#ch: team voltron

[tendebill]

drew the ow strike team as paladins of voltron, because i am normal about them :]

(2 other versions and a fucking essay below the cut!)

ok so im gonna give my reasoning for each of them

Reinhardt - the easierst to pick, the Yellow Lion is the most tank-like (besides the Black Lion, but thats cuz Black is the head + torso), also i think the legs of voltron are supposed to be the "pillars" that allow the team to work well, without them the whole thing crumbles (literally). from what i recall from the actual show, the Yellow Paladin is protective and loyal. Rein was the easiest to match up tbh (plus even the color fits lol)

Torbjörn - not my favourite choice, but tbh i dont think any other lion fits him? besides maybe Yellow, but Rein was too perfect so i couldnt give Torb that one. anyway, the Green Lion is the left hand. i consider the legs to be the "pillars" holding up the team, whereas the arms are the actual damage-dealers/the ones that act on what the leader commands. and as Torb is a dps, that fits just fine. hes not quite a leader, so being the left hand instead of the right is good. plus the Green Lion is inquisitive and curious, and since Torb is a genius, that fits just fine too. i thought he would look weird with green, since i associate him with red-orange-yellow the most, but he looks kinda nice

Ana - i was originally gonna make her blue from the get-go, but i thought it'd be silly to make the remaining three switch lions a bunch, so i can get an excuse to draw Gabe and Jack in multiple suits lmao. but Ana starts out as red, the right hand of Voltron, described as the most temperamental and aggressive. it requires a paladin that can keep up with it and works on instinct most of the time. i feel like Ana would have to BECOME the motherly figure for her team, instead of being one from the start. with that i think she would have been a more "lone wolf" type at first, only later on becoming more mindful of her teammates and how much they need her, which would lead to her becoming the paladin of the Blue Lion - a pillar that keeps the team going along with Rein, a vital part, but no longer in a leadership position. i've seen the Blue Lion described as a "free spirit" too, which i think is also perfect for her :3

Jack - for him i had three options, all of which fit him well: blue, red and black. and instead of picking one, i decided he was going to have three different lions :))) for shits and giggles. so he starts out as blue, a free spirit, very versitile (from what i gathered, the Blue Lion doesn't have a specific "thing" it specilizes in, but instead does a little bit of everything, kinda like Jack). i imagine Jack was the middle-man, an integral part of team-building. he would have been the one to push everyone to work together and follow Gabe's lead, but he was content being on the sidelines most of the time. eventually he takes up more responsibility, sees that he's vital for the team and that he can do more working side by side with Gabe, and so he becomes the paladin of the Red Lion, Gabe's right hand man. then he of course slowly grows to be the actual leader, as Gabe's approach changes and he slowly abandons his original role, passing the command over to Jack. and so Jack's last lion is the Black Lion. also i feel like all three lions fit Jack's color scheme pretty well, so that's another win for me hah

Gabe - since he was the original Strike Commander, i thought it only natural that he would be the first to pilot the Black Lion. the pilot needs to be decisive, stay cool in the face of danger and be someone whose men will follow him into battle with no hesitation - all traits that i see Gabriel would have had to have during the first Omnic Crisis. like i mentioned before, Jack eventually becomes his second in command, and then slowly their roles start to shift. Gabe is no longer content in making decisions for the whole team, he probably also becomes more violent and reckless, relying on Jack to keep him in check. he loses his connection with the Black Lion and becomes the paladin of the Red Lion, Jack's right hand man. the traits of Red fit him well too - aggressive, relies on instinct, temperamental, plus i imagine Gabe is the type to want to get things done as quickly as possible, no matter the risk, to save more people faster. plus, again, the colors match up yaaaay!

fun fact: i never finished watching voltron ^^

also i am truthing anahardt and reaper76 as we speak

[simplyfandomish]

Imagine being a Captain of a rebel resistance force against the Galra Empire...

Simplyfandomish’s Masterlist 

Word Count: 4,444

Warnings: None! Other than cheesy fluff, Lance being a flirt, and badass female fighter pilots

(Totally stole the plane design from Star Wars lol and character descriptions were inspired by @ctchrysler​‘s Original Characters💕) 

Set in Voltron Season 2, Episode 3: “Greening the Cube”

“Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Hello world! I'm your wild girl.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

Nova’s blue eyes twitched in frustration as tools and small gadgets jumped off of the table and shelves as a result from the high bass setting that echoed through the ship.

Even with her earplugs pushed tight into her ears and her sole attention drawn to the weird space spore connected to her computers and scopes, the obnoxious music managed to penetrate her small bubble.

It seemed to be a religious practice for the ship's captain to blare annoying Earthen 80's music whenever they could. And it annoyed the other ship’s occupants to death.

“Stone age love and strange sounds too.

Come on, baby, let me get to you.

Bad nights causing teenage blues.

Get down ladies, you've got nothin' to lose.”

On the floor above, Nexia was being restricted to a much-needed nap.

The upbeat music caused her to groan in frustration and slam her pillow onto her face, desperate to at least muffle the infuriating sound. She continued to steam in anger as she reached over for her belt and buckled the pillow around her head. She began to smash her head against the wall.

“Hey, street boy, want some style?

Your dead end dreams don't make you smile.

I'll give you something to live for.

Have you and grab you until you're sore.”

Ishoël was busy in the ship’s hull with her maps and coordinates. Her large purple ears twitched and rang slightly due to their sensitivity to the blaring music, but she couldn’t help but tap her foot and swish her tail along with the beat.  

Being of Galran descent, she had never heard such upbeat music before, only monotone hymns and war chants. As much as her squad would whine and complain, she quite liked Earthen music. It was so different!

“Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Hello world! I'm your wild girl.

I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

In the center of it all, the bringer of suffering was you. You danced around the ship’s deck like no one was watching - and even when Nexus and Nova would sit by, glare, and judge you, you wouldn’t stop anyways.

You would always argue these moments of dance and song were all in honor of your team’s success of the many successful liberation missions against the Galra Empire. The twins and Ishoël would always agree with your statements and let you return to your goofy, silly party state.

Oh, the perks of being Captain!

Your long pink hair swished and swayed with every movement, you enjoyed having your hair down once in a while. You loved these rare moments, when you could blare your foreign music and dance wildly.

“Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!

Cherry bomb!”

Back under the decks, Nexus trudged out of her barracks with her pillow still tied tightly around her ears and entered her sister’s lab. Nova glanced up from her test subject towards her miserable twin.

Any other day the scientist would smirk and revel in her twin’s irritation, but both of the twins were suffering terribly at the moment.

“I swear, I’m going to kill that nerdy Earth kid for introducing her to this crap.” The eldest twin grumbled as she slammed her head onto the messy work desk in front of her. Her pillow knocked over a pencil cup and an empty test tube.

The younger twin nodded her head silently, her eyes never breaking from one of her many computer screens, her pale nimble fingers flying over the keys.

“What’re you doing anyways? Trying to make electricity with your space potato?” The ship was blessed with a moment of silence as the sound system was preparing for the next terrible Earthen song.

Nova ignored her guest and carried on with her business. “Isn’t that the squishy asteroid thing we picked up outside?” Another round of silence. The eldest grew a tick mark from her sister’s kuudere personality, but the expression was turned into one of confusion when Nova read the computer screen, “Under attack...Galra...Help.”

“What?!”

Nova ignored Nexus again as she typed in the coordinates the space spore produced. With a chime from her computer, she turned the screen to her Nexus. The image on the screen provided all the answers.

“The Olkari?” Nexus asked. Nova nodded in affirmation. Nexus nodded firmly, “Let’s get this to miss leader, before she makes us all deaf.”

“We're no strangers to love

You know the rules and so do I~”

Nova and Nexus shared a horrified look before sprinting out of the lab and to the main deck. “Not this song! It’s awful!”

______________________________

The sight before the mighty Paladins of the Legendary Voltron was not at all what they were expecting.

When the Paladins heard whimpers and wails behind the cell door, their immediate thoughts went to torture, but last time they checked, a romantic movie with the Romeo and Juliet troupe wasn’t torture.

The Black, Red, Blue, and Yellow paladins shared a dumbfounded look with each other.

“She loves you!” Their mission’s target was sobbing like a baby, his eyes never tearing away from the holographic movie screen.

The paladins approached the kidnapped king. “King Lubos?” The black paladin asked. Confusion swam in all of the paladins’ minds. Both the king and his chained assistant turned to the newcomers.

“Who are you? The jesters I requested?”

“Ummm…” The blue paladin started awkwardly, “We’re here to like...rescue you?”

The king made a noise in the back of his throat and discreetly pressed a button on the side of his recliner. The lights flashed on momentarily blinding the occupants, and the main doors slid open. Red lights and sirens flashed all around.

The Galran base leader stalked into the room with a vicious smirk. They were caught!

“You could’ve just said ‘no thanks’.” The yellow paladin remarked towards the traitorous king.

“Looks like someone came to rescue you, your highness.” The base leader smirked in amusement.

“You turned your back on your own people to save your own skin.” The black paladin accused, offending the Olkarian King.

“I’m doing this for my people! They wanted to fight the Galra, but they’re too powerful. The gala could destroy us!” The king tried to defend his actions, but it was a blatant excuse and the Paladins knew it.

“So you helped enslave your people to build some super weapon?” The blue paladin hissed.

“Don’t make me the bad guy!” King Lubos snapped and pointed a finger toward the base leader, “He forced me to do it!”

“Did he force-feed you too?”

The silence spoke a thousand words.

“You’re no king.” The red paladin piped up before charging at the Olkarian king. The royal tried to scramble away, but was head-butted by the chained assistant and thrown into the paladin’s grasp.

The red paladin raised his bayard toward the king’s throat. “Ok! We’re walking out of here! Anyone who tries to stop us and Lubos gets it!” The paladin’s teammates spluttered from shock of Keith’s sudden declaration.

“La-sai, what’re you doing?” The king whimpered towards the angered assistant. “You betrayed our people, I can’t live this lie anymore!” La-sai stated with a deep glare.

“You don’t want me to hurt your genius engineer, right?” The red paladin returned his attention to the Galra commander.

“Oh, be my guest~ His work is done. The cube is complete.”

“What?” King Lubos exclaimed, sweat dripping from his forehead. “B-But, I thought we had a deal!”

“Guards, put them all out of their misery.” The commander smirked. The Galra soldier bots’ guns lit up as they began to charge its ammo, but before anything could happen, an explosion shook the entire building. Red laser blasts cut through the wall and separated the paladins and the Galra.

Through the newly formed hole was a mysterious ship. One that only the Galra could identify.

“Valkries!” The Galra leader was choked on the large clouds of smoke.

“Need a lift?” A female voice called out through the plane’s speakers. The paladins didn’t know who or what side they were on, but they needed a quick escape and the world presented itself with one. Hastily, those who sided with Team Voltron climbed onto the ship’s nose and held on tight. The pilot backed out from the building and sped off towards the forest.

“I got pick up, Artemis. Light ‘em up!”

“Roger, Luna!”

A plane nearly identical to their rescue vessel, other than its color scheme, soared past them and began laser assaults on the main building as well as taking out all the Galra posts surrounding the base.

