#I guess having an in-universe explanation for the mismatched colors was a cute idea in theory but man did it not work in practice

[dear-kumari]

It’s kinda odd to see ppl defend Legendary Disaster’s lion swap in 2022.  I get that there were interesting meta reasons behind it but like, we do all remember that “let’s have the paladins match their lions and then switch them all up to match their original 80s placements for the nostalgic appeal” was arguably the genesis for all the worst choices in VLD’s narrative and visual design, right

#Kumari comments #Kumari abuses the tagging system #No shade to people who liked the homage I just think it was an awkward decision that spiraled out into some disastrous storytelling #I guess having an in-universe explanation for the mismatched colors was a cute idea in theory but man did it not work in practice #From a purely aesthetic standpoint it was just plain Bad #and if it'd been planned out properly all the lion cockpits wouldn't have been flooded with a single color #Lance and Keith looked terribly out of place in Red and Black and there's really no getting around that #and all the post-swap discourse basically amounted to 'but when are they gonna swap back tho' bc the expectation to match had been planted #not to mention Everything that went into getting Shiro out of the picture #idk. #sometimes … homages … aren't worth it #If they'd just gone with the original colors/placements from the start and handwaved it as an 'Altean' quirk I could've respected that #it would've felt more like an attempt to respect the sentai tropes from GoLion and less like the producers trying to have it both ways #as-is I just get the impression that they didn't respect the source material /or/ the story they were supposedly trying to tell #It's a lot like the pedantic fuckery in those live-action makes of Disney animated classics ya know? #like 'we want to shamelessly capitalize on your nostalgia but we also need a Logical Reason for xyz fairytale trope' #but perhaps a smidge more earnest bc Voltron isn't/wasn't a huge cash cow on the level of a Disney film #idk. if we're entering a 'VLD was okay actually' era of discourse can someone give me a heads up so I can go scream into a pillow for while? #bc that's not something I wanna be around for

[ladyideal]

An Eye for Yours

Pairing: Leonard McCoy x Reader

Word Count: 2717

Warning: 3 curse words, brief description of injury, lots of cute fluff

Summary: You were once a naive child in believing in soulmates. You are not naive now, but you still keep the hope of finding yours one day. Hurting yourself accidentally down in Engineering lands you in the hot seat under Doctor McCoy’s hazel eyes. Couple days later, Leonard finds himself confronted about his appearance and hurries off to find you.

A/n: So credit to @mythologyandwriting for giving me this Soulmate AU idea. When yours and your soulmate’s eyes meet, one eye changes to one of the other’s eye color. I thought it was a cool concept, so here ya go.

Love. 

A concept so fascinating that there was no encompassing definition of it. A concept that many longed for, but weren’t always received. You knew this your entire life. Your father had explained it many, many times to you when you were still a kid and asked why he had mismatching eye colors. 

He was proud, and in love, was how he had always started the explanation. Soulmates, he continued, when you found your soulmate, you and them take the other’s eye color. In his arms, you would clap happily and wish that you would be able to find the same happiness your parents had found.  

You wanted your own, and who wouldn’t? It was a gift from the universe to find the perfect one, the better half to yours, the second half to complete your soul. 

However, the universe wasn’t always kind. 

As seasons passed, you grew up, steadily breaking out of your former shell as a naive child. There were stories that many gave up on finding their one, and settled with what was second best. Your grandparents were like that, but your parents found true love. So, you were determined. You’d looked high and low, to other countries, and the occasional trips to other Federation planets.  

As the years went by and life went on, the notion of finding your soulmate was tempered into a more moderate view. You needed to be able to succeed in life first, be independent, and not let some foolish idea of something more sway you.

  Middle school, high school, and finally made a last ditch application into Starfleet Academy. You graduated from the academy after four years, and landed yourself on another Federation planet for the first two years as an engineer specializing in improving the warp core and antimatter. 

