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corvus--rex · 3 years

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Way back after I had just spent an entire weekend burning through the first 14k words of Dormiveglia, I decided that I wanted to do something of a foil to that, and this one came about. It's semi-abandoned rn, but I do want to come back to it. I inverted the boys' dynamics (Omega Keith and Alpha Lance), but - and no spoilers! - that's not the only part that's changed-but-not. Standing rule still applies - it's ok to skip the Omegaverses if they're not your thing! :)

~*~*~*~

Betas never could understand. Betas kept to their own dynamic. Keith supposed he envied them in a way. Never having to worry about Alphas making lewd comments, at the very least, on one end of the scale, or treating them like fine china on the other. And Omegas themselves were either just as submissive on one end, or more like Keith, not having any patience for typical Alpha behavior on the other. It’s what nearly got him kicked out of the Garrison. His propensity for getting in fights. If it wasn’t Griffin, it was another Alpha making obnoxious comments.

And then it’s what had gotten him stuck with the world’s most annoying co-pilot. In the interest of “diversity” and “balance”, his irritating co-pilot was an Alpha, and the other two crew members were an Alpha and Omega. Keith felt a sort of kinship with the other Omega. Pidge didn’t have time for anyone’s shit. He got it. He knew what it was like to be an Omega with a short fuse. It’s what made Keith like the tech genius when they first met.

He did have to, grudgingly, admit that, as annoying as his co-pilot was, as an Alpha, he was one of the better ones. Lance knew that Keith was the better pilot, and that’s why he’d started some imagined rivalry between them. Which didn’t help him, in Keith’s opinion. The other Alpha, flight engineer Hunk, was a cinnamon roll made of sunshine, and unlike any Alpha Keith had ever met. Even Shiro and Adam. Shiro saved him, in a way, and he and his boyfriend – fiancé, by then – basically adopted him. Shiro may have been missing, but Adam still loved him, despite the fight they had before Shiro left.

But none of this explained why he was on the roof of the Garrison barracks in the middle of the night with Pidge, Hunk, and, unfortunately, Lance. Pidge had been looking for his brother and father, lost on the same mission as Shiro. But something a little closer to home was messing with his computer. Either way, this whole night had been a shitshow. It started with Lance dragging Hunk along to sneak off campus. Something Keith could have told them how to do far more effectively if they’d asked. He didn’t need half his flight crew getting themselves in trouble, so he’d gone after them. And then they started following Pidge to see where he was going. And then they were all on the roof.

“Lately, all the alien chatter has been about something they're calling ‘Voltron’. But that’s been interrupted by whatever this is,” Pidge said, gesturing at his laptop screen.

Hunk crowded in beside him. “Oh, oh, wait. This looks like Fraunhofer lines. For elements, y’know? But this doesn’t look like any I've ever seen. Maybe we can reconfigure your scanner to pick up on it and we can trace where it’s coming from.”

“How long would that take?” Lance whined from where he was sprawled on the floor of the roof.

“Not long. Maybe half an hour.”

Keith just sighed and leaned back. At least he could see space from there.

Reconfiguring Pidge’s scanner took the half hour Hunk said it would. In the interest of not getting caught, Keith redirected them when trying to sneak out so they wouldn’t. Finding the source of the readings the scanner was picking up took a little longer than a half an hour. More like an hour and a half. But when they found the cave and its odd carvings it made things better. Then the carvings on the walls and floor lit up when Lance touched them and suddenly they found themselves falling down a waterfall and directly in front of a massive blue cat-robot-something.

Standing in front of it, they all saw the same thing, an even larger humanoid-shaped robot that looked like it was made of the blue cat in front of them and four others, all different colors. They all knew that it was Voltron, and that the cat in front of them was a piece of it. The vision dissipated quickly, leaving them all wondering if they really saw it. But they did, and then were wondering how to get past the force field the cat had around it.

Without warning, Lance walked up to the energy shield. “Maybe all you have to do is knock,” he said, doing just that.

The force field dropped, and the cat’s head lowered, allowing him in. Lance, being Lance, rushed in without hesitation. He found out quickly that it wasn’t a robot, it was a ship. He threw himself into the pilot’s seat and the controls came to life under his hands. Hunk, Pidge, and Keith made it on board seconds before the cat broke through the rock wall and out into the night.

Lying in his bed onboard the Castle, that night felt like a lifetime ago but also like it could have been yesterday. Keith stared at the ceiling, insomnia doing its best to ruin his sleep cycle. He kept thinking about what had happened that night – finding Blue, rescuing Shiro, and then Blue taking them through the wormhole. It wasn’t the thoughts themselves that kept him up, but he found that insomnia made his mind spin out of control. Well, if he couldn’t sleep, he might as well train. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with thinking about things he couldn’t change.

Finding out that he was half Galra solved one mystery about Keith’s past. But something still felt off. Something he couldn’t figure out. He had asked Allura and Coran if the Castle’s medical technology could determine DNA origins. He wanted to know if they could figure out his biology. But they both told him that it would take a trained medic to be able to properly accomplish that. So the rest of the mystery remained.

He heard sounds of drones and gladiator training robots as he approached the training deck. It was the middle of the night, who could possibly be up at this hour besides him? That question was answered before he got to the door and heard the distinct sound of laser fire. Lance was all about his precious beauty sleep, what the hell was he doing up – and training – at this hour? Keith walked into the training deck just as the last gladiator fell, a floor panel opening to drop the drone into the automated repair sub-floor.

“Pause training sequence,” Lance panted, sinking to one of the benches at the edge of the room.

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Keith asked, walking over.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I couldn’t sleep, and insomnia fucks with my head. I figured training was better than letting it.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, same.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “I – I never meant to be such a dick back on Earth. Or out here. It wasn’t even anything to do with you being an Omega; you were just the better pilot and it made me feel like I had something to prove. Probably sounds as stupid as I think it does.”

“No?” Keith questioned, sitting beside the Alpha, “I don’t think it sounds stupid, but I don’t think like that, so I don’t really get it. I don’t think you have anything to prove. I just thought you were annoying.”

Lance snorted and leaned back against the wall. “Thanks,” he said, “Some people have a way with words, while Keith just decks them in the face.”

“I can be a little too blunt sometimes, huh?”

Lance rolled his head to face the Omega beside him. “Sometimes? Try, like, all the time. Dude, you nearly punched Iverson for some bullshit he said. I’m not denying it was bullshit, just saying that maybe punching him wasn’t the best choice. And the only reason he said what he did was because you have no filter.”

“Hey. I have a filter. I just choose to ignore it,” Keith defended himself.

Lance burst out laughing. “Ok, fair,” he said, laughter subsiding. “I don’t want to be rivals. I never really did. But we’re a team now. All of us. And we should act like it.”

“Yeah, we should,” Keith agreed, “I don’t mean for this to be the thing I lead with, but are you ok? I mean, I know we all miss Earth, home, but something’s been feeling off with you lately.”

The Alpha sighed heavily. “Yeah – I don’t know. Ever since we got out here, there’s been this weird nostalgic feeling. And I don’t know why or where it’s coming from. Like, sometimes I’ll see something here on the castle, or it will be something Allura or Coran says, or, like, the way they say it, and I get this weird feeling. Like it’s familiar somehow.”

“Well, we found out that I’m not all human. Maybe it’s possible that you’re not either. We have no idea how many races or species found Earth separately. Maybe there’s someone in your family who wasn’t human.”

Lance had never even considered that. But Keith had a point. Maybe somewhere in his family was someone who wasn’t from Earth. He didn’t think it was anyone recent, but then again, Keith was only three months younger than him, and he wasn’t fully human. Who knew, maybe one of his parents wasn’t as human as they claimed.

“Yeah, maybe there is,” Lance finally agreed.

Keith realized that he was actually tired. He didn’t want to stay up and train, he just wanted to go to bed. And it looked like Lance felt the same way. Was his insomnia cured? Probably not. But maybe late-night talks with friends could help with it.

“I think I'm gonna head to bed,” the Omega said.

“Yeah,” Lance yawned, “Me too.”

They walked back to their rooms together, brushing against one another occasionally, but that was just because it was late and they were tired. There was nothing more to that. There couldn’t be. They had only just agreed that butting heads all the time was a bad idea. Keith couldn’t bring himself to admit that there was something about Lance’s earthy, woodsy scent that called to him. There wasn’t. Was there? The Alpha’s scent had the musky note common to Alphas, but it wasn’t overbearing like so many were. It was soft, comforting. But that still didn’t mean that there was something else there. Lance just had a slightly unusual scent, that’s all.

Alphas usually only went into a rut when they were involved with an Omega, or mated to one. But being in such close quarters with three Omegas made it more likely to happen, relationship or not. But Keith wasn’t at all thinking about how Lance’s scent changed the one time said Alpha found himself in a rut when the last half of his own heat had coincided with the first half Allura’s. How it had become richer and deeper and how Keith had found himself instinctively attracted to it. Nope. Not going there.

Keith didn’t know that Lance was thinking the same thing. He didn’t want to keep going with some stupid, pointless rivalry that he’d made up. So he’d done something about it. But now that he had, Lance was trying not to think about the Omega walking beside him. The one with the herbal, incense-sweet scent. The scent that wasn’t anywhere near as sweet as other Omegas. Lance loved Pidge like a little sister, but she smelled like buttered toffee, and it only got worse when her heats hit. Keith’s scent intensified when he went into heat, but he didn’t smell like a candy shop.

So, no. Lance was not thinking about the boy beside him. Not at all. Or his scent. Or why he was suddenly thinking about how his scent changed during heats. Especially not that last one. Very especially not that last one. Not that it mattered. This was neither the time nor place for it. They had far more important things like winning a 10,000-year-old war to worry about. So Lance was just going to put that thought in the box of things to worry about later.

The two separated at their doors, going to bed alone. Neither would admit that the other’s scent permeated their dreams.

The next morning, Allura called a meeting after breakfast. When the paladins gathered on the bridge, they found the projected star map up, focused on an area of space they had never seen. It was a little farther out of the way, and, as Pidge noticed, not too far from Olkarion. But that didn’t answer the question of what the system was or why it was of interest to Voltron.

“I will admit,” Allura said, “The planet in this system is not one that requires Voltron. But it is one that may be of help to us.” She zoomed in on the map, showing the planet in question. “This is the planet Tas. They have an innate knowledge and understanding of biology. While they could be a great asset to the Coalition, this is more personal. A question about the capabilities of our medical technology here aboard the castle was raised recently. The Tasians may be able to help with the answer to that question better than we can here.”

“Getting better functionality from our medical equipment would be a huge help,” Pidge said.

Everyone agreed on that point, and that their next stop would be planet Tas. Everyone took their stations, Allura plotted the course, and opened a wormhole. A lush, green world came into view on the screen. The castle was very shortly hailed by the planet.

“Greetings and welcome to Tas. I am Ael, head of the planetary council. To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from Voltron and the Castle of Lions?”

Ael appeared human, only the intensity of their bright emerald green eyes gave any indication that they were not. Their primary sex was difficult to discern, and no one wanted to assume, especially with an alien species. Likewise, their clothing didn’t appear gendered in any way. It was simple, with clean lines, and flowed for ease of movement.

“Greetings, Ael. I am Princess Allura of Altea and the Voltron Coalition. We have come here to Tas because of your people’s innate understanding of biology. We do not have the training or knowledge to make full use of our medical equipment and were hoping you and your people could assist us with that.”

Ael brightened. “Of course. We would be happy to assist the Voltron Coalition. Especially with something as vital as the care of those sick or injured. Please, you are welcome to land.” The gently smiling face of the Tasian disappeared from the screen.

Coran received the landing site coordinates, and Allura guided the Castle to the planet’s surface. The planet Tas was just as green on the surface as it was from space. Had they not seen it on the descent, team Voltron might never have known the city was there. While controlled, every building was dripping in plant life, whether from climbing vines, hanging planters, or window boxes. It felt as though the planet itself was alive.

The team quickly came to realize that primary sexes were of no social importance. The other Tasians were as androgynous as Ael, and everyone filled whatever role they were best suited to, regardless of primary or secondary sexes. Primary sex played a role to an extent even in Altean culture, and this was something unlike anything they’d seen.

“What is it about this place that feels so familiar?” Lance asked himself.

Keith was standing beside him, hearing his question. The Omega had had the same thought. “I don’t know, but something is definitely familiar about it.”

~*~*~*~

Links to the rest of the series:

1 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 5* | 6* | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10 | 11 | 12* | 13 | 14 | 15* | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19*

#my writing #abandoned wips #klance #keith x lance #omega keith kogane #alpha lance mcclain #abo #omegaverse #vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender

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halfhappyhooligan · 4 years

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a voltron au? in 2020? it’s more likely than you think

look. LOOK. i know that voltron is stupid and we hate it but lets be honest: everything up until season 3 was pretty good and had lots of potential !!

today i was rewatching voltron and a thought struck me: what if, instead of shiro being cloned, he was chipped and turned to the side of the galra?

so here it is, i did not blink since i thought of this

(warning, i have not seen voltron in a while and this is just knowledge i have stored in my moss brain and stuff i know from rewatching the first season)

au where shiro goes evil bc of what happens @ end of season one instead of the clone thing bc 1) haggar rly could not have made thousands of shiros after bumping into team voltron like what twice? its hella improbable and 2) just… weird

so instead they insert a chip in him that helps them spy and control him just like kuron (the clone) did minus the unlikely storytelling

eventually after the convo with sendak when he was in the pod trying to temp shirp, he does have thoughts about helping zarkon

(“im already infiltrated with the arm, i could just speed up the process by leaving now. save the team the trouble of investing in a leader that’s doomed to fail from the strart.”)

shiro ends up leaving team voltron in season 2 after zarkon goes crazy w the black lion n stuff

^^ this adds to Keith’s reasoning of joining the Blade of Marmora (shiro is his main stability and one of the main reasons he even stuck around with team voltron, so with shiro gone and keith questioning his place as the leader and paladin of the black lion, he decides the BoM is just.. what’s best for him)

obviously lance isn’t happy with this (“you just told me that i’m a valuable member, now you don’t think YOU are? what logic is that?”)

ofc keith goes anyways

lance becomes paladin of the black lion

allura takes on the red lion

who has blue lion? ...idk this isn’t that thought out (maybe matt after pidge finds her family) (which will happen earlier in the plot since we can forget about the miniplot of black no longer responding to shiro)

enter lotor only this time he has a sidekick and what omg its shiro wow

shiro has that bigger version of his arm that was once offered to him

he’s stronger and scary, but his eyes aren’t the same, he has the strength of a galra but lacks the passion

in the fight between lotor and zarkon, (and after, of course lots of self doubt and questioning) shiro comes between them and convinces lotor NOT to kill zarkon

then zarkon kills lotor

everyones like oh shit bc surely someone who’s life was just spared wouldn’t kill the person who seems to have the most power

but he did. bc he’s zarkon. and he’s fckn crazy.

shiro doesn’t go back to team voltron bc its too much too easily

instead he takes the place of lotor in the group of gals

he convinces them all to rebel against the galra

eventually they teach him all about quintessence and all the shit lotor had planned that they can’t do anymore

(lotor wasn’t harvesting alteans in this universe bc what the heck even was that subplot that had little to no relevance to the main storyline?

instead he was trying to find a way to technologically bring back alteans (kinda like how allure’s dad was originally preserved in s1)

i know nothing about How Stuff Works and i dont remember much about quintessence n shit but the basic idea is that when tying in some of a persons artifacts with technology stuff and some quintessence then boom. a weird route from astral projection land to the team is created and ppl can come back or smth idfk

but lotor was never able to get the comet so shiro decides he and the gals will get that comet and try to bring back as many alteans as they can

^ all this while infiltrating as many galra fleets as possible + saving planets under galra empire

they personally visit every planet that lotor was in charge of and release them from galra control

they are able to bring back an altean (its romelle) and she talks abt her friend who lives on the balmera and they go to the balmera and its revealed that it was shay’s great grandmother so romelle asks where shay is and shay’s family is like with team voltron of course

they take her

obviously team voltron, the BoM and the Rebels r very hesitant to make contact but they decide to try it out

keith refuses to meet, instead he’s on the team that stands guard

reunions !!

romelle and shay hit it off and hunk makes a dinner much like roselle’s past (allura and coran also hang out and they all vibe)

lance talks to shiro abt everything to do with keith and shiro is like dude do u??? like him?

and lance is like what? no ofc not—oh shit.

and keith ✨overhears ✨

pidge matt and shiro catch up n shit

meanwhile keith is like Hey Lance Uhhhhhh What The Fuck

they end up being like hey since we’re all here and we hate zarkon what if we make a plan to end the galra’s reign Right Now

so they do

and y’all.. it’s hella baller plan

except something is going wrong and in the middle of an attack zarkon is able to get the upper hand

due to haggar’s magic and lance’s mental and emotional instability, zarkon is able to get in his head

everyone is trying to talk him down but they’re all under a lot of pressure

allura is also conflicted bc she wanted to be black lion bc she wanted to rub it in to zarkon’s face that she was stronger than he and that she could beat him at his own game

but the negativity and instability feeds into zarkon’s power and makes him and haggar stronger as they pull in voltron to finally take over the team and regain their status as the most powerful alien race

hunk realizes this and is like okay can y’all stop being negative? its clearly affecting them in a good way and it makes us an easier target

and pidge is like im literally a child pls i don’t wanna die i just got my family back it can’t end like this

shiro realizes what’s going on and he goes to save them

he uses all his energy, pulling in the positive memories (everything: first learning about space, becoming a teacher, meeting adam, meeting keith, first making team voltron, his friends and family--all of it) to push back zarkon and haggar’s powers and battle once more in the astral realm

in defeating zarkon, shiro loses his life

afterwards keith enters the ship in a hurry and is like where the fuck is shiro where’s my brother what did you do what happened

and team voltron is like hey man.. we are so so sorry

and keith cries because the last thing he ever said to shiro was mean

lance feels like its all his fault since he was supposed to be a good leader

they talk about separately while hunk pidge and allura discuss

krolia is like keith we, ur family, are here for u

and axca is there and shes like um?? hey?? sry for trying to kill u bro

and he’s like i absolutely do not wanna talk i just lost my closest friend

they talk about it later

axca tells keith abt shiro finishing lotor’s work and abt bringing people back and well..

they use the methods to help keith visit shiro in the astral realm

shiro is like oh uh hey i was just having a drink w adam we r happy

and keith is like shiro u fuckhead why would u sacrifice urself

shiro sighs bc cmon keith you KNOW why “remember what i always said? we can’t focus on what went wrong..”

“we’ve got to figure out how to make it right” keith finishes

keith breaks tf down crying and screams apologizing

“i love u shiro. ur a like a big brother to me.”

and shiro is like yeah i know and ilyt but hey. everyone’s safe and happy. im safe and happy. & you deserve to be too. you don’t need me anymore.

so the galra rule is over and everyone goes to their respected planets

romelle and the other alteans as well as some galra babes hang in earth

romelle and shay r in an apartment together and have a garden

allura realizes she may not have been the strongest leader for voltron, and couldn’t stop zarkon on her own but that physical strength doesn’t define her as a whole

her heart is strong enough to care for everyone, so thats what she does

allura starts running an inn for alteans filled with painted sceneries like altea in case anyone ever needs a reminder of home

when lance reunites with his family its a real tearjerker

rachel finally gets her jacket back and veronica is like So.. Axca 👀

the McClain’s host a huge party for everyone and it’s filled with lots of hugs and loud music and even tho lance was way too tired, he danced all night

he wouldn’t trade his family for the world—genetic and chosen

when hunk reunites with his parents they don’t let him out the house for hours, he tells them all about his new best friend shay as well as hundreds of his favorites stories from space

they are so, so proud of him

hunk spends the next days playing minecraft and animal crossing with pidge, giving their brains a rest from being on hyperdrive for 3 yrs straight

when pidge gets home she finally gets grounded by her mom, only being allowed to leave the house to see her old teammates

(same for matt and her dad)

(her mother cries so hard when they opened the door to the home)

the holt family holds movie nights filled with popcorn, cuddles, and tears

keith moves in with the holt family, and finally accepts that he has a home as well as a family

he often goes on trips with the BoM but mostly just stays on earth

after a Team Voltron sleepover in the altea inn keith and lance decide to get an apartment together and live their lives in love and in peace

everyone gets together once a year in celebration of shiro and the sacrifice he made for them

they use the ship to visit Astral Shiro and once they even met adam

everyone laughs and catches up and just... live their lives

everyone is happy

pls ignore any and all errors lmao

again, just a thought !! maybe i’ll write a fic abt it idk for sure but yeah

feel free to add anything <3

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arinaco · 5 years

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The Heroine’s Journey of Lance or The child who drowned in pursuit of a dream.

Warning: Plance

Edited by https://twitter.com/Nadezhda932

Yes, you heard right. The topic sounds the way it sounds, and if you’re confused by the fact that Lance was called the "heroine", I hasten to reassure you. The Heroine’s Journey is in no way connected with the gender of the protagonist, "she" can be both a man and a woman. This expression was accepted, because in the stories of the old times mostly women were sent to such journeys, since men suffering from mental anguish considered not manly enough. Men were usually sent to Hero's Journey, and for a better understanding of the situation I'll spend a little of your time to explain the difference.

The Hero's Journey is a literal journey where the hero is forced to leave his home - a comfort zone - so that he grows up and matures under the influence of literal trials. He must also perform a feat and receive a reward for this feat. Kill the dragon and get the princess (a sword / horse / medicine for a sick mother etc.), as a symbol of the fact that the hero won and received what he set off for.

The Heroine's Journey is a story of spiritual experiences when, under the influence of external factors, a person loses an important part of his personality, and he needs to find himself again - to restore his spiritual balance. Growing up is achieved through rethinking oneself, through finding one's place in this world and through casting away false beliefs that prevent the hero from becoming happy. Moreover, the Heroine's Journey may not have a feat, but the reward is and is always deceiving - having received the reward for his struggle, the hero suddenly realizes that this is not what he wanted. He's disappointed - he put so much effort into achieving the goal, and now realizes that all this time he was wasting himself in vain.

And I can’t help but recall the indignation of some of Lance’s fans that they didn’t let him complete the feat. He learned to wield a sword, and he wasn;t even allowed to demonstrate his skills, for example, in a duel with Lotor, like an Easter egg on an old series (those who watched the old series laughed at this statement, but this is not about that). And some of the men experienced cognitive dissonance - if the hero received the princess, then where is the dead dragon? Zarkon was killed by Lotor. Sendak was defeated by Keith and Shiro. Honevra, in fact, left undefeated. Lance... turned out to be the thief from the game in S6. A cool girl needs a cool guy, not a simple farmer. Guys, really. I understand that Lance is wonderful, but his image in the series is just that. A simple farmer who, for all his good qualities, is not at all the one who is destined to take out the Sword from the Stone.

Because the fact is that in the history of Lance there should not be a “dead dragon” - a feat. Because the feat is accomplished on the Hero's Journey, while Lance has the Heroine's Journey. And yes, the reward he received was false and only led to disappointment.

Lance's story should look something like this:

Starting point:Lance is an altruistic but insecure guy who feels like a "third wheel" in life. But he wants to change this, to become something more than a “simple guy from Cuba”, he wants to be useful and meaningful.

Journey: Lance believes that he'll gain self-confidence and usefulness in the eyes of others if he becomes a hero and becomes famous. He wants to be the knight saving princesses, Hercules of his own story. But at the same time, in the struggle for the title of a hero, he becomes more and more selfish and loses an important part of himself - his compassion and selflessness towards others.

A reward and disappointment in it: Lance receives what, in his opinion, should bring him the title of a hero and self-confidence, but at the same time he doesn't receive self-confidence. The candy, which was so attractive with its wrapper, turned out to be tasteless. In addition, his desire to have this award comes into direct conflict with his desire to help others, and this puts pressure on him.

End:Lance refuses the reward, lets his thirst for fame go and comes to terms with his conscience. Having stopped chasing after fame, like a donkey for a carrot, he finally notices that his friends love him without any fame and appreciate his efforts. Realizing that he doesn't need to become Hercules in order to be respected and loved, Lance finally accepts himself, which allows him to find his place in the world and feel happy.

This is how it should have looked in a normal scenario. But since Mr. B. changed it (I won't swear in the article, though I really want to), the end of the journey was simply deleted from Lance’s story, leaving him in a state of disappointment with the award, which in the description of the Heroine’s Journey is directly called “spiritual aridity, death".