“Who are you?” The black paladin shouted over the wind. He tried his best to distinguish their rescuer, but with both the tinted window and helmet visor, the Shiro could only see the pilot’s silhouette.  

“An ally!” She answered with a thumb’s up.

“Shiro, Lance, you guys okay?! Who is this?” The green paladin asked through their comm link, tailing the foreign plane into the woods.

“We don’t know, they said they’re an ally.” Shiro answered back.  

“Here’s your stop!” The pilot said as she hovered above the ground, nearest to where the Olkari village was settled.

“It’s the Geidi Prime Valkyries!” An Olkarian exclaimed, triggering the rest of the populace to flock towards the plane, all cheering and waving.

King Lubos practically threw himself off of the plane’s nose and went onto his knees, his forehead buried deep into the ground. With the Valkyries here, he was toast now! He began to vomit out praises and apologizes, beginning for his safety.

“The what?” Lance asked the nearest Olkarian to him. The alien brought their hand down from the air and clasped them to their chest in a lovesick manner. “The Geidi Prime Valkyries! They’re the best of the Geidi Prime brigades whose mission is to stop all Galra! Much like yours, mighty paladins.”

The paladins observed the medium-sized ship. It had more length than height with its nose being the most prominent and decorative. Along the hood was painted outstretched wings with a sword running through the middle. Down its body was a mint green stripe, and numerous painted tally marks dotted the line. It had four thrust engines with a laser cannon on each of its four wings. The wings themselves formed an ‘x’ shape.

The pilot saluted to the crowd through the window, before swinging back around towards the Galra base and hitting its thrusters. As seemingly fast as their own lions, the vessel swerved through the trees and out of sight.

The Olkari crowd continued their cheering even after she left. Pidge was unashamedly a part of this crowd.

The paladins stared at their youngest with raised eyebrows.

Pidge chuckled sheepishly when she finally realized the looks her team was throwing at her. “What??” She asked innocently. “Did you see those Incom 5H5 fusial thrust engines?! And the LP8 laser cannons?!” Pidge continued on with her fangirl rave.

Hunk, Lance, and Keith recoiled when Pidge began to drool.

______________________________

“All bystanders are free from the battle zone.”

“About time! What’d you do? Have a pint of mead and flirt?” You snorted.

Artemis was always the first to respond, and always with a sassy comment. “I wouldn’t have minded, the one in black was cute.”

“Whatever, Luna.” You grinned at Nova’s annoyance.

“Are you two done with your lovers’ quarrel up there, because the Galra’s newest weapon is on the move.” Gemini was the next to come through the link.

“Alright, alright, what you got for us, Apollo?” You asked. Your eyes trailed on the weird black floating cube in front of you.

“So far it hasn’t done anything, but cruising along the planet’s surface.” Nova’s smooth, monotone voice answered. “Gemini and I are still trying to hack into the main base to get intel.”

Both Valkyrie ships cruised parallel to each other, staying a good distance from the cruising cube: the Galra’s newest war machine.

“It’s just a dumb cube, what’s it gonna do? Shoot lasers at us?” Nexus wisecracked with a smirk.

The purple lining of the cube flashed and formed a- “GAH! I didn’t mean it!” It seemed the weaponry had heard Artemis’ taunts and fired a laser at her.

“You just had to go and taunt the thing didn’t you?”

“Shut up and help me!”

You rolled your eyes and went to assist your partner, who became the target for the cube’s lasers. You fired lasers at the cube, the bullets only being absorbed and no damage coming to the cube. You became the next target, as the cube started firing its lasers back at your ship. You just managed to flip your plan just in time to avoid being hit with the rapidly fired lasers.

“Great! It absorbs power!” Artemis shouted angrily. Both female pilots swerved out of the way from lasers as the cube continued to relentlessly fire at them.

“Apollo, get me a weakness!” You exclaimed over the comm.

“Trying.”

“Artemis, fall back so Apollo can figure it out.” Nexus sighed in frustration and pouted. She came out for a fight and now-! “AH!” She screamed out again when a large vessel flew past her, nearly clipping the end of her right wing.

Gemini gasped, “Oh my stars...I-Its…”

“Is that-?”

“It’s Voltron!”

The four Valkyrie’s stared at the robot in awe.

“So it’s true…” You breathed.

They all watched as Voltron tried to fight off the cube, but the Paladins had yet to realize the cube’s power as they used one of the robot’s special powers to try and defeat the weaponry. Not even a moment later did the cube retaliate with its own power and the mighty robot was thrown to the ground like a rag doll.

______________________________

“Ouch!” The Paladins yelped from the hard landing.  

“You all alright?!” Shrio asked through the comms. He sighed in relief when he got responses back. “Good! Now let’s: Form Sword!”

______________________________

The Valkyries watched Voltron summon its sword and slice the cube straight down the middle.

“T-that couldn't have worked...right??” There were now two cubes floating. The pair flashed a blinding light, before returning to their black and purple coloring.

“It can split up?!” Nexus shrieked in the comms.

“Weakness! Now!” You commanded.

“We’re trying!” Ishoël answered back.

Voltron retaliated and sliced the cubes through the middle, but their victory didn't last long as now four cubes flashed and came back online. They began to surround Voltron and fire their lasers at the large robot.

Voltron used its shield to deflect the lasers, but in no time the robot had difficulty protecting all its sides from the four fierce cubes, and eventually, the robot separated into five individual lions.

“I’m going in!” You punched your right throttle forward, your ship lurched back into the fray.

“Finally!” Artemis cackled and followed you in.

You flew past one of the cubes that chased after the red lion, instantly gaining the cube’s attention. The cube fired its lasers at your plane, but you were quicker.

With both throttles, you maneuvered your plane into summersault to avoid the lasers. Upside down, but leveled you fire your lasers against a second cube that was relentless upon the black lion. You swerved your plane to avoid colliding with the weakened lion robot, but now you had two cubes chasing you.

"T-there's no weakness!" Gemini stuttered through the comm link.

"What do you mean there’s no weakness?!" Artemis screeched as she did the same flip maneuver to save the blue lion.

"The cubes were made by the Olkari, they make their tech flawless with no abnormality. No matter who or what the weapon is for.” Apollo piped up.

To make matters worse, the green lion was shot down by a cube. Its mechanical cat body rocketed back into the tall forest.

“Ah!” Artemis grunted when a rogue laser struck the tip of her X-wing. “Oh no you didn’t!!” She roared in anger and fired upon the third cube. The Valkyries’ lasers did nothing to the four cubes, but with all chasing the pair, the beaten-up Voltron lions sat out and tried to recuperate.

______________________________

"What are they doing?!" Keith grunted out as he and the rest of the Paladins watched as the Valkyries played tag with the cubes. Pidge had been shot down and was unresponsive and now these strange planes were doing another reckless thing!

"I don't know, but that is probably the best piloting skills I have ever seen," Shiro stated in awe as the two planes dodged and spun away from the array of lasers.

Keith and Lance pursed their lips, mainly the latter. Both thought their flying skills were exceptional, yet only to get shown up by a group of mystery pilots.

"They can't hold on much longer," Keith said as the purple-painted Valkyrie had smoke trailing out its wings.

"We gotta get back in there!" Hunk exclaimed as he and the paladins moved to enter back into the field.

"Guys, hang on!"

"Pidge!"

______________________________

"I can't keep this up all day, miss leader!" Artemis clenched her teeth as she dove into another nosedive. She winced again when another laser shaved off a piece of metal from her laser cannon.

As much as you never wanted to admit defeat and raise a white flag of surrender, you couldn’t help but agree. Sweat had built around your temples and your knuckles began to throb from how tight you squeezed the throttles.  

Would this be it?? Would you and Artemis be shot down because these stupid cubes couldn’t be defeated?? Would this be the end of the Geidi Prime Valkyries??

“Got ya!” Pidge cheered in victory as she shot a large bright green laser at one of the cube’s on Artemis’ tail. The laser hit the second cube, causing the glowing purple lights to turn green for a moment before an army of vines erupted from the center of the cube. The long, heavy vines coiled around the edges of the cube and the Galra weapon fell out of the sky.  

The second cube left Artemis and chased after the green lion, but Pidge was ready. The lion simply spun around and aimed its newly formed cannon at the cubes.

“Aw come on!” Artemis whined. “He just stole my thunder!” She pouted, hands loose on the throttles now that the enemy was off her six.

“Want some of mine then?!” You grunted out as you spun your ship into a tight freefall. You could feel your seat growing hot and on your screen, the left bottom engine began to illuminate orange.

“Luna!” Artemis punched her ship back into gear and intercepted the second cube trailing you.

It felt like you were back to square one with cubes following both planes. "Thanks, Artemis! Now, let's line it up for him!"

Both Valkyries did one last aerial flip; You pulled up from low in the air and flipped upside down again. Artemis did the same, coming from high above.

You both grinned up at one another through your cockpits as you passed each other. Green lasers came from the side and shot at the final cubes.

You sighed out in exhaustion and relief, while Artemis did flips and spirals as she whooped and cheered.

“Did you see that flip?! I’ve never flown upside before!” She cheered.

“Very impressive, sister.”

“Nice job, Artemis!”

“Watch out, Luna! I’m on my way to steal your wings!”

You rolled your eyes in amusement. “Whatever you say, Artemis.”

Gemini came through the comm links again. "Information has been extracted, and the Olkari are invading. All Galra ships are fleeing."

“Roger that, Gemini. Let's go, Artemis." Both Valkyries turned their planes toward the Galra base and cruised off. The Voltron lions followed close behind.

The blue lion appeared at Artemis' side and started to pull ahead. The pilot narrowed her eyes, he wasn’t....was he?

Artemis smirked before hitting her thrusters, leaving the blue lion in her dust.

Lance blinked in confusion before gaining a smirk of his own. “A race, huh? Not on our watch! Let's hit it, Blue!”

"I want to thank you and the rest of your team." Ryner shook Nova and Ishoël’s hands in gratitude.

"We're just doing our duty to the galaxy!" Ishoël grinned before the three of them turned their attention toward the sky. They blinked to avoid dust flying in their eyes as two Valkyrie ships and five Voltron lions landed.

Nova and Ishoël rushed up to the x-wing fighter planes; Ishoël looked like a goofball as she ran with her arms high in greeting. Nova simply followed behind her with a small smile.

The Voltron Paladins rushed out of their own lions to properly meet the Giedi Prime Valkyries. Their attention went from the planes towards the two people on the ground, all of them gasped when they spotted a human girl with dark blue hair tied in a low ponytail that hung loosely on her shoulder, a pair of goggles sat on her head, and tool belt hanging loosely from her hips.

But what surprised the Paladins was the- “Galra!” Keith snarled as he pulled out his bayard. He charged at the tall Galra female with his teammates right on his heels with their own bayards.

The pilot of the purple Valkyrie plane hopped out of her cockpit and landed in between the red paladin and her own teammates.

The Paladins, minus the raging red, were surprised she made such a landing from that height without injury. “Hold your horses, tomato head!” The pilot shouted as she held her hands up and peeled off her helmet.

And it was like slow motion.

The pilot was female and looked nearly identical to other on the ground. Identical twins, they all presumed. But half of the pilot’s head was shaved down with the other half being a sweaty, windswept mess.

