#sky! lotor

[embersofhopevoltron]

I was in a bit of a Lotor mood 😈🤣

The thoughtful stance from the wise grandparent (season of Belonging) I think suits him best of the various poses. The purple flag from season of Rhythm made me think of the galra/altean alliance he started with Allura/voltron, the pumpkin crab headpiece is moreso a nod to AJ’s spoop art, the bunny is just to be cute lol and then lastly the krill-cat, Kova. 🤭🤔

[punkeropercyjackson]

Gwen and Hobie are LITERALLY in-text everything 'female fantasy' girlies have said they want from m/f ships for years.Slightly older boy,boy towers over girl,edgy punk x kiddy pastel,him as the alternative love interest to the goody two shoes male mc,deep connection,nonstop support to eachother,him saving her from her abusive situation,so much casual cheesy flirtatious banter.And yet they don't touch it with a ten foot pole.And i know damn well it's because Hobie is black so they don't see him as capable of good romantic partnership and they don't think Gwen is canonically trans either,much less headcanon her black as she should be which falls into it too.Absolutely in-fucking-sufferable

[jaelynb]

Bunch o art from like, 2 years ago that I forgot existed.

Ive been feeling pretty incompetent lately artwise. I miss the interest i used to have. But looking at this stuff just reminds me of what ive already done. Its not a skill issue, its an inspiration/mood issue.

Some of this is fanart some is original stuff, some is fan characters.

[awesomesauce-abbie]

Braving the storm

Word Count: 991

TW: None

A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing for Lotor and my first time writing for over a year so please feel free to leave any constructive criticism and let me if you enjoyed the post! Requests are closed as I can’t guarantee I’ll be posting frequently.

You and Prince Lotor had landed on an unknown jungle planet in hopes of finding food and shelter. The sinclince ship was fine but not exactly comfortable and your food supplies were nonexistent, purchasing them from a civilised planet was out of the question now that Lotor was labelled a traitor to the Galra Empire. His generals had abandoned him but not you, your loyalty to the prince was unshakable and was your love for him even if it was possibly unrequited. Lotor was a brilliant fighter and an even better strategist who unlike most Galra had a heart and cared about the lives of others including the lives of the planets he once conquered. He was so different from his monster of a father and was now wanted dead because of it. How lonely he must be you thought to yourself, even if your heart was broken you were glad to have stayed by his side.

You were distracted from your thoughts as Lotor approached you. “Here, it's not much but you should eat” The Galran prince held out a large unusual-looking fruit, it looked like an apple but it was the size of a melon, square-shaped and cobalt blue. “Thank you, sir” you smiled politely and took the fruit. “Oh come now, it's just the two of us. There is no need for titles” Lotor chuckled before taking a bite out of his space apple. “Sorry, I’m not used to addressing you so formally si-Lotor” you quickly corrected yourself, something that Lotor didn’t miss. He chuckled again, the noise was music to your ears. It was so rare for him to have a genuine smile let alone a real laugh, you committed the sound to memory lest you never heard it again. You had been staring at him for a few minutes now as you quietly munched on your fruit, you looked up to the sky and immediately frowned. The clouds, which had been white and fluffy less than an hour ago, were now a dark grey. “Looks like we’ll have a storm tonight” you muttered miserably “yes, we’ll have to find some kind of shelter. The sincline ship aren’t exactly comfortable but I did spot a small cave not far from here, it should be satisfactory for tonight.”

You both finished your food which was surprisingly filling despite its small size before gathering the few supplies you had and headed to the cave. It was small but it was dry and on higher ground so there was little chance of getting flooded. Lotor made a small fire just as the rain started but then there was the sound you dreaded most. Booming thunder, you thought your eardrums were about to burst. The horrid sound made you jump and you covered your ears just as the sky was lit up by a flash of lightning. You were shaking like a leaf, oblivious to the worried stares Lotor was giving you. The rain pounded on the roof of rock and the thunder only seemed to be getting louder, it wasn’t long before you were trembling and on the verge of tears. Lotor moved over to you and carefully placed a hand on your shoulder, you flinched at his sudden touch but looked up at him. Before he could get another word in, the thunder boomed again and you practically jumped into Lotor’s arms. He held you tightly for a few moments, a soft smile on his face. “It’s alright darling, you’re safe here with me” he said soothingly almost in a whisper before using one hand to cover an ear and pulled you into his chest. His gloved hand offered more protection from the storm, you focused on his heartbeat as you found it soothing and soon enough the calming rhythm lulled you to sleep.

When you woke the next morning, Lotor still had his arms wrapped around you. The storm passed, the sun shined brightly in the morning sky and it was a peaceful start to the day. You tried to sit up without waking him up but your efforts were in vain. He opened his eyes with a tired groan and looked over at you with a small smile. “Good morning, sleep well?” He asked, sitting up and moving away to give you space. You tried not to show the sadness on your face as you nodded. “I did thanks to sir, I appreciate what you did for me.” Lotor smirked at you “I told you to drop the titles or do you not remember? Never mind that I’m glad I was able to help you brave the storm and I will happily do it again for you.” Your heart pounded as he moved closer to you, any closer and you’re sure he would be able to hear your heartbeat. “T-that’s very generous of you Lotor” You smiled bashfully as you looked down to avoid his gaze. He reached out and cupped your chin in his hand and lifted your head up. “It’s the least I can do for the person who stolen my heart” he leaned in and kissed you. It was soft, delicate, you thought you were still asleep and having the most wonderful dream but you opened your eyes as Lotor’s warm lips were on your own. He pulled away shortly after, the kiss had been real and it had been perfect.

