#whats gonna fuck up lotor the most?

[autisticlancemcclain]

my friend @beloveddawn-blog helpfully sent me a list of questions to help me get my creative juices flowing in this massive bout of writing struggles i got going on. ily mwah.

1. Do you prefer in-denial Lance or pining Lance? How about Keith?

basic cop-out answer but it changes from fic to fic. in a more comedic fic, i like to go for lance who is both pining AND in-denial, aka he knows he’s in love and is mad at it, or i like to make keith like so painfully oblivious to lances blatant PLEASE DATE MEs that it’s funny. generally tho i go for gooey whipped mutual pining.

2. Do you prefer Keith to be baffled by Lance's flirting or just baffled Lance is flirting with him?

baffled that lance is flirting with him. the I Do Not Deserve To Be Loved -complex is my favourite complex to give keith bc i have problems and he’s just so easy to blorbo

3. What's your favourite episode and why?

i’m gonna be so real with you voltron was so bad that once i finished s6 at like 15 yrs old i vowed never to watch it again 💀💀 six years later this vow holds true. however i remember liking the first episode, the mermaid episode, the space mall episode, and the episode where keith chases lotor in the black lion and lance is like dude you fucked up. dumbass. but he’s very obviously fond and he’s THERE and they’re gonna fix it together and that is the first time keith realises that lance fully and completely has his back. that is the moment he fell in love to me

4. What's your favourite character beat and why?

i don’t know what a character beat is BUT i am a lance stan as you may have guessed. interestingly, i used to watch voltron with my siblings and as with all character things we did together, we each picked a favourite and then only that one character was allowed to be your favourite. lance was picked before i could pick him but i got keith (and thus have the most merch of him). and honestly….keith is kind of my favourite i never stop thinking about him and also i write in his pov the most (granted, about lance lol).

5. What's your favourite line you've ever written.

oh that’s a hard one! not to toot my own horn or anything but i’ve had some stellar lines, at least i think. i have a lot of lines that are profound or whatever but to this day i’m proudest of the “i’m anaemic” “oh i didn’t know you had an eating disorder” line like i made myself laugh out loud 💀

6. What's your favourite fic you've ever written

eighty percent of my fics are my faves bc i write to indulge myself lol. BUT i’m rly super proud of my look so good longfic, i love the applebees universe, and the beauty and the beast au is dear to me. i’m also obsessed with this fic that only exists in my head bc i have typed nothing yet. it’s a theatre school taming of the shrew au.

7. What is your favourite type of AU? Do you prefer complete AUs (like BatB) or detail AUs (that angsty thing you wrote where Lance leaves after the game show)?

i love modern aus really. i’m a fan of the mundane. as a close second i like redoing movies/songs/books that aren’t usually au’ed. and i like complete aus WAY better, i just have trouble actually completing them 😭😭

#thank u for asking ily <3333 #if anyone else has questions feel free to ask #just general or about specific fics/universes #vld

[discordiansamba]

ngl i was gonna be all hell yes i wanna see more criminal keith but then i realised i was just gonna end up asking for more stuff that could fit runaway paladin au cnfkdnxjdkn

as an alternative: the keiths of your aus all meet. there's a timer of how quickly they resort to crime and/or fighting smth

"So we all stole Shiro's car right?"

A particularly young looking version of himself raises his hand, "-I stole his hoverbike, actually."

An older version of himself cocks his head in confusion, "-Shiro doesn't even own a car. He's like, eighteen."

"Shiro?" A version of himself who is sporting some nasty looking purple lichtenberg scars asks. "You mean like, Adam's fiancee? I've never even met him."

Another version of himself, one wearing actual armor, just looks deeply confused. "What's a car?"

"Ditto," says another version of himself with bronze-colored eyes and a dusty cloak, "-what's a car."

"I helped steal a ship to break him out of Central Command," a version of himself in druid robes replies, "-does that count?"

Keith hums. Okay. So there's outliers, definitely. But most of the other versions of himself gathered in this strange place had most definitely raised their hands.

"So basically what you're saying is," and a way more Galra version of himself wearing the armor of one of Lotor's generals says this, "-maybe like 90% of us have at some point, stolen a vehicle belonging to Shiro."

"I never stole his car, but I did try to kill him," a version of himself who would otherwise look normal if not for the scar on his cheek that he hadn't gotten in his own universe until years later said, "-that counts for something, right?"

Two different versions of himself, one more Galra looking and clad in Blade armor, and the other more human dressed in orange and blue ask in tandem, "Wait, you tried to kill him!?"

"Yeah, sorry," a version of himself that looks more like a chimera raises a hand, "-I tried to kill him too. In my defense, I was fucked up on quintessence."

"Oh, ditto on the brainwashing," replies another version of himself wearing Blade armor, but looking more human than some of the others, "-also I was possessed at the time too?"

"...are you guys like, okay?" A version of himself that resembles Lotor a little too closely for anyone's comfort asks.

A lot of the other versions of himself simply reply no.

"Cool," Keith said, "-glad to know we're all kind of deeply fucked up."

#asks #this one got a bit away from the prompt but I think it's still funny #and now to tag all of these in order. lmao #pidge keith ageswap #the stars shine a different shine #flicker #under the pale moonlight #atla au #druid!keith au #who you are in the dark #what's hidden next to you (will soon be seen) #abyss of memory #quintessence poisoning au #anomalous point #prince keith au

[numerous-bees-in-a-skin-suit]

okay so I know I said I’d have a post for Monday but stuff happened (nothing bad don’t worry) so this is late and also not what I had planned. but it’s something at least while I’m working on drawing and trying to actually finish a drawing for once in my life

anyways without further ado: more Voltron dragon prince AU shenanigans because that is still very much a thing that I want to do and am going to at least have some “official” art done for at some point in the year.

I only have an idea for Shiro’s design right now, but I have so much more to talk about in this post.

Shiro doesn’t really have a direct parallel to anyone in the dragon prince, but he’s still important (obviously) and he still goes missing. I can’t really say too much about him because of story and plot reasons but there is gonna be Cool Stuff happening. I decided to make him a moon shadow elf because it makes the most sense, and also I just thought he would look cool as one. He’s still engaged to Adam, and he still goes missing with Sam and Matt Holt.

That’s all I can say about Shiro for now, but I still have other characters to talk about.

Adam is going to be playing an active role in this because I want him to and also he won’t fucking die because I think he should live. As a treat.

In this AU, Adam is human. A huge part of his whole deal is that he will be looking for a Shiro and Keith alone because they’re the two most important people in his life and he wants to find them.

Also, Adam and Shiro’s relationship is secret, only Keith knows that they’re together and that’s a huge motivation as to why Adam goes searching for them alone since he’s kinda trapped since he can’t exactly go out and get help finding Shiro and Keith. Anyways, that’s enough about those two, let’s get on to everyone else I’m talking about today

I’m just going to make a quick bullet point list of characters I don’t have much to say on in this post but I still wanna say what their deal is in the AU:

Coran is going to be Opeli (the like, advisor in TDP). He’s the royal adviser, but he also helped raised Lance and Allura. I don’t really have much to say about him other than he will still very much be himself and I love him

Matt is a scholar or something of that type along with his father, and they meet Shiro while doing research and end up befriending him (thank you Aeon for this suggestion your brain is great)

Romelle is going to be the equivalent of Ellis (the kid with the wolf). Also trans Romelle because I am a trans Romelle truther

Veronica is going to be this AUs Amaya but not going to be exactly like her (also, please let me know if you guys think that I should make Veronica deaf like Amaya since I would like having a deaf character in this but idk if it should be her or another side character that would most likely be an OC)

Krolia is going to be missing/MIA

The BoM are going to be the moonshadow elf assassins, but without the whole knowledge or death deal since. I just don’t want them to have that and it’s my AU I get to do what I want

Honerva is dead lol

Zarkon will be Viren

Ezor, Zethrid, Narti and Axca are still Lotor’s Lesbians and I have Several Ideas for them

I still have a lot that I wanna do, like learn how to draw dragons because Whoops I made an AU that has dragons and a lot of them but I don’t know how to draw them, and I have a lot to talk about when it comes to certain decisions I made for this, like Zarkon and Honerva and some things I have in mind for them. This is probably going to be a project that will take a long time to even officially get started because I don’t know how to write but I so desperately want to tell the story I have in mind and have it be enjoyable.

I’ll make another post soon with more in-depth descriptions and ideas for Zarkon, along with something I like to call the “kill-die scale” and also some ideas I am still struggling with

Also as always, thank you to @deuxaeonn for the help, your brain is so good and ik this hasn’t been worked on for a while but still lmao

#Voltron dragon prince AU #sorry this took so long to actually do something else for I have gotten off track with things #voltron #voltron: legendary defender #the dragon prince #VLD TDP AU #AU #au in progress #takashi shirogane #adam vld #did you know that Adam doesn’t have a last name in the show it’s just W #at least I think #I am still doing art for the SK8/VLD AU but it is Taking A While since the brain chemicals are unbalanced #also please give me your thoughts on what I’ve proposed and anything you’d like to see

[scattered-winter]

Say, what are some characters you feel like had a metric ton of potential that was completely scrapped by the writers?

i feel like it would be cheating if i said all of them so. ill try and be more specific lmao <3 i was gonna show restraint and only do a few but FUCK IT you're getting the entire essay

coran. i know he's meant to be the Comic Relief character but idk. its possible to have a comic relief character who also has gravity and emotion, ykw ??? like idk i feel like all the show/fandom ever talks about is how allura lost everything (which is TRUE. SHE DID. IM NOT TRYING TO MINIMIZE THAT AT ALL.) but idk. allura was young enough that she probably didn't really have an established life on altea yet but coran??? he was an adult. fully grown, probably had friends or coworkers, even a partner and family. idk idk he lost as much as if not more than allura did and the writers barely ever acknowledged it. he isn't allowed to connect with any of the characters or have any actual genuine moments because he's supposed to be The Funny One. idk if the writing actually aknowledged his grief and trauma more, but still made him so lighthearted and goofy, that would be FASCINATING. HE STILL HAS HOPE. HE CAN STILL LAUGH. ET CETERA. but noooo he's just Silly with nothing deeper to it. sigh

in that same vein, hunk. again, he's often comic relief (and that comic relief is usually a fat joke

lotor. ik a lot of ppl have mixed opinions on the guy (fair) but like. he had SO much potential to be so many different things but i think the writers just. had too many things they wanted him to be. so his writing was all over the place because they couldn't make up their minds

haggar......again. i had SUCH a hard time pinning down any of her motives or characterization when she was the Main Villain (which to be fair might have been due to the fact that i was Mentally Checked The Fuck Out by the time s7/s8 rolled around) but like ??? i still have no idea what she was trying to do as the main villain in s7/8. she was such a menacing villain in the first few seasons but then the writing got soo confusing and needlessly complicated and i completely lost interest in anything about her character

shiro. the fact that he went through So Much but still gave the blade of marmora enough hope to risk everything to rescue him and kickstart the events of s1 ??? the fact that he Continued to go through So Much but was still a rock for the team and was still goofy and fun and dorky and lovable ?????? and ALL THAT to not even be in the show for the next 5 or so seasons and then be permanently sidelined when he DOES come back. what the fuck. like they tried to have an atlas metaphor later on to try and bring him back into the narrative but it was MEANINGLESS. sooo much wasted potential. a narrative about healing....finding love + family + connection......ending the war that has caused so much pain for Him Personally......man. we could have had it ALL

keith. i legiterally don't even recognize keith after s3 like !!! who is this man !!!!! he had abandonment + anger issues from being alone his Whole Life and instead of finding a close-knit family in space, he was isolated again and again and again, and shoved into a role he didn't want and wasn't meant for, and by the end bro was UNRECOGNIZABLE. in theory i LOVE the concept of keith learning to rely on his team more and take more of a leadership role as he grows as a person + teammate, but they had the PERFECT opportunity to do that already with keith being red paladin!!!!!!!! the red paladin is voltron's right hand!!!!!!! if the black isn't there, then red steps up to take charge!!!!!! idk. it would have been so so so so cool if shiro was only missing Temporarily and keith had to work through his own grief/fear/etc and take up the mantle of red paladin to keep the team together just long enough until shiro got back because he would NOT want that shit long-term. idk. i know keith literally got most of the storylines and arcs in the show but i still think he had wasted potential because most of those arcs fundamentally misunderstood him as a character and turned him into something he wasn't. idk

allura. she lost her ENTIRE FAMILY her ENTIRE CULTURE her ENTIRE SPECIES and it doesn't stop there lol !!!! over the course of the show she lost LITERALLY EVERYTHING. the castle of lions (the last remnant of her home), her tiara thingie (last thing she had left of her family), AND her life. what the fuuuck what the fuck. EVEN WITH the other alteans w romelle's group, allura still got discarded. like idk. she grieved her whole people and tried so hard to lead this resistance and then after she's grown so much and become a powerful leader and warrior she becomes queen of new altea. that would have been SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

matt. he was alone in space for YEARS. like its unclear how long it was between shiro saving him from the arena and pidge finally finding him, but it was at LEAST a year, probably longer. he was a prisoner for most of that time, separated from the only two people he knew, and likely thinking they're both dead. no way to be rescued. no way to escape. and THEN when he IS rescued by the rebels, he's alone still because he's the only human!!! none of them can speak his language!!! he can't go home!!!! and ofc he fights the galra as part of the resistance and is this badass rebel leader but the show doesn't shed ANY light on how he got there. how he turned from nerdy little scientist to badass rebel leader in a space war. and just. idk. there was barely ANY matt screentime and there was so much wasted potential there

and i could keep going. i could have an essay for every single character. but alas i am sooo fucking sleepy so i must cap it here </3

