#V:LotD

[vlotd]

More Altean thoughts

So, we know Allura’s earrings work as comm links. I’ve put this in fics before, but I believe her bracelets have a function as well. So, for V:LotD, here’s the thing about Altean jewelry (and some more thoughts on how they dress and why):

All Alteans have at least one crystal on them somewhere that stores a small amount of their quintessence. When they approach something - say a door that’s locked and only lets certain people in - the... machinery, for lack of a better term, reads the quintessence stored in the crystal. If that quintessence is allowed to access this device/enter this door, then the door will open/device will activate/etc. The crystals can also have other functions, depending on access. For example, maybe you’re allowed to enter This Door and access This Comm Link, but not That Door or That Comm Link ‘cause that’s for higher-ups. While you’re in the building, you can access the Communications Link that’s authorized for your quintessence, but once you leave the building, your access to that link shuts off; it’s only for work communication during work hours, let’s say.

(This is why, in season 1, Allura couldn’t hear Shiro fighting with Haggar until Hunk showed up to rescue her. When he came in, her earrings suddenly had access to the Paladin comm link again (she has access to ALL comm links regarding the paladins and the Castle - she’s the Princess). She and her earrings were, in essence, out of range (and possibly blocked; no doubt Haggar knew about this).)

Allura chooses to wear two crystals as her two earrings. Even if she loses one, she has a backup.

The bracelets are, as I wrote in the fic I linked above, her command bracelets. (She calls them ‘control’ bracelets in the fic, but I like command better now.) They allow her to use Castle systems anywhere in the Castle without being actually near the appropriate devices. (In the fic, her bracelets work more like the crystals I described just now; again, I wrote that a while ago and my thoughts have progressed some on this.)

When Klaizap approaches the Castle in season 1, Allura just waves one bracelet-ed hand through the air and not only silences the alarm but pulls up a screen so they can see the approaching “intruder.” This is something that would normally be done on the bridge, but she is, again, THE PRINCESS. She can access any Castle function from anywhere inside the Castle so long as she’s wearing those bracelets. (She does have to be inside, or just outside; as we saw in season 1, being shut out and on the other side of the Castle’s shield means she has no control over Castle operations.)

So while, yes, these are very pretty pieces of jewelry, as befits a princess, they also have practical applications. I believe that she chose for them to look this way deliberately. King Alfor could also control Castle functions from anywhere inside the ship, but his control device(s) didn’t look like bracelets, and his ID crystal didn’t look like earrings. Allura likes pretty (and sparkly!) things, and this also helps the items blend in a bit more and go unnoticed. (That’s also why the bracelet-like “bumps” on her wrist in her flight suit - I don’t think the control bracelets are literally in there, but I think that they provide the same functionality as the more decorative bracelets, as well as some other functions that we see in the paladin armors.)

Now, I’ve spoken before about how I think Alteans (at least back in Allura’s and Coran’s day) were covered head to toe. Specifically, this: 

Alteans believe that showing skin (other than head and hands) when you’re above a certain age is very inappropriate. To bare one’s skin to someone (outside your family) is to make yourself vulnerable to them, and it shows a deep level of trust and intimacy. Thus, skin tight clothing may be fine, but showing actual SKIN is not. Coran wears gloves because, in his day, even showing hands was considered a bit racy. He’s old-fashioned, basically.

I hinted at the reasoning here, but I wanted to be clear about it. 

Alteans don’t have our religions. I believe there are Altean religions (we hear talk about old gods, after all), but I’m not sure that any of those religions dictate that you must cover up. And Alteans don’t have any qualms about skin tight clothing, obviously. 

The reason that Alteans cover their skin is that it protects you, at least to some degree. (We know that some Altean fabric/materials are very protective while still being form-fitting/skin tight: see Allura’s flight suit and the paladin under-armors.) Baring your skin makes you more vulnerable to attack. 

This is a culture that has literal children learning fighting skills. Maybe that’s just for royalty and/or military families, but the fact remains. With this sort of mindset, you wouldn’t open yourself to attack from a stranger. That’s why my idea of Alteans only bare their skin around family, very close friends, and romantic/sexual partners. That’s the “deep level of trust and intimacy,” being shown. “I trust you not to attack me,” sure. 

But also, “I am making myself vulnerable to you.” You can take that in lots of different ways (including in some that should be sent to my smut blog [ahem]), but for a race of people who can change what they look like on a whim, saying, “Here I am, my true self with no barriers or armor of any sort,” is a huge thing. You don’t just do that for anyone.

I doubt Coran and Allura think of it that way consciously. Kind of like how we don’t think about handshakes and how they originated as a way to prove to each other that we have no weapons. It’s just how it is. 

The fact that the Altean Diaspora Colony (in V:LotD) bares legs and arms regularly shows that (A) fashion has just moved on over time, and (B) they feel safe where they are, they trust everyone around them (and they trusted Lotor). 

[braincoins]

((I felt like doing some V:LotD plance for some reason. Hope you enjoy!))

It’d been a good training session. Everyone had showered up, changed into civvies, and left, except for Lance. Looking this good meant taking the extra time, putting in that extra effort! Finally satisfied, he headed out, but he’d barely walked out the doorway when he heard a heavy sigh.

“Huh? Pidge?” he called into the other “locker room” (they didn’t have lockers, but what else would you call them?). “You okay in there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Lance, don’t worry.” But she sounded a little flat.

“Is it okay for me to come in?”

“... I... guess? If you want to.”

He walked in to find her staring at herself in the mirror, eyes red-rimmed, freshly-showered hair hanging damply around her shoulders.

“What’s up?” he asked with a faint frown. “What’s got you crying?”

“I just... miss home,” she said, still looking at her own reflection. She sniffled. "Now that my hair’s getting long again, I was trying to braid it the way Mom used to do it for me because I always thought it was cute the way she did it, but I can’t do it the way she does, and...”

“You got frustrated and undid it all,” he summed up, “because it’s not working right.”

She nodded. “And all it does is just remind me that Mom’s not here and we found Matt but he’s off with the rebels and we still don’t know where Dad is and...”

“Hey,” he said gently, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t get all worked up again. Unless you feel like you have to.”

