should have survived and broken the chain, for both herself and Red's own paladin tragedy. It was just a huge slap in the face for people who actually powered through seasons 7 and 8 and trusted the show to pull through and get its head together. I know that Shiro was supposed to get Black back, Keith goes back to Red and Allura controls the Atlas, but if that wasn't the plan, then Allura in Red would have made much more sense.

Additionally, the fight in that realm would have been more emotional if Allura was forced to fight her father and bring him back. Lance had no emotional attachment to Alfor, and I know that was the case with Hunk and Pidge, and Allura had attachment to all of the previous paladins, but still. Think about how heart wrenching it would have been for her to face her father, whom she loves dearly. he wouldn't have even recognised her and would have fought her with the intent to kill after his soul was trapped for 10,003 decapheobs/years. (I know they're different, but Allura says 10,000 years even when she didn't know what years were, so I didn't know if that was a mistake or not). Allura would not have been able to fight as well as she did against the Blue Paladin of Old.

Let's not forget that Allura was the one to convince Keith to take up the role of the Black Paladin. Of all the paladins, it was Allura who knew what to say; who knew why Keith was acting the way he was in season 3. Lance saw Shiro as his idol, Pidge as a legend, and Hunk as a mentor. Keith's relationship with Shiro is so much deeper than that. Shiro wasn't the youngest man to be sent into space. He wasn't someone to look up to. He didn't go to the Garrison because Shiro went there - he went there because Shiro convinced him. He doesn't see Takashi Shirogane, piloting prodigy, idol for all. He sees Takashi Shirogane, his best friend and brother, a man he can trust and how can trust him. Nobody else realises how deep this goes. Nobody but Allura. She's the only one to see how much Shiro meant to Keith. She's the one to call him 'irreplaceable' and she's the only one even by the end of the series, who isn't Keith, who has sacrificed something for him. Allura gave up her freedom for him by allowing herself to be captured, and then she gave up the crystal for his arm. Keith has saved Shiro many times, even his clone, and literally gave up his place in Voltron for Shiro. Allura trusts Keith and Keith allowed himself to trust her. She understands his pain when nobody else saw it.

Finally, Allura would have been inheriting Red from her father. Coran has explicitly said that Allura wanted to pilot Red due to her father piloting her. The Lions clearly have some amount of sentience, Red and Black especially. Black only opens themselves to Keith because he of Shiro. The first time, it's to save Shiro from death. The second, it's because Shiro wanted him to become the leader. Red only accepted Keith because he proved himself to her and has saved Keith many times while he's floating in space. She's described as temperamental, which suggest levels of sentience. Obviously, Red would have more of a soft spot for Allura, the daughter of her previous paladin, than she would for Lance, whom she only opens up to well into season 3 and is someone antagonised and even bullied Keith, her current/transitioning paladin. Allura also shows that she's fiercely loyal and is willing to give one up for the team.

Allura has sacrificed her only contact to her father, she has allowed herself to be kidnapped for Shiro, she has constantly exhausted herself for both her friends and strangers such as the Balmerans, she has given up the crystal in her crown for Shiro without hesitation, and she even dated Lance despite not showing any form of romantic attraction previously. (That last one was joke, obviously).

TL;DR - Lance has literally no reason to have become the Red Paladin outside of a rubbish character arc, and Allura has all the reasons. It would have marked an excellent character arc mid-point and would have set up a great ending, if handled well.

I have nothing but respect for the writers of Voltron for their work, especially after all the intervening of their higher-ups that caused many issues, especially regarding Shiro, Keith, Lance and Allura, who were all robbed of excellent character arcs. That doesn't mean I can't hate what came of it.

[ghostgetter]

hehehe more wip from the klance fic I’m writing:

Lance fluffs out a gigantic blue comforter with flowers decorating the front. He folds it carefully, sticking his tongue out with expert, sharpshooting precision, before gently placing it on the ground next to the guest bed.

“Here ya go, Kosmo,” he pats the blanket repeatedly and the wolf obeys. He noses Lance’s hand and snuggles into the soft, make-shift bed. “Fit for a king.” He pets his fur for extra measure, smiling gently down at him.

“A king?” Keith crosses his arms, unable to control the soft smile gracing his features. Lance is unable to see how soft he looks, how content and happy he appears with his space wolf.

“More than any of us will ever dream of being,” Lance answers with an affirmed nod.

“Kosmo loves the attention,” Keith says, noting how comfortable his wolf appears under Lance’s hand. He’s a bit envious, which is stupid. Because he’s not a dog. And Keith doesn’t get “pet.”

Lance chuckles, rising up to his full height. “Yeah, well one of you has to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” It comes out more defensively than he had intended, because really he’s just confused. Where’d that come from? The soft, domestic mood is suddenly squandered.

Lance mirrors his crossed arms, but in more of an annoyed posture. Like what he’s stating is obvious and Keith’s just an idiot, which Keith never stands for. “Uh, dude? We barely tolerated one another in Voltron. It’s only recently that you’ve even started staying over. I know my main default setting is to bother you still.”

“You don’t bother me,” Keith responds immediately, like a reflex. Like Lance’s words are an annoying house fly and Keith is the swatter.

“Huh?”

“You don’t bother me,” Keith repeats. The opposite, in fact. But he keeps that to himself.

“No, I heard you. I’m just confused.”

“About what? You don’t. You haven’t since way before the war ended. I dunno why you think otherwise,” Keith ensures.

Lance rolls his eyes and opens his dumb mouth, but Keith still wants to speak, so he does. He wants to make sure Lance gets how much he cares about him, even if he isn’t ready to say all that yet.

“I like being here. I like staying here with you. You’re fun and caring and my friend, my close friend, and I like staying with you when you let me,” Keith picks at the skin of his upper arm as he manages to keep a straight face. Somehow, potentially through the constant meetings with the Blade, he’s able to look at Lance as he speaks, unravels, throws up, whatever. But Lance...

Lance’s bemused face is dropping into silent shock. Why is this so surprising to him? Why is he so against this idea of them...them...

“I like being around your family. Your mom is kind and a good cook, and your brothers and sisters are fun. Veronica’s a great pilot and always tries to talk to me about stuff. You spoil Kosmo. You’re great, Lance. I dunno why you still think....you bother me.”

It’s silent for a bit, and Keith sees the rose grow on Lance’s cheeks under the green facemask, and part of him wants to step closer and graze them with his fingertips. Even at the expense of covering his hands in chalky goo. Even if Lance yells at him about hand oils. He watches Lance blink once, twice, thrice -

“Oh.”

Oh.

Oh, Keith feels like a moron now. His heart sinks and...he doesn’t normally unload that many emotional admissions in one sitting, and the build up is congesting his mouth. Suddenly everything he said feels like too much. Lance looks... flabbergasted? More confused? Shit.

“Okay, well...thank you,” and only because Keith’s observational skills have been drilled into him so fully, he sees Lance’s eyes shift to whatever is behind him. The awkward is worse than when Krolia forced him to speak in front of those Puigans a month ago and he forgot the name of their leader. Lance’s face, the red and the adverted eyes, is why he took so long to open up to people. “If you need anything, you know where I am. Right down the hall.”

“Right.” The awkward tension gets thicker as Keith forces a swallow. Now even he can’t look at Lance. He really shoulda just kept his mouth shut.

“Right. Well,” and now the classic neck rub. Fantastic. He’s fucked up to that level, apparently. Kill him slowly. “G’night.”

Once Lance swiftly escapes the guest room, Keith drags his hands down his face, like ripping off the embarrassment from his skin can ease beating heart. A long, loud exhale. Is this what it’s come to now? Realization of crushing on Lance - Lance, of all people, and now he throws up emotions all over the floorboards? Lance could barely look at him.

Things were so much easier when he was just reassuring Lance about his role with Voltron. Blissful and ignorant while Lance swooned over Allura.

He glares at Kosmo, snuggling into his comforter as he eyes his owner. Must be nice.

His heart is still pounding. Escaping under the covers of his bed is the only logical option at this point, so he dives in after turning the lamp on the nightstand off. Kosmo huffs in the dark, relaxing further, while Keith just turns and stares up at the ceiling fan.

He likes Lance. He really, truly, irrevocably likes Lance.

Lance, his used-to-be righthand man. Lance, who buys Kosmo toys and beds. Lance, who still wants to stay on the farm and refuses to get involved with anything space-related. Lance, who makes jokes about their rivalry still but actually believes Keith doesn’t consider him a close friend. Lance, who’s still grieving after 2 years without Allura.

He turns to face the door and burrows himself into the pillow.

Lance is in love with someone else, and she isn’t even here anymore.

If at all possible, his heart sinks even further.

He struggles to sleep; he always does in times of anxiety and restlessness, but this is different. His heart aches in ways he’s never felt before, because he’s never felt this way before about anyone. These feelings are new and unwanted, even though the one he carries them for is warm and inviting and a dream he wants to live by. Lance, of all people, the reciprocate of Keith’s newfound desires. How ironic.

Not for the first time, he dreams of deep blue that night.

[80scartoonfan]

My Review of Masters of the Universe Revelation - Better late then Never...

It has been two months now, and wow... Not, not many fans of the entire franchise like the Kevin Smith Masters of the Universe series do they? As an aspiring writer myself I can't say I blame them.

I know this comes literally on the heels of the LATEST series being released (obligations to projects, work, family and other things got in the way) and I have to say I wasn't all that impressed with it. If anything, compared to the dumpster fire that was Season 8 of Voltron Legendary Defender that season was more enjoyable than this first part of the mini-series. 

And if I am being honest from the first leaks of Skele-God, to the drama with YouTubers like Clownfish-TV and others, to the "race swapping" of Andra and King Greyskull, to spoilers Kevin Smith himself even made, I would give Part-1 a GENEROUS D-Minus. This is a shame because I really wanted this series to exceed all expectations and be equal to the original like 2012s TMNT is or 2011s ThunderCats. But there is too much against it. 

First, let’s talk about the animation. It was absolutely breathtaking! It was crisp, the world-building in just the scenery was a masterpiece. Out of what I saw of all of part 1, spotted one goof - dealing in episode 1 with Evil-Lyn's staff, which shows that their animators care of what they produce. I loved the animation so much that if the rights to my favorite anime were purchased by a studio to do a continuation from 2005 or a second reboot, I'd gladly give Powerhouse Animation my salary for the next 5 years!

The music, the music was gorgeous! But then I am biased towards Bear McCreary. Even though He-Man seems a bit knew to compose music to, he immediately got my vote of confidence when it was announced he was attached. Reason being, his work for the movie Godzilla King of the Monsters! His music made me actually tear up during that movie. Something I didn't do since another Godzilla movie.

With the exception of Mark Hamill - as shocking as it comes and Sarah Michelle Gellar, the voice acting was phenomenal! I loved Kevin Michael Richards as Beastman, Tony Todd as ScareGlow, even Liam Cunningham as Duncan! Chris Wood was spectacular as Prince Adam/He-Man for just being introduced to him. But the one who really stole the show for me was Lena Headdy. She killed it as Evil-Lyn, so much that if the Eternity War Saga or 2 part crossover event ThunderCats and He-Man/Injustice vs Masters of the Universe were made into live-action or animated movies, I'd pay whatever she wanted just to have her return. 

I also want to applaud the effort of getting a diverse group of voice actors. Something which I noticed few if ANY have. Actors who are both known for their VA resumes and those who are new to voice acting. But also the actors themselves, besides the white and black VAs there were if I am not mistaken a Native American and I think 2 Mixed-Race voice actors. I don't remember if there were any Asian or Middle Eastern VAs, but it is always Part-2! 

As for Mark Hamill, at first, I was excited that he was going to do the voice of Skeletor. But upon hearing him as Skeletor, I'm not sure anymore. Granted this is just the first part of the mini-series, but it didn't feel like Skeletor if that makes sense? To me, it felt like he was trying to mix Joker/Alvin the Treacherous/and Firelord Orzi all into one character.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is another one I wasn't sure about. I admit I found it hard going in unbiased because I never liked Sarah. Not as Gwendy Doll, or Andromeda, Daphne and certainly not as Buffy - mainly because I preferred Kristy Swanson as Buffy, but that is beside the point. She had some nice emotional spots, but for the majority of her performance as Teela, it just wasn't there for me. If the writing and script had been better than what it was, she could have won me over for Teela, but as I write this I am more excited for Kimberly Brooks to voice Teela.

Now let’s talk about the things I hated. This will involve anything from Characters including designs to the writing and other things. If you don't want to be triggered I advise you to stop reading this and move on. If you are still here and get triggered, like one person who always seems to be, don't say I didn't warn you. I am always open to engaging others civilly in talking and debate. But if you can't even do that, don't bother engaging. These are my opinions and MY THOUGHTS, and I will hold nothing back regardless of the topic. You have been warned!

The story, the story absolutely sucked! You can tell the writers, if you can call them that, just didn’t care about what they were doing. I’ll go into this shortly. But those writers should be ashamed to even call themselves that. Sure it was catered to be modernized and appealing to potential new fans, but they should have been more aware of what they were doing. Just in this first part, there are so many plotholes and questions I was asking myself that I filled 4 whole pages of paper asking questions and thoughts - which to the fanfic writers I will put in at the end of this if you want to explore them. 

I watched the mini-series five times now, trying to be as objective as I possibly could as an aspiring writer and not as a MotU fan, and each time got even more painful. Let’s be clear on one thing, I wanted this series to succeed. But too many things brought it down, and like with Ghost in the Shell 2045, I’m not sure I want Netflix to release part 2 or that I would watch it if they did. 

Let’s start with how it was advertised as a “direct sequel to the original.” It was not a direct sequel to the original. I have seen someone bring this up and I have to agree with him. This mini-series is more in line with Nickelodeon’s Voltron-Force from 2011. I remember watching that series when it premiered and then had to hunt down my VHS tapes that had them to get a feel for the series again. 

Both played off their respective originals as direct sequels, but both are in fact pseudo-sequels/soft reboots. They have the characters we grew up with and we can identify these characters because they are close to their original counterparts, but that is as far as the “sequel” goes. They bring in newer characters who we know nothing about or characters who have maybe been unimportant to the main characters, but we have to accept them now. It was like that with Mona Lisa in the 2012 TMNT who I enjoyed WHEN they used her, Larmina of Voltron-Force being Allura’s niece, and Andra of Revelation who had maybe 2 or 3 appearances in the entire run of the Masters of the Universe franchise.

Like Voltron-Force, Revelation, had no real ties to the original. There were no mentions of battles, events, and characters who played critical roles in the original. Instead, it starts off with a narrative deposition to set the series up (not matching how the original ended) and just starts in with new adventures. For it to be a direct sequel to an original,  you need to have more than just characters we can identify as He-Man/Skeletor/Keith/Lotor/Allura/or Teela.

Next, let’s talk about the length of this mini-series. This is still a bitter subject amongst Voltron fans because so much Netflix could have done more with it if they didn’t do four seasons that were  6/7 episodes. We can all agree that with the “story telling” they wanted to do, just five episodes just were not enough for the first part and potentially the second part. The amount of time needed to portray the journey from Adam’s death to Skeletor taking the power sword and becoming Skelegod could have easily been an entire season. Even 9-10 episodes would have been acceptable with the proper writing that wasn’t going for deliberate shock value goals or “shipping.”

With a 9-10 episode first part, they could have given everyone what they wanted. They could have had He-Man solidly in the first 3 episodes killing him off in the 3rd in such an emotional way it would leave us old-timers not only devastated but eager for more. Use episode 4 to transition into a dying magical world trying to survive with the loss of He-Man and Skeletor and set up the following episode where we see Teela and Andra meet, rather than “next episode we meet Teela and her ‘friend’ Andra on a practically dead world.” Hell, if this was supposed to be a series which wanted to emotionally cripple old timers like me, I’d have been fine if were three season 13 episode series where He-Man dies at the very end of season 1, season 2 picks up with the aftermath of his death, and season 3 is He-Man’s return to defeat Skeletor.

