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musicanddancingthroughlife · 3 years

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Shklance - I Died

I feel like I basically dropped off the face of the planet, and for that I apologize. I have no excuses, except stress and mental health have been a huge problem lately and I’ve just been trying to find balance in my life. I can’t promise anything in the near future, with holidays coming up, and I have finals in like 3 weeks, and then my husband and I are moving at the end of the year, and then my little sister’s wedding is a few weeks after so I’m helping with that, and basically my life is just a mess right now, but I am still working on stuff, comments are always welcome and really do help to get me motivated, and hopefully I can get back into the groove of writing daily and posting weekly!

This story is probs gonna be a part 1 of 2. Hopefully. As is, I wanted it to be a stand alone, but I’ve been drafting it for almost a month now and I just want to throw it at you guys. So know I’m working on a part 2, where they talk about the whole thing and you see everyone’s reactions to what happened. This was actually a request someone made of me on my Ao3 account, but I’ve always loved reading stories dealing with everyone finding out about Lance dying. Just never thought I could do it justice haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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Lance knew that this was going to be an emotional day for all of them, but seriously, this was a little overkill. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.

Sure, it was the one-year anniversary of the day they all saved the universe, ended the war that had gone on for decades, blah blah blah, but getting up also meant that he was going to have to see everyone again.

Not that he wasn’t thrilled to see them! He and Hunk especially had been waiting for this day for months, and he couldn’t wait to see Pidge and Matt again, either. Last Lance had talked to them, they had been working on some seriously neat stuff. They were sure to be a lot of fun.

Hell, he had even been looking forward to seeing Allura again, even though things had never really been the same between them after Allura broke things off. Though, considering how hurt he was still feeling about their break up, it was probably a good thing she had canceled last minute. She’d said that she needed to focus on helping the universe heal. Lance had wanted to go with her, but she rejected him. He knew she was trying to be kind, telling him that he “deserved the time to rest” and that she “knew how much he’s been missing his home planet.” But really, all it had done was serve to remind him that he wasn’t actually necessary.

Not like Shiro and Keith were.

Allura hadn’t had any problems taking them with her, even though everyone else (even Keith) and agreed that if anyone deserved the down time, it was Shiro. Especially since Shiro had seemed a little weary when he accepted the invitation from Allura. Personally, Lance believed the only reason he agreed to go was because he knew that Keith wouldn’t be happy staying in one place anymore, and of course, there was no way they were going to allow themselves to be separated again, not after everything that had happened…

And Lance was even looking forward to seeing Keith and Shiro, since he had probably missed them the most. But he also knew that it was going to be hard. It was always hard seeing them together, but knowing that they’ve been doing so much good out in the universe, that they’ve gotten to see so much more of those worlds than he had… That was going to be hard.

Not to mention Lance still hadn’t managed to shake the crushes he’d had on them for so long now.

Or the fact that while everyone else was off changing the universe, traveling the galaxies, creating newer and better technology and inventions, Lance had done nothing? Okay, so farming wasn’t nothing. And no one could deny that Earth needed some TLC after the trauma of the war had nearly destroyed it. But as much as he enjoyed the simple hard work involved, that didn’t mean he didn’t understand it was stupid. It was pathetic. His friends were still fighting, in their own ways, and Lance felt as if he had simply given up. He couldn’t figure out what he wanted to spend his time doing, what felt most worthy of his time and attention, and so he had allowed himself to fall back on something easy.

And he wasn’t sure that he could face his friends while knowing the truth about himself, that he was a coward and had no mission or goals in life.

******

So, maybe Lance was a bit of a drama queen, because things had actually been going better than he expected. Everyone looked good, older and more experienced. Hunk had even grown out some facial hair, though it was a little sparse coming in. Lance knew that wouldn’t be the case for very long. The most shocking was Allura’s news about expecting a child (Keith and Shiro had passed it on in her absence). That hurt way more than Lance thought had a right to, but he tried hard to suppress that pain until he could process it in private. Possibly while crying over a tub of ice cream.

And as far as their actual dinner and celebration went, well… it really had been inevitable that their discussion would become heavier. And, as usual, Lance couldn’t keep his own mouth shut.

“We had some good times, though, right?” Lance laughed easily, trying to direct the conversation back to something lighter, something easier (at this point he’d had a couple decades to cement his masks, and he was good at pretending like nothing was wrong). “I mean, we might have been injured, and tortured—”

“Lance,” Hunk warned. He darted a quick, concerned look to Keith and Shiro, but thankfully neither of them looked too worried. Instead, they were staring at Lance with such sappy looks Hunk was irritated Lance wasn’t paying enough attention to notice on his own. A shared glance with Pidge told him that at least he wasn’t alone in his annoyance.

Lance continued thoughtlessly, “and I mean, maybe a couple of us died, but hey! In the end, it all turned out okay, and look at everyone, living their best lives!” (Lance was firmly ignoring the fact that he had spent most of his free time leading up to today pouting in bed. No one else knew, and therefore it didn’t count.)

Pidge opened her mouth, but Shiro spoke first. His brows were furrowed, and his nose had scrunched up a little. Lance wanted to melt at the cuteness of it. “Did someone else die? I thought I was the only one. Who else died?”

Lance’s jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t remember if it had even been brought up or not… It had to have, right? There’s no way his friends – his team – had just gone on for this long without knowing! He thought they were just ignoring it! Things had been crazy, and they’d never really gotten a chance to slow down and breathe, let alone discuss everything that had happened. And that was fine! That was to be expected! But now he was supposed to believe they just didn’t know??? Did that mean they didn’t care? That they didn’t notice all the nightmares that had become the norm after his death? The way he was jumpier for months after that battle? And if that were the case, then was it even worth bringing up now, so long after it had happened?

Lance’s face was burning, the warm flush traveling up to the tips of his ears, and possibly all the way down his neck. He could feel his eyes welling up, but he brushed it away, pretending his face palm in order to hide the movement. He glanced at his friends, unsurprised to find Hunk staring at him intently. Pidge was muttering to herself, obviously trying to determine what had happened on her own. Lance couldn’t even bear to drag his gaze to Keith or Shiro.

He tried to get out of answering Keith.

“Oops haha, must’ve miscounted, I meant to say that one of us had died,” Lance laughed again but unlike earlier, this one was decidedly uncomfortable. “Because. Obviously. One of us… did. Sorry, Shiro. But like, you died. That happened. And it was weird and we got a weird clone out of the deal, which was weird – did I say that already? – and like he wasn’t a great dude, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead, you know? You’re much nicer than that clone was, he was kind of a jerk. No offense, Shiro. I mean, not that you’re the clone or anything, cause you’re Shiro, and that was Not-Shiro—”

Oh dear God why wouldn’t they shut him up? Lance was so busy panicking about what he was saying that he didn’t notice Shiro and Keith slowly standing, approaching him from each side. But Hunk and Pidge could almost see the concern rising off them.

“But he was mean, and he yelled at us a lot. Although I guess he really spent most of his time yelling at me, which really, makes sense, but again, not something you would’ve done, Shiro, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead or anything, because Not-Shiro was a terrible replacement and—”

“Shiro yelled at you?” Keith had come close enough that he could lay a warm, gentle hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance almost flinched at the contact, it had been so long since someone had touched him like that. Sure, he saw his family way more often than he had while they were fighting in space, but, come on. They were fighting in space. He never saw them back then! Anything was an improvement over that! Anyway, the point was, he knew he was lonely. He ignored it. It didn’t matter. His friends were happy, his family was safe.

“Weren’t you listening when I said it was Not-Shiro?” was all Lance could think to say. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Why did he yell at you?” Shiro asked. Lance shrugged.

“Lance had some good advice to share. Though honestly, I’m thinking that Lance’s plan just wouldn’t have suited the clone’s purposes and he wanted to make sure that Lance would stop pushing. So he yelled, knowing that would be enough to shut Lance down,” Hunk said. He shot Lance an apologetic look as he did so. Smart, because Lance was Not Happy with him. Now wasn’t the time to share petty hurts!

“Personally, I believe it was because if anyone was going to find out he wasn’t really Shiro, it would’ve been you,” Pidge shrugged. And really, et tu, Pidge? This wasn’t fair at all. Not to mention, now Lance could feel the now-familiar guilt from knowing he hadn’t been able to tell.

And that was what finally had Lance speaking up. “Oh come on, guys, that’s not even the worst any of us suffered out there! Lotor joined the team! I died! Shiro died! Keith left! We had bigger things to deal with!”

There was a brief silence following this, long enough for Lance to squeeze his eyes shut and briefly mutter “Fuck” to himself, and then—

“What do you mean, you died?”

Lance’s ability to make things worse every time he opens his mouth really should be considered a wonder of the world.

He opened his eyes hesitantly to find that everyone was watching him intently. Tears were welling in Hunk’s eyes, and Lance knew that if he paid too much attention to his friend, then he would break almost instantly. He avoided looking in that direction, lips pursed shut, determined to stay quiet now. But they were just as determined to make him talk.

“Lance, please, what happened?” and since when the hell does Pidge beg? That’s just wrong. But effective, because that wrongness made Lance jerk his head up, eyes accidentally locking with Shiro.

He looked so sad…

“It really wasn’t a huge deal, I was just saying that there was a lot happening. It was pretty much impossible for all of us to keep up with each other, what with Lotor and Allura, and Keith disappearing then coming back, and the search for Shiro… and Hunk, Pidge, you guys had a great team thing going on there. That was a lot of fun! And then remember Coran had us playing Monsters and Mana? Good times!”

“You played what?” Keith asked, confused. Then he shook his head. “Stop distracting us, Lance. Answer the questions.”

“Um. What questions?”

Keith’s face hardened, eyes doing that dangerous flinty thing that Lance had always loved to see when he got mad. But before he could say anything, Lance’s phone went off. He really did try to hide the relief on his face as he stood, but the way Shiro set his jaw made him think he was not successful.

Before Lance could answer the call, he felt his phone plucked from his fingers. He lunged for it, and Keith slipped it into his own back pocket, out of Lance’s reach. Even worse, his lunge for it brought their faces way too close. Lance jerked back, face flaming a bright red, but he felt himself crash back into Shiro’s firm, solid chest. He started to stammer apologies, but Keith’s hands settled on Lance’s shoulders, pulling him away, and then he and Shiro pushed him back down into his chair. As Shiro moved to kneel next to Lance’s chair, Keith held him there, grounding and sure. He leaned down, putting his mouth close to Lance’s ear and then murmured “Please. We need to know. We’re horrible friends for not already knowing, but we’re asking now and we need you to tell us. Let us help.” And Shiro gripped Lance’s arm, thumb smoothing against his darker skin, making it harder and harder for Lance to want to move.

Lance knew that they were blowing this out of proportion. But he still felt touched. He’d thought they were just ignoring his death because other things were happening at the same time, but maybe that wasn’t really the case. Maybe they truly hadn’t known. Maybe Allura had never said anything, and Lance, expecting Allura to say something, hadn’t said anything either, and so maybe they just didn’t know. Maybe sharing it now would be okay.

#shklance #takahsi shirogane #keith kogane #lance mcclain #shklance fic #vld #vld fic #voltron #voltron fic #voltron legendary defender #protective!shiro #protective!keith #langst #i guess #jessi rambles #mywriting #my writing #its been so long Idk if im missing any tags #sorry

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zwiezraczek · 5 years

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The Princess and the Pauper Voltron AU (Klance&Shallura)

I blame @genelpan for this AU because in her Insta story she reminded me that this movie exists. So making a shoutout to all my fellow Polish people who are still listening to the songs because “beeeedeee Twooooj gdy pooowiesz” you know what you know ;)

On the same day, in the same kingdom two little souls are born, both of them looking so alike they could be taken for twins. But each one of them is born in a different world...

Allura is the princess of Altean Kingdom, her father and her mother, Alfor and Eleanor are proud parents of a sublime little princess

Allura is given a cat when she becomes a teenager, a little puffy cat she named Elly after her mother's surname

At the same time, she is given a tutor Takashi Shirogane aka Shiro, a boy from the little town, who's five years older than she is

Both become friends pretty quickly thanks to their interest in science, they can spend whole days in the library reading about science.

Sometimes Shiro reads Allura some fairy tales, both of them are fond of these

They grow closer, and slowly, but surely, their feelings toward each other go from friendship to a soft love

But both of them know that they can't be together, so they repress their feelings

Allura because, when her mother passes away when she's thirteen, she has to marry a king/prince in order to guarantee a future to her kingdom and Shiro because he knows he has nothing to offer to Allura, who deserves the world and even more

Lance is born in the little town around their palace, in a poor family, but a loving one. He's an only child, his parents borrow money to raise him and to give him the best perspectives in life and Lance is genuinely interested in music and sewing so his mother teaches him songs and how to sew

His father is very proud of his son, he knows that the boy isn't a casual boy in town but he encourages him to be what he chooses to be

One day, Lance rescues a cat that he names Blue, and he loves Blue with all his heart

Lance's parents die because of a disease which causes a mortality rise in the little town, he is now an eleven years old boy who has debts to pay

Guess who takes advantage of this? Lotor's Dress Emporium from which Lance's parents borrowed money. He begins to work there, sewing dresses for the Court and the royal family, such as the Princess herself

When both turn eighteen...

The kingdom faces a crisis, and the only solution that King Alfro can come up with – because his advisor Honerva left on a trip – is to marry his daughter to the Blade's kingdom Prince

Allura isn't fond of this, at all, but she knows that she has to do it for her people so she accepts it, abandoning her love for Shiro thinking that her love isn't reciprocated

Shiro tries to cheer her up when he hears the news, telling that Prince Keith is a nice person who has a passion for art, music and knives

Which is kinda weird, Shiro said and made Allura laugh

But both regret that the will never be together...

“All my life I've always wanted to have one day just for me” - Allura breaking into a musical number while trying her dress on because she will marry Prince Keith in a few days

She just wishes for some time on her own, just a moment among her books with Shiro, reading books, listening to Shiro's voice when he reads for her while sitting in a chair and looking how his expression changes everytime he imitates another character

She wants to marry him so badly, but it's her duty to save the kingdom, and her father is sorry about it...

“All my life I've always wanted to have one day for myself” - Lance while taking one pile of fabric to another place in Lotor's Dress Emporium

Well, even if his friend, Romelle enjoys the show, Lotor seems not so fond of it

And Lance learns that he has to work there for another 37 years, because “interests” and Lance protests

“They did it to feed me!” “Their mistake”

And Lance just loses it all, and goes fuck it all I'm going to sing in the streets tomorrow early in the morning because I deserve it and because it's his only escape

Romelle doesn't encourage him, but she offers to cover him for sure and Lance thanks her with a kiss on her cheek

And both Lance and Allura swear to themselves that they will once be free to do whatever they want to

Guess who's missing in this beautiful picture? Honerva, Alfor's advisor. And well, even if she seems to be a good little lady she's the devil in disguise wanting to own the kingdom: she is behind the kingdom's crisis and she wants to become the Empress of the Kingdom, by marrying Alfor and then killing him. But to do so, she has to kidnap his daughter, Allura, so she won't be able to marry this king of the Blades and she'll be the only option for Alfor. Her plan was perfect

On the next day, Prince Keith in disguise – because he loves disguising himself okay, it's what's called FUN – with the Blade's kingdom Ambassador, Kolivan, arrive to the palace

And Kolivan isn't sure about Keith in disguise because it's absolutely ridiculous but Keith insists and Kolivan can only sigh

“What a stubborn child, just like his mother the Queen...” - Kolivan, dealing with royal shit since birth

When the ambassador arrives, Shiro comes into Allura's room and greets her with a “Her Majesty” and Allura is surprised because they are friends “Shiro... We are friends, I am Allura to you” “Her Majesty's father sends me to tell you that the ambassador from the Blade's kingdom just arrived” “Oh Shiro...” “Her Majesty can follow me?”

And it breaks Allura's heart because when Shiro's that formal, it means nothing good

The last time he used that voice was when her mother died

And Shiro knew that this voice never brought joy, but it always pained him to lie to Allura, to pain her with lies

“Shiro... Can we... Stay here? Tell my father that I am not feeling well, that I am terribly sorry to not be able to greet the ambassador but... I just can't Shiro, it pains so much...” “I will Allura, don't worry...”

And he resists the urge to hug her

Meanwhile, a clueless Keith hands his gift to King Alfor telling it's for his daughter from Pirnce Keith

Honerva is here, and already having a plan to kidnap the Princess...

Allura stays at the balcony, looking at the little girls playing in the royal garden, at least they are free...

Shiro has suddenly a marvellous idea: to take Allura in the little town around the city to entertain her for a moment, to entertain himself, to have one of his lasts moments with her

And once she wears a cape, nobody notices she's the princess anymore: she feels like a civilian

She also feels the pain of the crisis looking at the houses, as Shiro shows her his old little apartment when he used to study: she is now sure that she can't allow herself to have feelings for somebody because her people are suffering

Shiro offers her a juniper, her favourite flower ever and she smiles and Shiro can't forget that genuine smile

Then, she hears a clear and beautiful voice; Shiro is away seeking for something to eat so she approaches the singer

Lance is singing one of the songs his mother taught him, gathering some money for himself when Lotor bursts into the crowd, stops his performance and gather the coins before telling him to come back to work

Lance is dying inside, he is trapped in this reality that gives him a headache but when he is about to take the empty cup that Lotor left behind him, Allura's hand puts in a coin

“That was really beautiful” “Thanks, my mom used to sing me this so...”

And they both of them realise, they look absolutely alike, just like twins

“Oh my... What's your name?” “My name is Allura” “No jokes just like the Princess?!” “Yes, it is right...” “Oh! The name's Lance her royal Highness. What... What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to marry?” “I am taking my first and last breath of freedom before becoming a wife... A wife of an unknown man...” “Yeah, at least you're not an indentured servant” “A what?”