Really. They even showed it in the end, although they finished the ending according to the changed script (you won’t erase words from the song). Lance literally buries himself at 19, disappointed in life. More absurd is only Shiro who was sent to retire at the age of 30. I'm now 30 years old, and it’s just ridiculous for me to say that life ends at 19 (30) years, now it’s only a monastery and a pension. Unhappy love is sad, but life is such a thing that someone constantly dies, and it’s not normal to bury yourself alive. Especially in the series for children. Pathological grief after the loss of a loved one is actually a disorder of adaptation and in psychiatry is considered a disease that must be treated. A person left in a state of psychiatric illness is a so-so happy ending. However, if you consider that the universe after S8 remained in complete disarray, then Lance fits into such a happy ending. By the way, the Heroine's Journeys of Lance and Allura are very similar in the sense that self-doubt becomes their main enemy. They are like brother and sister in this, go hand in hand, and that is why their journeys intersect. But if in the changed S8 Allura still got an invisible “kick in the ass, which allowed her to take a decisive step forward,” Lance remained stagnant in his uncertainty. If Allura commited suicide by her own decision, Lance just got stuck in a quagmire and choked. But let's look at the situation in more detail. And let's start with the Lance's family.

Stage 1 - Separation from the feminine.

Lance is a kind but insecure guy. He sees that his Nice Guy status gives nothing and has no weight in society, and therefore dreams of fame.

Lance grew up in faraway Cuba, in a large provincial family of farmers. Well-off enough to feed a bunch of people without problems during S8 - when the whole Earth was in crisis - but not the great rich. The boss in the house was an active mom, and dad, judging by his behavior and the attitude of others, was a standard quiet henpecked man. You know, a handsome guy, unsure of himself, who in his youth fell into the hands of an energetic girl and spent his whole life in invisible labor on a farm for the benefit of the family. Judging by the words of Lance’s mother, it was from his father that Lance inherited stupid lines and the desire to flirt with girls, which in reality was only a pretense of bravado for both. However, you can understand Lance's father. When you're a provincial farmer, besides socializing there's little entertainment. And the presence of a beautiful girlfriend was probably the only way for a young farmer to raise his authority and gain the respect of his peers. Moreover, Lance wasn't the only beloved child, but rather one of a bunch of children, each of whom probably wanted to win a little attention from their parents. He's the youngest, and the youngest is the one for whom everyone else always decides, the one whom everyone pushes, whose opinion is never asked. And of course, the shadow from more successful older relatives constantly dominated him - the older sister made a career in science, and the older brother, unlike Lance, who resembled his quiet father, clearly inherited mother's self-confidence and constantly teased his younger sibling. And naturally, he wanted to stand out. He wanted his parents to notice him among a bunch of other, older and “more useful” children, to be appreciated and respected - but, alas, it's difficult to gain respect from others by how cool you milk cows. Here, everyone around milks the cows, it's a farm. And a simple Cuban boy, who probably watched cartoons about super-heroes, began to dream. He milked cows and dreamed of how he would break out of this gray life and become cool and famous. Dad will be proud, elder siblings will stop laughing at him. And all the girls will be his. Lance, like his father in his youth, probably sought to establish himself surrounded by other young farm guys as a "Loverboy" - but he was just a quiet, handsome guy with stupid lines, not a brutal cowboy on a powerful stallion. And such guys are loved, I would even say that girls often marry this type of guys, but don't chase them in a crowd. You need to understand that Lance wanted to break out of this life. He dreamed of something completely different. And the fact that he was forced to return to the farm... sorry, but this is a mockery. It would be better if he opened a space tourism company and named his ship "Allura". And, like captain Kirk, remained faithful to his ship, shrugging off the fatal beauties. In general, if not for Veronica, who had shown by her example that there is a way out, then most likely Lance would have finished as his dad. He would fall into the hands of a brisk girl and spent his whole life on a farm under the heel. He would drag a completely prosperous dull existence, like hundreds of other farmers before him. But looking at his sister, Lance got the idea to enter the Garrison and was able to do it. It's a pity that the provincial farmers didn't really appreciate this feat. Alas, in the Cuban hinterland there were no experts who could understand the extent of such an achievement. Only a sister supported Lance.

And in the Garrison it wasn't easy either. He entered the Garrison, but only as a pilot of cargo vehicles, and when he was transferred to combat pilots the teacher, clearly upset by the loss of a more talented student, couldn't help but recall that Lance was here only because Keith was expelled. The gifted one, but unfortunately for teachers completely undisciplined.

However, with the girls he was a little luckier. Judging by the conversation with Hunk in the first episode, Lance didn't wait for "the only one", but rather actively ran on dates. Apparently, sometimes his "wonderful" lines really worked. Another thing is that the significance of dating girls in the eyes of the population of the Garrison was extremely small - they are not bored farmers, so it remained exclusively a personal affair of Lance, and he didn't gain much respect because of it.

But Lance wanted something completely different. He wanted respect, fame, being accepted. And if Keith went to save Shiro because he was the only close person for him, Lance got in because he was sickened that everyone compared him to Keith. It's he who must save Shiro and become famous, even if it ends badly for him (do you really think that under other circumstances they wouldn't be punished?). The position of the second violin in relation to Keith enraged Lance, especially considering the fact that Keith didn't care about Lance. He couldn't understand why Lance was angry with him, they almost didn't know each other. Keith had his own personal problems, unrelated to Lance. It didn’t even occur to him that he, as it turns out, was competing with Lance for the title of the coolest, since Keith wasn't interested in such competitions.

Such rivals that he didn’t even recognize you...

Looking ahead, I just notice that as soon as Lance stopped seeing an opponent in Keith, all their contradictions vanished. Keith wasn't Lance's adversary, enemy, rival or any kind of aggressor. Keith became one because Lance elevated him to that position. Lance imagined a dragon which must be defeated, but as soon as he stopped demonizing Keith it immediately turned out that there was no dragon at all. There are no external demons in Lance's life, but internal ones. And Keith is a good example. So they find the Blue Lion. Blue sees Lance - a good guy who is ready to support others and who is most in need of support - realizes that "this is my boy" and sends the whole company to the Castle of Lions.

Where Lance meets Allura - the embodiment of his dream of glory. Not just a beautiful girl, but a real princess. Like from a fairy tale where the coolest man - Hercules - gets the princess, becomes her faithful knight, protects her and accomplishes feats in her honor. And she admires him.

Of course, from the first minutes Allura makes it clear that she'll break the neck of any dragon and give the knight a kick, but the dream didn' fade from this - quite the opposite, it became more inaccessible and therefore more desirable.

Then we see the events of the first two seasons. S1 spans several days, S2 - several weeks, or how much it took them to dock with the BoM and complete a plan to get Zarkon out of the game. Lance learns to work together and even begins to gradually feel his usefulness to the team. When Shiro tells him that they need him, because he's their sharpshooter, Lance glows with happiness. Because this is his place - the place of a support fighter - and he's comfortable in it. It's comfortable to be a blue paladin - a "leg" that supports everyone else, who will cover melee fighters.

And here an extremely important event happens. Shiro disappears. Shiro was the only self-confident mature man in the company of literal and mental youngsters (with the exception of Coran, but he preferred to remain in the shadows). Responsible commander, authority, leader who knew exactly what and how to do Under his wing, the kids were like in a kindergarten. And now bang - the kids lost him and left without a kindergartener.

Space Dad is gone, do it yourself. Nobody will insure you anymore, you have no one else to hope for. Everyone feels bewildered, it’s hard for everyone. And it's especially hard for Keith - after all, Shiro was his only close friend, his brother. The rest knew Shiro for about a couple of weeks and treated him like a counselor in a scout camp, and therefore experienced Shiro's loss more easily. But the loss of Shiro himself, not his leadership.

And after the loss of Shiro comes "The Great Transferring"

Stage 2 - Identification with the masculine and gathering of allies

Lance refuses the image of a Nice Guy in favor of the pursuit of status.

You know, I've often met conversations on the topic that everything is not clear with these Lions, what the heck is with replacing paladins, and why they don't change armors.

In the old series, Lions were simply meek machines - anyone could pilot them. But now the Lions are living creatures that even help their paladins (otherwise Hank and Pidge wouldn't be able to learn how to control them so quickly). Each Lion has a specific character and is looking for a “soul mate” in the paladin, which would dock well with it. The black paladin is a cool, stubborn leader. The yellow paladin is a confident strong helping hand foot, Green is a purposeful lover of knowledge. We'll deal with Red and Blue a bit later.

The easiest way is with Hunk and Pidge. The fact is that their characters almost didn't change during the series. Pidge grew up, but nothing more. Hunk was generally quite a mature person and had no moral problems, except for a heightened sense of self-preservation. He was even the first to get the girl without any problems (which is extremely funny comparing to Lance, for whom getting a girlfriend became an obsession).

Shiro, after his resurrection, became the white paladin - but, alas, there is so little evidence on this subject (thanks for the cut S7-8) that I just can’t back up my position with facts, and therefore I won’t force you to listen to my demagoguery.

I’ll give a couple of lines to Allura. Yes, she's pink. More precisely, blue-red. Allura has her father's temper. To act first and then think is her favorite method. In her decisive moments, Allura becomes "red" more than Keith himself. But brought up as the future queen, Allura suffers from hyperresponsibility and constantly thinks whether she did the right thing. She constantly doubts herself, constantly fusses around, asks others, although she must make decisions herself... except for those moments where Alfor's character shows up. One thing that Red doesn't tolerate is uncertainty. Therefore, Red didn't accept Allura. And he didn't care that Allura wanted to be like her father and really wanted to become a red paladin. She even started crying, phew. Keith is quite another case and therefore he's worth of respect.

Perhaps if Blue hadn't intervened, Allura would never have become a paladin. But picking up abandoned kittens is a Blue Lion's favorite pastime. Besides, Allura selflessly sought to help others, she had recently lost her people, her family, and her father even twice. Therefore, Blue took Allura. Don't offend little ones, Red, bad kitty. A little offtopic: the path of Allura - the normal path, not a bit thrown to us - showed the transition of Allura to a full-fledged red paladin. Because the princess, who constantly doubts herself, will never become a queen. She will always depend on the opinions of others and will forever remain a child. Let's move on to Keith. His path is very simple and straightforward, like the very Hero's Journey, which is his story. There is point A - Red Lion, as the embodiment of Kit's self-centered unstable teenage character, there is point B - becoming a black paladin, a mature responsible leader. The reward for the feat is finding a family. Why did Keith stay in a red suit? Because the suit shows that Keith is actually still too “red.” Until the very end of S8 there are too many hasty decisions, too much hope for luck. This is not the behavior of the black paladin; a good leader never relies on chance. I have serious suspicions that Black chose Keith because Shiro’s soul was inside. Black trusted Shiro, trusted his choice and accepted Keith (who made a lot of mess in his new position, to be honest ...). In addition, Black didn’t have much to choose from, but it was necessary to go on the mission. So he chose from what he had. But the most interesting thing is with Lance, the main character of our meta. Because he has a Heroine's Journey (!). Not a Hero's one. And while in Hero's Journey, the path of Keith from Red to Black is the path to maturity and the desired reward, then for Lance the path from Blue to Red leads to a false reward. To the blende. He doesn't gain new, he loses old. Lance's blue suit screams about who he really should be. Just remember. It's not Red who chose Lance. It's Blue who kicked him out(!).

Who told you that becoming Red from Blue is an upgrade? Allura? Allura dreamed all her childhood that she would become a red paladin. This is the dream of her whole life. And Lance always wanted to be needed, but what's easier for you - to live without a hand or without a leg? With one hand, of course, it's hard, but try to walk on one leg. A body without a head will run further. Allura said Red accepted Lance when he accepted Keith's leadership. A really strong step is to step on the throat of your pride. Red appreciated it, because he's a very selfish proud man lion, and for him it's really a feat. The same as Alfor had once done when he lost his leadership to Zarkon. Well done, he's impressed. But... Lance did it like a true blue paladin, not a red one. Everyone was feeling bad, and Keith especially, and Lance did this to support Keith because he saw his worries. He abandoned his ambitions in order to help his neighbor, like a true Blue would do.

The Red Lion, on the contrary, is the team’s main egoist. He listens only to Black, because he respects his authority, and even then not always. First he does, then he thinks, and he makes a decision instantly. Proud, emotional, self-centered in his desires. Just remember Alfor. Remember how he ran into the fight ahead of the team, so Zarkon had to save his butt. How he began to study the unknown crap on Daibazaal, ignoring the danger to his friend’s planet at first. How he succumbed to fear and decided to hide the Lions and not use it. How he "turned off" Allura when she began to argue with him and sent it to the cryocapsule. Only so that later his holographic ghost spread his arms and said: "I'm sorry, daughter, you were right." And that is the Red Lion. Determined, emotional, egocentric. The man of the moment. And yes, Red saw it in Lance. After all, the point is not only that Lance gained respect from Red by his “feat”. There was something in Lance that suited Red. For all his altruism, Lance is a child who craves the attention of his environment. And in this he's very selfish. In addition, despite doubts about his status, his usefulness, when it comes to making decisions, Lance doesn't stomp on the spot but acts. In the series, we often see how Lance doubts his importance, but we have never seen him doubt his actions. When it's time to act, Lance acts resolutely and without hesitation. And the problem here is not only that Red accepted Lance only when Blue drove him away. The problem is how the others reacted to this. It must be remembered that Allura really wanted Red. A lot. And also Allura felt that she must behave like a good boss, that means to praise subordinates for achievements, for hard work for the benefit of all. And of course, she began to praise Lance for becoming a red paladin - he made a real achievement in the eyes of Allura.

For Allura, this sword was the memory of her father. And she really dreamed of getting it.

And this was the first time that Allura personally praised Lance. Repeatedly. Allura in the eyes of Lance embodied all his dreams of status. And he really dreamed about her favor, about becoming her Hercules, her knight. And when she praised him, he felt that having risen in status to the right hand of the black paladin (and, according to Allura, that was exactly so), he became closer to his goal. That is, he saw a direct connection: the higher the status, the closer the dream. Despite the fact that being a red paladin wasn't as comfortable as being a blue one. Because along with having a certain status - so desirable for Lance - came the fear of losing that status. Remember how Lance was upset that he didn't know how to use the main form of red bayard - the traditional Altean sword. Have you ever seen Keith worry about not being able to use the Galra flail, which only Lotor and Zarkon used in the series? The red bayard transformed into the sword simply because Alfor created the bayard to suit the first paladins. However, that doesn't change the fact that, by default, the red paladin is the second melee fighter, while Lance has always positioned himself as a sharpshooter - a support fighter.

Stage 3 - Road of trials, meeting ogres and dragons

Lance asserts his status as a red paladin.

Now, after Zarkon's knockout, the paladins and BoM begin vigorous activity. Lance is increasingly asserting his status as a red paladin - he bathes in the completely legitimate attention and admiration of the rescued civilians. In addition, Allura became very close to him, and he could constantly communicate with her. He also felt important, helping her master the Blue Lion and covering in battles. The defender of the beautiful princess.

Note: guys, I understand that you really want to present the attitude of the paladins to each other in battle as exceptional. But helping a comrade on the battlefield is the thing expected of a soldier. On the contrary, if he doesn't help, he'll be called a traitor. BoM's operations don't count, as they have partisan and espionage activities, where there are other priorities. Mutual assistance on the battlefield isn't an act of goodwill, but an obligation.

Yes, after becoming a red paladin, Lance stopped hitting on Allura. Because now Allura wasn't separate from the others, the abstract mistress of the Castle, she became part of the team. That is, not a princess - a potential damsel in distress - but a comrade with whom they share bread and shelter. And of course, Lance began to treat her in a different way. But he didn' stop wanting her. As soon as Matt (young, attractive rebel) appeared on the horizon, Lance set up an absolutely ugly jealousy scene.

Despite the fact that Allura didn't give any promises to Lance, didn't encourage his actions, wasn't either his bride or a wife, Lance decided that he had exclusive rights to Allura and began to guard her like a dog. Most likely, this attitude appeared as a result of the act of “giving” the Blue Lion. Because Lance continued to consider Blue his property, and at the same time began to consider the pilot of Blue his property too. And if so, then Allura belongs to him, and lines are no longer needed. And then Lotor appeared. I must say that it's unlikely that at the first personal meeting Lotor had matrimonial or at least some personal plans for Allura. When Lotor appeared near the Haggar's ship, he wasn't there because of the paladins. If you remember, Lotor caught the transmission that the sector would be blown up, not a word about the presence of Voltron. Lotor didn't save the paladins; he saved civilians from his mad relatives. And when Lotor talks with Allura, he offers exclusively business relations. Abstract union in the name of universal good.

But as soon as Lotor said the word “union”, Lance not only triggered, he almost exploded. From the mere hint that this obviously successful man is offering his(!) princess some sort of union, Lance sharply felt a surge of jealousy and saw Lotor as his rival. While Lotor completely ignored Lance - he addressed to Allura as the head of this madhouse, and he wasn't interested in the opinion of the “retinue” of the princess. In general, Lothor was always interested only in the opinion of Allura, convinced only her and appealed only to her. As a political leader to a political leader. The remaining paladins were reckoned by Lotor to the retinue of Allura and didn't cause much interest. Doesn’t resemble anything? Remember how Lance reacted towards Keith, although he hardly remembered him? How Lance considered Keith his rival? There's only a small but very important difference: Keith reacted to aggression with his own aggression. That is, Lance received a reaction to his actions. But Lotor didn’t do anything at Lance’s aggression. What difference does it make to an elephant what kind of a dog is barking at it down there? At the first outbreak of jealousy, Lance tried to get Lotor out of the way, like he did with Matt, but he couldn't do anything with such a mastodon. And Allura... Allura has work for the benefit of the universe, and Pidge's father must be saved. And here is the legendary Oriande. She didn’t know that Lance had any rights to her. Lotor shines in front of her eyes like a supernova, so Lance's jealousy was left without any attention.

Confused by the fact that he lost his place near the princess, Lance begins to do what he never did before becoming a red paladin. He begins to feel sorry for himself. Allura lost interest in him, she separated from the other paladins and flew away right in front of his eyes to a brilliant rival. Who is, in fact, like a hero from the legends. The real emperor, handsome, great warrior, leader, diplomat, Allura looks at him with admiration. And any attempt to ridicule him is smashed against the armor of equanimity and true self-confidence. Lotor was someone that Lance had always dreamed of becoming. Lance didn’t think about how hard it was for Lotor to become like this, Lance thought it was cool to be a brilliant space prince, not just a Cuban guy.

Lance envied Lotor, like he once envied Keith. And Lance again felt not needed and began to cling with all his might to the title of savior of the universe, as well as to rush to prove his worth. When Pidge and Hunk distract him from his worries, he's very happy to have fun with them - because he really doesn’t have problems, but in moments of idleness he begins to feel sorry for himself and think about how lonely he is and no one likes him. He even complained to the mice. After all, he likes Allura so much, he dreamed of becoming her knight, but she didn't appreciate it.

If Lance was so easily distracted from his longing for Allura, so maybe this longing wasn't so terrible?

Lotor became a dragon which Lance couldn't defeat in an honest battle and was fully aware of it. In addition, it's difficult to save the princess from the clutches of the dragon, when she's already choosing curtains for the cave. Such a princess would kill anyone who dares to hurt her dragon. However, fortunately for Lance, Keith brings Romelle and the paladins defeat Lotor. The path is clear, the dragon was killed. True, not by Lance personally, but it doesn’t matter. In addition, Allura is broken and unhappy, and in need of support. But although Lotor died, his ghost remained. After all, Lotor wasn't a real dragon of Lance, he became one in his mind. And he stayed there even after his physical death. Now Lance will always compare himself with Lotor, because he's only the second, not the first. And when Veronica asks Lance if he's going to date Allura, he begins to torment himself by the fact that he's not worthy of the Altean princess. He's a war veteran, he's the defender of the Earth, he's a red paladin, but this fades in his eyes comparing with Lotor. And this is so unsettling that even the Red Lion doesn't immediately come to the call.

Twinkle, twinkle little star...

Ultimately, instead of supporting Allura in a difficult period, he sits, suffers, and pities himself. But friends will always help, right? Hunk forces Lance to invite Allura on a date, and Rommelle persuades her to agree. And Lance gets what he dreamed of.

Stage 4 - Finding the boon of success

Lance becomes Allura's boyfriend. He was aimed to this from the S1.

Which almost instantly proceeds to the next stage:

Stage 5 - Awakening to feelings of spiritual aridity; death

Lance became Allura's boyfriend, but didn't feel significant.

Because everything went wrong from the very beginning.

You know, during the entire episode Lance looked happy once. When Keith told him how much he appreciated him. For me, the date could be over right here. It’s a very positive note - two comrades are sitting, saying warm words to each other and looking at a beautiful sunset. They would have wine, snacks, and don't leave.

Because the very presence of depression of your girlfriend doesn't tune into a romantic note. Plus Coran with his hysteria about the fact that Lance is a plebeian, not an Altean aristocrat.

In any case, the family dinner wasn't as joyful as Lance had hoped. Allura was far from in a romantic mood and sought to discuss the matters whoch worried her. And the siblings began to please the guest with stories about Lance's childhood. Lance wanted to be cool in the eyes of Allura. And here he's exposed as a fool and a clown. And as a result, Lance felt ashamed. He felt uncomfortable in the walls of his own home, because his beloved relatives didn't want to maintain his authority at all. The status of the red paladin and the presence of a beautiful girl didn't help to shut up the older brother, who continued to mock him as before. The war veteran remained thechild in the eyes of relatives, because there was no one who would tell them in person that they're wrong. Finally, they run away from home and go for a walk. Allura is not in the mood, she is ready to talk about anything except what is usually discussed on dates. Allura says that she feels completely alone looking at friends who have returned to their families.

And Lance, in his aspiration to become significant in the eyes of the princess, is ready to promise her a moon from the sky and follow her even to the edge of the universe. Despite the fact that most of all he always wanted to return home. Lance tells Allura that he loves her, and she sadly nods in response. All his words didn’t really inspire her, because she didn't need anything proposed. And Lance himself feels miserable, because he understands that he can’t help Allura in any way.

Lance isn’t a fool. He realized that Allura didn't reciprocate his feelings. But he walked too long towards his goal and selfishly clutched his reward. And thereby only worsened the situation. He grabs the opportunity to be a knight of Allura, because she's a princess after all. He again turns her in his eyes from a comrade into a virgin in trouble, but as a result only failed. Remember the pirate attack. Lance forgot that Allura was stronger than all of them combined, he forgot that they should meet the enemies shoulder to shoulder, and then he watched with genuine amazement how “the princess saves the knight” - Allura beat the pirates without any problems, having saved both Lance and herself.

Lance, these are pirates who must run away from Allura...

The second attempt to protect Allura also failed. The resurrected "dragon" simply didn't shoot at Allura, and Lance himself fell under the attack of the Alteans. Not to mention the fact that they failed to win the “dragon” - he beat them with his fists. Mad Lotor is a terrible thing by his own, and here he's combined with Sincline... Instead of gaining self-confidence, Lance felt more worthless than ever. Besides Allura, he felt useless. Allura says to him that he doesn't understand her suffering, and all he can do is agree with this and utter banal words of sympathy. Which can't help Allura in her grief. When Allura praised him in the forest just for being able to find the way, Lance beamed as if he had received the Nobel Prize. Allura simply didn't have anything else to praise him for - he did nothing significant in her eyes, and now the red paladin - the right hand of the leader of Voltron - felt joy as if he had accomplished a feat.

You fought with Zarkon, man, and now you consider this an achievement?

No, he pretends that everything is fine, trying to continue to play the role of a knight, which turns out to be frankly bad. At the first opportunity, Allura chases him away, asking to bring "something sparkly", and all he can do is to say a pretentious statement that winning the prizes is his speciality. Although he was only asked to bring a souvenir from the fair.

Such a happy couple...

And then... In the season we got, nothing happens further. Lance remains in this relationship, where he feels completely useless to Allura. Even more: having received a dark entity, Allura wakes up and begins to simply dismiss Lance. And Lance remains a passive observer. He watches her act, he watches her commit suicide. Could he feel guilty after that? After all, he couldn't help her. And he breaks down, leaves everything that he loved, and goes to live on Altea, which Allura missed so much but will never see again. Lance became the mouse that cried, pricked, but continued to eat the cactus. Just because it's a very expensive cactus, and greed didn't allow it to be left. But what was originally planned? If we take as a basis the material that TPL were able to restore, then we can approximately complete the remaining stages of the Heroine’s Journey.

Stage 6 - Initiation and Descent to the Goddess

Lance meets his Anima, and she reminds him of the importance of taking into account the interests of his loved ones, that you cannot build your happiness at someone else's expense. Lance looks at his relationship from a new angle.

And yes, as I spoiled at the beginning of the meta, Pidge became Lance's Anima.

Anima and Animus in the Heroine's Journey always represent opposites, which at the same time have much in common (and this is not always a romantic interest, it just traditionally becomes one). Moreover, even the opposites aren't taken from nowhere - they complement each other. Just compare.

Lance is an ordinary, unremarkable guy from a family of ordinary, unremarkable farmers, who was always burdened by his dullness comparing with more successful older relatives.

Pidge was always special from the family of specials, she stood out among other children, for which she became a white crow in her class. But the family constantly convinced her that this was an advantage, not a disadvantage.

Lance is a selfless, altruistic guy who is worried about someone else’s grief.