“You stole my heart long ago, my precious starlight but with so many eyes on us I feared that you would be in danger if you ever discovered how I truly feel about you. You understand don’t you?” Lotor was anxious as he asked but all you could do was smile. “Of course I understand, Lotor your heart isn’t the only that was stolen” you chuckled, his face broke out into a grin as he kissed you once more and you knew that you could brave any storm with Lotor at your side.

[jiveyuncle]

For a fic that only exists in my head ✨

Galtean Klance AU that leads to the rise of the Galra Empire

Plot:

Alteans are wary. The Galrans first arrive as refugees, learning and studying under the Alteans after they drained their own home planet dry. A generation has settled and integrated in with Altean society, and Galrans find themselves being accepted into positions of power.

Keith trains to become a part of the royal guard, butting heads with another loud, charming Altean trainee - Lance - who eventually becomes Allura’s personal guard. When a marriage is arranged between the princess and Lotor, Keith is assigned to protect Lotor, becoming the first Galran to achieve royal guard status.

While experimenting with Quintessence, Honerva glimpses a future in which the Galrans nearly wipe out the Alteans. Lotor brings this to Princess Allura’s and King Alfor’s attention, but they refuse to send the Galra away. "To do so would be a death sentence for them." "To keep them is a death sentence for us." "Based on what? Things that haven't happened? A people that have hurt us none?" Lotor decides that, in order to save his people, a sacrifice must be made.

Lotor arranges a private meeting with King Alfor regarding the marriage arrangement between Allura and himself. Before Keith can excuse himself from the room, Lotor snatches the blade from Keith’s hip and kills the king. Keith turns on Lotor.

Allura and Lance arrive to find the King dead via blade wound and Keith about to kill Lotor - the man he was assigned to protect - with the very same bloody blade. Keith is successfully set up. The Galra are not to be trusted. Tensions and mistrust between Alteans and Galrans sky rocket, and war breaks out a few days later, setting into motion the future that Honerva warned against. A very messy rivals to lovers to enemies to lovers

[mullettaegi]

i know the galra had ten thousand years and unlimited resources to build up their defences and offences, to create an insane amount of weapons, to do evil experiments, and rule far across the universe, but HOW does it go from voltron being the defender of the universe, the most powerful weapon in the universe, something that zarkon has been hunting after for ten thousand years, something that made sendak (a very strong galra commander who would not let anyone stand in his way, according to himself) gasp and RUN.

yes he didnt fully run away but he retreated; he watched his battle cruiser get blown to fucking pieces, and remember this is the first time the paladins formed voltron. there was no sword. it was like their second or third time flying in their lions, and the only one that has had consistent flight simulations and training for however long is lance, and even then i think we saw him struggle to strategise a battle plan when going after the yellow lion with hunk because we heard him say he would cover hunk, we saw him carry that out but then get overwhelmed by the galra fighters in the air and take off after them.

hes a damn good pilot, and they all are, especially in the lions, but this is on a next level to what they could've been training for at the garrison.

so, this takes me to my point, why in the fucking world was voltron so fucking nerfed in the later seasons. like yes i dont want an easy win for voltron every battle, yknow, its about them working together as a team, its about voltron not always being the solution (aka when its better for them to split off into lions while they strategise), its about them actually coming up with strategies instead of just going in voltron first and hoping for the best.

its been a while since i watched the later seasons but rn im mostly thinking of atlas. like it just doesnt really make sense to me tbh? to build the atlas, yes, its essentially a replacement for the castleship, a place for a team to watch voltron from the sky, provide back up, but then to have it form into a voltron-esque robot ??? i just dont think thats where they should have taken it.

im glad for the castle of lions to take an important role in some episodes, where again the answer lies outside of JUST voltron, but it doesnt really make sense to build another giant robot.

it kind of takes away the development the paladins are supposed to go through as well, to work together better and stronger as a team thus opening up more weapons from voltron and learning how to fight in different ways.

idk i think the entire thing was kinda over-thought at the end as they were trying to keep the show going, but missing some of the other storylines they could've gone down, (black paladin lance, lotor redemption arc (which he did seemingly have but all along they planned to throw that in the bin), the team coming together as friends more often developing their bond as voltron but also as people, the team seeing their families again, not killing off shiro's FUCKING CANON BOYFRIEND IN A STUPID FUCKING SHITTY WAY ADAM DIDNT DESERVE TO DIE YALL ARE JUST COWARDS, and also the team kinda reflecting back to how they were jn the beginning and realizing they have grown (i say the team but i mostly mean lance and hunk because the writers just did not give two shits about them they really didnt get the chance to become fully thought out characters, they just had some insecurities and interests that were ignored until convenient then ignored again)).

