#and i decided i wanted to rewrite her character arc in crystalized

[k233-0]

who am i without my powers?

[xbomboi]

thoughts about Epic Winter, & reconciling its place in Ever After High’s story as a whole

i wanna talk about epic winter because it—arguably more than any other aspect of the franchise—is definitely ever after high’s ‘ugly duckling’ piece of media, so to speak.

now obviously, a lot of it has to do with being the final big installment in eah’s main story, its premise being a side quest that sidelines the main protagonists in favor of new characters who are comparably far less compelling as the show’s actual leads, leaving the audience without any actual closure to the story which they were following.

in isolation, epic winter isn’t that terrible (though i think most would agree its better parts are the ones centered around already-established characters as opposed to the new ones), but in context it leaves a sour taste.

i entirely understand why anyone rewriting the series would either heavily rework it, only keep more important story beats such as daring’s arc & faybelle’s side plot, or completely remove the outing altogether.

in my case, however, deleting epic winter isn’t an option; my intentions are to continue where ever after high left off, and organically finish what they started. that means epic winter stays in tact, sanity be damned.

with that writing handicap, i can’t edit any pre-existing media in the ever after high animated lineup, which has forced me to brainstorm ways to recontextualize the purpose for epic winter’s place in the story and make the time spent on its story retroactively feel, at the very least, a little more worth it.

and the solution i found comes from viewing all that is introduced in the special through chehkov's gun.

(if you're unfamiliar, chehkov's gun is a narrative rule that everything introduced in a story must be done so with a purpose to serve. i.e. if you give a character a gun, they must shoot it.)

what's done is done; if we have to go on this detour following crystal winter and the top of the world, so be it. but let's pocket it like a tool that can be used later.

so here's my idea: bring crystal and the winter kingdom back into the story later down the line when the events of the story have reached a far more grandiose scale.

basically, i think the best way to use crystal would be when the story reaches a point of confronting and opposing the ruling powers in the fairytale world. having become the new snow queen, naturally, she'd be included in a gathering of the rulers of the kingdoms in the fairytale world.

i want there to be a moment in the story where the ruling powers gather together, and we see familiar faces return (including ones that we'd be introduced to after epic winter but prior to this), such as snow white, king charming, the queen of hearts, and of course, crystal.

with her outlook that would most reasonably be more aligned with the students at ever after high, she could end up being one of-if not the sole person-those present to voice opposition to whatever unfavorable verdict the rest of the rulers have made, as it would serve as direct conflict for the protagonists. she'd find herself outnumbered and ultimately her voice holding little to no power to sway the decision (especially being disregarded for her rather young age). afterwards we'd see her reflect on her frustrations with her colleagues and their rule of the system, thinking about it in terms of what kind of ruler she wants to be, before seeing her find determination towards something, though we aren’t yet shown what she actually decides to do.

the next time we'd see her would then come a little later, the conflict reaching the most dire circumstances. all hope is lost for our heroes; raven, apple, and co. would be down on their luck against odds they're unable to overcome. and that's when crystal would show up to offer her support, providing the numbers of her kingdom as allies to help better the odds. (she wouldn't be the only ally to show up, as this would be a 'getting help from all the friends we made along the way' ordeal. she would simply be one of said friends.)

crystal's help would ultimately play a part in winning the conflict. and because the audience would be familiar with crystal and the winter kingdom to a decent extent way prior to that point, the inclusion of it in the present fight at hand wouldn't feel like an ass-pull or a deus ex machina of sorts; it would make sense and feel earned for the most part.

and i think that's honestly the best thing to be made of epic winter's main adventure. we can't change it or fix it as it is, but we can create a payoff for it all later down the line. think of it like begrudgingly doing chores that lack any enjoyment factor, only to find that afterwards, you're glad you did.

so, yeah, that's my idea for how to give epic winter a genuine purpose. but i'm just spitballing.

[starwalker03]

Im curious about your Ric arc rewrite. Would you share of ideas you had for it?

man. it's all loose soup in my brain rn hang on lemme get a ladle.

So let me preface this with the fact that I actually haven't read the Ric arc. And I also haven't read a lot of comics over all (cause there wasn't a comic book store in my hometown and comics are not exactly easy to get in to).

So first, a quick recap of the RIc Grayson storyline:

Dick Grayson is shot in the head by KGBeast, which does not kill him but does send him into a coma. during his time in the hospital, a member of the court of owls becomes his doctor and uses a fancy magic crystal to alter his memories. this is what causes the amnesia.

The intention was for the memory alterations to become a means of changing his memories so that his grandfather, William Cob, could manipulate him into becoming a Talon.

He leaves behind the family and the title of Nightwing and becomes a taxi driver in Bludhaven who, according to wikipedia, "frequents bars" which is just another way of saying "became a borderline alcoholic with no real social life".

Eventually, Cob gets a hold of him and does, in fact, make him a Talon, and he breaks out of it after a group of people take on the Nightwing mantle and he comes across them in battle. He spares one of them cause they have a family/kids or smth.

After this, Joker gets a hold of the crystal and uses it to make Dick think he's Joker's adopted son "Dickie Boy" so he can use him to fight the bats.

Alright, we're all caught up? splendid. Along the line here he gets a girlfriend named Bea, as well, but nothing of particular note is coming up about her in the summaries I've found.

So my main points to change/alter/extrapolate on here would be:

make Bea a real character with agency

Not use every comic book means necessary to turn Dick into a stereotypical cliche of a toxic man

change the Dickie Boy storyline

make Dick stay stuck with the family a bit longer so the impact to the dynamics of the fam can actually be explored

So let's begin.

Dick Grayson is a character that constantly has to act as a middle ground or source of morality or otherwise emotional support to those around him, especially the batfamily. We're seeing currently the way the gotham war of Batman/Catwoman is being affected because Dick has finally decided that he is done trying to fix Batman's stupid angry controlling traumatized brain because frankly Bruce won't let him and better yet Bruce doesn't want him to. And if that's how it's gonna be than Dick has now realised it'd be better off if he just took care of his family, sans Bruce, and did his best to keep Bruce in line (not killing people out of uncontrolled anger).

I think the Ric Grayson storyline could be a really good part of him coming to this decision.

Dick wakes up in the hospital with amnesia, that would stay the same. I think it can also stay the same that the Court of Owls could be at fault for that (maybe this time not with a bogus magic crystal though). Dick is shown throughout comics to have trouble sometimes struggling with anger, but nowadays he can usually control it. with amnesia he cannot.

I think it would be important to settle on an actual point in his life that he remembers up to, namely his parent's death. After his parents died he was filled with the need for vengeance, and when Bruce took him in he was able to learn to redirect that into trying to make sure that no other kid had to feel the way he did. Vengeance versus Justice/honouring your parents memory. regress his memory to having just watched his parents die, then he's raw enough that the court would, in fact, be able to do something with him.

In fact, get rid of the ex machina of memory loss altogether. some vague handwaving about head trauma and surgery and court sciences to say that they ruined his memory, and that's it. There's no fancy tool that you wave around and excuse everything.

This would be a great way to welcome new readers too! because you could start the stroyline with a recap/redo (allowing for any retcons to his origin necessary) of how Dick became Robin. Then it opens on him waking up with the amnesia. He has to remeet everyone important in his life, which means new readers would be able to very quickly get the gist of who all these people are (and comics have little boxes for references to things, so they could include references like *see [insert comic title and number here] for [insert character name here]).

He's struggling, because the last thing he remembers is his parents dying. He's able to relearn a lot of things quickly, like motor skills, langauge, other such general things (which they do briefly show in the comics I think, so props to that) but the actual memories still allude him.

Bruce says he's going to spend time with the family in the manor, then, which he figures is fair enough. It's not like he has a lot of other options.

Over the course if his time in the manor he is constantly bombarded with information, and people keep looking to him for emotional support/regulation and expecting him to fill a role he no longer can. this all boils over in an argument between Dick and Bruce, because Bruce needs Nightwing back, he's far too important of a piece in the overall machine that is this family, but Dick can't give him that.

Eventually he goes it alone, and he meets Bea along the way.

So now, he is revisting his first trauma without the emotional development that allowed him to move past the idea of vengeance, he doesn't remember any of the people he loves, and he also has a sour taste in his mouth about them all because they keep expecting him to just be better. all his bridges are burned.

This becomes a new origin of Nightwing, for the new readers, and a means for old readers to see something new in something old.

I'd give Bea a real backstory, and she and Dick both bond over their wish to get closure over something that happened in their youth. they lean on each other, so the eventual romance has a good grounds to build on.

In Dick's newly fueled urge to get revenge on Tony Zucco, the court would have plenty to work with. When he's eventually taken by William Cob, I'd have Bea follow clues about him and his belongings to find his family so she can save Dick from whoever it was that kidnapped him.

Additionally: Bea could be one of the civilians who, in the wake of crime in Bludhaven skyrocketing from Nightwing's absence, decided to try their hand at being Nightwing. Which would be an interesting foil for Dick, who has left it behind. And would also make for a funny moment when she inevitably reveals this to Dick and he has to explain everything.

The person Dick spares could then be Bea, which adds more tension to the romantic subplot, and would be how she figures out who/what kidnapped him. Which is when she'd go and track down Bruce and the fam and make them come save Dick.

Things could reach a climax by the court bringing in Tony Zucco. Have William dramatically explain to another guy 'years ago, Batman convinced Dick not to kill Tony Zucco, and he became a hero with such deeply set morals that we couldn't hope to manipulate him. But now we have stripped him of that, and he will have another chance to make this decision. And this time he will choose the right one'

Dick will, of course, not kill Zucco. It is at this time that the fam comes crashing in to save him. he frees Zucco, realising that it was never Bruce who made him a good person, never Bruce that he owed his morals and his good heart and his emotional strength, but himself, he had it in him all along, and he knows that killing isn't the right thing to do.

wham bam thank you ma'am story over. Some loose threads to tie up about Dick becoming Nightwing again and everything, but that's okay, that's what the next issue is for. It sets up a perfect sequel that is still beginner friendly but also has enough to it that long-time readers could enjoy it. Dick has managed to start getting his memorie sback now but he's still coming across flashbacks here and there, he's moving back into Bludhaven, he's redetermining what it means to be Nightwing, and he's cleaning up Bludhaven from the crimes that have skyrocketed in his absence.

He also then has the civillians who took up the Nightwing role, including Bea, who can act as a cast of new friendly faces as opposed to trying to drag up old Nightwing side-characters and reintroduce them to everyone.

The Dickie Boy storyline can be changed. Dick doesn't need two different comic lines of him being manipulated and mind controlled into becoming a glorified servant for the bad guys one after the other. one is enough. this also means the Court is cemented as Dick's bad ending/angsty backstory/villain persona stuff, y'know?

You know which robin already has a story as being Joker's adopted son? Tim! Tim already has that! Joker Junior is a thing! and people loved it! Let him do that.

Joker has stated in comics before, I believe, that the reason he hates the first robin is he could never get his paws on him and hurt him the way he did the other robins, which is such a fun way of having a different relationship between Dick's robin and joker as compared to the other robins! keep that! you don't need to change that!

And also, it means Dick gets a moment, fresh out of his amnesia arc, where there's a really bad awful thing happening to his family, which could be the catalyst for him remembering more things.

[safekeeperscosm]

tell me EVERYTHING about the SVTFOE cleaved AU, it's so good

OUGHFJFK UMM.. OKAY!!

Cleaved AU is a self-indulgent canon-divergent hypothetical rewrite @saik0m0che and I have been working on (passively 💀) since the end of svtfoe s3. but I've always had this sort of idea/concept from mid s2

other than maybe a few minor changes for s1-2, post battle for mewni is straight up where I take the reigns

first of all. Toffee doesn't die.

but star DOES still "kill him" at the end of BFM, it's just that I refuse to let his soul pass on (for unfinished business!)

the premise here takes from s2's emotionally charged magic of star's wand crystal being cleaved apart, to then cleaving her & toffee's souls together. which means they share all of each other's pain haha! so bcuz they're together, you can't kill or crystallize toff since that would harm star

but how? idk man something abt the two of them being in the realm of dying butterfly magic at the same time. something abt how toffee is no longer flesh, only decaying essence. something abt how star sorta died and came back to life just as she saved the realm. he's like a parasite!

I hc he wasn't gonna live long after BFM if star hadn't killed him off anyway. but still :(

not only does this "murderer" have to live with star at the castle (likely in the dungeon first, they'd want to break the bond of their souls), he's missing 90% of his memories — because star brutally obliterated him & he spent a very long time in the magic realm alone chanting the same spell over and over again

on the bright side, eclipsa later finds company in him, even doe he doesn't remember her (but very much trusts her 🥺)

oh yeah he & eclipsa dated in the past and became good friends after (Globgor was the one who introduced them shsghsj)

second. Glossaryck stays dead.

or rather isn't physically there with the main cast. he can't die, he just decided to let things unfold and watch at a distance

he does come around for Meteora's Lesson

rest in pudding is when star & toffee are officially cleaved! she starts asphyxiating from time to time after the funeral scenes and especially while chasing Glossy's "ghost"/reflections. he leads her to a crystallized toffee and THAT'S when they meet again. it also gives me a fun reason to do a parallel scene (redraw lol) of moon & eclipsa

you just KNOW rhombulus is gonna go through the hardest time here and he is my boy <3

lastly, SEPTARSIS!!!

this needs some episode rearranging, but maybe after Butterfly Trap, star & toffee go on a trip to septarsis with yvgeny to find a way to cleave their souls and potentially get toffee's memories back. star introduces herself as Star Johansen since everyone there hates the Butterflys. she sticks with the name from that point on

toffee does regain his memories (but can't recall them all at once, it's a process that takes time) and star is met with the revelation that he & celena were in love, making him her great great grandfather. it's also revealed how toffee managed to make the magic realm decay, and that celena was the one who helped him

oh yeah. other things;

marco pretends he's fine for his friends & family, trying to hide the fact he misses star, so his parents convince him to be the exchange student for once. but since he has dimensional scissors anyway, he visits every 1-2 weeks? not sure abt jarco. long distance? still breakup? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

he might still be an unofficial squire cause that's for fun

Pony Head CAN get a prosthetic horn. but she actually goes through some kind of character development 😭

Ludo ??? I wanna do something for him I just dunno what. Yvgeny doesn't leave so ???

the Meteora arc ??? is paced better ???

Tom is fine Tom is great

this is ofc mostly s3 as s4 makes me so angry and bored fgshjs,, in the end magic is still "destroyed" and that's how star & toffee are finally free of each other. toffee gets to fight & kill mina while the redemption spell is cast, and he's reunited with celena to peacefully pass on :)

also the MHC aren't killed off nor is "Earthni" a thing 🤮

I'm definitely forgetting a lot of other stuff! plus the au's not wholly developed aha

[aethergalaxias]

ninjago crystallized rewrite (kinda)

UGH so i guess i deleted that post i made where i asked people about complaints they had about crystallized??? so here i am making a brand new post instead. please kill me

spoilers below!!!

harumi

give her a consistent character please. please. please. ple

redemption arc?????

im giving her a redemption arc instead of keeping her evil because i think thats what the writers were aiming for,,, it just didnt turn out well :/

also i feel like keeping her as a villain would be way easier so i wanna do the opposite >:)

no llorumi. get away. die 

in this version shes only working for the overlord because he brought her back to life and she doesnt want to die again

a lot less cruel; shows genuine regret over her actions 

still doesnt like lloyd, but willing to work with him to get rid of the overlord

refused to explode the ninja in ep 14 which led to the overlord replacing her with clouse (yes. clouse is here) as his second in command

some shit happens with pythor and harumi finds out that he freed the great devourer. harumi gets pissed and decides to betray the overlord

instead of lloyd escaping on his own harumi helps free him and they escape the temple together. emotional conversation ensues. harumi officially leaves the council and becomes an ally

shes down fighting with the main gang during the climax instead of at the overlord’s floating island thing

after helping to rebuild the monastery she pulls a garmadon and goes off on her own to go on a journey of healing and self-reflection or whatever

or she goes to jail and then goes on a journey of healing and self-reflection or whatever. consequences babeyyyyy

i mean i could also just keep her as a villain

i feel like that would be a lot easier. not rewriting a lot here since keeping her evil takes way less effort than giving her a legitimate redemption arc

getting rid of all the scenes where shes like “noooo dont kill lloyd D: possible redemption arc?? oh no wait nvm im evil again” shes just consistently evil now

lloyd doesnt take her with him when he leaves the temple she just jumps out after him. because she is insane <3

uhhh idk what to do with her at the end. she either dies or goes back to prison

problem one fixed. onto the next one.

oni lloyd oni lloyd oni lloyd

it was built up to be this huge thing and we got like five seconds of him??? unacceptable. where is my boy??? let him be angry and go feral and destroy stuff he deserves it

while escaping the council lloyd goes partial oni. he only realizes this once he ends up in the river, which ends up freaking him out, which ends up with him being unable to revert back to Normal Human Form. not full oni at this point hes just got like. the horns and fangs and stuff

(he stays like this until the final battle because why not)

(he stays like this AFTER the final battle because why not)

lloyd is like “oh no im a monster :( what have i become :( this is horrible :(“ until garmadon tells him to stfu and starts training him

(training goes better in this version since lloyd’s stuck with the oni traits which leads him to be a little more accepting of them)

episode stuff happens. yea h

uh uh overlord “kills” garmadon, lloyd goes batshit and turns full oni, Fucking Murders the overlord, crap now hes lost control of his oni form oh no. garmadon is freaking out, garmadon turns into an oni, the elemental dragon shows up, cool epic battle, lloyd regains control, yayyy happy ending cue the music

post battle he still keeps the horns and stuff. its part of his acceptance arc or whatever. im a very big fan of creacher lloyd okay

problem two fixed. man i am killing it

um uh those were my two major problems i guess i’ll just put minor stuff here

nya doesnt get her powers back. consequences for being turned into the ocean. sorry bbg 😔 no more elemental powers all the ninja are average human beings except for zane who is still a robot

“bbbut then howd the merlopians get the message that they needed help???” idk power of friendship. someone sends them an email. nya just yells it really loudly. general Bad Vibes or smth

nyas still a ninja bc like you dont need elemental powers to be a ninja. or something inspirational like that idk

pixal stays as samurai x because nyas too busy being an epic girlboss 

the elemental dragon IS the og 4 ninja. they had an awesome magical girl transformation or whatever. dw they turn back to people afterwards just without their powers

clouse should be there. clouse needs to be there. clouse is revived as part of the council and becomes a major antagonist

lloyd legitimately thought his friends were dead in that one episode??? and then he found out they werent and he was like oh ok cool :D ??? anyway now theres a scene after nya and wu rescue him where hes like hhhhhhow the fuck. are you alive i thhought you all got murdered and then he has like 50 emotional breakdowns at once bc i! like! suffering!!!!!!!

wu’s wing mechs are actual dragon wings because garmadon got wings therefore wu should also get wings. i think thats only fair

wu DIES. he falls off the temple and DOESNT land in the water and the newspaper kids DONT find him. sorry dude its for the greater good (lloyds character arc again)

the new ninjas actually do stuff. they are helpful!!! annoying but helpful. also they dont get turned to crystal right off the bat wtf writers

vania gets lines. and a cool emotional fight with her father

lloyd’s problem with his father learning empathy is less focused on the fact that he’s part oni and more focused on the fact that he was literally brought back as a violent destructive overlord hellbent on murdering his son and conquering ninjago

i get rid of the birthday card line. like i get the significance behind it but you could have picked literally anything else??? turned the emotional moment around real fast 

also lloyd and garmadon get a better reconciliation arc instead of just arguing Forever

minipix gets a name goddammit. she literally saved their lives and they’re like “oh yeah minipix 7 is a good name” what the hell. why 7. are there 6 other minipixes who've saved your ass from exploding?? yeah i dont think so

that is ALL I HAVE RN ill probably come up with some other stuff later

[noperopesaredope]

SvtFoE Rhombulus Rewrite (Pt. 5)

Me: *Falls from the ceiling and onto to floor*

Me: “Hey my amazing Chimeras, it’s been a hot minute, huh? About...” *Checks calender before ripping it up* “......at least a day.”

Sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I wrote the first few parts a while back during a week or so long hyperfixation spree before hopping to something else. But I’m mostly back now! Still might take a bit to get some of the other parts out, since planning the episodes out has been a bit of a challenge, and that will also be the case for the other parts. But I’m gonna try my best because I legitimately like this AU I’ve created and feel that the people who enjoy it deserve an ending. I can’t just create a character arc and not go through with it, after all! *Side-eyes the OG show*

So, this is Part 2 of Season 4 for my Rhombulus Rewrite! Thank you so much to everyone who has liked, reblogged, and followed along with all my past posts describing this AU thus far. If you do enjoy this AU, then please remember to like all of those posts! Now, I need to explain something important before getting on with the rest of this thing: I have two potential endings for Season 4 in my Rhombulus rewrite. That’s why I will be making a Part 6, which will have one of the alternate endings (this ending I have dubbed “Closest to Canon”), and then a Part 7, which will have the other, slightly more fun and good ending (this ending has been dubbed “Canon is My B*tch Now”). This post will be a continuation of the previous one, but the endings will split off at “Mama Star”. Hope you enjoy this part!

Season 4 (Part 2):

- So I forgot to add something important to my last part of the rewrite. Well, okay, the particular episode isn’t all that important, but the part I’m adding might be a bit important. So, as I said in my last post, in “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” (an episode that I made), it is revealed the the MHC basically want Rhombulus to spy on Eclipsa, so I decided to add some stuff to actually show that a bit, starting with “The Ponyhead Show!”

- Rhombulus might offer to host a small segment on the show as an excuse to follow Eclipsa around. In the background during certain scenes, we might be able to see Rhombulus hiding behind things or sneakily taking notes during Eclipsa scenes. He’ll also seem a bit nervous around he, probably due to feeling guilty about spying on her.

- Back to the actually ones that I should be talking about.

- I was not planning to add Rhombulus into “Cornball!”, but oh my god, I’m so glad I did. This isn’t even really gonna be a Rhombulus episode, but it’s gonna have some stuff for him in it. First off, he decides to check out the cornball match because 1) Star asked if he wanted to come and he had nothing else to do, 2) he really likes cornball, and 3) he was curious to see how this Monster-Mewman intergrated teams cornball match would go. He realizes he doesn’t really have a strong understanding of Monster-Mewman relations and wants to learn more about the whole mess, especially since he and the MHC are so highly involved in it.

- Rhombulus tries to find a seat, but some monsters recognize him and choose to avoid him. He then tries to sit near some Mewmans, but is not fully recognized and is seen as a monster. This is the first time Rhombulus has ever fully experienced what it’s like to be a monster in Mewni, and it shakes him a bit at how cold and even cruel Mewmans can be. This whole sequence is done without Rhombulus ever saying a word.

- He decides to just sit somewhere by himself behind the statium, when a small monster girl appears next to him and compliments his snake tails, saying they look cool. Rhombulus awkwardly thanks her, and compliments her tail as well.

- He then asks where the kid’s parents are (as this child is extremely small and should not be alone). The child casually responds that her mama is dead. This is a very awkward thing to hear, so Rhombulus carefully asks where her dad is. The child says “he got crystalized. I haven’t seen him in years, and I’m pretty sure I’m never gonna see him again. I miss him a lot.”

- Rhombulus softly asks why her dad got crystalized. She says that she doesn’t know. She and her auntie tried to find out, but they were denied. But whatever it was, she knows her papa is innocent, and someday, she’ll save him.

- This is important. Very, very important.

- One important thing about Rhombulus is that since he represents childhood, he is really great at getting along with little kids. So he asks if she wants to do something else besides sit around.

- The little girl jumps up at this, and she takes him over to meet her friends, who are joining in on the match. She asks if he wants to play too. Rhombulus says he’d rather just watch, but that he’ll cheer her on. She nods and runs off to join the game.

- As he watches the kids play, Star might ask Rhombulus what he thinks of all this. He pauses a moment before saying “kids are wiser than adults, aren’t they?” Star agrees.

- Before he leaves, Rhombulus asks the little girl what her name is, and she says that her name is Alita. He asks her what her dad looks like, and she tells him. Rhombulus then tells Alita that he knows the guy who crystalizes people, and maybe he can talk to him and see if they can let her dad go. Alita asks him to promise he’ll get her papa home as soon as possible if he gets freed. He pinky swears, and they part ways. This will come up again later.

- So I included Reynaldo in my all new original episode; “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”. And because he’s in “Meteora’s Lesson”, I might as well talk a bit about that. There is a chance Reynaldo will mention that Rhombulus visited, which Glossaryck will only barely react to, saying that he’s not surprised. Reynaldo also mentions that it’d be nice if Glossaryck came to visit him every once in a while, but Glossaryck basically waves it off. :(

- Rhombulus and Star will not get into a fight during “Junkin Janna”, and Rhombulus will actually appear to feel bad for wasting Star and Eclipsa’s time, and won’t be accusatory towards Eclipsa. So that’s that episode.

- I also decided to add a change that is both major and minor, because as you will see this season, I am changing more than just Rhombulus. Sure, I’m not gonna change everything that I don’t like about Season 4 or feel like they should have changed, but I decided to use this opprotunity to make a few things just a little bit better in my eye.

