#i feel kind of bad about spoiling so much about Keith's prequel stories but at the same time idk when i'll actually sit down to finish writ

[sage-nebula]

9 and 10 for JuMilla, 1 and 7 for Keitor :)

JuMilla:

9.) Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics?

It’s been a long time, but I think it’s the way they’re inspired to just give their all for each other. Like in many ways they’ll do that anyway in just about any situation (especially Milla; she will always do The Most if she feels it must be done), but they’re truly each other’s inspiration and motivation when you get right down to it. Milla decided to sacrifice herself because she wanted to be the Maxwell that Jude loved. Jude punched Old Man Maxwell (basically a god) in the face for Milla. And not only that, but they each uphold their own duties in their own respective worlds because they want to be the person that the other one loves. (And, again, because it’s the right thing to do, but their love for each other is at the forefront.) They’re both capable of miracles, both magical and scientific, but it’s their relationship which inspires them to go the extra mile and I really like that about them.

10.) Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcanon)

Probably the way they have so much trouble actually spitting out how they feel. Milla couldn’t bring herself to tell Jude that she suspected / knew that she wasn’t really Maxwell before her sacrifice because she was afraid that he’d reject her / she’d be letting him down. Jude could never bring himself to tell Milla he loved her to her face for similar reasons. They’re a bit better about this in Xillia 2, but even there they lack a true goodbye, and I think it’s because as strong as they both are, they’re terrible at confronting the things that hurt, which leads to there still being some distance between them (figuratively) despite the fact that we know they’ve at least kissed thanks to the waterfall scene.

Keitor:

1.) If you had to change the pairing’s very first meeting, how would you change it?

I mean, I don’t know that we’d even call what they had in canon as a “first meeting” considering that they never formally introduced themselves to one another, haha. This is something I was salty about for a while, but given how JDS and LM are both absolutely terrible at writing relationships, in the end I think it was a blessing. They would have just destroyed Keitor had they actually done anything with it. At least this way it remains untainted.

That said, it really depends on if we want a canon compliant universe or not. If we’re going canon compliant, then I would have had Lotor join the Blade of Marmora at the end of season four, and once there he would have sought out Keith given that Keith is half-galra, just like him and his generals. Keith would have been incredibly wary, of course (but also would have been the one most arguing to give Lotor a chance and hear him out after Lotor literally saved his life and all), but slowly a relationship would have formed between them. I’ve actually written fic of that here. 

As for Paradigm Shift, their meeting there is completely different given how much of an AU it is. I don’t want to spoil too much since I want to actually write out that fic someday, but since I don’t know when I’ll actually get around to writing that fic, and since I’ve dropped plenty of references to it in other fics in the series that I have posted, I’ll just go ahead and say:

In Paradigm Shift, Keith is raised by the Blade of Marmora until he’s three years old, at which point he’s kidnapped by the Empire (assumed dead by the Blade) and taken to the planet Revender. Revender is an Empire-controlled planet near the Empire’s borders, where weapons (both physical and chemical) are manufactured for Empire use. More specifically, it’s an Empire-controlled planet where part-galra are taken / imprisoned / exiled to in order to be used as test subjects for the chemical and physical weapons manufacturing. (Though there are also slums there where part-galra live “freely,” having gone there on their own volition back when there were lies spread about Revender that it was a planet friendly to part-galra, where they could live without facing the discrimination they faced in the rest of the universe. Sort of a, “We, the Empire, don’t like you, but if you stay here on this planet you won’t be bothered.” Yeah, that was a damnable lie, but one purposefully spread to lure part-galra who couldn’t be “legally” arrested there.) Aside from the slums, there are numerous facilities on Revender where tests are carried out on part-galra in order to develop poisons, antidotes, and other scientific breakthroughs, as well as tests to make sure that new weapons are functioning as they should. Theses tests can be anything from giving a part-galra a weapon and having them try to make it through a very deadly obstacle course, to making them fight other part-galra in arenas. Either-or.

Anyway, Keith was taken there when he was three (and the trauma of how that happened wiped his memory of everything before that point). Since he was so little he was originally purely used for scientific testing (poisons, antidotes, but they also took keen interest in his ability to sense quintessence), but when he was around nine he was transferred to the weapons testing division. This is, incidentally, how he met Acxa, and he met her first. She was born and raised in the slums, but volunteered to go to the facility in place of her elderly grandmother, who had raised her after her father was taken to Revender when she was little, and the deaths of her mother and brothers. Note that Acxa didn’t really know what happened at the facilities at the time since she was only about seven herself, but she knew that her father never came back, and that her grandmother was old, and that she loved her grandma and wanted to protect and help her, so she volunteered to go in her grandma’s place instead. Anyway, two years after that Acxa and Keith were pitted against each other in the arena, and Keith got the upperhand but pulled back without killing her, so Acxa turned the tables and very nearly killed him, but spared him just as he spared her. And that set the course for their friendship / found family.

Anyway, since I came up with all of this before anything about Lotor’s backstory was revealed, in Paradigm Shift Lotor is not only around the same age as Keith and Acxa, but he himself was exiled to Revender when he was twelve for “educational purposes” (i.e. for his dayak to abuse him until he was an obedient, monstrous pawn for his father). Lotor wasn’t in one of the slums or facilities, but was instead in the only nice manor on the planet, i.e. a gilded cage. Lotor was given a tour of the facilities, though, as both a “this is how we keep the Empire well stocked with weapons” deal and a “remember that you’re a half-breed yourself, you should consider yourself lucky you’re not here, but remember you could be” type of deal. It was during one of those tours, though, that he was able to sit in on arena battles, and he saw both Keith and Acxa during these fights and was impressed by them and started to formulate a plan of escape.