She shook her head. “I don’t like crying.”

“I don’t like you crying either,” he said with a faint smile, trying to remind her how it was done.

She sniffled again, but didn’t smile back.

“I could braid your hair for you, if you want? It won’t be your Mom’s, but I used to braid my sisters’ and niece’s hair all the time. I even have my own unique style - the Lance Special. My niece begged for it all the time.”

She finally looked at him in the mirror. “Really? You can braid hair?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It takes a bit, but I’ve got the time if you do.”

She sniffled again. “I’d like that. Thank you, Lance.”

He smiled wider. “Let’s go sit on a bench.”

He straddled a bench and she did likewise, her back to him. He gathered up her hair and ran his fingers through it a few time - her earlier braid-attempts and frustrations had left her hair in need of a good brushing. “Your hair’s really pretty when it’s long.”

“You think so?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. I mean... it’s nice short, too, I just think it looks better on you like this.”

It took her a tick to answer. “O-oh, uh... thank you.”

“So, how’d your Mom do it? Can you describe it? I mean, I’m still gonna give you a Lance Special, of course, but I’m just curious.”

So, as he worked, they talked: at first about her Mom’s braiding, then about her family in general. She had a dog (”Bae Bae is an adorable name.” “I know, I named her. When I was two.”) and an impressive collection of video games that she missed as well.

Lance talked about his own family, about how he learned to braid (”Veronica was practically a braiding drill sergeant!”), and about how he totally got to the secret 57th level of Kingsraid one night when he was up late and it was not some sort of hallucination.

“It’s a myth!”

“It is not! I battled Queen Gorgon, who’s just like King Gorgon except with long hair and huge tits.”

Pidge snorted. “Right, ‘cause that’s what defines a woman, right?” she asked sarcastically.

“Well, video game designers thought so for a long time.”

“You don’t agree?” she asked.

“’Course not. You’re a woman and you used to have short hair. You also don’t have cartoonishly huge boobs.”

She muttered something under her breath.

“I missed that,” he said as he braided.

"But... you like the long hair and big boobs.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, on some women, if it suits them, y’know? I take in and appreciate the whole package.”

She was quiet again. He kept braiding. 

“So... um... if you ‘take in the whole package’... Uh... what do you...?”

He didn’t let her finish. The question was pretty obvious. “You’re pretty, Pidge.”

“I am?!” 

“Don’t sound so shocked! I, Lance, Connoisseur of Women Everywhere, declare it to be true!”

Her ears were turning red. “Say it again.”

He leaned forward. “You’re a pretty young woman, Pidge. And!” He straightened up. “Now that I’ve finished your braiding, you’re even prettier! Go look!”

She bolted off the bench to the nearest mirror. “Oh, wow! This is,” she was turning her head this way and that, “this is actually really nice, Lance!”

“Better than your mom’s?” he asked as he joined her at the mirror.

“Different than Mom’s,” she said instead. “But really nice.” She turned to face him, a smile on her face and all trace of crying gone. “Thanks, Lance. For everything. It really means a lot to me.”

He returned her smile. “Glad to do it. C’mon, I’m starved; Hunk should have started dinner prep by now. Maybe we can go swipe some.”

“He’ll be prepared for an attack,” she warned.

“Then we’ll need a plan. I braided, so now it’s your turn.”

“Fair enough. Let’s go; I’ll explain it on the way!” 

[brainsmut]

Ficlet prompts

Gonna be alternating between errands, V:LotD, and smut prompts today. These are my little rewards for myself, so hmu. 

[vlotd]

Ships in V:LotD

so far, at least:

Shallura - obviously, clearly, slowburn co-leaders Shallura. REQUIRED.

Zargar - because dark parallel Shallura and also how we get Lotor

(past) Adashi - because Shiro is explicitly bi in this. Adam lives btw

Hunay - because how do you not have THE PURE SUNSHINE THAT IS HUNK AND SHAY??!?!!?!!??!!!

and, I’m pleased to announce, 

PLANCE

*waits for the screaming to die down* 

I have a lot of reasons for wanting to do Plance, but the main one is simply that I like it and it fits well. I can totally see Pidge having a crush on Lance in VLD canon, dammit. And I’d love to see that reciprocated and explored, especially in V:LotD where Pidge is a transgirl.

And, to be clear, V:LotD Lance is purely hetero. And this relationship is going to be a hell of a journey for him because he thought Pidge was a guy when he first met her (since she was pretending to be one), then he finds out she’s a girl, and she’s trans, and she’s not the instant va-va-va-voom type of chick he normally goes for, but that just makes him that much more certain about his feelings because he goes *heart eyes* for any hot chick who walks by, but this is more than that, and it persists even when Pidge isn’t around. 

And because I love the idea of having a straight relationship that is also undeniably a queer one. Granted, Shallura is that as well (given that Shiro’s bi and Allura’s pan in this), but it tends to get underrated as “straight” (as if that’s a bad thing - I’ll say again: heterosexuality is NOT the problem; heteronormativity is).

And yes, this means that, aside from Adashi, all the ships are straight. Most of them also involve people of color, and ALL of them involve equal, loving partners (even if, in the case of Zargar, those “equal, loving partners” wind up going on to become evil despotic tyrants).

We need healthy M/F ships.

We need PoC to feel loved and respected.

We need disabled people and those dealing with trauma to be shown as worthy of love.

We need to reinforce that a bi man in a relationship with a woman is no less bi.

We need to say clearly that a straight man in love with a trans woman is still straight - and is also in a queer relationship despite not being queer himself.

These are all excellent reasons to write these ships, but, ultimately I’m writing them because they’re what I want to write. ^_^ 

Now, all that being said, if you want to ship other things in V:LotD, you’re welcome to do so. I’m going to work hard to really show the team bonding with each other; I can think of a great Keith and Pidge scene off the top of my head, as well as a great Keith and Lance scene (besides The Bonding Moment). These moments are meant as platonic bonding, but I won’t stop people from taking them and having fun with them if they want to. I’m just saying what’s going to be canon in V:LotD.

