#Ulaz x Reader

[galraluver]

How would Morvok, Sniv, Ulaz, and Regris try to impress a reader they’re interested in? Would they talk about their exploits or do something they’re skilled at?

That is an interesting question. Here's how I believe they would go about impressing the woman of their dreams (aka all of you, the readers)

_________________________________________

~ Ulaz ~

~ Honestly, Ulaz is the kind of person who would observe you first to make sure that you're interested in him before he tries to impress you

~ To him, romantic relationships should take time to develop in order for the romantic tension to build up, but once he's 1,000% positive that you have a crush on him he spends more time with you

~ Ulaz likes to show off his skills to you whenever you're around and he's always careful not to make any mistakes, the last thing he wants is to embarrass himself in front of you

~ If the castle is parked on some planet, Ulaz definitely goes out on a hunt so he can impress you with his hunting skills

~ He's also always there for you whether you need someone to talk to or hang out with, in order to show you that he's interested he's always present while he's around you

~ Ulaz also impresses you by learning about the things you love or are passionate about, that way he can do those things with you on a regular basis

~ Will definitely get a little shy and blushy if you do or say something, anything, that implies that you're very interested in him

~ Ulaz is a hopeless romantic and will impress you with various romantic gestures, but he won't love bomb you or come on too strong bc he doesn't want to overwhelm you

~ He's also affectionate with you, which works like a charm while he's trying to impress you

~ Another thing Ulaz does to impress you is fire dancing; he's never done it before, but with how flexible he is, he does it perfectly without setting himself or anything else on fire

~ He's also got regular dancing skills, which are extremely impressive

~ With time, he learns how to make you swoon for him and all of his methods work because it isn't long before he begins courting you

_____

~ Regris ~

~ Regris is still a young adult, younger than Ulaz, and even though he's serious most of the time he can get a little awkward around you, his love interest

~ Regris doesn't know what to do or how to impress you, so he does several hours of research to see what humans liked and found attractive

~ He begins working on various tech projects specifically made for you; whether it's something to make your life easier or something akin to an mp3 player that holds thousands of songs with headphones, you can bet he'll make it

~ In order to really woo you, Regris tries writing a poem and giving you flowers

~ He's definitely not a poet, but his attempt to impress you definitely confirms your suspensions about him being romantically interested in you

~ Regris definitely tries to impress you with his fighting skills

~ Just to be clear, he might try fighting someone if it impresses you unless you don't want him to

~ He also likes to impress you with how sweet and cuddly he can be, but he also treats you well just as any future significant other should

~ Regris once tried to perform a traditional dance for you from his father's people, but even though he probably messed up a few steps he could tell that you were still impressed

~ The fact that he can use his tail to lift things is impressive enough, if the two of you are out shopping he uses it to carry some of the bags

~ Thankfully Regris eventually figures out how to impress you without being awkward about it and is successful in showing you that he's romantically interested in you

_____

~ Morvok ~

~ Morvok knows that he's not the highest ranking commander in Zarkon's military, but he can be charming and to him, he thinks he's the best

~ The problem is that when he's around you he gets shy and blushy because he's never been around such a beautiful woman before

~ However, he makes it his mission to impress you after he catches one of the foot soldiers in his ranks flirting with you

~ Instead of fighting off a monster or bringing you the biggest kill he can find, Morvok impresses you with how charming he can be

~ He definitely brags about how many planets he's successfully conquered and how big his territory is, although he leaves out the part when he needed help conquering one planet in particular

~ Morvok also doesn't tell you about how the paladins defeated him, it's too embarrassing bc of the whole ‘Victory or Death’ thing

~ Because of his size, he's avoided most dangerous situations throughout his life, although Morvok knows how to play a few different instruments and he impresses you by showing off his mad musical skills

~ While he's around you, Morvok becomes a little more humble since he doesn't want to scare you away

~ Ultimately, whether you and Morvok end up together is up to you

~ He is cute and fun-sized tho, and he's huggable too

_____

~ Sniv ~

~ One would think that Sniv would keep pestering you when he realizes that he's romantically interested in you, but he doesn't want you to resent him if he comes on too strong

~ However, he does get more lovey and affectionate

~ In order to impress you, Sniv proudly tells you of his exploits and how many planets he's conquered in order to snag a place at the main hub

~ He also brings fresh kills for you on a regular basis and he shows off his fighting skills

~ However, he understands that humans are different and he impresses you by also showing off his sensitive side and how much he truly cares about you as a person

~ Sniv learns about your interests, even the fandoms you're into so that you both can ‘fangirl’ together when one of your favorite artists/directors comes out with something new

~ Another thing he impresses you with are his dancing skills when Zarkon throws a royal ball for only his highest ranking commanders and their plus ones

~ He's funny, too, and knows how to tell hilarious jokes to make you laugh

~ Expect him to make the fur on his head look extra fluffy because he wants to impress you in every way imaginable

~ With how impressive and charming he is, Sniv easily manages to impress you

[voltronreaderinserts]

Ryan my love, please gift me with poly Ulaz and Thace with their pregnant human partner??

I HAVE SO MANY FUN AND CUTE HEADCANONS FOR THIS LEMME GUSH PLEASE OMG–

– Ryan

• We all know how I feel about Galra biology and social structure– I’ve compared it a lot to headcanons in A/B/O dynamics• So the omega will be guarded at all times• Doesn’t matter who it is, at least one of them has an eye on you at all times• Ulaz is very panicky where Thace is just overzealously protective and defensive of you• Thace will not hesitate to cut anyone down who threatens you• Ulaz has you next to him at all times• Nights are awesome, from the start of your pregnancy you have them taking care of you in ways you wouldn’t even think for your first time carrying their young• They groom you more often than before• They’re making sure you regulate your body temperature• They’re making sure you’re comfortable, and that your back is well supported while you sleep• They’re making sure you’re taking time to nourish yourself as well, making sure that you drink water every hour, and you’re eating enough fats and proteins to sustain not just the baby, but yourself as well• I have generalized headcanons of a human pregnancy with a Galra baby, because of really frEAKY human biology I learned from my dear friend @65-percent-puns and it can get really intense• Most things are done with instinct though; a more aggressive nature within both of them, they’re more territorial and defensive• They seem to pick fights a lot but it’s really just an urge to hunt and provide for their family• The a f f e c t i o n

• I’ve also given a lot of headcanons for a human s/o, so how about a Galra, or even Galra-mix, s/o!!• All of the above headcanons still apply to you, there is no escape• But I headcanon that Galrans have the ability to be impregnated by more than one individual • Following actual feline biology, where the female can have multiple eggs be released during heat, so being impregnated by Thace and Ulaz at the same time is 100% a thing that will happen• But this also means a litter of pups you’re gonna be extremely pregnant• But it’s the most beautiful sight to them

[haunting-your-dash]

Would it be possible to have Ulaz in bed? Like, he has never had a human s/o before. He's curious but also desperately needy to get. At. That.

[I hope this is ok!]

Ulaz was often times the most unusual of his kind. Taking interest in things like Voltron and the human race. He thought your kind were fascinating and you specifically were making him feel…strange.

You were laying on his bed, in one of his tunics, he could smell the arousal on you as most Galrans could on their….but you weren’t…could you be though? He let his mind think this, this very dangerous thought. He put one knee on the bed and looked you over with what you recognize as a needy look even if he doesn’t.

“What wrong?” You ask, “you look…” You sit up and touch his face gently.“Like you want something ” you’re obviously teasing him and he growls lowly making you lay back again with him on top of you.

“You’re human” it’s a statement not a question.“Yeah?” You raise an eyebrow at him.“And?”“And I’m Galra ” again a statement not a question.“Aaand?” You touch his chest and move your hands over him making him growl again against your neck.“Could this work…? Between us?” He finally asks but goes silent as you push him off to take his tunic off.Your body was so unique to him, so bare and mostly hairless unlike his. He moved his face to rest between your breasts, sniffing you gently and licking the very middle of your chest gently. Tasting you, testing the waters. He moves down, relating the process of sniffing and licking until he finally reaches your core and licks generously .

You let out a pleasured sigh and he blushes gently. “Are you sure about this?” He looks up at you, his eyes wanting but his heart hesitant. He never wanted to hurt you.

“I’m sure” you smile as you reassure him. He nods and closes his eyes before licking you again, this time fully, using his whole tongue slowly to taste the love juices spilling out of you. “Aaaah! Ulaz!” You grip the sheets as your juices flow more freely from his long, torturous licking. “Yes my love?” He asks but doesn’t wait for a response as he lets his tongue burry itself between your folds, spreading and tasting you greedily.

You couldn’t even form a response as his tongue works it’s magic inside you. It’s hitting all the right places in all the right ways and you can’t help but buck your hips as the pressure grows.

“U-Ulaz..” You pant gently as he uses his thumb to attack your nub, making your back arch and your breath hitch.

“Ulaz!” You cry out as he continues his torture until you just can’t take it anymore and you explode in climax. The words “yes yes yes!” Falling off your tongue in a feverish fashion.

Ulaz wastes no time drinking the fine wine you’d blessed him with, enjoying it fully as if it was the nectar of the gods.

“You taste divine my love” he purrs as kisses your flower tenderly before crawling on top of you.

“U-Ulaz aaah…” You pant as his hot body crushes you in the best kind of way. “Should we stop?” He asks but you shake your head as you wrap your arms around him and pull him closer.

“Don’t you dare stop now!” You nearly growl but his own growl against your neck makes you weak and you whimper as he positions himself. “I wouldn’t dream of stopping now my love” he purrs as he begins his descent inside of you, pushing in slowly as you draw your nails down his back until he’s fully inside of you.

“There’s a spot on my neck” he moved you so your mouth is right over it. “If you bite it we will be mated , for life, don’t bite, unless you want me forever” he kisses your neck gently as he begins thrusting. He was so much bigger then you, it was almost painful the the pain faded quickly as he worked his shaft inside out you. Stretching you out and making his name roll off your lips again.

You don’t have time to think about what he said but you know what you want and who you love and without much hesitation you bite into his neck with everything you having making him groan.

Feeling you take the plunge ignites his desires further as he begins thrusting harder inside you. Your feet leave the bed as he moves his position higher not ever moving from your neck.

“S-so reckless” he pants as he bites right back into your neck making you cry out and rip your nails hard down his back. He just takes this as a sign to pump into you with, nearly, everything he had trying desperately not to hurt you as his instincts kicked in to make you his and only his.

He lifts you and wraps his arms around you nearly crushing you as his member assaulted your flower with much more force now.

“I love you” he whimpered as your walls squeezed him for a final time making you cry out in your climax. His own came directly after you squeezing having been his tipping point.

His knot swelled almost painfully big inside you as he panted, still holding onto you for dear life as you did him.

“I love you [y/n], you’re mine now, forever” he breathed as he moved to gently lay back with you on top of him.

“I love you too Ulaz, my MATE” he growls gently at you.“If you go on like that I can’t be held responsible for what happens next” he warns with a rye smile.

[we-found-him]

Short Hair (+ ahoge)

Requested by @simplydlightfuldestiny: “I’m going to cut my hair sometime during summer may I have a headcanon of the paladins + Matt, Alurra, Lotor, Thace and Ulaz of short hair s/o

Bonus when they suddenly have an ahoge.

The hairdresser explains that I was born with curly hair until I had my first haircut, since then an ahoge always appear whenever my hair is short.”

~

I have short hair, and I love this request!

