#it’s Allura. enough said

[ethereance]

Screw it. *Genderfluids your Lance* Post s8. Fix it.

Lance thought his Altean markings were cosmetic. Nothing more. Nothing less. A gift from Allura, leaving a piece of her with him, to look back and remember with fondness her company. As if he could ever forget a girl as incredible as her.

It’s not until much later he realises it’s something more. That maybe Allura gave a portion more than he expected. He stares, face to face with his mirror. Something off. Something strange. Something that grabs his attention before he really knows what he’s looking at.

His ears slowly shift back to human. But they were there long enough. He saw the Altean ears.

“Incredible,” Coran says when Lance broaches this to him, and after multiple attempts at trying at failing at repeating what happened in the mirror. At last he succeeds. “You’re shifting just like an Altean.”

“I’m not turning Altean, am I?” he panics. He’s pretty attached to being a human and all.

“Haha! Don’t be ridiculous number three, you can’t just ‘turn Altean.’ Good one! Turn Altean, he says. That’s one to remember for an open mike.” Then Coran takes one look at his genuine distress and sobers. “Rest assured, my boy, you’re one hundred percent earthling, ears and all. Allura wouldn’t change you so completely when she loved you the way you are. It just seems she passed our chameleon-like abilities over to you. I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like this ever documented before, but Allura…”

“Has a way of accomplishing the possible,” Lance offers when Coran’s eyes grow distant, bittersweet.

“Yes,” agrees Coran. Something proud, something sombre, “That she did.”

***

Lance practices often, following Coran’s guidance. Even Romelle drops by at Coran’s request, eager to show someone the ropes.

“In the colony, we had little need to shift as our ancestors had. Our only home had been there, tucked away in a corner of the universe. We understood little of the outside world except what Lotor brought us. Even so, it was an ability we never lost. When you have mastered it, it’s like walking. It becomes natural. To some more than others,” she says, a surprisingly patient teacher. He wonders where this side of her was when she was trying to get him to teach her to pilot. “You may be the ‘others’! But that okay. My… my brother Bandor was the same.”

For such a bright supernova of a person, it is easy to forget that, like Coran, Romelle has been touched by grief. And grief again.

“You strike me as an adaptable person, pointy chin. Like rivers and oceans, it has made you you. I have full confidence in your abilities. And if Allura were here.” She smiles, and it is pain, but beauty. A flower unfurling in the wake of a storm. “I know she would say the same.”

***

He finds himself slipping into other forms like a glove. It becomes easier, a swifter motion just as Romelle had said.

It’s freeing, in a way. To walk as something so slightly adjacent to him. A Lance of another life. Altean, balmeran, olkari, puigian, anything he can think of.

He loves being Plaxum’s species the most. A mer. Beneath the waves, it feels like coming home. He’s a missile underwater, swimming loops around coral.

Dreams really do come true.

***

There’s something about transforming that pulls him that much closer to Allura. Her quintessence sings to him, and his skin dances. He feels alive as he hasn’t in a long time.

Happier maybe. Or that much closer to it.

He wishes he could take a photo of Keith the second he catches sight of Lance, a good extra foot on him, and purple as a plum.

“So this is a… thing,” says Keith eventually. And what an observation that is. Lance explains.

“Don’t let Hunk catch you like this,” is Keith’s response, a hint of tired amusement, “He’ll call you Galra Lance and never stop.”

***

It starts with him shifting into an unilu. He needs the extra hands. Lance doesn’t realise the gender he’d chosen until Coran points it out offhandedly. Now, Lance knows that not every species is going to be quite so clear cut as biologically male or female. Some have more some have less. Some won’t even know what the word gender means. He has experienced a taste of the universe. He knows how vast and diverse it is. When shapeshifting into a species like that, it makes sense his gender isn’t something he’d retain.

Female. He’d made himself into a female unilu. It was a matter of size and facial shape. Nothing too strange, no stranger than his body shifting into a skin it wasn’t born into, but noticeable enough.