Also I’m toying with Thulaz, but I’m not sure if I can keep either Thace or Ulaz around long enough to make that explicitly canon or not. Odds are good they will both meet their VLD canon fates in my version. Sorry. v__v (Hmmm, maybe Kolivantok?)

And, because I’m me, I’m also considering Ryoumelle, if only because @breezycheezyart‘s Ryoumelle stuff is so freaking fun and lovely and I WANT IT TO EXIST DAMMIT. I might just put in some light hints at it; I dunno.

[braincoins]

What is VLotD?

This is such a great question!!! Thank you for giving me a chance to babble! :D

(Title screen courtesy of @sweetfirecracker)

So, V:LotD stands for “Voltron: Legend of the Defender” and it is my “fix-it fic.” (I have given up trying to say things like “it’s not a fix-it fic, it’s just my version” because, after season 8? Let’s face it: VLD really does need fixing. Also “fix-it fic” is quicker and easier to say.)

As most people are doing, I’m generally leaving seasons 1 & 2 alone, although I am making some small tweaks here and there. Starting in season 3, things are really going to change though. Some of the key points:

More of the Goddess of the Universe concept from BeastKing GoLion, especially as it relates to the “prophecy” Keith read about Shiro showing up back on Earth, the fact that they’re called “Paladins,” and that Allura is referred to by Coran as a “Sacred” Altean.

No long-term Lion Swap. Allura temporarily pilots Black and, eventually, finds out that, because of her connection to the Lions, she can pilot any of them (though she is not the True Paladin for any Lion).

Kuron eventually becomes Ryou as demonstration that you can overcome the circumstances of your birth (or, well, creation in his case).

Keith’s arc is into found family, not leadership, and into opening up to people besides Shiro.

Lance becomes confident in and understands the importance of his role as the emotional center of the team.

More of dark vs. light quintessence, of Corrupted vs. Sacred. More magic and alchemy in general but also more being shown on screen.

The Castle of Lions becoming a home for a thriving, multiracial and multicultural Coalition, with Allura as its commander.

And, of course, slowburn Shallura with explicitly bisexual Shiro ‘cause this is my story and I can do what I want with it.

I have a sideblog for it, and I’ve been working on it for a long time - since before season 7, actually. Well... okay, maybe saying “I’ve been working on it” is a bit of a stretch. That’s why I’m focusing on it now, because it’s a hell of a project - I’m basically re-writing the entire show - and I really do want to complete it. 

[vlotd]

Co-Leaders

I know why we couldn’t have Shiro and Allura as co-leaders long term (because Keith is always supposed to be the leader in Voltron) but chaos dammit, I LOVED IT. I mean, even aside from my shipping, it was so good. It was so great to see co-leaders in general let alone both of them PoC, both with severe trauma, and one of them a woman. And to have them followed unconditionally, trusted and respected, leading this fight for justice and peace... ARGH IT WAS SO GOOD. So I wanted to talk about where I see them in V:LotD.

It starts out with Shiro leading Voltron but acknowledging - as we see him do in canon - that these are Allura’s Lions. She would disagree with that sentiment to a certain degree: the Lions chose them as Paladins. But she is bonded to the Lions, and they to her. That bond is what allows her to pilot any Lion and gives her a means to supercharge Voltron later on. Still the chain of command and areas of responsibility between Shiro and Allura are a little messy at first. He tends to defer to her, but she usually backs his play.

As things go on, their roles evolve. Allura takes a brief turn as the pilot of Black (if not truly Black’s Paladin), but it’s out of necessity. And it’s not that she’s not a good fighter, because she is, but her skills are more clearly canted towards diplomacy and coalition-building - which they are starting on. And then they get Shiro back.

Once they truly have Shiro back, the pieces are slotting into place. Shiro becomes the unquestioned battle leader, the leader of Voltron, while Allura becomes the unquestioned diplomat, the leader of the Coalition. Voltron and the Coalition clearly need one another to achieve their goals. Shiro does some diplomacy here and there, but he’s mostly a warrior. Allura is a good fighter, but a great diplomat; Shiro’s the reverse: good diplomat, great fighter. Allura can use Shiro to help the Coalition in a great many ways, just as Shiro can use Allura strategically in a number of positions. (Not those sort of positions! yet Get yer mind outta da gutta!) 

And they help and support each other personally, of course, but I’m trying to keep this from getting too shippy. There’s an idea I brought up in a fic I wrote from Black’s PoV that Allura isn’t a Paladin, she’s “a lioness in her own right.” That’s what I’m going for. Voltron and the Coalition. Shiro and Allura. Stronger together and bringing hope to the universe because of it.

[vlotd]

pet peeve - noun, informal. something that a particular person finds especially annoying.

So, the time measurements in VLD bug the shit out of me. From a writer’s standpoint, “quintant” is just an awkward word to work with. Do I use “yesterquintant” for the day before? Ugh, I hate it. It’s such a bulky word.

But from a logic standpoint wtf up with this, VLD? These screens are from the first three episodes alone:

Look, even the aliens used years and decades!!

It’s incon-freaking-sistent, and I noticed it on the second viewing of s1 (before s2 came out and gave us “deca-phoebs”). My original thought was that Coran used old Altean time measurements just because he was old-fashioned. But then it turned out that ticks/doboshes/vargas/quintants/movements/phoebs (I assume are months - the word month is never used but I’m extrapolating from the word for year)/deca-phoebs were pretty much Universal Standard.

Originally I tried to reconcile this as “well, you’d use things like ‘years’ when you’re on a planet to refer to the number of rotations of that planet around its sun; therefore Allura means she and Coran have been asleep for 10,000 Arusian years.” But that doesn’t explain the captured prisoners using it, or Coran using “Hump day!” right after quintant and movement. (I know, it’s for a joke, but still.) 

So in V:LotD, they’ll just use Earth measurements because I’ll already have established Universal Translator. “quintant” will be translated as “approximately one day,” etc. 

I know that they don’t directly translate: a quintant is actually 20 vargas and a varga isn’t 60 doboshes, etc. Thus the “approximately” part.

I could have them use the Galactic Standard consistently, but, as already established, I fucking hate it. xD Except tick and varga. Tick makes sense and varga is just nice to say.