Hunk snorted, “Tomato head.” Keith snarled at him.

Lance was all goo-goo eyes and hearts.

“What's going on here?” Their attention turned to the new voice.

And it was like slow motion.

You approached the group and peeled off your helmet. Your long bubblegum pink hair spilled out of the helmet and down her back in a high ponytail. You looked between both groups for answers.  

“Just another Galra mistake, Luna,” Ishoël answered with a wave of dismissal. Her fluffy purple ears flicked as she smiled shyly, showing off her sharp, pearly white fangs. Her golden eyes turned into little crescent moons with her adorable smile.

The black paladin cleared his throat and stepped forward. He took off his helmet to show peace.

And it was like slow motion.

He was tall, handsome, and boy were his gray eyes pretty. His hair was jet black except for the tuft of white that hung into his eyes. A long, jagged pink scar covered his nose, but to you, it made him even more interesting.

Nova elbowed you out of your daydream.

“We’re sorry for our mistake. I-I’m sure you can understand why-”

“Please don’t worry about it. I’m well aware of what my people are doing. You don’t need to apologize.” Ishoël waved off his apology.

“Ishoël, you’re such a saint.” You cooed as you stepped beside her and wrapped your arms around her forearms. She was too tall to properly wrap your arms around her neck.

“You work with a Galra?” Keith couldn’t believe his eyes.

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge had taken off their helmets and sheathed their bayards; Keith hesitated for a moment before following his team.

“There are many Galras that don’t follow the regime. We have lots of Galran refugees in our ranks.” You answered simply. Nexus nodded firmly with her arms crossed, she shot a stink eye on the red paladin.

Your small smile dropped into immense surprise when the green paladin launched herself at your face. Stars had replaced Pidge’s eyes and she stared up at your squad as if you were royalty. “On Geidi Prime right?? We’ve only heard about your planet here and there, but actually seeing you guys in action! Your planes are gorgeous by the way! They’re technological masterpieces and the engines and laser canons- WOW!” Her team also had looks of surprise, never had they seen Pidge fangirl so hard.

Nova stepped forward and- “Thank you! Finally, someone appreciates all my hard work!” The Valkyries matched the Paladins’ shock as they watched their tech wizard come out of her shell and speak so happily.

“You made them?!” Nova nodded with a loud hum.

“That’s AMAZING! I have to see the technological advancements and mechanisms you guys have!”

Stars floated around the pair.

“Of course!” Nova took Pidge by her wrist and dragged her towards Nexus’ beaten plane.

The two battle squads continued to watch the pair with wide eyes and gobsmacked.

“Guess Nova’s found a new friend,” Ishoël commented.

Nexus flushed pink with jealousy and marched over to her plane, angrily grumbling about how no one will steal her twin away from her.

Lance slinked up next to you and Ishoël with his usual cheesy smirk. “So what’re your guys’ names?”

Ishoël smiled with her fangs again. “My name is Ishoël. Nova took off with your friend and Nexus is her twin.” She pointed over to the plane with the purple-painted pinstripe.

“ ‘Nexus’, huh?” He slicked back his short brown hair and readjusted his blue and white chest piece. “I can work with that.” He strutted off confidently towards the older twin.

The remaining Valkyries watched him go with surprise.

“Ignore him.” Shiro huffed in amusement and annoyance.

“That’s Lance, our resident flirt,” Hunk answered with a snort.

“He’s terrible at it though.” Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“So, there’s Lance, Pidge was stolen by your friend, this is Hunk and Keith.” He introduced the yellow and red paladins at his side. “And I’m Shiro. You are?”

Ishoël pinched your side so you wouldn’t sigh out the black paladin’s name like some love-sick fool. You cleared your throat and swallowed down the butterflies. Good thing Ishoël was good at reading you. “Captain (Y/n) of the Geidi Prime Valkyrie Squadron, a multi-awarded Ace and one of the leading generals for the resistance~”

You grew pink as your hair at Ishoël’s words. She didn’t have to give your full title!

Shiro stepped forward and held out his hand. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m eager to work with you in the future to liberate the universe from the Galra Empire.”

You smiled and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go end a war.”

[stabbyfoxandrew]

I know you're a voltron lover ny friend so which fox would be which paladin and why?

okay so i got this ask like as soon as i woke up and i was like HUH bc i forgot about last night :'))

after some consideration, of the monsters:

Kevin would be Shiro, Neil would be Keith, Nicky would be Lance, Andrew would be Hunk, and Aaron would be Pidge. (none of these assignments has anything to do with shipping purposes. like i'm not saying neil and nicky would be klance? i just wanna make that clear?)

Anyhow you can think otherwise, i don't mind! But to me, these just make sense.... I will explain myself below.

long, sort of insane ramble under the cut. you have been warned.

Kevin is the slightly older mentor to Neil (the shiro to neil's keith) who is very traumatized by his time with a Bunch of Evil Shits and has gray hair and had his hand (arm) ruined by the enemy! He learns and grows and tries to make his team the best it can be. He never wants to stop until the ravens (galra) are defeated! He's scared bc he's far from home but he's brave as hell anyway! Braver than he should have to be, he's just in his 20s. PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN A BREAK (and also he's separated from his bf. ik kevjean isn't canon but let me make this connection anyway bc they're canon to me)

Neil is the hotheaded asshole who actually sorta wants to be friends with people but has the social skills of a raccoon who was shoved into a trash can and shaken around for, oh, ten years or so. He looks up to Kevin, wants to be like him, but knows he could NEVER fill his shoes! And he doesn't want to! He wants to help Kevin, not be Kevin. (getting the quote wrong for sure but the 'one of us should make it and i want it to be you' kinda mindset is so keith? keith literally almost died to KEEP EVERYONE SAFE!!!! LIKE NEIL'S STUPID MARTYR ASS)

Nicky is the sweet, funny one who cares deeply about everyone and who gets the least consideration from the rest no matter how he tries? (the man willingly moved away from his family (ERIK) to take care of people who don't give a shit about him (supposedly), like lance who was taken from his family to fight to save the world? like... come on.) he's unapologetic about who he is and tries to get along with everyone, for the most part. but he has no problem biting back one someone starts smth. (ie. his beef with Seth and Allison) He is misunderstood, bc while he's outgoing and friendly he also has another side that's just straight-up Traumatized. Like... he's not all jokes. He's just hiding behind them.

Andrew is is strong and is largely a Protector. People misunderstand him because of things outside of his control, by this I mean Andrew is 'evil and crazy,' but it's because of the drugs that he's on bc he was fiercely protective of his cousin. He cares about his people and wants to protect them. (Like Hunk is rightly scared and Andrew acts apathetic, but they do care. That's the important part.) I'm not saying Andrew has a secret heart of gold and he's a Sweet Lil Cinnamon Roll or all the shit people used to say about Hunk (bc let's be honest, making the fat brown character into a uwu baby is rage inducing) but he cares. OH ALSO THEY BOTH HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHTS!!!! (or hunk did at the beginning anyhow!) Also this is unrelated but I think Andrew would enjoy having a bayard. It could turn into lots of different knives? sign him up : )

Aaron is green. (i was gonna leave it at that to be funny but that would be mean to aaron) So... Aaron is Andrew's everyone's annoying sibling who's actually really smart but also is a dumbass at the same time. He's got ulterior motives to be there. (Aaron plays exy to get his education, Pidge is part of voltron to find her dad and brother.) And Aaron is going into the medical field which is science related, thusly... assigned green paladin by Moi.

Anyway, it just fits. I could probably go into even more detail but I'd rather be dead than discuss this show at length bc I'm not a really voltron fan. I love the characters and the first three seasons. that's where it stops for me. the rest of the show makes me wanna die. lol i couldn't even tell you what happens after s3. i've blocked it all of that shit from my memory. :')

ahhh sorry for this novel. i just apparently had a lot of thoughts. i was gonna go and do the upperclassmen as well but... this is too long and they're not my Pookies so.

(ps: sorry this is so badly formatted. i didn't feel like making it look nice :'))

[maplesyrupptarmigan]

Ch. 4: Signals (reprise)

Signals (4413 words) by maplesyrupptarmigan Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Characters: Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk (Voltron), Lance's Siblings (Voltron), Veronica (Voltron), Rachel (Voltron) Additional Tags: Lance & Rachel (Voltron) are Twins, Adam & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Biromantic Lance (Voltron), Garrison Trio forever Series: Part 2 of Signals Summary:

Iverson was right. We're not a team, we're just a mess of—of mixed signals. His eyes lit up, electric blue glinting in the moonlight. Which is why, starting today, we're gonna start team bonding time. We're not a team, yet, but we can be. We just need to communicate better!

Pidge looked at him flatly, remembering the simulator. And how do you propose we do that, Mr. Tailor?

- - -

yayy it's done. it's been fun. thanks.

[maychorianrecs]

With All But His Soul by Resamille

With All But His Soul by Resamille Words: 28,849 Author’s Summary: Somewhere along the line, Lance lost himself, replaced with something fierce and foreign. The worst part? He can't bring himself to want to go back. Like this, he's improved. He's a fighter, a perfect soldier. No more nightmares. No more homesickness. No more weakness. It's better, that way. He's better. My Comments: This fic is dark. I'm not sure I like it, but I do admire it. It sucked me in and I couldn't stop reading, even as dread and horror built inside me and I began to suspect that I would not enjoy the ending. And I didn't. Still, it's an amazing piece of fiction, very well-written and compelling, and if you're in the mood for something tragic and disturbing, this is the fic for you.

[squirenonny]

Hey :) Just saw a swap au by a very talented artist (iacediai) and idk if you already know about it, but I'd loooove to read your thoughts! Have a nice day/evening/night!

Ahh! Yes! I’ve seen that post. It’s actually sitting in my drafts waiting to be queued, because I p much add things to my queue in batches of 100-200 about once a month. (Here’s a link for anyone who’s not sure what we’re talking about.)

First of all, A++ designs, I love them so very much. Loverboy Hunk and Sunshine Pidge are probably my favs, but I love them all.

I don’t have thoughts specifically about that role swap combination, but a while ago I saw pepplemint’s role-swapped!Lance art, and boy did that give me ideas. Specifically for a limited role swap AU where the only real *swap* is that Lance went to Kerberos in Shiro’s place.

Lance and Keith trained under Shiro after graduating from the Garrison. They were rivals, not least of all because Keith and Shiro were so obviously friends that Lance felt ignored outside of training

Shiro was originally supposed to pilot for the Kerberos mission but was in a car crash or something similar that injured his arm to the point he needed to have it amputated. This was, like, six months before launch, so at first the mission is just delayed–there’s no one to take Shiro’s place, and everyone at first is hoping that if the Garrison pays for the top of the line prosthetic maybe Shiro will still be able to go. (After all, they’ve already pumped so much money into this mission and into Shiro specifically.)

But Shiro’s recovery is slow, and PTSD + reduced dexterity mean he just can’t fly at the same level as before. So the Garrison decides they’re going to find a new pilot and have Shiro train them, since he knows better than anyone what this mission is going to require.