You caught a break as you transferred out, landing yourself onto the Enterprise. Being out in the void would test your skills, and you enjoyed having that challenge of being kept on your toes. You could take on more projects aboard a ship, and best of all, you could meet new people.

That was two years ago.

You leaned against one of the nearest consoles down in one of the deeper Engineering levels, and wiped your sweat with the back of a dirtied hand. Consoles were nothing, unless they were toyed previously by other Ensigns and made it even worse than before.

You scowled, taking a deep breath. It was a couple minutes into Gamma and your relief was a no show again for the third time in a row in the same damn week. Normally you weren’t one to complain. More work was nice occasionally, it was far better than laying in bed and unable to sleep half the time. 

“Y/N!” Scotty called from up above. 

“Aye, Scotty, what’s up?” You crane your neck upward in an effort to get a better view of him. 

“Onslet not here for ye?” 

“He still didn’t show up,” You rolled your eyes, pushing away from the console. “But I can’t leave you a member short.”

Scotty laughed. “I’ll see where that lad has gone to. Thank ye for staying. Drinks on me tomorrow.”

You shook your head, but turned around and faced the console once again. 

“What the hell did she do to you?” You mumbled to yourself, sliding again once under to continue working on the damn console. New ensigns were almost in constant trouble one way or another. So much so that medical made it a habit to complain every time yet another red shirt went in for burns or scrapes or any work related injuries.

It wasn’t only the nurses that complained, even the doctors did too. Most of the time it was Doctor McCoy that did the grumbling allowed. You couldn’t blame him though. If you were a doctor aboard a starship, you would be grumbling at everyone around you.

 You’d never met the guy, as Doctor M’Benga was the one you were assigned to, early on.The CMO’s reputation preceded him as one of the best doctors, and was regarded highly in the medical field. He was rumored to be easy on the eyes, dark haired, tall, broad shouldered, and prickly like a porcupine but cared deeply for those close to him.

It was a shame that you’ve never met him before. Being on two opposite ends of the work shifts, you’d never gotten a chance to really meet the guy. Oh well. Life could be cruel that way. 

Shaking your head, you focused back on the damned console again. If the wires refused to bend, you would have to start back on square one, forcing you to replicate spare parts again. 

What a pain in the ass.

Couple hours ticked by after that brief conversation with your superior. By the looks of it, you were going to be given Ensign Onslet’s pay for not showing up to work. It was fine, long as you could still get Alpha off to get some shut eye after working another sixteen hour shift. 

“Come on, come on,” You chanted, desperately encouraging the wires to come close enough so you could finally solder them, and finally be done with the damn ensign job. Why you took that work order on was another reason. It was supposed to be easy, and you could help clean the list after-.

“Ouch!” You hissed, dropping the soldering iron beside you when you touched the heated section of it. With barely any lighting under the console, you inspected the injury with a frown. Drops of blood dripped out, and immediately blisters were starting to form on the burned portion of your fingertips. 

“Goddamn,” You mumbled, putting your tools aside and out of harm's way. Tucking the wires safely away, you hand accidentally strayed onto the live wire of the console next to you, earning yourself another nasty electrical burn. To add to your injuries, you bumped your head as you slid out. 

It was starting to look like a long work day. 

“Ye alright there, Y/N? If you’re injured, go to the medbay. I don’t want ye bleeding all over the floors, or Doctor McCoy will have my head,” Scotty called again, scrutinizing at you from the other side of the floor now. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go,” You reluctantly answered. Cradling your injured hand against your body, you stepped into the turbolift and keyed your destination in. Stepping into the medbay, you greeted the nurse as you signed in. 

It was the Gamma shift, and what’s left was a mere skeleton crew. Most of the crew were on Alpha or Beta, and only a handful were required to be on duty during the late night hours. 

“I’ll have a doctor see you,” The nurse led you to a nearby biobed, and went off in search of a doctor. Rather resigned to your fate, you set on the edge of the biobed and faced the entrance of the medbay, swinging your legs restlessly as you waited. When you heard footsteps approaching, you frowned down at your injury. 