[acherontia-art]

I have a very comfort and warm scene in my head.

Lotor has landed his flagship on some planet, whether it's to check tech-status or just to give the crew a rest. Xasthur wants him to go up to the roof of the ship. Lotor is naturally surprised. Xasthur asks him in great surprise smth like "Haven't you ever done that before? It's just wonderful to sit there and look up at the sky and feel the warm breeze? Have you been missing this opportunity all this time?" Lotor never even thought about it, because he was always busy planning and doing things, I like to think that he even doesn't know how to rest. At such pit-stops, he allowed the girls do whatever they wanted and Lotor himself was up to his neck in work.

The only time he affords himself to rest is on the planet I drew before, the blue-grass one with yellow sparkles, Lotor comes there alone once a year (where Xas and Lotor later had their "first date", I'll tell you about it later if you're interested!). Xasthur, on the other hand, is trying to enjoy his freedom as much as he can after his first escape from Zarkon's flagship, and even before he met Lotor he often went for walks if he wasn't busy working for someone as a mercenary, climbing to high places and just relaxing.

They go up to the ship's roof and sit down next to each other and for the first time Lotor realizes how beautiful it is.

I'M DYING IT'S SO COMFORTABLE

[lilflowerpot]

Hey there Flower! I hope all is well with you and that you’re having a wonderful day💜 I wanted to send in an ask because I recently had this realization and did some research and found out that the act of crying is a “uniquely human trait”. This got me thinking if the galra cry too? Let me explain a bit, so as far as I know other animals are capable of shedding tears but it’s not an emotional response so much as there might be something wrong/in their eyes.

We’ve seen that alteans can cry! But I wonder about the galra because I don’t believe we’ve seen any of them cry (not even Krolia).

I wasn’t sure if you’ve been asked this before or not and I tried my best looking to see if you have but the only post I saw relating was about the differences in galra/human anatomy and it did mention their eyes!

So with this information…can galra cry as an emotional response? If they can’t, what’s their reaction to humans doing it?

(Also please correct me if I’m wrong for any of the statements I made! I’m also aware that you’ve mentioned before that we will be seeing “Lotor tears” in the future of LB but we could say that he’s able to cry because of his altean half?)

Okay so first of all I love you for diligently scouring my blog to see if I'd already answered this question (I have not) your consideration is greatly appreciated ♡

Secondly, while I was aware than humans are the only known organism that cry from emotion, and we do indeed know that Alteans can cry as proven by s1ep09, I hadn't really considered whether or not the galra are a species were in the same boat,,, only that Lotor himself has to be because not only did I have him become teary-eyed in the most recent chapter—

“Is that enough?” the question scrapes ragged and ruinous against the silence that surrounds them. “Truthfully,” the prince admits, “I do not know.” and, with a start, Keith realises that summer-sky eyes are near as glassy as his own, “Though, if anything is to be your downfall, would you not rather it be love?” - Little Blade, chapter 24

—but I have Plans™ for his future that demand it.

That being said, when I think about it, it really doesn't make an awful lot of sense for the galra to cry from emotion due to Daibazaal having been such an arid planet that any unnecessary loss of fluid would have been a distinct evolutionary weakness for them, and so would likely have been evolved out (if ever it was something they were capable of in the first place). This, of course, begs the question: what displays of sorrow/emotional distress do the galra have?

As a direct result of this ask, I've once again expanded upon my galra body language post, adding to the "bad noises" bullet point:

Though they cannot cry tears as humans do, the galra expression of grief is—according to those who've heard it—one of the most harrowing sounds in the known universe; the drehvi is a distinctly mournful vocalisation unique to the galra people, taking the form of a raw, guttural, bellowing wail that stems from deep within the chest cavity and can be heard from up to half a league away.

If you can imagine the noise a bear might make upon suffering a sudden but mortal wound, and that sound echoing across an otherwise silent valley devoid of all life,,, that would be the drehvi.

So........... on that not-at-all-heartbreaking note, you also asked for the galra reaction to humans crying, which I am going to keep much lighter (because I am internally weeping now goddammit) so I'd have to say it's likely a mixture of confused and alarmed, because the human is,,, leaking?? Are humans supposed to do that?? Their breathing has also become remarkably erratic and hiccupy which is almost certainly Not Good if they do not regulate their oxygen intake they will DIE because humans are SMALL and FRAGILE, but they are also not currently in a state to explain themselves nor how to help??

[icypantherwrites]

Fic Update: Bottled Ocean, Chapter 58

Bottled Ocean -- a 250,000 word AU Mer!Lance fic also featuring Keith, Shiro and Lotor -- is a Patreon exclusive fanfiction and will not publish anywhere else.

Chapter snippet:

Lance’s eyes fluttered closed a moment later, his head tilting to rest against Keith’s shoulder above the water with a little sigh and puff of warm air.

Keith resumed counting minutes and watching the moon’s too slow journey across the night sky, glancing down at times to where Lance had indeed fallen asleep and aside from the little shivers he made every few minutes he was resting as peacefully as he could.

Keith was grateful for both of them as his arms and back needed the reprieve.

At his newest count of forty minutes Lance gave a twitch in his arms stronger than his regular shivers.