This is about the time the show would have started–one year after the original launch date. And the Garrison needs some gimmick for the media to “salvage” the mission from a PR standpoint. Shiro was literally the face of the Kerberos mission, and the public is more concerned about his recovery than the Garrison’s expedition (which is… you know, a good thing? But the Garrison cares about the publicity. They want the Kerberos mission to drive recruitment and all that.)

So they go to the next graduating class of fighter pilots and say, “Hey, guess what? One of you is going to be the youngest solo pilot in history, and you’re going to go farther than anyone else has ever gone. Ready? Cool. Now duke it out for your spot on this crew.”

(In more PR-friendly terms, obviously, but that’s the intent.)

Keith and Lance are the two top contenders, so both get to undergo training with Shiro. They’ll both have the full training, just in case there’s another car accident or something, and the Garrison is running it almost like a reality show, getting the public invested in the Big Question of Who’s going to pilot the mission???

The decision is ultimately Shiro’s, and he’s as pissed off about the spectacle of it as Keith is. (Lance, conversely, is absolutely loving the attention.) He doesn’t know what the public opinion is, and frankly, he doesn’t care. (It’s about 60-40 favoring Lance, but the Garrison bigwigs are split the opposite way, because Keith is Iverson’s golden boy the same way Shiro was–just a little less inclined to put up with bullshit.)

Lance is sure Shiro’s going to pick Keith. Frankly? So is Keith. Both of them are shocked when Shiro picks Lance.

Lance and Keith have a big fight after it’s announced, and they didn’t talk once in the last month before launch.

It’s now about two years later than canonverse–Lance is 20 for most of the mission, but they launch when he’s still 19, purely for the headline “Teen Pilots Landmark Mission to Kerberos”

The Galra still attack, and the disaster still goes down in history as pilot error.

Pidge didn’t have to sneak into the Garrison–she entered openly a year before the mission launched, has her own crew, and is the top communications cadet in the Garrison. She wants to wreck shit when Sam, Matt, and Lance are declared dead, but Shiro talks her down. (He stayed friends with the Holts even after he was removed from the mission, and through him Pidge knows Keith.)

So Pidge takes a week or two off from classes to grieve and to talk with Keith, both of them stoking the flames of their anger. Pidge doesn’t buy the official story and when she returns to classes she starts hacking the Garrison computers–secretly–looking for the truth.

Keith, in contrast, fully believes Lance was at fault and blames him for killing Pidge’s family. He doesn’t think any of them survived, and he has no outlet for his anger, so he starts going on long flights into the desert–which is where he stumbles upon the Blue Lion’s cave.

Hunk graduated along with Keith and Lance, having been Lance’s engineer as in canon. He spent the year/year and a half after graduation working on Garrison ships, but when Lance “dies” he quits and opens a restaurant/gets a job as head chef at a restaurant instead. He can’t stand working at the place that reminds him of his best friend.

Shiro is a regular patron at Hunk’s restaurant, and the two are pretty good friends, all things considered. He knows Pidge and Keith distantly–Keith mostly as “Lance’s rival who’s actually a pretty cool guy” and Pidge as “Shiro’s friend who’s always on her computer looking at technical diagrams.”

Pidge and Keith both wind up at the crash site in the desert as they do in canon. Lance has visible scars and a white streak in his hair, but he has a cybernetic eye and maybe a prosthetic leg, too, instead of the arm Shiro has. Keith and Pidge break Lance out mostly to get answers about the Holts, and once they have him, they kind of panic because, hello, they’re now fugitives.

Keith calls Shiro and tells him exactly nothing except that Lance is at their shack in the desert. Shiro was at Hunk’s restaurant when he got the call, and Hunk overhears. He rips off his apron and demands that Shiro bring him along, so the five of them are once more all together in the Blue Lion’s cave when she chooses Shiro.

Shiro still kind of thinks of himself as Lance’s mentor and it takes a while for them to get used to the changes. Because Shiro is still happy and mostly healthy and he wants to protect the younger paladins, Lance especially, but he can’t deny that Lance is far more suited to protecting the rest of them. He knows the enemy, he has practice fighting, he’s a scary good sniper and just as deadly in the heat of battle. Lance ultimately becomes the team’s leader, while Shiro acts as their emotional support.

There’s also friction among the younger paladins–a much deeper rooted conflict between Keith and Lance than in the show, and Pidge’s festering resentment about the Kerberos mission (she knows it’s not Lance’s fault, but she and Keith fueled each other, so she can’t quite let it go). Hunk is 100% on Team Lance, so he initially doesn’t get along well with Keith or Pidge, and Lance just isn’t interested in repairing bridges other people burned for him. It falls to Shiro to play peacemaker and get them all on the same page.

And yeah, idk where the plot goes from there except more or less the same way canon goes, but there’s lots of angst. ^.^’

[lilflowerpot]

Meant to be only four chapters long?? What the hell was the original plan and what happened to it?

H E A R  M E  O U T

I was,,,,,, admittedly procrastinating my uni deadlines, and s4 had just aired, and I was like "hey, you know what would be infinitely more fun than this academic bs that highkey impacts my future?? Writing a "what if" for s5 because half-galra prince Lotor has just saved half-galra paladin Keith's life!! So I've got to get in there quickly and imagine my own first meeting before they inevitably meet in canon!" and like,,, my naïve belief in the voltron writers deliberate paralleling of these two perfect narrative foils aside,,, I thought it would be a simple matter of:

Ch.1 - Lotor arrives on the Castle of Lions; Keith realises Zarkon's son is a hybrid like him, and Lotor mistakes the littlest blade for a galra child.

Ch.2 - Keith is Suspicious™ and guards Lotor like his life depends on it while also adamantly repressing Naxzela, meanwhile Lotor attempts to befriend the baby blade and entice him over to his side, (including the knife-theft and fallout thereof).

Ch.3 - Keith & Lotor grow closer, bonding through their galra heritage, only for Keith to accidentally-on-purpose reveal that he is //not// a galra child *gasp* but in fact both the former red paladin AND *double gasp* a galra hybrid like Lotor!!

Ch.4 - Keith & Lotor are still dancing around each other when the truth of Naxzela comes to light. There are many complicated reactions from the paladins as a group, but Lotor is the one to truly understand the //why// of Keith's actions and not condemn him for them (even if said condemnation by team voltron is coming from a place of love and concern) because "victory or death" is ofc the galra way, and the nobility of Keith's near-sacrifice plus Lotor's admission that he is glad to have arrived in time to stop such a thing brings them together in a moment of desperation, loneliness, and raw attraction.

So as you can see, it was never meant to be anything //close// to the slowburn monstrosity it has surely become, and the conclusion was intended more as one of open-ended ~potential~ than a conclusive “relationship”.

[jxsatlas]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍 ⇢ keith kogane, ch. 1

keith kogane x gn! reader – next

DISCLAIMER! this story does not originally belong to me, the author is @MaddieWolf37 on Wattpad. i have simply received permission to rewrite and continue her story. go and check out her profile for the original version!

SYNOPSIS! a story in which you are thrown into the middle of an intergalactic space war and have the undesirable weight of being a symbol of peace dropped on your shoulders. but maybe if you look past the constant danger and endless fighting, there's some good to being a paladin of voltron.

MATURE CONTENT! swearing, violence, gore, war, graphic descriptions, mentions of self-harm

"Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14," Lance announces, "Begin descent to Kerberos for a rescue mission."

He shoves the yoke forward and the aircraft takes a steep dive. You plant your feet to help fight against the inertia. You give him a sharp glare as the aircraft steadies out.

"Ugh, Lance, can you keep this thing straight?" Hunk whines from the back.

You look over your shoulder and recognise the nauseated expression on his face all too well. Last semester, there was a girl on your team that didn't do too well with excessive motion and often got sick.

Lance brushes him off. "Relax Hunk, I'm just getting a feel for the stick," he says with a lazy grin, which quickly turns mischievous. "It's not like I did this, or this!" Lance jerks the aircraft side to side, making Hunk feel worse.

"Knock it off, Lance," you warn from your chair next to him. You reach up above you and press a few buttons in hopes of stabilising the aircraft out after Lance's little joke.

"Yeah, listen to [y/n] unless you wanna wipe beef stroganoff out of all the little nooks and crannies of this thing," Hunk groans angrily.

"We've picked up a distress signal!" Pidge says from his seat in the back.

"Alright, time to quit our bickering and get serious," you say, doing your own little thing to accommodate for the lower altitude while Lance flies the aircraft.

"Pidge, track the coordinates," Lance says with a roll of his eyes at your comment.

Pidge does so, typing away on the computer. The aircraft gives a large rumble and Hunk groans again.

"Knock it off, Lance! Please!" he whines, his face all scrunched up in discomfort.

"Oh, that's on you buddy," Lance says sharply. "We got a hydraulic stabiliser out."

Hunk nods and goes to fix it, but when the aircraft shakes again he gags. "Oh no."

"Oh no, fix now, puke later," Lance growls.

So much bickering... you think to yourself with a sigh.

"I lost contact!" Pidge says. "The shaking is interfering with our sensors."

Lance looks over his shoulder at Hunk. "Come on, dude!"

"Sorry, it's not responding," Hunk says and unfastens his safety belt. He carefully gets up and makes his way over to the gearbox to see what's up.

"Coordinates are back," you say, seeing the blue dot on the dash.

"Nevermind Hunk," Lance says.

"No, he still needs to fix it," you say. "We can't properly fly this thing if a hydraulic stabiliser is out."

"Whatever," Lance rolls his eyes, "Preparing for approach on visual."

"I don't think that's advisable, given our current mechanical..." Pidge warns, trailing off when he hears Hunk gag again. "...and gastrointestinal issues..."

"Agreed!" Hunk says, not before quickly emptying his stomach into the gearbox with the unsavoury sounds of food chunks and liquid hitting the metal. You cringe, not liking the sound, and hope he's okay.

"Stop worrying," Lance says dismissively.

"No, they're right," you say firmly as you place your attention on Lance now. "We should wait before we do anything."

"Nah, this baby can take it! Can't ya champ?" Lance coos and pats the dash. The aircraft rumbles again and he retracts his hand with a sheepish look. "See? She was nodding!"

"That wasn't nodding Lance," you deadpan. "Now listen to us and wait."

"I'm the one flying this thing, aren't I?" Lance asks. "So I'm in charge, and that means what I say goes!"

"Excuse you, we're both flying this thing," you argue.

Ignoring you, Lance turns to Pidge. "Pidge, hail down on them and let them know their ride is here," he says.

Knowing that you're now doomed, you keep your mouth shut and wait for the inevitable failure of the simulation. You can already see it, the big, bold, red letters appearing on the dash.

And when Lance flies towards an overhang, tilting the plane as much as he can in a sad attempt to thread through the little hole rather than going over or around, you know this is where you fail.

Lance doesn't make it. The wing gets torn off, the alarms blare, and the aircraft pummels to the ground. The dash goes black and those red letters you were anticipating appear without hesitation.

Simulation Failed.

The first failure on your school record.

You toss your head back and sharply exhale, frustration building up in you. "Nice going," you grumble and look at Lance through the corner of your eye.

He catches your gaze and glares at you. "Oh, shut up," he growls.

The four of you sit in silence for a second, you and Lance glaring at each other, before an instructor opens the door and beckons you to come out.