#sigh. they really did every single character so so so so so so so dirty #i literally cant decide who got it worse because they all had it SO BAD. #anyway uh. there may or may not be some slight spoilers for quintenary stars in here. because that rewrite is fixing everything i hate #and much of what i hate is in this post godbless <3 #anyway TY TY i do love rambling about things i hate. i <3 being a hater #voltron #quintenary stars series #xpegasusuniverse

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

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

Season 1, Episode 39: The Captive Comet Season 1, Episode 40: The Little Prince

Episode 39: The Captive Comet OH BOY IS THIS THE EPISODE I THINK IT IS, THIS IS GONNA BE FUN

Opening with Haggar dishing out some lore, yes please universe started with a big bang and that apparently created a comet that acted like a black hole that at some point Voltron banished to a far corner of the universe inch resting

this was a fairy tale for drule children? i wonder how that story would've gone

ROMELLE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN IVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH

"take it easy zarkon, eaaaasy" Haggar smokes weed for sure

she sacrificed a star fleet to be able to control the comet, another thing that feels so similar to a plot point in vf

did they just pull Romelle out of her cell just to let her freak out about the omega comet heading to arus 😭 what a petty move lotor

smart cookie, she found a way to contact the team before getting found out

"human on arus" so is arus like a colony of earths that slowly became its own governing body? Inch resting, they will still be aliens to me though

how does Coran know about the secret plan that happened before voltron split into lions if he only found out voltron after it was split into 5?? I'm gonna make this lore make sense by the end of the episode I swear

early voltron formation, shits about to get real

oh man they already got to the comet? also why did Allura look so young in that scene?

Keith: maybe your right Lance: I know im right! get his ass lance

the secret plan is to go 4 sector power setting?? oh this is so a trap YEAH ITS A TRAP THEY'RE GETTING SUCKED INTO THE COMET AND LOTOR USED ROMELLE TO GET VOLTRON TO DO IT WHAT THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD PLAN

oh man voltron is trapped trapped for realises this time, he can't even get out of the comet's gravity

ofc they contacted the alliance for help, and they'd rather let Voltron die instead of giving any help "ill see what i can do" literally i want the alliance broken

PRINCE BANDOR COMING IN TO HELP THE TEAM LETS GOO again i need to make this lore make sense and by the end of this show i fucking will

YES I WAS RIGHT THEY'RE DEAD THE TEAM ACTUALLY DIED OH MY GOD YESS THIS IS SUCH A GOOD EPISODE

and now an entire fleet of doom (lol) is heading towards Arus IS THAT THE END OF THE EPISODE HOLY SHIT

/episode end

Episode 40: The Little Prince TWO PART EPISODE LETS GO

recaap time since this was a weekly premiering show

literally starting off with an invasion of Arus now that Voltron is gone, this is wild especially because it's not even the season finale

"Coran made the situation worse by calling Prince Bandor for help" I HATE THE GARRISON I HATE THE GARRISON I HATE THE GARRISON BARK BITE SNARL

"little fella" bandor you're only taller than pidge by a head shut up LMAO

Coran actually doing work for once and helping out, he's becoming a dependable person slowly but surely

Lotor is yelling about this next robeast being the most powerful there is,, my guy you say this every time just pick one of them to back and stick with it

"sorry we shouldve helped you when you asked earlier but now we're fucked and we genuinely can't do anything now <3" FUCK THE GARRISON I HATE THE GARRISON RAAA

GOD IS THAT YOU?? WHAT IS THIS

THEY'RE LITERALLY MEETING GOD AND SHE'S GIVING THEM A CHOICE, GO TO HEAVEN OR KEEP LIVING AND GO TO HELL WHEN THEY REALLY DIE

what heroes, they chose to end up going to hell if it meant being able to save the universe IMMEDIATELY NOTING THIS DOWN FOR FUTURE ANGST EVEN THOUGH I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT IT

VOLTRON LITERALLY HAS THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON THEIR SIDE LMAOO

back to romelle and now she's chained up, what did they do to you bestie

ITS BANDOR COMING FOR HIS SISTER HE'S SO REAL FOR THAT

there he is! voltron to save the day and destroy that robeast with blazing sword!

i'm sorry couldn't follow lotor to planet doom? what bullshit

IS GOD TALKING TO ROMELLE? OH MY GOD, SHE GOT SHOT INTO THE PIT OF SKULLS NOT PUSHED

THIS IS A THREE PARTER HELLO???

/episode end

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #let's rewind! #toast talks #what just happened in these episodes #insane

[astralscrivener]

for the fic ask game! ★✎ϟ (for this one, in my case it's gotta be every angsty moment you write, especially every time keith cries or has a breakdown in soopits lmao <3<33)

★ what was the scene you most wanted to write in [fic]? what was the hardest scene to write?

gonna use SOOPITS for this question as well! in terms of chapters that are already posted, for what i wanted to write:

keith's almost assassination. i had been sitting on that for YEARS. that chapter started as a oneshot idea shortly after s3 aired (and the fandom put together in like 5 minutes that "shiro" was a clone). the oneshot never came to fruition, and then when i started SOOPITS i realized i needed to use it. desperately. the broganes angst. the klance angst. the chaos of "oh okay so we just have a secret assassin on our ship drifting in space. cool cool cool". very among us. i tried to write an among us oneshot a few years later during late 2020 and then realized that was essentially the entire s5-6 arc

the s6 finale (6.06 & 6.07). i had the ending of s6 planned FOREVERRRR i had the scene of lance in the black lion in my mind for YEEAAARSSSSS i had the keith & lance vs kuron + shiro vs sendak fights in my head FOREVERRRR i would constantly make music videos in my head to those chapters on my walks to class for a good 2 or 3 years. i dearly miss walking across the quad with starset or the score or hidden citizens blasting in my head.

the KEITH BREAKDOWN in OPERATION KURON (6.05). another chapter i had rattling around in my mind for years. like hey it sure is fucked up that your older brother is actually a clone who tried to kill you! you know all those walls you had up? it is NOT going to be enough to hold this breakdown off. MAN. MAN

hardest scene? the goddamn TRIAL. before the current chapter which is giving me grief (gameshow rewrite), the trial chapter took me AGES. i started it in like september 2019. by the time i updated it, it was ten months later. july 2020. covid had started. everyone's lives were in shambles. i rewrote it dozens of times. i watched judge judy as "research." i had extensive talks with nicole. i hated writing that chapter so bad but i feel like the ending was rewarding enough

✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?

so i actually do have a reliable answer for this. keith and lance almost always have a very "us against the world" kind of mindset in my fics, and i guess someone reading one of my fics one time didn't look at the author that closely and realized it was me when they did their whole "you and me" "us against the world" shtick so. devoted klance ig! disgustingly in love dumbasses!

ϟ tell me what moment/scene in [fic] made you sicko in the window.jpg to read and i’ll tell you which scene made me feel that way to write

my GODDDDDDD first of all thank you. i also go bonkers over writing keith being emotional. he's very repressed in public / in front of the team and in private he is a mess and emotional. boy has walls up

scenes that made me sicko in the window to WRITE are indeed all the scenes where keith is emotional, especially those scenes in s4 (particularly 4.05) where he tells off kuron. stand UP for yourself bestie !!!

also, all of the scenes in 6.06/6.07 with keith, matt, and lotor, and then in 7.01/.02/.03 with keith, matt, and pidge. i LOVE writing keith and matt as friends/relating to each other, but also i love writing keith and pidge as besties who relate to each other. i am having a GREAT time making matt avoid his own trauma.

oh and also? the entire operation kuron chapter. actually just all of 6.05-6.07. absolutely fucking bonkers. cackling at my monitor the whole time

thank u for the asks these are fun !!

fic ask game!

#soopits beloopits.... #eileen answers #ask meme

[aquaburst3]

The characters are the strongest aspect of the game thanks to the lackluster worldbuilding and plot. Two exceptions to that rule are Ortho and Grim. Not sure if that's a popular opinion, but that's how I feel.

Disclaimer: If you like either of these characters, great! All the more power to ya! And I don't care. You are entitled to your opinion. However, this is mine, and me explaining why I think they could've been handled better.

Ortho isn't a particularly compelling or well crafted character. He has no personality other than being cute, innocent, childlike and caring about his brother. There are moments where he gets angry or protective of Idia, but they are few and far inbetween, especially in the main story. It honestly seems like his only functions in the story are...

To be a plot device for Idia's character and give him a tragic past.

To add a cute child character that seems compulsory for most Japanese games with a large cast.

To have someone other than Idia be in Ignihyde.

That's really it. You could replace him with a pet rock, and it would make almost no difference on the main story.

It's ashamed too. The whole idea of the soul of a child being shoved into the body of a robot and having the mind of someone much older, but never being taken seriously is super tragic in his own right. That's literally Claudia from Interview with the Vampire! He could've been like a jaded Alphonse, wanting to do anything to get his body back. Oh, no. Instead the story dashes all of that to make him some kawaii uou child character that has no impact on anything. What a waste.

As for Grim, he's genuinely one of the most baffling and poorly constructed characters I've seen since Prince Lotor in Voltron. If you know how big of a beef I have with that show, then you know that says A LOT.

He has hardly any clue about his past, but has no inkling to really search for it. That's bad writing. Major characters should always have goals in mind. In the case of characters with amnesia it's to remember the past and their arc centres around that. In Anastasia, she was bonked on the head as she was fleeing Russia. The whole movie is about her reconnecting with her past and reuniting with her grandmother in Paris. With Grim, he wants to avoid it, because...I have no idea. That makes no sense. Wouldn't he WANT to seek out the answers to figure out more about himself? Plus, by having him stay static and never wanting to learn anything about himself, it makes him completely directionless and useless. All major characters should have goals, and that should be his.

Almost every single aspect of his character contradicts itself. He has absolutely no idea how to act around people. But that begs the question. If he knows how to talk and write, then why in the fuck is so clueless about that? Even if he has amnesia, he should have basic memories about how to behave if he was raised around people? That should be more instinct. If he was raised around people, then why is he so clueless about the world that he lives in? Shouldn't he know shit since it's common knowledge? None of this makes any fucking sense!

The thing that annoys me the most about how he's handled in the canon is that we're on Book 7 at the time of me typing this and we still have no fucking clue what the deal is with his past. There are no hints to what it could be. The only kind clue is that flash forward of the characters fighting Monster Grim at the start, but even that is nothing much to go on. He could be the King of the Ewoks, and it would make about as much sense as anything the game could throw at us at this point!