Also, I apologize for my sorry Ulaz and Thace headcanons.

Shiro

So he’s always loved your long hair.

He would try to braid it if you allowed (/trusted) him.

So when he suddenly sees you with short hair,

He may not recognise you at first….

Don’t get me wrong, he loves you more than anything,

But he’s taken by surprise.

He, honestly, loves your short hair so much.

The way it frames your face is beautiful to him.

Also, he thinks the ahoge is adorable.

Imagine cuddling with him, and he just weaves his fingers through your hair because he love the style on you so much.

Keith

He liked your hair long.

It looked good, he probably didn’t notice it too much.

But when you’d style it, he’d think it looked nice.

Once your hair is short, he may not notice at first.

Like, he’d take a minute or two to realize that your hair is different.

Once he saw the difference, he would get really excited and, if you’d let him, he would play with your hair.

He really likes the new look on you.

He would poke at the ahoge a bit.

Lance

When your hair is first cut off, he is so surprised.

He l o v e s the new look on you.

He would 100% run up to you and begin to feel your hair.

He totally loves the feeling of freshly cut hair and he would just be in awe for a few days.

He would give you head messages since he wouldn’t have to worry about knotted hair.

He thinks the new cut looks totally badass on you.

Pidge

She loves it.

When she first sees your new hair cut, she is briefly taken by surprise.

She immediately smiles up at you.

You both have short hair, and she is so happy.

Pidge totally supports the short hair cut as she has one herself.

First thing she’d to is ruffle your hair before giving you a genuine complement.

Hunk

He immediately falls in love with the new look.

He would miss braiding your long hair (if you had let him) though.

He would play with your hair every now and then.

For the first few days, anytime he saw you be would just smile at the new refreshing look.

Complements all the time.

He just loves you so so much.

Matt

He loves the idea.

Once your hair is cut he will Totally laugh at the fact that his hair is longer than yours.

Her thinks that this makes you look 100% more kickass and he loves it.

He would totally ruffle your hair ask the time.

Also, he would now not hold back when it came to any pranks, now that your hair wouldn’t get nearly as knotted.

He thinks that your attractiveness went up with the cut too.

Allura

She hadn’t really seen many females with short hair before. (Besides Pidge)

So she was a little taken aback at first.

She would take some time getting used to your short hair,

But on the end, she would grow to like it.

She also sees the tactical use in short hair, (harder for people to grab).

Lotor

He has seen a number of women with short hair, but it’s isn’t common.

So when your hair is shortened, his concerned that you have a disease our something.

Once you explain that it was just cut, her calms down.

He begins to like the new look on you.

He would totally run his fibers through your hair in admiration.

The way it frames your face is absolutely beautiful to him.

Be prepared to get plenty of comments.

Ulaz

He hasn’t ment really any females with short hair before, so at first he is confused.

He wants to make sure that you are okay health wise before really looking at your hair.

He grows to like it.

Thace

Like Ulaz, he doesn’t really know any females with shirt hair until you.

He thinks that this look on you is quite pretty.

He begins to prefer short hair to long hair from then on.

~

Again, I apologize about my last two, and for the delay on this.

[aceofdaibazaal-blog]

Dads of momora love interest ( request pt 3 )

Request: May I have a HC for the dads of marmora reacting to their foul mouthed and ill tempered female human medic (love interest) being extremely good with kids/kits, particularly the orphaned ones since she knew what it was like to be abandoned since she and her bother were orphaned and when she’s with kids it’s the only time she’s calm and sappy, even getting attached to a certain young cub who will cry is she leaves, they think she’ll make a great mother one day 😏

A/N: I wonder if this is the same person requesting all of these... if it is you're awesome, and if not you're still awesome 😂😘

Kolivan

- It's surprised him at first, he never would've thought you liked children seeing as how you treated the other blades.

- Loves to watch you play with the orphans, think it's adorable that they love you so much

- Likes how patient you are with them, wishes you were that patient with the other blades

- Secretly loves all the children who love you, because most of them have a testy personality like yours

- Can't stop himself from think about someday having children with you, even though he tries to push those thoughts away because to him the idea seems impossible :(

Thace

- Loves to play with the children with you, if your with the orphans he's with the orphans

- Since his childhood was much like yours he understands why you get sappy when your with them, and sad when you have to leave them

- Likes to think about his future with you and wonders if it will ever happen

- Was a little surprised when he first saw you with the orphans

Ulaz

- Think it's adorable when you play with the orphans, especially since no one would expect it from you

- He wasn't really surprised you got along with the kids really well, Kolivan may have told him about you past

- Sometimes if you ask him he'll come be with you and the orphans

- When he does the children like to hang on him and play with his ears ( "I think someone likes you." You said playfully as the little ones played with his hair and ears. "Our children will never be allowed to do this." He muttered trying to gets the kids off him. "O-Our?" You stuttered making Ulaz turn a deep shade of purple. )

- Knows that you'll be an amazing mother one day, even if it's not his children

Antok

- Teases you when you say your going to go see the orphans

- Thinks it's very cute when you play games with the orphans, sometimes he will come and play with you

- Loves to watch you try to teach the orphans how to sword fight

- think that one day you'll make an amazing mother

[disneygirl2202]

Your Little One (Ulaz x Pregnant!reader)

Requested? Yes by anon

Request: Could we get a fluffy oneshot of Ulaz x pregnant Fem! Human reader?

A/N: Sorry that it’s been super long! Also sorry that it’s super short!

Your P.O.V.

You’d be sitting at the table, your hand resting on your stomach. The war was over, your life was about to change with your little one on the way. Ulaz wasn’t sure if he was ready but you knew he’d be a great father. He already had the instincts of one.

“Dear, I’m home!” Ulaz hollers as he walks into your shared home

“In the kitchen.” You call back

You hear his footsteps start to get louder before a gentle kiss is placed on top of your head.

“How are my two favorite people doing?” He whispers

“Your child really enjoys moving when I’m trying to get stuff done.” You tease

He kneels next to the chair you’re sitting in, leaning toward your stomach. His hand resting on your stomach as he starts to whisper things to your little one. 

“You’ll be the greatest thing that has ever happened to mom and me.” He whispers “We're both very excited for you.” 

You chuckle as you set your hand on top of his hands, excited for your family to get a start on life.

[miyanom]

THE FIVE TIMES HE DIDN’T

MASTERLIST | KEITH KOGANE X ALTEAN!READER

WARNINGS: weapons, fighting, mentions of war

NOTES: If anyone wants, I actually have ideas for a sequel (and a spin off where it’s the times Y/N didn’t) to this! So if you enjoy this, please let me know if you’d like them too!!

i.

Keith trails slightly behind Y/N as her eyes flicker from store to store. The only reason he had agreed to stick with her was so nothing would happen to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Y/N could protect herself — no, he knew she was more than capable of taking down an enemy combatant. All of that training her and Allura had gone through as Altean children was for a reason — but he didn’t want to risk her getting hurt.

And maybe part of him wanted to spend time with her. Even if that meant staying about 10 feet behind her at all times.

Y/N glanced over her shoulder, a frown tugging at her lips when she noticed Keith was trapped in his thoughts.

“Keith,” she called out, coming to a stop.

Keith, still trapped in thought, only snapped out when he felt his chest colliding against her back. “I’m s-”

“Don’t be,” Y/N laughed.

A beautiful sound, if you asked Keith.

“Come on, walk alongside me, Keith,” she pleaded. “We are friends, are we not? Friends walk with each other, not behind one another.”

Keith fell into line as they continued through the mall, still on the hunt for the lenses that Coran needed for the teludav. “What’s on your mind?” She questioned.

“Nothing,” he quickly shook his head.

“Oh…” The two fell into an almost comfortable silence. If Shiro were here right now, he’d be giving Keith looks, trying to get him to finally say something. To confess the feelings that felt like they were eating him up. But Keith couldn’t. He couldn’t risk that.

Maybe before, before they had met Ulaz. But now? Now it wasn’t a good time.

Keith looked down as his hand brushed against her own, he was half tempted to hold hers. “Y/N-” He started speaking before he even knew what he was doing.

Though at the same time he spoke, Y/N was pulling away and stopping in front of a shop window, a grin forming on her features as she stared at the shiny jewelry inside.

What was he even thinking? Did he seriously believe now would be a good time to tell her how he felt? Y/N would end up hating him, and then not only would it ruin their friendship, but it’d mess with the team’s dynamic too.

How were they supposed to work together in the Red Lion if she hated him?

ii.

“Keith.”

His head shot up at the sound of his name, but when he realised it was Y/N - standing there in her armour, a confused expression on her face - he lowered his head in shame.

“You’re-”

“Galra… yeah,” Keith breathed out.

Y/N blinked, before stepping closer as she moved to sit beside him. “I was going to say you’re going to be okay. This doesn’t change anything, Keith.”

“It changes everything!” Keith shouted as he stood up, moving away from Y/N. “You should hate me, Y/N.”

“Well, I don’t,” Y/N shook her head. “I could never.”

“But Allura… and Altea-

“Allura will come to understand,” Y/N stood up. “You may have Galra blood, but you are not them. You aren’t part of the Empire that did that to my home. You’re Keith, from Earth. Paladin of the Red Lion, and my friend.”

She took his hand in her own, causing Keith’s expression to soften slightly. “I will never hate you, Keith. Especially not because of something so out of your control.”

At that moment, he wants to tell her. He wants to spill everything he’s been feeling. Explain those butterflies in his stomach that appear when she smiles at him, or the nights he can’t sleep because he’s thinking of her.

But he doesn’t. And when Y/N finally notices that he won’t say anything, she sighs and drops his hand. “I hope you’ll see what I see one day, Keith,” she whispered, before turning to leave the room.

Keith just watched as she felt, slipping from his grasp again.

Maybe it’s for the better. Everybody leaves in the end, maybe it was a good thing she was doing it now rather than later. After all, her words could’ve just been a lie in an attempt to comfort him.

What if she hated him for being Galra?

iii.

Tomorrow was the day.

They were finally going to take down Zarkon. And while Keith knew he should probably be getting rest, preparing for the battle. He was instead walking through the Olkarion castle, half hoping Y/N would be awake and willing to talk too.

Keith stepped out onto a balcony, his eyes falling onto Y/N, whose arms were crossed as she stared into the distance.

“Hey,” he spoke softly.

It took Y/N a moment before she turned to see who was there, and suddenly a smile began to tug at her lips. “Hi.”

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

Y/N’s eyes flickered between the sky and Keith. “Well, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” She shot back.

Keith couldn’t help but smile as he walked over to stand beside her. “Good one, Y/N.”

As she faced the city below them once more, Keith found himself staring at her. “I couldn’t sleep,” she answered quietly. “The Empire… We finally have a chance to stop Zarkon, and then you and the other Paladins will be free to go home. I just…”

“What?” Keith’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Well, I’m happy for you all. Truly,” Y/N sighed. “But Altea won’t come back just from defeating the enemy. And I know I have Coran and Allura, and the Castle ship but- but it’s not home.”

“I know it’s not the same but you can… you can always come back to Earth. With me,” Keith muttered.

He could’ve sworn that Y/N’s face softened as she blinked away the tears that had been forming in her eyes. “I’d love that, Keith,” she smiled sadly. “But do you really think your people will accept us?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. He really didn’t think about that. Or about how they’d see him if Earth were ever affected by the Galra. “But you’ll always have a home with me, Y/N. No matter what.”

