#vld s2 spoilers

[bleh1bleh2]

You know, Voltron Force is actually a fun show. I finished it almost a week ago and am still thinking about it. Its only one season and never got renewed, but it has fairly satisfying character arcs and a very slight cliffhanger ending that is so intriguing to think about

I didnt think i would like it that much, especially when they introduced three new characters to be cadets in the voltron team. But Vince, especially, is such a charming character (i think Larmina is essentially Gwen Tennyson, but thats neither here or there. Shes fun overall) (i dont have any particular thoughts on Daniel. Hes fine)

I just think (spoilers) that the telepathic connection between daniel and vince is so fun. Does it have something to do with me immediately going "omg what if this were vld klance"? Whos to say. But then daniel is implied to become evil in s2, which combined with telepethy??? Literally in the mind of the enemy. Im obsessed.

[johaerys-writes]

I finally have some more time to read fic and I want to make this a regular thing: reccing five fics every Friday, both fics I've read during the week but also older works that I love. So without further ado, here are some newer and older faves:

1. In Repair (Dorian Pavus/Trevelyan, DA, T) by breadbowl: Inky & co are exploring some ruins when Dorian is attacked by Venatori. What follows next is a spoiler lol so I won't say anything else, but this fic was so angsty but also funny in places, with lots of action and banter. It was like extra content from the game which is my favorite kind of DA fic.

2. Librarian To The Future (Dorian Pavus/Trevelyan, DA, T) by norwasmeanttobe: The Inquisition needs a book of magic which has been destroyed, so Dorian time travels to the Ostwick Circle of eight years before to find its last copy. There he meets a young Inquisitor Trevelyan, who was the Circle librarian at the time. A truly delightful fic, plus the author's Trevelyan is such a sweetie. Loved this.

3. Chintz (Achilles/Patroclus, Hades/TSOA, M) by @baejax-the-great: Achilles is trapped in a miserable marriage, and in order to escape it -and himself- he starts drinking heavily while also sleeping with his best friend (and long time crush, but no one's talking about that lmao). The pain!!! The misery!!! All the suppressed emotions!!! It hurts so good 😭 My heart broke for both of them and now I am ANXIOUSLY waiting for a reunion that will mend it (i.e. poking Bae with a stick while she writes 👀) 

4. as we circle the moon (Keith/Shiro, VLD, E) by @monstersinthecosmos: follows the events in the show after Shiro disappears post s2, and is then found-- but fem!Sheith 🥺 Kacy's written some of my all time fave sheith angst, and this is no exception: an in depth exploration of Keith's state of mind after losing Shiro and Shiro's own struggles towards recovery, just so soft and sad and poignant and true to character. I love these gorls <3

5. Calamitous Love (Tadashi/Ainosuke, Sk8 the Infinity, E) by @starryskeyes: I read this one a while back, but boy howdy has it left its mark on me. I am a slut and a weakling for childhood friends to lovers to exes back to lovers (no one knows them like they know each other!!!!! ;w;) and this hit the spot JUST RIGHT, Chel's prose and characterisations are divine and made me feel so many emotions. I just want to wrap Tadashi in blankets and keep him safe. 😭

That's it for this week!! See you again next Friday 💙

[void-tiger]

please tell me more about the fic where Ke/th doesnt get to be a paladin again, i keep seeing shit like how the team abandoned/failed Ke/ith and should have apologized to him when it was literally the opposite (i am sorry but the team almost DIED because K/ith fucked off to run off with the Blades, werent for Kuron entering Black they would have actually died, i do not understand how anyone can see this and say the team was in the wrong/Ke1th was in the right, and still be considered a team player let alone a team leader is beyond me. Really really sorry about salt in your askbox)

No worries! (Although, disclaimer: I had to set aside my voltron fics for a bit ‘cause I can’t work on them without getting salty, and too much salt is bad for you. So they’re…curing, I guess. I’ll stop with the bad salt jokes now XD)

But short answer? Keith’s their comfort blorbo, and it’s incredibly easy to have that become “can do no wrong ever it MUST be EVERYONE else!” and…not recognize that kneejerk bias. Ask The Real Fandom Olds TM who’ve participated in fandom culture since the 80s and 90s and that’s a key issue with Current Fandom and especially younger fans (ie, probably our generation and younger.) Add in that a lot of us online trend (in my antidotal experience) towards having untreated anxiety or depressive symptoms and/or undiagnosed neurodivergent brain wiring that an individual might’ve not quite learned how to cope with yet (and many come with emotional regulation symptoms) in addition to…human brains really just Don’t stop developing until mid20s regardless of someone’s birth gender and brain development is particularly chaotic and…well.

