#Lotor's return

[jackals-ships]

to the left of that au where the inserts swap is also Objectively Hilarious tho bc jackals lotor is now having to handle a Much Larger s/o who's Galra (???) doesn't talk and has the demeanor of a skittish dog but like that's fine he can handle it

smash cut to hound's lotor realizing that even tho his other universes s/o is Small and also Human that doesn't stop them from Causing Problems On Purpose and he is Not prepared for that

[xochitai]

hmm...

[minamorsart]

AU where in the events of the show, Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura's return from the quintessence field proves successful, and the two decide to marry in order to strengthen the alliance between the Coalition and Galra Empire. However in the midst of their blossoming romance, the newlyweds come face-to-face with the aftermaths of war and heightened political tensions between the planets and rising factions within the Empire itself.

As Empress Allura struggles to come to terms with the increasingly difficult decisions her husband continues to make, she must decide between choosing her friends as they contend with the violence of politics and corruption, or choosing the man she's been falling in love with as he slowly descends into madness.

Inspired by my favorite K-drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo 💖💜

[torveiglyart]

I debated a long time on whether his right or left leg should go, but I thought losing his left leg would be ‘symbolic’ of him slowly being distanced from the rest of the team in seasons 5 and 6. The exact opposite limb as shiro, the left side motif for Hunk and Pidge, and the lack of change on his right for Keith. During the later seasons, it kinda hurt to see him only every confiding in Allura, who’s attention was split from Lotor, and the mice, who are known snitches. I didn’t want to cut the right, as that would symbolize his loss of Blue and… his loss of Blue. It felt redundant to the red bayard. Actually, let’s talk about the red bayard for a moment.

As I see it, there are two pivotal reasons as to why Lance got a new form for his bayard: The Altean Broadsword.

The first reason is his character growth. Lance is the ‘class clown’ character of the paladins, but that persona is not as viable in a war as it is in a classroom. Lance has had to mature very quickly due to the circumstances surrounding his requirements as a paladin. The Altean Broadsword is a symbol of both his maturity as a person and his maturity into the solider role. Zarkon was the only other paladin known to have more than one form for his bayard, and held a strong connection to the Black Lion. Lance’s ability to have not just the basic rifle, but a sniper rifle and a sword shows his connection to Red, and possibly his nature as a blue paladin: flexibility. His bayard forms allow short to mid to long range that the other paladins don’t have. His ability to listen, adapt, connect, and support is reflected in his bayard.

The second is less happy. The Altean Broadsword could be a reflection of Shiro/Kuron’s need for Keith as the right hand of Voltron, and how Lance has been Keith’s ‘replacement’ multiple times. Lance was Keith’s red paladin before he was Shiro’s, and the two of them had to adjust how they view each other in Lance’s new role. Since Shiro was the clone, there could have definitely been great reluctance to treat Lance as the red paladin and right hand, but rather as another subordinate. This reluctance would have stemmed from how the Empire, and specifically Haggar, views the roles of each paladin, and how the other paladins were ‘subordinate’ to Black Paladin Zarkon. With Allura’s bayard being a whip, Lance’s original semi-long to mid range of combat was covered for the season 1-2 team set up in Blue. With Lance being in Red, a swordsman was missing on the team, and that role defaulted to Lance. He once again was a replacement for Keith, like back in the Galaxy Garrison. Keith leaves, and Lance fills in. This reasoning definitely does not help Lance’s declining mental strength when it comes to being respected by the team and feeling like a seventh wheel.

Overall, I do not think that these reasons are mutually exclusive to one another. I think both are true to varying degrees. Lance had a very complicated character growth arc that was overshadowed by Lotor, Shiro’s return, and the mess that is season 8. That’s not to say the other things weren’t important, and there were others (Hunk) that DEFINITELY deserved more attention, but there were things that could have been worked on. Lance manages, throughout the show, to be a parallel character to, well, everyone. A competitive pilot like Keith, caring and trusting like Hunk, inquisitive and quick thinking like Pidge, supportive and motivational like Shiro, and opinionated and just like Allura. But what does that leave him as?

I really went on a rant there but would love to hear other people’s thoughts about this. Yes, both the leg and what I wrote. You can also request art! I mainly do Voltron art but I do have experience with other fandoms (The Owl House, My Hero Academia, Star Wars, She-Ra, etc.), and would love to fulfill some asks.

[autisticlancemcclain]

Keith knows his nerves must be leeching off him, because the rest of the team is overcompensating. There’s an abundance of chatting and banter, way more than usual, enough that Keith can recognise the oddity even though he’s been gone for two years. It might just be everyone’s relief after finally getting to sit down and be calm after rushing to foil Haggar’s weirdo clone plan, but Keith’s pretty sure his team has noticed his strangeness, and is trying to make him comfortable again. The thought makes him smile despite his anxiety. He’s missed them.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts by Pidge pointedly clearing her throat and using her spork to point at Krolia, who’s been about as anxious as Keith (only for her that manifests as looking like she wants to kill small cute things).

“Are you finally going to tell us who Tall Dark and Gorgeous is?” she asks, because she is the least subtle and nosiest person in the galaxy and Keith honestly should have expected it. His face flames, and his mother raises an eyebrow, while the rest of the team snickers.

Shiro tries his best to appear a little more adult. “If you wouldn’t mind introducing us, Keith.” He smiles kindly at Krolia. “You were amazing out on the field, we were really grateful to have you. Sorry for not getting us all introduced earlier.”

Krolia nods at him, smiling in an awkwardly reassuring way. “Of course, Black Paladin. There were bigger things to focus on handling.”

She returns to her food too after speaking, clearly done her piece.

Keith grimaces. He was hoping she’d introduce herself, but it looks like he’s going to have to. Fuck. (He’s not sure why he’s so opposed to it. It’s nerve-wracking, though, introducing his actual mother to his family. To his brother, his almost-father.)