Reluctantly, you all unfasten your safety belts and crawl out of the aircraft. You then mentally prepare yourselves for the lecture about how you are all failures to come.

You, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge line up before the Commander, avoiding his scowling gaze.

"Let's see if we can't use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you," Commander Iverson's voice booms angrily. He's not at all impressed with your behaviour. "Can anyone point out the mistakes these so-called cadets made during the simulator?"

"The engineer puked in the main gearbox!" a boy from the back of the group of students shouts out. Iverson nods and turns to Hunk.

"Yes. Everyone knows vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems," Iverson sharply criticises Hunk. He turns back to the students. "What else?"

"The comms-spec removed his safety harness," a girl points out.

"The pilot crashed!" another shouts.

Iverson nods, approving of all the answers given. "And worst of all, the whole jump they're arguing with each other," he growls and turns to the four of you once more.

You keep your gaze on the ground shamefully.

"The Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers," Iverson lectures. His hands are on his hips as he looks down at you. "But these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what caused the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."

In your peripherals, you notice Pidge clench his fists at his sides and scrunch his nose up in anger. You fully turn your head to him when he takes a bold step towards the Commander.

"That's not true, sir!" he barks.

Iverson looks at him and glares. "What was that, young man?" he growls.

Lance quickly slaps a hand over Pidge's mouth and pulls him back in line. "Sorry, sir! He must've hit his head when he fell!" he says, smiling sheepishly in a sad attempt to cover up his fear. His hand gets tighter over Pidge's mouth, almost as if he's asking the ginger what the hell is wrong with him.

With Lance speaking up, Iverson's attention is now pinpointed on him. He takes a few steps closer to Lance, his intimidating figure making your brother cower back a bit.

"I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here," he growls, his tone of voice menacing and powerful, "is because the best pilot in your class had a disciplinary issue and flunked out."

Lance drops his gaze down to the floor, a look of dejection taking over his face.

"Don't follow in his footsteps," Iverson warns. He stares Lance down a bit before abruptly turning to you. "And you!" he barks.

Your entire body freezes up and your eyes wearily follow him as he stops in front of you now. Your heart sinks down to your gut.

"I expected better of you."

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

You returned to your dorm at the end of the day with a cloud over your head.

You grumble about the day's events as you aggressively tug your shirt over your head. You really wish you could pinpoint the source of your frustration. Are you mad at my brother? Your team? Or yourself?

You toss your clothes on the floor and pull out some track shorts and a hoodie from your dresser. Getting dressed in your pajamas for the rest of the night, you try to sort out your emotions.

"Stop mumbling to yourself," your roommate says from her bed.

You turn to her. "Ah, sorry," you say. "I didn't realise I was talking out loud..."

"If you're that mad at your brother why don't you just punch him?" she asks. You blink, surprised she actually heard you.

"I'm not violent like you," you say with a sigh. "Besides, I don't even know if I'm mad at him specifically."

"Eh, I would punch him either way," your roommate shrugs. "It's a good way to alleviate your stress."

You roll your eyes. "I alleviate my stress by sleeping."

Your roommate laughs. "Ain't that the truth?" she jests. "How many times have you taken a nap between classes this week?"

You stare at her with a blank expression for a moment before picking your clothes up and off of the ground. "I'm not answering that," you say and toss them into the hamper.

You and your roommate pause when there's a knock on the door. You look at her and she looks at you.

She raises her hands up. "And I'm not answering that," she says.

You roll your eyes and grab one of the dirty articles of clothing you tossed into the hamper and throw at her without any remorse. She yelps in fear and disgust as you walk to the door with a smirk on your face.

"Don't throw your nasty underwear at me!" she barks and she pinches the panties between her thumb and index finger, tossing them as far away from her as possible.

You cackle and open the door. Your laughter cuts short when you're suddenly face to face with your brother. Hunk stands behind him.

"What are you doing in the girls' dorm?" you ask, but then take the opportunity you just created for yourself to tease your dear elder brother. You think of it as a bit of revenge for crashing the simulator. "Visiting someone?"

Lance rolls his eyes. "Heh, I wish," he sighs. "But no. We're thinking about hitting the town tonight! You know, for some team bonding?"

"Who is it?" your roommate calls to you.

"Lance and Hunk," you say over your shoulder at her.

"Punch him!" she shouts back.

"No!" you hiss and turn back to your brother.

"I don't like your roommate," Lance comments under his breath.

"Neither do I," you joke.

"I heard that!" your roommate barks.

"No you didn't!" you ready. But getting the feeling that she's going to keep interrupting, you push Lance out of your way and step into the hall with him and Hunk. You then close the door and give the boys your full attention.

"So, you're gonna come with us?" Lance asks.

"I don't know," you say with uncertainty in your tone. You cross your arms. "It's past curfew and I don't really think you have off-campus privileges..."

"That doesn't matter," Lance waves his hand dismissively. "Iverson wants us to bond as a team, so why don't we listen to him for once?"

"I'm not feeling that adventurous," you say.

"What? Why not? It'll be fun!" Lance cajoles.

"Lance, your idea of fun always ends up with you and me in the principal's office," Hunk reminds. "Don't drag your little sibling into it."

"Hunk has a point," you say. "I don't want to get in trouble again. I had my filling for today."

"Since when were you a goodie-two-shoes?" Lance asks in a somewhat offended tone.

"Since I got a scholarship here?" you quirk an eyebrow at him.

"Who are you and what have you done with my sibling?" Lance says as he gives you a look of utter betrayal, as if you were some alien.

You roll your eyes. "I'm not too keen on losing something like that because I went along with your dumb shenanigans," you sigh.

"Please, the max punishment for something like this is just a weekend detention with old man Brechin," Lance says and a mischievous grin spreads on his face. "That is, if you get caught."

You bite your lip, looking away in thought. Team bonding sounds very appealing after what happened today, but are you willing to risk your scholarship? You don't know if you can lose it because of a simple detention. The Galaxy Garrison is a government program, which means they are pretty strict.

"Do you really need to think about it?" Lance asks with raised eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're scared!"

His words irk you immensely.

You snap your gaze up to him. Is he serious? You aren't scared. Why would you be scared of sneaking out?

You silently walk back into your dorm and quickly throw a bra on, some socks, and your shoes.

"Where are you going?" your roommate asks as she watches you scramble about the room with a sense of purpose all of a sudden.

"Team bonding," you say, now tying the laces of your shoes.

"This late? Are you sure?" she asks.

"All common sense in me left the moment Lance basically called me a scaredy-cat," you say bluntly.

"Well, have fun," your roommate says.

You give her a small salute as you walk out of the dorm. "I'll be back by morning."

"Alright, see ya!"

You close the door and turn to Lance and Hunk expectantly. "Well?"

Lance gives you a cocky grin, proud of his persuasion skills. You suddenly consider your roommate's suggestion for a second.

"We need to go grab Pidge," Lance says. "It won't be team bonding if someone's missing. You gotta have everybody."

You shrug, doubting Pidge will join.

Lance takes the liberty of leading the way to the boys' dorm, you and Hunk following closely behind. You expertly dodge the officers patrolling the halls making sure students are in their dorms like ninjas on a stealth mission.

As Lance rounds a corner, he suddenly stops and back peddles quickly. He peeks around the corner and watches whatever is on the other side. Curious, you and Hunk sneak up close to Lance and peek as well.

Pidge steps out of his room, a backpack swung over his shoulders. He checks his surroundings before closing the door and running off.

You, Lance, and Hunk share a look. You all then telepathically agree to follow the small boy. Once again, Lance takes the lead.

[rrandomtthings]

“Toxicity” in the BNHA fandom

[i know I tagged ships, but that’s because the ships were mentioned. This post does NOT degrade any ships that were tagged.]

So, I was heavily inspired by a post I recently saw where someone was talking about the toxicity in fandoms (specifically bnha). I agreed with the first half of their post until they decided to bash ships and become that toxicity. Rather than arguing with them on their own post I wanted to make my own post in respect to that persons opinion.

My Hero Academia is known as the most recent “toxic anime fandom.” While, of course, it has its people, many take that opinion way too far.

Warning: manga spoilers!! (Specifically ch. 285)

Why do people think that the fandom is toxic?

Let’s start off at the obvious answer, people don’t like the shipping in the fandom.

Of course, shipping isn’t for everyone and that’s completely fine!! But you would be completely ignorant to ignore that fact that shipping is apart of every. single. fandom. Not only the My hero.

The only reason why the BNHA fandom has so much shipping is because of the amount of characters there are in the show. And the lack of development some have compared to others. Claiming that people are weird for shipping the “weird ships” (I.e. gay shipping) but think it’s completely fine to ship straight pairings is completely homophobic. Don’t deny that.

People can ship whatever the fuck they want. Shipping is apart of every fandom. Why is it different in the bnha?

Another thing that angers me is when I hear people say “people in the mha fandom ship deku x nomu or deku x all might!1!!1” like,, no?? Wtf?? I’m IN the fandom and I have NEVER seen anyone ship those. Stop taking a ship one person may ship and generalize it towards everyone in the fandom. Because I can guarantee you, the average reader/watcher does not ship those pairings listed. Stop. Generalizing.

Another reason that people believe that the fandom is toxic is because of the ship wars that are definetly there. Whether you prefer Kiribaku v Bakudeku. Or Izuocha v Togachako (both of which have some sort of canonical crush interest. Stop being ignorant towards Togas canonical crush on Ochako!!) there are ship wars that exist, as they do in ever fandom!!

The biggest problem within those ship wars is the ignorance on every single side. As a multishipper, there are definitely shipping sides of the fandom that I prefer over the other. But, you can’t deny the toxic shippers on every side. Stop being ignorant and look at how people view your favorite ship BECAUSE of how people ship it.

This next point kind of drifts off a little bit, but it’s still important to recognize the stigma behind “bkdk being abusive/toxic.” If that’s what you personally believe, that is completely fine. Everyone is valid to their own opinion. But DO NOT push that agenda onto everyone or anyone. Especially if they are a new watcher/reader. Especially if you have not read the manga. I do not know how much I have to emphasize that. If you have not read the manga, do not give your opinion on bkdk. You’re just spreading unnecessary toxic information. We know that, in the manga, the two are mending their bond, even going as far as bkg SACRAFICING himself for Deku. Do not deny canon just bc you prefer another ship.

To go along with the “bakudeku (or even Kacchako) is toxic/abusive” opinion that was just stated, do not say that if you’re only saying that to further validate your Bkg ship. If he’s abusive/toxic in one ship, why isn’t he in any other?? At the end of the day, for the most part, he treats everyone at UA the same. Stop denying that. Stop picking and choosing. If you’re gonna insinuate that he is toxic, then he is toxic with everyone. Stop. being. ignorant.

Shipping aside, remember that not everyone has to like your favorite character. Personally, my favorite is Deku. It is more than obvious that Deku is not everyone’s favorite. That’s completely fine though!! As much as it does suck to see so much Deku hate, as long as it has a valid reason from CANON, then I respect that opinion. But don’t be surprised if people debunk your opinion if it’s because of shipping or bc the reasoning is really dumb (I.e. “deku is a crybaby!1!1!.” etc)

Another thing people do is go onto other people’s shipping posts or character posts and say “that’s cute but___ is better.” Or that’s cute but I don’t ship it.” Huh??? No one asked?? Stop it. Either leave a comment ABOUT the post and the post only or just like it and keep going.