“Hey, Doctor M’Benga,” You greeted.

“Guess again, darlin’,” An unfamiliar voice drawled from behind. You jerked your head back up at the sound, and turned to face the stranger.

If you weren’t in the hot seat, you would have taken a photo of how picture perfect the scene was. Your mouth was slightly opened in a small “o”, your eyes widened in surprise, and your eyebrows shot up. 

“I-I-I’m sorry, Doctor McCoy. I see Doctor M’Benga,” You recovered as soon as you could, blood pooling in your cheeks at your obvious embarrassment. 

Doctor McCoy smirked. “Doctor M’Benga was dead on his feet after Beta, so I volunteered to take his shift.” He looked down at your injured hand. “How did this happen?”

Feeling like you were going to die of embarrassment for the rest of the night, you told him how you got your injuries. As you rattled off the events, the doctor gently took your hand to examine it closely for himself. 

“Nothin’ but some time with the dermal regen and some tests won’t solve,” He spoke, grabbing the tools on a nearby tray to start the procedure. “What I don’t understand is why all you engineers enjoy stickin’ your nose into trouble.”

You bristled, now fully understanding where the rumors were coming from. “I’ll have you understand, Doctor McCoy. I don’t get injured very much often. I’m not like the others that blatantly have no regards to their well being.”

The doctor snorted in disappointment. “Then darlin’, what do you call this?”

“An accident,” You replied, huffing your answer out. He glanced up at you, and caught your curious gaze at him. His eyes were pretty. Hazel, but mixed with flecks of gold and green swirling around his irises. You had to admit, it reminded you of your mother’s. Your father had green eyes, and your mother’s hazel also. 

His was way prettier.

“See somethin’ you like, darlin’?” The doctor drawled again, raising that damn eyebrow of his; another source of never ending complaints from your coworkers.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, dropping your gaze. Looking away, you let the doctor work in peace. 

Before long, he set the regen down, and inspected his work for a brief moment. “Good as new again. If it still bothers you in a couple days, come back down and let Doctor M’Benga give you something for the pain. I’ll sign you back on for duty.”

You brightened up at his words, glad that he was done and could return to work. You were about to push yourself off the biobed when a hand on your shoulder stopped you. Following the hand, you looked back up at the doctor expectantly.

“Do me a favor darlin’. Tell Mister Scott to take better care of his engineers,” Leonard spoke, scowling once more. “I swear, another day can’t go by without somethin’ down there happenin’ and injurin’ half the crew again.”

Doing your best to keep a straight face on, you nodded and assured him that you would relay the message to your superior. Looking satisfied with the answer, he bid you goodnight and let you go free back to work. After thanking him for his work, you scurried back down to Engineering.

A chance encounter with the famous doctor, but you didn’t linger much on the thought. 

 A couple days went by, and Leonard found himself catching odd glances at him from his nurses.At first, he’d though nothing about it. He would never admit to anyone that he enjoyed having his nose to the grindstone. Because of that, he was always tired after work and wasn’t 100% on top of his appearances at times. It wasn’t until he had enough of the staring that he finally voiced his displeasure about the unwanted attention.

During a surprisingly slow beta shift, he leaned against the nurse’s station. On the upside, no one was getting hurt, and even the Captain seemed to be keeping himself out of trouble. Looking up from his head nurse’s PADD, he groaned when he caught Christine’s gaze on him.

“You too?” He grumbled.

“No disrespect, Leonard,” Chris started slowly, turning her full attention to the doctor in front of her. “But you look a little different from before.”

“I look fine, Chris. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Leonard huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“No no, not that,” His head nurse leaned in, narrowing her eyes as she examined him better. “I think it’s your eyes. Did you look into a mirror recently?”

The doctor merely shook his head no,

“Your left eye is greener than the right. I didn’t notice it till a few days ago. I thought it was just the lights. Are you sick or did you…?” She trailed off. 