“Thank you,” Y/N whispered, glancing at him as a blush crept onto her cheeks.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and just as Keith was about to lean in, the door behind them opened. “I guess I’m not the only one who can’t sleep,” Hunk realised, shuffling over to stand with his friends.

Y/N quickly averted her gaze, turning to face Hunk. “Are you alright?”

Keith frowned, a quiet sigh escaping his lips as he left the balcony.

Why did he even try?

iv.

“You look like you could use some rest,” Y/N called out. When Keith lowered his sword, he could see her leaning against the doorway, still dressed in the gown she had worn for their meeting with the ambassadors of the planets they had just rescued.

“Seriously, Keith, have you gotten any sleep since…” She trailed off when Keith narrowed his eyes in her direction. “I’m sorry. I just worry.”

“We aren’t replacing Shiro,” he told her angrily. “I don’t care if it means losing Voltron. We aren’t replacing him.”

Y/N looked taken aback, as if she were surprised that Keith would speak to her like that. Honestly? It surprised Keith too.

Y/N had been the one to help him search for Shiro ever since the battle, she was one of the only people who hadn’t given up. And this was how he was treating her?”

“Sorry,” he whispered, averting his gaze.

“Keith, I know how you feel,” Y/N sighed, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. He hated to admit it, but her touch felt comforting. “When I met you all and found out what happened to the old Paladins, I didn’t want any of you anywhere near the lions. I didn’t want to replace the Paladins of old…”

He glanced at her, wondering where she was taking this. “But we must do what’s best for the universe. That is our role as Paladins. Even after such a great loss, we must continue fighting. And while I didn’t know Shiro for long, I know that’s what he would want us to do.”

Part of him wanted to shout, to tell her that she didn’t know anything about Shiro. But when he looked into her eyes, he could see the concern, he could see that she cared - almost just as much as he did.

“He’s not gone,” Keith whispered. “He… he can’t be.”

Y/N frowned, but pulled Keith into her embrace nonetheless. He just stood there for a moment, before dropping his head to rest his forehead against her shoulder. “I’m sure Shiro is still out there, and we will find him. I know it,” Y/N spoke softly. “But right now, we need a Paladin for the Black Lion. The Empire won’t wait for us to find Shiro.”

As he pulled away, Y/N stared at him, a sad smile on her face.

Realising just how close they were, a blush crept onto Keith’s face. But instead of moving back, he just stayed there. However, when she began to lean in, he quickly stepped away. “I’m sorry for shouting at you,” he sighed, looking away.

“Oh… You don’t have to be,” she told him. “He’s like a brother to you. Just like Allura and I. If she disappeared like Shiro… I’d be acting the exact same right now.”

They both went silent for a minute, before Keith suddenly headed for the door. “Where are you-?”

Y/N’s voice was drowned out as the door to the training room shut behind him, but instead of waiting for her, he just continued toward the Black Lion’s hangar.

He didn’t mean to brush her off like that, but maybe it was better this way.

v.

“Keith, where were you?”

He pulled the hood of the Blades uniform off his head as he turned to look at Y/N. He could practically feel the anger radiating off her as she held tightly onto the helmet of her own paladin armour.

They had been drifting since the lion switch, now that they didn’t share a lion. And then even more when Keith took a step back to work with the Blade of Marmora. He was sure she hadn’t even noticed - not when she had been so busy working with Voltron or bonding with Lance, who now shared the Red Lion with her.

“I’m-”

“We needed your help back there,” Y/N pointed out. “Keith, Voltron needs a leader. We cannot-”

“Can you stop?!”

Y/N’s eyes widened slightly, before they shifted into a glare. “Excuse me?”

Keith, who usually would have been surprised at the tone in his voice, simply met her eyes with a glare of his own. “It seems like all you want to do is snap at me recently!”

“Maybe you deserve it! You’re our leader, the Paladin of the Black Lion. And yet, you’re never here. You continue to run off with the Blade of Marmora, like their errand boy… The Blade doesn't need you as much as we do.”

Y/N had a good point, he was supposed to be their leader and he wasn’t around to actually lead. But he had let Lance get in his head, how there were too many Paladins and not enough Lions. And now that Shiro had reconnected with the Black Lion, well… Keith didn’t have to pretend to be the leader he wasn’t meant to be.

“I need to be with the Blade of Marmora right now, they-”

“You need to be with us, Keith,” Y/N told him. For a moment, he let himself believe that she was saying that because she needed him. “The universe needs Voltron.”

But he let himself believe in a lie. The truth was, Y/N was already leaving just like everybody else in his life. And it’d just be easier to push her further away.

“I have to go.” He pushed past her, about to leave the hallway, when he heard Y/N scoff from behind him.

“Fine. Run, like you always do. I guess we just don’t matter to you after all.”

Keith looked over his shoulder, opening his mouth to say something. But he could see Y/N’s figure already retreating down the hall.

He lurked around in the castle for a little while before finally heading to the bridge, where the entire team was waiting for an explanation. The words seemed to come better to him there than they did when he was in the hallway with Y/N just an hour ago.

And he fessed up, about how him being absent allowed Shiro to reconnect with the Black Lion, and how he had made the decision to join one of the Blades missions to infiltrate the Galra’s quintessence supply line.

“It could take weeks, maybe months to pull off, but… if there is a chance, we have- I have to take it,” he spoke. “I need to be on that mission.”

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, so he continued. “Shiro, you are the rightful leader of this team,” he stated. “And you proved it today by reconnecting with the Black Lion. It was always meant to be yours.”

“Keith…” Shiro stepped forward, gently placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If this is what you feel is right, then we won’t try to stop you. But just know that we’re here for you whenever you need us.”

“I know you are,” Keith smiled. “And I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

Shiro pulled him into a hug, one that the entire team joined in on. Except Y/N, who started heading for the door, refusing to even look in his direction.

“Y/N-”

“She will come around,” Allura sighed, watching her friend leave the room as an awkward silence began to loom over them.

Keith frowned, staring at the closed door. He needed to leave soon, there wasn’t enough time for him to run after her right now, no matter how much he wanted to. So with a sigh, he turned back to the team, forcing a smile onto his face as he did so.

He had hoped to leave without so many regrets weighing him down. That had been a foolish dream clearly.

taglist (join here)

@filipinhce

[forgotten-daydreamer]

in defense of Allura

Disclaimer: I do not accept any kind of hatred under this post. I expect all readers to act politely toward those who don’t share their opinion, and I expect you to expose your own ideas respectfully. Toxicity is forbidden on my blog. I don't hate any character, and this is just an analysis. Anything that stimulates a mature debate is welcomed, as long as you do it politely. Thank you!

The time has come. Long enough I’ve dwelled upon the choices that the writers of VLD have made, especially in the last seasons: in this post, I’ll focus on the decisions concerning Princess Allura. 

We were introduced to Allura in the pilot of the show, and it only took a few minutes- should I say doboshes?- to understand her overall personality. The Princess stumbled out of the pod, disoriented and confused, and only an instant later- the time necessary to snap out of her groggy state- she defended herself against a possible threat, being Lance in this case: she physically overwhelmed him with only a few rapid moves, her grip on him steady. Everything about her body language and verbal language screamed “strength”, in the following scenes as well. As she remembered about her father’s death, and about her homeplanet Altea being destroyed, the initial shock faded rather rapidly, and in a few instant she recovered from it. This doesn’t mean that if she hadn’t done it she would have been weak, not at all; it means that Allura, being a leader, knew how to put her feelings aside for a better situation, in order to better focus on the mission at hand.

It’s immediately clear to us that she wasn’t minimally interested in Lance’s advances: she considered him as a teammate, and later as a dear friend, but nothing more than that was  shown in the first seasons. When Lance got badly injured, she didn’t seem too worried- though she immediately jumped into action to secure the perimeter. A couple of episodes later, when Lance exited from the healing pod, she spoke to the teen kindly, relieved that he was alright. Yet, this is not a sign of being in love: all of us would be happy if a friend of ours who was at risk was said to be finally out of the woods. 

Allura was very practical, focused on her mission: she wanted to save the universe at all cost. At the beginning, her continuous arguments with the paladins may have given the impression that she was annoying and too strict, but she was simply driven by passion and desire to prove to everyone, herself included, that she could do the right thing for the universe. Though she never made it explicit, it was obvious that Allura cared about the opinion that the others had about her (even when she simply insisted on thanking the Arusians) because she tried to overcome her own insecurities by making herself as useful as possible to the cause. Even when she “just” flew the Castleship, she always offered her support and ideas to improve training, strategies and team bonding. 

Throughout the seasons, we learnt that Allura had the tendency to blame herself, like when she thought that the Galra were tracking the team through her, for example. Allura also threw herself into battle if it meant saving the others, like when she pushed Shiro out of the way and ended up prisoner, or when she saved the Balmera and risked her own health, pushing herself too far to do the right thing and help the innocents that she couldn’t protect during the 10’000 years of absence. So, according to the evidence we had collected in the first seasons, Allura was selfless and caring, despite everything. 

And then, just when we thought we’d seen it all, Allura became the paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron (I’ll talk about this event in Lance’s p.o.v. in a different post, don’t worry). She was uncertain at first, but ready to dive head-first into the battle, willing to learn and improve her skills. Being an Altean, she immediately connected with Blue, and everything seemed rather easy; though at the beginning her piloting skills weren’t the best, she learnt in the matter of a single episode, and if you don’t consider it quick learning, then I don’t know what it was. Added to that, Allura was also talented, “progressing a lot faster than any of [the other paladins]”, as Lance said some time later.

When Keith confessed his Galra lineage, her attitude towards him was childish, but it was how someone would have normally reacted in a similar situation. People often have a hard time accepting someone that is unwillingly part of a group whose members caused them any harm; it’s one of the principles of racism, and that’s a synonym of ignorance as well. Human minds work like that, because we all tend to associate trauma with a certain group of people, or day, or any other input: it’s despicable, and sadly most people think like that. Luckily for all the Allura stans (me included, though I stan all the main characters of this show) she overcame this issue quickly. What I like about it was that she didn’t brush it off, but she apologised to Keith in person, evidently mortified for her behaviour, and after that she moved past it, accepting her friend and overcoming their differences happily. Mature people apologise, while childish ones pretend that their mistakes didn’t happen: by making amends for her mistake, Allura showed us just how mature she is for a 18/22 year-old (we do not have an official age, so my guess is as good as yours). 

Things seemed to be going well for her: she learnt how to better manipulate quintessence, she gave Keith space when he needed to find Shiro after his mysterious disappearance, she learnt how to better pilot her Lion and so on and so forth. It was all going well, until Lotor’s arrival: then, it all started to go downhill.

Lance became inexplicably obsessed with her again, and at the same time, Lotor slowly  manipulated Allura. Now, I don’t personally like Lotor since he willingly commits genocide for his own purposes, but I will not dwell further on the topic for it’s not my main discourse now.

Lotor tricked the Princess into believing him, she played into his hands, blinded by love. Mind that when I wrote “love”, my left eyebrow rose impossibly high. In fact, Allura had never shown to be interested in love; surely enough, she was romantically (and sexually, apparently) interested in people as we have witnessed, so the possibility of a love interest wasn’t odd at all. It was just sudden. Too sudden, for my personal opinion. 