Again, that's bad writing. Something like this should be set up and hinted at well in advance. Otherwise it's gonna seem completely random. At the rate it's going in the game, it seems like it's gonna be random and stupid.

Grim done right is King from The Owl House. In that show, he can be mischievous, childish and kinda bratty, but in those cases it makes sense due to him acting like a little kid and other story reasons. He also had a general grasp of how to behave in public thanks to being raised by Eda. He's capable and has helped out Luz and the others on plenty of occasions, instead of being a hinderance all the damn time. He has hobbies and interests outside of the main characters. His past is a mystery, too, but he seeks out the answers. It's set up well in advance and unfolds at a good pace. The game could've did something like that, but it never did. The fact that The Owl House is a Disney property too and Yana never took any fucking hints from it is baffling.

If you ever wondered why these two are so different in my own writing, there's your answer. I changed their personalities and made them OOC on purpose to improve upon the source material by giving them actual personalities. While I normally try to make characters stay as close as to the source material as possible, these two are so badly written that I had to make an exception. That should say A LOT.

#twst negative #twst critical #aqua rambles

[triple--a--threat]

so about voltron

idk where this post is gonna go, but i have thoughts and feelings about this show and needed to get them out. so. rambley post it is.

i dont think it's new information for anyone that voltron and its fandom suck major ass, unless you've been living under a rock, and in that case, get back under that rock sweetie. this show sucks a fuckton and this rambling will be nothing more than critique and bashing. anyways

at the end of season 2 shiro was going to die in the original "plan" as far as we know. we were gonna get a heroic sacrifice and the team would go back to its 1984 setup with allura piloting the blue lion. except of course the machinations of the universe are beyond us so shiro did not in fact. die. he was the most popular character and his merch sold the most, so he couldn't possibly die this early on. who else would've made dreamworks their pure gold bars?

so as daddy dreamworks demanded, the writers delivered and un-unalived shiro, completely disregarding their original flimsy shambling excuse of a plan in exchange for among the worst plotlines i have ever seen anywhere. possibly the worst that exist in all of television ever. we got 4 seasons (well really 2) of completely directionless, contrieved, contradictory, and mind-numbing bullshit. stuff happens because someone wanted it to. 2 eps later something very contradictory happens because someone else wanted it to. i cannot stress this enough it feels like the writters were split into factions each of whom had very different ideas about literally everything in this fucking show. some of the dialogue actually feels like someone just wrote down the arguments and fighting going down in the writer's room. shit was made up along the way as the show went on for far longer than it had the right to, and for each and every fucking plotline the writers were divided and kept on shooting themselves (and the others too don't forget) in the foot for the sliver of chance that their story will be canon. just completely backstabbing each other for the sake of it and no regard for what is actually happening. it would be hilarious if it hadn't destroyed my sanity. and for a bit of a personal opinion, a liitle ymmv, none of the writers had any good ideas actually. even ignoring the nonsense opposite fuckery happening, none of the plotlines were good lmao. please end this and me oh god.

as a result we got a completely wish-washy, flip-flopping, self-contradictory, reductive mess of a show which never had any good original ideas or story much less a fucking plot or even a plan in some direction. the writers had no goal except to get their plot on the paper disjoint from everything else with jackshit regard to the overarching storyline. well if there was anything resembling an overarching storyline in the first place.

ig i'll talking specifically about the some of the worst offenders in the "the writers never thought of anything" situation - the allura racism arc, the clone shiro arc, and fucking lotor. oh my fucking god motherfucking lotor. holy shit they fucked him up.

i dunno where to begin with the allura racism arc except for the fact that it was DUMB. completely out of the blue and so fucking forced. for a princess of a diplomatic people she sure is fuckin racist for no fucking reason. even if she doesn't trust any and all galra (ig they didn't have unity in diversity activities in altea), she has no reason to not trust keith. like. my guy what. he proved himself as a paladin of voltron and has directly and indirectly saved her ass. why is she racist oh my god. and why doesn't coran hold any animosity towards the galra? he also lost his homeworld (and alfor)? and he lived on altea for far longer? ig women are emotional or smth. man. i also liked (absolutely despised) the the fact that it kinda took a #notallgalra turn and i was jesting about it and then they actually said that in the fucking show. hey allura not all galra are bad. hey allura stop being a bitch. and then the writers forgot about it btw and made allura racist again 2 seasons later. hmm. wut. also they never checked their own internalised racism or whatever as *points to zethrid's design*. lmao. WAIT also the conflation of racism with speciesism. yknow. using anti speciesism messages as anti racism messages. classic white person living in california moment.

alright the clone shiro arc. because its the keith and shiro show and we can't loose half of our money milking cow. and we shan't make them explicitly gay. only allude to it and sprinkle in family brother stuff so nobody actually thinks they're gay. that would be blasphemous. we shall continue with our pseudo-incest for the rest of the show and give shiro a last minute husband so they don't haul our ass for gaybaiting and burying our gays because we somehow managed to do both of them. anyways where was i. oh right shiro died but they had to bring him back blah blah but they made a clone of him for? reasons? while the real shiro is in the subconscious of the black lion or smth for unexplained reasons. i have absolutely no idea why they did that. they have a carbon copy of shiro in terms of everything - personality, fighting capabilities, homoerotic scenes with keith - for jackshit reasons while they could have the actual real shiro running around but i guess not. the clone is the exact same as the real guy until he isn't. because. we need more drama in this over extended bullshit show i guess??? clearly we don't have enough stuff going on we must make it more exhausting and confusing to watch. also clone shiro is as good and noble as normal shiro until he got a headache and now he's evil at the flick of a switch and retains none of his previous personality and is therefore irredeemably evil and nothing can be done to save him. he's bad and evil and must be forgotten. they never mention him again later on except for a throwaway comment on how evil he was except he wasn't evil guys you're not gonna fool anyone. oh and btw the real shiro's soul or whatever got supplanted in the clone's body because idk man where his original body went and he retained all the memories of his clone self because isn't that convenient. fuck everything. also this arc culminates in the best episode of this show despite everything wrong with the events leading up to it and the way they handle lotor in this episode. more on him later. it's literally among my favourites now 10/10 would watch again it was so fucking good. kill me. i.

again, i don't know where to begin with lotor - such an interesting character who got the short end of the stick. the worst victim of the writers' squabbles. i genuinely liked him a lot and then. such a shame. well there are other characters- oh no. there aren't any other even remotely interesting characters. not good, no no, no one is good in this show, but just fun to watch.

he starts off as an antagonist to team voltron but he's not actually a threat. he maybe wants to use them to further his goals but really he isn't the villain per se. which sucks because there aren't any villains in the show now cause the previous main villain is out of commission for who knows how long. and then whoops lotor has to kill one of his generals and then the other generals betray him and now i guess he's with voltron now. sure why not. interesting turn of events. at least it isn't boring. i'm having fun can't you see. then he kills the previous villain (who is his father did i mention that) in episode two of season five. yes s05e02. i dont know any more than you do. and now it sucks even more cause theres literally no fucking villain rn. then he and allura start working on quintessence or whatever because she learns that he is half altean and btw do you remember she is racist. now since he is not 100% galra (bad people) but half galra half altean (good people. her people) she smooches him and stuff and. also btw all this fuckery is happening alongside the climax of clone shiro arc. yeah this show may suck. whatever evil shiro who wasnt evil is defeated and lotors really helped team voltron and the galra empire is going to stop conquering worlds and the show is going to end on a mid note. well.

EXCEPT SIKE BITCH LOTOR IS PURE CRAZY EVIL FUCK YOU FOR EVER ROOTING FOR HIM. FUCK HIS WHOLE CHARACTER BEING ALL "IM NOT MY FATHER" AND THEN AT THE END 180ING MAKING HIM JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. FUCK EVERYTHING FUCK THIS SHOW YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SOMEWHAT GOOD. WELL FUCK YOU IT AINT EVEN SOMEWHAT GOOD.

i. im just so disappointed in his character and the plot twist for the sake of twist that i cant even express how disappointed i am except for shouting through the use of all caps. one final fuck this show

#voltron #voltron critical #idk the tags man #sorry for the paraghraph breaks #well lack thereof #and copious amounts of 'btw' 'and' 'also' #i don't know any other conjunctions apparently #or how to transition between ideas. idk don't be mean to me about it.

[starfaring-princelotor]

Historic Significance

Summary: Prince Lotor glimpses at what his heart desires, yet he can not help but wonder if it is true or a skewed figment of his imagination. 

Pairings: Lotor x F!Reader

★ Disclaimer: I do not ship Lotura and I kindly ask that this story to not be tagged as Lotura. This is a Lotor x Reader/Self-Insert OC story which is in no way related to Allura at all. Please be respectful of my chosen pairing. Thank you. ★

Warnings: Blood. 

Future Sight___Historic Significance___No Time Like the Present___Thinking Ahead ___Best Friends

 Lotor clinked the mugs then cheered with his fellow teammates, the drink inside sloshing with the rough movement. Simultaneously, they chugged together and reveled in the warm butterbeer heating up their bodies. They needed this, all of them, in order to play Quidditch at their top form in the middle of winter. Those winds were as merciless as Slytherin’s Head of House, Dayak.

“Zethrid, try to send a Bludger towards that Lance fellow. A little birdie told me he has not quite recovered from his cold yet, so expect him to be weak in the air. Ezor and Acxa, keep to the quaffles, though watch yourself with their team captain, Shiro. He has gotten stronger since last game and I would hate to see any of you fall off your broom from a - “

The Prince’s attention snapped to the flapping drapes as your face peeked in through the slit, eyes searching for who he could only assume was him. Once you spotted his tall self, you grinned and waved eagerly while granting yourself permission to enter. Technically, no one but Slytherin were allowed in. Though, judging by the looks of his teammates, they certainly won’t be ratting you out to anyone.

Friendly visits should be allowed, anyways.

“In any case, do not break formation if a Bludger chases me. I can handle it. Now, pardon me,” he excused himself from the group then approached you with a raised brow, “Hm. Last I checked, you were not on Slytherin’s team roster this season, little Ravenclaw.”

“Pfft, what? I can’t come and wish you guys luck?” you peered over his shoulder, shouting an encouragement to his team, “By the way, good luck out there you guys! I’ve got 5 galleons on you!”

A round of chuckles came from Zethrid and Ezor, two of your pals who knew that if you did win that bet, then you would at least treat them out for a job well done.

“A peculiar way to boost morale among my team,” Lotor grinned, leaning his chin on the edge of his broom, “Thank you, dear. It does them good.”

“Ah, I’m not done. This,” you shuffled closer to him to use his body as a barrier from prying eyes then pulled out a sizable rock from your pocket, the smooth oval stone fitting perfectly in your palm, “is for you.”

The plain stone, it was emitting a very faint orange color.

“It’s a thermal stone. Something to keep you warm so you don’t freeze your ears off up there,” a tone of pride was laced in your voice, “I checked the rule books and technically, it’s not illegal. I doubt those garbs are enough to prevent frostbite anyways.”

Lotor was staring at your face while you spoke, only half paying attention to the rock in your hand. His mind was more preoccupied with the fact that you were willingly giving him this thoughtful gift for...for what reason? He was well-adapted to the cold, so was this a sort of repayment for earlier in the forest? Or were his eyes playing tricks on him and that blush on your cheeks was caused by something other than winter’s kiss?

“I want this back when the game’s over,” he accepted it and noticed that it instantly warmed his entire body, better than any butterbeer could do, “It’s my favorite stone.”

Despite Lotor’s different eye colors compared to the other students, he had very sharp vision. It helped in useful situations, like catching the Golden Snitch or noticing you in the far distance, but it only worked if he was mindful of his surroundings. As of now, the game was over, and Slytherin had won. As expected. No injuries, thank goodness, yet as he laid in bed with that stone in his hand, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what he saw in your hand.

Or rather, in your palm. There was a old, jagged scar, like it was cut with broken glass or a piece of ripped steel.

