#i know that theory falls apart quickly when you look at alfor--the red paladin who has blue markings

[swagging-back-to]

naur seriously can we talk about how allura was even like 'the lions were made to be piloted by you and you alone'referring to the fact they are the only five people in the entire multiverse to have pure quintessence corresponding to the colors oftheir lions....

if one paladin is MIA then that lion should be inactive, benched. you dont simply play musical chairs with the lions. if it waa that easy then ANYONE could be the paladins at ANY time and theres no reason for the human paladins to be there at all especially if they dont want to be. but no the human paladins are NEEDED or else keith and allura would have no problem with pidge leaving in the first two episodes. nor would they mind if lance went home. but they DO mind. they PREVENT pidge from leaving and they make lance believe going back to earth isnt an option at all--that it isnt even on their iternary.

So no. i refuse to acknowledge the lion switching as canon.

[seliipi]

Lmao I was gonna make another overly optimistic Keith-centric bingo for s8 but I can’t think of enough things to fill it that weren’t answered by the beauty of s6. Obviously I want a happy ending for Keith and Shiro, especially if they’re able to make it an open-ended sheith ending, but that’s shipper me who fell in love with devotion and support talking.

ANYWAY, S8 THEORIES/PREDICTIONS + HOPES AND DREAMS

-Honerva’s motivations, the Alteans, and Allura. It was love of a tragic kind that jump-started this whole war. Is she trying to rewrite the past so Voltron was never a thing and her husband and son would still be alive? Had the comet never struck Daibazaal, she wouldn’t have met and fallen in love with Zarkon. But it’s also the overexposure to quintessence and her desire for knowledge that led the rift creatures to invade and necessitating Voltron being built. In the trailers it doesn’t seem like she regrets what she’s done. Rather, it seems she’s still going down the same path now that she has nothing left to lose. She’s more aware of herself now as Honerva rather than Haggar, and is essentially the empress of all Alteans and Galrans, but is she still under the influence of the Rift? “You cannot stop what is coming.” What is she planning? Is she actually trying to save the universe in her own dark way by sacrificing many to stop a larger threat? I can’t see her just trying to end the universe for the heck of it. Since the Alteans see her as their empress, how will that impact Allura as the princess of Altea? They are her people, but they only know Honerva. Why trust some unknown princess who killed their ~savior~ Lotor? If Honerva dies will the Alteans look to Allura to lead them? Would Allura even want to lead them now that she has essentially ‘set aside her crown’ to save a friend? I guess they could always make a New Altea country on Earth somehow. Will there be any redemption for Honerva? Maybe by reuniting with Zarkon in the afterlife? Or is she as irredeemable as Lotor? (Maybe they’ll both be redeemed in their own way.) Honestly I have no idea how they’re gonna stop Honerva even though I know they will somehow. -Self-sacrificing natures, Keith, and Allura. Lol I have no doubt that if Keith dies they’ll be able to save him somehow thanks to protagonist armor, but I still fear for the boy. I’m worried Honerva might target him for getting in the way of her plans (saving Shiro, revealing Lotor’s secrets, stalling Naxzela) either by eliminating him outright or kidnapping him to make use of any latent abilities with quintessence he has. KEITH UNKNOWINGLY INITIATES THIRD IMPACT WHILE UNDER ONE OF HONERVA’S SPELLS As for Allura, honestly I can see her ascending to a higher existence as the Lion Goddess much as that would hurt. I’d like to see her and Lance create a new future together. [The Lion Goddess] was a mere legend to the Arusians, but there may be a grain of truth to that... The Lions created themselves after all, and not even Alfor knew what they were capable of.  In the trailer, Allura mentioned saving all of existence. She healed an entire Balmera nearly at the cost of her life, she was able to transfer a soul, and essentially built the Sincline with Lotor’s input. Allura is amazing, kind and a powerful alchemist in her own right. Maybe there’s a universal decline in quintessence that is destabilizing time and space? Zarkon’s empire did suck up a huge ton of quintessence over the years to use for their war. That’d make sense.  I’m guessing the remaining Balmeras will create a massive crystal the size of the Daibazaal comet and Allura will use that crystal to close all rifts in every reality so that something something stability will occur at the cost of her life? She’ll become one with the White Lion and ascend as the Lion Goddess to watch over the universe. Lance will be forever protected by a goddess a la Madoka. Maybe if the Alteans/Honerva come to their senses, they’ll help ease the pressure off of her so Allura will survive the process........ Idk. I’m just hoping for a bookend Allurance scene where Allura falls out of a pod and into Lance’s arms, her first word being Lance’s name. That’d be some cute shit. -Honerva and the past. Oh man I am so excited to see more of Honerva’s memories!!!!!!!!!!! It’d be cool if the younger Sendak was like Zarkon’s light-hearted loyal retainer before he became the Emperor. Maybe they grew apart once Zarkon started doing hero activities with the original paladins and after Zarkon’s zombiefication he sought him out to save him before getting corrupted by quintessence himself /fanfic I wanna see Lotor growing up! More Dayak would be cute. I wonder if we’ll see any more emotions from Honerva while she remembers... Will she send out Lost Cat flyers to find Kova lmao. Plus, more original Paladins! If they come back to help the new Paladins in spirit...? Oh man.......that’d be so cool. Zarkon shows up in Black, purified, asking Keith to save his wife... Alfor in Red, meeting Lance, his future son-in-law, and helping him rescue his daughter while she’s saving the universe with her magic? Allura seeing the two most important men in her life when she thought she’d never see them again? Fuck yeah. Mmm other three original paladins showing up won’t have as much emotional investment but still. -Lotor’s generals. Are Ezor and Zethrid dead? Likely. Their pirate crew was pretty funny though.  I’d like to think they survived and are on the down-low somewhere. I wonder when they and Acxa split up and why. I doubt we’ll learn how they all met, but I really want to know how Lotor befriended them all. Give me that backstory!!! Like, before he went all ‘destroy all Galra’ it really felt like he was fond of them........ Then of course Narti happened thanks mom . Acxa was his most loyal supporter and I want to find out more about their relationship. Was it similar to the way Shiro befriended Keith? He accepted her for who she was? Maybe. I don’t believe they’re going for a relationship between Keith and Acxa as s7 led people to think. Ngl, the graveyard scene did make me go ??? though. I low-key think they’d make very cute babies, but my heart ships sheith too much. Those two are similar in their mannerisms, loyalty, and sense of honor. A couple seasons back I even thought she was this reality’s version of Keith and Keith was someone from an alternate reality brought into this one but lmao nope. I think I’m right in saying that Lotor is what Keith could’ve become had he not met Shiro. Those two are foils. Half-Galran, isolated, a rough childhood, difficulty trusting others, strong leaders in their own right. Acxa likely admired Lotor and believed in his ideals. She wanted to see the future Lotor envisioned come to life, likely because Lotor and the Generals only had each other. But, somewhere along the way, Lotor stopped being who she thought he was. It’s now Keith who embodies her ideals for a peaceful future. Perhaps she initially wants to fight by his side as like, a bodyguard or something. I can see them having a mutual understanding of each other. Maybe she’ll try to convince him to become an emperor candidate at the next Kral Zera but Keith declines. .........ACTUALLY MAYBE HE ACCEPTS, BUT WHILE FIGHTING AT THE KRAL ZERA IT’S HONERVA WHO LIGHTS THE FIRE AND BECOMES EMPRESS INSTEAD-- Maybe. I see her as like...someone similar to Keith. Both loyal to one man until circumstances changed and they had to reevaluate themselves and what’s important to them. Keith remained steadfastly loyal to Shiro, healed his emotional wounds thanks to the two years with his mom, and emerged as a strong and effective leader. Acxa I feel, has been inspired by Keith but still needs to find her feet. She’d be a great Blade operative and may even quickly rise in the ranks. I could also see her working in the field as an intelligence agent. Whatever the case, she’s cool and I hope she finds her place in the universe. If the posters are anything to go by, I hope she finds a new friend in Veronica. -Quintessence-sensitive Keith. Yo. I am so invested in this theory. I’ll make more guesses in a later post though. -Shiro and Keith. Alright, I’m gonna tinhat. Dreamworks would never allow a straight-up kiss between two men, but an implied one would be amazing. Krolia knows, as does Allura. Hell, even Kolivan knows how close they are (‘quit fucking ruining the mission for your boyfriend Keith’ ‘Excuse me I have done no such thing’). The two of them wearing rings in the background somewhere? I would die happy. Zaggar’s parallels with Sheith... “A love that started the war and the love that ends it” would be...amazing. There’s so many things I’d like to see.......   -the two of them fighting back to back   -another hug, another shoulder touch   -Keith thrown into the past to meet a younger hospitalized Shiro and encouraging him to follow his dreams   -Shiro rushing out of the Atlas to cradle Keith’s still body   -Shiro bringing Keith back to life with his tears (lmao)   -an ending where they race in the desert at sunset like old times   -Keith and Shiro move into the shack together   -the two of them holding hands.....   -Shiro bringing Keith’s left hand to his lips and kissing him where a wedding ring would go and whispering “I love you too”    God, just. Open-ended Sheith. Lemme dream.

