#also because Galra!Keith knows nothing about human culture | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nesonkin · 2 years

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HENLO :> i also feel like voltron did the coalition, rebel fighters and everyone in general dirty ;/ I WANNA HEAR YOUR REBEL FIGHTERS HEADCANONS SINCE CANON GAVE US NOTHING :D_ _

Emergency edit: So, my idiot ass accidentally posted this before I actually had the chance to finish the draft so think of it as part 1. So sorry about this...

[Second part]

WARNING: Long post

First of all, I am incredibly sorry about how long it took me to reply to you. The day I recieved this question I was very happy and excited that someone asked me about it and you truly made my day.

Although, I realized that my own headcanon lore wasn't exactly polished or properly thought out and I decided to delay with the answer to give you one that would be satisfying. In the process I lost my interest so the post would remain in my drafts for god knows how long.

But suddenly my interest came back to me so here I am.

It's going to be interesting answering this question given how little content we have of the rebels. So, when I try to think of headcanons it just becomes its own alternative universe exactly because I would have to fill the giant gaps in the Voltron Coalition lore.

Before I begin, I should probably clarify what my stances on canon and fanon are.

For one, while I see the appeal of Shiro x Matt it does not interest me as a romantic ship. I see and prefer them as shitty best friends, therefore if anyone expects romantic Shiro x Matt in this post they'd probably be dissappointed. (Same with Matt x Keith)

I also won't try to alter the canon events and only modify certain parts that were never elaborated on in canon. That's just how I prefer to handle these things.

This will incorporate the off-screen explanations and backstories for specific characters (Olia, N-7) both of which come from the Word of God.

Last but not the least, I am not particularly interested in the Voltron side of things (despite the series being literally named after it) so don't expect me talking about the paladins. But I will be talking about the impact that the Voltron has on the rebel fighters because it is pretty fucking huge.

More under the cut

I should clarify that this post is half me breaking down the canon lore and half me theorizing, headcanoning. I believe it helps provide context for some of my headcanons that I have.

Most of my headcanon lore relies on the timeline thing I made a year ago.

Unfortunately, it's still too vague to have any coherent story with this group. But on the bright sight, it just means that I can do whatever I want with the content that we do have!

First thing to consider is that Galra has been ruling over the galaxy for over 10,000 years. 10,000 years in human terms would be from the Middle of Stone age to the current era. And that is without the alien intervention. It is more likely that the Galra Empire would try to stop any kind of development of the species whose planets they've colonized. To prevent any chance of any of them becoming strong/smart enough to fight back.

One planet in particular could be Kythra. It's a planet inhabited by desert tribes from which Te-Osh supposedly originates from.

The point I want to make whilst talking about the Galra Empire is how much of a cultural and technological impact they have on the galaxy. While it's true that they also steal and appropriate creations of other species (Olkarion), it would be naive to think they wouldn't force their ways and culture onto every planet they colonize.

This is why Space Mall is kind of ridiculous... and just overall confusing. It doesn't seem to be properly owned by the Galra even though Varkon works as security. But it's no longer the Unilu owned place either. One of the unilu traders notes that his shop existed long before the empire was created meaning that the empire does have influence over the Space Mall. But it's just... a casual place where every species can just hang out and shop? What on Earth even is this place? Because it's not governed by the Galra Empire as evident by the fact that the paladins were able to freely show their presentation about Voltron with no one going after them. It's like a giant bubble where everyone forgets that the Galra fucking enslaved everyone. Such a weird place. Imagine a clearly popular hang out place in the Star Wars universe where everyone can just shop for whatever they want and there's never going to be any conflict and the Empire isn't going to attack it either. This is the Space Mall.

Well, enough with this nonsense and let's just move on.

The Space Mall episode did make me think of something interesting though. So, you'd think every race would have their own measurement system, right? Like how we have the Imperial measurement system and the normal one. Yet, they use the altean (or whatever it's called) one. It's likely that in the old days when the alliance still existed they had a universal measurement system. So, it only makes sense that the Galra Empire would impose the system on every planet they colonize. Which is why every species we see in the show uses it instead of something else.

The reason I'm bringing up the Galra influence at all is that I've developed this headcanon that is a sort of a workaround for the "All aliens speak English" trope. Because naturally you wouldn't understand another species due to the language barrier. I imagine Galra scientists would develop a translator chip for every prisoner, slave, citizen of a colonized planet etc. They'd implant those in others but make sure they configure it in a way that only translates Galra language. To make it impossible for prisoners/slaves of different species to communicate potentially leading to uprising.

To counter that I imagine rebel fighters repurpose it as international translators. With time they learn how to create some themselves. Which is how such a diverse group of people can understand each other. With N-7 being the exception because she's an AI and doesn't need one.

It's one idea I've come up with but admittedly it does contradict the canon lore. Because the trope of aliens speaking English is just there with no explanation. Still, I like my idea regardless.

Getting the actual timeline of the rebel fighters is difficult. There's no clear evidence to pinpoint the exact time the faction was created or even began to assemble. Rolo in S1 refers to them as the lucky few who haven't been enslaved yet. Signaling that they had a very minor presence in the galaxy. Or that Rolo was ignorant. Or lying. Hard to rely on his words. They've definitely existed before the Kerberos crew was captured. Moreover, Remdax and Vakala have been stationed on the Icy planet for 5 years and judging by the fact that their resources were soon to be depleted it wasn't their first year.

Rebels were likely formed after a long period of time starting out as small rebellion groups on planets conquered by the Galra Empire as it was expanding. With Galra officers taking prisoners across the galaxy an effort was made to communicate with other groups hence the diversity.

I like to imagine Unilu people would be exceptionally helpful for that considering they're one of the few races from the old days that still exist and thrive. They traversed the galaxy for many years and probably knew many languages. Which solves the problem of a language barrier. I'd say they're the second most populated race in this show.

One of them is actually a member of the rebel forces.

Remember this fella? Who never talked once in the series at all? Or ever been referred to? Well, I named them Gus. For no particular reason, I just look at them and go "Hmm, yes, this is Gus." VLD never named them so I have to do it myself. I HC them as agender and mute. They seem to make good use of the gestures, emotions and body language and considering we've never heard them speak this headcanon generated on its own. With 4 hands I imagine Unilu Sign Language to be very rich and extensive.

I like to think they were Matt's cellmate when he was a galra prisoner. In their spare time Gus was teaching Matt the unilu sign language so they could communicate somehow. And them being cellmated is partly why Matt was rescued by the rebels. Because Gus was already a rebel fighter and their goal was simply sabotaging the prisoner ship to set the stage for the rebels (Note: Matt was not with the rest of the prisoners from the Arena because he was sent to the working camps due to his injury).

Eventually Matt and Gus would become very good friends. Matt, being a fast learner, would learn Unilu Sign language and use the simplified version of it in case he ever needed to communicate with Gus without vocalizing anything.

As for less story important headcanons I like to imagine that Gus likes to draw with pastels and chalks. They're a little mischievous and generally optimistic which is why they it doesn't take a lot of time for them to get along with Matt. They have absolutely no regard for authority but loyal to those who prove themselves to be competent and fair. Which doesn't happen often. They are very expressive with facial expressions and body language.

For more references on Gus see this post.

That's as much as I've got on Gus so far. I like thinking of the kind of friendship that they would have with Matt. But let's move to another character important to Matt.

Te-Osh is a character that we see saving Matt from his prison cell and later get to meet her in Season 4 where she gives up her life to make sure she can deliver the medical supplies. It's implied that she was very close to Matt.

The term that was used to describe society on her home-planet is interesting. "Tribe" is an anthropological term that has long been assosiated with "savagery" and "primitiveness". There are a lot of harmful connotations related to this term which this article explains better than I could ever do. Besides all of that the term is simply confusing and barely represents what kind of society Kythra people have on their planet. I'm not sure if the writers were aware of all of this or if the "primitiveness" was the intended purpose. My best guess is that their society was still on the developing stage which the Galra Empire took advantage of and decided to interfere (just like certain countries did back in the days).

But let's move on.

Te-Osh gives me big mom vibes. I headcanon that she was a mother figure to Matt before he was transfered to a listening outpost. In my "lore" she's also a very competent fighter who's been training Matt and teaching him the survival tactics, and just taking care of him in general. Talking to him about complicated matters of war and making sure he's not going to do something stupid out of naivety and inexperience. She feels strongly about the rebellion which in combination with her somewhat short temper can result in lots of heated conversations with others. Especially with one sort of original character. But more on that later. She's an important memeber of her respective rebel cell being a local mom and all. I imagine her death took a big toll on many of her fellow officers and, of course, Matt. It's a little weird how they hinted her and Matt being close but we never see Matt's on screen reaction to learning of her passing. But oh well.

Wiki also mentions how she is a skilled pilot so there you have it.

And speaking of moms, it's about time I mention Captain Olia.

A member of the canine-like species and a competent rebel pilot. What is there not to love? She actually does have a backstory which you can read more about here.

Ha! Another confirmation that the rebellion didn't just start with the appearance of Voltron. Although, this still leaves some questions. Like, what were Olia and her husband doing exactly before starting a family? Humanitarian aid? Combat? Mechanic services? One of them has to be correct. My bets are on the mechanic services like fixing up ships and such. While Olia's duties could be transportation. Hence the flying skills.

Tbh this article did save me some mental energy. Because I don't have to think of everything myself. She was given a backstory via the Word of God and I'm more than thankful. But I'm still wondering if Omegaverse is considered a default for fictional works on her home planet.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen any proper interactions between her and Matt so it's harder to tell what kind of relationship they have but what we do know is that Matt does respect her authority. And that Olia cares about him enough to be present during his reunion with the family.

I believe it's safe to say their rebel party is a proper found family for Matt when he was separated from his biological one.

As a person Olia seems to be very laid-back and confident but not falling behind in profanity department lol

Her quick thinking during battle has saved the coalition more than once and it's a shame she had no speaking role in S8.

Being a mother she has an unique perspective on the rebellion. She understands more than anyone what it feels like having to leave your loved ones to fulfill your duty. And that understanding gives her sympathy towards those who do not want to join the fight against the Galra even if they can. Unlike Te-Osh, she is not concerned with ideals or bigger picture and prefers to stay focused on what she can do to contribute to the rebellion without losing touch with her family.

I think her and Matt met for the first time in S4 on Olkari after visiting the Castle of Lions. Making Matt a part of her crew and having Matt reunite with other rebels he knew from Kraydah Moon (but to be honest I doubt they've always been stationed there as it's more likely they've moved between different bases to remain hidden from the Galra Empire). Including his good buddy Gus, big man Ozar and N-7.

If you don't remember who Ozar is it's the big blue guy with a spiky hat. He also fucking died in S8 but the only part of S8 that exists is Hunk and Keith's carnival date so we're just gonna ignore that.

He seems to have the highest rank amongst the rebel fighters as evidenced by his commanding attitude. He is described to be the link between Voltron and the rebel fighters. He actually reminds me of the Miran race from DaiRugger/Vehicle Voltron (which we know are now canon to vld universe because of the epilogue) because of his blue skin and pointy ears. Now if only he lacked eyebrows...

There's not a lot of info on Ozar at all but because his VA also voiced Jake from Adventure Time my brain couldn't stop associating the two making them similar in personality. Except Ozar doesn't have ADHD.

I believe his age and experience gives him a lot of authority which most officers seem to respect. He would take the role of organizing important missions and managing diplomatic relations. Something Te-Osh usually stays away from because of the overall frustration that comes with it. Therefore, if you ever needed a permission to do something Ozar would be the guy to ask for it.

Ozar is pretty chill and likes to make jokes to brighten the mood during his off duty hours. And he wouldn't mind telling a story or two about his time with the rebellion. He keeps his chill even during the most extreme situations as he needs his cool head to command his squad in battle. Doesn't take risks he knows to be futile and would rather fail the mission than to lose more people to this war.

Of the relatives he has a granddaughter whom he keeps safe with the people he trusts because she lost her parents to the Galra Empire.

You can see him as the space grandpa.

He was asked to watch over N-7 by Mary Ann (the sort of OC I mentioned earlier).

Now, here's where I'm taking some liberty with the universe by creating a new race. Which are the descendants of the same race that Trigel was a member of. Because just like some Alteans managed to escape Zarkon's genocide it's not baseless to say that Trigel's people also managed to stay hidden from the Galra Empire and also further evolve into a race I'm about to introduce.

Caspians. They populated the planet Caspia. Over the years they've made some significant technological advancements which resulted in the destruction of the local environment. They've tried to take steps to reduce the effects before eventually leaving the planet. Still, many decided to stay and preserve what was left and continue their effort to restore the environment. Those who left eventually became who are now known as Olkarion people. Those who stayed focused on developing terraforming technologies and preserving their last bits of the lost culture.

One person in particular grew up to become a robot science genius. That being a woman named Mary Ann. She was originally a DotU II character which is why I wouldn't call her a fully original character. She appears in the episode "Take a Robot to Lunch" and gives the paladins a new perspective on war. She is a stubborn pacifist who has strong opinions about war and violence. Mary Ann used to contribute to the war effort by building robots until her creations began to be used as a weapon against innocent people. Which cemented her decision to leave and give up science for good. She scolds the paladins for how they just use more violence to solve problems but learns that combat is not all they do by the end of the episode. That's a quick summary of her character in DotU.

I decided to incorporate her into vld universe because she interested me. And because if someone created N-7 it had to be her.

In my lore Caspians had little to no interactions with the Galra Empire due to their beneficial location away from the Empire's grasp. Mary Ann, being a promising robot scientist, decided to leave the planet to pursue her curiosity about the galaxy and find resources which she can use to build even better machines. That way she ends up learning about the state of the galaxy and joining the rebel fighters providing them with technologies to help the war effort. It's how she eventually meets Te-Osh and Ozar. As a side project she begins the development of a software to help with automation of certain tedious tasks and data analysis. It's later being used to help analyze the radio chatter and collect all the necessary data. For convenience she would later develop a proper user interface which laid down roots for the development of an AI in the image of her people who was meant to develop their own identity. This is N-7 (get it? Ann seven?). It ended up being something personal to Mary Ann while she began to notice how her creations are being used to cause more harm than good. For example when the Galra troops steal devices of her design and repurpose it into weapons of destruction. And if that wasn't enough her own allies would use the same devices to cause destruction in the name of justice and goodness. Mary Ann would develop distaste for the methods her allies used to achieve their goals which put her at odds with Te-Osh. Because for Te-Osh not fighting back meant allowing the oppression to happen. So, when you put two headstrong individuals with opposing values against each other it rarely results in anything good. Mary Ann wouldn't put up with being used like that and decided to leave the rebellion. N-7, now learning more about the world around her, refused to come with because she "felt" the responsibility to stay and help as that was the whole reason she was created in the first place. Understanding of the decision Mary Ann parted ways with her "daughter".

I wanted Mary Ann and Te-Osh to develop a strong and close relationship (a romantic one maybe?) before Mary Ann's departure. To make things more frustrating for both of them when they eventually come to a point where their beliefs can no longer coexist without causing any more drama and conflicts (their beliefs CAN coexist but by this point they're too stubborn to realize it).

I also decided to use her character to explain Matt's behavior in S05E01 when he found something or someone in a prison cell which made him late AND extremely pissed off. So, imagine after leaving the rebellion she gets captured by the Galra and put into Lotor's prison for scientists (a plot from the DotU episode where Haggar tried to capture Marry Ann to make her build robots for their army). I don't see her willingly doing anything for the Galra so instead she would try to sabotage the research admittedly making it worse for every other prisoner because they have to receive punishment because of something she did. So, you can say no one likes her.

And here comes Matt. My poor son just trying to rescue his father. Opening up the last cell in the facility. His last hope. Only to find an unfriendly woman who not only refuses Matt's rescue attempts but scolds him when she recognizes the uniform he's wearing. Matt being late could be explained as him simply arguing with Mary Ann who refuses to go with him. And his unexplained uncharacteristic anger could be the result of the argument that took place where she openly expresses her distaste for his new found family and maybe even name-drops Matt's deceased mother figure (albeit unaware of her status). And here we go! It ties to Matt's own off-screen story and provides a possible explanation for what the hell did he see in that stupid cell.

So, Matt leaves her to fend for herself and they separate. And Matt is understandably pissed but refrains from talking about it because it’s of no one’s concern. But Mary Ann’s story doesn’t end here. Because I was planning to bring her back later after Voltron disappears and the timeline enters its 3 years time skip period. To have her apologize to Matt for what she said and realize she may have been wrong about the rebel fighters after all. And to have a proper reunion with N-7 who has developed beyond Mary Ann’s imaginations. She joins the coalition to help out her own way not with violence but with means of protection.

And that’s pretty much it for her.

And now we get to a character, whom I admittedly thought about more than others. Welp, not my fault I’m so into robot/AI characters.

It's a rebel fighter who was theorized to be Romelle, Keith’s mom, a druid and even Merla? All of which turned out to be wrong. Because she’s just an AI and not really as important as we thought she would be. As with Olia, this character has some off-screen explanation by the Word of God and can you see more in this article.

It's something, but it's merely a confirmation that she was an AI and that what we saw of Matt and her in S7 and S8 wasn’t just us hallucinating. The rest is for us to think of.

So, as mentioned above she's an AI developed by Mary Ann who over the course of the development started to consider N-7 her daughter. N-7 is constantly learning new things about the world as she's getting more hardware upgrades thanks to all new resources Mary Ann was able to get her hands on. To properly articulate her thoughts N-7 would also learn to use body language (often by mimicking Mary Ann, Te-Osh and Ozar to some extent, eventually developing her own system).

Her early work for the rebels mostly consists of data analysis and assisting comm specialists, but would later extend to supply/vehicle/inventory management and some occasional medical assistance whenever a doctor needed additional help. She would also pick up combat as having self-defense skills is important for any rebel officer. Most importantly, sometime after Mary Ann's departure N-7 would provide her assistance for the radio listening team. Because she was able to make the job easier there was no longer a need for a team of people on that job. It wasn't taken positively because all it meant was that those who were left without a job likely had to join the offensive forces which most couldn't do due to their physical or otherwise psychological limitations. This in turn would lead to the development of a system of listening outposts that N-7 could operate. Keeping track of every agent, their designated location and information recorded in their respective area. The more complicated the system was getting the more operators were required. Especially with how fast the coalition would grow in s4. So, eventually the system wouldn't need N-7 as the head operator anymore allowing her to join Olia's crew.

I still can't quite figure out what her role is in Olia's ship but I'm assuming it's something like keeping the ship in tact and making sure all systems are taken care of. I do like to think her contribution to the rebellion begins to take more proactive turn after joining Olia. Like taking part in ground missions and such. Which also opens her to new connections and perspectives.

As for determining her personality it's a little tricky. Because it always downs on me that I'm just creating another EDI (why must one fictional AI lady be so good) whenever I approach the subject of AI characters. But here I go.

She's cold and rational as you would expect. And can get into trouble with other people because of her acting out of logic and what makes sense while that isn't necessarily something that someone needs or wants. So you can get the occasional breaking of boundaries. But she also tries to understand human (or alien) psychology to make sense of the interactions happening around her (well I guess we do be entering the autistic thinking territory). It's how she understands that Matt openly freaking out the first time they meet is not a sign of a personal attack but simply his post traumatic brain acting up when he's faced with someone who reminds him of the Galra droids. Her speech patterns are descriptive and straight to the point and her body language is pretty nonchalant and distinguished. N-7 may be an AI, but she does "feel" things in her own way. Through a complicated system of priorities and signals meant to recreate chemicals in our brains. And while it's not something organics can truly relate to is it fair to deem her perceptions less "real" than that of organics? And it's that way she evaluates her viewpoint of the rebellion and decides that she has the responsibility to help people because she can and because her abilities can save lives in the long run. It simply makes sense for her to stay and help.

I will conclude the first part here, but I hope all of that wasn't a bit too much to deal with (;ŏ﹏ŏ) especially with how abrupt the ending is...

[Second part]

#vld #voltron #rebel fighter #freedom fighters #voltron coalition #te-osh #unilu rebel #olia voltron #n-7 #ozar voltron #fuckduckfuckficlctiock #matt holt #long post #mary ann dotu

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hear-the-black-lion-roar · 4 years

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Something dumb that’s been living in my head for some time now, based on a chat with a friend. Context under the cut, cringe warning.

|'ve been thinking about that joke how Ulaz gets a silly costume to help Shiro during the "no Galra allowed" episodes and I actually really like the idea. Like, even though they don't settle down after the war since there are still planets to discover and explore, alien cultures to befriend/battle, and trying to bring back some order to the universe devastated by the war with the Galra Empire, there are fairly long periods of time they spend at home on Earth which is also where these states hit Shiro the most often because there's nothing that would distract his mind intensely enough. And it's really hard for both of them, Shiro really doesn't need the guilt to add to the distress he already feels during those episodes and Ulaz feels desperately helpless because he can't really do anything other than talking to him through the closed door. And since Keith isn't always around to help, he decides to try if putting on a mask would work.