Let’s now talk about the plotholes in this series which tie together with the amount of episodes. These are the biggest things that damage the series the most! The biggest plothole and the most important one is “SPAN OF TIME!” How long has it been since Prince Adam’s death and we see Teela with Andra - days/weeks/months/years - WHAT?! When did they meet? Where did they meet? What happened to Eternos? Did King Randor go all Mad-King Targarian or was Eternos get sacked and destroyed now that He-Man was no longer there to protect its people? Did King Randor put a bounty on Teela’s head for leaving? Remember she was a sworn member of the guard to the King. I doubt he would have just let her leave unless he had a good reason not to go after her. What happened to all the other Masters - Clamp Champ/Ram-Man/Stratos/Buzzoff/Tusk Man and many others in the aftermath of Adam’s death? These are questions and things fans should have been focusing on rather than “will Teela and Andra be together?” Kevin Smith said this series had what others didn’t... STAKES. What are those stakes?

Speaking of Teela and Andra and I know this will be a touchy one for most. I feel that their dynamic is directly done to “queerbait” people. Now I am not saying we can’t have LGBT couples in series, it’s just that writers either need to commit to establishing these couples or not at all. Only doing glimpses or hints at, is for a lack of a better term a Kobayashi Maru - (a No Win Scenario for the Non-Star Trek fans) like it was with Shiro in Voltron Legendary Defender. And if and when this blows up in their faces, like it did the Voltron writers, they have no one to blame but themselves. 

Star Trek Lower Decks like every other Star Trek since “The Next Generation” have no qualms in establishing certain characters as LGBT. It is how you do it, and many of these shows need to follow the example from Star Treks TNG/DS9/VOY/LD. This series are a clear testament that you can have Straight/Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual relationships without “queer-baiting” or overtly shoving it in people’s faces.

The writers have made it clear that there is something between Teela and Andra but while also making it clear there is still something between her and Adam. Which regardless of how part 2 ends is liable to upset the fans they “catered” this series to. Who do you make happy and who do you ostracize? And with today’s social media are you going to handle the backlash of giving one and not the other? I personally would prefer Teela and Adam to be what kids today call “Endgame,” but ever since the Keith & Allura tradition was soundly destroyed in Season 2 of Netflix’s Voltron, that when it comes to Netflix series I just simply don’t care anymore who ends up with who, I want a well thought-well developed story. 

The character designs of Teela/Andra/Evil-Lyn I understand they wanted a more “modern” realistic feel to them, which I am neither for nor against. Because let’s face it spandex-clad or barely covered barbarian fantasy women with chainmail is a product of the 70s/80s/90s. It is alright to have modern designs for characters but not too modern. Especially when we have shows like Game of Thrones and others to draw references from.

I do admit, I am not a fan of Teela’s design. I understand the reasoning is to make her a “Strong Female Character” but there is more to being a strong female character than looking strong. Strength is also one’s character, how they grow and develop. Teela’s stubbornness, fear, and anger at her “past life” are preventing her growth. If this is the way they portray a strong female character then they have no business doing so. 

Kimberly Brooks’ Allura is a far stronger woman than this Teela ever will be. The burdens she shouldered, admitting she was wrong and not gloating when she was correct, the forgiveness of a race responsible for the genocide of her’s, being a diplomat while also being a warrior, sacrificing her well being for others all contributed to her growth from “Princess who just woke up” to Strong Female Character by the end of Season 6. 

Teela understandably was hurt by the lies that filled her life. Sure she built a life away from those lies, but she was running away from them. Rather than confront the reason why she became bitter and ran away essentially. She was only forced to confront those lies to save Eternia and the universe and even then there really wasn’t any humility about it. Instead, it is all about her. Not once in this series have I seen growth for Teela’s character like Legendary Defender’s Allura, and let me be perfectly blunt - I had no love for Allura after Season 2. Not once did she admit she was wrong or apologize. Not once was she willing to sacrifice her life for the greater good - instead she was willing to let the whole universe die because of the lies she was fed her life. 

Now let me address the whole Race-Bending “controversy.” As with the new designs, I am neither for nor against them. I understand the arguments on both sides when it comes to Andra and King Greyskull. One side argues it appeals to young black girls and boys while the other argues they are being tired of being handed “Hand-Me-Down” characters. Both sides have valid arguments. But honestly, as an old Masters of the Universe fan, it took the so-called “race-swapping” of Andra for me to even remember her because she was never that important and even betrayed Teela for Faker in the Injustice vs Masters of the Universe comics and even then she appeared in maybe 5 panels at most.

Now King Greyskull, at first I was against, I’ll admit it but then I changed my tone looking at myself and my family. See I am Bi-Racial, my mother is white and my father is black. My father’s sister married a white guy and had 6 bi-racial kids. Two who in turn gave birth to white-skinned blond-haired blue-eyed kids. Had they gone the “bloodline” path Prince Adam could have been a representation of not just blacks, whites, but bi-racial and mixed-blood peoples. 

I realize this is coming out on the eve of that new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, which as a He-Man fan since 1984 (when I was potty training) I will give it a shot, maybe even write a review of it. But I still have my reviews of Godzilla: Singular Point, Pacific Rim: The Black, Star Trek Lower Decks, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2045, and other series to write on top of work and my family life.

-------------------------------~ Question and Thoughts Time ~---------------------------

As I mentioned above,  had many thoughts and questions which I believe were pivotal in the development of this series. Questions and thoughts should have been vocalized during the writing stage rather than fans asking them. These are of the first 3 episodes and some of episode 4. If you are a fanfiction writer who wants to explore these feel free to do so, I will be more than happy to read if they answer these questions and make the mini-series more enjoyable.

Keep in mind these are questions and thoughts I had because I am also an aspiring writer of my own fiction - that I am keeping close to my chest until I feel ready to release it.

Any true He-Man fan would question why is He-Man on a mechanical horse when he would be using battle cat

I do like the celebration happening at the same time quote-unquote He-Man is approaching Castle Grayskull it makes you think Adam is missing out on an important event

In the original series, Castle Grayskull had defenses that the Sorceress could call upon to confuse and combat an enemy who breached its walls how did Skeletor learn about the true secrets of Castle Grayskull when it should only be the Sorceress that knows of such secrets

If the Sorceress is so powerful and so smart why was she tricked by the faker He-Man he doesn't have the power sword?

I love that Orko is still a bumbling magician in Eternia’s realm. Shows how different realities have an effect on others

Adams entrance to “I have the power” let alone his playful jab at who “He is” should have been a hint to Teela

I do like the scene between Adam and Teela in the hall. It really makes you think that they actually are friends from childhood that grew up together and possibly have a future together.

My knowledge of the 38 years of the canon may be a bit shady now, but hasn’t Skeletor always needed the Power sword to get into Castle Grayskull like he always needed it in the comics?

They hinted that his mother knows he's He-Man and that she does reveal that he is He-Man after the battle. I know a mother knows these things about her child. But how did she learn Adam was He-Man and how did she not tell King Randor

Again how did Marlena know He-Man was her son and not tell her husband?

King Randor’s response is feasible but Teela’s response, because everyone lied to her is understandable - but she's a warrior. She is also a sworn captain of the royal guard, sworn to the King. She can’t just quit like that, can she?

How much time has passed between the death of Adam and when we see Teela with Andra

What has happened to the Royal Family in this time? What about Eternos? Has King Randor and Marlena revealed that he-man was their son Prince Adam? With He-Man out of the picture Has Eternos Fallen? Did Randor go all Mad-King Targaryen and become a ruthless tyrant?

What has happened to all of the other Masters? Ram-Man/Buzzoff/Clamp Champ/Fisto/Stratos/ and so many others? Were they killed off? Did they disband? Or were they exiled, WHAT?!

What about Snake-Mountain? What happened in the aftermath of Skeletor’s apparent death? Did Triclops and Beastman betray Evil-Lyn?

How did Teela meet Andra? What is the “When, where, and how” behind their meeting? What did she do to gain Teela’s trust when she felt betrayed by the world?

What is Andra’s background or history in this series besides being an engineer?

When old hag gives Teela and Andra their mission you can obviously tell it's evil-lyn

He-Man flashbacks are kind of nice but it would have been nice to have a build-up for such flashback or have a series season before his demise with such flashbacks that way it could be more poignant

I do like the idea of Triclops and Trap-jaw building a technical but what put them on the path for this techno cult

The cult kind of feels like the Borg as much as I like the idea of Trap-jaw and Triclops making a cult I don't know how I feel about it being Borg-like

This may be controversial but Andra feels like the stereotypical POC Rooky sidekick you see join the main character on their quest.

Like Grace Randolph said this whole Teela/Andra angle may come up and bite everyone in the ass later on if they don’t follow through which will piss off all the old-time fans and if they don’t follow through with the Teela/Andra angle and make Prince Adam/Teela are a couple then all the LGBTQ fans will be pissed off about that

I can already foresee it happening just like it did with Voltron Legendary Defender with Shiro being gay and his ex-partner Adam being killed in combat

We do get a hint of what the king did after the final battle but still what happened in that time after Prince Adam was killed? Did king Randor go off the deep end and become a dictator, what? These are questions that needed to be asked and answered during the writing stage

When did Evil-Lyn, Cringer, and the Sorceress make an alliance to save what little magic is left and in essence the entire universe?

I have the suspicion that was the Sorceress finally trying to tell Teela she's her mother Ford Shadows that the Sorceress is going to die and Teela is going to take her place

Did Teela really name Cringer, or was it something to boost her up in this mini-series?

Did cringer really tell Tela the Adam loved her?

Thus Begins the quest to reforge the sword to go to heaven and hell to get the parts and rebuild the Power sword thus queue Duncan

How much time has passed between the end of the previous episode and the beginning of this new one?

How is time measured on Eternia? 

If Skeletor truly wanted to kill He-Man why didn't you take his power sword when he was shackled up?

Kevin Conroy is ma as Mermaid Man if he gets more roles as mermaid man he might grow on me

Instead of gloating, why didn’t they take He-Man’s sword if it was their prize all along?

Typical 80s cartoon ponds very nice

If Evil-Lyn preached that Man-at-Arms was the most dangerous man in Eternia why didn't they act like it why did they act like He-Man was the most dangerous one?

I do love the jobs both Teela and Evil-Lyn take at each other because they are pretty much the same. Evil-Lyn is Skeletor’s version of the Sorceress and Teela is practically He-Man sorceress when she accepts her destiny.

Teela has seen her father fight hundreds of times how could you not recognize his fighting style?

I like how beast man's loyalty never swayed from evil when I also like Kevin Michael Richardson parentheses? As Beastman I thought I would like him as King Grayskull but I I do like him as beast man

Orko like Castle Grayskull does provide a little hint as to King Randor’s reaction to Prince Adam’s death. I feel this is something they should have put into the series

I feel that all of Orko's scenes in episode 3 and my Following episode 4 are tainted because of Kevin Smith revealing he gets killed and why he decided to have Oracle killed

Why should Beastman show a little fear to Andra who is she to him?

I like that you can still see that Man at Arms still loves the Sorceress and I also find it funny that when it comes to that one huge secret something always gets in the way

Again I hate how they portrayed the span of time in this? 

How did they go from a Forest Village so halfway across the world?

Something's been nagging me lately could Evil-Lyn be related to both Teela and the Sorceress somehow?

It could be a reference to how similar the Figures were in the 80s but in some scenes, Teela and Evil-Lyn’s facial structures look almost identical could you be separated sisters?

The further this point it's funny how Evil-lyn and Kela can just cut through the bullshit between their infatuation with He-Man and Skeletor

Again what time something happened between evil-lyn and Merman we don't know what just that he seems bitter that she didn't take over the land while he took a while he tried to take over the seat

It seems that there are undertones to a massive war and the wake of Prince Adam’s death.

I kind of like how even evil-lyn kind of shows that she may be afraid of subterranean

With half of part 1 ended could Skeletor have them influencing her? Why did she have to retrieve the Havoc staff head?

How does Evil-Lyn know so much about the Subterranea?

Teela facing a false He-Man could be a hint of her feelings for Adam. But I think it would be more of a visceral scene if it was Prince Adam and not He-Man.

Was that a hint of Teela becoming the new sorceress? 

Scenes between Orko and Lyn were a nice touch. Maybe a better connection between Orko and Lyn than Teela, He-Man, and the others?

Orko’s sacrifice could be the beginning of the Dark-Orko storyline?

Was that the Sorceress’ most recent ancestor, Teela’s Grandmother or GREAT-Grandmother?

Why didn’t Adam finish the chant? If Kevin Smith borrowed aspects from everything relating to He-Man, then why didn’t Adam finish the chant? A few times Adam has been run through in which he could finish the chant to become He-Man.

If Teela is such a badass, why didn’t she attempt to stop a reconstituting Skeletor from stabbing Adam?

Really Andra? You are going to sass Skeletor? He doesn’t know you and would sleep like a baby dispersing you. You are nothing to him, you are lucky he didn’t decide to run you through with the power sword.

And really Skeletor? Because no woman could love a face like your’s? Thats your motivation?

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 206

206

Keith did not enjoy seeing Lotor again. He didn’t think it possible that the amount of annoyance he felt for the man was actual, until he saw his face again. Hair pulled back. Ridiculous purple and blue suit. Ridiculous blue leather shoes. One look at him and he wanted to kill Lotor. He wanted to kill him, but for a bastard, he was a nimble bastard.

Laying on the floor of the training room, Keith’s chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath. They were “playing” tag. Coran recording each session to monitor Keith’s growth. So far the only thing that had grown with these stupid session was Keith’s bank account. He couldn’t catch Lotor, and he couldn’t turn into a damn werewolf. He could catch up to Lotor, then as if by magic, Lotor would be out of his grasp again. Surely if Keith was meant to learning how to live, move, and think, like a werewolf, a werewolf teacher would have been better? Matt had been in a huff over someone else teaching him, but he didn’t have time between being head over heels for Rieva and working at Hunk’s dad’s garage. Rieva had the time, but didn’t have the right words. She’d tried to talk him through grasping his ego and letting the shift happen. It hadn’t happened.

“Get up. Let’s go again”

Rolling his eyes at Lotor, Lotor could go again. He could go and keep going. Keith might even drag himself up off the floor to get the door for Lotor on the way out

“Fuck off. You stick and you make a lousy partner”

Lance smelled like “good death”. Lotor smelt like fish left in the sun to rot in a plastic bag, then someone had come along and poked a hole in it

“The little werewolf all out of bark. Maybe I’ll take it on myself to show Lance how nice it is to be around a fellow vampire rather than a flea riddled mongrel”

Snarling at Lotor, Keith wished he didn’t bite every time Lotor baited him. The vampire had asked how Lance was, Keith had told promised him that he’d kill him if ever did again. Forcing himself up, the werewolf reminded himself that this was all for Lance and buying Lance the engagement ring of his dreams. The physical exercise bit felt good, his body felt good for now active he’d been, yet Lotor couldn’t let him have that... Noooo. He was “too slow”. He couldn’t go any faster than the limits he’d been hitting. He gladly would if he could. Lotor’s throat would feel so nice between his teeth. He, and his ego, hated Lotor with so much passion that Keith truly expected his inner wolf to break free.