Lance breaks into a musical number explaining how he's living inside his dreams because well, it's way easier to live in his dreams than in this crappy reality

Allura assumes he's a singer – and she always wanted to meet one! – but it turns out that he's working at Lotor's Dress Emporium and that he made the dress she's wearing right now

He's absolutely proud about the fact that it's the Princess' favourite dress ever, he thanks his mom for that

Allura speaks about her marriage, and how she doesn't want to marry but she has to to save her people, people like Lance from the crisis

“I'm just like you! You're just like me! There's somewhere else we'd rather be!” Lance, jumping into the occasion to sing another time about what he feels

And both Allura and Lance come to the conclusion that they are a lot more alike than they thought in the first place

Then Shiro arrives, in shock, we must admit, because he drops the food he has in his hands – this boy is a disaster I swear – because okay, he knows Princess Allura but THIS GUY definitely looks like her!

Allura promises to Lance that she will send somebody to make him sing at her wedding, and Lance is over the moon when he hears that

Lance comes back and tells everything to Romelle, who is just smiling at Lance's imagination but still listening religiously

During the night, Honerva and her servants kidnap the Princess in order to cancel the wedding and they pretty much arrive to take the Princess into an isolated cabin in the woods

On the next day, Honverva announces to the King that Allura ran off, Kolivan is furious, Keith is somehow sad about it, and Kolivan tells that if the Princess isn't found until tonight the marriage proposal is over, finito

When Shiro hears the news he's sure about one thing: Allura couldn't do such a thing, she didn't ran off and the letter she left wasn't perfumed with junipers but some kind of roses and that wasn't Allura at all

He offered to help to find her, but Honerva laughed him off telling that he could hurt himself or catch a sun stroke while being outside

Shiro wasn't that stupid, and knew that something was going on with Honerva

So, he searches for Lance at Lotor's Dress Emporium

And Lance is just so excited about singing at the wedding, but when he learns the true reason behind Shiro's visit he decides to help Allura because they're alike

There is only one, tiny, little, problem: even with a wig, Lance can't act properly like a Princess and this is where tenor Shiro begins his own musical number

“To be a Princess is to know which spoon to use” - Shiro, while Lance is having a panic attack in front of the five spoons next to the plate

He finally wears one of Allura's dresses, the one Romelle made for her, the blue one, and he begins to feel it with the wig and all

And somehow, Shiro confesses through riddles that he's in love with Allura and Lance now knows that both of them are in love

When Honerva is almost touching her dream of becoming Empress, Shiro steps in the room introducing “Princess Allura”

Lance enters, trips, falls down in front of Keith in disguise and goes to see King Alfor who's absolutely happy to see his daughter safe and sound

Lance hugs the King, apologizing at telling that he, or rather she will never do this again

Kolivan is still pissed and tells that Prince Keith shouldn't marry the Princess and Keith is all “HUM HUM HUM!” “Finally, I think that the Prince will till be fine with marrying Princess Allura”

And Lance freaks out because he has to meet the Prince on the next day

Meanwhile, Elly finds Allura and the cat helps her to escape while she scares the guards with the cat using it as a distraction before kicking some asses before running off to the palace

Just after that, Shiro finds out that Honerva is talking about a cabin in the woods to one of the guards and he follows her

Honerva is FU-RI-OUS when she sees the guards that let the Princess escape, but more importantly she is asking herself why she never told nobody that she was kidnapped in the first place

She sees Shiro through a mirror, she knows that he heard her little speech

Oh boy, Shiro is losing his mind when he faces Honerva “You want to become an Empress?”

Boum, Shiro is hit by a guard with a stick and lays unconscious on the ground

Honerva has to hide him in the mines nearby

Allura however, with Elly, is going to the palace but nobody wants to let her in because “You're faking that you're the Princess girl! Listen, I don't know how you heard about the Princess disappearance but go away!”

So, the only place Allura knows is the Lotor's Dress Emporium and Lance, so there she heads

But Lotor catches her mid-way, laughing at her

“What do you find so funny Lotor?” “For you, it's Sir Lotor! Your parents never taught you manners? You'll follow me you ingrate!”

And he grabs Allura by her hand and she's shocked because wow, it's harsh coming from a boss

When inside the shop, she reveals that she's the Princess but Lotor laughs even loudly, and Romelle is curious about what is happening so she goes out

“You? Princess Allura? Don't try to fool me with your wig Lance!” “Lance...?” “You were gone for the whole day, you should be happy that Romelle managed to do some of your work! Now, go to work and don't sleep until you finish this!” “If you treat your employees like that all the Court's orders will be given to someone else!” “You are threatening me? You? Who do you think you are?!”

And he locks Allura and Romelle in

Allura is absolutely shocked, and Romelle curious about Lance wearing a wig...

“Lance, what are you doing with a wig...?” “I truly am Princess Allura, and what is your name my dear?” “You really are... This is the dress that Lance did for you oh my... My name is Romelle your Highness”

And Allura softly smiles at her, asking her how she can help her in the atelier because Romelle won't do all the job by herself

Elly watches both of them sewing, and then Romelle tells Allura that Elly could sneak out because Blue does it every time and she could deliver the message to her father about her being here

Allura puts a tag form Lotor's shop into her ring and puts it around Elly's neck

Elly is on a mission now, mission home

The next morning, when Lance wakes up he's struck by the fact that somebody brings him his breakfast to bed and A HUGE BREAKFAST OMG

He wants to share with the maid, because he will never eat all of that plus it could feed a huge amount of people

Beginning with Blue who catches some ham on the plate

And then, the servant prepares a bath for the Princess, aka Lance

When Lance sees all these bubbles he just wants to cry because holly shit it's so perfect and Blue is running all around the bathtub

Lance dives into it, having a foam of bubbles all over his head, he made himself a moustache and a beard

Blue began to act strangely, being all petty and strange and Lance noticed it: Blue wanted to seem royal and that made Lance softly laugh

“I can see it when you're feeling low you can't hide that from me” - Lance beginning to sing while Blue walks on the edge of the bathtub

Lance sings for Blue, because Blue is all family that is left to him and he loves this cat so much that he could die for his girl

He reassures her telling her that she's the best cat ever and that she shouldn't try to be someone else – unlike him – because Blue is the best cat

Let's expose Keith who is listening at the door because he's searching for the Princess and he hears Lance's sublime voice and he falls in love totally head over heels

Keith is explaining the whole situation in the throne room to king Alfor, he tells him that he used this particular method to get to know the Princess in a less official way

This is Honerva that brings Lance to the throne room, and Lance is panicked because Shiro disappeared last night and he was clueless about everything and anything

But he planned to do his best until the Princess came back

When Lance meets the Prince right after he recognizes the guy standing next to the ambassador and is absolutely flustering because HOLLY SHIT THE PRINCE IS HOT

“I feel honoured, Princess” “Uh... Euh... I am honoured to meet you, my Prince” says Lance while curtsying in front of the Prince “Please, call me Keith” “And call me La... Allura, Princess Allura, of course it's my name...”

“I am deeply sorry that I came to meet you in disguise Princess, I hope that I did not offend your feelings. I just wanted to meet the real you” - Keith, soft, bowing in front of the Princess again, with a soft look that makes Lance melt in an instant

Alfor just stops this awkward moment – and Lance thanks him so much – by asking if the Prince wants to play the piano, because yes the Prince is fond of every sort of arts

Lance is in awe, the guy is hot, seems funny – who in the world would disguise himself to see his future wife? Only him – and above all he plays an instrument: if he wasn't Allura he would absolutely be melting

Keith agrees only if Allura, aka Lance, sings with him

And this breaks into another musical number with Keith playing the piano and Lance singing

“You say your love is true and I hope that it will be” - Lance, secretly hoping that this cute Prince won't reject him if he learns that Lance is Lance, and not Allura

“I'd be sure, if I knew that you loved me for me” - Keith, playing softly on the piano while looking at Lance's beautiful blue eyes

The are walking into the gardens, Keith softly trying to catch Lance's hand while Lance is a whole blushing mess because the Prince is trying to hold his hand and his hand is so soft and Keith smells actually very good and his eyes are purple and beautiful and Lance can't handle all of this

While they're walking, Keith notices a bunch of forget-me-nots in the garden, and gives a bunch of them to Lance who scents them and softly blushes

“So, you like singing I guess” “ Yes, I always loved to sing, this is something that keeps me somehow alive in my cage in fact...” “You feel trapped?” “Yes I always did, this is so hard to be paying... To pay the price of being a Princess by being kept in a palace” “I absolutely understand you, I always wanted to see other countries but my Mother always forbid me to do so because she was afraid that I would get injured or even dead” “I can't believe that you would someone kill you Keith!” “I could only let you kill me with your beautiful eyes, Allura”

And Lance loses it all actually

When they part ways in the evening, Keith kisses Lance's hand telling him that they will see each other in the evening, just before their tomorrow's wedding

And Lance feels his heart beating faster and faster, but at the same time a pain catches him: he is lying to the Prince, and he's taking Allura's place but the problem is that he is slowly falling for this adorable Prince who has a passion for knives and makes the best compliments ever

Honerva isn't amused at all by all of this because she doesn't understand what happens at all in here

But she's absolutely thrilled when she finds Elly in the gardens at night, with Allura's ring around her neck and so she understands: the Allura in the palace isn't the real Allura

She goes to Lotor's Dress Emporium and finds the real Princess and kidnaps her again, leaving the poor Romelle searching for the Princess in the shop

Honerva takes Allura to the mines, and throws her into the same cell that Shiro is telling her how she will marry her father and become the Empress after killing him

Her guards close the mines, dynamiting the entrances, and leave Allura with Shiro

Shiro is tied up to a wooden stick in the cell and he hugs Allura when he sees her because she seems to be alright, even if they are in a delicate situation

He explains to her his whole plan, with Lance being the Princess right now

They both know that they can't find a way out, but Shiro tries to break the rocks with a pickaxe in order to get out

Allura finds a rare gem hidden inside a basic rock and calls Shiro to sit next to her

“I am unable to get us out of here, I am sorry Allura...” “Shiro, do you know why I wanted to refuse the marriage with Prince Keith?” “You do not feel ready to marry a man” No, not because of that. Because I am already in love with someone else, with my friend, with the one who was always by my side when I needed him, the one that I trust the most, the one that taught me everything” “But... Allura... I am nothing like a King, I can not offer you dresses, jewels and...” “To me, you are like this rock Shiro” “Ugly and basic?” “Shiro... On the outside, this rock looks like a basic rock, but in fact there is a treasure inside. By your rank, you are like this rock Shiro, and I will do anything to be by your side now” “But, the people...” “I know what to do Shiro, just trust me”

And he hugs her, because this was the purest act of love, the most beautiful confession in the world: even better than the ones that he planned for her, the ones that he read to her

Meanwhile, Keith is proposing to Lance in front of the King, and Lance can't really handle this because it's too pure for him, because he genuinely fell in love with Keith

Keith, on the other hand, is really fond of Lance's personality and his beautiful eyes

Honevra is back in the palace and uncovers Lance's disguise by taking off his wig in front of the King and Keith in the throne room

She explains that it was Shiro's plan, that he wanted to kill the Princess and gain power and that they made the mines nearby explode and they only could find Allura's ring

Lance is actually taken by her guards, yelling that he wanted to protect Allura from Honerva and that he did nothing, he yelled with his whole heart that what he told Keith was true and that he really loved him

Anyway, he was thrown into the palace's prison

Lance cries his eyes out during the night, trying to sing but failing miserably to

Kolivan wants to KILL EVERYBODY IN THIS KINGDOM because they wanted to marry the Prince with a poor guy, not even a real Princess and that is unacceptable!

Keith is however really intrigued by what just happened: the boy, Lance, didn't seem to be lying to him, he couldn't fake all these blushes and... This Honerva who was watching them during this walk...

He decided to stay in the kingdom, just for another night

King Alfor is dead inside, he is losing his kingdom and now he lost his daughter, as his wife, forever, he wanted to die but at the same time knew that the kingdom needed him

Honerva, on the other hand, proposes to king Alfor to marry her because thanks to her travel she learned that her activities were making a huge profit, a profit of a Prince Keith, and that she could solve the crisis by marrying him

Bonus, there is already a marriage planned so

Alfor is unable to refuse this offer, Eleanor would've wanted this for her people

On the next day, after a rough night, Allura and Shiro managed to find a way out: there is a huge hole in the ground above them and that there is some water flowing here and actually they could get out of here by entering one of these wooden boxes and go to stop Honerva from marrying Allura's father

Lance is determined to not die in this prison, absolutely not so he steals the keys from one of the sleeping guards and sneaks out, before being caught by another guard taking him out of the prison, King's orders

Lance is pissed, absolutely pissed, and wants to escape so he hits the guard in the balls and then, he hears a familiar voice

“I agree, I deserved this...” “... Keith?! I will explain you everything, I swear I am not...” “I do not believe this Honerva at all, I know that you could not lie to me, A... Lance” “Yes... You do like to be in disguise, do you Keith?” “That's not the real problem here, Lance. We have no time, follow me please”

The two couples are running to the wedding, while Alfor almost married Honerva

But Allura arrives in time, with Shiro, telling her father that Honerva tries to trick him

Honerva swears that it's the boy, but Elly appears next to Allura, Elly that wasn't seen around for a long time and Allura approaches her father telling him that her mother gave her once a ring, a pink worthless ring and that she wears it around her neck and showed it to him

And Alfor knew that it was Allura

Allura tells them that Honerva tried to kill her and Shiro in order to become the Empress of this kingdom

Honerva is RUNNING away, but Shiro and Keith catch her together before handing her to the guards

Lance is in the back, smiling because it's what that awful witch deserved

Once every guest came back home, Allura had a moment to talk with her father, Lance, Shiro and Keith were taken care of by some servants

“Father, nothing happened to me thanks to my friend Lance and to the one I love, Takashi” “I deeply want you to be happy, it is my dearest wish, but Allura, you know, for the kingdom...” “Do not worry Father, in the mines where I was, I made a discovery, a gem worth more than the gold we lack, our kingdom is not in crisis anymore”

And this solves somehow the crisis problem

On the next day, when Allura paid all of Lance's debts, Lance is ready to go and discover the world, to sing, to be himself and what he always wanted to be: free

Keith stands next to Lance's horse, with a small box in his hand

“Are you sure that you want to go, Lance?” Yes, I am. This is what I was talking about, to be free from my misery, to be able to go wherever I want to... To not be trapped anymore” “Will you come back?” “I can't promise Keith...” “So please, take this with you”

Keith hands Lance the little box with the engagement ring, telling him it was meant to be for him, because, whoever he is, he loves him and deeply wishes to marry him one day

Lance is touched, so touched and accepts the gift, telling him that he is happy to know that he has a place to come back to

Lotor's Dress Emporium is ruined, Allura makes everything to sink this sick man's business and allows Romelle to open her own little shop from where she will buy her dresses

A few years later, Lance comes back to Altea but before he goes to see Keith in the Blade's kingdom

Keith is absolutely astonished, seeing Lance coming back and when Lance notices him he runs towards him before hugging him

“I missed you so much Keith, the world is beautiful but nothing is as beautiful as you Keith!” “I love you too Lance”

And they kiss, Lance in Keith's arms deeply in love

Lance meets Keith's parents, the King and the Queen who find the boy lovely and, well, now they know that it's acceptable to let their son marry whoever he wants to because they spoke with Alfor for a long moment

Shiro and Allura, being the perfect royal couple offer to the two lovers to make a double marriage

Lance is thrilled because he is marrying with a Prince, during the same ceremony that Allura, the Princess of his kingdom and his friend now

Romelle gives everything she has in doing Lance's outfit, because her best friend will marry a Prince and if this isn't a fairy tale she doesn't know what it is

And this is the purest marriage that the two kingdoms have ever seen, Shiro and Allura are the cutest couple on Earth and Lance and Keith are the perfect lovebirds

They had a happy ever after after all...

Bonus:

Shiro and Allura had a daughter that they called Marina Eleanor, with white hair and beautiful cat shaped blue eyes: a pure candy, a girl with a beautiful smile and a great personality

She often could be found in the library, with books around her little dress while looking at the images as somebody was reading a story to her

Or hiding in the garden, between junipers and forget-me-nots

Lance and Keith adopted a boy named Julian, an orphan from the Blade's kingdom that Lance found once on one of his escapes from the palace and the little boy followed him during the whole day, and Lance having a big heart and being undercover bought him some food, took care of him and asked him where his parents were, and when he learnt that his parents were dead he adopted him, instantaneously: law

Keith loved the little boy so much, he was so lively and so funny and loved to play the violin so Lance made this tradition that every Friday the three of them were having a music session, with Keith playing the piano, Julian playing the violin and Lance singing

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some-cookie-crumbz · 5 years

Text

Another Set of Updates

Okay, gonna try to keep this as brief as possible!

My poll regarding which Kidge-a-Palooza AU I should turn into a story proper is still available: [here]. I’m gonna leave it up for another week or so, so please give it a vote if you haven’t already!

Chapter 4 of Here (In Your Arms) is up and available: [here].

Chapter 2 of Paint me in Trust is up and available: [here].

Chapter 2(6) of Time, Space and Everything Between is up and available: [here].

Since the update for Time, Space and Everything Between is up, I wanted to clarify a few things about where it’ll be going from hence forth. That information (spoiler free) can be found below for those that are interested.

Okay, so, confession time! This fic wasn’t supposed to become what it is now. Originally, I planned for this fic to be about six/ seven chapters and go in a somewhat different direction than it has. There was going to be an entire chapter dedicated just to the Kogane and Holt families bonding. The rescue of Shiro was going to go almost the same as it did in the series canon, with Keith being kept on Earth with his father using his camouflage device and entering the Garrison in hopes of snuffing out who the Blue Paladin was. The only big changes to it that I intended to make was Keith and Pidge knowing each other prior, Keith actually being a Galra, and when they head back to the shack, they’re greeted by Papa Kogane. From there, I was planning to end the fic with them going through the wormhole and implying events played out mostly the same as canon. But, then I decided I didn’t really like that idea either, so then I thought I’d go the route of letting Keith grow up with the Holt’s. Like, Ethan moving out there and Krolia leaving Keith on Earth to have a tradional human childhood.