And then he was coming awake with a flail and a strangled scream, back arching and head tipping back that Keith barely intercepted before it hit the water and—

And was that blood? 

There was definitely something oozing and wet looking on Lance’s face and—

Keith’s breath hitched as Lance gave another scream, body contorting and revealing it wasn’t just on Lance’s face.

There was blood showing everywhere the film was.

Tiny little almost pinprick like spots of blood, welling and growing larger as they dripped, were spreading like a disease from Lance’s cheeks — bloodied crescent moons below his eyes — to a speckling all across his stomach where the scales had stretched up around his navel and then his tail…

Keith had never considered himself squeamish but his stomach flipped over as blood began to show and well all down Lance’s lower body, his hand growing hot and sticky where he had it supporting Lance’s tail where his thighs would be and God, this was…

Was…

Lance shrieked, veins protruding all along his neck — no gills yet, Keith faintly noted — and threw his body upwards again.

The second sick realization struck Keith.

Lance was trying to get out of the water.

The water was hurting him.

Read it here

[curveofthevalley]

Voltron Primark Universe

welcome to the primarkverse, an au in which the voltron team (and friends!) work at the primark and other shops at the local shopping centre - the paladins are all like 17/18 and shiro is in his 20s

in collaboration with my favourite children's show enabler @vanillaa-sky <3

• alfor owns primark, zarkon owns h&m

• coran is the regional manager who spends too much time in this specific store because it's his favourite and he loves the staff

• coran gives everyone lifts home in his minivan because he worries about them getting public transport late at night

• shiro is the manager and he runs that primark like it's the navy and then goes home to bitch to his husband

• curtis doesnt even work anywhere near the shopping centre but he knows all of the gossip

• keith lives with shiro and curtis because shiro drives him to work all the time, and he's not sick of how in love they are enough to move out

• keith has a second job (hmv) so he's always running late or getting his hours mixed up

• shiro tries to make keith's schedule easier because he's the best big brother

• allura's dad owns primark so she doesn't really work there but everyone lets her come in and work because honestly she's really good at it

• she's the best at dressing the mannequins

• allura refuses to be paid, plus she lets them all take home a kitten when her cat has a litter

• the kittens are all named after colours based on the colour of the collars they had as kittens to tell them apart (they have very similar patterns) and the names just stuck

• black for shiro, red for keith, blue for lance, green for pidge, yellow for hunk and white for allura

• black and keith are besties, red and lance get off to a rocky start but they bond eventually, and blue is just obsessed with allura

• keith also ends up with a wolfhound puppy (kosmo) as a reconciliation gift from his mother when they're finally reunited

• lance is kinda bad at his job but the customers really like him and he's helpful mostly so they keep him as the personality hire

• he also shows everyone pictures of his pet cow so they all bug him for more every shift <3

• lance does photoshoots of blue and kaltenecker with blue wearing a little cowboy hat and blue neckerchief and insists they're best friends

• lance is a photodump enjoyer who runs an 'anonymous' instagram account posting mugshots of the primark staff but everyone knows it's him because he forgets to post any of himself

• pidge is always on call to fix the tills when they fuck up

• she also finds a way to jack the wifi so that they actually get good signal in the break room (the game setup they all share is in there, they keep to a strict schedule of who can play when)

• matt works at game or cex to put himself through university, he's going to get an aerospace engineering degree and work with his dad one day

• pidge also plans to do this once she's through with sixth form, if it's not her allotted game time in the breakroom they're 100% studying for exams that are months away

• hunk helps and they test each other on their knowledge (they're both guaranteed all A* grades)

• shay works at a coffee shop a few stores down and practically has hunk's schedule memorised because he always comes in to buy drinks for everyone before his shift

• she remembers his order perfectly but he has to remind her of everyone else's

• hunk only goes there to see shay but he's too nervous to ask her out so they just visit each other at work a lot

• romelle worked at a different primark, with lotor, and he was so terrible at his job that he got fired

• as revenge he convinced zarkon to buy out the lot to turn it into a h&m so romelle ended up at the voltron store

• lotor and his generals (acxa, ezor, zethrid, narti) work at h&m round the corner

• lotor loves to come by and brag about being on his break but he never does any work anyway

• zarkon owns the store so lotor is a h&m nepo baby

• the generals are lovely and bring sweet treats and costa for the primark voltron team

• sometimes voltron show up at h&m to distract lotor so the girls can actually do their jobs without him being annoying

• allura had a brief thing with lotor while he worked at primark but broke up with him when he got the store closed down

• after she broke up with him the kallurance polycule formed (lance has two hands for holding both his boyfriend and his girlfriend)

the voltron brainrot has fully set in the year of our lord 2024, thank you for coming to our ted talk!

[jessilynallendilla]

MY ADVENTURES WITHSUPERMAN REACTION

EPISODE 1: 

Why is child Clark wearing glasses? He has no identity to hide yet unlike in Birthright. Other than that Baby~ and the S! 