It’s important to talk about fake rumors that are created in the fandom and how people take them to heart. Most recently, there was the rumor that Horikoshi cried while creating ch. 298. While that is of course harmless, it’s still important that we stop spreading those types of rumors. Another very popular rumor is that “Horikoshi said that he’s gonna make ____ ship canon!1!” Horikoshi has never talked about any ship in any interview. This has been debunked many times. Stop spreading the false narrative.

One of the biggest things I wanna address is the people who harass Horikoshi, which is absolutely terrible and is something that needs to stop. This is HIS story, not yours. Stop with the petitions, stop with the harassment.

However, its so important to recognize that this happens in every fandom. This is not only a My Hero thing. In every single fandom, there are shippers. There are ship wars. There are people who don’t like your favorite character. There are (sadly) people who threaten the creator. Stop saying BNHA is the only one. Because compared to other fandoms (I.e. Voltron who sent cupcakes with glass to the team) we are relatively calm. The BNHA fandom isn’t as toxic as many people think, so stop being ignorant and spread the false narrative because the only people who say that it’s toxic are the people who 1) stepped foot into the fandom for .5 seconds 2) hate the show. If it’s not your thing, then just ignore. Honestly, those who hate on the fandom are more toxic than those who are in it.

[anchoredtether]

Scar to remember!

S H A T T E R a n d T E S S E L L A T E

CH 10 :: Scar to Remember

Trope: Scar to Remember (though dang, this chapter could also work for coughing up blood, force feeding, forced to watch, poison, and be careful what you wish for... this chapter is a doozy)

Rating: Mature

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Whumpee: Mostly Lance, but also Pidge and a bit of Hunk and Keith

Summary: Voltron has always been an elusive, inevitable threat to the Galra Empire, scattered across the universe and hiding for centuries for its fated paladins to rise to their destined calling. They found and captured the Red Lion but it was not enough to thwart the future. Honerva foresees years ahead, catching a glimpse of the five future paladins. She knows enough. She knows where their homeplanet lies (and all of them conveniently come from one place), she knows their names and faces, and she knows their respective Voltron Lions. In a desperate attempt to alter the future, Honerva sets out to capture the future paladins at a young age and ensure they will never pilot the Lions. By conditioning their minds and transforming their bodies, she trains and raises a team of perfect Galran soldiers. She strips them of everything they once were to ensure they can never rise up as the defenders of the universe they were meant to become. Despite the horrors of Honerva’s cunning plan, the Lions are adaptable to the dire circumstances and Lance still has a wild streak of luck in determining their roles in the universe.

>> read on Archive Of Our Own >>

[delaneytveit]

Chapters: 22/? Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron) Characters: Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), Coran (Voltron) Additional Tags: honestly, just pure langst, like sorry to my boi but I'm making him suffer, Angst with a Happy Ending, everyone does in fact care, my poor blue boi, Torture, my poor boi gets tortured in this, Latino Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Dark Lance (Voltron), kind of, more like morally ambiguous lance, lance is a badass in this one, Don't Hurt His Friends, he'll come for you, Sniper Lance (Voltron), klance, it does end in Klance guys, umm language? I guess, Updated tags after this, dad!Lance, single dad Lance, Tags Contain Spoilers Summary:

Lance gets kidnapped on a mission. The team is doing all they can to try and find him, but will they find him in time? or will it be too late for their Blue Paladin?

also publishing on Tumblr under delaneytveit

Hey guys!!!! Satellites Ch 22 is LIVE!!! GO CHECK IT OUT!

[klanced]

1.) I, too, am taken in by the Takashi Shirogane effect 2.) What is it with Shiro having such a comedic effect? "God?" I can't- 😭😭😂😂 3.) Love the Allura-Hunk interaction. Giving us dialogue that serves multiple purposes is my FAVORITE thing - ever. 4.) Thank goodness the bunny is safe Very funny and very entertaining!!! Keep Up The Good Work~! Quick Q: have you seen a show that you felt has gone in depth w/ the topics it wants to discuss?

I’ve always thought Keith & Shiro had great potential for comic relief and it was a CRIME that VLD insisted on always putting them through the ringer. Let them be clowns!!

The Allura-Hunk scene has the added bonus of contrasting w Allura’s later flaws xD

Allura to Hunk: “I will never force or expect you to do something you aren’t.”

Allura the very next episode: “i am going to put everyone through voltron boot camp because they aren’t living up to my own assumptions about what a paladin should be”

(I mean. That’s an over-simplification. In Ch. 4 Allura lashes out not because the team isn’t good enough but because she’s got a lot of unacknowledged anxiety & heightened emotions due to her PTSD. And she’s very much in a rush to get the team ready to fight Zarkon, when they simply aren’t there yet.)

As for shows....................

Scrubs

The Good Place

Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9)

[maplesyrupptarmigan]

Ch. 3: Satellites

Signals (3353 words) by maplesyrupptarmigan Chapters: 3/4 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Characters: Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk (Voltron), Lance's Siblings (Voltron), Veronica (Voltron), Rachel (Voltron) Additional Tags: Lance & Rachel (Voltron) are Twins, Adam & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Biromantic Lance (Voltron), Garrison Trio forever Series: Part 2 of Signals Summary:

Iverson was right. We're not a team, we're just a mess of—of mixed signals. His eyes lit up, electric blue glinting in the moonlight. Which is why, starting today, we're gonna start team bonding time. We're not a team, yet, but we can be. We just need to communicate better!

Pidge looked at him flatly, remembering the simulator. And how do you propose we do that, Mr. Tailor?

- - -

chapter the third. as the notes, well, note, this is the first chapter i wrote, and an idea that's been living rent-free in my mind for months. also, related to an upcoming fic.

[headspacedad]

I reblogged a joking ‘where are the parents?’ post a bit ago.  It was funny and i was true and I’ll probably reblog it again.  But it got me thinking.

I think we forget sometimes, that these shows are written for kids just as much and often more than they’re written for adults.  It doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy them too, of course anyone can enjoy a good story but we, as adults, have to understand that these shows are not written FOR us.   They’re written for kids.

Let’s go back.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Classic story.  Loved it as a kid, love it as an adult.  But, if we really look at it, its a story about four young kids going through events that should be, quite literally, high traumatizing.   If I look at it as an adult and treat it as an adults story I would be horrified by some of the terrifying things those young children went through. 

Except its not a story written for adults.

Look, children need to read stories about brave children going off and being independent and being heroes and overcoming scary odds and triumphing. They get to project themselves onto those fictional children and it helps their own hearts and their own imaginations and their own desire to be a hero and have adventures to grow.  Children need to know that, at least in stories, they can have the power and be in charge and fight the bad guys all on their own. They need that in their stories because so often real life is scary and intimidating and it helps to have the stories to retreat back into.  Stories are escapism for children just as much as they are for adults.  In a children’s story a kid fighting a dragon or flying a space ship isn’t a child soldier.  They’re a hero.

Now we as adults can look at a children’s story and as long as we understand it operates by the rules of a children’s story we can just sit back and enjoy the ride.  We can joke about ‘where are the adults’ but we understand.  This is a story for kids and so kids will be heroes.   The problem is when we start treating childrens stories as if they are adult stories.  Adults need something different from their stories than children do and so the rules for adult stories are different from the ones that are for childrens stories.  If we try to apply adult rules to a childrens story of course it is going to become a problem.  Because adult rules don’t apply in childrens stories and trying to make them apply warps the childrens story in an attempt to make it an adult one.   The childrens story is always going to break if you try to judge or fix it with adult rules.

(note that adult stories can have child heroes but they still operate by adult rules.  also note that just because a story runs by non-adult rules doesn’t mean it can’t be a deep, compelling, interesting, emotional story that adults enjoy.)

What I am saying is that we can joke about ‘where are the parents’ in a Pokemon game without having to immediately try to dissect it with adult rules by seriously wondering where the parents are (unless its for fun and then we can completely run amok as long as we understand its speculative ‘adult rules’ fun and not that the story itself is written badly).

Let’s get down to the bone now.  I haven’t seen this come up lately but I do remember talking with a friend about it, discussing the differences between ‘adult shows’ and ‘kids shows’ and what you can do in both.  So this seems like a safe example no one will think I’m directly pointing the finger at them over (because I’m not, I have no knowledge of anyone having this current discussion).  In Voltron, as our example: why were Pidge’s family members never killed?   In an adult story, it would make sense that she would lose at least one of them, grow because of it, bond with her team, etc.  It would be an important turning point for her.  But - this is a kids story and in a kids story you can’t kill a kids family.  Or you can but you have to start the story off with them already dead.  The second you let the child watching your story empathise with a child character in that story you are no longer allowed to do things to that child character that might reflect on that real child’s real life fears.  You can threaten them with evil Galra.  Children know that Galra don’t exist.  But you can’t threaten them with the death of a family member because they already watch the news and know that family members go out into a scary world and might not come back one day.  You can’t kill of Pidge’s brother or father no matter how much sense it would make to an adult story because this is a children’s story and a child is viewing it through a child’s eyes and self-inserting into Pidge as the main child on the cast.  It doesn’t mean you can’t have the child worried about it.  Children enjoy the ride of a story just as much as an adult and Pidge’s father and brother being missing and even pretend dead for a whole hot half minute is good tension and good story telling.  But you have to deliver on the family members being safe and healthy at the end of the tension thread because the child needs that in their escapism.  