“Um, Krolia, this is my family.” He points to them all and names them, rolling his eyes fondly at Lance’s wink and finger guns. He even introduces Lotor, even though he still maintains that they are not friends and Prince Hairdo has a lot of making up to do. “Everyone, this is Krolia.” He looks directly at his brother, taking strength in the man’s encouraging expression and addressing him directly. “She’s my mother.”

The entire table goes dead silent. Small conversations abruptly halt, the sounds of eating cease, silverware freezes where it was scraping on bowls. Complete and total silence.

Shiro’s face goes from encouraging and open to shocked to shuttered, jaw set and eyes narrowed.

Keith’s anxiety skyrockets. He sees his mother tense from across the table, and feels Lance go rigid beside him.

This is worse than what he expected.

“Your mother?” Shiro clarifies, words careful and controlled. He’s the first to return to movement, scooping goo into his spork almost robotically.

“Yes,” Keith says hesitantly. He doesn’t understand his brother’s reaction. He had expected some hesitance from Hunk, who is wary of newcomers, and maybe some understandable discomfort from Allura, but not…

Not Shiro. Not Shiro who is great in a crisis, who is the king of diplomacy, who has always supported Keith.

The rest of the team slowly follows Shiro’s example, returning to their meals, but there’s no more jovial conversation. All eyes are avoiding the brothers, but ears are open, movements slow and quiet so as to not miss a word.

“Hm. Interesting.” Shiro takes a bite of the goo, slowly chewing and swallowing, looking forward like he’s really contemplating. Keith watches every move carefully. “Where’d you find her?”

His tone is almost pleasant, conversational, but there’s something off and plastic about it. Forced. Like he’s talking about a volatile creature Keith has dragged home that he’s trying to be cool about, not the parent Keith has been searching for his whole life.

Keith glances surreptitiously at his mother, but she only shrugs at him. “On the space whale. Well, at the Blades, technically. She was assigned the mission with me and we both got stranded.”

Shiro makes another hum of acknowledgement, nodding to himself. He pokes aggressively at the bowl of green gelatine. “That’s wild. I would have guessed you’d have found her in a jail cell for tax evasion or something, since she seems to be the type to avoid responsibility.”

Keith blinks in shock. Two seats down, Hunk chokes on his water, and Coran thumps his back to help. Every other jaw is dropped in shock, heads swivelling from Shiro to Keith, at a total loss.

“What the fuck are you talking about,” Keith says harshly. He glances at his mother, who quickly hides the hurt on her face with a carefully practiced mask of indifference.

“Oh, nothing,” Shiro says, distractedly pushing around his goo. He sounds blasé, unbothered, but Keith recognises this tone of his, as rare as it is to hear it — the passive aggressiveness, the snooty way he speaks when he’s too furious to even yell, and just wants to make everyone around him feel stupid. “I just figured the person who abandoned her infant son without so much as a note is someone of the more irresponsible and immature variety. That’s all.”

Lance, who has never been capable of handling tenseness, stands abruptly and starts gathering the bowls and utensils of everyone at the table, regardless of whether they’re finished. Keith watches distantly as he quiets Pidge’s whining, firmly telling her to get up and bring it with her if she needs.

“She’s my mother,” Keith says through grit teeth. He pulls his gaze away from the red paladin, glaring at his brother. “I thought you’d be happy for me.”

Shiro finally looks up from his stupid goo, baring his teeth in a poor imitation of a smile.

“Thrilled,” he drawls.

Quietly, Krolia stands, pushing in her chair and following the rest of the team to the door. In the back of his mind, Keith wonders if it would be better for her to stay, but dismisses it just as quickly. Better for her not to hear whatever Shiro’s problem is. She walks out the door without so much as a glance backwards, and Shiro’s gaze follows her out with a sneer. Lance shoves the rest of the reluctant team out of the kitchen doors, then glances back one more time, brown eyes big and reassuring, smiling sadly before closing the doors quietly behind him.

When Keith finally returns his gaze to his brother, his eyes are wet and there’s a lump in his throat. Hurt swarms his chest as much as anger.

“You’re being a dick,” he says. His voice cracks several times as he says it.

“Oh, well, fuck me, then,” Shiro says, violently pushing his chair away from the table and stomping to his feet, grabbing his bowl with his prosthetic so tightly it cracks. He barely even glances at it, fisting the pieces and storming over to the kitchen to toss them. “Here, let me pretend.” He turns back to face Keith and forces a smile on his face, mockingly sincere. He reaches over and yanks Keith bowl away, with his flesh hand this time, and all but tosses into the sink.

There are small smears of blood on it, from the shards of porcelain that dug into Shiro’s flesh hand. Keith’s own hands shake. He scoops his and Shiro’s sporks into his hands, squeezing them tightly, and walks carefully to the sink. He resists the urge to fling them right at Shiro’s head, instead forcing himself to set them gently among the rest of the dirty dishes and standing next to his brother to rinse what he washes. He says nothing as Shiro roughly scrubs the goo pot — they’ve discovered it tastes sort of better hot, so they take the time to cook it — and practically slams it into Keith’s sink.

“Could you tell me what your fucking problem is,” he grits out. He can no longer stop his tears and they drip down his face, down his nose, over his lips, down his chin and disappearing into the dishwater. Every time he swallows, it’s bitter with salt.

“Sure,” Shiro snaps. “I have a couple questions first.”

Frankly, Keith wants to tell him right where he can shove those questions, but he wants this to be resolved more than he wants to be angry.

“Fine.”

“Great,” Shiro says with a relish, and Keith regrets it immediately. “She recognise you the second she saw you?”

Keith swallows. He has to try three times to speak, to force his voice above a whisper. “No.”

“Huh. How long’d it take her to realise?”

Keith hands shake so bad he has to set down a cup lest he drop and break it. He doesn’t want to answer. “Some time.”

“Crazy. Bet she told you she’d been looking for you, huh?”

“Stop,” Keith whispers, choking on a sob, but Shiro plows right on.

“Told you that finding you was all she ever wanted? That she’s so glad she can finally see you again?”

“Stop.”

“That you’ve turned into a fine young man she’s proud of?”