So during one of those episodes, Shiro is being a complete mess in his room when all of a sudden Ulaz knocks and says someone's there to see him. He doesn't even bother to respond, he's miserable to all hell and doesn't want to be bothered. Yet when he turns around when the door open, there's a 2,5 meter tall fucking bright pink fluffy plushie unicorn trying to fit through, almost knocking his head off by the doorframe. Now, Shiro is completely stunned. His brain simply doesn't have a program for "home invasion by a giant plushie" scenario so he just stares with his mouth hanging open while the unicorn is shuffling closer, nearly stumbling over his own feet because he can't see shit from inside the costume.

When he croutches down to him, Shiro can only muster: "...Why."

"Well I learned that humans often use the fake stuffed animals as comfort objects..."

"So you turned yourself into one?"

"Yes. I purposely chose a herbivorous creature to present as non-threateningly as possible, plus one that is, as I've been told, heavily associated with childhood, fantasy worlds, innocence, dreaming, and so on. Also, it's fluffy. And you have a strong affinity for fluff."

He starts to explain how he thought that if his form is not that of a Galra, he can hopefully safely provide him with physical comfort, and Shiro just hugs him, laughing and crying at the same time because it's probably the most thoughful gesture anyone ever did for him. So Ulaz picks him up, carries him at the couch, lies down, and lets him rest on him, gently stroking his hair and back. Shiro manages to choke out, "You know, every time I think I can't possibly love you even more, you always prove me wrong," before breaking down in tears again, eventually crying himself to sleep while being softly sing to.

The next morning, Keith gets back there and when he enters Shiro's room, he initially thinks he's sleeping on a giant plushie. He almost has a heart attack when the plushie lift his head and gestures to him to be quiet. He then carefully untangle himself from Shiro, covers him with a blanket and gets out of the room and out of the costume before Kosmo gets completely crazy because OMG HUGE CHEWING TOY! and tries to tear his tail off. Keith decided a long time ago he won't be surprised by anything that's happening in that house and just asks, "He gets freaked by anything Galra-shaped again?", and when Ulaz nods, "Why didn't you call me? I'd get here sooner."

"You were on a fairly important mission. I can't exactly call you off on a whim."

"You know very well you can when it's Shiro."

"I'd like to remind you that the responsibility you took upon yourself when you joined the Blades is not a small one. You better prove you are indeed a reliable member."

Keith of course pouts because IT'S SHIRO DAMMIT AND YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD UNDERSTAND!

Ulaz just pats him on the shoulder and show him to the room. "Go to him. He'll be happy to see you when he wakes up. I'll go make some breakfast." and starts to leave. Keith calls after him and says, "Thanks. For everything you do for him." Ulaz just smiles. "It's my duty and my pleasure." Which for Keith is pretty obvious since he gets kicked out of the house every time those two want to have some adult fun.

He then goes in and together with Kosmo he snuggles to Shiro until he wakes up. And when he does, Keith presents him with a beautiful crystal figurine that looks a lot like his DnD character he got for him and Shiro is just done, he barely pulled himself together, his hair is a mess, his eyes are swollen from crying, probably looks like a zombie, yet no one cares and everyone is nice at him. So he hugs him with "I love you," and when Kosmo snuggles to him as well for some ear scratches, Shiro frowns at him: "Not you, you shredded my favourite boots and I still didn't forgive you." Space doggo is offended because the boots didn't even taste that good.

#voltron #vld #shiro #ulaz #takashi shirogane #voltron shiro #voltron ulaz #winter shiro au

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shirophantomvox · 3 years

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Hi! It's me your favorite anon lol. I hope you rest well and stuff :) I really liked the idea of Keith lighting the flame at the Kral Zera and then giving his speech. So, the q I have this time is what do you think of Lotor's nanny, Dayak? I feel like she definitely has shown us a few things about galra culture like 'Palenbol' and the meaning of Vrepit Sa. I really enjoy you takes on stuff so I wanna know what you think about her and ALSO if you have any headcanons on the Druids :D tysm!!!

Yes, thank you for this question anon! I am happy that you like my writing! The questions you’ve asked here are very interesting especially about the Druids. As always, feel free to send me any more questions you may have!

Ps i’m sorry if the grammar isn’t correct. I’m very tired.

I’ll start with Dayak first.

Dayak was introduced in the episode “Bloodlines”. We, the viewers, see that both Keith and Lotor find out interesting information about their heritage. Keith discovers his mother is galra (and to a human that is a BIG deal) and Lotor finds out that Oriande is a real place. I just want to say that Lotor’s reaction to Dayak calling him was the funniest reaction I’ve seen coming from him as shown in this meme.

When Lance was rubbing it in his face that he had a nanny...made me laugh even more. Lance saw a change to make fun of Lotor and ran with it. At first, I didn’t understand why he reacted that way when he saw Dayak but then it made sense. Especially with males, it seems like when they are around someone they really, REALLY like or their significant other, they try to maintain this image of the “biggest buffest guy around” and must maintain a tuff image. When he saw Dayak, I’m sure he reacted that way because he didn’t want her to say or show anything that would humiliate him in front of his girl and the team. You know? Nothing too crazy but what if she showed everyone his toddler pictures or something? THAT would have been so hilarious...not for him though. That awkward exchange between Dayak and Lotor reminded me of the American teen and young adult dating stage where the date meets the other’s parents and hopes to God, they don’t say anything to humiliate them. Dayak is the woman that was responsible for training and teaching Lotor the ways of the Galra so he could rule the empire like Zarkon. Given Lotor’s curiosity about Honerva, he swivels around his teachings and constantly asks Zarkon about her. Although Dayak appears to be a tough teacher, she is probably one of the people that he is close to since she was always there while he grew up.

With palenbol and the whip, I’m assuming that Lotor wasn’t hit with the whip at all and here’s why. Whenever Hunk talked out of turn, she hit him and yelled “palenbol!” . When Lotor was a kid and asked Zarkon where his mother was and other questions; Zarkon told her to teach him discipline and to never talk out of turn. If this head canon is somewhat true, it’s because she saw a young child whose father was a maniac and didn’t think it was right to hit a child (for no reason) just because he was curious and asked quetsions. Who knows? Maybe she treated him as a son of her own...Honerva wasn’t around...or was she? Therefore, Lotor has such a rebellious attitude and didn’t hesitate to argue with Zarkon because of the unique teachings of Dayak.

What I am trying to say is Dayak didn’t teach Lotor the way Zarkon wanted her to so that is why he turned out the way he did; very rebellious and did things his way.

I think Vrepit Sa is a greeting the Galra use whenever they see each other. We see in the show that the Galra only say this whenever their leaders give them commands and they respond with Vrepit Sa, also meaning yes ma’am or yes sir.

NOW, onto the druids headcanon. This, by far, is the most interesting head canon I have completed because since the beginning of the show I’ve always wondered what they are. I saw a while ago that a Tumblr user suggested that the Druids had to be Magical Alteans like Alfor and Honerva. Or they could be products of the creatures from the rift. But seeing how Honerva’s skin color changed after the rift, I believe these were Alteans that were attacked by the creatures when they were studying the rift on Daibaazal. We see that the Druids can disappear in the blink of an eye, they can shoot purple electricity from their hands, they are purple, and are just as dangerous as Haggar. We didn’t know what the Druids looked like underneath their masks and hoods until we met Macidus. When Macidus said to Keith “Your hand is looking much better” I immediately said: “He’s a druid?!”. When I tell you, I was shook; I was! This still raises the question of, if he is green, why isn’t his face and arms purple? Maybe the animators forgot about that? In the episode “Shadows”, we see Macidus come in to talk to Haggar and we know it's him because the subtitles say so. The Druids seemed to be more loyal to Haggar than to Zarkon. When Zarkon was trying to find the black lion, one druid said that Haggar didn’t want them to overpower him and he was flung into space. Haggar is truly the Druid’s master because she gives them quintessence and guidance. Haggar is the reason why Zarkon is still alive and running rampant through the skies because she is providing him power to search for the black lion.

Overall, the druids aren’t robots; they were once humans that were either victims of the rift invasion or sick Alteans that were fed quintessence. Thanks again for this question, anon! I hope I answered it! As always, feel free to send me any more questions you may have!

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sheithfictioncatalogue · 4 years

Text

Valentine’s Day Fics

Is this a day late? Yes. Is every day basically Valentine’s Day because Sheith love each other so much? Also yes.

love in idleness - peggycarterisacat @peggycarterisacat

21k. (Teen)

When Keith accidentally takes a love potion, he doesn't understand why all his friends are so freaked out about it. The potion was defective. It was supposed to make him fall in love with Shiro, and his feelings for Shiro haven't changed at all.

But Shiro refuses to come anywhere near him until the potion wears off. Everyone else insists on proving that it's actually working, resulting in a love-potioned Lance who won't shut up about how pretty Shiro is. Yet Shiro's more tolerant of that than of any hint of affection from Keith.

Keith's not jealous. Jealousy is pointless, and it doesn't matter anyway. He's not in love with Shiro. Is he?

Like the bards chanted - Teactoc

2k. (General)

“His name’s Shiro.” Kosmo had whispered in his mind one day and then had brought more and more pieces of information to Keith whenever he would spend time with said Shiro since it seems the man was quite fond of the wolf and would always talk to him. “I like him, he knows I’m not just a ‘wolf’, he’s intelligent, curious. You should talk to him, he always enquires about my partner. He’s single by the way” the wolf had added like it was nothing. “And gives better ear scratches than you.”

Be my sunshine - Sylira

4k. (General)

“I never got anything for Valentine’s Day.”

Shiro could still hear those words very clearly. They shocked him enough to get burned inside his head.

So now, after the war has ended and they finally got their deserved peace, Shiro had made it his personal duty to give Keith the best Valentine’s Day he would ever get.

Cupid’s Match - ElfGrove @elfgrove

4k. (Teen)

Shiro has been Cupid for a long time, he loves his work. Loves helping people find thier match. Until Keith. Keith is Shiro's next target, but Shiro is immediately drawn to him and disguises himself as a human to woo him. He knows it's wrong; Keith's fated match is out there somewhere. He was supposed to fall for someone else.

What Shiro doesn't know is that he is Keith's fated match.

Be My Valentine - Gootbuttheichou

2k. (Teen)

Keith has a crush on Shiro from IT- his coworkers keep trying to convince him to ask Shiro out at the office Valentine's Day party.

Sugar-coated White - charlotteXOyates @charlottexoyates

7k. (Explicit) Contains: nsfw content

Keith looks good when his body is covered in white.

Out of Time (Sorry, Valentine) - TheInsaneFox

4k. (Mature) Contains: nsfw content

Keith would be the first to admit that his experience with relationships was lacking. He’d always been a loner, so when Shiro came into his life, he just assumed all friendships were like that. It had never even occurred to him that maybe the feelings he had for his best friend went beyond that—even when Adam was in the picture, Keith told himself he was just happy to be best friends with Shiro.

He should have known better than to trust his own instincts when it came to anything involving relationships with other people.

XIV - sadturns

1k. (Teen)

A date to remember.

My Liontine - rosegardenlake @whoalookingcooljoker

11k. (Teen)

It's a well known fact at school: everyone loves Shiro. Keith and him have been best friends since before they were even born - being next door neighbors and all that - but still, Keith is not immune. He's been crushing on Shiro for years now too; who hasn't, honestly?

Keith's okay with the way things are though. He knows Shiro loves him, even if it's not in the exact way he wishes. But when Keith thinks he sees Shiro confessing to someone else on Valentine's Day, he realizes maybe he's not ready to let his best friend go.

If only he didn't forget to write his name on his confession, maybe then, Shiro would finally understand his feelings.

Heart-Shaped - Kasen

5k. (Teen)

An attractive young man consistently visits the chocolate shop Keith works at. Over time, Keith gets to learn more about him, and even develops a small crush as the two become further acquainted. Keith never expects to do more than admire Shiro from a safe distance —that is, until Shiro approaches him on Valentine's Day...

Be Mine, Valentine - BattyIntentions @battyintentions

1k. (Not Rated)

Shiro and Keith spend a rainy Valentine's Day inside together.

Take Me With You - stellarparallax

2k. (General)

Shiro knew that he was, generally speaking, a model citizen. He tried his best to be kind and understanding to everyone around him and he was always there for anyone who needed him. It didn’t even matter if it was a stranger or a friend. He was polite to all of his coworkers, even his subordinates. He paid all his bills on time and he had never been in debt to anyone in his life.

Which is why he was inexplicably bewildered to find a note on his desk with the words “Take yourself out soon or I will” in letters cut out from magazines.

morning - gravitational

700 words. (Teen)

One thing Keith will never tire of is waking up in his husband's arms.

Two Hearts In Bloom - GoldenTruth813 @goldentruth813

32k. (Teen)

Keith is a half-Galra, half-Terran born and raised on Ender’s Colony—a space station for Galra displaced after the war. Despite never quite feeling like he belonged, it’s also a place he never thought he’d leave. That is until he gets the chance to participate in an intergalactic exchange program with Garrison University on Earth.

When he gets to Earth, no textbooks on cultural norms could have prepared him for the strangeness of Terrans. Everything from their food to their customs leaves him with more questions than answers, but the one thing that grounds him even when he still feels lost in space is his new roommate, Shiro.

As the Terran holiday of Valentine's Day approaches, Keith is determined to show Shiro how special he is, but why do their courting rituals have to be so confusing?

Not too sweet - Holyangelheart

7k. (Teen)

Shiro wants to confess to Keith for Valentine's Day the way he remembered being confessed to. He gets the foolproof idea to ask Keith for help with his confession. What could go wrong? A lot of things, actually.

How You Really Feel - blackeyedqueen @fakegenjimain

2k. (General)

Shiro wants to finally tell Keith how he feels.

Valentine's Day request: "Shiro wants to take Keith for a ride in his lion (to spend time and confess maybe) but Keith's just not getting it- but Shiro i have my own lion??"

#sheith #sheith fanfic #sheith fanfiction #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #voltron fanfic #fic rec #recs #valentinesday

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lilflowerpot · 4 years

Note

I'm pretty sure that some of Keith/Lotor children are going to be ill because of the Altean genes just like Lotor was when he was younger. Some of them could also have genetic mutations like albinism, melanism. And lest be honest, none of us have seen an "albino" galra. Do you think they might kill them because "they are cursed?". The melanistic ones could survive because dark fur is considered beautiful. Mayby Lotor is the only albino galra?

((following on from this post))

So, first thing’s first, I do feel the need to reiterate that the entire concept of Keith & Lotor’s biological children is a hypothetical within the LB universe, due to the fact that they’re both categorically infertile, and while it is theoretically possible to fertilise an egg with stem cells found in bone marrow rather than sperm - therefore allowing Ezor & Zethrid to have a child - it is not possible for two cis male parents to replicate this as there would be no egg. So scientifically speaking, a keitor child would not be sick but rather non-existent (and the science matters to me). However, if we’re ignoring the above, then yes the mix of galra/human/altean would be a genetically unstable mess, but quite frankly the people responsible for creating these poor things would likely terminate any given foetus at the first sign of a defect (no matter how small) so as not to waste time an resources on an imperfect weapon.

In truth, I’m actually far more interested in the second half of your question.

Straight-up I can tell you that, outliers aside, the Galra as a whole aren’t going about killing children for having a genetic mutation (jfc guys???) because they are categorically not monsters or savages; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, children are precious to the Galra. They’re not a people that particularly prioritise physical perfection in an aesthetic sense, but rather strength. They want their children to be happy and healthy, yes, but even something as dramatic as a missing limb or a malformed spine isn’t a death sentence - Imperial medical science is excellent, and their prosthetics are often superior to the biological counterpart - let alone a minor pigmental abnormality... there’s such a huge grey area between “not being the societal ideal of beauty” and “deserves to be eliminated” oh my god.

Now that’s out of the way, lets take this one at a time.

So albinism at a base level is “characterised by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes” leading to greater susceptibility to sunburn and skin cancers, and often comes hand in hand with vision defects such as photophobia (an extreme sensitivity to light which may cause the affected party to experience discomfort or pain), nystagmus (the eyes repeatedly make uncontrolled movements, reducing vision/depth perception, and affecting balance/coordination), and amblyopia (a development disorder in which one eye fails to achieve normal visual acuity despite aid, aka lazy eye). Now the Galra are already sensitive to light, so you can imagine that having an additional layer of sensitivity on top of that is less than ideal, but because of this I imagine that Imperial medical science has dedicated a fair portion of its time and resources to combating exactly that, so aids and corrective ocular surgeries are almost certainly commonplace. With regard to the lack of pigmentation, as I said in my sunburn post the Galra have developed natural defence mechanisms against Daibazaal’s sunny desertous environment: a lack of pigment would not impact the Aalk/Byal/Kyx in a physiologically negative way, but the Dox would suffer for it due to their natural defense mechanism being pigment-based (their pores produce a substance comprised of one red and one orange pigment: the red pigment contains an antibiotic, while the orange absorbs UV rays) meaning that a genetic lack of pigment would leave them compromised. On a purely superficial level, albinism likely would not be considered the pinnacle of Galra beauty due to pale colours not being a favourite of the Galra - bouncing light more easily and therefore being less than appealing to their sensitive eyes - but that’s a blanket statement and says nothing of individual preference. As a final note, Lotor himself does not suffer from albinism: Ulaz, however, did.

Research tells me that melanism isn’t really a thing in humans, but I like to think that it is in the Galra: melanism is described as “an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism” but isn’t harmful in the way that albinism can be as rather than a deficiency in pigmentation required to protect us, it is an overabundance (which actually proves to be something of a boon). If anything, this helps protect the Galra against harmful UV rays and therefore makes them stronger which - as you know - is a highly-regarded thing in Imperial culture, and against Daibazaal’s dark landscape those with more pigment would be better camouflaged and therefore better hunters. Aesthetically, extremely dark fur/skin/scales would be considered a beautiful rarity, which is part of the reason that Keith (with his dark hair and eyes) is considered to be so damn pretty.

#this is not the first time I've recieved an ask talking about the Galra killing their children and I just..#I very explicitly did not write that #I had Lotor make it clear that the Galra value their children!! even hybrids who are considered to be at the very bottom of the hierarchy!!#I can't believe I have to say this but the Empire is absolutely not perpetrating cultural infanticide oh my god #//even so// thinking about albinism & melanism was a lot of fun #Ao3 Little Blade #sa screams back #galra history & culture

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arinaco · 4 years

Text

Pidge - the heroine with Schrödinger problems

Translated and edited by @Nadezhda932

I think it's worth saying a few words about Pidge, because as far as it seems no one ever spoke about the problems of her character. Actually, even her creator, Lauren Montgomery, after the release of S8 with greatly changed original script began to insist that Pidge was fine and had no flaws. Although Pidge's problems were voiced by Keith in the first episodes of the series. This is absolute indifference to everyone who is beyond her personal circle of people, everyone she doesn't like or cares. “You can’t leave everyone to the mercy of fate for the sake of personal desires!” - says Keith, who, with all his teenage issues and egoism, is a very responsible guy (that very trait which will help him grow to the Black Paladin over time). “I really can!” - Pidge answers confidently.

Pidge is a supporting character, but her problem was announced almost immediately. Why? Because she is the favorite character of the main screenwriter, Lauren Montgomery. A good screenwriter knows that a hero without flaws and problems is of no interest to anyone. You know, there is an interesting point in that Lions (with the exception of White and Black) are in many respects opposed to each other. And if the first and most obvious coupling is Red and Blue, then the coupling of Yellow and Green is in the background and remains invisible, although it was also shown quite early. The Yellow Lion is a self-confident rock, a support for others. The strongest and most massive of all. If Blue is the one who consoles and wipes away tears (healer in game terminology), then Yellow, as a powerful shield, will take all the fire upon himself (tank). Do you need to be reminded of what happens if a healer or a tank falls in a game during a raid on Boss? It’s shitty, despite the fact that they have the lowest attack in the group.

The first appearance of Yellow is marked by the fact that he stands between the Blue and the enemy as a shield.

The Green Lion is ... an extravagant scientist, shallow and fidgety. This one will not protect anyone, but will crawl anywhere and achieve her goal. She doesn't have a powerful attack, but she has a trick. In game terminology, she would be called an assassin-horn, the most insidious class (that's who exactly from the ninja clan ...). He is an even greater loner than Red - who, although selfish, is held by Black, as his right hand. The Green Lion is on her mind, her motives are not always understood by others, but she doesn't want to be understood.