His alarm clock has a rooster on it 

He’s a bumbling, nervous klutz because of his powers not because he’s trying to hide them. Being an adorable nerdy dork is just a bonus

“I had to save a cat” The writers understood the assignment 

Clois meet cute 

Look at Babygirl trying to flirt 

Lady, you work with food, you shouldn’t put your shoes on the counter 

Clark is such a Babygirl~ eating three dozen donuts so often the bakers got him his own bib 

Little park Roomba 

Ok I’m still not onboard with the whole race swapping Jimmy and Perry but I will give them this they made Jimmy an oblivious conspiracy theorist (why does our alarm clock keep exploding) at least it’s a personality besides Superman fanboy and Perry’s personality is spot on 

 Every buyer or fencer disappeared, wonder why that is? 

Patty, I love you 

If you're trying to be inconspicuous don't have a convoy of garbage trucks run a bunch of red lights

So, Metropolis is an island in this earth 

Clark calls Lois out on using people and lying about it, and she admits she was wrong and grows as a person 

Is Clark infused with nanotech? 

Oooh oooh animation error his tie is in the rubble when Clark stumbles into frame he isn't wearing one but after Lois hugs him and apologizes it’s miraculously there 

So, there’s no police or media coverage for the giant mech fight destroying the docks? And Perry has no interest at all? 

EPISODE 2: 

So, the baby sized pod grew under the fields, is it using the natural minerals in the earth? I mean it's been there for decades and nothing grew there

“I don’t think that’s a language from earth, son.” It sounds like a bunch of romance languages put together so Esperanto?

I don’t blame baby Clark for being scared that shit would be terrifying to a child 

Flamebird, I understood that reference 

What eyewitnesses at the dock, no one else was there but you 

Jimmy trying to set up Clark and Lois together 

Jonathan feigns stomach problems to get out of dodge, so that’s where Clark gets it 

“It grew” so the spaceship is getting bigger, how big, will it take over the whole farm, the entire state of Kansas? 

“I need to find out who I am, Ma.” “I know who you are, you’re my son.”   oh my heart

Well, that’s different from a bunch of crystals 

Jor El’s reaction when Clark says he doesn’t know him 

Magical Girl nanotech transformation suit 

Ma Kent getting Clark pants so his dick won’t show 

Deathstroke is giving Lotor vibes not old bitch that gets his ass kicked by teenagers 

Where was Leslie hiding those shoulder pauldrons?  

Is Leslie fused with Krypton electricity nanites or something?

So, Leslie’s tech was also Kryptonian and that means those “military” mechs were also alien in origin and that spaceship battle and giant portal opening in the sky was pretty ominous, was that Clark’s wormhole or something more sinister? And does Clark just have a connection to all Kryptonian tech since he’s presumably infused with nanites? And does he still get his powers from the sun or is it the nanites, or do the nanites just enhance it?

Amazo billboard, is that just a reference or will the android show up later? 

Clark cleans up his mess because he’s a good boy 

So, it’s not going to be a Magical Girl transformation, he can change it like normal clothes 

Dammit Jimmy they were about to kiss

Cat Grant, a gossip columnist, stole the byline of the downtown anime fight, so the rivalry begins 

Les-Lie Willis

Oh, shit it’s Amanda Waller 

now to wait a week for Episode 3

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 29: Magnetic Attraction Season 1, Episode 30: The Sleeping Princess

Episode 29: Magnetic Attraction

Defensive training time! The team are doing Karate together I only got to a yellow belt myself because of how expensive lessons were, but it was fun either way

"I flipped Lance easy, and I'm a girl" "I fall for girls" Lance just say you like women who can kill you Once again we see Allura pointing out the fact she's a lady,,, I will never get over the back handedness of those comments

Oh my bad it's Judo! I've never done that one before

Great, nanny and Coran are here to tell Allura she's being improper again, and he thinks it's a good idea to guilt-trip her with her dead dad dude when will you learn that you can't stop her, she's literally doing worse by being a solider, protecting herself is the least she should know since even her guards can't handle when Lotor is after her

More misogyny from the team, the show really do be a product of its time 💀

The one good thing Coran does is warn other people to get to safety, but then proceeds to say "it's nothing, definitely not weird that a freaky orange and red cloud is slowly spreading over the sky of Arus when it's noon" if he doesn't die of old age I'm killing him myself

Oh so the cloud is rapidly causing global warming, eco terrorism is horrifying

Why the hell is there a group of people washing themselves in the last remaining water of a boiled away lake? im not sure if dotu will ever answer that but golion will later on

robeast so hot it melts missiles, and the team is immediately going to fly up to it except allura can't launch because blue has no power from the surrounding water which got boiled away oh shit this is actually a good plan on Haggars part

Ooh we get to see a crystal that probably helps power blue lion! Maybe that's where the nexus idea in VF came from!