Pidge is rather egocentric, has little interest in the good of those who go beyond the circle of her loved ones. It's possible that this is a consequence of her young age - all children are self-centered - but fact is a fact.

Lance is a child who constantly tried to win back at least a little attention of his relatives and suffered the ridicule of his older siblings.

Pidge was always surrounded by attention. Parents adored her, the elder brother adored her and supported in everything. Pidge never doubted the love of her family; for her it was as natural as breathing.

Lance feels important to have attention to his person from relatives. And constantly selfishly demanded this attention as much as possible, because he felt underestimated.

Pidge is ready for anything for those whom she loves, and she's ready to beat anyone who harm her loved ones. She's ready to make any sacrifices for those whom she loves.

Pidge and Lance have always had fun together. Yes, Pidge was teasing him, but only when she felt that Lance's problems were not serious. When Lance really needed support, Pige always flew to the rescue. And Lance was just as ready to stand between Pidge and danger at any moment. For little Pidge, he really was a defender. And with all the differences, they had so many things and activities that they loved equally. At that time, there was nothing for Allura and Lance to talk about, except war and losses.

When Pdige and Lance were asked what they're dreaming of, they said they're dreaming of returning to Earth, weeting with their relatives and having fun together. In addition, Lance didn't perceive Pidge as a girl to drag around. Pidge was a true friend for him, not an object for self-affirmation.

And the situation with the date of Allura. Pidge was very upset when she found out that Lance and Allura were going on a date, but she also knew how Lance wanted it, and therefore even helped Allura to get her dress. And gave the game that she and Lance loved so much. For the sake of which they together completed a quest to collect money at the space mall.

You know, if Pige came to this date, not Allura, it would have gone completely different. Lance wouldn't be ashamed of the childhood stories, because he knew that Pidge had no illusions about him anyway. And Pidge would certainly say that Lance is a real hero with the same fury with which she defended her father and brother. The date didn't happen. But then there was a fair where Lance and Pidge united in an effort to get a gift for Allura. Pidge also sees that Allura is depressed, she wants to please her and is actively helping Lance to get "something sparkly".

Lance very quickly forgets what Allura requested. He decides to give her a blue lion with his autograph as a souvenir. Well, at least he didn’t decide to give his belt statue, otherwise Allura, in his absence, would forget about him for at least five minutes. And how displeased he is when he sees a purple lion. We all know who this color symbolizes. The ghost of a personal dragon doesn't let Lance go even at the fair.

And, in the end, since it was the gift for Allura that was the purpose of their competition, they couldn't help but talk about Allura herself. And you need to understand that Lance feels very bad now. The descent to the Goddess occurs at the time of the most difficult spiritual state of the hero. Literal descent into darkness in order to meet with the Shadow. And although Lance was used to keep his feelings, then he would have shared with Pidge, he'd tell about his sadness, about how useless he feels. And Pidge in response reveals to Lance her view of the relationship between people. She explains to him that in relations with loved ones you need to think not only about yourself, you need to care about those you love. Because if you're truly in love, you're ready to give the last for the sake of the happiness of your beloved. And probably in their conversation the game was mentioned, that Pidge had given so that the date would go smoothly. Pige doesn’t just say beautiful words, she shows that she's ready to take care of Lance even if he - busy with self-pity - doesn't notice it.

"We"? What, or rather who do you mean, Pidge? All the others had time for entertainment...

And here Lance finds out that Pidge really cares about him, and this knowledge encourages him. And he's filled with the desire to take care of Allura in order to prove his love.

Alas, he's not yet ready to let her go.

Stage 7 - Urgent yearning to reconnect with the feminine

Inspired by the words of Pidge, Lance feels the need to take care of Allura, to show his clogged altruistic side. But Allura was also inspired by someone. Having descended into the darkness to her Shadow, Allura cleared her mind and returned to the world of the living to show who's the Space Mom here. She perked up, ready for vigorous activity and Lance's care was met only with irritation. Lance, feeling that his care isn't appreciated, gets angry in response.

Sorry, Lance, but if Red made a decision, then only Black can prevent it...

Moreover, Lance realizes that Allura is starting to move away from him. Upset, sad Allura needed his support, and for an active and self-confident one he became only an obstacle on the way to her goal. And it turned out that the desire to keep Allura close to him came into direct conflict with the desire to make Allura happy. Lance hastily tries to dissuade Allura from active actions, but she doesn't listen to him.

Stage 8 - Healing the mother/daughter split

Lance looks at his relationship with Allura in a new light. He understands that they won't be happy as a couple.

Lance is in ambivalence. Allura’s fighting spirit rose, she ceased to be sad, but Lance doesn't feel happy. And he understands that he really needs to make a choice between what's good for him and what's good for Allura. Because he can't be with happy Allura - he'll always stay behind her.

Stage 9 - Healing the wounded masculine within

Lance refuses the reward for the sake of Allura's happiness and gets rid of the burden of envy and futility.

And now, moment X comes — an honest, open conversation between Allura and Lance. Allura confesses to him that she doesn't love him and wants to save Lotor from Honerva's grasp.

And then Lance finally clears his conscience. He refuses the reward which he desired so much. And at the same time, he's finally freed from the ghost of the dragon, tormenting him all this time. He ceases to demonize Lotor, to consider him his rival, which must be surpassed. And he agrees to help Allura save her significant other.

And he really feels that he has freed himself. He's no longer the second one, who will always lose to the first one. He's a good friend, and Allura needs him to get the other paladins to help save Lotor.

Stage 10 - Integration of masculine and feminine/Union

Lance gains spiritual balance and maturity.

Having lost his spiritual burden, Lance feels that he's important and he remembers that his friends love him. He ceases to feel envy and guilt. He's free from the burden of the red paladin, now for him it's not a yoke, but simply a title. He's again a Nice Guy Lance, who takes care of loved ones. And who feels that loved ones also care about him. He finally felt happy. What does he do after Allura and Lotor set off to restore the universes? He returnes home. He communicates closely with Pidge and comes to see how she makes robots. He probably continues his career in the Garrison. Now he's a famous pilot, he's a veteran. New horizons and respect of colleagues are waiting for him. His dream of stars came true, his desire to be at home also came true. He's where he's needed, and he's where he's loved. And once a year they all come together on Altea to take a photo. Allura will surely be interested in looking at these photos when she returns. In the universe, of course, not everything goes smoothly after the war. But now they have two gods who diligently rake up problems. The gods will cope with them. So, everyone will have that very “happily ever after.”

#voltron #VLD #lance #lance mcclain #Allura #pidge #plance

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skaylanphear · 6 years

Text

I guess I’m not surprised? Voltron thoughts and spoilers.

Review for season 7: Eh?

Honestly, I don’t understand how Voltron can be so well-written one season and so poorly written the next. I think season 7 was worse than season 4. I haven’t yet watched a season where I was concocting my review before I was finished watching, but I was honestly waiting for it to end by the time I was halfway through.

I didn’t know I could be bored through an entire season.

Like, I was literally just waiting for the end, hoping for something amazing to happen. I was literally like “wow, maybe all the paladins will die and then they won’t have to be subjected to poor writing like this anymore.”

I just... I don’t get it. Season’s 5 and 6 were great. So what is this pile of shit?

The first half is basically filler episodes full of stupid idiotic antics and literal fun-poking at Lance that is never addressed. I mean, he was literally called dumb over and over and over again and it was never addressed again. I mean, he was hardly in the season, frankly.

Keith was... Keith was an asshole. I mean, Lance is generally annoying, but this hit whole new levels of annoying, and Keith was an asshole to him the whole time even when Lance was being nice to him and trying his best.

Hunk’s arc... wasn’t an arc at all. They gave us a snippet of character recognition in the beginning and then a start to some kind of arc that was eventually not realized for Hunk on a personal level because it was taken over by these overly elaborate battles that I couldn’t even tell you about despite the fact that I just watched it.

Pidge was... there. Though her father got the most airtime out of everyone.

Allura was also around, but her character got nothing aside from some shoehorned in crush she now has on Lance? Despite the fact that he’s been basically useless the entire season and done nothing to change her opinion of him? Despite the fact that Allura is just as exasperated as Keith is with Lance most of the time?

I mean, I love Lance. I love how he started and I love what he could be, but he’s annoying as fuck due to lack of development and it makes no sense that Allura would have feelings for him now. I’m down for some Allurance if it’s written well, but this was exactly what I was afraid of--Allurance being poorly written, Allura magically developing feelings for Lance, and Lance being the “nice guy” who somehow gets the girl despite that making no logical sense.

And I am still baffled over why Keith was such an asshole to Lance the whole time. That bullshit about how Lance better not miss his shots, as if Keith and Lance didn’t fight back to back through season three. It’s bullshit and an insult to both their characters.

And don’t even get me started on the Adam and Shiro thing. We didn’t even get to meet Adam before he fucking died, so thank you Voltron for doing as all media does and killing off your LGBT rep, and in record time too, btw. Instead of getting, at the very least, half an episode dedicated to their story, we got a whole bunch of Shallura stuff that doesn’t even make any sense because Allura likes Lance now? For some reason?

The only moment that stands out to me was when Hunk and Keith had their little heart to heart, but even that seemed forced because it was like the writers were just “oh, Hunk needs a moment because we don’t know how to write his character so we’ll just shove this stuff in here about his parents despite the fact that it’ll never go anywhere.”

Oh yeah, and the other moment I remember--when the Atlas somehow magically turned into a giant fucking robot. Because I literally said, out loud, “well that’s fucking stupid.” The hell? Humans aren’t alteans. The Atlas was inspired by altean tech, but it was not made using alchemy. It was created by humans, who have no magical inklings. Are you telling me the power of Shiro and the castle-ship crystal just... transformed it? Because, again, that’s fucking stupid. Also, the Atlas’ design is... not good. And it looks really, really dumb as a robot.

But moving on. What the hell was up with Acxa? So she... changed sides, alright, and has a crush on Keith? I still don’t think that’s the case since she showed up at his Dad’s grave at the end, but it’s still poorly put together.

A lot of which just comes down to how poorly written this season was. I mean... the writers literally did... just about everything you’re NOT supposed to do.

There was no emotional weight because none of the characters interacted in a personal manner, aside from Keith and Hunk for two seconds and then Keith being an asshole, again, when they were stranded in space. We see Lance’s family, but we don’t meet them. The only one we do meet is Veronica and since we didn’t learn anything about her and Lance’s relationship or history, I literally couldn’t care less about her. Keith’s mom fucking leaves, which she said she would never do, which undos that nice little character bit. Hunk never actually rescues his family, they’re just... free as a result of... fighting? Pidge is just there, whatever, we hardly see her interact with her mom. Allura and Coran do basically nothing. There’s no one there to welcome Shiro back. Shiro, who got to fight Sendak and, yet again, take spotlight from what could have been an epic moment for another character before, again, being rescued by Keith.

And then, we get half a season introducing us to characters we don’t know, doing stuff we don’t care about, making plots and battle plans far more complicated than they have to be just to show off these character that I don’t care about. The only new character I cared about seeing--because he had a personal connection to one of the main characters--died two minutes after being introduced in a fight that meant nothing. RIP Adam.

I literally don’t care about any of the new pilots and they took up, like, a third of the season. They were cool at first until their pointless airtime quickly came to overlap that which could have been used to develop the characters we already love.

The entire season was plot driven instead if character driven, because the main characters hardly felt like they were in it. Much like when the paladins were piloting the lions while being held prisoner, their minds and bodies felt like they were separated. We watched their bodies, but we didn’t get a whole lot else.

AND THEN the end was filled with fucking mcguffins that were downright laughable. Sendak is killed by Keith, because apparently Keith and Shiro get to do everything cool, and then some random-ass robot with no ties to the season shows up. Oh, it’a Haggar? Okay. But we don’t know anything about it? Alright. More powerful than anything yet faced despite the fact that the battle against Lotor’s giant robot was way more intense? Sure thing. So now we’ve got two giant robots, again. Only for some stupid-ass third one to show up that is so huge you can’t take it seriously. It comes in and basically does nothing, before our paladins make a sacrifice that, really, doesn’t even matter because there’s no emotional investment in what they’re doing. They might die? Well maybe that would be more exciting than the last bore-fest I just spent 6 hours watching.

It’s like they don’t know how to develop their characters, so they’ve just decided to stop and instead shove as many giant robots into our faces as possible. And try and distract us with love stories that have no weight because they have no development, rhyme, or reason.

It’s the worst season I’ve watched yet. I was ready to go back to bed halfway through. I kept waiting for something, anything, character-wise to happen and instead all we got were a bunch of dumb robot fights that didn’t mean anything.

The reason the fight with Lotor was so weighted was because of his and Allura’s background and his past. The reason the fight between Shiro and Keith was so weighted was because of their history.

We got none of that. Veronica almost died, like, twice and I was like “whatever” because I know nothing about her and I’ve barely seen Lance around anyway.

And I still do not understand why Keith was such a fucking asshole? It’s so out of character! I don’t... Ugh!

And all the queerbaiting from all the different sources from creators to Netflix, only to leave us high and dry on everything. If someone were watching this show without the assistance of things the creators have said, no one would realize Adam and Shiro were an item. It wasn’t explicit. They could have been best friends or brothers or literally anything.

I just... I don’t understand how it could be so poorly executed. No wonder they want to finish Voltron this year--get it over with if this is what we have to look forward to. Lance and Allura can get married despite having little to nothing in common and having no development within their relationship. Throw Keith and Acxa together because that’s even better than Lance and Allura. The most they have in common is a knack for saving one another, let alone any personal interests.

And don’t even bother with Lance’s family. We don’t know them, so they might as well not exist. Let’s make Commander Holt and Pidge’s family the main characters--they’re clearly the most important family unit aside from Keith and Shiro. Keith and Shiro, who do the same thing every single season. If I was a Sheith shipper, I’d be pretty bored at this point, personally. They have as little development as everyone else.

Literally everything about it was either underdeveloped, boring, filler, mcguffin, or other characters that literally no one cares about. The high ranked lady dies? I don’t care, she was annoying the whole time, why are we dedicating so much time to her death?

And why the hell was the entire season based around defending Earth? The paladins defend planets all the fucking time. I get that it’s Earth and we’re supposed to feel personally connected, but I didn’t see settings that would illicit an emotional response. We hardly saw any of the humans that were captured. It might as well have been another planet. Yeah, I wanted Earth to be attacked, but I didn’t want the entire season to be focused on defending it. That’s just...

It’s everything I’ve said above, that’s what it is.

They said a lot of people would be leaving the show after this season, as if something huge would happen that would make the fandom angry and cause people to leave.

But that’s not why people will leave the show. They’ll leave it because it was poorly written, made promises it couldn’t keep, and kept the characters going in circles or even going out of character for no defensible reason.

And that’s not something to be toting around as though to be proud of it. As if you made some hard decision that was going to anger your fans. You think ships are going to break up your fanbase? If you wrote them well, that wouldn’t happen. If you wrote a good story, people would stick around for that no matter the ships. Ships aren’t the problem here and they’re definitely not what’s going to have people leaving the show.

What’s going to have people leaving the show is that this whole season was horrible on every level, ships aside.

What a waste.

#me stuff #ugh #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #spoilers #vld spoilers #voltron spoilers #allurance #review #analysis #voltron analysis #shadam #I'm angry so I'm delving into all the tags #cuz even the allurance shippers got shafted #what shitty storytelling #what a waste of time #adashi

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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CSUAVS prt 11 start. Start it Lance's POV

Waking in a cold sweat, Lance groaned in disgust at soaked sheets beneath him. Every morning had been the same since Allura had left him behind. His dreams a never ending world of darkness. No matter how much he called, no matter how far he ran, all that waited for him was the inky blackness of the astral plane. Scrubbing at his tired eyes, he sat up to see Allura perched on the end of his bed. She never left him alone "Good Morning, Lance" "Nope. Not doing this" Frowning at him, Allura rose to trail after him when Lance climbed out of bed. Since her death, he'd felt broken and lost. His body no longer felt the way it used to. A constant itch beneath his skin that he couldn't scratch no matter how hard he tried. The marks on his cheeks an ever present reminder of the woman he'd loved, and the woman who'd left him behind. He knew her sacrifice was necessary, but she wasn't the one left behind to wonder every single day if things could have been different. When she'd died, he'd lost it. He'd planted field after field of juniper berries, foolishly praying she'd see his work and somehow come back to him. She never did "You can't ignore me, Lance" No. He couldn't ignore her. Her constant lingering presence was there, always living on the edge of his peripheral vision, despite the feeling that he had that maybe he needed to move on "I can and I am. You're in my head" "Lance" "You're dead Allura. You made it pretty clear what I meant to you. You're in my head. You know what you meant to me. I'm just a boy from Cuba and you... you were the princess of a whole planet... I should have known from the moment you said yes, that something was wrong" Hanging her head, Lance didn't know why he was bothering fighting with himself so early in the morning. When Allura had first appeared to him, he'd been excited. He'd thought maybe part of her had still lingered in the blue marks she'd gifted him when they'd parted. It hadn't been until three months after her passing that "Allura's gift" had revealed itself as the curse it was. Falling in, he'd realised this wasn't some usual illness. His scent had changed, his family constantly laughing and joking over the lack of personal hygiene he must have been forced to endure, given that he stank like he hadn't showered in a month. Embarrassed over such remarks, he'd showered three times a day, only for his family to remark he still stank. Aside from the change in his scent, a constant pool of desire seemed to have welled in his body. No matter how many times he jerked himself off, the feeling never passed. Fingers barely made a difference, his body crying out for something he couldn't understand as he locked himself away in embarrassment. The only way he could describe it was as if he was in "heat". He'd seen it dozens of times on the family farm. Bloodied discharge from their pet dog, yowling from the cats. The never ending need to be bred. Between his legs was soaking wet with some kind of fluid, serving to mortify him further as he his beneath his blankets. But what was worse, was through all of this all he wanted was to see Keith for reasons he couldn't understand. It wasn't like he didn't like Keith. Coming back from riding around on the back of a cosmic whale for two years had mellowed him into nearly an entirely different person. His happiness and confidence only served to remind Lance how chickenshit he was, and to remind him that Keith would never look at someone like him. Despite all his flirting, and self proclaimed title as a "ladies man", he'd long since realised he swung both ways. He was simply too scared to let anyone else see it, especially the team. It was awkward enough as it was. Nothing he ever did as a Paladin had been good enough. When Kuron had taken Shiro's place, he'd seriously believed the man hated him. Aside from the verbal taunting, the constant comparison to Keith, and the outright disregard of his ideas, each time they trained together had seemed to be an excuse for Shiro to hurt him. Naturally, it'd all been his fault. His fault he couldn't escape the choke hold. His fault he'd fallen when Shiro had kicked his legs out from under him with enough force that it felt like his knee had broken. He trained harder, but no one noticed. No one noticed as he improved on the training levels. No one noticed when his anxiety left him skipping meals. No one noticed when he wasn't in the room. Pidge was off with Hunk all the time. Allura was with Lotor. Coran was off... being Coran. Lance had no one, and at the time, no idea why Keith had stopped taking his calls. Sighing to himself, Lance opened his bedside drawer to fish out the small white bottle of painkillers that kept him functional. Between the nightmares, and general feeling something was wrong with him, painkillers were the only thing making things manageable. Red didn't like how much he was taking, his lion trying to take as much pain as he could, but there bond had never been as strong as the one he'd held with Allura. Lance had been honestly surprised that Red hadn't dumped his arse after they'd returned without Allura. "Lance! Mijo! Breakfast!" "Coming Mami!" Quiznak. His mother would know the moment she saw him that he'd had another restless night. She'd picked up the pieces of his broken heart the best she could, but none of his family really understood. None of them believed what they'd been through as Paladins. None of them had known how to treat his nightmares, and none of them knew he'd died. It's taken ph-months to feel normal again. He was on Earth. It didn't matter than aliens from every sector of space lived on the planet now, he needed to get his brain back to Earth time. He needed to remember that his time in space was over. Snatching up a random shirt, Lance swapped it for the sweaty one he was wearing. With so many people in the house, it'd be another day without hot water for his shower... an unappealing thought given he'd felt constantly cold since Allura left. Just another thing wrong with this body of his. Crowding into the kitchen, Lance jumped when Luis dropped his hand in his shoulder. Reacting without thinking, Lance swept his older brother's foot as his hand grabbed his wrist, only stopping when the fact it was Luis kicked in "Whoa! Someone's jumpy this morning" Snorting into her bowl of cereal Rachel waved her spoon in their direction "He's jumpy every morning" He loved Rachel. They'd been so close before he'd been shot into space in the Blue lion. Yet coming back to Earth it felt as if there was this invisible wall between him and everyone else. Smacking his sister on the back of the head lightly, his mother smiled warmly "Leave your brother alone. Mijo, you look unwelll" Rachel rolled her eyes at him, Lance ignoring her in favour of forcing a smile to his lips "I'm fine, mami" "You'd let us know if you weren't, wouldn't you? You should talk to that Coran of yours. It's not normal to be falling ill like you do" "Falling ill" was her polite way of referring his scent changed and becoming horny as hell over nothing "Hear that Lance, she thinks something's wrong with you" Smacking her upside the head again, Rachel let out an angry cry "Mum! I'm trying to eat!" "Leave your brother alone. He has a big day coming up" He did? "I don't see why he's going all the way out to Altea to remember the girl who chose death over putting up with his stinky socks" "Rachel!" Lance barely contained his flinch. It wasn't like he hadn't berated himself in a similar manner to Rachel... repeatedly... "Ugh. Fine. You love Lance more than the rest of us, we know "holier than though, Lance", can do no wrong" Gathering up her bowl, Rachel walked from the kitchen leaving his mother watching him as he slid into the free seat at the kitchen bench "Mami, its fine" "It's not fine. Especially not with Allura's anniversary just around the corner. Don't you worry, mijo. I'll talk to her" Oooh. Right. Allura day. For the last six months, Lance had been to Altea almost fortnightly. The constant back and forth becoming annoyingly normal. Especially when every thing there some linked back to something that was in tribute to Allura. He couldn't escape her. Their house sat in a fields of juniper bushes that he hated with a passion. Even seeing his old team barely sparked a fire of interest in his blood. They had their weekly calls. Keith would usually call him in the dead of night for no real reason separately, but those calls had started to taper. Feeling his mother and brother staring, Lance hated knowing what they thinking. He knew they both worried about him. He'd overheard his family more than once whispering about their concerns over his mental health. Should they force him into counselling? Would pills help? Maybe they should think about contacting Hunk? Or would Shiro be better? And why didn't he want to go to space again? What was going to happen to the giant Red lion if Lance didn't want to go back to space? Did he really help save the universe? Was Lance even their son? That was his favourite one. Coming back with glowing blue marks he couldn't explain, someone had mentioned to his family along the line that Shiro had been a clone... He loved his family dearly, but Earth just wasn't his home anymore. No one surfed anymore. Malls and shops were now filled with all kinds of space tech as more and more aliens called Earth home. The places he'd loved so dearly had been wiped out by the Galra. Varadero beach was still a no go zone as pieces of contaminated Galra debris was fished from the water. His dreams of returning to find Earth untouched had been ruined. Hunk's parents forced to work as slaves. His own family thinking he was dead for years, thanks to Voltron magically disappearing for three years and not knowing about it "It's alright. Rachel is just mad because I won't let her use my face mask cream. Where's Papi?" "Already out milking the cows" Where he was supposed to be. Kalternecker had assimilated back to life on Earth seamlessly "I'll head out then" "Not without breakfast you won't. I won't have my boy being hungry" Kissing the top of his head, his mother then went about busying herself with serving him pancakes for breakfast. Her fussing never seemed to dim, not with each passing day since he'd returned. Lance was really in no rush to return to space, but he wasn't blind. His presence was causing all kinds of friction within their family. His nieces and nephews had seen him at an all time low, both crying when they hadn't been able to calm Uncle Lance from a panic attack caused by a car backfiring. His brother had put him to bed more than once when he'd come home then passed out on the sofa from trying to find a way to rid of himself of Allura at the bottom of a bottle. Nothing he did worked, and nothing could take away the lingering festering ache that his lack of belonging brought. It was time to find somewhere new, or even somewhere old. Somewhere he wouldn't keep hurting the people he loved the most. * Allura Day came and passed. Seeing the team again had brought the memories rushing back. The more it hurt, the more he smiled. Keith looked so damn happy, and Lance's poor bi-heart couldn't take it. Keith had Axca by his side. He was the face of the new humanitarian works being carried out by Daibazaal, skipping Earth at his earliest convenience by the feel of it all. His friend had taken him out drinking to ease the pain, yet when Lance had woken the following morning, he found he couldn't recall the previous night at all. That was his story, and he was sticking to it. All he had was Keith looking adorable, half naked and dead to the world. His soft puffy lips parts as he let out small snores, that seemed almost magical in the soft light of the morning. Terrified he'd crossed a line, he'd fled. For years he'd loved both Keith and Allura. The harder he fell for his broody mulleted friend, the more he threw himself into flirting with everyone else. Keith had never been his rival, it'd all been born out his anxieties of never being recognised for himself. In the Garrison, he'd always been compared to the "amazing Keith", who made everything seem so natural as he rose through the ranks. The more he'd tried, the more he'd failed, and hence the more he'd been compared to Keith. He'd failed at absolutely everything at life, and now he barely had a life left. Loosing Red had kicked in the day after Allura day. His nightmares like shattered glass raining over his body without the warm reassurance of Red there to hold him together as he woke in his sweaty bed. When they'd left, he'd felt a moment of pride. Pride that Voltron had laid the path for peace. A peace that didn't need Voltron to uphold. But without Red there, and having watched how happy his friends were without him, he began to wonder what came next. Slowly his self medicating increased, as did his parents worried looks. He needed to leave who he was behind. He needed to leave his friends behind. He was longing for days they could never return to, nor did the others wish to. When the job on Erathus came through his communicator, Lance jumped at it. As part of the diplomatic duties they'd all had to fulfil, each of their individual skills had been highlighted. Speaking with the representatives that had contacted him, the job was a simple body guard mission for a travelling diplomat. The brunette couldn't deny his ego wasn't tickled as his sharpshooting skills were praised highly. Though, at that stage, he would have taken any excuse to get off Earth. Even to its "sister" planet Erathus. Agreeing to the offer, Lance was genuinely excited as he headed down to dinner. Rachel setting the table as his mother placed down a large tray of bread "Mijo? Did something good happen? Maybe with that gorgeous black haired friend of yours?" Huffing at his mother, Lance crossed his arms "Keith is busy. No. I was just offered a job" His mother's eyes widened "A job?! I didn't know you were looking" "It's protecting a diplomat" "Because you protected the last one so well" Stupid Rachel. Well. He wasn't about to let her ruin his mood "He has a tour and needs added security. I'll be heading out to Erathus tomorrow" "Tomorrow?! So soon!" "Mami, I can't stay home forever. It's time" "I get Lance's room!" Gazing at him with searching eyes, Lance nodded at his mother as he tried to mentally reassure her "Lance gets Lance's room" "You said I could have Ronnie's now she's out on the Atlas all the time, but Ronnie said no. I'm older than him!" "And Lance needs his own space" "He's going to space" "I need space! All he's going to do is flirt nonstop. Keith had the right idea running off with Axca before Lance got to her. Lady killer Lance doesn't need his own room" Ouch. Ok. That hurt. It was nearly as good as when she told him "he was literally a lady killer because Allura never came back". They used to rag on each other all the time, but Rachel seemed to have no filter when it came to think he wanted to forget. As the baby of the family, every single mistake seemed to be open season for everyone. Constantly paraded before his eyes as failed to measure up to his brother's and sisters. Why couldn't they simply be happy he finally had a job? A job that meant they didn't have to watch over him every moment of every day "Rachel. Why must you always fight with your brother?" "Mami, its fine" "It's not fine" "See, Lance says it's fine" "You can have my room, too. I don't know how long I'll be off world this time" "You don't know?" Shaking his head at his mother, Lance sat so there was a seat between him and where Rachel stood "No. It'll depend on how Erathus works out. If I do a good job, it's possible they'll hire me permanently" "Mijo... are you sure? It sounds dangerous" "Mami, it won't be any more dangerous than staying here and helping Papi with the farm. We could use the money, and I could... I could use some time off world" "I just worry for you so much" "I know you do, mami. But Earth isn't how it used to be. I can call. And Ronnie is out on the Atlas. I won't be all alone out there" "Fine. Don't think I won't send her after you if you don't keep in contact" "It might be a little hard to begin with. I mean with hours, but I promise I'll message" His mother gave a thin, tight lipped smile "Alright, Mijo. If you're really sure" "I am, mami. They practically begged me for my sharpshooter skills" Piping up, Rachel stumbled and ruined the effects of her own biting words "They probably begged you to shut up. Seriously, my little brother up there protecting a diplomat. They should be making sure he doesn't shoot them himself" Closing his eyes and opening them, Lance took a deep breath then exhaled "Can't you be happy for me, Rachel? I'm leaving" "I know" "Then why are you acting like this?!" Taking the tea towel off her shoulder, he mother raised it threateningly "That's enough. No more. I don't want to hear it. Tonight is Lance's last night on Earth for a while, we must send him off with good memories" They were good memories. A kind of bubbly happiness he'd forgotten had welled up at the idea of being free from the constant pressure of trying to be perfect for them all. Buzzing from the wine he'd shared over the table, Lance smiled as he kicked off his shoes, looking over to see Allura standing near the door "Don't give me that look" "Lance, you shouldn't mix alcohol with pain medication" "And you shouldn't haunt people" "I'm not haunting you" Half hanging off the bed, he picked up his nearest shoe and threw it through the fake Allura "You're not real. Ergo. A ghost!" It wasn't funny in the slightest, still, Lance found himself giggling. When he'd dated Allura, he'd never dreamt of throwing a shoe at her "Now shoooo!" Trying to sound spooky, Lance slipped off the bed with a thud "Hello floor" Nuzzling into the cold wood beneath him, he was still like that when Rachel walked in "What are you doing!?" "Hey, Rach. I'm chillin' on the floor. It's nice and cool" "You're so weird" "Mhmm. And you've been a bitch since I came back" "Only because you've been an arsewipe" "Nope" "Seriously, do you know how worried we were for you?" "Mhmm" "Then why haven't you even been making an effort to get over Allura?" "Allura's a ghost. How do you get over a ghost? They're all see through and you can't hold them, let alone get over them" "Lance..." His warm buzz was turning to nausea as he laid on his stomach "Damn it, Rachel" "You and Allura were never going to work out. Why are you still holding onto her?" "I'm not!" "You said..." "I'm not holding onto her! Your "lady killer brother" killed her!" "Lance... I was joking" "That's all I am to you guys! A joke! You wanted to leave me at the kids table. You told Allura all these embarrassing stories about me. She didn't love me! Ok, does that make you happy?!" "Lance, I didn't mean it like that..." Curling up on his side, Lance wrapped his arms around himself the best he could "I was gone for years... all I wanted to do was come home Rachel... Allura was so beautiful" "I can't believe you got drunk again. Let's get you into bed" "I'm fine" "Lance..." "I'm fine, Rachel!" Walking over to him, Rachel kicked his side hard enough to draw a grunt "You sleep there then. Don't forget to pack all your shit up. If you leave it here, I'm going to toss it" "Sure. Sure. Whatever"