- This is that change: Kelly and Marco will not break up. Now, I will explain this decision more in my rewriting of the climax/finale, but I just want to stop the shipping drama and change things up a bit, as well as make most fans a bit happier in the process. Kelly was done dirty and deserves better. Starco ended up being a mess and it ended up ruining the impact of the finale for me. So I decided, why not just keep Kelco together?

- The next episode Rhombulus appears in is the extremely important “Cornonation” of course! Now, for this episode, a lot of things will stay the same and a lot of things will be different, particularly the ending.

- While the first half of the episode will remain mostly the same, little details all throughout it will be different.

- First off, Rhombulus won’t get very accusatory of Eclipsa. In fact, he might at some point take the rest of the MHC aside to try and convince them that Eclipsa is innocent. Hekapoo says that there is no way she isn’t the one who did it. Rhombulus swears that he’s been keeping an eye on her the whole day, and at no point did he see Eclipsa try to free Globgor.

- Hekapoo insists that there are no other person it could possibly be, so they will still need to keep an eye on her, which Rhombulus is very reluctant about.

- While guarding her, Rhombulus (while stroking his tails and looking away no less🤔) tells Eclipsa that, for the record, he thinks she’s innocent. She looks at him a bit funny, but thanks him. He also lets Star talk to Eclipsa alone with no questions asked.

- When Star comes back with Globgor, Rhombulus looks kinda nervous and afraid. Rather than Rhombulus proudly declaring that he will crystalize Globgor, Omni will prompt Rhombulus to perform the crystalization process, which he will be slightly reluctant about.

- While Eclipsa and Globgor see each other again and have that cute moment, Hekapoo will say “all right, enough stalling. Rhombulus, crystalize her.” Rhombulus will panic for a second, before starting to crystalize her, causing Globgor to break out, and the whole fight thing will ensue, with all that stuff being mostly the same.

- When Globgor says that the MHC can crystalize him, as long as they let his family go, Rhombulus will hesitate at this, clearly conflicted, before slowly aiming at Globgor. That’s when River inturrupts and makes the whole small speech about being a dad.

- Omni and Hekapoo protest this, saying that Eclipsa needs to be imprisoned for her crimes. But, in a surprising turn of events, Rhombulus speaks up against this, saying that the MHC (including himself) are pretty bad judges, and probably shouldn’t have a say in this. Plus, he’s pretty sure Eclipsa didn’t do it.

- Omni says that it is their duty to imprison the couple, but Rhombulus reminds them that actually, that’s RHOMBULUS’S job, and only he has the power to crystalize people. And he refuses to use it on them without at least giving them a fair trial or something like that.

- Everyone is slightly shooketh, and there is a pause until Eclipsa suggests letting the people decide. Then the whole scene plays out mostly the same, and it all pretty much works out. Omni and Hekapoo are a little moody about it, but accept this.

- After the cornonation, Globgor approaches Rhombulus in private room away from prying ears to ask him a small, simple question: “Why did you free me?” Rhombulus nervously chuckles, asking if he meant why he didn’t recrystalize him during the Cornonation.

- Globgor says no, and that Rhombulus knows what he really means. Rhombulus denies this at first, but he’s never really been good at lying, and Globgor pushes him into confessing that yes, he was the one to set free Globgor at the Monster Temple.

- Rhombulus admits he’s made mistakes in the past, and there’s probably a lot of people he unjustly imprisoned. He realized this recently and felt really bad about it, and because of his impulsive nature, while standing in the Monster Temple, without thinking, he decided to free Globgor. What was the worst that could happen? As soon as Globgor stormed off, Rhombulus immediately began to regret his decision, but didn’t know what to do about it. So he didn’t say anything.

- Globgor understands this, and thanks him for reuniting him with his family, even if it all ended up a little messy.

- I’m not exactly sure how to end “Cornonation”, but pretend I wrote down a good ending to the episode. Maybe some Mina foreshadowing or something. I’m such a good writer. Totally not just telling people to finish the rest themselves. Amazing. Fantastic. I’ll win all the awards.

- Instead of “Britta’s Tacos”, we should have gotten an episode centered around Tom and his trip, which will explain his decision to break up with Star. Wouldn’t come to the conclusion that he should break up with her, but would come to the conclusions that lead up to him choosing to break up with her. I’d like an episode like that. But I’m not gonna write it down, because I feel like someone else should do it. Still, pretend that in this AU, that episode exists.

- Sidenote: The B-Plot to that episode would be Marco coming back to Earth to introduce Kelly to his family, and maybe Star comes along? During that, we can catch up with the characters we left behind on Earth. The joke about Mariposa being a Starco baby will not happen, because ew wtf.

- “Gone Baby Gone” is a cute episode. But it is also expendable. Which is why I shall be replacing it with a different wholesome episode centered around Rhombulus character growth and also Alita. I’m not sorry.

- This new episode is called “Crystal Children”. The synopsis for this episode would probably be “Rhombulus follows through on a promise.” That’s basically the episode in a way. But it’s also so much more than that. It’s the near completion of his whole arc up to this point.

- We start out with Rhombulus talking rapidly in front of a bulletin board that looks more like a conspiracy theorist board. He is talking about ways they could change the justice system in Mewni. This part is a bit short, but very rambling and slightly confusing. He finally says, “so, watcha think?” and we cut to Hekapoo and Omni, who are sitting on chairs as his audience. There is a pause before Hekapoo says “no” while Omni says “absolutely not.” Rhombulus, clearly devestated, exclaims “WHAT?! But why!?!”

- Omni states that Mewni’s current system works perfectly fine, and there is no point in overcomplicating things and changing it. Hekapoo agrees, and Rhombulus is forced to pack up and go home.

- In the next scene, Rhombulus sitting in his lair and looking around at all the frozen monsters, which he feels bad about. He sighs and says “I wish I could free you guys. Then I could make up for everything.” He sits there for a few seconds before popping up and exclaiming “wait! I control the crystals! I can do whatever I want!” He runs over to a crystal and is about to unfreeze it when one of his snakes holds him back and reminds him that it’s probably a bad idea to just randomly unfreeze anyone, and he needs to think more carefully.

- They decide to instead freeze someone that they are much more sure isn’t evil. Rhombulus remembers Anita, and goes to look for her dad. He wanders around the lair for a bit before spotting him. Anita’s dad is admittedly pretty scary looking, and there is a moment where Rhombulus questions if this is really her dad. But he checks around, and it really is him. Rhombulus then has a moment of unsurety about freeing Anita’s dad, but he gathers his resolve and does it anyways.

- Anita’s dad wakes up in flight mode and immediately begins to scramble away from Rhombulus, who is also caught off guard. But Rhombulus manages to calm him down, and explains that he is taking him back to his daughter again.

- They then have a little escape adventure thing together (IDK I don’t have a full plan for this episode and really just wanted to get this post out) in which Rhombulus learns more about monsters and Anita’s dad (who will be named Crelin) learns about Rhombulus.

- It ends with Anita and Crelin being reunited, and Anita thanks Rhombulus for doing the right thing.

So that’s the end of this part! Hopefully my next part will come out soon!

[shivasdarknight]

#wolqotd So I haven't really made a decision on a ship for my Wol/NPC. How did you guys decide on who you wanted your Wols to be with? Was it a certain moment? Or just something that made too much sense?

So, as a forward: I did not go into this with any ships in mind. When I first started to think about Surkukteni as a character, some of that came to mind but I was already midway through Stormblood. Misaki was barely a character, and I'd only just started to play around with ideas for Katsuro - the others were just...not there or just hollow shells (Sera and Teo weren't, Gwen was on Crystal, and V'ahnie is. non existent).

Surkie was always meant to be sapphic. When I first started writing her, I knew I wanted to lean into sapphic stuff but I wasn't set on her identity just yet. This all came with developing her character because I found that it was easier for me to figure out romantic stuff once her character was actually concrete. This is also how I ruled people out.

Yugiri was a first consideration mostly because I personally thought she was cute, but the Steppe Arc made that difficult to stomach so she was no longer a consideration. This was also when I was lamenting the fact that Ysayle's canonically dead because she would've been perfect.

I go off of chemistry and narrative similarities, so the first thing that actually clicked was one I didn't want to click: Surkie/Estinien. I was still pissed at this douchebag for Heavensward and how he treated Ysayle, and again I was really hoping for something sapphic but was getting frustrated that out of the entire cast that was still alive, it was him that actually worked really well with Surkie. Similar narrative points, similar drives, easy rivals and competitive dumbasses. They embodied a lot of the stuff that I enjoyed in ships - especially m/f shit like Ashitaka/San - and I kinda compensated for a long time with them being FWB but not officially together.

Aymeric was thrown in there as a why not, but that developed into a very different kind of relationship that I was off and on with until I settled on their coworkers dynamic and working through shared issues - it also clicked more when I finally said Fuck It and made Aymeric trans. The deciding factor on keeping him in her relationship was the fact that they began to have chemistry once I stepped out of the usual modes people take with Aymeric and focused on coworkers, queerness, and frankly politics.

It's also for this same reason as to why I kept G'raha out when he used to initially be in there. At first I thought it was fun that they had parallel desires - she was an adventurer wanting to get into archaeology, he's an anthropologist (archaeology is under anthropology) who wanted to be an adventurer - but the more I developed them the less they worked out? Like yeah, similar desires and all and he's a political figure but they only really work as friends. Them being romantic felt like I was acting out the usual tropes and I couldn't really feel out any chemistry between them. Friends, absolutely. Romantic partners? ...Eh.

AND THEN I GOT OVER MYSELF ABOUT STICKING STRICLY TO CANON LMAO

So anyways, Ysayle.

I had a lot of hangups about what to do with her because I only got more attached the further I got away from Heavensward. Everything that she stood for resonated greatly with Surkie and the lack of her in MSQ - especially when it was relevant - was deeply apparent. So eventually I just got kind of sick of writing her as a was and began my rewrite. Shipping her with Surkie just kind of came naturally as that way into sapphic stuff I'd wanted initially, but I didn't want her entire thing to be based around being in a wolnpc ship, yeah? Like. She's still Ysayle, she's still got her own stuff.

The decision to have Surkie have feelings for her is yet again chemistry, but the deeper relationship and narrative emphasis - such as perpetually reincarnating soulmates - came later on as I built Ysayle up and even made her an ancient self in Khione. I made Cylva her shard, and that got elaborated in Surkie's fling with Cylva. Philomène is her Fourth shard that interacts with Saoirse. Macchi is her immediate past life and ties her to both Bahamut and Tiamat.

The more I fleshed this out, the more the relationship became entwined with narrative nonsense about cyclical relationships that end in tragedy except this one with Surkie and Ysayle because Surkie fought against the script. This became the core ship because of how intrinsically tied it is to the story even though both can stand on their own. So much revolves around these two - trauma or otherwise - and yeah it's the most important thing in the story.

Venat comes attached to that as the lover of Charon (Surkie) and Khione (Ysayle). I'd seen some people do stuff with Venat/Ysayle (which I Adore) and thought it could be fun to include Venat in the stuff with surkysayle. Venat and Surkie had some nice similarities and chemistry, and I wound up really liking the idea that Surkie and Ysayle have Venat's traveler's mark because that connection back to Charon and Khione. So beyond just chemistry, it ended up deeply affecting the wider story. It's another core ship that comes into play much later on.

Heustienne is new and it's mostly because I wanna give her more spotlight. Also, Ysayle/Heustienne is cute. I still don't know how she fits in with the Engaged Quad (Surkie, Estinien, Ysayle, Aymeric - Aymeric proposed right as they left for Sharlayan), but I do know that she's at least with Surkie and Ysayle. It's definitely also fun as she stands as one of the three folks affected by the Dragonsong War with ties to the Knights Dragoon that all got aetherically fucked somehow - Estinien obviously, but also Melisande who's an oc of mine. Having her with Surkie and Ysayle fits a lot thematically, especially since I'm making her a Scion and engaging with ENW.

Yotsuyu was originally in Surkie's relationships due to how similar they are (and also because I like Yotsuyu/Ysayle), but that similarity wound up being what made me reconsider. Seeing as Surkie's captain/father is Doman, I don't think she could look past what she did even if she feels for Yotsuyu. She's sympathetic, keeps her alive, and helps her start a new life elsewhere but I don't think she could find herself romantically involved whatsoever.

That's where Melisande comes in. Melisande is a bastard of Ishgard who loathes her homeland and has no desires on ever going back - she'd rather see them burn. In this way, she and Yotsuyu are Fucking Perfect, especially in terms of Yotsuyu post-everything as they try and negotiate what to even do without necessarily redeeming Yotsuyu? Like, she's hurt but she's also horrible. And who better to love her than a horrible woman like Melisande?

I think I just liked the idea of Katsuro inbetween thanuri, especially with how his weirdness is actually understood by Urianger, and Thancred is very patient with him too. The schemes, the secrecy - it just kinda works? I like their ups and downs too. G'raha is a thought, but I'm still working on that. It's not really a "fuck it we ball" situation because I think they look good together, I tend to sit on this stuff for a while before making it a serious ship. So I'm bouncing around ideas of how Katsuro would interact with the Exarch, the fact that I've got G'raha having a huge crush on Katsuro (which will be there regardless of if they're together or not), trying to like...ig feel out if they've got chemistry or not? Scenarios, conversations, trying to see if there's any conflicting shit. Katsu's stint with Emet sure would count, but that also affects thanuri anyways and that was a case of Katsu being horribly manipulated. So we'll see where that goes for G'raha.

Gwendoline is with Y'shtola, Nidhana, and Zero. I didn't have her with anyone for a long time because originally it was an oc named Skuld, but that felt hollow? Like just trying to pair people together who weren't with anyone yet. Especially when Surkie and Gwen have great chemistry and history, but that's oc / oc. The more that I began to develop Gwen and have her more involved in things, the more I began to like her having this long relationship with Y'shtola as practitioners of forbidden magicks and deeply curious individuals who both enable each other but also hold the other accountable. Y'shtola has turned into a really nice partner for Gwen mostly because they're able to deal with the other's bullshit and can see right through the other. They've been together since Y'shtola's return in Heavensward, which has been fun considering the immediate challenges and then Stormblood, but regardless she's a very loving partner and I enjoy their banter (which is what sold me on it). She's also perfectly fine with Y'shtola having a partner in Runar, even if they have to discuss it after they reunite. So yeah, Runar is a metamour and there's nothing there between Gwen and him (also she's like. a lesbian.). He's just a nice guy who helped take care of her girlfriend.

NIDHANA WAS ME BEING A TINY BIT PETTY LMAO I ADORE Nidhana and was getting tired of people just constantly picking the most random ass men to ship with, so I just scooped Nidhana up and threw her between Gwen and Y'shtola. Again: eccentric researcher who meshes well with both of their interests. She would be SO into Gwen's necromantic research and just a good fit for these two. Yeah, it does result in 3 people who can't take care of themselves or sleep at reasonable hours, but they're fun and that's what counts!

Zero is a recent addition for Gwen and Y'shtola. This one's mostly built on them helping her acclimate to the Source. This one only works because Gwen has taken a long time to get where she's at presently. If this were ARR, it wouldn't work. Gwen and Zero are built on Gwen's other relationships, notably with Surkukteni. This one is one that I've recently started fleshing out mostly because I like the idea of Zero building something new with Gwen and Y'shtola. I just think they're cute together. Chemistry is tougher with this one as Zero's slowly growing into her own character, but I like the idea of her working through internalized issues and trauma with two people who are extremely patient with her.

basically it's just a lot of chemistry and weighing the benefits of how it would impact the narration and characters or not. G'raha didn't bring much to Surkie but seems to be better fit with Katsuro. Ysayle adds a lot of dimension to Surkie and her interactions, while Yotsuyu is better suited with Melisande.

I'm constantly changing things because polyam fun, but like. Idk, I just think it's fun to play with chemistry and see how people grow with each other.

[m00n-pr1sm]

Okay listing my changes if I were to rewrite morgana, somewhat canon compliant bc I think abt her. A lot. I have not been around to menace on tumblr so have this rant I wrote up a week or so ago + I wrote some extra stuff

-explore her negative feelings more, her guilt and belief that she’s a monster and also her desire for acceptance, also interesting if they incorporated that into a conquering of the social sphere (like just making her so2 lol, I do think she’s actually so2 but like making her a more obvious one, jk I don’t think she is anymore). Like I just want to see her love need explored more,, I actually really like how the crystal cave episode explores this, she’s rejected by uther as his daughter and this is what breaks her (interestingly Katie McGrath said in an interview that this was morgana’s turning point and that she genuinely believed if she has accepted she wouldn’t have gone down the path she did). I’m also watching nge (neon genesis evangelion) and the character exploration on that show is top tier, like I love deep dives into a character’s psyche. honestly just wanted to mention it bc I love it

-don’t throw away the friendship established w gwen and Merlin (okay I can understand Merlin bc he literally poisoned her lol) ,, like not just bc I’m a loud morgwen shipper but just bc they genuinely loved and cared for each other but the show throws that all away, more doubt over her choices due to the ppl she cares abt. Or at least make her turn against them feel more personal than just seeing them as obstacles to get past (like if gwen is killed she will never be queen, like dawg she was ur best friend for years).

-don’t make the entire turn of her character off screen, like if ur going to make her evil,,, actually show a good progression,, than just unwillingly “evil” and clearly shaken by the unintentional consequences of her actions to just “yeah Camelot needs to burn I need to become queen and who cares about innocent ppl”. Like you can sorta infer what happens in her time with morgause, she manipulates morgana in her poor mental state, feeding on her feelings of betrayal, pushing the idea she’s the only one she can trust all that stuff, but from a viewer standpoint it seems too sudden, like she became so intensely ruthless?

-I honestly really would’ve loved to see her have a divide, where she realizes that what morgause pushed on her, this idea of becoming queen and realizing this is not what she wanted at all. I want more internal conflict and polarity. I would’ve loved morgana having a internal crisis lol, maybe even a proper redemption arc

-a shower thought but in the dark tower episode it would’ve been so chilling if she dresses up or emulates as what she looked like in earlier season to sell the idea of “we’re friends gwen” + bc she’s more desperate for her than I am for my perfect partner and I’m sx5,,, but there’s some logistical issues and I’ve decided to stop minding her hair (Okay this one fic actually addressed the metaphorical implications of her hair in s4/5 fuck it was so good) bc I love a 4F girlboss OR just have Gwen have a vision of her (which I’ve seen done in fics AND IT’S SO COOL)

-make her even more snarky in earlier seasons I love snarky morgana

-also her sibling hood w Arthur do more than just acknowledge it a few times,,, they really should’ve kept in that scene where he asked what went wrong (the deleted dark tower scene). I do think it’s justifiable for her to resent him because she sees him as an extension of uther.

-my typology rants abt her are a whole separate spiel, anyways the world resentment was there y’all could’ve just made her a sp1 OR sx6. I also wish fi-ni sx4 was real. VELF morgana always stays winning, passive volition morgana is weird. Also sorta wish she wasn’t so2 bc SEE would’ve been cool too, but I’ll take EIEL

LOLOL old ignore all that she’s sx4 ESI IF(S)

-I just really wish she had a better through-line, like some thing that kept her arc consistent bc evaluating it as a whole it’s sorta a mess, and her motivations just feel so reduced by s5, to just I want Arthur dead lol <3, like ofc she’s not exactly in the best mental state but it feels shallow. I do wish they kept her maybe more morally gray with genuine idealism for a better world; resentment towards Camelot but still an inner conflict regarding her loved ones, all that. SHE COULD’VE BEEN A REALLY COOL SO7!!

I love her though anyways, ty for infinite brainrot

[divine-motion]

my rewrite of tmnt 2012 is turning more into “my fan iteration within the story of 2012 which i change a bit to suit my self-indulgence” (which it pretty much was from the start but hey) so i’m just gonna write down some General Stuff abt it like arcs and stuff

Tang Shen is alive but did get sliced by Shredder like when she dies in canon, so she has scars and Shredder believes her to be dead. Tang Shen also believes that Yoshi went and disappeared on her when he went to buy those turtles so, you know, rough couple of years for her w/ regards to thinking her infant daughter is dead, moving away from japan w/ her husband, and then her husband mutates into a rat and doesn’t tell her abt it. now she works as a robotics engineer at Stockman labs and while she’s still depressed she’s getting better, she likes her work, and she’s working on a certain nanobot project which is going good

(Nano is in this version but they instead are in an arcade cabinet that the turtles then bring to the Lair so that Nano has a family and they get to play with the turtles often. Happy end for Nano!)

Raph is the one who first meets Shen and Shen starts signing the adoption papers for the turtles

Splinter is pretty much the same as in 2012 but like, he gets confronted abt his shit instead of just being Flawless Wise Mentor, mainly by Michelangelo and then Shen when she meets him again. think he’s still gonna die but only once instead of. what. three times?

the turtles have known April for about three years since they went to the surface in secret and met a curious human girl. April quickly decided she has four brothers now and they agreed whole-heartedly

April’s parents are both alive btw and very good parents, though since “the Kraang want to kidnap April” isn’t a thing here they are both unaware of her mutant friends

April isn’t trained as a kunoichi and instead relies on her telepathic powers, which would grow at the same rate as the turtles become better fighters. i have a whole list of her powers and their limits - for example, tinfoil hats do work to keep your head protected from telepathy, much to everyone’s surprise. a metal pot also works, or a metal helmet. Shredder is unknowingly immune to it with his helmet always being on...

the brain worms serve a slightly bigger role, but they are instead creatures from Dimension X, a weak, telepathic parasite that crawls into people’s brains and controls them to keep the worm safe while it feeds on the person. they are what Kraang Prime mutated himself with to create the Kraang hivemind. they are also called “mind maggots” in Dimension X, “brain worms” is just what Stockman and Donnie started calling them when first discovered. removing a brain worm from a person without using telepathic powers can result in the person’s death or severe brain damage

also the Kraang are a more literal hivemind. if one of them sees you, they all see you. the turtles have to use all their ninja stealth to deal with them, and it’s always a risk because the Kraang can easily overwhelm them with how many of them there are

Kraang Prime is probably gonna be offed at the end of the “season 1 finale”, probably by Leatherhead. he deserves it. offing Prime also frees the Kraang hivemind from his control and the Utrom have their autonomy back. either that, or they manage to release the hivemind from his control another way, and it leaves Prime like weak and useless somehow. maybe by plucking off those weird crystals on his head, i dunno, still thinking abt it

oh Leatherhead! Leatherhead is a doctor for mutants, being a bit of a mix between his 2003 and 2012 self. he wants to help other mutants since he knows they’re victims of the Kraang too, however indirectly, and that they can’t exactly get medical help. mutants do have greater regenerative properties, but that’s only going to help you so far, and your bones might grow back wrong quicker. so, Leatherhead spent his years of freedom studying medicine and mutant biology, using stuff he stole from the Kraang during his first escape.

it would be a lot more focused on helping mutants in general. like, there would still be mutant villains that would be fought when needed, but Mikey and Donnie would put their feet down and try to offer the mutants help in settling into their new life. the turtles would also not be disgusted with mutants like they are in 2012 like jeez, dumbdotcomm really put it into words

anyways the Kraang would cease being a threat after “season 1″ and the truce Karai suggests between Foot and Hamato does happen. Splinter hates it and doesn’t trust it at all

Baxter Stockman has his own lab which is pretty successful, and he is an incredibly smart and eccentric guy with a bubbly personality - until you threaten him or talk down to him, at which point he shows himself to be calculating and ruthless, still with a smile on his face. he doesn’t pick up on sarcasm very well, though, and if you ask him to explain something, he will happily do so in great detail, whether you’re friend or foe. also, he doesn’t get mutated into a fly, and he doesn’t get turned into just a brain, either. he’s just a funky regular human guy

Timothy becomes The Badger in this version. he’s also treated better by the turtles, especially Mikey who takes it upon himself to train Timothy, partially bc Mikey wants to be a superhero but knows he can’t show his face. in fact, Timothy was inspired by Mikey specifically as he saw Mikey trying to be a costumed superhero at one point. when Timothy mutates, he becomes a human mutant like Hun and Ravenwood from IDW, so he can become like an actual superhero with powers

more female characters. like just in general more girls please. i beg of you.

Angel is Casey’s older sister who’s off at college as a STEM student, and she is also Nobody here bc i absolutely love that for her, IDW was galaxy brained when they did that. Alopex is her partner here too same as in IDW, and they jokingly call themselves “Batteries, the Double-A Crime Fighting Duo”. Angel is very much against Casey being a vigilante despite being one herself, but she’s an adult so it’s different, obviously

the turtles ask Alopex to be their teacher, too, especially since Raph notices that she fights using anger in a controlled way, and she is a bit surprised and slightly awkward about it but she accepts. Alopex is an arctic fox instead of a red fox here btw, though she has a summer coat most of the time and only gets white fur during winter.

April would also have an arc where she strives to understand her mutant side and powers better, so she would venture into Dimension X alone to find the Utrom, and learns about their society before and after Kraang. Rook and Queen (named Quin here bc Bishop isn’t a Utrom in this version, and Utrom don’t have a concept of queens and kings) would have bigger roles, as they would help April out with her powers and figuring out what being part Utrom/Kraang means for her identity.