It's funny that the paladins always used Green to sneak past the Galra imperceptibly

Paladins reflect their Lions. Hunk, despite his fears, immediately stood up for the inhabitants of Balmera, simply because if not him, then who? He is the person who is ready to stand up for the first comers if he sees that they need his help. It doesn’t matter: Galra, humans or some new unknown race. Hunk is a born negotiator, he knows how to understand people and is always ready to make contact. And Pidge is... his exact opposite. She was ready to abandon everyone who depend on her, for the sake of saving her father. What about establishing contact with strangers... it's not something that she can't do, she simply doesn't want to. She always says what she thinks, not caring how much it hurts others. Do you remember how she said to Allura something like: "Your father is dead, but my one is alive"? Can you imagine how painful it was for Allura to hear this?

Allura couldn't have done that. And it’s a pity, in S6 it would be very useful to her.

And this is her problem. This is a problem for many children spoiled by their parents. After all, these are the roots of Pidge's behavior. Let's recall her childhood. Katie is a special girl from a special family: brilliant scientists, not like everyone else. Because of this, she had conflicts with her classmates - but on the other hand, the family itself nurtured and cherished her, assuring that it was good to be special. “You are exceptional and that’s wonderful" - they said. Forgetting that there's nothing remarkable in the inability to communicate with peers in a normal way. And that surely the conflict was not only one-sided - sorry, but Pidge isn't made of sugar. No wonder her entire company in the Garrison consisted of Lance and Hunk - VERY flexible and patient ones in communicating with other people. Blue and Yellow paladins, remember. But the problem was ignored, it was solved by stroking the daughter on the head. The girl was cherished, the girl was spoiled. The girl is a genius, which means that everything is excusable to her. The girl abandoned her mother without hesitation and fled, for the sake of the mythical opportunity to save her father and brother. Think about it: what it was like for this unfortunate woman? The husband and son went missing, and the daughter followed them. And not for a day, not for a week. For months and years.

Pidge didn't think about it. Pige didn't want to think about it. And this is a problem that remained unresolved. You know, a person’s character is revealed when he or she doesn't need to hold the face. When he or she isn't obliged to establish good relations, when this person is the master of the situation. And the authors directly showed us how deplorable the situation is with Pidge. Do you understand what I'm talking about? I'm talking about the very scene when the issue of giving of Lotor to Zarkon was being decided.

Stop the planet, I’ll come off... quiznak, it's all the same in the entire universe.

There is something very significant in that Lotor then stood in front of the paladins without a helmet, face to face. More precisely - eye to eye. Since this is very important. Stormtroopers in Star Wars, Galra soldiers in VLD series, and even quite real death row in modern China - they all have their heads covered. At least the eyes. Because it depersonalizes a person. No personality - no empathy. You can abstract from it, you can stop considering this man alive. He's not the same person as you, which means that there's nothing wrong with his murder. That's why the scene where an inanimate robot takes off his helmet and turns into a person with eyes - windows into the soul - is always very important in any motion or animated picture. He is now a person. He is alive. You need to step over yourself to raise your hand on him, and his death is no longer something insignificant for the plot. And now a little girl of 14 y.o. screams almost with foam at her mouth, demanding that this living person - completely dependent on the decisions of the paladins - must be put to death.

I need to say, the rest of the team was slightly shocked too.

Didn’t you have a jump in your soul? No thoughts about Christian values, psychological barriers to killing a person. Well, you know, about things that should seem to matter in our culture. I understand that Pidge wanted to save her father. But I absolutely can't accept how easily she was ready to kill Lotor, who completely depended on the mercy of the paladins and didn't show any aggression towards her. Like, "if I didn’t shoot him myself, but through third parties, everything is normal"? The hands ard clean and conscience too. After all, the latter snores sweetly. Of course, you can say about the enemy, and that there's no place for compassion, but you're the paladins, not unprincipled Galra. You're the good guys. Or not so good anymore? Even from a position of profit and simple logic, the Galra prince could bring much more benefit in war than a scientist with an industrially backward (from the point of view of the universe) Earth. But what benefit, what compassion we're talking about. "Give me dad back!" and that’s it. As a result, the paladins didn't even think of giving Lotor at least some (!) chance for the rescue. They didn't come up with at least some plan. They stupidly decided to give him to Zarkon, knowing that for Lotor this was a one-way ticket, and knowing that with a high probability Zarkon would deceive them - that is, Lotor's death could be in vain. Bayard was given to Lotor by Kuron, after Haggar ordered to activate the third phase. Haggar didn't want Lotor's death. And this is a big problem, actually. Because Haggar-Honerva herself showed how dangerous a brilliant, but unprincipled scientist is. But if Honerva became so because of quintessence, then Pidge is a direct result of improper upbringing. Alas, in this series this problem wasn't solved. Because the entire story arc of Pidge in S8 was cut out. What was this arc? The realization that not the whole world revolves around you. That not only your interests matter. That you can objectively be wrong with others, and you must be able to admit your wrong. Simply put, the Pidge's arc must be connected to two figures: The first figure is a figure embodying one-sided attachment for Pidge. Love without bestowal, as it often happened with the love of parents to Pidge herself. The second figure is an absolutely alien person for Pidge who is not in the circle of loved ones. Pidge was often rude with such people, and she must realize how wrong this behavior was. Who are these figures? I think the answer to this question is not difficult: Lance and Lotor. Pidge got used to the fact that all the people who are not indifferent to her revolve around her. In particular, Lance and Hunk. But in his chase for Allura, Lance began to move more and more away from his friends. They ceased to be Garrison Trio from the first seasons, who used to do everything together.

Nothing unites people like a joint escape from the cops... at least it used to unite.

For Pidge, this was very unusual. And very hard. Especially the moment when Lance, with the help of his "retinue", invited Allura on a date. Now they're not a company of friends - Hunk, Pidge and Lance. Now Lance is with Allura, and they're somewhere on the side. Pidge feels that for an important person she is now in second place. And she really has a hard time feeling it. She's used to take care of loved ones, and she continues to take care of Lance. But she has to personally face what you feel when your care isn't appreciated and remains unnoticed. When your love is taken for granted and never comes back. She's in the place of her own mother, whom she so easily abandoned, ignoring the fact that her mother might worry about her.

Does it hurt? Yes. But it's necessary. Alas, this part of the plot was never developed. There's nothing to talk about Lotor, remembering the events that I described above. Do you remember the paladins apologizing to him? No, you don't, because it never happened. And Lotor - oh, such a bad guy - forgave them and pretended that everything was fine, just an everyday matter. Lotor is used to the fact that people around him treat him like a piece if crap. He forgave the generals, forgave the paladins. He forgives everyone, what a vile bastard he is. But since the entire arc of justification or redemption - no matter - of Lotor was cut out, the whole arc of Pidge was cut out too, the arc where she realizes her wrong. There's no awareness of wrong - there's no rethinking of oneself as a person. No growth, no development. Pidge remained convinced that everything she had done was right. And it's just awful, because the children see it. They see and find something close to themselves in Pidge. And they see the message - yes, that’s right, that’s okay. Then these children will grow up and some of them will become not a small Pidge, but a big Haggar. And it won't be funny at all.

#voltron pidge #voltron #vld #vld pidge #pidge

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void-tiger · 4 years

Note

I have wondered about Krolia looking considerably more humanoid compared to the "average" Galra. There's really nothing stopping her from being part-Altean herself, is there?

Not really, no.

But probably less half and moreso having Altean ancestry? Which, Alteans are actually Quintessence-Sensitive while Galra...are not. (It’d explain how Keith even had the ability to sense the Blue Lion despite being Red’s future Paladin/quintessence-compatible with Red, not Blue.)

However, it’s never brought up, which if we’re playing Nice with canon, it probably means Krolia isn’t actually aware she has any Altean ancestry at all...because things like genocide and cultural assimilation, and still more likely that she has more Galran Ancestry than Altean + other conquered cultures. So, Keith would still be More Galran than Altean and still predominantly Human...unless we pick up the common fanon theory that “most humans are partially Altean/descended from surviving Alteans.”

Which...personally? I’m not exactly a fan of this for a few reasons:

-it’s stacking things originally being unique to Allura onto Keith. (Which we have already seen with literally everything that’s Shiro’s being shifted to Keith and therefore reduced to “toys” vs part of their backgrounds and arcs. Which, yeah. I’m not really a fan of Quintessence-Sensitive Keith (or Altean Lance) for those reasons.)

-Allura and Coran deserve to know that members of their people survived outside that So-Called “colony” ...yet that’s not what the writing allowed. Actually, calling it a Settlement vs Colony might’ve been better? But I’m not an expert. Colony as a word has A LOT of baggage associated with it. (And the survivors really only existing to whump Allura further.) It’s just...kinda Gross. Allura deserves better.

-IF Keith (via Krolia) is indeed partially Altean, Keith’s Galran Ancestry being confirmed would’ve been the ideal time to introduce it if they truly indeed wanted a (badly handled) It’s Complicated plotline about race and ancestry. (Which a group of white guys kinda need to tread carefully or just leave it Alone. They didn’t.)

But the most likely reason why Krolia’s designed as Prettier/Not Like OTHER Galra—aside to tie her to Keith as his mother—is to show her as “the good guy”. Lotor and Acxa have similar designs, for Lotor to be “hidden bigbad” (also poorly done and senseless. If indeed he was to be a villain, and a Manipulative Pseudo GoodGuy one, still could’ve been handled much better), and Axca as the one (1) Sincline Member that was planned to survive/be redeemed.

So...it kinda all comes back to dated beauty standards, bad tropes, and racist stereotypes. At least for me. But, this is all my take on it. It doesn’t mean it’s the only take.

#askbox things #anonymous #vld salt #I’m not tagging this as either Keith or Krolia #so if anyone chooses to reblog this...please don’t tag them in it either #let the fans who like these characters have clean tags

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kcwcommentary · 5 years

Text

VLD7x05 – “The Ruins”

7x05 – “The Ruins”

With the Paladin roster finalized as Keith in Black, Lance in Red, and Allura in Blue, and Shiro in nothing, and with the death of Zarkon, the title sequence for this show is antiquated. It now functions at the start of every episode as a reminder of what the show used to be. The opening title sequence for a show should always be a statement about what the show is, but this sequence is so far from what the show has become. The title sequence not matching the current content of the show highlights how the show has lost its sense of direction.

I like the first shot of this episode in that the nebula is pretty, the smallness of the Lions creates some of a sense of immensity for space. I don’t like the white trails behind the Lions though. They’re not shown to be moving through anything, so what’s creating the white trails behind them?

Hunk’s sleeping, and Keith yells, “Everybody up!”

Pidge is dreaming about getting “only [a] 99 on the test.” I guess some people – I’ll say Mitch Iverson, since he wrote this episode – think grade anxiety is funny. Grade anxiety comes from a lack of parental support. A kid thinks they have to earn the absolute highest grades possible to be able to keep their parent(s) from criticizing them, emotionally abandoning them, or even at the most extreme physically abusing them. Pidge has always had endless support from her family, so having her demonstrate having grade anxiety reveals this show sees intelligence as a caricature. The creators of this show, or at least the writer of this episode, included grade anxiety without having even a basic understanding of what it is. They just thought it’s funny how some clearly intelligent people are scared of not getting perfect grades. They’re mocking people with grade anxiety, not revealing character with Pidge.

Lance and Allura want to sleep some more. Romelle’s sideways on her bed, foot on the wall, head hanging off the side: her posture made me genuinely laugh.

Everyone except for Keith and Krolia have been sleeping. Keith says, “We can’t let this long journey make us soft or dull our skills.” It’s obnoxious for this show to have Keith equate the need for sleep with weakness. They have all been through really stressful events, it makes sense that they need to rest and recover.

Shiro speaks (what? he’s still a character on this show?). “Keith’s right. Routine is what got me through being Zarkon’s prisoner and being in the infinite void of the Black Lion.” What!? Having a routine can be very useful, but neither of Shiro’s citations are instances in which he created a routine for himself. Shiro was a prisoner. Prisoners don’t manage their time, those who imprison them do. If he had a routine while imprisoned, while having to literally fight for his survival, then it was because the routine was imposed on him by the Galra. As for being in the Black Lion’s psychic space, what exactly was that routine? Literally, what actions is he supposed to have done while disembodied and existing in endlessness? This line written for Shiro is ridiculous.

Keith won’t even give the other Paladins a chance to wake up, he’s already calling or them to conduct battle simulations. Krolia has programmed a new one. I still don’t feel that she’s earned the prominence this show is giving her character. She presents the challenge. “You’re on a planet with double gravity—” what does that even mean? double what? double Earth’s gravity? “—dense volcanic fog, and eight [some kind of] raptors are attacking. What do you do?” Keith thinks that “this is a good one.”

What’s the mission objective that’s supposed to be at the center of this simulation? They’re on a planet and local lifeforms are attacking. Okay, why are they on the planet? If the challenge is solely to survive the creatures, then just leave the planet.

One of the raptors latches onto the Yellow Lion, and Krolia yells, “A [whatever kind of] raptor just melted your face off, Hunk!” Krolia has not earned the position of integration into the group that she’s being written to have. It makes her presumptuous. I guess the personalities being demonstrated in this scene are supposed to make Krolia and Keith look like badass personality types, but it doesn’t work for me.

Krolia says, “Now it’s eight-on-four,” and Hunk quietly replies, “That’s fine by me. I’m eating.” If you’ve read much of my commentaries, you’ll know that I usually have a big problem with how this show writes Hunk and food, but I like his response here. I don’t blame him one bit. Hunk, you go get yourself some food.

The planet weirdly shoots like twenty-foot wide columns of lava hundreds of feet up into the air. It looks silly to me. Keith orders everyone to “split up to thin their numbers.” For a story that’s supposed to be about the development of a team, these guys don’t really work as a team often. If you’re being attacked, you have greater safety and defense as a group. That’s why a lot of animals have herds or flocks or schools. Separating from one another makes the group weaker. This is not good leadership or tactics. Keith gets hit by an energy blast from one of the raptors. What is with this show having so many animals that can emit weapons blasts?

For a place that has “thick volcanic fog,” as Krolia said and Pidge now repeats, they all can see really well. Does this show know what the word “fog” means? Pidge says that the raptors “must use some form of thermal vision to see us.” Again, this environment has been depicted as having high visibility, not any kind of fog, so the raptors could see just like the Paladins can. But also, if they use “thermal vision” on this volcanic planet, then the raptors would have a hard time seeing. Unless this show is making up something else with its use of the term “thermal vision,” what is being referenced is the ability to see into the infrared spectrum of light. Things that are warm radiate light in the infrared portion of the spectrum. If we humans could see infrared light, every time we looked at another person, they would be glowing. I like the idea of the show presenting creatures that see more of the spectrum that humans can, but what Pidge says here doesn’t make sense. She’s presenting the idea of the raptors having “thermal vision,” as their natural ability to see, that it’s somehow supposed to be an adaptation to living in “volcanic fog.” But if the raptors see infrared, then the heat of the “volcanic fog” would inhibit that vision. And the heat of the lava on the ground would be blinding. This show really cannot do science.

Lance says, “Maybe I can lure them away with my heat-rays.” Have the raptors been distracted by the large, hot plumes of lava that jet up off the surface? No? Then they wouldn’t care about Red’s fire cannon either. But Lance blasts some rock with his fire cannon, and the raptors fly off to check it out. It’s senseless, and thus contrived.

Allura, Lance, and Pidge all get taken out simultaneously by a lava plume. Krolia chastises them for having “focused too much on the raptors and forgot about the volcano.” I still don’t like Krolia. She says, “I programmed the simulator to be unbeatable. I wanted to see how long you survived.” In other words, Krolia wasn’t trying to help them with training whatsoever. This wasn’t designed for them to learn anything, not new skills, not something about their character, nothing. Krolia was just being a troll. She and Keith woke up people who needed rest in order to mess with them.

Hunk is making burritos. He packages six of them, ties them around the space wolf, who teleports them to the others. Krolia and Keith each get one. The wolf gives Alura, Romelle and Coran each one. Then suddenly, the wolf’s bundle has more than what Hunk put in it. Pidge takes two, one for her and one for Shiro. That leaves one for Lance. I guess this counts as an animation error? Hunk only put six in the bundle, but there are eight given out. Team Voltron kind of discuss the wolf, nothing that explains the wolf’s narrative importance or reason for being included in the show or anything, but his name. Hunk suggests “Cosmo.” Keith objects to the name, “I figure when he’s ready, he’ll tell me his name.” Does Keith actually think the wolf is going to talk? Keith lived with this wolf for two years while in the quantum abyss, and he hasn’t named him yet? Who has a pet for two years and doesn’t name them?

Lance likes the way the burritos taste but doesn’t want to know what’s in them, saying, “I just want to eat it and pretend that it’s my meemaw’s home cooking.” Lance is supposed to be Cuban. Why is he calling his grandmother “meemaw?” The best I can tell, Meemaw is a southern United States thing, and I’ve seen one suggestion that it’s derived from French through Cajun culture. Why is a Cuban guy using Cajun or southern United States slang for his grandmother? As a Cuban guy, wouldn’t Lance call his grandmother Abuela?

Pidge picks up a signal that she only identifies as, “a signal!” Allura reacts with, “How did you get a signal?” Unless the Lions’ communication systems are broken or the rest of the inhabitants of the universe, including all the Galra, ceased to exist, the Lions should be getting more than a few signals. Getting any particular one they’re looking for is different, but the idea that it’s such a surprise for them to have picked up any signal at all is absurd. What is the signal? A television show from Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet. Bii-Boh-Bi is not and never has been funny, can the show please stop using him and his species? Please!? Team Voltron watching the show goes on for far too long.

There is what Pidge thinks is some interference in the signal, but Krolia – because of course it’s Krolia because why have the main characters have any importance in this show when you can instead give the importance and time to a side character like Krolia – can tell that it’s not interference. She has Pidge “amplify that signal.” She then listens to it with her eyes closed. Pidge says that it’s “just deep space interference.” Krolia says that that is “just what it’s supposed to sound like. Listen to the sounds in between the pulses. There’s a unique pattern.” Only after Krolia says this does the sound design for the show actually start including a specific beep to correspond with what Krolia is identifying. That beep did not exist in the sound until after she says so. That seems like bad sound design to me; the beep should have been there the whole time.

Krolia says, “Before the Blades were unified, we would use this crude way of communicating with each other.” Uh, when were the Blades not unified? Is this some undetailed period of the Blades’ history that the show hasn’t ever presented? Why am I expecting this show to have anything be deeper than the shallow instantaneous and fleeting use of anything just because it suits the individual moment of its usage? “Not many Blades know this code,” she says. “It must be a senior member.” I guess that means that she’s also supposed to be a senior member?

She says it’s a distress signal. They trace the signal to a specific area, which Hunk says is “a pretty severe detour from Earth.” So severe that it lasts only this one episode. So, yeah, not severe at all. Dialog like Hunk’s has no meaning, no impact on the story. It’s not like diverting to check out this signal will make them late to Earth and something bad will happen while they’re on this detour. The bad thing that’s happened to Earth has already happened because of the time jump (I’m still significantly annoyed by the time jump’s plot hole).

Cut to the Lions arriving at the planet where the signal’s coming from. That was such a big detour that it happened instantly. The planet is one of the most ludicrous planets this show has done. Like, it’s bad even for this show. It’s maybe the size of an asteroid, but it’s jagged and has weird holes and slopes. This show doesn’t even try, does it? Pidge says there are signs of a former civilization, but no signs of life. There are broken buildings. Team Voltron walks around – remember how the space wolf was injured and that’s why he supposedly couldn’t help Coran two episodes ago, well that’s resolved with no resolution.

Krolia says, “The signs are all around us. There was a massacre here.” This episode is really giving Krolia a disproportionately large amount of the script. It’s just so frustrating for a side character to be given so much screen-time, but main characters, like Shiro are nearly non-existent.

Allura says, “Some of this damage looks like it’s from magic.” What does that even mean? What are the characteristics of building damage that indicate it comes from magic? Ultimately, this line from Allura is leading. The show knows that the villain of the episode is one of Haggar’s Druids, so it has Allura make this comment to foreshadow that. Allura saying this right now though feels totally forced and manufactured.

Krolia says that some of the “strike patterns,” scratches in the rock, “look Mamoran.” If this signal is supposed to be a Mamoran signal, then is it a surprise that they might have gotten into a fight here? I know this episode thinks it’s setting up some mystery, but it doesn’t feel mysterious.

The space wolf growls and runs off and tackles someone to the ground. Keith yells at the guy, asking, “Who are you? Who’s broadcasting the signal?” Why does Keith assume this guy knows anything about the signal? Oh yeah, because characters make whatever assumptions the writers need them to, rather than behaving in a way that’s actually natural.