As you can see, I didn’t end up doing any of that. And you may be wondering why.

Because the last season of Voltron left me that disappointed but I will admit I had issues with the show even before that Spit-in-the-Face ending but we’ll get there and I was raised by parents who said “If you don’t know how you’d improve something, you shouldn’t be the one to complain about it.”

Well, fine then. I’m gonna do just that.

ALSO I WANT TO CLARIFY that I am NOT saying I could have written the show better than the show runners themselves! I’ve never been in the position(s) they were in. I do, however, have the benefit of hindsight, which allows me to look at where the show succeeded and failed respectively, and take steps that I think would offer a more cohesive, enjoyable story-telling experience as a whole. I am taking the things that I, personally, took issue with, as well as some of the bigger things I’ve seen the fandom at large take issue with. At the end of the day, though, most of these decisions will be made from my own personal desires/ whims (since, you know, ship-feels and all that jazz). I will, however, be open to criticism from any and all who read my fics, so please feel free to tell me what you think does or doesn’t work as we go along.

I’m gonna break this down into four main categories down below; Things I’m Adding, Things I’m Cutting, Things I’m Adjusting, and Cut Fic Content. All but one of these is pretty self-explanatory, I think, but I promise to explain that little oddity when we get there. I’ll also touch on what and why I chose to approach certain things the way that I did.

Things I’m Adding

Melenor and Garett

Queen Melenor is kind of an anomaly in the series, don’t you think? It was kind of implied throughout most of the series proper that she died while Allura was still pretty young, which would have made a lot more sense for both Allura’s relationship with Alfor, as well as why Alfor was so distant from Zarkon when Daibazaal began tattering at the seams. But then Season 8 happened and threw all that out the window! All of a sudden, Melenor’s death suddenly carries this great significance for Allura, to the point she has a hallucination about her. Plus, it also kinda throws a wrench into scenes from the earlier seasons. Allura specifically says “Zarkon killed my Father and my Mother!” but… If Melenor was killed by Zarkon, where was she during the fall of Altea? Why wasn’t she with her daughter and husband in the final moments? And it makes even less sense when you look at that first scene where Allura and Coran were introduced. There were eight pods there. You mean to tell me Alfor didn’t think it might be a good idea to save an extra body or two to help guide Allura as she steps into the role she will have to take once he’s gone? Or even to help with maintaining/ rebuilding the Castle of Lions?

So, I’ve decided to add Melenor as a way to give some more characterization to not only she herself as a character, but also Alfor. Plus, I decided to make use of Garett (whose name I spell differently for reasons), Coran’s son from the original series, too. I think it’d be more fun to have an extra set of hands on board to help maintain the Castle of Lions and teach the Paladins, but maybe closer to their age range. So, we’ll see how things go with adding him to the roster. :3

Backstory for the Blades

This was something that we should have gotten a little bit of exposition on, considering how inflated their importance got. Like, the Blade became instrumental to the functionality of both Voltron and the Rebels due to their intelligence gathering. I think it’d have been kind of cool to see where it all started and what events in specific triggered it into becoming.

More Focus on Team Relationships

I didn’t really feel like the big victory against Zarkon was earned at the end of Season 2. I also didn’t think the team really earned any of their bigger victories, such as against Lotor and Honerva. They never felt like a real team that meshed because they just kinda stuck the same pairs/ clicks together. This was my biggest issue throughout most of the show and I really want to explore the dynamics we never really got to see. There are a few standout relationships that definitely needed some retooling, but I’ll mention those farther down.

More Alien Worlds

Sci-fi and Fantasy are my big genres because I. Fudgin. Love seeing the designs for different technology, worlds and races. And while we did get some interesting ones with the series proper - which I’ll be mostly still including - I wish we’d gotten to see more. So, because I have no self-control, I’ll be planning to do that here!

Shiro’s Love Life

Shiro deserved better. I feel like that’s kind of something that most of the fandom can agree on. I don’t say this from a place of hate for Curtis, though, because… Well, what is there to hate? He was a literal background character who did nothing, said maybe two lines of dialogue, and that was it. Considering how much they pushed Shiro being the rep for the LGBT+ crowd, they did literally nothing with his love life. Hell, Adam was only revealed as his fiance because Bex fought tooth and nail for them to say it! If they hadn’t pushed the way they did, it would have all been subtext.

So, Shiro is going to have a romantic side plot in this fic, where we’ll focus on him and the character I’ve picked to be his partner.

Minor Side Romances

Some other little side pairings are gonna get a bit of love, here, too, since Voltron really only did the romance side of things well with, like, two couples. All the main couples are also gonna get plenty of spotlight, but I also think it would be fun to do some smaller side ships every now and then, too.

Things I’m Cutting

Villain Roulette

There was way too much jumping back and forth between who our main villain to focus on was. Bam, it’s Zarkon! No, wait, now it’s Lotor! Just kidding, here comes Zarkon again! Except that it was actually Lotor! Or so you thought; it’s actually Honerva haha great prank amiright? It was exhausting and I think it’d be a lot simpler to just… Stick with one villain who controls the smaller monster-of-the-day bad guys for an extended period of time and, once they’re for reals defeated, then move on to the next. I’ll be taking this approach for the sake of not only having a more focused story, but also my own sanity. I’ve never been good at gambling so trying the same thing as the show would probably turn out even worse for me.

Keith’s Excellent Blade Adventure with His Mommy

This is all unnecessary in this story, so we won’t be doing it at all. Keith’s sorry purple tail is staying with Team Voltron; no buts, no fuss, no coconuts.

Shiro’s Illness and Adam’s Death

Adam’s death is something I could go on about for hours specifically because it seemed unfair and kinda petty. Like, I feel they killed him specifically because they couldn’t kill Shiro, and they wanted to amp up the Tragic Backstory for our prior leader. So, instead, that’s getting the boot, as well as Shiro’s illness, since it’s also unneeded for plot convenience. Plus, it could have been nice to have a character that was willing to call Shiro out on the Atlus. Shiro always got treated like some kind of flawless entity, and I think it’d been nice to have someone call that Nice Guy Schtick out.

Allura and the Entity Plotline

This whole thing made no sense, got no proper development because of how late into the game they introduced it, and ended up being nothing more than a tool for them to kill Allura off. So, that can GTFO of my house post haste.

The Ending as a Whole

Some parts of the ending worked, but most of it just sucked. When the ending is so bad that it makes me feel obligated to stan characters I was ambivalent/ outright disliked? Yeah, gonna need to walk that back a bit.

Most of Seasons 3-6

The pacing in these seasons really was terrible. We derailed working on the team dynamic, building up the Coalition and Rebel forces, and developing the Paladins’ characters to instead focus on all that shit with Lotor. That… Was infuriating. Especially considering it was all basically a waste.

Additionally, we had Keith sidelined and his arc - which was clearly going to be center around him learning how to be a leader - completely pushed aside and then treated as if it did happened when he showed up late with Starbucks at the end of Season 6. That felt really unbelievable to me.

Time Skips

There were way too many time skips, for serious. Especially when those time skips didn’t include any kind of change in development/ character for the team. There’ll be smaller time skips, but nothing as egregious as what we got in seasons 6 and 7.

Things I’m Adjusting

Lion Swap

This’ll still be happening, but the circumstances that trigger it will be different. I may also shift around who gets to take which Lion when we get to that point. I haven’t decided just yet, but I’ll have it figured out before we reach that point. Most of this fic is already planned out and, honestly, the Lion Swap will be finalized once I figure out what I’m doing with a few of the other characters.

Shiro and Keith’s Relationship

This, right here? This was one of my biggest issues with Voltron. Keith was completely codependent on Shiro, while Shiro clearly cared about Keith’s well-being but it always felt like he’d have been just fine if something similar to what happened to him happened to Keith. It’s just… Really gross to me. It doesn’t help that I also find the whole “Dying for Your Lover” Trope – which I’ve seen a lot of people praise The Black Paladins for implying - to be incredibly disgusting and unhealthy. Also Keith’s flagrant hypocrisy never getting called out bothers me a lot since I actually like when a character behaves in a hypocritical manner, since it feels organic, but it has to be called out because hypocrisy can lead to double-standards and create harmful environments and I need to stop for now

So, Keith and Shiro are still going to be close, but they aren’t going to be that close.

Keith and Allura’s Relationship

Oh, look! Another potentially interesting aspect of the show that they kinda dropped the ball on! I really hated Allura’s heel-turn on Keith when it’s revealed that he’s Galra in S2 because a) It’s not like Keith himself knew this and was actively hiding it, and b) It felt out of character for the way Allura had been presented thus far. Her lashing out at Zarkon when she was captured made sense since he directly killed her father, her people and her planet. And I could understand being wary of the Blades – to the extent that she was in the first half – but after Keith’s heritage is revealed, she’s completely cold to him and only seems to decide he’s a good guy when he’s willing to take on a potential suicide mission! They either needed to drag the animosity out and show it effecting Allura’s ability to work with the team as a whole and also show the team sticking up for Keith because the fact that Hunk was the only one that said anything is kinda messed up like where tf was Shiro if he and Keith are oh so close? or they needed to tone Allura’s attitude towards him back a bit more, have her approach him in a manner similar to how she addressed the Blade members; acknowledging he is there and contributing, but not praising or thanking him outright.

And since Keith presents and knows he’s part Galra from the start in this fic? Well, we’ll actually get to play around with that dynamic a little more. And while I’m on the subject of our favorite Altean princess…

Allura’s Character Inconsistencies

Allura’s character jumped around a lot in some of the earlier seasons and I’d be willing to wager that this is because the writers never settled on an age for her. And I don’t mean during the big changes like her becoming a Paladin or Lotor’s betrayal, since it’d make sense she be shaken by situations that drastic. One minute, she’s this composed, confident and well-spoken young leader doing the best she can. The next, she’s a more temperamental sort who has low self-esteem/ confidence in her own abilities to even successfully contribute to a team. Now, I think I kniw what they were trying to do; they were trying to show that the more impulsive side of her is more genuine while the composed side is her trying to be the leader she is expected to be. I get it. They fixed this and improved on it later down the line, but they could have done better by maybe addressing it and using it as a chance to develop her relationship with another member or two of Team Voltron.

Season 2’s Ending

The defeat of Zarkon happened way too soon. Especially since then, because they wanted to play around with Lotor’s intentions, they had to bring him back as a cyborg-zombie fueled by quintessence. Zarkon should have only been defeated once and then we should have been allowed to move on to the next main villain. As such, I’m moving Zarkon’s defeat further down the line and will be modifying some of the consequences there in.

P Much Everything About Lotor’s Acr/ Motives

Lotor… Man, Lotor was confusing and a lot of wasted potential. They painted him as if they wanted him to be a morally grey villain, where he does terrible things for what he considers the betterment of others, but then, once it’s revealed that he was keeping secrets, he just… Goes full ham. He becomes Evil McAwful incarnate and it felt unrealistic. There were about 20 different directions they could have taken Lotor – before and after the reveal – and I just didn’t care for the approach they took. So, I’ll be doing things a little different and seeing how that goes.

What I’m Keeping from Seasons 3-6

Very, very little things are going to be kept from each of the aforementioned seasons and implemented in the fic. I’m not planning to keep too many of the big plot moments because they all bled into the issues I had with the story as it stood on its own. I will, however, take some of the small things from those three seasons and include them here. This also applies to certain elements from the other seasons as well, but we’ll get there when we get there.

Adopting Kosmo

Kosmo will be in this fic, come Hell or high water. He is the Best Boi and deserves to be here.

Cut Fic Content

Okay, so here’s the weird one in this line up! As the title implies, there’s some content that I have cut from the fic, even this early on. I actually have some of the Kogane-Holt bonding scenes still drafted up somewhere in my files. I removed them because I was worried that they’d feel too much like filler. There’s also some scenes I started to work out from when I planned to have Keith grow up with Pidge and Matt; specifically including a scene where Krolia and Ethan talk about the idea and decide to commit.

Some of these ideas won’t work in the fic as it stands now, though. I also, however, like the idea of putting it out for everyone to read. So, I’m debating on making a separate one-shot collection of things that could have happened, or just adding them as the occasional buffer between the arcs of the story. I’ll make a poll when I get closer to the point of deciding how to proceed, so keep an eye out for that. :3

That’s all for now! I hope you all enjoy the updates and I’ll hopefully be updating again sooner than this time!

#crumbles grumbles #info dump about my fics #I was planning to hold off on updating until I responded to all my current comments #But I was way too excited about having these ready to go!

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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CSUAVS prt 15. I decided it needed a little more