“Shut up!” Keith shouts, and the words hurt on their way out of his mouth, shoved past the giant lump in his throat. He gasps for air and can barely find it, lungs heaving, hurting everywhere, heart feeling like he’s being squeezed. He can no more stop his sobs now than he could stop a star from imploding, and they tear out of him, leaving him aching and shuddering and shaking. “Stop. Stop. I don’t know why you —”

“I’ll tell you why,” Shiro snaps, dropping the last dirty dish and gripping the sides of the steel sink so hard it warps under his prosthetic. “You remember when you showed me those pictures of your dad and his crew? When you were thirteen?”

Keith nods, sniffling, wiping his eyes with wet hands. He hears metal creak, hears hands being dried on a dishtowel, and a long, heavy sigh.

“I picked him out immediately, kid,” Shiro says quietly. Some of the overt cruelty has faded from his voice. He just sounds tired, now; bitter. “You didn’t need to point him out to me. I barely even needed to look at it. I knew who your father was immediately.”

Keith sets the last dish on a drying rack and takes a step back, leaning away from Shiro and pointedly looking away. “So?”

“So — ”and Shiro’s voice sounds almost gentle, now, apologetic, although to Keith or for Keith he’s not sure — “you look just like your Pa, Keith. You are his spitting image. The only difference is your eyes, and your height.” He glances at Keith and then snorts softly. “Well, not the height anymore.”

Keith doesn’t smile back anymore. He hears what Shiro is saying and he hates it, hates him a little for bringing it up.

“She had no reason to expect it was me,” Keith argues.

“And no reason not to recognise you if she was really looking,” Shiro retorts. “If she was exactly what she said she was, she’d recognise you.”

Keith scowls at him. His eyes still burn with tears. “I was wearing my Blade uniform. And she hadn’t seen me since I was a baby.”

Shiro’s face has started to return to the anger it held before, the frustration. “That’s the fucking point!” he shouts. “She left you! Without so much as a goodbye, or even a note! Just a cryptic knife that did nothing but confuse you!”

“There was a war to fight!”

“And she had a kid to raise!”

“What was she supposed to do about Blue, huh?” Keith demands, pushing off the counter and throwing his hands up. “Let Zarkon find her? She had to protect the universe!”

“She had to protect her fucking kid.”

“One kid is not worth more than the entire universe!”

“You are!”

Keith freezes. Shiro barely notices, face twisted in rage so badly that he’s barely even looking at Keith, fists clenched hard enough to creak, fury radiating off of him.

“What?” Keith asks in a small voice, but Shiro plows on.

“You’re her fucking kid. You come first. You come before any other kid, you come before her mission, you come before the fucking universe. That’s how having a kid works. They’re the priority. And anyone who leaves their family behind like that is unforgivably despicable.”

The truth comes crashing down at Keith all at once. He looks at his brother with wide eyes, unclouded with his own hurt, and sees for the first time all the pure hate and rage and pain — not directed at Krolia, not even a little, but sharpened to a point and shoved back into himself.

Anyone who leaves their family behind is unforgivably despicable.

The words ring through the room. Keith hears them repeat a thousand time in three seconds. A million different memories whirl through him at once, all tinged with a pain and a border of abandonment; memories he hasn’t let himself touch since he got to space.

“I don’t blame you for Kerberos,” Keith says quietly. He waits a beat. “I never have.”

Shiro says nothing. His expression is frozen, body unmoving, but his dark black eyes — the eyes that chose him first, that followed him with pride, that were the first to look at him softly when his heritage came out and everything went to shit, that he used to cry and sob and beg to have so that Shiro could be his brother in more than name — are wrought with pain. His face does not crumple, but his eyes are like shattered volcanic glass, and slowly they fill with water, and a drop escapes the corner of his almond eye, dripping slowly down his cheek.

“How can you ever forgive her?” he asks, near silent, voice rough as sandpaper and twice as painful.

How can you ever forgive me?

Keith chokes back his tears and meets his brother’s eyes head-on, determined and steady and loving as Shiro always has been when Keith was the one shattering.

“Easily.”

Shiro swallows. It’s loud, deafening in the silence of the room. The sound of it, the knowledge that Shiro is pushing his pain down but it’s coming up anyway, makes Keith’s chin tremble.

“I don’t deserve easy.”

“You deserve whatever I want to give you.”

Finally Shiro breaks, and sobs. And sobs and sobs and sobs. His cries seem the yank the life out of him, drain himself of energy; his knees hit the floor with a crack and he crumples at Keith’s feet.

“Forgive me,” he begs, like he knows he doesn’t deserve it.

Keith gently kneels next to him and reaches out, almost afraid to touch. “I already did.” He reaches out finally and holds his brother, his big brother who was stronger than his body and bigger than his dream and catapulted Keith up to the stars with him, and holds him together as he cries.

“I forgave you before you even left,” Keith whispers, when Shiro’s sobs don’t sound so painful. He squeezes tighter, because he’s almost worried that he needs to keep Shiro all together. “So did Adam.”

The mention of Shiro’s…whatever Adam is to him makes him cry harder, but Keith pushes on, sure that he needs to know.

“The day you went missing, he broke into your apartment. Went looking for the rings. He never took it off after. Never stopped looking for you, either. He forgave you, too.”

Shiro cries something, too warbled to make out, but Keith can make a pretty good guess as to what it was.

“You do deserve it,” he says firmly. “You are not a monster. You are not undeserving of our love, Shiro, of any of our love. We have always loved you as you are. Don’t rob of us the chance.”

“I don’t actually hate your mother,” Shiro whispers.

Keith laughs wetly. “I got that one, dumbass. Use your words next time.”

Shiro smiles slightly, wisely not agreeing. They both know he won’t. They both know this will probably happen to him again, and probably Keith, too — they may not be blood brothers, but they’ve always been alike anyway. Neither has ever been good at expressing themselves, at letting themselves be vulnerable.

But Keith holds his brother tighter, and thinks of their family who loves them with all their shit, despite it and because it, and thinks that they’ll make it through anyway.

