#voltron positivity exchange

[minamorsart]

Enter Merla: Queen of Darkness!!! 🖤✨

I was pretty disappointed when VLD didn't explore the culture and politics of the Galra Empire more, especially after Lotor took the throne, and I was also quite disappointed with Merla's cameo. So I decided to take a crack at her design myself! Some backstory below!!

I made her Acxa's twin sister because while I don't believe it was confirmed, I always thought that 80's Merla's character must have been divided into the four women who became Lotor's generals in VLD, so why not make Merla and Acxa related? Plus in every piece of fiction you need to have at least one set of twins ;) That's just da rules babeyy~

Acxa and Merla are from Planet Drule (a loyal territory of the Galra Empire) and are half-Galra and half-Drule. They are not of royal descent, and since they were children they were looked down on because they are half-breeds. As the oldest, Acxa takes on the responsibility of looking after Merla, who over the years begins to grow restless with the two of them settling for low-ranking positions in the army and living a less than satisfying life.

One day exiled Prince Lotor comes to oversee the planet just as Merla is planning a coup to overthrow the corrupt Drule king. The coup fails, and wanting to protect her sister, Acxa takes the blame even though she had nothing to do with it. When she is sentenced to death, Lotor, seeing the potential and skill Acxa possesses, offers to pardon her in exchange for her loyalty to him, thus saving her life (it is my personal headcanon that Acxa is the first of the generals to be recruited). She accepts and tries to convince Merla to come with her, but Merla refuses and insists on staying, saying that she wants to change things on Drule, and that by leaving Acxa is abandoning her. The two part ways on bad terms, and do not see each other for many years.

Merla eventually succeeds in taking the throne, her followers assassinate the king, and she becomes queen of Drule. She and Acxa have the occasional run-in, which is how Lotor and the other generals get to know her more. There is still lingering resentment between the two sisters, however, particularly on Merla's part. The events of VLD proceed as normal up until the end of season 5, and I personally would like to take out Lotor killing Narti and the generals turning against him. Now emperor, Lotor works tirelessly to unite his people and deal with the growing Galra factions which plot to rise up against him.

News of Lotor's ascent to the throne spreads throughout the universe, and soon Queen Merla is paying a visit to the Empire and demanding an audience with him. She knows all about the Galra factions, including Sendak's Fire of Purification, and proposes that she and Lotor marry in order to combine the forces of both the Galra Empire and Planet Drule. If Lotor accepts, the two nations will become stronger than ever and no one will dare stand against them. If he refuses, Merla will merely seek support from the factions, perhaps even form an alliance with Sendak, who will eventually try to take the Galra throne himself.

What can this mean for not only the Galra Empire, but for Voltron and the Coalition as well?? What can this mean for Lotor and Allura's developing relationship??? For those who haven't seen the 80's show, Queen Merla debuts in the US-made 2nd season. She and Lotor are actually engaged for a time! Merla is cold, cunning, and calculating like Lotor, and perhaps even a little more manipulative. She enjoys being entertained and can on occasion be condescending.

And this is not meant to create any unnecessary love triangle between Merla, Lotor, and Allura. While Merla has people in her life she cares for and she respects Lotor, her first priority is maintaining her seat on the throne and looking after her people, so she really only sees Lotor as a means to gain more power. Lotor recognizes this, because he mostly shares the same mindset as her and can see the benefits of marrying her, regardless of his own feelings. And how does Allura feel about this whole matter?? 👀 Only time will tell, though it is also likely that the princess may be too proud to ever reveal how she truly feels. At the end of the day, I just think it would be fascinating to explore more of the politics of the VLD universe and the complications that come with ruling an entire empire whilst trying to keep alliances and territories intact. Plus it would make for some fun drama! Particularly in the romance category hehe.

[xjulixred45x]

Lotor x Pearl!GN! Reader

Request: Now that the requests are open I want to do one about Voltron (again), about Lotor headcanons with a reader who is like a pearl from Steven Universe, who probably was a "gift" from his governess, I imagine that reader @ is a very scared but sweet person who is afraid of disappointing Lotor and that he will throw them away because of that (traumas from the past before meeting him). I just want some comfort from one of my favorite Voltron characters💕

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: Gender neutral

Warnings: allusions/mentions of past abuse, reader at first treated more like an object than a person, fear of abandonment, somewhat confusing timeline for the sake of the plot? HURT with Comfort, Fluff, non-canon ending of Voltron for my sanity :') Lotor What have they done to you?

You come from a very... special planet to say the least.

Especially you were born in a social caste that was considered the lowest, so you were trained all your life to be the future accessory of a powerful person. As bad as it sounded.

This was obviously not a pleasant process, especially with the Garla empire breathing down your planet's neck.

You could say that you got especially ruthless training, the slightest mistake was severely reprimanded, only to know that if you did it in REAL practice you most likely wouldn't come out alive...

Then the Garla Empire took possession of your planet. Everyone was terrified of what could happen, YOU were terrified of what was going to happen to you.

But fortunately? You were given as a personal servant to the Garla, along with many others, in exchange for not destroying the planet completely.

But you were lucky enough that it was your turn to serve the Prince of the Garla, Lotor.

This was before the Paladins intervened, so even when they arrived, this still stood.