That’s a recipe for a volatile fandom, and since the VLD Characters in particular were geared towards Teens or Teen Nostalgia? [Comfort Blorboing Intensifies.]

Now, in one fic series Idea, Keith DOES become the Red Paladin again, but he has to work for it. Really work for it. Like, the Team is still incredibly hurt that he left and never really apologized for ditching them before THAT Scene where Jiro is forced to step in s4. I think I have in my notes somewhere [coughs] prolly a random post or very buried DM to a friend that Red Lion finally outright takes Keith for a joy ride (much like Blue and Black did with Lance and Shiro) and literally has him bouncing around in zero g and gforces until Red’s really willing to accept him back as Paladin. (Also it makes me feel better.)

[tags: blackbox verse, rewrite the stars, blackbox, veeladee fixit. Note that some of the older posts especially I’ve probably discarded. But I do my best worldbuilding thinking aloud, and hey. It’s fanfic. Who gives af about spoilers? Not me.]

But, in Blackbox verse, I wanted Jiro to have his very own Lion…and the Sincline Meteor is right there. Plus, y’know. Fixing-fixing. Making as much work as I felt like since it was intended to be a series, anyway.

Buuut, that’s not the fic idea you asked about.

The one you asked about is actually a Redo of The Black Paladin’s episode following alteanroyals’ prompt of “what if Shiro’s the one who fights the clone, and the clone gets to just come home. Have his own name.” Because, c’mon. The visuals would’ve been incredible, and Josh Keaton and Studio Mir adores Shiro and Jiro even if the EPs and arguably NONE of the writers (even the better ones trying to patch job before bailing out) gave a shit about Jiro as his own character.

So. Back to Keith.

He actually tries flying Black Lion, same as the (egh) canonical episode…and…

WHOOPS. He gets lasers shot at him for his efforts (hA HA~)

Allura steps in, and has a battle of wills against Black Lion, then realizes that what has Black so torqued is Keith tried to dominate the Lion. (Imo? The only reason why Keith could fly with Black in s2-4 was because of the bond they both had with Shiro. “Help me help you.”) And well. Allura’s learned a thing or two: trying to dominate a Lion does NOT work. She learned that for herself with White Lion, she’s now realizing that’s why Black Lion accepted Shiro as it’s Paladin over Zarkon at all. So Allura changes tactics, senses Shiro’s Quintessence still inside Black Lion nearly two years after he vanished, and calls the others in. They do a reverse-balmera ceremony via their voltron bonds and pull Shiro back out—in his OWN body, tyvm.

And well. Remember how it’s technically a “Shiro vs CloneShiro” prompt? Yeah, they fight. (I’ll try not to have them totally wreck the place. All Shiros are Good Shiros.) And when Black Lion comes for them now that the Lion can get a clear shot? Red Lion also comes.

Because Keith isn’t the only character who holds the needed qualities for a Red Paladin. (Reactive instincts, laser focus, loyalty, but often emotionally volatile.) Jiro does too. And unlike Keith, Jiro stayed even when he “no longer” had a Lion to fly from his POV, and he struggled with the rest of the Team to adjust to Lions that no longer suited them in the wake of Shiro’s Absence. So Red chooses Jiro and flies to him. (Black would’ve saved Jiro, too, even though Jiro wasn’t Black’s true paladin. But seeing a Lion accept him, and further proof that he’s not just a poor copy but his own person and even a Paladin in his own right?)

[gemini fic, shiro vs jiro]

Basically, in starting writing and continuing to ruminate on ideas, I realized that Gemini works best as a single fic, so having Firm Consequences make more sense. Other tidying up?

-Allura and the Paladins take the Castle and immediately head out for the Altean Colony while Shiro (and Black Lion at Black’s literal insistence) go after Jiro. (And with Shiro here to lead and analyze + Convenient Recap/Alternate Explanation, Pidge is able to shut down the virus far earlier before it makes the Castle truly dead in the water.) Haggar never gets her claws into them.

-Keith formally leaves the Blades. He had a family, and he turned his back on them. Those relationships won’t be what they were before (ie, symbolic in losing his Red Paladinship), but this time he’s willing to put the work in to repair their trust in him. Meanwhile, the Blades never were going to help him find his mother intentionally no matter how many times he sacrificed his life for them, and his life and the lives of all the other Blades ultimately meant very little to Kolivan and the Blades as an organization. He surrenders the knife to Krolia, and walks away if Team Voltron will let him stay. It not, he can do better good with the Rebels. (Infiltration was Pidge’s thing, anyway. He’s the showy diversion maker.)