[acherontia-art]

Hi hi! I am sorry if this had already been asked but i was curious lol. Has Lotor ever had to go to a fancy gala or something and thought about bringing Xasthur? I feel like them in formal wear would be cute 😭🩷

Hi! I've drawn it several times :) They have their "official" formal suits, that are here on pics, and also I drew them in modern fashion style LIKE A VOGUE AHAHA <3 They wear it close to the middle of their story, there was kinda party that Lotor's team organized to celebrate Xasthur's return and to say "thank you" to him personally for saving their lives. On this party Xasthur finally decides to make a proposal to Lotor (I have headcanons that marriage means a lot for different alien creatures, they usually make this step after years and years of relationship, only if they really love each other and want to dedicate their whole lifes to each other, means smth sacral, so there are no divorces for example)

[artsy-alice]

Shiro is away on a side-quest and when he returns his rival-turned-bro and his boyfriend have become besties.

sheith!Galavant AU but it's Lotor Happy To Have A New Friend

[atlas7seo]

Everytime I think I'm free, Voltron comes and grabs me in a choke hold. So I'm dragging yall down with me. Here's season summaries of the Voltron Rewrite I'm working on that has taken over my life. I call it my Bootstrap AU which will make sense later.

Inhales* yes this happening...

Season 1 -Defenders of the Universe

Garrison student(Lance, Hunk, and Pidge), expelled student Keith, and Lieutenant Shirogane suddenly find themselves in an alien castle courtesy of a giant Blue Mechnical Lion. Upon arrival they stumble into a 10,000 year long war against an Alien Race called the Galra. Voltron, an ancient weapon, is the only way to stop them, however, no one knows where it is. Follow the Crew aboard the Altean ship as they attempt to get the ship operational, track down lions, and discover their destiny as fated Paladins of Voltron all in a fight against the Galra. Season 1 ends with the Paladins forming Voltron for the first time and becoming Defenders of the Universe

Season 2 - The Voltron Coalition

Now that Voltron has finally been found and formed, the Paladins and Alteans attempt to form allies and liberate planets. Follow our crew as they free planets, negotiate with rebel forces, and infiltrate Galra occupation. All the while searching for a mysterious Ulaz who rescued Shiro and Ulaz's mysterious organization. Season 2 ends with the Paladins meeting the Blade of Marmora and one of their leaders, Lotor, disgraced Prince of the Galra.

(Let's address the elephant in the room. Lotor. Okay, so when I was planning my rewrite, I realized that Lotor is both so compelling and so flat. So, instead, in my rewrite, Lotor is a disgraced prince (still like the original). He sees how the empire is hurting his people who are just civilians, and when he tries to reason with his father, he is disgraced. Lotor didn't make the Blade, but he allied with them in an attempt to return the Galra to what they once were. Lotor is somewhat selfish because if it was between Galran citizens or another planet, he'd pick his people. He only rebelled because he saw how his father was hurting his people. He doesn’t actually care about the universe, his people are what he values, but that changes with *character growth*)

(Also Pidge has found Matt by the end of this season)

Season 3 - The Galran Empire

Season 3 follows our crew and the Voltron Coalition as they formulate plans to end the war at its head. They will form an alliance and plan with the Blade and Lotor. This will be an all out attack on Zarkon including the allies in the Coalition. Half the season will be the plan in motion with multiple parts in an attempt to finally stem the problem at its root. The season ends with Shiro and Lotor dealing the final blow on Zarkon and a rogue wormhole begins to pull him through, but in Zarkon's rage drags Shiro with him.

Season 4 - A New Era

With the loss of Shiro fresh in their minds, Voltron struggles to find stability in this new era. First they realize that despite Zarkon being defeated, the Galra empire is still a threat so they must be able to form Voltron again. *Cue lion switches no matter how much I hate them... Now the Paladins will be allied with Lotor as he attempts to claim the Galran Throne. Throughout they will face Haggar, Robeasts, and the dying flames of the Galran empire. During this chaotic period, they will searching for Shiro and Sam Holt. The season ends with the Kral Zera where Lotor ascends the throne.

Season 5 - Fires of Purification

After facing defeat during the Kral Zera, one of Zarkon's top generals, Sendak begins to gather the remaining "loyal Galra" including Haggar to form the Fires of Purification. This season will continue the search for Shiro and Sam while also being stuck in a Galran Civil War. Voltron, Lotor, and the Coalition fight to stop Sendak from gaining control of the Universe. The season ends with Sendak offering a trade. Shiro and Sam for Lotor. (Like in the actual season 5 because I liked what it did for the story). Voltron and Lotor form a plan and rescue them as Sendak retreats with his tail between his legs.

Season 6 - Moving Foward

With the win against the Fires and the return of Shiro and Sam, it seems things are looking up, but something isn't quite right. With little fanfare Sam chooses to return to Earth to prepare them for the universe. This season is mostly made up of interpersonal conflicts and "what now". The universe is mostly free save for a few pockets of Galra uprising that the Coalition can handle relatively easily without Voltron. The Paladins face the problem of what they should do now and if they can even go back to how things were before the war. While also worrying about Sendak and the remnants of the Fires of Purification. Throughout this, Shiro is also acting really weird. Cut to the real Shiro, but on a Space Whale. (Yes I'm bringing back the weird time distortion whale) When Zarkon grabbed Shiro they landed on a space Whale. So Shiro is trying to survive and get back to Voltron by himself with only Zarkon's corpse as company. Shiro is the one who discovers the Altean Colony (in my rewrite, Haggar is the one running the colony) and he then discovers Haggar's plan to trick Voltron with a clone of him. It's a mystery thriller season switching between the Paladins and the real Shiro as he desperately attempts to get back to his crew to warn them before its too late. The season ends with Shiro warning them too late and Haggar's plan succeeds. Voltron is torn from their allies and catapulted across the universe along with a lost Romelle.