To say that you were scared was to say, you were terrified of what was going to happen. What if he was one of those super strict princes? What if he had a bad temper? What if he got angry with you and got physical? And If it hurts you? Or worse?

You set out to be as correct and upright as possible for this new position, apparently you would be a gift, well, maybe you don't have to do much, you can do this.

Dayak barely talks to you, although the first time you meet her is only so she can give you a checkup to make sure you live up to her expectations, and fortunately you are and she seems very satisfied.

Before meeting this "Lotor" she gives you a tour of the Garla main ship in a vague way so that you become familiar with everything and thus adapt quickly before seeing Lotor. The ship is GIANT so it takes a while.

Although at least with this you can hear some people talking and whispering about Lotor, apparently the winner of the "Kral Zera", the first Half-Blood emperor and Zarkon's heir...someone to have fear apparently.

Let's just say they didn't make you feel much better.

But at the end of the day you finally meet him. Is he together with what appear to be the paladins of Voltron? And Dayak makes his presence quite noticeable (poor paladin Blue and especially yellow).

Before retiring, Dayak introduced you to Lotor, as his new personal assistant, to serve him in any way he wanted.

To your surprise, Lotor seemed just as off guard as you, it seems that he had forgotten the deal with the Kral Zera matter, it is understandable, but it was especially shocking when he apologized to you because he could not introduce himself properly, since he had a VERY busy day with the Voltron thing...

....weren't you supposed to come help him with that? What Quiznak?

You tried to tell him that, that you could help him manage that, but he said no! That for now he could handle himself well, but that you should give him time to think of something for you...

okay that was VERY strange

But a nice strange? Lotor was not like you thought he would be.

Even when he finally did what he had to do with the Paladins and Princess Allura (love of a person), he still treated you with a respect you weren't used to.

you were mainly in charge of his agenda with the other Garla leaders and works like that, together with the Paladins and Princess Allura, etc. It wasn't a heavy job, but it required attention to detail and you definitely went out of your way to make it perfect.

And contrary to what you thought, you received some recognition from your, so to speak, Boss (because Lotor hated it when you called him "master" or "owner"), Lotor was grateful that you helped him and that you were so diligent, He let you know when he kept you up to date.

You could even have conversations with him! It wasn't something you had been prepared for in the least, but it was nice, Lotor was someone very intelligent and even had an interesting sarcastic sense of humor. You learned a lot by talking to him.

In turn, Lotor learned more about your species based on his experience with you, although at first it was difficult for him, because you insisted on keeping a certain distance, but he was able to make his way through your walls.

He found you quite pleasant and even charming! Lotor always tried to see other species with equal respect, and for you to see him from such a high place (without the need for violence, just doing his job) made him feel very good about himself.

And the feeling was mutual.

It made you feel calmer about all of this, that everything was going better than you thought. You had ended up with an owner--ahem, Boss- who was nicer than you expected and everything seemed fine--

But then you made a MISTAKE.

You were trying to get used to one of the controls on Lotor's main ship and out of nowhere the controls stopped working. They didn't respond, didn't work and seemed glitched.

You realized that you had pressed the wrong places (used to the mothership controls) and that you had "messed up" this one.

But all you could think about was the trouble you'd get into with Lotor.

Oh no oh no oh no What am I going to do? What are they're going to do to me? They're going to have to throw me away, right? How can I get through this? What if they kill me? What if--

You were so panicked that when Lotor arrives you don't notice.

And it only makes you even more afraid.

Lotor asks what happened, but he starts checking the console on his own and realizes what happened, he knows what you did--

And you can't stand the urge to cry anymore.

Lotor honestly freaks out, he thought you would have gotten hurt and that's why you were crying so much, but you were apologizing for breaking the console, and saying that you were fine with being replaced with someone more capable as long as please, please don't kill you...

Even if he didn't show it much on the outside (it's a habit up to this point he's sorry for it), it hurt Lotor to see you like this. And even more so for something so small. Is this why you thought he was going to replace you? Kill you?? Although he sees that it's mostly because you've been traumatized before, so he's not offended (at all).

Lotor tries to calm you down, explain to you that it's not a big deal. It's not broken! It just needs to restart! Please don't cry! He's not going to replace you! Much less touch a hair on your head! You are save with him...

He ends up fixing the console to prove his point and you calm down, something like that, both of your emotions are running high.

From there, you are a little more alert for your possible "mistakes" and honestly, Lotor misses how you were before this little incident, now it seems like you are walking on eggshells (Whatever that means? The blue Paladin said it ) when you are around him.

He discovers that he misses talking to you more than he thought, he is not someone who gets attached easily, but finally having someone who respected him as a person and not as Prince Garla and that you are now in this scared state hurts him.

So it does something... surprising.

He asks the Paladins and Allura for help.

Obviously some make fun of him a little ahem LANCE AND PIDGE ahem, but for the most part they try to give him good advice on how to approach the situation, although they all have a common idea.

TALK IT DIRECTLY or let you adjust naturally again (which seemed unlikely without the former).

So he did it, he call you to speak alone.

Sincerely? You almost died of fright. This on your planet was a VERY BAD omen, VERY BAD.

so imagine your surprise when Lotor was REALLY alone when you went to see him, but you still remained nervous, this man could destroy you with just one arm after all.