A lot of us went into VLD willing to play by the childrens story rules.  In fact, we were counting on them.  It was still a great story and one we adults enjoyed but our safety net was that we understood it would operate by childrens rules. We could explore more adult rules in our own fics but the canon would run by kids rules and that was fine with us.  And I would say, for the most part, seasons one and two ran by childrens rules even if they toed the line just the smallest bit from time to time.  I would argue that a great deal of the problem with VLD’s story was that the people that took over writing after season two tried to write it by mixing adult rules in with the childrens rules and in doing so they broke the story.  (all right, they broke the story in every single way a ‘writer’ can break a story, like hogs let loose in a jewelry shop.  They very obviously didn’t understand even the most basic of story writing principles and expecting them to realize anything more nuanced would be like expecting those same pigs to appreciate a beautiful necklace but I’m just focusing on one point right now). The writers/EPs that took over VLD wanted ‘dark and gritty’ and I would argue that you can write childrens stories dark and gritty (Treasure Island, The Grey Ghost, even, in its own way, Charlotte’s Web).  But the writers of the series used adult dark and gritty principles instead.  And that’s why we have the horrible ‘morals’ of the story sounding as such dissonance from the story we expected.  Its why we have ‘heroes’ that don’t act like heroes and yet never get called on their behavior.  Its why we have so many deaths that should mean something and don’t.  It’s why we lose our ‘teamwork’ and become ‘there can be only one’.  In the end, the writers applied adult story rules to a childrens story and they broke it.  

long story short.  Childrens stories can be good stories and can be ones that adults completely embrace and enjoy with themes and plot twists and depth. But they have to be written by childrens rules to keep the integrity of their story. Applying adult rules to a childrens story breaks the story’s integrity because it is trying to make a childrens story into something it is not.

addition: Shiro is an adult in a kids story but he’s an adult that’s done right. Because he’s reassuring and he’s human and flawed (and he gets the brunt of the torture in the first few seasons to show how dangerous the situation is without letting the child feel threatened through their own self-insert).  Shiro never belittles the child characters, he trusts them as competent, he sees them as friends, he lets them shine in their own areas and he trusts them to make their own decisions.  He respects them.  In a child’s story a character like that works because they build up the confidence in the children watching and reassure them.  Children don’t often have to be a Highlander kind of hero.  They enjoy the ‘group of kids’ heroes and so having an adult in the mix doesn’t steal from their own feeling of ‘being a hero’ if the adult is done right.  (Teen stories are another matter and play by different rules but that’s another post).  Shiro was done right for the first few seasons of a childrens story and his having flaws and being hurt inside is fine for kids because it makes him someone they can relate to as well and that the children are important in helping. Kids like knowing they can help (and sometimes save) adults.  Its another form of empowerment for them.  Shiro was respected and loved by the team in the first few seasons and you’ll see he never forces them to do anything except once when he tells Keith he needs to go looking for his lion on his own because another kid needs his attention more. (and that works for a childrens story rules too)

second addition: I am not saying the kids only found themselves or self inserted into the kids/teens in the story.  Kids could self-insert into Shiro as well.  Being an adult character doesn’t mean that a child can’t self-identify with them.  Shiro had the ability to show a lot of children that saw themselves in him that they could grow up to fight and win against the odds as well even if they felt they’d been hurt along the way.  Allura (whether she was an ‘adult’ or not in canon) had just the same kind of position.  Lotor as well.  Children’s stories don’t have to be about children, though they usually are.  Children can aspire to be adult characters in a story too.  Its the rules that set the type of story, not the characters.  

[maychorianrecs]

Connect by Bandity

Connect by Bandity Words: 8,957 Author’s Summary: Keith knew it was a quarantine area, but he couldn't just turn his back on people who were suffering. He would just have to face the consequences, no matter what they were. My Comments: Another absolute homerun from Bandity. What Keith goes through in this story is tragic and extremely painful, but the ending is incredibly sweet and fluffy and just made me feel warm all the way through my body. So good.

[squirenonny]

The Voltron Aftershow

[Commission info][Quick commissions on Ko-Fi]

Words: 3879 Parings: Gen (Keith & Team) Summary: [Spoilers through S4E4.]

“This is the sort of work Voltron does?” Kolivan asked, cocking his head to the side.

Keith hunched his shoulders, second-hand embarrassment making him want to curl up in a ball on the floor as his friends and teammates stuck cardboard boxes on their heads and… “formed” “Voltron.” “I swear we never did this when I was a paladin.”

OR

Keith gets to see the Voltron Show and has a little talk with the other paladins afterward.

Commission for KM (@kakunamatatoes)

[Read on AO3 or continue below.]

Keith tugged his hood lower as he pressed in among the crowd. He had his mask on, as usual, but he still felt as though everyone around him were watching him. And, well… they were.

Kind of.

“This is the sort of work Voltron does?” Kolivan asked, cocking his head to the side.

Keith hunched his shoulders, second-hand embarrassment making him want to curl up in a ball on the floor as his friends and teammates stuck cardboard boxes on their heads and… “formed” “Voltron.” “I swear we never did this when I was a paladin.” (And thank every god from here to the far end of the universe for that. Keith was having a hard enough time watching Allura shout cheesy catch-phrases and strike poses with the rest of the team, and she’d only briefly been introduced as him at the beginning of the show.)

Kolivan was silent for a long moment, his arms crossed. He, like Keith, wore his mask, but Keith didn’t need to see his face to know he was frowning. He usually was. The man reminded Keith of Shiro, in some ways, except that Shiro at least knew how to have fun. Hell, aside from Lance, Shiro was the only one who seemed to actually be getting into the weird-ass ice-show they were doing down there.

It was a grudging, self-conscious sort of enthusiasm, but he snapped into every dramatic action shot like his life depended on it, and he called the paladins to battle with as much passion as ever—and the crowd was eating it up.

Kolivan, in contrast, never smiled, he never lowered himself to playing make-believe in the name of winning allies, and he never deviated from the mission.

Except today.

“You are not a paladin now?” Kolivan asked. He had a way of speaking in a low rumble that was eaten up in the murmur of a crowd, and no one around them gave the two cloaked and hooded figures a second glance.

Keith wrapped his arms around himself, tearing his eyes away from the show unfolding on the ice below. The paladins had roped a couple of locals into playing Zarkon and Haggar, and the two villains-for-a-day were having great fun flinging ribbons and bursts of confetti around, tripping up the paladins with cringe-worthy “magic.”

“No,” he said. “Red chose Lance, and Shiro has always been the rightful pilot of the Black Lion. I’m a Blade now. End of story.”

Kolivan rumbled, the sound on the very edge of hearing. It was a vocalization Keith had heard from several of the Blades now, a thoughtful sound listing toward exasperation, and it rankled him now.

“What?” Keith demanded.

Kolivan turned his head just a fraction, the tap of his fingers against his arm communicating a quelling frown. The Blades spent so much time in uniform that they’d developed a system of hand gestures and head tilts that left Keith feeling every bit as lost as when someone expected him to navigate the minefield of human facial expression.

This particular finger-tap was one Keith was quite familiar with, though. It meant he was being stupid, and Kolivan wanted him to “reign in” and “think things through.”

Growling, Keith pressed forward through the last line of spectators and claimed a spot along the railing, where he could breathe easier. Coming here had been a last-minute decision, an impulse brought on by a colorful poster on the side of a building and an unexpected longing for--

For something. For the castle-ship, with all its lonely corridors. For the Red Lion’s exuberance as they charged into battle and her chiding rumble whenever she came to save him from danger. For the space mice, despite their tendency to latch onto a secret and ride it to the bitter end.

For the other paladins, whose hands he could still feel burning beneath his skin. He carried their last hug with him everywhere, and his Marmora suit pressed uncomfortably against those handprints.

“You should speak with them,” Kolivan said, appearing silently at Keith’s shoulder. “After the show.”

Keith looked up sharply at him, surprise battling with terror and a simmering hunger in his chest. “I thought we had to get back to work. You--” Keith stopped himself before he pointed out that Kolivan had almost forbidden Keith to come to this show. Keith still wasn’t sure what it was that had changed his mind.

Kolivan’s broad hand swallowed Keith’s shoulder from his neck halfway down his bicep. “This mission is over. We can spare a varga for this.”

“But--”

“They are your kin,” Kolivan said, and Keith wasn’t sure whether he imagined the weight placed on the word kin. “I know the look of one who is missing their family. As long as we are here, you should take the opportunity to speak with them.”

Speak with them.

Kolivan said it so matter-of-factly, as though it were as simple as calling out to the paladins as they left the ice. As if there weren’t weeks between them—weeks of no contact, of endless missions and a steadily growing list of dead allies, of ice skating, apparently. Keith couldn’t help wondering whether they’d just been waiting for him to leave to do something like this. It was no secret, after all, that Keith wasn’t a showman.

His heart was in his throat as he made his way down toward the dressing rooms under Kolivan’s watchful eye. He wanted nothing more than to wriggle away and fade into the shadows until the castle-ship was long gone and the chance of a confrontation was nothing but a might-have-been.

Kolivan didn’t give him that option.

They kept to the back corridors, avoiding the event security (paltry next to a Blade’s skill in infiltration, never mind Zarkon’s raw might), event staff, and anyone else who might question the well-armed strangers sneaking around backstage. Eventually they came to the dressing rooms, where Kolivan took up post outside, gesturing for Keith to continue on.

He stepped in, and the sight of the empty room left him feeling at once desperately relieved and horribly knotted up inside. Had the others already come and gone? Or was he early? He didn't know which would be worse.

Voices from outside interrupted Keith’s internal panic, and he froze, instinctively searching for somewhere to hide.

The door opened before he could disappear, and Lance sauntered in, waving his helmet around like a sword and laughing about some part of the finale that hadn’t gone to plan. He half turned, already flashing that smarmy smile of his he reserved for pretty alien girls, but he froze for an instant when his eyes fell on Keith, then yelped and leaped backward into Hunk’s arms. "Holy quiznak!"

“Sorry,” Keith said, biting down on a smile. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Keith!” Pidge’s shout drowned out Lance’s feeble protests, and Keith only had a second’s warning before she broke away from the others and tackled him in a hug, her arms locking tight around his waist. “What are you doing here? Did you see the show?”

“I—uh—yeah.” Keith placed a hand awkwardly atop her head. “It was really… something.”

“Pretty awesome, right?” Lance recovered quickly from his fright but took advantage of his position in Hunk’s arms to strike a pose, one leg stuck out so far it was threatening to smack Allura’s eye. “Who do you think was the best out there? Me, right? It’s okay, you can say it. The others will learn to live with the disappointment.”

Keith snorted, giving Pidge’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “I’m not answering that.”

As Pidge finally stepped back, Hunk tipped Lance to the side, forcing him to stand under his own power, then came forward and lifted Keith off his feet. “Man it’s good to see you. How’ve you been?”

Keith had to take a moment just to breathe through Hunk’s rib-cracking hug. (Good lord, had his hugs always been so intense?) “Good,” he wheezed when Hunk finally put him down. Lance was there in an instant, leaping onto Keith’s back and wrapping his legs around Keith’s waist. Keith stumbled, and Shiro hurried forward to save him with a hand on either elbow.

“You should’ve told us you were coming!” Lance said. “We could’ve upped the razzle-dazzle!”

“Oh god,” Pidge muttered, horrified. “Please, no.”

Keith chuckled, leaning a little more heavily on Shiro as Lance climbed higher to avoid Allura’s efforts to drag him off Keith. “It wasn’t planned,” Keith said. “We happened to be here checking out a local we think might be helping Lotor, and we saw your flier.” He paused, rubbing his shoulder as Allura finally grabbed Lance in a choke hold and pulled him down. “So… Voltron Ice Capades. Not how I expected our reunion to go but, uh, cool?”

Hunk snorted. “Cool. Good one, Keith.”

Allura sighed, her arms still looped under Lance’s shoulders as he went limp, pouting up at her for stealing him away from his Keith-shaped perch. “It’s been an… adventure for us, as well,” she said.

“So, should I be looking forward to any triple Salchows in your futures?” Keith asked, pulling away from Shiro to face the rest of the team.

Lance arched an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t have pegged you as the figure skating fan in the room,” he said.

Keith glanced sidelong at Shiro, smirking. “Yeah, well, someone wanted to watch the last winter Olympics with me, then spent every commercial break educating me on the technical nuances of the competition. I swear to God there was about a week where I was convinced he was going to quit piloting to become a figure skater.”

“Yeah, okay,” Shiro said, giving Keith’s shoulder a shove. “I didn’t see you complaining about ditching class to watch the competition.”

“Sure. I got to ditch class.” Keith ducked another shove, grinning. “Besides, I was too busy worrying about your unhealthy obsession with the sport to string together a coherent sentence. On the rare occasion you shut up long enough for me to try.”