Season 7 - Dead Sector 73

(Ok before I continue the summary, I'm going to explain what I did with Earth. So Weblums eat dead planets in order to use that quintessence to make new solar systems and planets. In my rewrite, Earth's solar system and the space sector around it was a series of dead planets Weblums ate a long time ago and Earth is the first planet to begin exhibiting life in this previous dead sector. Earth is the first living planet in Dead Sector 73. Okay now onto the season summary.)

Sam returns to Earth and begins preparing them for the Galaxy. Back to the Paladins, Haggar has successfully removed Voltron from the equation and begins to rally allies to the Galra's previous motives and moves to retake the universe. Voltron finds themselves lost in Dead Sector 73, a section of the universe Weblums have already eaten and has begun the process of life. They realize they can't reach their allies through comms or anything. But they notice they are somewhat close to Earth. So they set off to reach Earth in the hopes of communicating with the Coalition. When they reach Earth, however, they find Sendak has taken over Earth as a last ditch attempt to get revenge on the Paladins for destroying the empire. And on top of that, that they have been missing for nearly a year. (Weird time distortion stuff like the space whale because of the dead space). They also discover that Sendak is the reason they can't use their comms as he's jamming all signals that travel outside the solar system. The season ends with them defeating Sendak and finally getting ahold of their allies.

(Now I'm going to do some more world building stuff. This is information previous seasons would originally have already told, but I'm putting it here. So the Blades have the motto "Knowledge or Death" and I want to use that somehow. So in my rewrite, the Blade sort of stole the philosophy from the ORIGINAL Galran empire. The war began not because of quintessence poisoning, but because the Galra believed Knowledge or Death. It was a disagreement on ethics and how far you should go in the pursuit of science and knowledge. This disagreement about how to handle the quintessence plane between Zarkon and Alfor sparked the initial conflict as Zarkon wanted to save his wife no matter what. However, due to millenia of exposure to quintessence it degraded Zarkon's mind to the point that he became the villain the show knows today)

Season 8 - Tomorrow and Yesterday

When Voltron and Earth finally reach the Galatic Stage, they discover Haggar has been reigning terror over the galaxy using the Alteans from the colony. While the Coalition and the Galra of Lotor's empire are holding ground, they are beginning to lose. This is when it's revealed that after Zarkon lost his mind to quintessence, Haggar was the one running the show. She must have progress, and now Alfor and the Alteans are no longer in the way for it. (Haggar is still Honerva and born Altean). This season focuses on defeating Haggar and freeing the Alteans from her brain washing. In the end, Honerva destroys all universes by attacking the quintessence plane in pursuit of "scientific knowledge." The Paladins kill Honerva but realize that everything is gone. This is when the Lions come to them. They reveal that sacrificing themselves can restore their universe. "Restore our universe? But what about all the others?" The Lions tell their Paladins that they in themselves are a Causal Loop. The Lions must be sacrificed to restore their universe, and sacrificing them in the quintessence plane it causes them to appear in the past as the materials that Alfor uses to create the Lions. The Lions are forever in a perpetual loop being created and destroyed to maintain the universe. However, each time they do this, they are sent back to another universe as well. It's a multiplying paradox. They are created and destroyed infinite times to restore everything Honerva destroyed. (I did this because I wanted to include the multiple universes the show had, but also, according to my rewrite, the original Voltron could also technically be canon somewhat. It just that in that universe. Allura sacrificed herself, causing the Lions to no longer go through the loop). When the Paladins return, they realize the quintessence plane is sealed off. No one in their universe can ever reach it again. The universe is saved, and the Paladins walk forward to tomorrow, knowing that yesterday is in good hands.

The End

Okay so that was a lot. I hope that if you reached the end of this, you enjoyed it. Do you think I improved it? Or maybe it's just as convoluted and bad as the original, but I tried my best to take all the ideas from Voltron and fit them coherently. Since these were just season summaries there's a lot of stuff I didn't include that I am including in my in depth rewrite like Keith being half Galra, and shipping and stuff. But this rewrite has been eating at my brain for two weeks so I had to put it somewhere.

The reason it's called the Bootstrap AU is obviously because of the Causal Time Loop. No real reason why I added it, I just thought it was fun and funky and shows how the Lions are things that the characters can never truly understand.

[fire-of-the-sun]

We were robbed of Lotor getting to meet Allura's mice. I'm sure he would have been delighted to interact with a species native to Altea and it would have been adorable to see his curiosity and how they regard him in return.

[crystal-rebellion]

So - as some of you may be painfully aware, I am very, very slow about posting chapters to my stories, sometimes even years on them. But they ARE still active, and I do still have ideas and drafts and... stuff.

And I got to thinking - I do quite a few prompts and little one-off scenes, things that don't have a place in a story, or might be used in one later, etc. That's... sort of the equivalent of a warm-up sketch or a doodle, right? And people share doodles and sketches all the time.

So I think I'll do the same. Start sharing more of my 'warm up sketches' and 'doodles' - or drabbles if you will.

I do have a list of prompts I've already done here, and will probably be adding these to it.

Found this in my google docs from about four years ago, including a screenshot of the Lotura Discord server discussion that started it. (Permission granted from the lovely folks featured here to share on Tumblr)

So I did. Drabble below the cut. 👇👇👇

"My queen!"

Allura glanced up from the book in her lap as the Drulish guardsman saluted in utter reverence. 

"Yes?"

As he rose from his deep bow, Allura closed the heavy tome in her lap worriedly and rose to her feet.  Setting the information aside, she began to approach the intimidating, armored soldier.

"I am pleased to inform you, your husband and children have returned."

Allura felt the wind leave her lungs as relief crashed into her body.  She nearly crumpled on the spot; barely catching the back of the chair with her palm to support her weight.

"Thank the heavens," she murmured, quickly brushing away the tears that budded in the corners of her eyes.

"They will be landing on platform Beta in approximately twenty minutes.  ...We thought we saw them on the radar much earlier but... we didn't want to give you false information until we had their landing clearance in hand.  It is, in fact, them."