But Lotor...just talks.

And he gets straight to the point, he does NOT plan to replace you, he does NOT plan to hurt you, he does not want you to think that you are so expendable, especially when he has come to enjoy your company so much, you can rest assured, mistakes happen, we ALL make them, he prefers that you make them. a thousand mistakes to not having you at all.

Being honest? It was quite nice.

And you were able to be more...at peace with yourself after that. Be the sweet assistant again.

If we talk about advanced terms of a romantic relationship, IT'S PURE FLUFF.

Lotor has shown that he doesn't give a shit about race, so he has no problem relating to you even if you're not even half Garla. What if someone has a problem? They won't have it anymore :)

If your planet is still under the control of the Garla, it is most likely that Lotor has forced them to have laws and a more egalitarian legislature, your people have not lived so well in decapheobes! Of course, there are those who are still not used to it and others who are directly against it, but that always happens.

Lotor is patient when it comes to old wizard habits, chances are you'll still be that way! But more as a consort😅

Get ready, now that it is certain that he loves you and that you love him too, there is no escape from affection. Lotor is aware that he's touch-starved, but when you discover through this that YOU'RE touch-starved TOO, it's like, the perfect mix.

Lotor is the most openly affectionate, which helps you gain some courage to do the same, although of course, when it comes to making the other person nervous, you never win (although Lotor MELT inside seeing you try).

Lots of physical contact!! Especially at events with too many people and where you can easily feel overloaded, it's a quick way to calm yourself down and for Lotor to be happy and calm (literally, if they want to calm him down they have to bring you into the room and he's INSTANTLY in a good mood again).

You have a friendship with Allura! She jokingly says that you're too good for Lotor, but in a loving way.

The Paladins don't understand how Quiznak, someone as sweet as you ended up with Lotor. Did they threaten you? Blink twice if so--

Your nature is now a little more curious, you see everything with new eyes, it is something tender for Lotor, for him most of these things are everyday, but for you it is something new and even unique, it is nice.

He also now handles your crises better when PTSD strikes, takes you somewhere spacious, keeps some distance so you can breathe better, and when you recover he is on you for the rest of the day, quite worried.

In general, Lotor sees his partner with equal respect and love regardless of their race, social status or how they met, he loves you regardless of everything or how you perceive yourself. You are his equal, his partner, nothing changes that.

Reblogs, shares and Comments are very welcome!!

[emo-ostrich]

1: why doesn’t anyone talk about how heartbreaking this scene is

2: why doesn’t anyone talk about this episode?!?!

it’s actually very well written and serves as a set up for the much darker twist the show is taking

in this episode we learn:

-pidge would sacrifice a good amount of the universe to save her father. they’re the most logical and analytical on the team, yet all that goes out the window when her family gets involved. there’s an argument in the beginning of the episode that is very reminiscent of when pidge was going to leave voltron in season 1 and keith yells at them.

-honerva remembers that lotor is her son. this is a HUGE set up for season 8. she begins the phase 4 of the kuron project which leads to keith returning and becoming the black paladin. but she does all of this because she knows zarkon will kill lotor. she’s ok with lotor killing zarkon bc zarkon is merely a husk of the man he used to be. that realization definitely leads her down the path of “how can i restore my family” (cut to end of season 8).

-on the topic of project kuron, we see the effects of it with shiro lashing out and not being… very shiro like… but he gives lotor HIS BAYARD in the hostage exchange without telling the rest of the team. honerva calls for the beginning of phase 4, and we can see that phase 3 was the shiro that been with the team since he returned in season 3. he’s been living this jekyll and hyde type life with half kuron controlled by honerva and half real shiro.

-we see lance step up and give orders to the team. lance is the red paladin at this point in the series making him the right hand of voltron and this is one of the first times we see him step into that leadership position. watching him grow into that leadership position and learn to feel valued makes the end of season 8 hurt even worse. plus when shiro realizes they need backup he says “lance we could use a little help.” he already acknowledges lance as his right hand man even if lance doesn’t realize it yet. that’s the shiro part talking. lance gives an order and the team says “copy that” which is how lance normally responds to orders. it’s a very clear role reversal that i think is lovely in lance’s character arc (if only dreamworks actually finished his arc smh)

-lotor killing zarkon is proof he really did want peace. he wants nothing to do with his father, doesn’t want zarkon to be his father, and has no hesitation in killing him. lotor and voltron are fighting for the same thing, but simply have different methods. when they fight lotor, he seems hesitant to fire until allura says he’s like zarkon. that’s what throws him over the edge.

lotor becoming emperor of the galra after zarkon’s death shows that having a galra ally on the throne could be the key to peace (hello keith after season 8) so think about the set back in the war efforts when voltron kills the emperor, a former ally, and then disappears. maybe this is why the galra attacked earth? in the beginning on the series, they’re looking at a star map showing that the galra’s progress in conquering worlds is getting closer to reaching earth but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. so either and conquering has sped up and an insane rate, or earth was specifically targeted by the galra while voltron was gone.