Rook is also an alchemist/scientist who created mutagen in the first place, and Kraang was her assistant. this isn’t super important to April’s arc but i just thought it’d throw it out there

the brain worms/mind maggots would result in a City Fall arc i’ve decided. but it would be the only time mind control/brainwashing becomes a plot point in this series bc i think 2012 really overused that trope. like it was there with Splinter and the Rat King, with the parasite wasp mutant episode, and then again with the brain worms but like, several times over.

this also means that Karai doesn’t get the brain worms pumped into her brain. remember that scene where she’s hooked up to the machine and Shredder’s like “damn that shit sucks i’m sorry Hamato Yoshi’s doing this to you”?? that scene was pretty fucked up. anyways Karai has like. agency in her own arc this time

in the City Fall arc Splinter would die and at the end Karai kills Shredder, and Leo and Karai as new leaders of the clans would be like “alright this stupid fucking ancestral cycle of vengeance” ends here

Northampton time after that because it would be a Lot

after that i think it would be space arc time? it would start with the turtles being separated across dimensions and planets a bit like when SAINW happened, but without SAINW. like, Donnie would get to Neutrino (elves with crazy hair version), Leo would get to Usagi’s dimension, etc. etc.

also in case it wasn’t obvious Tang Shen will play a big role as the turtles’ Better parent and she’d have her own stuff to work through, like meeting her daughter she thought was dead and finding out her boss, Stockman, is evil, that her husband got turned into a rat, and that her new kids get into all kinds of dangerous trouble constantly

anyways that’s um. already quite the wall of text so i’ll shut up now ‘til i have more art to post, digital art this time so you can like. actually see what things look like.

[harmonytre]

Comic Plans

Current Projects:

Prismtale (Mondays): An Undertale AU involving NPCs and multiverse travelling. Multi-chapter comic and ongoing.

Mistbreak (Tuesdays): A Steven Universe AU with about 5 pages left of the comic. Then it will become an ask/drabble/design blog.

Flicker of a Neon Soul (Wednesdays): An Undertale AU where monsters have colored soul traits and humans have white soul traits. 10+ chaptered comic with many plans and plot.

Taffy and Steven (Thursdays): A Steven Universe where Steven and his gem are split into different people and Taffy is a wholesome boyo. One page left of the comic, then will become an ask/edit blog with occasional comics.

Future Fandom Projects:

Pokemon Nuzlocke Comics: Multiple regions and an overarching plot. I need to finish playing and writing the first arc before starting the comic. (long term)

Who I Am: A Pokemon comic where James from Team Rocket is a were-pokemon. I need to rewrite it first. About 7 to 8 chapters. (medium length)

Other Undertale AUs: Certain AUs will be revealed in Prismtale and turn into side blogs, and others will be one time comics. (varies)

Future Original Projects:

(One of these I want to make extremely interactive. Like the audience makes choices for the characters.)

Phantulfurs: A comic about teens with powers to see creatures no one else can. I’ve rewritten the first chapter multiple times, but I need to really write it out before starting the comic. About ten arcs. (long term)

Skryculars: A sequel to the above story. (medium length)

The Journeyers: A multi-book series with my cousin. About ten books. Involves animals, powers, and romance. Won’t give information beyond that. (long term)

Unnamed Animated Series: Still need to design the two main characters, but they’ll travel through many worlds from my dream world. (long term youtube series)

Unnamed Wings Story: Decided many many characters for a high school story with wings. Lots of diversity and LGBTQ. Problem is I don’t like writing high school stories and have no plot. ;^; (medium? short?)

Unnamed Long Term Comic: A story about a space girl with wings, a nonbinary person that can shapeshift and communicate with animals, twins with water and plant powers, and an angsty wholesome skeleton bean. No plot yet. (long term)

Short Term (below the cut, any catch your interest?)

(keep in mind many of these I wrote the descriptions for years ago or based off of dreams.)

“Orphan Dog” and “Martha’s Pack” An orphan finds out she can talk to dogs and realizes they are the key to finding her missing parents. (Wrote when I was 8, rewrote partially when I was 13. So very cheezy. Would be even cheezier if I didn’t rewrite it, but still drew quality serious art XD.)

“The Agency” A girl named Jill has secrets. Major secrets. For one, she can turn into any animal at will including extinct, Fantasy, or hybrids. Don’t forget that she can also turn invisible and do telepathy. (Not to mention she runs an entire secret animal spy community…) When her best friend and spy ally, Izabella the opossum, goes missing, she must find what it means to be a true friend and showing that it’s what’s inside that counts. (Actually liked this one too. Even if it’s also cheezy.)

1. “Moos” A boy is adopted by cows and is granted the power to understand animals and turn into a cow.

2. “Moos: Vile Meat” Hoover is back and he must defeat the evil Haystack, a human entrapping calfs in little domes for eternity.

3. “Moos: Cold Cuts” Hoover finds a new ally, one who creates...snow?

4. “Moos: Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey” Haystack is back and Hoover and his friends must defeat him before he turns all pigs into stone. (Cheezy series?)

“Extraordinaries” Emma, her friend, Millie, her brother, Clark, and her dog, Charlie, have to travel to a faraway land to save Emma’s mother, who has been poisoned. Along the way Emma and the team must find how to deal with their newfound powers of Imagination. (This one was also pretty good! A story from Nanowrimo a few years ago.)

“The Hummingbird Did It” A hummingbird turns a lazy boy into a dog. The boy must venture across country to find the cure. (Was kinda boring and just me having fun with google maps lol.)

“Sunshine and Rainbows” A girl is taken to another world by rainbow dust and must find her way back to Earth. (Can’t actually remember this one.)

“Nature’s Lifeforce” A boy and girl are given the power to turn into any woodland creature and talk to trees. (Also can’t remember, but sounds cool.)

“Ravens” A girl named Hannah, a boy named Billy, a boy named Cameron, a girl named Lyla, and a boy named Clark, among other students, have their wishes come true. This creates a problem as Cameron becomes a dog, Lyla becomes a cat and Hannah and Billy become ravens. They fix the problem for everyone except Hannah and Billy, but embark on an adventure to find the scientist who can help them. (Based on a dream, I think.)

“Dragon wings” Hiccup and Toothless accidentally sit down someplace weird. They switch bodies and Toothless claims to have heard someone press a button. (ASDFGHJKL WHAT?! HTTYD short story)

“Melody Dreambubble” A weird new pony arrives in Ponyville. Twilight is curious to find that she has no Cutie Mark, was raised by wolves, and bears mysterious powers. (My Little Pony, kinda self insert, short story)

“Eyes of Gold/The Tower” A Fan Fiction based on The Ever Afters series and two stories rolled into one. Rory finds that her two best friends have been poisoned by a new dragon species/As Rory is about to enter a tower to save Chase a random girl shows up out of nowhere and has a weird habit of annoying Adelaide. (Was my first ever self insert? And based on a book series unlike the rest? Cool! Oh I even wrote ten whole pages! Neat. Featuring a girl chasing a dragon with a bedpan!)

“Roadkill” A man purposely runs over a deer on a freeway. The deer’s best friend curses the man, later to regret it because he has to undo the curse himself. (Lol, this was interesting.)

“Melissa and Steven Started a Food Fight” A completely random book that takes the characters through an adventure of explosions, unicorns, and talking squirrels. (Used a random prompt generator. Very random. And funny.)

“Before it’s Gone” A snooty teen crashes in her car and finds a surprise when she wakes up. (Oh yeah, another old story. She turned into a dog and none of the other dogs believed her.)

“The Unicorn Killer” A short story about poachers and Julia. (Yep. Short story.)

1. “Feathers of Gold” A logical young bird griffin, Gabriel, wants to find a way to stop to war between bird and lion in his land, Genetica.

2. “Scales of Emerald” A shy young dragon, Emmie, tries to keep her land, Reptilia, from destruction.

3. “Hair of Crystal” A brave young unicorn, Crystal, tries to find a way to join together the leaders of the land of Equinsta.

4. “Flames of Ruby” A vain young phoenix, Flaxter, tries to capture the eyes of girls. Taken place in the land of Flamia.

5. “Gems Unite” Gabriel, Emmie, Crystal, and Flaxter find out they are The Gems, the only ones who can save their world, Animagicia, from the beings, called Humurns, that are trying to destroy it. They must come together and find who they truly are. (Might have fun with this series. I’ve always loved mythical animals.)

“The Distance from Sam” An 8 year-old St. Bernard named Barry, a 3 year-old Golden Retriever named Mick, and a 1 year-old Sheltie named Sandy set off to return to their owner Sam, after being kidnapped and sent across country. (Kinda like Homeward Bound. Came in mind when I saw these three dogs alone by a street, no humans around.)

“The Skilled” Andy and Ashley(both fifteen) and their eight year-old siblings, twins Alex and Alexa, gain powers from the sewers. All: understand animals and fly, Andy: talk to toys, Ashley: speak to plants, Alex and Alexa: psychic powers. “I used to think my toys would come to life when I was gone. I guess I was right.”-Andy. Based on a dream. (Too many “A” names, oof. Also, toy Story much?)

“The Moon’s Eye” A teenage girl named April gets trapped under a snow drift and wakes up to be a wolf. A nearby wolf pack needs her aid and calls her The Mooneye, a changeling. (Cool. Cool.)

“Unusual Forces of Omnipotence” A woman and her horse are supposedly crushed by a U.F.O. When Tanaya wakes up she finds out she has super strong senses and can run as fast as her horse. Pluto the alien knows he’s going to be in trouble if his planet finds out he crash landed and accidentally gave a human the powers of her horse. He tries to fix it. Told from Tanaya, Sunray (the horse), and Pluto’s point of view. Based on a dream. (Sounds interesting! Title came from before I knew UFO was an acronym lol.)

“The Lawn” Unknown to humans, a yard full of statues come alive at night. There is an elk, two bears, four buffalo, a wolf, an eagle, three horses, a small boy, a moose, a bighorn sheep, and a rabbit. (Based on a real lawn I’d see on the way to school.)

“Dragon Eyes” Max has an ordinary life, until his family, him, and his three friends, Alice, Peter, and Samuel, are transported to another world. His parents are then kidnapped and they have to fight against an evil Mother Nature. Based on a dream. (Interesting. The dream was freaky.)

“Sweet Treat” Emily’s dad works at a candy factory, and one day she visits him and realizes his work is not all it seems… Based on a dream. (What? I don’t remember what was different about his work???)

“The Flight of the Supernatural” Randy thinks he is mostly a normal kid. Sure, he and his dad live inside a mountain, and sure, some flying species of human killed his mother, that doesn’t mean he can’t live normal life homeschooling and watching TV. But unfortunately, Randy’s life turns around when he finds out he can fly. Is his father telling the truth? Did his own species kill his mother? Based on a dream. (Actually REALLY loved this story.)

“Whispering Willow” A girl named Willow helps 20 wolf cubs escape a pet store and then is recruited by a zoo. Pretty soon all of the animals know her as Whisper. Based on a dream. (Cool. another animal whisperer.)

“The Invasion of Our Minds” Little black aliens invade Earth and only one person can stop them: Julia. Based on a dream. (Oh RIGHT! Yeah I remember that.)

“The Marble Island(Possibly a short story?)” Julia goes on a trip to a new marble island only to find the owner turns people into stone figurines. Based on a dream. (Links to the previous story, I think.)

“Have some candy!” Violet, an expert on strange occurrences, needs to help a group of people who mysteriously turned into animals after attempting to grab candy bars from a bin in a local store. Based on a dream. (More animal transformation.)

“The Guide to Mythical Creatures I Made Up” A guide to everything from the Mystic Melody to the Gollan. (I don’t remember either of their designs! :P )

“Trying to Get Back to Mom” Michael and Annabelle meet new friends, while they frantically try to reunite with their mother. (Don’t remember.)

“Surprise of the Future” Pearl travels to the future and has to fight her now-evil brother in his stone mansion. (Not Pearl from SU. Based on a dream.)

“All for You” A man has to overcome many obstacles, such as mermaids, yellow smoke wolves, and magic maps, to save the world and his girl. (Oh yeah, this was a cool one. Based on a song, but I can’t remember which one.)

“The Stranger at the Door” Keith and Amber have lived with their grandmother for many years, but now they live alone and nobody knows. Then a strange girl arrives at the door. She claims they will have to leave town within 2 hours or risk being stuck in a quarantine zone. There will be traffic jams and other hindrances, so it's best to leave right now without taking anything with you. Unsure about everything, including this strange girl, the teenage boy disagrees to the proposal, if all this turns out to be true, this choice will seem foolish. His younger sister does agree. But what if this strange girl can't be trusted. Or what if all this is an elaborate trap. How could an ordinary teenage girl and boy end up in a situation like this. Time to find out. (Oh, a quarantine story? How long ago was this? 2017 I think.)

“The Beginning of the Hybrid Brothers” A backstory that shines a light on how Ralph the Rat-Man and Dr. Discord came to be evil. (YES, MY TWO VILLAINS NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT BUT ARE STILL DEAR TO MY HEART HNNNNNNNG.)

“Unnamed but same as the blank” A girl named, _____, lives in a family of nine. She and her mother are the only ones who aren’t “Morhumals”, or people who can turn into one animal. After the twins mess-up and send a “Morhumals” hunter after them, it is up to ___ and her sister, ____ to rescue them.

“Song of the Siren” ____ is back after her fourteenth birthday. She finally has received her animal and must follow her family to the mythed Siren hideout.

[ladyfawkes]

Fresh Chapter: Chapter 4 - Shattered Chapter 4 word count: 1273 Total word count: 6538  Excerpt from Chapter 4: “Pathetic,” seethed the terrifying and enormous goat-faced creature who had just thrown her to ground, yet again, “Useless pathetic vermin. Although I suppose I do have you to thank for freeing me at long last, don’t I?” continued the creature, its voice dripping with sarcasm. Cassandra had become the scapegoat and living ragdoll-plaything to a very moody and cruel ancient demoness. Suddenly the ugly beast reached down, grinding the knuckles of its enormous black claw against Cassandra’s back and proceeding to crush the young woman’s broken ribs even further into the rubble-strewn cavern floor. <em>“Thank you,”</em> the monster spat through clenched teeth. As Cassandra struggled to move, she experienced more intense agony than she’d ever felt in her life.  ====================================== Essentially, this story is a “what if....” type-rewrite of the last half of Season 3. In other words, it is non-compliant post-Cassandra’s Revenge.  Story Summary:  Post-Cassandra's Revenge AU. Grievous injuries occur to more than one character during Cassandra's fight for magical dominance. Yet not every wound is apparent right away.In the aftermath from Cassandra's Revenge at Black Rock Tower, Eugene is trying to use his rare alone time to process all that had happened. Thankfully, he has Lance to keep him grounded with his own irksome ways.One enormous weight had been lifted and Eugene's psyche was flying because he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rapunzel reciprocated all of his feelings for her. He also witnessed exactly to what lengths Rapunzel would move heaven and earth to fight for him. Amongst his euphoria for Rapunzel, however, he must also figure out how to forgive Cassandra.

Chapter 4: Shattered  Searing blue-white pain tore through every nerve ending. Cassandra groaned with immense torment as her already-bruised and broken body slammed face-forward into the floor of the cavern beneath them. All remaining sense was knocked out of her for a time. "Pathetic," seethed the terrifying and enormous goat-faced creature who had just thrown her to ground, yet again, "Useless pathetic vermin. Although I suppose I do have you to thank for freeing me at long last, don't I?" continued the creature, its voice dripping with sarcasm. In the past however-long it had been (it could be one day, it could've been a week, it could've been a fortnight - Cass had lost any real sense of time after her Fall) Cassandra had become the scapegoat and living ragdoll-plaything to a very moody and cruel ancient demoness. Suddenly the ugly beast reached down, grinding the knuckles of its enormous black claw against Cassandra's back and proceeding to crush the young woman's broken ribs even further into the rubble-strewn cavern floor. <em>"Thank you,"</em> the monster spat through clenched teeth. As Cassandra struggled to move, struggled to breathe, struggled to even think - she experienced more excruciating and intense agony than she'd ever felt in her life. Tracks of dried salt smeared her entire face, head, neck, and upper chest….for Cass had wept more silent tears since her tragic Fall than she could recall ever having cried during her first 25 years of living. Her heart thundered in her chest, a rhythmic pounding in which she found little comfort. Surely, she couldn't live much longer under these conditions. Once again, Cassandra found herself wishing for her own death. After all the wicked things she'd been conned into doing the past several months, the dastardly way she had mistreated Rapunzel…she cringed outwardly, recalling her abominable behavior at Eugene's first real birthday party….and even more recently repeatedly trying to kill Rapunzel …..and even came within a hair's breadth of killing Eugene minutes later…. By this point, the penitent young woman was resigned; being held captive and immobile left nothing to Cass but fitful nightmares and ruminating about all of the terrible things she'd done. As a traitor, Cassandra deserved no less than a death sentence. It's what her own father would've said, it's what Rapunzel's father would've said…..and it was definitely what Eugene's father would've wanted as well. Hell, it's even what Cassandra the soldier herself would've demanded less than a year ago, had she been the one to find a traitor in their midst rather than becoming one. Although Cassandra had tried to catch herself during her Fall, she had clearly failed. By trying to move a limb, turn her head - any motion under her own power - Cass could only succeed with inducing even more nausea and vertigo. The eardrum-ringing ever-present throb in the back of her head was easily the worst of all. Very close behind were her multiple broken ribs...She could feel them jabbing into her gut and lungs. Her armor too had mostly failed, only barely managing to keep her alive from her 1000-foot drop. Something about the Moonstone shattering into multiple shards. And after the newly-freed Enchanted Girl had touched her physically for the first time, Cassandra's mind had been instantly flooded with cruel imagery. The young woman had finally learned and understood exactly who this disguised and deranged monster truly was….it was none other than <em><strong>Zhan Tiri!!!</strong></em> And only then the grievously injured Cassandra could tell that the demon's psychological iron grip on her was finally loosened. Her injured mind was no longer possessed by the ancient demon. This very moment in the cavern, Zhan Tiri was utterly furious with her but Cass couldn't figure out why, exactly. Without doubt, someone as powerful as the ancient demoness shouldn't care this much now that the Moonstone had effectively succeeded with killing another useless human. After all, it had to have been the demoness who manipulated Cassandra into shattering the stone in the first place. That was a crucial piece of info Cass hadn't discovered until it was far, far too late. Was the Moonstone's destruction not the demon's ultimate goal after all? And why oh why wouldn't Goaty McSquidbottom just get things over with and put Cassandra out of her misery instead of torturing her? Cassandra gasped again painfully as her whole torso abruptly flared to life with an instantaneous fiery heat; this molten energy simultaneously crackled and flowed through her like an electrical current and in turn, leapt outward and powerfully zapped the monster's claw. Cass sensed rather than saw the bolt of energy arc from her back and up Zhan Tiri's huge arm; the evil demon roared at the sudden nasty shock she'd just received. <em>That was...new,</em> Cassandra blinked and thought numbly to herself, as the incensed evil demoness flailed about dramatically behind her. The young woman contemplated if this was anything close to what her victims felt when she had elected to zap them deliberately via the Moonstone's power. So….it turned out that Cassandra's crystalline armor was still struggling valiantly to keep her alive, determined to keep on fighting against the latest tortuous onslaught from the demoness. That fact, in turn, had to mean the Moonstone powers were still at least nominally functional. But that didn't mean the egregiously injured Cassandra was in conscious control of it. Cass couldn't decide which was more ominous….the fact that the Moonstone was going rogue or the fact that at this moment she'd be better off dead, as long as it meant the Moonstone couldn't manipulate her to hurt others anymore. Because Cassandra knew that one way or another, if she couldn't somehow extract the embedded shards of dark crystal out of her body, and quickly, she'd certainly be better off dead in either case. Cassandra's eyes squeezed tight against the excruciating pain and rapidly rising heat still emanating from her malfunctioning bodysuit. Yet she determined her armor itself wasn't responsible; rather the energy was pulsating in every direction from what felt to be those infernal crystal shards embedded within her chest wall. Each new energy pulse was roiling through her and outward across her armor. The young woman was also afraid to look up for fear Zhan Tiri would just abuse her again out of spite. By this point in time, Cassandra had wished 10,000 times over that she'd never heard of the Moonstone. And just a moment or two before Cassandra lost consciousness that last time, her poor body unable to withstand any more, the last sound in the whole universe she expected to hear filled her ears. "Oh geez….!" a man's voice swore explosively in a string of epithets from a ways off down the cavern. <em>No! No! No!</em> Cassandra screamed internally, irrationally angry that she was hallucinating again. <em>Of all the people to hallucinate, why did it have to be <strong>him?</strong></em> She clamped her eyes shut even tighter, knowing she was unable to stave off the encroaching darkness for much longer. Nonetheless, footsteps rapidly drew nearer to her and in spite of every instinct telling her what she was perceiving couldn't possibly be real, that same voice spoke again, this time just above her. "Dear Jiminy Cricket on a busted crutch! <em><strong>Cass!??!</strong></em> What have they done to….where are…..if only I could help you somehow!" And although the injured young woman could only manage to crack open just one eyelid a few millimeters before she fainted…..the brief image Cassandra saw burned itself into her psyche. It was Eugene Fitzherbert's riding boots. "Cass!? Talk to me, <em>please!"</em> The figure above her dropped to one knee before silence finally enveloped Cassandra and everything faded to black.

[agoddamn]

I'm interested in how Fates does different storytelling from other games in the series and how a mystery writer influences it. I'm not a big fan of Fates hate and I love how the character designs inform the characters so much...but I struggle to like the story of Fates itself. I'm admittedly someone who plays super casual. I like doing as many supports in games to get character interactions/backstories, which is hard to do in Nohr storyline. I had a hard time getting past the whole (1/2)

“If we tell anyone Garon is an evil fake, we’ll die” Like that feels like weak writing. Which isn’t fair to hold against all of Fates, but really put me out of the story. I want to like Fates, but things keep pushing me against it. Is there a way I should approach it differently? (2/2)

The first thing I wanna say is that sometimes a story isn't for you and there's nothing at all wrong with that. There's nothing necessarily wrong with either you or the piece of media you're trying to get into if it just doesn't click with you.

I think it's important to look at Fates as a character-driven story, first and foremost. You ever watch, I dunno, Power Rangers or something? I'm not saying that Fates is Saban-level storytelling, but it's something where your attention is on what the characters are going through moreso than the details of how every gadget works.

Mystery writers tend to dispense only the details you absolutely need to tell the story. Even your red herrings should mean something, not be wasted space. Clues are disguised as basic elements you're supposed to overlook, so spewing loads of irrelevant information at the reader just isn't...artful, for lack of a better word. You want your readers to be making sensible deductions, not drowning under unrelated noise. 

So, because Fates is a character-driven story, a lot of the setting is informed by implication; the writer isn't going to hand you a list of Nohr's resources, but he expects you to notice that only Nohr uses heavy armor. He expects you to notice that the Nohrsibs are used to lying to their father to protect themselves and realize the nightmare of their family life without having to say "Garon is abusive".

It's also possibly relevant--though this is totally me spitballing--that Japan, as both a culture and language, is really into being oblique. You are literally encouraged to drop subjects and objects from sentences because the listener should know what you're talking about by context. Look at haiku--purposely limited amounts of information communicating almost entirely through symbolism and intertextuality.

Or the story about the translator who said that it wasn't appropriate to translate "I love you" to Japanese because it's too direct, and instead "the moon is beautiful" should be used. It communicates the sentiment through contextual clues (you are supposed to imagine lovers walking together on a moonlit night), which is much more appropriate to Japanese. So this might also partly be a Japanese storytelling thing that comes across much more strongly in Fates than other games because Kibayashi is much more dyed in literary experience.

Third is that Fates has a genuinely bad localization, like, Christ. You take a character-driven game and remove ⅔ of the character dialog? Yeah, that's gonna fuck some things up! 

There were also "localization choices" to make several elements of the game more consumable that also tore up the character drama. They downplayed the trauma of the Nohrsibs by rewriting Xander as a friendly, relatable big brother, which fundamentally ruins the tension of the Nohr family because Marx is supposed to be faintly scary.

The Nohrsibs are fundamentally abused children, and Marx, as the oldest, is the one most mired in his inability to confront that. He's the guy who's told in chapter 2 to execute his younger sibling and just goes "welp...guess I gotta". You are supposed to be worried throughout the game that he's going to side with Garon when the chips go down. But this makes him sound like a pussy, I guess, so they added a bunch of lines where early/midgame/support Xander explicitly says he wants to rebel against Garon--which confuses the shit out of the emotional arc of Conquest.

This is partly why the "we can't tell anyone about Garon because reasons" thing sounds so cheap to you. To be clear, I also find the crystal-of-plot-revealing-you-can-only-use-once pretty damn lame, but the underlying emotional tension there is supposed to be "we genuinely don't know if Marx or any of the other siblings will side with us against Garon". But you can't have that when Xander has already been established as a nice big bro who totally wants to take out Garon.

On the Hoshido side, they "edited" out mentions of explicit systemic sexism, I guess because sexism bad? But that sexism informs the bitter tragedy of "Queen Hinoka" and other female characters, where the English rewrite of "Hinoka had already decided that if Ryouma died she would pass up the throne" makes her sound selfish and lazy (not to mention callous, like you already were planning what you'd do if your brother died? Yeesh).

And in general a lot of jokes/purposely goofy lines were added, which is another thing that dilutes the character-driven moments.