Alfor ex machina, i can't remember the last time we saw you but it's been a hot minute hasn't it

HOLY SHIT LORE Black gets powered by lightning/electricity, Red gets powered from the heat of lava/magma, Yellow is also magma but more earth dependent, Green is powered by wind, and blue obvs is powered by water like i knew all this already but i love the fact i get to listen to it now

Coran finally thinks of protecting Allura against Lotor and attacks through castle defenses,, except not that it works because Lotor just attacks Allura who is still stuck in her lion as long as she stays inside I assume she's safe but man she's not having a good day

Lance is a smart cookie! He plans to make a path with their own magnetic laser in order to get up to the robeast Now only if he made more plans like that, the fights would be easier me thinks

Lotor doesn't want to hurt Allura, yet actively sends missiles at blue lion while she can't move I hope your dad beats you ong

wait did the team not know that they needed water to launch blue? ok that makes sense actually since they don't know anything about the lions and their mystic nature kind of late in the episode to realize that though

GIRL WHY ARE YOU OPENING THE HATCH FOR THE MECHANICS OF BLUE TO LET WATER RUSH IN, I DON'T THINK THAT'S HOW IT WORKS BUT OK Blue lion is back anyway so I guess it worked

Voltron formed, robeast defeated, and global warming cloud dispersed, so water can come back, the GIF for this episode is going to be great

DAMN ZARKON TRASHING HIS SON FOR THINKING FOR HIS DICK AGAIN

"My beloved nincompoop" LMAOO

/episode end

Episode 30: The Sleeping Princess

Lotor has a nightmare about a woman he says is Allura but very obviously isn't, especially when she does fade into Allura's design, probably his mother This man really obsessed with Allura

PRINCESS CORRAL MY BELOVED, LOTOR IS A SLUT FOR TURNING HER DOWN SHE'S SO CUTE

"Stop whining, you have no feelings" -Zarkon get his ass

Lotor stop making batshit excuses for not marrying her, you'll be unhappy either way good god

At least Zarkon knows that he'll fail his mission against Arus, if he just held on a little longer lotor wouldn't be a problem but nope

Look at her, she's such a sweetie! She's even helping Lotor try to marry Allura, a mistake, but she's got her heart in the right place

"I want Allura to come willingly, [but] she lives in terror of my father" Lotor she's afraid of YOU, this is man is all kinds of delusional

Another flashback of the Not Allura woman, still think it's his mom, and she's definitely Arusian which is probably why Lotor has so much obsession for Allura

Flower picking time! Gotta give the pretty princess some pretty flowers to match! The boys are so wholesome

Ah, shit the cat fucked over a blue lion pilot again, what is with that cat against the color blue, now Allura is presumed dead and everyone is freaking out about it

Of course Keith pieces it together that she can't be dead as long as Lotor is still after her, which yeah makes sense but c'mon any other guy see through it please

Hunk makes a plan! Fake funeral for the princess to lure Lotor and Haggar out I'd love it if the team got more scenes like this, everyone is smart enough to contribute somehow

Oh shit Orla attended her funeral! That's nice to see

Keith you're such a simp for Allura, yes, yes we get it Allura is a girlboss and is an amazing leader

What a sweet idea, people throw flowers into Allura's casket and almost filled it to the brim maybe it's tradition for every Arusian, that'd be cool

Lotor hijacks the carriage Allura's casket is being transported in, sucks for him though BECAUSE PIDGE MANAGED TO HITCH A RIDE GET HIS ASS PIDGE

Rip Pidge gets used as a hostage EXCEPT ITS PIDGE VS HAGGAR AGAIN BECAUSE HE HAS A GRENADE ON HIM Oh god this kid is about to sacrifice himself if it means making sure Allura is safe and taking down one of the baddies, where's that post about dotu Pidge being suicidal

"I oughta feed you this" (proceeds to run at Lotor and Hagar with a live grenade) "PIDGE FOR PETES’S SAKE DITCH THE GRENADE" - Keith "WANNA SEE WITCHCRAFT?!" oh my god, everything is happening all at once

Grenade explodes, it was knocked out of pidge's hand beforehand, so he dove for Allura to protect her as best he could still so sweet even under all that pressure

Lotor and Haggar run away and Allura's awake, so all's well that ends well I guess Pidge finally gets a real kiss on the cheek from Allura, good for him

LOTOR STOP BULLYING CORRAL, SHE WANTED TO HELP BUT YOU FUCKED UP SO MARRY SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY LOVES YOU YOU FOOL

/episode end

[artsyjesseblue]

Lion vs. Wolf

I’d like to go a bit deeper into a comparison between the VLD White Lion and the comics Purple Wolf (Gantomor), because I feel like there is more to explore regarding this part.

Imho, they both kind of look like wolfies, haha, but no matter - one is a lion, the other one is a wolf. But the similarities between them don’t stop here. I’ll start with the wolfie, and then we’ll talk about the lion.

So the comics story goes like this: the Paladins need to pass through the “wastes” (a dangerous area of space) in order reach some sacred hunting grounds. Keith, who is half-Galra, finds himself fighting this mysterious wolf, who claims to be the “warden of the sacred hunting grounds”, and who asks Keith to prove his worth through the rite of combat, in order to be allowed to enter the sacred grounds — or pay with his life. Does “victory or death” sound familiar?

Also look at this - "only the chosen may enter":

During the fight, there is even a close-up of Keith facing the roaring wolf:

When the rest of the paladins show up, the wolf disappears and reappears in the sky in a much larger form, confirmed by one of the characters, who says this: "[...] he responds to the size of the force against him. If he is met in single combat, he is one. If he is met with an army, he is many."