-Lotor returns to Orionde. But when he faces the Ancients and White Lion again, he stops attacking and running from his sins. He sacrifices his full life force, and the Drained Alteans revive fully restored. The tragedy his family caused and he ended up perpetuating ends with him. (That does leave…y’know. The Galran Empire without an Emperor. But hey. IF I finish this fic, that’s potential sequel material, baby!)

-

…anyway. Point is, Keith Antis put a bad taste in my mouth, but the point of “Keith loses Red” wasn’t to punish Keith (okay…maybe a little. But that was still mostly Black blasting lasers everywhere. For catharsis.) The point was, “There are consequence, and while some relationships can be repaired or make new ones with the same people after you’ve hurt them, others can’t. You lose them. It’s important to put in the work, but it’s also important to accept loss and endings, especially after you’ve fucked up.”

And well. I felt that Keith Losing Red, Jiro Gaining Red made things narratively tidy.

[legendarydesvender]

comics are my passion

[savvagethecabbage]

just wanted to point this out:

idk what im gonna do with this information

[ashkazora]

Wow they really went hard with the whole Loki thing, huh

[kakunamatatq]

[calomviih]

Mi más querida amiga

En ao3

Su mirada estaba vidriosa pero se negaba a dejar escapar las lágrimas. Él era el hijo del Rey Zarkon, un valioso miembro de la familia real, no podía permitirse llorar aunque los ojos le ardieran. Por otro lado, él era un príncipe; debía ser respetado, admirado, obedecido... pero ¿quién realmente le haría caso? El príncipe Lotor, el pequeño príncipe Lotor; sus súbditos eran del doble de su tamaño, él ni siquiera era totalmente galra, solo un simple mestizo.

Sentía las lagrimas a punto de escapar de sus ojos, por lo que intento secarlas con su manga antes que alguien lo viera. Su ropa estaba sucia, los otros galra lo habían empujado y robado un cubo de estalagnita. Era su objeto más preciado y la idea de ya no tenerlo más le produjo un nudo en la garganta. —¿Estás llorando? Alzo la vista. Una niña de su edad, con el cabello blanco y brillantes ojos celestes lo miraba con curiosidad. —No - mintió. Ella se sentó a su lado y bromeó diciéndole que podía ver sus lagrimas. Lotor le dio la espalda pero ella no se molesto. —Tengo algo que te hará dejar de llorar- estiró el brazo y en su mano estaba el cubo de estalagnita. Lotor olvidó la tristeza en un instante. —¡Lo encontraste! ¿Pero cómo... ¿Lo golpeaste, no es verdad? —Use diplomacia —¿Lo golpeaste? —Justo en medio de la cara- afirmó sonriente la niña- pero él que encontré no tenía tu cubo así que debía hacerlo hablar. Los otros estaban en su fuerte o como le digan a eso, así que lancé algo en su puerta; cuando salieron a ver me escabullí por atrás y tome tu cubo. —¿Y  golpeaste a alguien más?- Lotor conocía muy bien a su amiga. —Solo a uno, yo estaba escapando y me encontró. Aunque podría haberlo tomado como prisionero así los demás aprendían a respetarte- dijo con firmeza. ¿Te imaginas lo que haríamos con un prisionero? —Lo torturaríamos comiendo pastel enfrente de ellos y no dándoles nada- sugirió el príncipe galra. —Eres un monstruo, Lotor- contesto sin ocultar el sarcasmo. Pero al principe no le importaba que su amiga despreciara su idea. Estaba muy feliz de tener a alguien a su lado. —Gracias, Allura. —¿Para qué estoy si no es para proteger a mi mejor amigo? No te olvides de eso. Soy tu más adorada y querida amiga y si alguien te hace problemas ven conmigo. Lotor sonrío, realmente era muy afortunado. -- Hunk y Pidge habian logrado distraer a la flota galra. Podía escuchar los gritos que el paladín amarrillo emitía mientras evitaba los láseres. La distracción había sido planteada; Keith, Lance y ella debían escabullirse dentro de la nave del enemigo y recolectar quinta esencia. Habían logrado capturar a Prorrock, un soldado galra; él había hablado, segundo pasillo a la derecha. Debía estar allí. Ella era un paladín ahora. Llevaba el uniforme con orgullo llevando a Altea en el corazón, cada batalla que daba lo hacía pensando en su caído pueblo y pensando en su padre. Se negaba a permitir al imperio galra ganar, ya era demasiado. Zarkon había sido derrotado, pero junto a él Shiro había desaparecido y el equipo hacía lo que podía para recomponerse de su perdida. No podían doblegarse ahora, no tenían emperador, era la oportunidad. Un grupo de soldados cargó hacía ellos, ¿cómo los habían descubierto? Keith se encargo de tres con rapidez, Lance disparó a dos de ellos mientras ella derribo a cinco. Más soldados aparecieron, los tenían rodeados. Habían adivinado su táctica. ¿Acaso Prorrock había logrado escapar y avisar a sus compañeros? —Es bueno ver que no has cambiado mucho.- se oyó una voz detrás de los soldados. Sintió un escalofrío. Esa voz... ¡No podía ser posible! Había pasado mucho tiempo, no quería que fuera posible. —Eres un paladín ahora. Me alegro por ti. Siempre lo habías querido - continuo la misteriosa voz mientras avanzaba. —No... no- murmuraba. Se negaba a aceptarlo pero era él, todavía podía reconocer su voz. Imploraba que fuera alguien más. No quería enfrentar a quien tanto había protegido, y al mismo tiempo... Lance notó que ella estaba tensa. —¿Allura?- la llamó preocupado, pero ella seguía abstraída. Finalmente el dueño de la voz se presento ante el público. Su piel era violeta, pero sus rasgos parecían alteanos, su largo cabello blanco caía sobre su espalda y su boca generaba una terrible mueca; era más pequeño que los demás soldados pero todos parecían respetarlo. —¿Quién eres tú? - increpó Keith amenazándolo con su espada. Pero el nuevo enemigo lo ignoró, estaba ocupado mirando a la princesa. Finalmente Allura clavó sus ojos en él. En sus ojos se notaba que miles de sentimientos cruzaban por su mente, un nostalgia pura que se transformaba en furia de un momento a otro. —Hola Allura- sonrió Lotor con malicia- mi más adorada y querida amiga.