And isn’t that something.

***

It’s out of curiosity he tries the same as a human. Curiosity and nothing more. Just because he can. Really. Honest.

Lance half expects his girl!sona would just be a carbon copy of Rachel with the added blue scales residing beneath his eyes. But that isn’t who he sees in the mirror.

He sees. Well, he sees himself.

Herself.

She looks, feels, kind of pretty. Which makes sense. She’s Lance. Of course she looks great. Goes without saying.

Lance’s lip twitches.

***

So. So maybe he throws on the form again. And again. And again. Maybe a little more than he does with any alien species. But can you blame him? He’s just found out he has a free trial at being a girl so quiznack if he isn’t going to try it out.

Her hair is long. Her hair is short. She pulls off both looks well, she thinks. Being a girl is kind of awesome, actually.

It’s not always the case. Sometimes it just isn’t right. But others? Sometimes he finds himself slipping into her without realising it. It’s just what feels right to her in the moment.

There’s something nice about strangers using ‘she’ and ‘her’ and they don’t know. They don’t know. Something in her bubbles, giddy, they don’t know.

But Lance’s family do. Pidge does.

They look at Lance—now once again a boy—and hum, thoughtful, considering.

“Are you are girl?” they ask. Pidge does not beat around the bush. It throws Lance through enough loops to put him in a spiral.

“No”, says Lance. But for some reason that doesn’t sound quite right. “I mean. I’m not always. But—”

“You are sometimes?”

“I guess. But it’s just shapeshifting. I’m not actually—” Lance trails off, lost. “Am I?”

“Do you want to be?” Pidge asks, and huh. Does he want to be? Is it really that simple? He’s always seen himself as a guy, and had no problems with that. But.

Well.

“… Maybe. Maybe sometimes.”

Pidge grins, wild and victorious. “Welcome to the club.”

(Something in his chest feels lighter. There’s a cavern, because it has made its mark and stayed. That has not changed. But this is this.

How wonderful it is to find the answers to secrets within oneself. He could have lived his whole life without knowing, a part locked away without him ever knowing there was a lock. But now, how could he?

It’s like he’s no longer holding in a breath.)

***

Pidge later tells him it’s criminally unfair he can change his body on a whim. They are fine with she, they are, but they are them. Sometimes she is just too much she to match their they.

Lance wonders how much Allura managed to see him. He remembers how close they became, how she became someone he’d call a best friend, then a lover. How she perceived him better than most throughout it all. Looked to him and saw greatness where he, despite wanting to be so much more, only saw failure. He wishes he knew what she saw when she looked at him. The person he was. Is. Lance.

If she knew what these markings have done for him. Did she know?

She can’t have done. Lance didn’t even know.

(But if she had—

It’s not like Lance can ask.)

***

Allura comes back.

She descends like a shooting star, the blinding light of an angel’s fall. She falls home and it is at home she stays. Days are bliss. A dream Lance dare not wake from.

“You’re not dreaming,” she tells him, soft, and kind, but aching, “I’m here. I won’t leave again. My duty to revive the universe is fulfilled. I’m here to live. And I chose to live with you.”

He kisses the words from her lips, blissfully sweet. She more than happily complies.

“I never meant to hurt you this much.”

“You’re here now,” Lance says, and it sounds so beautiful spoken out loud like this. How long he’s dreamed for such a moment. “That’s all that matters. We can move forwards together.”

This is their start.

***

It takes a while. But she tells Allura.

Allura kisses her senselessly. Lance loves it.

“Though I can’t take credit for this being my intention, I’m glad you learned more of yourself.” Allura’s fondness is an ocean she could drown in. “I love the person you are.”

“Yeah?”

Allura’s hand trails Lance’s ear. “Yes. Very much so. It’s an added bonus that I managed fix your ears. You have tried an Altean form, right?”

Lance jolts. “Allura!” she protests, a little put out. “What’s wrong with my ears?”