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greenteafiend · 5 years

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So I sat down and wrote out this partial outline how Voltron could have played out in a way that would really lean into the entities and the clones.

Those are two ideas I’m fascinated with and had fun thinking about and playing with until I came up with this. It’s kinda long so I’ll put it under a cut:

Zarkon and Honerva are infected by entities from within the rift that warp their minds and manipulate them.

Just like canon, it happens when Zarkon forces Voltron into the rift to try and save Honerva’s life when she’s sick. (Honerva had also been studying the rift, just like in canon).

The entities want 2 things: they hunger for quintessence - life energy. And they want to re-open the rift to let more of themselves through.

They require a living host that has to be compatible with them. To be compatible requires a certain strength of quintessence and spirit, otherwise the entity just consumes you. Eats all your quintessence right up.

If you’re compatible, (like Zarkon and Honerva) it gives you extra powers, while poisoning your minds and taking over.

One of the ‘powers’ the entity allows is: if you die/get old and near death, you can make a clone of yourself and rip the entity and your spirit/quintessence out of your old body, and put it into the new one and go on living. You can do this over and over and over. (Haggar does this to them). Reforging yourself stronger and better each time. (Better, as in better for the entities). That is how Zarkon and Haggar have been around for 10,000 years and seem immortal. I think the BoM have carried out successful attempts on Zarkon’s life, just for him to come back again which is fucking confusing for them. They don’t know how it happens.

So there isn’t actually any quintessence in the rift, the entities are manipulating Zarkon and Haggar into thinking there is so they’ll open the rift and let more of them in.

I was thinking that inside the rift could something like anti-quintessence, which would be like liquefied dementor juice.

So anyways Shiro has that strength. He’s compatible.They infect him with an entity, and it’s one of the most successful takes they’ve ever seen, and then Ulaz helps him escape back to Earth. He doesn’t know what he’s carrying with him.

He’s still himself because the entity needs a lot of time to corrupt someone’s spirit, it’s a slow process.

At the end of season 2 when they capture Allura, Haggar sees this as her chance to get back Shiro. They figure Voltron will come for her, so they prepare a Shiro clone and set their trap. Haggar wants to rip his quintessence out of his body and put it in the new one so they have him.

I imagine that Haggar has access to Shiro through Zarkon’s bond with Black.

BUT Black is like NO. Sends Shiro away somewhere where he’ll be safe. Somewhere he can learn to get the entity out of him: Oriende.

Oriende isn’t a place for chosen Alteans, and also Alfor didn’t build the Lions. Lions have been around for millennia (hence them being legendary even though 10,000 years have passed since it was last seen). Oriende is a place where Paladins went to train and learn about their role, and connect with the past Paladins of their Lion. Usually existing Paladins will induct new Paladins, show them Oriende, but because the last Paladins all perished (except Zarkon) before new Paladins were chosen, there was no one to show the current Paladins where to go.

Shiro might fight the entity on the astral plane to get rid of it. There probably would have been some foreshadowing in the space mall episode when Shiro fought Zarkon on the astral plane.

Lotor/Kaltorius:

I have something totally different in mind for Lotor.

Kaltorius was born like Lotor in canon, 10k years ago and under much the same circumstances. (Kaltorius because in season 8 when there was that flashback with names I think this would be another version of a blend of the names Honerva and Zarkon chose).

Kaltorius is of course compatible with the entity. He’s better than his parents however, and rejects it. He would rather die trying to get rid of it, than live to be consumed and end up like his parents. That is what happens, he dies. Thousands of years pass.

A couple hundred years from the present the Red Lion falls into Zarkon’s possession, and he needs to find a pilot so he can use it to re-open the rift to allow more entities in. Zarkon can’t find a pilot though, because Red is PICKY.

And then he remembers his wayward son Kaltorius, and thinks that their quintessence might match. He has samples of Kaltorius’ DNA, he orders a clone to be made and allowed to grow from scratch naturally unlike the clones for the purpose of transplantation. He names him Lotor.

Lotor doesn’t know he’s a clone, thinks Kaltorius is his dead, disgraced older brother.

When he becomes of age, (18 probably) he’s presented to the Red Lion and swiftly rejected. Zarkon is not happy that this experiment didn’t work out for him, so he banishes Lotor.

From there I think Lotor is like ‘ fuck everyone’ and does his own thing for a long time. Maybe some piracy, some black market trade, and all the while he collects knowledge. He studies all he can about Altea, about where survivors could have gone, what’s going on politically, looking for clues about how his parents lived for 10,000 years, sees that things don’t add up and something fishy is going on. Researches his ‘older brother’ Kaltorius.

He hears about Voltron ‘killing’ Zarkon at the end of season 2, and hears that Zarkon is back again like nothing happened (just like nothing happened all the other times he ‘died’), he begins planning.

Wants to ally with Voltron. They have firepower, and he has knowledge, and the Pedigree to step in to fill the power vacuum if they manage to permanently defeat Zarkon. Their long term goals align, and Lotor has done the maths; the Galra Empire does not need the amount of Quintessence they are sucking out of the universe. There is no way they could be using that much energy, it’s just ridiculous, so what the heck are they doing with it? He thinks it’s dumb, and that he’d run things better. (He’s right).

He kidnaps Keith wanting to talk to him because he's heard he's part galra and thinks he'll get a more sympathetic ear from him. Interesting interaction, Lotor examining this boy that Red accepted. Lotor’s has been curious about who the Red Lion finally chose after rejecting him, and also they’re both half Galra wanting to fight against the Galra.

(Totally self-indulgent: They drug Keith to make him docile when they talk but do a bad job knowing how much to give a small human. Lotor: wow, we got the dosage of this wrong.... um *clears throat. I can't have an intelligent conversation with this. I will write a letter. *tucks letter written in Altean into Keith’s utility belt) Or- Lotor: oh for the love of-- Zethrid, look what you've done. >:/ Zethrid: not my fault he's puny. Lotor: I said docile, not comatose. Keith slurring: A-Allura? That you? Princess, why’d you tie me up? (It’s the long white hair that confuses him lol))

If there's gonna be drama between Lotor and the paladins, it's not gonna be because he was draining Alteans. That doesn't happen. It'll be over methods, he's more cut throat. Maybe Haggar decides to repurpose her Shiro clone to attack them, thinking his familiar face will get them to let their guard down. (She’s right). Lotor sees through it, kills/tries to kill him.

Other bits and pieces:

Black Paladin Allura, she fills in for Shiro in his absence. I’m emphasizing the lion-paladin bond so much, like Red rejected people for hundreds of years waiting for Keith specifically, so I don’t want to cheapen that by having him and Lance switch out of their lions.

Shiro shows up with the white lion of Oriende for Allura, and maybe they switch?? She pilots white, he pilots black again? Unsure about this. Maybe the white lion just teleports him somewhere out of Oriende convenient for the plot so the other Paladins can find him, and he can show them the way there.

Paladins learn/train in Oriende, and they learn history of past Paladins.

I feel like the entities should be an allegory for something...... like greed??

the 1%ers that make everyone work to the bone and hoard all the wealth and just consume the world for really no reason because no one needs that much money, just like no one needs that much quintessence. I think that's it: the entity is greed.

Keith’s Galra reveal would be framed differently, more focus on how Keith feels about it and him accepting himself rather than framing it as a lesson/problem Allura needs to learn/overcome. (If anyone’s curious about that, chuck me an ask and I’ll make a separate post about it).

And that’s all I got so far. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#voltron #alternate plot #vld #vld season 8 #entity #clones #my writing #meta

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welcometoyournewhell · 5 years

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Paladin (and Garrison) Future Ideas of Mine

It’s complicated but

1.) Technically Adam and Shiro were the first of the bunch to “have a kid” as they raised Keith. Shiro is a brother like figure to the other due to how he treats Keith. Adam is pretty much the Colleen Holt of the family. He is papa bear to no end. They start to date again and kind of.... let Curtis in?

Like they both start to crush on Curtis who has been obviously gushing over Shiro so like... Adam’s like... maybe we should go on separate dates with him? And they do, kind of?

Like Shiro and Curtis kiss on the first date and Adam is a bit jealous for both reasons. But like it’s his night with Curtis and the guy’s a little scared of the professor. But in the end they all are getting closer to thirty and want to just settle for an easier life style.

Six months of dating later there’s bells and rings. Not wanting actual kids (thank you @kwaiipootato for helping me out with this), Shiro adopts a cat and dog form the shelter the Christmas after they marry. The cat’s name is coffee (as she’s black (mostly), like how Adam takes his coffee), and the dog’s name is spice... because it matches... just like their fur coats.

Bonus: Come Halloween everyone calls Spice, Pumpkin or Pumpkin Spice to made Curtis mad.

2.) Matt is the second to create life as he and his lovely girlfriend wife “settle” after years of helping in the war. They have a little girl which is what sparks Matt to propose. He’s in it for the long run baby. That and.. Colleen made is clear she wanted this girl in her family. Both of them.

A temporary name, unless I just decide on it, could be Gidgit... because it’s cute. Where as unamed mommy (does she have a name?) and like everyone else are calm about how she’s handled and what she’s given, etc., Matt goes batshit.

He’s super protective to the point he makes like a bubble dome around her crib, play pen, everything. It’s voice activated and his love hates it. “What if it glitches and we can’t get her out?” Insert Holt panic.

Bonus: She’s like a mini Pidge, and she loves to wear overalls!

3.) After Allura’s passing, Lance feels that to spread the word of peace he must venture into the galaxy. Joining up with Keith once more they set off to help the universe. The next time they stop home... everyone’s a little shocked at the news. They’d been sating a year and wanted to get hitched.

After a brief verbal smack down from both Lance’s mom and Adam, the two went on with their plans. As Keith stated: “You literally were off and on with Shiro for what a year, two years? Or at least didn’t say you were dating again until after Curtis joined. Then you married six months in! At least we waited a year!”

Need less to say he was in big trouble but Lance was given their blessing. (Curtis and Kolivan were touched that they were included in this too). Lance said no more space, were not doing that. Let’s have kids. Six months later Veronica and Axcia were like... “Well... we don’t want kids but... here/”

Veronica donated her egg because she wanted to help her brother. Finding a surrogate they flopped about and mixed in Keith’s stuff and boom, Kassandra Jerome. Dying at birth made Keith a paranoid dad, like worse than Matt or the Lysol commercials for new moms.

Bonus: Kosmo is number one babysitter and thinks of him as his pup. Shiro also has a voice of a god that can calm the crying demon down or gain his attention.

Baby number two is adopted when she’s three after the new Galra empire invades the Utopia of a planet. All Galran heritage that resided there was to be killed on the spot for treason.

After looking for Veripian’s Olivia’s mom, Lance came to the horrifying discovery of what the tiddler meant by “mommy’s gone.” She became his and Keith’s baby, and helped distract them during their son’s absence.

They are much more leaniant with her then they were Jerome. Bed time at seven becomes bed time when your done playing (which she’s pretty good about), punishments are just tickle fights rather than time out or grounded, it’s not too different but still is.

Bonus: Literally is glued to her brother more than her dads. An absolute sweet heart who tries to join everyone together for cuddles.

4.) Allura and Romelle had become close to each other in no time before the war ended. When Allura came back from the after life, she was hurt that Lance had found love in another. But it had been three years since she’d died and she could tell he still loved her.

But he was happy, and had a little family. She herself decided to move on. Romelle actually came up to her with the idea of a date. Never thinking about women that way, the princess was taken back.. but agreed. She’d had such bad luck with Lotor.. and Lance was a sweetie but Allura wasn’t ready for a relationship at the time.

She felt as if she hurt him. But Romelle was actually... a lot of fun! Their dinner date was amazing, they talked and joked about things the princess had missed. They went for a walk, danced in the street with strangers as a talented band played from the sidewalk.

They watched as other’s rode in Horse and Buggies nervously as they discussed how odd it was. They just kept at it for a few years until Coran had finished the new castle ship. At that point... he was more than happy to give his daughter away to someone who truly made her smile again.

Using Altean magic they were able to splice their DNA and create life. Romelle panics most of the time as she doesn’t know what to do, frustrating Allura who tries to fix whatever is wrong. In the end Coran ends up taking the baby, or Adam and easily fixes it. (Allura: But how? Coran: Well I helped raise you didn’t I? - or- Allura: But how? Adam: Keith visits too often with the family.)

But they’re very loving mothers! Allura has their daughter train in order to protect herself f anything were to happen. Romelle on the other hand is all about the hugs and kisses! Cuddle time is the best time! Mommy and mama are snuggled up in bed with a small blob demon sleeping between them.

Her name is Amerette as Allura’s father gave her the name in a dream. Coran and Romelle respond rather happily to it.

Bonus: Mama’s girl, thoroughly. Like will cling to Romelle, even at infancy, to escape doing things she doesn’t want to with mommy. Also when Allura was pregnant with Amerette, Romelle would press her hear to her tummy constantly to listen for noises. Each noise, kick, or anything would excite her. It brought Allura such joy to see her reaction, especially when her father figure would join in.

5.) After pursuing his culinary empire sudden dreams(?), Hunk finally worked up the courage to ask Shay out. She was so happy that she actually cried while hugging him. She’d liked him for a while but had been too shy to say anything. Her brother, being her brother, was against it.

He got to the point where Shay lost her temper with him and went to live with Hunk. They had a lot of fun making new plates together, even using her grandmother’s soup recipe.

They took things a lot slower than the rest, almost a normal pace. In fact it was a normal pace. They dated for a few years before deciding on marriage, then a few more years before choosing to have a family.

They had to pay the least out of everyone (minus Shiro and Adam) for their kids as Lance and Keith decided they were content with one for the moment. The supplies were in good shape (minus the (third) stroller that Kieth had to dump, he wasn’t patient enough with them).

Their first child was a little girl that Shay’s grandmother wanted to name Amerix. When she opened her yellow eyes for the first time Hunk could hear the name screaming in his ears, so that’s what they decided on. She became mommy’s little angel and daddy’s little girl.

The second child was born five years after Amerix, and was named Benjamin as Shay had fallen in love with the earth name. He hardly left mommy’s arms as she loved to snuggle him! He was like a mini, Balmerian Hunk!That and he cried whenever someone else held him. Daddy was... sometimes an acception.

Their final and third child was born around three years later. They weren’t sure at first what to name him, Aleki wound up being chosen after some conversations with Hunk’s parents. Despite having three children, each are given the same amount of love and attention. Their the “perfect” nuclear family, in their standards.

Both Hunk and Shay pull equal weights when it comes to their family, cooking, cleaning, bathing, bed time, diaper changing, etc. They’re like something out of a fairy tale! When they fought Hunk would raise his voice a bit and Shay tended to have something in her hands, but they were never intimidating or toxic.

In fact they’d hardly stress with the kids, it was all a big adventure for them to have together.

Bonus: Hunk nearly fainted at his wedding because he was so nervous and Shay looked so beautiful in her dress. He felt he wasn’t good enough or her. But three kids later, snuggle time and tickle fights over powered the fear.

6.) Like... I don’t look too much into these two (because I don’t like James), but I see James and Kinkade having like a little boy and girl. I’m not going to go into too much detail but I feel like it was Ryan who asked James out. The other was like “wait... what? Your joking right?”

One date lead to another and Kinkade got down in front of the time square tree and slipped a ring on James’s finger. The other sputtered in shock as Ryan didn’t ask him or anything, hell he even put the glove back on his hand after! So after a long conversation Kinkade finally did it “properly” and was given a yes.

They’d been dating for around two years when this happened and had been living together for about a year. Where as not much pashed or cause Ryan to question things, his partner was quick to judge and stare in judgement at most things.

Which made having kids even more fun as the more quiet pilot would purposely have his daughter repeat stories in front of James for a reaction. Or would take pictures of both kids’ concoctions and send them to him.

So I feel like James is a basic bitch, like simple American names. Ryan said yeah no, you get to name one, I get to name the other if they don’t have any. They both did have names (adoption) but the light browned hair brunette claimed he could pronounce the girl’s.

To which the small curly haired baby’s name became Emma Lionette-Rose Kinkade, rather than Lionette Rose Kinkade. The boy’s name remained the same as he was named after a fictional story character.

Seeing as Ryan enjoyed the series, Nevil Charles Kinkade was written on the papers. Honestly becoming a father kind of made James less... jerk like? (Sorry if he’s one of your favorites. I want to smack him for how he used to talk to Keith and talked to Hunk.)

Bonus: Both parents love playing with their baby girl’s curly hair, and both enjoyed playing dolls with their son. They’d let both children explore likes and dislikes as they grew up with out intervention. James actually knocked his brother out for trying to take Nevil’s Barbie and Bratz dolls. He was protective of his little munchkins and would have killed his brother if he kept talking down to the boy.

7.) I see Pidge as being asexual and aromantic, a romantic(?). I see her being a kick as aunt who spoils the shit out of Gidgit. She may be a mommy of Rover 2.0 or Bebe the second (whether it be a real dog or one programmed with Bebe’s memories). But that’s as much of a little family as I see her having.

8.) As stated I don’t see Axca and Veronica having kids. Best aunts ever, yes. Having cats and naming them munchkin and fluffy, of course. But human kids? Not really.

#volrton #ships #alot #yeah #axca #veronica #shay #hunk #pidge #matt #keith #lance #shiro #curtis #adam #james #ryan #kinkade

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geekate · 6 years

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Team Voltron as kids!! (P.2)

(I hope I've translated it right)

Lance.

Lance is that child who decided to marry all the girls from kindergarten

Can do angelic expression

HE CAN NOT BE RESISTED

But he spoils everything with his jokes and drove into the paint questions

He drags homeless animals home

Kalteneker is an absolute favorite

They let him go to the Space Mall because of the persuasion of Pidge

In fact, he is not given as much time as the child of his age needs because of his missions, so he hangs out with Coran

Begins to understand ship systems

Requires attention from the rest

The rest are wildly tired of him, until the case turns on Hunk, who just talks to him about some stuff Lance likes, tells about missions, and Lance is absolutely happy, because it's everything he needs

Bad humor began because of Coran😁

Uncle Keith scares him

Till Lance found him alone after the mission, and realized that he's actually a nice guy

Hugs

Keith became attached to him

Aunt Allura - this is a separate topic, because she crippled the psyche of the child with its Altean traditions

"Aunt, show sparks!"

*converts her energy into light*

"Whee, Fireflies!"

He misses the Earth and his parents

But this little bun with ADHD has a space family, so everything is okay

Shiro is his hero

Absolutely

When the space shows began, Lance simply conquered all the aliens' hearts

And he is proud of this)

Keith.

Keith would be something like the Annie from SW

*goes into Lion*

"He told me to find a safe place and sit there - I'm doing it"

*blows up a whole fleet *

"And what I did wrong"

The universal favorite.