The problem I have with Lotura (Lotor x Allura, and I specify because I had to google the ship name) is that it’s based on nothing. The team was wholly against Lotor, except for Shiro who was not himself, quite literally. Allura never gave any impression of trusting people easily: not only when Keith said that he was half Galra, but also when Shiro begged her to trust Ulaz. She was hesitant and not happy about having someone she didn’t trust on board. Thus, her sudden burst of trust toward Lotor was odd, especially when it was quite obvious to most of the audience that the Galra prince was not telling the whole truth. I also wish that we got to see more interactions between Pidge and Allura and Hunk and Allura in s6 and beyond, since they rarely talked anymore despite being on the same team. Even Allura’s interactions with Coran were so diminished in number that they looked like complete strangers in the second half of the series, and it hurt. 

I mark this point as the start of Allura’s downfall: from iconic character to mere love interest, which is not wrong at all per se, but it is when any other trait and development is purposefully ignored and forgotten by the writers “for the sake of the story”.

Thankfully, Allura seemed to recover quickly after Lotor’s betrayal (the scene when she flips him like a coin? Priceless), declaring all of her hatred towards the cruelties he’d committed and how he let her down irreparably. One good thing that Lotor did- and I have to admit that it was good-  was that he made Allura discover new abilities and become stronger, powers-wise speaking. Yet, all of this was secondary to her being a love interest with no other apparent purpose. Why do I say this? Because as soon as she got rid of Lotor, she got together with Lance, and to be honest it’s not quite clear to me how or why. 

I can’t deny that when I watched s1, I was an Allurance shipper; I was sixteen, a hopeless goofball who believed in all the clichés. Now, however, I do realize that Lance’s advances were annoying and obnoxious (and he’s my absolute favourite character, so this shows you just how honest I’m being, hopefully), and that I’m so grateful that Allura didn’t give in. At least, she didn’t do it at the beginning. In the last season, however, she fell in love with Lance in a single episode: when he asked her out, she seemed hesitant and only accepted because Romelle pushed her to give it a try. The dinner sequence was where Allura understood that Lance wasn’t the womanizer she thought he was, but I don’t believe that in reality that would have changed anything. You don’t simply fall in love in one evening only because your date’s family tells you that this person isn’t what they seem; in fact, that would worry me even more, personally, because it would mean that my date is a total stranger.

Lance’s “I love you” was not completely uncalled for, but simply very confusing: he seemed to be over her, but he became jealous when Lotor showed up. I tried so hard to see this as a “protective brother/friend” dynamic, but that sentence leaves no space for speculation (again, I’ll talk about Lance another time). What shocked me was Allura reaction’s to Lance’s confession.

She’d never looked at him with any kind of romantic interest, and even if some scenes may be seen as such (when she resuscitates him. And proceeds to hide it from the team. Yeah, another huge disastrous plotline), it’s undeniable that the Princess had trust-issues, and for a good reason too. That one time that she went against her team’s choice and trusted Lotor a bit too much, she got used and heartbroken. So why was she suddenly so in love with a boy that she’d always treated as nothing more than a good friend? My answer is: bad writing.

If Allura had shown any romantic interest in Lance for at least three consecutive seasons out of eight- to create a deeper connection- I would have taken it without complaining much. If Lotor hadn’t committed genocide and didn’t proceed to use Allura, I would have accepted Lotura too (friendly reminder that I don’t do ship hate unless ships involve rape, pedophilia and incest. So I’m not hating on Allurance and Lotura, though Lotor is a villain and I don’t like him, but that’s just my opinion). If Allura was allowed to be both strong and romantically interested in anyone, I would have taken it. But especially in s8, the writers erased her personality, turning a bright and iconic character into dating material. It wasn't fair to her nor to Lance, honestly.

The last straw was her sacrifice: Allura died to save the universe and since it was her main goal, I’m okay with it, though it hurt as she’s my second favourite character. What I didn’t like about it was that the villains got a happier ending than she did. Lotor, who committed genocide, got to live happily ever after with his parents, a violent conqueror and an abusive hag who ripped the universe apart to be with her son (I get it, mothers love their kids, but this is far too extreme). And furthermore, Lotor didn’t even like his parents, but still for some reason he was happy to be with them again, maybe because at least he got to spend eternity with someone that loves him despite everything. 

Allura, however, died without saying goodbye to Coran, the man who stayed by her side for all their- but also ours- adventures, the one who believed in her the most and who did everything to protect her. She died without getting a last look at the universe she left behind, at the people who weren’t there in her final moments but that cared for her and vice versa (Shay, Romelle, even Krolia. Even the mice, Kalternecker and Cosmo, really). Each character had about a half a minute to say their goodbyes, except for Lance, whose goodbye was the longest but also the least impactful, in my opinion. The writers played too much with the dramatic idea of it and the result was sloppy- as much as I love dramatic scenes, this was purposeless. 

Allura’s last act of kindness- as if saving the whole universe and every existing reality wasn’t enough- was gifting Lance with the Marks of the Chosen. Though, I’m not sure how to interpret it. In a fic I recently wrote, I theorised that “Allura gave you [Lance] these marks because she knew that you had greatness within, and they can actively remind you of it in your darkest moments [...]”. Of course, I’m far from sure that this is the real reason. My question is, was there even a real reason, or did Allura give him the Marks for dramatic purposes? If so, I’m glad that it wasn’t confirmed officially, because at least we get to make our own theories that surely are more satisfying than “we wanted fans to cry more”. Still, I see those marks as scars, and I will talk about it thoroughly in Lance’s analysis. 

In conclusion, I don’t think that Allura was bad at all. I think that, in the end, she was simply badly written, which is entirely different.

s1-s5 Allura was a strong, compassionate, empowering, trustworthy, bright, lovable and fun character and for that, she deserved a better- much better- ending. She’ll always be in my heart, and I hope that future reboots will treat her right. 

I will always remember Allura dearly. As Coran said in the final episode, “Just around this table I see so many lives touched by her actions. For some of us, she was a diplomat, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. But to those of us around this table, she will always be family”. Raising an imaginary glass, I just want to say... “To Allura”.

[galraluver]

pls do 4 galrans of ur choice writing a loveletter!

Sure thing 🥰 I intend on making this as cute as possible 💕😊

_________________________________________

~ Thace ~

~ Thace is a little bit of a hopeless romantic like Ulaz, but unlike Ulaz he's not always the best at expressing his romantic interest for you

~ He loves you more than life itself, so he decides to attempt writing a love letter as a way to confess those feelings for you

~ While he writes the love letter Thace lets the words come from his heart, just as he would have done if he was confessing his feelings for you in person

~ He had only one chance to write a love letter to you and he wanted to do it right, he ended up obsessing over it for nearly a week

~ He felt that writing a love letter shouldn't have taken so long to write, and yet by the time he perfected it he was still hesitant to give it to you

~ Ulaz has to give Thace a pep talk before he leaves the envelope containing his love letter to you in front of your door

~ In the end, you reciprocate his feelings and within a week the two of you become a romantic couple

_____

~ Ulaz ~

~ Ulaz is a hopeless romantic and a complete sweetheart even though he acts stoic and a bit distant when others are around, but when it comes to you, his true love, he wants you to know how much he truly loves you

~ One of the most romantic things a person can do at the beginning of a relationship is write a love letter to their true love, so that's exactly what he does

~ The two of you can't be together all the time yet because of his position amongst the Blades, so writing love letters are his way of being intimate with you whenever he's away

~ Obviously there's no mail service in space, so he has Keith deliver the letters to you

~ He writes down how he feels about you in the most personal, sincere, meaningful way possible that will have you swooning as soon as you read the letter

~ While Ulaz writes the letter he writes poetically from his heart and re-reads each sentence after he finishes writing them to make sure there's no grammar mistakes and that nothing sounds cringey

~ Writing a love letter is the most heartfelt way one can express their feelings for someone they love deeply

~ Ulaz knows that you'll absolutely love the love letters he wrote for you

~ And you do; they're the most romantic thing you've ever read and you do your best to write love letters in response

~ Until you and Ulaz are permanently reunited with each other, you both send each other love letters that you both save for momentum

_____

~ Ezor ~

~ Honesty, Ezor could just tell you that she likes you since your bedroom is right across the hallway from hers aboard Lotor's main ship, but she wants to do something really cute and she decides to write a love letter to you

~ Of course, she takes her time to write it to make sure it sounds sincere, genuine and very loving

~ Ezor isn't really good with poetry and ends up asking Lotor for advice because she's not necessarily the best at long declarations of love

~ Lotor helps her out because she's one of his oldest friends and he wants to see you and her end up as a couple

~ Ezor doesn't have as much patience as her teammates, she really likes you and she just wants to tell you

~ She ends up confessing her feelings for you in the love letter just to get it over with

~ It would crush her if you didn't reciprocate her feelings, at least with the love letter she wouldn't have to face that rejection in person

~ In the end, after you find the love letter in front of your bedroom door, you seek Ezor out and the two of you end up together as a romantic couple

_____

~ Ladnok ~

~ Since Ladnok is a high ranking commander in the galra empire she has the privilege to take anyone as a romantic partner, even a servant

~ Ladnok likes you more than anyone and she thinks the two of you would be a good match for each other, and she can tell that you have a slight crush on her, so her way of letting you know that she's interested is by writing love letters to you

~ Writing a love letter to someone is a very serious thing; Ladnok takes her time to write the first one since she wants you to know how she feels about you, but at the same time she doesn't want to come on too strongly

~ Ladnok makes sure to include how much she truly values you as a person rather than a servant, the last thing she wants is to accidentally make you think that she's taunting you

~ Usually interspecies relationships are looked down upon in the empire, although since both you and Ladnok are women it's more accepted

~ Honesty, Ladnok felt a little nervous when she wrote the letter because she was expressing her feelings for you on paper, she just wanted you to know how much she liked you

~ Once the letter is complete and perfect Ladnok gives the letter to you personally

~ After you read the letter you swoon, and it isn't long before you accept her offer to court you

[iloveboysinred]

Life with Keith after the war [Domestic fluff hcs]

pg.13 fluff| Keith Kogane x gn reader

cw; fluff, domestic life, mentions of war

masterlist

-Okay so after the war against the Galra was won, you and Keith moved back to his house in the desert, opting to live a quiet life in isolation.

-it was peaceful and a stark contrast to the almost constant chaos of whirling around in space.

-you and Keith made some renovations to the home, fixing broken windows, re-storing the paint on the walls, and getting working appliances like a new fridge, a microwave and a bunch of new cups and plates.

-Mornings with him were your favorite, you always woke up before him, turning on some music and cooking breakfast for yourselves, watching the sun finish rising.

-he didn't wake up too long after you, your lack of warmth in bed basically forcing him to get up and look for you.

-He would find you in the kitchen, a cute apron that was much too long for you covering you from the mess of pancake batter all over the counter.

-"Morning Keith" "mmh morning baby. What's cooking?"

-he would come up behind you and wrap his arms around your waist, burying his face in the crook of your neck, his sleep laden eyes still not adjusted to the bright morning light shinning through the windows. He made a mental note to get curtains.

-He would hold onto your hips and sway side to side, following the beat of the music playing.

-you guys regularly visited Shiro, almost always taking home Tupperwares of food his husband would cook, never returning them back because Keith kept forgetting them.

-you guys had built a dog house outside for Kosmo, but he would just teleport right back inside, suddenly laying over you and Keith on the bed, wagging his tail like a puppy.

-You guys spent most of the day indoors, watching movies, talking about the future, loving on each other and trying to make up for all the times you couldn't be like this in space.

-Keith had become such a cuddle bug it was ridiculous, his hands were always wrapped around your waist, and he always had to be touching you, sub-consciously or on purpose.