“It’s obvious to anyone who looks at you that you’re nothing more than a rotting sack of meat and bones. We should have killed you when we had the chance”

Lotor laughed, Keith not amused as he’d been deathly serious. His nails long, teeth extended, and he knew he was pulling his “scary face”

“You wound me, Keith. Do you really hate me, or are you simply jealous that I could snatch your life away before you even blinked”

“A piece of shit like you who values nothing could never understand”

“Says the turned runt who can’t lay a finger on me. I must say, you are lacking in every single point in your personality. You must be a hell of a fuck, for I no other reason for Lance to keep his pet dog around”

Lotor could rile him up, but the moment he mentioned Lance, he crossed the damn line. Snarling, he locked his gaze on Lotor, chest heaving as rage threatened to boil his blood

“I’m going kill you. I’m going to sink my teeth into your throat and enjoy the blood running down my throat”

“You have to catch me first”

*

Lance scrubbed his face tiredly as he watched Keith and Lotor on the camera feed. The pair were as bad as each other, and reminded him painfully of his training with Lotor. Lotor was an expert at exploiting a persons weakness

“Have they been like this for the whole week?”

“Indeed they have, my boy. Lotor refuses to rein his ego in, constantly provoking Keith until he loses his cool”

“Keith’s gotta learn how to control himself, I’m getting tired of him coming home in a bad mood”

Keith didn’t know Lance had come to pick him up. The vampire escaping Rieva’s wrath and fussing. Feeling like doing some yoga and light stretching, she’d scared the crap out of him by yelling “boo!”. As a result he’d bitten through his tongue and smacked his face on the coffee table as he lost his balance. The whole reason he’d been practicing so close to the coffee table was so if he lost his balance he had something to grab for. Spending half an hour patching him back, she’d shifted into talking about his birthing plans and lectured him for sleeping too much during the day. He didn’t have birthing plans. He left that for Coran. If he went into labour, he went into labour. Keith would take him to VOLTRON, where Coran would perform the Caesarian. He loved Rieva, but he’d also loved stretching in near privacy because his body felt so stiff from sleeping all sorts of odd hours, not that he could help it. Now he’d not only been interrupted, and felt highly embarrassed being sprung in yoga pants and an ill fitting shirt, but was slightly slurring as his tongue was taking forever to heal its damn self, almost like his stupid arm that’d taken a whole stupid week to fix itself.

“Shall I have a word with Lotor? I’m quite sure he’d stop antagonising Keith if I were to ask”

Allura had the vampire shaking his head

“Nah. This is something they have to work out. Keith’s holding back too much. I can see him thinking. He’s thinking he wants blood, but the good part of him is conflicted about going too far and potentially hurting Lotor”

Crossing her arms, Allura wore a heavy frown that didn’t suit her beautiful face

“I’m more worried about Lotor hurting him. I understand he needs to provoke Keith, yet he is quite disrespectful”

“Keith has to learn how to cope with it. It’s no good if he goes up against a group of vampires and finds himself overwhelmed. I don’t like it, and I’m not fond of Lotor’s methods, but this is for Keith’s sake. I wish I could go down there and tell him to give it his all”

Coran and Allura knew he’d snuck out, Allura giggling as she covered her mouth

“Afraid you’ll be in trouble for running away?”

“Hey, I know I’m going to be in trouble. Keith’s very protective of me and if he knew Rieva upset me, he’d probably try to throw her out the house”

He’d left in tears. Well, he’d held his tears in until he was squashed into his car, then burst into tears over not having a birthing plan

“That’s no good. If he’s not getting along with them, that makes for a stressful situation”

If they talked to Lotor and gave Keith a win, he’d be devastated by the fakeness. Lance naturally wanted Keith to win, but he believed his fiancé and knew Keith would work his arse off harder after each defeat...

“That’s not the problem. He’s cranky over Lotor beating him day after day. We both get on with Matt and Rieva, even if Matt keeps pushing Keith’s buttons. Rieva had to stop them from murdering each other last night. Matt cheated on the game they were playing together and nearly got the controller embedded in his head for it”

Allura’s giggle turned into a proper laugh. She could laugh it up as she hadn’t been there

“Trust me, it’s not that funny. Matt tackled him on the sofa and I swear they nearly broke it. Rieva put Matt in a time out and Keith refused to talk about it when we went to bed”

Coran wiped an imaginary tear from his right eye, gushing as he did

“I think it’s lovely that you young folk get along so well. Perhaps I should give Keith the day off? I don’t want to upset him so much that he doesn’t return to active duty. He’s grown so much. Oh, he’ll make such a wonderful father to the twins...”

Great. His family were weirdos. He didn’t need Coran gushing over Keith, his ego was happy enough to do that about their mate as it was... Keith was strong and brave, that knowledge was what kept him from marching down there and going Lotor for the hurtful things he was saying

“Coran, that has nothing to do with what’s happening now. Isn’t there any way you can get Keith to shift that’s actually helpful? Rieva tried to help and he had no luck there”

“No. I can manipulate his quintessence, but I would prefer not to. Keith needs to focus on finding those feelings that’ll trigger that change in him for himself. How has been after his second moon?”

Lance wasn’t sure there was much of a difference after the second moon seeing Keith had made such a big stride in learning he could be himself around Lance. His fiancé never violent or threatening towards him, just frustrated and cranky to Matt and Rieva... Mostly Matt, and mostly deserved at the time. Matt and Rieva understood it was ego related, and weren’t actually able to help Keith calm it back down

“You’ve seen him more than I have. He’s here from 9am to 4pm every day. All we’ve got time for when he gets home is dinner, snuggles on the sofa, then bed early because he’s worn out. The first thing he does when he gets home is take a shower. He thinks it helps lessens Lotor’s scent, but it doesn’t do much when the scents on his clothes and I’m the one who puts the washing on. I made the mistake of mentioning I could smell Lotor and it really upset his ego”

Coran hummed. Lance mentally agreed. Humming summed things up perfect, as if these sessions didn’t start improving, they’d have to look at other options. Lance knew if Keith could just land that one hit, his confidence would skyrocket and he’d start believing in himself again.

Giving Keith another half an hour, Lance couldn’t let the pair of them go on any longer. Keith kept lashing out, and Lotor’s laughing had gotten on his nerves. Sometimes a vampire had to take matters into his own hands. Pushing his chair, back Lance bit down a groan a he pushed himself up. Coran shifted back, the fae raising an eyebrow at his actions

“Lance?”

“I’m going to go talk with Keith”

“My boy, I hardly think now’s a good time. I think it best we wait until these two tire fire the day”

“That’s why now is the perfect time. I just remembered something that I think is going to help Keith and I want to see if I’m right”

“You should let me go in first...”

Coran worried too much

“Coran, it’ll be fine. If Lotor tries something, Keith will lose it. Lotor will know that the moment he sees me, and this can’t wait”

“Still, it’s better to be safe that sorry”

“I’ll be okay. This is something I have to tell Keith properly and alone. Just keep watching over them”

Waddling his pregnant arse down to the training room, Lance knocked before he opened the door. Lotor casually leaning on one of the training dummies across from Keith. Their egos ridiculously strong, but he wasn’t going to back down now that he’d cured his own stupidness over the situation. Snarling at him, Keith needed a few moments to register him before his body slumped

“Babe?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Keith, I need to borrow you for a moment”

His fiancé sounded frustrated as he muttered

“We’re pretty much fucking done here...”

“Don’t. Just come out here for a moment. Lotor, give us a few minutes then I’ll send Keith back in”

Following him out into the hall, Keith threw himself to lean against the wall as Lance shut the door behind him

“What are you doing here?”

“Escaping Rieva and her birthing plans”

“So I suppose you saw how badly I was doing?”

“It wasn’t that you were doing bad... Look, I’m an idiot. I didn’t think about it, then I remembered something important”

Keith seemed pretty disinterested in this “important something”, gesturing for him to continue

“Well, watching you two, it reminded me what it was like to fight Matt”

Rolling his eyes at him, Keith kept with the muttering

“Matt was a proper wolf, not like me”

“You are a proper wolf. But that’s the thing. You saw how hard it was at first for us to get along comfortably until we had that fight. It made me think about how I felt. Your ego doesn’t respect Lotor because he doesn’t respect you”

“Tell me something I don’t know”

“Well, it’s basically because you’re holding back. I didn’t hold back when I fought Matt, and he didn’t hold back either. You need to stop holding yourself back”

“Thanks, Sherlock. No fucking shit”

Nope. Keith was not going to get under his skin

“When you go back in there, you have to stop seeing Lotor as a person. He’s not. Matt tore me to shreds, but I healed right up. Remember? I know it scared the shit out of you to see what it was like, and I think that’s part of what’s holding you back. You’re scared you’re going to hurt Lotor, even if it’s subconsciously, the thought is still there. You’re thinking too much like a human. Think of him as your pray. The hunter become the hunted. You are nine-hundred-and-fifty-zillion times the man he’ll ever be. You have the skills. You have the training. I know you’re scared of yourself because I have moments when I’m scared of myself”

Keith threw his hands up

“I’m not like you, babe. I don’t know how to cope with this. I’m sorry, but turning me into a wolf was wasted on me. I’m useless”

Lance snapped hard

“Keith Kogane, you are not useless. You’ve had two fucking moons and you’ve already settled into living with a vampire for a lover. God. I want to shake you right now. I felt how badly your egos were clashing in there. You were an absolute fucking bad arse hunter before you turned. You need to have faith in yourself”

“Yeah, and what if I can’t fucking turn back from being a wolf?!”

“You will because I know you will. Matt and I worked things out because our egos accepted each other as pretty much being mutual bad arses. Lotor, is Lotor. Everything he’s riling you up with is shit. You are my fucking mate, and I love you. When you go back in there, remember that you’re top dog. The only vampire who’ll ever now down to you is me. The only way to get Lotor to respect you is to make him bleed. It’s not pleasant but that’s how our stupid egos work. You can do this. You can do this because I know for a fact you can”

“And what if I take it too far?”

“Coran will stop things before that happens. Babe, we can’t help or protect people from the bad things if you can’t get out of your own head. You’re amazing. You’re amazing and I love you. Even if Lotor kicks your arse, we’ll watch it over and over and we’ll figure out where you need to make adjustments. Even if he makes me cry because you’re bleeding, I‘ll be there to patch you up. You’ve got this, and I’ve got you”

Shuffling over to him, Keith wrapped his arms around him

“You’re the amazing one. It’s nothing like how it was when you fought with him”

“That’s because I’m older than you. But you have a secret a weapon that he doesn’t. You have me on your side. Your very pregnant me”

“I feel like I’m back at the beginning again”

“Because you are. That’s not a bad thing. You haven’t picked up a lifetime of bad habits. Your stances are sloppy and your feet are too far apart. Raise your head and be confident. Then, once you’ve won, you can buy me dinner”

“I’m sorry I’m so weak”

“Aw, baby. No. You’re not weak. I was traumatised for a very long time after my turn. But when facing someone like Lotor, you can let that last little bit of fear fuck right off. You’re a werewolf. You’re my werewolf. Remember all that shit he used to go on about, about the “blood of kings”? What’s so good about it? When you fight, you’re fighting to protect families like ours. I’ve got your back”

“You always encourage me... I don’t deserve it”

“You’re always encouraging me too. You encourage me to go to bed. You encourage me to stop scrubbing at the grout in the kitchen...”

Keith snorted at him, the sniffled. His poor fiancé had shocking self esteem since his turn

“I don’t think you’re using that word right. And why do you have a lisp?”

“I bit my tongue. Rieva scared the crap out of me when I was doing my yoga in peace. I don’t know if that was better or worse than her insisting I need a birth plan”

“I thought the plan was that if you went into labour we came here?”

“I know right?! But nooo. Apparently wolves do it different? Anyway, I’m going to go back up there, and I’m going to be cheering you on”

“I don’t...”

“Nope. No. Nooo. No bad mouthing. That’s like insulting my ego and my choice in men. I refuse to be anything but proud of you”

“I’m proud of you too... but please don’t ever go that close to Lotor again. Not when we’re... training”

“For you, I won’t. Now go get him!”

*

Slipping back into the training room, Keith felt his ego flare at the feel of Lotor’s. Lotor was standing there checking his phone, giving Keith a sideways glance as if his presence was worthless. Lance had it all figured out. Turning into a wolf terrified him. He didn’t know if he’d be able to control himself, or how to move his body once he shifted. He didn’t know if he’d lose his mind and go Lotor with dire consequences he’d have to live with. Lance was also right. He couldn’t not draw on his wolf side if it meant protecting people. Him being cowardly could cost Curtis and Shiro their lives.

“Everything okay?”

The way Lotor asked with obvious curiosity instantly got under his skin. Taking a deep breath, Keith nodded. He had Lance on his side. His fiancé hadn’t cared about Lotor. He’d barely glanced his way when he’d opened the door to the training room, and that’d done wonders for Keith’s twinges of jealousy. Out of the two of them, Lance had chosen him all over again. He now got what Lance meant. There’d been a little respect between him and Matt, allowing them to fight as equals. He didn’t see Lotor as his equal so he’d been fighting on his back foot, half a step behind. Wounds would heal. This was training and not real life. He could afford to test his limits because neither he nor Lotor had to currently worry about the consequences of them going all out.

“Fine. Nothing for you to worry about”

And a lot less for him to worry about. Lance was watching over him. He’d stop him before he fucked up beyond repair. Lotor didn’t respect him... it pained Keith to admit he needed to show more respect towards the vampire and treat training much more seriously than he’d let himself previous

“Are you sure? Lance seemed positively ready to burst on the spot”

“What do you except? He’s heavily pregnant with our twins. Are we going to do this or are you too busy playing on your phone?”

Lotor sighed at him

“We’ve spent hours accomplishing nothing. Perhaps it’s time you tucked your tail between you legs and trotted back home? I doubt that wolf inside you is anything more than a yapping puppy”

Keith could feel his wolf... he could feel it and that was the whole problem. Him not being himself. He didn’t want to be that kind of person. He was too scared Lance would reject him for letting his wolf out. But Lance had soothed him, told him to go for it, he hadn’t been very talkative at home thanks to all of this weighing on his mind. He was working through his fears, but needed to grow sure of himself again. It felt like he had to rebuild himself bit by bit ever since he’d woken up. He’d never admit to Lance that he wanted to give up almost every single day, even with all the love and support poured on him.

“You want to see my wolf?”

“Isn’t that the whole reason we’ve been tasked with this ridiculous endeavour?”

“Remember you asked for it”

“I’ll remember that when I’m wiping the floor with this human form of yours”

*

Shuffling back into the monitoring room, Lance let out a sigh of deep relief to be off his feet the moment his butt hit the chair. He could totally go for a nap right now, but had to stay awake. He had to see what Keith could do, and if his words had helped in any way

“Everything okay, my sweet boy?”

“Just had to remind Keith of something. Did I miss anything?”

“Only Keith watching Lotor as he taunts him”

Coran sounded annoyed with Lotor. Lance was as annoyed, but egos were like that. The way the room had felt left him feeling grimy, egos so thick he could taste it on his tongue. Any longer in the space he would have fallen to his knees with his head bowed and in labour. His stomach cramping from the few moments of intense pressure, not that he’d let it show. Not that his ego would let it show. They were a vampire, and Lotor was no otherworldly demon.

Coming up behind him, Allura looped her arms around him

“How do you feel?”

Patting Allura’s arm, Lance rubbed his cheek against hers. He still hadn’t replied to Veronica. He really needed to reply to Veronica

“Good. Allura, I should probably warned you that I told Keith to stop holding himself back... He was thinking too much as a human and not enough as a werewolf”

Allura kissed his cheek. His ego didn’t want to be touched by anyone other than Keith, but he’d never turn Allura away. She knew is as she quickly drew back

“I’m not surprised. Keith has quite a soft heart. I do hope Lotor doesn’t hurt him”

“If Lotor doesn’t hurt him, then he didn’t listen to me. Watching them reminded me of when Matt and I fought to settle our egos. Neither of them want to acknowledge the other out of personal pride. And Keith’s scared of losing himself to his wolf. We should be in for something good... well, not that I want Keith hurt, but you know”

“We do love stubborn men, don’t we? Perhaps we should get some popcorn as we watch them make fools of themselves?”