[squirenonny]

[whispers] soulmate au where you can steven universe style fuse with your soulmate(s)

*star eyes* Oh my gosh I love this idea!

So.

Everyone is born with a gem/precious stone (or sometimes a metal or mineral that wouldn’t normally be considered a gemstone) somewhere on their body. This isn’t a full-on gemsona situation, but gemstones as this AU’s soulmark equivalent.

There’s a hereditary component to what gem you get, but it’s not simple inheritance. (i.e. You have a higher probability of having the same gem as one of your parents, and some family lines run relatively pure, but it’s also common to share a gem with a more distant relative, or to have something your family hasn’t seen in recent generations)

Gems come in “families,” so even if a certain bloodline runs pure, there’s still going to be a little variation. For example, the beryl family–beryl, emerald, aquamarine, heliodor, ect–are very closely related. Hunk’s family tends toward beryl gems.

On that topic:

Hunk has a heliodor (a stone associate with warmth and sunshine) on his chest [example of a heliodor]

Pidge has a malachite (associated with nature and supposedly good at preventing sensory overload) at the nape of her neck [example of malachite]

Matt has a goethite (associated with grief and raw emotion, often found with malachite deposits) on the inside of his wrist [example of goethite]

Shiro has a black opal (associated with karma and the cosmos, and often thought to bring misfortune despite also being regarded as a healing stone; the black variant is notable for the stark contrast with the blues, greens, reds, and yellows contained within) at his collarbone [example of a black opal]

Lance has a turquoise (associated with luck and ambition, but also unity and leadership, and said to confer protection if given to you by a friend) on the back of his left hand [example of turquoise]

Keith has a vein of luxite (the metal in his mother’s blade, and not something anyone on Earth recognizes) across his right palm. He wears his gloves in part to hide it.

Theoretically, anyone can fuse with anyone else, but the vast majority of fusions are unstable. There’s no way to tell who can form a stable fusion with whom until it happens

The official definition of “soulmate” is “a pair or grouping that can remain fused indefinitely.” Since it’s obviously impossible to prove that you can stay fused forever, and since most unstable fusions fall apart quickly, the cutoff is often set at five minutes. Any people who can stay fused longer than that are considered soulmates (if they choose to label themselves that way.)

There’s also no way to tell from gems or from the fusion itself if the bond is romantic or platonic. You’d have to ask the people involved.

That doesn’t stop people from coming up with a millions theories anyway. (”Romantic partners always have the same gem!” “Romantic partners NEVER have the same gem!” “Platonic partners will always have gems in the same family!” “There are romantic sets–but good luck reaching an agreement on what the sets are.”)