-When you guys would sitting down at the dinning table, his hand would interlink with yours or rest on your thigh.

-you never went to bed before chit chatting about your day, exchanging I love yous and snuggling up under the covers.

-on the nights that you did stay up together, you and him would sit outside and stargaze, or stay in and watch scary movies with all types of sugary junk food, as if you guys were still teenagers.

-you regularly de-tangled and kept up with Keith's hair, it was so healthy and shiny.

-whenever Krolia visited you would all catch up, her sharing with you her earliest memories of baby Keith.

-he would blush and cross his arms, growing more and more embarrassed at every story. Your giggling not making it any better.

-after about a year and a half, Keith asked you to marry him. Much to Krolia's delight.

-you decided to have a small wedding, Keith not being the big flashy party type of man.

-You invited all the former paladins, as well as Ulaz and Krolia, everyone making sure to show up and celebrate your special day.

-you were over the moon once your vows were said and you were officially married, yanking Keith onto you and pressing a kiss to his lips, everyone cheering behind you and clapping.

-after the wedding, you guys laid in bed, just admiring each other, loving kisses exchanged between the both of you.

-from then on Keith just called you by your shared last name most of the time.

-"good morning, Mr/s Kogane"

-made it a point to let everyone know you were his spouse.

-he was such a sap, having multiple framed pictures of your wedding all over the house.

-Eventually the conversation of children came up, deciding when the time came you would adopt, wanting to give a child a family, just as Shiro did to Keith.

-Keith splurged as much as he could for the new addition to the family, buying clothes, food, toiletries, everything.

-he filled what used to be his room in the house with kid stuff.

-Shiro would frequently come over during this time, brining handbooks on parenting, offering useful advice on how to make the child feel at home and comfortable.

-When your new son came home you and Keith were over the moon, low-key freaking the little boy out with your enthusiasm.

-got a regular dog for him, scared Kosmo would teleport him to god knows where.

-it took a while, but he ended up warning up to you and Keith, you guys were a proper family.

-you and Keith grew old and grey.

-you would still hold hands on the porch, sitting side by side as the days would go by, but your love never ceased.

[voltronreaderinserts]

HC for galras having human hybrid daughters, like how they'd raise them and how protective would they be?

THIS ONE IS CUTE OMG– I’m gonna do some generalized headcanons, but feel free to ask for a specific Galran, and I’ll be more specific!!

– Ryan

• They panic• They’re used to how a Galra baby is supposed to be raised• They’re used to how a Galra baby is supposed to look• But this… This fleshbag has skin?? where’s her fur??• God save them if they have more than one• They’re not quite sure how to raise them in the beginning stages• They rely on you, their human counterpart, to raise them for the most part• But they know raising more than one child on your own is too much to ask• So they step in once in a while• They constantly forget that they can’t groom their babies• But they’ll do it (on accident) anyway (and continue to do it later on in their adult lives)• Giving their daughters baths, they’re the ones more soaked than the babies are• Hahaha• Overprotective to the mAX• So they don’t know how much Galran they have, but it’s evident that they don’t have their structure, nor their strength• Not that their fathers will view them as weak (“You’re my daughter, I know you’re strong”)• They’re so scared that they’re gonna hurt themselves somehow• As a baby, they’re hovering over them 24/7• As children, they’re given more freedom, but when they return they’re thoroughly checked for bruises or cuts• As young adults, they’re protected at all costs, no one is good enough for their baby girls.• Honestly, they would do the whole thing over again• The worry and the constant stress that human needs require• They love their children, and they’ll spoil them rotten

[angels17324]

The Violet Paladin (Keith x Reader) Ch. 15

Hows quarantine treating everyone? I know I don’t have to explain myself on not posting but guys I want you to know I am a health care worker I’ve been at work for almost 10 hours a day everyday for the last two weeks on both days and nights. So I love you all I know I am trying to keep writing but its hard. Guys if you don’t need to go out please don’t stay home find some new fics to binge read or shows to obsess over I don’t want to lose anyone to this virus.  Word Count:   Update Schedule: Unknown (Im gonna try and set myself a goal of updating on  Wednesdays call me out if I forget guys!!) [Masterlist] [Prev] 

When I got back on the castle I learned that Shiro would be in one of the healing pods for a while. I still hadn’t told them anything about what happened, but I’d rather tell them at the same time then one by one. We were all in the healing bay watching Shiro.

“Is he okay?” Hunk asked when we heard Shiro groaning. 

“Sometimes the healing process causes involuntary brain waves,” Allura explained. 

“It looks like he’s having a bad dream,” Hunk mumbled. 

“He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards, what dream could be worse than that?” Keith asked. We all waited for a short while longer before he started to wake up. We had all gathered closer and smiled at him when he opened his eyes. He told us about having a dream of a Galra soldier helping him and some coordinates in his arm. 

We waited for Shiro to get dressed before walking down to the green lions hanger. Lance was filling Shiro in on what had happened with him and Hunk and Mermaids? I wasn’t really sure, I was just thankful the attention wasn’t on me, I don’t even know how I’m going to tell them. 

“(Y/n)?” I heard Hunk called out. 

“Huh?” I looked to see everyone was staring at me. 

“You were kind of zoned out there,” Lance looked me. 

“Oh…” I breathed. 

“You know you’ve been acting really weird since you got back, you’re the only person who never shared what happened while we were all separated,” Pidge crossed her arms. 

I sighed, I was going to have to tell them sooner or later and I might as well just get it over with, “I don’t really even know where to start,” I stated. “A lot happened honestly,” I guess I should just ease the information in. “Well, I guess I can start with I crashed onto this planet where I was met by a girl who ended up being the planets princess,” I said I wasn’t trying to be vague but I’m still not sure how they will take it. “She ended up taking me to the queen, where I found out I was on the home of the original Violet Paladin, and at first the queen wasn’t very happy learning that I was the new paladin,”

I explained a bit of what I learned like how they had closed of all communication with the rest of the universe, and how the only reason I think they hadn’t been attacked is because in the Archives I learned that they never shared the location of their planet with anyone. Coran shared that not even Alfor or any of the other original paladins had been to the planet and that I was the first ‘outsider’ I bite my tongue to hold back from correcting him at least yet. “Okay but none of that explains why you’ve been acting weird,” Pidge said ever observant she is. 

“It might just be easier to show you then tell you.” I pulled out my phone I had snapped a photo of the picture that the Queen showed me and I showed it to the group. 

“It looks like you, but it’s not,” Pidge state. 

“Is this some creepy twin in space thing?” Lance asked. 

“No, how do I put this… it’s true it’s not me, but it’s also not a twin thing… I mean, except the actual picture in this is over 28 years old.” I explained, I could almost see the wheels turning in their heads. “It’s my mom!” I exclaimed not really being able to take it anymore. 

“How!” Pidge was the first to speak up since she was the only person here to ever meet my mom. 

“Wait what?” Lance was the next one to speak up. I explained to them as much as I knew which still wasn’t much other then the fact that she was the queen’s little sister. It felt so much better to have this off my chest. We continued to the hanger to find out what if anything was in Shiro’s arm. The whole way down Lance kept questioning me about everything, I was kind of annoyed but I just ignored him. 

While we were waiting for Pidge to find the coordinates I just kept thinking about everything that's happened. I wonder if my mother would have ever told me about this? And if that was why she was mad that I had joined the garrison.

 Eventually Pidge found the coordinates, but Allura didn’t seem too happy about trusting something from the Galra but we went ahead and used a  wormhole to get to the base. In front of us were these large crystals they were kinda cool. 

“Well this is it. No signs of life, living or otherwise.” Coran said. “I don’t want to bring the castle any closer those xanthorium chucks contain highly unstable nitrate salts even bumping one can blow us straight to Wozblay,” Okay slightly less cool. 

“Are you sure this is right?” Shiro asked. 

“These are the coordinates Number Six gave me.” Coran said.

“Hey! My decryption is solid,” Pidge defended glaring at Coran. 

“We’ve gotta be missing something,” Shiro said. We ended up waiting a few minutes before alarms began blaring. 

“There’s an intruder in the Castle!” Coran shouted. Allura found him on level five. We all suited up and went down. We each began running through the halls to find this guy. Lance was the first to find him. I began to head back towards Lance listening to Corans commentary. Next they ran by Pidge. I soon found him dragging Pidge and being followed by Lance, and I joined following them. 

Then Hunk who somewhat blasted at us. We all chased him but kinda lost him as he ran towards Keith. That was the only good part of Coran’s commentary is we knew where this guy was. By the time Hunk, Lance and I caught up with Keith was quite literally hurled at us knocking the four of us down. 

We watched as Shiro and the guy were at each other’s throats before they both backed down. And that’s when Allura slammed him into the wall. When Shiro explained that the guy was the Galra soldier he’d remembered. 

We eventually had him chained up in our common room. Ulaz was apparently a Galra soldier in this secret underground revolution called the Blade of Marmora. The coordinates we had were actually corrected its just the base was hidden in a space fold. Honestly you could feel the tension between everyone from Allura’s mistrust of Ulaz, to the rest of us kinda being on the same side as her, except Shiro. 

Everyone except Lance, Allura, and Coran took the Red Lion to the base. We learned that they had several members in the ranks of Zarkon’s army including his main ship which is why we got away last time. Pidge asked about her family, which Ulaz agreed to transfer prison data to the castle of lions. 

“What’s that weapon you carry?” Keith asked. 

“It’s a ceremonial blade that each of our members carry,” Ulaz explained. “Oh, nice,” Keith said. Alarms began blaring again. We opened a screen to see another one of those stupid robeasts, but how did it find us this time? Before we left, Ulaz gave Shiro coordinates. Allura blamed Ulaz for us being found, but this time I think I agree with Shiro I don’t think Ulaz told Zarkon we were here. 

We waited in our lions but soon the fight was on. But this thing was nearly impossible to beat, it sucked in the crystals before blasting us, or it tried to suck us in. Ulaz left after the base was revealed… maybe he’s not one of the good guys. No time for that though as the beast tried to suck in the castle. We managed to stop that, but our plan to blow it up after didn’t work. It tried to suck us in again. 

“I’m going to take this down from the inside!” We heard Ulaz call. 

“No let us handle this!” Shiro tried. 

“Voltron is too important,” was the last thing he said to us before he flew into the beasts mouth, just as we thought it didn’t work it started to fold in on itself. He opened a space pocket inside the beast.

When we returned to the castle no one seemed in too high of spirits. I decided to walk around for a bit too maybe clear my head. So much has happened in the last couple of days its been a lot to process. Honestly, how long had it been since we’d left earth? It didn’t seem like that long but there was no day in night in space, we had a schedule but it was more like we slept for a few hours and we stayed up until we were ready to pass out. 

I finally decided maybe going to bed would be the best option right now to clear my mind. I slowly walked down the hall being quiet because I’m sure everyone else is probably trying to sleep now. I was almost to my room when I noticed Keith in front of my door. 

“You need something?” I asked. 

“Oh yeah, I just wanted to talk,” He said.

“About?” I wondered what he wanted to talk about. 

“A few things actually,” He said. “Would you mind if we went in my room for a minute?” I blushed a bit at the request but nodded I did tell him we could talk if he ever needed to. We went to his room. We both sat on his bed. 

“Alright what’s up? I’m not the only one who’s been acting kind of weird lately you’ve gotten more reckless,” I said noting his behavior from the last few days? Weeks? But it was more than that almost like he was also being protective. “Remember that sword Ulaz had?” He asked.