“Allura, sister from another mister, I couldn’t agree more”

Coran sent himself for snacks, being pregnant had its perks as all he had to do was fake the idea of leaving VOLTRON to retrieve them and Coran was quick on his case about how he’d go while Lance rested. Lance felt a little bad, for a few moments, before he was beaming at the screen in front of him. Carefully Keith had watched Lotor. They’d circled each other, then Keith had torn his shirt off. Damn if his fiancé wasn’t the hottest man on Earth, Allura copping a snarl at her low “oh my”. Rolling his neck, there was bloodlust in Keith’s eyes. His claws extending further, initialling resisting before shifting before their eyes.

Lotor packed himself. Well, Lance liked to think he did as Keith’s huge wolf form lunged for him. God knew Lance swooned on the spot. The power and speed well and truly befitting the man he loved and prided himself on being the mate of

“He’s certainly larger than I believed”

“You should see him in real life. He’s so fluffy and soft...”

“Coran had said he acted rather tame”

“Mhmm. Unless I’m threatened... Those jaws of his are no joke. My arm’s only just regained full function, which was a pain in the arse to hide from him”

“He bit you?”

“Only a little. Pidge was watching movies with me and he got startled by her”

“Shouldn’t you have healed?”

Ugh. Tell him about. Memory loss. Napping all day. His arm and his tongue... his hips... He had the utmost respect for pregnant people who were able to work through everything right until the end of the their pregnancy

“I can only guess everything I’ve got is going to the twins”

“Lance, you can’t be so careless with your body. We would all be devastated should something happen to you”

“I’m fine, Allura. I’ll be fine. It’s only a little longer and they’ll be here”

“Perhaps you should come stay here until you give birth? You could share my space... and we could have movie nights whenever you wished. Do each other’s hair. Paint our nails”

That sounded so damn tempting

“Thanks for the offer, but honestly, being home feels best. And Keith needs the space”

“I just don’t want you to feel like you’re alone...”

“I’m not. Besides, I know I always have you and Coran right here”

“Don’t you ever forget that. You’re like a brother to me...”

“And you’re like a sister to me. I can put up with some discomfort for a little while longer. It’s all going to be worth it when we finally get to meet them”

“I hope you know Allura is a fine name”

Lance chuckled

“I do. I’m sorry to tell you, but out of fairness to all our friends, we’re not going with your names. I love each and every one of you, and could never replace any of you. No. I have one name in mind, but we’ll wait and see”

“Alfor’s also a good name. So is Alfie...”

“And one day, when you have a child of your own, what are you going to do when I’ve stolen your name?”

Allura sighed

“I must admit, I hadn’t thought of that”

“You’ll be a great mum. But even if you don’t have kids, you’ll be a great aunty to the twins...”

“Oh, I’m going to spoil them rotten. We’re all so happy for you and Keith”

“I know... and speaking of Keith, I think he’s got Lotor on the run”

Pulling a well used trick, Lotor had scaled the wall and was now frowning down on Keith who was patiently watching his every move. Lance didn’t know if Keith would remember shifting, but he sure as heck was going to brag about it when they got home. His fiancé was best boy. He just needed to believe in himself the way Lance did.

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 8

Today is our first strictly emotional whump day...only a couple of brief, non-graphic mentions of an already existing injury. Also, today’s fic is really freakin’ sad. Like, I almost made myself cry. So, sorry ahead of time.

Read on AO3

Read on FFN

Day 8 - Abandoned/Isolation

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: fantastic racism, not really suicide ideation but kinda?, abandonment, solitary confinement, disassociation, imprisonment, foster home mention, self-loathing, restraints, unflattering depiction of everyone except Keith and sorta Shiro, ambiguous ending

“I’m...part Galra.”

“I...I’m sorry, what?”

Keith ducked his head and cut his eyes to the side to avoid looking at Allura. “The knife I got from my mom. It’s...something that every Blade carries. And the only way to activate one is to...have Galra blood.”

“And you activated yours?”

His eyes darted up to Coran’s unreadable expression and back down again. “Yes.”

“Wait, but that makes no sense,” Lance exclaimed, and Keith could imagine his hands flailing as he spoke. “He’s human. He’s obviously human.”

Hunk hummed in agreement. “Yeah, if he was part Galra you’d think there’d be some sign of it. Something...purple, or something, I dunno.”

“Or a little more height,” Lance snorted.

Shiro’s hand dropped onto his uninjured shoulder, and he jumped. “Well, we don’t know for sure how much of him is actually Galra. Obviously he ended up with mostly human genes, at least when it comes to appearance.”

“Ah, but other than appearance...that actually explains so much about Mullet. Hot-headed, reckless, socially inept -”

Normally Keith would have snapped back by then, but he just drew his shoulders farther up toward his ears, arms crossed tightly across his chest as if he could keep himself from falling apart. It was Shiro who broke in for him.

“Lance, that’s enou-”

“When were you planning on telling us?”

The question took him so much by surprise that he jerked his head up, regretting it as soon as he saw Allura’s stony glare. “W-what?”

Sparks seemed to shoot from her impossibly blue eyes. “When were you planning on telling us your heritage, before this accidental reveal today? Sometime after you betrayed us, I suppose?”

Keith couldn’t seem to catch his breath. “No, n-...I didn’t know, I swear. This is...this is as much of a surprise to me as it is to all of you.” He knew the news wouldn’t be taken well, especially by Allura, though Coran, Shiro, and Pidge were next on the list. But he never expected to be accused of hiding it from them, of planning to betray Voltron. “I’m not...I would never…”

“Never what, turn on Voltron? If you’re really Galra, which I assume you wouldn’t lie about that, then it’s in your very nature.”

Shiro gave his shoulder a squeeze and spoke up. “Princess, as the person here who has known Keith the longest, I can assure you that what he says is true. He didn’t know until today.”

“And how would you know that?” she shot back. “How do you know that he hasn’t just been hiding it from you, like he has from all of us?”

“Because I know him.” Shiro waved a hand to include the others in the room. “We all know him! Right? We’ve been working alongside him all these months...he’s helped save so many people, including each of us! Regardless of whether he knew or not - which I still believe he didn’t - he’s a good person. Being part Galra doesn’t define him.” It was an echo of the words he had told Keith on the way back to the Castle. Keith still wasn’t sure that he believed them anymore than the rest of the room’s occupants.

Hunk was the first to reply, hesitantly. “I...I don’t know, man. I mean, I kinda really...don’t know him all that well? I’d like to say I do, but…”

“But Mullet never really lets anybody get to know him.” Lance sounded much less hesitant, and more and more like he was siding with Allura. “He’s always so standoffish. I thought it was just because he was a jerk, but maybe it was because he was keeping a secret. Or because he was plotting to kill us all.”

Shiro gaped at him, flabbergasted. “Lance! You don’t really think that, do you?”

But he did. They all did, to some extent or another, Keith could see it. They all thought he was some kind of monster, and...maybe he was.

Lance continued to defend his opinion, while Hunk waved his hands in front of his face and refused to give more of one. It was obvious from Shiro’s tone that he was growing not only frustrated, but desperate. Finally, he turned to the youngest member of the team, the only one who had yet to speak.

“Pidge?”

A moment passed before she lifted her head, and Keith’s heart skipped a beat when those tear-filled but furious eyes met his. She opened her mouth and sucked in an audible breath before throwing her words like daggers. “Do you know where my family is?”

His stomach plummeted to the floor. “No, Pidge, I...of course I don’t, I -” He couldn’t say anymore. It didn’t matter what he said, anyway, no one was going to listen to him. Pidge turned her eyes back to the floor, fists clenched by her sides, as the rest of the room devolved into chaos.

Shiro and Allura were shouting back and forth at each other, Hunk was trying to comfort Pidge, and Lance was shooting glares at him like he was the devil incarnate. Keith stood in the middle of it all with his hands fisted in his hair, wishing he could disappear. Wishing he could go back to that morning and never go to the base, wishing he could go back all the way to the beginning and never be born. It’d be better that way, right? A freak of nature like he was shouldn’t exist. If he’d never been born, then Voltron would have found another red paladin, one who wasn’t Galra, and they could carry on saving the universe without having to deal with this mess.

“Enough!” Allura’s voice rang out over everyone else. “Perhaps we cannot prove his true motives, but one thing is certain, he cannot be trusted. Coran, Lance, escort him downstairs to a cell. We will decide what to do with him at a later date.”

Keith went numb. Everything that happened from that moment on felt like he was watching a movie on a screen. Shiro fairly exploded, protesting Allura’s decision, but the princess pinned him to the nearest console and sneered something about him daring to usurp her authority. Cold, unfeeling hands latched onto both his arms, tugging him harshly toward the door. He walked in a daze.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of a spherical, blue-tinted forcefield, with no knowledge of how he had gotten there. Down a long walkway, Coran and Lance were disappearing into an elevator. The doors slammed shut on their backs. He was completely alone.

Alone, like he had been after his dad died when he was six. Alone, like he had been in nearly every foster home that followed. Alone, like when Shiro went to Kerberos and subsequently vanished. He thought that by now he’d be used to being alone. But he wasn’t. Not anymore. Not when he had spent the last few months surrounded by people, people whom he didn’t always get along with, but whom he had finally let himself begin to call friends. Not when he had thought he was finally figuring out what it felt like to belong somewhere.

Sinking to the floor, he bit back a hysterical laugh. He should have known better. Nothing good ever lasted in his life. No one but Shiro ever really cared about him, so why had he let himself think that these people did? Maybe Lance was right. Maybe it was all because he had been Galra all along. He had always been the weird kid, the outsider, the foster that nobody wanted, the troublemaker, the rebel. Anytime something good came along, he somehow drove it away. Shiro had spent a lot of time trying to convince him that it wasn’t true, that he wasn’t responsible for other people’s choices, but Keith had never quite believed him. If it wasn’t true, then why did trouble and sorrow seem to follow him everywhere he went? Even as an adult, even in quiznaking space he couldn’t keep from messing up the good in his life.

He didn’t blame Allura for locking him up. Didn’t blame Lance for his glares, didn’t blame Pidge for her anger or Hunk and Coran for their silence. He wouldn’t trust him, either, if he was in their place. The Galra had ruined each and every one of their lives. Even if he knew that he would never, ever hurt his team...maybe he could take on some of the blame of his race. If punishing him made them feel better, then he’d take it.

Time dragged by in that tiny cell. He knew, because the lights in the cavernous room around him brightened and dimmed with the Castle’s cycles just like they did upstairs, and bowls of food goo emerged out of the ground twice per cycle. Maybe it was some kind of Altean science/magic, or maybe there was just a dispenser beneath the floor. He didn’t know, or care. He was glad to get the food, but the fact that he didn’t even get that tiny bit of interaction that someone bringing him a meal would give him hurt. It was like being in the desert shack all over again, but much worse. In the desert, he had the choice to go into town and see people if he wanted, and he had keeping himself alive and chasing after the Blue Lion to keep his mind occupied.

Here, he had nothing. His time was divided between eating, pacing the floor, doing pushups - one armed, since his shoulder still wasn’t healed - and situps, and lying on the hard bed, though he slept very little.

He wasn’t sure what hurt more - the initial rejection and mistrust, or the lack of care now. No one even bothered to come down and ask him questions, to try to find out the truth, much less actually check on him and make sure he was okay. He wondered if they even looked at the security feed ever to see if he was even still alive.

He knew what did hurt the most, though, more than both of those things combined. Shiro. Out of everyone, he thought that at least Shiro would come down at some point. The fact that he had so readily accepted Keith’s Galra heritage had baffled him, but he had been the only one trying to defend him. So where was he now? Were they preventing him from visiting somehow? Or had he changed his mind after all, and sided with the others?

In the end, it took them four quintants that felt like an eternity to decide his fate. The elevator doors opened late in the day, the sudden noise after so much silence startling. Keith swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up quickly, trying not to be too disappointed when only Allura and Coran walked out. He supposed it was too much to ask that he could see all of his friends one more time.

Stopping in front of the cell, Allura folded her arms in front of her while Coran crossed his in the back. Both were stoic, betraying no emotion on their faces. Allura, of course, was the one to speak.

“We’ve come to escort you off the ship.”

His stomach clenched, even though he hadn’t expected anything different. “Okay.”

“We have landed on a planet called Borulmyte. It is inhabited only by various primitive and non sentient species. The atmosphere is breathable and the climate livable for both humans and Galra.” The last word was said with no small measure of disgust. “There are plenty of edible plants and animals, so you should be able to survive just fine.”

Survive. That was the key word in all of this, wasn’t it? He had half expected not to survive, to be thrown out of an airlock into the cold vacuum of space. But now...surviving is all that he would be doing. Alone, again. He shouldn’t have expected anything different. Alone was apparently his destiny. Alone on a planet with no other sentient life, no one to interact with, no possible way of ever leaving.

Surviving. No more living, those days were over. He wasn’t ever very good at that, anyway. Surviving was what he did best. How long, though, would he last? How long until he decided he was tired of surviving, when there wasn’t even anything left to survive for? Out in the desert, he had had the Blue Lion calling him, and the stubborn notion that Shiro wasn’t really dead. Now...he’d only have himself.

“This was certainly no easy decision, and much time, discussion, and thought has gone into choosing the proper planet. So I hope that you will cooperate and not cause a scene. Nothing you can say or do is going to change our minds now.”

For a moment, he let himself imagine those discussions. It certainly wasn’t the first time over the past few days he had done so. Did anyone advocate for him? Had Shiro been the one to insist that they make sure the planet was livable? Had they chosen a basically uninhabited place because they wanted to keep him safe from possible Galra rule, or because they wanted to keep locals safe from him? Had anyone voted for just throwing him out the airlock?

He nodded and stood. “Okay.”

An opening was made in the force field so that Coran could enter and lock his wrists into energy cuffs. Then he was escorted up the walkway, into the elevator for a completely silent ride, and out into the familiar front hall. It almost seemed like just yesterday that he and the others had crept cautiously through those towering doors, having no clue the adventures that were waiting for them inside. Now he was being figuratively thrown out the same doors onto a planet that was just as unknown as Arus had been then.

The light was dim when they exited, whatever sun might exist there already having set. They were in an open, desert like area, but a forest of some sort was nearby. At least he had options. He knew how to make his way in an Earth desert, but for food and shelter the forest might be his best option.

“This is where we leave you.”

Coran stepped forward and removed the cuffs, and Keith absentmindedly rubbed at his wrists.

“Don’t suppose I get a communicator like our...your allies.”

Allura just stared at him with the same, unchanging expression. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Right. Listen, um...could you...give everybody a message from me? I was...hoping to get to say goodbye, but…”

Sighing heavily, Allura looked as if she was barely refraining from rolling her eyes. “I suppose that depends on what this ‘message’ is.”

“Um.” He looked down at his feet, scuffing the toes of his boot into the sand. “Tell...tell Hunk that I’ll...miss his cooking. Especially those brownies he made for me. And tell Lance that...I never hated him. He...annoyed me sometimes, but...he was a good friend, too.”

He drew in a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Tell Pidge…” He swallowed. “Tell Pidge that I hope she finds her family. I really, really do. And that she’s doing great with her bayard. I...kept meaning to tell her that, but never did.

“And Shiro…” His jaw tightened. There were so, so many things to say to Shiro. Things that he should have said long ago, things that he had said before but could never say enough. Things that he’d never get a chance to say again. He dashed errant tears away with the back of his hand. “Just...tell him I love him.”