Behaves like a cat.

Shiro's younger brother.

He's plotting Lance, but everyone forgives him

In general, Lance and Keith have a cold war

But nevertheless it is the same uncle who allows Keith more than others

Hunk tries to feed him

Pidge is trying to teach Keith (and lets him listen to My Chemical Romance as a reward, so he has a good motivation)

Allura and Coran are touched and surprised by earthly customs.

Hugs with Keith is a great honor.

Hunk.

EVERYBODY LOVES THIS LOVABLE LOVELY ANGEL

And everyone was crying when he called Shiro "dad"

Little helpless teddy bear

Little Hunk turns on the ninja mode when he makes his way to the kitchen at night

Favorite Aunt - Pigeon

Hunk supports her and listens to her when she feels lonely

I'm sure that he'd imitate Shiro

Lance: *trying to flirt with an alien girl*

Hunk ,in a commander voice: "Lance, leave this beautifuw girl now!"

Lance taught Hunk how to sing

He often told him about his family

A lot of hugs

Allura and Coran would not depart from him as extra-custodial super-nannies

Hunk: *quietly plays*

Allura and Coran: *pops from the artificial bush in the middle of the room in the combat paint*

"Everything is clear"

And Hunk would be the only person who would understand China

This little bun has a huge heart.

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thevoltrongames · 6 years

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back on solid ground

(for round one of the games, hopefully i did this right!)

They’re home.

After years of war, after years of homesickness, the paladins of Voltron were finally home. The blue skies and soft sands of Earth were theirs again. They could do anything they wished, anything at all. They were free.

Each paladin had a specific destination in mind. As the blue planet became bigger and bigger in the windows of their lions, ideas and plans that were ditched long ago came back to mind. In the black lion, Keith knew, for once, exactly where he wanted to go. He wanted to take Shiro and Krolia to meet his father. Shiro had never met him, and Krolia deserved a chance to go see him again, one last time.

Pidge smiled, a tear running down her face. She was going to go back home to see her mom, dad, and Bae-Bae. She can’t even remember what Bae-Bae was like: how she smelled, how she ran, how excited she got when she would come back home from the Garrison. Her mom would be overjoyed to see her son and daughter come back again. She would cry and hug both of them close. They would return her hug and think, I’m with my family again.

Hunk was practically shaking in his seat. His mom and dad were waiting for him back home. Hunk knew that they never gave up hope looking for their son. They would be ecstatic to finally have their little boy back. Hunk would make them cookies, tell his dad about what foods he learned to make in space, and watch their faces light up in interest. His heart thumped faster at the thought.

Lance was oddly quiet as they approached. He’d been wanting to come back here ever since they left. The soft sand of Varadero, the warm embrace of his mom, the bickering with his siblings. He missed all of it. Until recently, he thought he’d never get to see them again. That his mama and papa would grow older not knowing how much their youngest son loved them, and wished he could come back. Lance smiles gently, now knowing that he will see them again, that his siblings will bicker with him again.

As they approach the planet, everyone is shaking from excitement.

“I can’t believe we’re back!” Hunk exclaims into their comms.

“It’s been too long,” Lance remarks. All of the lions accelerate towards Garrison. They would land there, and having already contacted their families about where they will be, meet up with their loved ones.

The large institution was finally a pleasant sight. As they lowered their lions down onto open land, they noticed cars and people milling around, cameras flashing in awe of the beasts. None of the paladins hesitated before bursting through the exit of their lions, and making their first steps on Earth. The ground was softer than they were used to. The day was cloudy and chilly, weather no one minded. The air was crisp and cool. The teens breathed in as much as they could in one gulp, then went in for seconds, thirds. The air here was something they didn’t even think of missing.

The crowd moved towards them with caution. Well, most of it. Lance was the first to notice a few yells in Spanish as a short, old lady with reading glasses whipped her tiny beaded handbag at a man standing towards the front of it.

“Abuela?” Lance whispered, in shock. She hadn’t changed.

The old lady turned to face her grandson.

“Lance!” she cries, and runs with surprising speed towards Lance, smothering him with hugs and kisses. The rest of Lance’s family wasn’t too far behind. Soon, all six of his siblings were burying him in a dog pile, each of them screaming his name and crying. His nieces and nephews followed, even though some had never even met him before. Lance sat and cried with each of them, hugging them close.

Then, when he finally let go of Marco, he looked up. “Mama?” he said timidly. “Papa?”

His parents stood above him, gentle tears pouring down each of their faces. “Hi mijo,” his mother replied softly.

Lance threw himself on top of both of them, crying even harder. He had his family back, and now nothing was going to take him away from them.

As Lance cried and hugged his family, Pidge’s family was next to burst from the crowd. Her mom, dad, and Bae-Bae raced towards her and took her in their arms.

“I’m so proud of you, Katie,” her mom cried. “So proud.”

Pidge sobbed as she went in again for another hug from her mother. Bae-Bae barked and whined impatiently, waiting for her turn. Pidge soon noticed, and laughed. She tried to pick up the now huge great dane (and failed miserably). Pidge settled for hugging her and receiving kisses on her face. Nothing to make your arrival back home better than dog slobber.

“Where’s your brother?” Sam asked his daughter.

Pidge, overcome with joy, laughed. “He’s on his way. His ship was a little further out, but he’ll be here in about ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes and we get to be a whole family again,” her mom smiled.

“Ten minutes,” her dad agreed.

Hunk’s family was next. His mom and dad walked out timidly from the crowd, unsure of what to expect. But as soon as they saw him, they raced over as fast as their legs could carry them. His mother was the first to reach him, and took him in her arms.

“Is this really you?” she asked, hugging him and kissing his cheeks.

“It’s really me, Ma,” he replied, tears streaking down his face.

“You’re back home!” his father cheered, grabbing Hunk and ruffling his hair. “You made it back, kiddo.”

Hunk nodded. “I did, Dad. I really did.”

“We are so happy to see you again,” his mother cooed. “You’ve gotten so big!”

Hunk nodded. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Too long,” his father corrects, going in for another hug from his son.

Keith watched as this unfolded. He stood a little farther away from everyone and their crying families, watching them each get welcomed home. He purses his lips.

Shiro puts a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith shudders in surprise, then turns to look at him. Shiro smiles gently at his brother.

“You might not have a family that big, but at least you got us,” he says.

Krolia follows suit, and puts one of her hands on Keith’s other shoulder. “Maybe your family isn’t that big or loud,” she starts, looking at how Lance was animatedly telling stories from space to his family. “Or that sweet and perfect,” she turns Keith towards Pidge, who was petting Bae-Bae while telling her parents about what she discovered in space. “Or even that simple.” They make a final glance at Hunk, showing his family his lion. “But you still have us.” Cosmo nuzzled his snout against Keith.

“We’re still here to welcome you home,” Shiro mussed up the top of Keith’s hair. He was able to get a small smile from him.

“Welcome home, Keith,” Krolia grinned at her son. “Welcome home.”

Afterwards, they go their separate ways.

Lance had already decided where he wanted to go: back to Cuba. He brought Blue and Kaltenecker with him to his family’s large farm. Blue became something for the town to marvel at. Lance’s nieces and nephews would climb her paws when they would play pirate or princess. Kaltenecker would join in sometimes too. She made a good noble steed.

Pidge traveled back to Canada with her family. Green went with her, as well as the small furry aliens from the trash asteroid. Her mother loved the small aliens. She was even able to train them to help her put away dishes and dust high up places. Bae-Bae thought they were new toys for her though, so they had to duck and stay far away from her if she ever waltzed into the room. Matt and Pidge would start integrating alien tech into their everyday life. They even won a Nobel Prize for figuring out how to make Earth’s ships fast and safe enough to reach Kerberos in less than five minutes.

Hunk went back with his family too. But this time, he couldn’t bring Yellow with him. His family was unable to afford keeping a lion of that size on their property, so he was forced to leave it in the cave where they found Blue. Keith was more than happy to keep a watch over it. He and his father opened a new bakery, featuring all the foods he got to try while saving the universe. Surprisingly, many of the customers he had found the food goo particularly tasty. Even though his life was simple, he liked it. It felt good to have a break from the chaos of outer space.

Keith went back to how he usually lived. Okay, maybe there were a few changes. During the time that Keith was gone, the city had built several houses near where his shack once stood. After he gave them permission to tear it down, he moved into one of them with Shiro and his mother. He opened a small auto-shop, using some tech that Pidge developed. His specialty was adding alien tech to automobiles, and pretty soon everyone wanted to have an option for a smoothie maker in their car. Business was good, and his job kept him happy. Keith was even able to use his earnings to get him and Shiro a much needed vacation.

The paladins still visited each other now and again, happy to receive each other’s company. The weight of the universe was off of their shoulders. At last they could sit back, and live just as they were supposed to. The defenders of the universe lived happy lives, free from threats from the Galra. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

discord: geekie#4976

#round 1 #challenge 3 #blue lion #fic #submission #r1c3

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squirenonny · 7 years

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[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.

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kokotaro · 7 years

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could i request something? reader is the paladins' best friend (around pidge's age if that's okay) who they see as a younger sibling. platonic things like how would they react if reader gets hurt, how would reader comfort them if they were upset (and vice versa), etc.. nothing romantic, just bestfriend/sibling things

sorry this is so late! but i love this suggestion, platonic stuff is always so cute

Keith:

> He would be way too protective over them honestly. Like, he wouldn’t let them do something he deemed dangerous but he knows when he goes overboard and apologizes afterwards.

> Without having too much family for himself, he would do anything to keep the best friend he sees as a sibling as happy and healthy as possible. He would help them with a good diet and force get them to exercise regularly as well.

> Most of the time Keith goes to them for some advice since they always know what to say but leaves certain problems for himself to take care of. He wouldn’t want them to feel burdened by his stress.

> They are the only person who can tease him and he’s always been 100% okay with it. The other paladin’s do it rarely as they grow closer as a team but get surprised to see this kid letting loose like this.

> He would absolutely cherish every moment he has with them because the friendship (and family-like bond) is extremely important to him.

> If they were to get hurt, physically or emotionally, he’d beat the shit out of whoever did it without hesitation. And when they need comforting, he tries his best to make them feel better by making the worst jokes he can think of and if that doesn’t work then he’ll play with their hair and give them lots of kinda awkward but meaningful hugs.

Lance:

> Since he already has so many siblings he’s more than happy to add another one to the family! They’re like childhood friends so they’ve already been accepted by him as well as the rest of his large family.

> When he’s feeling homesick he’ll always go to them because he knows they feel the same. They would talk about his family, their family, and old memories that make them both cry with laughter to feel better.

> One time they scraped their knee from falling and all hell broke loose for him. He literally carried his friend over his shoulder back to the castle and wouldn’t let them walk until it was cleaned with a band aid over it. This happens with every minor (and major) injury that happens.

> Lance knows that growing up is hard and would offer some wise words to his friend if they ever needed it. He’s been through a lot given his fairly young age as well and wouldn’t want anyone to feel the same hurt he’s been through.

> Every other night they switch from doing skin care and hair care. One night they’ll be walking around with face masks, robes, fuzzy slippers, and a drink while other nights their hair is all wrapped up and they’re in the shower for about 2hrs.

> He would do everything in his power to take care of his friend. They grew up together and have been through too much (and know too much) to be separated. They’re probably the only person he knows so well that isn’t blood related and it’s meaningful to him.

Hunk:

> Bakes for them 25/8 because he loves the way their face lights up with his cooking and he knows how to make something delicious with just about anything. And, like Lance, he’s used to having a large family so it’s like having a piece of home with him with his best friend!

> They often bake together, more so him teaching them all his tips and tricks on certain things that no one else knows about. They are sworn to secrecy over it but end up forgetting about it the next time they’re in the kitchen.

> He has a lot of playful banter and inside jokes with his best friend and sometimes they range from a simple look to some weirdly elaborate dance move. Whatever it is, it sets them off into a huge laughing fit.

> He would be very worried whenever they’re hurt and constantly ask if they’re okay. It usually results in them reassuring him that they’re 100% A-Okay.

> Hunk hates seeing them sad and whenever they are he makes their favorite dessert no matter what time it is. If he isn’t able to make it to the kitchen he makes up stories about things they love. They’re long and very detailed and they fall asleep to it every time. He’s an amazing storyteller.

> He wouldn’t take his friendship with granted whatsoever and would express how he feels towards them all the time (especially in situations where they may not see each other again, as much as it pains the two). He hates having to fight constantly but does it because he wants to keep his friend, his family, safe and sound.

Pidge:

> She feels greatly comforted by having a friend that’s like family after all the things she’s been through with her brother, father, and even her mother. It tears her apart inside sometimes even though she keeps fairly silent about it.

> She goes to them when she feels completely desperate to go back home and leave Voltron entirely. They talk her through it and remind her that one day it will happen.

> The two would see who could outhack the other first and it’s become a game for them since they were little kids. Sometimes it amazes the team, other times it’s irritating when they wanna do something but can’t because these babies are screaming at their laptops.

> Pidge would hate seeing her friend hurt and tend to them with great care while making sure they are most definitely one hundred percent okay.

> She would come up with a punch buggie sort of game but in space so sometimes you see one of them scream then punch the shit out of the other and everyone gets s o c o n f u s e d. Eventually they explain the game to the others but it brings absolute chaos among them.

> She values the family like bond she has with her friend and would do anything in the damn galaxy to keep them happy (vice versa too) because she feels like this is the only family she has left until either find her brother/father or go back to Earth to visit her mother. If she lost them she would lost a piece of herself as well and she tells them this often, they say they will always feel the same. One or both of them always cries and they hug it out.

Shiro:

> Honestly, after being lost and found multiple times he would feel terrible about leaving this person, who’s like his own flesh and blood, behind without a say. He knows it wasn’t his fault each time but he can’t help it.

> Whenever he has an episode due to PTSD they’re always the first one to try and help him calm back down. It doesn’t always work which troubles the team but they know he’s in good care with his best friend.

> He would go batshit crazy like Keith whenever they get hurt because why the hell would you hurt his baby there is a price to pay. Afterwards his mood takes a total 180 and he gets so worried over them.

> When they feel upset over something he lets them come into his room for a cry and offers them advice if it’s needed or rubs their back. He sings them a lullaby or two as well until they feel better.

> Shiro is used to his nickname so much that he gets a little surprised at the fact that they call him Takashi still but ya know he thinks it’s too cute to not correct them.

> Everyone calls him Space Dad and he found it weird at first but decided to roll with it after all. With his best friend at his side he feels a little less like an honorary parent though which he deeply appreciates because now it doesn’t make him feel so old (lol) but in all seriousness he’s happy that they’re with him through all this craziness because he finds them to be the most sane of the younger bunch.

( this gif has me in TEARS )

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pinkipie100 · 6 years

Text

Lance and the 25 Days Chapter V: Clay

Yo, guess who? Also, later that usual! HAHAHAHAHA, THAT MEANS ANOTHER MORNING REBLOG, HAHAHAHAHA!!! Okay, hysteria and sleep deprivation aside, I’m pretty proud of this one; Pidge is my favorite character, and I’d die for her, so whenever I get to write her, it’s a real blast! Another note is that at the end of this chapter, I included something as a humor aspect that I should have realized was a stupid idea. The thing about Ficcember is that I want to keep it as broad as possible, so I want to keep it both strictly clean of ships, as well as clean in general; it seems my sense of humor simply cannot go long without dropping swears. I apologize, but I because of this, I have censored the word completely. Those who know the book, or heck, even those who haven’t can probably fill in the blank if they so desire. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

Words:2012

Category: Gen

Contains: brOT3 Shalluridge, dreidels, Holt Family Feels [esp. Matt], triggering peanuts, Gunderangst, black paladin!Lance, in a way, considerate!Lance, bedtimes stories, censorship, Go the F*ck to Sleep

Takes place the afternoon after the Space Mall escapade in Chapter IV.

Allura was observing Pidge carefully as she measured out the sculpting sand. The young paladin appeared to run complex calculations completely mentally as she determined the correct proportions and weight for the dreidel to spin properly, like a top. Hunk had given the teen a set of tools to help her sculpt, and she had smoothed the sides of the dreidel to perfection. Allura gasped when Pidge picked up a tool only to ruin the perfectly flat sides of the dreidel, carving in an indent. Pidge explained that the princess had no need to worry, as everything she was doing was intentional. Allura resumed spectating while Pidge carved strange symbols. They had some features similar to Altean, but they were otherwise unrecognizable to the young Altean woman.

Pidge, once finished carving the indents, held one side of the dreidel up to Allura. She told her, “So this one-” she pointed to a three-pronged symbol, “-is shin. When you spin that, you add a piece of whatever game currency we’re using to the pot. This-” Pidge signaled to a symbol on a different side, “-is nun. When you get this, it means you don’t do anything, and the next person spins. This next one-” Pidge gestured to a symbol that looked like and unfinished box, “-is hey, and the player who spins this gets half of the pot. This word, everyone’s favorite-” the green paladin smirked mischievously, “-is gimel, and it means you get to take the whole pot.”

“Fascinating! So, this is a gambling game?” Allura asked. Pidge nodded with a cute smile, and the princess voiced, “I thought that gambling was illegal for children on Earth, Shiro. Isn’t that what you told me?”

Shiro, leaning not far from the two on the kitchen wall, chuckled a response, “Well, it is if it’s real money, but this is just a game. You gamble with things like chocolate coins, or typically other small food pieces. Sam always told me Katie hated it when they used peanuts as the currency.”

Pidge concurred furiously, saying that Matt suggested it every year, and their mom always complied, much to Pidge’s chagrin. The smallest paladin complained that Matt did that specifically to rig the game against her since she wanted nothing to do with the gross, dry nuts, so she did everything in her power to get rid of them, even cheating by feeding them to Bae Bae. She recalled with a cringe that last Chanukkah, Matt had just sat across the table, staring at her, crunching down the peanuts when he won.

Once Pidge was finished regaling of her family’s dreidel shenanigans, she sighed, her figure collapsing. Shiro and Allura’s faces shifted to mirror the green paladin’s despairing countenance, and at Shiro’s sympathetic prompting, Pidge revealed the cause of her upset. She vented, “I was just thinking about playing with Matt, you know? He had his own dreidel, and he whittled it himself, just like I carved this one. My mom showed him how… Anyway, we played our own separate games at the Chanukkah parties my parents would host all the time, and I just remember that he loved playing dreidel. Probably because he won,” she cringed fondly, “but looking back on it, we created a lot of memories from playing together, just the two of us. The thing is…” Pidge paused, shoving her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose as her head drooped and Allura put a supportive hand on her shoulder, “…I brought his dreidel with me to the Garrison.” Shiro uttered the paladin’s name in sympathy, walking closer to her and placing his own hand on Pidge’s free shoulder. “It’s the one that Hunk probably saw, and I brought it because I wanted to give it back to Matt when I found him. Only, the night we found you, Shiro, I didn’t realize that I had been playing with it that morning, so when I went out to scan for frequencies that night, I forgot it wasn’t in my bag. By the time I checked for it in my bag, we had already taken down that Galra ship with Voltron for the first time and become the Defenders of the Universe. I still regret it, and I’m worried that I may never get to give it back to him, even if I do find him…”

Shiro stopped Pidge there, cutting her off, “Pidge. You’re going to find your brother. We’re going to bring him back; you have to know that. You’ll get to play dreidel with him again, this time with your own lucky dreidel.”

Allura agreed with the black paladin, putting in that if the two faced off using Pidge’s own dreidel, Matt would finally lose to his sister. Pidge laughed at this, claiming that she doubted it, but she wouldn’t mind losing to Matt again as long as it meant that he was right there with her, doing something other than worrying about a Galra attack or one of them being in the custody of those villains. Shiro guffawed and added that Matt would probably feel the same.

Allura straightened back up as Shiro patted Pidge’s back, and she scanned the kitchen for the other Altean on the ship. “Where is Coran? Shouldn’t he be learning about Chanukkah games as well? He’d love this! …especially since it’s gambling; it’s practically a mini version of the unilu swap shops he used to love so!” Pidge answered that she noticed that Lance had dragged the Altean off to a private room right after they had gotten back from the Space Mall, this time unscathed by Varkon’s pursuit. She assured the young woman that Coran could learn to play dreidel when she re-explained it to the other boys.

The trio was disrupted, however, when Lance came over the intercom of the ship, calling for all to meet on the bridge. Pidge proudly dunked her finished dreidel in the water for it to harden, then obeying Lance’s orders. Shiro and Allura followed too, and the princess joked to Shiro that it seemed that Lance was the holiday black paladin, earning her a hearty chortle from Pidge whilst the man himself scoffed.

Hunk had met up with Shiro, Pidge, and Allura along the way to the bridge, and upon entering, they encountered Lance standing front and center authoritatively, Coran standing behind him and to the side in support.

“Alright, Team Voltron! I was a little busy doing some holiday logistics after we got back from the Space Mall, but I think we’re all ready for a report now!” Lance proclaimed. He pointed to his best friend, inquiring, “Hunk, what’s the food situation?” Hunk answered that there was more than enough to feed the whole team including Keith as their plus one. Shiro brought up Hunk’s idea for the Olkarion feast, and once the yellow paladin delineated his idea, Lance pondered for a moment, then confirmed, “Yeah, that sounds like a super selfless idea! Maybe selfless enough for the Olkari to throw us a para-” a groan from the team indicated to Lance that this was not the time, so he finished, “-Ahem, Hunk, we should absolutely do that. You and I can contact Ryner and make plans for a refugee cookout in the Olkarion woods! So, Shiro, you’ve got some decorations for the ship, right?” Shiro smugly smiled before grabbing his shopping bag from his paladin seat and picking some representative decorations from it. He showed off the Anbytorian stones he’d foolishly purchased, believing them to be peppermint bark, but then proposed that they could be made into tree ornaments. Lance applauded Shiro’s creativity, followed by the rest of the team. Shiro then pulled out some silver string along with cerulean ribbons so that the team could make the halls festive for Hanukkah. Pidge gave her approval, and Lance’s accompanied hers. The man then started pulling out some deflated-looking items that looked like balloons, explaining that they were, apparently, floating lanterns that could be both lit and inflated by simply charging them through a Galra-issued charging station. Lance questioned if they even had one, to which Shiro pointed to his Galra arm, grasped a lantern with the prosthetic, and illuminated it. The lantern puffed up at a frightening speed, then ascended into the ceiling like a rocket. Coran suggested that Shiro should probably charge them with the lowest power setting his hand could offer.

“Great! So, it looks like we’re all set with decorations, except for the tree. Here’s the deal,” Lance began. “Allura, Coran, and I weren’t able to find any Christmas tree, or flora of any kind, at the Space Mall.” The boys and the Alteans groaned in disappointment, at which Lance twisted his face at the Alteans because, hello, they were there, but he amended, “That doesn’t mean we won’t have a tree, though! I won’t sleep until one is found! If I have to wormhole us to the next dimension MYSELF, I’LL DO IT!” Shiro squinted slightly, anticipating another threatening Christmas spirit episode, but Lance seems to have averted it. The red paladin announced, “In the meantime, we’ve got lots to do, Team Voltron, so…!” Pidge slumped in dread of more work, expecting Lance to start bossing them around to start hanging decorations and whatnot. “…get some rest, everyone.” Pidge, caught off guard at Lance’s tender tone, gazed back up to him while he added, “Today’s been a hard days’ work, so we’re going to need to rest our muscles for all of the hard labor of decorating for tomorrow. I’m proud of you, team, you really pulled it together on short notice!”

Hunk expressed hesitance, since Lance always decorated on the first of December no matter what, but Lance answered that he, himself, was tired as well. Lance dismissed everyone, and Hunk softly and fondly grinned at his best friend’s consideration. He, of all people, knew how hyper Lance was about Christmas, so the teenager was proud of his lanky friend’s restraint for the team’s sake.

Lance abruptly protested to everyone leaving, though, as there was one more favor he needed done before he went to bed. The team sighed.

Shiro yawned, smacking his lips while he waited. The sound of the shower had stopped a considerable amount of time ago, and he couldn’t but help growing slightly impatient. He called for Lance in the bathroom, wondering when he’d be done, and for the fifth time, Lance stated that he was ‘almost done.’ Shiro sighed through his nose.

At last, the bathroom door slid open, and Lance exited through it in his pajamas and blue lion slippers. Lance apologized to Shiro for taking so long, but made the excuse that the art of after-show skin care simply could not be rushed. The red paladin then tucked himself and and shimmied into the position of optimal comfort.

“Okay, so, the whole thing should’ve been transcribed on there by Hunk. It’s under the file ‘Lance’s Christmas Bedtime Story,’” Lance told the black paladin.

“This one?” Shiro indicated, and Lance confirmed it. “So, your mom still read you this even while you were in the Garrison.”

“Oh, yeah,” Lance bobbed his head enthusiastically. “We just did it over a video call; it was practically just like she was there! She read me this for the first time back when I was four, back during that December I woke up to decorate.”