Finally I do freely admit that it's a game with writing issues. It relies on plot devices like the Rainbow Sage or whatever's in Aqua's pockets too much, the kids are non-canon, and the earlygame is a bit too fast. These aren't dealbreakers for me, but they might be for you, and there's not really anything to do about that except suggesting you approach from a different angle.

So I guess my recommendations are these: try to think of it first and foremost as a character-driven story, a playground for these characters to express themselves and show emotion; check out some supports you don't have the energy to grind out on YouTube (all the royal ones are extremely good, and most of the C-A ones are great); and try looking up some of the translations of cut lines, which can sometimes give you a much more rounded understanding of a character. The fan translations tend to be on the dry side because they're being written by normal people without any kind of overseeing editor, so cut them a little slack for that, too.

[fipindustries]

ward beta

im going to do something incredibly gauche and rewrite the plot of ward according to my own personal taste of how i think i would have enjoyed the story better. im not saying this would have been better than what wildbow would have done but it is what i would have liked to see if we MUST use these characters. this is mainly inspired by alexander wale’s ward fanfic

so first and foremost, my main change is that victoria is done with being a cape. done, not going back to it, she is a rouge from now on, a kind of parahuman that i feel has been woefully un-explored thuse far. we had parian and canary and victoria’s uncle and that was it. she doesnt want anything else to do with powers, powers are bullshit, the life of a cape is bullshit and she wants nothing else to do with it ever again.

what’s more, this story would be much more heavly focused on the civilian side of things. we’ve seen the world from the side of the capes in worm, we saw everything there was to see. now we are going to focus on the humans in parahumans, specifically the humans trying to rebuild civilization basically from scratch. negotiating with cheit, the problems that you face having to reclaim nature, having to rebuild a city in the wilderness, having to deal with living in places that were built out of cardboard and a prayer, having to mantain an economy and establish a currency where half the people is inventing ten new currencies and the other half is working exclusively on bartering.

victoria would become part of this small neighborhood which is basically a bunch of apartment buildings that are one storm away from falling to pieces, there is barely any insulation, it leaks constantly, there is intermitent electricity, not to mention human drama, friction, frustration, etc. she gets involved in her small community trying to help here and there with construction, counseling, reparations and neighborhood watch. for the most part she desperatly tries to hide she has superpowers and she is constantly trying to supress them, as anti-parahuman cape sentiment intensifies around her she is worried about what would happen if she reveals her true nature. and this is all further complicated because after what she went through she almost kind of agrees with them.

no cape fights. we are done with that. we had enough. instead the conflicts that arise are like that very first discussion in the very first chapter of this story. just human drama trying to survive after the end of the world, and how sometimes you dont actually need a superhero to solve those problems. small neighbours fighting, discussions over land administration, small city politics, and because victoria cant stop herself from being the hero, even if she refuses to use her powers, she still gets involved in all these things trying to help.

cut down on the interludes and the shifting points of view, they might be the best parts of the story but if you want to make this story about victoria i feel it doesnt help to try and diffuse the attention across an ensemble cast. this is about exploring vicky first and foremost and that is where our main focus should reside.

if you MUST have breakthrough, we would introduce them gradually, one at the time, instead of all in one go. and not all of them would be capes either. kenzie is already a handful by herself. rain is just a powerless fallen boy and he is much further behind in his progress, when we meet him he is still somewhat bigoted and barely just starting to question himself.

sveta is still sveta, she is our thoguhline to the cape scene, she comes visit every now and then to give us updates on what is happening out there. capricorn is a small time, street level superhero helping on the comunity vicky lives, trying to redeem himself. ashley is your lovable oaf small time villain, like she used to be as damsel of distress.

chris, considering how the book did fuck and all with him and mostly side lined him and took a huge dump on him, is gone, might as well.

and here comes my most controversial change, are you guys ready? amy is not presented as a cartoonishly deranged stalker. she is basically what we thought she was at the end of worm. a scared, confused, dangerous but ultimatly well intended girl trying to do her best to redeem herself. victoria is still scared witless of her but it doesnt turn into this corrosive hate. what they went through was a shitty situation but neither is the clear black and white villain like in ward. im sorry but what ward did with amy is just the most boring thing imaginable and i prefer this version, fight me.

the rest of the events in the story happen more or less the same but we are constantly focusing on the civilian side of things and vicky triying her best to plug the holes that show up there. small fires, building evacuation, crowd control, first aid. the only arc that stays more orless the exact same is the one where she pairs up with tattletale to investigate teacher’s psyops.

there would be a chapter dedicated to an incursion on earth bet where vicky decides to help with salvaging technology that cant be acquired on earth gimmel, helping refugees, etc. somehow she rises in the politics of her community and at one point she is sent as an ambassador to earth shin where she deals with amy for the first time.

when the shit hits the fan she goes alongside the other civilians to drop the bombs on the crystal land.

i think focusing on the struggle of powerless humanity to rebuild and the rise of anti parahumans from the human side would play a lot better to the themes of recovery and forgiveness.

so there you go, that is the story i would have liked to see. go hate me if you will.

[pandoraseevee]

Voltron Season 8 Rewrite

Full disclosure: This was inspired by @lotor-and-his-generals rewrite of Season 6. Go give it a read its 100% better than the real Season 6. As the title suggests, this is a complete rewrite of Season 8. Some of the plot points here were inspired by the metas of #TeamPurpleLion (@felixazrael, @voltronisruiningmylife, @leakinghate, @dragonofyang, and @crystal-rebellion), @kcwcommentary commentaries, and @ptw30 regarding Shiro’s character arc. 

This will cover the first 6 episodes of the season (Launch Date to Genesis in case you forgot) Please note, there are a thousand ways to rewrite this egregious finale, this is just my idea (one of many floating in my brain lol) of how I think everything should of gone down. 

Warning: Very, very, very long post ahead because I tend to ramble-write. Especially if it’s a scene I really enjoyed planning.

~A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER IN THIS REWRITE~

1) Lance’s sexuality will be addressed; it’ll be one of the most important arcs he’ll have in this rewrite. I don’t mean to rag on what is canon, but you can’t suddenly thrust two characters into relationship when one of them has been harassing the other for 6 seasons and the other just went through one of the worst breakups in fiction ever. (Also that whole deal of Lance holding the LGBT sign with Shiro, like that had to mean something) Shiro will be one of the key players in his arc because he’s Space Dad and speaking of Space Dad...

2) ADAM. IS. ALIVE. Because if Hunk, Pidge, and Lance’s families were able to stay alive during Sendak’s Invasion, Adam can too! Instead of dying, it’s a fake-out death like Veronica’s. A very long fake-out death. His ship isn’t blasted head on, but one of the wings is severely damaged and he falls dead stick into the dessert. Because MIA doesn’t seem exist in the Galaxy Garrison, they report him as deceased. In this rewrite, he’s actually in one of the concentration camps, the same one Hunk’s family was in. He suffers from a painful leg burn that leads to his leg being amputated and staying on Space Crutches until Team Voltron defeats Sendak and Honerva’s Robeast. He and Shiro were reunited when he arrived at the Garrison Hospital for proper treatment and it was filled with angst, tears, and then a happy mutual understanding between them.

3) Allura’s Altean alchemy is continuously growing throughout this season. She thought that she had exhausted all the lessons she learned from Oriande between the Sincline fight and reviving Shiro. Upon learning this, she along with Sam Holt and the Garrison were able to develop new weapons for the entirety of the Atlas, including a few new MFE Fighters. This culminates in the first episode of this rewrite and going off of that...

5) Lion Swap is undone this season. I thought it made sense when I first watched it but then I realized it was purely done for nostalgia points. I highly recommend you go read @janestrider meta The Wolf, The Atlas, and The Bayard about how Black Paladin Shiro was supposed to come back in Season 7 until the the studios were forced to keep Black Paladin Keith. In reality Black Paladin Keith only lasted for one episode in Season 3, and at least 2 and a half episodes in Season 6. The rest of the time he’s either with the Blade, on his own, or gets the team in deeper trouble. (I still love him tho) So Allura gets the leadership position she deserves, Shiro gets to lead Voltron again, and Keith isn’t as much of a loner anymore!

6) (My thoughts/commentaries will be formatted like this) (I’ll provide some extra commentary throughout the rewrites.) 

7) If you want to read these rewrites individually you can start here: Launch Date - Shadows - The Prisoner’s Dillema - Battle Scars - The Grudge - Genesis

Now, are you ready? Here we go! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 1: Launch Date~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(The image above should change so that Allura is in Shiro’s place, Shiro is in Keith’s place, and Keith is in Allura’s place)

The opening of this episode is relatively the same with Pidge and Bebe watching 80′s!Voltron, Allura and Romelle talking about Luca while she’s resting in the medical wing, and finally Hunk and his family and Lance in the cafeteria. Unlike in the original episode, Lance isn’t creepily obsessive over Allura in this scene when Hunk brings up 80′s!Keith and Allura’s relationship (bleh). Instead, because he also watches the show, laughs and says “They made Keith and Allura’s story of running away from the Castle so romantic. It was Romeo and Juliet but in space!” He laughs again. Suddenly Lance gets uncomfortable and awkwardly coughs, remembering that Allura did fall in love with a half-Galra, just not Keith. Hunk notices this and tries to change the subject to cheer him up.

Hunk: It’s our last day on Earth. Boy, I thought I would never say those words but here we are.

Lance: Yeah, crazy...

Hunk: So, how’re you gonna spend these last 24 hours? Besides getting the proper 7-8 hours of sleep?

Lance (who begins to smile again): Well, my family’s having a huge dinner. Ma and Pa want to savor every minute with Veronica and I. And Nadia and Silvio wanna hear about our adventures one more time even though they hear it every night before bed.

Hunk then suggests that maybe he should ask Allura out. Lance blushes and tries to evade the subject of a date. When questioned by Hunk, he falls back to the same excuse that she’s too busy with Romelle and the Altean pilot. Hunk’s siblings (cousins?) overhear the conversation, deciding that Lance’s lovelife was more interesting then whatever they were playing. They pester and pressure Lance into asking the pretty princess out on a date. Chanting “Ask her! Ask her! Ask her!” until he finally gives in and agrees to just to get them to shut up. They cheer and return to their game. Lance sighs a mushroom cloud.

The Voltron Coalition meeting proceeds as usual but one major change: Allura is the one standing beside Shiro, not Veronica. Princess Allura is the leader of the Voltron Coalition so she should be held in the same position as Shiro if not higher. Everyone in the Coalition still defer to her even though she doesn’t have her crown yet. But because they’re on Earth, she allows Shiro to take charge of the meetings in this episode. Shiro goes through the mandatory “Is the Atlas fully prepared?” questions before he makes his biggest announcement: He will not be commanding the ATLAS during this mission. 

The Garrison and the Coalition are in shock. Iverson asks who would be commanding the ATLAS if not Shiro. Shiro says that it’ll be commanded by Allura. Even she is shocked at the development. Shiro admits that while the crew would be more comfortable with Shiro as the leader, Allura knows more about space then he does. And the Castle crystal being its main power source essentially makes it hers. Hunk then asks where Shiro will go if he’s not in the ATLAS. Keith answers the Black Lion. Team Voltron realizes that meant that Keith would go back to Red and Lance would go back to Blue, undoing the Lion Swap. Lance isn’t as agitated with this Lion (Un) Swap unlike in Season 3. He almost seems relieved that Keith is taking back Red. “Red misses you. A lot.” Is his response. 

Shiro moves aside and allows Allura to step forward. She clears her throat to settle the commotion and asks one of the medics for an update on Luca’s condition. They say that she’s sleeping and expect her to wake up in a few hours. Without missing a beat, she asks Matt, Rolo, and Nyma how many weapons they have in storage, they say they have enough to give everyone on the ATLAS one blaster for protection thanks to her alchemy. Smiling, she then asks Kolivan and Krolia if their mission of restoring the Blade has made progress. They say that while they have recruited a few before their arrival on Earth, they’ll have a better chance once the ATLAS takes flight. She moves her gaze over to Slav, who’s as fidgety as ever, and asks if they’re doing anything wrong. Slav says that there’s a 65.4% chance that something big is going to happen to them in this reality. She asks if it’s something good or something bad. Slav says he can’t make a precise calculation until again, the ATLAS takes flight. This makes the boardroom even more uneasy.

Allura once again tells everyone to settle down, saying that they’re last day on Earth shouldn’t be filled with fear, but with remembrance and happiness. “Spend the day with the ones you love.” As she says that, Shiro’s gaze not-so-subtly slides to Adam, who can’t keep a straight face and blushes. With that, Allura dismisses the meeting. Allura and Romelle exit together, Lance following very, very far behind them. Hunk, irritated, pushes Lance towards Allura. Lance apologizes profusely, Allura reassures him its alright and asks if he needed something. Lance, hesitantly and stuttering, asks Allura if she wanted to have dinner with him and his family. Allura gently rejects the invite, repeating what Lance told Hunk, and that she wants to be there when Luca wakes up. Romelle, not liking how Allura isn’t following her own advice, tells her that she’ll watch over Luca and update her if something happens. Allura thanks her but she still isn’t sure, since they have that sleepover planned with the MFE girls and are going to the mall. Romelle insists that she has fun on her last day on Earth. 

Lance silently watches them go back and forth, he sees Hunk give him a thumbs up. He also notices Keith, Shiro, and Adam (the latter two holding hands) exiting the boardroom. Keith is snorting into his hand at what might’ve been a really bad joke Adam told Shiro. Lance stares blankly, he had never seen Keith’s face twist that way before. He decides he really likes it. He watches the trio disappear around a corner before he’s brought back to the present by Allura calling his name. He hopes no one saw him staring at Keith’s suddenly pretty face.

Lance (blushing): Y-Yeah Allura?

Allura: I said that I can’t join you and your family for dinner.

Lance (hurt by the rejection but doesn’t show it): Really? Is that your final answer? You can still change your mind...

Allura (nods): Yes, that is my final answer. I’m sorry

Lance (he smiles so much that his cheeks hurt): Oh, that’s fine! No harm done! 

Allura (nods again, smiling): That’s wonderful to hear.

Lance tells her he’ll see her later and lets the Altean girls walk past him. He waits until they round the opposite corner before he sighs, disappointed. Hunk pats his back, saying he’s sorry he pushed him into doing that. Lance chuckles, saying that he kinda expected the rejection. He hears snuffling and sees Kosmo watching them, he blinks and teleports. Lance and Hunk shrug it off and walk away.

(HAHA Bait and Switch!) (Biggest change in this episode is that it’s not an Allurance Date Episode, it’s an Adashi Date Episode) 

The shopping scene is too great to remove tho. So, instead of shopping for a date outfit, the MFE girls help the Altean girls buy Earth clothing because it can get kinda boring to wear their Garrison uniforms all the time. Some extra girl-bonding between all of them (minus Pidge cause she’s grounded but she can drop by every few min). Maybe Rizavi can introduce the Altean girls to those soft mall pretzels. (The wait would be a pain tho cause they’d have to do it one at time lmao) 

Allura’s Earth outfit would have a few revisions to it: it would have a fuller skirt (Maybe those full circle swing skirts from the 1950′s) because she’s a princess. Maybe a light blue shawl too. Romelle’s outfit would totally be a modern version of her hot pink dress from 80′s!Voltron. Pidge still gives the Unilu shopkeeper her game. The girls leave and Unilu shopkeeper sees Pidge holding another game. He feels cheated but it’s revealed that Pidge and Rizavi each bought one game for themselves. Pidge’s copy of the game is the one she gave him. Rizavi and Pidge agree to take one player slot and play the game separately, No spoilers, or bust. They shake on it and all head back to the Garrison.

Keith and Kosmo aren’t chilling on the Black Lion, they’re just on one of the Garrison rooftops. Team Dad Shiro and Adam are with him too. Probably cuddling. (What good maybe-boyfriends uwu) Keith isn’t jealous of how easy-going their relationship is. Lance greets them like he did in the original episode. Adam jokes that he looked like he ran a marathon, Lance responds that he probably did. 

Shiro: Coran?

Lance: Coran

The trio nods in understanding. Keith fondly asks what crazy antics he did this time. Lance explains the whole ‘Not a Date, it’s Dinner, Ok it might be a Date’ situation with Allura. Keith congrats Lance although Team Dad notices he’s saying it weirdly. Lance corrects him saying that Allura rejected him.

However, while they were doing something he eventually forgot about Allura accidentally let it slip and Coran started his patriarchal bs we see in the original episode. Lance absolutely noped out of there but said that he would like to learn about Altean vestments another time. Keith and Lance have their Sunset Conversation. Shiro and Adam observe, not wanting to intrude. 

Suddenly, Lance asks how they (Adam and Shiro) realized they liked men. Shiro chuckles and says that it took a while for them both to realize it. They’ve lived different lives. Shiro’s father died during World War III and Adam’s parents were not as accepting of his sexuality as Shiro’s mother. He had to stay with a friend before he got into the Garrison. Adam says it’s normal for someone to deny their sexuality. “But if you think that it’s part of you then embrace it. Because it makes you you.” Adam says, Shiro lays his head on his shoulder. Keith fake gags. Lance remembers that. And then he also remembers what he was doing earlier. He tells the group that Allura needed Shiro and Keith for something. It’s about the Lions and Kosmo teleports all of them there.

Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran are with the Lions. Black, Red, and Blue have their shields up. Allura says that Shiro, Keith, and Lance have to reestablish the bonds with their Lions. For Shiro, that’s pretty easy. All the time in Black’s consciousness did nothing but strengthen their bond even more. He places his human hand on the shield and whispers, “Trust me.” The shield goes down and Black rests its head against his hand, it’s eyes glowing. He smiles. 

Keith clenches his fist, staring up at Red. Lance gently bumps his shoulder, “Where’s Voltron without its right hand Lion?” Everyone laughs lightly at the joke. Keith gives Lance that soft look he always gives him. Lance decides he likes that face on Keith too and hands him back the Red Bayard. Keith approaches the shield. “Red, are you there?” No response.

Keith (sighing): Look, I know you’re mad at me. I left you to lead Voltron when Shiro disappeared. He wanted me to take his place if anything happened to him. He believed in me, he’s always believed in me, and I’m so grateful that he still does. But...I never wanted to lead Voltron. Black and I bonded out of necessity. I learned to open myself to the team when I piloted you. And then I understood the responsibility of holding a position like this when piloting Black. And I now want keep learning about this, this bond that’s beyond myself, with you. 

It takes a few minutes but Red’s shield goes down. Keith smirks, welcoming Red’s attitude again. He looks over to Lance, “Your turn.” Lance stretches his arms, “Ok, here we go.” And approaches the Blue Lion.

Lance: Blue? Heeyyy, girl~ I’ve missed you.

Like Red, Blue doesn’t respond. Lance brushes it off, he hasn’t bonded with Blue in a while it’s alright. He tries again. When Blue still doesn’t respond, he places his hands on his hips. “Do I have to use my particle barrier line on you again?” Still nothing. Lance huffs. “Then what do you want!? I’m sorry! I had to pilot Red! You know that! You were the one that shut me out first remember!?”

Allura: The Blue Lion is the most versatile of the Lions, its attacks cover a wide range on the battlefield and its flexibility is what makes it the most accepting of new Paladins. However that makes them incredibly devoted and sensitive to their Paladins. They must be flexible themselves as well as powerful to steer the Blue Lion on task.

Lance: Flexible and powerful huh? Well, the Blue Lion is a leg of Voltron. So it’s a support Lion right? Not to the same degree as Red’s support to Black but you know what I mean. When I left Blue for Red, I did it because I accepted Keith as the Black Paladin. Keith needed a right hand man the same way Shiro needed him. And then when you became a Paladin...I was willing to step away so that you, Shiro, and Keith could have spots on the team. So...I still have what it takes to pilot Blue! Because everything I did was to keep the Team together! Even if it meant leaving Blue.

Allura: Exactly Lonce!

Blue’s shield goes down, everybody cheers. Pidge says that the ‘6 Paladins, 5 Lions’ situation shouldn’t be a problem. If Shiro’s down Keith can take over, if Keith is down Lance can take over, and Allura can take over for any of them since she’s connected to all of them. Allura agrees and gives the Blue Bayard back to Lance. 

Hunk tries to imagine how crazy the team dynamic would’ve been if he and Pidge were in the Lion Swap too. Pidge jokes that they wouldn’t make it. Everyone laughs. No one notices that the Lions eyes are glowing, communicating with each other.

Dinner at the McClain’s goes smoothly. When Veronica asks Lance about Keith, she calmly watches Lance flip his lid while exchanging smug glances with Ma McClain. Ma McClain shakes her head, smiling. Nadia and Silvio want to hear about how Lance saved Allura during the Omega Shield mission. Lance corrects them and says, “She technically saved me too. It was a double save!” He laughs along with the rest of the McClains. Nadia comments that Allura really is a Princess, she has a crown, a carriage (Blue), and magical powers. She just needs a Prince. Silvio says that Uncle Lance is already her Prince. Lance grows tense, but no one notices. 

The two children ask if Lance really has to leave them so soon. Ma and Pa McClain voice their concerns as well. Lance says that its his duty as the Blue Paladin. The McClain’s are confused cause they remember him piloting Red. Veronica tells them about the Lion (un) Swap. Lance then repeats what Allura told the Paladins about Blue. The McClains are very impressed with Lance’s maturity. Veronica then proposes a toast, to Lance, to the Voltron Lions, to ATLAS, and last but most importantly, family. Everyone joins the toast.

A short montage plays of how Team Voltron is spending their last day. Starting off with the McClain family toast and transitioning Hunk and his family playing Stack-A-Ton (Voltron’s version of Janga lmao). Shay asks if she can join and is actually pretty good at it, Hunk is a proud boyfriend. Pidge and her family are making last preparations on the ATLAS, Beezer wheeling around to give them food and drinks. He then darts away when Bebe tries to jump him. The MFE and Altean girls singing along to a digital speaker in one of their bunkers. And then it ends with biggest change of the episode: dinner at the Shirogane household. 

Shiro is in his room, adjusting his clothing. He goes to move the right sleeve of his button up down, then realizes the rest of his arm is floating. He laughs to himself, watching his loose sleeve flop around as he walks around. “Need help with that?” Shiro turns and finds Adam leaning against the door-frame. “Please.” He says and Adam does the rest the buttons for him. He rolls up the loose sleeve and makes sure it doesn’t move when they realize how close they are. (UST, UST, UST, baby~) They both look like they want to say something but then they hear someone knocking on the door.

Shiro, Adam, and Shiro’s mother, Mizuki Shirogane, welcome Keith and his family. Mizuki embraces Keith like a second child and they are seated. She doesn’t bat an eye when Kolivan and Krolia apply the Galra custom of placing their weapon in front of their plates to an Earth household. (Kolivan is courting Krolia at the end of Season 7, that’s why he’s with them) Mizuki and Krolia get along exceptionally well; being two hard-working single mothers, they bond over many things. Krolia thanks Mizuki for raising Keith alongside Shiro. Mizuki says that it wasn’t easy.

Mizuki: I felt like I was raising two sons when Shiro took Keith under his wing.

Shiro (laughing): Okaa-san!

Mizuki: You knew what you were getting into, Takashi!

Adam: Oh, he definitely did.

Shiro (jokingly pushes him): Hey! Nobody asked you!

They all have a good laugh. Kolivan is slightly miffed that the Shirogane family cat, Marble, has decided his lap was a nice place to roll around, Keith tries not to snort the orange juice out of his nose at the sight. Kosmo eats the table scrapes, cause he’s not a normal wolf and he can eat almost anything. “Dang, that wolf eats more than the MFE’s!” Adam wonders how big he’s going to grow, Keith can’t answer that and (jokingly) realizes he made a mistake bringing him back with him. Kosmo whimpers and Keith offers him his grilled salmon as an apology.

While Adam and Shiro are cleaning the dishes, Mizuki offers their guests some homemade dorayaki in the living room. Keith greedily chomps down on them. Krolia and Kolivan look at the new food strangely, Kosmo. Keith offers one to his mom, “They’re a sweet...bread...sort of. Ms. Shirogane made them all the time for us. She has a secret recipe that makes them extra tasty.” Krolia takes a bite and also chomps them down. She tries to apologize to Mizuki in between bites but she remarks that she’s always cooked for big eaters. “Why do you think Takashi is as big as he is today?” Shiro blushes bright red and flicks bubbles at Adam when he laughs.

The lights in the Shirogane household flicker. Krolia, Kolivan, and Keith are ready for an attack. Marble jumps and scurries to Mizuki. She calms them down and says that its just maintenance in the Plaht city. “They must’ve gotten the city lights to finally work.” Adam gasps and takes Shiro’s hand and they run out of the kitchen. Mizuki and Keith’s family are left wide-eyed, Keith winks at them. Shiro asks where they’re going, Adam shushes him and brings his hands over his eyes. “It’s a surprise~” Shiro laughs, carefree and joyful. Adam suddenly stops and slowly removes his hands. 

“Okay, you can open them now.” Shiro opens his eyes and sees that they’re on the balcony, in the distance Plaht City is engulfed in warm, golden light. He’s in awe, slowly walking to the balcony’s edge to take in the view. “Wow...” (I imagined the Shirogane household to be house that looked over the city)

(And for extra feels listen to either of these tracks: Track 1 or Track 2)

Adam: I know the re-entry caused you some memory loss, but I thought this might bring some of them back. It was always your favorite sight. Even when you stayed at the Garrison.