[traaaaashboat]

[xxkaseixx]

Shiro, we miss you, where are you???

- made with love by very cool trio LANCE-Hunk-Pidge (no, Keith, you didn’t contribute to this at all. Go away)

[legendarydesvender]

You: X would make a better Black Paladin than Y!

Me: Okay but consider this -- there is no new Black Paladin. This would make for a more interesting narrative because 1) they can no longer form Voltron to face the new threat from Lotor, and 2) all of them will have opportunities to show leadership depending on each situation. Their teamwork will strengthen in the absence of Shiro because the paladins were relying on him too much. Now they can flourish as individuals and they'll have to work together without Shiro telling them to, and Allura can still be the team leader, laser the shit out of things with the Castle, and make wormholes because those are kind of important. The paladins would probably look to her for more guidance than they did before, then they slowly learn to be more responsible so she's not overworking herself. There is a lot of Team Bonding and Friendship. At some point Shiro comes back after his mental health vacation and he's very proud of everyone for their character growth and because now they can all support each other better. You don't need to pilot a lion to develop leadership skills. Dreamworks please hire me.

[quadriviuum]

“And at this moment, your friend desperately wants to see you.”

[voltronpoint]

College orientation

[vodka-aunt-coran]

honestly i love the concept of hunk just. making jokes about galra keith all the time now. bc he knows keith is worried about allura (and possibly others) hating him now so hunk is determined to make it seem like it’s not a big deal by constantly making light of it.

hunk: [points to a galra drone] keith is that your brother

keith: [walks into the room] hunk: [starts blasting E.T.]

“his parents may still be part of the empire” hunk: oh my god keith what if zarkon is your mom

pidge: dude i’d love to see inside area 51 hunk: same [turns to keith] can you hook us up?

hunk: what kind of weird alien stuff are you up to? keith: i’m…eating breakfast… hunk: man aliens are wild

[on a purple planet] hunk: keith, you’ll blend in with the scenery keith: i’M STILL NOT PURPLE

hunk: hey siri are galra allergic to taking showers

[arrival-layne]

Suddenly the ‘This is keith, he’s purple and we love him’ cutscene is even funnier now. 

[blacklionshiro-backup]

Mood: Keith not even entertaining the idea that Zarkon could be the owner of the black bayard.

Not even once.