"I think he waking. Leandro? Leandro?" A soft voice ruined Lance's sleep. He hadn't remembered falling asleep, and as he pushed his heavy eyelids open, he found himself in a ship he also didn't remember. Drawing back from the hand on his leg, his heart began to race. Klearo... "Leandro, shhh. I am Daehra. You remember?" God. His head hurt like a Quiznak. His mother would have beaten him black and blue if she knew how many times he'd taken the lords name in vain "Daehra..." The woman he'd met in the woods... "... Annla?" "She is fine. Thanks be to you" "Wha... ugh... sorry. My head feels fuzzy" "I do not know your medication. I gave you dose, but you need more?" "The yellow one" "The yellow liquid? I get" Daehra's broken English was comforting. It reminded him of his friends back home who'd never quite gotten the hand of English. The only problem was, he needed someone to explain what the quiznak had happened. Dosing him with the yellow painkiller, Lance's pain finally began to recede. His stomach felt tender and crampy, and his scalp was throbbing, yet with all he'd been through, he was amazed he didn't feel worse. Moving his right arm, a small amount of discomfort emanated from the area. When he looked down, he found a cannula with a drip line connected. Clumsily grabbing for it, Daehra caught his hand "I'm sorry. I know you care no for human touch. The line helps with your cycle pain" His what now? "My... cycle?" "Your cycle. You bleed like woman, that is natural isn't it?" Lifting the sheet, he stared down in shock. The brown padded cloth beneath his arse was red, as were his thighs. He didn't randomly bleed. He didn't bleed without a "heat"... and he his stupid body hadn't had one... pushing the sheet down, Daehra blushed "It is natural? Males from your planet?" "Some males do..." He wasn't... what? He had the feeling he was forgetting something about it all. His brain was only able to process so much at that moment in time. Right now, it was focused on the fact he was bleeding "You did not expect your cycle?" "No. Not really... is there anything else wrong?" "Your wounds healed remarkably fast. You have been asleep for a quintant. You heal fast" "My body isn't quite human" "I fear your marks are not showing either. I am sorry. I shall find a way to restore them" Whatever Daehra had dosed him up with, wasn't available on Erathus. They hadn't found a way to erase his marks for him. Lessen the brightness they could do, then he could another them with makeup, but if Daehra had found a way to get rid of him... what was one more drug between friends? "It's fine. Thank you... where..." "You on my ship, heading to my planet with us" No. No. That wasn't the plan "I... what? Why?" "Kre'el said you come. She take your ship" "Kre'el?" "You friend. Yes?" "You talked to her?" "When you didn't return with Annla. I call. She found me helping you. She said to take you" "Ah... that makes sense" "She was not happy" "Kre'el didn't mean it. She's a good person" is what he wanted to say. Instead he finally lost his battle to stay awake, mumbling out a string of Spanish as he slipped under. Waking to a small body laying against his, Lance swatted at his relative. His mami knew not to let the kids into his room, but being kids, they didn't always listen. They were lucky he hadn't had a nightmare, or he'd be being shots of sympathy and pity as his mami calmed the kids. Stirring next to him, Annla's small face filled his vision. Before he knew what was happening, she wrapped her arms around him "She did not want leave your side" Prying the girl off of him, Lance didn't know how to tell her he wanted to let go. She was innocent, while he was... dirty. Letting him go on her own accord Annla raised a hand to his forehead, like a mother checking for fever "Annla. You are making him uncomfortable" "He hurts" "I know. We will help. I need to speak with him" "Ok..." Leaning in, Annla kissed his cheek "... Thank you, Paladin Lance" To Annla is was an innocent thank you. To Lance the sensation of lips against his skin threatened to send him over the edge. He couldn't breath freely until Annla had moved past Daehra, and from his line of vision "She means no ill will" "I know" "How do you feel?" "Better... stomach feels kind of gross" Beneath his arse felt wet. Cramps rolled through his stomach with such intensity he wanted to curse the world "It is your cycle. It is a heavy bleed" He was still... wait... on the ship... oh... oh... "Leandro? Leandro, are you alright?" Rushing to the side of his bed, Lance held out his hand to stop Daehra "It's nothing..." "Leandro, I feel you pain" A bitter laugh bubbled out before Lance would stop it. Daehra took no offence as she sat on the very edge of the tiny bed "Our race... for we feel and sense things. It works better when we touch, but I know you no care for touch. I do not mean to pry, perhaps you should eat, then we talk. We shall reach my planet late next quintant" Then what was he supposed to do? And what did she mean they could feel and sense things? Like an alien mood ring? He didn't want people knowing his business. He didn't even want to know his business "I can feel your anger. I will not push. Physically you have healed. Only scar remain. My brother will help you dress and eat. I will speak with Annla" "Is she... ok?" "Annla? Yes. Thanks to you. Her bruises fade but they did not do to her to you" "I... what... what do you know?" Daehra shifted. It was all over her face that she knew. She knew everything... "It is not my business. You carry much pain. I pick it up, even when you wish not. I have cream for you. To help. Once bleed passes" The pain her in her tone told him how much grief her abilities had brought her. She didn't want to pry, but she had no way to stop his emotions flooding her senses. Even if this was all out of pity, she had dragged him out before he'd gotten himself killed... and for some unknown reason he was grateful for that. Possibly because his mother wouldn't be getting a notification he'd died... he didn't want to live, but he didn't want to do that to her after she'd suffered so long thinking he was dead when they'd found blue "I'm sorry Daehra. I don't..." "I understand. Lucteal will help you dress" * Daehra's ship was older and smaller than his own. She called it a ship, where Lance called it a pod. Lucteal had helped him dress, not at all phased by Lance's bleeding as he passed him a folded cloth to wear between his legs. Having been tended to by the three strange aliens, he found himself unusually bashful as he sat in the spare seat of the pod. He still wasn't sure about any of this, but they didn't need to help him. They could have taken Annla and gone, like he'd told them to. Instead they'd called Kre'el and saved his life while he was at it. Breaking off the edge of the "food" block Lucteal had given him, Lance forced himself to eat. There was no real taste, or real texture, yet with 3 pairs of eyes on him, he couldn't simply say he wasn't hungry. Not that he had any idea what to say what it was "It isn't much. Our people have not much since Galra came" "No. No... I've had worse. Believe me" "I can feel the honesty in your word. You have question?" "A few" "I am Daehra. This is my brother Lucteal. Our sister Annla. Our mothers was king's subject. After Galra come, he had many children. The queen gave birth to Annla" "Mothers" and "queen". So they were the children of the king's lovers? Illegitimate children... "You find strange?" "No. I haven't lived your life. It's not my place to judge. Besides, I too, would do anything for my family" "You have family?" Nodding, Lance swallow down the tasteless food. Inching closer, Annla placed her hands on the side of the chair as she stared up at him. The bruising on her face was already fading. She'd been through something that had probably terrified her, yet there she was with her sparkling black eyes. In those eyes he was some kind of hero "Yeah. I come from a big family. I have two older brothers and two older sisters. But our house is always full of people. It's always really loud... I have a niece and nephew around your age Annla" "Annla, let Leandro eat" Rocking on her heels, Lance knew that enthusiasm too well. The little princess was dying of curiosity "It's ok. Maybe keep her away when I'm sleeping though" "She should know better" "She's a kid. It's fine, really. I might not have magical powers, but think Princess Annla wants to ask me something" Annla nodded "Did you really fly in magical cats?!" "Yep. I flew the blue one and the red one. We lived on a castle that floated in space" "With Princess Allura?" Lance's heart gave a pained throb at the thought of Allura, his smile turning sad before he rallied "Yeah. She was crazy smart, beautiful and brave. Just like you" Annla giggled "And there's the former Black Paladin Keith. They call him the heir to Daibazaal. He didn't even know he was part alien! And Shiro, he had as this magical robot arm that's powered by the crystal from Allura's tiara" "Daehra says I don't like act like a princess" "That's because you're always playing outside. Always getting clothes dirty and you hair in a mess" "Hair is stupid anyway" Annla's curls were beautiful. The shimmering blues shone like the night sky "I think it's very pretty. Blue is my favourite colour" Annla's face brightened "You do?!" "Very pretty" "It gets messy" Pushing off the chair, Annla grabbed two sections of her hair, lifting them up as she poked her tongue out. The curls were matted into thick knots... no doubt thanks to her treatment "Annla! Do not be rude" "She's fine. Annla, I used to help Princess Allura with her hair. Do you want me to do yours too?" "Leandro, that is not necessary" Annla's face fell at Daehra's words. The girl deserved some happiness, even if it was only as a distraction. It'd alway been easier with kids anyway. They expected him to be dumb tio Lance "I don't mind. Daehra, do you have a comb? And a ribbon?" "Leandro. Do not think..." "I'm offering because I want to. It's fine, really" Keeping Annla busy gave him an outlet for his nerves. Lucteal was busy piloting the ship, while Daehra was busy talking to him for the most part. Sitting on the tiny bed, Annla was happy to talk at him for vargas. Switching between her weird English and her own language. It made him miss Sylvio and Nadia even more, and his little baby cousin who'd only been a few months old when he'd left. He'd wanted kids. He'd wanted a whole brood of children. Allura had known that, and while he'd tried to rationalise all the changes in his body, his mind whispered that maybe she knew. Maybe she'd known how he cared for Keith... and her gift... was gift for where she saw them together, having a family of their own... Adoption would have been easier... but Allura had always taken things to the extreme when it came to family. Perhaps she didn't understand after losing hers the way she had... With those thoughts gradually invading his mind each time he looked to Annla, Lance found himself both wishing the girl was home already, and praying that when she did finally arrive home, that her mother and father realised her true worth as a person rather than a commodity. Annla's home planet was depressing. That was Lance's first thought as Lucteal landed the pod on the planet's grey surface. Grey everything had been popular for a while on Earth. House after house painted grey, with no style or flare like one found in older houses. He was tired of grey. It wasn't calming or soothing. It was simply repetitive. Moving to America had come as shock. Cuba was filled with life and colours. Houses and stores with fading paint in all the colours of the rainbow. He knew blue was a pretty standard colour to be someone's favourite colour, but what he really loved was watching the sunset over the beach. The way the cool blues darkened. The way the waters were dyed reds, purples, oranges and pinks, yet come the following day, the water would be the same refreshing and welcoming blue it always was. Or had been until the Galra came. He missed colour. Erathus had been good like that. Colour. Lights. Sounds. The planet had plenty, no matter where you went there was a bright neon light advertising something. As the ship's loading ramp lowered, Lance stood at the top. He wasn't going down there. He still needed to get back to Erathus, and if he was to see Annla's father, he was sure he'd end up murdering the man. Holding Lucteal's hand, Annla watched him with big eyes as her brother led her towards the exit. Her heels digging in when Lance didn't step down the ramp "Paladin Leandro?" "I have to stay here, Annla" "Why? I thought you were coming" "I can't. I have to call my friends and find a way back to where I live" Annla's lip quivered. Squatting down, Lucteal let Annla's hand go so she could run to him "Do you not like us?" "It's not that, Annla. I have to go back to my job. Helping other people out there" "I don't want you to" Smiling at the girl, he wiped the forming tears away "I have to. But you're going to be fine. You've got all your siblings, and you're so brave. Can you be brave for me?" "Like Princess Allura?" "Yeah. Just like Allura. You're going to be a leader for your people one day. They're all going to look up to you to protect them" "I don't know if I can" "Want to know a secret? None of the best leaders think they can. But guess what, that fear is what gives them strength. And I know how strong you are" "Will I see you again?" Holding his pinky out, Lance nodded "On Earth we have a custom. We hook our little fingers together and we shake. It's called a pinky promise. You can't ever break a pinky promise" "Really?" "Really, truly" Linking her little finger with his, they shook "Good girl. Now you go with your brother and sister" "Thank you for saving me" "You're most very welcome" Kissing his cheek, Annla dramatically pulled her finger away as she rushed back to Lucteal. When Lucteal went to take her hand, the princess shook it off. She was going to be just fine. Daehra paused by the top of the ramp, the woman worrying her bottom lip "I'm alright. I'll give Kre'el a call and organise something" "Are you sure?" "Yeah. You go. Take your sister home. Make sure she isn't bossing Lucteal around" "I will come back. Please wait here" "You should be with your family" Daehra gave him a scowl. He knew that scowl all too well "You stay here. I will return" Raising his hands in surrender, Lance nodded "Understood. I'll stay here" "Good. Thank you, Leandro. I must go" Being left on Daehra's pod alone felt weird. It seemed smaller than before now that he was the only one aboard. Sliding into the pilot's seat, he let out a hiss of discomfort. Cramps sucked. All he wanted to do was curl up with chocolate and a heat pack. He knew he wasn't hiding his pain from the three empathy, but it'd been nice to not have it rubbed in his face. They knew what happened. He knew what happened. And it was what it was. Pulling his legs up, he tapped on his communicator, before pulling the call up to the ship screen. Ringing a hand full of times, Kre'el looked livid as her face filled the screen "Leandro! What the Quiznak where you thinking?!" "Hey, Kre'el. How's everything?" "Don't try to be charming! What were you thinking? Are you even alright? You were covered in blood, Leandro! Blood! Do you know how worried I've been?" "I'm sorry, Kre'el. It was hard to call. I'm alright. I'm actually hanging out on Annla's planet right now" "But the blood?" "Wasn't mine. Mostly..." "Yes, well. I'm still upset at you. You could have been seriously hurt" "Kre'el. I'm ok. A little banged up, but ok. Now, please tell me what the quiznak happened after you guys showed up" "Klearo died before we could apprehend him. Blood loss will do that. Those alive are being transported for detention. The whole ship was a goddamn mess. What did you do?" "It's not my fault. You exactly the kind of man he was, and he wanted to do that Annla" "You got lucky. That's what happened. You got quiznakking lucky" Lance hung his head in shame, before growing angry at himself. No. He wasn't ashamed of what he'd done. Klearo had taken so much from him, it was only fare he took his life "You know exactly what he did. I couldn't let him do that to her! I couldn't let him do that to anyone, and you know it. That's why you clued me in on everything in the first place. I don't regret it" Kre'el's face softened "I was scared we were too late. I was scared I'd messed up and got you killed. You have no idea how relieved I am" "I'm sorry... Soooo... What happens next?" Kre'el rolled her eyes at him. Lance knowing he was forgiven "My boss doesn't want this getting any bigger than what it is. I can't say I'll miss Klearo's crew, or the trouble they brought all of us... but you'll need to keep your head low for a little longer. His associates aren't going to be impressed, and until they've taken out enough of themselves to quieten down, I'd prefer you be careful. We've had enough disappearances around here. Your lucky arse is getting paid to keep your mouth shut, and because I am a stellar friend, I dragged that piece of shit you call a ship back to Erathus. Might have even thrown a few things your way" "Aw, Kre'el. What would I do without you?" "The thought scares me" "Hey!" "Don't you "hey" me. You're about four decades too young to be talking to me like that" Galra had damn good genes when it came to longevity, even without tainted quintessence in their systems "You'll always be gorgeous on me" "That's enough. When are you coming back?" "When you come get me?" "Nice one, Leandro. You should have been a comedian" "Come on, Kre'el! How am I supposed to get home?" "Not with me. Consider this your punishment for making me worry. And call your damn family. You've been gone over a movement" "Yeah. Yeah. I will. Thanks, Kre'el" Hanging up on him, Lance had nothing to do with his time now the call was over. His communicator he used to talk to his family was on Erathus. He could lift Daehra's pod, it wouldn't be hard, but she'd asked him to wait... and she'd figured out how hide his marks. He still wasn't sure he was used to the lack of Allura, yet he also knew that he wouldn't have been able to move forward with her constant presence there. He wasn't sure he ever could move on anymore. Too much had happened. He'd thought when he'd killed Klearo that his anger would fade. That the broking nothingness inside him would somehow be fixed... yet, as he sat there all alone, he didn't know what to do. He didn't have Annla there to distract him. He didn't have anyone there to stop his mask from slipping. He could taste the blood in his mouth. Feel the pressure against his lips. Smell Klearo on his skin. He didn't want to cry, but everything was so fucked up. Saving Annla hadn't made up for letting Allura go. It never would have. Annla was Annla. Allura was Allura. And he was the broken man left to miscarry the thing they'd put inside of him... Daehra didn't know. She didn't know anything about it... but Lance did. The Galra had said he was knocked up, and now he was bleeding and cramping. He'd never thought he could carry... just that he made Galra horny with his messed up body. Allura had probably tried to make him more appealing for Keith, so did they mean she'd never seen a real future for him and her? God. He really was just a stupid boy from Cuba. There he was, having a mental breakdown because no one was paying him any attention. How fucking stupid could he get?! Lance was still sniffling softly when steps echoed off the ramp into the ship. Launching himself out the pilot's chair, his weapon wasn't in sight as his hand went to his hip. Coming up the ramp, Lucteal and Daehra were both carrying baskets overflowing with... stuff? It looked like clothes, food and... bedding? "Leandro! You wait!" "Daehra? What is all of that?" "We come with you" Lucteal's voice was firm, his sister nodding at his words. Wiping his eyes, Lance shook his head "No. You're finally home with your family" "Our family not even notice we gone. We like you. We stay with you" "But... you're home?" "Father has many kids. He not notice we gone" Lucteal looked particularly bitter as spat the words out. Lance might by the smallest bit lonely... No. These two had no training... "We come with you. You need someone who medicine. I do that. Lucteal. He trained in palace. He good hand-to-hand" Waving his hands, Lance was starting to panic "Wait. No. You guys can't..." "We can and we are" "You don't even know what I do!" "You help. You have kind heart. We help you" "You guys can't, it's dangerous" "Exactly. You need friends, Leandro. Someone to back you up on mission. Call Kre'el. Please. We cannot stay here. The Galra destroyed our world. We want to travel and bring things back. Help. Lucteal, you pilot. Leandro, you come. I have thread to fix your clothes" "I... I can't be in charge of your lives. I can't..." Gripping his chest, he stumbled back. Daehra placing down the basket she held at the top of the ramp "Leandro. We choose this. For the second time in our life, we choose this. To leave this planet. Besides, Annla ordered us to keep you safe. Who are we to deny our princess?" "I..." "You must breathe. We sit. You don't need to talk. But must breathe" "Why... why, me?" "You have great heart. You are hurt, but you care. You fight and strong. I can think of no one better to be our first off-world friend, Leandro of Earth" Lance wasn't sure he deserved friends. He wasn't sure he could keep either alien safe... but... friends. He missed friends. Besides, how else was going to get back to Erathus? Plus he had a little princess to think of... He might have been making excuses thanks to the profound loneliness he'd felt while left alone for a few vargas on Daehra's ship, but he still found himself nodding. As long as the pair didn't mind tolerating him for who he was. Three phoebs later, he was still having his arse saved by the pair of them as their team started to grow. Lucteal there to provide backup when it counted. Daehra there to soothe them both after a bad day. There to stitch whichever team mate they picked up along the way and needed help. Out of his newly built team, it was Lucteal and Daehra who would push him the most. Who would listen to his plans and ideas, help him navigate this weird new crew he'd picked up. He didn't see himself as a leader, yet he'd bend over backwards just to make sure that those two didn't see the ugly reality of space. It was those two who never left his side, no matter how stupid he was or how angry he got. Daehra with her gentle therapy that wasn't quite therapy. She always knew what to say, and not to push the bounds. They let him hide beneath the mask of Leandro. They let him do what needed to in order to cope. It wasn't the same as Voltron. The thrill of it all passing far too soon into repetition. His nights spent in a drug induced haze as he lied his way through his pain. Nothing he was doing was healthy. If Daehra or Lucteal weren't forcing him to eat, he'd rather not eat at all. He'd lost weight. He'd lost his spark. When he looked in the mirror he couldn't stomach the coward facing back. He cut more. Each time he brought someone in, he marked his skin. The lines now running up his side. He used his body to get what he wanted, to lure his prey to his bedroom where he'd take them out. Or back to their room if he wasn't at the club. He was doing absolutely everything he could to keep himself busy and moving. But in the quite hours of the night, when the world slept, it fucking hurt to breathe. He started keeping a knife under his pillow when his dreams got so bad he no longer knew what was real. The pain would bring him back. The pain made it real... but sometimes... sometimes it was too much. Sometimes Lucteal would break his promise of not touching him, and hold him when he crumbled. Though more often then not, his panicked state would lead to him hyperventilating bad enough that he'd pass out. Waking in the morning to find himself curled into a corner with stiff muscles. Four phoebs and he should be over it. Four phoebs... and he still couldn't get the feel of their hands off his skin. He couldn't get the sounds from his mind. He couldn't stand in a room with more than two Galra without nearly panic attacking himself into murder. Nothing he knew was helping. Everything has spiralled so far out of control he didn't know how to come back. He hunted down his prey, oblivious to the danger he put himself in to do so. He wasn't dead... but he sure as hell wasn't living either.

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the-amaryka · 5 years

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Unpopular Opinion: I enjoyed season 8

So first, I’m mostly doing this to sort out my own feelings, but I DO think there are some things worth considering here.

To be clear, Enjoying something and thinking that something was perfect are different. I enjoy plenty of things that are garbage and I do think this season had it’s fair share of flaws, but it’s not nearly as awful as some of ya’ll are ripping into it over. In addition, regardless of if it is bad or not harassment of the creators is never justified. EVER. So if you feel the need to take out your frustrations on the cast/crew stop what you are doing then DON’T.

Sorry in advance if you’re on mobile cuz this is a long one under the read more.

Why I was able to enjoy it:

Three major things I always keep in mind going into a new season:

1. Don’t watch it FOR the ship, enjoy the show for what it is. I think the primary thing that has allowed me to enjoy each season is I try to watch it without shipping goggles. At the end of the day, shipping is fun but it is for fandom and not the reason I’m watching the show, especially a show made for 7 year old boys.

2. I (along with most of the fandom on this website) am not the target audience for this show. Voltron may be an abnormally good kids show, but it is still a kids show. I have never walked into a season thinking that it is content made for me, and the things that are important to me just aren’t important enough to 7 year olds to have the time I want spent on them. I have to be okay with that because as much as I would love to have a whole episode of Shiro really struggling with what it means to be a leader, and the weight of Adam’s sacrifice, the 7 year old this show was made for is going to be bored shitless and decide “I don’t want that Voltron toy for my birthday after all.” So yeah, that is going to change the choices the crew makes when they create these episodes.

3. This is a reboot. Several different companies have BIG stakes in Voltron. Things like LGBT rep are only going to go as far as ONE important old white man who thinks (insert your fave here) is straight. Anybody who has followed me for more than 3 seconds knows I ship Sheith, but knowing how the entertainment industry works changed how I thought the direction of the series was going from day one. If it was so hard for them to get even ambiguous ‘Takashi, how much do I mean to you’ when both Shiro and Adam are legally original characters, there is NO WAY the powers that be will allow them to gay up big names in the franchise like Keith or Lance. For that reason I never expected a canon gay relationship between any of the main characters. No Sheith, no Klance, no Pallura, no Hance. I do believe it was important to the creators and they did they absolute best with what they had, but ultimately it was not their decision and a lot of ya’ll need to stop acting like you are performing some kind of holy service by harassing them about it. They did their jobs as best they could and the fandom was pressuring them the whole time to make promises they didn’t know if they could keep.