Shiro: Of course I remember this. Okaa-san always brought me here whenever I had a nightmare, or a bad day, or even on a good day. When I was imprisoned...I did things that I swore I would never do. But, it was Zarkon...for him it was all or nothing. The same with Honerva. When they threw me back into the cells after every battle, this view was one of the things I always thought about. It helped me get through so much pain.

Adam:...What else did you think about?

Shiro: Sunrises and sunsets at the Garrison, Marble, Okaa-san, Keith and...(he turns around, the lights of the city illuminating his white hair) you. The very idea of seeing any of you again.

Adam (Mentally: Baby, you’re my aaaaannnnggellll~ hehehe): Takashi...

Shiro: Adam I---

Adam: I’m sorry.

Shiro: What?

Adam (looks down): I’m sorry, Takashi. I didn’t want our relationship to end like every cliche romcom with a sick character. But it did. I wanted to support you--I did support you. I stood by you throughout our entire lives at the Garrison. But I was just so worried about you. My parents left me a long, long time ago. It took me a while to realize that...that I was alone. I didn’t want you to leave me too. I didn’t want left behind again.

Shiro: (he looks down, recollecting his thoughts) I’m sorry too.

Adam: What? No, T-Takashi. You didn’t do anything wrong---

Shiro: Yes, I did. I-I...The disease that I had, everyone was doubting me. Sanda, Iverson, Keith...you. A small part of me continued with the mission to prove all of you wrong. Another part wanted to take this chance to see the stars. What I thought was my last chance to ever do something this important to me...I know I made you really, really upset. And please know that I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you. But also know that I’m not staying here this time. Not when my family, our family is going up against what might be the biggest threat to the universe.

Adam (nods): I know that. I’ve always known that. You love the stars, Takashi, you would always stare at them, as if waiting for a sign. Now they’re calling out to you and I’ll be right there beside you when you meet them. And after that...if you want...I’ll be beside you wherever you go.

Shiro (soft soft boi): Really? Do you mean that?

Adam (taking his mechanical hand): With all my heart.

Aaaannnddddd they kiss!

Adam: Do you remember what you said to me before you took off all those years ago?

Shiro (chuckles): I said a lot of things that day. It was pretty hectic. Maybe be more specific?

Adam: You said that you had a surprise for me. That you were going to show me after Kerberos.

Shiro (slowly remembers, eyes wide): Wait---did you...?

Adam pulls something out of his pocket. “Your mom gave it to me after you disappeared. She said that it’s the least that she could do to help with the pain.” He opens his hand and reveals a golden ring. Shiro stares at it in awe. He covers his mouth with his hands as Adam gets down on one knee.

Adam: When I said I wanted to be beside you wherever you went...I meant it. Takashi Shirogane...will you do me the honor of being my husband? To be together as we travel to the stars and beyond?

Shiro (eyes shining, a tear falls down his face): What kind of question is that? YES!

Adam puts the ring on his other hand and they kiss again. (Cause they’re gay Dreamworks, go all the way or don’t do it at all) Kosmo teleports in front of them, barking and wagging his tail for attention. They both look at their makeshift audience. Mizuki is smiling through her tears, Krolia has a comforting arm around her, Kolivan does an attempt at a thumbs up. Keith gestures them to look at the camera. They smile and Keith snaps a pic. “That’s definitely a keeper.”

Nothing really new with Luca and Romelle’s argument. I felt that it was a tension driven argument between two misguided people. (Which would have been some serious foreshadowing if Lotor was still alive) Unfortunately, Luca is still killed by Honerva. However, it’s like a sling shot effect and Allura hears a voice calling out to her when she’s alone.

She’s alarmed and, when the MFE girls are sleeping, goes to the medical bay. There she sees Romelle crying and Coran comforting her. She puts two and two together and puts on a steely expression.

The next day, the conversation between Allura and Shiro would have the rest of the Paladins present too. Shiro officially gives Allura command over the ATLAS. Allura asks if he’s really sure about this. Shiro says that he’s sure. The ATLAS belongs to her, she was the one that truly gave it power, not him. Adam stands behind him, hand on his shoulder. Shiro squeezes his hand. He says that his bond with the Black Lion is stronger then ever thanks to her, from the beginning they (Shiro and Black) understood each other in ways that seemed impossible. “We all need to be at our best when we face Honerva. And I’m at my best when I’m a Paladin, not a Commander.” He finishes by saying that he’s ready to lead Voltron again. Allura smiles and deactivates Shiro’s new arm to replace it with something more efficient; the Black Bayard. 

Allura removes her crystal from his arm and puts her tiara back on. Everyone in the room bows before Princess Allura of Altea.

Shiro uses his new-new hand to interlock fingers with Adam. Everyone sees their matching rings, pauses, and looks at the two for confirmation. Shiro nods and everybody cheers. Adam tells them to calm down and presents them with their colored uniforms. Instead of two gold bars, they have three. Allura will have four now that she’s commanding the ATLAS. Lance wonders how mad Griffin will be when he sees them.

Last rewrite of this episode is the grand speech given at the end. Instead of Shiro, Sam, Allura, and Keith, Allura fills Sam’s spot, giving her more speaking time. Again, she’s the leader of the Voltron Coalition and the ATLAS’ commander so she ranks higher. Her part of the speech is her commending the Earth for their strength against the Galra and promising that she and the rest of the Coalition will do everything they can to help them. “You have accepted us with open arms and allowed us to help you recover from this war. Now we will continue the fight in your honor, and for the honor of those who have fallen.” (This is why Allura still wears pink, she now wears it in honor of the humans)

The episode ends with the ATLAS taking off and our heroes posing for dramatic effect (lmao). The screen fades to black and you suddenly hear everybody laugh when Pidge does her cartoon impression again. “I’m descended from a clan of ninjaaaazzzz!” And then the credits roll.

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

Kicking off this final season with a bang! Let’s go! So a lot of things happen. It’s the first episode of the final season, I thought that the writers would’ve hit the ground running because we’re in the home stretch. We don’t need to re-introduce everyone. We have all our players in the places they need to be, this season should make the best use of those places in character development to complete their character arcs.

And this episode should keep the audience engaged so that they’re eager to roll over to the next episode. Undoing the Lion Swap, giving Allura the ATLAS, and the Adashi moments would do just that besides giving our cast of characters more development. I guess I’ll explain my reasons for doing those three things. Besides them being obviously what we need after that horrible ending.

Undoing the Lion Swap: Again, I thought it made sense when I first watched it. But then re-watching it again along with taking in other people’s perspectives on it, I realized that it was just so that JDS and LM could recreate the 80′s!Voltron lineup. Which is fine but it shouldn’t have lasted the entire series. Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Allura were all wonderful characters the way they were. They’re not exactly like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Allura are definitely not like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Black bonded over a common trauma, Keith allowed himself to accept other people besides Shiro, Lance became better focused on the group instead of channeling his other persona, and Allura was a powerful WOC and commander of the team. 

Everyone and their mother and dog knows that JDS and LM wanted to kill off Shiro but couldn’t because Dreamworks correctly predicted that he would be popular with the audiences. So instead of writing a new story about how Keith didn’t need to be a leader to be a valued member of the team, they pushed their Black Paladin Keith storyline ahead and fridged 2 characters in the process. Undoing the Lion Swap allows Keith and Lance to mature once again and further evolve into their roles as Paladins. 

This primarily shown when they reestablish the bonds with their Lions. Keith is not that great of a leader...controversial opinion but agree-to-disagree. He’s a good leader when a specific situation calls for it but he’s not the leader type. He still has the ability to lead when he continue this rewrite don’t worry lol. Same with Lance, sure he and Red seem to be better suited with Lance desiring to be better than Keith because they’re rivals, but ultimately his closest Lion bond is with Blue. Lance and Red should already have a deep bond by Season 7 but Red doesn’t come for him until the last min so that doesn’t make sense. Also the other Lions not fully respond to their Paladins is foreshadowing~

And giving Allura the ATLAS: Really, the proof is in Season 7. It was her crystal that powered the ATLAS, it was her alchemy that allowed it to transform, it’s white like the Castle of Lions and ATLAS’ mech form is more feminine looking with gigantic hips that don’t lie. Allura’s role as the Blue Paladin let her bond closer with the rest of the team. However, after Season 6, where she used her alchemy to build Sincline, enter/exit the Rift, and revive Shiro, it felt like a demotion. So her being in ATLAS returns her to the position of power she had in Season 1.

For the Adashi moments: we finally have a family for Shiro! Because he didn’t come from and egg JDS and LM! Switching The Date from Allurance to Adashi:

 1) Re-establishes Shiro’s validity as a main character 

2) Adds more depth to Adam West, yes that’s his last name in this rewrite, besides being ‘Shiro’s boyfriend that almost died’

3) Doesn’t make his only close relationship between Black and Keith

This episode should also set the tone for the rest of the season. With the combination of Luca’s sudden death, Honerva’s threat looming over them, the Allurance dinner throwing an overload of negative emotions towards Allura, and a romantic relationship with little to no development until the last minute, the viewers rightfully feel like something is off about this season. At least that’s how I felt when I started watching it. The best example showcasing the tone is at the end: when Shiro officially becomes the Black Paladin again and the Leader Trio (Shiro, Keith, and Allura) give their speeches give it the epic, robot blasting tone they desperately wanted constantly. But when they’re all posing dramatically, they almost break character when Pidge does her 80′s impression. So the tone in this rewrite is like a superhero movie, there’s funny moments, there’s serious moments, there’s romance, there’s falling outs. 

And, yes this is a show primarily geared towards children, but because of how diverse the fanbase is in age, sexuality, race etc. I’ll be sneaking in some more mature themes. And, I mean, the Voltron writers kinda backed themselves into a corner when they made Keith half-Galran and did that poorly written plotline. And then that just escalated when they introduced Lotor and his Generals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 2: Shadows~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first new scene added was just a pure Easter Egg to 80′s!Voltron. When Zarkon and Honerva are discussing baby names, the idea of the baby’s gender comes up. Zarkon and Honerva still have their conversation about combining Lotarius and Koltor’s names to form Lotor. Afterwards, Honerva then asks what their baby’s name should be if it’s a girl, Zarkon warmly suggests another name from Galra mythology: Merla, Koltor’s sister and was just as much a warrior as he was a conqueror. The flashback fades away with Honerva agreeing, smile as radiant as the sun. I would like also put some world-building with Galra culture so during this Zarkon would call Honvera his ‘Empress’ and their unborn child as ‘Kral Mir Tavaar’ (The Spark of the Empire). 

Trying to be as chronologically as possible (at least for this episode cause you can’t really tell between present day and flashbacks until the end >->), because Merla is now (and forever will be!) a Galran name, VLD!Merla needs a new name. From now on VLD!Merla will be referred to as Hira. She might not exactly look like General Hira the way Sven looks like Shiro but they both have pinkish hair and follow a white haired Altean ruler so close enough lol. Also there’s not ‘sister colony’ where Romelle supposedly was. There’s only one colony on Pollux and it’s the one Honerva convinces to join her mission to retrieve Lotor.

Before, Honerva gets to the Colony, she flies to the station where Project Kuron was being built. She closes her eyes and sees Keith’s fight with Kuron, then, through Kuron’s eyes sees that Allura brought Shiro back to life through him. Still no sign of Lotor. She clenches her fists. If the Altean Princess can bring life into her puppets, she’s sadly mistaken. She thought that Project Kuron would be her perfect army. No, she needed an army completely devoted to her. It’s then she thinks about the colony Lotor built. Eyes glowing yellow, she unleashes a wave black magic to destroy the station and every stray clone that floats away. When she’s done, her corrupted Altean marks become cracks on her face, quintessence motes floating out of them. When she touches them, she winces and uses more of her black magic to seal them. On her ship, Kova looks down at his master.

Kova doesn’t die. Nope. Can’t kill the cat. Kova’s not with Honerva actually. Another flashback reveals that Kova willing left her. Honerva is concentrating on finding Lotor, incidentally neglecting Kova. She stops when realizes that Kova’s quintessence is moving away from her, and chases after him. A Galra ship that she recently sent out is carrying him away. Instead of ordering the ship and taking him back, she doesn’t take another second to think about him and goes back to her work. She offered her pet a thousand years of life with quintessence and this is how he repays her? Clearly he’s not loyal pet he once was.

The second new scene will happen shortly after Ven’tar’s planet was destroyed and Lotor is banished from the Empire. After Lotor yells at Haggar, she too leaves him in the room to suffer in silence. As she follows Zarkon down the hall she notices Kova prowling in the shadows, slipping into the room before the doors slide shut. She stares at the door intently but thinks nothing of it as she continues walking. Inside the room, Kova rubs his head against Lotor’s arm, sensing his sorrow. Tears freely fall from his face, his one chance of changing the ways of the Galra gone forever. Lotor wonder’s if that’s how Altea was destroyed, because they refused to surrender to his monster of a father. Suddenly he stops crying and looks directly at the planet, the fire lining up with his pupils, symbolizing a new fire lighting inside him. If Altea never bent the knee to Zarkon, neither would he. He allows Kova to hop onto his shoudler as he stands up, stronger. “We have a mission, Kova.” Kova meows, as if questioning him. Lotor smiles, “Don’t worry, we won’t be alone.”

And instead of sacrificing Kova, Honerva uses the Rift Entity inside her to find Lotor. She discovers the Sincline is still active, eyes glowing, swimming around, like it was a lost child. 

A few days after she sent Luca to Earth to kill Voltron, she tries again. Closing the cracks that formed in her skin, she sees Sincline still swimming in the Rift. She then hears a faint but steady heartbeat from the cockpit. Honerva suddenly has flashbacks of her pregnancy, the heartbeat almost the same but even fainter than the one she’s hearing. It eventually stops. She gasps and falls to her knees. 

Once again, Allura feels it too on the ATLAS bridge. Someone calls out to her again, she looks over her shoulder, terrified but curious,  “It can’t be...”

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

This was probably the shortest and the easiest rewrite out of the 6 episodes (and maybe the whole season’s rewrite). It’s probably because it was the least edited out of the original season. This episode is relatively kept the same with the exception of a name change and a couple of new scenes added in the flashbacks. One thing I felt uncomfortable with in this episode was the attempt at humanizing Zarkon and Honerva. Really? Humanizing them this far into the series was a red flag to me. Come Knights of Light Part 2 through The End is The Beginning and lo’ and behold they rushed their redemption arcs. Zarkon’s redemption arc was like a flip of a switch in one episode and it took Allura mind-raping him! No, no, no, I have something very different in mind for both of these characters. 

I also added a few more scenes in so that the audience would remain torn about Lotor. Is he dead or alive? is the first question. Honerva makes repeated statements that Lotor’s dead but refers to him as the Emperor who pierced the veil aka to discover something beyond death. But Sincline still being active and Allura sensing something on the ATLAS contradicts that statement entirely.

And renaming Merla to Hira. That’s right! That one episode in Season 3 with the morally ambiguous Alteans from the alternate reality was actually foreshadowing the villain’s of the final season. Hole in the Sky was probably my favorite episode in Season 3 because we got these morally ambiguous characters that we’ve previously associated with goodness and hope and everything shiny.

Another change is Honerva’s condition. She might be a Chosen Altean but that doesn’t mean she’s going to use all that black magic and quintessence cartels/supplements for free. Her condition will continue to deteriorate throughout the series as she continues to use her black magic/corrupted alchemy. So, yeah, metaphor for doing drugs don’t do it kids it’s bad for you.

Kova’s scene where he leaves Honerva is supposed to represent how he’s gotten smarter over the years. Living for more then 10,000 years on quintessence can do that to you. He’s fully aware of the toxic relationship he now has with Honerva, how she seems to be using him to recover pieces of her own memory. As he leaves, the new scene after Ven’tar’s planet is destroyed plays out. He’s thinking about Lotor. And how could he not? He practically raised the poor guy alongside the Dayaks. Since Lotor in the flashback was starting to plan the Altean colony and recruit his future half-Galra generals, this now paints him firmly as a good guy. Or is he? Didn’t he drain them in  his second colony? Whose side is he really on? This should be a recurring question until we reach a certain episode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 3: The Prisoner’s Dilemma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok this is where one of the major plot lines is introduced: Team Voltron atoning for what they did in Season 6. It’s always been on my mind about how Seasons 7-8 could’ve been more dynamic and emotionally charged if it was revealed that some factions of the galaxy blame Voltron for what happened during the time dilation explosion. Because let’s face it: if you throw someone into the Rift to die and said person had already publicly made plans to subdue the main antagonistic force and change it to a force for good...it’s not the best moral decision. They already redeemed themselves in Earth’s eyes but that’s only one planet in the whole universe.

Warlord Lahn’s situation in this episode is a perquisite for their conflict Lotor. (As the #TeamPurpleLion calls it microcosm to macrocosm) His What the Hell, Heroes? talk doesn’t mean anything in the Season 8 we got because we never see our heroes fix their mistakes concerning Lotor. His words ultimately ring hollow because Team Voltron are our heroes right? And heroes NEVER make mistakes right? >-> (This makes me very bitter can you tell?) 

When battling Lahn’s forces, Shiro is (sunglasses) Back in Black (hehehehehehehehe, puns), Allura commands the ATLAS. Thanks to their previous positions as Commander and Paladin, they can better communicate with their respective teams. Shiro’s more focused than ever and Allura calls the strategic shoots like the (boss) leader she is. Same with Keith and Lance. Keith is more understanding and in control with Red and Lance is more straightforward with Blue rather then being a glory-seeker.

Shiro doesn’t ask Lahn to join the Voltron Coalition, Allura does. “Warlord Lahn, if you would do us the honor of joining the Voltron Coalition. We could provide stability to the universe.” When asked if there is an alternative, Allura ponders and says that if Lahn rejects the offer, the Coalition will still provide them with any support they need. Lahn rejects that too. Setting the example for his troops, he won’t accept any help from the likes of Voltron. Not after they caused the Galra Empire to fall apart.

He pounds Team Voltron with an armor-piercing question: “If you really are the Defenders of the Universe, why is the galaxy as afraid of you as much as they worship you?”

Lahn set the example for his troops in the pior scene so they also refuse any medical attention from the ATLAS. Romelle thinks it’s typical Galra behavior and carries on. Colleen is curious and asks why as she passes out blankets. A high-ranking Galra (Let’s call him...Hazar, yay Vehicle Voltron references!) says they won’t accept the help from the traitorous Voltron. She’s confused by this and the Hazar tells her that Voltron promised to help Emperor Lotor provide Quintessence to the Empire. But then one day they Voltron attacked their Emperor in front of the Rift and were never seen again until today. Colleen turns her gaze from Hazar to the Lions, suspicious. She asks Hazar to tell her more, he demands why and she responds that she’s the mother of the Green Paladin, “And I would like to know why my daughter disappeared for 3 years.”

When Lahn lambastes Keith for being a half-breed, Team Voltron is all over him.

Lance: You better back off, buddy!

Shiro: Your views on half-breeds are unimportant and unnecessary.

Hunk: No one talks about our pal like that!

Pidge: Keep in mind that I’m around technology. I can shock you just by plugging two cables together.

Allura: Keith and the Blades of Marmora are one of the strongest warriors I’ve ever met. They sacrificed everything to save the universe. They were the ones who opened my eyes to what true Galra is! 

Because one of the major themes of this show is Found Family and goddammit if a Found Family didn’t defend each other against racists. Lahn sees this protectiveness and asks another armor-piercing question, “Do you truly have the loyalty and faith of your allies? Or are they merely following you to extract revenge on all Galra?” 

Team Voltron can’t answer that question. Adam, Kinkade, and Griffin are troubled. For their war against Sendak, it really was about defeating the Galra. But now...now (At least for Kinkade and Griffin, Adam knows everything since it comes with the package of being Shiro’s SO), they know that this whole situation became much more complex. This is important for the next episode.

Another rewrite is in relation to the title. For an episode called Prisoner’s Dilemma there’s no prisoner present in the episode. I mean you could reach and say it’s the Creature or that it’s Lahn but that’s a very far reach. So, Lahn will be holding a single prisoner on his ship. And that prisoner is (drumroll) Narti. Yeah, don’t murder your blind and deaf Galra General writers. Especially when your audience could have children with those same disabilities. She was captured and brought to Sendak’s service after the Kral Zera, stealing a ship and escaping just before he invaded Earth. Lahn found her and kept her prisoner until Team Voltron and the ATLAS showed up. They found Kova a few days after Sendak’s invasion, he came to her, hopping from ship to ship until he found her again.

Hunk immediately recognizes her as the General that choke held him with her tail. He asks Lahn why she’s being kept here. Narti speaks in a series of growls and hisses, Keith thinks that she’s being hostile to them because some Blades  behaved similarly towards him. Lahn corrects him and says that’s just how her people speak and that he could translate for them. He translates Narti, who switches to Space Sign Language. She reveals that reason why she stays his prisoner is because she still believes Lotor is alive. Team Voltron tries to tell her that she’s wrong, careful to not reveal too many details about what happened before. (Yeah there’s a thing called guilt that exists) Narti argues back that she was the first General Lotor recruited, he believed in her when even her Galra mother didn’t. To the point where he even gave her Kova as an animal familiar to help her see. He never gave up on her, so why should she give up on him?

Kova sees Team Voltron and hisses before crawling up on Narti’s shoulders. They both end up joining Team Voltron and Lahn on the rescue mission, hoping a ride in the Green Lion. Pidge actually finds the swish swish of their tails relaxing. Allura doesn’t accuse Lahn of stealing the weapons because she’s a Commander and commanders don’t blindly accuse people because of their race.

When the teams split up, she goes with Keith and Kosmo, more comfortable with a fellow half-Galra like herself. Similar to the conversation/argument that Lahn has with Allura, Keith denies that he and Narti are anything alike besides their mixed heritage. He can’t be friends, not even allies, with someone like her. Not when she supported someone as sick and twisted as Lotor. Narti signs in confusion, Keith demands that she speaks normally (Because even though he’s the leader, he’s still a bit hotheaded). Narti then penetrates his mind, telepathically saying she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. "You know exactly what I’m talking about.” No, I really don’t... Kova hisses, Kosmo growls. The conversation ends and they refuse to talk to each other. 

When they find the Creature, Kosmo and Keith nyoom! away from it at first. Narti uses her tail to smack debris in its way. They still teleport away but Narti doesn’t grab onto Kosmo. She simply stares at them when they approach her. The Creature is confused, opening its mouth to roar at her. Narti doesn’t react. The Creature leans down to sniff at her, sensing a strange connection between them, Narti reaches a clawed hand to its face. It growls before she starts stroking it, Kova butts his head against it’s tough forehead. The Creature slowly calms down. That is until Kosmo teleports beside her, scaring the Creature into attacking. Kosmo scratches the Creature’s nose and brings her back to Lahn and Team Voltron. Extremely pissed, Narti opens her mouth and reveals her two forked tongues as she hisses. Kosmo tries to swipe at her face too. Kova nearly pounces on him but Narti snares him with her tail.

By the time Kosmo teleported Narti to the cockpit, Team Voltron and Lahn had already formed the plan of turning the ship into a bomb and destroying the Creature. Narti then telepathically invades all their minds, causing all of them to yell in pain. She reprimands them for seeing something unusual and immediately deciding to destroy it. Keith tells her that it’s Ranveig’s creature from the Quantum Abyss and was experimented on by Lotor’s vats of pure Quintessence, it’s a monster who can’t tell friend from foe. Narti says she already knew that. It’s why she’s even more pissed at them. 

She says that the monster is always attacking is because they (Voltron and the Galra) always decide to shoot first. To her, ‘Victory or Death’ applies to both sides. She says that it’s pattern that she noticed with her limited interactions; they lack patience and are hilariously short-sighted.

When she skimmed the Creatures thoughts, she sensed erratic confusion and fear from them. The Creature is tired, they’re hungry, they want to rest. they wants to get off the ship. Their intrusion only added to their stress/anxiety. Even if they appear monstrous, the Creature has their own life to live. Ashamed, Keith repeats again that its his fault, Lance tries to convince him its not, but Narti agrees and he can still atone for it. Lahn snaps and asks what a bunch of half breeds and traitors to the Empire could do to fix this ‘mistake’. “It seems to me that Voltron should be known as the Legendary Failure then the Legendary Defender.” After being a semi-optimistic doormat for so long, Narti finally snaps, “Shut. Your. Quiznak. Or I’ll use my tail to strangle you over the Creatures jaw and let it devour you!” 

Everyone stares at her. Lahn smirks, baring his teeth.

Lahn: You are definitely Galra with that temper.

Narti (flicking her tail): I don’t need you approval to be a true Galra. It’s in my blood and it’s who I am. And I might be the only one who can stop them. I only ask you to be patient with me. Let me subdue them. If you truly are the heroic Paladins you claim to be, then give me this chance. If I’m wrong, then you can set off the bomb.

Everyone agrees with the plan. Keith and Kosmo teleport to where the Creature is. When the Creature seems them he recognizes Kosmo and charges. They teleport away but only a few inches from where they were.  The Creature charges and they teleport again. They continue this pattern until they reach the bridge.