"Thank you," she murmured, holding her composure together long enough for the guard to salute and leave her in peace.

She collapsed back into the chair, sobs racking her form as sheer joy radiated from her in a manner she could not properly articulate.  Lotor and their children - elder daughter and younger son - had been on their first Campaign for nearly a month.  She and Lotor had gone in circles on the tradition of conquering planets, and the war couple had finally settled on a medium; the children would indulge in the cultural tradition, but only a modest amount of spoils would be taken - and absolutely no enslavement.  The "conquered" planets would easily be able to recover, but the children could practice their skill in the process and honor half their heritage.

The decision not to join them had been twofold - she wasn't the right person to help teach them the ways, and she feared she might interfere more than help.  Moreover, if both governing royals of the Empire were to disappear, chaos would be left in their wake.  She had reluctantly, dutifully, stayed behind to attend to the ministrations of government.

It had been a lonely endeavor; the first day had left her excited, wondering what he and the children might be up to.  The second day was equally full of curiosity and wonder.  As the days bled to weeks, and the weeks to a month... her ambition and eagerness turned to melancholy and sorrow.  As chaotic as the young ones running about the castle could be, the reprieve from them unpredictable was short-lived.  She missed the confusion, the Drulish activity, the discord and the eventfulness.  While her first night alone had resulted in an uninterrupted spa day, complete with an elegant soak in the bath - it had rapidly deteriorated.  Nights felt cold without her husband, and days felt bleak without her children.

Finally, they were home.  Safe.  Sound.  And home.

Allura brushed away the tears once more and stood upright, smoothing out her gown and adjusting her hair before departing the room.

Swift, intense strides made quick work of the distance between her and Platform Beta.  She entered the deck as the familiar warcraft touched down.  Her hands clasped tightly over her chest when her heart fluttered, the steel door closing behind the vessel.  Wind whipped around her, flaring her gown and hair as everything settled into place.  The familiar hiss of the vessel depressurizing to match the planet's pressure sounded, and the bridge unfurled from the entry.

At the top appeared three familiar figures; Lotor in his finest armor, Alenna in a similarly matching dress, and Mero; the 'softest' of the two.  He wore no armor, preferring the vestments of the diplomats.

"Now.  Which one of you can go hug your mother first?"

Shrieks of laughter caught the queen by surprise, and despite her understanding of the culture she had married into, she found herself flat on her back with her two children clutching her torso desperately, each declaring victory over the other.  A laugh broke from her throat and she enveloped them both in her arms, sitting up right and drawing them close.

"I'm so happy you have returned, my dears," she murmured against them, breathing deeply to block the flood of emotion that threatened to overthrow her.  "How was your first Conquest?"

She blinked as shrieks of chatter bloomed up from both the kids, Alenna the most animated of the two.  Allura only laughed, kissing them both on the temple, much to their disapproval.  At the sound of Lotor's bootsteps, the children peeled off their mother just in time for him to extend his palm down to her.  Gracefully, she took it, eagerly allowing him to pull her into his arms, his lips catching hers with no warning - not that she expected any.

"I missed you so much," he murmured between gasps for air.

Allura was barely aware of the noise of disgust the children had made at the sight of their parents snogging before they ran off as she laced her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. 

"You have no idea," she replied.

Bonus:

--One Month Earlier--

"Absolutely not."

"Allura.  My sweet,  Surely you must realize how important this is for the children, especially Alenna!  It's a rite of passage for her!  Mero has a few years, but he could benefit from seeing Alenna's Hunt."

Allura shuddered, brushing off Lotor's hands.

"That's so vile, the way you word it.  Hunt.  Spree.  Conquering.  You sound so gleeful about it, as if you enjoy it as a sport."

"...Allura.  We do."

She flashed him a dangerous look, her temper riling.

"Yes, you'll have to forgive me, my sweet," she quite sneered the words back to him, her temper elevated to a level he had not seen since their courtship.  "I was on the other end of that  spree as you call it.  I forbid it.  No child of mine will be plundering another world.  No chance."

Lotor exhaled in frustration, pacing away from his furious wife.

"What about - "

"Never."

"Hear me out," he added gently, his lips curling into a bemused smirk at her fire.  When she said nothing, her gaze blazing dangerously on him, he continued.  "What if they practiced the tradition - and!"  He held up his hands as she began to interject.  "Left everything behind."

Allura blinked, the swell of fury deflating as she considered his words.

"You mean commit to the sport, but take no trophies?"

"Well, perhaps a bit of gold here or a pretty jewel there... but no, nothing like it used to be."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

"Absolutely zero living spoils."

"Of course, I didn't think you'd like your children bringing back slaves to serve you."

"Lotor-"

Once more, his palms rose in the air defensively, his chin ducking as a smirk quirked at his lips.  He knew he was only seconds away from having something heavy chucked at him.

"No, my love.  No living spoils, and only a token amount of physical ones.  Will that suffice?  It's an important custom to honor for us, even if the purpose for it no longer exists."

She exhaled, plopping down into an armchair.

"I suppose so.  How long?"

"Weeks.  Maybe a month.  The First Campaign is not a long endeavor.  Not usually. "

"You'll go with them? Look after them, keep them safe?"

He stared at her for a moment, his victorious look ebbing at her forlorn expression.

"....You're not coming," he murmured in realization.

Allura looked away, rubbing her arm uneasily.

"I'm not sure I could stomach such destruction, even in play.  I don't think that I could properly... endorse this in a manner that befits your customs," she explained.  "Besides.  Who will run things if we're both gone?  I mean there's Cossack, but I..."

"Oh gods below us, no.  He is a worthy and admirable soldier, but we'd come back to a bloodbath of a civil war because he couldn't figure out how to translate a document properly."

Allura giggled, casting her husband a sad smile as she rose from her chair and approached him.

"I'll miss you.  It will be a long time before you're back."

He palmed her ribcage as she came into his heartspace, her own fingertips touching his chest, her nose inches from his.

"We should make the most of tonight then," he murmured darkly.

"I would very much like that."