Fusions look just like regular people with a few exceptions: they’ll have 2+ gems, but depending on placement you might not be able to tell; their eyes will usually be banded the colors of members of the fusion, but you have to look closely to notice; and there will sometimes be additional markings in the colors of the gems, often forming a trail connecting the two gems.

Other than those minor physical differences, fusions are also notably different if you look at brain scans. They don’t generally maintain two (or more) separate consciousnesses, but they retain the knowledge, memories, and capabilities of the people involved, and they tend to have much higher levels of brain activity on any given task. Fusions who are familiar with their fused state tend to be more dexterous, have better reflexes, and be physically stronger than their unfused counterparts, and they tend to solve problems more quickly and more efficiently.

The rest of this (i.e. the Voltron ‘verse story) is going under a cut because this is already long.

Matt and Shiro accidentally fused one day during training for the Kerberos mission. They were completing a simulation where the engines had failed halfway to Kerberos and life support was flickering. Very high pressure situation and all that. Sam was “injured” for the purposes of the simulation–able to give advice over the radio, but confined to the “med bay” (control booth where Iverson was supervising). Matt and Shiro got into a rhythm, to the point that they didn’t immediately realize they’d fused. It wasn’t until they couldn’t get Sam to respond to one of their questions–they thought it was part of the simulation and his condition had turned critical or something, and Matt turned to ask Shiro if he had repairs in hand so Matt could go check on Sam, and then suddenly it hit them.

The mission control team was ecstatic about this development–fusion-capable teammates are a huge advantage to any crew, and Shiro and Matt proved to be highly stable. They had to undergo special training and classes about when it is and isn’t appropriate to fuse during a mission–it’s a matter of balancing hands to cover all stations with the enhanced capabilities of the fusion–and how to make sure their personal relationship didn’t become a liability, but they were just as giddy about it as Iverson and the others.

They weren’t fused when they were captured, and they were kept in different cells prior to the Arena, but when they were led to the vestibule and Matt was told he was going to be fighting first, Shiro fused with him on instinct. The other prisoners instantly backed against the walls, and the guards came with strange weapons that disrupted the fusion, forcing Shiro and Matt apart–apparently fusions are a highly revered part of Galra battle culture, and prisoners are too crude to be allowed to take part.

The force de-fusion left them both reeling. Shiro recovered first, using the pain and confusion as an excuse to lash out at Matt, wounding him and keeping him out of the Arena. (Matt, still dazed at the time, looked horribly betrayed by the act, and Shiro always wondered whether Matt thought Shiro really meant it.)

Fusion is actually a fairly common thing, though most people find it too inconvenient to do it frequently, or else haven’t found anyone they have a stable fusion with. First fusions usually happen either with family around 10-12 years old or with friends/partners in the early to mid teens, and in both cases are usually highly unstable and last only a few seconds.

Lance first fused with an older cousin when he was ten (it’s happened once or twice since, but never lasted more than a minute)

Hunk first fused with Lance when he was 13 (by their third or fourth fusion, they’d stabilized, and after going to space they often fuse just to feel less alone)

Pidge first fused with Matt when she was 9 and he was teaching her how to build a robot (they stayed fused until the robot was done, about two hours later, at which point Sam walked in, asked how long they’ve known they could fuse, and got a blank look in return.)

Shiro first fused with his twin brother when they were 11 (they’re very inconsistent–they have been fused for an hour at a time, but just as often they’ll immediately split apart, and they aren’t entirely sure why except that sometimes being fused makes them feel further apart than sticking to their same old rhythms.)

Keith didn’t fuse until he was 16 and had known Shiro for about a year. Keith had picked a fight with another student at the Garrison, Shiro came along to break it up, and they ended up accidentally fusing, which scared the shit out of the other cadet. Shiro and Keith’s fusion barely lasted thirty seconds, mostly because Keith was freaked out by the whole experience–he’d honestly started to think he wasn’t capable of fusion with anyone. They fused a few more times (with more success) either so that Shiro could show Keith how to fly the simulators or because Keith wanted to take Shiro out into the desert on his cheap-ass hoverbike, which really was only built to hold one.