Shiro’s second bayard upgrade is a shield cause he’s totally the Captain America of the group. Lahn is behind Hunk while Narti stays with Pidge. When the Creature is in the center of the room, Keith stands in front of the door and puts his shield up. Everyone is tense. The Creature realizes there is no way of escaping the circle and panics. It roars and thrashes around the bridge. Its extra limbs glow and tries to blast it’s way out of the circle. Lance hesitantly activates his bayard. Narti smacks it with her tail, he squawks indignantly, she reveals her two tongues to him and he shuts up. The magenta pulses of its blast is suddenly subdued by a pale-blue almost white glow. The particles of light seem to distract the Creature, who’s staring at them in curiosity. (Take a guess who did that lol)

Narti floats over Pidge’s shield and reaches a hand towards the Creature again. The Creature fears its a trap and tries to scare her again. Narti strokes its face again. The reason why the Creature is so calm towards her is because Narti was soothing him with her telepathy. To truly defeat a monster, one needs to have the courage to understand. Unlike the other passengers, Narti understands what it’s like to be in a foreign environment where everyone’s against you. She’s felt that way for hundreds of years because of her half-breed status. The Creature is completely calm, but it will only listen to Narti. 

Shiro: I guess that means we’re taking him with us.

Hunk: I wonder if we can teach him to play fetch...

They all jetpack out of the Ranveig’s ship and into the Lions. Pidge feels nervous comparing the Creatures size and mass to her Lions but Narti reassures her that the Creature won’t cause them to slow down. She then notices that the Lion’s are further away then where they stopped them but chalks it up to the lack of gravity. (It wasn’t cause of the gravity Pidge) They make their way back to Planet Ryker. 

Lahn swears his allegiance to the Voltron Coalition. He calls for Narti to step forward, shocking Acxa in the audience. While he is grateful for Team Voltron’s assistance, he wants to honor Narti especially. Like all Galra, he thought that half-breeds did nothing but bring shame upon the Empire. Her patience and abilities as well as Keith accepting that he was at fault allowed him to see them in a new light. He bows before them and says “Vrepit Sa.” Narti and Keith repeat the action. 

Narti catches Acxa calling her name in her head and runs to her. The two half Galra women embrace. Narti tries to tell her what really happened when Lotor struck her but they’re both too overwhelmed by emotions to keep talking. Team Voltron smiles at the sight. There is small scene where Krolia embraces Keith too, Kolivan pats him on the back. The Creature, thanks to Narti, now is slowly starting to open up to the Galra. They offer them fresh food goo that they happily devour. 

Allura welcomes Warlord Lahn to the ATLAS, he offers them any assistance in their search. (Because the Galra are really pushed to the background once Honerva became the main antagonist) Allura points out that those that have been liberated by Voltron are now back under Galran control after the Empire collapsed. Lahn admits that freeing all of them will take a while. 

Shiro doesn’t like where the conversation is going. He voices that really doesn’t want to split up the team. Especially with a threat like Honerva out there. The Paladins don’t want to be separated from Allura either considering what happened before. Unfortunately, it’s a sacrifice they have to make. Allura tells the bridge that she’ll stay with the Paladins, her alchemy might be needed if anyone is injured. They all embrace Coran and Adam and promise to keep communications open as much as possible. 

But...one more night on the ATLAS couldn’t hurt anyone. Allura has yet another dream, this time it’s the dream from the episode Clear Day. Instead of being separate visions from the entity, they’re all combined into one. The vision of Melenor in the juniberry field and where she eventually ashes away is where the dream transitions to Lotor in Sincline saying “Follow me!” and shows Voltron standing with the colony planets. She wakes with a cold sweat. The Space Mice ask her if she’s alright and she smiles tiredly and tells them to go back to sleep. (A soft rendition of Sincline’s theme should play here)

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

Guys, I turned the foreshadowing with Lotor all the up to 3000 in this episode with the monster and Lahn. The half-breed conflict should not only reflect Keith and Narti but the rest of the lady Generals and Lotor as well, further splitting the audience of where his allegiance was. Because there’s no such thing as a bad person or good person when it comes to being biracial. 

Hazar was a character in Vehicle Voltron that served as the main person in power on the villains side, although they weren’t villains cause they were looking for a new planet to colonize. Thematic hmmmmmmm maybe

Narti being alive was something I always secretly wanted. I mean they make some deaths in this series really graphic *cough*LOTOR*cough* but Narti got off pretty light. It only showed Haggar’s vision through her eyes disappear and then cut back to her laying on the floor. If played right, the writers can simply have her be, like in this rewrite, knocked out to come back to at a later time. And she was my favorite out of the Generals sorry not sorry. Her powers were so cool!

With her still kicking ass, Lotor’s goal of preserving life is brought back. It adds more conflict to the audience about Lotor. “He spared her life so that makes him a good person right?” “But he drained hundreds of Alteans remember?” “Oh yeah, but I don’t know about that anymore...” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 4: Battle Scar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We open with Team Voltron in space. Pidge is trying to track a Komar and it leads them to Olkarion. However, it’s completely drained of Quintessence and there’s a Weblum already devouring it. Pidge is horrified at the sight and immediately tries to shoot the Weblum down. Keith and Hunk, using their experience from collecting scultrite, convince her to fall back. The Weblum completely envelops Olkarion and flies away afterwards. Thinking Ryner and the rest of the Olkari are gone, Team Voltron is devastated. They fly closer to Green.

Keith: We’re here for you, Pidge. It’s okay.

(I think it’s very important that Keith is the first to say something. He knows a thing a two from losing someone important to you. Plus, it shows how much he’s matured since being The Loner of the group)

Pidge thanks them for their support. She says that they should continue looking for Honerva. Allura then senses something close by, she calls out to them. There’s no response. She tries to use Blue’s sonic cannon to amplify her call. But...Blue doesn’t respond. Lance jokingly says that Blue prefers him over her now and tries to activate her sonic cannon. No response. The two are confused.

Lance: Is anyone else having trouble with their Lions? Blue’s not responding.

Hunk: I thought I was the only one! Yellow hasn’t responded since we touched down on Planet Ryker.

Keith: Red’s been having technical difficulties but we still get the job done.

Pidge: Same with Green. I have keep manually inputting information that I know is stored in her database.

Shiro’s the only one who doesn’t experience any problems. However, they can’t call further attention to it because a familiar squishy asteroid splashes against Blue. Lance alerts the other Paladins, hopeful. The Paladins remember their first encounter with the Olkarion so they know that the asteroid carries a coded message. Pidge quickly deciphers it and the message is revealed: That the citizens of Olkarion managed to successfully escape the Komar. (pretty sure there were other aliens with them because it was the Coalitions base of operations) and are currently in need of fuel. Hunk and Pidge quickly punch in the coordinates the message carried and discover that they’re not as far away as they initially thought. 

The Lions eventually find the Olkarion ships using cloaking devices and give them an escort back to Planet Ryker. The Olkarion are hesitant to be on the same base occupied by the Galra. Allura does her diplomatic thing and comes up with a compromise between everyone: the Olkarion can use their interfaces to build more shelters for the Galra and the Galra will help with more of the manual labor because of the limited flora. However, she and the other Paladins notice that some of the citizens are acting more colder towards them then Lahn’s forces. Some of them are even glaring at the Lions. One in particular could destroy the Lions with his murderous gaze alone. He’s the same Olkari that King Lubos kept as a servant during Commander Branko’s reign. (uh oh...)

When the Paladins are abruptly called to a boardroom meeting, they bring Ryner with her because she’s the Olkari’s leader. But when they enter the boardroom, they immediately feel the tension. Everyone’s eyes are on them. Commander Iverson tells them to take a seat, Allura asks why the sudden meeting. He says that Commander Hazar has some information that he would like to share with the rest of the council. He’s sitting at the table alongside Lahn.

Hazar tells them that he worked closely with Lotor after he was crowned Emperor. He tells them that Lotor revealed to him his plan, which was offering pure Quintessence to placate the Empire. While it’s not a shock to Team Voltron, it is to the Coalition. Hazar demands why Voltron, after forming an alliance with Lotor and helping him light his fire at the Kral Zera, would betray and potentially murdered him. A murder of an Emperor by an opposing force is considered the most heinous crime. If they really are heroes, why did they do it?

Keith tells the abridged version of the story he told the team in Season 6. Romelle takes over halfway through.

Romelle: You might not believe me because I’m Altean, but understand. You’ve hunted down my people for 10,000 years. (Team Voltron cringes at that) We thought Lotor was better than you but...he was much, much worse. He committed atrocious acts towards my family. My mother, father, brother, friends...they were all destroyed by him.

Lahn: That doesn’t make sense. Did you not say that he saved you?

Romelle: No. He doomed us all. The second colony was draining Alteans of their quintessence.

Second shock to the Coalition. Hazar asks if they have proof of their claim. Romelle says that Keith and Krolia were there with her. Keith confirms this. But Hazar asks if Lotor admitted to draining their quintessence. Romelle doesn’t answer that, only repeating that they saw their bodies in the pods. Lance admits that they didn’t let him talk and cornered him after he and Allura returned from the Rift. Then ashamedly mentions Allura fired the Blue on him when he tried to subdue the conflict. They fought with him in the Rift and had no choice but to leave him there. Then they had to sacrifice the original Castle of Lions to close the rifts in the realities Lotor opened. Pidge guesses that’s when the time dilation probably happened. After they dealt with him, the Voltron Coalition was weakened and Earth was invaded. Allura speaks on behalf of Team Voltron admits that this was their mistake and apologizes to the Coalition for leaving them vulnerable.

However, Romelle refuses to admit that she might be in the wrong. Hazar pokes holes in her accusation; “If you only saw the bodies and Emperor Lotor didn’t say that he drained them, then is he truly guilty?”

Romelle: Yes! We don’t need to hear his side of the story! He would spin lie after lie to save himself! If it weren’t for us, he would’ve drained the rest of my colony! And then drained the rest of us!

Lahn: You don’t know that because you did not subjugate him to a fair trial. While we Galra do believe in ‘Victory or Death’ we also believe that if the choice was death, it must be earned. Either in battle or by trial. You did none of that. You forced the choice of death upon him!

Romelle: It’s what he deserves after destroying so many lives!

Narti signs that Lotor always put preserving life above everything else. When they invaded Puig to draw out the Paladins they only left injuries, never bodies. The same with every planet he conquered. ‘Your accusation doesn’t make sense.’ Romelle demands to know why she’s defending him. Narti says she’s not defending him, she’s doubting her claim. Acxa remains silent throughout the meeting, clenching her fist. Veronica and Keith notice but neither call her out. 

Romelle: Why is this even a discussion? What we do about Lotor doesn’t matter. He’s gone forever. We can all rest easy knowing that another threat to the galaxy has been slain by the hero Voltron.

Allura slams her hands against the table, causing it to dent, her hands softly glowing. Everyone stares at her, concerned at the display of power. “This meeting is adjourned. Everyone leave now.”

Team Voltron is left alone in the boardroom (Probably regretting everything because regret seems to be another thing our heroes don’t have in the series) No one speaks as the rest of them file out. Iverson stares at Allura, Veronica is concerned, Colleen and Sam are heartbroken, Hazar remains blank-faced as he leaves, Ryner is a bit more uneasy. The MFE’s feel awkward, uncomfortable, and bounce. Adam and Shiro have a little moment.

Shiro: Do you still trust me?

Adam: Of course I do...but I think this is something you six have to talk about.

Shiro: Wait for me?

Adam nods and walks out.

Acxa and Narti have a disagreement in the halls concerning the Paladins confession. The revelation of Lotor’s secret weighs heavy on them. Acxa wants to completely move on from her past and cut out Lotor for good, telling her that he’s not the noble prince he claimed to be. She feels betrayed because she had looked up to him. And now that there were things he even kept from them...Narti tells her she’s wrong. She’s read his mind. She knows that everything he’s said to them had been true. Acxa tells her if Lotor lied to them about the colony. Narti admits that he has lied a few times, but it’s so that its existence wouldn’t reach Zarkon and Haggar. 

Acxa: Maybe Lotor knew that you found out. Did you read his mind when he attacked you? Did he really mean to knock you unconscious? Or is this one of the rare occasions he swings and misses?

(Because two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead) Narti is insulted that a close friend would insinuate such a thing and walks away. Acxa realizes her mistake and pulls her back, saying she didn’t mean it. Narti tells her she knows. They rest their foreheads against each other, a Galra gesture of friendship, and go back to their bunker to talk more.

Back to Team Voltron. Lance rubs his face with his hands, “Is anyone gonna say it? Anyone? No one? Okay, guess I’ll do the honors: It’s our fault the universe is this way.”

The Paladins have their typical dispute about who’s fault it really is. Keith blames himself. Just like with Ranvieg’s monster, he was acting impulsively and jumped to conclusions. If he had let Lotor talk instead of just barging in at the Castle of Lions, the conflict would’ve been resolved much more quickly and peacefully. He suddenly realizes that with all his argument against Lahn that he was still Galra, he didn’t give Lotor the same treatment. The only other person he could relate to, another half-Galra. The person he thwarted the Blades plans for, the person he rescued during the Kral Zera, the Empire’s newest hope for peace...he’s gone. He clenches his fists together again. “Quiznak...”

Pidge thinks that Lotor’s still at fault. She’s 15 and she’s been through a lot of things. However, this time, she knows that there must be another side of the story. If they were going off the theory that Lotor was doing something other than draining their quintessence, he still should’ve come clean. This is a call back to the episode in the first season ‘Return of the Gladiator’ when she first accuses Shiro of hurting her brother when she only had a single prisoner recounting his experiences as proof. “This is just like when I accused Shiro of hurting Matt. Except a thousand times worse...”

Lance still blames Lotor, but his perspective changes the longer he thinks. Most would think that the blame is still stemming from his jealousy but it’s more on the fact that Lotor broke Allura’s heart. Even if his own heart was rejected by Allura, he can still care for her when she’s hurt. He thinks about how they all agreed to offer Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for Sam Holt. While he was thinking on instinct, he realizes what a horrible decision that was. He also has an epiphany that he was never Allura’s choice to begin with. If it had been between him and Lotor, Allura would’ve definitely picked Lotor. He feels really, really bad for advocating to leave him in the Rift. “Guys, we really messed up.”

Hunk blames Romelle, to everyone’s shock. When asked why, Hunk explains that to the rest of the team (besides Keith and Krolia), Romelle was a total and complete stranger. They didn’t know anything about her besides that she was Altean. Even if she did claim to know Lotor, they shouldn’t have taken her word so quickly over his. He supports Hazar’s argument, remembering more of his lessons with Dayak at Central Command. “Galra trials and interrogations have always been successful, it’s one of the reasons why the managed to take over as much territory as they did. IF we were gonna accuse him of draining those Alteans. We should have honored Galra tradition brought him there and gave him a fair trial. It’s the least we owed him after we treated him so badly at the Castle.”

Shiro fairly points out that this is a rare occasion where all parties are to blame. Keith only had Romelle to back up his story and even she admitted she didn’t know the entire story. The rest of the Paladins still had the choice to not believe them. It left the team vulnerable, emotional state, which led them to act on instinct instead of taking a step back to see what’s wrong. Keith points out that Shiro had nothing to do with it, it was his clone that present and then attacked them. Shiro says Kuron was being controlled by Honerva, forcing him to do all the things that he did. He says he still has Kuron’s memories and experiences, which is how he learned about Project Kuron. And it also means he saw and heard everything that occurred during their ambush on Lotor. “Look, I’m not mad at any of you. I’m disappointed. In you and in myself. If we had thought of other options besides point your bayards at him, the conflict would’ve gone over much smoother.

Allura’s significantly quiet during the whole thing. She harbor’s the most guilt out of all of them. If she had behaved more rationally, more like a leader, when Romelle accused him, he wouldn’t have been left in the Rift. However, she was so used to being alone. Coran was her only connection to Altea. When Lotor showed up, she refused to even look at him. After he killed Zarkon and ascended to the Galra throne during the Kral Zera, she felt like things might change if someone like him was at the helm. His Altean heritage didn’t matter to her, although it did pique her interest to his possible alchemic abilities. And then during their construction of the Sincline, she fell in love with him. Which is why the betrayal hurt more. Not Lotor’s betrayal. Her betrayal of him. She can’t accept any other story because they’re just excuses for them to feel better. 

Swap over to the hostile Olkarion outside. Some of them are packing their things, some of them are already boarding the Olkarion ships. The most shocking sight is them aiming their plant blasters at everyone else. Ryner runs to them and demands to know what’s going on. The Olkarion that was glaring at the Lions tells her that they’re leaving to find a real home. One that isn’t tainted by the Galra. Ryner says their enemy is not the Galra. The Olkarion (Let’s call him...Luben) retorts that she’s right: the Galra are not their enemy. Voltron is. 

Ryner: What are you saying, Luben!?

La-sai: Voltron gave the galaxy hope 10,000 years ago. And then they disappeared. We suffered, our children were never gifted a galaxy at peace. And when they reemerged we finally had hope again. But then they too abandoned the galaxy. Abandoned us. They led that...abomination to destroy our home. They’re no better than the Galra!

Hazar approaches him, clawed hands up in surrender. He asks La-sai to put his weapon down. Seeing a Galra, he angrily fires his rifle, grazing Hazar’s shoulder and starts spamming shots at him. Lahn tries to shot him unconscious. The rogue Olkari + other aliens start openly firing on Lahn’s troops and the Garrison staff. Some of the Olkarion ships take off. The Galra try to get into their fighters but Lahn tells them to stand down. They can’t waste their resources or risk the lives of citizens. La-sai scoffs. 

Iverson reports hostile activity to the boardroom. Allura asks if its another Komar, Iverson says no and that the hostile activity is coming from the Olkarion. Shiro tells the Paladins to get to their Lions. Iverson says that he has the MFE’s ready to launch. Allura tells him not to do that, explaining that this is Voltron’s problem. "This is our fault. We have to face the consequences or we’ll never fulfill Voltron’s purpose.” She says she’ll meet him at the bridge when she’s ready. 

The Paladins get into their Lions and Black is the first to take off. The other Lions are slower but the eventually catch up. They chase after the ships, but they don’t fire on them because of the citizens on board. And also cause the Lions are not completely following their Paladins. Instead they try to box them in and force them to land. The rogue Olkarions form canons on their ships and fire on the Lion’s. Vines entangle the Lions but they persevere. Red suddenly turns up its body temperature and uses its rail gun to burn them off, scaring the other Paladins. Keith says that wasn’t him. They have no choice but to keep them in the air, preventing as many casualties as they can. The Paladins try to talk the rogue Olkari down while simultaneously trying to get back in rhythm with their Lions. La-sai beats it in their heads that it’s their fault that their people suffered. 

Shiro tries to get the team to form Voltron, but the Lions don’t respond. “Uh, I’m not the only one not feeling that Voltron feeling am I?” Hunk asks. The Lions are no longer responding to their Paladins but they’re still boxing the rogue Olkari ships. They’re functioning on their own now. Hunk then wonders if the Lions are mad at them for what they did to Lotor. Lance dejectedly says that’s probably it. They both barely miss a shot from La-sai’s ship, Blue and Yellow hitting a hard reverse and forcing Hunk and Lance. Red and Green abandon formation, Keith and Pidge shouting at the sudden unnatural actions.

La-sai then breaks the Olkari formation and fires on the Lions separately. They’re overwhelmed. The only Paladin keeping a close bond with their Lion, Shiro is forced to go after Luben alone while the others try close in on the other ships. Luben taunts him.

La-sai: Oh, I remember you, Champion. The Galra Empire’s prized gladiator. I should’ve known you would run back to them.

Shiro (winces at the flashbacks): I’m not their Champion anymore! I’m not Honerva’s toy! I am the Black Paladin of Voltron! I am their leader! And I won’t let you hurt them or anyone else!

La-sai: You think you’re such a noble Paladin. You’re a monster! I saw every gladiator fight broadcast, King Lubos’ always watched them to entertain himself while I was forced to watch you. I saw you slay every opponent you faced. Galra, Balmera, Puigans, even Olkarion! My people! As if we didn’t lose enough to this war! You’re not worthy of commanding Voltron anymore than your friends down there!

The rest of the Paladins interrupts them through the comms while the Lions dodge the plant lasers, trying to defend him. Shiro realizes they’re doing the same thing they did in the boardroom, trying to find some other explanation to feel better. He can’t really fault them cause they’re kids but with things like the entire universe weighing on their decisions, they can’t afford to do that anymore. So instead of supporting them and further ignoring his trauma, Shiro accepts it.

Shiro: You’re right! (the Paladins quiet) I did what I did in those gladiator matches! And not a day goes by that I don’t regret every. single. strike. I’ve hurt people trying to survive. I really did. My team might defend me until their last breath, but it won’t change that I’m guilty. B-But...I know things have changed. I’ve changed. I’ve become a better person. Voltron, the Black Lion, this team...they gave me a chance to redeem myself for everything I’ve done. They became my rock throughout our journey. Even when I died, they held out hope that I would come back. And I would do everything I can to make sure they’re safe. Whatever it takes. Because I love all of them.

La-sai (scoffs): We loved you, the universe loved you. Loved Voltron. We welcomed you with open arms. You fought against the Galra. You were freeing the galaxy, protecting those who were once enslaved. And then you abandoned us! How many planets, how many families, how many lives, were destroyed because of your selfishness!? 

Shiro: How many lives will you destroy today? If you hurt anyone on this base, then you’ll become just like Commander Branko. He hurt thousands of your people just so he could have a weapon to enforce Zarkon’s rule further. If you destroy this base, you destroy our chance at rebuilding a better universe. 

La-sai: Voltron was supposed to rebuild the universe. You were supposed to save us from the Galra! You were supposed to end all of this!

Allura (over the ATLAS’ comms): Voltron is many things, but it cannot destroy the war itself. It is but a beacon, a symbol, powered by an ancient magic. Voltron can fight all the battles it wants to in this war, but it is ultimately the people’s decision to truly end it. Do you remember when we first arrived on your planet? You had all retreated to the woods, calling out for a savior with your asteroids. Voltron might’ve answered the call, but it was yours and Ryner’s decision to finally step out of the shadows and take back what was stolen from you. The Olkari knew when they learned of King Lubos’ betrayal that they deserved better than what he could offer. It was the combined efforts of them and Voltron that set the Olkari free from their chains. That is why the Voltron Coalition was formed. Because we can’t save the universe alone. We need help. We need allies. We need friends who are willing to risk everything to stop Honerva! 

La-sai: Allies? Friends!? You would put your trust in the Galra!? After all they’ve done to you? To your people? I remembered how hostile you were towards the Galra. One might say even hateful. What changed? Did they implant a device in you like they did to the Champion?

The Lions stop moving, the Paladins tense. They know that Allura’s been through more pain from the Galra then any of them. Her planet, her people, her culture lost. She hasn’t been kind to them either. From her xenophobic attitude towards Ulaz and the Blades, to her blatant disregard of Keith when he was revealed to be part Galra, and then when she thought she finally had someone to connect with in Lotor, he supposedly betrayed her. And then after all of that, Sendak invaded Earth, a result of their actions against Lotor. Everyone on the bridge looks at Allura. She closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and speaks.

Allura: I understand your frustration upon learning my new perspectives. I too was aghast that there were Galra fighting against Zarkon. But I was so blinded by my rage, by my loss, that I couldn’t truly appreciate their efforts. Now, after spending many battles fighting by their side...I see them for who they truly are. The Red Paladin, Keith Kogane, is half-Galra and one of my closest friends, who I treasure as my family along with the rest of the Paladins. Kolivan, Krolia, Regris, Thace, Antok, Ulaz, and the Blades of Marmora, they all believed in a better universe. And they took it into their hands to make that a possibility. This war has also taken things from them as well. Homes, families, this war started with the destruction of Planet Daibazaal... Warlord Lahn was once against our cause, but then he saw first hand how we all banded together as one, and he too saw that possibility. I urge you to look past your anger, past your hate, and understand that there are Galra who want this to end as much as you do.

(Damn, Allura just went full Daenerys Targaryen there)

The crowd beneath the Lions are listening to Allura’ speech, understanding why Shiro gave her command of the ATLAS. Some of the rogue Olkarion regain their senses and slowly land. La-sai is disgusted by their supposed betrayal and arms his ship with more plant cannons. He fires on the Lions. Yellow’s armor activates and leaps in front of the blasts. The Olkarion use their interfaces to form shields with the unused ships. Some of the Galra group together to protect the other aliens. Meanwhile, Green tries to fire its plant canon at La-sai’s ship and barely grazes the wing. 

Hearing the words of from the head and heart of Voltron, the Lions open their connection to their Paladins again. Hunk nearly cries with joy. They form Voltron and follow La-sai. He steeply flies up and into the upper atmosphere.

The Paladins continue to chase La-saibut Pidge tells them to stop when she realizes he’s too far gone. They fly back to the base. For the second time, Team Voltron is heartbroken, realizing that even though they have the most powerful weapon in the universe, they can’t save everyone they care about. What hurts more is that La-sai is right. They land and the ATLAS crew is there to provide support. A short time-skip happens after La-sai’s abandonment, nights falls on Planet Ryker. A small bustle of activity happens underneath the ATLAS, the numerous aliens and humans discussing housing arrangements between Lahn’s base and the ATLAS. 

Looking over the courtyard, Team Voltron discusses what happened today with the Lions. Keith says that he can feel the bond between him and Red is slowly starting up. The other Paladins tell similar stories. Shiro hugs and congratulates them for their accomplishment. Allura voices her relief as well and asked what changed. “I guess finally admitting we were wrong helped.” Keith says. His eyes drift over to Romelle, who’s starting to pull away from the activities. Her eyes narrow at Lahn and Hazar going over schematics of their base. Keith looks at her with a worried expression, Lance rests his hand over his shoulder.