“Nothing,“ she says, warm and amused. “Nothing at all. I find that they have grown on me greatly. They’re cute. Just like the rest of my girlfriend.”

Oh. Girlfriend.

Her heart is full.

#Ether fic #allurance #legitallurance #Genderfluid Lance #nonbinary Pidge #post s8 #vld Lance #Princess Allura #I usually try and write as canon as possible. But. Lance should mess around with gender. As a treat. #Canon gave no explanation for those marks. So it’s fun to explore the possibilities. #having him be able to talk to the mice is a fun one. it’s like they’re on the same wavelength. and the mice gets someone to talk to whilst #Allura’s gone #fix it #Currently working on a much larger fix it. but this became one so #because I couldn’t just leave Allura dead. y’know? #it’s Allura. enough said #I didn’t put all the paladins in here. or Lance’s family really apart from small mentions. but they all love and accept her <3 #yeah. I know technically it’s not quite shapeshifting. the changes are more subtle. growing. shrinking. being a chameleon. but what if #if anyone is reading an allurance fic in 2024. hi

[dailykallura]

I'd like to expand on my nice little tiny cute thought about how Keith exists on the fringes of both of Allura's relationships and how he technically is instrumental to both of her relationships being started with Lotor and Lance and how that too, is kallura meta.

--

The events that take place between 4.07 and 6.01 kickstart the relationship between Allura and Lotor (in my opinion), since that is when and where they are both face to face, with explicit knowledge of what each other looks like and what they can do for each other. 

My idea is that Keith is instrumental to starting this relationship, primarily because in 5.04, during the Kral Zera, Lotor is at a risk of being gravely injured by the bombs placed all over the Temple, and Keith takes a shot and successfully rescues Lotor from the blast, further allowing him to take up the mantle as the new Galran Emperor. 

It’s this change in leadership that changes Lotor and Allura’s relationship from the vague “when I take control of the Empire” to the realistic development they had as diplomatic partners and then as romantic partners. 

Keith remains on the fringes of the relationship however, and has some measure of conflict with Lotor because of what he finds out about the hidden Alteans, and he is shown to be both the catalyst for its breakdown (by bringing back Romelle) --

-- and also acknowledge the possibility of salvaging the relationship Allura may have had with Lotor (by being the one to suggest them rescuing Lotor from the quintessence field).

I’ve joked about this so much in 2020, but regarding Lance in s8, Keith is instrumental to this relationship being started because of Lance’s insecurities re: Keith and Allura’s relationship: Lance doesn’t choose to make a solid move to Allura until he finds out that it’s popular opinion that Keith and Allura have a relationship (based on the cartoon, yes) - 

and unbeknownst to Keith, also still harbours insecurities that he’s unworthy to be with Allura. 

It’s Keith’s very kind reassurance that Allura is interested in him, and that Lance does have something to offer to any relationship he’s in that gives him the confidence to go through with the date - 

and with the offer of a relationship with Allura. 

Keith still exists on the fringes, however, as s8 (consistently) props Keith up as Allura’s support - 

and as such, he is shown to be the one that Lance speaks with regarding how he feels about Allura and her decisions\their relationship.

Kallura meta comes out of this primarily because it’s something to note that Keith and Allura are written to be similar in a multitude of things and also be written as not having a relationship past detached friends with some measure of tension - but also have Keith be central to Allura’s relationships like this.

TL;DR: Keith saved Lotor at the Kral Zera and Lotor became Emperor, leading to Allura and Lotor’s relationship; and Keith told Lance to go for Allura, leading to Allura and Lance’s relationship, and it’s because Keith is written as putting priority to what might make Allura happy.