Shiro nodded, then opened the file on his tablet. He then recited the transcribed script: “‘The cats nestle close to their kittens, / The lambs have laid down with the sheep. / You’re safe and warm in your bed, my dear. / …please go the ~QUIZNACK~ to sleep,’ Lance, your mom read this to you?”

“Yeah,” Lance put simply. “What of it? Go on.”

Shiro, eyes bulging out of his head, dramatically turned back to face the script, shrugging off his concerns. He continued:

The windows are dark in the town, child.

The whales huddle down in the deep.

I’ll read you one last book if you swear

You’ll go the ~QUIZNACK~ to sleep...

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maychorian · 7 years

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Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #36

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

The Hunter from the Hill by valkyriered Words: 5,741 (3/?) Author’s Summary: Post-series, the Holts welcome Shiro into their home. A series of ficlets crossposted from tumblr. Not necessarily in chronological order– posted in the order they were written. My Comments: Warning for heavy angst, depression, PTSD, and various anxiety responses to trauma. This is realistic and very well-written, but mind the tags. I love the idea of the Holts taking in Shiro post-series and caring for him, but everyone is having a very rough time. The fic is technically complete, as each chapter is its own story, but the author is leaving it open to add more in the future. I adore these aftermath stories. Exactly the kind of stuff I want to read.

Space Hell by firesfly Words: 5,008 Author’s Summary: “I wonder if there’s such thing as space-hell,” Lance mused. “Like, the higher you go into space, the closer you are to hell.“ or. The paladins find Space Hell and it’s just as bad as it sounds. My Comments: Really interesting episode-like fic with the paladins fighting a horrible environment, plus some monsters. It’s up to Keith to save them all, and it’s a rough road.

Cookies, candles and some care by SerenePhenix Words: 3,603 Author’s Summary: It had to come full circle. That was the way things worked. That’s what made the world go round. Shiro’s just glad that Lance is there to help. -OR: After Lance it’s now everybody else’s turn to get the sniffles. My Comments: A follow-up to that modern AU sickfic where deathly ill pizza boy Lance stumbles onto the other paladins, who instantly take him under their wing. This time everyone else is sick and Lance is the best nurse ever. So sweet.

Dear Little One by SunshineAndRainbows Words: 3,986 (2/3) Author’s Summary: The paladins hadn’t been expecting to find the baby. Allura hadn’t been expecting their reaction to it. My Comments: The paladins with kids or babies is always adorable, and this one is particularly so. Very interesting worldbuilding here, too, more plot-oriented than most kidfics. I’m interested to see how it will shake out.

Perdu by SerenePhenix Words: 7,130 (1/3) Author’s Summary: He did everything they’d asked of him. He had fought a war that had not been his to begin with because it was the right thing to do, because at the end of it all stood the promise of returning to his family. He was done. He wanted home. What he did not expect was for a man obviously just as lonely as him to join him on the journey. A man willing to listen, willing to understand.So many possible realities and so many ways that it could go wrong. Or maybe just right. My Comments: Really interesting fic with Lance leaving Team Voltron after Shiro’s loss makes them all a little crazy, then running into Lotor and traveling with him without realizing that they’re supposed to be enemies. I’m not sure what’s coming next, and I am both nervous and excited. Really well done and heartachey.

Black by Any Other Color by mckinlily Words: 4,430 Author’s Summary: Team Voltron is in shambles. Lost and hurting in the wake of Shiro’s disappearance, they can hardly stand each other, let alone work together. And in the midst of this, Hunk finds Keith in the Black Lion’s hangar.Hunk learns something about Keith, leadership, and his role as the Yellow Paladin. My Comments: I love Hunk as the heart of the team, chasing down hurting teammates and doing his best to bring them in and show them some love. Keith desperately needs support here. They all do.

Takashi Shirogane Takes the World by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 4,384 (2/?) Author’s Summary: Shiro has seen more foster homes than he has years on Earth, but he’s certain that this one is the last. He’s fiesty, angry, and thinks he can handle anything. That’s until he meets his new foster parents, with their never ending patience and understanding; his foster brother, with his bizarre habits; and the ghost of a boy who lives in his room, who turns into his best friend. He’s not ready for anything, but especially not a new family. My Comments: Family AU in which the Holts take in Shiro and Keith, based The Great Gilly Hopkins. I haven’t seen or read that one, but already this AU is tugging at my heartstrings and making me eager for more. Great stuff, very well-written.

Allura and the Paladins by rebornlover Words: 3,096 Author’s Summary: The Paladins learn abit more about their commander and Hunk holds an Altean celebration My Comments: Really sweet fic with Hunk and Lance making an effort to understand Allura better, and then attempting to ease her and Coran’s grief for the loss of their civilization.

Advanced Maintenance by VelkynKarma Words: 1,392 (1/?) Author’s Summary: Maintaining an alien prosthetic limb can be difficult even with help from your friends. Fortunately, Shiro’s able to get a little extra assistance from a few unexpected places. My Comments: Poor Shiro, but I’m so glad the mice were there to help! Very cute and fluffy fic. And there will be more in the future! I’m looking forward to it.

Recoil/Release by Cheshyr Words: 20,696 Author’s Summary: When Keith is bitten by an alien creature with venom that causes your dominant emotions to be amplified, the team is ready for a day of dealing with an incredibly angry paladin.Which means they’re not ready at all for what actually happens. My Comments: Warning for implications of past child abuse. This is heartbreaking, but so well done. I loved the way everyone got a moment to interact with Keith while he was in a fear-driven state and try to help, even if it wasn’t quite successful in the end. They all just care so much.

Platonic VLD Week 2 - Double Drabble Collection by hufflepirate Words: 1400 Author’s Summary: 7 double drabbles from the second Platonic VLD Week.See chapter titles for basic details like which characters are in/the focus of each one.Prompts: Day 1: Restraint / Impulse Day 2: Traditions / New experiences Day 3: Tandem / Separation Day 4: Home / Exploration Day 5: Temporary / Constant Day 6: Fighting / Forgiveness Day 7: Free tropes day / Week 1 leftovers My Comments: Absolutely every single one of these is perfect in just 200 words. Hufflepirate writes very powerfully in a very small space. I think my favorite was the Coran one, but they’re all amazing.

Seventh Wheeling by Swump (Zelan) Words: 952 Author’s Summary: So I see lots of fics where Lance refers to himself as a seventh wheel and I’m actually getting a bit tired of the phrase. So of course what better to do than write a prompt entirely centered around it. My Comments: Shiro does a really lovely job of reframing this issue for Lance and helping him see himself in a different light. Really sweet.

Accidents Happen by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 2,169 Author’s Summary: “ ‘He’s grown!’ Antok cheered, leaping to his feet as if his previously sore joints had been entirely renewed. He scooped Keith up effortly, one massive hand around his middle, and tossed him up into the air. Keith screamed. Antok laughed with glee. ” My Comments: Keith temporarily morphs to a Galra form, and Antok is DELIGHTED. It’s adorable.

Forgiveness by luoup (ravenic) Words: 1,698 Author’s Summary: Day 6 Prompt 2: ForgivenessHow to be forgiven My Comments: Finding Matt isn’t as happy for Shiro as it should be, because he’s so worried about how Matt will react to what he did. Of course, Matt doesn’t see it that way.

Only Temporary by Revasnaslan Words: 1,241 Author’s Summary: Following Shiro’s disappearance, Allura finds it difficult to sleep… so she and the Black Lion have a chat. About as well as they can without having a bond.—Written for Shallura Week Day 6 (Black / White) My Comments: Lovely bonding moment. Allura deserves all the appreciation.

And The View Will Be Different Tomorrow by this_book_has_been_loved Words: 1,882 Author’s Summary: Pidge had an uncanny ability to find each and every nook and cranny and hiding place on the Castle. There were more secret rooms on this ship than even Allura and Coran probably knew of, and Lance was sure Pidge had discovered them all. - Pidge and Lance have a heart to heart and do some stargazing. My Comments: Absolutely precious. I love these two hanging out and bonding and sharing their grief about their families.

Dogs of Marmora by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 3,517 Author’s Summary: ’What is that thing and why is it in my castle?’ Allura asked. None of the paladins replied. Kolivan offered her a helpless shrug.‘It’s a dog.’ “ My Comments: The cutest, sweetest Dads of Marmora fic yet. The paladins explain to Kolivan why having a dog is a good thing, and then he gets to see it with his own eyes. Adorable.

A Space Birthday! by icycoldmoonprincess for gardenofmaris Words: 2,320 Author’s Summary: It’s just too good that one of my dearest friends and Lance share a birthday month….not to mention how much like Lance she is…..Happy Birthday, Mari! Hope you enjoy the fic :) (Since I gave you a birthday present super early, I just had to do something for today) My Comments: Super cute fic with everyone pitching in to give Lance a nice time. Very pleasant read.

The Peace of Order by Katerie Words: 1,402 Author’s Summary: Lance starts to see why Zarkon’s been allowed to rule for over 10,000 years. My Comments: Lance has an argument with an alien and realizes that some moral quandaries cannot be resolved. Really interesting to read.

Heroism Gets You Killed by teacupfulofbrains Words: 15,428 Author’s Summary: Five times Lance McClain recklessly risked his life to prove his worth to his teammates, and one time they showed him he had nothing to prove. My Comments: Maybe just a little over the top, but man, I really enjoyed this fic. Lance’s team loves him. A lot. It’s his own head that’s preventing him from seeing that. Klance is included, but the focus is on the team.

Accidents Happen by Swump (Zelan) Words: 3,198 Author’s Summary: don’t go on tumblr too much or you’ll write i&i fic for a show you’ve never seen Real Summary: Keith gets something in his eye and then he gets something worse in his eye. Whump ensues. My Comments: Poor Keith, but it was great to see everyone leap into action to help him.

Tasting Science by Anonymous for Longpig Words: 1,470 Author’s Summary: Coran discovers something while preparing a dinner for his new family. My Comments: Really cute fic with Coran enjoying a treat from Earth, then sharing it with everyone else.

trust fall by prophecy Words: 1,574 Author’s Summary: The story of how Allura got her earrings. My Comments: Love litte Allura being stubborn and nosy. Her relationship with Alfor was so lovely, too.

Treat by Eastofthemoon Words: 1,690 Author’s Summary: Keith takes Shiro grocery shopping. My Comments: This is from a really cute AU where pre-teen Keith ends up on the run through the universe with Shiro and the red lion. This installment is adorable, as usual. It’s sad that Keith has had to focus so hard on survival at such a young age, but it’s lovely to see Shiro spoil him.

It’s About You (it always has been) by Yellowtaffeta Words: 11,562 Author’s Summary: For thousands of turns the Prides have defended ARUS from the baleful eye of the dark star. It is now the ninth pass and the lion men have dwindled. Only Pride Garrison is left to face the coming sweep of the rouge planet. Not that anyone thinks the dark star more than a legend after such a long interval. But the Galra are coming. It is up to four newly impressed rookies and a Paladin with the wrong lion to face the coming disaster. Lions must fly when there’s Galra in the sky! My Comments: I’ve never read the series this AU is based on, but now I want to. The author does a good job of giving enough worldbuilding for the story to make sense, even while just throwing us straight into the middle of an extremely crazy and chaotic sceen. All of the paladins and their lions are very intriguing, and their interactions are well done. This feels like the start of a very epic adventure, and I would happily read more. The fic could definitely use a beta, though.

Quit Playing Games by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 3,116 Author’s Summary: Lance makes a deck of Uno cards. It goes as well as expected. For Platonic Week 2.0 My Comments: This is one of the funniest fics I’ve read in the long time. The chaos and petty revenge of a Uno game is out in full force. It’s great to see the kids just having a good time together, for a certain value of good.

The Field of Blood by Genesister (papirini) Words: 4,607 (1/?) Author’s Summary: Takashi Shirogane is about to go on a journey to find himself. A journey where, supported by his friends, he learns a secret so shocking that it could potentially decide the fate of the universe - and, along the way, he comes to understand what it means to be a leader. What it means to be himself. Well. Provided the experience doesn’t kill him first. Or worse. The final part of the Helvicta Blues. My Comments: I’ve already recced the other stories in this series, but I would be remiss not to inform you of this one, too. The start is already so INTENSE, with all of the paladins captured by the Galra, under threat of death and torture, and then that first cliffhangar, hoo boy. I do recommend reading the other stories first, but this is so so good.

Bonding with the Princess by TheForeverGirl Words: 6,201 (3/?) Author’s Summary: Allura feels that she doesn’t know the Paladins as well as she should. Her solution? She bonds with each of the paladins My Comments: This fic could use a beta, but it’s really cute to see Allura deliberately taking the time to get to know her paladins one-on-one. Great characterization and lovely chats for each so far.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Light on the Dark Side of Me (20546 words) The Machinations of Perception (30182 words) mostly void, partially stars (17349 words) Dislocation (19250 words) - now complete familiar (74649 words) As Color Fades Away (69760 words) The Ones Who Were Left Behind (22902 words) Lost Boys (9051 words) Truce (139049 words) Down Time (Don't Let Me Down) (11142 words) When You Reach Me (30133 words) Someplace Like Home (369075 words) - now complete cough syrup (7992 words) The Times They Remembered Pidge Was a Girl (11908 words) earth shaker (3263 words) Ten Days (16478 words)

#voltron legendary defender #weekly voltron fic recs #fic rec #my mondays are going to feel a little empty without somplace like home to look forward to #but the author is doing other stuff in the meantime and there's going to be another sequel #seriously get in on that it is so incredibly good #vldgen

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paladinofklance · 7 years

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And I find myself at home. | Klance fic

Read on AO3

This is done by me;

Tumblr: paladinofklance

AO3: moonandstarlight

Summary: Lace goes home, and this time around he has a special someone he wants to introduce. A 'going home' fic, for Lance's birthday.

One thing that is harder than being away from your family for long periods of time, is probably telling your family the reason you won’t be available and home for so long is because you’re flying around in a big metallic lion in space. It’s three and a half year ago, that he had to sit down and explain them this, after being away for over two years. Something that is harder than telling your family you’re in space is coming home and them thinking you’re dead.

It haunts him, the day he came home for the first time after so long. They thought he was lying, they were crying and cursing him telling him that they didn’t believe this was their son, it haunts him. Even after all the yelling and the crying, for his mom to properly look at him. Tears streaming down her face, as she held him close, finally being surrounded in the known warmth of his mom. He’d cried a lot, his family had cried a lot, and the worst part; telling that he was going to go back, and there’d be a long period of time, where they wouldn’t see each other. He doesn’t think of the broken faces that stared back at him.

There have been times, where they have been able to send small messages -courtesy of Pidge- but what do you even ask or say? Lance has no idea.

But as soon as he sees earth’s beautiful and well-known surface pipe forth, their pod descending out of the clouds, every question and every word he has thought of these last couple of years, they pour into his brain, ready to be told to every member of his family.

He’ll tell his younger sibling, cousins, nephews, and nieces of the wonderful animals and creatures they’ve endured. He’ll tell his older siblings and cousins about all these dangerous missions they’ve tackled along their way. He’ll tell his parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles about the bonds you make when you’re in space, how he has been lucky enough to form bonds that he won’t ever forget, of his other family that keeps him safe out there. He’ll tell his whole family of how he found the love of his life in space.

It has been hard always being far away from everything and everyone, but somewhere along he was lucky enough to find peace with it. “-You’re looking wistful.” There is a giggle beside him and he quickly glances towards the man who is sat in the seat beside him.

Keith.

What a journey they’ve been through just to get here. It’s Lance's favorite thing about space; Keith. There has always been tension between them, and really Lance couldn’t really ever put a name on it until one mission. They were simply turning a corner and Keith’s unbelievably long and wild hair flew into his face. Keith made a ridiculous face, but it made it dawn on Lance. He was so in love with that idiot.

He feels a pinch on his arm, “you’re flying, stay focused,” Keith states, and Lance gives him a long glare. “I hope you’re ready to meet my family. I’ll just say it again, they’re one big mouthful.” Lance has first experience here, and honestly, he believes he’ll have a hard time adjusting. He had always been used to having at least ten people talking over each other, that isn’t exactly going to happen when you’re only seven people on a ship. “Lance, I think I’ll handle. They sound amazing, so I can’t wait,” Keith says, and Lance can feel a smile split onto his face.

“Though, I have one request.”

“Come with it.”

Lance gives Keith another glance, his brain short circuiting at the sight. Keith has always been a catch, which Lance applauds himself for a lot. But with the sun coming in through the window, shining onto his features and sharpening them, he looks angelic. His hair is tied away into a bun, and his clothes are a little messy after sleeping, but somehow he manages to make Lance’s heart fly into his throat. His mom, aunts, and sister will find him pretty, he is sure. “You’ll wait with introducing me, they’ve been waiting over three years to see you, please let them hug you. Afterward, I’ll say hi.” Keith gives a genuine smile, his voice firm. Lance simply agrees.

Lance can feel his joints getting anxious as they near Cuba, the sun sparkling and making the water look magnificent. He takes the right turns, scouting over the coast. They near themselves fields that separate houses, and then he is sliding forwards, eyes caught onto the big old house, his home. “Keith, I welcome you.” He lands skillfully on a bare patch of land, removing the invisibility cloak. He adjusts to the sun shining into his face, and there they are, familiar faces watching with amazed and surprised faces.

Lance admits, he falls out of the pod, but it doesn’t matter because soon he is sweeping up children and running into the mass of people. There are words blurred over each other, Spanish and English thrown together, and Lance didn’t know you could miss a blur like this so much. He is hugging more people than he can remember ever hugging, his cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, siblings, grandparents, great grandparents and they’re all smiling. There are new faces, but he hugs them too, they’re his family just as much as the next.

Then he turns, and there are his mom and dad, smiling and crying and he dives forward so fast that he feels his dad grip them tight to steady them. “My baby, I’ve missed you so much.” He feels his shirt go wet, and his cheeks grow damp against the fabric of his dad’s shirt, but he doesn’t care, because he’s missed them so much too.

There go several minutes, before his mom pulls away, his dad holds on a few extra seconds, before he is pulling away from him, a smile on his face, that almost seems amused, and then his eyes turn to his mom and Lance understands. “Now, Lance McClain, how dramatic do you need to be? ‘I’ll be home in two days. Bringing someone I would love you to meet.’? Do you know what a situation you put me in, big house cleaning and invitations sent out to everybody... Now, where is the pretty face I need to see?” A smile lights up his mom's face, and Lance skips out from the mass of people, to see Keith chatting with one of his younger cousins. It makes his heart swell.

“Love, this is my family, and everybody, this is Keith,” Lance says with a smile and Keith gives a small smile, “hi.” It’s new to see Keith grow this shy, and Lance can’t help but love the soft look that crosses his boyfriends face. He turns just to see his mom emerge from the group of people, stepping down to inspect the both of them. “Oh, he is lovely." She smirks, and Lance grins triumphantly, while Keith’s cheeks grow pink. “Name’s Jimena, and this is Lance’s dad, Xavier." Lance has always loved his mom, a fierce woman with sarcasm on point, her and Keith would probably get along well. His dad is more laid back, loves doing a lot of activities, which means his whole family always have some family activity. What he adores the most though, is the amazing dynamic between his parents. Also, their cooking is amazing, and it’s delightful to still see them cook together after 30 years of marriage.

Lance’s mom takes a long look at both of them again, “let’s get you introduced to everybody, and then I believe you’ll have some fascinating stories to tell, while we prepare dinner.”

. . .

After several stories, told by mostly Lance with his overly dramatic hand gestures and in hushed voices, going to loud boom’s of surprises, his mom announces that everybody needs to take a seat at the table. It’s a hustle, and exactly like Lance remembers it. It was fun getting to tell the tales of what he, Keith and the rest of the crew have been up to, to people who don't consider that their normal everyday life. He liked their surprised faces, the unbelievable look in their eyes when he told them things that really shouldn’t exist and happen.

The whole house is engaged in a spicy scent, the essence of his families cooking. The table is filled with plates and stools sat closely together to fit everyone. His siblings are carrying food inside, looking as colorful and amazing as he remembers; it makes his mouth water.

Lance place a hand on the small of Keith’s back as they walk towards the table, he pulls out Keith's chair, before he is sitting down himself. His eyes are running along with every movement, watch as the kids fight over who gets which stool, and as adults try to separate the kids. “Your family is enchanting, Lance,” Keith murmurs against his shoulder and Lance takes a glance towards him, his whole face breaking into a giant smile.

They end up sitting with his mom, sister and younger brother -poor Noah- along with nieces, cousins, grandmothers, and aunts, which really sets Lance's nerves off. The women in his family can be loud and wild. They’re all looking towards them, and Lance has been a victim of those eyes enough times to know when an attack is loading. Fighting in space will never compare to what these women can do as a whole. Lance is glad Keith is a steady guy.

“Since the guys got their action stories for the day, what about you two tell us about your first date, your first anniversary and such." His mom smiles kindly, taking some meat for herself. Keith still looks calm, he even still has a smile on his face. “Background information first; we’ve been together for two and a half year now, Keith pined for years and I love him,” Lance says, smirking at the light slap he gets on his arm, he guess he deserved that.

Keith is blushing when Lance turns to look at him, it looks beautiful. “Corazon, will you tell about your first date? Because I hope Lance took you out for a first date, or we will be having a long talk, mister.” Keith brightens up, and Lance perks in interest, completely ignoring his mom’s comment as Keith place his fork. They have talked about their feelings, and of their first date afterward, but never has he heard Keith’s version of their day.

Keith gives a small smile, “he did take me out. We were in in a new solar system to rescue a planet called Anurita. It’s a planet known throughout the universe as a culinary planet, because of the wide selection of food they serve. It wasn’t a particularly wild mission, and since Hunk was really interested in the food, we decided to stay a couple of days afterward.” Keith is bright as he begins the story.

“We had taken a couple of walks to greet the inhabitants of the planet, some eight feet creatures with four big eyes, but very kind and helpful.” Keith smiles, and Lance remembers them. They were various shades of pastel colors, shooting towards the skies, while their four eyes -two eyes on each side- rested four different places. They were a kind race, with big knowledge on manners and food, so it was a success for Hunk. “We returned to the castle, and when we were sitting alone in the common area, Lance asked me nervously; perhaps I would like to go to a cafe he had spotted earlier. I think that might have been the first time I’ve ever seen him that afraid, and that is amazing, considering we meet all kinds of things in space.”

Lance let a hand settle onto Keith’s thigh, squeezing softly and receiving a smile in return. “I, of course, said ‘yes’ and later on, after hours of figuring out what I wanted to wear, Lance came knocking on my door, holding a single flower, which to be honest was quite ugly, but the thought was really nice,” Keith says, “they have ugly flowers,” Lance states, giving a bright grin. It’s mesmerizing to hear their first date from Keith’s point of view.

“The date was at the cutest little cafe, they served some delicious pasta like food and the tastiest desserts. It was a little awkward on the way there, but after time it was like back to normal. We talked, bickered and laughed, and honestly, it is one of my favorite memories. I’m glad Lance initiated to go to the take the next step, because he is great, even when he lies and tell I was the one pining. It was us both,” Keith states, and his mom breaks out in a loud content sound. Then, Lance starts recognizing the women in his family again, as they loudly start gushing and asking, anything between heaven and earth.

. . .

Keith fits into his family. He can keep up with the constant movement, and the loudness and God Lance couldn’t ask for more. He doesn’t wander around with Keith, instead, Keith leaves him hanging to go talk to someone, or to play some catch. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that it takes Lance a good couple of minutes to actually locate the man. “So, I’ve talked to mom. My room is rented out to all the kids, so we can either sleep in the living room or set up a tent.” Keith turns towards him, quickly giving a glance at the living room, and then returning his orbs onto Lance. “I vote for the tent.” Lance knows a smirk is evident on his lips, shame him all you want, Keith is one hot piece and really he wouldn’t be able to even kiss him goodnight if they were in the living room. He knows his family.

No wonder though, Keith raised his eyebrows at him, “Lance, I am not going to have, you know, when your family is around,” Keith murmurs, casting his eyes around. “So, you want to sleep in the living room?” Lance prods softly, stepping a little closer, “no, we are definitely taking the tent,” Keith says, Lance smirks at that, leaning down and placing a kiss into Keith’s hair.

It takes some time to get the tent out, but soon enough they are walking towards the garden, a trail of kids following them, claiming they want to help. Keith is enjoyable to watch when he interacts with kids, they seem to surround him and constantly try to get his attention, which Keith seems to give them since they stay interested. He is laughing, playing small jokes on them and talking vividly about everything they end up discussing. “Let’s put it over there, there are shadows from the trees, so hopefully it won’t get too warm." Lance points towards the end of the garden, before directing his eyes back onto the small crowd around their feet. Keith carries the things over there along with Lance, his eyes straying to the place and then back towards the house, that is in a good distance between each other.

“You're a piece of goo, Lance McClain,” Keith says, crossing his arms, a classic move. Lance throws Keith a smirk, before pulling out the manual to the tent, “let’s wait for tonight, to see what you really have to say." He easily dodges the deathly glare Keith gives him, by leaning over and pressing a quick peck to his cheek.