Sure, Lotor had his own scars. Several, in fact, but his were from fights and battles and training incidents. Maybe you accidentally cut yourself picking up broken shards? Or was it inflicted by a sharp talon when you tried to handle your owl? Questions, questions, yet no answers. The stone was still warm, after all this time, and his tired body curled in a crescent shape, ready for a comfortable rest to claim his aching muscles.

In his dream, he saw the moon, the stars, and a blue haze noisily fighting against the never-ending darkness.

“Ah, Prince Lotor, perfect timing. Please escort this unruly student back to the Ravenclaw wing.”

You were looking down in shame, one hand rubbing your elbow as to preoccupy yourself from paying attention to the professor outright embarrassing you in front of Lotor. The halls were empty and he, himself, was on his way back to the Slytherin chambers. That is, until he passed the library. Any students out this late was only looking for trouble.

Lo and behold, he found you.

“Yes, professor. I will make sure she arrives safely.”

Part of you wanted to grumble, but 50 points was already taken from the Ravenclaw house, and you know you will never hear the end of it once news spread to your other housemates. Lotor held his arm out, offering you to step ahead of him, as the two of you walked further and further away from the archives. It was only until the both of you were out of earshot did you finally speak up.

“I wasn’t gonna take any of the books or nothing,” you were pouting slightly at your confession, “I mean, it’s not like I can anyways. They’re enchanted.”

“You were in the forbidden section?” now, that impressed him, “What ever for? You know very well those books are not for student’s eyes.”

“I was looking for info on...mmf…” you mumbled, crossing your arms in a childish fit, “...We’re friends, right? I can trust you, right?” 

In any other circumstance with any other person, he would have mocked you thoroughly. However, right now, he found himself genuinely fascinated with the hidden reason why you would willingly keep on breaking school rules. Were Ravenclaws known to be such rebels? That is something he expected more from Keith, if he was to be honest. Slowly, Lotor pulled out that stone from his pocket, now cold and bland, then offered it back to you.

Instantly, your eyes lit up as your suspicions faded, hand gladly accepting your favorite rock back.

“...You heard of the Mirror of Erised?”

“Ah, yes. I heard it was once at this school until it was moved, no?”

“Yes, but…” you shifted your glance around, making sure no one but him was listening, “I heard they destroyed it. Or tried to. It just broke into large pieces.”

It was then that you pulled out a folded cloth, footsteps halting as the windows filtered in the night’s moonlight. Lotor turned to face you completely in curiosity while careful fingertips unraveled the handkerchief you pulled out of your pocket. It wasn’t until the glint of a mirror winked at him did he freeze stone-cold. No...that was impossible. Surely this was just a piece of glass from any mirror, right? But judging by the knowing look on your face, it was the real thing.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asked in a hushed whisper, definitely more piqued now.

“Yes. My father collects rare artifacts and he somehow got a piece of the mirror,” it reflected the passing grey clouds as the both of you hovered over it, “I wanted to see if the rumors were true.”

Deep down, Lotor should report you immediately to the headmaster for carrying an illegal magical item on the school grounds. This was beyond him, beyond marching in the Slytherin tent, beyond waltzing in the forbidden forest by yourself. You could lose your wand, you could go to Azkaban for even possessing such a thing in the first place. And, just by what you told him, it wasn’t even YOURS.

You stole an illegal magical item from your own father.

“Wanna see if it works?”

“We should absolutely not be doing this,” he hissed, ushering you into a darkened corridor and blocking the entrance with his back, “It is called the Mirror of Erised for a reason. Do you not understand what you have in your possession right now?”

“Lotor, I’m not going to die from looking into it, I’ve done it before,” you could hear the alertness in his tone and, perhaps, he was right to be cautious, “Many times, but I never...saw anything. The books said that a spell was cast over it to prevent the mirror from working properly.”

Oh, he was so interested in seeing what would reflect in that mirror. After a moment of silence, he gave you some space and narrowed his eyes, just about ready to scold you some more. But, another part of him, a darker part, was tempting him. Dark arts was something he was very fascinated about. His mother studied it, his father utilized it, and he did want to master it as well. Though, not for destruction as many would believe.

This forbidden mirror, well, it called to him.

“What else did you find out?”

Your shoulders slumped in ease, now relaxed that he wouldn’t get you in trouble, at least not yet, “It only works under a blue moon and, if I’m correct, there is one tonight.”

“Ridiculous,” he muttered under his breath as you offered the mirror to him, “You are sure this is the real mirror?”

“Yes, I doubt my dad would be easily fooled.”

You, however, he would definitely call a fool.

Lotor carefully picked up the mirror then held it up besides the window, moonlight reflecting off the sleek surface. At first, his eyes could only see himself in the small fragment. Silver hair, deep shade of lavender skin, glowing yellow sclera, and nebulous eyes stared right back at him. Nothing out of the ordinary stuck out and, just as he was about to give it back to you, his reflection...smiled.

And Lotor has never seen himself smile like that before, like he was comfortable. Happy. Free.

He would say this was an odd phenomenon to see himself in this alternate universe of sorts. It was even more strange when, out of the tiny mirror, your face appeared besides his, just as joyful and - dare he say - in love as his own. He knows that look. Seeing you wear it so care-freely around him struck a resonating chord in his heart. Lotor couldn’t lie to himself that this right here? This scene of you planting a soft, adoring kiss on his dotted cheek? It made his soul yearn in aching want.

“Well? Do you see anything?” you asked across from him and, cheeky bastard, his reflection winked knowingly at him before giving you a full, open-mouthed kiss, slick tongue and all.

Lotor could do two things right now. Tell you the truth and incite an awkward wedge between your slow-growing friendship or lie and make sure you never fall victim to the Mirror of Erised.

“I saw…” it took all his strength to drop his hand, keeping the mirror out of his eyesight, “I saw my future. I was with someone I deeply care about.”

Instantly, your expression lit up, but not because of what Lotor said. You were ecstatic that it worked. It was definitely worth the risk, the 50 points from Ravenclaw, the small, optimistic obsession hidden behind your eyes. You reached out for it, intending to take your turn with the mirror, but Lotor stepped away from you, earning him a questioning stare.

“I can’t believe it really is - Hey, it’s my turn, give it here,” you reached again, but this time he gripped your wrist from snatching the mirror shard.

“Stop,” he ordered, using that infamous leadership tone of his, “You can not look in it. It is not safe - “

“Lotor, give it back,” you tried wrenching your arm from him, but his hold was firm, “It’s not yours, anyways!”

“Listen to me. This is too dangerous, I can not let you do this. Whatever you see in it, whatever you want to see, it is not real,” he tried to reason with you, knowing that his own vision already deeply affected his psyche, “Do you not understand? This is what the mirror does. It makes you want things that can not happen.”

For a moment, you only looked at him with a blank slate. Then, a seething, hateful glare.

“I don’t care, Lotor. You don’t know - I need to see - “ finally, you yanked free from his grip, “How do you know about my future?”

There it was again. That hopeful look, but it was heavily laced in your desperate tone, and Lotor eased his shoulders down at how small, how vulnerable you sounded. How you stared at him with a mixture of uncertainty, disappointment and, yes, a smidge of betrayal.

“How could you possibly know?”

He didn’t have an answer for you because, well, how could he possibly explain that the future was not set in stone, yet vehemently deny that there was a chance of you two being...happy together? It was hypocritical of him to assume such things, but deep down, he understood that was exactly how the Mirror of Erised works. It would be irresponsible of him to let you fall to its power.

Lotor hadn’t realized it until he opened his palm, but he was gripping the mirror so hard, it had cut into his skin.

“I do not know what the future holds, what your future holds,” he gently cupped your hand, inwardly kicking himself when he saw you flinch, yet you ultimately let him place the blood-tinged mirror in your palm, “But I know that this mirror will prevent you from truly seeing what lies ahead of you.”

You hated how right he was and now, that dash of hope lingering in your heart was snuffed out like a candle in the wind. There was a reason why you wanted to see the future. As with anyone, you wanted to know if things would be okay. If things would turn out for the better as long as you kept true to the path laid out for you. As long as you let fate control your actions, your words, your very life. Lotor noticed the fire in your spirit wane and he covered your hand with his larger one, both to show support and to shield the reflection from your eyes.

“You must return this to your father. Get it off the castle grounds before someone else finds it,” his eyes implored you to listen because, well, he was already breaking the rules and he hoped you knew this was for not just the school’s safety, but for yours, too, “Do you understand?”

Your eyes were still locked onto his hand, covering what you so desperately wanted to peer in.

“Look at me.”

And once you did, Lotor could see the rim of your eyes shimmer with unshed tears. No, you wouldn’t let them drop. You couldn’t. You weren’t just sad. You were angry. Frustrated. At life, at him, at how every time he was just coincidentally looking out for you. But most importantly? You felt alone. Even with your friend supporting you, right in FRONT of you, you felt terribly isolated again.

“...Okay. Okay, I’ll send it back tomorrow.”

It was no surprise that you had avoided him the next few days. Given the circumstances, perhaps that was the best choice of action for the both of you. Lotor's mind was still taunting him with that image he saw in the mirror. It was stronger at night, when he was asleep, and it even plagued his dreams. The worst part of it all? He liked it. He really liked it, when he knew he shouldn't.

Deep down, he knew being hopeful never worked well for him.

"-tor? Lotor? Hello, Earth to Lotor?"

He blinked when a pink hand waved an inch from his face, fully gaining his attention from his daydreaming state, "Yes, Ezor? What is it?"

"Class is over. The gals and I were wondering if you wanted to head to the sweet shop..." Ezor tilted her head, truly studying his far-away look, "Hey, you okay? You don't got a cold, do you?"

Lotor brought a hand up to his cheek, noticing right away they were unusually warm. No, not unusually. He knows why. He was having less than pure thoughts only moments before Ezor interrupted him. The Prince was fantasizing kissing you, marking your neck with his eager fangs, hands groping the heated flesh of your thighs, higher and higher, until his fingers reached the valley of your wet -

Perhaps a walk would do him well.

"It is nothing," he stood up from his seat, gathering his bag and hooking it over his shoulder, "Unfortunately, I must meet with Professor Alfor regarding an assignment. Though, if they have chocolate frogs in stock, do grab me a few. I would appreciate it."

With a playful two finger salute, she was gone in a blink, bouncing down towards the exit of the class where Zethrid was waiting for her. Lotor walked up to the wooden door on the adjacent side of the room then knocked three times. A soft "Come in" and he was turning the knob, allowing himself entrance into Professor Alfor's office. All around him were books, both ancient and new, and a few strange artifacts decorating around the room.

"Ah, Prince Lotor. Come, come, I just finished brewing coffee," Alfor, white hair tied back in a ponytail, motioned for Lotor to take a seat, "What can I do for you, my lad?"

The Prince nodded in thanks then picked up the teacup, blowing the steam wafting in the air, but not quite taking a drink yet, "I have a question regarding the final project for the class. I understand we are free to pick our chosen topic, but I wanted to check in with you first before dedicating myself to work."

"Of course. The Dark Arts are not for the light of heart and I am always willing to guide students if they need help. Tell me, what have you chosen?"

"I wish to know more about the Mirror of Erised."

"Ah, excellent choice, my Prince. Yes, yes, an innocent object enchanted by the most forbidden of spells," instantly, Alfor hummed in thought, "And I can see why this would be difficult to do research upon since any books pertaining to it are restricted from students."

Professor Alfor stood from his seat, marching to his bookshelf and scanning for one specific title, "Although, the historical aspects of the mirror are not restricted. I know I have one book here that covers almost all of its safer characteristics."

"Professor," Lotor spoke up, "I was actually wondering how it works and if those who gazed upon the mirror have ever been cured of it."

"Cured?" Alfor glanced back at the purple student before sitting across from him, placing the book on the desk, "Well, interesting question. To find a cure, one must understand how a disease works in the first place, no?"

Lotor gave the Professor his full attention now, coffee still left undisturbed.