#kallura #juniblade #keith x allura #allura x keith #dk.rtf #i know i said I was inactive (I still am) but I thought this was cohesive enough to publish #long post #i hope the fandom has been having fun :)

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

My favorite (and sadly completely non existant in fandom) characterization of Hunk and Lance is that they are completely Normal™ people except there's also something clearly wrong with them but the rest are either too alien(Coran and Allura), too socially reclusive(Pidge and Keith), or just dont interact with them enough(Shiro) to notice

#Listen Hunk thinks it's completely ok to read someone else's diary #And Lance saw a presumed dead guy being alive a big fuck off lion and an honest to god actual space princess and went #'Huh. Neat! Gonna check it all out!' #I'll even say these 2 are driven most by curiosity just for the sake of curiosity about people #Lance will be like: this is my new friend i cant pronounce their name in human tongue so they allowed me to call them Steve #and Steve is a fucking biblical accurate angel #And then he disappears with steve and Hunk's like 'dont worry guys i have put a tracer on him we'll find him soon ☺️' #Allura: do... do humans do that? Put tracers on each other? #Hunk: it's with permission and yeah best friends do!! #Keith and Pidge who have never been in a friend group that wasnt immediate family before: i mean that sounds wrong #But i dont know enough about friends to dispute it #Shiro who has been dissocciating for an hour and did not hear a single thing: whatever hunk said it's probably right #lance voltron #vld lance #lance mcclain #hunk voltron #hunk vld #hunk garrett #voltron #voltron legendary defender #empty thoughts #takashi shirogane #katie holt #keith kogane #keith voltron #vld keith #allura vld #allura voltron

[artsyjesseblue]

Lotura Celestial Wedding

My latest labour of love, doodled in small increments over the course of a few weeks. 💜 Here they are, waltzing among nebulae and galaxies.

Allura’s gown is my own adaptation of her regular dress into a silken, gossamer ballroom gown, attempting to preserve the little Altean details.

Lotor’s suit is a compilation of his own armor and his mother’s uniform in S8, as a nod to his Altean heritage. Don’t worry, he’s still half-Galra; he’s got many ways to express his Zarkonian side 😉. His little diadem is also of Altean design. Simple enough not to compete with his beautiful portrait.

And gold sparkles, because I said so.

#lotura #lotor #allura #lotor/allura #lotor fanart #prince lotor #princess allura #vld allura #vld fanart #voltron fanart #digital art #lotor x allura #jesseblue draws #can you tell I love sparkly things? #heheeee

[bagerfluff]

50% Galra, 100% Stunning

Keith Kogane x Non-Binary Reader

Prompt - "You're Stunning"

You furrowed your brows as you walked around the castle looking for your boyfriend. This was the third time this week that he ran off after dinner. You wondered if everything was okay.

Keith had been separating himself from the team ever since he found out he was Galra. You didn’t care though. You still saw him as Keith, the hothead, mullet, lone wolf Keith. But you wondered if Keith was okay. Allura hadn’t reacted the best when she found out. 

You guessed that was expected. The Galra had killed her entire race, her father. But that didn’t mean she could be mad at Keith forever. He was only part Galra. He wasn’t even purple like the rest to them.

And he didn’t have weird ears. Or fur. Keith was still Keith, even if he had Galra blood. But You assumed that Keith needed to be reminded of that. So you spent a few vargas trying to find him. And so far, you had not been able to find him. 

You had checked his room, but all you found was an empty bed. you had checked that training deck. Always a smart choice to look when looking for the hot head. But you didn’t find anything there. Not even evidence that someone was there.

So now you were lying in your bed trying to think where Keith might be. You had spent a couple of doboshes thinking before you shot up from your bed.

The red lion’s hanger! It was the only place that you hadn’t checked and the last place that Keith could be. You quickly left your room and started running to the lion's hanger. Once you got there, the doors opened, and you walked inside.

Once inside, you could see that the red lion was curled up in the middle of the room. But no Keith. you looked around the room once before moving closer to the lion. Once you got close enough, you could hear the red lion purr.

“It's okay girl” you spoke calmly, but once you walked around the head, your eyes widened. There, curled up against the lion’s stomach, was Keith. Though he looked a little different. He still had his gloves and classic red jacket.