He looked up finally, giving a wobbly half smile. Allura looked even sterner than before, though Coran’s mouth had twisted a bit to the side in an expression that Keith couldn’t read. “And thank you both, for letting me have the chance to fly Red. She’s...amazing.” One corner of his mouth lifted a little more. “Tell her I’ll miss her.”

A long, awkward moment passed before Allura cleared her throat. “Right, then. If that’s all…”

Coran seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts and pulled Keith’s knife out of his pocket. “We figured you might as well have this. It is yours, after all, and you’ll need it, I’m sure.”

Keith whispered his thanks as he gingerly took it from the man's hands.

“Alright. Well...farewell, Number Four.” Coran gave a little salute, Allura a curt nod, and they turned their backs to walk back up into the Castle.

Once they were gone, Keith stayed rooted in place, unable to make himself move. It was only when the Castle rumbled to life that he took a few unsteady steps backwards. The place that he had come to call home over the past few months lifted from the ground before shooting off into the sky. Keith tipped back his head and watched until it was no more than a speck, blending in with the stars that had begun to come out, refusing to let the tears that burned at his eyelids fall.

There was a pretty good chance that none of his messages would ever get relayed. He hoped they would, but knew that he’d never find out one way or the other. He’d never see any of those he thought were his friends again.

He was alone.

All that was left to do now was survive.

[makorragal-312]

Void (Part Six)

We’re back, baby!

Allura sighed as she sat on her bed, exhausted from the events of the night. Lance had dropped her off at her room a few minutes ago, so she couldn't help but to lose herself within her thoughts. A small smile came to her face as she recounted the night she had with Lance's family. They were truly wonderful people and had effortlessly made her feel like she was apart of the family. She was reminded of her mother's kindness during her talks with Lance's mother. She was reminded of her father's quiet yet sensitive nature when she looked at Lance's father. She laughed when she conversed with Veronica, Marco and Rachel and immediately felt like a kid again when she watched Luis and Lisa watching over Nadia and Sylvio. To say that the kids were miniature versions of Lance was an understatement.

Speaking of Lance...

The Altean couldn't help but to think about the red paladin. She noticed the unusual shift in his behavior throughout the majority of the night. She noticed how confused and conflicted he looked at the dinner table while she wasn't looking. He seemed to have calmed down just a little while they walked in the park, though she could feel there was still some tension from his end. And it didn't help matters that way he acted when he dropped her off.

Lance, would you like to come inside?

U-uh, no thanks! I'd like to, but I gotta get me beauty rest, you know? We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so kinda need the energy!

Alright. So I'll-

Yup! See you in the morning! Good night, princess!

The princess furrowed her brows at the memory. She couldn't forget how fidgety and anxious he was to get out of there, like he was stuck in a mine field and was in fear of being blown to bits She knew that Lance didn't hate her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he's starting to avoid her. Just as she thought that, she felt little feet climb up to her shoulder. Allura turned her head to find the mice, happy and eager to see her and squeaking in delight. She couldn't help but to smile.

"It's good to see you, too. Have you been behaving well?" she asked, grinning. Platt turned their head, looking at the door for a quick moment before turning their head back to Allura, asking about Lance's whereabouts.

"He left not too long ago. He came over just to drop me off." Chulatt quickly climbed atop of Platt's head, tilting their head in curiosity before squeaking.

"Oh, he's alright. And don't worry. he was the perfect gentleman." Allura responded with a chuckle. Soon enough, the mice lined up next to each other, heads on their paws and eyes wide in anticipation.

"You want to know how the date went, don't you?" Allura asked in exasperation, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, all four mice nodded their heads in excitement. The Altean let out a sigh before she began.

"Well, it was…nice. We had dinner at his house and I got to meet his family. They're very lovely people. So…close." Allura let out a sad smile, being reminded of her parents and Altea. She let a cough, trying not to dwell on the memory.

"Anyway, afterwards he took me to a nearby park. We talked for a bit and then he decided to take us back to get ready for tomorrow. That's pretty much everything." Allura finished. She watched as Chuchule climbed on top of Platt, puckering their lips and mimicking kiss sounds. Allura blushed in embarrassment.

"A-absolutely not!" she yelled. Allura quickly turned around, trying her best to hide her blush. She wasn't going to go ahead and feed into their teasing. She heard the mice squeak in glee, assuming that their princess was lying and did in fact kiss the red paladin. Frustrated, Allura turned her head back to them quickly.

"I'm telling you I didn't! Well, he didn't." Allura spoke softly. The mice stopped squeaking as they observed Allura, taking aback by her sudden somber expression. They all tilted their heads in confusion. The princess noticed the gestures and sighed before explaining.

"When we were talking, there was a moment where Lance was opening up. He said that he wanted to help me find a family. A home. Something inside me just told me that he meant it and he truly did care for me. He truly loved me. I tried to get closer to, you know. But he pulled away and kissed my hand instead. I guess I got the wrong idea." the Altean recounted.

Allura thought back to that moment in the park. Words couldn't describe how safe she felt in that moment with him. How her heart felt like it was going to beat itself right out of her chest. How grateful she was for him being there for her. So yeah, she really wanted to kiss her and given how he's felt for her all of this time, she just assumed that he wanted it, too. And he did, it just happened to be her hand and not her lips. She felt Plachu climb up her shoulder and nuzzle their head against her cheek in comfort, which Allura genuinely appreciated. For the third time that night, the princess sighed and plopped her chin into her hand as she slouched.

"I just wish I knew what happened. If I did something to make him change his mind, I at least want to apologize and make things right."

And that's when it hit her. She quickly sat up straight, face filled with anxiety and horror. The mice looked the same.

"Do you think it's because of Lotor?" she asked in fear. The mice looked at each other for a second before shrugging. That certainly doesn't help matters, she thought.

But the more she thought about it, she honestly wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. When Lotor came along, she had completely brushed Lance aside, aiming to focus on her alchemy and helping Lotor whatever the cause. And somewhere down the line, she started to fall for the prince, and he for her. And sure enough, she let him kiss her. She wanted to let him kiss her. And everything was great…until it wasn't. She was exposed to his true colors and his true motives and let him go. And it hurt, because she wanted to believe that he could never do such a thing. He would never go ahead and kill innocent Alteans. She let him onto her ship. She let him near her paladins. And what's worse, she let him near Lance. He warned her of his intentions, but she chose to stand by Lotor.

He thought he was going to betray them. She chose Lotor.

He thought he was after Voltron. She chose Lotor.

He was in love with her. She chose Lotor.

The guilt she felt was immeasurable. It was bad enough that Lance had to witness her getting close to Lotor. But she knew that if he ever found out about their kiss, it would destroy him. And the last thing Allura wanted to do was put him through any more pain.

"He can't know about this."

_______________________________________________________________________

"You know you don't have to stay here, right?"

"I know, but I'm doing it anyway. But don't worry I'll be on my way out soon enough." Keith walked towards Lance, whom was laying down on his bed. He was about to leave Lance's room a few minutes ago until the red paladin began suffering from a tear-induced migraine, so he decided to hang back and look after him until the migraine showed signs of passing. Hence why he was currently walking towards the blue-eyed man with an aspirin pill in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Ugh, who made post-cry migraines a thing?" Lance wailed, accepting the pill from Keith's hand. He sat up and popped it into his mouth before taking a huge gulp of the water.

"I don't think the person who was crying intended to get a migraine in the first place." Keith chuckled, walking to the kitchen counter and sitting on its corresponding stool. Lance swerved his head at him to give the half-Galran a scowl as the latter merely smirked. Lance let out a defeated sigh, knowing he wasn't going to win the argument and plopped back onto the bed. Eventually, the room went into silence.

"Hey, man. I'm sorry you had to see me like that." Lance said somberly.

'Lance, you don't need to apologize. You're going through conflicting emotions with Allura. Anybody would break down over that." Keith replied reassuringly. Lance kept his gaze to the ceiling. Even though he already somewhat broke down in front of him earlier, he refused to let him go back to that place again. He was also trying to get to sleep without his head feeling like it's been hit by a sledgehammer.

"Yeah, but-"

"Lance. You're human, You feel what you feel. Don't feel like you have to keep everything down while everyone else brings theirs up." Keith said firmly. He refused to have Lance feel ashamed for breaking down. He may not have been with the team all that time due to him being with the Blades, but he already felt that Lance was the one who was going through the most shit on the ship and would most likely keep it to himself as to not annoy anyone. And Keith would be damned if he had him act the same now that they're back home.

The red paladin was speechless. He didn't expect the leader of Voltron to say something so profound and comforting, especially to him. And in all honesty, he felt as though he had said the words that he had hoped someone had said to him back in the castle when the latter had left and he was left to his own emotional devices.

"I guess you're right." Lance sighed, signaling the return of the original silence that plagued the room. A good ten minutes drifted by before Keith spoke.

"Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to ask one question, and you totally have the right to not answer. Just wanted to let you know." Lance finally turned his head at Keith, intrigued and nervous at the statement. He gazed at Keith, whom was looking back at him, grasping his hands together firmly.

"What is it?" Keith took a breath before he dropped the bomb.

"What are you scared of?"

Lance's eyes widened in surprise. He had almost forgotten that him being scared caused him to not kiss Allura, but he had no idea that Keith was still dwelling on it. He knew it came from a place of genuine concern, which he was grateful for. But he really wished that he had left it alone so that he didn't have to go through those waves of thoughts and emotion again. The thoughts of not doing the one thing he's wanted to do for ages. The feeling of confusion and sheer relief when he didn't go through with kissing the princess. The guilt he felt in going for a kiss with someone when he already had someone else on his mind. And more importantly, the weird longing of the purple eyes that made his chest tight and his heart skip. The same eyes he was looking into now. Hesitatingly, he looked away from Keith as he connected his eyes with the ceiling once more.

"Everything."

[greenflamedwriter]

Percy AU

Percy Jackson AU

Keith as Nico di angelo and Lance as Percy Jackson.

But Lance was never claimed so he assumed he was Hermes kid he meshed well with them.

But once Keith got claimed so did lance and then shiro their dads had some sort of rivalry.

They didn’t account for the three to fall in love with each other. After an intense mission to save medusa. For lance.

Personophene for Keith and Ganymede for Shiro.

1 Lance is really nice and open with people until he realises that both Keith and Shiro are Roman descendants and not greek so they clash a little, Keith insults greeks and Lance is offended.

2 dinner and theres a party and lance is in the middle of it trying to get the daughter of Athena (Allura) To dance with him and that’s when it happens. Shiro is claimed by zues and everyone applauds then Keith by Hades and hears other say (it was so obvious he was an emo) But then lance is claimed by poseidan and everyone just stops and stares. What?

3 Lance is mad, he was a hermes kid wasn’t he? He looked like them, he had the same jaw line and nose and they all got along so well...this had to be a mistake and why now? He blames the new kids and this is when the party Lance becomes grouchy.

4 They get a quest (to save the victims by the abuse if the main three gods. Medusa, Personophene, Ganeymede)

5. Lance remembers his mother, and he always heard the tale of Medusa and thought it was sad. So when they go to the statues, and realise it’s people Lance keeps talking about how sorry he was and how being how she looks was to protect herself, Lance wanted to sacrifice himself and asked to let Keith and Shiro go to save kids. Medusa realising no trick lets him go.

6. Personophene and Keith, Keith apologises since Personophene hates Hades he thought and she blinks “I’m a god, I don’t eat.

Period. I knew underworld food would keep me trapped I hadn’t eaten in months and all of a sudden I’m peckish? Pul-ease.” Keith blinked confused.

“And I don’t hate you, you didn’t ask to be born. And I know Hades returns to me in the end.” Personophene brushes his cheek “You have his eyes, maybe thats why I can’t bring myself to hate you.”

7. Ganeymede. The boy who was stolen, raped and made into Zues personell wine waiter then demoted to a fate taxi cab telepromter. Boy he hates Shiro because who can actually hurt Zues?

Camp halfblood, was Lance’s home since before he could remember. He was here when he was seven years old and in all that time ten years later, he’d never been claimed.

He like any other child who wasn’t claimed stayed in the Hermes Cabin. They’re cabin was huge and the many children and teens there were very sociable. Sure at times they were a bit..much. But their pranks were legendary.

Lance always figured he was a hermes kid, he looked like them. Racheal was practically his twin, with long curly hair and Veronica was like his big sister, Luis and Marco were always taking care of him.

The hermes kids were amazing but Lance?

He just existed, everyone in the camp had gone on a quest, they’d been choosen. And some kids died young. Most die on they’re missions and Lance was the oldest person here.

The looks he got...it made him feel guilty and yet he was terrified of a prohecy that would choose to kill him.

He felt like on of the unlucky kids whose wisdom teeth hadn’t grown in yet.

And he was terrified.

But living his life in fear got boring after awhile and who had time to be afraid when an honest to god goddess lived in camp half blood whose name began with an A?

No not aphrodite, they weren’t that lucky.

Allura Altea- The most beautiful girl here also his age, but she has been on more quests and regained so any trophies. Lance could only gaze from afar and hope that one day he’ll have a quest and prove how much of a badass he was, maybe she’d give him the time of day.

Allura was at the pool, still in her white vest top and brown trousers sitting crosslegged and plaiting Romelles hair. They were best friends and girls always did stuff like that.

He sighed wistfully, maybe one day he’d sit over there playing with Allura’s hair and she’d kiss his cheek.

“Lance?”

“Fuck Zues!” Lance cried out almost punching himself in the face. Alfor the camp’s leader raised an eyebrow.

“Are you busy?”

Lance stood up hastily “No- No not at all.” He brushed grass of his legs, he would never admit his feelings for Allura with Alfor.

The guy was like her dad, well he was like everyones adoptive dad, along with Coran. So Lance would never tell him anything about that.

“What is it?” Alfor had his arms crossed and a knowing smile.

“Lance I would’ve asked but since you’ve been here longer, I hope you would do me a favour?”

Lance blinked “And what’s that?”

“Two kids from the roman camp got lost and found themselves here. They have no where to go and I thought someone like you would help them settle in, show them around.”

Was alfor...dumping these kids on him, why couldn’t he do it?

“I’m already introducing the first year campers, my hands are tied.” Lance raised an eyebrow then sighed “Fine.” It wasn’t like he wasn’t doing anything anyway.

Plus, being a tour guide to a bunch of snot nosed brats might not suck so much.

They were not brats.

Lance didn’t even think they were kids, he took a step out the cabin where they reside and made a show of looking around.

“Excuse me, have you seen any kids from a roman camp?” Because these guys had to be counselors, one was built like superman with beefy titties of doom, and a thin dorito shaped body and Lance had a good feeling he had a nice ass to go with the combo, he had a lock of white hair and beautiful almond eyes with a scar along his face. The guy could stop a room and the other one wasn’t bad looking either.

He looked like the type of guy Lance would ask to step on him, he was scowling with a cute pout and raven coloured hair that curled around his face and- god that was a mullet, well everything else made up for it.

These two were sculptures carved by pygmalion himself.

“Eyes up here,” The big one spoke and oh god even his voice sounded delightful. It was obvious, some higher power made these two to tempt him and Lance honestly didn’t mind.

He grimaced “Sorry,” He slid inside placing a hand in his pockets “Well I’ll take it you guys are the roman kids- and not some new counselors?” Who happen to model in their spare time, he kept to himself.

“Yeah, the roman camp just wasn’t for us.” The big man spoke again. Lance shrugged “Ever since the whole Roman and Greek exposure everyone feels as if their camp isn’t the right fit.” Lance shrugged “Who knows- am I the son of Hermes or the son of Mercury?” At this the scowling one looked surprised.

“You know the roman equivalents?” Lance winked “Not just a pretty face.”