"The Mirror of Erised works differently than most of the forbidden items known in magical history because it infects individuals in the mind. It does not cast a curse on the looker, rather, it simply amplifies the person's obsession. Many believe it shows the future, but in reality, it doesn’t do any of that. No one can tell the future, not even mystical objects. The mirror taints the mind by latching onto one person's deepest desires and forces them to fixate on false hope. That, my lad, is man's greatest downfall. Hope."

Alfor took a sip of his drink, eyes not once breaking from Lotor's gaze.

"Hope of what could be. Believe it or not, this ancient item has actually caused wars and won wars in the past. In some cases, just seeing oneself in the mirror bolsters their confidence. Keeps them eager to fulfill their destiny. On the other hand, it also clouds each person's morals and judgement compass. It poisons the mind and confuses those who look upon it. Makes them wonder who they truly are. They lose a part of themselves, the potential of who they could be."

Lotor was already connecting the pieces together.

"This is why there is no cure. At least, no overall cure. Many have tried potions, memory erasing spells, even resorting to magical creatures for a way to relieve one of their obsession. Although, I have heard of a few people who were able to break free from the mirror's hold. They denied their desires, their path laid out before them, even if the results were catastrophic in the end. However, from what I gathered, that required a great amount of will, something not everyone has within themselves."

The Prince finally sipped on his warm coffee, tongue tasting the bitterness of the drink.

"A will to change."

You sat besides him without saying a word. The mess hall was sparse with lingering students here and there, all either studying or enjoying a meal together. Lotor himself was currently eating a chicken pot pie, warm and fresh from the kitchen, but when you appeared, he halted and instead silently studied you. A few hair strands were out of place, it looked like you rushed through a shower, and the house scarf was messily skewed around your neck.

Tired. You looked so tired.

"It's gone," you spoke lowly, voice sounding more grave than he cares to admit, "I sent it back home. I don't have it anymore and I...I didn't look in it."

Lotor released a breath of relief he wasn't aware he was holding. He wasn't above bending the rules to his will, but that was only when his well-being was on the line. With others came more risk, something he didn't like at all. The Prince took notice of you staring at his food and, grabbing another fork, he offered you part of his meal. You were hesitant at first, unsure if you deserved to eat after what happened, but with an encouraging nod from the Prince, you dug in with him.

"My dear," he couldn't keep his studious eyes off you, "May I ask you a question?"

Something that has been bugging him for quite a while now. Something about your obsession with the mirror.

"What did you think you would have seen if you looked in the mirror?"

Your eyes glazed with sadness again, the same intense sadness from before, "...My family. My happy family."

Lotor was hidden behind his usual facade of stoicism. While he saw his own obsession with you in the mirror, he could only imagine how much more potent it would have been for you to see your loving family, despite whatever situation was clouding over your head at home. His own family wasn't the best and, well, he found himself unsure of what to even say to you.

Even if right now would be the perfect moment to make you rely on him for his own sick desires.

"Thanks for...for helping me," you murmured lowly, "I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry, Lotor. I said I wouldn’t drag you into trouble and I went - I know you’re my friend and you were looking out for me and - and I guess I was just..."

Stupid?

"No," he slid an arm around you, pulling you in for a small hug and lending you his shoulder, "You will be okay, darling."

You have him, that dark voice whispered in his mind.

You fully turned in his hold and embraced him in a complete hug, hiding your face in his chest. Twice now, twice he has been there for you, and you were ever so damn grateful to have a friend like him, someone to tether you when your wants got out of hand. Someone to not...shun you for mistakes. Someone who didn't abandon you when they learned more about you.

"Ahem..." he cleared his throat, his capacity for PDA already filling up quite quickly, and you pulled away a bit sheepishly, "Come. Eat. I am sure you will feel better, hm?"

The parchment in your hand felt heavy for something so thin. Your eyes re-read the little words scribbled elegantly across it as you stood by the bank of the water. It was chilly and, thankfully, your thermal stone was keeping you nice and toasy. Even so, you made sure to tuck your scarf securely around your neck, long cloak covering the rest of you.

Meet me by the Black Lake tonight.

★L★

Lotor had slipped this in your book before potions class had ended and, although you sent him a questioning glance, he gave you no response and simply left. Odd, but the silent secrecy is what truly made you step out into the night. It was interesting, thrilling, even. What did he have up his sleeve? Were you two going into the forest? Perhaps he took your invitation after all.

“Ah, I see you were finally able to drag yourself out of bed today.”

You turned to see the one and only Prince, the crunch of snow under his foot getting louder as he neared the pier. He, too, was layered with clothes, from his signature scarf down to his mittens, but what truly stuck out was what he was holding in his hand. It was was his broom, the one he uses in his Quidditch matches. Sleek, black, a lethal weapon all together.

“Very funny,” you crossed your arms, knowing he was lightly poking fun at you for letting your sadness lock you in bed for the last few days, “I just...needed time. To recover.”

Were his eyes...glowing? It was really an intimidating look in the shadow of the night.

Lotor clapped a hand on your shoulder and gave you a soft squeeze, “I know. And I think tonight will help you even more.”

“Let me guess. You forced me out here to watch you do tricks on your broom.”

“Actually,” he smirked then mounted his broom, “I wish to take you on a ride.”

Fresh, cold air was one thing, but flying through it was even more rejuvenating for the soul. At least, for his soul. You sent him a baffled gape, unsure if you heard him right the first time. Yes, Lotor legitimately asked you to sneak out so you could go for a joyride on his broomstick? Surely there were other things the two of you could’ve done to get you out of this heavy slump.

“Come now, just one. It will be good for you.”

“I, uh, have a fear of heights.”

“Then I shall stay low to the ground for you,” he countered, patting his open chest in offering, “You have my word, dear.”

You sighed at his logical persistence before stepping closer to fix yourself on the thin broom. Of course, you had to lean back against him to fully situate yourself and, well, Lotor did a good job letting you find your balance. Once your rump was flushed against his pelvis, he leaned forward a bit to tower over you, but also to cage you in his arms. Safety first, after all. He couldn’t have you tumbling down the moment he took off, now can he?

Plus...he won’t lie, it was kind of soothing to hold you against his body like this. The trust was tempering his unruly thoughts. Being this close, he could smell the minty shampoo you used on your hair mixed with a scent that was all you. Stay on track, Lotor. This is about giving you a good time. Keep those desires locked away.

“Prepare yourself,” he started a slow push forward with the broom, “Just try to relax. The more rigid you are, the easier it is to tip you.”

Besides, I have you in my arms, darling.

The lake water was barely a few inches away from the tips of your toes. It was...exciting, in a way. Lotor could see you gazing out across the dark surface, taking in the winter wonderland and white moon rippling across the reflection. He could feel your body physically begin to relax against him as the broom carried on its casual speed, calming you and, surprisingly, him as well. The Prince could...well, he could kiss you.

He banished the thought the split second it crossed his mind.

“Beautiful...” you were in awe, the crisp wind gently brushing your cheeks, “I can stay here forever.”

Warm. You were so warm, he could feel your heat seeping through his clothes.

“Learn how to fly and you can do this whenever you wish,” Lotor’s voice was so close to your ear, it sent a lovely shiver down your spine.

“I don’t know. I’m lazy, remember?” you smiled then fully leaned back, pushing your weight onto him and practically using his solid form as a comfortable wall to lean on, “Besides, it wouldn’t be the same.”

You hooded your eyes, gazing languidly into the blurred horizon while the billions of stars above twinkled in the night. If you made a wish, would it come true? If Lotor made a wish, could he believe it came true because of fate or by his own doing? He took a deep breath and ushered himself to relax, placing his chin on your shoulder while nearly cuddling you from behind. If his obsessive desires were strong enough, would they still feel honest?

#lotor x reader #mirror mirror on the wall #whats gonna fuck up lotor the most? #spacestories

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

Rewriting Haggar/Honerva’s redemption arc

One of the many things that bothered me about VLD S8 is Honerva’s redemption arc. While I was never fully against the idea of Honerva getting a redemption arc, I just didn’t want VLD to do it because I knew that they would fuck it up if they tried. And low and behold, I was right!

But yeah, I wasn’t against the idea of her being redeemed. And I don’t mean “redeemed” as in “all is forgiven and she’s just a good guy now,” but more like a Darth Vader, “the things she did were inexcusable and she would never be able to right all her wrongs but she goes out on one good act to show that there was still good in her deep down and she at least had the potential to change.”

I know a lot of people don’t like the whole, “redemption=death” thing, which I understand, but I personally never had a problem with it.

Ok, so why didn’t Honerva’s redemption work? Well there are a few reasons but the one that baffles me the most is that, instead of trying to make her more sympathetic, season 8 seemed to go out of its way to show her being more evil and vile than ever.

And because I have nothing better to do, I’m gonna go through Honerva’s story in VLD and explain what I would change to make her redemption more believable.

(Keep in mind I am not a writer, this is just me ranting about my favorite character and how I personally would’ve written her.)

1. Realizing she’s Altean

I always thought it’s was weird that when Allura said “you’re...Altean!?” In the S2 finale, Haggar didn’t seem to react at all, she just kept attacking. It’s as if she didn’t care or already knew, which doesn’t make sense considering in the S3 finale and S8E2 it’s established that Haggar has no memory of who she was before she died. And in S4E3 she seems shocked by her Altean face (which also doesn’t make sense because her blue skin isn’t camouflage that’s just how she looks after the rift) so it seems like she didn’t know.

Wouldn’t it have made more sence if after Allura said “you’re...Altean!?” Honerva looked confused/shocked? If she became defensive and said Allura was lying/trying to insult her? There’s def anti-Altean propaganda in the empire so it would be considered an insult.

After that she starts questioning Zarkon. And when she looks into his mind, it’s out of genuine curiosity and desire to know the truth, not because, “the empire needs him” or whatever that meant.

And isn’t it a bit odd that she doesn’t seem betrayed at all when she finds out Zarkon has been keeping all this from her? She’s just like, “oh, you’re my husband? Cool.” Wtf???

2. Her past relationship with Zarkon

Okay, I love Zonerva, but if we’re being honest, Zarkon was not the best husband. He enabled the shit out of Honerva, even when it was obvious that the rift was doing serious damage to her physical and mental health. To me, it seems like Zarkon was so blinded by the power the rift gave him that he didn’t realize/ignored the negative effect it was having on Honerva. In the same way he downplayed the negative impact the rift had on the planet.

I think that should’ve been explored more. Maybe Honerva notices that she’s been acting differently and is worried somethings wrong (think S5 Kuron). And Honerva tries to tell Zarkon that she feels strange and Zarkon just brushes it off.

And later, when Alfor visits Diaibazaal years later. Things are pretty much the same except when we sees Honerva, she is very obviously pregnant and Alfor’s there when Honerva falls and goes into labor (instead of a random quintessence seizure). Alfor and many Galran doctors try their best to save her and the baby but she dies in childbirth.

Zarkon goes ballistic. He’s yelling, throwing doctors across the room, and Alfor turns to the doctor holding Lotor and tells them to get the baby to safely, fearing Zarkon will take his grief out on the baby.

Zarkon turns on Alfor, blaming him for Honerva’s death and accusing him of letting her die so that he could get his way and close the rift. He lunges Alfor and roars at him to leave.

He spends the rest of the night grieving at Honerva’s bedside, when Kova jumps on the bed and starts gnawing on her finger trying to wake her up. This is what gives him the idea to bring her back with quintessence.

3. Her current relationship with Zarkon

I think it’s pretty safe to say that they’re relationship didn’t get better after the war began. Zarkon hid her identity and her child from her for 10,000 years and essentially used her as a tool of war. It’s pretty fucked up.

I know it’s pretty well established that Zarkon treats Haggar with more respect than his other underlings, but I feel like it would be interesting to see that change overtime. We see that after Voltron comes back, Zarkon becomes very obsessed with Voltron/Black, and he and Haggar start disagreeing more and more.

Remember the moment where one of Haggar’s druids told Zarkon Haggar said he needed to rest and Zarkon hit them with his bayard and told them, “remember who your master is”? What if, instead of a random druid, it was Haggar who he hit?