But he looked more Galra. His skin and hair were purple, but his hair looked fluffier. He also has ears on the side of his head. They looked like dog ears, but purple and fluffy. When you got closer Keith’s head shot up.

It was then that you realized that his eyes were yellow. Not just his pupils. All of his eyes. Keith also had claws. Sharp claws that lay and the end of his fingers. You also noticed that Keith had tears in his eyes.

“W-why a-are y-you h-here?” Keith asked. “Because you left after dinner, and I wanted to make sure you were okay” You said as he walked closer to Keith. You sat down next to Keith and looked at him.

So maybe Keith was purple and had weird ears and fur. But Y/n still didn’t care. But it looked like Keith did. “B-but w–why?” Keith asked as he looked up at you. When You looked over to Keith, your heart broke into a million pieces.

Keith’s eyes were filled with sorrow and fear. Like he expects you to hate him. “Because I love you” you said as he reached over to take Keith’s hand. Keith flinched before letting you take his hand.

“B-but I l-look like t-this” Keith stated while gesturing to his body with his other hand. Your heart might have broken even more at that.

“I l-look l-like Galra,” you stared at Keith for a while before moving his other hand under Keith’s chin so he could make Keith look at him. “You’re stunning” you said as you moved your hand from Keith’s chin to his cheek. Wiping Keith’s tears off his face.

Keith showed a small smile before you brought him into a hug. Keith then hugged you back as he tightened his grip on him. You brought your hand to Keith’s hair and played with it.

Maybe you guys should wait before telling the team Keith could do this. But you would be by Keith’s side the whole time. Because You loved your boyfriend.

Even when he was purple. 

#lgbtq #voltron x male reader #voltron #vld #vld keith #voltron legendary defender #keith kogane #keith kogane x male reader #keith voltron #keith kogane x reader #keith kogane fanart

[xjulixred45x]

Lotor x Pearl!GN! Reader

Request: Now that the requests are open I want to do one about Voltron (again), about Lotor headcanons with a reader who is like a pearl from Steven Universe, who probably was a "gift" from his governess, I imagine that reader @ is a very scared but sweet person who is afraid of disappointing Lotor and that he will throw them away because of that (traumas from the past before meeting him). I just want some comfort from one of my favorite Voltron characters💕

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: Gender neutral

Warnings: allusions/mentions of past abuse, reader at first treated more like an object than a person, fear of abandonment, somewhat confusing timeline for the sake of the plot? HURT with Comfort, Fluff, non-canon ending of Voltron for my sanity :') Lotor What have they done to you?

You come from a very... special planet to say the least.

Especially you were born in a social caste that was considered the lowest, so you were trained all your life to be the future accessory of a powerful person. As bad as it sounded.

This was obviously not a pleasant process, especially with the Garla empire breathing down your planet's neck.

You could say that you got especially ruthless training, the slightest mistake was severely reprimanded, only to know that if you did it in REAL practice you most likely wouldn't come out alive...

Then the Garla Empire took possession of your planet. Everyone was terrified of what could happen, YOU were terrified of what was going to happen to you.

But fortunately? You were given as a personal servant to the Garla, along with many others, in exchange for not destroying the planet completely.

But you were lucky enough that it was your turn to serve the Prince of the Garla, Lotor.

This was before the Paladins intervened, so even when they arrived, this still stood.

To say that you were scared was to say, you were terrified of what was going to happen. What if he was one of those super strict princes? What if he had a bad temper? What if he got angry with you and got physical? And If it hurts you? Or worse?

You set out to be as correct and upright as possible for this new position, apparently you would be a gift, well, maybe you don't have to do much, you can do this.

Dayak barely talks to you, although the first time you meet her is only so she can give you a checkup to make sure you live up to her expectations, and fortunately you are and she seems very satisfied.

Before meeting this "Lotor" she gives you a tour of the Garla main ship in a vague way so that you become familiar with everything and thus adapt quickly before seeing Lotor. The ship is GIANT so it takes a while.