He looked flabergasted and Lance almost laughed at him, he heard the other chuckle.

“I’m Shiro, and this is Keith. We were not selected yet which is why they sent us here. In case the greek gods want to claim us.” Lance grimaced “You might not get claimed some kids here have lived here years and still hadn’t been claimed. The greek camp is just a glorified holding place for the newbies and the unclaimables.” Lance beamed.

“So want a tour?”

Both glanced at one another then shrugged “Sure.”

Lance gaped at the white lighting bolt floating above Shiro’s head and then a purple scythe above Keiths. The other campers gasped as they drew away from the two except Lance as he beamed.

“Dude that’s amazing!” He clapped Keith on the shoulder “Claimed on day one, I’m jealous.” Then everyone was staring at him.

Keith looked up “I thought you said you were a kid of hermes?” Lance frowned “I am?” He glanced up and froze.

Above his head was a blue trident.

Poseidon's trident.

His eyes fell to the Hermes cabin and felt his heart shatter. They weren’t his family- they weren’t his brothers and sisters.

Alfor came and the rest was a blur, Lance was mostly in shock. It wasn’t until after when Alfor told him he’d have to move his stuff to his new cabin that he realised how severe it was.

His empty cabin, not much children of the big three stayed in the greek camp all of them were moving to rome. It was the only place that was big enough where they could live past eighteen. Allura the daughter of Athena mentioned moving there once, Lance never thought he could, he had his family here- or he thought he did.

His eyes slid over to Keith and Shiro, both looking excited and relieved that they were claimed.

Lance scowled he was never claimed before. Not once, then they show up and suddenly he is?

It was their fault.

Their new quarters are empty, there has never been children to the great three gods in a while, he’d been told. Shiro lay upon his bed glancing up at Zues. He looked ready to smite Shiro where he lay.

Where was the happy Zues from Disney? Shiro sat up, unable to sleep. Waking up somewhere different has always been scary and knowing Keith isn’t there? It’ll kill him.

He stood up from his bed and moved towards the back door opening it up with a slide onto the patio and took a step onto the wooden decking.

“Oh.” He flinched looking up then relaxed to find Keith there, looking awkward.

“Keith,” He asked relieved and the other relaxed too “Want to go for a swim?” Shiro glanced at the lake then smirked.

Lance couldn’t sleep.

He was in a new bed, with new sheets and a much larger, emptier room.

He rolled over and sighed, and that was loud. The silence was killing him, he sat up scowling into the darkness. He wasn’t sleeping no matter what.

Lance slowly makes his way towards the lake, he’s done this thousands of times and when he couldn’t sleep it usually helped in the past.

He heard a sound of splashing then laughter his head shot up and froze to see both Shiro and Keith in the lake.

Making out.

That...makes so much sense. But honestly Lance felt even more peeved.

“Oh come on! Really?” Both startled away to see Lance but he scowled shaking his head and tossing of his towel violently “No it’s too late,” Lance began to take of his shirt “I’m already out here, keep your cooties to yourself.” He dived into the lake and started swimming making lots of noise. He loved the glare the two had then dived into the water and kept swimming.

It felt fitting, sharing a lake with the kids that started this.

Sure it wasn’t their fault but if they didn't come to the camp Lance wouldn’t be choosen by poseidon in the first place.

He couldn’t see beyond the moonlight but he felt calm, he hated poseidon for doing this but it answered questions, made him lighter why he liked the water why sometimes the hermes kids were a bit...much.

And Lance just floated in the water and shut his eyes. There was a prophecy long ago about the greek children of the big three would cause the apocolpse. It ended and it turned out they didn’t do the apocalypse just the trigger for it, it was all dumb, but the fear remained. Roman kids were the exception...until now.

Lance opened his eyes still fuming, it happened four hours ago- he had a family, his friends in the Hermes Cabin now they looked at him weirdly he even had a chance with Allura (He didn’t) But now she couldn’t stand the sight of him.

It took him a few moments to remember that he wasn’t holding his breath, Lance brow furrowed huh?

He took a long inhale and he was breathing, like he was breathing air. This was- he was close to panicking now, had he ever tried this before? Well no what idiot breathed in water besides drinking it, of course he hadn’t tried this before. Until suddenly something grabbed his arm and he thrashed and felt something pull him up, the surface broke as he gulped in large bursts of air that burned his throat he was still being pulled he blinked water out of his eyes to see-shiro?

Shiro picked him up and practically tossed him on the back gasping, Lance gasped hand on his chest.

“Dude what the hell?” he asked outraged, what was Shiro’s deal?

Shiro glared at him then a voice spoke behind him “We thought you were drowning, idiot!” Lance turned and gasped to see not only Keith in a towel dripping wet and looking pissed, there was also

Alfor the Camp leader and Coran were standing just behind him.

Lance felt his throat close up “Uh h-how long was I…?”

Shiro looked up through his bangs grey eyes brewing up a storm that could rival Zues’s thunder “Almost twenty minutes.” Lance eyes bulged.

“I...I wasn’t drowning, I was always able to hold my breath under water.” Lance couldn’t say he wasn’t holding his breath period but admitting something like that would only solidify he was the son of Poseidon.

But shiro rolled his eyes “Son of posedion, typical.”

Alfor cleared his throat “What I have to ask boys, is what were you doing out in the lake past curfew.”

Now Lance almost stopped breathing. His first time in trouble, he glared at Shiro and Keith.

This was all of their fault.

Lance hides behind a pillar panting with a cut down his cheek. Oh god he was going to die!

“Hey!”

Lance turned to see Shiro lunge forward eyes closed “If you want a fight come and get me!”

Lance gaped what?

They were in the car silent, “Um, a-about medusa? I pretty much handled it.”

Keith snorted from the back even Shiro’s grip tightened on the wheel “Walking out into the open to face Medusa knowing full well what she was going to do to you?”

Lance felt himself flush “We had to save them shiro- she was my responsibility- you didn’t have to jump in there to help me,”

“She was going to kill you!” Shiro snapped almost swerving on the road, Lance and Keith gaped as Shiro continued his tangent “Like hell I was going to sit there and let her.”

“I’m trying to say ‘thank you’ you ass!”

The car became silent and Lance shuffled in his seat glancing away “You didn’t have to help me but you did, so, thanks by the way…”

He crissed his arms and Shiro was surprised even with Keiths bewildered look in the background “Your welcome.” Shiro said softly as they aimlessly continued west

“Cone on Keith wheres your sense of humour!”

“Lance, no.”

Lance grabbed his arm and dragged him backwards towards the carnival with Shiro following behind. Lance pulled Keith onto every ride forced him to eat cotton candy but what stopped Keith from snapping at the kid.

Was when Lance played a shooting range gane and gave Keith a hippo.

“Only the best for the prettiest boy.”

Lance grabbed his hand and pulled Keith fir more open stalls with merchendise.

Keithseyes were shinning theough the whole trip and Shiro was able to watch it all.

Carnival leads to persophene

After Aphrodite crisis to pair the three up.

Lance jumps at the teenage girl sitting at the pool beside him, “So why don’t you try them, I know you like them.” Lance flushed “What?”

“It’s obvious, except not obvious enough for those two. Love does make a person go blind.” Lance shook his head “What no? Come between Keith and Shiro?”

She looked amused as he babbled “I can’t do that to them, they’ve been through so much.” Lance looked over to the two his eyes softening “Shiro has been hurt so many times, gladiator fights? It was compeltely barbaric and his hair is white- and Keith he’s a demon with a sword and can raise skeletons from the dead! Both are so strong but only vunerable around each other...they’re perfect for each other. When I think of Soulmates I think of them two...I hope I can find someone like them one day.”

“Like them? Why not just court them, I doubt the two would mind.”

“Making them pick each other or me? That’s stepping down.” Lance said unknowing why this stranger tried to sabotage Keith and Shiro, was she a siren? If so it wasn’t working.

She shook her head “No, it is possible to be partners with three people. I should know, Hephaestus is very accepting of who I am and who I bed with.”

“Heph- wait.” Lance’s eyes widened in shock as he looks at the golden teen properly.

She was big, round belly and thick legs and arms with golden healthy hair curling at her shoulders her face plump lips tilted into a smile as sea green eyes seemed to swirl, unnatural. God like.

She looked exactly like the painting, Venus stepping out of her sea shell.

She stroked his face “We share waters, both are lovers of the sea.” She kissed his cheek “If Gods could adopt demi-children, all of Poseidon's folk would be mine. Artemis can do it, why can’t I?”

Lance gaped “I can’t turn my back on poseidon he’ll drown me.” She smiled “What’s wrong with co-parenting? Do him proud by defending his name and waters and do me proud,” She nudged his shoulder and glancing at Keith and Shiro “By falling in love.” Lance’s eyes widened “I give my blessing, and I wouldn’t do this for a lost cause I stoke the fires for love. Never extinguishing them.” Lance blinked and she was gone.

The beautiful teenager, Aphrodite.”

Ganeymede they use their powers keith summons dinasaurs lance dives underwater to save shiro (ganeymede drowns shiro as zues cant save him)

Ganeymede “Zues is gay!?”

Both Ganeymede Keith and shiro raised an eyebrow “Ih yeah, who wasn’t gay with the greek gods.” Lance felt as if his whole life was a lie.

“I feel like I should know this as a fellow gay,”

Keith oatted his head “Your a newbie gay it’ll take a while to figure out.”

[sasuhinasno1fan]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah.”

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

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

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

“Yeah, talked.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                    __________

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

“Lance?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s fine. Do you want me to go?”

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

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

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

                                                   ___________

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

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

“Need help?” Lance offered.

“Sure, second-in-command.”

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

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

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

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

“You? Never?”

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

“We shouldn’t.”

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

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

                                               _______________

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

“Hi.” Keith said.

“Hey.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What are you saying?”

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

Half Galra? Like Lotor?

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

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

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

“Well, I do have one obsession.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

[chibi-pix]

VLD AU - That’s Not Pidge!

@a-haunted-sock​ thank you very much for inspiring this next one.  I got it done sooner than I expected.

Writing and illustrations alike! Here’s another addition to the giant mermaid!Pidge AU. Word count: 2,720 words. I’ll put it in the “keep reading” section below. 

As a note, later we see “<speech like this>”, that means they’re in another language. Rather than fussing with translations or coming up with another language, I like to use that form to show different languages, especially of fantasy languages.  Enjoy!

There were hardly any times where Lance feared the ocean. The first time was after playing video games. He learned from one specific game that the ocean was indeed a frightening place with the high probability of so many different creatures wanting to kill you. But he also understood that it was in their nature and they just hunted prey. Once he got over that, he respected the ocean more deeply, no pun intended on his part, and loved how natural and mysterious it was. Far into the depths rested a great mystery, one humans could only daydream and ponder about. It was strange, really, that people knew more about other planets and stars than they did their own oceans.

The second time he felt fear about the ocean was when he met Pidge. Yes, she startled him at first, but that was reasonable. She was much larger than he was, the boy able to comfortably fit in the palm of her hand; using both hands, she could safely encase him in webbed prison. He felt very thankful that day that she had no intention of eating him, but rather she was curious. A strange creature that didn’t look like it belonged to the ocean, a creature she had seen come and gone… and many who never returned to the shore. At least not breathing. But what scared him more was her comment. She had a family, as well as he hoped she did so that she would not be lonely, but that wasn’t the scary part. What was was that from what he understood, she was a runt. Smaller than average.

At the same age Pidge was, however young or old that was, Pidge’s older brother was larger. Much larger from what Lance could ascertain. THAT was what frightened the poor boy. Not that anyone could blame him. Lance had spent plenty of time studying creatures of the ocean, at least the known ones. He made comparisons and he knew that Pidge was of a carnivorous race, or at least mostly carnivorous. Her teeth sharp, meant for tearing into flesh. Thinking of that, the mysteries of behemoths of the sea washing up with massive bites bitten out of them was less mysterious and almost terrifying. But that was nature.

And nature was something Lance loved and respected.

Fear. Respect. Love.

And knowing Pidge always helped to draw him back out, whether he was joined by Hunk and Keith, his best friends and the only people he talked about Pidge with, even going as far as to introduce them, or he went out on his own; he just had to be careful of mother nature deciding what days were perfect days for storms despite what meteorologists thought they knew.

Or at least he thought that was really all he had to be careful of as he went out to the middle of the ocean, nearing what he mentally called Pidge’s territory.

Setting his electromagnetic anchor so his boat wouldn’t drift away, Lance dove into the water, eager to swim with Pidge. Perhaps this was a day she would take him deeper. His suit and gear may have seemed minimal compared to what divers used to use, but it was definitely more advanced and allowed safer, deeper dives. He hoped to sneak out his uncle’s prototypes one day to test with Pidge, trusting that she would protect him and safely get him back to the surface if something went wrong.

Lance kept swimming downward, easily getting down to the dysphotic zone. He spent so much time in that level under the surface, it was in such an area that Pidge and he originally met. He went further, reaching about six hundred meters. Now that wasn’t the deepest part of the ocean, that was know, but it was far enough for Lance.

Okay, Pidge, now… where are you? He thought to himself, the voice in his head taking on a playful tone. It was sometimes like playing hide and seek with the massive mermaid; she had a way of remaining hidden. Perhaps it was the fact that people couldn’t see clearly in the ocean water naturally? Or maybe it really was magic? Science was also a plausible thing, she could be able to adjust her colour as needed like a cuttlefish. Hunk would love that idea; as bright as the mechanic was, he’d probably giggle and say it sounded like cuddle and made them sound pleasant. That thought made the diver chuckle to himself.

Lance saw movement in the distance. He recognized the wavy motion and figure. Pidge! He thought, his mental voice sounding a bit too excited than he expected. Oh thank goodness Allura wasn’t there to hear his thoughts, she would tease him about having a crush, as any good relative did. Annoying, but he knew she loved him and teasing was a good sign of that. He just wished she didn’t hit close to home when she would joke that the only girlfriend he’d probably get would be a fish. In reality, Pidge technically was a fish, right?

He really wasn’t sure. She could breathe air like a mammal but she also breathed through her gills like a fish. And he wasn’t about to get too personal and awkward and ask her about mating or anything like that. Nope! Too soon! Maybe never.

Shaking his head, Lance pushed those thoughts away. He then looked. Wait. Pidge wasn’t there. Okay. She may have been playing. Smirking behind his mask, he looked around. Behind him? Above him? Below him? He checked every bit, trying to locate Pidge. Can’t sneak up on me, Pidge. He playfully thought. He heard a sound, even through the water. Behind him. Spinning around, he could see the figure again as it neared.

Huh? He thought. Wait a moment… that… that isn’t Pidge… that one is… bigger?! His eyes widened. Oh quiznak! And worse yet, it was speeding toward him. Before it could reach, a set of hands came up from under him, startling him as he was suddenly cupped and pulled into a familiar surface. Wait… this is Pidge who has me! He thought in alarm. But… who was that? A family member?

Pidge pulled Lance in close, protecting him between her hands and chest. She made a sound, something akin to a snarl as a larger creature swam around her, sniffing at her and checking her over. From inside his safe zone, Lance couldn’t understand what was said when the other spoke. Not that he couldn’t hear them, but rather they spoke a different language.

“<Pidge! What is the meaning of this? Is this why you’ve refused to come home?>” the larger creature, a merman, inquired, settling his movements. He sniffed again. “<What even is that thing? It doesn’t belong out here.>” He grabbed for Pidge’s wrist, making a move to pry her hand away from its protective position. Pidge didn’t budge, she refused to let anything or anyone hurt Lance, especially while he was in the ocean and she was near enough to protect him. “<Pidge, show me.>” That wasn’t curiosity in his voice; he was being protective of the much smaller mermaid.