The guy says that he’s the one who’s broadcasting it, and Keith replies, “Impossible! You’re not Blade of Marmora!” What is Keith basing that on? Keith doesn’t know every Blade in the universe. If he’s basing it solely on the clothing the guy is wearing, then that’s senseless. Keith’s a member of the Blades, but he’s not wearing a Blade uniform currently. Krolia’s a Blade, but she’s not wearing a Blade uniform right now either. Why would Keith assume this guy couldn’t be a Blade? Again, it’s the writer leading the story, rather than the story unfolding in a natural way. The writer knows that this isn’t a Blade, so I guess it’s supposed to be foreshadowing. It gives the writing an unnatural, jerky development.

They let him up, and he takes them to his campfire. Romelle calls the location of what looks like someone struggling to survive “disgusting.” Good to know that her experience hasn’t changed her pampered, privileged mindset. At least she gets called out on her insult. She tries to cover, but it’s obnoxious. “‘Disgusting’ is Altean for lovely. You don’t speak Altean, do you?” She could have been written to recognize her privilege and apologize for her insult, but no. I don’t like Krolia, and I don’t like Romelle either. Ugh.

Pidge confirms the signal is from here. The masked guy reveals he knows they’re the Paladins of Voltron. Shiro asks him what happened here. The masked guy, with an ominous voice, says, “Bloodshed happened here. Death happened here.” I actually kind of like this line and how he sounds saying it. It actually has some creepiness to it. He identifies himself as Macidus and says that this is his home planet and that he’s the only one left alive here.

Krolia finds a not-really concealed set of blades from Blades of Marmora. She immediately turns her gun on him. He says he has them arranged as they are “in honor of their sacrifice. They died trying to protect the universe.” Knowing that he’s eventually revealed to be a Druid, he’s not exactly lying in saying that, the Blades were trying to protect the universe from people like him.

Macidus tells them how this all started when Voltron disappeared. He says that the “power vacuum that ensued destabilized much of the universe.” That again makes Voltron’s turn against Lotor look totally short-sighted. The problem I have with this is that, while this does reveal consequences to the Paladins’ actions, I never get a sense of them actually taking responsibility for those consequences.

Allura asks, “what happened to Haggar, the witch,” and Macidus says, “no one knows, but her Druids continued her work.” What work is that? This is a big part of my dislike of Haggar: Whatever she does off-screen that’s supposed to be so villainous is almost never shown. What her goals are for these actions are not revealed. We know that Honerva was obsessed with quintessence, and that drove her to poisoning herself. We know she would create Robeasts to attack Voltron, but that was mostly in support of Zarkon and his dictatorship. We know she used the komar (are we to assume there was ever only one komar?) to extract quintessence from the life on planets, but we only ever see that done once. We know she had a particular interest in Shiro – “You could have been our greatest weapon,” she said to him in 1x13 “The Black Paladin – but we have no idea why she was interested in him or what she was planning in thinking of him as a weapon. Are we supposed to think that she was just accumulating miscellaneous weapons? It’s not like Voltron had reemerged at the point she had started thinking of Shiro as a weapon, so with the Galra dominating the universe, what were the Galra lacking that meant they needed more weapons? We know she oversaw the clone program, but there was never anything that suggested the Druids were involved with that; instead, it seemed more like that was a secret side project she had. And we never are given an explanation as to why she was having so many Shiro clones produced.

So, Voltron has been missing for three years. Haggar hasn’t been seen in that time either. Given season eight, we’re supposed to understand that during these three years, she found Lotor’s colony hidden in the quantum abyss, establishing a relationship with the Alteans there, hyping them up into a vengeful fury against Voltron for killing Lotor, and using whatever powers she gained from killing the White Lion in Oriande searches through all the other realities to find one that she thinks of as being perfect? I guess I’ll get to all that when I get to those episodes, but the topic of who’s the show’s antagonist is a topic relevant to now. Once we get to Earth and dealing with the invasion and occupation there, Sendak becomes the primary antagonist. But Sendak has always only been a secondary antagonist. That’s one of the many weaknesses of the story in season seven. The villains are shallow. Ezor and Zethrid were villains for two episodes because they wanted power. Sendak wants to conquer and dominate. Haggar is off-screen, at best, only slightly coming into play with the Altean-controlled mecha at the end of season. There is no character motivation grounding the antagonism of the conflict of the season. That’s not to say the show has ever been all that great at having compelling villains because it hasn’t, but at least in the first two seasons Zarkon and Haggar worked as foils for Shiro and Allura. There was a character connection there. And as much as I hate that they played the Lotor’s-secretly-been-a-villain-all-along absurdity for seasons three through six, at least he was emotionally connected to Allura. But here in season seven, anyone that can be identified as the antagonist could be easily replaced by any other character and things are really still the same. Consider this season’s story, but instead of Sendak, it’s another Galra like Ranveig or Gnov from back in season five. The story doesn’t change whatsoever. Sendak behaves the same as every other villainous Galra.

Macidus says that Haggar’s final order to the Druids was to destroy the Blades of Marmora. Another problem with this is we don’t know anything about the Druids. Who are they? Why are they Druids? How are they Druids? They all use magic, so do they come by that magic on their own, and in demonstrating magic are recruited by Haggar into the Druids? Or does Haggar teach them magic after they join the Druids? Part of me kind of likes the Druids because they’re differentiated from regular Galra, but I find them frustrating because they don’t feel like characters. They’re masks and magic, and that’s it.

Pidge says, “After Lotor took over the throne, almost every Mamoran agent was exposed.” They were? This supposedly-multiple-millennia old covert organization failed to maintain their cover because Lotor became Emperor? This is a huge deal that’s never come up before. Did the Blades suddenly become incompetent when Lotor became Emperor? I could understand maybe Kolivan became exposed because he was broadcasting his face all over the universe when communicating with the Voltron Coalition, but every other Blade took explicit measures to conceal their identities. How were they exposed? This does not make sense.

Macidus says that “all Blades were called from their assignments and sent to this base. Kolivan knew they were being hunted and wanted to make a stand against them.” Are we to assume that the Druids were just so good at magic that the Blades’ covert methods were no protection? The Blades could conceal their existence for thousands of years, but now for no reason they couldn’t? Maybe this is the problem with all this story being told through exposition. None of the logistics of this have been thought through by the creative team.

Macidus continues, “When they arrived here, my people helped them fortify their base.” So, Kolivan wanted a base for the Blades to be able to defend against Druid attacks, and he chose an inhabited planet? I know Macidus is spinning a tale here, but thinking of it logistically, this planet has been established as having once had a civilization on it. Unfortunately, this means that once again this show reduces the concept of a civilization to a few hundred people and one city – they did it with Arus, they did it with the mermaids, they did it with Taujeerians, it also feels like they did it with the Olkari. The population of planets in this show are unbelievably too low.

“The Druids […] arrived without warning.” How were there no monitoring systems for this planet or from the Blades? Throughout human history, we monitor the borders of our respective territories, but not here.

The conflict was supposedly a long one. Casidus refers to it as “a long battle of attrition.” I guess. “Casualties on both sides were enormous.” There have only ever been a handful of Druids in this show. So, these enormous casualties had to have just been regular Galra. This show has had the Paladins blow up a lot of Galra, so this “both sides” crap feels manipulative. But then, Macidus is being manipulative, but his ruse should be such that he doesn’t care about the Druid+Galra side. Is this supposed to be another hint that Macidus is not who he’s pretending to be? The Druids have never been shown to care about Galra death before; like with Haggar, the Galra have always seemed as nothing more than pawns for them to use. I can’t believe that Macidus now cares about the Galra who died under his command.

“My people were the first to try to escape,” and they’re shown running through the city streets. I thought this was supposed to have been a war of attrition? That would require the Blades and this planet’s people to have hunkered down in a strong defensive situation. That’s antithetical to escaping. Macidus says he stayed behind with Kolivan, who “led those of us who remained to battle the last of the Druids, but for each one we were able to take down, nearly a hundred Blades would fall.” Again, there have only been a handful of Druids in this show. Allura, Kolivan, and Antok – just the three of them – were able to kill two Druids while also fighting Haggar in 2x13 “Blackout.” So, the Druids are more powerful now without Haggar than they were when they literally fought alongside her? I know that Macidus is spinning a tale, but is any of what he’s saying supposed to be considered accurate? And if it’s not, if this is all a total lie, then this episode is giving way too damn much time to his telling this tale. You don’t write a character to tell a tale like this unless most, if not all, of it is true. This conflict between the Druids and the Blades feels totally disproportionate to what we’ve seen of both Druid and Blade in the past.

Krolia can apparently “recognize every one of these blades.” She’s got a really good memory then. “I trained many of them myself.” This makes her character feel even more over-important than she’s felt already. Kolivan’s blade momentarily glows. I thought a blade only glowed for its owner. I guess the way the blades function for the Blades of Marmora is another instance of the show’s magic system never being defined. Krolia concludes that Kolivan must be still alive, and Macidus, with the cliché voice of an 80s villain, says, “Just barely.”

Surprise everyone! Isn’t everyone surprised? Macidus has tricked you all!

“Your hand is looking much better,” Macidus says to Keith, referencing way back to 1x12 “Collection and Extraction,” when Keith’s hand was injured fighting the Druid and was healed when quintessence accidentally splashed on it. That happened so long ago that it feels, not like a long-range plan for the story, but like someone in the writing staff went back and rewatched the first season and realized they never really explained that moment in that episode.

“You’ve been using that signal to draw Blades in,” Keith says. Thank you for stating the obvious, Keith. The Druid cackles like an empty, cliché villain. He teleports away, and in his place a grenade falls to the ground. Krolia yells, “No!” in slow motion as it explodes. It’s silly. The space wolf teleports to Keith and teleports him away from the explosion. The explosion creates a pink bubble of energy, and everyone is stopped inside it. I guess it’s some kind of time-stop bomb?

Keith, the wolf, and the Druid are in some tunnels. Keith and the wolf initially just walk off to the side, but then are suddenly underneath the platform the Druid is walking on. I guess the Druid is just assuming that his bomb took out everyone? Despite the thin, wooden walkway he’s clomping across, the Druid stops because he hears something somehow over his loud footsteps. I guess maybe he magically sensed something since magic is whatever the writers want it to be at any given moment in this show. A canister rolls out of nowhere, and the Druid zaps it with purple lightning and walks away. Keith turns around, and boom, the Druid is behind him and stabs down through the platform. His aim with the stab is not even remotely accurate though. I guess he’s supposed to have teleported to behind Keith after having walked away. It feels more like a fake gotcha moment.

The space wolf teleports Keith away. The Druid follows. Keith slashes at the Druid’s mask, and it breaks and falls away, revealing the Druid’s face. He doesn’t look Galra to me. He has no nose and circular ears. I don’t know if he and/or the Druids are supposed to be Galra or what. He screams and attacks. Keith fights using his Marmoran blade rather than his bayard. It makes me think of how Keith gets two weapons while Shiro gets none.

A ball of energy starts to glow in Allura’s hand, and then that quick piece of a scene cuts back to Keith. The Druid keeps teleporting after Keith, Keith and the wolf run and teleport. By happenstance, Keith and the wolf end up in a room where Kolivan is suspended by ropes from the ceiling.

The Druid arrives, and complains, “Our high priestess Haggar has forsaken us because of your treachery. But after I kill you and the other Paladins, Haggar will allow me to return.” Because the show does not show us her “forsak[ing]” the Druids, this is mostly just confusing. We’re not told or shown any specifics of what happened. Did Haggar tell the Druids off? Did she just disappear? Both could be considered her having “forsaken” them, but they’re still very different. Macidus seems to connect, I guess, the Paladins’ killing Lotor to Haggar’s leaving. I guess Haggar’s supposed to have blamed Voltron for it, but we’ve never seen anything to show what Haggar knows about Lotor’s death. The last we saw of Haggar was in 6x05 “The Black Paladins” when Lotor told her off, Axca tried to shoot her, and Haggar teleported away. Is it supposed to be that Haggar irrationally blames the Paladins for the emotional rift she created when she abused Lotor? If Haggar has forsaken the Druids, if they haven’t seen her for years, then how does Macidus think he’ll be able to present his having killed the Paladins to her? I imagine the show would just say, he’s a villain, he’s not thinking clearly, thus nothing has to make sense within the narrative. That’s just lazy writing.

The Keith-wolf-Macidus teleport battle resumes. Allura’s ball of energy glows blue, the air swirls around them, and then poof. The sphere of pink energy disappears and Allura is left glowing pink. I guess she’s supposed to have absorbed the time-stop energy? Allura asks Pidge to “lock on to Keith’s location,” and conveniently, he’s “right directly below us.” Allura slams her hand into the ground, which cracks underneath her. She blasts through to the chamber Keith is in. I guess the blast vaporized all the rock because there’s almost no debris. The other Paladins join Allura in jumping down into the chamber. They fight Macidus, and he knocks them around too easily. Again, I think back to Allura, Kolivan, and Antok killing two Druids while those Druids fought alongside Haggar, and that makes Macidus seem overpowered. He teleports behind Allura and zaps her unconscious.

Macidus looks at Keith and teleports away. Keith then closes his eyes, somehow sees flashes of where Macidus is (if he’s invisible) or will be (if he finishes a teleport to wherever he’s going to appear). Keith throws his blade at where Macidus appears, hitting him. What is this power? Since when does Keith have magic sensing powers?

Macidus has a couple of blue lightning sparks and then he glows and explodes. The other Druids we’ve seen killed didn’t explode like this, so what’s causing this other than inconsistent writing and production?

They get Kolivan down. He’s injured, but alive and will recover. We find out now that Keith gave Kolivan the coordinates of the Altean colony. Why this hasn’t been brought up before now, I don’t know. Kolivan says he “sent a team. There was nothing there, just an empty facility.” Keith would have had to have given Kolivan the coordinates sometime between the end of 6x02 “Razor’s Edge” and the beginning of 6x04 “The Colony” because he was too busy with fighting the clone and Lotor after “The Colony.” Did Kolivan sit on the information until sometime after Voltron was under the effects of the time skip during the battle with Lotor (again, ignoring the plot hole that Coran, Krolia, Romelle, and the clone would have experienced the three years that passed outside the rift since the Castle Ship never went in)? When did Haggar collect the Alteans from the colony?

I know throughout the entirety of this episode’s commentary, I’ve put a lot of work into trying to understand the logistics of events that are only halfway referenced, at best, and take place entirely off-screen. I have probably put more work into understanding this than the creative team did in writing it. I really doubt that any of them cared if any of this really made sense or not. Keith got to have a supposedly exciting fight alongside his magic space wolf, that’s all that mattered to them, really.

Kolivan says that he has to “find the others. The universe needs us now more than ever.” So, did any of the battle that Macidus described in his tale even happen? Or did he only capture Kolivan and lure other Blades to this location one-by-one to kill them? The show is not clear about what has actually happened.

Krolia declares she’ll join Kolivan to help rebuild the Blades of Marmora. At least she won’t be here to take up so much of the story for a while. She goes to Keith and says, “I’m sorry to have to say goodbye to you for a second time.” Yeah, remember when she revealed herself as his mother back in 5x05 “Bloodlines” when she couldn’t control herself in the moment and said, “I left you once. I’ll never leave you again,” remember that? Yeah, that overwhelming amount of emotion that got to her in that moment no longer exists. She’s going to leave Keith. I don’t mind her leaving (beyond my being tired of her character) because they’re both adults and they’re both fighters in a huge conflict. But her leaving here makes her previous proclamation that she would “never leave [him] again” lose meaning. It takes away whatever emotion that part of the story had. It makes her declaration hollow. Once again, this show has flipped a switch narratively, and things are just different now just because. Keith gives her his Marmoran blade, and they hug. “Thanks for everything you taught me, Mom,” Keith says. Of course, we have no idea what any of these supposed things she taught him are since almost all of their relationship has happened off-screen.

“Keith, it’s time to get going,” Shiro says. Oh? Shiro’s still in this show? Of course, the show would have it be Shiro to be the one to interrupt Keith and his mother’s moment. And why are the Paladins so eager to leave right this very minute? I know they want to get to Earth, but they’re all still in the decompression phase of this conflict with Macidus. This separation feels forced.

Krolia and Keith tell each other they love each other then cut to the Lions flying away from the planet.

I like the premise of this episode. I like bringing the Druids back into the story, but that’s mostly because the show has never treated the Druids like characters and I’ve always wanted to learn more about them. While we get a Druid as an actual character in this episode, because of his lying, we have no idea what he says is true and what he says is a lie. We still don’t have any sense of the actual organizational relationship between Haggar and the Druids.

This episode having Macidus be the specific Druid that Keith fought in “Collection and Extraction,” while kind of cool to have a reference back to that early in the show, it reminds me about Keith’s hand seemingly being healed by the quintessence. If quintessence, and not Allura’s generated quintessence, but the refined quintessence ripped from living creatures can heal wounds, then how is quintessence a substance that poisons people so that they lose control of themselves? So, unfortunately, this episode just leaves me with more questions than it answered.

While I spent a lot of time trying to understand the logistics of off-screen events, and I don’t think much of it makes sense, and I know that a lot of my questions have no answers because the show’s creative team never thought to have answers for them, this episode is still way better than the past three.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 7 #vld 7x05 #commentary

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echodrops · 5 years

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Home and Half Galra Headcanons

I have owed @latransmearnsi this for forever, finally trying to squeeze a few drops of blood minutes out of a stone out of my day to share a whole bunch more worldbuilding Galra headcanons connected to my fic Home and a Half.

How long do Galra live?

I know the show was all about Alteans living hundreds of years compared to humans, but then considering that plot line was promptly dropped and never brought up again, and the fact that Zarkon and co. are the only Galra implied to have lived for 10,000 years due to the power of the rift, I’m just going to go with Galra living slightly but not much longer than humans. In fact, since it was never clear if Coran’s comment about years meant 600 Earth years or 600 Altean years, I’ve elected to just go with the idea of Altean years being notably shorter than Earth years. And since Altea and Daibazaal are in the same system in my personal headcanon--more on this later--they share somewhat similar year lengths. Altea’s years are 8 Earth months long, and Daibazaal’s are 10. Of the three species, Alteans live the longest (max about 150 Earth years), and Galra the second longest (max about 125-130 Earth years).

But this is somewhat a moot point, since military service is mandatory for a huge portion of the adult Galra population, and casualties are high; therefore, most Galra do not live long enough to reach the maximum lifespan.

What are some other traditions or games?

I think I’ve mentioned two games so far: Renni, which is a card-based game that is similar to both Magic the Gathering/Yugi-Oh and chess (there are multiple types of cards--such as defensive, trap, spell, and attackers--and certain cards are placed in certain locations on a set board. Each card can move in a set way and distance; the objective is to get an attacking card through the enemy’s defenses and traps to strike their “castle”). Although I’m saying “card” here, of course what I mean is paper-thin electronics that project holograms in the shapes of monsters and weaponry.

Renni is a favorite past-time of Prince Lotor, by the way!

A second tradition/game is “Marfeil,” the hunting game children play on their clan day. A high-powered flying device (basically the equivalent of a super-powered Earth drone) is released in a set area, and all the clan’s children are set loose to track, hunt, and capture it. It’s a free-for-all where alliances are made and broken in an instant, and only one kid can make it back victorious with the prize in hand. It’s a test of the children’s athleticism and ability to tenaciously pursue a target. Big bragging rights go to the winner!

In terms of stuff I haven’t talked about before... The Galra battle arena is about as “ancient tradition” as they come, although the violent, horrific battles of Zarkon’s late reign are not what it was always like (just like the gladiatorial fights in Rome were not originally intended to be fights to the death). According to headcanons I wrote earlier, the Galra population was originally divided into autonomous clan groups that were eventually united under a king. However, especially in early centuries, the union of the clans was tenuous at best, and disagreements over territory and resources frequently sparked up into small-scale combat. Originally the arena was founded as a way for clans to do battle with each other in a relatively organized and more civilized manner--the two clans would send representatives who would duel fairly; the winner of the duel would correspondingly “win” the feud for his whole clan.

Eventually, clan feuds died out as power began to accumulate in the hands of the monarchy. Over time, religious views--more on this in a bit too--were altered to promote the kings and queens of Daibazaal as absolute monarchs, invested with the power of the goddess, and the arena took on a new meaning: it became the primary vehicle for choosing Daibazaal’s “champion,” the planet’s strongest fighter, who, once crowned, was appointed the right-hand of the king or queen. (Check out the religious question below for more on the symbolism here.) The champion was entrusted with protecting the lives of the ruling family, and enforcing the monarch’s word as law. It was once am extremely noble and revered position that Galra would train their whole lives hoping to attain, and even to this day, the concept of the “champion” is so engrained in Galra’s cultural consciousness that finding out Shiro is the current champion would absolutely blow Dulsara’s mind and she’d never want to hang out with anyone else ever again.

What determines the treatment of the natives of conquered planets?