Although at least with this you can hear some people talking and whispering about Lotor, apparently the winner of the "Kral Zera", the first Half-Blood emperor and Zarkon's heir...someone to have fear apparently.

Let's just say they didn't make you feel much better.

But at the end of the day you finally meet him. Is he together with what appear to be the paladins of Voltron? And Dayak makes his presence quite noticeable (poor paladin Blue and especially yellow).

Before retiring, Dayak introduced you to Lotor, as his new personal assistant, to serve him in any way he wanted.

To your surprise, Lotor seemed just as off guard as you, it seems that he had forgotten the deal with the Kral Zera matter, it is understandable, but it was especially shocking when he apologized to you because he could not introduce himself properly, since he had a VERY busy day with the Voltron thing...

....weren't you supposed to come help him with that? What Quiznak?

You tried to tell him that, that you could help him manage that, but he said no! That for now he could handle himself well, but that you should give him time to think of something for you...

okay that was VERY strange

But a nice strange? Lotor was not like you thought he would be.

Even when he finally did what he had to do with the Paladins and Princess Allura (love of a person), he still treated you with a respect you weren't used to.

you were mainly in charge of his agenda with the other Garla leaders and works like that, together with the Paladins and Princess Allura, etc. It wasn't a heavy job, but it required attention to detail and you definitely went out of your way to make it perfect.

And contrary to what you thought, you received some recognition from your, so to speak, Boss (because Lotor hated it when you called him "master" or "owner"), Lotor was grateful that you helped him and that you were so diligent, He let you know when he kept you up to date.

You could even have conversations with him! It wasn't something you had been prepared for in the least, but it was nice, Lotor was someone very intelligent and even had an interesting sarcastic sense of humor. You learned a lot by talking to him.

In turn, Lotor learned more about your species based on his experience with you, although at first it was difficult for him, because you insisted on keeping a certain distance, but he was able to make his way through your walls.

He found you quite pleasant and even charming! Lotor always tried to see other species with equal respect, and for you to see him from such a high place (without the need for violence, just doing his job) made him feel very good about himself.

And the feeling was mutual.

It made you feel calmer about all of this, that everything was going better than you thought. You had ended up with an owner--ahem, Boss- who was nicer than you expected and everything seemed fine--

But then you made a MISTAKE.

You were trying to get used to one of the controls on Lotor's main ship and out of nowhere the controls stopped working. They didn't respond, didn't work and seemed glitched.

You realized that you had pressed the wrong places (used to the mothership controls) and that you had "messed up" this one.

But all you could think about was the trouble you'd get into with Lotor.

Oh no oh no oh no What am I going to do? What are they're going to do to me? They're going to have to throw me away, right? How can I get through this? What if they kill me? What if--

You were so panicked that when Lotor arrives you don't notice.

And it only makes you even more afraid.

Lotor asks what happened, but he starts checking the console on his own and realizes what happened, he knows what you did--

And you can't stand the urge to cry anymore.

Lotor honestly freaks out, he thought you would have gotten hurt and that's why you were crying so much, but you were apologizing for breaking the console, and saying that you were fine with being replaced with someone more capable as long as please, please don't kill you...

Even if he didn't show it much on the outside (it's a habit up to this point he's sorry for it), it hurt Lotor to see you like this. And even more so for something so small. Is this why you thought he was going to replace you? Kill you?? Although he sees that it's mostly because you've been traumatized before, so he's not offended (at all).

Lotor tries to calm you down, explain to you that it's not a big deal. It's not broken! It just needs to restart! Please don't cry! He's not going to replace you! Much less touch a hair on your head! You are save with him...

He ends up fixing the console to prove his point and you calm down, something like that, both of your emotions are running high.

From there, you are a little more alert for your possible "mistakes" and honestly, Lotor misses how you were before this little incident, now it seems like you are walking on eggshells (Whatever that means? The blue Paladin said it ) when you are around him.