I feel like that would be a good way to show Haggar and the audience just how much Zarkon’s obsession with Voltron is affecting him, and make the audience feel a tiny bit bad for her.

Then later in season 4, when Zarkon wakes up from his coma and finds out Haggar brought Lotor back to take his place he gets pissed. He puts a price on Lotor’s head and has Haggar arrested for treason. She steals a ship, escapes, and later on meets up with Lotor’s generals.

Her and Zarkon are officially broken up and her quest to reclaim her identity and get her son back begins.

4. Oriande

I never liked the concept of chosen/sacred Alteans. The idea that some Alteans are just born more powerful than others just feels iffy. My idea of Oriande is that it’s an Altean holly land, any Altean can enter it just depends on whether or not you can pass the White Lion’s trial. Passing the trial proves that your intentions are pure and and the White Lion will bless you with power.

I didn’t like how Honerva seemed to force her way into Oriande, I think it would be more effective if she had gone through normally because, at this point, her intentions were pure. She was going there to purge herself of the dark magic corrupting her and reclaim her memories so she could go get her son back.

I also like the idea that Oriande is a sorta link to the Altean after life, and you can speak with people you’ve lost. Allura gets to speak with Alfor, and Honerva speaks with her mother.

You could also have her be confronted by the spirits of the Alteans she helped destroy. Have the weight of her past actions bear down on her. An important part of any redemption arc is acknowledging the terrible shit you’ve done in the past, and that was severely lacking in Honerva’s arc.

Another interesting thing you could do is have Honerva talk to her younger self. The one that died 10,000 years ago. This kinda thing actually happened in 80s Voltron, young Haggar appearing in Haggar’s head trying to convince her to be good again.

5. Her relationship with Lotor

Now this is where the redemption arc really falls apart. I forget who, but one of the writers said after S5 that Haggar/Honerva was motivated purely by love for her son, but man did they do a bad job of showing that.

And it would’ve been so easy to fix that problem, just have her not be horrible to him. Have them have actual civil conversations, have her protect and defend him. Don’t have her reject him as a fucking baby!

Imagine if, after Zarkon destroys Lotor’s planet, instead of immediately deciding to

exile him, Zarkon says that this is the final straw and he’s going to have Lotor executed. But Haggar speaks up to defend Him. There’s actually a scene in DOTU where Zarkon tries to kill Lotor and Haggar gets on her knees and begs for him to be spared. (Though the scene was mostly played for laughs.)

she asks for mercy and justifies it by saying it would be unwise to kill his only heir. It’s a weak argument, Lotor’s a half breed and couldn’t realistically take the throne, but Zarkon does concede, he still loves her after all, and has Lotor exiled.

And Haggar isn’t spying on him because she doesn’t trust him, but because she’s concerned for him. When Lotor confronts Haggar about sending her cronies after him, she says she knows he’s hiding something. Lotor asks if she’s threatening him, thinking she’s going to rat him out, but she says no, she’s not threatening him, she’s just trying to warn him against doing anything stupid because, with Zarkon seemingly on his death bed, the empire needs Lotor’s leadership.

At this point in the story, Haggar is questioning her loyalty to Zarkon, so I feel like it would make sense for her to be silently supporting Lotor from the shadows.

Then at the Kral Zera in season 5, It was weird to me how she was helping Lotor through Kuron while also telling him he couldn’t be emperor and trying to put Sendak on the throne. I feel like it would’ve made more sense for Sendak to just show up on his own without Haggar.

Haggar wouldn’t even be at the Kral Zera, she would just watch through Kuron.

And then we get to S6 when she actually reveals to Lotor that she’s his mom. This scene was just so poorly done. She never actually apologizes to him, she’s just like “yeah I forgot you were my kid and I never loved you, but were cool now right?” I remember when I saw S8E2 and it shows her after Lotor rejects her and she looks like she’s about to cry, I was just thinking, “this would be very emotional and sad IF she had actually apologized and made it clear that she genuinely loved him.” But she didn’t and I don’t know why!

And then we get to season 8, and of course everything in S8 is bad but Honerva’s story is particularly bad. She’s supposed to be motivated by love for Lotor yet she doesn’t act like she actually cares about him at all.

She manipulates his corpse and when she sees his gross melted body, she doesn’t even react that much. When a mother sees her child’s mutilated corpse, how do you think she reacts? Screaming? Crying?? Hurling??? But no. She’s just like, “...”

And then when she goes to the alternate reality and meets baby Lotor and he rejects her, her reaction isn’t disappointment or sadness, it’s anger and entitlement. She immediately decides, “ok, fuck this kid. Let’s destroy this reality.”

It just doesn’t make sense! This is the season you’re trying to REDEEM her! Why are you going out of your way to make her so vile?

6. Her S7-S8 plan

(Keep in mind I haven’t watched S7/S8 since they came out and barely even watched S8 to begin with, so I don’t remember some things and I can’t be bothered to rewatch them.)

Okay, starting with S7, she’s not in this season at all but in “The Ruins” the druid dude says that her final order was to hunt and destroy the Blade of Marmora. I guess it makes a certain amount of sense because she saw that it was Keith who brought Lotor’s actions to light, but that whole plot was really pointless in my opinion. (Was anybody really hoping for a rematch between Keith and that one random druid?)

If you want us to forgive Honerva for her crimes, you really shouldn’t keep adding more unnecessary crimes. It’s established that there were a lot of Galra war lords vying for power and pirates looking for money, just have it be that Kolivan got kidnapped by one of them.

Then you have her season 8 plan and I’m gonna be real with y’all, I have no idea how to fix this mess.

I feel like the basics of her plan could work. She tries to get Lotor and Sincline out of the rift but when she gets him he’s a melted corpse so the plan then becomes to use sincline to go to another reality to find a living Lotor, but opening all these rifts causes problems and the paladins have to stop her.

But all the shit with manipulating the colony Alteans, killing the White Lion, desecrating Oriande, and destroying Olkarion and entire realities, it was all so unnecessary.

Personally I would cut the colony Alteans from the story all together, there are other ways for Lotor to betray the team. It was a lazy way of making Lotor 100% evil and having Honerva manipulate them is unnecessarily cruel, especially in the season you’re trying to redeem her.

Here’s a very basic outline of how I would do this plot.

If we’re going by season 8’s logic that she needs a sacrifice to bring back Sincline, I would’ve had the Galra she killed at the Kral Zera be the sacrifice, not the White Lion. She stands on the pyramid and talks about how the empire stole her life from her and she wants revenge as she absorbs their quintessence into herself and then uses that to bring back Sincline.

Then when she finds Lotor dead she takes Sincline and uses it to go to another reality where she can be with her family.

The danger comes when she opens rifts to the other realities and rift creatures start coming out and causing damage. The paladins fight them and follow her into the rift to stop whatever evil plan she may have. Because the paladins don’t know that Haggar is now Honerva and all this is just to get Lotor back. They think this is all some plan for multiverse domination or some shit.

Meanwhile Honerva has just been rejected by little Lotor and seeing Voltron show up pushes her over the edge and they fight.

But when they find out the real reason she’s doing all this they start trying to appeal to her and convince her to give up and close the rift peacefully. And similarly to how the paladins had to sacrifice the castle to close the rifts created by the fight with Lotor, Honerva has to sacrifice herself to close the rifts.

In the end, I feel like a Honerva redemption arc could’ve worked if the writers were actually competent and actually made an effort to have her be sympathetic, but In canon, her reasoning, “If I can’t indulge in the simple joys of life, why should anybody else?” just doesn’t cut it.

It’s disappointing. VLD had so much potential. I’m thinking of just rewriting the entire series from the beginning. Hopefully putting all my thoughts out into the universe will help me move on.

#voltron #voltron legendary discourse #haggar #honerva #Lotor #prince lotor #Allura #princess allura #vld #vld critical #Altean #voltron season 8 #zarkon #emperor Zarkon #zonerva #Galra #redemption arc

[moonboykeith]

the vld crew in a cook off (ft. lotor & matt)

shiro

doesn't know what he's doing most of the time

if the kitchen isn't on fire after he's done he'll consider this a success

is using a concerning amount of mayonnaise.

he'll probably advise against trying his food

what?? the?? fuck?? is?? a?? zucchini??

keith

cuts vegetables with his dagger

is violating too many hygiene rules

he doesn't care if what he cooks is edible or not as long as he follows all the steps and finishes on time . basically treats it as an exam.

tried to cook instant ramen and serve it but hunk said it would be cheating.

tried to steal hunk's special seasoning (key word: tried)

when the fuck did god invent a purple cabbage?

lance

large proportions. and when i say large i mean he looks ready to feed 30 people.

using all the spices he can find.

his soup is just water with spice.

is practically dying but still manages to find time to make fun of keith.

went all the way to keith’s counter and spilled flour on his head to get his attention, almost got stabbed.

stole meat from shiro's counter when he wasn't looking

taste tested his food and had to take a break to drink milk and calm down the flame on his tongue.

refuses to use any vegetables because they're nasty.

pidge

"cooking is like chemistry. cooking is like chemistry. cooking is li- FUCK THIS SHIT I'M LEAVING."

tried to treat cooking like science ended up with a pie exploding in their face.

treats the cook off like the hunger games.

pushed keith into a wall and choke slammed lance to get to the pantry first.

does not know how to cut meat.

refuses to use tomato because "they're the nature's worst mistake."

wore a lab coat and safety goggles to the cook off, probably a good decision with the goggles but the lab coat is now horribly stained.

their work station looks like a mad scientist's lab, everyone is too scared to go in it's 10 m radius.

allura

slowly loosing her sanity

is trying her best to understand the human ways of cooking but what the fuck is an oven and how the fuck do you preheat it?

got the space mice to eavesdrop on hunk and cheated.

had to take a break to sit down and try not to cry.

got into a fistfight with pidge in the pantry.

trying to copy her friends but they seem to be doing worse.

hunk

is the very concerned judge and is like 90% sure that he's gonna get rushed to the ER by the end of this.

coran

wasn't allowed to participate due to health safety measures

still trying his best to support allura

matt

he's honestly just here to eat

participated due to peer pressure

spent most of his time in the pantry making himself a sandwich and eating it

stuck his foot out and made shiro trip and laughed maniacally for the next twenty minutes

his dish for the day is the leftovers of his sandwich

lotor

crashed the cooking competition for fun

is being pressurized by haggar n zarkon to not stain the name of the galra

has no idea of what the fuck humans eat so he's making a galra dish with whatever human vegetable that looks familiar

pretending to be gordon ramsay but cannot even make coffee

is very intimidated by pidge.

saw keith cutting vegetables with a dagger so he copied with his sword.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

tagging my brother and cooking teacher @cinnamontoastboi-jimothy :")

master, look what ive done.

#this was a rollercoaster #I LOVE IT #also pray for hunk pls #one like = one prayer #vld #keith kogane #lance mcclain #takashi shirogane #pidge holt #princess allura #coran coran the gorgeous man #hunk garret #lotor #matt #gordon ramsay is in pain #vld incorrect quotes #✰ incorrect quotes

[luwupercal]

I want to get into the Primarch family drama, but don't have the energy/money to read the whole HH (so far I've only read Mechanicum and Titandeath). Do you have any recommendations?

hell yeah! so, okay, money is an easy fix just shoot me a private ask but i super vibe w/ not having enough time, so i'm gonna list some books that i've read that were good and some books that i've heard are good from the horus heresy series

now, books i've read that are good:

Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett, first book in the heresy series. all my jokes about horus being a theatre kid come from this book. this book will make you very deeply enjoy the archtraitor and be sad he doesn't get written as well or as interesting basically anywhere else. the rest of the initial trilogy (False Gods and Galaxy in Flames, whose name i always forget), are... more meh? Galaxy in Flames is fine, but it didn't stay w/ me much (though it is definitely a bit of a cathartic release for Horus Rising), and False Gods is one of Graham McNeill's "when it's good it's good, when it's bad it's Pretty Fucking Bad" ones; there's some bits that are very good, but don't go into Horus's chaos-inducing peyote trip with high expectations).