This depends on two things: 1) who conquers them and 2) what they’re being conquered for. Although all of Zarkon’s generals and fleets report back to high command, there’s still flexibility in the way they carry out their orders. I.e., ten generals in a galaxy might be given the same order to conquer new systems, but each general might conquer in a different way--some in a bloody massacre and some in a significantly less violent manner. Generals are effectively the rulers of the planets they conquer (until they are called to conquer a new planet, and a viceroy is appointed instead), and therefore each of the conquered planets is ruled uniquely. Many of Zarkon’s generals are hand-picked for their violent, bloodthirsty behavior though, so unfortunately, many conquered peoples are brutally slaughtered or oppressed. There are a few rare situations where the opposite is true, however. In certain cases, Galra intervention has provided planets with lifesaving technologies that improve quality of life for the original inhabitants, leading to a few somewhat mutually beneficial situations.

Likewise, the reasons for occupying a planet also change how the populace is treated. Sometimes planets are conquered merely to eliminate strongholds for allied anti-Galra forces, and the conquered planet itself has no special use for the Galra. In these cases, sometimes nothing more than a single large base is built on the occupied planet, resulting in a situation where Galra occupation doesn’t massively inhibit the original lives of the planet’s people. This was case with the base where Niresh, Dulsara, and Xerci’s families lived--they were a military outpost for moving supplies and information, but the planet itself had no meaning to the Galra and therefore the original inhabitants were mostly left alone unless they attempted to interfere with the operations of the base. On other planet, Galra occupation has prompted important economic revivals that have turned impoverished civilizations into flourishing galactic hubs.

Unfortunately this is not the case everywhere--on planets rich with natural resources that the Galra empire needs, the planet’s original inhabitants are typically enslaved to serve as a workforce to extract the planet’s resources until the planet is no longer valuable; then the inhabitants are rounded up and exported for service elsewhere in the empire.

It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s also not a simple “The Galra are always bad.”

What do Galra eat? Mealtime customs and etiquette?

Galra are mesocarnivores with strong metabolisms. Traditionally their diets consisted of primarily meat proteins (about 60% of their diet was meat and eggs), with the rest being made up of fruits, mushrooms, and what would qualify on Earth as leafy greens. Nowadays, the Galra Empire largely runs on synthetic food goo, which is significantly cheaper and less resource-demanding than actual food and prevents the likelihood of Galra troops ingesting poisonous matter on the wide variety of planets they conquer. Galra stationed in space will pay large amounts of GAC for illicitly traded foodstuffs gathered by those stationed on planets, but food poisoning is alarmingly common because, despite their physical strength, Galra are chemically sensitive to many compounds which are not naturally found in their own star system. The list of things Keith is “allergic” to is actually obnoxiously long; Neuhahn once accidentally sent him into shock by allowing him to eat vanilla ice cream. When he’s in a good state, Keith is the team’s notoriously picky-eater, right up there with Pidge (who has issues with strange textures). Unfortunately, when Keith gets reallyyyy hungry, his thought process usually devolves into: “Nothing I’ve eaten has successfully killed me so far, so I’m sure I’ll survive.” Chomp.

On the other hand, there are some things Galra are not allergic to that would straight up kill humans; fugu fish and deathcap mushrooms are no problem for purple space cats.

One other aside about eating: there are a lot, a lot of mixed Galra in the universe since their DNA (if not their behavior) plays well with other species; generally a mixed Galra will still be sensitive to the same chemical commands that affect full-blooded Galra, but may have slightly different dietary needs. For example, Xerci is a granivore whose diet leans more toward staple grains and plant matter than meat. This actually makes the lives of mixed Galra much harder, as they have to account for their dietary limits as a Galra while also attempting to appease the diet needs of their other species.

In the current Galra Empire, mealtime customs are kind of a thing of the past for most people--soldiers just don’t have the time or energy to make a big fuss over food goo. As the empire spans on and Galra colonies become more and more remote from the source of their own heritage, the complex etiquette of the past is going by the wayside somewhat. Traditionally, Galra coalitions would gather together at mealtimes to eat as a family unit, and proper table manners were drilled into the younger generation by the older members of the family--sit up straight, no elbows on the table, etc. One notable faux pas that is still true today is sharing food directly from your plate to someone else’s. Doing so is a big insult to the cook--because either you didn’t like the food enough to eat it all, or your host didn’t serve their guests properly (Why are you trying to feed someone else? Are you saying I didn’t give them enough?). Because of this, Galra have a reputation among other species for being stingy with food--do not ask your Galra friend for a fry, you won’t get one--but it’s really just a matter of finding it rude not to eat everything that is placed on one’s plate. Keith has never heard of this rule. His habit of pinching from Shiro’s plate is an absolute scandal to the Blade of Marmora.

Table manners among royal families is a Big Deal(tm). Lotor has the rules for silverware on 200 different planets burned into his brain.

What exactly does Galra courtship entail?

Most of the answer to this is “I can’t tell you because spoilers.” But there are some things I can say, chief among which is: at all levels of the social hierarchy, Galra courting is just really, really... different.

In most human societies, the (highly heteronormative) goal is to meet a person, marry them, and raise a family. The opposite is true for Galra: having children isn’t at all tied to being in a couple relationship (there is no baby mama drama in the Galra world), so many of them have children first and then go looking for a permanent life partner later. The basic reason for this is that Galra are a lot more serious about the “’til death do us part” concept than humans are; when they finally settle on a person, that’s it, they’ve settled for the rest of their lives.

I don’t mean this in a soulmates AU kind of way--it’s not “this person I met at 17-years-old is my One True Love” it’s a lot closer to “Wow, I can’t believe it only took me until 52 to find the person I’d be happy to live with for the rest of my life!” They wait until they are absolutely, 100% sure of their choice before courting and formally settling down. (Caveat: Not everyone gets to choose. The higher up the social hierarchy, the less likely it is that a Galra would be free to pick their eventual match; Niresh’s parents had an arranged marriage, for example. The only reason Lotor isn’t betrothed to anyone is that Zarkon doesn’t want to run the risk of challenges from multiple potential heirs and also Lotor is not about that life thank you.)

So, long story longer, courting happens more among older Galra and less among impetuous teens. Also, it would be extremely rare (and foolish--ah, but they do say love makes fools of us all) for a Galra to court someone they don’t already know very, very well. That 100% sureness comes specifically from knowing the other person inside and out. It’s not unusual for Galra to be living together for years before finally declaring their intention to formally court.

The actual courting is... equally weird. The most common way to signal interest in courting is engaging the other person’s coalition in the Galra equivalent of “flyting”--you insult the person you’re interested in in front of every one of their family members. Your insults serve two purposes: first of all, the more detailed and personal your insults are, the more obvious it is that you completely and fully know the person you’re interested in. If you can fairly point out every single bad habit and negative point about them, then you’ve paid close enough attention to know them deeply, as well as their family does. Second, being brave enough to insult someone in front of their very close-knit family is a must in Galra courting. If you shy away from the challenge of facing the family, you’re not worth anyone’s time.

After your insults, the family answers back in the opposite, with nothing but praise for their family member, and a back-and-forth battle begins assessing the person in question. The final goal is for the courter to "be persuaded” that of course, of course the family is right and the person in question is worth all the effort in the universe and more. It’s a game designed to demonstrate your knowledge of the other person as well as air out any grievances or sticking points before the courtship proceeds.

(You can see where other species’ might struggle with this--many an intentional insult has been mistaken for the opposite.)

After that, things get even sillier, but in the interest of time and space, I’ll leave this answer here.

What are their views on pets?

Galra are big pet keepers! Historically the “pets” were war animals that aided the clans in their conflicts with other clans, but over time pets have come to just be beloved household companions. Unfortunately, military members are not allowed to keep pets, no matter HOW incredible the critters they find on their space travels are. This doesn’t stop everyone. Many an escaped secret pet has caused serious issues on-board Galra battlecruisers. Civilian Galra family groups often have a motley collection of pets. Two problems: 1) The illegal pet trade is hyper-aggressive in the Galra Empire. They import thousands upon thousands of species of animals, without too much regard for the long-term species survival of these animals. 2) What qualifies as a “pet” to the Galra sometimes includes the citizens of other planets. It does not pay to be a small fuzzy person (or a big scary fuzzy person) in the Galra Empire. Sometimes slaves who escape the arena end up in the pet trade instead. Pet abuse is strangely not okay in the Galra Empire, but that doesn’t mean that being treated like a pet instead of a person is any less horrific.

(God help Keith when the kids finally reason out the argument, “Allura has mouses, so why can’t WE have a pet?”)

What's Galra mythology like? Religions?

I’m glad you asked this because this is actually at the heart of a lot of Galra plot line in HaaH. As I mentioned earlier, in this fic, Daibazaal and Altea were both in the same quadrant and although they weren’t particularly near each geographically, they were close enough to each other that they inherited some surprisingly parallel mythologies, shared with numerous other planets in their general region of space. In particular, both Altea and Daibazaal prominently feature legends related to a lion goddess. On Daibazaal, the legend goes that the creation of everything we know began with the lion goddess, the first star. The roar of the goddess shook the universe and created the ever-expanding waves of space and time; the shine of her eyes in the void became the burning cores of stars; the weight of her swift passages formed gravity and orbit. She breathes and life flows over planets. (In short, the lion goddess is a sort of visual representation or embodiment for what we humans would just call “energy” or “order”.)

But the very existence of the goddess ensured the existence of her diametric opposite--the antithesis of all creation, the extermination of all life, all energy, all differentiation. This being has no form of its own (it is what all things will become when they become nothing--entropy or chaos itself, if you will), but it constantly fights to upset the balance in the universe, to claim more than its fair share.

The legends say that four times the lion goddess took a physical form and came to defend Daibazaal from the onslaught of darkness--once by fire, once by water, once by earth, and once by vine--and at last when the whole planet rang with the force of her being, she put part of her soul itself into a mortal, her first champion, that he and all his descendants would be blessed with the power to combat evil wherever they roamed.

Of course, you can see how this kind of origin story might lend itself to propaganda. The early kings and queens of unified Daibazaal used the legend to their advantage, first claiming that they were direct descendants of the blessed champion, and then a step further--that, by possessing the strongest remnants of her soul, they ought to be treated and revered as physical manifestations of the goddess herself. This evolved over time alongside other cultural fixtures like the arena, until religion became irreparably tied to politics for the Galra: by the time Zarkon took the throne, the general agreement was that whoever was emperor/empress was the representation of the goddess made physical, and the champion crowned in the arena was the one blessed and bound to carry out both the power--and the will--of that “goddess.”

Over Zarkon’s reign, the influence of the religious aspects have waned significantly--it was not beneficial for the Galra to believe in a higher power instead of their immortal emperor--and so the importance of the goddess has been continually downplayed while the importance of the emperor has grown. Although most people still treat Zarkon as if he were a god and “the champion” is still an awe-inspiring figure, the significance behind “the goddess gave us power so that we could fight evil” has definitely been lost behind “we have power and it’s only right for us to use it.”

(You can see the obvious links to Voltron here. It’s definitely not accidental, but I’m not going to say much more than that.)

What are some common Galran phrases?

Ha ha oh man, I don’t want to write anything here and then have to take it back later when I inevitably over-think language stuff...

"Sticks and flungr” is a very unflattering why of saying someone doesn’t have their shit in order. A messy house might be described with this saying, or turning in a half-assed report at work. (For reference, it’s referring to the Frinunnel bird’s habit of making lopsided, disheveled nests out of well... sticks and poo.)

“Vrepitsatir” is a “yes man,” a military flunkie who mindlessly agrees to everything the higher-ups say without questioning it.

“Notches” is a way of referring to past lovers, based on the common habit of ear-nipping between partners.

“Be careful--Zarkon’s watching!” is an empire-wide joke, especially among the lower-level military, when you find out someone is up to something they shouldn’t be. The effect is pretty close to the joking Earth phrase “Ooohh, I’m tellinggg.”

Phew, I think that covers it!

#Home and a Half #HaaHVLD #Voltron #Galra #Galra headcanons #Voltron fanfic #Latransmearnsi

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hirazuki · 5 years

Text

I’m going to try and summarize what bothers me about VLD from as objective a standpoint as possible. A lot of people, including myself, have already made posts pointing out specific issues, especially with regards to the messages it sends to abuse victims, so I’m not going to touch on that or any type of emotional issues here at all. I’m going to skip specifics except where needed as examples, and just talk about the nature of story telling itself. As someone who not only has used fiction for escapism, but who has studied story telling both in terms of literary analysis of novels and of religious texts, it’s a subject that I feel very strongly about.

Warning: long ass post.

Okay, a couple of disclaimers first.

One, I am a firm believer in the “don’t like, don’t read” mentality. If I don’t like something, I don’t talk about it, I just move on. Y’all have never seen a single discourse post about The Dragon Prince, right? Yup, that’s ‘cause I really didn’t like it. It goes for countless other things too. I don’t expend time and effort and energy on things I don’t like, that’s just wasteful. So, why am I harping on VLD? Because I really enjoyed it, despite a couple of what I felt were minor issues at the time, for most of its run. That’s why I -- and I imagine the same goes for many other fans -- am so bitter.

Two, I came late into the Voltron universe. I joined in a couple of days before s6 dropped, and only watched DotU as well as the other Western versions in the past couple of months. Haven’t had a chance to see the original Japanese anime yet.

Three, I’m not a shipper, in general. I don’t ship anything in VLD except Zarkon/Honerva. Romance/sexual stuff is just not my thing, I’ll take swords and explosions any day over that. So my saltiness regarding the series has nothing to do with ships.

Alright, so I think my major gripes with the series can be sorted into three categories:

1. Inconsistency of Story Type:

This is, of course, my own opinion, but through my time of consuming fiction, I think there are three types of stories:

Good vs. Evil: the most basic type of story. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and everyone stays well in their lanes. Think Disney movies, typical Saturday morning cartoons -- the heroes are exemplary of good traits, the villains are one-dimensional and unrepentant, evil for the sake of being evil. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this story type imo, and there are several stories of this nature that I really do enjoy.

Grey Morality: a much more nuanced take on the concepts of good and evil, right and wrong. Due to the very nature of grey morality, there are varying degrees to which this can be implemented. Probably the most common one I’ve seen is where the heroes do some bad/questionable things, the villains/antagonists do some good things or have the right motives or are “noble” in some way; but overall, there is a sense that there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed, certainly by the heroes but also sometimes by the villains/antagonists too. An excellent example of this is Firefly. Another example, that puts a total twist on it by having the protagonist also be the “villain,” is Death Note -- even though the story resolves in a way that to the audience is, really, the only sustainable way possible, it still leaves neither the characters in-show nor the audience with any sense of victory. This concept is taken to the extreme by a series like Tenpou Ibun: Ayakashi Ayashi, where no one is right and no one is wrong, but at the same time everyone is right and wrong, and simply just human. There is no good and no evil, just context, circumstances, and choices.

Combination: this type of story starts with the Good vs. Evil dichotomy but, as the story progresses and the protagonist becomes more acquainted and involved with their environment, both the protagonist and the audience come to understand that the picture is actually much more complicated than that, and it evolves into Grey Morality. Bleach is a great example. We start with seeing the Hollow as evil, mindless monsters that need to be killed; we learn that they are actually human spirits that have transformed into “monsters” through pain and grief and, therefore, we pity them but also understand that it’s a mercy to put them down; we then find out that, actually, not all are mindless and they have a complicated society and culture of their own; and, eventually, come to accept them as (reluctant) allies against a bigger threat, understanding that they are creatures in their own right.

From the moment that Keith -- arguably the character within the main cast that had the most time/character development spent on him -- was revealed as being half-Galra (that is, half the “evil” race of the show), VLD promised to be that third type of story. Because there is no way that the writers would make one of their protagonists evil by default because of his blood in a kids’ show, duh, so by logical conclusion this means that that race is not all evil, after all. This was further emphasized by Lotor’s introduction to the plot -- a severe departure from his character in any previous incarnation -- and cemented by the episode, “The Legend Begins,” where we finally get to see the other side of things and the fact that not even Zarkon and Haggar were “born evil,” as well.

After the Keith reveal, we got shocked reactions from his teammates, notably and understandably Allura; got only an apology from her and not the rest for their treatment of him (which could have been better but, whatever, it was a step in the right direction, great!); and then... back to a weird strained relationship in working alongside Galra without another word on the subject.

Okay. Fine.

Then we get Lotor -- again, some of that initial resentment/treatment could be understandable to some extent, and eventually on the road towards, seemingly, genuine acceptance. Cool.

I won’t go into details about the colony episode, because that’s been done to death already, but, woah, major setback there. Back to the knee-jerk reaction of treating individuals of a race as complicit and responsible for the actions and perception of that race as perpetuated by a handful of individuals. And then -- flash forward to s8 -- we are welcoming Galra allies in our cause! Please join our Coalition! We want to help you!

Look. I’m not saying that you can’t retcon stuff; that you can’t go Good vs. Evil, develop into Grey Morality, and then reveal something and BOOM, jk, it was Good vs. Evil all along, gotcha! I’m sure that there is an author somewhere out there that has pulled that off effectively (I can’t think of any examples myself right now, but I’m sure it must exist somewhere).

I am saying that if you’re going to do that -- if you are going to pull the rug out from under everyone’s feet and sacrifice some crucial character development (and crucial characters themselves, let’s be honest) -- you better have a DAMN GOOD IN-UNIVERSE reason for doing so. And no, shock value or getting rid of a character because they were overshadowing the protags doesn’t count. Otherwise, your protagonists will look like giant jerks. Unless, of course, that’s what you’re going for, but I highly doubt that was the thinking here.

And then, we proceed to flip flop between “I knew it, the Galra are irredeemably evil, what’s wrong with these people?!” (I think Hunk -- HUNK, by far the most empathetic character -- said this at some point in s7?) and “Here, we can work together towards a brighter future” or some shit. You can’t do that. I mean you can, but you’re gonna get major backlash from your audience. Pick a fucking direction and stick with it.

For the past three seasons, it has really felt like the story line is being pulled into two different directions: 1) staying true to the original source material of Paladins = good, Galra/Drule = bad, and 2) providing the viewers with a groundbreaking, nuanced interpretation.

My dudes. You can’t have both. Trying to implement both of these approaches means having morally grey, nuanced characters operating within a narrative framework that is subject to an overarching principle of a strict Good/Evil dichotomy. Do you know how fucking hard that is to pull off effectively without diving headfirst into the pitfall of punishing your morally grey characters by default, simply because they happen to exist in a universe that cannot, by nature, support them???? I can think of only a handful of authors that have managed that and, I would argue, that the man at the top of the list only managed to be so effective and influential because what he wrote was, in essence, a mythology. Mythologies have a totally different set of concerns surrounding them. And even then, he went to great lengths, both in his works and outside of them in discussions/interviews, to note that the “evil” in his world could never have happened without it intentionally being part of the larger cosmological design, i.e. balance. I’m talking, of course, about Tolkien.

Why the fuck would you attempt to pull something like this off in a kids’ cartoon?! Avatar: The Last Airbender, since everyone loves that comparison, was defined by a black/white view that developed into a very simple grey morality, and it was this limited scope that allowed it to be presented so effectively. None of this sashaying back and forth.

Especially when this flip flopping is done for le dramatic effect/shock value, with seemingly no good in-story reason?? Of course it’s gonna fall flat.

2. Concept vs. Execution:

This is probably what drives me crazy the most about VLD.

As an idea, it was fucking brilliant -- anyone who has watched DotU, even with all the nostalgia, I imagine, can admit that it was very much a cut and dry 80s cartoon, with simple concerns; Vehicle Voltron attempted some nuances, but the Lion Voltron part of the show, which was by far the more popular part, was pretty stiff in that regard. VLD took that and introduced themes like: being biracial (Keith, Lotor, etc.), having to choose between duty and family (Krolia), having to choose between personal dreams and important relationships (Shiro), having to overcome deep-seated understandable prejudice and work with people you never thought you could come to stand for a greater cause and through that see that not everything is black and white and attain a greater understanding of the world (Allura), leaving home and learning to survive in a totally foreign environment in the worst circumstances possible (the paladins), dealing with disability, mental illness/ptsd while also dealing with issues of being in a position of leadership/power (Shiro), parental abuse (Lotor), substance abuse (Honerva and Zarkon), being a clone and coming to terms with that (Shiro/Kuron), learning to compromise and sacrifice personal integrity/morals for the betterment/survival of those you have made yourself responsible for (the paladins), and so much more than that. Lotor’s relationship with Honerva/Haggar had serious undertones of both Mother and Child symbolism, as well as Arthurian legend. The whole quintessence thing drew pointers from ancient and medieval concepts of alchemy.

The inclusion of any of these things, injected into a pretty straightforward and tame original source material like DotU, was inspired. What an absolutely fantastic take, with incredible potential.