He discovers that he misses talking to you more than he thought, he is not someone who gets attached easily, but finally having someone who respected him as a person and not as Prince Garla and that you are now in this scared state hurts him.

So it does something... surprising.

He asks the Paladins and Allura for help.

Obviously some make fun of him a little ahem LANCE AND PIDGE ahem, but for the most part they try to give him good advice on how to approach the situation, although they all have a common idea.

TALK IT DIRECTLY or let you adjust naturally again (which seemed unlikely without the former).

So he did it, he call you to speak alone.

Sincerely? You almost died of fright. This on your planet was a VERY BAD omen, VERY BAD.

so imagine your surprise when Lotor was REALLY alone when you went to see him, but you still remained nervous, this man could destroy you with just one arm after all.

But Lotor...just talks.

And he gets straight to the point, he does NOT plan to replace you, he does NOT plan to hurt you, he does not want you to think that you are so expendable, especially when he has come to enjoy your company so much, you can rest assured, mistakes happen, we ALL make them, he prefers that you make them. a thousand mistakes to not having you at all.

Being honest? It was quite nice.

And you were able to be more...at peace with yourself after that. Be the sweet assistant again.

If we talk about advanced terms of a romantic relationship, IT'S PURE FLUFF.

Lotor has shown that he doesn't give a shit about race, so he has no problem relating to you even if you're not even half Garla. What if someone has a problem? They won't have it anymore :)

If your planet is still under the control of the Garla, it is most likely that Lotor has forced them to have laws and a more egalitarian legislature, your people have not lived so well in decapheobes! Of course, there are those who are still not used to it and others who are directly against it, but that always happens.

Lotor is patient when it comes to old wizard habits, chances are you'll still be that way! But more as a consort😅

Get ready, now that it is certain that he loves you and that you love him too, there is no escape from affection. Lotor is aware that he's touch-starved, but when you discover through this that YOU'RE touch-starved TOO, it's like, the perfect mix.

Lotor is the most openly affectionate, which helps you gain some courage to do the same, although of course, when it comes to making the other person nervous, you never win (although Lotor MELT inside seeing you try).

Lots of physical contact!! Especially at events with too many people and where you can easily feel overloaded, it's a quick way to calm yourself down and for Lotor to be happy and calm (literally, if they want to calm him down they have to bring you into the room and he's INSTANTLY in a good mood again).

You have a friendship with Allura! She jokingly says that you're too good for Lotor, but in a loving way.

The Paladins don't understand how Quiznak, someone as sweet as you ended up with Lotor. Did they threaten you? Blink twice if so--

Your nature is now a little more curious, you see everything with new eyes, it is something tender for Lotor, for him most of these things are everyday, but for you it is something new and even unique, it is nice.

He also now handles your crises better when PTSD strikes, takes you somewhere spacious, keeps some distance so you can breathe better, and when you recover he is on you for the rest of the day, quite worried.

In general, Lotor sees his partner with equal respect and love regardless of their race, social status or how they met, he loves you regardless of everything or how you perceive yourself. You are his equal, his partner, nothing changes that.

Reglogs, shares and Comments are very welcome!!

#headcanons #neutral reader #lotor x reader #vld lotor #voltron lotor #lotor #prince lotor #pearl su #voltron #voltron legendary defender x reader #voltron legendary defender #voltron ld

[topaz-mutiny]

I think the fans are underestimating how differently people can process things.

I am consistently seeing posts say "Ashton/Tal were repeatedly warned the shard was not for them/will 100% kill them", when this was absolutely not the case, and, more importantly, it is very likely for groups of people to completely misinterpret the warnings. Even if they've known each other and loved each other for a decade.

I certainly thought the warnings were not clear or frequent enough so I was shocked like lightning in the latest episode that they were meant to be absolute death flags.

Please note that I'll mostly refer to the fictional characters, I don't want to bring the people behind the characters too much into this.