[asdeloppa]

Lance was doubtful. A date with Allura, such a long-awaited date, seemed completely wrong to him now. The falling in love probably passed almost immediately, but throughout almost their entire journey he held on to this thought, so as not to think that he did not love her at all. That's why Lance made stupid advances towards her, made all these jokes, made compliments, was jealous of Lotor, jealous of Keith, jealous even of Shiro, knowing that he was gay.

Now he finally realized that he was attached to her on a deeper level. Like a close friend, or maybe even like a sister. I realized that it was rather devotion and gratitude.

There were two hours left until the date.

– Funny outfit, – Keith jokingly commented on Lance’s look. – Did you rob the kitchen, or? – Keith didn’t have time to finish.

– Koran helped me get ready for a date according to Altean customs. – Lance was... Weirder than usual? Normal Lance is an active and playful guy, but now a thoughtful Lance stood in front of Keith, as if he was in a trance. – I have a date with Allura. – Lance says in some unreadable tone.

- Oh, so can I congratulate you? – Keith smiled warmly, his voice sounded so sincere, as if it was not Lance who would have a date with the object of his adoration, but himself.

The conversation with Keith was a little awkward. Lance couldn’t tell him the truth: that he doubted whether he needed it, did Allura need it? At least some of them. He simply didn't know the answer to his question.

Already at dinner, something stabbed in Lance's heart when Veronica asked to introduce her to Keith. "Never". A little rudely, very impulsively and quickly, he rattled off that he definitely wouldn’t go for it. Later he finds out that through Keith she wanted to meet that beautiful alien.

Kiss. The kiss with Allura was pleasant, Lance felt how much tenderness was put into it, but it was completely not what he wanted.

Allura's goodbye kiss was painful and bitter.

He didn't know that losing someone hurt so much. Yes, as a child he attended the funeral of his beloved grandmother, but it was not as painful as losing practically his sister. He thought he was prepared to lose anyone on the team because that's what the job is like. Every day is filled with risks of losing a team member. But the loss of Allura... You can’t be prepared for this.

Keith. He was there all the time. Not so much of his own accord, but rather Lance simply asked him to stay with him a little longer than was allowed for just “comrades.”

Since their last mission, Keith has been constantly flying out on rescue missions. For dangerous rescue missions. Lance was scared every time, because Keith, like Allura, might simply not return from the next flight.

After his first kiss with Keith, an extremely drunk kiss that left Lance immediately crying (and Keith began to calm him down as best he could: he hugged him, stroked his back, saying that “Everything is fine, don’t worry. Calm down” - stupid, but as best he can, and most importantly with his soul), he finally realized what was wrong. More precisely, he did not understand, but finally accepted the thought that had haunted him since the beginning of his training in the garrison. He is in love with Keith. He love he. All these “enemies” were just a way to escape from these thoughts, from these feelings.

The worst thing about this whole situation was that Lance was stupidly afraid of Keith's thoughts. “What if he thinks that he’s just a replacement for her.” From the outside it seemed so. At least that's what he thought himself.

Keith didn't make things any easier either. He and Lance spent a lot of time together when Keith was on the ground, free from his missions and rescue missions. Every night invariably ended with kisses: they were both initiated. But every morning Keith pretended that everything was fine and they were just «bros». This made Lance both angry and frustrated, and gave him time to come up with another brilliant plan to seduce Keith. It gave him time to let Keith know that he was him and not her replacement.

The conversation and confession were scary, difficult and overly emotional. Lance cried, Keith kissed his face and hugged him, laughing a little, because “I kept wondering when you’ll make up your mind. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to put pressure on you,” for which he received a comic, but slightly painful punch to the stomach from Lance.

The first real dates were awkward but filled with love: they made cookies, after which the entire kitchen was covered in flour and cinnamon, but everyone loved them; a walk along the beach, after which they washed themselves off the sand for a long time, but during which their hands were intertwined the entire time; a trip to the cinema, the plot of which they did not remember, but their lips burned scarlet.

When they told their loved ones about their relationship, they were not surprised. Everything was obvious: burning eyes, awkward glances, hands that they did not open even in the company of friends. Everyone was happy for them.

And they were happy for themselves.

I ask you to pretend that there are no mistakes here(or point out errors in the comments, I’ll be glad). I remind you that English is not my native language and I am just learning it.

enjoy the klans, I hope you like it <33

[emo-ostrich]

1: why doesn’t anyone talk about how heartbreaking this scene is

2: why doesn’t anyone talk about this episode?!?!

it’s actually very well written and serves as a set up for the much darker twist the show is taking

in this episode we learn:

-pidge would sacrifice a good amount of the universe to save her father. they’re the most logical and analytical on the team, yet all that goes out the window when her family gets involved. there’s an argument in the beginning of the episode that is very reminiscent of when pidge was going to leave voltron in season 1 and keith yells at them.

-honerva remembers that lotor is her son. this is a HUGE set up for season 8. she begins the phase 4 of the kuron project which leads to keith returning and becoming the black paladin. but she does all of this because she knows zarkon will kill lotor. she’s ok with lotor killing zarkon bc zarkon is merely a husk of the man he used to be. that realization definitely leads her down the path of “how can i restore my family” (cut to end of season 8).

-on the topic of project kuron, we see the effects of it with shiro lashing out and not being… very shiro like… but he gives lotor HIS BAYARD in the hostage exchange without telling the rest of the team. honerva calls for the beginning of phase 4, and we can see that phase 3 was the shiro that been with the team since he returned in season 3. he’s been living this jekyll and hyde type life with half kuron controlled by honerva and half real shiro.