I discussed about the “One” vs “Many” / "One is All" concept in my previous comics meta, as a property of the rift entities, capable of uniting into a larger rift monster. Apparently, this wolf is an “ancient one”. “From a time when only combat could prove virtue.” And he must be destroyed. So it’s implied that the old ways of victory or death through combat must be put aside.

Voltron cannot withstand the forces of this mighty enemy, because he’s firing back exactly what Voltron throws at him. But Coran, who just fell sick with a virus, apparently can…

And the millions, billions of little viruses finally take down the purple wolfie:

If I interpret this correctly, the dark entity (the little aggressive virus creatures) becomes the Paladins' ally against the old Galra ways of victory through battle, represented by a purple wolf.

Well, let’s see how the white lion story unfolds: The Voltron team decides to go to the Petrulian zone, which Coran explains is a “graveyard” for spaceships:

(At this point, can we call them the “wastes”?) Voltron attempts to enter the white hole, but is met by the Lion’s resistance:

Lotor explains to them that the monster (lion) is a guard keeping the unworthy out.

When arriving at the Oriande pyramid, Allura and Lotor meet the lion guard, and this time he’s much smaller:

(so this guy, too, can adapt in size, depending on the size of the force opposing him) Here’s Lotor, who is also half-Galra like Keith, facing the open mouth of the beast:

And then the resolution for the two parallel stories (lion/wolf) apparently diverges, but let's see how much.

In the white lion’s case, Allura offers her own life (which, if I extract the symbolic meaning from the Yalex comic story, it can also mean offering your life to the Entity, by becoming One with it. Ta-daa, the princess becomes One with the Lion):

The pearl of wisdom… or the secret of life… in both cases you have to offer your own life to gain them. Life for life, light for light, that is the price of enlightenment. Equivalent trade.

Conversely, the secret of darkness, the secret of (victory or) death can be gained through darkness, through “a fight to the death”. Let’s see how.

The way I see the purple wolf’s case, is that it represents the dark counterpart of the white lion, like Yin vs Yang, animus vs anima. Purple means the darker side, by extension the ancient, fierce Galran path. And, oops, yes, Lotor as well, because he represents Allura’s animus, while she stands as his anima. Only by incorporating each other’s side, they can trully, fully connect with one another. As they both mention several times, “I couldn’t have done this without you.” They complement each other. Coran - an Altean, btw - brings an army of… little evil entities/viruses to defeat the wolf. Allura beats the dark purple magic of Honerva by making use of the Dark Entity. They take in the dark magic itself: Coran falls ill with the Nomo virus, and Allura accepts the Dark Entity. They become one with it. She finally has the courage to do that. She conquers her fear of darkness, and follows its path. A fear that Lotor had teased her about: “Poor Allura. All the power in the Universe at your fingertips, and you still fear using it.” Here’s how I see it: the white lion and the purple wolf stand as opposing, yet complementary spiritual forces. — The white lion can be interpreted as the anima, the feminine, the light energy, the Altean traditions. — The purple wolf represents the animus, the masculine, the dark energy, the Galran ways. Allura easily incorporated the white lion into herself, and passed the Oriande trials, because that was already part of herself, of who she had been raised to be. In a way you could say she was not really passing a trial, because the ancient alchemy instincts already existed within herself, as confirmed by the voice of the Lifegiver speaking to her. Oriande simply helped Allura awaken her own inner light.

(Allura asks the Lifegiver at Oriande: "I wish to learn the secrets my father knew, the alchemy that created Voltron." And a female voice from above answers: "There is no need to kneel here. You are home, and the secret is already within you. Rise, let us embrace you.")

At Oriande, she is home. That was not Lotor's home, at least not at that moment. Lotor didn’t complete the anima test at that point, because he was not ready for it. Instead, he applied the wolf’s method - “victory or death”. Conversely, Allura did not immediately pass the wolf’s test because she wasn’t ready for it either. And we know she wasn’t prepared for it yet, because Lotor had told her so: "Clearly, Princess, you are not ready to end this war."

Lotor already possessed the “purple wolf” within him: he was the skilled tactician who - just like a wolf corners his prey - hunted the Lions on Thayserix, the place where, unknowingly, Allura met and entered into direct combat with her animus (and one of my favorite episodes, tbh, precisely because of that amazing foreshadowing; he lures and corners the paladins into a place where they’re at a disadvantage, then spots the novice player in the team and pursues her with a poised strategy; it’s where we see her in full panic mode, terrified of the "purple wolf" before her):

And when we hear him saying “someone’s learning”, it does follow the contextual meaning, but it also foreshadows Allura’s path of “learning” Lotor’s way of doing things - precisely what she was afraid of. (Also, let's not underestimate the smoldering erotic subtext of this whole encounter, which gleams magnificently at us throughout the scenes. The “hunt” is quite evocative. Don’t tell me you didn’t foresee these guys as a pair, after this loaded episode. I did.)