Leonard stared at her, gears turning at her implication. No, he had given up on finding his soulmate when he was younger. It was the reason why he fell in love with Jocelyn. Although his eyes didn’t change, he still gave the relationship a shot. Yet, after the messy divorce when Jocelyn found her soulmate, he refused to believe that there was any hope left for him. 

And now.

“I can’t do this again, Chris,” The doctor breathed out. “I’m old, and they won’t-.”

“So you do know who they are. You’ve just met them, haven’t you?” His head nurse threw his trademark smirk back at him. “It must have been during Gamma shift when you took over for Geoff. If you don’t give it a chance, you will never find out.”

It took a little more convincing, but eventually Leonard nodded in defeat. “I’ll be back.”

“No need. I’m sure Doctor M’Benga and I can handle what’s left of the Beta. I’ll be sure to call you if anything arises.”

With that, Christine shooed him out of his own medbay with a knowing glint in her eyes. 

Instantly, he knew who his soulmate was. The only person that he’d met with green eyes in just a mere few days ago, was only you. You were the only one that held the luscious, vibrant forest green within your eyes. Admittedly, he was drawn to them when you first stepped in those nights ago. When he held your gaze then, he enjoyed the flecks of gold within.

“Mister Scott!” Leonard bellowed when he reached Engineering.

“Aye, Doctor McCoy,” Scotty spoke from above, tethered on a rope with a screwdriver in his hands. 

“Where is Y/N? I would like to have a word,” The doctor scowled up at the chief engineer.

“Y/N, front and center!” Scotty yelled.

“What, Scotty? I’m busy here trying to fix these damn consoles you wanted me to do,” You shouted, grumbling wordlessly from under a console across the deck.

“Doctor McCoy wants to have a talk with ya,” The Chief Engineer continued. 

You frowned. After the brief visit to the medbay, your hand was feeling better, and back to normal. Scotty had ordered you to go to bed right after you got back, saying that he could get the console fixed himself. After that, the days blurred into one another once again. Your routine was hurried. Wake up, shower, eat, work, sleep. As long as you were mostly presentable, you didn’t give your appearance much of a thought. 

“Y/N.” Doctor McCoy’s voice was right next to the consoles you were working on, and you slightly jumped at the sudden voice.

“Ow,” You grumbled, rubbing the spot on your head where you’d lightly banged on it. Sliding out from down under, you glared up at him. “Hi. What can I do for-.”

You trailed off as you recognized your iris color in one of his. Your jaws promptly slacken once you realized that he was your soulmate. 

“So it’s true,” The doctor murmured, crouching down and gently wiping away the dirt on your face. “It is you.”

“Me?” You breathed out, quietly savoring his warm, big hands on your cheek,

“Have you not checked the mirror after that night?” Leonard asked, helping you up into a standing position.

“I-uh no,” You furiously wracked your brain to get an answer out. “I’ve been busy with a couple long shifts, Doctor McCoy.” 

“Call me Leonard, darlin’,” He smirked at your amazement. “You have beautiful eyes, Y/N. My hazel one sure matches up to your green. A little bit of gold and brown in them too.”

You blushed again. “Yes, from my mom’s. The green’s from my dad.”

A look of wonder crossed his face as he lost himself within your eyes. After a moment, he shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Would you like to have dinner with me? I’m sure Mister Scott over there wouldn’t mind me stealin’ you away.”

Scotty made an exaggerated show of gagging at the promise of future PDA. “Go, I’ll have Lieutenant Gails take the rest of yer shift, Y/N.”

Giving Leonard a tentative grin, you nodded. “I would love to get to know you better, Leonard.”

Seeing you grin, he smiled back. “Let’s get outta here, Y/N.” 

You chuckled, but followed him towards the turbolift and into the next chapter of your life with a soulmate.

Star Trek Tags: @mournthewicked (Join the taglist!)

#leonard mccoy #leonard bones mccoy #leonard mccoy x reader #bones x reader #star trek #star trek aos #deb writes #not 4am I promise #only 3am