Quintant can go die in a fire.

[vlotd]

And this is why we plan everything out ahead of time

Working on things and I realize the whole “The Kerberos Mission Crashed Due to Pilot Error” thing is stupid. 

From my Scrivener notes:

What they should have done: announced Kerberos Mission crew safely landed on Pluto’s moon, and then disappeared. Colleen and Pidge notified after transmissions (which take a week? (lookup: transmission times to Pluto/Kerberos; not necessarily the same as travel time) to get out there) go unanswered, and then news notified of the loss of the crew. But then what would their cover story be? And why have a cover story at all?

Instead of a cover story of “pilot error” leading to a crash, the crew disappeared, cause unknown. Previously unreported (and unsuspected? lookup: Kerberos) seismic activity? Equipment defect or malfunction? Aliens?! There are a lot of theories. That would make a “rescue mission” simulation make a lot more sense, for that matter. Pidge isn’t trying to disprove the pilot error theory; she’s trying to get at the actual transmissions and video feeds from the mission to try to find out what did happen. She probably does believe her father and brother are dead at that point, but she wants to know how and why. And finding out about Voltron and the Galra have captured the crew reignites her hope that they’re alive… and makes her that much more unwilling to go back to the belief that they might be dead.

[vlotd]

hehe uh so

Guess who hasn’t been working on her fix-it fic like she should be doing?

*ahem*

Anyway, want to find out a little bit about V:LotD Altean culture? I just wanted to highlight one of my personal headcanons that’s going to be showing up. (And yes, this already showed up in a fic of mine.)

Alteans believe that showing skin (other than head and hands) when you’re above a certain age is very inappropriate. To bare one’s skin to someone (outside your family) is to make yourself vulnerable to them, and it shows a deep level of trust and intimacy. Thus, skin tight clothing may be fine, but showing actual SKIN is not. Coran wears gloves because, in his day, even showing hands was considered a bit racy. He’s old-fashioned, basically. 

Pidge’s shorts are a little shocking to the Alteans but they work with it because, well, they don’t have to look at her legs; they can just focus on her face and try to ignore that she’s showing that much skin. 

Lance and Keith being in nothing but towels and swim shorts would have been SCANDALOUS if it weren’t for the fact that, y’know, Zarkon is attacking and we have to get the hell out of here right now. Well, it’s actually still scandalous, but they’re distracted by the life-threatening situation going on.

Then we get to the Altean diaspora. It’s been 10,000 years. There’s a wide variety of clothing, and a lot of it shows off arms, necks, shoulders, and legs below the knee. Sometimes even feet! Coran damn near passes out from the sheer impropriety and Allura is clearly uncomfortable. But, y’know, Alteans! So she copes.

But the return of the Legendary Lost Princess brings with it a fashion trend and suddenly everyone’s wearing those arm things of Allura’s. Y’know, these:

The high collars come back into fashion, too. That’s at least some small comfort for Coran’s old-fashioned sensibilities (even if the short skirts/shorts still exist).

And yes, this headcanon means that buff younger Coran showing off his arms doesn’t exist in V:LotD. I’m sorry. He’d have clothes closer to Shiro’s: skin tight to show off dem guns but not actually showing skin. And still wearing gloves. 

Speaking of Shiro... this also means that Shiro’s Keith-given outfit is probably the closest to Altean clothing of anything any of the paladins are wearing.

Covers most of his neck, and he’s even covering most of his hands (if not all of them). Skin tight thanks to the clothes not really fitting him, but everything still covered. Not that the other Paladins - other than Pidge’s shocking shorts! - aren’t modest or anything, just that their weird jackets and things are more obviously Not Altean. Shiro’s outfit looks like a variation on something an Altean would wear, so it probably helped make Allura more comfortable talking to him. He was closer to “familiar” in that sense (even if his ears are hideous).

[vlotd]

Two things my brain gave me, one right after the other.  One:

A) Keith is part Galra, not 1/2 Galra. Because, for one thing, the bio-scan would have caught it if he's freaking HALF-GALRA and Allura would have seen that when she went to make their uniforms, which is too early a reveal for that, 

B) There were Galra loyal to Alfor (not many, but a couple), and one of those was on Earth when they dropped off the Blue Lion. They stayed, had kids with a local human (Anatomically Modern Humans existed then, and 10k years ago is WELL PAST both Mitochondria Eve and Y-Chromosome Adam), and eventually that bloodline leads to Keith, 

C) I'm still annoyed about genetics in VLD. This way - part-Galra instead of half-Galra - makes Keith appearing human make more sense, dammit!

Of course, this may mean we don't get Krolia in V:LotD at all? Which, on one hand, I'm pretty okay with because Keith's arc is into found family and that family is supposed to be the Paladins, dammit. But, on the other, badass female Galra to root for. If she shows up, she won't be Keith's mom, in any case.

and Two:

Should I keep Kaltenecker’s name? Like, the cow was named after a line editor in the VLD crew, as a shout-out to him (even though it’s a cow and not a bull? but whatever, bovine gender is not as important to me beyond the necessity of creating milkshakes). 

I am very tempted to rename the cow after a reference from the Sock Drawer Discord server, but I’m worried that “Kaltenecker” - as much of a mouthful as it is - is too ingrained. Hrm.

[vlotd]

Okay I got some ideas for the end of V:LotD. Obviously there’s still A LOT MORE that needs to be done with this. Also these are my super-sketchy Scrivener notes, so it’s not going to read smoothly, bear with me here. ^_^;

Allura needs to do a thing that requires a massive amount of quintessence - so much that it might kill her. Shiro says, “You can’t!” She angrily tells him she can and will. He says there has to be another way… and then offers to come with her so she can use some of his quintessence, too. But the Lions are needed to fight and Voltron might be needed. They can’t have the Black Paladin missing. 

Allura insists she has to do this alone and if it kills her, so be it. Shiro says, “No!” again, and swallows hard. Then he remembers something. The link. “We’re linked. We have been ever since you pulled me out of Black. Can you take my quintessence through that link?” “Possibly. But the Black Lion requires so much quintessence to pilot…” “I’ll be fine,” he insists. “Use my quintessence as well as yours.” He takes her hand in both of his. “Please.” His eyes plead with her. “We need you. I… I can’t lose you again.” She relents and agrees. 