“Someone’s learning”, indeed. Lotor seemed to be a good teacher: his “student” dinged him well with that freeze-ray, after sheer panic forced Allura to connect with her Lion. “Well-played, paladin!” Ahem…

*note: maybe the Agotian trials mentioned by Dayak in S8E2 represented child-Lotor’s wolf test - which he successfully passed at such a young age? If the Alteans had the Oriande test, maybe the Galra had the Agotian trials? After all, little Lotor admitted that “all I do, I do in the name of Galra.” Just as Allura was raised in the white lion culture of Altea, Lotor was raised in the purple wolf culture of Galra. And they both perform admirably within their cultural boundaries. But, to quote Allura, “it isn’t enough.” So they both have to switch their viewpoints and accept the other side as part of themselves. Because, as Lotor said, “this isn’t a zero-sum game.” Meeting each other’s needs happens in the middle.

Although we don’t see her directly in combat trial with an actual wolf in the main story, it is foreshadowed by the comics and the message is clear: the only way to conquer darkness is through darkness.

She actually fails the test lamentably when she fights Lotor/her “wolf” in the rift. Because she uses the white lion method, of overloading him with her abundant bright quintessence (she even admits it’s a technique learned in Oriande) and then proceeds to leave him there to simmer in that light. She literally slays the “wolf”, just like Lotor killed his white lion. They both failed the tests, not just Lotor. But, finally - finally! - in S8 “Clear Day” episode, Allura accepts the invitation of the dark entity. Thus, she completes the final step, which is to assimilate the animus, adapting it to her internal Altean guiding light.

If you get to think of it, Allura didn’t accept her animus until she was convinced that she needed to. In the same way, imposing the bright light of anima onto Lotor wouldn’t work either - he needs to reach a climax story point where he would also realize he needed to.

After this, we should have seen Lotor pass the White Lion’s trial - either in the literal way or in some metaphorical way, as an equivalent to Allura passing his “Purple Wolf” trial. We didn’t. And that is why for many of us, S8 felt choppy, like missing a vital piece. Because… there was a decisive moment, when a certain purple prince, revived by the princess, would return to our story and assimilate the anima, willfully accepting the path of light, of the white lion. He would become the Purple Lion of the show, foreshadowed also in Clear Day:

Sure, Lance, dream on. Of course there is a purple lion:

(If Lotor becomes a Purple Lion, does that turn Allura into a White Wolf?)

Yet we never got to see a purple lion, because apparently it doesn’t sell well to little boys and their dads who want toys. After building a coherent and amazing story, the crew behind VLD (who "burrow every day," underground is where they stay, gagged by NDA - look! I even made them a silly poem) had to alter the show under the utterly uninspired direction of the IP owner, WEP. In their narrow, commercially niched vision, Lotor was most likely a means to fulfill the simple role of a stark villain, meant to trigger future profitable spin-offs. So not only did little Lotor grow up abused by everyone around him, but his character also suffered under the abuse of the franchise owner.

Nonetheless, I ignore this so-called "canon" and continue to shine a light over the true - purple - color of the finale. The Lion and the Wolf deserved better.

[rebelpeas]

my vld wips/to write list:

shayllura “what if the galra ruined both of our planets and lives but the sky was still here to look at. and we were both girls” oneshot

qpr klance post-finale thing (but an imaginary better finale where the writing was good and then keith and lance get an apartment together and are aromantic about it)

that fucking bipolar matt holt fic that i started three years ago and has sat in my wips folder ever since

shiro/matt reuniting and awkwardly trying to figure out their relationship post-arena

i also wanna bring back the blade of marmora!lotor au and maybe some snippets of the no timeskip au but those are not writing priorities rn, just fun to think about

[scattered-winter]

Hey, have you ever considered incorporating some some characters from Defenders of the Universe or Voltron Force?

Like Lotor’s fiancé, Merla, from DotU, and the villains Maahox, Kala, and Sky Marshal Wade from VF could all serve as interesting antagonists, be they one off threats or over arching villains.

And the Voltron Cadets from VF, and the pilots of Vehicle Voltron from DotU could serve to help fill out the ranks of the Galaxy Garrison or have other uses.

And I hope I’m not overwhelming with all this stuff, I just love your VLD rewrite and I think you’re a really cool person.

I haven't really thought about it much, just because I haven't seen any of the earlier versions and so honestly I have no idea whats going on over there and it's never been a priority for me to watch them (that might change ?? eventually ??? don't hold ur breath tho my To Watch list is 3 miles long) AND the plot for the rewrite is already really complicated and there are so many characters and subplots and moving parts that I don't think I want to like. add in More characters and subplots and moving parts unless I need to, ykw? that being SAID I do think it might be fun to maybe use the names for like. one-off random background characters!! they're not gonna be like. important to the plot really but idk maybe it'd be cool reusing some of the names from other versions. who can say

[lotidge]

its Christmas time. Lotor experiencing Christmas for the first time. To be honest I can see it being his favorite time of the year.

Lotor: Why is ash falling from the sky Pidge: thats snow. Its ice.

LOtor: ... Why are those humans cutting that tree down.

Pidge: ... Right you guys dont have Christmas.

Lotor:??? Then next year as soon as it starts snowing

Lotor: PIDGE! IT IS SNOWMAS! WE MUST GET THE HOLLY TREE!

He's confused byt he has spirit