... and it was the shoddiest, shittiest implementation and execution of any concepts that I have ever seen. Like... how? How did they manage to not be able to successfully see any of these themes to a close, and to actually offend the vast majority of their fanbase (regardless of background, age, race, sexuality, literally from all walks of life) by the way these themes were handled????

I’m sure time restraints, direction from above, etc., played a big part in it, but still. If you don’t have time to properly develop the interpersonal relationships between the core members of your main group of characters -- to the point that, say, Keith and Pidge? Hunk and Shiro? Did they ever properly, truly have any meaningful interactions? -- there’s no way you could properly handle all of this.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Also? As stories are being fleshed out, they and their characters tend to take on a life of their own. The Lotor/Keith parallels? I totally believe and understand how it’s possible that it was unintentional. But when that happens, you go back and rework the rest of your plot to make sense with what you now have before you. You adjust and adapt. You don’t barrel on ahead headless and not acknowledging it, and you don’t force your characters into straitjackets just because you want to doggedly follow this one idea.

3. The Female Lead:

Let me begin by saying that I really, really wanted to like Allura, and the way she was written was one of the biggest turn offs and disappointments for me. I won’t go into specifics regarding her, as there many posts that already address the problematic nature of how she treats people of her race vs. anyone Galra, but I will just look at her character development as a whole.

Perhaps the easiest way for me to voice my frustrations here would be with a comparison. Let’s look at my favorite female protagonist of all time, Nakajima Youko, from Juuni Kokuki (aka. The Twelve Kindgoms).

Youko starts off as a very meek high school girl, from a typical modern Japanese family. Class representative, top grades, is scared of conflict and wants to live up to everyone’s expectations of her, which makes her very submissive, a total coward emotionally, mentally, and physically. She seeks to please everyone and, as a result, harms her own development by never giving any thought to her own desires and ends up bullied by everyone around her. Magic happens, shit goes down, and she is whisked away to a different world that is parallel to our own, along with two friends from school; ripped from her home, her family, with absolutely no way back. This other world has a different language, people who end up in there from our world are treated like garbage and are slaves, has a medieval level of tech/advancement, and Youko with her friends has to figure out how to survive. She finds out she is actually queen of one of the realms in this world, which makes her a target of various groups. She is betrayed by literally everyone around her, everyone she places her trust in, including the two friends that got transported to this world with her.

She goes from meek and mild to bloodthirsty and brash; lashing out at everyone around her, plotting to kill those that offer her a helping hand, becoming unreasonably suspicious and racist and way out of line. Understandably so, but the narrative doesn’t, for one moment, present this as okay. Some more stuff happens and she finally snaps out of it, comes to a couple of realizations, and has major character development. She develops the attitude that, yes, people have betrayed and hurt her, but their actions towards her and their opinion of her is none of her business. It will not stop her from acting in ways that are in line with her own morals; if people choose to betray and use her, that’s on them. She will simply do what she must, and treat everyone as an individual according to their actions. This doesn’t mean that she adopts a pushover mentality -- it just means that she loses her knee-jerk reaction, and doesn’t rush to conclusions. She becomes a badass warrior and queen, strong and just, and, frankly, one of the most well-developed female characters I have ever seen.

Do I think this is the only way to write a strong female character? Of course not. But I’m convinced this is what the writers wanted to do with Allura, this kind of progression and path, from being angry, lost, and alone to being a confident, capable, magnificent ruler. And, imo, they totally missed the mark.

I think that the writers were so focused on giving us a “strong” modern female character, and getting as far away from her DotU damsel in distress depiction as possible, that they ended up writing her as, basically, a bully. Sure, they tell us -- both through other characters’ words in the show and through interviews -- about her diplomacy, peaceful nature, leadership quality, open-mindedness, etc., but they never show it to us. In almost every key moment in the series, she has been written to be combative and suffering from tunnel-vision.

And a huge part of this is that they simply didn’t give her any room to grow. Youko’s character started off at maybe... 5% of her potential? She was honestly so “weak,” I thought about dropping the series. But by the point the anime ended (because the story itself is unfinished and unlikely to continue, unfortunately), I’d say she’s at around 70%. That makes for an extremely dramatic, fulfilling, and believable character development. The VLD writers started Allura off much higher than that. Too high. From the get-go she’s a highly accomplished martial artist, has incredible physical strength due to her Altean heritage, a seemingly natural affinity for leadership and for appealing to people, she’s very attractive, well spoken, had a loving and supportive family, is a princess, had a brilliant alchemist for a father, has access to the universe’s greatest super weapon -- I mean, yes, she’s had to deal with immense loss and grief and come to terms with it in a very short period of time, and lost her father a second time so to speak with Alfor’s AI -- but overall, everything has been set up and handed to her in a nice package. Other than overcoming her hatred towards the Galra and idealization of Altea/Alteans, really, there’s nothing left for her to do that would be defining for her character.

That’s not to say that characters that are extremely accomplished from the start are a bad thing. But in their case, their emotional and mental development and maturity is that much more important, because that’s all that’s left to work with. The writers didn’t really give Allura any significant room to grow in terms of any of that. (And no, I don’t consider her new alchemical powers from Oriande as her growing; she expended no effort for that, it wasn’t really a trial at all for her; it was like me playing a video game on casual mode with the “killallenemies” console command enabled). Her overcoming her racism towards the Galra, beginning with Keith and BoM and continuing to do so with subsequent Galra allies, had a TON of potential and I had been so excited to see where it would go; but that fell flat, totally forgotten by the story.

In contrast, you have Lotor -- we see him struggling to claw his way out of the hand that fate has dealt him, to grow beyond his family’s influence and abuse. Both on and off screen, even described by his own enemies in great detail, we see just how much he has had to fight and to earn everything he has and he is, even things that shouldn’t have to be “earned” in the first place. He’s lost Daibazaal and Altea, both his father and his mother, he’s too Galra for anyone who’s not and not nearly enough Galra for anyone who is. Literally nothing has been handed to him. The juxtaposition between him and Allura, had Allura been given more breathing room by the writers, could have been fantastic and I would have shipped the hell out of it, like I do in DotU. She’s had everything he’s ever wanted (loving family, supportive father, Alfor himself, exploration, alchemy), etc.; envy would have been extremely appropriate on his part, and very interesting to work through, but that was never explored either.

So, I feel like what ended up happening was that a huge imbalance in how these two characters came across was created, made only more evident when their relationship with each other was what was front and center. And, at least for me, this is what makes me completely unable to see Allura’s side of things, and I freely admit it -- I simply don’t understand her or her actions, because I don’t feel like I’ve been shown enough of her inner workings as a character to be able to care about her in the slightest. I can definitely see where the writers were going with her, or where they thought they were going. But unless they actually meant for the character that is, for all intents and purposes, their female lead to be a racist, abusive, immature person playing at being an adult and at being the leader of a coalition spanning galaxies, who has no problem condemning millions of lives to death and devastation at a whim of her emotions because they are Valid™, and who wades dangerously close to “Mary Sue” territory many times due the way the narrative frames her... then all I see on screen is an unfinished character. Unfinished, because the writers didn’t take any opportunities in the narrative for the flaws and issues she does have to be addressed and overcome, opportunities of which there were plenty! I absolutely don’t mind that she has flaws -- flawed heroes are amazing. But, you gotta do something about them, i.e. address them and work through them. Otherwise your heroes remain static in a plot that is evolving and that’s not a good look.

And, you know, I honestly think DotU Allura is a much stronger female character. She works for everything she gets. She works her ass off. She has to fight to not only be allowed to be part of the team and fly a lion, but even just to do everyday common things like be out in the fields or swim or whatever; forget practicing martial arts. Coran literally ties her up at one point to prevent her from participating. Nanny is a constant battle for her. Over everything, from her clothes to her manner of speaking to where she’s going. But she doesn’t stop, she doesn’t give up. And she fucks up, BIG TIME, several times, she does TONS of stupid shit. But she learns, acknowledges it, gets called out on it, tries again, and keeps on trying. DotU Allura’s biggest battles, in my mind, aren’t with Lotor or the Drule forces or Zarkon, but with her own team and those she considers family, and her struggle for the others’ acceptance of herself and her skills within the group. And for that, she is a much stronger, more solid female character than VLD Allura, despite all superficial appearances and frilly pink dresses and 80s voice acting.

Again, like I said in a previous post, I don’t conform to the view that creators owe their fans anything. Write things however the fuck you want. You want to kill Allura off, fine. Do away with Lotor too? Cool. I completely understand people who want happy endings in fiction because, it’s true, reality fucking sucks; there are several fictional works I turn to whenever real life is too much. And I would be lying if I said that I don’t crave stories where characters like Lotor are given happy endings; of course I want my favorite characters to be okay. But overall, I’m the type of person who, as long as things make for an effective, compelling narrative, I’ll be content with it, regardless of whether the ending is tragic or happy or anything in between.

So you want to kill off your morally grey character and your female lead, who is also one of the only women on the team, who is also a princess figure, who has also been completely visually redesigned in such a way that you know women of color will relate to her? That’s fine by me, go right ahead. But do so in a way that is meaningful and makes sense within the larger narrative you created, and isn’t some empty, sensationalist gesture.

And also be aware of your fanbase. This is a reboot -- that comes with certain expectations attached, as a number of the viewers will very likely be fans of the old series, watching out of curiosity, nostalgia, etc. Expectations like, the princess lives, the heroes aren’t assholes, etc. (and I’m referring to expectations from DotU and other Western iterations, rather than the original Japanese series). You don’t have to conform to these expectations -- personally, I’m a big fan of tropes being subverted -- but you need to be aware of them. You need to know the rules before you break them, and if you break them, you better break them damn well.

Imo, VLD ultimately failed to deliver on these fronts, and pretty much fell prey to what a lot of series do -- it couldn’t handle the shift from being primarily episodic in nature (i.e., each episode is self-contained, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, while operating under a distant general goal, like defeating Zarkon; so, s1 and s2) to becoming a more complex narrative unraveling a hidden agenda (s3 onwards). Kind of like how the paladins made no provisions for how they would handle things after Zarkon’s defeat, it feels like the writers didn’t really have one solid plan for how to develop past that point as well.

tl;dr: Whoever is responsible for the way VLD turned out should write a book: how to offend your entire audience in eight seasons or less.

#okay i think this is my last personal post on the matter #i think i've vented about everything that's been bugging me for the past couple of seasons #i'll still reblog and comment on things i find interesting #but i'm gonna focus my energy on constructive stuff #like plucking the hairline of lotor's wig and writing fanfic :)#talk: v

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maychorian · 5 years

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Paladin Theme Songs

I made a playlist and said I would explain it later, so here I am explaining.

Here’s the playlist. Lock in your guesses about which song goes with which Paladin now. Also, I count Kuron as a paladin, so there are seven songs.

I should also note that these are not necessarily songs the various paladins would choose for themselves. Nor are they particularly cinematic or appropriate for background music in a TV show. The question was what I would pick as the theme song for each paladin, so this is what I would pick.

It’s also kind of early-canon rather than late canon, because that’s where my mind tends to go when I think about these characters. These might not necessarily be appropriate for the person I associate them with at the end of the show, or even near the end. The characters did develop, all of them. They had arcs and resolutions. So yeah, think peak-angst time. Also, some of the songs could definitely apply to more than one paladin. “Hero” by Family of the Year could be for any of the Earthlings, really.

Buckle in for some maychorian meta. I don’t do it very often.

For Lance: Waterbound by The Fretless

youtube

These is definitely an early-canon song, from when Lance was homesick and missing his family and wondering if he would ever get home. Also, the theme of water and the Blue Lion, of course. It’s about Lance feeling trapped by his duty, wistful and a little lonely.

It's I'm gone and I won't be back Don't believe me count my tracks River's long and the river's wide I'll meet you boys on the other side

So say my name and don't forget Water still ain't got me yet Nothing but I'm bound to roam Waterbound and I can't get home

For Kuron: Weighty Ghost by Wintersleep

youtube

I got pretty choked up listening to this song and thinking about Kuron. His body was basically stolen before he was dead, and it’s sickening. Worst is how no one even seems to realize that they did that to him. He’s just a bodiless ghost.

Worse is the second verse, which to me is about Kuron just wanting to get rid of the voices in his head and be left alone. And treated like a person. For God’s sake, treat this boy like a person. He is one.

Are you some kind of medicine man? Cut the demons out of my head You can't kill something that's already dead So leave my soul alone I don't need no surgery Take those knives away from me I just wanna die in my own body A ghost just needs a home

For Allura: Voidfish (Plural) by Rachel Rose Mitchell and Griffin Mcelroy

youtube

This is the only instrumental in my playlist, so it’s definitely the most abstract, but that’s fitting, since Allura’s story definitely felt very abstract. But still, close your eyes and listen to this song and think about Allura, and try not to cry or get goosebumps. I hear the emptiness of space, the mystery of magic, swooping and crying noises that remind me of the rift creatures that became bound to Allura and her fate. The beautiful harp of her feminity, the war-like drums of her determination to fight, it’s all there. You can imagine her spreading out through multiple dimensions, making them grow and thrive and shine brightly. And then the fading at the end, with the lonely howl of something unknowable.

For Hunk: Hero by Family of the Year

youtube

This is early-canon Hunk, sure, but I think it also holds true through the rest of his story. Even after he accepts the burden of fighting for the universe, he doesn’t want to be a solo hero. He wants to fight with his team. He loves people and bringing them together. That was one thing I liked about the ending, actually, was how Hunk’s food was shown bridging cultural divides and helping the new universe after the fall of the Galra Empire prosper and grow.

And we can whisper things Secrets from my American dreams Baby needs some protection But I'm a kid like everyone else

So let me go I don't wanna be your hero I don't wanna be a big man I just wanna fight like everyone else

For Pidge: Summer Skeletons by Radical Face

youtube

To me, this is the ultimate sibling song. Maybe the singer met it about childhood friends, but this is the song that my younger siblings really strongly adopted as an anthem. My youngest sisters sang it at another sister’s wedding rehearsal, crying and shaking the whole time. Obviously not every moment in the song will resonate with every set of siblings, but it’s just a beautiful encapsulation of what it means to be young and free and enjoying each other’s company in the endless heat of halcyon summer, and it makes me think of Pidge and Matt and how close they are. And how much she missed him. And how happy they were to get each other back.

When all we knew wasn't stolen There was nothing real to lose When our heads were still simple We'd sleep beneath the moon You were something That would always be around When regrets were nowhere to be found

Lost out among the trees Our hands scraped the bark You still had bloody knees From your spill in the dark We were both laughing then While carving bad words in the wood We had no need to speak

For Keith: Raging Fire by Phillip Phillips

Tumblr won’t let me add anymore videos, but here’s a link.

Yeah, yeah, maybe it’s a little on the nose for me to pick a song about fire for Keith and a song about water for Lance. Still, this song feels appropriate for Keith, for his passion and the way he begins to open up to those around him. His relationship with Shiro is especially poignant in these lyrics, I think. Especially when he was fighting for “Shiro” in that confrontation at the end of Season 6, begging him to hear him and respond to him and fight against the programming. If only he had managed to save Kuron as well as Shiro. But he tried, he really did.

You know time will give and time will take All the memories made will wash away Even though we've changed, I'm still here with you If you listen close, you'll hear the sound Of all the ghosts that bring us down Hold on to what makes you feel Don't let go, it's what makes you real

For Shiro: Soldier’s Eyes by Jack Savoretti

Here’s another link.

Shiro is a fighter. A gladiator. A champion. He’s a soldier, literally and figuratively. And he never stops fighting. But his eyes are definitely haunted by the things he’s seen and things he’s done, and that’s not something he’ll ever be able to escape, even after he goes home at last.

Cause like the enemies that we are battling I am nothing but a human alien Left with nothing else but to keep wandering Down this path whilst stopping my hands trembling Because I know that I'll be coming home soon And yes I know that I'll be coming home soon with a soldier's eyes

#voltron legendary defender #lion kids #music #meta #my stuff

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maandags · 6 years

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Headcanons for the paladins + Allura and Lotor with a theatre geek s/o

Request: Wow! Your first batch of headcanons so amazing, you have no idea! Would you be willing to write headcanons for the Paladins + Lotor having a theatre geek s/o? Extremely extroverted, affectionate, and eccentric! Thank you if you decide to, but I’d understand if not! I wish you luck! 💞 - A fellow Voltron Imagines Blog

Hello love! Thanks for requesting, sorry I only got to it now. Made them extra long to make up for it! Hope you enjoy!

(I also just noticed I added Allura. oops?)

~Mod Water

Shiro

thinks you're awesome

will just look at you while you jump around reenacting your favourite play all by yourself with this fond smile on his face

will never get tired of your energy

cuddling is a Must

especially when he's had a rough day

you get him to loosen up a bit

will use the sappiest theatre pick up lines because he's a huge nerd (my only dream role is being with you)

he learned them from lance

but can and will always count on you to keep a lighthearted mood

loves to just curl up on the couch and watch your favourite plays and musicals that you guys found in the space mall for 2 bucks

Keith

when u guys first met, Keith was kind of intimidated by u because wow introvert alert

like he just didn't understand how someone could be so energetic when there was a war going on so he just kinda avoided you

but then he got to know you

and WOW did you blow this mullet man off his feet

like the first time that you guys really started talking of course he asked u what u liked and of course you said theatre

and the smile that lit up your face made Keith die a little on the inside

he doesn't care that much for theatre/musicals himself but he does enjoy them when he watches them with you

helps you take some things a little more seriously and you help him find the fun side of some things

you are very big on PDA and you slowly warm Keith to the idea (from hand holding to hugging to cheek kisses to actual kisses)

but behind closed doors

Cuddle Fest

you guys are goals tbh

Lance

let's be real, if you are a theatre kid so is lance

when he finds out you are just as, if not more, into theatre as he is he's so pumped

immediately organises a musical marathon where the two of you just spend 6 hours watching musicals and quoting like half of the lines

you two hit it off right away and literally nobody is surprised when y'all start dating. nobody.

lancey lance is an extrovert too so he thinks it's really cool that you can keep up with his thoughts and conversations

soon the majority of your conversations consist of 75% musical/play quotes. it drives everyone nuts

is also very affectionate and doesn't mind PDA

hugs from behind and resting your head in the crook of his neck make him melt please do that

DO NOT LET THE TWO OF YOU ALONE IN THE KITCHEN. EVER.

it finished badly last time, hunk almost had a stroke

Hunk

thinks you're so pure

you just brighten up a room by being there and quite frankly so does he so you two are perfect for each other

the childlike excitement that lights up your face every time you talk about the theatre just has him grinning like a lovestruck fool

Hunk is pretty extroverted as well but has to calm you down every once in a while because you would get a little annoying honestly

is the only one who understands your weird rants and is the best listener

is your #1 hype man

gives the best hugs

also doesn't mind PDA

his favourite are cheek kisses

they're just so sweet

also will join you in the reenactment of your favourite plays. he actually loves it

you two have the purest relationship and are too goddamn cute

Pidge

was kind of confused at first when she met you

you were a ball of energy that zipped from one end of the room to the other and never seemed to get tired

like the literal only thought in her head was what the shit

and then she caught you dancing and singing to one of your favourite musical numbers

Matt used to be a theatre kid as well so she kind of picked it up and secretly loves it

so when she makes a musical reference, your jaw drops and you suddenly get heart eyes

you guys are joined at the hip from then on

will spend hours talking to you about the tech stuff that happens behind the scenes of every play

you're actually really interested (it makes her so happy that she's able to talk tech with you) and the two of you will talk for hours about it

honestly loves listening to you talk before going to sleep, she says it's relaxing but she just loves your voice

PDA is fine with her as long as it's not in serious situations

loves to sit/curl up on your lap

you guys are a weirdly good match

Lotor

okay so Lotor has had a pretty tough childhood

chances are he doesn't even know what theatre is

you are SHOOK

you kind of take it upon yourself to teach him everything you know about theatre

you: okay so I found the book with all the completed Shakespeare plays, sit down bud we've got work to do

Lotor becomes weirdly passionate about it

at first is kind of exasperated by your immense amount of energy

but slowly finds that he really enjoys your company

you are just never boring

even though he doesn't understand half of the stuff that you're talking about

won't do much more than hold your hand or kiss you on the cheek in public

but once you two are alone he becomes the clingiest cuddler

loves you a lot ok

Allura

at first, doesn't quite know how to act around you

is just confused and a lil weirded out

but once you two start talking and you explain human theatre to her she gets so excited

will also teach you about the Altean equivalent of theatre

you love hearing about Altean theatre because you love learning about your girlfriend's culture!!

when you learn that there isn't an Altean version of a musical you gasp in shock

you immediately organise a marathon

allura ends up absolutely loving them

quoting them the following days to see your face light up

hand holding!!!!

always holds your hand. always.

you two are the most adorable couple

bonus :

*after allura stopped you from charging a galra soldier with nothing but a sword that you don't know how to use*

You: I would have had him, 'lura!