If you do read the whole Horus Heresy starting trilogy and get Attached, or if you like the general existence and concept of Rogal Dorn, the continuation to the trilogy (...quadrilogy?), The Flight of the Eisenstein, is an unsungly fun book, to me. it's not the best, but i feel like nobody else read it but me and it was very neat -- plus the moment where Dorn punched drywall has lodged itself in the depths of my brain cavity in a way i cannot describe. would def reccommend

I could talk for paragraphs about Fulgrim by Graham McNeill, and that's not a compliment, but also it is. You should read it if you would read terrible Amazon erotica about thinly-veiled Sephiroth or Lotor expies, or if you like to watch car crash videos, or if you have rejection-sensitive dysphoria and a predisposition for exceedingly fruity men. The most i can say about this book without rambling for 3 hours is that it documents Fulgrim's fall with an almost ironically appropriate narrative decadence / contrivance / overdramatism / soap operesquism that ends up feeling almost emotionally manipulative, which worked for me but might not work for everyone. This book is the reason I'm obsessed with fulgrim, so if you want to be obsessed with fulgrim, you can try and read it; but be aware that this is a document of his lowest moment. i'll put recommendations of higher moments for him later, if you'd rather skip the gorey details. also, if emotional abuse, drug use or self harm trigger you, this book might not be for you; it's the Special Victims Unit of the heresy. i am SO deeply tempted to talk about the book's quality but this has gone on for long enough that me letting you know it's in the oddly amateurish-but-not-untalented-feeling intersection between copyright-friendly sephiroth erotica, warhammer 40k novel and novel-length slow-mo shock video WILL have to suffice until i make a coherent review of this book

Now, for two books I both read in one sitting around the same time: Descent of Angels and Legion. Should you read these? You should read Descent of Angels if Lion El'Jonson's 1d4chan page describing him as a noble asshole intrigues you, IMO, but that's the only primarch it REALLY features so if Lion isn't your vibe that's fine; and Legion is... hard to describe, it was very fun to me but it's like the most DEEPLY contrived and purposefully obtuse and confusing book ever, it's like a really weird fever dream to have about Dune and James Bond one afternoon; if you're compelled by things that make no fucking sense, like I am, I wholeheartedly recommend it. it also introduces John "Manipulate Mansplain Manwhore" Grammaticus; that nickname is not an exaggeration, all he does in the novel are those 3 things. I think he's like, the inverse of my poor little meow meow where I think he's hilarious whenever he's pathetic and booably entertaining whenever he's successful, but I think opinions are pretty varied on him. So this is a strong "maybe".

A Thousand Sons is the least McNeill that McNeill can get, and that's a compliment. The best way I can describe this book is as a technicolor exercise in utterly excruciating dramatic irony. This book is a like a poke bowl made out of your internal organs, but like, in the sunniest way possible, and there's like, cubed watermelon in that poke bowl and stuff. Every time Magnus's life is ruined, fire is involved, and it's a very light-bringing flame, but it's flame nonetheless. It's good! You should read this book! I enjoyed it very deeply <3. I love that it canonized that Magnus's sense of style is approximately the gaudy golden-brimmed tiger-striped furniture from the sims 4 Get Famous

Okay, before I go back to books I've personally read, here are some I've heard are good from others which are on my to-read list:

The First Heretic (tried to read it but acquired a deep new chasm of depression 4 chapters in and so it sits unfinished in my bookshelf). Know No Fear (source of the "You shit, Lorgar. Are you drugged?" quote, which i have memed on before). Angel Exterminatus (Fulgrim and Perturabo hating each other, lovingly; additional context for what Fulgrim's doing is in the short story Reflection Crack'd, also by G McN, but RC is the most viscerally, deeply, like... sexually uncomfortable thing I've yet experienced in warhammer 40k that didn't involve the word 'daemonculaba', so if you'd rather just get the cliffnotes of what happens in that extremely important for fulgrim lore and yet DEEPLY uncomfortable story, let me know and i'll share; also Angel Exterminatus is the only big fulgrim book i think i've yet to read and i'm genuinely itching to get my hands on it but my to-read is bonkers long and i've had an ask sit in my inbox for OVER A YEAR asking me about my onion on other books so i'm reading those rn). Betrayer (@/ask-the-crimson-king made a very strong case for it here). i also vaguely remember my bud @/horuslupercal telling me The Buried Dagger was a good mortarion book so if you like Morty you might like it <3

AND THREE MORE books i've read and liked that are way later on so i put them here at the bottom

Vengeful Spirit by Graham McNeill. trigger warning for incestuous baseline imperials (it's part of a whole "the imperium is decadent and horrible" thing, it's not portrayed like a good thing, but nonetheless it's there and very explicitly). other than that, DEEPLY fucking good book; will spoiler you to shit as to some stuff from several of the above mentioned books (namely the entire Horus Heresy trilogy, Flight of the Eisenstein, a few books in-between dealing to what happened with the trilogy's non-primarch characters that i haven't read and thus can't name, and Angel Exterminatus), but once you're confident you know what's going on or if you don't care about spoilers, this book. this book. i've described it as Graham McNeill going "hey, you know False Gods? Wanna see me do it again beat by beat, but this time way way way better?", down to the peyote trip (FINALLY JUSTICE ABOUT HORUS'S PEYOTE TRIP). It's kind of like A Song of Ice and Fire: incest subplot aside, really fucking good. Also features some INTERESTING hints at deeplore, which as a recovering skyrimhead i can always vibe with. it has horus! fulgrim! mortarion! leman! dorn! malcador! a bunch of space marines -- excellent little horus aximand characterization! (i like to call him junior) and a bunch of spoiler characters for the books i mentioned above! sowwy. also mechs! mild kaijus! sieges! implied perpetuals! yeah<3 vengeful spirit FUN as hell

from the primarch series, Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix. this has THE SINGLE BEST fulgrim characterization ever imo. + in the same way Fulgrim is fulgrim's lowest, Palatine Phoenix is his highest, and that is NOT complimentary to fulgrim, he comes off as a complete asshole. i loved this novel so much that i wrote a 6000 word essay about it (!!!) and i don't think i've even run out of things to say about it, just of coherency with which to express it. choice, high-tier fulgrim enjoyer shit, and if you ever get way too mad about the way the imperium is literally just taking over planets and online people say the imperium was good and shit you should totally absolutely read this book. fulgrim is a bitch and i like him so much

another fulgrim one but the short story Imperfect is super cute until it's not. i won't spoiler what it's about if you don't know bc i heard it as an audiobook while drawing and it hit me like a fucking truck but it's epic and i can wholeheartedly rec it

and now for some rough impressions: stuff by dan abnett and aaron demski bowden is generally considered good as far as i've heard. graham mcneill has vivid imagery but varying substance, like a series of cake boss patisseries with different fondant to actual cake rations. if you like a specific primarch, reading their primarch novel usually seems like a safe bet, except in konrad's case apparently? i haven't read it, can't confirm, but people don't seem to like it. opinions on siege of terra are HEATED, go into those books with the expectations you'd have of an xmen crossover event or the fifty seventh time dc tries to redo crisis on infinite earths, lots of retcons happening left and right but interesting bits where you can find them.

also, here's the lexicanum wiki page on every official horus heresy book; pick and choose the ones that look interesting and take a peek. if you're new to the heresy it's overwhelming, but once you're somewhat familiar with it, it's an excellent resource to just go and do grocery shopping for ur faves!

AND finally: NEVER be afraid of reading warhammer 40k books, because if they're bad you'll be able to tell and if they're good you'll be able to tell. amd NEVER be afraid of disagreeing with anyone else about what warhammer 40k books are good and which ones are bad or of holding unpopular opinions about which books are bad; channel that embarrassment into raw passion and change people's minds! Also, never feel forced to read any book -- give them a chance if a friend vouches for them, sure, but feel free to discard anything you've tried! And have fun!!! <3

#ask #40k book recs #kaynstein

[whatthehelliswrongwithme]

Voltron Part 38

Yes, the season 7 wrap-up gets to be it’s own post. Why? Because I said so. Fuck you.

(If y'all expect a literary analysis: Please don't. I just want to share my dumb thoughts)

Honestly. I expected worse

It may just be, because I was warned of the last two seasons so many times. But it wasn’t that bad. Still liked it more then season 4

[It *was* a mediocre season right after a really good season. So maybe the general dislike came from that?]

The episodes at the beginning were the better ones. I’m not really a huge fan of this “Keeping up with the Garrison”-thing

I don’t think that the battles are interesting. I’m here for the characters. So the last battle just was dragging on and on and on...

This season also really liked killing off characters and fake-deaths

And it kinda felt like they reused a lot of the animated shots

Also it kept on introducing new character to which I have no attachment to (Looking at you, 4-eyes and Random ass children)

4-eyes.... Yeeeeaah.

They did a “Bury your gays”, I didn’t really recognise his and Shiro’s realationship as romantic and he basically had no screentime. So. Bad Rep. (The goddamn COW had more screentime than he did!)

My favourite episode was “Sheith flashback! Flasback! Honey, Moustache man shrunk the kids! Flashback! Oh yeah, Allura’s there too”

(Also they actively parraleled 4-eyes with Keith. Which is just another huge Sheith thing. Which I very much enjoyed)

Shiro: Look at how they massacred my boy! He's now more of a mentor-role than one of the core-members. Kinda like moustache man. And I think that’s pretty stupid. I liked him more as a Paladin (Why did he leave the Black Lion? We’ll never know) (The answer’s, Bad Writing)

Keith has kinda grown into his leadership role? It was nice to see him being soft with characters other than Shiro. But it’s weird that he kept on making references to the Red Lion. 

Lance is the Sharpshooter.

But also he had his whole “homesick”-thing since the very first season. And it kinda felt like he should have been the main-focus, when they returned to earth

Hunk finally got the screentime he deserves! He had some angst, some heroic moments... Good for my boy!

Pidge fucking finally got her whole family back. Which I guess is really the end of her arc then... Gurl, you gotta get a new motivation for the last season.

Allura. I’ve got nothing to say really. The season focused on “returning to earth” and she really has no association with that.

Moustache man is honestly still one of my faves. He just want’s to be a Dad to Allura. And I respect that

(He's a single dad, who works two jobs. Who loves his kids and never stops. With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter. He's a survivor)

Sailor Moon and space wolf were just completly forgotten about in the last couple episodes. But I like them. Maybe next season, they'll get more screentime

Krolia’s gone, but at the very end, she was there again? If she’s still in S8, why did they make her temporarely leave?

Klance had some moments. If you squint really, really hard...

Sheith. Aaaah yes, my favourite. Not as many moments as I hoped for but still pretty significant ones

Coming out of the right corner is Shallura! What an unexpected return! With such moments as “being worried space parents together” and “gifting a really fucking ugly arm” !

Allurance kinda seems inevitable now. It’s obviously the ship the show pushes the most. (And it’s straight, so thats a huge factor). I think it’s cute, but if it does become canon it better fucking be not as one-sided as before!

Plance! Plance! PLANCE! Gosh, I live for Plance. They’re just so cute together!

Adashi? Why does this exist? We literally know nothing about 4-eyes?

But, whatever makes you happy (And I’m really sorry for you)

Romura is really fucking cute. And even though it has basically no scenes, it's still somehow one of my favourite ships

Shidge. (I’ve got nothing to say. I just want to make a joke.) Shidge-shipper’s ideal realationship-dynamic is that picture of a small hamster trying to eat a banana

Hunelle came out of nowhere, and I kinda dig it...

Predictions for the last season:

They gotta solve the space witch-problem (After she was literally only in the gameshow episode)

They’ll probably still want us to care about the Random ass children somehow

Give me Furry back. I don’t care how they do it, just make it happen. She deserved better then to be killed off by Lotor

I demand more cute slice of life-episodes!

And either an anime-trope Beach-episode. Or an american cartoon-trope Bodyswitch/ Shopping-episode

It’s probably just gonna end in another big robot battle in which I have no interest in. Won’t it?