Lance is in awe that they’re all working together so seamlessly, directing attention to them. Keith questions his words. Lance clarifies that while the Voltron Coalition was a united front against the Galra, he still noticed some prejudices. “Now...now, they’re working as well as we do.”

Ryner: Loss can bring even the greatest of foes together.

She approaches Team Voltron. Pidge is the first to speak, tears in her eyes, “I’m so, so, so sorry, Ryner. This is all our fault.” Bebe rubs his head against her side.

Ryner: It’s alright, Pidge. This is how life works. Some plants flourish, others wither. Sometimes we’re in control, other times it spirals out of our hands. It’s how we learn and do better. Become better than what we were. We will learn from our mistakes and grow stronger. 

Team Voltron agrees and goes down to help. The episode ends the Galra lighting little lanterns and releasing them into the sky. Keith asks his mother why they’re doing that. “It’s a Galra gesture of peace.To light a lantern means to light a new flame for oneself, to start over with.” Keith gets an idea and convinces the rest of the team to light lanterns too. The Lions look over at the sight, growling softly in approval.

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

Seems the theme of making up for your mistakes is making itself known in the season. Every story has it’s ups and downs. When The Prisoner’s Dilemma was a more positive ending, this episode has a more negative conclusion to contrast and to keep the characters and audience more alert.

This was actually the hardest episode to rewrite, between cutting down the Olkarion plot and inserting a brand new one to fill in the remaining time. While some of the people who worked on Avatar also worked on this show, VLD deals with a lot more mature themes for its young audience. ie. genocide, mass death tolls in Season 4, racism, torture, PTSD, possible metaphors for drug addiction the list could go on. With an episode titled Battle Scars, I wanted to show how the endless cycle of battles from both Voltron and the Galra are affecting the citizens. I tried to make this episode a commentary on the cycle of war.

Naturally, I went for the Olkari. Another thing that bothered me with this episode and with VLD as a whole was this is yet another Pidge centric episode. Not to hate on her, I love my Pidgeon, but I know the executives are extremely biased towards her. So instead on focusing on her sole relationship with the Olkari, I expanded it to the rest of Team Voltron. They’re one of Team Voltron’s closest allies and one of the main players against Zarkon in Season 2. Now, after three-four years of running, with their planet destroyed, and their trust broken a second time, they’ve become disillusioned with Voltron and grow in their hate towards the Galra. They want revenge on their own terms, Luben especially because of his previous imprisonment. This also echos Honerva’s manipulations of the Alteans. 

The title Battle Scars also represents what those scars are to a person. Making them stronger. This is the case with Team Voltron’s apology to the Coalition, the following discussion, and Shiro and Allura’s speeches to Luben. The Galra took everything from her, yet she learned to not fault all of them. She became the leader she is now because she moved on from those scars. She accepts the Blade and Keith as her family now. Shiro has a different lesson, he accepts that he has scars. He’s not proud of them but he accepts the trauma. To truly recover, you have to first admit that it happened to you. Doing so helped his relationship with Adam and strengthened his relationship with the Paladins. 

And this is even more apparent with the Lions, the Lions aren’t mad at the Paladins, they’re mad at themselves. It’s why they still follow their plan of boxing in the rogue Olkari but not connecting to their Paladins. They were created to bring peace to war-torn universe, instead they made it worse. Seeing them learn their lesson from Shiro and Allura helped them regain confidence to form Voltron again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 5: The Grudge~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lahn’s troops are slowly warming up to the ATLAS crew. To the point where they are challenging each other to friendly competitions in the gym. Iverson is currently competing in a push up contest with Hazar’s sister, Dorma (More Vehicle Voltron!). Adam and Curtis are keeping score. Veronica was cheering for Iverson but switches sides when she sees Dorma pull some cool moves. It ends with Iverson tapping out and lying on the mat, exhausted. Dorma commends him on his stamina before walking away to join some other Galra. Some Olkarion are in the gym too, dissecting the gym equipment and wondering what they could do to make them more effective.

The conversation about pets still happens with the addition of Adam. Adam admits that he never had any pets before, the closest thing was Marble. He says that that wasn’t really her name but Shiro always called her that because she was a calico and her coat reminded him of the marble pillars in New Kyoto and it sort of stuck. Curtis and Veronica awe over the story. 

Curtis sees Acxa alone doing the same sick push ups Dorma did and in an attempt to know her better asks if she had any pets. Acxa instead explains Narti’s bond with Kova in the typical intense Galra fashion, scaring Curtis. Somewhere in the gym the Garrison Quartet hear someone growling, agreeing with Acxa. Turns out it’s Narti, hanging from the ceiling by her tail. She lands in the middle of the pseudo-circle they’ve formed, her tail swishing around, Kova on her shoulder. She tucks it away after accidentally knocking Iverson down. 

“Keep that tail of yours under control!” Narti does the Galra salute as an apology. Kova hisses. She signs (Acxa translating) that she was grateful that Lotor gave her Kova. Kova has been there for him since childhood and yet he decided that she needed it more than him. Kova purrs as Narti scratches his ears.

Veronica asks if this is the same Emperor Lotor that attacked her. Narti says that he really didn’t. Before she could clarify, Coran calls everyone to the bridge to receive the Paladin’s latest transmission.

The Paladin’s say that they have a possible lead on Honerva and they’re going to check it out. (The decoy messages are still kept but our ATLAS crew is smarter in this rewrite lol)

The lunch conversation is kept the same with the addition of Narti + Kova. Kova hisses at the MFE’s when there isn’t a seat for Narti. She assures him that its fine and props herself on her tail. When Leifsdottir points out that it’s their Galra lineage makes everyone’s uncomfortable, Kova hisses again. Narti then signs that it’s not their lineage but everyone’s reaction to it that makes everyone uncomfortable. Acxa further explains that their status wasn’t...appreciated by the rest of the Empire.

Narti (snarkily signing): I don’t think we’re appreciated at this table either

Acxa: You’re right, Narti. We’ll take our leave now.

They do and the MFE’s look down in embarrassment. Veronica rightly scolds them and goes to find them.

Team Voltron recognizes that they’ve been tricked when Pidge points out the low oxygen levels. Shiro immediately tells them to get airborne. Hunk catches a glimpse of the hologram ATLAS and yells that they’re close. Unfortunately, the Lions still get caught in the ships traction beam. 

Pidge doesn’t tell Hunk to shut up because they’re all friends and friends don’t let things like single-modulation piss them off that badly. (Bex’s line delivery in this scene bothered me. It sounded less jokey and more ‘shut the fuck up’) When she tells them they need to remove their armor and bayards to prevent being detected, everyone points out that Shiro needs his bayard. It’s his literal right arm. Pidge realizes her mistake but can’t find another way with the time they have. Hunk proposes the idea that maybe Allura can use her alchemy to hide them. Allura says she can’t do that.

Allura: Altean alchemy connects us to living beings, as you can see, this planet does not hold any life. If I use my alchemy to hide us, it will restore the life of the planet and reveal our location.

Shiro says he’ll just have to last long enough to get his bayard back. He removes it and places it on the pile, fully preventing any detection and capture from the pirates. “Your safety is more important than my arm.”

Acxa and Veronica’s talk is same because its perfect.

Narti bonds with the MFE pilots when she notices them playing a card game in one of the recreational rooms. They might not fully understand Space Sign Language, but they know what she means when she points to the cards and then to herself. Kova doesn’t hiss but he moves away when the MFE’s try to pet him. Narti writes on a spare tablet that it’s normal for him. While they do have a familiar connection, Kova still acts out on his own, her emotions don’t dictate his actions and vice versa. 

Griffin asks if it’s true she can read minds. ‘Yes it’s true.’ Her voice echos in there heads. Her people are well-developed telepaths, it’s what made them such formidable opponents. They can prevent nearly any disaster just by skimming their thoughts. As eveident with Throk, she can also control someone for a short period of time. At the MFE’s horrified expressions, she chitters and says she won’t do that to any of them.

Narti: Although, I can’t promise not peeking at your cards...

Griffin: Oh, it’s on!

Swap back to Team Voltron and, oh yeah, Allura can still find the Lions. But because they left their armor and bayards, they can’t successfully break in or out of the ship that’s carrying them. They’re bombarded by lasers and they’re separated into pairs. Shiro and Lance, Keith and Hunk, Pidge and Allura.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Ryner manages to fully decipher the decoy messages and deduces that the person producing them is an Olkarion, correctly guessing that it’s La-sai. She takes a few seconds to pinpoint the location of the real Paladins. Coran tells Lahn to gather his troops, Lahn’s way ahead of him.

Switch back to the pairs. Lance talks about his feelings, Shiro understands and starts to suspect something. Lance says that he thought that Allura really did like him back during Sendak’s invasion. He doesn’t just feel insecure, he feels like he’s unworthy of the positions he’s held. He’s the youngest in his family, he feels like has to stand out to some people. But lately, he feels less and less comfortable slipping into ‘Loverboy Lance’. He doesn’t want to put up the act of being a ladies man anymore. Not after being rejected by Allura as both his loverboy persona (constantly) and his genuine nice guy persona back on Earth. Shiro comforts him like the amazing Space Dad he is. “You are Lance McClain, the Blue Paladin, once the right hand of Voltron. You’re our sharpshooter. Don’t think for a second you’re not worthy of a spot on this team.” 

Lance: I knew that name would catch on. 

Shiro: You insisted you were one. And look at you now.

They smile. When the pirates come for them, Shiro gets caught first. Lance uses his physicality to hide in a tree trunk. He takes down a pirate and uses the vacant rifle to free Shiro. When charging head-first backfires on Lance, Shiro uses his left arm to dive for the pirates legs and knocks him off his feet.

Hunk tells Keith that it might be too late but he’s really sorry for what he said during the Weblum mission (since he never does...). He didn’t know how to cope with everything happening to them and kinda took it out on Keith when his heritage was revealed. Keith thanks Hunk for his words and they hug. Keith hugging Hunk freely shows that Keith can open up to more than just his immediate family. It’s also a sweet reprise of Hunk hugging Keith. (I really liked their little bonding moment hehe in Season 7 and I wanted to showcase that a bit more) He tells him that they’ve really come a long way since driving his hoverbike away from the Garrison. “Yeah, and now we’re saving the universe with them!” They’re surrounded by pirates, Hunk hurls rocks at them and tackles them when they’re distracted. Keith uses his Galra strength + a fighting maneuver Kolivan taught him to take down a particularly big pirate. 

Hunk: Dude! That was amazing! You gotta teach me some of those moves!

Keith: Only if you teach me how to play Stack-A-Ton!

Hunk: Deal!

Yay! More girl bonding! Allura tells Pidge about the voice she heard at the Garrison. Pidge says that it’s normal for people to think they’re hearing someone after life-threatening events. She asks if she can identify who was speaking, saying that it might help the voice disappear. Allura says she has a good idea but she doesn’t want to tell them yet. Not until she’s absolutely sure. Pidge says its okay and to take all the time she needs. They take down the pirates using Allura’s shape-shifting and Pidge’s craftiness. Allura changing herself to a bigger size and Pidge using their superior weight and height against them. “I love being small!” 

The ATLAS shows up. Everyone cheers. “CORAN RESCUE!”

On arrival, Lahn’s forces take down the Space Pirates with ease, taking down the ships and freeing the Lions. The Lions find the 2 out of the three 3 pairs so they can put their armor back on. Allura carries Hunk and Keith’s bayards. Yellow opens its mouth and briefly allows Allura to pilot.

When they bring La-sai to the ATLAS, he hurriedly tells that their leader wants to destroy Voltron Paladin by Paladin. When Adam asks why, La-sai says that their leader had a ‘score to settle with them’. He thought that they carried the same vendetta he did, to take revenge on those who wronged them. That’s why he gave them information about the ATLAS. But he didn’t realize that the leader wanted to destroy them for good. Acxa immediately knows who the leaders are. Narti telepathically asks her if she’s sure. Acxa says she’s sure and she asks for her help to subdue them. Adam tells them that the need to move quickly if they want to do that, and also calls dibs piloting an MFE Athena Fighter. 

Everyone hears the Red Lion roar louder then ever before. “That can’t be good!” Lance shouts in the Blue Lion. Panic is evident on his face, but he knows that Keith and Hunk will hold out until they provide backup.

Our trio at the Garrison follows the Red Lion to the volcano where Ezor and Keith are fighting. Zethrid and Hunk are duking it out nearby. Allura calls out his name and chucks the Yellow Bayard at him. He catches it and starts firing on Zethrid. But Zethrid’s a tank, so those lasers do jack squat on her. She pins Hunk to the ground, his deactivated bayard the only thing between her foot and his chest. “Looks like you’re finished, Yellow Paladin.” She snarls. Hunk then remembers how his family was trapped by the Galra during Sendak’s invasion and how desperately he wanted to save them. He sees the Paladins, the ATLAS, and the Lions standing over him, his own crazy family he formed over the years.

He roars, “NO. I’M. NOT!” He gains a second heroic wind and his bayard transforms into a gigantic battle ax. Zethrid is startled and jumps back before Hunk can cut her face into green slices. 

She sees Keith slowly getting the upper hand on Ezor and bull-charges at him. Keith has Krolia’s blade and Red Bayard (Allura threw it to him during the second wind) to deflect their blows. Lance wants to use Blue’s freeze ray on them but Pidge points out that the tremors of the blast might cause the three of them to fall into the lava. In fact, the structure that they’re fighting on is too delicate for the Lions to land on. They’re stuck. Lance feels Red at the back of his mind, growing angrier. “Red, please...” Keith manages to hold the two half Galra back but Ezor kicks his feet and knocks the two weapons out of his hands. Zethrid pulls out a blaster and places it near his head, a ginormous arm around his throat.

Adam goes to immediately shoot them down but Shiro tells him to wait. Acxa and Narti reveal themselves to the couple. Zethrid and Ezor shocked that Narti’s still alive. Acxa tries to talk them down from hurting Keith. “Why?” Ezor snarls, “Because you’re in love with him?” Acxa finally tells them that no, she’s not in love with Keith. Over there battles, she came to respect him as an equal, in the battlefield as well as a half-Galra. She tells them that Keith never lost faith in her. And she’s extending that same unwavering faith to them.

Acxa: Hear my words. Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half-breeds rejected by the Galra.

Zethrid: Lotor used us! Used our anger to fulfill his own needs!

Ezor: He only cared about having power! Quintessence this and quintessence that!

Narti (signing and telepathically): NO! He cared about changing the Galra ways. No more conquering. No more needless violence.

Zethrid: Needless violence!? Didn’t Lotor cut you down?

Narti: No, he saved me. 

Ezor: Huh?

Narti: The witch was controlling me. I couldn’t fight back. When she saw Lotor had the trans-reality comet, she and Zarkon ordered the attack on us. Lotor knocked me out to release me from her control. He was going to come back for me after he defeated Haggar!

Zethrid: But...Lotor’s gone! (She places the gun closer to Keith’s head) They told us that. Lotor’s gone and we can’t get him back!

Narti: Maybe, but don’t make the same mistakes he did. Don’t turn to your anger.

Acxa: You’re not angry at Keith because he hurt you and Ezor...you’re hurting him because he reminds you of him. And it hurts to think about him. To think about Lotor.

(Seriously no one brings up any of their similarities in the series...) (I refuse to acknowledge JDS and LM’s comparisons of Lotor and Keith)

Zethrid and Ezor deny it. But as Narti approaches them, Ezor slowly breaks. She admits even though she hates Lotor after what happened at the Rift, she still misses him. As a leader and as her friend. And she hates it. She thought they might get closure once Voltron returned but with Lotor dead, they couldn’t get that. 

Keith starts to black out, Red roars in agitation, its rail gun forming, amplified by the volcano. The rest of the Paladins try to subdue it but it fires, stunning Zethrid and grazing her shoulder. The three of them hold on as the cliff collapses beneath them. “KEITH NO!”  Lance yells, the other Paladins horrified. They almost fall into the lava but Acxa and Narti grab on to them. Red quickly realizes what it’s done and dives into the lava underneath the rocks. Everything’s quiet. No one moves. 

Then Red slowly rises and props the rest of the cliff up so they can get to safety. The lady Generals all embrace, finally getting emotionally support they needed. Allura gently orders them to be detained. Keith is unconscious, Red butts its head against his side, wanting him to wake up. Lance jets out of Blue to prop Keith up for the stretcher.

We next see Keith lying awake on the hospital bed, a nurse checking his vitals. The doctor gently asks if he can speak. “B-B-B-” He coughs into his bandaged fist. “B-Ba-arely-y...” The doctor takes a few notes and puts a tray of rations in front of him, “Eat these before you take the painkillers. It’ll drown out the taste.” Keith thanks the doctor and slowly starts to chew on a ration. He looks down at the ration, surprised that it tastes as good as it does.

While Keith eating his rations, Lance paces outside of his room with Shiro. Krolia and Kolivan are scolding Acxa and Narti like the protective parents they are. Shiro blankly tells him he’s not helping. Lance says he knows but he still has a right to worry about Keith. Shiro agrees but admits that’s he’s never seen Lance so worried about someone. Not even for Allura. Lance confesses that when he saw Keith in Zethrid’s, grasp he was completely willing to kill her. He remembers when they were trapped on their ship and that Keith left him in charge of the team while he fought Zethrid and Ezor. Then, Shiro begins to recount how many times Keith threw his life away for the sake of the mission and how worried Lance always becomes when he does. He also tells Lance that when he and Veronica were knocked out on Earth, Keith comm calls were the loudest.

Lance doesn’t know how to feel about Keith now. He thinks that there might be something for Keith but he doesn’t believe Keith likes him back. He feels like he’s just starting to know the real Keith. Not Lone Wolf Keith he forced a rivalry on (Foreshadowing~). The Keith that knows who he is: “He’s half-Galra with a sword that can double in size, a teleporting cosmic wolf, who’s such a good pilot he can pilot two Lions, and who has my back like I have his.” He doesn’t want to ruin any that. And he’s still getting over Allura, and he knows from experience that no one wants to be a rebound. Shiro says it’s all on him and he’ll always be there lend an ear to listen to his struggles. Lance says that he always lent an ear during their missions. That’s why he’s such a dad, Lance laughs. Shiro hopes that name doesn’t stick.

Allura shows up the same time a nurse exits Keith’s room. Allura asks about Keith’s condition. The nurse says that he might have a sore throat for a few days but his mixed blood should speed up the healing process. “He’s healthy enough to see visitors.” The three Paladins sigh in relief. Shiro says that they should call the rest of their family to see him. Allura agrees but Lance rests his hand on her shoulder, out of breath, “Man, who knew pacing around the same spot a bazillion times would be so tiring?” They all laugh lightly.

The last shot of the episode is the lady Generals and La-sai in a cell together. Narti is teaching them the card game she and the MFE’s played. Kova rolls around the prison floor, finally at ease with the company around him. 

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Oh, hey look! More people blaming Team Voltron! This time it’s the Space Pirates. A lot of things have been rewritten in this episode. Namely, Ezor’s role. Ezor didn’t die or abandon Zethrid in this rewrite, she only lost her eye in the explosion. Because she’s still alive and kicking ass, Zethrid has no motive to take down Keith personally. 

And, yeah, we’ve have 2 canon LGBT couples in this season now. Cause apparently Dreamworks can’t afford two. Lady Generals have been reunited yay! Even tho Zethrid and Ezor were brought back to Acxa in the original season, they too had poorly timed redemption arcs. They only appear in two episodes and then are revealed to be Blades during the tacked-on epilogue slideshow. Nope, they’re getting even more screen-time after this. And hopefully I do both of them justice!  

Also more Klance development yay! And also more foreshadowing when Keith fights Ezor. Every lady General is a parallel to one of the Paladins. Three guesses as to which Paladin Ezor parallels. 

Also, with Red finally diving into a volcano, we officially checked off all the Lions for being in their respective elements and getting a power boost. Blue’s happens in The Depths when it’s revealed it can still move underwater, Green’s happens in Greening the Cub with its plant gun, Yellow’s happens in The Ark of Taujeer with the ground crumbling beneath them, and Black’s happens in Blackout with its second pair of wings/teleportation powers. Coincidentally all those happened in Season 2...

Speaking of, Lance and Allura are slowly evolving into a true BROTP and not a one-sided creepy crush.Thanks to Shiro and Adam helping Lance wade his way into the LGBT Pool, Lance can healthy express his feelings and can see the line between 'Just Friends’ and ‘Something More’. There’s a short time-skip between The Grudge and Genesis so assume that Lance visited Keith more than the rest of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 6: Genesis~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final episode in this rewrite and oh man, is this one a game changer! Strap in palda-dudes it’s going down!

Some major rewrites of this episode are about the White Lion. The first is that it’s essentially backed into a corner. Since it only allows Chosen Alteans to pass through, Honerva abused her status as one to force her army passage and to use its home as their base of operations. It disapproves of everything Honerva is doing. However, it can’t fight back. When it does Honerva uses her black magic/Altean alchemy and some of the Olkarion Cubes to drain its quintessence. 

Which brings us to the second rewrite concerning the White Lion; it’s the most powerful of all the Lions period. It’s the equivalent to the Phoenix Force...but, you know, a white lion and not a flaming bird lol. While I appreciate the high stakes its death would continue to establish, it also means another part of Altea is lost to Allura, Honerva, and the other Alteans. I like to think that the White Lion is another Life Giver ascended into another form, one to actually watch over Oriande and give the final test to the Chosen Alteans. Now that Honerva’s plan is in motion, she’s continuously draining the White Lion. The white hole progressively becomes more unstable as she does, which allows the Komars to pass through no problem.

Okay, so the first rewrite of this episode is that, again, Allura is the one in charge of the meeting. She’s dealt with Honerva first hand so all the information concerning the search for her is given to her first. They’re the same reports as in the original episode: four Komars have landed on four different planets and are planning to drain its quintessence to power a machine that could destroy the galaxy. Allura says that the predicted paths of the quintessence surges all lead to one place: Oriande. When asked by Adam what Oriande is, she simply says it’s the genesis of Altean alchemy and that only Chosen Alteans can enter. Coran insists that Honerva must be a Chosen Altean if she can get into Oriande. Allura darkly agrees and they proceed with the plan as the original episode does. Allura gives command of the bridge to Coran as she once again rides the Blue Lion with Lance.

Allura: The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people, my people, and bent them to her will. She convinced them to pilot her abominations and commit heinous acts. And now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only thing that can stop her and defend the universe. It is time to end this war.

(Yes, I put Allura’s speech here because I love Kimberly Brooks’ delivery so much)

When our heroes approach the white hole and the Komars fly out to take them down, the White Lion roars and tries to blast them out of the way, but then it flickers before roaring again. It’s more strangled because Honerva continues to drain more of its Quintessence, effectively stopping its attack. Allura’s Altean marks glow and she panics when she sees the White Lion disappear. Team Voltron jets out of the ATLAS (Adam tells them to kick that witches head straight) and heads into the white hole. The White Lion reappears and although it’s weak, it recognizes Allura as a Chosen Altean and allows Voltron to pass. (Lance or Hunk could remark how now it finally lets them through to lighten the mood) 

With the quintessence of the White Lion amplifying her magic, Honerva uses the teleduv to break into the Rift and retrieve Lotor. The visage of the White Lion flickers in pain again. Hira and her partner (Let’s call him...Raimon. WHOO Go Lion reference!) use their Komar’s to “defend their goddess” from Voltron. This fight happens a little differently. While the original episode had Voltron simply engaging in a typical mech fight with them, this time since Allura’s backseat (not really) piloting, she will occasionally tap into the power of one Lion to use its signature powers and upgrades to attack. 

This allows Team Voltron to regroup and think of strategies while also slowing down the Komars. The Blue Lion uses its attacks first cause Allura’s in it. First it uses its Freeze Ray to stop them in their tracks. Then it uses it’s Sonic Canon (which forms in its mouth since it’s a leg) to stun them. Yellow uses its armor for extra weight in kicks and to stabilize the formation when they’re knocked around. Green uses its plant gun to tie down the Komar. Red uses its rail gun to blind the pilots. Black uses its teleporting powers to better perform attack combos.

Meanwhile on the ATLAS, Zethrid, Ezor, and La-sai decide to break out and help. Narti overhears this in her head, opens their cell, and leads them to the bridge. Iverson, Veronica, and the rest of the crew have their blasters pointed at them. La-sai desperately pleads for forgiveness, he was just so angry, he didn’t know who to turn to. Iverson tells them to get back to their cells or they’ll fire. However, Ryner says they need as much Olkarian as they can to support the ATLAS. Allura agrees through the comms and cautiously allows La-sai to help the Olkarion boost their defenses and gives all the lady Generals access to the MFE Athena Fighters. Adam volunteers to fly too cause he’s a badass. Zethrid ends up saving Rizavi from the Komars chest beam. During the rest of the battle, the MFE pilots (and Adam) are in awe at the lady Generals reaction time and shot accuracy. Griffin even asks them to show him a couple tricks. Ezor flirtatiously says only if he shows them his own. Zethrid growls playfully at her girlfriend while firing at the Komars. Narti’s tail swishes comfortably in the cockpit while Acxa calls out battle formations with ease.