“Yeah, you seemed pretty interested in it,” 

“Well it’s because of this,” Keith pulled out a dagger from under his pillow, it had a weird marking, kinda like Ulaz. 

“Where or how’d you get it if you don’t mind my asking?” I looked at him. “I’ve kind of always had it, I thought it was weird but now it's even weirder because the marking is similar to Ulaz,” Keith explained. “That means the Galra were on earth at some point,” 

“But Ulaz also did say that only the Blades of Marmora had them,” I said. “And I’d reason that if my mom and possibly my dad made it to earth without being detected by the garrison then who’s to say someone else couldn’t? And for all we know, maybe it was imbedded in a meteorite or something and your parents found it and thought it was cool,” 

“You might be right,” He smiled a bit. 

“What else do you want to talk about?” I asked. I could tell there was something else, we didn’t know about the Blades until today so he hasn’t been acting weird because of that. 

“Oh, well, how do I put this…” He said looking down. 

“Keith-” I was cut off, I was so shocked Keith was kissing me! 

[Next]

Tag list~ (if you’re not tagged please check your settings!) 

@somebodytouchedmysaeran @ittie-bittie-tittie @izabellah816 @zanysouleggstudent @rickxreader1shots @chewymoustachio

[starfaring-princelotor]

The Prison Kingdom

Chapter 2: To Create A Name

-

Summary: With new companions comes new information you were unaware of before.

Warnings: Mentions of suicide and blood.

★ Disclaimer: I do not ship Lotura and I respectfully ask that this story to not be tagged as Lotura. This is a Lotor x Reader/Self-Insert OC story which is in no way related to Lotura at all. Please be respectful of my chosen pairing. ★

A/N: Click here to learn more about fairies.

1 . 2 .

-

“I didn’t know pirates can read.”

“Aye, fancy that, eh? Learn something new with every rising sun,” you closed your book then fully turned your attention to the man leering over your shoulder, “I didn’t know that incubus’ can be nosy, little whelps, and yet, here we are, mate.”

Lance, he said his name was. Young faced with an offended scrunched up frown because of your comment, he seemed fresh to the battles of blades. And of insults. Rule number one when growing up under the honorable tutelage of your aged seafarer captain: whatever you do, do it well. May he rest in peace, the poor fool who took a cannonball to the gut. 

“Hey! I’m not nosy!” came his witty reply, accompanied by a muttered grumble.

You took that as his white flag.

“Pirate.” 

“Aye, capitain?”

Shiro said nothing else, only gave you that good old “stop picking on the soldiers” look. You shrugged in response. He stated that he needed to stop by his neighboring guilds and request assistance from a few specific set of people. And thus, along with you and a few others who gathered at Altea, Shiro created a small group of warriors for this expedition. 

There was Ulaz, a powerful necromancer who channeled spirit energy from the dead to do his bidding. Attractive mercenary with those glowing eyes and pointed ears, leader of the Blue Tail Guild. Then that one golem from the deep mountains, what was her name? Shay of the Yellow Eyes faction? Those fancy jewels embedded in her rocky exterior were tempting, but you were sure she could pack a punch if you tried to use your five-finger discount. And, last but not least, a dryad ghost who calls himself Rolo, belonging to the Green Claw Guild. His skills with traveling between planes of existence at ease would be most useful for scouting. 

Right now, the only one left was meant to be meeting at this farm on the outskirts of a small, unnamed village. Someone from the Red Teeth Guild, supposedly the one King Alfor led until his untimely demise. Her name was Hira, one of the Alteans who was tasked with defending the royal family. Keyword: was. She gave up that title and dedicated her life to hunting monsters with vengeance, more importantly the dragon that razed Altea to the ground. Though she lacked the magical abilities passed down by her ancestors, she made up for it in pure strength as a berserker. 

“- He is ready, Shiro. I have seen the boy fight alongside Lance, they both would make worthy comrades in battle.”

You could sense the pride and ushering tone in, who you assumed, was Hira. Off in the distance, the two boys mentioned were tending to a bull peacefully. Out here, it was easy to fall into the dull sense of a domestic life. A farm, crops to harvest, animals to feed. Making pasteurized cheese from only the freshest of milk. A humble existence, not one meant for the explorative type of people. Much too docile, too vulnerable.

“No, Hira. They are just boys. If we were hunting wild boars, yes, I would bring both Keith and Lance along, but this mission is too dangerous for the inexperienced,” Shiro argued, voice muffled behind the bales of hay, “I’m not putting their blood on my hands. Are you willing to?”

A pregnant pause, only to be interrupted by the peppered clucks of chickens nearby.

“Altea needs soldiers, Shiro.”

“Children are not soldiers, Hira. I’m done discussing this. Are you with us or not?”

“Fine. But keep your Galra scum on a leash. This war still isn’t over and I won’t forget what happened a decade ago,” she spat with spite lacing each syllable in her words, “His kind shouldn’t even be joining this party.”

“No one would forget, but his skills are invaluable if we’re going after a dragon that uses quintessence as an energy source. Our mission is to kill it so a repeat of the past doesn’t happen. Do you understand?”

Part of you wanted to say you didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Really, you didn’t, it was just convenient that your hearing was much more enhanced than the average being. And, judging by the pupiless stare of Ulaz, you knew he heard them, too. That slightest, almost barely noticeable twitch in his ears gave him away. 

“That bull is going to charge them. Watch,” Rolo informed, also watching the spectacle of Keith and Lance’s shenanigans.

As if able to predict the future, Keith must’ve patted the animal a little too hard, which irritated the beast. He started hoofing the grass, gave one loud baying screech, before shoving both of them away in a disgruntled thrash. Don’t run, you thought, but it was instinct to flee when something once neutral becomes aggressive. Pity that Keith fellow was wearing red, though. 

“Useful trick ye got there. Ever thought about trying yer hand as a fortune teller? Could swindle a few fish for quite a bit o’ gold,” you chuckled, recalling the time you did such a thing yourself. 

“Huh. Wonder if Nyma would be up for that gimmick after this hunt.”

“This hunt...it is such a small group. Can we really fight a dragon?” Shay’s inquisitive voice openly asked, “I have heard rumors and stories of such feats only being accomplished by massive armies, yet we are of only 10 bodies.”

“We are not going to kill a dragon. Shiro needs us to find it first before requesting for support from Altea. Perhaps the kingdom’s allies can send reinforcements as well.” Ulaz spoke of Shiro as an old friend, an old comrade in arms, and oddly enough, that fact was reassuring, “We can not trek through enemy territory with siege weapons and cannons. Not yet.”

Not until we know what we are going against. 

“Can you build, pirate?”

“Can a shark bite?” you immediately retorted, but judging by the blank look on his face, he didn’t understand the reference, “Aye, aye, I can build. Bless me with a keg o’ gunpowder and I’ll gift ye bombs strong enough to take out me other leg.” 

Shay giggled, Rolo smiled, and even Ulaz found the dark joke a little humorous. 

-

There was something stifling about traveling by foot through the thicket of the woods. You would take the open sea and the ship over mangled trees and looming leaves any day. Rolo, however, was in his element. It seemed like the vines were reaching towards him to give an odd embrace from the trees themselves. Was it just you or did that trunk have a face carved out in it? Perhaps you’ve been spending too much time reading that book of yours. 

[Not every spirit is malicious. Some belong to those children who ventured too far, unguarded and blind to the dangers lurking deep within. Be careful if you hear echoed giggling of the young. Faes are master tricksters. Under no circumstance should you ever answer their question, lest you wish to be swept up and vanished into thin air. Avoid rings of mushrooms at all cost.]

Below was a quickly drawn image of cap mushrooms formed in a circle. There seemed to be a child-like figure with butterfly wings attached on its back. You came to realize then, while sitting around the campfire and partaking your turn for watch, that the creatures of the land vastly differ than those of the sea. You expected this, of course, but something in the back of your head had one question buzzing in your skull: how far could you flee if you came across such beasts?

Shuffling off to the side alerted you of Shay awakening. Slowly, she emerged from her tent as the fire danced, making those gems glimmer even more beautifully in the night. 

“Are you well, p-pirate?” she asked albeit hesitantly stuttering on the title.

With a nod of confirmation, you shut your book quietly just as she took a seat across from you. She seemed to be lost in thought, curious even, and it amused you greatly to see her glance away when you caught her stare. Then, her gaze stayed locked on the very interesting rock by your wooden leg. 

“Lass, does this ol’ thing give you the willies?” you tapped your leg, already quite used to not feeling anything come from the action, “It t’aint rigged with explosives, ye can trust me word on that.”

Now, she quickly snapped her wide eyes up at you, “No, no, not at all! I mean, it’s a little...I have seen such things before. But that is not why I was - forgive me - for staring.”

“Eh?”

“Your name. The captain calls you ‘pirate’ and you were introduced to us as so. I have never met someone who doesn’t have a name,” Shay rubbed her hands together unsurely, wondering if her question came out too personal, “ I - does it bother...do you have a name that you wish to be called instead?”

Cute and utterly kind by a default. You liked that about her.

“Would ye like to hear a story, mate? A story of the Name-Stealing witch of the sea?”

At that, her attention was completely enraptured by the flourish wave of your hand and the quill you pulled from your coat sleeve like magic. If there was one thing you enjoyed more than crafting bombs, it would be telling stories embellished in exciting lore and haunting truths. Or lies. That was left to be decided by the listeners. 

“Aye, among those who were unfortunately marooned on desolate islands, legends say that the nights following an empty sky, there be but a single bottle floating to the shore. No matter where, it always held a single piece of parchment and quill. You nay see her on the bank, or hear her whisper, but some say she stands afloat as a speck on the horizon. And some say...she will grant ye solace if ye but write yer name on that there paper.”

You now pulled out a rolled-up sheet from your other sleeve, earning a gasp of surprise from your audience. Well, your one audience.

“I came across her one fateful night. There’s a rule among us pirate folk: those who fall behind are left behind. Ye carry yer own weight to survive out there and me weight was just a little too heavy,” cue you knocking on your wooden leg, “I was starved and alone with nothing but me ‘n me pistol. Good ol’ trusty Kretch. Once the taste of sand could no longer sustain me, nor the grass, nor the leaves of the palms, I had to decide if I wanted a quick death to be my end.”

Concern. Of course she was concerned to hear those dreadfully haunting words. 

“But she came to me one night, offering me nothing but a bottle. I told meself, if there were a chance to live, I’d take it without thought. And I did. I wrote me name, but oh, what a fool I was. There I lay, death washing upon the shore, and she came to me. She took it with a kiss, so I may never speak it again. She took that parchment so I may never write it again. And when I woke on a different bank, and when those kind souls helped poor little ol’ me, and when they asked who I was…”

You crumpled the paper then immediately tossed it into the fire, the blaze quickly sparking a green flame in a show of bedazzlement.

“...I couldn’t remember it.”

At the end, Shay was practically sitting on the edge of her log with wide-eyed awe. Couldn’t remember your own name? The very idea seemed appalling and completely impossible. Not even magic can do that...right? 

“But why? What could a sea witch want with a name? Was she born without one and chose to steal names, collect them, to satisfy her own cruel jealousy? Or was she searching for hers? She may still be out there yet, Shay, ready to make a deal with those desperate enough to survive. Perhaps she even haunts those in the forests or the caves…”

“No! I want to keep my name, I - “ she shook her head to get the jitters out, clearly displeased with the thought of losing something so important, “Can you get it back? Your name?”