“<No, you’ll try to hurt him. Or worse, eat him. He’s not food.>” Pidge snarled, using her tail to smack away his hand. She tried to swim off, but the other got around her again. Curse being the runt. “<Leave us alone, Matt.>”

“<Pidge, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s dangerous. Being so close to the surface...>” the other started to say, concern now softening, showing a gentler side of his protectiveness.

“<I keep hidden… they aren’t able to detect me, Matt.>” Pidge spoke softly.

“<Aren’t able… this one was in your zone, near your cave!>” the other, Matt, reminded. “<And how can you be so sure they aren’t able to detect you? Pidge...>”

Pidge turned, showing Matt her back. She then pulled her hands out a bit to check on Lance. Still there. Still alive. Still fine. But he did seem rather scared. Before Matt could check, she pulled her hands back, keeping him hidden.

“<Pidge, this is a being of the surface, isn’t it? By the depths… you know what Dad always told us!>” Matt raised his voice. He then moved in closer, nuzzling his sister. “<Please… please stop this… come home. I don’t want you hurt…>”

Pidge sighed, her shoulders relaxing and the ridge along her back, which she didn’t realize had gone stiff, softened, swaying again with the movement of the water around them. “<I know… but I like it up here. It’s been fun and I’ve been safe. I’ve also been able to help others.>” She looked to Matt. “<A sky-ship went down. They call them planes. Its captain was still alive; because I freed him and got him back to the surface, he’s still alive. People are happy.>” She looked down to her hands again. “<He told me so. I trust him. He’s done nothing but been kind and trust me… And I trust him.>”

Matt sighed. He knew his sister better than he knew his own fins. She was as stubborn as she was curious. But she also knew how to see the good in others. She wasn’t naïve, she didn’t openly trust others. But she could tell when someone truly meant no harm to her.

“<I promise, I won’t eat this… thing. Whatever it is you have.>” Matt assured. “<So… will you at least show me?>”

Pidge grumbled before looking down. She pulled her hands away, but further cupped them, keeping Lance safe. She brought them up and whispered into them, this time speaking in a way Lance would understand her. “My brother wishes to meet you; he promised he won’t eat you and I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything to bring you any harm.” she spoke so softly, but Lance could understand her easily. “Do you wish to meet him?”

Meet her brother!? Lance’s eyes widened. This thing that probably originally intended to eat him? He relaxed, though. Pidge said she wouldn’t let her brother hurt him and he trusted her. He then gently placed his hand on her lip that he had access to with her hands slightly parted. Soft. Hiding dangerously sharp teeth. But he wasn’t scared. He then tapped her lip a bit, talking in his own way to her.

Okay, let’s meet big brother. He thought. He heard Pidge sigh; he could tell she was worried about him, but he trusted her to help keep him safe.

Pidge pulled her hands down and opened them up, showing Lance there, sitting on both of them. Matt went in closer to see him, but the older, larger merman pulled back when Pidge snarled at him; the sound startled Lance.

Wow! She can sound aggressive! The human thought, both unnerved and amazed. But she’s definitely making sure he does nothing, huh?

“Well,” Pidge mumbled, “Lance, this is Matt. Matt, this is Lance.”

Matt eyed Lance, seeming to evaluate him. This thing was something Pidge wanted to protect? It may have been tiny, but he heard stories and knew this sort of creature could be a potential threat. What if he blabbed to the others of his species about Pidge? What if they decide to capture her? Experiment on her? Keep her in a little cage?

Kill her?

“<How can you trust this thing? Pidge...>” Matt muttered. “<Surface beings are dangerous creatures...>”

Lance blinked. Matt definitely wasn’t speaking a language he knew. Odds were, it wasn’t even a language any human knew; hearing it, he really questioned when, where, and how Pidge learned to speak his language and completely bypassed the awkward moments of the language barrier.

Pidge grumbled under her breath. “They aren’t all the same, Matt.” she said, speaking so Lance could understand her. “I’ve met a few.”

“<A few? And why aren’t you using the ocean’s language?>” Matt gave a quizzical look, trying to comprehend his sister and her actions.

“Because Lance doesn’t understand it, and yes! A few!” Pidge huffed, blowing bubbles from her mouth. “Lance’s friends; they’re my friends, too. Keith and Hunk are very nice. Even...” She giggled a bit. “Hunk passed out when we first met. He was scared. And Keith got so excited, he spooked me.” She looked happy at that memory. Hearing her, even Lance was amused. That was an interesting day. “Look, Matt, you don’t know them like I do. And it’s not like I’m out there for everyone to find me, befriending every human I meet. I’m careful.” She gently scooted Lance over to just one hand and used the other to gently poke him. Lance seemed to chuckle, a few extra bubbles going off from breathing mask.

Matt raised an eyebrow before carefully grabbing Pidge’s wrist. He leaned in to get a better look at Lance, examining him more closely. “He makes himself too comfortable here...”

“Because he’s my friend and knows I won’t hurt him.” Pidge deadpanned, pulling her tail up and swatting Matt’s face with it, getting him to let go. “And if you must know,” she moved her hand to her head, letting Lance go there to hold onto her hair, “yes, I allow him in my cave to see my collection.” She swam off a bit, but Matt decided to follow. “What can I tell you to convince you?”

“Hmm...” Matt grumbled. “Look, if I find a scratch on you that isn’t from some other predator of the oceans...”

“Don’t go threatening him, Matt.” Pidge stated. She looked up. “We’re clear. Lance, I’m going to return you to your boat, okay? I’ll make sure Matt doesn’t sink it.” Lance pressed on Pidge’s head, silently acknowledging what she said. “And Matt, you better behave yourself.” she snarled at her brother. She went up and broke the water’s surface near Lance’s boat. She went over and put her head near, letting Lance get on board and remove his mask. “Sorry about Matt.” She looked back, seeing him surface just enough to show his eyes. “He’s a bit protective of me; our parents have told us old stories. But those stories didn’t come from this era. And they never met you, Hunk, or Keith.”

“It’s fine and understandable.” Lance assured.

“I hope… this doesn’t scare you off.” Pidge’s ears twitched downward.

“It doesn’t.” Lance shook his head. “See you next week? I’m spending the week helping out at AARC. And helping Keith with his blog… Man, how’d I rope myself into that one.” He shook his head. “Anyway, we can meet in a week, right? Maybe any other days when I have time off?”

“I’d like that!” Pidge exclaimed, looking excited.

“Maybe I can convince the others I’ll be out on a camping trip, then we can watch the stars together.” Lance suggested. He grinned when Pidge’s ears twitched happily. “I’ll see you next week then. Or sooner.” He then looked to Matt. “Nice meeting you, Matt. Hopefully we can get along one day.” He yelped when Matt’s tail came up and splashed water at him, his boat, and Pidge; thankfully it wasn’t enough to sink the boat. Matt huffed before diving back down.

“I’m sure he’ll behave.” Pidge assured.

“But he doesn’t like me.” Lance chuckled.

“He doesn’t like you, yeah.” Pidge confirmed.

“Eh, family. Should’ve seen Marco and Veronica when Luis brought home his then-girlfriend for the first time. They got protective.” Lance shrugged. “But they warmed up to Lisa. I’m sure Matt will warm up to me, too. Just gotta give it time and be patient.”

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded. “Anyway, safe sailing. See you another time.” She nodded before diving down to join her brother, most likely give him a stern talking too.

Lance smiled, watching as Pidge disappeared into the waters. He then deactivated the anchor and sailed back to the AARC base, his mind dwelling on what he told Pidge as a blush came to his cheeks. “I just compared me meeting Matt to the family meeting Lisa, didn’t I?” he sighed. “Oh boy… but..” He shook his head. “Meeting Matt was a bit scary. I think I’d be terrified to meet their parents if Matt was THAT MUCH BIGGER than Pidge. Wow...” He then nodded, focusing his mind on getting back home.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this one.  As an added note, I knew Matt was bigger than his sister, but even I was impressed with what my mind came up with when I doodled Matt looking around Pidge. Whew!

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 25: Sometimes, You’re an Idiot All the Time

By popular demand, have some boomer dad and his husband, the voice of common sense

First  Previous  Next

“He has to be up to something,” Alfor growls, pacing his quarters. “I just don’t know what.”

“Who are we talking about?” Coran looks up from his datapad. Lance requested some research on potential trade avenues. Specifically, he wants to know why they were discarded. Coran had been delighted for an opportunity to help his son, delighted that Lance had reached out.

“Keith,” Alfor spits.

Coran sighs, hanging his head. “Darling, you can’t be serious.”

“He is the enemy,” Alfor hisses, trying to impress upon his husband the entirely nonexistent gravity of the situation.

“Really?” Coran turns in his spinning chair, sending his son a file and tossing his datapad onto his desk.

“Yes, really.”

“Okay, Alfor. Dearest. Darling. Light of my life. Star of my sky. Explain it to me. Explain to me how a nineteen-decaphoebs-old kit is our enemy. The same kit who is currently training a platoon of our troops for castle defense. The same kit who is currently holding court alongside Lance every movement now. The same kit who studies in the library, tries to learn our laws and customs, and has begun making mindful alterations to be enacted on the first of the decaphoeb, in accordance with our legal process. Let’s hear it.”

“He’s dangerous. He's vicious. He threw a soldier across the room! He's a trained killer-”

“Enough.” Coran sighs. How can he get this through his husband’s thick, paranoid, traumatized head? He gets up, grabs Alfor’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

Out in the gardens, walking the path, Coran gives it a few minutes to let the fresh air reach his beloved moron’s overly suspicious brain.

“Alright. So you went to speak with Keith. Is that correct?”

“Yes. Why?”

“So what did you learn about him?”

“That he hates me.” Coran winces. “Also, he didn’t have friends back on Daibazaal. One has to wonder why…”

“Just the facts, darling.”

“Also, he’s a trained killer. He’s a supreme fighter. I watched him from the shadows not a varga ago! He talks about killing the way you talk about the properties of scaultrite! Lance doesn’t have a chance against him!”

“Uh-huh.”

“I caught him earlier flirting with our son! Our! Son!”

“Oh, for- Alfor, they’re married! That’s a good thing.”

Alfor grumbles, scowling. Coran sighs.

“You don’t know that. You don’t know what he’s capable of. You don’t know what his schemes are, what he might do to Lance. That’s our son, Coran!”

“Okay, so, underneath all of those paranoid ramblings, what I’m hearing is that you’re worried that Keith will hurt our son because he is an insidious, evil little monster capable of destroying the world.”

“Now you understand!”

Coran smiles, shakes his head. He really does love this man. Even if he’s being a… what did Keith call Lady Renli the other quintant? Ah, of course. Even if he’s being a ‘fucking idiot’.

“I think I understand,” Coran murmurs, squeezing Alfor’s hand. “It’s been quite hard for you, hasn’t it, learning to treat your lifelong enemies as friends? Then, you’re expected to welcome one into your home, and into your family. In addition, you give him your son, your legacy and heir. Lance is at his mercy, and seems to be getting attached.”

“Well, that’s-”

“I am so very proud of you. You’ve grown so much.”

“Thank you-”

“But you are in the wrong. You’ve only been thinking of him as a Galra. Let’s try thinking about him as a person, okay? You’ve had a conversation with him. You’ve watched his behavior. What have you learned about our son-in-law?”

“He’s…” Alfor wracks his brains. “Young. Just a kit. Too young to be married, obviously.”

“Generally, yes. We prefer that people are adults before they get married.”

“He’s, uh. Shy. Quiet. Smart. Fierce, which is contradictory with shy and quiet but holds true. Uh. Inexperienced?” Alfor’s heart drops into his stomach. “Inexperienced…”

Coran smiles. “Yes, darling. Now, you have your idea of what Keith is, so perhaps you could take a moment to consider an alternative perspective on who he is?”

“Okay,” Alfor mumbles, appropriately abashed.

Change gets harder as they get older. Coran's been lucky enough to have lived an extremely varied life. It makes him more adaptable than his husband. Alfor's only ever really been two things: a soldier and a scholar.

“Imagine, if you will, a child taken from his family and home, arranged to marry, live, and share a bed with a powerful stranger with a less than stellar reputation. This child is out of his depth, drowning in culture and responsibility he was not at all prepared for. Do you really imagine that child is a cold-hearted, calculating spy?”

“No. He-” Alfor’s shoulders drop. “He’s probably very scared.”

“I think that’s an accurate inference. Can you even imagine how he must have felt when Lance pulled him away at the wedding banquet? What he believed was about to happen to him? And yet, that boy went anyway. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have been half so brave.”

“Killing Lance probably would have been easier for him,” Alfor murmurs. He knows something of Galran mating bonds. If he really thinks about it, that’s a brutal reality to stare in the face. Bonded to someone who does not love you.

“I imagine Keith feels much the same way. Or did, some phoebs ago.” Coran smiles. “You know what I think?”

“What do you think?”

“I think that you’re projecting. You’re frustrated that you don’t have a good relationship with your son and you’re jealous that Keith is forming one.”

“That’s completely unfounded. I have no problems at all! With anything!”

Coran smiles, sly. “Right. So you’re saying you have no problem being virtual strangers with your son while he and Keith go chastely kiss all over the grounds? They’ll probably make love for the first time in the grotto where you taught him to swim and think nothing of it at all-”

“That’s cruel, love.”

“But my point is made, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Your point is made.” Alfor sighs. “He’s my boy. Allura does better without me, but Lance…”

“It gets to him. I know.” Coran lifts their joined hands, presses a kiss to the back of Alfor’s. He sits them down on a bench under a singing tree.

“Keith says that Lance wants to be a hero.”

Coran chuckles. “I wonder where he gets that from." Alfor offers a weak, sad smile. "He wants you to be proud of him, too.”

“I am proud of him! I see how smart he is, how hard he’s working on his marriage, how hard he’s working in court! I’m seeing it! I’m seeing him and it’s beautiful!”

“Have you told him that?” Coran asks, holding one of Alfor’s hands between his in his lap.

“Yes!” Alfor’s face falls. “I just don’t think he believed me.”

“Well, maybe it’s not enough.” Coran sighs as Alfor wilts. “Maybe you need to show him. Show him you’re interested in his life. I think once you've begun to repair your relationship with Lance, you'll feel better about Keith.”

“I… At this point, I wouldn’t even know how. The last time Lance and I had a real conversation about something, he was nine, telling me about how he wanted to live on the back of a cosmic whale.”

“That sounds quiznaking awesome, actually. You just need to find an opening. Then, ask him a question. A simple one. ‘What have you been working on lately?’ ‘How are things going with Keith?’ ‘Do you have any ideas for the Frost Ball?’ Just show that you’re interested in his life and how he’s doing. He loves you, Alfor. Just as much as I do.”

Not sure of how else to convey all the feelings in his chest, Alfor pulls his husband in for an embrace. One that is returned without question or thought. It’s a given, but never taken for granted, that affection offered is affection returned.

Love is a complicated thing. Alfor himself had married and fathered his first child while watching his eccentric adviser charm the court with tales of various interstellar adventures. Inevitably, Alfor had found himself charmed as well. It was ultimately a newly expecting, deeply amused Melinor who told him to go for it. He had, quietly, and found his life beautifully enriched.

In spite of complicated circumstances, some things never change. Adventurer, adviser, lover, husband, king- Whatever they are to each other, Alfor is the provider and protector. Coran is the heart of everything. He feels like home, even after all these years.

The embrace doesn’t last long. The thing about getting older is feeling time slip through their fingers. And they have gotten older. Alfor’s forehead is lined with centaphoebs of worry just as Coran’s eyes are lined with smiles. Besides, there’s little to convey here that hasn’t already been conveyed, that isn’t conveyed in every breath they’ve taken since the very first time Alfor took his hand all those decaphoebs ago.