She has to take one of those personal pods from the Castle over to wherever she needs to perform the ritual. Of course it takes a toll on him while flying, but the team helps him. When they form Voltron, the connection holds but feels weak and thready because of Shiro’s drained quintessence. The others concentrate and give more of themselves, pour more of themselves into the bond between themselves, their Lions, and each other. 

Allura succeeds in her ritual and drops to her knees, weakened, but still alive and conscious. But the fight isn’t over. Voltron is struggling. She takes her pod up into the fight. “Shiro! Let me into Black!” “What?” “I can help! Let me in!” “You’ve done enough! We’ve got this!” “Let me in or I’ll stay out here and fight them myself.” So, okay, he lets her in. 

 And this is when Allura supercharges Voltron from within Black, not only helping them stay together but become even more powerful.

Something where the Paladins face Zarkon one last time and just when Zarkon’s about to win, Honerva steps in and throws a monkey wrench into his plans, allowing Shiro and Allura and Voltron to defeat him. She’s now fully Honerva again, and she acknowledges that she and her husband should not still be “alive,” that their existence beyond death deforms the universe. In the end, Zarkon is grievously wounded; the ship/base they’re on is exploding. Honerva gathers Zarkon into her arms. She bends over him as the room they’re in explodes.

Voltron disbands and the Lions crash back to Earth: Blue lands in the ocean. Yellow lands in the desert. Red lands in a volcano. Green lands in a rainforest. Black doesn’t land at all, hovering there in stable orbit. The Garrison radios the Paladins. Coran cries out for Allura.  No answer. Continued and repeated calls receive only silence. And then… “Ugh… did we win?” Lance’s voice asked. “Lance, you’re okay!” “I don’t feel like it. Where am I?” “You’re [at this position in the whatever ocean]. We’ll send a ship out to get you.” 

One by one, the Paladins wake up and check in. But no one’s heard from Shiro or Allura. The Castle goes to retrieve the Black Lion. Coran, Matt, Shay, Ozar, and Kolivan run to the Black Lion, which opens up for them. The cockpit doors slide open to show Allura slumped in Shiro’s arms, the both of them unconscious.

ONE YEAR LATER

Keith is asking Lance how he looks. “Pretty good. You know, for you.” Lance is dressed in a nice suit, as is Keith. Keith glares at him. “We’re wearing the same suit!” Indeed, aside from accents colored to match their lions, they’re exactly the same. “And yet I look so much better in it,” he muses, looking himself over in the mirror. Hunk wanders in, sniffling. “Oh, Hunk, don’t start crying again,” Lance protests gently. “I can’t help it,” he says. “I still can’t believe this.” Lance goes over to hug him. Keith does, too, and Hunk squeezes them in a hug like he did in season 1. “Come on, we don’t want to be late,” Keith says somberly.  They leave. 

In the hallway - they’re apparently in the Castle of Lions - they run into Romelle and Pidge, both wearing the same dress, though Pidge’s has green accents and Romelle’s [light blue? What is the main color she wears? I don’t even remember now]. ��You ready for this?” Keith asks them. “As we’ll ever be,” Romelle answers, sounding shaky. “Ready to get it over with,” Pidge says. “I hate these things.” Keith pats her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.” 

On the bridge, the control dais and paladin chairs have been retracted into the floor, providing a smooth surface for the many chairs that have been placed in rows with a central aisle between them. People are talking, some of them sniffling into handkerchiefs. Hunk is with Shay and Rax; Shay is comforting him as he cries. Pidge is with her family. Romelle is talking with Coran, who is also a bit weepy, and Ryou (formerly Kuron). We see Adam, Iverson, Kolivan, and James chatting. Keith and Lance are talking with Veronica and Krolia.

A hand falls to Keith’s shoulder - it’s Shiro’s. His suit is slightly different than the other guys’ - subtly fancier. “Hey, it’s time.” Keith turns and smiles at him. “You gonna make it through this?” “I’m going to have to.” He clears his throat and smooths his hand over his hair. “I mean, yeah. I’ll be fine. Let’s get in position.” He nods to Coran, who hurries out.

Music starts up. Everyone takes their seats and the Paladins and Romelle take their places at the front: from L to R, Romelle, Pidge, a large gap, Shiro, a slightly smaller gap, then Keith, Lance, and Hunk. 

 The doors to the bridge open and everyone turns to see Coran… with Allura on his arm. She’s in a resplendent gown, and she’s smiling nervously. But her eyes catch Shiro’s and she visibly relaxes a little. He does the same, and his smile widens. Coran escorts her to the front and relinquishes her to stand with Shiro. He stands there a bit longer, smiling happily, before Allura hisses his name at him. “Oh! Right, sorry, I just… Right.” He hurries over to officiate, clearing his throat and announcing, “On this day we have gathered to witness the joining of Princess Allura of Altea and Takashi Shirogane of Earth. We’ve prepared a ceremony that uses elements of both cultures for this historic and momentous occasion. You know, it puts me in mind of…” “Coran, please stick to the script,” Allura says. “Ah, yes.” [Insert details I haven’t yet figured out of their wedding here] “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may - “ But Shiro and Allura don’t wait for him to say it; they’re already kissing each other and the crowd is cheering. Adam looks a little teary-eyed but happy. Shay and Ozar and everyone else we’ve come to know and love are cheering loudly. Slav is mopping at his eyes and declaring, “Guess this reality isn’t so bad after all.” 

When they pull away from each other, they stare fondly into each other’s eyes for a moment before they’re hugged by the team and Coran.

and there'll be an Epilogue where we find out what they did afterwards, etc. but I haven't gotten to those bits yet 

[vlotd]

One thing I was thinking about when I was supposed to be sleeping *cough* was about how I want to focus more on Shiro facing and working through his PTSD. And I thought, he’s gonna spend some time inside Black for a bit, and I wonder how that would help/hinder things?