Shiro’s mouth dropped open, a grin tugging at his lips. “Says the guy who begged me to teach him how to skate. Every day for three weeks.”

“Wait, you can skate?” Hunk asked, brightening. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go skate!”

Eyes widening, Keith held up his hands. “Now hold on. I don’t-”

“Hunk’s right,” Allura said, unceremoniously dropping Lance to take Keith by the arm. “You shouldn’t have to miss out on the fun just because Coran didn’t write you into the show.”

Keith craned his neck, searching for help. “Shiro. Come on. Tell them this is a bad idea.”

“Terrible,” Shiro said dryly. “You guys ever hear how he got himself banned from the Park Street Rink?”

“No,” Lance said at once, sounding entirely too eager.

Keith flushed. “That was one time.”

“So you’re not going to do it again?”

“I will if you go telling the story.”

Shiro beamed. “Okay, then. I see no reason why you shouldn’t skate with us.”

Keith glowered at Shiro as Hunk laughed in delight. “Sorry,” Hunk said when Keith’s glare turned his way. “You walked right into that one.”

Keith huffed, but Lance was quick to take his other arm, helping Allura drag him toward the door, and by the time Pidge joined in with a shove to the small of Keith’s back, there was simply no fighting his fate.

“Now strike a pose!”

“Yeah...” Keith crossed his arms, skating backwards away from Lance, who’d just nearly brained himself on Hunk’s helmet as both dabbed at the same moment. “That’s not happening.”

Pidge cackled as Lance looked up over the crook of his elbow, crestfallen. He held the pose a moment longer, then finally gave up, his hands flopping toward his ankles. “Come on, mullet! We’ve gotta at least do one show with you!”

Keith laughed once, incredulously, as Hunk patted Lance on the back. Shiro was skating a lazy loop around the rink, his expression more peaceful than Keith had seen it in a long time. A long time. The stadium was deserted aside from the six of them and a handful of janitors working their way down the bleachers, collecting empty cups and sweeping up discarded food. Kolivan would be up there somewhere, too, Keith was sure, but he hadn’t yet appeared to tell Keith it was time to go.

Keith was grateful. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his team.

“We don’t even have a villain to fight,” he said. “How are we supposed to put on a show?”

“Ooh!” Allura turned her skates and came to a stop with a small spray of ice. “I’ll be the villain! Better than playing you again,” she added with a wink, elbowing Keith in the side.

Keith snorted. “That was supposed to be me? I thought you were playing a caffeinated mouse with an ego. No wait, sorry. That’s Lance. I get the two confused.”

Lance clapped a hand to his chest. “Hey, now. I...” He hesitated for a moment, apparently trying to come up with a retort. That failing, he put a hand on Hunk’s shoulder for balance, lifted one foot, and ran two fingers along the blade, wiping off the ice shavings, which he then flicked at Keith’s face. “So there.”

“Very eloquent, Lance,” Keith said, tugging his hood up to wipe the ice from his cheek. He gave Allura an appraising look. “You really want to play the villain?”

She shrugged. “I think it could be fun.”

“I’m not doing cheesy fake fights with ribbons and laser pointers,” he warned.

A dangerous smile lit her face. “Are you suggesting we spar? On ice skates?”

Keith reached behind him, drawing his Blade. He flipped it, caught it in a reverse grip, and dropped low. “Ready when you are, Princess.”

She summoned her bayard in an instant, whip snaking out in a graceful arc even as Shiro turned with a cry of dismay. "Guys. Don't--"

It was too late. Keith charged forward, catching Allura’s whip on his dagger. She reversed, forcing him to turn aside and put some more distance between them. His feet wobbled a bit—he wasn’t much more than competent at ice skating, really, having had only a couple of afternoons’ practice with Shiro before the Kerberos mission. But it was all about balance and momentum, and Keith had both in spades. How hard could this really be?

He came in for another pass, grinning as Lance and Pidge cheered him on. (Cheered them both on, really; Lance couldn’t seem to decide whether to tell Keith to go for it or Allura to take him down!) Hunk, meanwhile, seemed worried one of them was going to end up hurt, and Shiro just kept huffing loudly to make his irritation known.

“You know you’d rather do this than ‘razzle-dazzle,’ Shiro, come on!” Keith called, spreading his arms wide as he looped around behind Allura. Shiro rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips, and that was all the encouragement Keith needed. He pivoted, meeting Allura’s eyes. “I hope you’re ready.”

“You think you can defeat me?” she cried with a cartoonishly villainous swagger. “Ha! Do your worst, paladin!”

Her words stoked a fire in his chest, and he cast all his inhibitions aside as he charged forward. He kept his Blade low, his eyes following the path of Allura’s whip. It hissed as she scraped it along the ice, and then suddenly it was flying toward him, the wicked metal tip glinting in the stadium lights.

Roaring, Keith swung his dagger up to meet the strike, and a flick of his wrist entangled their weapons, preventing Allura from launching a counter-attack to drive him off again. Her eyes widened, and she yanked backward on her bayard, but Keith pulled back just as hard, the tension dragging him toward Allura at dizzying speed.

His weapon, of course, was caught as surely as Allura’s—but that was fine. As he drew near, he turned, lifting his right foot in a roundhouse kick, the blade of his skate slicing toward Allura’s breastplate. She yelped, flicked her whip--

And the next thing Keith knew, he was flat on his back, sliding to a stop at Allura’s feet. She peered down at him, sheepish.

“Sorry. I suppose I should have realized your footing would be precarious on the ice.”

Keith blinked, and then a laugh bubbled up out of him. He rolled over, accepting Allura’s hand up as Shiro slid into view, a reprimand written on his face.

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to use your skates as knives again.”

“Again?” Pidge whispered, her hands clapped over her mouth to hide a grin. “Oh my god, Keith, what did you do?”

Keith scratched the back of his head. “I mean, what did you expect? You strap daggers to my shoes and of course I think about how to use them in a fight.”

Shiro spread his hand across his face, shoulders shaking with silent laughter as Hunk slammed into Keith from behind and grabbed his shoulders in a hug. Startled, Keith reached up with his free hand and latched onto Hunk's wrist.

“Come on, you guys,” Hunk said seriously—too seriously. Keith gave him a suspicious frown that Hunk, of course, ignored. “It’s only natural he would think like that. I mean, the guy went off to become a Blade. Of course he wants blade-shoes.”

A beat of silence followed this statement.

Keith burst out laughing again as Lance squawked in outrage, Pidge bending double as a giggle fit overtook her.

“Hunk!” Lance wailed. “That was terrible!”

“Keith thinks it’s funny,” Hunk said.

“Oh, and Keith is our pun-meter now?”

Hunk shrugged. “It can’t be any of the rest of you. Pidge thinks every pun is hilarious; you hate them all on principle, even when you secretly love them; Allura and Coran miss half the jokes because puns don’t really translate; and Shiro always has that same bland smile, like you could be literally stabbing him with a piece of broken glass and he’d just be happy you’re happy.”

“Hey!” Shiro protested. “I don’t do that.”

“You do,” Keith said, holding his stomach as he fought down another bout of laughter. “But only when you’re trying not to do your ugly laugh.”

Every head whipped around. “His what, now?” Lance asked, delighted.

Keith opened his mouth to elaborate, but just then he caught sight of Kolivan in the stands. He had his mask on, his arms loose at his side. There was nothing about his posture to indicate impatience, but Keith knew all the same—it was time to go.

Laughter fading, he nodded, then turned back to the others. Their gloomy expressions told him they'd noticed the change and guessed what it meant. Pidge sneaked a look at Kolivan, a hint of a pout reaching her lips.

“Sorry, guys,” Keith said, sheathing his knife. “Duty calls.”

Pidge bit her lip, then turned without a word and sprinted for the edge of the ice, hauling herself over the boards and disappearing from the stadium without even pausing to remove her skates. Keith felt a pang of guilt watching her go, and a heavy sense of disappointment. She could have at least stayed to say goodbye.

Forcing a smile, Keith turned back to the others. “Good luck with the, uh, show, I guess?”

Shiro was the first to come forward, wrapping Keith in an embrace. “It was good to see you, Keith.”

“You too,” Keith mumbled into Shiro’s shoulder. He allowed himself only a moment to linger in the hug, knowing if he dawdled he never be able to make himself leave.

“You’re coming back, right?” Hunk asked, wringing his hands. “I mean, okay, yeah. I know what you’re doing with the Blade is important and all, but after that? You’ll come back to the castle?”

Keith’s breath caught in his throat. Come back? “Hunk...” He trailed off, finding himself at a loss for words. He'd never let himself consider that this might be a temporary separation. (Five lions. Six paladins. The math would never work out.)

“It’s your choice, of course,” Allura said, laying a hand on his arm. “But you will always be a part of this team. And... Well, to be honest, the castle feels empty without you.”

Now there were tears gathering in Keith’s eyes, and he pulled away, laughing to cover his slip. “Yeah, okay,” he said, putting as much disdain into his voice as he could. He’d spent the last few weeks doing everything he could not to think of this ache in his chest as homesickness, but there was no other word that fit.

He didn’t think he’d ever been homesick before. He'd never stuck around long enough for that.

He turned, ready to run away to the soothing anonymity of the Blade, only to find Lance blocking his path. He had his gloves off and was chewing on his thumbnail, his eyes fixed on his skates and only occasionally darting up to Keith’s face. “I know you lived in a shack in the desert back on Earth,” he said dryly, “but you aren’t actually going to run off and become a space hermit, are you? Cause I’ll be honest. You can’t pull off the whole Obi-Wan schtick.”

Keith smiled weakly. “I’m not turning into a hermit,” he said, tasting the lie on his tongue. “I just—I really do have to go. Important Blade business and—and stuff.”

Lance stared at him for a long moment, then sighed and nodded and shuffled to the side. Keith squared his shoulders and skated past, staring at Kolivan so he didn’t have to see the disappointment on his friends’ faces. (Disappointment? Or just a facsimile of it? He didn’t know, and he was afraid to find out they were only putting on a show of being sad to see him leave.)

“Wait!”

Pidge’s voice rang in the rafters, pulling Keith up short. He turned, blinking as she skidded to a stop before him, grabbing onto his arm to keep from falling. She was out of breath, her face red and streaked with sweat.

“Pidge. What--?”

“Here.” She shoved something at him. A black rectangle with an orange screen sat in the palm of her hand like some sort of alien smartphone, and Keith took it reluctantly. “I’ll get another one from the rebels, in case I need to find you, but this one’s good luck. I mean, it did lead me to my brother.” She paused, laughing tearfully. “Just do me a favor and make sure it doesn’t lead me to another grave, would you?”

Keith looked up at her, heart in his throat. “Another grave?”

She waved her hand. “Not a real one. Matt’s just an ass who faked his own death to dodge the bounty on his head.”

“That sounds like quite the story.”

“It is.” Pidge grinned. “I’ll tell you next time you come home.”

Home.

The word reverberated in his chest, warming him through. He closed his fingers around the communicator, then tucked it into a hidden compartment near his heart. “Next time I’m home,” he said. “It’s a promise.”