Allura: fencing in theatre is not the same as sword fighting in battle, y/n

You: *annoyed huff*

#vld x reader #voltron x reader #keith x reader #lance x reader #hunk x reader #shiro x reader #pidge x reader #allura x reader #lotor x reader #voltron headcanons #vld headcanons

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omggiogiothings · 5 years

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Voices Ch.9

So sorry about the lateness of this chapter,,, But hey! UPDATE! so good times : )

If you’d like to read this fic on Ao3 please click here!

Thank you guys for putting up with me. Happy reading!

Keith quickly learns his wedding outfit was not meant for comfort.

The tight fitting undergarments bite into his skin and he’s annoyed at the amount of times he has to discreetly pull his shorts down when they start riding up his thighs. He’s showing enough skin as it is, he does not want to flash the prim and proper Alteans standing around them.

He had assumed after the wedding the reception would be a short affair but all his hopes die the moment Shiro introduces him to the Puigian leader, and then the Olkari, and then the Arusian. It’s an endless string of people each giving them praise and well-wishes that are definitely lies. The Puigian had given him such a dirty look Keith was amazed he hadn’t bitten his tongue when he said he was happy they were married.

It was part of his duties now, he supposed. Keith stayed by Shiro’s side, one hand light against his back as Shiro held him with a loose hand on his hip. Sometimes he would drum his fingers against Keith when someone started getting talkative. Once he realized what he was doing he blushed, embarrassed and avoided Keith’s knowing gaze.

The reception was a public affair on purpose. There were too many aliens Keith would not be able to recognize or remember. And from them all, there was only a sprinkle of Galra. Keith remembered making the seating arrangements with the others, telling them which squadrens would be better together and which would be better apart. He isn’t surprised to find some of them missing. Keith knew there would be a punishment for showing disrespect to Zarkon’s orders.

Keith is introduced to a couple dozen people and knows there is no way he will remember their faces or names. He also notices no one from Zarkon’s court had bothered to show up.

Keith catches the double meaning. None of them had approved of Zarkon’s decision. He didn’t have to be privy to the peace talks to know that. Zarkon’s court was filled with purebred Galra, each withered and old. They had been commanders and warriors once upon a time. Keith loathed them as much as he loathed his grandfather. He learned to walk eggshells around them. He didn’t like being in the same room as any of them. Only a handful of them had truly left him alone as a child. But once he presented as an Omega, there was an air of disgust and revulsion. Keith knew Lotor had suffered the same issues because Zarkon had coupled with an Altean.

They were hated for things they couldn’t control.

Still, he could name them, could talk about their glory days and their children. Their children were high ranking officers and each with their own corrupt pockets of command. He hated them but learned to tolerate them. He didn’t get involved with politics, instead he found ways to work around them and away from them.

They were stupid anyways. Zarkon’s court was nothing more than puppets, made to make the citizens of Gal think he was a just and caring ruler. A load of ruggle.

When the newlyweds were finally allowed to take a seat the, servants started serving meals and refreshment. Their table is at the front of the grand hall where Keith had met Shiro for the first time. Despite being exhausted, Keith is pleased to see that their decisions had been taken into consideration for the decoration. There’s a mixture of black and golden decorations, streamers with lace fabric lining the tables and chairs. The flowers are beautiful, he remembers a few of them from the ones Shiro had sent him. There’s cards on the tables but Keith isn’t sure what they decided to put on them. He isn’t even sure what the point is, if he was honest. There are also small details he notices as well. He remembers the arguing over the silverware (that Shiro and Keith had both thought looked exactly the same but Coran had screeched that there was a terrible difference) and the red and black designs on the plates instead of the black and red designs (again, exactly the same but they were scolded for assuming so).

It’s elegant and regal. He remembers Pidge mentioning that the first half of the reception would be for the polite congratulations of the new couple before the public was invited to join them for the occasion.

The food is served with a flourish and Keith forgets about looking interested and instead focuses on the meals he recognizes from taste testing with Hunk and… the questionable items.

Keith and Shiro are seated with one another along the long table taking up one side of the great hall. They’re sat in the middle, separating their respective families as planned. Keith has his father on one side and feels a judgemental stare at every plate he picks up. But he’s hungry and he refuses to be denied a meal so good.

Keith takes a moment to investigate what looks like a grotesque looking flower when Hunk suddenly leans forward and waves a hand at him. “Uhhhhh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, man.”

“What is it?” Keith asks, pushing it away gently and looking at Shiro who is having a staring contest with it. Shiro stabs it, making it open up and release a pink puff of air.

“Altean cuisine,” Hunk deadpanned, not bothering to look at Shiro who nearly knocks himself backwards as he coughs into his hand. The smell is horrid and Keith takes pity on him, pushing the plate back and away with the end of his fork. “It’s like, questionable at best. I’ll save you the mystery of what it tastes like. It’s really bad. I think Alteans are the only ones with taste buds strong enough for it.”

Keith considers, looking out to the crowd and how they handle their own meals. He finds Thace in the crowd, picking at it and putting a piece into his mouth. Thace was respectful like that, always willing to appreciate someone's culture. It doesn’t end well when he chokes, startling the lieutenants around him. Thace swallows and almost disappears as he slouches in his seat. If Shiro’s reaction to it hadn’t been enough to convince him, Thace turning the lightest shade of lavender is.

“Thanks.” He turns back to Hunk, momentarily finding Shiro fighting with another item of food. Keith wrinkles his nose when the new plate of food actually moves and takes his fork. “You don’t like it?”

Shiro doesn’t look at him, glaring at the newest enemy on their table. Hunk dutifully hands him a butterknife before looking horrified and yanking it away. They didn’t need a new food monster stealing a butterknife. “No. Just, no.”

“Shiro thinks Altean food shouldn’t still move which is a very valid concern.” Hunk says matter of factly.

“You hunt for food. You kill the animal to eat it. I don’t want to have to fight it.” Shiro sounds exasperated, as if he had been over this a million times before.

Keith looks at Shiro’s purple markings and pointed ears, frowning in consideration. But before he can voice his question Hunk claps a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “But, thank god Shiro didn’t inherit the non-existence taste of an Altean. He’s more human than Altean when it comes to taste. He loves sweets, especially my cookies.”

“Cookies?” Keith pulls one of Shiro’s Galra plates closer to himself and stabs the meat. He looks up at sees Shiro’s narrowed gaze and eats the meat. They’re running low on edible food, all the remaining food on their plates are colorful where it shouldn’t be and moving. Keith dares Shiroto try and steal his plate back..

“You don’t know what cookies are? Oh man, I am going to have so much fun showing you the ways of my culinary genius.”

“To be fair,” Shiro started, giving up on taking the plate but still sneaking a piece in defiance. “Anything Hunk makes is really good. Maybe even better than what my mom used to make me as a child.”

“Aww, that’s sweet. But honestly, it’s totally where we’re raised that makes a difference. Tale smelly tofu for example.”

Hunk starts a discussion on food, leaving Keith to munch on his food as they argue back and forth. He’s content to just listen to them, already feeling something shift in his relationship with Hunk. Hunk is a good balance of sarcasm and anxious energy. It keeps him sharp despite being exasperated with certain situations. Keith supposes being a Paladin really does help you develop a thicker coat of fur.

By the end of their discussion he knows Shiro is weak for anything sweet and will actually cry if he eats anything spicier than ketchup (whatever that is).

As the food dwindles down, a band plays music in the background signaling the final stretch of the night. Keith watches Alteans take their partners and allied friends to the center of the room. Each of them laughing and enjoying one another. The main entrance opens and a sweep of new faces appear. Civilians were encouraged to join the festivities once the main ceremonies were held. It may have been a political arrangement but the civilians easily mingled into the crowds.

Keith’s content to spend the rest of the night at the end of the hall but Shiro has other plans. He stands up, ignoring the soft hush that falls across the room as he turns to Keith and extends a hand. “Would you give me the honor of having this dance?”

Keith stares at him in surprise, wary and embarrassed. There’s a reason he had wanted to stay seated all night. “I, I don’t know how to dance.”

Dancing was not something talked about often in the empire. He remembers hearing whispers of it at the Academy and even the head Mistress had mentioned it. But it was not taught there. Another forbidden tradition, Zarkon held it over their heads with an iron fist.

At least he thought Zarkon had as he sees Thace taking another Galra with him to the dancefloor. His partner is pale with the yellow glow of a purebred’s eyes. Something cold settles in his stomach when he realizes Zarkon had not held it over their heads with an iron fist, he had held it over the Omegas.

“Don’t worry.” Shiro snaps him out of his thoughts, gentle with him. “I’ll lead you through it, okay?”

Keith hesitates for only a second before caving into Shiro’s wishes. He supposes it would be good to show the room full of Alteans that they were taking this marriage seriously. It still doesn’t stop the knot from growing in his stomach as he’s lead around the table and away from the judgemental eyes of his family.

Shiro’s hand is warm in his as they find a relatively empty area to begin. Shiro picks up their intertwined hands, holding them steady as he guides Keith’s left hand onto his shoulder. Shiro places a hand under Keith’s arm, resting it gently across Keith’s left side. “Luckily, Altean music follows a simple beat. Let’s start with a simple sway, okay?”

Keith is nervous, wondering if Shiro could feel the tremble in his hands. He doesn’t want to embarrass himself, especially in front of an entire court waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. But Shiro smiles at him gently and then ushers them to the side. “It’s all a series of beats okay? One, two, three. You can count the steps until you get the hang of it.”

Keith looks down to their feet, catching the steps with Shiro in his own head as the gently move side to side. The music sounds soft to Keith, though he can’t say he’s listened to much music. It was present in the Empire but Keith had never been exposed to it often outside of formal events with other alien species.

“Now, I’m gonna twirl you, okay? It follows the same amount of beats. Just, glide into it.”

Keith’s ready to mention how the ruggle was he supposed to glide into something but Shiro counted out to him, “One, two, three-”

Keith was unprepared for Shiro to let him go, gently easing him into a twirl that made him smack a Puigian in the back. He ducked back closer to Shiro as the person gave him a nasty glare.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro offered, giving a nervous laugh and hauling Keith close and away from the person. “I’m not the best dancer.”

Keith saw the hostility melt away to a polite expression. It made Keith’s stomach turn in disgust, he hated people who were such liars to others for the benefits of politics.

Shiro led him back to an empty area, getting his attention as he held his hands again. ��That was good, I guess it’s hard to teach the waltz on the fly.”

“I’m a quick study.” Keith said, determined to perfect the steps. The incident with the puigian only solidified Keith’s motivation to figure this out. He’d show those upstarts he knew how to play their little political game too. “And you’re a great teacher.”

Shiro coughed into his hand, looking a little amused before getting them back into the starting position. “Remember, all to the count of three.”

Keith managed to stumble over his feet this time but met Shiro with the same frustrated glance and the need to try again. By the third time Keith was able to follow along with Shiro, keeping to the dance quickly enough.

“This is nice.” Keith said, still looking at their feet as they continued their simple swaying side to side. “What did you call it? A waltz?”

“Yeah, it’s a type of dance on earth. There’s a bunch of variations of it but for a beginner trying waltz, this is the one to go to.”

Keith looks up, taking in the way Shiro was smiling down at him. “Are there a lot of dances on earth?”

“Hmm. Yes. Each varies by the cultures they come from. Sadly, the waltz is the only one I really know and that’s because I had to take a class in elementary school.”

“What’s an elementary school?”

“It’s uh, it’s an education facility that teaches young kids basic education.”

Keith hummed, thinking of his own tutor when he was young. The memories are fuzzy, making him sad to forget his face so easily. But he had taught Keith to read and write, how to hold a sword and the basics of Galran history. He taught Keith of his mother, how to mourn, and how to keep himself safe, even if he was physically not.

“I haven’t read up on earth. I guess I should.”

Shiro twirls him one more time, bringing him back in close. “If you’d like.”

A new song picks up and Shiro focuses on something just over Keith’s shoulder.

“Hey, uh, hope I’m not interrupting?” Hunk is close, something like a shy smile on his face. “Mind if I have this dance?”

Keith blinks, ready to hand Shiro over when Shiro leads their linked hands to Hunk’s. “I’m done for the night. Would you like to dance with Hunk, Keith?”

Keith feels like he’s being put on the spot but Shiro stops before they reach Hunk, looking to him for approval. He gives a hesitant nod and Shiro drops his hand in Hunk’s. It’s instantly dwarfed by Hunk’s grip as Shiro moves back and gets intercepted by Pidge who drags him out to dance with a grin. Hunk keeps him in the same grip Shiro had him before but there is a stiffness and space between them that hadn’t been there with Shiro.

Hunk leads him through the same steps as Shiro had and Keith follows along easily, albeit nervously. Was he supposed to talk to Hunk during this? It was one thing talking about food with others, it’s another on their on their own.

“I meant what I said. Earlier. Uh.” Hunk stutters around his words, avoiding Keith’s gaze. Keith’s a little lost and Hunk seems to realize that as he finally swallows and faces him head on. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. And I know, it’s pretty shit that a Paladin of Voltron is so… dumb towards the Galra. And ya know, I believe there aren’t all terrible Galra out there. Just scared civilians who are trying to figure themselves out. But someone from the royal family? That just spells trouble, dude.”

They stop in their dancing and Hunk snaps his mouth shut, seeming to realize what he was rambling about. “Wow, that is not what I wanted to say.”

“Hunk, stop,” Keith starts, but Hunk continues their swaying, even as something clenches in Keith’s chest. “I appreciate your honesty. You don’t have to do anything with me. No relationship and no need for formalities. I understand.”

“Okay, I’m scared of you.” Hunk doesn’t stop barreling on. “I mean, you were bat shit good in the mating ceremony fight. You are an unknown factor, an unknown variable that is now a part of our team and we have to account for it. Never introduce an unknown variable to something, like, unless it’s controlled or something. I don’t know, research and analysis was a boring field to me, that’s Pidge’s business. But anyways, it’s just terrifying cause you come with a lot of baggage that could really tear this team apart.”

And wow, Keith said Hunk should be honest but he really wanted him to stop now.

“And it sounds bad because I always think of the worst case scenario in hopes to prevent it from happening. But being a paladin makes you realize you can’t keep preparing and preventing because you’re always gonna get shit thrown at you. And you’re apart of this team now, married into it, I guess. So we stick together and we do the best we can to deal with stuff as they come.” Hunk brought him in a little closer, taking the steps in a slow and gentle movement. “I’m willing to try making a friendship work. But only if you want to. I’ll be honest with you and only take things at your own pace, okay?”

Keith is struck, feet stumbling that Hunk catches up on for them. He feels flustered, not sure how he is meant to respond to something like this. But Hunk doesn’t expect an answer, only smiles at him and grunts when a pointy elbow hits him on the side.

Pidge grins from under Hunk’s arm, pushing him with her hip even if Hunk doesn’t budge an inch. “I’m stealing your dance.”

“Wow, first, rude. Second, you know your elbow is a weapon of mass destruction, can you not.” Hunk is glowering at her but still lets Keith go as Pidge takes Keith’s hands and yanks him close.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Lance wants a dance too, big guy.” She grins, all teeth before making Keith stumble as she pulls him away. Hunk lets out a big sigh before heading back to their table where Keith sees Shiro trying to slink his way back before he’s stopped by a breed of alien with more legs than arms. Keith squints but Pidge’s attempts in leading him to dance start to demand his attention.

“I was never that great at dancing but I can lead.” She is determined, looking at their feet and moving them along. She’s still a few inches shorter than him but he indulges her. He’s sure they look plenty awkward when she tries to twirl him. “So, how was the wedding?”

“Tiring.” Keith admits. “Dancing is weird. How long do I have to do this?”

Pidge hums to herself, eyes looking back to the table where he sees the way Allura is staring at them. He hadn’t paid attention to her all night and now he realizes why. Allura is seething, anger for a reason he can’t understand. “Lance will be asking you to a dance soon too. We wanted to do this as a sign of respect for you joining our ranks. It’s also a back off tactic to people who think we aren’t taking this seriously and might try to undermine us. Allura hates it.”

Keith looks away from her. Allura hates the Galra and probably was hurt when her father suddenly decided they had to like them. He knows she had to have grouped them altogether for her to act the way she is. But a part of him can’t even blame her for it. He’s grown used to his own prejudice and bias towards Alteans. But he does not favor one race over the others. Both have wronged him. He’s a neutral party, ready to advocate for either side if he was asked. Alteans had played with fire just as the Galra have. Keith won’t let either race try and sweep their behavior under the rug just like how Allura refused to let this wedding cover her animosity.

“Why would you do that to her?” Keith asked before he could stop himself. He realized a second to late that, that was a personal question. But Pidge hums, considering it.

“I… It’s mean and it’s not right, I know that. But, what was she thinking? After we finished this war we had to rebuild and to do so, we have to work for the Galra. I’m… I’m scared about what her plans were afterwards or if she even had any. You got a weird hate respect going for them but that’s the best we have at this point. You married an Altean. That says a lot for this treaty. And she hates it. And I’d understand if she hated it for the decent reasons. But she hates it because it makes us look weak. Shiro? Taking a Galra for a spouse? She feels like it sullied the line and I hate her for it!”

They stumble and Keith brings them to a halt, looking at her in surprise. “You don’t hate her.”

“No.” She mumbles, looking close to tears. “I could never hate her. I’m just… She’s better at this stuff and calling us out for it and yet here she is, being a hypocrite. I want what’s best for her but I don’t know how to even tell her that.”

Keith looks around, realizes they’re being stared at and brings her close, leading her along even if the steps confuse him. “She has to do it on her own, Pidge. You can’t make her do anything.”

Pidge sniffles and nods, leading into the dance now. “I know. I just don’t want to hurt her feelings but I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I do it.”

They twirl before Lance appears, glower on his face and looking embarrassed about being in this situation. Keith almost wants to dance with Allura instead. Pidge passes him off quickly, a small smirk on her lips at the awkward situation.

Lance is stiff, keeping his face neutral when Keith takes his hand. Keith’s sure he’s scowling if the twitch in Lance’s eyebrow means anything.

However, when they make a twirl, Lance stumbles a step and steps on Keith.

Keith hisses, jerking away but instead tugging Lance into hin where they awkwardly flail and knock into a few dancing couples.

Lance is too close, armor digging into Keith that Keith elbows the unprotected area of Lance’s stomach.

“I thought you could dance?” Keith hissed.

“Of course I can dance, you can’t dance.”

“You stepped on me!”

“Nope, lies, didn’t happen.”

Someone cleared their throat and they snapped up, perfecting their stance and glaring at the nearby alien.

“Yes, is there an issue?” Lance asked, smoothly leading Keith back into the waltz like nothing happened.

“Keep your petty arguments elsewhere, Paladin.” The alien hissed, jagged teeth bared at them. It was a threat if Keith’s ever seen one. Keith looked away, not wanting to cause any more of a scene (even if it was Lance’s fault!).

“Listen, furball.” Lance said, making Keith turn to him quickly. What the heck was he doing?! This guy towered over them, walked on hind legs with coarse fur. He was huge, definitely something Keith knew would keep up a good fight at the arena. And Lance was challenging it? For what?? “Last thing I wanna hear is you complaining to me about petty arguments when I remember saving your planet because of your people’s petty argument. A paladin doesn’t forget.”

The alien didn’t flinch but it was close. He gave one last hiss before turning and walking away from them with his partner. Lance sniffed, turning back to Keith with narrowed eyes. “What?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Keith said, looking away from the paladin as they continued their robotic and stiff steps. Keith wasn’t sure he had anything to tell Lance. He was the only Paladin Keith tended to avoid. He didn’t like being accused or judged and picked apart. He should be used to it but Keith would still rather avoid it.

As the song came to a close, someone cleared their throat.

Keith went stiff at the familiar face of Krovok, someone from Zarkon’s council.

“My prince.” Krovok bowed, one fist clenched over his chest. Familiar, but Keith had never seen it aimed at him. “May I have this dance?”

The implications of Krovok coming to him were endless. His mind turned over the possibilities. What did he want? Was he going to make a show of Keith on the dance floor in front of the Alteans and their new allies? Was he going to try what Sendak had tried? Was he going to try and offer his services? Keith would rather die than take anything this man could offer from him.

But Krovok was a mystery. He was tied to the homelands of Gal, he had been a commander since the beginning of the war. He had led an assault through Altea’s home system and managed to solidify two bases onto the outer moons of the system. The bases had been their strongest outposts for years. Krovok was a war hero even if he looked like he’d keel over and die at any moment.

His ears were pointed, a jewel hanging off the tip of one. It was one Keith recognized as a courting gift. And as Keith looked him up and down, past the gauntlet of his armor was a tattoo, a mating mark.