-when zarkon is about to kill lotor, the team saves him. the first lion we see fire is allura implying that j was allura that saved lotor a life. that’s kinda big in her development or maybe she was just firing at zarkon who knows

ok sorry that’s all thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

(this is all about season 5 episode 2: blood duel)

[lilflowerpot]

Hi flower! I hope your doing well and I just wanted to ask a question what Lotor’s reaction would be if Keith died? I remember reading a post about Keith blaming himself a while ago and was wondering what that would be if the positions were swapped.

((it took me HOURS to track down the original post on this, good god, but along the way I stumbled across a semi-adjacent post on Lotor's reaction to someone making an attempt on Keith's life (post kral zera), which may also be of interest to you))

If Keith were to die at this stage in the narrative (chapter 24), Lotor would find himself keenly affected in a way he's not truly prepared for; he knows he likes his little Blade far more than he should—he's accepted that for a good while now—but in the event of Keith's death Lotor would find himself in the position of feeling as if,,, he hadn't really the right to grieve? Because in the grand scheme of things, Keith is a blip on the raydar. By my personal plotting of events, they've only known one another for little over 2 altean phoebs (~14 altean movements), which is scarcely any time at all, not to mention that for a great deal of that Lotor wasn't even aware that Marmora-Keith and the Former-Red-Paladin were the same person.

In typical Lotor fashion, his heart would cede to his head, and as team Voltron crumbled to pieces around him Lotor would strive to take advantage of the situation so as to improve his standing and hold this flimsy excuse for an alliance together as the sole chance he has against his father, and yet—

—and yet the world has turned in on itself. Quiet in a way the prince had long since forgotten it could be. Empty and hollow and frightfully lonely, because every so often he will turn to his side to exchange a teasing smile or raised brow with a man who, in so little time, had made an easy home for himself by Lotor's side, only to find that said man simply isn't anymore.

How do you mourn someone you never really knew? Where do you even begin with picking up the pieces, when they're made up of a future that was never anything more than idle daydreams and unspoken promises?

[icypantherwrites]

New Fic: Screaming Your Name (But You Can't Hear Me)

Summary: They told Lance they didn’t want to do this to to him, but they couldn’t risk anyone ruining their plans to save the universe. And so here Lance was, literally locked in a tower by Voltron’s supposed new “allies,”  while they went off to assassinate Keith.

Story snippet:

Lance had writhed and tried to scream — getting one of the guard’s many hands thrown over his mouth — as he was carted away and deposited in this tower that was both impenetrable and horrifically overlooked the courtyard so Lance would see everything but was completely unable to do anything about it.

Already Lance could see Voltron lining up, Keith in position on his side while the king and his advisors assembled into formation across so they could meet in the middle to exchange the crowns.

And the moment Keith had a crown upon his head and the king safely back the sniper would fire and…

And…

Lance slammed his stinging palm against the thick glass as though this time would have somehow better luck than the previous hits and kicks.

All he got for his efforts was a renewed throb of pain in his hand.

He still did it.

He couldn't do anything else and Dios, Keith was going to be…

“Keith!” he screamed, pounding his fists on the glass. “Keith!”

Galrans were supposed to have superior hearing, right?

Keith had to hear him.

He had to.

Dios, he had to.

“Mullet!” he tried. “Keith! Stop!”

Because Keith was starting to walk forward to the center of the courtyard and Dios, no.

No no no no no.

“Keith!” it was practically a shriek. “Keith! Stop! Dios, stop!”

Keith did not stop.

[thotpuppy]

20 questions for fic writers!

this kind of stuff is super neat to read from others and share and talk about sooo thank u so much for the tag @sugareey-makes-stuff!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

On its face, 40, but 5 are co-creator tags because i illustrated them, 3 of them are art for the steter bang independently posted separate from their fics, 1 was gift art for the steter vday exchange, and 1 is a 60k+ roleplay that i only wrote like half of haha. so its actually 30-31

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

365,587 but again, not all my words. Without the 8 fics mentioned up top, its at 250,197 total. the fic i co wrote is 69,599. Without any of that, my total is 180,598. if i only cut half out, its at 215,397 which is. still pretty good i guess???

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Published, I have fics for Voltron Legendary Defender, Teen Wolf, Danny Phantom, and Sk8 the Infinity. I pretty much only write for Teen Wolf right now. I have WIPs and ideas for DC, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, and of course Danny Phantom.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Grandma, What a Big Dick You Have! (the better to fuck you with my dear) (Sterek, WC 5,644, one shot, Rated E)

Churn My (Peanut) Butter (Steter, WC 3,074, one shot, Rated E)

A Collision of Interest is Inevitable  (This is that role-play) (PompousPep, WC 69,599, part 1 of ?, Rated M)

Why (not) Me? (Sterek, WC 6,496, one shot, Rated M)

Now Hiring (Sterek, WC 5,724, part 1 of WIP series that's currently 4 parts. Rated E)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do my very best to meet my commenters however they meet me. If they just drop some emojis, i drop some back. If they give me a long, thought out comment, I give them one back. Etc etc.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This question and 7 are both hard because I pretty much exclusively write happy endings. A Snap, a Shudder, and a Home probably has the least upward lifting ending? It's not sad or angsty, but it speaks to unresolved tensions. The problem isn't over, even if they have a taste of peace. (Sterek, WC 1,669, one shot, Rated T)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They all have happy endings! ARGH! The most outwardly enduringly positive fic I've written, however, is probably:

Daisies and Daffodils (You Make Me Smile) (Sterek, WC 3,864, one shot, Rated T) I was just in such a smiley, indulgent mood the entire time I wrote it, and it still makes me warm and smiley about it now.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not technically, though I have gotten two particularly unpleasant comments. One was on a Sterek fanfic trope challenge fic, for the prompt "Forced Proximity". Stiles and Derek get put into a '7 minutes of heaven' sort of situation by Lydia and one commenter was SO MAD that I didn't tag the fic as RAPE/NONCON ????? They also lectured me about being sexist and having double standards because it wouldn't be okay if Sterek were Women, which was just all sorts of yikes. (WC 2,912, Rated M, link here.) The other time I got a negative comment was actually on my most recently posted WIP Under My Skin, which is a Stackson fic. The hatefulness wasn't directed at the fic itself, but it WAS targeted at one of the main protagonists of the fic, as if implying I would be "punishing" said character for his "crimes" which were Being Human and Struggling. It made me super, SUPER uncomfortable and I ended up leaving the thread on read because I just got so unhappy every time I read the comment that I decided it wasn't worth even trying to explain myself. (WC 55,613, chapter 18/?, Rated E, noncon warning)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Haha.... normally I would say that's literally most of what I write, but I have a surprising number of lengthier non-smutty fics than I realized. I also legitimately have a Just Porn fic series, though, and I've written some pretty horny stuff in general. (Sterek+ others, WC 23,152, Rated E, parts 4/?)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't, but I'm not opposed to doing one? I tend to prefer crossovers that are more, characters from X in setting from Y than, like, main characters interacting? But I have read a good few crossovers lately that have made me much more open TO writing a crossover in the future.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully not, yikes

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Naw, but I'd be open to it! I have blanket permissions for a lot of stuff right on my ao3 profile. (:

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah :,^)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

If you'd asked me this like 5 years ago I would have said Drarry. I HAVE answered this question with Drarry many times. I think, at this point in time, however, it is shifting. It very well may be Sterek. Drarry has absolutely shaped a huge amount of how I create, how I write, what i read, etc. though so it would be inappropriate to say it held no influence over me.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I think it's entirely possible i will never finish the TBHK Wondering Prince fic I started. It's somewhere between traditional fairy tale, medieval fantasy, and the witcher, with a good bit of TBHK's whimsical supernaturality.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I tend to do well with dialogue IMO, as well as general world building, both fantastical and mundane lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plot. The actual beats of the story. I have wonderful, grand ideas on what a story should be! I even have thoughts on the conflicts, major stepping points, etc, but MAN do i get tripped up on the actual getting from point a to point b thematicall.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

*wiggly hand gesture* I think if it is a language you speak, and it is only occasional words or a line or two, it makes sense to use the other language, but in every spoken situation in visual media, you would get subtitles explaining what was being said if it went on longer than that. If the audience doesn't speak the language and they have to go to the end of the chapter/fic/etc to translate it, that can be enough for them to just gloss over and not even read it. Or, if you don't speak that language at all and you use google translate? you might have written something very different from your intent that people who DO speak it catch and get tripped up by. I think it's better to just, say that the character is speaking in another language and translate it in text for your readers.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

teeeeeeeeeechnically homestuck? for 'posted on ao3'?? But also, I've lowkey been writing fanfic adjacent works since i was like 6, but i don't rly wanna count that LOL

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

This bitch is my baaaaaaaaby. Stackson, WC 55,613, Chapters 18/?. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48834448 Currently a WIP but with a deadline, so it WILL be finished! This is probably the fic that got me REALLY into writing fic on my own though. https://archiveofourown.org/works/29829636 It really brought me back to my love of writing and was the first finished work in a long ass time. I also think it's really funny and a great example of what I can do when I apply myself. (PompousPep, WC 4,545, 2 chapters, Rated M.)

Tagging: @geekmom13 @always-mimits @sinnabon-cosplay @okdeannawrites @whimsicalmeerkat @clotpolesonly @hedwig221b @wolfspurr @lavender-lotion @adrianfridge

(Blank under the readmore)

20 questions for fic writers!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

The Galaxy Garrison sucks ass and this is why I think so Part 2

This is my OWN interpretation, Voltron as a whole never gave enough context about the GG to ever show it in a purely positive or negative light. I'll be excluding VLD, Beastking Golion, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV and any comics here since that's a hard reboot, the original Japanese dubs have nothing to do with each other, and because the comics are their own beast to deal with.

This part will be focusing on Vehicle Voltron and slighty Defender of The Universe, more parts will be added by show

Parts: 1 2 3

Rant after the cut for dash reasons, feel free to add your own opinions and/or additions to the post, I really want to hear about other interpretations of the GG!