“Many have tried, but all have failed or perished in the pursuit,” you paused, letting a slow, sneaky grin spread on your lips, “Unless...ye have more than one name to go by.”

“More than one?”

“Aye. That’s why ‘tis important to make a name fer yerself. And that’s why Shiro calls me pirate, fer me own safety, eh? Not even she can steal a title like that.”

“Can...stealing a name kill someone? Do you think she can kill a dragon if she took its name?” Shay questioned more for herself than for you, “It’s scary to think about…”

“Ah, but then ask yerself, do ye want t’forget the dragon? Pain is the world’s cruelest teacher, but I cannot imagine waking one day and not remembering how me family died by the dragon’s fire,” you explained before tilting your head in thought, “Were ye there, lass? When the dragon attacked?”

She shook her head no, “I wasn’t, but my people helped with saving the injured who were buried under the wreckage. Many were worried about the royal families and of the prince and princess as well.” 

Now it was your turn to lean in, intent on catching every word she shared.

“It is tragic that Queen Mellanor passed at Allura’s birth. Even more that her father was killed by the ally he trusted. We weren’t able to find Prince Lotor nor Emperor Zarkon, assuming they had fled as soon as the attack had started. It was horrible, hearing the survivors share their woes. I wish it hadn’t happened. Even a few Galra citizens living in Altea were affected, but…”

Here, she began fidgeting with her hands nervously then lowered her voice down a pitch as if the forest have ears of their own.

“When we uncovered Galra citizens, they were herded off into the castle...and they never came out.”

Somehow, Shay’s story was much more frightening than yours. Not only because you believe her, but you also believe that the fate of those Galra was likely leading to an unhappy ending. 

“I think - “

A rustle, one against the wind, and your head snapped in the direction of the noise. 

“Shh - wait, I hear - “ and before you could finish your sentence, a blunt force punched you in the face, sending you flying off your seat to knock into an allies tent. 

You heard Shay let out a yell, a battle cry and a way to warn everyone that an intruder was here. A cacophony of noises rose in volume, people scrambling to attack a wisping shadow in failure, for the punches came too quick and too powerful. A whirlwind of purple light trailed by each landed blow and, tried as you might, every shot from your pistol did nothing against the flurry of that damn bludgeoning weapon. 

“Rise!” Ulaz shouted and, instantly, a cooling spell fell over you, releasing you from the bruising pain of your crushed rib. 

You owe him a drink for that one. 

“Form up on me! Shields up!” Shiro ordered, equipping his own shield to cover his front, but it was already too late. 

By the time the chaos settled and the dust came down, the attacker had Hira’s throat in a deadly grasp while holding her body up in the air. Metal claws were cutting into her skin, drawing a line of blood, just to emphasize how serious she is close to dying. One wrong move, and her life would be forfeit. You waited with held breath on a command, anything from Shiro, but nothing came in one, two, three seconds.

Then, Shiro’s eyes widened at the person standing across from his infantry.

“Sendak?”

[attemptsatwriting-exe-blog]

Escape (Shiro x Reader)

This is an x reader posted from my previous writing account, @whysleepwhenyoucanwrite . It can also be found on my AO3.

Prompt: Hey fam, can you do a Shiro x reader where both were taken by the Galra and they have to fight together to escape?? Idk I just think that would be really good

A/N: My first request, thank you anon! I hope you like it - I haven’t written much action before so I hope it’s a good one. This is sorta a bit of canon divergence, I guess - I kinda went ‘lol bye Ulaz’ in this one so apologies for the inaccuracy. Thank you so much for requesting!

*prays to every deity that the formatting works*

Warnings: Some slight references to torture I guess? + unnecessary Fall Out Boy references I do apologise

Escape - Shiro x Reader

“y/n.”  

Your eyes drifted to the man beside you, who was tensed and ready to spring from his crouch at any moment, focusing intently on the passing Galra drone patrols. The two of you remained hidden, concealed by the shadows for now.

“Are we really doing this?”

Anxiety laced the tone of his voice, and you completely understood why. If you were caught right now - so close to the end of this Hell - you would both be killed, or worse. For all you knew, any sessions with the druids were certainly worse than death.  

Moving slowly, you took one of his palms in your own - the flesh and blood one, warm and calloused and human , rather than the Galra attachment he’d been given - and gave it a light squeeze. Smiling, though you doubted it was anything close to a convincing smile, you nodded once before turning to face the corridor. You inhaled deeply, before releasing a shaky breath. There were slight tremors in your hands, though you’d never admit to them.  

Everything had built up and come down to these precious few minutes.  

You had been assigned onto the Kerberos mission alongside Shiro, Matt and Sam as an engineer; in case anything broke on the ship, you were supposedly the one to fix it. Not that your skills had really been used, once the four of you were all abducted by aliens. While Sam and Matt had ended up being sent to a labour camp, you and Shiro were regularly fighting in the arena - Shiro more regularly than you, obviously. You were no Champion, but you managed to scrape through each fight you were tossed about - barely. Each one still came inches away from taking your life.  

Which was getting to be a problem. Shiro was the Champion, an undisputed fighter that still hadn’t lost a match, and his bouts in the arena were eagerly anticipated by the audiences they were displayed to. Your fighting technique was scrappy, barely winning the fights using whatever underhand tactics you could manage to sneak in - and the Galra who took pleasure in seeing violence were beginning to be less than entertained. You knew that soon enough, you’d be shoved into that arena with a robeast a hundred times more powerful than you, and by that point your only purpose would be to die in an “entertaining” way.  

So, you’d put that brain of yours into gear. On any occasion you’d been escorted from your cell to the arena, you paid extra attention to your surroundings. Over time, you’d formed a reliable mental map of the corridors, knowing the layout off by heart.  

After raising the idea to Shiro - who expressed concern for the risks, but agreed on the grounds that you were most likely going to die if you were stuck here much longer - the two of you formed a solid plan - one that would hopefully get the both of you out. You’d also made the agreement that if one of you was unable to get out safely, the other would still try their hardest to escape.  

Not that you were really planning on holding up your end of the deal, and you doubted Shiro was either, but… it was something. The two of you were… well. You didn’t really know what you were, if you were entirely honest. Shiro meant the universe to you, and you were definitely past the point of “just friends”, but it wasn’t as if there were many opportunities to go out on dates whilst being imprisoned by aliens. There weren’t any definite, clear boundaries - it was less of a line between ‘friends’ and ‘lovers’, and more like the blurry, messy grey scribble that appeared on your orbiter development plans after you’d rejected them.  

Only one thing was certain; you were trying your damn hardest to get that man out of there alive, even if you died in the process.

Which led you back here; crouched in the shadows, retracing your steps in your mental map whilst Shiro tapped the wall of the corridor, timing the sentries’ steps carefully. At what he deemed to be the right moment, he grabbed your hand and the two of you made your way down the corridor quickly, pausing again at a safe spot.  

Well. “Safe” wasn’t exactly an adjective that applied anywhere here, but close enough.  

This pattern - waiting, moving, waiting, moving, waiting, moving - continued for a while. Occasionally, Shiro’s hand would move to grip yours and would squeeze tightly, as if making sure you were still standing next to him. The action was reassuring for both parties, calming your rapid heart rate if only a slight amount.  

Of course, neither of you expected it to be this simple the whole way. When you were close to the hangar, where the escape pods resided, the concentration of sentries patrolling increased dramatically, and there was no easy way of getting through them. Feeling a slight tug on your tattered shirt, you crouched next to Shiro as you both observed the room ahead.  

“We need to plan this one out carefully,” Shiro whispered. “If we split up and stick to the sides of the room then we should be fine until -”

A sharp buzz cut him off as a beam of magic sliced the air directly over your heads. Turning to face the source, your heart sank at the view of multiple druids gathering in the space behind you. Not only that, but the magic attack had attracted the attention of the sentries ahead too, leaving you surrounded.

“Did you really think it would be so easy as to just stroll out of this ship?”  

The blood in your veins ran cold.  

Haggar.  

Shiro gripped your wrist tightly, his breath audibly quickening in your ears. “Stay with me,” you muttered under your breath, drawing yourself closer to him. “What’s our plan?”  

To your dismay, the man stood beside you was frozen and pale, struggling to form words. “I - I don’t - I -”  

You didn’t fault him for it. How could you? Shiro hadn’t spoken about what had happened to him while at the mercy of the druids, led by Haggar, but you gathered enough to know that whatever had occurred had been traumatic.  

Squeezing his hand once, you drew to the side, readying yourself for the onslaught of attacks. As the first shots began to fire, Shiro snapped to attention, as the two of you stood prepared for a battle you were almost certainly going to lose.  

“You get into the escape pod. I’ll hold them off!”  And God, you almost rolled your eyes. Because as intelligent and quick-witted as this man was, sometimes he just didn’t get it .

“You really think I’m going to leave you here alone?” you yelled across the hall, as Shiro decked a sentry in the face (well… did sentries have faces? Helmet) and took its gun. Turning to face you, he yelled as he began shooting.  

“Only one of us can get out of here safely. And that one is going to be you.”

Oh, for -  

“Shiro, do you remember that old song I got you to listen to back on Earth?”  You lunged for a sentry as he responded, kicking its leg out from under it and yanking as hard as you could to pull the head from its shoulders. You succeeded, sparks flying from the disconnected wires.  

“You mean the Fall Out Boy one?”  

“Yup! We’re goin’ down swingin’.”  

Although you could sense his exasperation from across the room, Shiro didn’t argue, simply continued firing at the druids from within the horde of enemies you stood in. Returning to the task at hand, you began working with the wiring of another fallen sentry, pulling its arm off to whack another drone that got too close for comfort.

“The sentries all operate off one order, like a hivemind, so if I disconnect one…” you shouted over the din, “… then I should be able to disable the whole lot!”  

After some trial and error - which was stressful with a bunch of robots trying to grab and shoot at you, though Shiro was doing a good job of covering - you found the right set of wires to pull, and the sentries all dropped at once.  

For one moment, everything was still. You and Shiro stared at each other in the stillness, before -  

You ran. The druids followed.  

Meeting in the middle of the room, Shiro threw you a gun, and the two of you began firing at the advancing druids while retreating closer and closer to the pod.  

“You are outnumbered!” Haggar, again, screaming at the two of you. Tightening your hold on the gun, you continued firing back at the druids. While their magic attacks were more damaging, they took longer to fire - leaving you gaps to shoot while their defenses were down. You couldn’t help but yell as one of the beams of light singed the very top of your hair, though.  

“She’s preparing something big,” Shiro told you, eyes not leaving the enemy. “She’s confident, she’s got something up her sleeve.”  

Glancing upwards, you could see he was right. Haggar was building a magic attack that appeared no different from the others you were currently dodging, but the smirk on her face told you that something was unique. Who knew what that attack would do; it could be more advanced, designed to be impossible to miss - it could cause irreparable damage to both of you.  

Her attack was building, gathering strength - in a last, desperate move, you grabbed Shiro and dived the rest of the short distance to the pod, the two of you landing on the floor inside with a hard smack. The pod closed just before the beam of magic could hit you both, and the two of you were released into space.  

It was as if every muscle in your body had relaxed at once. Leaning backwards, you reached for Shiro’s hand once more. He gripped it as if it were a lifering, and you pretended not to notice his shaking as he brought his head to rest against his knees.  

Eventually his head rose as he smiled tiredly, dark grey eyes meeting yours.