A brand new scene in this rewrite will take place in the Rift. The Sincline is still swimming around the quintessence, it swims from one spot to another. Thanks to the 3-4 years in the Rift it’s now hyper-aware and has developed new abilities. It received a signal in the form of Honerva’s attempt to open the Rift. It’s now trying to find where specifically its coming from so it could escape. Its hand twitches, unused to the feeling before it clenches into a fist. It moves forward and senses the signal is coming from Oriande. It could practically see it, and it also sees the White Lion suffering. Sincline puts maximum power on the thrusters and surges forward.

Now, back at the ATLAS, we’re with Slav and Sam this time, right after the time spillage. As Slav yells at Sam to take off his socks, another massive wave of energy comes from the white hole and knocks everybody over again. Slav massively panics and does more calculations. Sam asks why now he’s panicking.

Slav: BECAUSE THIS IS IT!

Sam: What’s it?

Slav (pressing buttons as fast as he can with his multiple arms): Remember I said something big was going to happen to us when the ATLAS took flight!?

Sam: Wait, that’s happening now!?

Slav: YeS ItS HaPpEnInG NoW! AcCoRdInG tO My CaLcUlAtIOsS tHeReS A 99.6% ChAnCE ThAT WhAtEvER ThIs iS, It WiLl ChAnGE EVeRyThInG!

Sam asks what they can do to lower those odds. Slav still insists that he needs to take off his socks. Sam finally relents but says he’ll do it after they restart the ATLAS’ functions. Slav shouts it’ll do for the time being.

Back at Oriande, Honerva screams in determination, sucking even more Quintessence out of the White Lion. Her corruption marks crack open again. The White Lion roars again, Allura tells the rest of the team to ignore the Komar’s and just charge at Honerva head on. She then uses her magic to amplify Voltron’s quintessence, the blue lines of her alchemy outlining each of the lions. They have a clear shot but before they can fire, the two Komar’s slam themselves against the Red and Green Lions, stopping them in their tracks. Allura closes her eyes and the two Lions roar, blasting the two Komar’s with their respective elements (Fire and Nature). “We have to attack now!” She screams.

It’s too late. Sincline emerges from the hole Honerva ripped through the space-time-reality thing (???) (#Voltron Science I guess). Honerva falls in exhaustion, stopping the drainage from the White Lion, who also falls on its paws. Sincline is launched into the air and slams into Voltron. Team Voltron screams, the two mechs tumbling freely. Hira and Raimon are ecstatic: their savior is alive, and he’s going to help them defeat Voltron once and for all! “Lotor! He has returned!” “Our goddess has done it!”

Cut back to Team Voltron, recovering from the blow and are in shock at the sight. The Sincline was back, and that meant Lotor was back. Allura feels his return and the glow in her Altean marks grow brighter, baffled by the connection she still has with him and his ship. She ignores it. Right now they have to stop him. Lance asks Shiro what they should do. 

Shiro: Stopping Lotor is our priority right now! Form swords!

Pidge and Keith use their bayards to form Voltron’s swords, rippling with more Altean magic. They charge at Sincline. Sincline looks up and on instinct, forms its own swords and charges at Voltron. They clash for a good while. Voltron occasionally gains the upper hand thanks to the individual lions powers. But Sincline evens out the odds with the enormous amounts of quintessence it’s collected from the Rift. It strikes with extreme brutality, the quintessence increasing the force of impact. The opposing mech can even manipulate that same quintessence, throwing blasts of pure energy at them. “What the quiznak!?” Oriande’s landscape starts glowing blue and purple. Eventually, Sincline strikes hard enough for Voltron to split into the five Lions like in the original episode. They all fall and form massive crates, dazed and exhausted from the previous fights.

But before Sincline can strike any of them down, something changes. Not only does it pull back from attacking, it disengages its swords. It stands there like its waiting for something. Hira and Raimon are heard cheering again, flanking Sincline’s sides. Lotor defeated Voltron! 

They’re brought to attention when Honerva stands and raises a hand towards the three ships. She praises her children for their service and asks for them to bring Lotor to her, for she desires to embrace him as a mother should. Hira and Raimon happily (and blindly) follow the commands of their Empress and take each of the Sincline’s arms. Sincline panics and fights against them. The Komars apply more strength as the push Sincline towards Honerva while it continues to struggle. At this point, everyone is (tired and) confused. Sincline wanted to fight Voltron but then it didn’t, now it resists the Komars and refuses to go near Honerva. 

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Allura says to herself. Her Altean marks glow even brighter, enough to be seen through her helmet. Somehow, she can hear the ATLAS fighting against the other Komars, then she hears the White Lion roaring in despair, finally, she hears a soft, familiar voice coming from the cockpit of the Sincline. The same one that spoke to her throughout their search.

The Sincline suddenly goes still and the voice dies down. Allura’s suspicions have been confirmed, “Lotor.” The Komars finally overpower the Sincline and place it in front of Honerva, kneeling. Honerva reaches both hands to Sincline’s head, “Come back to me.”

The door of the cockpit forcibly opens to reveal Prince Lotor. The Galtean Emperor, Child of the Void, Savior of the Altean Colony, and her son. She calls out to him. There’s no response. He lays limp against his seat, white hair longer than before, and his Altean marks glowing with the same intensity as Allura’s. Allura gasps while Honerva slowly twists her hands. Lotor is removed from his seat, descending from the cockpit and into her arms. Haggar presses her face against his neck and runs her claws through his hair, her son has returned to her. The glow on his cheeks never fades away. Honvera doesn’t notice the cracks in her hands.

Allura tries to wake the rest of the Paladins but they’re out cold. She tries to shake Lance awake but there’s no response from him. She can’t contact the ATLAS either because of interference. Seeing Honerva distracted by holding Lotor, she realizes only she can stop her. "Time to end this.” Gritting her teeth she jets out of the Blue Lion. (These next scenes should be imagined in slow mo) Sincline notices her, a single glowing eye making eye contact with her. She briefly panics, thinking that it might fire on him even without Lotor piloting but instead it continues to stare. 

However, Raimon notices and aims his chest beam at her. Keith and Red intercept the attack, drawing fire to him instead. Raimon easily gets the upper-hand but before he could destroy them (and to everyone’s shock) Sincline intercepts the attack. “What is this!?” “Lotor NO!” Sincline fights the Komar. No one knows whats happening anymore. Keith stares at the Sincline in shock and tries to wake up the other Paladins. He flies to Black first, Shiro slowly comes to. (after this we’re back in real time)

Allura leaps into the air and screams, using the Altean broadsword she created. Before the blade could reach Honerva, her eyes glow purple and she surrounds Allura in darkness. There conversation carries similar beats to the original, however Honerva questions Allura’s legitimacy as an Altean.

Honerva: I knew Alfor well. He was one of the most powerful alchemists of our generation. Melenor on the other hand...

Allura: Don’t you dare mention my mother! She would be horrified at what you are doing, what the last Alteans are doing!

Honerva: How would you know? You’ve never met her. She was not a normal Altean. No, she was not Altean at all. She might not even be considered a living being. She had a power that even Alfor couldn’t measure up to. She could’ve destroyed me if she’d survived Altea’s destruction. But I know she wouldn’t. Because she would understand why I do these things. As a mothers...(Lotor appears in her arms, she cradles him like an infant) we would do anything for our children...

Those words combined with the emotional weight of seeing the man she once (and still might) love stops her attack. She falls, tears are falling onto his visor. Even her tears can’t dim the glow on her cheeks. Now the tables have turned: Honerva can destroy the Blue Paladin now that he’s vulnerable. She stands and (still holding Lotor) stretches her free hand toward the Sincline...

Honerva: Destroy the Blue Lion.

Allura’s head snaps up, horrified. Sincline doesn’t listen and continues to fight Raimon. Honerva stretches her hand further, black and purple lightning freezing Allura. Sincline struggles to resist her command, and rips the Komars head off. Raimon thinks it’s the end for him. However, Sincline places the Komars head on a separate rock. Now it turns its attention to Honerva. She repeats her command, “Destroy the Blue Lion.” 

When Lance’s eyes open, Sincline is staring down at him. Keith eyes turn Galran again, screams “LANCE!” and charges at Sincline. Sincline’s cannon loads and Lance braces for the worst... but instead of firing at Lance, it turns and fires at Honerva. 

The blast knocks her back and forces her to release Lotor. Instead of falling, he levitates, a soft purple glow forming a sphere around him. Altean alchemy, Allura realizes. When he opens his eyes, his stare is blank. He waves a hand, gently pushing Allura to the Blue Lion. Purple spheres surround it and the remaining Lions. The remaining Paladins have recovered by now. Hunk panics, Pidge is suspicious, Keith thinks that Lotor’s capturing them for Honerva, Lance is in awe (The ‘cool arc’ between Lance and Lotor begins). Shiro tries to think of an escape plan. Allura’s in shock.

All of a sudden the Lions are thrown upward, right where they entered Oriande. The spheres are guiding them back to the ATLAS. Honerva, enraged by Sincline’s disobedience and Lotor aiding Voltron’s escape, uses the Olkarion cubes inside and outside of Oriande to absorb the White Lion. Her Komars are fast enough to avoid the shock-wave and escape but the Lions would be left stunned and be destroyed by the resulting explosion. Hira picks up Raimon and zooms pass the Voltron Lions, ordering the remaining Komars to pull back. They do so as the energy from the Olkarion cubes and Honerva’s alchemy drains the White Lion further. Allura jets off to the ATLAS and Kosmo teleports her to the bridge. She hears the White Lion’s roar again and she orders the ATLAS to fly closer.

Honerva raises Oriande’s pyramids with her alchemy, dragging the White Lion with them. Lotor lifts himself into Sincline and flies after her. The giant visage of the White Lion disappears as Honerva forces it out of the white hole. Sincline emerges soon after, glowing purple. It extends an arm and the White Lion stops moving, the sphere of black magic Honerva trapped it with slowly turns purple. The spheres around the Voltron Lions disappear, giving Sincline and Lotor more power. 

Allura tells the Paladins they need to form Voltron again. The ATLAS crew protest but she tells them if the White Lion dies, Oriande will collapse and the explosion will destroy all of them. The White Lion struggles, torn between two powerful Alchemists. It’s tail slowly gains black cracks from Honerva’s power, slowly pull it towards her. Sincline is struggling. Honerva uses one of her hands to hurl chunks of ship debris at them. A gigantic piece of rock manages to knock Sincline off balance. Voltron forms their blazing sword and slices through the parts and charges at Honerva. She uses her black magic to zap Voltron, shocking the Paladins again and draining their quintessence.

Hearing the screams of her family, Allura channels her alchemy again, marks glowing brighter than ever. The jewel in her tiara, her eyes, and hair start glowing white too. An ancient power courses through her, amplified by her proximity to Oriande. She lets out a ferocious, echoing roar, startling everyone on the ship. A massive ring of blue Altean magic forms around the ATLAS as it magically transforms again, (She does the thing that never happens in the series in the opening when all the lasers shoot out of the Castle of Lions) dozens of lasers shoot out and strike the Komars. A ripple effect happens when a laser hits Voltron and the mech glows blue and white. The Lions all open their mouths (Yes, even the Black Lion), roar, and fire five lasers. They merge into one and hit Honerva, Oriande’s pyramids black out.

The White Lion breaks free and pounces. The Paladins brace themselves for the worst. Sincline/Lotor leap in front of them and form a shield of purple quintessence. “NO!” Allura throws her hands in front of her and stops the White Lion. She gently turns her hands towards her, enormous yellow eyes turning to her, “You’re not safe here. Honerva will destroy you. Let us help you.” The White Lion seems to understand and disappears into nebula of white and blue. This allows Allura to merge it with the ATLAS. The explosions caused by the White Lions drainage are also absorbed into the ship. The ATLAS glows blue and white, bubbles and streaks of quintessence merging with its mechanics. Everyone inside the ship is floating (Slav is definitely flipping out lol), and then are gently dropped onto the floor as the glow recedes. No one pays attention to how the bridge has changed.

Honerva stares at the sight in disbelief. She was right: the Princess is clearly no ordinary Altean. She’s too powerful to even be a Chosen Altean of Oriande. 

She winces at the sudden pain in her chest. She looks at her hand. She’s wide-eyed as her hand is almost completely vanished. Her veins slowly turning into cracks in the skin, pure quintessence from the White Lion leaking out. Feeling her marks coming apart too, she uses black magic to seal them, pain coursing through her. She then wormholes the pyramids and her army away from the white hole. Although the pyramids are no longer present, the White Lion still lives within the ATLAS. Oriande lives another day. 

Sincline and Voltron are floating, quintessence swirling around them and healing any injuries they had had. Everyone watches the scene in silence. Ryner informs them that the white hole has stabilized, the lights on the ATLAS flicker light blue. No one moves. 

Sincline regains consciousness first and flies over to Lotor to gently hold him in its claws. It places him back in the cockpit. Voltron recovers and flies in front of the ATLAS, holding steady as it approaches. To the disbelief of the Paladins and everyone on the ATLAS, Allura asks Sincline why it didn’t destroy them when it had the chance. Continuing to shock everyone, Sincline responds, speaking like an AI, “Pilot unconscious. Requires immediate medical attention.” 

Tentatively, they allow Sincline on board the ATLAS. Sincline kneels in front of Allura and opens its cockpit. Lotor is gently removed from his seat, falling into Allura’s arms. Allura slowly shakes him, whispering his name. “Lotor? Lotor? Are you okay?” The Paladins, MFE pilots, and the lady Generals surround her, waiting with baited breath. Romelle looks at them in disgust. Lotor’s Altean marks are still glowing, Allura’s too. She holds her hand, allowing it to glow white-blue before resting it against his forehead. His eyes barely open when he speaks, “--lura?”

Allura: Lotor?

Lotor (gasping): A-Allura...O-Orian...the Whit-te L-Lion...

Allura: Shhhhhh, it’s okay...they’re safe. We’re safe.

As if on instinct, she rests her forehead against his, sensing his life force stabilizing. The Garrison medics put him on a stretcher and wheel him to the medical bay. Allura’s eyes follow them, filled with worry, both of their Altean marks stop glowing. The Paladins don’t know what to do, neither do the MFE’s, the lady Generals are in shock. The last shot of the episode is in Lotor’s point of view, vision blurry and barely making out the dozens of people rushing around the launch bay. His gaze is focused on Allura before he blacks out.

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

Game changers amiright? This episode is tied with Battle Scars for the amount of rewrites but it was also one of the easiest cause I knew what I wanted. Genesis is a good episode by itself but it’s anti-climatic when put in context with the rest of the season. The fights have more tension because Allura’s powers are given a major boost in Oriande, Lotor is still alive and saved Team Voltron again and now has alchemist abilities, Sincline is in control of its own actions, and the mystery of Allura’s mother is introduced. 

The MFE Ares Fighters are named after the Greek God of War, likewise the IGF Atlas is named after the Greek myth of a man named Atlas who carried the world on his shoulders. I found it fitting to name the new MFE Fighters after Athena. Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Strategic Warfare. This symbolizes how Team Voltron will wise-up as they have been in this rewrite.  More on that later *wink* It’s doubly fitting because the pilots are the lady Generals and Adam.

Raimon was King Alfor’s Japanese name in GO!Lion. I’m just dropping all the Voltron references in this rewrite lmao.

Allura’s preservation of the White Lion by absorbing it into the ATLAS has a similar feeling to Princess Serenity revealing herself in the Sailor Moon anime's. It leaves the characters witnessing the event in awe. Oh yeah, the laser that struck Voltron did something to it besides give it a major power boost. More on that later *wink*

Altean alchemy doesn’t have a solid definition in the series, neither does anything outside of the Garrison tech. Pidge and Hunk bluntly describe it as ‘magic’ while in Season 3 Alfor said he built the Voltron Lions with his alchemy, which implies there’s a technological aspect to it. Altean alchemy is also directly tied to quintessence, evident by anything Haggar/Honerva does during the series. In Season 7 Sam says that quintessence is an energy generated by living beings while in Season 4 Lotor says there’s pure quintessence in the space between realities. So with all of that stray information, my definition of Altean alchemy is that it’s the more benevolent cousin of blood bending and metal bending from Avatar: 

It allows the alchemist to siphon energy to connect deeper with the universe and create their own unique technologies they can infuse different abilities too. Amplified by quintessence, the lifeblood of the VLD Universe. To pull a quote from the Dark Phoenix movie, “You can turn dust to water, water into life.”

This is how Allura is able to control the Lions even tho she’s not present in any of the cockpits. Besides the fact that Alfor connected them to her life force. However, there is an even more powerful magic inside her, and it’s directly tied to her mother. Even more on that later *wink*

(Phew! You guys made it through Part 1 of this rewrite. Brownie points for persisting with my rambling and inconsistencies with writing hehehe. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Stay tuned for part 2!)

[mobius-prime]

77. Sonic the Hedgehog #49

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Escape from the Floating Island

Writers: Mike Gallagher and Ken Penders Pencils: Sam Maxwell Colors: Karl Bollers

After another recap intro page, we're thrust right back into the action from last issue's literal cliffhanger. Sonic finds himself plunging down a terrifying drop with certain death at the bottom. He's too exhausted from all the chaos to try his figure eight move to hover, so instead, he decides on potentially the most ridiculous and disgusting option possible to save his skin instead.

This madlad grabs the stink lines and dirt from his own horrifically disgusting socks, throws it in an arc, and races along it like it's solid ground to reach actual solid ground. I cannot even begin to fathom how something like that works, but hey, it works, and Sonic is able to run for it away from Geoffrey and his troops, who are forced to take the long route back through the caverns to follow him, though they still have the advantage of the tracking device implanted in his shackles.

Back at Knothole, everyone learns how Robotnik was able to carry out his plan. The miraculously-revived king was no more than a robotic duplicate.

The real king, still crystallized, is currently within his base, where we see another familiar face - Dr. Quack, handing over Sally's death certificate (which actually lists Sally's full name as "Sally Elisha Acorn," though her middle name's spelling was later retconned as we'll see) to Snively and demanding that Snively "fulfill his end of the bargain." Wait, what? Snively merely opens a wall panel, to reveal Dr. Quack's wife and children, imprisoned behind bars. When Dr. Quack reacts in outrage and anger, Snively blasts him with some kind of energy beam as motivation to behave.

Wait… falsified? So Princess Sally isn't actually…?

Yeah, here's the thing. I was playing along with the narrative before, but I'm sure anyone reading this without having read the comics beforehand was saying to themselves "Of course she's not actually dead, she's one of the comics' main characters! They wouldn't just kill off a main character in such a sudden, ignoble manner!" But that's where you, my good friend, are wrong as hell! See, this scene marks a hard right turn that Kenders was basically forced to make by (from what I've heard) Sega themselves. At about this point in the comic, he'd gotten it into his weird little Penders-y head that no one really cared about Sally anyway, that she was an unpopular character who "cramped Sonic's style" as the cool guy he was always meant to be, and decided to kill her off for real. As in, her "death" in the first issue of Endgame was actually meant to be 100% serious, with Sally gone forever. Of course, this immediately resulted in a huge outcry from devastated fans who loved Sally and didn't want to see her suddenly killed off, and so Penders had to rewrite the next three issues to make sure she could be brought back. But shh! You didn't hear that from me! We're still pretending to be shocked that she's not actually dead, okay?

Meanwhile in the wilderness, Sonic is trudging his way along, exhausted and desperate for help. Suddenly, he remembers that by doing a certain whistle he can call Dulcy to him, and she arrives, eager to help. She also says something… very interesting.

So dragons can sense truth, huh? *takes deep breath* WHEN WAS THIS ESTABLISHED?! I get that in this case King Acorn was going to sentence Sonic to prison anyway given that he was just a puppet of Robotnik's, so her testimony might not have mattered anyway, but damn, dude! Where was Dulcy when Sonic was accused of treason back in StH#40? Where was she when literally anyone was saying something suspicious or seemingly impossible? Dulcy alone could have solved like half the plots of this comic series by herself! Sigh. Kenders, you really need to learn to stop including random facts like this out of the blue when you've written yourself into a corner. A real writer doesn't solve plot holes through a deus-ex-machina, they cry and eat Denny's at 3am while their plots fall apart! No I'm not speaking from experience! Why do you ask?

Well, back at Hershey's place, Drago's only being more and more of a douche. Hershey has only just heard the news about Sally's death, and is horrified when Drago gleefully reveals that she's the one who did it! But how?

Yeah, turns out she was convinced by him to wear a Sonic costume, somehow, and the eyepieces made everyone look like Snively. She thought she was helping the Freedom Fighters by killing Snively, but was the one who dropped Sally all along. She's devastated, and left to sob on the ground as Drago happily celebrates his own genius in trusting Robotnik for personal power, because that's never backfired in anyone else's face before, has it?

Now we finally get to see what happened to Antoine and Bunnie after they were captured last issue. They've been hauled all the way to a prison in Downunda, and shackled to the wall, fitted with customized collars. Bunnie's is merely tuned to sense when she uses her bionic parts' capabilities to try to escape, while Antoine's is tuned to explode violently if Bunnie's collar gives the signal. Ouch, man.

They soon find that Walt Wallabee and Barby Koala are locked in with them, looking rather the worse for wear. Before they can get further than basic introductions (remember, only Tails has met these guys before), who shows up to greet everyone but Crocbot! Apparently, he didn't actually die when his tank exploded back in the Tails miniseries. He was badly damaged, but built himself back up from combot parts and has taken control of this region once again, running this slave labor camp to mine ore for Robotnik. He was pissed at his past defeat, and so made it a point to capture the Downunda Freedom Fighters the first chance he could. Yeah, capture, not kill. 'Cause remember how this guy has a hard-on for cold-blooded torture?

Who knows how long those poor Downunda Freedom Fighters have been locked up in here, man. At least they're still alive, right?

While all this has been going down, Dulcy has been flying Sonic to his requested destination - the Floating Island, where he hopes to get help from the only neutral third party he really has left. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that whenever he and Knuckles appear in the same issue together, it's a hard rule that they have to start punching each other for no reason.

This time, however, they're barely able to start their shenanigans up when they're interrupted by Geoffrey and his troops parachuting in to recapture their quarry. Oh boy, more drama! Guess we’ll see where it all goes in the big landmark issue #50…

[yami268]

How I would Rewrite/Reboot Storm Hawks:

Disclaimer: Please note that as much as I love the series, there are some problems that could be twerked to create a better and more cohesive story. Also take in mind that these are my ideas and I know some people may not agree with the choices I considered. Still, these are my ideas and I would appareciate peeps not out-right dissing.

Anyway, here ya go:

Have an overall-arching story and some arcs that span a few episodes or so

Reworking episode structure/cutting out Filler (I feel like this is the major issue with the series. Some episodes have concepts that either could have some of the filler cut, been two-parters, or shouldn’t have existed.  Example being Talon Academy with as much as Aerrow’s hijinxs are amusing, there should have been more more moments of Piper and Lynn being friendly, seeing the Talon’s side of the war, and perhaps going to Terra Tranqua as they hinted.)

Go more into some of its history and lore like how there’s like a war for 500 years~

Have some of the minor characters appear more and have more significance in the show

Modify the use of Crystal Magic into more structure system (Remember when I made that post comparing the magic system between Slayers and Storm Hawks and mention that Crystal Magic was a very soft magic system for plot convieniece. I still stand by it.)

Introduce some later Season 2 ideas earlier on (Two good examples are Nightcrawlers and the Binding)

Make Aerrow into a more balanced character (Let’s face it, he has some traits that bonderline onto flat territory and it can get boring to see him (and his team) win in almost every single episode. Possible ways to fix it is to reasonably have him fail at times, give him some valid flaws for his archetype, and to showcase how his good traits can be a bad thing)

The same with Piper but to a lesser extent (In all honesty, there’s not much wrong with her. However, I dislike her being the exposition mouth-piece, the one to fix things, and there was that one time in a certain episode she and the others did that was pretty mean-spirited yet played out as the suitable thing to do. Make some of her flaws like her black-and-white views be serious and consequential)

In conjuction to the point above, maybe showcase her crystal skills before Best Friends Forever so we as the audience can understand why Cyclonis would want her on her side as well as more hints to her Binding ability beforehand.

Give Finn a more significant role on the team (I know he’s like the comic relief team goof but I think that aspect has been pushed into fladerization over the course of the show. If anything, show more of his good qualities and have him grow into a developed character)

Make Stork have a more amphibious design

Have the team be balanced with the gender dynamic (Either add a female character like Starling or another, or change one of the boys to a girl)

Have Sky Knights/Heroes be evil/morally grey WITHOUT having them be with the Talons (My biggest gripe with how the traitors were handle was that it was because they were working with Talons. And while there were sky knights who were careless or braggarts, they managed to help out in the end. There should be a character, sky knight or otherwise, that the Storm Hawks like at furst but they do some bad things they find out about like extortion or dragging innocents into danger)

Making Snipe an actual threat instead of a joke villian (Actually, this could apply to almost every villian in the show, but I think Snipe is the one who gets this treatment more than he should. Like he’s a Talon Commander yet it shows him getting beaten about every single time. I know it’s a kids’ show and I may be bias because he’s my favorite. But make him legitimately dangerous instead of another useless character)

Talons thay decide to switch sides because they realize that Cyclonia is wrong in what they’re doing

Probably add in a third antagonistic force which would cause the Storm Hawks and Talons to work together

And that’s pretty much it.