For these reasons I was able to enjoy the new season for what it was: a reboot aimed toward children that I shouldn’t expect a primary romantic plot out of. And honestly? Thats what I got. The only big romantic plot revolved around Lance and Allura and even that was only a handful of scenes. I think the main problem with this fandom has always been people putting unrealistic expectations on a show that wasn’t aimed at them. Why people chose to put all of their expectation eggs in the Voltron basket specifically is beyond me, and frankly a bit unfair to the people who made it. But we don’t have to get into that right now.

Things that I enjoyed:

1. Hunk is best boy. I loved his and Lance's friendship shining through and when he turned into team mom. Some highlight include: “It’s happening tonight, young man!” “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’ll make you dog treats later.” When he made that Altean dessert because he is so sweet and knows how to bring people together. What a star, what a diplomat, what a fine, fine man. 2. BaBy LoToR 3. Seeing all the paladins in their under armor. I would feel robbed because Shiro was left out but the entire series has been Shiro fan service so I’m not even mad. 4. VERONICA AND AXCA BONDING? NICE. Didn’t expect to ship them? I do. Nice. 5. Everything about Day Fourty-Seven. A filler episode I genuinely enjoyed. MY only wish is we could have gotten Keith and Krolia in an interview together and she went out of her way to embarrass him like “while we were in the Quantum Abyss-” “Mom, why are you doing this to me?” “I have 20 years of Mothering to catch up on, young man.” 6. Shiro feeling like a bad ass and looking cool during the arm wrestling competition. What a good. 7. This was really Allura’s season, wow, what a queen. 8. Keith giving Lance a bunch of pep talks and opening up to become not only a good leader but a good friend. 9. Keith YELLING at the Zarkon mech because he had leadership responsibility feels. 10. I did not expect to have FEELINGS over seeing young Zarkon. 11. Honerva’s motivations were honestly....so honest. So realistically human, you know? It seems so fitting that this whole thing began with a rift into another reality, and a broken family. And it ended with a rift into another reality, and that family finally being able to be at peace. That is the theme that has been following us form the beginning: family. And even the final villain just wanted to fix the damage that had been done to hers. Though I do feel like her turnaround was a little quick, I can forgive it for kinds show reasons. 12. Allura getting to hug Alfor again. 13. Lance getting the stamp of approval from the dad. 14. Speaking of which, even I thought the Allurance scenes were pretty cute despite not being a huge fan of the ship. 15. The character development that is evident. If you compare all these characters to who they were in E1S1 they are all vastly different. The only exception to this is Coran, though I do feel like Allura’s is mostly internal and she has a way of conducting herself that can make it difficult to perceive. 16. I am VERY SAD about Allura dying...but you know what? I think this ending actually suited her. I don’t think she would be satisfied withotu making a grand reality wide sacrifice. She restored Altea, and returned into the fabric of space-time itself with her family. This has been being foreshadowed since Season 1 to be honest. She is always taking risks and wanting to keep moving and bettering things. She is perfect and we don’t deserve her and in my heart she is the goddess of reality itself. 17. The scene where the lions all came to life and flew away, and then that lovely art of them going into the rift. I really think they went back to Allura, and the next time the Universe needs Voltron, it will be her spirit leading the way. And honestly? I don’t think she would want it any other way. 18. The MFE Pilots grew on me... 19. MMMMMBIG ROBOT PRETTY 20. We got Shiro and the rest of the paladins piloting all together again. 21. ALMOST Galra Emperor Keith.

The things I didn’t think were great:

1. What the fuck happened to Ezor’s voice? She only said one word and I thought she was dying? 2. Keith and Shiro like...didn’t even talk. And even without shipping goggles that just seems wrong to me. Their bond has been one of the points the story has turned on. We got all the build up but none of the payoff. No shoulder touches, no ‘I’m proud of you, Keith’, none of the usual friendship or dynamic they usually have with each other. It felt kind of empty honestly :( And whats more is...Keith has been sacrificing and fighting and loving Shiro for 7 seasons now, and Shiro never got to repay him. Like he wasn’t in his hospital room when he woke up and nobody can fucking tell me when Shiro said “spend time with the people you love” Keith wouldn’t be spending time with Shiro. It just....feels so dissatisfying to see one of the major emotional bonds in the show not even be acknowledged in the end. It makes everything Keith worked for feel...not...there. Like what did all that mean in the end? As many times as it takes but he gives and gives and gives and the only one who returns what he gives is Krolia. It used to be Shiro returned it too, but now... Even without it being romantic, their relationship was done a dirty. I didn’t need canon Sheith I just needed some kind of acknowledgement that all the suffering they endured was worth it. I wanted to see them happy. 3. Despite what I said above I am sad Allura is gone. 4. Shiro was hardly in the season at all actually :((((((((((((((((((( 5. Yeah, as cute as the scenes were I’ve never felt Allura and Lance have a chemistry that makes their relationship sit well with me. But I guess it was necessary to show how Lance has matured as a person. I always thought they have the POTENTIAL for chemistry but it’s always fallen short for me. Allura just takes her life too seriously and her walls never actually came down enough for me to see a connection there. 6. James and Keith never like...talked? I would have liked for them to have had a reconciliation like Keith and Lance did. 7. Lack of Krolia. 8. Something was off about Kolivan’s voice 9. TBH, I feel like The real fulfillment for Keith’s arc would have been his teammates encouraging and lifting him up as well. Display his emotional availability which was completely closed off at the start. I feel like they may have just dropped the ball on a couple of character’s arc resolution but...eh. You gotta pick and choose what to focus on when you have an ensemble cast, and 7 year olds just aren’t always interested in that. 10. Woulda been nice to get a bit more detail on the nature of the rift creatures and some more clarity for a through line from the beginning thousands of Years ago to now. Along with that exactly what kind of entity IS Voltron itself? A lot of seeds planted that made a half attempt at being resolved but weren’t quite clear enough to create something cohesive. 11. I can’t put my finger on why but overall it just feels...Incomplete. Like there is still a pit in my stomach that doesn’t feel satisfied by the ending. I’m not sure how much of that is the season itself, and how much is I’ve been involved in this show for nearly 2 years and it’s hard to let go, especially on something that doesn’t quite feel like going out with a bang.

Highly unpopular opinion in my neck of the woods:

That wedding at the end? I’m happy about it. Do I think its bad writing to marry off one of your main five to a rando we don’t even know the name of? Yes. Am I annoyed that the fandom was SO awful and so accusatory toward the showrunners they felt the need to shoehorn in a last minute wedding because they honestly felt bad when the truth is this has always been a glorified ship war? MEGA YES. They shouldn’t have felt like they had to make this bad writing decision on the behalf of fans who have treated them and their efforts like shit. Shame on the people who treated them this way. They tried so FUCKING hard to give us something and ya’ll threw it away and called them evil. I get how you feel but damn why don’t YOU try to make social change happen in the entertainment industry and see how well your LGBT paradise vision goes over when there are dozens of other people with a say. (I could go on about how poorly that was handled on both ends, but that is another point altogether.)

More than anything, I’m happy that some 7 year old kid who LOVES the badass Captain Takashi Shirogane is going to see him get married on screen and kiss a MAN. Like holy shit, that is HUGE. Do I think it could have been written better? Absolutely. But This show wasn’t made for me it was made for the 7 year kid out there is going to think “Shiro kissed a boy, maybe I’m not weird for wanting to kiss boys” and THAT is what Representation in children’s media is all about. I’m going to celebrate this and everything else related to Shiro’s LGBT status because what matters to me way more than ships or satisfying romantic arcs is maybe when my little nephew sees his favorite character is gay he will be a little more open and comfortable when I bring my girlfriend to family dinner.

I think it would do the fandom (especially the Sheith shippers) some good to step back, take off their shipping goggles, and recognize this for the stride in Children’s media that it is. That being said I’m gonna be reading and writing the fix-it fics along with the rest of you, because fandom and how I enjoy the show can be whatever I want.

The conclusion and why I still love Voltron:

You know what? Yes I felt a little let down by the writing, but Voltron is one of the first fandoms I’ve been so involved in and I have had such wonderful experiences while enjoying this show. I’m never going to let some dissatisfaction ruin this for me. The nice thing about fandom, is I can enjoy my version of the show however I want it, and it doesn’t have to effect how I feel about canon at all. And when I take off my fandom goggles, this season was actually pretty enjoyable.

I encourage anybody who has enjoyed the show up to this point to put your bitterness aside and do what you’ve been doing from the start. Create some content, consume some content, ship what you want, and don’t you dare let anybody ruin this for you. You have good memories with this show, keep them good and move froward.

Peace out my dudes, I’m gonna be hanging out in Sheith hell for at least another 6 months.

It was an honor flying with you all.

#VLD #voltron season 8 #voltron legendary defender #Sheith #analysis #long post

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mydearestreaderfanfics · 5 years

Text

Blood-Thirsty Babe (Lotor x Reader)

Warnings: alcohol, blood drinking (he's a vampire ya'll)

Word Count: 2,600

Prompt/Request: Twelfth day of the October Special: Vampire.

Summary: A vampire masquerade is all good fun, especially when another person dressed as a vampire catches your eye. Except maybe he's more than just acting like a vampire...

Author: Mod Alex

“So how’d you meet?” Oh boy, here we go.

Halloween was one of your favorite holidays; one of the main reasons this was true was because of the major costume party that your bestie held every year. She was in a sorority meaning the party was huge. Anyway, you had to go because like you said, your best friend was hosting it. This year you were going as a vampire. Allura, your bestie, was also hosting an after-party party that was a masquerade of sorts, the only catch: it was a vampire masquerade. Most of the party goers didn’t know this key fact. Only her, the sorority girls, and a handful of other volunteers were going as a vampire, but everybody was expected to go in the closest Victorian garb they can find. You were one of those volunteers. A trip to a handful of thrift stores and a stop at the Hot Topic and you were good to go. Allura had assured you that it would be plenty of fun, and you were sure it would be, but you were still pretty sure you’d dip in and out of the party throughout the night just to get a break from the fangs that were pushing against your gums uncomfortably.

The pre-party, or the first party, was fun enough- if parties were your kind of thing, that is. Allura was a queen when it came to hosting events, all the sorority girls were, it seemed. There were drinks galore, most of which were booze, meaning the party-goers were having no difficulty getting into the mindset to dance without inhibition. The furniture was overturned and most of the rooms had become occupied within the last hour that the party had been raging on. Truly it was a party worthy of the silver screen. You were already tired. The music blaring from the speakers mixed with the flashing lights was giving you one hell of a headache. You stepped out, relishing in the cool night air, it was a nice reprieve from the suffocating heat from inside. It was weird, after being in a space filled by so many other people, the absence of any life outside felt wrong. Like really wrong. It felt like someone was watching you. You shook the feeling off, deciding that maybe the party inside was in need of your return. Besides, you needed to help Alura set up the masquerade soon.

Since there was too many passed out drunks, and one hell of a mess, the masquerade was to be held at a different location- the dance floor they’d secured a month ago. Since the whole thing was a fundraiser, the expense of the lavish party room was more than covered, thankfully. When you got there, Allura and some of the other volunteers had already done a decent amount of set-up. Some decoration still needed to go up, and a few items at the food table needed to go out, but aside from that, you all were golden. “(Y/N), make sure you get into costume. The guests will be arriving soon.” Oh, you also needed to get into costume still. The extravagant outfit was far from easy to slip into, and the fangs were just as uncomfortable as you remembered them being. Oh well, at least you could still talk with them in. By the time you got done changing, guests had already begun to filter in. They were delighted to see you all were vampires. It added a level of mystery and seduction, you supposed. This party, you’d admit, was much better than the previous one. It was just as loud, but at least strangers weren’t trying to grind against you here. No, people were really getting into the theme of masquerade and pretending like they're a bunch of heirs and heiresses attending an elaborate royal ball. It was kind of fun to sink into that persona, you'd admit. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t getting into character too.

“Pardon me, darling, I don’t mean to burden you, but I must say that necklace adorns that tender neck of yours so splendidly.” You flashed a dangerous grin at a girl and she giggled and blushed. “Thank you kindly. It was my mother’s y’know. Pure silver.” “I see. 'Tis a right shame that such a lovely young woman is to wear something that must keep me from her.” She giggled again before resuming chit chat with her friends, occasionally eyeing you with interest. It was a part of the job- flirting shamelessly with the guests. Direct orders from Allura. Internally you were screaming with social anxiety and awkwardness, on the outside, however, you were as suave as the vampires in the movies. Truly a modern-day Louis de Pointe du Lac.

“Pardon me?” You put on a smirk before turning to face the guest. “How may I assist such a fine spe-” Your voice died in your throat. In front of you was the most attractive person you’d ever met. Piercing violet eyes (surely they had to be contacts), hair so blond that it looked nearly white (and wow it looked so fluffy and soft), and a smirk that put your faux vampire smirk to shame. You honestly felt kinda weak in the knees just being in his presence. He looked more amused by you than infatuated which was a minor major blow to your ego, especially since you were sure you were practically ogling him just now. “You can help me find something to drink. I am horribly parched, you see.” Oh right, you were one of the helping crew here. He wasn’t here to dance or flirt- no, he was here to ask you to find the damnable bar. “Of course my good sir, although I must say no drinks here would be as satisfying as your blood.” That line had worked at least twice tonight so when he laughed- actually laughed, you felt a little discouraged. When he finished laughing, he straightened himself back up. “Sorry, darling. Is that really what you silly mortals think of us?” Oh shoot, was he one of the volunteers? You were sure you hadn’t seen him during set up earlier. Maybe he got here late? “Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize you were helping out here too. I feel like an idiot now, haha.” You laughed at your own expense, relieved that he was joking around with you and not acting like an ass at your mistake. “Helping here- yes I suppose I am.” Huh, guess he didn’t want to break character. You stopped walking once you were at the bar. “Here you are, my good sir.” He chuckled. “Thank you, my dear, although it seems they don’t have what I wish to drink here.” What? The bar had at least 20 different kinds of drinks and that wasn’t even counting the alcohol. “It doesn’t?” “No, but I suppose if I must, I will settle for a red wine.” As he ordered you couldn’t help but muse over the fact that he really was like a vampire- he played the role well. “It’s quite stuffy in here, wouldn’t you say?” You quirked an eyebrow at him, he smiled in return. “Would you care to get some air with me?” Years of watching over Allura at bars and making sure you didn’t get dragged away into an isolated space with a stranger told you that no, going outside with him was dangerous. On the other hand, he seemed nice and you really could use some air. “Sure, but I gotta be back in here soon, so maybe we can head to the balcony?” A safe compromise you reckoned. “I couldn’t have chosen a more preferable meeting spot if I tried.” He walked in front of you, leading you to the balcony. As he walked, you noticed how sure his steps seemed, how he seemed to glide with each step. He oozed elegance, and as you followed him, you noticed the jealous stares you received.

The balcony was closed off by a set of thick Victorian style curtains. Lotor moved them aside so you could pass under them. He swept them aside like they weighed no more than a feather, although earlier when you had helped set them up, you had to have help because they were so heavy. You didn’t realize this until later, though. You did notice he no longer had his drink in hand, though... how odd. The night sky was out in its full glory that night. The stars looked like they'd been hung up one by one just to set the scene for Lotor and you. It was almost unbearably romantic. Why did you have to pick the balcony? At least you could still hear the chatter from inside. Lotor tilted his head up and the moonlight shone over him, making his almost white hair gleam ethereally. The night looked like it belonged to him- like he was the one who twisted the shadows and directed the moonlight. It was enchanting in the most predacious kind of way. “I would say this is much better, wouldn’t you, darling?” “Yeah, the night’s really pretty. The stars are almost never this bright.” You felt him brush a lock of your hair behind your ear, it sent shivers down your spine, but you made no move to stop him. The attention was actually quite nice. Especially since everyone just knew you as Allura’s less attractive friend. You looked over at the charming man beside you, he was already looking at you. Even the cool night air couldn't help ease the heat that had crept up your neck to your cheeks. “You have the most splendid eyes.” A squeak left you, your blush only worsening. “Thank you.” “Oh dear, I’m being too forward aren't’ I? I haven't even introduced myself.” He took your hand, bowing in front of you whilst he pressed his lips against the back of your hand. His kiss was cold as ice, leaving a ghost of his kiss even when he pulled back. “I am Lotor, pleased to meet you.” The dated greeting left you reeling and you clumsily bowed back. “(Y/N), truly an honor.” When you righted yourself again, he was gleaming. (Y/N), what an enchanting name.” The way he spoke your name like it was a fine wine that deserved to be savored, made your heart skip a beat. “Thank you.” “Tell me, (Y/N), what do you think of the creatures of the night?” What? Was he talking about vampires? “I suppose I’ve always liked them? When I was younger I always thought it would be wonderful to be bitten, but I suppose that might’ve been the fault of certain movies and novels.” He grinned again, and you noticed the sharp incisors he had. You couldn’t help but wonder where he had bought such real looking fangs. “And do you still fancy them as much as you did in your youth?” Gosh, what were these questions? “I um, I suppose I do.” His wolfish grin widened. His hand was at your neck, but he was only cupping the side of it, his thumb gently brushing over your jugular. Your heart pounded in your chest, a mix of nerves and excitement thrumming through your body. “Such a wonderful neck.” He spoke more to himself than you, but you still heard it. He was really taking this vampire thing serious. At least, that’s what you thought until you looked up and saw his eyes- the sclera in his eyes to be exact- glow yellow, like a dangerous animal in the forest. The world around you spun, and despite yourself, you clung to him, like he would keep you from spinning away with the rest of the world. “Darling, would you mind too terribly if I drink from that flawless neck of yours. Your blood, I can smell it from her, you will taste exquisite.” Your breath caught in your throat. Your heart was gripped with fear, but your brain buzzed with eager anticipation. You weren’t really sure what you wanted. “I promise I won’t hurt you, darling. I can’t imagine causing such a magnificent specimen such as yourself any suffering. I will make the experience enjoyable for you.” When you spoke, your voice sounded faint, far away even, like you yourself weren’t the one talking, more like you were listening to someone in the next room talking. “Yeah, yeah okay.” Within seconds his lips were at your neck, you weren’t sure how he’d gotten so close so fast. He didn’t bite you right away, no, true to his word he was making you feel so, so good. He pressed a kiss to the area where your neck met your shoulder, trailing kisses up until he met the area above your jugular. He nipped at the area, not hard enough to puncture your skin, just enough to make your knees buckle and force you to grip onto his shoulders to steady yourself. He pulled back just enough to blow on your neck, the cold air sending tingles through your body. Seeming pleased with himself, he moved back in. His lips met the same spot they had been in before, pressing soft kisses. He pulled back again, although not as much as before, before biting into your neck. It felt the same way it had when he was just gently scraping your neck, only more pressure. If you didn’t know he was planning on biting you, you might have not even realized what he was doing. The quiet slurping noises probably would’ve tipped you off, though. He was sucking on your neck and a sigh left your lips. You’d probably have a hickey later, but right now you couldn’t care less about that. His tongue lapped against your heated neck, the contrast in temperature giving you goosebumps. You felt dizzy, although whether it was the blood loss or the pleasure you weren’t sure. He lapped at your neck one more time before pulling back. You’d always figured that vampires would look messier than they did in the movies, but no- there was a small trickle of blood on his chin, but aside from that he looked as put together as he did earlier. You, however, were sure you looked a hot mess. “You were even more succulent than I had imagined. Thank you, darling.” He seemed to notice your disheveled appearance and chuckled, not unkindly. “Oh dear, perhaps I got a little carried away.” “No, no. That was… good. Really good.” “I see, perhaps you would consider being my own personal donor.” That was probably a bad idea, but if it felt that good everytime, who were you to say no. “On one condition.” “Oh? What is your condition?” What was your condition- you really hadn’t thought this one through. “If I’m going to be your ‘donor’, the least you could do is to wine and dine me occasionally.” His confused look turned to one of amusement, pleased even. “Are you asking me to court you?” You blushed, realizing that yes, that was what you were saying. “Yes?” “Splendid. I would be more than happy to court you.” He leaned toward you, capturing you in a brief but absolutely spectacular kiss. He pulled away all too soon. “I’ll be seeing you soon, darling.” He turned and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. You bit your lip, turning back to rejoin the party, a smile on your features. Soon, huh? You couldn’t wait.