Hunk and Shay fused, briefly, during the battle for the Balmera. Hunk uses the fact that they fell apart after about two minutes to prove to Pidge that they aren’t in love (and Pidge doesn’t need to know that they fused again later and made it to ten minutes before they both got bashful and de-fused.)

During Crystal Venom, Allura kinda accidentally fused with the ship’s crystal? It’s really, really not supposed to work that way, but Alfor’s AI tricked her into thinking she was fusing with him, and… yeah. Turns out the lions can mimic fusion (in fact, that’s what the Voltron itself drew inspiration from). The five lions force themselves partway into Allura’s fusion with the castle, destabilizing the whole thing and allowing Allura to come back to herself so she can break Alfor’s memory core and save them all.

During The Black Paladin, Keith partially fuses with Red, and Zarkon tries to force a fusion with Black. It doesn’t work, but the attempt leaves Shiro shaken and Black reluctant to fuse with Shiro at all, at least until the events of Space Mall. On the astral plane, Shiro and Black fuse (spiritually, if not physically) and cast Zarkon out for good.

Ulaz also has luxite as his gem–it’s relatively common for Galra, and that in combination with the blade that matches Keith’s makes him very, very nervous about what he’s going to learn about himself when he goes to the Blade headquarters. He hasn’t fused with Shiro since Shiro came back, and he still hasn’t managed to fuse with anyone–despite Pidge and Hunk managing it briefly once when they were working on the lions, Shiro and Allura fusing while Zarkon was chasing the castle across the universe, and even Lance and Allura fusing once when Lance flirted with her–and promptly de-fusing so violently they both skidded halfway across the bridge.

Part of the Trials of Marmora is supposed to be achieving a stable fusion with an established Blade, under the understanding that someone who’s loyal to Zarkon wouldn’t be able to remain fused with a rebel. Keith doesn’t manage it (maybe because they don’t tell him he’s supposed to try, and the allies who come in to help him fight are so aggressive that Keith assumes they’re just more enemies. He lets them take out each other, but fights on his own, as he always has.) He awakens his blade at about the same time as Shiro crashes the test, but Kolivan is still intent on taking it back since he didn’t manage a fusion.

Then Keith and Shiro fuse (unintentionally, and it takes a moment to stabilize because Keith is all too aware of Shiro’s history with the Galra and the fact that Keith himself is Galra. Shiro holds on, though, and once Keith realizes Shiro isn’t pulling back, he relaxes and the fusion stabilizes.) Kolivan accepts this as passing the trials less because it actually counts and more because two fused paladins isn’t someone he wants to make an enemy of.

Keith and Hunk fuse, briefly, inside the Weblum–something Acxa finds fascinating, if slightly troublesome. Lotor’s team can fuse in nearly any combination they want to (Acxa has trouble fusing with Zethrid, and Ezor with Narti, but other than that they’re all pretty well in sync.) That’s always been the greatest advantage they had, but if the paladins can also fuse…

Fusion, as it turns out, can deepen the Voltron bond. The team finds this out when they face Zarkon at the end of season 2 and achieve a partial 5-way bond. Because they’re each in their own lions, they can’t physically fuse, but the familiar mind-link becomes a literal single mind as their consciousnesses fuse. When Haggar rips them apart, the effects are staggering and that, more than even the Quintessence drain, nearly kills them, but they pull it together and manage to defeat Zarkon.

Lance and Allura fuse again just after Allura first pilots Blue, when Lance is helping her figure out how to bond with her lion. It’s still awkward, but far more stable than their first disastrous attempt, and it does, actually, help Allura get in sync with Blue.

Actually, Lance kinda wishes he could fuse with Keith and get inside Red’s head, but so far it hasn’t happened. They’re close–on Thayserix, when Lance and Keith are alone and Keith admits he’s screwed everything up–when Lance acknowledges the truth in that statement but moves immediately to “Let’s fix it (together)” they feel something. A tug, like they might have been able to fuse if they physically could. So far they haven’t come close again, but honestly, it’s only a matter of time.