Coran hums, something catching his eye. Alfor twists on their bench. It’s Lance, smiling as he leads Keith by the hand through the hole in the garden wall. As they watch, Lance whispers something in the Galra prince’s ear. Whatever it is, it makes the Galra laugh, small and quiet. Alfor notes the way his indigo and gold eyes light up as he smiles at Lance.

He feels a very specific kind of heartbreak.

[kitten-keith]

Bad Blood (Pt1?)

Bask in my SUPER ORIGINAL TITLE RIGHT?

Whatever. Wrote this on Halloween while in the tub immediately after seeing this post on Instagram by @genelpan (I’d share the link  to Instagram as it isn’t on tumblr at alllll but my computer is acting all kinds of stupid atm and I’m pretty sure Gen’s on private now anyway)

Point is, I saw vampires and couldn’t be stopped.

Klance. Vampires. Implied lime-y things but not much.

---

They meet by accident, caught in each other’s sights, recognition in each other’s scents.

Lance smiles, and neither of them know if it’s a challenge or sincere given the look in his eyes, but Keith is gone.

It’s a summit meeting, a new ruler is to be chosen and all the higher ups have been called to witness the ascension of their superior.

Keith knows his sire, Lotor, will most likely be chosen. He’s done much to protect their kind from prying eyes of inquisitive but destructive humans. He renounced his claim years ago, an attempt at penance for the monstrous reign of his father, but Keith knows that doesn’t matter in the long run.

His actions speak for him, not his lineage.

On the other hand, there is a woman, Allura.

She has just as much claim to the position as her family held dominion prior to Lotor’s coming to power, but she’s been gone from court so long (doing lord knows what) that it would be absolutely ludicrous for her to take over.

Perhaps if she’d had more time, she could be a valid contender. She seemed to have a level head on her shoulders, she seemed strong enough.

But once again, what counted were her actions, and she had nothing to show.

He glanced across the court floor to where his sire sat, almost nestled in by the rest of his chosen kin. He smiled and kept his voice small but Keith could still feel his worry.

Lotor would ascend or there would be blood.

Whether he liked it or not.

Keith himself would drink his fill of the blood on tap and await the inevitable.

And that was when he saw him. Dark hair on sun browned skin. A day walker, surely.

Keith had never seen one besides Lotor. The rest of them had enchanted items worn when the need to wander in the day was necessary. Keith had a blade in his back pocket for the occasion but he was fine traveling by night.

Still, it was intriguing to see a man who looked so human standing here in this room full of high level vampires.

The day walker turned at Keith’s attention and there was a long moment of pause. A moment where Keith could take in his full countenance and try to remind himself to breathe.

A moment for a small but clear smile to spread on lightly blood stained lips and Keith can’t help it.

With the blood in his system what little remained in his own veins started to thrum.

He’s stunning.

And it’s been some time since Keith has wanted so badly for anything.

The day walker raises his brow, a request for an invitation and Keith can feel the faint rush to his cheeks before quickly turning away.

Because who is he? Some prepubescent child? Blushing at a suitors attention?

Keith was two hundred years old, he was better than that.

“Well aren’t you something…” says the day walker, now close enough to whisper into Keith’s ear.

Keith grits his teeth. He’d been aware of the other’s movements but had tried to ignore it with everything in his being, wanted to pretend he wasn’t keyed up for any and all interactions with the man.

That said, couldn’t he have said something else? Anything else?

“The names Lance.”

Better. Not great. But better.

Lance.

Lance….

It… suited him.

Keith keeps his face pointed away, toward the old archivist who’s been holding the required ceremonies far toward the front of the grand hall to the disinterest of all those attending.

Still, he peers at Lance from the corner of his eyes, “...Keith.”

“Huh. That’s unfortunate.”

Keith blinks.

Twice.

That was an insult wasn’t it?

“Excuse me?” He turns and faces Lance directly, mentally preparing for a fight whether the man was lovely or not.

Lance laughs then though, completely disarming him.

“That's it. Wanted you to look at me.” He reaches forward and casually holds Keith’s chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“Your eyes are beautiful… needed to get a look at them myself.”

Keith should pull his face away.

Keith should dismiss this wayward child.

Because now that they’re touching, Keith can tell, Lance is a fledgling at best. How he’s even here is anyone’s guess. Someone high on the food chain must have sired him to bring him along.

Keith can’t be interested in a fledgling, they’re messy and stupid and always getting into trouble.

But he can’t pull away.

Doesn’t want to.

“Your eyes are probably your most redeeming feature though, what with that hair and your name? Yeesh.”

Keith grits his teeth.

Okay, he can pull away now. And he does so quickly, a growl in his throat as he steps back and away.

“And what’s wrong with my hair?”

Lance’s smile is constant.

“I mean I survived the 80s too, but the hair didn’t need to Mr. Mullet.”

Keith cannot believe what he’s hearing.

Then Lance leans in again, “but at least it would give me something to grab on to. Would probably look much nicer tugged between my fingers, don’t you think?”

The image plays in his head, far too detailed and scintillating for his own imagination.

Keith’s legs wrapped around his waist, Lance’s fangs in his neck, an intimacy Keith has shared with no one to this point, long brown fingers digging into the hair at the base of his scalp and yanking—

Lance’s eyes gleam.

Keith already hates him.

Hates him.

Grabs him by the collar and he hates him. Tugs him away from the grand hall even though he knows the time is coming, but he hates him and he has to.

He has to put this fledgling in his place.

Has to make him squirm and beg his superior for repentance.

Beg him.

They end up in a storage room when the announcement is made.

They miss it.

They miss it somewhere between the grind of their hips and Lance’s hand slipping past the zipper of Keith’s dark leather pants.

Keith can’t believe it. Can’t believe he let himself get swept away like this for— for—

“Oh come on, we knew who was going to ascend anyway.” Lance offers, fixing his coat.

Keith rubs at his neck where he almost, but absolutely DID NOT, allow Lance to bite harder than a light pink mark, “while true, I should have been out there! He’s my sire and will need the support—“

“He? You mean Loturd?”

Keith feels his blood start to burn for a new reason now.

“What did you just call him?”

Lance rolls his eyes, “oh man, hold on, you really thought Lotor was going to be new lord of vampires?”

Keith has his hand on the doorknob but is quickly weighing the pros and cons of killing the man he just made out with first.

“Come on, Lotor, little lord death, child of the tyrant??”

Keith is seeing red.

“Dude, didn’t he have a bunch of halflings on tap like ninety years ago?”

Oh this again, Keith throws his hands down to educate this little fledgling brat, “six hundred and ninety, and that was to handle a pureblood revolt with the least casualties, if you knew anything about our people—“

“Oh I know plenty, and I know my sire, the true princess, is more than due her crown!” Lance runs his hands through his hair, looking put out, “man, and here I thought you were actually kind of hot.”

Keith is furious.

Livid.

His eyes are violet to denote the magic he acquired when he became a vampire, and everything in him is screaming to burn this infant to ashes.

But also, with those last words in the air and the memory of their actions so recently in mind and hell, even on his body, Keith decides psychological warfare will suffice.

He reaches forward, lightly clawed hand tapping quickly along Lance’s chest as he pushes him harshly against the vacant wall Lance has just had him lifted against.

He presses his body in close, sliding up Lance’s front with his eyes half lidded and his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Oh please, Lance…”

The fledgling’s breath catches. His hand hovered over Keith’s hip, unsure how to handle the mood change, of course.

But Keith doesn’t care.

“You and I both know how hot I can be.” Keith smiles, knowing for damn sure that Lance is torn between terrified and turned on, and that’s exactly where he wants him.

Keith drags his claws down Lance’s front as he pulls away, just a touch of fire there to burn through his clothes if Lance isn’t fast enough to stop it.

Keith leaves before he can figure it out.

Lotor is the new lord of the vampires, much to his frustration, but his followers are rejoicing and Keith decides to follow suit. He’s not too big on parties, but for this he’ll try.

It also helps that he can’t stifle his giggle when one of his chosen kin starts talking about the half naked fledgling in the storage room trying to put out a fire.

[clockwork-wonderland404]

Hearts

If you would like to read it on AO3, here ya go:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578580 

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

So It’s Lance’s birthday today and I’m so proud of the fandom that we keep celabrating this precious boy’s special day even after the show ended! He deserves love and much better what the show gave him. 

Keep creating ya’ll, all of you are doing fantastic, keeping the fandom alive and I’m so happy to be part of it! Every single little creator is precious and even if your art/writing/cosplay doesn’t have many notes, you still made a few people’s day a little brighter and that’s amazing! Keep doing you! <3

And Happy Birthday, Lance, sweetheart!

Now let’s get into the fanfic, which is what everyone came for.

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

Today was supposed to be special. Yet the whole day went down like nothing was out of the ordinary. Every corner Lance turned, he was waiting for his team to jump out and yell 'Surprise', but every single time, he was disappointed. It seemed they just simply forgot and that's just how it is.

'Understandable,' Lance thought to himself as he walked to the control room that night for their usual briefing with the Blade of Marmora. 'We are in a space war after all, who would remember a birthday?' This was the only time the team could get in contact with Keith since he decided to leave.

That guy was Lance's only hope. Maybe, just maybe, he remembers today is somehow special. Maybe he could remind the others without Lance having to say it  himself. He would most likely let it go since he wouldn't want to come off as too self centered.

His head hung low as he stayed in the background of the call. He didn't chime in with snarky comments to Keith as he usually would, even after Keith threw him a tease. After a while of waiting for Keith to say something about his birthday, he gave up. He wasn't much needed in this portion of the call anyway, so he excused himself.

He wandered the halls and rooms of the castle with his gaze solely focused on the ground. The echoes of his footsteps were the only sound he heard until there was a loud bang coming from one of the rooms. He jumped backwards with a shriek, staring at the door in case some weird monster decides to come through it. The castle was haunted once, there was no reason it couldn't happen again.

One.

Two.

Three seconds passed in silence, Lance's breath was caught in his throat, he was scared to make a sound.

Nothing happened.

He gulped and let out a soft sigh, taking a step closer to the door. His attempts not to scream failed as there was another bang. He was panicked out of his mind before he remembered they had someone else at the castle.

"Is this the... Yes! The cell.." Lance mumbled when he recognized the room. Okay, yes, it was most likely Prince Lotor who made the sound. Okay, but what the hell could he be doing that would be so loud? He had to find out in case it was something dangerous.

He took one deep breath before placing his hand on the scanner to open the door. He found himself a long pathway away from the cell that contained their prisoner. He winced as another bang sounded, Lotor tried to use his own body to break through, but needless to say, it wasn't working.

"Cool your jets, buddy," Lance spoke up as he walked over to the cell. He didn't have any weapons on himself. Not that Lotor has to know that, right?

"Ah, the blue paladin, what a nice surprise," The prince spoke after he straightened himself and dusted off his clothes, like he wasn't just banging himself against the cell wall. "And what do I owe your visit?"

Lance couldn't let his panic show, but inside, he was freaking out. 'Yes, Lance, why are you here in the first place? Now you gotta come up with an excuse this smart ass would believe,' he thought before he cleared his throat and straightened himself as well. "I was sent to investigate the noise. Yes, totally, that's why I'm here!"

"You did your job then. Well done," Lotor replied in a sarcastic tone as his eyes studied the paladin in front of him. He knew he was lying, of course, so he wanted to figure out what he really was doing here. His gaze stopped on his eyes, there was something sad about them. "Are you perhaps lonely?"

"What? No no no no no, no way!" Lance replied in a panicked tone, but then he just let out a defeated sigh. " Like you care,"

Lotor cocked his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe I do. Tell me about it. I have nothing better to do," he replied. He had to admit, he was quite lonely as well. He hoped they could share a talk that could make both of them feel better.

Lance saw no reason to protest and just plopped himself down onto the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest as he leaned his back against the cell door. "Today's a special day..." he mumbled, his eyes wandering to the ceiling. "This is the first time I spend a day like this away from my family... My home... I miss them. If only there was someone who at least remembered!" The last sentence made his fist clench, but he released a second later and sighed. "Sure, I mean, I get that we are in war and stuff, but we shouldn't neglect each other, you know?.. We're supposed to be a team,"

Lotor slowly followed Lance's example and sat down, his back against his, only a cell wall separating the two. He didn't think he would care for the paladin, but his heart spoke otherwise. For once, he listened to it and hoped he wouldn't regret doing so. "I know how it feels.. Feeling like you're betrayed by your team, I mean. How it feels to be alone, like no one is there to listen to you.. Like you matter a little less than everyone else.. Believe it or not, Lance, I understand," he spoke softly with no heat in his voice, only comfort.

"Yeah.. I guess we have more in common than we thought, huh?" Lance asked with a kind of forced-sounding chuckle before something stood out to him. "Wait, I thought you don't know my name," he mumbled.

"I know everyone's name. Other than Princess Allura, I didn't feel like anyone else deserves my respect enough to use them. You proved me wrong," Lotor glanced over, looking at Lance's back and hoped he would turn around to see him.

"It's my birthday today... At home, we always had a party, with music, dancing and having fun. I miss those times," Lance mumbled and slowly turned to lean his side against the cell wall so he could look at the prince on the other side.

Lotor did the same thing, his head resting against the same spot Lance's did. For once in his life, he didn't feel so alone. He never had anyone who would care for him. Maybe that could change. Maybe Lance was the person he needed. His heart told him to give him a chance and he listened once again. "I cannot provide you with a party, but I can give you a dance," he said, but realized a few seconds later how suspicious this might sound. "I understand it sounds like I'm trying to use you to get out of here, but... All I want is to give you a dance,"

Lance wanted to doubt him. He wanted to say no and leave, but his heart was pulling him towards Lotor. He had the gut feeling that he can trust him. It might be wrong, might be not, but it was worth a shot. "Fine," he mumbled and stood up. "Allura's gonna kill me.." he whispered before he opened the cell. "I won't let you out of this room and I'm locking you back when we're done!" he said. Empty threats.

Lotor smiled and took a step closer. "May I?" he asked in a soft whisper before he let his hands rest on Lance's hips.

The boy's jaw dropped right then and there. "Wait, hold on! We're gonna slow dance?" he asked with a deep blush creeping onto his cheeks. He hesitated only a moment though before he wrapped his arms loosely around Lotor's neck.

"Is there a problem with that? I know we do not have music, but this is the least I can offer," Lotor let his thumb stroke his hip a little, his eyes locked onto his.

Lance couldn't move his gaze. They were lost in the beauty of the soft purple universe that were stuck in Lotor's eyes. "No.. No problem," he whispered. His breath hitched the second Lotor started to lead. There was no music, but the two were dancing to the rhythm of their hearts that synched up to form a beautiful melody only the two of them could hear.

It was something special. When both their hearts were tired of dancing, they slowly stilled, but their embrace around each other didn't loosen. Lotor let his forehead gently rest against Lance's as he whispered. "Happy birthday.. It's getting late. Would you like to rest?"

Lance only let out a small hum of agreement. For once in his life, he had nothing to say. This moment was perfect without any words. It felt right.

Lotor sat on the ground, lowering Lance down with himself. He let his back rest against a wall while he let Lance rest against him, his head on his chest to listen to the soft beat of his heart. He hesitated a moment before he let a gentle hand run through his hair, then let his head rest on top of it. "Is this comfortable?"

Once again, a soft hum and Lance's closing eyes were enough of a reply. Seeing him so calm in his arms relaxed Lotor as well. Neither of them cared what tomorrow will bring if the team finds them like this. They couldn't let something like that ruin this while the two slowly drifted to sleep, Lotor the sanctuary while Lance is the anchor.

Two hearts beat as one that night and will beat like that for the future to come. It was right.