So yeah, that’s how we met.

#voltron #lotor x reader #fanfictions #prince lotor #alcohol #blood drinking #mod alex

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mygirlblossoms · 6 years

Text

Greatest Parts of the Coalition Handbook

Okay I'm writing these bullets as I read it so its all gonna be under the cut (it’s gonna be long and have spoilers)

Also this is both greatest parts and a low-key summary

“In Memory of the Castle of Lions”

Pidge is a GOD at tic-tac-toe

“Well, what are you waiting for? The dark threat of the Sincline beast is upon us! Might as well start reading, eh?” -Coran

Picture of all the paladins

Especially Blaytz in there my daddi

PIDGE’S DRAWING OF HER, KEITH, HUNK, AND LANCE

brb crying its so cute

Pidge commenting on how she's #1 in Coran’s heart

Coran missing helping Alfor with his socks

LANCE TELLING CORAN HIS AND ALFOR’S SHIP NAME WOULD BE CORALFOR

Also coran calling it a celebrity friendship name

Hunk’s comments on Shiro’s page

“Shiro always makes sure that everyone around him feels comfortable. Except for Zarkon. He didn’t really want to make Zarkon comfortable. I mean, I don’t think anyone wanted to make Zarkon comfortable. Zarkon was the worst.”

Sheith

What Lance misses about earth “Hanging with my niece and nephew and eating garlic knots”

HANCE BECOMING CANNON

Keith’s comment on the bottom being about the bonding moment and Lance not replying

That being the only comment Lance didn’t reply to

“Lance is an integral part of the Voltron team. Do not let his wisecracking behavior deceive you. Lance is fully equipped with the intellect and physical prowess to handle anything that comes his way.”

We love Lance being validated and praised in this house

what makes allure happy being seeing her fathers legacy continue

and drinking milkshakes

me too

I love allura

Lance saying Allura says his name like a rich person

Allura’s mom name reveal

its melenor

King Alfor, Queen Melenor, and Princess Allura

Kallura is canon

HALLURA IS CANNON

Tsundere vibes from Keith

LANCE SAYING HE LIKES KEITH’S MULLET

The entire team supporting Keith tbh

Pidge’s fucking dog is named Bae-Bae

PALLURA IS REAL

Allura emphasizing that Pidge is always valued and loved

“on earth you never feel alone” HUNK BABY I LOVE YOU

“I fear loneliness above all else” HUNK BABY DIUGHSDJKNSFGDHJK

Keith saying Hunk is so much more than a leg

Hunk getting the love and validation he deserves tbh

Why does kaltenecker have so much bio

Everyone being uncomfortable about the fact milk comes from cows

Lance being the designated milker

SPACE MICE

They have names!!!!!!!!

Platt (the chubby one), Chulatt (the smallest), Plachu (the blue tinted one), and Chuchule (the purple tinted one)

The mice outing Lance’s love for Allura again

The little section for the fallen blade members ):

Thace, Ulaz, Antok,and Regris

MY SUGAR MAMA KROLIA IS IN HERE

the spread of the rebels with Matt I love matt

why the fuck is slav in here

PIDGE’S DRAWING OF SLAV

can we have a pidge artbook

“There is a 99.9 percent chance you don’t want to be around Slav.”

The 2 pages on Ozar and Te-Osh :’)

HIGHLIGHTS OF MATTS PAGES

him being a supportive af brother

him thinking he’d never see his family again :(

“he was all buff and stuff” -pidge

THE SPREAD ON SAM DJHFKSJ

“What I miss most about home: having the family all together. I worry we will never do that again”

“Something I’m not afraid to admit: I think Colleen is going to yell at me for not taking the kids back to Earth with me. Sorry, Colleen. If you ever read this, I love you, sweetie.”

Sam is such a family man I love him so much

Lance’s favorite planet being “the mermaid planet”

Hunk’s is a nacho planet

Side note: pidge knows that Lotor killed Narti???

MORE PIDGE DRAWINGS

this time, clouds

Keith wants to record all the names of the brave fallen warriors on Marchanda :(

Theres a whole page on the space hospital I'm

Idk who is writing - Coran I think - but he brings up NYC? How do they even know what NYC is (the writer says they’re Altean)

PIDGE DREW BIBO BII

Okay, coran is writing this. How tf does he know about NYC bagels

Coran saying that Allura and Lotor “Romantically linked” and pidge saying they kissed and then Coran saying “We all make bad decisions sometimes!”

“Honerva and Haggar are two different people. Haggar is a twisted version of what was once so beautiful and pure”

Zarkon is afraid of cats

[About Ezor] “The Galra value honor, and camouflaging yourself isn’t exactly honorable” -Keith

DAMN

EVEN MORE PIDGE DRAWINGS

you know what I’m going to make a separate post about pidge’s drawings

She drew a smiling Voltron if you’re wondering

I love Keith for his lil comments

“The [black] lion believed in me before I believed in myself” -Keith

[Keith about Red] “I’m going to be honest. I was surprised with how fast Red responded to Lance since she nearly let me die, but he totally deserves to be flying with her.” “Aww, thanks, Keith. That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Klance is cannon king

ALLURA WIRITNG “IM A LEG!” ON BLUE’S PAGE I LOVE HER SHES SO CUTE

Okay so at the end of the book theres a letter from Coran saying look out for Lotor and the Sincline beast because they’re bad news and to call Voltron if you see them basically

THEN THE BACK OF THE BOOK HAS LIKE 5 PAGES OF A LETTER FROM LOTOR

ITS LIKE BACKWARDS TOO LIKE THE PAGES ARE FLIPPED YOU HAVE TO TURN THE BOOK AROUND TO READ IT

So highlights/summary from his letter introducing himself in ‘his own words’

“Through my leadership - and not Voltron’s - we can create an empire that even my father, Zarkon, would have been fearful of. Together, we can do this. Together, we will fight on. If you are with me, please keep reading. These pages will include an insider’s look at MY empire and why we need Quintessence for ALL of us.”

Okay this whole thing is petty I'm - I love lotor

“To enter HQ you need to come through the landing bay. There, you will meet with a phalanx of sentries. These banners show that I am not, in fact, as bloodthirsty or cutthroat as the PALADINS have made me seem.”

You tell em bby

He also mentions the “cool” sentry. He also mentions their cool cafeteria you can use if you join him. God, I love Lotor

Introduces all the Galran contenders for the throne

Known Pervious Galran Rulers

“Zarkon: powerful, yes. Flawed? Also, yes.”

There’s one of the stills from when Zarkon (?) was having flashbacks of the OG paladins and its of Alfor and Zarkon shaking hands and I love them so much Blaytz is there too

Basically says that if you join his empire they will take down Voltron and bring real peace to the universe

“Now doesn’t that sound BETTER than some measly coalition led by a bunch of weak Earth people? I thought so!”

“I am afraid I don’t have much more to say, other than thanking you for reading my letter. Together, with the Sincline beast, we will end Voltron and bring about peace to the universe.”

“How’s that for your coalition, Voltron?”

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lucifercaelestis · 6 years

Text

all of the stars

this is my fic for the @keithminibang, thanks to the mods for organizing such a wonderful event

so many thanks to my artist @ajhebard for such wonderful art, it was a pleasure working with you

link to the art

and thank you @miidiocreshards for beta’ing and dealing with me in general

read it on ao3

Summary:

“Prove your honour by taking our Trials. Should you succeed, you will have proven your honour and we will join you as allies, and provide you with any materials you need for your battle. Should you fail, then you will be executed for treason.” He was speaking before he even had time to think about it. “I’ll do it.” ~ With everyone still reeling from the reveal of Keith’s heritage, an impromptu trip to Cetra to gather materials is more than a welcome distraction.

But things never go as planned of course and Keith must prove his worth to the Cetra. Both for his team, and for Shiro.

The trip to Cetra should have been a simple, diplomatic mission.

 When Slav had wrung his hands–all eight of them– about not having enough mithrilan for the teludav, Coran and Allura had jumped on the chance to visit the planet it came from.

Allura remembered the Cetra as an honourable people, describing them as eager to help and fight for justice.

“The Cetra have been allies of Altea for decaphoebs. Their people shared an instinctive ability to connect with what we know as quintessence,” she explained. “They also supplied the materials for our teludavs, se we’ve always had an amiable relationship.”

Surely they would be more than happy to face Zarkon and bring him down, once and for all.

Even without her seal of approval, the team would have welcomed a break. The past few weeks, they had been hard at work, collecting the materials needed to build the massive teludav, while saving whoever needed saving.

 Keith was especially looking forward to it. Thing had been tense, to say the least, since his Galra heritage was revealed.

He was grateful that Shiro accepted him wholeheartedly but the rest of the team had yet to warm up to it.

They would come around eventually, Shiro assured. Until then, all Keith could do was endure Pidge’s questions and Lance’s mocking. He’d spent most of his time hiding out on the training deck when they weren’t on missions, hoping that it would help.

But for Allura, no matter what he did, she only seemed to drift further and further away.

He stayed out of her way as they boarded the lions, trying to brush off her cold glare. It almost made him wish that she had ignored him instead. He didn’t contribute much to the conversation going on between the team as they traveled to Cetra, preferring to stay silent.

They landed on the planet with minimal problems, lions kicking up dust in front of the castle. The Cetra delegation were waiting for them by the door.

The group parted, allowing a lone figure to stand at the head.

"Greetings, Princess Allura. I am Ifalna, Queen of Cetra and it is an honest pleasure to see that you are alive and well. My ancestors were deeply saddened to hear that of the destruction of our friends, the Alteans, and wished we could have fought beside you." "Your Excellency, I bear your people no ill will. Had you fought beside us, it is likely you would have perished as well. By my side is Coran, my advisor, and the Paladins of Voltron. Thank you, for extending your hospitality towards us. " "So the rumours are true," she breathed. "Voltron truly has returned." "Yes. We've been fighting against Zarkon, hoping to bring back peace to the universe." “I believe you, princess. Zarkon’s reign has lasted for too long, indeed.” A dark look crossed her face, but it cleared as quickly as it came. “The Cetra would be honoured to join you in your quest. But first, let us enjoy a meal with our new friends."

They were lead to the dining hall and at the queen’s table, staring with wide eyes at the feast prepared for them.

The conversation flowed smoothly at first, with Keith managing to evade difficult questions. But of course, the topic of the Galra had to come up at some point.

“We can only ever expect the Galra to be cruel. It’s practically in their blood,” he heard an official remark.

Keith stiffened in his seat before making an effort to relax.

“The Galra are a plague upon the universe. They have no honour, no mercy and deserve none in return,” the queen said coldly.

He’d had some unfavourable thoughts about the Galra too, especially after learning more about what they’d done to Shiro. But as more comments left the queen’s lips disparaging the Galra, he began to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

No matter his feelings towards Zarkon and his ilk, the Blade of Marmora had proven that not all Galra were dishonorable, cruel tyrants.

He didn’t think of much of it when a colourfully dressed Cetra asked to speak with the queen.

He did notice the sound of her chair scraping back, a cold look on her face as she started to address them.

"Princess Allura. I regret to ask this of you, but were you aware that your Black Paladin has strong ties to the Galra?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"We would not have known, had one of my advisors not recognized him. I remember the viewings… The Champion, so small and unassuming, but undefeated in the ring. So much that they even seeked to improve him by gifting him with their own technology.”

Keith hated the look on Shiro's face. How resigned he looked, knowing that the things he'd done while he'd been captured would keep haunting him.

“He never refused a fight and he never lost. Isn’t that right, Champion?”

Shiro flinched at the title.

“How many have you killed, Champion? And how many of those were innocent?”

The words from the Cetra queen’s mouth were phrased as questions, but Keith knew what they really were: attacks.

“Enough! Shiro doesn’t deserve this. Shiro was a prisoner of the Galra. He did what he had to do to survive.”

It made him utterly furious that someone would dare target Shiro’s weak spots like that. He didn’t know much about Shiro’s time in captivity but he knew enough to know that Shiro still carried deep scars from that time, both physical and mental.

“Prisoner though he may have been, it does not change that the Galra mindset has clearly infected you. Victory or death, that is the Galra way, is it not? You've clearly shown that, haven’t you, Champion?”

Their contempt for the Galra was understandable. The Galra had done horrendous things on their road to conquer the entire universe and it was hard to imagine any of them being trustworthy after all that. He’d felt the same way at first, and his horror and dread at suspecting his connection to the Galra had overwhelmed him at times.

But then he’d met Ulaz, and learnt of the Blade of Marmora, and was introduced to the idea that some Galra were good, that they weren’t all complicit in conquering and enslaving other worlds, that they worked against the empire to fight for freedom.

He stood up and slammed his palms on the table.

“Shiro was a prisoner. No matter what he did then, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s not Galra.” He paused, his voice growing quieter, “Not like me.”

He could feel the team’s eyes on him, shocked at his outburst, but he kept his focus on her.

She looked at him closely then, and her eyes narrowed before she glared at them both.

“A gladiator and a Galra as Paladins. The lions' standards must have fallen far, Princess. You cannot trust them.”

“We have Galra allies as well,” Keith protested. “People who’ve infiltrated the highest and lowest ranks of Zarkon’s court, spread throughout the empire. They've existed for decaphoebs, spying on Zarkon and fighting against him when they can. Doesn't that prove that Galra can be trusted?”

She dismissed him with a wave. “If they've existed for so long, why have they not dealt with Zarkon before? As I’ve said before, you cannot trust the Galra. And as long as I cannot trust you, I can never allow my people to ally with you.”

“Then what can we do to prove ourselves worthy of your trust?” Allura asked, her voice high with worry.

The queen paused, looking thoughtful.

He was speaking before he even had time to think about it.

“I’ll do it.”

“What?” Shiro said. “Keith, no!”

Keith was unmoved. “Better me than you. I’m Galra, so I should take responsibility for this.”

“Allura,” Shiro turned to her furiously. “You can’t seriously be allowing this?”

“We need allies, Shiro. And the Cetra are powerful allies,” she replied, even if she was beginning to look hesitant. “The mithrilan is necessary for our final plan against Zarkon.”

She trusted Keith less than she did them apparently. That, or she wanted to trust them, clinging to a reminder of her past that was still there, unlike Altea.

Shiro turned to Keith. "Keith...you don't have to do this. We can just leave, we don't need them."

Even as he said it, Keith could see the frustration on Shiro’s face. They both knew that an alliance with the Cetra was necessary. "Yes, I do." Shiro made to protest but Keith held up his hand. "I have to do this, Shiro. Trust me.”

“It doesn’t have to be you,” the queen interrupted. “It could just as easily be the Champion. Either one of you would prove your point.”

“Keith…” Shiro pleaded. Let me do this for you, his eyes said.

But Keith already knew his answer. If he could spare Shiro from this by doing it himself, he’d do it, no questions asked. “No. It should be me.”

"You would do that? You would undergo these trials, knowing nothing of them, just to spare him? Why would you do that? He is a monster, and so are you," she hissed at Keith.

He saw Shiro curl up inside a little more at the remark.

"I'm sorry about what they did to your planet, I really am, but Shiro doesn't deserve this. If there's anyone you should be blaming, it's Zarkon for putting you both in this position."

An advisor cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Your Excellency, if he offers to go through the trials for the Champion, we are honour bound to accept it. It is the law."

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I have no choice but to allow this. This is your final chance to back out, paladin. Make the right choice and allow the Champion to fight his own battles."

Keith returned her glare with a determined look. "I'll do whatever it takes if it means Shiro doesn't have to."

"The Galra I know would never have submitted to another planet's Law. You would submit to our judgement?"

Every pair of eyes in the hall was fixed on him as they waited for his reaction.

Keith and Shiro looked at each other for a moment. Keith tried to convey how much he needed to do this, and Shiro– Shiro relented, because he understood Keith even when no one else did. Even when he disagreed, he supported Keith because he trusted Keith and his abilities.

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder as support.

“Whatever it takes.”