. . .

When Lance finally emerges from the tent the next day, the sun is stood high on the sky and shining down on him, filling him up with energy. He suspects he’s been asleep for a long time because when he woke Keith was nowhere to be seen and the tent was starting to feel like a sauna, even though it isn’t under direct sunlight. “Lance is awake!” There is a yell and then all the kids' cheer, watching him as he makes his way to the door leading into the kitchen.

All the kids are dressed in hats and caps, blocking the sun. They’re wearing dresses or bathing shorts, and he has already suspected what they’re going to spend their day doing, but it’s stepping into the kitchen that settles it. His mom and aunts are stood packing everything in bags, making sandwiches and packing fluids. Lance looks another time, and there is Keith helping along with the sandwiches while keeping a heated conversation with his mom. “Lance, you are alive,” Keith speaks with a smile, tilting his head to the side slightly to allow Lance to place a kiss on the plush skin of his neck. “Let you sleep in today, luckily you didn’t fry out there,” his mom says, folding another sandwich in, that is passed from Keith.

“I would sleep through frying, it’s a luxury sleeping in,” he says to his mom, stealing a piece of salad from Keith’s hands. “Glad to hear you enjoyed your slumber, instead I found some help from Keith.” Lance watch as his mom place a hand on Keith’s arm, “don’t you think we have enough?” She asks, and Keith nods, laying the knife down, “it'll have to be now.” Keith and his mom share a smug smile, which makes Lance question what exactly they have just discussed.

Lance decides to leave it, instead of turning to face the man in his arms. “Slept well?” Lance questions, grinning when Keith’s hands catch onto his shirt, “slept amazingly well,” Keith answers, meeting Lance’s lips contently, pressing softly for a few ticks, before breaking away and giving a smile. “Let’s go get some swim shorts on.” Keith pulls Lance after him.

. . .

Varadero beach is just as Lance remembers it; a crowd of people, sand castles, pizza shack and hot sand blending out into soft blues. His hand tightens around Keith’s as their gathering of people start heading to an empty spot. Kids are already running towards the ocean, having been told the whole shebang of how to handle the ocean.

They settle in an open spot, spreading out blankets and pulling out towels. Some of his cousins and siblings lay themselves down to sunbathe, and the women pull out magazines and sunglasses. The younger cousins and Noah pull their shirts off, before racing towards the ocean after the small kids, already shoving each other. The men pull their shirts of slower, some laying down to tan as well.

“Wanna go check the water?”

“Heck yes,” Keith answers, giving a smile, a little shaded by the worn out ’Space Cadet’ cap he is wearing. “Let’s go play some frisbee.” Lance’s older brother, Nathan, smirks along with his older cousins.

Keith slowly pulls his shirt off, revealing the toned abs he has gained over years. They’re firm and very eye pulling, making every guy and girl somehow direct their eyes to his stomach. Lance follows suit behind, along with his cousins and brother, grinning as the warm sun hits his skin.

“Damn, you get ripped in space,” his sister, Anna, says, holding a hand over her eyes to block out the sun. Not long after her comment, most of the people around them have turned to inspect their bodies. "We don't just lounge around," Lance states, rolling his eyes, but with a playful smirk playing on his lips. Honestly even he is amazed over how they stay so well in shape, they look great.

Lance wince as he feels a poke in his side, turning to Nathan who is grinning satisfied. "Kind of a bummer that my little brother looks better than me," he says, eyes mirroring Lance's blue ones. Before Lance can react in any way, there is a shriek behind him, which makes his instinct kick in, just for him to make the same sound seconds later when he is thrown over a shoulder. He bops around surprised on his brother's shoulder as he looks down to see feet flying over the sand and running straight for the ocean.

He hears another shriek, and then a splash. "Nathan, know that I fucking despise you." Lance groans as he feels Nathan get to a stop, and then he is getting thrown towards the water.

. . .

Lance tips into the tent, a smirk already on his lips and a dirty comment on his tongue; the sentence is already starting, when the words die on his lips. A soft smile replace the smirk, and he lets out a quick greeting to let the three people already in the tent -who are very occupied at the moment- know he is there.

"Lance! Keith let us braid his hair, and then he would braid ours," Tiana says as she takes a pause from the thick locks of hair in her palms. "Tiffany already did her side, so she is getting her hair braided," Tiana continues, casting her eyes back onto Keith's hair, going back to slowly braiding it. "Keith is quick and good at braiding!" Tiffany laughs and Lance lets his eyes wander over the scenario, to fully let it in; Keith is sat in between the two sisters -Lance's nieces from Anna, he'd only gotten about a year with Tiana before he left for space- who both look equally excited and awed. Keith's hair is parted in two braids, one already made clumsily, but fairly well for a three-year-old. The other side is looking a bit better -Tiana is seven years after all- but it does not beat the braids Keith is producing. Tiana has her hair tied into an amazing French braid, while Tiffany is getting the same cornrows as Keith. "I have a lot of hair, so I had to learn," Keith says after some time, making them both nod.

Keith finishes one side, shifting to the next. "What then happened in Texas?" Keith asks, Lance laying down slowly beside the three who turn back into their own little world. "Yes, then we are stood looking at this weird piece of art, on a hill. Mommy holding Tiffany and me beside the art, and daddy trying to take a picture of me." Tiana giggles and Keith smiles, a genuine and warm smile that warms Lance's whole body. "Then, suddenly I see the car roll and daddy is still taking pictures, and suddenly mommy and Tiff is running after the car, while it drives down the hill!" Tiffany and Tiana giggle, while Keith gives a chuckle, finishing the last braid for Tiffany.

Lance can feel himself chuckle along, leaning his head into his palm and letting his eyes switch between the three people. Tiffany lights up as Keith mutters he is done, springing around and leaning over and latching onto him. It's a sight too cute to bear.

"Done!"

Tiana scrambles around to face Keith and Tiffany, smiling brightly. "Thank you, then I didn't have to do this all by myself." Keith sighs, faking a heave after a breath. "More hair?" Tiffany looks up, but Keith smiles sadly, brushing some of the fairy hair away from her forehead.

Lance is a weak, weak man. He can feel his whole body getting warm over watching these scenes unfold themselves.

"You both better get inside, it's getting late." Keith crawls towards the tent entrance, both girls following after him. "Night uncle Lance," Tiana says, before crawling out, "night!" Tiffany giggles, before raising her arms up, and not seconds later Keith is picking her up and taking her along.

God, Lance loves this man too much.

. . .

Lance pass the ball to Keith, letting it roll slowly, so his cousin, Simon, is able to take the ball before Keith is able to. They're playing soccer with a few of his younger family members, all of them convinced Keith and Lance must suck since they have lived in space for so long, that they probably haven't played soccer for a long time.

Now, Keith and he may be two of the most competitive people in this whole known universe, but the small people running between their legs are so into this, that how could they not let them win and believe?

Keith jump to the wrong side, letting the fifth goal for the young ones go in, making a hysteria of screams erupt. They'd decided to say; the ones who reach five first, they win and are the ultimate winners. The mass leaves behind Keith and Lance as Lance see his mom wave them in for ice, apparently to celebrate their big win. He damn well hopes him and Keith will get some ice cream too, it's too hot to function.

"And we are supposed to believe you two train daily up there?" Nathan asks with a grin, making Lance roll his eyes. He and Nathan are too alike sometimes for things to be fun, he knows it makes sense since Nathan is his big brother and he's always thought he was the coolest person to ever come across -just after his dad and mom, of course- and so he adapted traits from him. Later on, Nathan then adapted some from him. "Let's play," Lance's oldest cousin, Sarah, states. Lance shares a look with Keith, whose eyes are already shining with the urge to win, and honestly, that still turns Lance on so quick.

"Shall we say, two against two?"

"Nah, everyone who wants to join your team can be on it, we'll try holding our ground."

They end up playing two against five, and Lance is all aboard showing their future loss in their opponents face. Most of his family is watching, so finally he doesn't have to be the one losing.

He definitely has some advances now, he trains daily at least two times, in all kinds of environments and with every kind of drill and exercise known. To add on, he has a teammate who does all those things too, so they have some advances. The kids were right, they haven't played for years, but at least Lance still remembers the game, this will be fun.

They let the other team start, and soon Nathan is calling to Noah to pass the ball, but let Lance tell you one thing about Keith; he is quick on his feet. Before Nathan's eyes, Keith sweeps in to take the ball, while Lance makes his way up towards the goal. Keith and he can work side by side without a single word shared, countless mind melds with his team does that. They can fight as one while being five, all knowing their place and their strengths.

Lance see his dad running after Keith, who gives one glance back before returning his eyes to the ball and then onto Lance, soon after a kick follows. Lance gets the ball and with a quick kick, he sends the ball flying into the goal.

. . .

Safe to say they won that game, but it was a lot of fun, so really winning doesn't matter most.

After the game, they all got an ice cream, while they talked over their different tactics in the game, and just like always his dad had a whole speech about how he'd thought under the game. Keith sat listening to it all intently, while drinking his water, and no wonder to Lance Keith would also get along great with his dad.

. . .

"Let's see how boyish your room is," Keith states, trailing up the stairs after Lance. His mom had asked him if he had shown Keith his room yet, and to be honest he'd totally sweated it out, even when he'd been excited about showing his copy of space. "How do you imagine it?" Lance asks, eyebrows raising slightly, "at least some secret nude photos and like Batman covers, something like that." Keith shrugs, "I'll show you my secret stash of photos, but first my cool room. Now, look past all the sleeping bags." Lance stops up outside his door, an 'L' half heartedly hanging on the door.

Lance opens the door, and it is like walking into a time capsule, there are Star Wars posters hung up on the blue walls, a bookshelf full of fantasy books and glow in the dark stars plastered just about everywhere. "Cuter than I ever imagined it," Keith says, stepping inside.

Even when there are just about eight sleeping bags in the room, it doesn't ruin the cute childhood vibes that Lance is receiving by standing in this room. Memories from all through his childhood running through his brain as he watches the different things that make up his room.

He loved everything about space when he was a kid, therefore the theme. Even when he got older, he still left his glow stars hanging on the wall, they simply hold too many memories to just peel off.

“Want to know about a thing I once read?”

“Come with it.”

Lance looks Keith up and down, a smirk spreading on his lips. “You are supposed to have sex in your childhood bedroom,” Lance says after some time, surging forward and entangling Keith in his arms. Keith’s loud laugh is muffled into Lance’s shirt, and with his foot, Lance closes the door.

Hands go down to grab sweet cheeks, and to Lance’s surprise Keith seeks out his lips. “I’ll let you have one thing, then.”

. . .

Keith walks into the tent five minutes after Lance, a smile on his face and two freshly made braids, reaching just a little under his shoulders. "Pretty boy," Lance smirks, turning off his phone to watch Keith close the tent and strip off his shorts. Keith makes a content sound as he stretches his arms up, reminding Lance how much he appreciates Keith's body. When the shirt rides up, it shows just a piece of the toned abs on Keith's stomach, which are only one part of his body that is toned. His calves, arms, and thighs -Lance swear, Keith could probably strangle Lance with his thighs if he wanted- are equally toned.

But beside this, Keith also has the softest curves.

He has a sharp dip by his waist where his hips broad out to follow down to magnificent thighs. Lance can't become luckier than he is.

"Tell me stories." Keith brings Lance's eyes away from the spot that was slowly making him fall into his own space. He gives his boyfriend a smile when their eyes meet. "I believe there must be some good ones," Keith continues, leaning closer and placing a kiss onto his jaw.

Lance falls back onto the blow-up mattress they're lying on, opening up his arms, to which Keith dives in with a chuckle. "Well, don't know if you'd figured yet, but I was a space kid by heart," Lance starts, "my biggest dream has always been seeing space, and I would tell all these visions to my family, how I would collect star dust and visit a planet such as Neptune." Lance grins at the memories, "My family always supported those dreams, so they'd do all these things to make me happy."

Lance tightens the hand on Keith's waist, "for example Anna would make homemade glow in the dark stars with me. Nathan would wait all night until the stars were the clearest, to look after shooting stars and constellations, and my mom and dad would always buy me tickets to my favorite movies about space and such," Lance states, laughing at those times. He remembers most of them clearly, he would buy watches just so he could set an alarm for the times there would be meteor showers or something, so he and Nathan could watch them. He and Anna who also had glow in the dark paint everywhere in weeks, making them look like fireflies when they were outside. No surprise, they went around singing 'Fireflies' all those weeks.

"Sounds amazing," Keith says, "it is, was. I sometimes hate that I wasn't home for most of Noah's younger years, I would have loved to do so many things with him, do what Nathan and Anna did with me." He can feel his eyes drop closed, a sigh escaping past his lips, don't get him wrong; he loves his life, he is where he is supposed to be and he knows that, but he misses his family, has since the first day they left for space. He has always been all in for his family, so it hurts him to see them grow up and pass on without him here to witness any of it. He didn't even get to see his own little brothers first day of school, and he has always loved Noah to pieces because suddenly he was a big brother.

"You know what? I and dad used to camp every summer, just us two somewhere in one of his favorite nature locations. Dad has always been such an outdoor man, and because I loved watching the stars, it was the perfect mix." Lance leans his head over onto Keith's, instantly calming him down for now. "We once accidentally placed our tent on some ants, it was not a pleasant time to be alive, God they can bite those small creatures!"

. . .

He can hear his uncle's loud voice announce he is still in the tent, and suddenly Lance has to square himself together to find out how to greet the family member who is about to pass through the tent doors.

Lance hates feeling like this. Years in space fighting all these kind of things, fights that leave behind scars physically and mentally, it tears on you. Lance has days. Days where things just don't hang well together, days where some things simply just don't make him feel well.

He despises himself for this because finally, he is at home with all his family, the family he has wished to see for over three and a half year, but he is now laying in this way too hot tent, feeling uncomfortable just at the thought of getting up. He's tired, he is drained and most of all, he is feeling empty.

The strength that he has gained over years, that doesn't help mentally. He knows he can handle these days, but usually, he has about six other people in the castle, not a whole family around him. Don't get him wrong, because God he could use a group hug, but loud noises freak him out, remind him of those times when fights don't go as planned and when they don't end happily ever after.

Curious eyes peek inside, and a heavy weight is lifted from Lance's chest when Keith's eyes meet his. This is a person who gets him, who he doesn't have to explain anything to because just like him, he has experienced these things too.

Keith doesn't say anything except stepping inside and slowly laying down beside Lance. He isn't touching and he is not trying to initiate it, Lance appreciates that he gives Lance the choice.

He turns onto his side, and moves close, closing his arms around Keith's middle and then letting his head fall into the crook by his neck. Keith responds calmly, turning around slightly and moving up his arms to cradle him closer, fingers running through his hair.

It's calm, it's familiar and it is Keith. It all together keeps Lance grounded.

"I'm hungry," Lance mumbles into soft skin, a chuckle meeting his statement. "Let's get some food then, there are bagels." Keith hugs him tighter, "okay." Lance untangles himself, trailing after Keith when they make their way out. His grip on Keith's hand is deadly, but he hopes it isn't too bad. "Morning sweetheart, finally able to get your legs moving?" His mom looks towards Lance, and the two make eye contact for a long time, his mom's eyes shifting with emotions. Her eyes go from his to Keith's and they stay there for some time, before she slowly returns her eyes to his, a soft smile on her face, but saddened at the edges.

"Bagel and orange juice?" Keith asks and Lance nods. It's quiet, even the younger ones in the kitchen seem to understand as they silently put Nutella on their bagel. His mom and Keith help each other make his food, working smoothly together just like were they one.

The eating part is also mostly silent, just except his dad turning on the radio once he steps inside, eyeing the silent crowd. Lance sees his mom send him glares, but he doesn't mind the music, it's silent and familiar.

He feels like everyone and everything is watching him, trying to understand and trying to not interfere. They look surprised and saddened like they can't really understand what is happening. Lance doesn't blame them, it's unlike his normal personality.

Keith cleans up afterward, placing it all away, before turning to him and taking his hand, "I need to activate myself," Lance states, tapping his finger on his thigh. The stares and the feelings all bolting up, he needs to move.

. . .

After two hours of running and a shower, both with Keith, Lance feels better, for a word of saying. He talked with his mom and dad about this, just to let them better understand. After that, he decided to go watch Noah and a few of his cousins play some new game, mostly looking and coming with small comments.

Mostly it saddens him that he has to feel like this when he is finally home, but for his family to understand how space is, they'll have to know this side too. Life works this way.

He follows after his cousins, who are all running down the stairs after having played the game enough, which means they got extremely bored when he stumbles into Louis -his young nephew from Nathan- and Tiana who are running around after each other. It's no surprise really, with so many kids running around this house, there is bound to be some grating on each other's nerves.

"Hey, you two," Lance bows down and with a small smile he picks the toy out of Tiana's hands, holding it out of reach for both. "We don't do these things, we share and play together." Both kids look at him with small scowls, but he brushes them off, instead leaning down and placing a kiss on each cheek on them both. It's not uncommon that they kiss each other's cheeks, Lance has actually missed the gesture.

They both groan, looking at Lance with the same scowl before their eyes catch something behind him. "Keith!" Tiana is loud, and Lance winces slightly. "Lance just made my cheek all wet by kissing it, tell him to stop almost licking me." Tiana crosses her arms, wiping her cheek. It makes Lance smile wider.

"Do you kiss Lance?"

"Time to time, I might," Keith says with a smirk. "Does he kiss your cheek too?" Tiana asks further on, "yes, all the time." Keith nods along. "Wet cheeks?" Louis latches onto Keith's leg, "yeah, he just licks it. Guess I have to really scold him, going around licking all our cheeks." Keith smirks again, but his eyes go soft when he looks at Lance and then the kids surrounding him.

Lance can feel his smile getting wider.

. . .

The next morning, Lance wakes up before Keith. He feels fresh, ready and good, so he gives Keith a peck into his hair, before emerging from the tent. The sun is up, but the grass is wet and the air still a little colder, so he will shoot at the time being around seven.

The kitchen door is stood open, and Lance skips inside to meet only his mom and oldest aunt, both mixing batters of some kind. "You're up early," his aunt says, dusting off her hands. "Just felt like waking up. Now, is there anything I can help with?" They both chuckle as they nod, "of course, you can start on the pancakes. Your dad is supposed to bring the melons in any minute, so I think I'll start on those," his mom answers happily, pushing her bowl of batter closer to him.

He grips the bowl and brings it with him towards the stove, where two pans are already put out, butter placed beside them on the counter.

Not long after he is starting on the first couple of pancakes, his dad sweeps into the kitchen holding one watermelon and two honing melons, both looking delicious. "You're up early," his dad states, "so you all keep saying, but what if perhaps you're all just up late." Lance receives three identical looks of humor, that makes him laugh out loud.

He works with the three of them smoothly, all of them talking excitedly along to all kinds of things. It goes from food to socks, and then from socks further on to wormholes. It's interesting, just like his family always is.

"Now tell me, son, what about Keith?" Lance looks towards his dad, who is preparing eggs, some to be boiled and others to be scrambled. "What about what?" Lance asks, this making his mom and aunt look up from their task of making buns. "You know what we mean, where do you stand?" His mom grins, "we stand strongly?" Lance asks, watching as they all roll their eyes and then send him raised eyebrows to continue.

"We're in a really good place, I mean we know how to handle our differences and to communicate, because of how we got along before we got together. I love him so much, and really I could probably go all bases, but we are good right now and we are taking it in our own tempo." Lance looks down at the pancakes, a smile forming on his face just at the thought of Keith.

His mom chuckles, "you're both so smitten."

. . .

It's later on, just around six and the fire is crackling outside. It's their last day here, and to be honest, Lance would love to stay here for at least a month, but five days is about what you can take out from your calendar when you have to defend the universe.

There is loud laughter from outside, and he can hear people screaming after marshmallows, chocolate and crackers, all getting comfortable around the big bonfire. He's inside, for now, trying to locate his old ukulele, so they could have some songs around the fire, just to bring it to the ultimate level.

He finds it after a good five minutes -his family has a lot of crap-, but afterward, he sprints downstairs, and out the door. Keith is sat beside Anna, them both wearing a sweatshirt, even when the weather is at a stable temperature. "Party is here, ready to get this signing going?" He raises up the instrument as he sits down beside Keith, who looks at it with intrigued eyes.

His dad is the first to suggest a song, a known classic by The Beatles; Let It Be.

His family sings along loudly as he plays the chords, watching everyone's reactions and eyes. Their emotions showing through both their eyes and their body language. Lastly, his eyes land on Keith, who is sat swaying along, while switching his eyes between the ukulele and everyone singing along, a wide grin on his lips.

The song is nearing its end, and to be completely honest Lance's eyes haven't moved from Keith for a long time. Keith raises his eyes up, and there they are, the single most beautiful eyes, containing colors from all over the universe. Lance can't help but lean in and meet Keith's lips, song stopping and Keith giving a surprised sound.

"Lance got distracted, good going Keith!"

Lance flicks off Nathan.

. . .

One thing that is truly the hardest, is saying goodbye to your family, never really knowing how it will look when you get back.

He got his goals achieved, he told his family every shenanigan he has so far had up in space and he told them about the love of his life. In return, they told him everything he didn't get to experience while he was out there.

He knows, his family probably won't ever really understand what he is doing, and to be honest he probably won't ever too. But what helps, is that they still support him and that he gets to see their smiles once in a while and that they get to see he is okay too, that they don't have to worry every day how he is, because he is just fine. He's told them where he is, where he'll be for some time, and yeah it was hard, but they know.

He cries for a long time when he says goodbye, he hugs people for minutes, the dark night getting darker and darker. Keith even cries some, when he says bye to his mom and dad -Lance knew he would get along amazingly well with them- and when he says goodbye to the young kids he has been running around playing tag with this whole visit, he gets tackled and kissed on the cheek along with Lance.

He might leave for years, but he knows that when he returns he'll have the same loving family on earth.

They promise after hours of goodbyes, to let them see the ship fly towards the sky, the last joke from Nathan -who says maybe it's just fake- and maybe because they all somehow also need some proof to keep on believing.

Lance helps Keith in, before placing himself in the passenger seat of the pod. Keith takes the steering wheels, and they let the engine start before they're descending high into the sky.

He's missed his other family just as much.

#klance fic #keith x lance #lance (voltron)#keith (voltron)#space gays #lance's family #lance's birthday #my scribbling

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some-cookie-crumbz · 7 years

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A Study in Relevancy

Title: A Study in Relevancy - Kidge Week Day 6 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Keidge Summary: AU-ish.Everyone is born with a mark on their arms of the words their soulmate will say to them when they realize that are in love with them. Pidge and Keith end up with some interesting phrases. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: Another prompt in which I totally cheated to fill it! Regardless, I think it turned out okay. Also, only did a quick pre-post read-through so it might still be a little rough.

It was her fifth birthday when her soul mark appeared, mere seconds after she’d blown out the candles on her cake. She felt the soft, tingling pressure of the words etching along her inner left arm, the sensation known from all the stories she’d been told from relatives and older children at school. It started at the bend of her elbow and shot straight down to her wrist, six words that shimmered a brilliant red that would be the definition to one of her more intimate relationships.

We could get arrested for this.

As far as marks went, she had certainly heard of worse, but that did nothing to quill her mild disappointment. She had been secretly hoping for something sweeping and romantic like her older brother, Matt – I have searched countless galaxies to find you – or even something more simple and practical but intimate like her father – Don’t forget your scarf this morning, Samuel – but instead she got something that only made her pout. Matt had found it hilarious, muffling his snorts behind his hand, while a look of concern flashed in her father’s eyes.

Only Colleen, matriarch of the Holt household, seemed at peace with it. She knelt beside her young daughter, pulling a small fabric arm guard from her pocket to cover up the mark as was custom, to protect against people using the phrase incorrectly. She tugged the arm guard over her daughter’s soul mark with one hand while the other tucked a loose strand of copper locks behind an ear, smiling fondly at her. “You know, darling, tone can make a world of difference,” She said simply. The young girl stared at her mother, turning the words over in her mind, before beaming back at her, optimism cranked back up to full volume.

“I wonder what will prompt it though! What kind of person do you think they’ll be, Mama? Do you think they’ll be a really fun adventurous person, or a stick in the mud grumpy pants?” She asked excitedly.

Colleen giggled. “Well, whichever it is, they’ll be someone who completes you; the yin to your yang, as it were,” She mused back. Her daughter flashed another cheeky grin before she shoved her arm out to show her new coverings up, reveling in the excited squeals and awe she received.

The interest and concern for the words on her arm would wane and dissipate for Katie Holt. The words would be wholly ignored to become Pidge Gunderson and enthralled in bigger concerns than soul mates and movie dates.

……………………………………………………………………..