Krovok had always stayed in the back of the meetings Keith attended. He protested vehemently to Zarkon whenever a new military law passed that limited whatever joys he took in their culture. He may not have directly tormented Keith but he had not stopped it either. Krovok always got taken down a peg when he went against Zarkon. Soon, he had stopped trying to protest altogether.

“Keith?” Lance said, gently.

It made Keith blink, turning to the paladin to see he had tightened his hand on Lance’s shoulder, claws digging into the plating.

Keith swallowed, considered his options and stepped away from Lance, offering his hand to Krovok. The sooner Keith knew what this withered old man wanted the sooner Keith could start planning ways to avoid him.

Lance shifted on his feet, looking at them before finally looking at Keith seriously. Keith couldn’t understand what Lance was trying to tell him. When he made a gesture, Keith only shrugged. How was Keith supposed to know what hand signals meant? He couldn’t even have a decent conversation with the guy!

Lance scowled, turning to head back to the main table that Keith refused to look at. He didn’t even want to know what his dad thought about the whole thing.

Keith faced Krovok, one hand on his shoulder and the other held in his. Surprisingly, Krovok didn’t stumble in his steps. He lead Keith back and forth, even managing a twirl.

“I’ve come to give my blessing.” Krovok, lowered the hand from Keith’s side, tightening on his waist and pulling him closer. Keith’s ears pressed back hand digging into the man’s shoulder in response. He wasn’t going to be made an example. “And my loyalty.”

Keith stumbled a step, watching as Krovok turned them so his back faced the table to where Zarkon was staring directly at them.

“I’ve waited a very long time for an opportunity like this one. You mating ceremony was beautiful, truly something to be proud of. When Lotor had first introduced you to the court I had known something would happen to finally change the tides of this empire.”

“You can’t change the tides of an empire.” Keith hissed. “It’s not a battle.”

“It is,” Krovok grumbled. “When you don’t believe in your emperor.”

Keith pulled back. “That’s traitorous. Zarkon will have you killed for that.”

“Don’t act loyal to the empire, Kit.” Krovok stopped their swaying, leaning close. His claws dug into the flesh of Keith’s waist, making Keith tense, moving his hand to press his thumb to the commanders neck. Keith pressed lightly, a warning even as his heart thudded in his ears. Any kind of attack or threat on a council member was worth punishment.

Krovok noticed, lifting a hand and pushing Keith’s hand away with ease. “I do hope you regain that nerve you had all those Deca-phoeb ago. Though if you're so determined to get rid of me now, I guess it never left, did it?”

Keith hesitated, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “I have no reason to trust you nor to speak with you.”

Manipulative, it was something Keith was not. His father was; Lotor could twist someone to do his bidding in an instant, it was almost terrifying. Keith had seen it, had recognized it and always tried to make sure he knew when it was used on him. Even if he couldn't stop it at least he could prepare for what was coming.

“I am risking,” Krovok muttered, claws tightening on Keith’s skin before disappearing. “Deca-phoebs of loyalty to your grandfather, something considered heinous, to offer my loyalty to the bastard omegan son of an exiled half-breed prince returned out of necessity.”

Deep rooted hatred, Keith had seen it often. Krovok hated Zarkon, Lotor, and Keith. But it seemed Krovok hated Zarkon and Lotor a little more than he hated Keith.

“Remember that as I tell you what I have to offer.” Krovok swayed with him, ears twitching and gazing heavily at Keith. “There's restlessness in the courts. An alliance? Do not be absurd, my prince. Offering your hand? Something evil is afoot. Something is changing and soon, you will reveal yourself as a piece of the puzzle or nothing more than a pawn. I am the only one willing to put my faith in you.”

“You detest me.” Keith muttered. “I'm sure you're only waiting till the moment to strike me down as well.”

“Possibly. But I would prefer the unpredictable option available then what the other royal family has to offer. So far, you have taken our traditions and worn them beautifully. You are the only option I have.” Krovok nodded, stepping back and bowing towards Keith, one Keith mirrored. “That is all I have to tell you.”

It sat cold in Keith’s lower belly. Years at the academy, being brought down inch by inch and suddenly he was relevant, being thrown around with bets placed on him. It was the arena all over again and a part of him wanted to face beasts instead of the gleaming eyes of corrupted council members all ready to slit each others throats.

Keith was a pawn in all sense of the word. Only he didn't know who was playing him, Zarkon, Lotor, the Alteans, or the council.

Keith was done with dancing, smoothing his expression and turning back to the table to return to Shiro's side.

He figured they had played up their image well enough, he could-

“My name is Cryoz!”

Keith stopped, blinking at the tiny Arusian who stood before him. They were dressed in what Keith assumed was formal wear for their people. The Arusian held out their hand. “It would be the highest honor to dance with the newly mated beauty!”

Keith can't believe it, this guy is adorable. He feels himself blush and cups his mouth in an attempt to hide it before coughing and clearing his throat. “I, uh, yes. I'd love to.”

He spends the rest of the night alternating dance partners, the Arusians the first to break the awkwardness by suddenly asking him to dance and soon even Shiro returns with a tiny Arusian dragging him (one of the Arusian’s gets handsy with Keith and he sternly picks up the stray hand to return to his waist while giving a glare that makes the little guy sweat. He hears Lance and Pidge burst out laughing from somewhere behind him). He's not sure what he's feeling by the end of the night but it's warm and content. When Shiro throws his head back and laughs at Lance for taking on a dance partner with too many arms (and failing, terribly), he feels something in him fall into place and realizes maybe, just maybe, things might work out.

#sheith #takashi shirogane #keith kogane #galra keith #altean shiro #Galra Keith x Altean Shiro #vld lance #voltron #arranged marriage au #Voices #writing #chapter update #voltron legendary defenders #keith voltron #vld shiro #omggiogiothings

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rukia-g · 6 years

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A love no one can rival

AN: I didn’t even like Adam at first and I knew he and Shiro weren’t going to go back together, but the way he was treated was beyond unfair. I was looking forward to their reunion, but since that didn’t happen, here’s how I imagine it would go in a different reality. Btw, please take into account that I headcanon Shiro as bi/pan/ace. (Also I’m kind of nervous because it’s the first time I write a m/m fic, I hope I’ve done it right). Also in AO3.

Adam took a deep breath.

“Takashi?”

Shiro turned to him, a look in his eyes Adam couldn’t quite define: a bit nervous, maybe anxious, mixed with surprise and uneasiness. It was to be expected, they had been avoiding each other since Takashi came back.

“Adam…”

“Can we talk?” He noticed Keith was behind Shiro, glaring at him. Since Adam broke up with Takashi, Keith had been quite hostile towards him, and Adam wasn’t surprised the boy still held in more resentment than Takashi. “Alone?”

Shiro nodded and followed him to an empty classroom. Adam closed the door behind them, heart beating loudly in his chest. He had rehearsed this conversation so many times in his head, and now his mind had gone blank.

“I’m glad that you’re okay.” He said, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“I’m glad you’re okay too.” Takashi answered. “Iverson told me what happened when the Galra first attacked.”

Adam closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered of that battle was that he barely avoided a direct hit of a laser beam, then nothing until he woke up six months later in a hospital bed. He had been the only survivor, and the thought that so many teammates, so many friends had died while he was still alive out of sheer luck still haunted him. Sometimes he lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling and wishing he had fallen with them.

As if he knew what Adam was thinking, Takashi put the only hand he had left on Adam’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“I’m sorry. If we had come back sooner, then maybe…”

Adam shook his head. An irrational, resentful part of him wanted to yell at him, ask him why they didn’t come back as soon as they had Voltron so Earth wouldn’t be unprotected, but he couldn’t. Sam Holt had told him that they were fighting the Galra in space so Earth wouldn’t be attacked, and Adam understood that, he really did, but…

But a selfish part of him wanted to see Takashi again.

Not even a week had passed since Shiro left for Kerberos, when Adam felt the ruthless claws of remorse tearing his heart up. He had made a terrible mistake, he thought. He should have been more patient, more understanding. He missed Takashi so much… Surely he felt the same. They had gone through so much together, Adam wasn’t going to give up just for one disagreement (actually, there had been too many disagreements, too many arguments to count, but at that moment all Adam could think of were the good times they spent together).

When Takashi comes back, Adam thought, they’ll both apologize and spend the rest of their lives (of Takashi’s life) together. Shiro had already far exceeded everyone’s expectations, surely after that mission he’ll settled down (he won’t, an annoying voice at the back of his head whispered. He’ll never stop pushing himself harder, he’ll always try to outdo himself. Adam crushed that voice with hopeful love and blind optimism.)

And then, they lost contact with the Kerberos mission, all three men were declared dead and the Garrison blamed Shiro for it.

“He shouldn’t have gone.” Adam heard people whisper in the halls. “He was sick, he put his teammates’ lives at risk.”

He was always putting his own life at risk. Adam thought, but said nothing. Their last conversation echoed in his head: This is your life at risk. This was exactly what he had feared when he tried to talk Takashi out of going to Kerberos. Adam knew there was a chance Takashi wouldn’t survive the mission, and he had wanted to avoid the heartache he knew he’d feel when Shiro wouldn’t come back. It was to not avail, though. He still loved Takashi, the news of his death still hurt. So he said nothing, and focused himself on his work. He didn’t have any right to leap on Takashi’s defence when Adam himself had doubted him too.

Though he wasn’t surprised when Keith got expelled for getting into a fight, again.

And then Sam Holt came back, with a story so crazy it had to be true. Aliens! Actual aliens and an evil intergalactic empire and a bunch of unlikely heroes defending the universe with a huge mecha robot. It sounded like the plot of those tacky science fiction shows from the twenty and twenty-first centuries that he used to watch with Takashi.

But now Adam knew Shiro was alive, somewhere out there, and he was going to come back. That thought revived a spark of hope in Adam’s heart he had thought dead. Takashi was coming home, they’ll mend their relationship…

…Or maybe not. They had broken up, after all. What if Takashi thought Adam had found someone else? What if Shiro found someone else? Some handsome alien man or a cute alien girl. He suddenly remembered when they watched Guardians of the Galaxy and how Takashi used to stare at Gamora. Oh, how mercilessly Adam had teased him for having a crush on a character from a movie a hundred years old…

It wasn’t so funny anymore.

And now here he was, finally alone with Takashi, after so many years, and all the doubts and hopes and fears he’d had hit Adam with so much force, he could barely speak. Takashi looked so different now, skin so pale, the grey hair and the scar a sharp contrast to the face in his memories, and the jarring absence of his right arm…

Adam wondered if that man was the same he had known and loved.

It took him a moment to remember what they were talking about.

“It doesn’t matter.” Adam said. “You guys are here now. We can fight back. We’ll free our planet.”

Takashi nodded, a smile curving his lips. Adam had missed that smile so much…

“Yes. We had freed planets from Galra rule before, we can do it again. And once Earth becomes part of the Coalition, we’ll put an end to the Galra empire once and for all.”

Adam’s heart skipped a beat.

“The Coalition?”

Shiro nodded again, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

“The Voltron Coalition. We’ve formed it to free the universe from the Galra. We’ve gone so far, but even with Zarkon and Lotor gone there are several warlords we must defeat before the universe is at peace. I’m sure with the help of Earth’s forces… Adam? Is something wrong?”

Adam had been staring at Shiro, eyes widening as a terrible realization hit him.

“Takashi, are you thinking of going back to space?”

Shiro blinked, apparently surprised at his question.

“Well, yes. We have to put an end to this war.”

“I know, but it doesn’t have to be you!” Takashi was still staring at him in confusion. Adam ran a hand through his hair. “Commander Holt told me everything. That you were captured and forced to fight as a gladiator. That they cut your arm. You have suffered more than anyone in this war. Don’t you think it’s time to step back? You don’t have to carry the weight of the universe alone anymore!”

Shiro clenched his jaw, a stubborn frown between his brows that Adam had seem too many times.

“Adam, I understand your concern, but I can’t just stay here while there are people out there suffering and fighting and dying. I want to make sure no one goes through the same I did.”

Without thinking, Adam stepped forward and grabbed Takashi’s shoulders.

“But you could die! I already lost you once. Do you have any idea how I felt, believing you had died out there, without a chance to properly say goodbye? I can’t go through that again!”

Shiro cupped his cheek, hand warm and comforting against Adam’s skin.

“Then come with me.” Adam’s eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. “We can fight together, explore the universe together! Adam, we saw so many things out there! We’ve gone farthest than any human has ever gone. The planets, the people, the cultures we’ve met, all so different than our own! I’ve never dreamt I could see so much of the universe, and now we have the chance to explore it together!”

As he saw Takashi speak, eyes alight with an enthusiasm he hadn’t see in years, Adam felt the last remains of his hopes crumble away. He had refused to see the truth, and now it hit him, breaking his heart in a million pieces.

Takashi would never love him as much as he loved space.

How do you compete with the longing for adventure, the yearning to go where no other human had been before? You can’t. Adam had seen enough war at that point to know when he couldn’t win a battle.

His arms fell to his sides, and something in Adam’s eyes made Shiro stop his rant.

“Takashi, I can’t. I have a live here on Earth. I love my job, I love helping young cadets reach their dreams. You can’t ask me to give everything up to go with you.”

Shiro looked at him, eyes wide with confusion and hurt. It made Adam realize a major flaw in their relationship both had refused to acknowledge: Adam would never understand Takashi’s eagerness to explore the universe, and Shiro would never understand Adam’s desire for a mundane, stable life.

Shiro closed his eyes for a second before speaking again.

“Adam, this is everything I’ve ever wanted…”

“I know. I won’t ask you to give up your dream, but please understand that I have different goals in life.”

Takashi nodded, eyes closing again as he digested what that meant.

“Then, I guess it’s over.”

“It is.” And Adam realized both had harboured hopes of mending their relationship, while at the same time knowing, deep down in their hearts, that it wouldn’t work. And that hurt more than anything else.

Adam gave Shiro’s arm a light squeeze.

“Please, be safe out there.”

“Thank you.” He shallowed hard and looked Adam in the eye. “I hope you find someone that makes you happy. You deserve it.”

He left without waiting for an answer. Adam stayed in the empty classroom a few more minutes, trying to get used to the idea of being a bachelor again.

#adashi #shadam #takashi shirogane #shiro #adam vld #shiro vld #bi shiro #voltron spoilers #vld spoilers #canon divergence #my fics #voltron fanfic

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ganymedesclock · 6 years

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I always feel bad for getting angry at things that are clearly fandom jokes, but at the same time, if the jokes are not something the character would actually do (or an understandable hyperbole of how they actually are) it just... sets my teeth on edge and this may have inspired a lengthy post about Keith’s childhood and fan depictions of that I have seen.

Like. Canon Krolia is established as someone who plans things out. She’s smart, a strategist- she has to be, because she’s a career spy with a long tenure under one of the most dangerous people in the empire. Remember, we were introduced to Warlord Ranveig by Lance commenting that “I’m guessing you don’t get that title by being a good person”, during the Kral Zera he murdered someone onscreen more obviously than we’ve seen before and flung their body aside, and was experimenting on a living creature with quintessence.

Krolia has to have a pretty ironclad set of nerves to, day in and day out, for years, lie through her teeth to this guy, undermine him, and feed intel back to his enemies, her allies. Especially since, while we don’t see the two of them together, Ranveig was like four times her size.

And that’s reflected by her behavior within the episode- “I’m guessing Ranveig is dead, since Commander Trugg is attacking my base,” she says, with complete neutrality like she’s discussing the weather report.

This is also a trained military personnel who’s received a pretty darn long and comprehensive training in the use of a sword. That is to say, someone who has a very keen idea of how this is not a toy, must be used carefully, and is very dangerous, because she regularly uses its danger pointy bit to end the lives of other things.

So the No Fun Humdrum Clockie is here to say: there’s no way in hell someone with those kind of credentials would leave her weapon where a baby could get it, much less put it directly into his lacking-motor-dexterity hands. There’s no way someone as smart as Krolia would look at her kid trying to eat his own foot because he doesn’t realize it’s attached to him yet and go “hmm, what should I give him, this nice safe baby rattle or this deadly weapon that could cause him grievous injury?”

And part of the reason this makes me mad is the assumption that Krolia’s otherness- her being an alien- would make her inept at being a parent without evidence that this is actually part of her experience. The show illustrates that it’s really not hard in this universe for sentient life to understand each other and most of their needs are similar.

It’s frustrating to insinuate that Krolia, as someone smart enough to operate as a high-stakes deep-cover spy, can’t understand how babies work and would just bash ahead cheerfully endangering her son when that’s something she tacitly refuses to do.

It’s frustrating when sympathetic galra are so often framed as baffled or incompetent- like if they aren’t specifically placental mammals themselves they must have no idea what a placenta is! (Just like humans clearly have no idea what the hell an egg is because we don’t hatch from eggs, right?)

Even though the galra in this situation would actually be better set up to understand or, at bare minimum, not be thrown that far by humans being unlike them because the humans in this setting are only just meeting aliens for the first time now- the galra have met hundreds of other sentient beings in this time. Even if you have a bunch of headcanons about humans being different from galra, it runs a pretty high risk of arrogance to act like humans are somehow more different and more special than any other sentient race that the galra can’t possibly understand us.

And when I look at something that’s just supposed to be funny like a picture of Krolia carrying Keith in a baby harness with her sword sheathed in the front of the harness I know that’s not consciously and willfully what the artist is thinking, but it’s still... frustrating, very frustrating, because... child endangerment is not funny.

Depicting a smart perceptive character who is shown to be worried about her child’s welfare and caring about how he’s actually feeling rather than what she thinks he should be feeling, as a negligent parent more concerned with her cultural standards or expectations-

(“Why is my baby so short, and not like a galra? I was definitely not prepared for this, somehow expected that having a partner that’s not a galra at all would still mean my children have stereotypical galra phenotypes”)

-than the actual reality of her child’s situation? Is not funny. It’s just frustrating. And it’s frustrating that most of the times I go into Krolia’s tag, that’s a sizable chunk of the content- depicting Krolia as a Wacky Incompetent Space Mom who doesn’t know how babies work.

Would Krolia probably be a little more militaristic than the average soccer mom? Yeah, but look at the actual reality of her situation. Where’s Keith who grows up in this comfortable environment, and as an elementary schooler knows how to wriggle out of people’s grip and a couple of ways to break out of restraints, and he’s really good at hide ‘n seek, and he has a toy, cloth-wrapped dagger that’s weighted so he can get used to the reach of it but soft-edged so he doesn’t cut himself or poke his eye out because he’s not ready for a real one, not yet.

Because Krolia wouldn’t just be idly going at this with an expectation that her Knife Boy must grow up to be the pride of his Sword Family. Krolia’s raising Keith, however much time she was allowed to spend with him, would be tinted hard with a lens of, she’s not going to have all the time in the world to make Keith safe.

Because she’s gonna know from the start that Keith is half-galra and the empire is not safe for half-galra, it’s barely safe for full galra, and Keith’s the son of a rebel so he’s gonna learn what all Blades do, he’s gonna learn to hide.

And frankly? Keith’s dream of his father in s2e8 carries that sort of vibe. His father talks very gently and carefully in language that a young child would easily understand (which is where Keith’s memories of him stem from) but also talks about staying hidden, where the advancing enemy army can’t find them.

Keith didn’t have a Normal Suburban Childhood with a white picket fence, and he didn’t have a negligent sitcom childhood, because he had parents that loved him, but his parents were a little more worried about whether or not the lurking space empire would come after them and kill them all than they were about “our baby is gonna be a doctor!”

So yeah, the first foster parent that got Keith after he lost his father probably was more than a little concerned that he’d been raised by conspiracy theorists or some kind of cult because why does this kid have a clear sense of what to do if he was kidnapped. Who taught him how to get out of an arm-bar choke, he’s all of eight and should have a strangely committed interest in dinosaurs or dolls or something else normal.

That’s not to say nothing funny ever happened in Keith’s childhood. It’s not to say Krolia never held up her baby boy who was staring lovingly into her eyes and asked herself “what the hell am I doing,” because she’s used to high stakes, she’s used to danger, but she’s not used to having this incredibly vulnerable tiny squishy thing, and bringing him into the world she’s put him where her enemies can reach him, and he’s not ready for the universe, but he can’t be ready, and she’s used to adults that choose and willingly take those risks and not a toddler who have no idea why anyone would hate his mommy or want her- and him, and their whole family- to die.

Where’s Krolia stressing out because she thought she was ready for this but Keith is so very small and so very soft, and that’s how all babies are, sure, but they’ve never been her baby before.

And frankly, given my reads on Krolia and her partner, there were probably more than a few times Keith was upset and Krolia sorta awkwardly handed him off to his dad because oh no, those are complicated emotions, how do you handle those.

Just- there could be all kinds of funny things in Keith’s childhood, that are, I think a lot funnier than “Krolia why does our child have a knife”.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Keith #Krolia #Dad Kogane #readmore

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