It's Vehicle Voltron (vv) time! So like I said earlier, there's 15 cadets who are piloting an experimental weapon at the far reaches of the universe in enemy territory they themselves are their only form of protection at all, therefore The Explorer is huge and does have extra defenses But that doesnt mean jack shit when a Robeast, that's right there's some of those uglies here too, show up to drive them off Now I will give The Explorer and the GG credit where credit is due, the show is very anti-colonization and actively leaves a planet (and often some kind of calling card if in need of help) with the Natives if they so find any However! The GG isn't anti-war and that experimental weapon I mentioned is a copy of Voltron that's made up of 15 parts, see where I'm going with this? Their mission was to find new planets for Earth's (and presumably their allied planets) overpopulation issue, except the only viable planets are in enemy territory, so they sent 15 (assumed) cadets, made them graduate early, and shoved them into effectively No Mans Land I'm not sure if it's ever guaranteed that VV would work in the first place or if the teams just got permission and said "Fuck it we ball!" Not to mention the bot itself is based on a MYTH, and even if they had information to show the GG it was actually REAL, it wouldn't be enough TO BUILD AN ENTIRELY NEW ROBOT Once again I will let something slide in which whatever Drule faction attacks them, it's out of their own will and not because the GG did something so they had to protect themselves, I HAVE finished VV but it's been a while so I'm not sure if the commander of the fleet, Hawkins, got permission to do peace talks with them or not but I DO know that he attempted peace talks multiple times, some worked some didn't Bringing back some dotu here, I mentioned Balto blowing up, Chip is also Balton! meaning that was his home! and I can just sweep this under the rug as the engl dub doing its best with what it got but in universe, we never get to see Chip get told about his planet, plus how far out was the Explorer from Arus in the first place? Hell how far from BALTO were they if Balto is so far out in the first place? The Explorer could've been sent out, they could've helped, or if they couldn't they could've told chip about what they do know and if the people he cares about (and namely Pidge) were still ok Plus did Chip ever get told what happened to his brother? how he was enslaved and forced into galdiator fights? how he's currently on the front lines just like him in order to fight off robeasts?? I know they exchanged letters, but was it Pidge who told him? Or did the Garrison take repsonsiblity for once about the two infant geniuses THAT ARE UNDER THEIR CARE AND PROTECTION AWAY FROM THEIR ADOPTIVE PARENTS (yes they're adopted, dotu has a scene in which Pidge remembers when he was adopted, Chip would've been as well)

In these two shows alone, it only highlights that the GG doesn't absolutely NOTHING and only once their hand is forced is something ever done!

Next post will be about Voltron The Third Dimension and Voltron Force as I don't have much to say about the first

[rangergirl3]

VLD Positivity Day

I had @littlewheatart for this exchange - and you requested Gen content, especially Hance friendship and Garrison Trio stuff! (Note - this fic takes place while the three of them are at Garrison, so I used male pronouns for Pidge, given the timing in regards to her being undercover at the Garrison)

So here you are! :-)

Hunk was trying to concentrate on studying, but it was difficult and not only because finals week was stressing him out.

His roommate was bored, and trying to get his attention.

Or at least, that was what Hunk assumed as yet another spitball hit the back of his neck.

Hunk sighed.

“Lance, cut it out! I have to study, okay?”

There was a dramatic sigh from the bunk bed on the other side of the room.

“But you know all this stuff. You could teach the frickin’ class.”

That made Hunk turn around and glare at his best friend who was sitting on a chair, with his back against the wall.

“Well, I still need to take the final, and Professor Montgomery is definitely going to test us on everything, so can you please let me read through my notes one last time before-”

But Lance had already placed his own book over his face, crossed his arms, and slid down in his seat so that he now resembled a studious noodle.

Hunk blinked and shook his head again. A studious noodle? 

Okay. He was thinking of pasta now. It was definitely almost time for a study break.

“Fine,” Lance said, rather grumpily. “But we are definitely going outside after dinner to get some fresh air, or I’m going to go crazy.”

Hunk thought about pointing out that Lance couldn’t be studying with the book literally over his face, unless his friend had osmosis powers Hunk didn’t know about.

Even as he thought it, Lance said, quite evenly, “Okay, knowledge. Hit me.”

It was too perfect an opportunity to pass by.

Hunk crumpled up a page of his outdated class calendar and tossed it underhand at Lance’s chest.

When it made contact, Lance yelped in surprise and sat up again so fast the book fell off his face.

“Oh my God! Hunk, it worked! Knowledge hit me!”

Lance’s grin at his own bad joke was infectious. Hunk snorted, but he found himself smiling too.

Later that day in the cafeteria, Hunk saw Ridge Gunderson sitting alone at a table, surrounded by books and papers.

When Hunk and Lance came to sit in the chairs opposite him, Pidge looked up from  only a second before going back to his meal.

As Lance slid his tray onto the worn tabletop, he tried to make conversation.

“Hey there Gunderson. How are your finals going?”

Pidge didn’t look up from his books when he shrugged. “Fine. Not great. Gotta study.”

Lance and Hunk exchanged looks. It seemed like maybe Pidge didn’t want company.

“Oh - uh - sorry, Pidge -”

Hunk made as if to rise from his chair, but Pidge looked up long enough from his books to say, “No, nonono, I meant I have to get back to it…”

He glanced up at the clock hanging on the far side and sighed. “…soon…” he muttered. “But I should probably eat before I pass out.”