She nodded grudgingly at him. “Then the trials will commence tomorrow. Maybe you will change my mind, Galra, but I doubt it.”

“I will.”

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#voltron #sheith #shiro #keith #keith mini bang #my writing #hurt keith and protective shiro are my jams #oooo writing this was a journey #but im free!!!!

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pinkletterday · 6 years

Text

Prelude: Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

Pairing: Barry Allen/ Iris West

Rating: All Audiences

Summary: “Aw hell, no!” says Linda. “Iris, you’ve been planning yourself this big white wedding for weeks. This is your dream, you guys. If you give up now, the Nazis win. We can’t let them win, yo. You gotta have your wedding. For truth, justice and the American way!”

Tags: Iris West goes wedding dress shopping with her girls, Sara Lance is the Westallen fairygodmother, the wedding my babies deserved, apologies for the lack of Felicity, author was really mad at the time

Notes: Am I procrastinating life by posting old fics on tumblr? Why yes I am.

This was my oldest fic for this fandom and my first in ten years.

Part 1 of the Westallen Wedding Album

It is seven in the morning and someone is ringing the doorbell. The universe really does hate them. Iris is too demoralized to care at this point.

“Go away,” calls Barry from under the covers, clutching Iris like a security blanket.

“It’s me, Caitlin. It’s urgent, open up!”

This is why they can’t ever turn their phones off. Et tu, Cait?

They shuffle fatalistically to the door in their pyjamas to let her in and Caitlin looks apologetically at the sleep-rumpled duo. “I’m sorry, guys, but they insisted.”

“Who -”

Sara bursts into the loft. “All right, everyone get dressed. Wedding’s back on, bitches!” she hollers, in full captain mode, as Catilin grimaces away. “The time is oh seven hundred hours and we have fuckton of work to do so. Ass in gear, folks!”

Barry and Iris blink at her like injured meerkats. “...What?” They notice a flustered Cecile trailing in after Sara, followed by an offensively bright-eyed and bushy tailed Kara, and… “Linda?”

“What up, girl,” greets Linda Park, hugging a stunned Iris. She appears to have a distinctly fresh-from-airport-hell brand of dishevelment and the vibrating energy of a sports writer on Redbull.

“How are you here?" asks Barry in confusion. "You said in your RSVP that you’d be at your family thing in Oklahoma-,”

“Yeah so I did and I was and then I got a hysterical call from the kidterns at CCPN that your wedding had been bombed by Nazis. Followed by news footage of Central City being attacked by actual, honest-to-God Nazis and then beaten back by a mess of leather fetish-types...you get the idea. In conclusion: Nazis. Seriously, guys, what the hell!” Linda throws her hands up at them with a bewildered expression.

Barry slumps onto the couch with a groan and Iris drops wearily beside him, making a helpless gesture that is somehow supposed to convey “we couldn’t tell you if we knew/ the universe hates us/ it is written/ this is our life now". They lean against each other like sad puppies.

“Anyway, the point is, you guys are getting married today. Properly.” presses Sara.

“Can’t,” grunts Barry.

“What d’you mean, can’t?”

“Lost all our deposits. Tux ruined. Guests flew home after martial law was declared. Fire. Murder. Plague.”

“My dress survived but I frankly don’t even want to see it again,” says Iris sadly. “That thing cost five thousand dollars and now all I remember when I see it is our minister getting vaporized. Oh God.” She hides her face in Barry’s shoulder, stifling a sob, as he puts a comforting arm around her.

“Ok, yes, we figured,” interjects Kara, advancing with a "hear-me-out" demeanor. “But guys. This is all fixable! And we’re gonna fix it! You still want to get married, right?” She looked expectantly at them, a golden retreiver puppy convinced of the world's innate goodness.

“Well yeah,” says Barry, scratching his head. “But Iris and I are just thinking to going to a Justice of Peace-”

“Aw hell, no!” cries Linda, making Barry jump. Redbull and sports are just not a good combination for this early in the morning. “Iris, you’ve been planning yourself this big white wedding for weeks. This is your dream, you guys. If you give up now, the Nazis win. We can’t let them win, yo. You gotta have your wedding. For truth, justice and the American way!”

The other women all nod, appearing to agree on the connection between propping up the wedding industry and patriotism. “She’s right,” says Caitlin the Betrayer, staunchly.

“And exactly how are we supposed to do that?” asks Iris with some asperity. She doesn’t particularly care about truth or justice or whatever the American way is supposed to be right now, unless the American way involves a bubble bath with Barry, sex and some post-coital Netflix.

“You leave that to us,” says Cecile firmly, sitting herself next to Iris. She takes her hand with a maternal air. “Iris, you and Barry aren’t alone in any of this. You have your family. Your friends. We have resources. Let us do this for you.”

“Cecile, that’s really sweet, believe me, but we’re just too tired-”

“That’s why you don’t have to lift a finger,” says Linda determinedly. “Except to put a ring on it. Look, I used to work part time as a wedding co-ordinator in college. I still have contacts. Just give me and Cecile your wedding binder and go find a dress. We can throw you the shindig of your dreams and get you married off before tomorrow morning.”

There is a chorus of "yeahs!" and "all rights!" and even a "whoo!" from Caitlin, who immediately looks embarrassed and subsides mid hand-pump.

“Where do I find a dress to get married in this evening?” says Iris hopelessly.

Sara smirks. “Did you know the Waverider has a fabrication room?”

“What’s a fabrication room?” asks Barry, Iris and Caitlin

“What’s a Waverider?” asks Linda and Cecile.

Sara grins smugly at Iris. “Just call me your fairy godmother, Cinderella.”

___

“I’m in a timeship,” Iris hears Linda say aloud to herself for the umpteenth time. “A timeship with a giant dress up room. With superheroes. Shopping for bridal gowns. For the Flash’s fiancee.”

Iris is the dressing cubicle and can't see anyone, but can picture Linda swigging her third glass of champagne, fluffing the white feather boa she had wound around her shoulders. She had decided that she didn't feel right drinking champagne in a fancy dressing room without a wearing one.

“Linda, honey, you’ve been saying that since we got here,” sighs Cecile, relegated to sparkling grape juice, but seated comfortably on the Persian rug. “It’s not really helping.”

They are in the Waverider's fabrication room, which Gideon had science babbled at them about reconstructing garments and accessories via subatomic teleportation and reassembly, and what Sara had simply described as "the Waverider communal closet". Except the "communal" part being all of time and history, apparently. It honestly just looks like a hi-tech walk-in closet from Dr. Who, only with outfits atomizing into being inside a cubicle once its design is selected from a 3D holographic projection.

"Anyone want more cake?” Ray Palmer, ex-billionaire and apparently current time traveller, calls out sunnily.

“Ooh, me me me!” says Kara enthusiastically from where she has been vamping in a crinoline in front of the mirror. “Oh my God, Ray, is that whipped cream frosting? And these strawberries taste so real!"

"The Waverider molecularly restructures any food stuffs we want," Ray says in proud tones. "Although, I usually prefer to get the raw ingredients and make recipes by hand. The champagne is all Gideon's work, though."

"That’s so cool, Gideon!" enthuses Kara.

“Thank you Miss Zor-El,” Gideon's disembodied voice resounds around the room. “This is high praise coming from a race as advanced as the Kryptonians.”

“You’re welcome and thank you!” Kara says happily. “My ship has an A.I but it has my mother’s personality imprint, so it can be kind of a bummer sometimes. Allura definitely hasn’t made me alcohol,” then mutters more quietly, “despite trying to drive me to it.”

“Wait, you have a ship too?” Cecile and Caitlin chorus in surprise.

“What’s a Kryptonian?” wonders Linda.

“Yeah, I have a ship. It’s how I got to earth. Krypton is my home planet,” Kara explains casually. Cecile and Linda are obviously still bemused. “I’m an alien,” Kara clarifies.

There is a stunned silence.

“I’m in a talking timeship,” intones Linda, swigging her drink, “with an alien. Eating cake. Shopping for dresses for-” she’s cut off when Iris throws a cloud of tulle on her head.

“Knock it off, Park,” Iris says, stepping out of the dressing room. “How do I look?” she smoothes down the sugar white confection expectantly, which somehow manages to be both creamy and frothy.

There is some diplomatic hemming and hawwing from the crowd. “Well, it’s a bit…,” Caitlin hesitates and pulls at the back of the synthetic white sheathe.

“Like someone dipped you in a vat of Ray’s frosting,” says Sara bluntly, looking up at her upside down from where she's sprawled on the floor. “And before that you looked like something from a Lady Gaga music video. Really, Iris, are you even taking this seriously?”

“I thought it was funny!” protests Iris, returning to searching through the ship’s dress archive on the holographic display. “What about the one before that?”

“You looked like Queen Elizabeth,” says Linda, flatly. “Present day Queen Elizabeth. What was with the hat?”

“Wow, tough crowd," Iris tries to laugh it off only to be met with skeptical stares. She sags.

“I just. It feels like tempting fate again, you know?” she says quietly. “Ever since I was a kid, I really wanted to dress like a princess at my wedding and it almost came true...three times. I just feel like the minute I put on a wedding dress again, I’m going to bring giant killer robots down on us, or one of us is going to get kidnapped by an evil megalomaniac and replaced by a frog-eating clone-”

“What’d you mean frog-eating clones?” interjects Linda in panic, clutching her boa. “Oh my God, is that an actual thing too?”

“Probably,” says Sara with supreme unconcern from the floor. She pulls herself upright and looks at Iris seriously in the eyes. “Look, I understand what you’re saying. You don’t have to wear a wedding dress if you don’t want to. You can wear a pantsuit or a gunny sack and none of us will care.

But I think you really do want that princess dress. This is all about saving your dream. You can’t let fear make you make decisions that you’ll regret down the line.” There is a murmur of sympathy and assent from the others.

“You only get married once,” says Caitlin, looking at Iris with a deep understanding.

“Well, I mean, actually-,” Linda starts, but is cut off by Cecile who sternly takes her champagne glass away.

"I mean you will only marry your soulmate once,” says Caitlin, looking at Iris steadily. “He’s the love of your life, Iris. You’re not going to lose him. We won’t let you. I promise.” Iris thinks she sees Caitlin’s eyes flash silver.

A solemnity descends on the group. Iris pulls Caitlin into a hug, feeling touched and grateful.

“You know, you could settle for a middle ground,” pipes up the ubiquitous Ray, making everyone start because they had forgotten he was there. “Personally, I think you’d be able to carry off a Galia Lahav like nobody’s business, but if you wanted something a little more classic, a little less elaborate, you could look to something boho like Ru De Seine or vintage feel like Amanda Garrett. Her beading is amazing. I’ve always thought ivory lace is really the thing for a fall wedding myself. Oh! And A-lines are so under-appreciated. You can always get them to flare out almost as well as a ballgown.”

There is a silence as everyone stares at Ray.

“What?” he says uncertainly. “Mick and I watch Say Yes To The Dress.”

A collective “ooh” of understanding ripples through the ladies and they turn back to Iris. “I hate that you all just came to the most obvious conclusion right now,” mutters Sara, chewing bitterly on a strawberry.

“Ray’s right,” says Kara, elbowing in front of the display screen and rifling through the database. “There’s more than one way to look like a princess. You might not be comfortable going for the full Cinderella anymore, but there’s Rapunzel and Snow White or even Greek-style like Megara-”

“Who?”

“Hercules’ girlfriend. I never understood why that movie flopped, my cousin loves it.”

"Oh, hey, me too!" exclaims Ray.

In the end, after a heated debate about Disney between Kara and Ray, a decimated whipped cream cake and a large pile of discarded lace, tulle and chiffon, Iris finds the perfect fit. It's an ivory A-line overlaid in lace. The assymetrical drop waist flares to the ground in a fall of tulle, the deep sweetheart neckline, ruched bodice and delicate cap sleeves covered in exquisite crystal beading. It's sweet and summery and simple. Safe. It makes her feel right.

There is a hush of approval, broken by Sara’s irreverent wolf-whistle.

"I would call that a Snow White look," pronounced Kara.

“Nice one, West,” Linda concurs as Cecile coos over it and Caitlin inspects the beading.

“By the way, Iris, Barry called,” informs Caitlin, as she pulls on Iris' skirts. “He said to tell you he’s decided to include Harry and Wally in the bridal party this time around, and I quote, “Tag, you’re it!”

“It? What are you?” asks Linda in confusion.

“Down three bridesmaids, that’s what I am!" huffs Iris, hands on her hips. She surveys her current retinue. “Okay, then. Sara, Kara, Linda, you’re up!”

The three women’s heads jerk up at Iris’ authoritative tone. “Up for what?”

“You’re in my bridal party now. Best find dresses!” grins Iris, “That’s what happens when you save a girl’s planet and her wedding. I mean,” she suddenly feels a little uncertain, “if you are up for it?”

In answer, Kara, Linda and Sara cheer and surround Iris, pulling her into a group hug, while Caitlin and Cecile raise their glasses at her proudly.

____

Iris doesn’t see them again for hours after sorting out the bridal wear, being summarily banished to her father’s house. She would have preferred to go home but found that her fiancé had banned her from the premises. Iris objects.

“Are we doing the groom not seeing the bride before the ceremony thing again? Because a lot of good that did us last time,” Iris huffs into the phone, going downstairs to intrepidly investigate the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen.

“No, I just don’t want you here cause I’m working on a wedding gift for you,” says Barry, over a mysterious banging of pots and pans. “And you may not crack a joke about my family jewels.”

“I would never joke about those, Barry,” says Iris seriously. "Your family jewels are very important to me." She hears the distinctive ding of- “wait, are you baking?”

“...damn it.”

“Bartholomew! Are you baking brownies in our apartment on our wedding day without me?” exclaims Iris in indignation.

“How do you know they’re brownies?” Barry hedges in his damage control voice.

“'Cause you banned me from the loft! I know you, you duplicitous, conniving-,”

“Look, we both know you are fundamentally untrustworthy around things with chocolate in them,” says Barry firmly. “You’re like the Leonard Snart of baked goods.”

“But why can’t I have brownies on my wedding day?” Iris whines. She nearly collides with her father, who is bustling about the kitchen in an apron.

“You can,” says Barry patiently. “It’s for the wedding.”

“I thought Oliver was taking care of the catering?” says Iris, confused.

“Yes, he’s footing the bill for the entire thing, so I told him to keep it simple and homely. He feels really bad about what happened to us.”

“Why?” Iris shrugs, “He didn’t crash our wedding.”

“He’s a rich kid, they throw money at people’s problems until they feel better,” snarks Barry and Iris giggles. “So I heard your Dad and Clarissa and some others are making it a kind of potluck, as much to reign Oliver in as anything, and...I wanted you to have your mother’s brownies on your special day.”

Iris melts. “Awww, babe. That is so sweet. And frustrating. Now I don’t know who I want to eat more," she purrs seductively, "you or the brownies.”

“You do know I can hear you, right?” Joe pops up from behind the kitchen counter with an unimpressed expression, making Iris jump.

“Er, yeah okay. So," Iris awkwardly skitters around, to notice - "Hey, is that why Dad’s making Grandma Esther’s sweet potato pie?” She starts to break off a bit of crust, only to be whacked decisively on the knuckles with a spoon. “OW!”

“Those are for the guests this evening, missy!” reprimands Joe, “Out of my kitchen! Git!”

“But it’s my wedding!” Iris wails fruitlessly into the phone as her father chases her out of the room with a spatula.

____

In the afternoon, Iris gets dressed in her new wedding gown, ignoring the flutter of trepidation she feels as Caitlin buttons her up. Cecile and Linda sweep her hair into a high messy bun that lets soft curls spill around her face and neck, pinning a single full-blown crimson rose on the side of her head right above the cascade of her grandmother’s veil.

She wears her great-grandma Esther’s pearl earrings and her mother’s replica wedding bands on a gold chain that Barry had given her (so very long ago now and not long ago at all) around her neck. Cecile kisses her cheek and fastens her little turquoise bracelet around Iris’ wrist “for something both borrowed and blue”. She laughs as she slips her feet into the pair of transparent “glass” heels that Kara had found for her.

Her bridesmaids are in dusty rose gowns gathered at the waist, with skirts that swish playfully around their calves. Delicate aster and camellia flower crowns nestle on their loose waves of hair and they all carry small posies of riotously colourful wildflowers that speak of the fall.

Barry is waiting with his groomsmen downstairs as they descend. Wally, Cisco, Harry and Oliver are in sport coats with matching autumn boutonnieres. Barry has also ditched the tux in favour of a grey suit with a crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the collar and is holding her bouquet of crimson and spray roses. He looked so very dashing in his tux, but Iris is glad that he looks more casual today, slightly mussed, more her geeky, pretty, boyish Barry.

He does not look at her as though he would cry, as he had the first time she had walked down the aisle to him. Instead his expression is open and soft, steady, like he knows how afraid she is and he is right there with her, waiting to catch her and keep her safe. It’s a look that makes her feel like he’s holding her in his arms from across a room.

Iris’ father carefully pulls her into a hug, engulfing her one last time in his solid, reassuring warmth and Dad-scent before he takes her hand and puts it in Barry’s. It’s an acknowledgement of putting something where it has always belonged, rather than entrusting it all over again to another. Iris is fleetingly amused by the thought that Joe may have accepted Barry as her son-in-law when they were first married by a giant dinosaur at the age of ten.

Barry gives her her bouquet and pulls her to him, “Hey.”

“Hi,” she smiles. "I see you got my present." She fingers the small gold bolts of lightning on his shirt cuffs.

"I did," Barry says with a pleased grin. "They're awesome. Thanks, honey. But I think I still win with the brownies."

"Damn it, you're right," grumbles Iris. "Why are you so competitive all the time?"

Barry gives her a sardonic look and draws her into his arms as she giggles. His expression turns reverent as he gazes down at her.

“God, you're beautiful,” he breathes, looking at her like he can't believe she's real. Iris feels cocooned in happiness. “How do you make me want you more every day?”

She focuses on pinning a crimson rose next to his lapel and blinks back tears. “I bet you say that to all the girls you marry,” Iris quips.