One year after that (when they’re all thirteen), Lotor disguised himself, escaped his manor, and sneaked into the arena and put himself in among that day’s test subjects / combatants. He ended up going up against Keith, and though he obviously didn’t die (since Keith always tried very hard to spare his opponents), he did lose and Keith actually drew blood. Far from being upset about this, Lotor was actually exhilarated to see that he was right about his feeling about Keith before, and removed his helmet to make a speech in the arena about how, see, part-galra were just as exemplary as any, this form of subjugation was wrong and they should all work together to build a glorious future, et cetera, pretty similar to the speech he makes in his first appearance in canon. Unlike in canon, though, here reality ensued and it went terribly wrong. Far from being inspired by his speech of equality and unity, the audience were put-off, disgusted, and by and large of the opinion that even royal blood clearly couldn’t make Lotor any better than other “half-breeds.” Empire soldiers swarmed the arena and accosted Keith for daring to harm the crown prince, and very nearly executed him on the spot (while Acxa was screaming for him and restrained by other prisoners in the background) for the crime, something that Lotor only just barely managed to prevent by pulling rank through his own confusion and fear that this had all gone so terribly wrong. Keith was still detained, though, and Lotor’s dayak marched him out of the arena by his hair, a fact Keith didn’t miss despite his own predicament. Lotor’s punishment that evening was not gentle. He still has the scars all down his back.

At any rate, once Lotor healed enough to do so, he escaped his manor again one night and went to the facilities, where he located Keith and Acxa and told him that he had plans to leave the planet and start a revolution and he wanted both of them to come with him since he was so impressed by their skills in the arena. Acxa was against this, because she blamed him for Keith’s near execution and didn’t trust him one bit, thinking this had to be a trick given that he was the prince. (And since his stunt had also led to some of the other prisoners on their block being executed to send a message that his words should not inspire an uprising, keep in mind she was not the only one there with a negative opinion of him at this point.) Keith, however, argued in favor of going with him since it was a chance to get the hell out of there, and also pointed out to her that it was two against one so, if it did end up being a trick or trap, they could overpower him and then escape that way. (Note: Lotor gave them space for this conversation so he didn’t hear Keith say any of that.) Acxa made Keith promise that he meant what he said about turning on Lotor if Lotor got shady, and Keith agreed, so the two of them told Lotor they accepted his deal and ran. (Keith wanted to free the others as well, but Lotor and Acxa both pointed out that’d put the rest of the prisoners in danger if they did, so the three of them agreed to liberate Revender’s prisoners at a later date.) It was chaotic and supremely dangerous, but ultimately the three of them managed to steal a janky transport ship that Lotor had scoped out and make it off the planet. (This, by the by, is the same piece of garbage they have when they meet Zethrid for the first time, haha, the one she keeps roasting. It may be a piece of shit, but it lasts them a long time.) Obviously, the promise that Keith and Acxa made never came to fruition, and Keith himself has long since forgotten about it (though Acxa never has), but nonetheless, though they agreed to work together, it was a tenuous truce in the beginning, very much Keith & Acxa + Lotor, if that makes sense. (Though think for a moment how far they’ve come. They went from Keith and Acxa mutually agreeing to take Lotor out and bolt if he got shady, to both of them being supremely protective of him in future stories like The Ultimate Reward and Revolutionary, standing on either side of him and even stepping a bit in front, weapons drawn, when necessary. You know what that is? Growth.

Oh, and also Keith falls in love with Lotor, but you know. That’s just a bonus.)

7.) Favorite headcanon?

I have so many it’s hard to keep track, haha. Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Keith can sense quintessence, and over time (at Lotor’s suggestion) he trains that ability of his and gets to the point where he can pinpoint specific quintessence signatures if he knows a person well enough. Lotor’s is one of the absolute easiest for him to trace given their bond.

Lotor gets cold easily, but Keith is naturally warm, so Lotor often hugs Keith to him to share some of that body heat. Keith doesn’t mind at all.

No matter the reality, Lotor always verbally confesses first (though usually without using the words “I love you”), while Keith always makes the first physical move. It’s just the way they are.

Lotor gets supremely excited by new historical finds and will often go on about them at length to Keith, who isn’t too interested in history but does love seeing Lotor so excited. Even though Keith isn’t interested in the stories themselves, he always remembers them and usually gets Lotor presents related to them somehow on holidays. The fact that Keith remembers the things Lotor told him like that means more to Lotor than the actual physical item itself does.

Lotor cannot lie to Keith, and Keith does not let Lotor lie to himself. What I mean by this is, Keith can always tell when Lotor is lying, and calls him on it. And if Lotor lies to himself (e.g. by not accepting that Haggar is, in fact, his biological mother), Keith will push the issue until Lotor accepts it because he knows that denial will only hurt Lotor more later on down the line and he refuses to let that happen. The fact that Keith can and does call Lotor on his bullshit when necessary is part of what makes him such an invaluable part of Lotor’s life, and what therefore makes Lotor love him so much (even if he sometimes gets frustrated in the moment).

#yumexhanabi #keitor #21 questions #series: paradigm shift #i feel kind of bad about spoiling so much about Keith's prequel stories but at the same time idk when i'll actually sit down to finish writ #so i might as well give the general gist so people can understand all the references to Revender in the other fics anyway #besides even if you know the general basics of how it goes down #you don't know the specifics #so it could still be enjoyable nonetheless #especially since there's a LOT i left out even with this #yume-x-hanabi