Hunk sat upright as if the alarm bells had just gone off throughout the military base. “Wait, you could pass out?” he said in horror, and Lance also gaped at their team member as if Pidge had just said he was suffering from temporary blindness.

Behind his glasses, Pidge blinked in confusion, and in that millisecond, a roll and an apple appeared in front of him as if by magic. He stared down at the seemingly summoned food items even as both Hunk and Lance got to their feet, leaving their own trays on the table.

“Okay you need a sandwich, stat - oh and maybe some soup, too -”

“Hydrate! You gotta hydrate, Pidge, your brain is like, 90% water!”

“Lance there’s no way my brain is -”

“Okay so maybe it’s not 90% but it’s still a lot,” Lance said, already half-way to the drink dispenser. “You want ice? Or no ice?”

Pidge blinked again, then realized Lance was talking to him.

“Uh - ” he said, but Lance had already hurried out of earshot.

He turned to see Hunk already in line for another plate of food.

Then he looked down at the roll and the apple in front of him.

No one was there to see Pidge Gunderson blink or cough, but he did. His fingers tapped out a quick, thoughtful rhythm on the seat by him.

“Guys,” he muttered. “I never know what’s going on with them.”

A few days later, finals week was almost over, but the three of them were too exhausted to feel very elated.

“…uhhhh…” Lance groaned. He lay sprawled out in a chair, a textbook over his face again. “Is it over yet?”

Hunk sat back and rubbed his eyes. They stung and smarted from staring too long at his tablet’s screen. “If by ‘over’, you mean the last final of the week, aka Professor Montgomery’s test from Hell, no, no it isn’t,” he said, almost grumpily. “I have at least three more chapters to re-read and my notes which are...”

He checked the notebooks he was holding and sighed. “...a lot. A lot of notes.”

From where he sat hunched over his computer, Pidge grunted in unenthusiastic agreement.

“I mean, sure, we’re smart,” Pidge said, tipping his chair back and adjusting his glasses. “But her tests are hard.”

Lance sat up so quickly the book fell off his face and landed with a ‘thunk’ onto the floor.

“Oh, man,” he said, and he sounded truly nervous. “If Pidge thinks that, I’m doomed.”

Pidge glared over at him. “What?!” he spat. “What do you mean, doomed?”

Lance flapped his arms around his head as he answered. “You and Hunk are the smartest people in our class!” he exclaimed. “If you two are stressed out about the test, that means that I, an average-test-taker, am doomed!”

Hunk sighed and held up a chocolate bar. “Lance, relax, we’ll be fine -”

Lance shuddered dramatically and took the candy bar from him. “I hope so. But  isn’t there some kind of, I don’t know, spell that we could just use? Like in Harry Potter?”

Pidge looked over the edge of his textbook and raised his eyebrows. “Um...there wasn’t. They had to study...right?”

Lance spoke mid-chew. “They didn’t have to study! They just fought Lord Vol - what’s-his-face.”

Hunk waved a hand from side to side. “No, no, they did have to study, or - was that just in the earlier books? You know, before everything went south and they went on a camping trip - or...was it a scavenger hunt?”

Lance sniffed, looking offended. “It was both - and hey now, I liked Book Seven. It was cool.”

Pidge opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again. Hunk sighed and went back to his notes. 

“Well, I can’t even remember half of the spells they used in -”

Lance waved an imaginary wand at his pile of textbooks and said, ‘Ridikulous!’

Despite himself, Hunk glanced up. Nothing had happened, but Lance’s fingers were flying as he folded some of the paper into - oh. An oragami crane.

He held it up, grinning at both Hunk and Pidge.

‘See?’ he said. “Now the class isn’t quite so...daunting.”

He looked sideways at it. “I mean, sort of. I think. Okay fine, I don’t know, I was bored and wanted distraction.”

Pidge yawned. “The real question is, why do you have notes on paper?” he asked. “It’s the age of electronics, Lance.”

Hunk hummed in disagreement. “I like writing things down on paper,” he said. “It helps me picture the words or diagrams in my head better. It’s like...practicing, sort of.”

Pidge shrugged, going back to his own study guide. “Whatever works, I guess.”

Happy Voltron Positivity Exchange! (Sorry for the delay in posting, my flight got delayed) 

[yainereblogs]

Happy Voltron Positivity Day to @hidden! I hope you have a day full of good feelings (✿´ ꒳ ` )

Thanks to @stargazershiro for setting this up! You’re awesome!!

[azulaphales]

Hi there! It's your giftee (gift giver? idk) for the Voltron Positivity Exchange! I was wondering if you have any requests/preferences for tropes or type of content (eg: fluff/angst/soft/action). I can make most anything work. ^,^ Thank you so much for your wonderful contributions to the fandom, I can't wait to get your gift ready for you!

Aww, thank you so much for asking! I like super fluffy and soft. Cuddling, physical affection, lovey dovey stuff. My favorite trope that I can think of right now is when one character is cold and the other one cuddles them to keep warm. I also like sick fics and hurt/comfort fics. A lot of the ships I listed were Galra ships so obviously anything where they’re alive and happy ^^ thank you and I can’t wait to see your gift! 