-we see lance step up and give orders to the team. lance is the red paladin at this point in the series making him the right hand of voltron and this is one of the first times we see him step into that leadership position. watching him grow into that leadership position and learn to feel valued makes the end of season 8 hurt even worse. plus when shiro realizes they need backup he says “lance we could use a little help.” he already acknowledges lance as his right hand man even if lance doesn’t realize it yet. that’s the shiro part talking. lance gives an order and the team says “copy that” which is how lance normally responds to orders. it’s a very clear role reversal that i think is lovely in lance’s character arc (if only dreamworks actually finished his arc smh)

-lotor killing zarkon is proof he really did want peace. he wants nothing to do with his father, doesn’t want zarkon to be his father, and has no hesitation in killing him. lotor and voltron are fighting for the same thing, but simply have different methods. when they fight lotor, he seems hesitant to fire until allura says he’s like zarkon. that’s what throws him over the edge.

lotor becoming emperor of the galra after zarkon’s death shows that having a galra ally on the throne could be the key to peace (hello keith after season 8) so think about the set back in the war efforts when voltron kills the emperor, a former ally, and then disappears. maybe this is why the galra attacked earth? in the beginning on the series, they’re looking at a star map showing that the galra’s progress in conquering worlds is getting closer to reaching earth but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. so either and conquering has sped up and an insane rate, or earth was specifically targeted by the galra while voltron was gone.

-when zarkon is about to kill lotor, the team saves him. the first lion we see fire is allura implying that j was allura that saved lotor a life. that’s kinda big in her development or maybe she was just firing at zarkon who knows

ok sorry that’s all thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

(this is all about season 5 episode 2: blood duel)

[hypfden]

The what if story

“Two rivals sitting in a frozen time space, 5 feet apart because their lesbian friend felt really guilty !!!!”

Aka “Severance”

When Allura was still learning how to use her alchemy correctly she never knew how to use it safely. When Lance died in that blast she was only unable to scrape bits and pieces of his quintessence back into his body. Functionally Lance's body was still alive and breathing but with what little quintessence in his body Allura had to essentially use him as a puppet. He still was sentient but barely able to keep up the fight otherwise he was nothing but a mere empty husk with no life in it.

Through guilt and voltron she kept puppeteering; the only people who caught on were Coran and Lotor. She knew Coran wouldn't tell anyone else, it would devastate the team and they could not form Voltron. Lotor on the other hand tried to find a way to try and fix Lance. Eventually this came to an end after he died in the quintessence rift. No one else could know.

She never knew that the rest of lance’s quintessence was in the red lion and by the time she had even thought about it, it was already too late. The lions had already dispersed into the universe, probably never to be seen again until another calamity. Lance would never be restored and she would live with that guilt.

At nights when she would cry on him begging for forgiveness in not restoring him properly. Some nights she debated on ending his life just so he could be free. She took a knife to his throat, he lay motionless as his dull blue eyes stared at her. She could never bring herself to do it anyway. She didn't have enough time to retract the knife from his neck when Keith came into the room. And before she could even explain herself she was knocked down.

Keith asked what was wrong with her and looking at Lance's unmoving body he thought the worse. She had no choice but to save herself. Keith knew now. The next thing Allura saw was Keith’s body collapsing to the floor as romelle stood behind him with a broken glass bottle. They both shared a glance and slowly took both Keith and Lance and stored them in cryo pods. She hid them beneath the castle which she put under protection. In a cruel form of protection she made sure that no one would be able to open the cryo pods until one of the voltron lions returned.

So they stayed there frozen in time for the foreseeable future.

End?

(Badly written??? Yeah it is someone please add to it so i have more influence to draw more :))) ill take anything by this point)

[lovesyarnandnancydrew]

the 3rd season is out of the way:

lance accepting keith as his leader, lance being a voice of reason, snapping keith out of his weird vindictive trance, and their heart-to-heart conversation were the highlights of the season to me

i like shiro's return, but keith's journey to accepting that he's capable of being a leader and getting recognized by the black lion feels like a waste of time. maybe it'll be mentioned later, don't know

pidge is still my favorite, but lotor and his team do all sorts of things to me

the episode i liked the most is tailing the comet

[danceylancey]

Lance who finds Lotor to be the embodiment of the word ‘dashing’ and willingly accepts the others flirts. He feeds of his praise and touch, letting his eyes go wide and deer like when the other ticks his hair behind his ear. He listens to Lotors vile words, takes in ever syllable as he tells Lance he deserves better than his team. He believes him when he says that his team don’t know him, don’t know his strengths or his pain, his heart. When Lotor suggests they run away together, that Lance should join him as they cover the stars, he goes to Blue. The next time he returns to Lotor and instead of answering his request, his begs the other to kiss him. The sex that follows is nothing like Lance had ever had, it’s passionate and slightly painful, every inch of his body covered in kisses and climax. Lance knows he’s going to become addicted. Lance leaves that night, making a single stop before hand, then dropping to his knees when they enter Lotors private rooms in his ships, ignoring that he’s supposed to be meeting his new teammates, and gives his thanks through pleasure. The next several years are both bliss and agony. He trains with his new teammates, getting smarter and stronger. He learns more about the Galra, the universe, Hagger, quintessence, all of it. Every night he lets Lotor praise him with his tongue and body, fucking him hard and sweet.

Lance knows Lotor wanted to control him and played his part well, acting stupid and naive or like a cock hungry whore who just wanted to fuck and suck till he dropped.

Lance knows wanted to manipulate him from the start, that’s why he went to Blue to see if Allura was comparable with her. Why he went to Coran the night he left and told him what he was doing, to stay quiet and wait for transmissions.

He spent years collecting information, sending it to Voltron and the coalition, pouting and acting the child when Lotors team accused him of being a traitor.

Lance made Lotor depend on him, made him fall in love, made him forget his true mission and only want Lance. He used aphrodisiacs, his body and his wit, all of it to his advantage.

When he finally finds out where Lotor’s mother had been keeping the Alteans, where she’s been living and training her Druids, he dresses in golden jewels and a sheer purple dress that covers nothing and spends one last night with Lotor before waiting in the captains quarters for his old team, his family to arrive and greet him and his now dead husband.

[acherontia-art]

What would happen if Xasthur hurt Lotor on accident?

It happened in their story shortly after Xasthur's return, the most darkest moment for both of them, Xas hated himself so much, although he wasn't controlling himself that moment