“y/n… we made it.”    

Rising from the floor, you led him to the window of the pod, where the view of the stars awaited.  

“That’s right,” you murmured, a smile pulling at the edges of your mouth as you wrapped an arm around his torso. “We made it.”  

It was far from over. Haggar was still alive, you had no idea where you were going, and both of you were left with an abundance of mental and physical scars.  But, as you felt the cool sensation of Shiro’s lips against your temple whilst the two of you watched the stars, you were fairly content with how things turned out.

[sol1056]

How should now a fic writer handle Shiro's situation properly? I, personally, am one of those writers that believe that tragedy brings growth, and I was trying to write a fanfic in which Shiro is plagued by nightmares due to his time in the gladiator pits and, even though I plan on rewarding him narratively, I'm afraid on how a inexperienced writer like me should handle a character that's, well, already on thin ice. By the way, I love the way your explains stuff, its pretty enlightening for me.

Sorry it took so long to answer, life has been… a lot of try/fail cycle in the past few months. My guess is that by ‘situation’ you mean his PTSD? Well, the first step is to research. I’m serious. Start with wikipedia — just to get the broad sense of the issue — and follow the footnotes to more specific articles. If you have specific questions, you could try sending them to @scripttraumasurvivors or similar. 

The second step is to think about why you need the tragedy. 

I don’t mean, “so you can tell me and I can talk you out of it,” I mean, “so you know what you’re trying to say.” In the broadest sense, stories have two general types of catastrophes, and they do different things. (It’s more complex than that, but I’ll stick with generalities and if you have questions, just ask.) 

Behind the cut: the two types, how they relate to change and flat arcs, and the use of tragedy. 

before the story vs during the story

When a catastrophe happens at the very beginning or right before the story, it’s the instigating event. It kicks off the story, but it’s not necessarily the story’s main conflict. This is the one time you can get away with coincidence: it can be as simple as wrong place, wrong time, and bam, catastrophe for character.

When a catastrophe happens during the story, you need to steer clear of using coincidence to heap more bad on top of bad. The character has to be making choices that put them in the path of that bad, and then they need to learn from those choices.

catastrophe before a change arc

Shiro’s instigating event (where his story begins) is when Ulaz frees him. This throws Shiro out of one world (slavery) into a new world (freedom), where the old rules (fight for your life, trust no one, etc) no longer apply. 

In a change arc, we’d look to that past wound (the trauma) as the source of Shiro’s lie. He would have learned something from that experience that kept him alive, and the story is about his path towards un-learning that. Your task as the writer would be to determine what his lie is, and — once the story strips that away — what his revealed truth will be.

You’ll need to give thought to what Shiro would’ve heard or felt the most during his imprisonment, and how that would affect him. Perhaps he had cellmates who turned on him, and he learned that trust makes you vulnerable. Or he was praised most when he maimed rather than killed, until he told himself he didn’t deserve to be happy after making so many others suffer. 

The story, then, is the deconstruction of that lie; the try/fail cycle is the struggle between keeping that lie vs accepting a truth. The longer the character clings to their lie, the more the story should punish them. If nightmares are your chosen method for punishing Shiro, then you’d need to make sure those get worse and worse the longer Shiro clings to whatever lie he’s telling himself. 

His midpoint (and breaking point) is when he realizes he can’t keep holding onto the lie. He has to walk away from the coping mechanisms that kept him alive, and figure out who he really is. If he backslides, then nightmares, but as long as he keeps pushing forward, he’ll get free of that cycle. 

catastrophe before a flat arc

Shiro’s instigating event is when he meets the other (future) paladins and they find Blue, or possibly as late as when he meets Black. In this kind of arc, his PTSD is a facet of his experiences, but they’re not a punishment per se for truth or lie, anymore than his prosthesis is. 

He begins the story with a truth — that he can somehow help bring Voltron back and defeat the empire — and the try/fail cycle is flipped. The character has the truth and the world has the lie. The more Shiro holds onto his truth, the harder the world (via the narrative) should punish him. 

That means superficially the first half of his story looks much the same: he does something, has nightmares. But the driving force is different: he does his best to prove he’s a good and worthwhile person, and he’s knocked down/back. 

For either arc, gradually, Shiro should reach the midpoint. In a change arc, this is when he discovers his truth. In a flat arc, this is when he reaffirms the truth he’s had all along. Hopefully you can see how nightmares work a little better in the flat arc, where nightmares could feel like an internalized voice of the world, pushing a lie on him; in a change arc, his instincts/subconscious should be pushing him away from the lie, not backwards into it. Make sense?

during the story

One thing I’d counsel you not to do is to show the nightmares. Instead, show the effects: exhaustion from not sleeping, waking with cold sweats, maybe behaviors like insomnia or reluctance to sleep alone (or anywhere near anyone else at all). 

A nightmare is a hugely personal thing, and sometimes we can find utterly terrifying things that in the light of day (where the reader is, as they’re reading) sound almost silly. Leave the contents of a nightmare completely untouched, and the reader will happily fill in for you some horrendous visuals that would terrify them. 

The other thing is that like I mentioned above, what happens during the story should be there to push the character in one direction or another, towards a goal. It’s not just set dressing; the character should be learning something from the experience. 

That means you might need to think hard about what prompts the nightmares. In a change arc, that means Shiro has to choose or do something, actively, that then prompts the nightmare as a kind of narrative punishment. In a flat arc, the nightmares might get strongest when Shiro gets closer to establishing his truth. 

In the first case, he learns that if he doesn’t do X (by some subtle connection, you don’t want to sledgehammer this), then the nightmares lessen. In the second case, he learns the opposite. How to put it… as in, the nightmares are a manifestation of his fight. In a change arc, he has to walk away from the lies that make him think he should fight; in a flat arc, he has to face the fight head-on and conquer his doubts/fears. 

using tragedy

With the possible exception of Carol Berg (who has to be one of the biggest woobifiers in original fiction, even worse than George Martin), extreme woobifying is really a fanfic hallmark. The purpose isn’t the try/fail cycle so much as seeing how much a character can take before they fall (or rise). 

Honestly, if VLD were well-written in regards to Shiro, everything he’d gone through would’ve had a narrative purpose that leads him to some final point. His premise as someone with a major time-stamped illness, an ex-boyfriend, his dreams, his captivity, whatever he experienced in the arena or in Haggar’s lab, his prosthesis, being cloned, dying, and on and on... All of it together should’ve had some meaning, some greater purpose. His pain should’ve had a place. 

Instead, it’s just... more pain. Over and over. 

Normally, fanfic is more likely to woobify characters like Pidge, Hunk, or Lance, who aren’t really tested all that deeply by the narrative. None of them are really ever pushed to their breaking point, so fanfic steps in to give it a shot. For Shiro --- undoubtedly tested repeatedly and with few long-lasting narrative rewards --- canon has already kinda woobified him to an unnatural degree. (Keith and Allura also, to a lesser degree.)

Which means if fanfic gives what canon doesn’t, then I’d suggest you look at the story with an eye towards delivering that purpose, that greater meaning. When Shiro experiences each tragedy, what does he learn from it, before he heads into the next one? And what does he choose not to learn (and why), such that this wrong choice precipitates the next tragedy? 

Everything the narrative does, it should do for a reason. There must be something Shiro could’ve done to prevent something (at least once the story starts), such that he can learn that lesson and avoid the tragedy, the next time. 

I’ll toss in an example since I made you wait so long (sorry). Look at whatever happened to Shiro at the end of S2. If the story had done its proper job with the stakes, we should’ve had warning of how things could go wrong in battle. Like, say, a previous fight where a particular type of weapon strikes and, say, vaporizes something. The team realizes that it needs to avoid that kind of strike, or the worst will happen. 

Then, while fighting Zarkon, Shiro must balk in some way (or doubt or hesitate) and that sets off a chain reaction. Like, hrm, he hesitates on using the bayard, just long enough that Zarkon can get in that particular vaporizing strike. So Shiro doesn’t twist the bayard but instead leaps to block the strike so it doesn’t hit whomever --- and he’s vaporized. 

In other words: it’s not Shiro’s protective instincts that were the wrong move, but whatever led to the situation that necessitated doing that. He hesitated, or wasn’t sure in some way --- which means preventing a repeat requires his certainty or willingness to act faster. There must legitimately be something he could’ve done, and learning that lesson should be key to his final victory.

[we-found-him]

MASTERPOST

I’ve done a bit of stuff so here it all is organized. assume that stuff is a headcanon unless stated otherwise! My stuff is on top, and Mod James’s stuff is below that.

Accurate as of August 2, 2018

Multiple Characters

Echo!Soulmate (Keith, Lance, Shiro, fluff)

Taking care of reader with broken arm (slight angst)

Reader is a runaway prince(ss).

Comforting female!reader after a breakup (fluff)

Reader who always says sorry (Shiro, Hunk, Lotor, fluff?)

Cute female!reader into horror (fluff)

Huntress!reader from RWBY (fluff)

Reader has an anxiety attack. (angst)

Writing on the arm soulmate. (Keith, Lance Shiro, Matt, Lotor)

Getting Stuck in Small Spaces (Fluff)

S/o has a country accent (Fluff)

Approval from parents video (scenarios, fluff)

Meeting paladins & first thoughts (fluff)

Male!reader finds a space cat (Pidge, Keith, Matt, Lance; funny)

Sleeping with and without reader (+Allura, fluff)

Most memoral/ passionate kiss (+Lotor, fluff)

Happy reader (+Lotor, fluff)

Being with a kick ass space mom reader (+Matt, Lotor, fluff)

Actress!reader (+Lotor, fluff)

with a short female!reader (+Matt and Allura, fluff)

Trans boy reader (Keith, Matt, Lance)

Social Anxiety (paladudes +Matt,)

Becoming Blind (+Matt, Angst)

Reader with Glasses (Paladudes + Matt, Fluff)

Plus Others (Coran, Galra generals, etc.)

Learning Earth’s history (Allura, Lotor, Coran)

Felmale!reader with ahoge (+minor trio+Thace and Ulaz, fluff)

Single Character

Shiro

Scars!Soulmate AU (one shot, fluff?)

Shiro’s daughters find him. (one shot/ hcs, fluff and some angst)

Reader was a Galra prisoner (one shot, fluff and angst?)

True Space Dad w/ female!reader (fluff)

Pregnant female!reader (one shot, fluff)

Telling Shiro she’s pregnant (One shot, fluff, funny)

#80: -“Does he know about the baby?” -“Hold still.” (one shot, fluff, funny)

36 Questions setup (One shot, tooth rotting fluff)

Music!Soulmate AU (Drabbles, Fluff)

Keith

Keith gets hurt x Male!reader. (drabble, some angst)

Keith comforts stressed Female!reader (One shot, fluff)

“I love you, but you piss me off” (fluff)

Keith as a dad with female!reader (fluff, funny)

Keith x stubborn, sarcastic reader (One shot, fluff?, angst?)

Thunder, Keith x male reader (One shot, fluff)

I Love You with female!reader (drabble, fluff)

Lance

Flirting. (fluff)

Lance Karaoke (one shot, fluff)

Lance x Keith’s sibling (Fluff, funny)

Matt

Reader has a mental breakdown. (angst)

Lotor

Shared thoughts Soulmate AU (Fluff)

Mod James

Klance: Wrapped up in You (one shot, fluff)

Shance: Distraction (one shot, fluff)

Sheith: Late Night Impulses (Oneshot, fluff)

Klance Parents (Fluff)