[kentthebirdboy]

Happy Voltron Positivity Exchange @wolfliorchi :D 

Here are the drawings I made for you :3

Special thanks to @stargazershiro 

[aether-staza]

After the war…

Here’s my contribution to @stargazershiro’s Voltron Positivity Exchange! (Reuploaded ‘cuz tumblr went screwy) This is for @pheonomenal, I hope you like it! Spread the positivity guys!

[wolviecat]

Here’s my part to @stargazershiro’s Voltron Positivity Exchange!  This is for @ gloynporslen , I hope you like it! Spread the positivity guys!

[babsaros]

hey @mizulekitten, Happy Voltron Positivity day! i hope you have a great day!

and shoutout to @stargazershiro for organizing this!

[marmoraskeith]

Going Under

For @stargazershiro‘s wonderful Voltron Positivity Exchange! This is my gift for @life-death-thepursuitofhappiness :) Enjoy a bit of angsty yet fluffy Klance! I know this is a bit early but for all I know your timezone could be the 20th by now and I’m just excited to share this with you! Hope you like desperate boys makin’ out. But truly, thank you for always being kind to me and sending me messages when I’m feeling low. This is for you :’)

“You could have died out there.”

Keith closes his eyes and lets out a soft sigh, turning his nose into the line of Lance’s throat. He’s too ashamed to raise his head and look Lance in the eye right now, so he settles for burrowing into the place between Lance’s neck and shoulder that somehow always smells like mint.

“Keith...”

“I get it, okay?” his voice is muffled against Lance’s collarbone, his lips mashing into the heated skin covering the wings of bone. He tightens his grip around Lance’s waist, arms aching. “I was stupid. Don’t need to hear a lecture from you too.”

“Hey.” A warm palm settles on Keith’s forehead and pushes his hair back, lifting his head up until he sees twin pools of indigo staring into his soul. “It’s not a lecture. It’s me being worried. If our positions had been switched, wouldn’t you be worried about me too?”

Read more on AO3

[icypantherwrites]

New Fanfiction: Sword and Shield

Summary: The Blade mission is dangerous but Keith is confident that between himself and Lance, who along with the Red Lion is integral to the success of it, they’ll be fine. However, as the mission progresses Keith is finding it harder and harder to ignore the fact that Lance keeps making himself a human shield and sacrificing his own safety for Keith’s. And now that horrific pattern has come to a head as Lance is poisoned and dying in an attack meant for Keith and there’s nothing he can do to save him.

Chapter One Snippet:

Keith hadn’t had contact with anyone from Voltron now in well over a month and while that wasn’t unusual as his missions could last weeks and Keith had never been very good at communication anyway, Lance had surprised him and tried to remain in semi regular contact, even if it was just messages updating Keith on little things around the castle.

It had meant more than Keith would ever be able to say.

With Voltron he’d finally felt like he belonged and it still hurt, some days more than others, at the fact he’d had to leave — at the fact Shiro, who had always wanted the best for him, had practically forced Keith out but if it helped Shiro then Keith would do it a hundred times over because he owed Shiro everything and he’d been through so much and if Keith and his position as Black Paladin was causing a rift then Keith would go — and it hurt too that outside of Coalition meetings and the occasional food package from Hunk and Lance’s texts he never heard from any of them.

Never heard from Shiro.

But Keith was used to being the outsider, he’d known it was too good to be true, and so he’d accepted that was the way it had to be and done his best to move on, even if he’d found that the Blades as a whole weren’t all that welcoming to him either.

He just never belonged anywhere.

And while given the above Keith was far from good at communication he always made it a point to respond back to Lance’s messages, just to at least let him know that he’d gotten them and that he was…

He was okay.

But he hadn’t responded to Lance’s last message from over two weeks ago now and normally Lance would follow that up within a day or two with something like “You still alive, mullet?” and despite the lighthearted tone Keith could always tell there was that baited breath of not knowing what exactly Keith had gotten caught up in with a Blade mission.

No one from Voltron still knew about Naxzela and Keith was going to keep it that way because he didn’t even want to reflect on what he’d almost done.

He’d always been a survivor no matter what life had thrown at him.

But in that moment, in that instance…

It terrified him.

And there was no use thinking about it because it hadn’t happened and that was the end of it.

But there had been no follow up text from Lance a couple days later.

Then a week.

And now it was almost two and that wasn’t normal and Keith knew he should reach out, should make sure Lance was the one who was okay this time, but…

But he hadn’t.

Because maybe…

Maybe Lance had realized as everyone always did that Keith wasn’t worth his time and his concern. They’d sort of become friends during Keith’s stint as leader but now Keith had failed at trying to keep that burgeoning friendship going and if he reached out and Lance didn’t reply…

It confirmed it.

And so Keith stayed silent, anxiety and excuses building each day. He had confirmed via a Coalition briefing log two days ago that Lance and all other members of Voltron were indeed alive and some of the pit of worry had abated because even if they weren’t friends any longer Keith still cared about them and he wanted them to be okay.

And that should have been the push he needed to reach out because what if the next time they weren’t okay and his own fears and doubts had removed any last chance for a kind exchange to where he wouldn’t feel this guilt.

But he didn’t.

And now, if this worked, he needed to reach out to ask a favor and that made him the shittiest person in the universe and he should never have let it come to this.

But it had and he wasn’t going to let the universe suffer for it.