And then I remembered that Zarkon winds up in there, too. For a little bit, anyway. OG Zarkon, the good man who was subsumed by the QTN Zombie.

Shiro thinks he’s a monster, thinks he’s done terrible things - that he doesn’t even remember - in order to survive. But then look at Zarkon, who’s done terrible things for his own selfish reasons - for power and the increased longevity of an unnatural state.

Shiro’s going to spend a lot of time not really trusting Zarkon, but Zarkon does eventually sacrifice himself to save Allura (and Shiro, who would’ve taken the blast instead). Is that single act atonement enough for all of his sins? Eh, maybe, maybe not; depends who you ask. But it was something he could do, one last act of good that he could choose to do himself, with no dark quintessence warping him: to save his best friend’s daughter and the new Black Paladin (Shiro). 

Maybe have Zarkon acknowledge that just before: “It doesn’t matter if it ‘atones’ for my sins or not; all that matters is that it’s the right thing to do, and I’m able to do it.”

And to leave Shiro with that, to let him think on that as it might relate to him. You did what you had to do, Shiro, when you had no other choice. What matters is that, when you have a choice, you choose to do what’s right. 

You’re not the monster you accuse yourself of being. You’re not a monster at all.

[vlotd]

V:LotD Pidge

While I’m working on other stuff, let’s talk about Pidge in V:LotD.

Pidge was born Benjamin Holt, about five years after Matthew was born. She came out to her parents as a transgirl when she was 12, and they arranged for a Bat instead of a Bar Mitzvah for her, as well as getting her the appropriate hormones/blockers. They helped her get her name changed to Katherine and promptly started calling her Katie, though her older brother continued to call her “Pidge” regardless.

Katie was always a prodigy, and by the time she was 15 - when her father and brother went to Kerberos - she was already set to graduate high school and was taking college-level courses online. She was fluent in English and Hebrew, and knew Latin/Greek roots, useful for the sciences. Her brother had gone to the Galaxy Garrison, like their father, but Katie was eyeing M.I.T. hoping to go into information security - a more lucrative civilian career path, much like her mother had done (Colleen is a botanist specializing in genetically modifying plants to grow in specialized environments).

After the Kerberos Mission was lost, Katie started trying to get information on what truly happened. Her family had had Shiro and Adam over for dinner sometimes; she knew him, trusted him, didn’t buy this “pilot error” bull, and she wanted the truth. She’d always been fond of conspiracy theories, though she usually wound up debunking them in the course of trying to ferret out the truth. This time, she was convinced she had it right. There was a cover-up going on and she wanted to know why.

Of course, she got busted when she snuck into Iverson’s office. (Note that she got in without incident though - Pidge has always been sneaky af.) She was taken back home and told - in front of her mom - that she was not allowed back on the base.

Her mom had been mourning her husband and son, basically letting Pidge do whatever she wanted unsupervised. Did it matter what the “truth” was? They were gone and not coming back. But this was a wake-up call. 

Colleen helped her daughter now: she helped forge the enrollment form, cut her hair short (shorter than we see it in VLD) and chose a red hair dye for her: it was different enough from her normal hair color but still very similar, the idea being that as the dye faded, people wouldn’t notice and eventually Pidge could just have her normal hair color again - no need to keep re-dying it, which might draw suspicion. They added Matt’s old glasses and, voila! Pidge Gunderson - a boy - was born.

Colleen makes sure Pidge gets everything “he” needs to get to the bottom of this and sends “him” into the Garrison with an “I love you” and a “Be careful.” 

All the rest of Pidge’s story unfolds much as we see it in the first two seasons of canon, with the exception that no one ever thinks Pidge looks like Matt. (Keith yells at her to focus up instead of “Quit thinking of your girlfriend.”) Pidge reveals herself as a girl and starts to grow her hair back out. She stops wearing the glasses, but keeps them with her, because they were Matt’s once. They’re a reminder of why she started all of this. (It bugs me that she wears the glasses when she doesn’t need to; they’re prescription and they’ve got to be fucking with her eyesight. I know WHY she does, from a Doylist perspective, but, frankly, VLD’s sacrificing Watsonian sense on the altar of Doylist nostalgia is one of its biggest problems.)

She goes to Shiro when she’s almost out of blockers, and he takes her to talk with Allura and Coran. They reveal that the Castle’s bioscan when the paladins first entered set a “baseline” for them, and that the Castle systems use that when the paladins are injured. Basically, the pods restore them to that baseline level of health, including hormone levels, unless a new baseline scan is established or a level is somehow better than the baseline (i.e, it doesn’t reset muscle gain, for example).

(This works not only for Pidge’s personal health but also sets up a later scene after Shiro’s pulled out of Black and put back into his own body. Shiro’s initial Castle bioscan noted the degenerative disease but didn’t cure it - every time he went into a pod, the replenisher set his body back to that level of the disease, because it assumed that was his norm. Allura’s quintessence-assisted transfer of Shiro actually heals his disease entirely, as will be discovered when he’s scanned immediately after the transfer to make sure everything’s okay.)

[vlotd]

Allura’s Magic

So, at the end of season 2, we see Allura completely own Haggar and magically dismantle the komar. And then, in VLD, we... never find out what that was about? How’d she do it? Does she have more magic powers she’s capable of? You’d think Allura herself would be like, “WHOA,” and want to learn more, right?

I think so, too. 

So, in V:LotD, after season 2, Zarkon is out for the count. Haggar is pretending that the Emperor is fine and is issuing orders on his behalf. Mostly she’s keeping the Empire on an even keel, making sure things continue as they have been, but there’s one issue she’s taking into her own hands: the Altean Princess. 

Allura is now the #1 threat on Haggar’s personal radar, and she’s going to do what she can to deal with it. The princess is surprisingly powerful, and Haggar instinctively wants that power at her beck and call. So, the ideal solution would be bringing Allura under her control. If that can’t be accomplished, then Allura has to die. It’s that simple. 

Back in the day, Haggar’s Druids used to hunt down Alteans. The Druids - in V:LotD - are all Alteans themselves, most of whom joined Haggar willingly 10,000 years ago and have had their lifespans extended because of it. Some of them joined later, after the Druids hunted them down: the offer was “join us or die.” Many refused to join, but some signed on just to survive. And, back in those days, there was a standard plan to find and bring in Alteans: the Survivor gambit.