Remember when these post were really short? Yeah, me neither.... Only one season left! Once agagin, I just wanna thank everybody for putting up with my bullshit, that are these posts. Glad some of you think I’m funny! And thanks to everyone commenting, liking and reblogging! (Especially the comments explaining some background-infos are nice) Love you all❤!!!

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #netflix #voltron season 7 #vld adam #takashi shirogane #shiro #keith kogane #keith #lance mcclain #lance #hunk garrett #hunk #katie holt #pidge #allura #moustache man #romelle #krolia #klance #sheith #shallura #allurance #plance #adashi #shidge #hunelle #shidge shippers relax. i also have a lot of ships of this kind #also shiro now is purple because post-editor is weird

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

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

Season 1, Episode 37: Lotor's New Hitman Season 1, Episode 38: Raid of the Red Berets

Episode 37: Lotor's New Hitman

Doom pilot training session? These aren't the ships I'm used to seeing with Doom

"[They're] not as good as I was when I was training at the academy!" "Uh yes sire" Oh Lotor absolutely failed every class and just threatened his teachers with death if they didn't pass him, no wonder he can't do shit

Are they actually told to kill each other in these sessions? One of the students is taking down everyone else, I feel like you wouldn't want to kill the rest of the squad that could measure up to him but okay

Uhh maybe the instructor is right in not letting some dude who listens to no authority try to take over a planet for you, this is gonna go real bad for doom really quick

"it must be the fastest robeast ever built and it must be red! I only fly red ships" he's gonna steal red lion isn't he

"my magic can easily turn the color to red, but I don't do windows" LMAO well at least haggar has boundaries I guess

Is this robeast not actually a robeast, looks like this dude is just piloting a mech with very little black magic involved

damn barely hits the ground and immediately starts causing devastation, when was the last time we got a robeast that actually committed war crimes for the Drule empire?

Wow no fanfare or anything this time around, just straight to the lions this time, top tier episode already

oh man some kid was actually under some debris, this is getting pretty serious for dotu

is yellow lion supposed to be the fastest lion? Hunk is chasing the mech after saying he was faster I'm so used to the fastest lion being red, I wonder what else fans changed to fit with their beliefs

plot bunny, how the fuck did pidge and lance make it to the other side of the tunnel when hunk is already pushing max in the middle of it yea I think the change people made with red and green being the faster lions makes the most sense here

early voltron formation, its only mid-episode too

I wonder how fast voltron can go, Keith said they were hitting mach 9 as voltron but do we ever hear how fast the lions push it? Would voltron even be faster ?

Aaand now green lion has a wound on the shoulder

Keith: Pidge talk to me! Are you hurt? Pidge: I'd be hurt if you didn't ask I love them so much

the team really is falling for this guy's traps every time huh, faltering on their training I see

is lion head attack their fastest attack or were they just banking on him not being able to dodge all of them

oh god Lotor you literally had such a good change to get rid of voltron and you RETREATED? You deserve to get your ass kicked every time

back to Arus and back to hazing the castle to make fun of the slow ass pilots

second voltron formation of the dayyy honestly I'm used to the VF episode that is so similar to this, but they used a cadet to solve their issue so how the hell are they gonna beat this guy without one

Oh I guess mach 10 is the fastest they can go as voltron

Chozzerai bridge? No that's over like an ocean or fat ass lake or something

good plan maybe? I think it is at least, setting out hovering mines that their mech can definitely outmaneuver but voltron probably can't and then slowly setting them off as they get close to him

earth wind and water, sounds like a pretty cool band name lol

ANOTHER VOLTRON FORMATION? WOW WEP WAS SAVING MONEY THIS EPISODE

oh so their plan is the same but with mach 10 speed, alright I guess? If that's all you got then whatever

omg they actually got him before blazing sword and everything

"maybe he'll land safely and come back again! There you see! He's going to land on planet gloom! That's one of ours! ... oh I'm afraid he didn't make a very good landing..." LMAOO WHY IS THAT WHOLE DIALOGUE SO FUNNY

/episode end

Episode 38: Raid of the Red Berets

Gonna be honest this sounds like an episode aimed at making fun of the French specifically LMAO

"can you and Haggar think of nothing to defeat that one little planet out in space?" Zarkon you literally fought that planet for a WHILE before Lotor came along, I don't think you can speak for shit

Disappointed father™️

well if their other fucked up science experiments are quaking in their boots even before these robeasts (not really) were introduced then I guess they're formidable

oh they're NOT robeasts, they're just regular robots that are getting transported to Arus BY the robeast okay okay

does the castle not have planetary alert systems or something?? Like they've gotta have satellites that alert when something is entering Arusian atmosphere

holy shit are these robots committing war crimes?? They're literally breaking into homes and killing civilians like that's not unheard of, but that's wild that they'd show that in dotu even if they play it off as the lights getting turned off

why do the pilots wave in their lions when the people below them can't even see LMAO

"It's a nice and safe feelings seeing those lions on patrol" robots immediately jump out of the ground and attack a caravan of people absolutely jinxed it sinvos

"something terrible must've scared them away!" omg they were actually slaughtered in that caravan and that's why they're not showing it

scare tactics,, is that what they're censoring the murder spree of civilians to in this episode? Wild

oh so being attacked on the regular with literal monstrosities isn't enough to make the Arusians want to crucify Allura but apparently the "scare tactics" that doom is doing to them is enough to freak them out and try to kill one of their only hopes of survival? Cool cool cool

Coran what, you said you didn't get any descriptions of the attackers, but now you know they're robots and have red berets? Plot bunny

if crowds were that easy to disperse, things would be changed so quickly my god

not a bad idea encasing at least one lion in something super solid, obvs Keith is getting out of this, but it would be smart to do that mid-fight also ironic because black camouflages as a statue instead of having a den

what kind of design is THAT for a robeast it looks like a dragon but bug like? Idk but still cool

why send all the lions to blast Keith with fire when only lance can actually do that?? Gotta make them useful I guess but distracting the robeast IS useful

Keith's free after being thrown straight into the robeast and now voltron can form pretty effective way to get rid of the rock enclosure I guess

this robeast encloses itself in bullet bill cosplay LMAO

man we're seeing a lot of lion head attack recently, wonder why

blazing sword formed, robeast down, Lotor getting belittled, everything is right in the universe

OH THE ROBOTS DID A SUICIDE BARRAGE AGAINST BLACK TO STICK HIM IN STONE NO WONDER THEY'RE GONE THE REST OF THE EPISODE

"men fight hardest when they're defending freedom" interesting, any other word and that would've been super political y'know ignoring that they're fighting an oppressive government lol

/episode end

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #let's rewind! #toast talks #wow more dotu episodes #this wont be a regular occurance lol

[blocking-my-writers-block]

To the Voltron Fandom -

I want you guys to think back to when Voltron - Legendary Defenders first came out. I want you to remember the joy, the wonder, and the thrill you felt when it first aired on Netflix. We were introduced to a universe unlike any that had been created before. I want you to remember Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Coran, Zarkon, Haggar, Lotor. Remember the Blade of Marmora, the Rebels, every single character that came to life because of VLD.

That hope and wonder went away when we, the Fandom, became so dangerously OBSESSED with VLD and the ships we wanted to see sail. Klance, Sheith, Kidge, Punk, Allurance, Lotura, Kolivance. There were so many ships that set sail and sank in the Fandom Sea that they’re too numerous to name. But it was those “fans” who were such... rabid, savage, horrible creatures (I hesitate to call them people or even human beings) that truly fired the sinking shot in the VLD fleet.

I remember reading stories, as I’m sure some of you do and many more of you have forgotten, of “fans” refusing to take down sensitive material unless Klance was made cannon and then threatening not only the studio but the voice actors and their families when these rabid “fans” found out that their ship wasn’t going to happen (the “Glass Cupcake” legend)

If those “fans” had accepted the route the studio was going and not made horrendous threats, how much would you like to have bet that we would have gotten more than Allurance at the end? There’s a chance we may have gotten Sheith, Punk, or any number of ships but we lost out chance because “fans” were stupid.

Now we’ve possibly got another chance. We don’t have any details, we don’t know anything about what is going to be released. Hell, it could be a hoax for all we know! But if it’s not? Do you realize the chance that’s being given, the opportunity?!

This might be back stories that we hoping and wishing for, or it could be a new generation and the lions AND Allura could return, or it could be something that nobody is expecting. There is a MULTI-VERSE within VLD, who’s to say we won’t explore one of those???

Many of you are groaning about it being another disaster when most of you fail to realize that it was we, the Fandom, who lit that dumpster fire.

So take a moment, think about it from a unbiased standpoint, and then

Grow

the

fuck

up.

It’s a show, not real life. If it’s gonna happen, then it WILL happen. There’s really very little that you can do about it, except ignore it and get on with your life.

And if there are any rabid idiots who disagree with this, please note that I don’t tolerate bullying, harassment, or any negative remarks on my posts. If you attempt to leave a nasty comment, I will block and report you to admins faster than you can say “Later Paladudes, wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

#voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender

[devilsofficialfanfic]

Ahh... so we have basically zero information about Sendak's childhood and family life... I'm gonna have to come up with headcanons for him too, then. I headcanon that his parents really encouraged his closeness with Zarkon. They're proud that their son caught the Emperor's eye. Sendak might've actually become distant from his family thanks to that. I'm not sure if it makes sense but yeah.

So apparently Lotor was exiled because he didn't destroy a planet to harvest Quintessence, he came up with an ethical way to do it— cooperating with the locals. And then Zarkon came, fucked shit up, and Lotor was knocked out only to see said planet burning down. Ow.

So like, my mind was whirring— about how adult Lotor and Tiashe would meet again. So far I have a couple options:

1. The planet still gets destroyed, Lotor is exiled. He wanders for a while until he catches wind of an organization that's specifically focused on saving planets from being destroyed. He is desperate, and so he tries to find and reach out to them.

2. They meet before the planet is destroyed. Tiashe's colony heard rumors that Ven'tar's(?did I spell it correct) planet would be the next victim so they reach out in advance to evacuate citizens should anything go wrong. Lotor and Tiashe and Ven'tar become close. But while shit still goes down they manage to evacuate people and plants and stuff.

2.1. Scenario two, but Lotor gets knocked out and still brought to Zarkon's ship. Nobody except Lotor himself knows about the organization. He is still exiled, and he immediately bolts off to reunite with Tiashe and Ven'tar and their people.

2.2. Lotor does not get knocked out, and actively participates in the resistance and evacuation.

2.3. Lotor does get knocked out but Ven'tar snatches him before Zarkon can carry him off— and Lotor wakes up to the sight of the planet burning yes but from the colony's ship instead of Zarkon's ship.

May I write little snippets and send them to you once I've chosen a scenario? 👀

I was thinking of how and why Sendak could eventually join the colony— what if the amount of Quintessence extracted Lotor's way massively outperformed Zarkon's way and Sendak sees that and sees how Zarkon went and fucked it up anyways and was like “well wtf your way makes more sense and we don't have to bother burning shit up” and comes searching for them because of that. Maybe.

I think they might try to reach out to the Paladins at first in hopes of borrowing their strength to defeat Zarkon and put an end to his tyranny. But of course it might not go so well, after all. Lotor wasn't treated well by them even in canon, I heard. Which makes me wonder if Sendak ever got captured by the Paladins.

Lotor and Tiashe absolutely just... lay their whole ass bodies on or across Sendak. Like cats. Sendak probably is strong enough to lift them up and walk off but most of the time he just lays still (like a hooman with their cat 😂)

I wonder what Galran weddings are like... I wanna imagine them marrying but details keep thwarting my imagination.

Lotor apparently had a governess?? What are your thoughts on Dayak?

I hope Lotor gets hugs in all those scenarios….I think he might need it :(

Sendak actually does get captured by the Paladins in canon -spoiler alert they don’t treat him well either (shocking I know)

The cat thing is real, and Sendak’s like “well it’s illegal to move, so I guess I’m trapped”

Of course Lotor had a governess…it’s not like Zarkon was actively raising him. According to canon, she literally beat him so make of that what you will 😬

#asks #vld lotor #lodak #vld sendak