He was a little over six years old when his soul mark appeared on a rainy night. He had been up in his room, playing with some toys, while his babysitter was making dinner for him downstairs. His parents had gone out for dinner and a movie that night. It was an odd, tingling sensation that made his right arm itch that caused him to perk up, blinking and tilting his head curiously at the dark green letters appearing on his skin, creeping down from his wrist towards his elbow. His brow knitted together and he made his way downstairs to the kitchen, keeping his eyes glued to the phrase on his arm.

If we both stick to the story, they can’t prove anything.

Angie, the friendly teenage girl from next door that had been charged with watching him that night, had tilted her head curiously as he walked out, saying nothing but simply holding his arm out at her. “What’s wrong, buddy? Did you get hurt?” She asked worriedly, moving to grab the first aid kit they kept in the cabinet by the sink.

“No, look,” He insisted quietly, scowling at her overreaction. She walked back over and blinked in surprise at the sight of the words.

“Huh, that’s certainly an interesting mark,” She said with a small laugh.

“Seems like trouble,” He said with a small scowl, the idea unappealing to him; he was, after all, a very good boy with good grades and good manners.

“Well, maybe they mean it like a joke or something,” Angie said, ruffling his hair and standing. She opted not to tell him what puberty and high school would most likely have in store for him – simply for the sake of his pride and innocence – and went back to stirring the macaroni. “I’m sure your parents will be thrilled when they see it. Now go wash up; dinner’s almost done. Then we’ll get that mark covered up until your parents get home.” He smiled a bit and nodded, heading off to do as he was told. His parents would certainly have an idea of what to expect, and would be thrilled he had finally gotten his mark.

That night, however, his parents never made it home. From that day forward, Keith Kogane kept his soul mark hidden under extra layers and gloves, not wanting to see the reminder of a message he never got to share with his parents.

……………………………………………………………………..

It started out as nothing more than casual interest on her part, really.

She found herself drawn in by the walking enigma that was Keith Kogane, Red Paladin and second in command of the team. She had watched him for a while before her curiosity caused her to start seeking him out and engaging with him. Their friendship was a bit of an odd one but she was grateful for it all the same because it was so drastically different than the ones she shared with the other Paladins. She appreciated the times she and Shiro spent one-on-one, but she couldn’t help but see him as a stand-in for Matt; whether due to her own hang-ups or intentional actions on Shiro’s part, she wasn’t sure. Hunk was someone she could talk shop with who could keep up with her, and Lance was someone she could banter and bicker at without any concern of genuine conflict arising. She had learned over the time they’d spent together that she and Keith had quite a bit in common, but the smaller nuances that made them different helped them from driving one another completely insane.

They were both stubborn and driven and passionate and extremely skilled. Where she was of a genius intellect and could reverse engineer whatever she needed or wanted from alien tech she didn’t know, he could find a way to make a weapon of nearly any item he came across as well as alter his fighting style to cover himself against an opponent. She had watched him once throw a giant boulder-beast three times his size that was created by the Galra over his shoulder by simply crouching low, taking advantage of the creature’s momentum, and implementing a particular grip on the creatures arms to send it. She had helped to teach him to do some basic repair and troubleshooting tactics in case Red got damaged and they were separated from the group, while he had helped her to fine-tune and develop her fighting style. Even further, she had learned that Keith tended to also get the nighttime need to lurk through the castle – typically aimlessly, though sometimes she had a destination in mind – and they would chatter about conspiracy theories or swap stories about their lives on Earth.

Getting to know Keith had left her feeling a sense of ease in his company, but the analyst in her was still hopelessly intrigued by him.

He was abrasive and a bit callous with the others – including her on a handful of circumstances - but he was always so eager to reassure his teammates of their value and worth. He bickered with each of them at different points, but he never let those feelings soil his ability to help them during combat or training. Everything about the guy just screamed lone wolf, but he was one of the most team-oriented people she’d ever met.

Which was probably why he was humoring her, Lance, and Hunk.

It had been Lance’s idea that the four of them sneak out of the castle base and visit an alien speak-easy on a planet about twenty minutes away. It was apparently in Galra-free air space from what the maps and readings told them. “And if you’re really worried about getting caught,” Lance said with a huge grin, “we can just all pile into Green and use the cloaking upgrade.”

“All of this to go to some club?” Keith asked, raising a brow and shifting his weight to one hip.

Lance looked at him incredulously before letting out a small laugh. “Do you hear this guy? Some club he says!” He laughed. Hunk looked a bit uneasy about the whole thing, as if he himself wasn’t fond of the idea of going, but the poor boy simply couldn’t deny Lance anything. “Look, it’s been forever since the last time we went out and just had some fun! Don’t be a buzz kill, Kogane!”

“Well why don’t the three of you just go without me, then?” Keith retorted evenly.

It was at this point that Pidge chimed in, waving one hand to get his attention. “Are you really going to trust these two to stay in a group? Remember what happened last time the three of us bailed out?” She asked calmly.

The mortified look on Keith’s face was all the answer he had to offer before pointing toward the hanger, pincheing the bridge of his nose lightly.

It was Lance that was able to get them into the club, using his power of persuasion on the burly, warthog-esque creature serving as the bouncer at the door. Inside, the place was dimly lit by a bunch of odd, glowing growths all along the ceiling and walls that reminded her some of mushrooms. The whole place seemed to be made of bamboo, though, so the idea of fungus of some sort growing on it didn’t seem too far out of the realm of plausibility. The DJ – what seemed to be an upright capybara with an hour-glass shape in a sequined gold dress - was playing loud, thrumming music that was similar to the techno beats Pidge used to listen to back on Earth, only with a weird effect on them that sounded identical to the ones old sci-fi movies used during big dramatic movements. It would be hard to dance to – well, unless you were Lance, since he could dance to literally anything – so she made her way over to the bar along the back wall. Keith was a few paces behind her, keeping a gaze over his shoulder at Hunk and Lance as they joined the odd collection of dancers out on the floor.

“I’ll never understand why you insist on tagging along for these sorts of things,” He commented as they got settled in two bar chairs.

“Because it’s kinda nice. You know, getting out and enjoying the culture,” She said, waving around them with one hand. He flashed her a deadpan look and she merely shrugged, spinning around to the bar tender, flagging him over. “What I always find more interesting, though, is how easy it is to convince you to join us.”

He leaned his back and elbows against the bar, watching the crowd. As to whether or not he could actually still see Hunk and Lance, she wasn’t sure, but watching the reckless grinding and movements was at least something. “Is that what you think?”

She grinned and held off on answering as the bartender walked over. He was another warthog creature – much like the bouncer – but he seemed slightly more approachable than the other one. Probably because his tusks were slightly smaller than the one at the door, honestly. “What do you have on tap that’s good?” She asked happily.

He grunted, looking her up and down, before scowling slightly. “Ya got some kinda identification on ya, sweetheart?” He asked, leaning one of his hoofed hands against the bar top while indicating a sign posted above the shelf full of alien liquor with the other. Pidge couldn’t understand a word of it – written in some foreign language – and leaned a bit closer, tip-toing her fingers up along one of his tusks.

“Aw, you can let it slide this once, can’t you? With my line of work, having an ID isn’t really necessary,” She said, trying her best to make her voice sound like a playful coo.

Keith was watching her with a look that seemed to be a mix of disbelief and disgust.

The bartender grunted again. “Look, girlie, no ID, no drinks. Simply as that. If a lil’ thing like ya wants somethin’ ta drink, there’s a juice joint about three asteroid belts back,” He said evenly, starting to move back.

Big mistake.

Pidge wrapped her hand tight around his tusk and tugged hard, hauling his whole upper body on top of the bar. He looked at her in shock but she kept the pleasant smile on her face. “Look, Buster Brown,” She said, keeping her tone sickeningly sweet, jerking her thumb to herself and then Keith, “me and my pal here spend most of our time kicking ass and taking names in colorful mechanical lions. And, sadly, they don’t exactly offer badges or key cards for the Paladins of Voltron. Now how about you play nice and just hook us up with some drinks? I mean, unless you want Voltron to ignore this sorry shack when Zarkon and his goonies come knocking.”

The mention of Voltron seemed enough to jolt the guy into full attention, his hoof halting in reaching for the security buzzer under the bar. His eyes flickered from her to Keith, clearly seeking some kind of reassurance that she was bluffing. Keith, having gained a better understanding of when he should stand down, held up his hands. “Look, pal, Voltron kinda relies on all the Paladins and Lions being on the same page. And if she doesn’t want to Green Lion, we can’t make her Green Lion,” He said calmly before turning his attention back to the dancers. Pidge grinned proudly at Keith.

Good man.

The bartender let out a small sigh, realizing this was a fight he wasn’t going to win, and moved to stand upright. Pidge let him, but kept her grip on his tusk, just in case. “What galaxy are you drinking from?” He asked flatly, dusting off his shirt with his other hoof.

“Milky way, if you could. Jameson on the rocks for me, and a gin and tonic for my friend,” She said happily, releasing his tusk. She settled back in before reaching up and switching the dial on the choker communicators she’d made for them. Their Paladin helmets came with automatic translators and, using some spare parts around the castle ship, she had developed some choker necklaces with small ear buds for when they weren’t in their Paladin gear. It was rare that they used them, but they were certainly helpful.

Keith imitated her actions, switching the translator off as well, and looked at her with an amused smirk. “The way you flirt is shameful,” He said playfully.

She laughed as the bartender set their drinks down, nodding her head at him in appreciation and taking a small sip of her drink. The tender grumbled something, but it all came out as muffled pig sounds. It was strong – meaning the tender could mix a good drink – and she hummed in approval. “It gets results, doesn’t it?”

“You aren’t even the legal drinking age on Earth,” He retorted, taking a sip of his own drink.

“I’m out here risking my tail day in and day out trying to find my family and protect the universe; I think getting drunk a year before I’m legally allowed to is the least the universe can offer me,�� She said with a smug grin. She then held up her drink towards him.

“You are one strange young lady, Pidge Gunderson,” He said with a laugh, lightly clinking their glasses together. She dipped her head politely, opting to take his words as a compliment, and sipped her drink again.

They fell into casual chatter for a while after that, the alcohol leaving her mind a little fuzzy and her body tingling with false warmth. They made up wild, insane backstories for the other patrons of the club and bar as the night progressed, each story getting more ridiculous than the last. She leaned into his space and grinned, pointing at an alien with a fly for a head but the body of a man. “See that guy right there? He’s involved in some seriously shady shit,” She whispered conspiratorially.

“Oh, I am well aware. He’s into smuggling rare, exotic goods,” He whispered back, his own tone just as eager and giddy as hers.

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

He shifted so that they were facing each other, his expression grim, before he uttered gravely, “Peanuts.”

“He’s a monster,” She managed to force out in a calm tone before she completely lost it, throwing her face into her arms on the bar top and cackling like a madman. It was so stupid, really, and made no sense for her to laugh so hard, but for some reason it got to her. Maybe it was just a side effect of the alcohol but she liked it.

He opened his mouth to say something else, snorting a bit himself, before a commotion out on the dance floor caught his attention. She wiped at one eye with the heel of her hand and followed his gaze, eyes widening as they watched what appeared to be Hunk – sweet, gentle, Mr. Sunshine Hunk Garrett – getting into a huge brawl with two other patrons.

She hopped off the barstool, bayard in hand, without needing any further assessment.

She lassoed one of Hunk’s attackers with her bayard and heaved, sending him spinning in the direction of the bar. He crashed into it, leaving a sizable divot in the counter, and the bar tender glared at her. She flashed a sheepish grin and waved before she saw Keith charging after her, his own bayard drawn. “Pidge, duck and roll!” He snapped strictly.

Without looking back, she followed the order, rolling to his side as the blade made contact with the arm of the second assailant. These aliens were strange in that it seemed they could form weapons with their bodies; what had certainly been a limb mere seconds ago was now curved and twisted into something resembling a battle axe. Keith twisted himself, ducking under the blade-arm, and slammed the curved handle of his bayard right into the other’s gut, causing him to wheeze and stumble back unsteadily. He then turned himself around the guy’s back, shoving him in Pidge’s direction. With a small smirk, she readied her bayard again and wrapped it tight around their opponent, skirting around him to rejoin with Keith. He placed one hand on a portion of the whip, the other set on her back to help steady her – his own bayard returned to its holster on his hip - and added his own strength to help send the second assailant slamming into his buddy – whom had been scrambling back to his feet with an enraged snarl - over by the bar.

The added force sent both of them back through the same hole Pidge had created before and right into an entire rack of various alien booze.

She stared for a moment before smirking up at Keith, breathing in softly. His eyes were bright and shining in a mix of smug satisfaction and weary anticipation for retaliation. He was just a bit sweaty from the brief skirmish, but she was certain she probably wasn’t much better so pointing it out seemed hypocritical. She was hyper-aware of his hand on her back – warm and reassuring and steady – and his other hand slowly released the chord of her bayard so she could retract it. Once his hand was removed, she sent an electric shock down the line, just to add insult to their opponent’s injury. She beamed up at the raised brow she received. “Figured I’d just drive home the point that they just got annihilated,” She mused proudly.

He laughed and shook his head, his smile sparking a warmth in her chest that she couldn’t quite explain. It had happened a few times in the past few months, but she hadn’t put much thought to it. “We could get arrested for this,” He commented conversationally, leaving her winded for a second.

Suddenly her sense of peace when around him – how conversing and falling into rhythm with him came so damn naturally after their initial meeting – made a lot more sense.

Lance suddenly started barking at them, indicating the club bouncers on their way to most likely detain the four of them until authorities could be brought in to arrest them. It wouldn’t have been the first time the four of them had been thrown in space jail – which, in itself, was strange considering she expected their positions as Paladins of Voltron to place them beyond reproach by any non-Galran space legal system, but, as their previous six arrests proved, they weren’t – and would likely be stuck there for some time, given Shiro had made it clear last time that he would not be bailing them out if they pulled stupid, arrest-worthy shenanigans again. She pushed Keith’s words to the back of her mind and looked around, spotting a glowing neon sign on the other end of the club. She couldn’t understand it, but there were some universal truths that crossed into the cultures of other species in the many galaxies; one of those universal truths being that most establishments had some sort of emergency exit.

“Gentlemen, I believe that’s our sign to jump ship!” She snapped, pointing in the direction of the sign. Lance led Hunk by one arm while the other hand pressed a handkerchief against his bloody nose – which, she realized, she’d need to ask about later, because Hunk was the last person she expected to go picking fights at an intergalactic club – and Keith followed after her, running with his head tilted slightly to keep an eye on the bouncer’s, his bayard returning to his hand. She clutched tighter at her own, just in case they ended up needing to fight.

Luckily enough, Green was already waiting for them right outside the exit, having picked up on Pidge’s distress. She grinned up at the mechanical cat as she dropped her head and opened her mouth to the Paladins. Pidge paused and gently patted one of the large, metal fangs in her mouth. “Good girl, Green,” She beamed warmly before following the rest of her group into the cockpit to take her place at the controls. They were taking off just as the bouncers came rushing out after them, their expressions a mix of awe and horror at the sight of a Lion of Voltron. Pidge smirked in satisfaction before glancing back at the others.

Hunk was silent while Lance started prattling on and lecturing him – the irony of the situation so potent that Pidge could practically taste it – while Keith pulled out the first aid kit. They’d started keeping first aid kits in their Lions after an incident where Lance broke his arm after being separated from the others, and had been unable to properly reset the bone and treat the wound. They’d found him before the damage was irreversible but the team agreed it’d be good to have supplies on hand for such a situation. Keith was silent as he settled in across from Hunk, indicating with a calm wave of his hand that he drop the handkerchief and let him examine the damage. She glanced briefly at her arm where she knew those same words he’d said earlier were still etched along her skin.

Her heart thrummed at the thought of the words, but she swallowed to push the feeling down. She had other concerns that took priority over taking the plunge of acknowledging her soul mate. She’d wait a bit longer – try and gauge if Keith had the same epiphany as she had already – and then she’d confront him with the words on her arm. She’d already waited this long to find her soul mate, a little longer certainly wasn’t going to hurt anything.

……………………………………………………………………..

He wasn’t sure when he came to trust Pidge more than the other Paladins, but he could at least rationalize it.

She could be just as stubborn and impulsive as he was – the other Paladin most likely to enable his bad behavior - but she was also a bit more methodical and tactical with her acts of blatant mutiny. He could come to her with a half-assed idea of something to do that would most certainly get them in trouble with Shiro, Allura and Coran later, and she would help him weave it into a beautiful symphony of civil disobedience. Her plans were a contradiction of themselves that he couldn’t help but admire; always well-crafted and tight-knit, but somehow also risky and dangerous enough to keep him piloting Red by the seat of his pants.

This particular scheme was probably his favorite of hers to date.

He had needed time away from the castle ship to clear his head after their most recent run-in with the Galra on the planet they were stationed. They had spent three straight days battling them off from their vice-grip on the world, brought there after the Galra hacked into their communication line and broadcasted their heinous attack on the innocent people they had enslaved. The crimes committed against the denizens of the planet had left him sick with a fury he hadn’t felt in a while and he felt like chasing the Galra off wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted to land a bigger blow on the Galra; something to warn them that they would suffer if they ever took a tactic like that again.

He had stumbled across a Galra medical base on an asteroid not far off from the planet in question and the thought of tracking down the leader of the troops – Harthor or something along those lines – and making him pay sounded like a brilliant idea. Red urged him to rush in and annihilate everything he could, the mechanical beast always eager and ready for a fight, but he hesitated. If he wanted to be successful, he needed to go about this the right way.

He returned to the castle ship and made a beeline for the opposite side of the hanger from Red’s spot, knowing that Pidge would be there. She hadn’t even bothered to change out of her Paladin gear before starting up on the honey-do list of repairs and reprogrammings she’d have to be getting on for the Lions after such a long battle. She perked up when he rushed in, an easy grin turning up on her lips, seeming to read his purpose without needing more information than his expression. “Find something interesting out there, I take it?” She mused, leaning one elbow on her table and cupping her chin with that hand.

He grabbed one of the many spare chairs they kept around – in case of situations such as this, where Pidge or Hunk had company while they worked – and dragged it over. He turned the chair so the back was facing her and sat down, leaning his chest against the back support and resting his crossed arms on the top of the back. “Found a Galra medical bay,”

That seemed to catch her interest even more. She sat upright and turned her chair to fully face him. “How far off?”

“Less than ten miles off, but more than five; probably between seven and six, if I were to wager a guess,”

“You see Commander Harthor’s ship docking in?”

“It was already docked in, but he’s totally there,”

“Have you told any of the others?”

“And have to listen to a lecture from Shiro about not whacking the hornets’ nest? No, thank you,” He scoffed lightly. She snickered a bit. “I came to you immediately. I knew you wouldn’t tell me this wasn’t a good idea.”

Her grin turned wicked as she pushed her chair back away and she headed toward a large bin filled with various tech bits. Pidge would scavenge about the battlefield after a victory, scrounging up anything she could salvage or repurpose to fit her fancy. Lance claimed that she was like a mutant hybrid between a crow and a vulture – constantly pilfering the remains of this or that, while also hoarding what she found, regardless of its usefulness – and, while Keith did occasionally take issue with her pick-up habit, he couldn’t help but find it incredibly practical, too.

Especially when it was being implemented to help him with a less-than-Paladin-worthy endeavor.

He assisted her with the next hour of work that was put into developing a small bomb; a sticky-bomb, as she called it. They had collected other things from their various travels through the multiple galaxies and worlds; some for the benefit of the team, and others because the indigenous people insisted gifts be given to their saviors. One of the things that had been particularly useful was the sap from the trees on a planet inhabited by insect people. It was thick and stuck as well as gorilla glue, making it quite helpful in repairs – also, as Hunk had learned, boiling it down and mixing it with this pseudo-sugar cane they had could make a lovely glaze for his rendition of cinnamon rolls – but it had a few other interesting qualities. When mixed with a pinecone-esque item from a nearby planet and given a wick it could become quite the impressive little bomb.

He couldn’t help but feel somehow relaxed in her taking on the task without questioning him on why he wanted to take further action. She seemed to understand better than the others what it was like when you felt like something still needed to be set right – most likely due to her own long-held grudge against their enemies and the Garrison back on Earth – and didn’t judge him for being spiteful. Shiro insisted that he could never continue being successful like that. Lance called it petty and, while Hunk never said anything out loud, he was certain that Hunk was intimidated by how vicious Keith could get. But Pidge? Pidge knew how that felt and knew that nothing would alleviate the feeling but doing something about it. She could take his desire and passion to help sate that fury inside of him by partnering it with her intellect and ingenuity and creating something that would make their enemies quake in fear of crossing them.

Pidge wrapped the pinecone up in the honey, making sure to attach the wick before closing it all up, with the help of some special gloves that she and Hunk had designed specifically for handling the material in a more hands-on way. She had then hooked it up in a small, hovering capsule with a make-shift lighter attached to the top. She grabbed a few more things – which she shoved unceremoniously into a bag – and then led him out. “How much recon did you do when you got out there?” She asked while adjusting the strap on her shoulder.

“Not much; I found the place, ignored Red telling me to charge ahead, and came back to get you,” He said as he kept up with her. She had grown quite a bit from when they first met, but she was still a good amount shorter than him and keeping pace with her was a relatively easy feat; when she wasn’t actively trying to get away, that was.

“Well, we’re gonna need to find a good hiding spot. One that is preferably more than 800 feet away, but no more than 850,” She said simply, skidding to a stop in front of Red. She grinned up at the giant metal feline. “To think she still wants to go roaring into battle before I have the chance to get her back in tip-top shape is almost impressive.”

Keith smirked himself, Red’s irritation at the comment nudging the back of his consciousness. “What would you call it instead of impressive, then?”

“I’d call it completely immature and stupid. Then again, it is you two I’m talking about, so it really can’t be helped,” She mused back with a smirk.

Regardless of the slight, Red dropped her head and opened her maw to them. “And what does that make you, oh wise one?” He laughed lightly as he followed her in. The name calling between he and Pidge was different than he and Lance; they knew where to draw the line with each other, never skirting over from playful to malicious.

She turned on her heels to grin at him, placing one hand to her chest gently. “That makes me the mature, responsible adult coming along to make sure you don’t get your sorry ass locked up in Galra-jail,” She laughed before finishing the twirl and continuing into the cockpit. He laughed outright at that comment, seeing through it as the flimsy excuse that it was. He settled in at the controls as she resumed the finishing touches on her little project, explaining her full plan to him as they went.

The bomb was inside a capsule that would be able to hover and travel on to the ship without detonating, and that could be controlled remotely. She had tossed one of the many control pads that they had around the ship and would simply repurpose it to control the drone as opposed to whatever it was originally meant to. The small lighter-esque fixture she had attached to the top of the capsule wouldn’t light until the capsule itself was split in half, given that this little bomb was quick to light and just as quick to go off. “There’ll be a small camera on it that you’ll be able to have on the screen so you can see where you’re going. Once you get the little fella settled with our good buddy Harthor, just click the detonation button and poof!” She said, making the sound effect and flailing her hands in the air to help illustrate her point.

He knew he shouldn’t be as thrilled as he was about the prospect of seriously maiming or killing someone, but after what he’d seen over the last few days, he figured he could be allowed this one instance of malicious joy. “And what do we tell the others when we get back after this whole thing?”

“We tell them that we simply went out to do a perimeter check or something,” She shrugged.

“We need something a little more concrete than that,” He pointed out. He knew Shiro would grill them when he found out what they’d done – and he had no doubt that Shiro would find out, somehow, some way –and he’d look for any differences to give him more concrete proof of their guilt.

“Okay, then we tell them that we were still a little unnerved after the battle,” She sighed heavily, flopping over to lay on her back on the bottom of the cockpit. He snickered at her but she ignored him. “I was getting frustrated over how much work I was going to have to do fixing all the Lions and you figured that going out to fly around space might help me mellow out some. Green was still too beaten up from the fight, though, and I didn’t want her overdoing it, so we went in Red. We were minding out own business when we heard the bomb go off, spotted that it was a Garla medical bay, and then high-tailed it back to the base. We can ditch all of this stuff that I brought with us out in space and then have Red blow it into itty-bitty space dust so there’s no physical evidence, either. That sound better?”

“Do you really think that’ll work?” He asked, pulling up to a small asteroid within the parameters Pidge had given him to work with.

She looked up at him with a smug grin, eyes sparking with mischief and excitement at the thought of a challenge. “If we both stick to the story, they can’t prove anything,” She said lightly before sitting back up and pulling out the pad again.

Keith’s stomach flipped at the words, suddenly sending him back to the kitchen of his childhood home again. His right arm twitched, the words seeming to spark back to life at being said out loud, and he felt a small smirk turn up on his lips. He certainly hadn’t expected this, but he wasn’t necessarily complaining; it certainly explained the strange thoughts he’d been plagued with about her on some nights. It was comforting to have a feeling to tether it to. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand, deciding he’d talk to her about the words once they got back to the castle.

Or, more correctly, they’d talk after the punishment training Allura subjected them to after learning of what they’d done.

#Voltron legendary defender #Keidge #Kidge #Peith #Pidge Gunderson #Keith Kogane #my fics

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