Allura’s looking to learn more about her powers. She has her father’s alchemy lab and some of his notes, but that’s about it. She is contacted by a mysterious person who identifies themselves only as a “Survivor.” They say that, like Haggar, they are an Altean with knowledge of magical quintessence manipulation. Just as Haggar hides what she is, so, too, does this Altean, though they require much more than just a robe; they, after all, are not protected by the Galra Emperor himself, as Haggar is.

The Survivor says they have heard of what Allura did in the fight against Haggar, and they wish to help her, for the good of the universe. But they wish to remain hidden, secret. “Not even those closest to you can know that I’m helping you. If I were revealed, even accidentally… I am taking a great risk in bringing you this information.” Allura agrees to this because this is an Altean seeking to help her and it’s help she desperately needs. The story sounds plausible, so she doesn’t investigate it further (she’d need the help of Coran and possibly the paladins to do that anyway).

Allura had only just started learning some basics of what it means to be Sacred when her father sent her into stasis. She should have been farther along than that, but the war with the Galra was seen as more important than her lessons. The Survivor quizzes her about what she knows and then starts in where those lessons left off: the fundamentals are the same between Sacred and Corrupted, after all. They’re mostly text; The Survivor rarely contacts Allura directly after their initial discussion.

And so it is, that, in secret, Allura is taught how to wield her magic - by one of Haggar’s Druids. The idea is that she will be brought into the Corrupted - rather than the Sacred - ways of magic. That, slowly, she will become more like the Druids: more interested in power, longevity, and survival than in anything else. She will bring herself under Haggar’s control willingly.

[vlotd]

The Beginning

Note that I’m not officially posting this yet. (It’ll go up on Ao3 when it’s ready.) But I thought I’d give y’all a taste of what I’m doing. I’m basically writing this as if it were the novelization of the hit show “Voltron: Legend of the Defender.” I’d like to eventually get “screencaps” (read: edits) in here, too, but that’s faaar down the road yet. 

So anyway, this may still change as things develop, but I was re-reading it just now and I thought y’all might like it. ^_^ So here’s how things kick off (for now):

           It was supposed to have been a pretty boring mission. They were taking ice core samples in the Argos crater when it happened. The landing site for their ship, the Amundsen, was 30 kliks from the crater, but that’s what the specially-modified ATVs were for. They’d set up the Argos drill the night before (well, by the ship’s reckoning; a full day on Kerberos was a little over 5 terran hours) and let it run overnight. There’d been some worry that, even set at a slower speed, it wouldn’t work in an extraterrestrial environment.

           Shiro should have known better.

           Commander Holt had modified this core drill himself. He and Matt had checked it over three times (each!) before deploying it. When they pulled the drill up, it seemed to have worked like a charm. Matt began to slowly slide the sample from the barrel.

           “Easy, son,” Commander Holt said. “This ice is delicate.”

           If Matt went much slower, they’d be here a lot longer than the two-month mission timeframe just getting this one sample out. But if he was put out by his father’s warning, he didn’t show it. (Or maybe he just couldn’t see it through the helmets of their space suits.) “Amazing. Isn’t this exciting, Shiro?”

           He smiled at their enthusiasm as he held the barrel steady for extraction. “You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do.”

           “This is history in the making,” the commander breathed in awe. “Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth.”

           “Think of it, Dad!” Matt said, turning his face towards his father as he continued to ease the core out. “We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens.”

           “My life’s work would be complete.”

           It was supposed to have been a pretty boring mission. And it had been so far, if any mission could be called “boring.” Shiro, piloting the Amundsen, had taken them up and out and far away to the edge of their solar system, where there was more dark than light, where your body shrunk as your soul expanded. The beauty of the universe was far more important to Shiro than ice core samples, but he was happy to be out here nonetheless.

           Until the ground beneath them started to shake.

           “What is that?” Commander Holt asked. “Seismic activity?”

           He didn’t know what it was, but he knew he didn’t like it. “We should get back to the ship,” he warned them.

           Matt pulled the sample free of the barrel and got to his feet as a large shadow fell over them. They all looked up.

           “What… what is that?” the commander asked.

           It was a spaceship of some sort, like nothing Shiro had ever seen before. It was dark – the better to blend in with the infinite black around them, he supposed – with purple running lights. It seemed almost like some sort of monster, rising up before them and staring them down. It seemed like he spent an eternity just staring at it as it slid closer, the only sound the rattling of the lights and equipment they’d set up.

           The commander was just as shocked as he was. “It can’t be.”

           What knocked Shiro out of his awe was seeing a glowing point of light spring into being near the front of the ship. It grew larger, began to pulse… and it was aimed right at them. “Run!”

           The Holts were still just standing there.

           Shiro grabbed Matt’s arm as he turned. “Come on, run!”

           That snapped them out of it. Matt dropped the core sample and they ran, leaving the ATV and the equipment. Shiro was already looking for cover, but there was nothing here in the crater. This part of it was long and narrow… they were sitting ducks, he knew it, but he had to try. Running was better than nothing and maybe… maybe there’d be something…

           The ground shuddered more, the delicate ice sundering beneath them. The world was bathed in a pink-purple light and Shiro was suddenly falling up. Chunks of ice and rock were pulled up with him, their equipment boxes, and, of course, his friends. The last thing he heard was their screams – his as well as theirs – before something knocked him out.

             Shiro was aware of sound before anything else. A strange voice was speaking in an even stranger language. Not English or Japanese. He knew enough Greek and Latin roots to know it wasn’t a Romance language. It didn’t sound Russian or German or Chinese – not that he could speak any of that, but he’d heard scraps of them, knew the kind of sounds those languages tended to make.

           He opened his eyes. Floor. Dark, cold metal floor. He was on his knees on it.