“Yes,” he teases back, “since you are all the girls I’m ever going to marry.”

Iris laughs, and smooths his coat. “So, want to give this thing one last try, Mr. Allen?”

Barry's eyes are resolute and tender. “I’ll never stop trying until you’re mine, Miss West.”

She presses the rose stem against his heart, and his hand covers hers over it. They follow their wedding party and walk out of their childhood home, hand in hand.

~~~~

#the westallen wedding album #westallen #barry allen x iris west #myfic #fanfic #the flash

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dancingqueen707 · 6 years

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6/24/18

IAL #36 My VLD S6 review + My Predictions for S7

Hey hello guys welcome to another Sunday and so it’s been a week since s6 of voltron dropped and literally the fandom is dead. If you are from my writing blog my author name is Tidus S. Queen but on my personal account I am Kat. I am going to be telling my opinions about this season and how good and amazing it was

Disclaimer: these are just are my options please respect them if you don't care just dont read the post and have a nice day. I am also giving 0 hate to ships this is just my views/take on the latest season.

Because I am way to obsessed for this show I rewatched S3 to S5 before the season dropped so I knew everything for this season.

My thoughts on Lotor:

S5 cliffhanger was Lotor and Allura going to the Altean world called Oriande to learn more about altean alchemy. Then we learned about lort how he is literally a space indiana jones and zarkon was a prick as a father to him and you feel bad for him. I’m gonna state right now I NEVER TRUSTED NO MATTER HOW HOT HE IS. The first time we meet the prince lotor is in S3 when he literally was teasing the paladins and to see if they can become voltron, but they can't because we lost shiro in the astral plane and he died in the s2 finale. So yeah thanks dreamworks for hurting me in the feels.

One more thing I wanted to point out Dos Santos one of the co-executive producer said that lotor was gonna be like a “justice league villain” in an article and as someone who loves superhero and villains I knew lotor was going in to help voltron with a bigger ulterior motive and once he got it the quintessence he literally played himself because he actually had real feelings for allura but we then learn this season that he killed f the alteans hw saved to get more enriched quintessence. Do i Feel he is not dead? Nope we saw no body therefore there is a total possibility we are going to see lotor in future seasons . Do we think he get a redemption arc like zuko? Maybe there are a lot of possibilities

My thoughts on Allura and Lance :

Another character I want to talk about is Allura guys I felt for A llura for this season so much because she literally got played by lotor all allura wants to do is see her people and altea again. We know that Allura loves her people and her dad and she lost her planet to the galra since the very beginning of this show. The question I have been seeing non-stop is that do you think Allura is using Lance as a rebound ? NO NO NO Allura will never do that to Lance ,and Lance respects her too much to be a douche to her he cares about her he is protective friend ( i don’t blame him} . lance did get friendzone this season yes but he is not gonna be a douche to Allura because he got friendzone. Lance has manners and respect Allura. I love their platonic friendship in my views. If you ship them romantically I respect you

A lot of people are hating on dreamworks for pushing Lance over this season. Hello hi people who are thinking that that is how the vld staff and created story tell the characters arcs in this show. Do I want lance to be happy? hell yess. But Lance can’t just get random happiness as a writer and creator of any story you have to make characters suffer in order to make them grow in a story. I know personally think they are setting up Lance's arc for that reason .In my eyes lance and allura friendship are going to get stronger as the seasons progress.

My thoughts on Keith: FINALLY FINALLY WE GET THE ORIGIN STORY OF KEITH’S PARENTS AND HIM AHH IM SO HAPPY THANK THANK YOU DREAMWORKS. Also keith has matured so much found his mom and probably bonded with we the two years that him and his mom were on space dolphins. I think that Keith need the 2 year gap with his mom. He probably learned stuff for her and he now understands his origin. Keith becoming the black paladin he is now the leader that shiro wanted him to be reference in s2 when they were going to the BOM headquarters. Keith also got a pokemon wolf when everyone else was playing dnd space version. Keith go shiro back and his mom and he has definitely grown since season 1. His fighting scene with shiro was so heartbreaking to watch but he knew how to handle the clone and respect kuro. Shiro is Keith father figure form what we saw in the flashbacks with keith dad wearing Shiro’s outfit from season 1 -2 and their bond is so deep I love them so much. I do believe that Shiro did save Keith and I love their brotherly love I really do. You ship them relatively good for you I am not hating on the ship this is just my opinion on their bond.

My thoughts on Romelle: I love this pretty altean conspiracy theorist who literally busted lotor. I love romelle I hope we see her in future seasons.

Thought on Hunk,Pidge, and Coran : they did amazing the whole season hunk defeated galra with galran policitiscs. Pidge our wonderful pidge saved the universe.. Coran has muscles he looked amazing and did great this season.

My opinions on the 7 eps:

Ep1: Omega Shield

We meet lotors nanny. (she reminds me of space yazma from the emperor's new groove lol”

Hunk learning galra politics are schooling the galrans to stop fighting (im so proud our diplomatic boy )

Ep2 : Razor Edge (more like keith and his mom bonduing ep and I’m all for that”

I love krolia, i love we get keith’s origin about his mom and dad how they met, how she got there

Texas kogane saving keith name from being yorak (lol)

BABY KEITH

They she protected keith from the blast (ahh my heart the feels)

How keith and shiro met (finally i have been waiting since s1)

How keith acted in the garrison (poor boy he fought someone )

Keith gets a pokemon who loves and it is very valid to be (also what's it’s name yorak or keith dad’s name?)

Ep 3:Monsters and Mania

The chilliest ep for the paladins

The dnd ep is my fav. I love dnd i got all their jokes about dnd

Kuro being a literal nerd yass

Lance is an adorable dork and i love him

Pidge growing to defeat coran

Allura looking like a queen being amazing with a bow and arrow

Hunk rocks every look i love how his va tyler labine made him talk man oh and punk friendship is just beautiful

Ep 4:The colony

Romelle losing her brother over quintessence

Her not believing in lotor

The ep allura threw lotor and he deserved and it was right after they kissed

Romelle being a literal badass

Ep 5: The Black Paladins

Keith and Kuro fight was so beautiful and emotional

Keith being the black paladin and has matured so well

I loved this episode too it was amazing the animation everything the soundtrack is beautiful too

Ep: 6: All Good Things

The ep that allura dragged lotor when they were fighting between the dark voltron vs good voltron

I called that lotor was gonna make a bad voltron

Allura summing the blazing sword

Coran needs to wear more muscle tees and show of his muscles more

Ep 7: Defender of all universes

The actual ship that matters the castle of lions has to be destroyed to close off the quintessence field

And the montage yeah that gave me all the feels

SPACE DAD IS BACK

Looking amazing with white hair he is now a silver fox and he gets to rest FINALLY

Allura doing her own version of avatar state to put shiro essence into the clone body

The ending and the parallels . ALL THE PARALLELS THIS SEASON

I CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON 7 WE GOING BACK TO EARTH

My favorite episode was ep 3 because I love dnd and everyone got to just chill and play game.

My thoughts on season 7

Road Trip season i heard it's going to be from the co executive said in a recent articles

I want keith to play dnd so badly I want him to hang out more with the paladins and be super goofy

Shiro actually seeing matt again

I want to see hunk’s and lance’s galaxy garrison stories

Lance arc might happen

What’s keith pokemon wolf name?

And his dad name?

Hagger is gonna be the new villian along with sendak

I have no idea what else is gonna happen next season but i’m already hyped for it

If you have read through this whole review thank you for reading it sorry it is full of rambles but this is just what I think of this season. I loved it. I hope you are having a nice day, night or ,afternoon and what are your thoughts on this season? Did it make it or break it for you? What do you think is gonna happen in s7 or future seasons? Please like or reblog and follow my main or my writing blog I post these IAL every sunday at 9EST. And again thank you for reading my review.

#I’m A Lerido #IAL36 #voltron legendery defender s6 review

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klynth · 7 years

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what happened to S2?

okay, I’m going to do it. I’m going to write (rant) about Voltron Legendary Defender Season 2. I won’t look onto the content, those who have watched it already know what happened. I want to know why the fandom reacted as it did and I’ll write my VERY PERSONAL opinion on the subject, because I think we may be forgetting something essencial here...

I’ll continue under the cut in case you want to avoid spoilers tho! ALSO IT’S LONG. THIS’S BEEN A PSA

Alright. Before it aired, everyone was already going nuts about S2. The staff’s comments and other theories were driving the almost six months content deprived fandom crazy. And I include myself in this category. I mean, I binge watched it in ONE sitting, at midnight when I had to go to class the very next day.

When I first finished, I had a bitter taste in my mouth. Where’s my klance? Where’s my 5 people team?? What’s going on??? WHAT’S GOING ON¡¿¿’? I read a few tweets of those who also stood up watching the episodes and they were also complaining a bit about the season. I went to bed angry, confused, upset.

Heck, when I woke up I was still bitter over the thing! I even complained about it with people who I had tried to convince about watching it in the past. I just said stuff llike “they’ve ruined it, it’s over, blablabla”. But I’ve cooled down. A day’s good enough to cool down.

Okay, Dreamworks, I’m dissapointed, We’re dissapointed. They did not manage their cards the way they should. However, I think we have to understand something.

Yes, we can complain about some things. (I’ll say facts and then I’ll check those facts, don’t kill me yet pls)

We can complain about the character development on this season. I mean for... sake, what the quiznak did they do to HUNK? The ONLY thing he did this season was 1) used for food jokes and 2) be rude to Keith? ??? I mean he kinda stood on his side later but I’m PRETTY dang sure the way he behaved the 1st season can’t be compared to what happened on this one. I’m still shook about him, Hunk does NOT deserve this.

Other thing that can be adressed is Pidge’s "glorification” (to put it in some words). I myself LOVE Pidge, WILL ALWAYS WANT to protect my child, she’s my fave and I’ll keep her safe. However, the focus on her intelligence (which NONE of us deny nor turn a blind eye to) overshadowed the other charcters (Hunk, he’s a freaking ENGENIEER, Lance, WHO JUST STOOD THERE LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT) in more than one occasion. I know it’s important because she’s a girl, a KID, and a power character, but guys, please, everyone needs representation.

And then, Allura. My queen, my beautiful woman, a figure of pure power and respect to me, who was turned in a hateful being from 0 to 100 real quick. I’m not saying her hate is NOT vaild, I mean, the galra ARE the race who, I don’t know, killed her father, her people and destroyed her planet? I know she must feel some resent towards them. But where’s my forgiving Allura? Where’s my heart-caring Allura? Or where’s my emotive Allura, who speaks her mind? She instantly shuts down whatever’s related to galra without giving them the chance to explain themselves, Keith included? even tho she’s known him for long enough now?? She gives him the cold shoulder and doesn’t even talks to him directly. Even for Allura, that’s low. I repeat, even though this IS valid, could’ve been written 10 times more better and not just “I don’t trust the galra, I won’t ever allow myself to talk to a galra ever again” gibberish (or toomfolery, as Keith would say lol) and then WOOPS this is KEITH I forgot and I’m sorry. That could’ve been better.

Then there’s my sweet angel, my prince charming, my son, my sun, Lance. This boy had been boosted up SO MUCH in the panels, in the interviews, EVERYWHERE, to the point we were all expecting a Lance-centred season, and were rewarded with like, 4 minutes of screening (of course I’m exaggerating here, but you get the point).

Of course we can also talk about the Keith-Shiro focus that went on the WHOLE time. We started with Keith and Shiro on the planet, we ended on Keith going to Shiro who had just gone -poof-. I’m pretty sure I can say 80% of the content was Keith and/or Shiro centered. I Love (Capital L) them both, I’d die for either of them. but the lack of balance between them and the rest of the crew is alarming.

Heck, even ZARKON. He went to “chill, I’m powerful enough to live happy and reign everything that the light touches” to “ VOLTRON! VOLTRON! VOLTRON! VOLTRON! VOLTRON! VOLTRON!”. Like yo man, take it easy, you’re old, you’ll die from a heart attack at this point.

Some of us can also say where’s klance??? where¿¿¿ whERE?! YOU ALL PROMISED TO EXPLORE SEXUALITY WHERE !! I DO NOT SEE? Other than that pool scene which was gold and the occasional and very scarce Keith/Lance interaction.

I won’t complain about Coran because he was literally perfect and I’d give my life for him. I love him.

So? What was good about this season? Let me tell you something. We’re forgetting a very essencial part of this series.

This is a kids show.

This is a show whose target market are KIDS and younger audience. Also some of the older people who watched the original perhaps? We’re secondary audience. The show’s not construced for OUR liking, or to our vision. I am an Animation student, 6th semester, and I know this. You have to make CHOICES to what’s better for your wider audience. That’s how the story goes.

I won’t say that some of the things they did are jusified. I won’t forgive them about Hunk, or Allura. Pidge can pass because she’s my fave women need representation. But hear me out. We weren’t left on the side of the road just like that.

I mean, there WILL be a 3rd season.

Shiro and Keith’s screen time is reasonable. Last season there were waaaay too many things left unsaid about these two that led to futher explanation on this one. Keith’s purple burns and his knife, Shiro’s EVERYTHING¿ like what. And I know, “it’s the same for everyone!! we don’t know anything about the paladins (except Pidge!!)!!” well, yeah? What’s the problem if this season’s focused on two of them? Everyone needs their space, their time. This was theirs. Soon the others’ will come.

Lance, my boy. Even if this season did NOT do him justice, there’s a huge promise of a wider exploration of his feelios and emotions later. His true perception of things and himself has only seen the surface a handful of times and it’s only been piling up. This, just like Keiths and Shiro’s case in this season, can’t be left unsaid just like that.

Zarkon. The guy didn’t know an Altean was alive, let alone Voltron had been formed again. Weeps, I wouldv’e reacted the same yo. My life, my reign, the empire I’ve been building for the last 10000 years is being threatened for the first time. I’d take desperate measures too.

And about the shipping... again.. this is a kids show guys. The TV media IS a bit too careful on these waters. I myself didn’t see TLOK but I think that, the thing that made korrasami canon only happened until the last episode? The very last? And we’re only in the 2nd season?? Don’t forget we’re only fans.. don’t take it on the creators. This is no our show. We can be upset, we have a right. We might have been queerbaited (won’t be the first time, won’t be the last) But please, do not exaggerate on this. We’re adults, we’re fans, and we have to be those this show deserve. And for those who still want to believe, I’ll repeat: we’re only in the second season.

So yeah, this are my thought. Anyone who wants to discuss further whatever can always message me or whatever. I love Voltron. I’ll stand with Voltron. I got onto this heck of a ride and will till the end.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron season 2 #klance #voltron spoilers #vld spoilers #spoilers #long post #VERY LONG POST #i love to wrie #this's my first time doing something like this pls don't kill m #e #aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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iitsqii · 6 years

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6/24/18

IAL #36 My VLD S6 review + My Predictions for S7

Because I am way to obsessed for this show I rewatched S3 to S5 before the season dropped so I knew everything for this season.

My thoughts on Lotor:

My thoughts on Allura and Lance :

My thoughts on Romelle: I love this pretty altean conspiracy theorist who literally busted lotor. I love romelle I hope we see her in future seasons.

My opinions on the 7 eps:

Ep1: Omega Shield

We meet lotors nanny. (she reminds me of space yazma from the emperor's new groove lol”

Hunk learning galra politics are schooling the galrans to stop fighting (im so proud our diplomatic boy )

Ep2 : Razor Edge (more like keith and his mom bonduing ep and I’m all for that”

I love krolia, i love we get keith’s origin about his mom and dad how they met, how she got there

Texas kogane saving keith name from being yorak (lol)

BABY KEITH

They she protected keith from the blast (ahh my heart the feels)

How keith and shiro met (finally i have been waiting since s1)

How keith acted in the garrison (poor boy he fought someone )

Keith gets a pokemon who loves and it is very valid to be (also what's it’s name yorak or keith dad’s name?)

Ep 3:Monsters and Mania

The chilliest ep for the paladins

The dnd ep is my fav. I love dnd i got all their jokes about dnd

Kuro being a literal nerd yass

Lance is an adorable dork and i love him

Pidge growing to defeat coran

Allura looking like a queen being amazing with a bow and arrow

Hunk rocks every look i love how his va tyler labine made him talk man oh and punk friendship is just beautiful

Ep 4:The colony

Romelle losing her brother over quintessence

Her not believing in lotor

The ep allura threw lotor and he deserved and it was right after they kissed

Romelle being a literal badass

Ep 5: The Black Paladins

Keith and Kuro fight was so beautiful and emotional

Keith being the black paladin and has matured so well

I loved this episode too it was amazing the animation everything the soundtrack is beautiful too

Ep: 6: All Good Things

The ep that allura dragged lotor when they were fighting between the dark voltron vs good voltron

I called that lotor was gonna make a bad voltron

Allura summing the blazing sword

Coran needs to wear more muscle tees and show of his muscles more

Ep 7: Defender of all universes

The actual ship that matters the castle of lions has to be destroyed to close off the quintessence field

And the montage yeah that gave me all the feels

SPACE DAD IS BACK

Looking amazing with white hair he is now a silver fox and he gets to rest FINALLY

Allura doing her own version of avatar state to put shiro essence into the clone body

The ending and the parallels . ALL THE PARALLELS THIS SEASON

I CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON 7 WE GOING BACK TO EARTH

My favorite episode was ep 3 because I love dnd and everyone got to just chill and play game.

My thoughts on season 7

Road Trip season i heard it's going to be from the co executive said in a recent articles

I want keith to play dnd so badly I want him to hang out more with the paladins and be super goofy

Shiro actually seeing matt again

I want to see hunk’s and lance’s galaxy garrison stories

Lance arc might happen

What’s keith pokemon wolf name?

And his dad name?

Hagger is gonna be the new villian along with sendak

I have no idea what else is gonna happen next season but i’m already hyped for it

#I’m A Lerido #IAL36

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

Text

Caramel Skin Under a Vanilla Sky 15 draft... I think it's gonna stay this short

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