           It came back to him: the ship, the light, falling up…

           He raised his head, eyes wide to take in as much of where he was and what was going on as he could. He still had his helmet on, so his peripheral vision was still practically non-existent. But… there in front of him…

           Aliens. They had to be. The alien in front of him had their back to him, but their… skin? Was it their skin? was purple with dark ridges along the top instead of hair. They had some strange sort of uniform on. The screens and few other lights were still that odd pinky-purple. There was a dark face with glowing eyes on the screen in front of them. The voice he had been hearing – presumably the person in front of him – stopped.

           The… person on the screen with the glowing eyes spoke now. Their voice was deeper, a tad raspy, and it sent shivers along Shiro’s spine. He still had no idea what was being said, but there was something about the way this one spoke… The words weren’t as clipped, the tone was authoritative. This was someone in command, and someone very, very secure in that power.

           He turned to see Matt and the commander kneeling next to him… at gunpoint. Safe to assume he had a weapon at his back as well. It was hard to see his friends’ faces with their helmets on, too. They were breathing, but neither seemed to be conscious. I’d rather have the commander take point on this, but… He had no idea if they could understand English, but he had to try.

           “Please!” he called out. “We come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm!”

           The alien in front of him turned to look at him. He looked reptilian, with pointed ears and beady red eyes against yellow sclera. He did not look friendly or interested in diplomacy… or even as if he understood what Shiro was saying.

           “We’re unarmed!” he continued, but then something hit him hard in the back and he fell forward. His head bounced inside his helmet and darkness returned.

             When next he awoke, he was being dragged by his arms. A tall alien? Robot? A guard of some sort was walking alongside Matt, still in his suit. His arms seemed to be bound behind him; the guard had hold of one of them. At least he’s up and on his feet. Where’s the commander? He looked around and saw …doors. Doors with small windows in them. Eyes peered out and he heard different voices speaking in different languages, none of them familiar.

           He looked to the other side, trying to find the commander, trying to figure out what was going on. Large windows showed him strange architecture that went up and up, beyond his view. It seemed to go on forever. They… they looked like cells. Like a prison.

           It was supposed to have been a pretty boring mission.

[vlotd]

I’m working on V:LotD and I just realized: did we ever really find out why Lotor wanted into the rift so bad? I mean, yeah, sure, quintessence, but...

Quintessence is life energy, supremely powerful beyond any other energy source. Yeah, okay, I get that. Zarkon and Haggar want lots of it and so does Lotor. But... did they have an actual purpose? Or is it just the power that it represents?

Like, we see a Druid altering the quintessence in s1. Why? What was the purpose of that? It looks to me like Lots of Yellow (Original) Quintessence makes very little of the Purple (Altered) Quintessence. So it’s probably some sort of concentrating? Like Super-Concentrated Quintessence in some manner? Or else shifting it to Dark Quintessence and that alteration process is like a 3:1 ratio or something.

We see Zarkon getting a quintessence infusion from Haggar and talking about how, with this (purple) quintessence, he feels powerful enough to take on the paladins himself. But we never see or hear of that again. 

And what did Lotor want with it? We’re set up to question what he says, because we almost immediately see that (A) he’s good at telling people what they want to hear and (B) what you heard is not necessarily what Lotor meant. He says he wants quintessence because that’s what the Empire wants, because if the Empire can get it peacefully, everything will be good again. 

(Side note: Paladins, why do you give a damn about that? It still means the Empire would be in control of everything. A benevolent dictator is still a dictator. BUT that’s a separate writing issue.)

But we... literally don’t see anyone else in the Empire care about it? The only reason anyone in the Empire cares about quintessence is because Zarkon ordered them to get it for him & Haggar, near as we can tell. No one seems to want it for their own personal use or schemes to stockpile it behind the Emperor’s back. 

You could argue that Lotor wanted to provide shit-tons of quintessence in the hope of impressing Daddy because, as much as he may not want to admit it, he still desperately longs for the approval of the only parent he’s ever known. But... again, the narrative failed to provide us much there.

It feels like The Galra Empire Wants Quintessence, full stop, and Lotor wanting quintessence, too is all we need to know he’s a bad guy. That quintessence is just the MacGuffin. (Certainly s8 showed that quintessence can do whatever it is the writers want it to, including turn back time and restore entire realities.)

For V:LotD, I’m going to play up that “Zarkon getting quintessence-infused” thing. Uncorrupted Zarkon spoke of endlessly powerful ships for his people when he first saw what quintessence can do, but Zombie Zarkie & Haggar don’t seem to be willing to let anyone else play with their toy. Because they need it, they need regular infusions of life energy to extend their unnatural existence. I mean... they’re dead. They aren’t supposed to still be walking around. 

That’s also why the quintessence has to be converted first: their bodies can’t take the pure stuff anymore. They require the altered “Dark” quintessence. We’ve seen the pure, yellow quintessence heal - thanks for the demo, Keith! - so I think it tries to restore them to what they should be, which is dead. The dark, warped quintessence is what lets them continue on as they are.

And then there’s Lotor. He was exposed to massive amounts of quintessence in utero. I think, for him, the situation is even more dire: he needs quintessence to live. I think that, without regular quintessence infusions, he starts to weaken, to grow ill, and then, eventually, he’ll just die. But it’s more than that: quintessence doesn’t just keep him healthy, it makes him strong, makes him powerful. And, unlike his parents, he can take the pure stuff, because he hasn’t died. 

In the process of studying the Alteans and their culture, he finds out about Sacred Alteans and their ability to manipulate, channel, and store quintessence within themselves. He’s intrigued and starts studying the Alteans themselves, and that’s what leads to him using them in the way he does. That “super quintessence” he gets from them can be used to supercharge ships, sure, but he can also use it on himself, making himself obscenely powerful (until it wears off). 

And so what started as, “I need quintessence to live,” has slowly become, “I need more and more powerful quintessence in order to be powerful enough to destroy anyone who stands against me.” Because he’s been abused and neglected his whole life, and now he has a chance to truly fight back, to show them all - and maybe especially Daddy - that they were wrong about him... and that they should never, ever underestimate him again.

It isn’t the power itself that drove him mad - it’s the lashing out of an angry and hurt child. I’m going for the “cool motive, still murder” sort of thing here. But, if nothing else, it’s at least an explanation for WHY the villains all want quintessence so badly.