First, I would like to point out, the show takes place over weeks and months with plenty of breaks and interruptions. That is plenty of time and opportunity for memories to get faded, muddled, crossed-over with other memories, etc.

The "warnings" happened two weeks to a month ago. And even when they were fresh on the cast's mind, here are the warnings verbatim (bold is my emphasis):

But be warned, holding the strength of the two in one vessel might sunder it. You bear the dormant strength of the empress. Find and bestow the might of the emperor.

- Evontra'vir, episode 74, aired October 5th. The conversations move on to unrelated things with no followup.

Ashton: He also said it might be dangerous for these two shards to intermingle. Or he didn't say dangerous, he said that-- it could destroy me. Orym: --A chance the vessel could break. Laudna: --The vessel <air quotes> could break. Fearne: Wasn't there something if you put them together with the right thing that it'll be okay? Ashton: It might come together and be okay, yeah. -- Dancer: Maybe if it were to meet one of its own ilk, it could awaken. Allura: What you said as a point of warning likely is true. To have both within a singular vessel, it's possible one could survive, but it's also highly possible that it would rend you into a thousand pieces. -- Allura: We're in a strange area of experimentation and unknown knowledge. -- (after finding out Ashton has a fascimile of a Luxon beacon in their brain) FCG: So he's got two things in him or them? Allura: It would seem, which is why I'm a bit--Well, you're either the greatest weapon we could hope for in this time, or will be our end. I couldn't tell you. Orym: Boy, maybe we don't add a third thing. Ashton: I was put together by bits and pieces. This was not an intentional thing and it, I honestly shouldn't have survived it. It was, literally, I was put together with junk. Allura: In an odd way, your fragmented nature might be what keeps all of this in check. ... Perhaps we don't put another powerful entity within your form.

- Various, episode 76, aired October 19th.

To me, these warnings were not clear in the slightest.

To me, these warnings were interspersed with so many words like "possible", "might", and "chance" that I completely misinterpreted the situation as "For Ashton it is dangerous but doable" instead of "The Game Master is telling you Ashton's character sheet will be ripped up."

This is the problem with using in-character voices and using descriptors that imply chance or flexibility. They can drastically weaken the meaning of a phrase such that people like me will mistake it for something else.

Because that's how my brain works. "May", "chance", "perhaps" suggest to me a reasonable set of odds for an action and does not come across as the grave warning a game master would want.

And as a reminder, these muddled warnings were weeks apart and weeks away, which can make remembering the meaning even worse if you've already misinterpreted them. That's why I was 100% on board with Ashton taking the shard. It seemed reasonable but dangerous, so when Matt said "I warned you." in that grave tone and with that grave look I was thrown for a loop. I went "oh no! those were serious warnings!?" and the panic started setting in.

Also a contributing factor was the pressure and lack of communication from Bells Hells.

Fearne did not want the shard, and finally stated that thought aloud to Ashton. For Fearne and Ashton, that meant the only choice left was Ashton, because, for one reason or another, the 5 other people in Bells Hells repeatedly assumed and pushed the shard onto Fearne and wrote themselves out of the equasion. FIVE characters absolved themselves of being active participants. Once the idea of Fearne came to mind and this Emperor Fearne/Empress Ashton/Callowmoore shipping dicotomy, Bells Hells just stopped talking about it and never once considered if any of them should take the shard should Fearne refuse.

So... yeah that's how my brain works.

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #c3e77 #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #bells hells #evontra'vir #taliesin jaffe #matthew mercer #communication breakdown #tl;dr Bells Hells needs to talk to each other more instead of just assuming how things will be #do you want explosions and dead PCs? that's how you get explosions and dead PCs. #people will think differently and can misinterpret what you say #even this loving group of 8 people can misinterpret each other despite being together for like a decade #tbh I thought the shard going to Orym would've been ideal #I might repost this for the Monday crew idk

[ilanarose7]

Bells Hells Episode 95 Morning After Thoughts

SPOILERS BELOW!!! (This has become a weekly thing for me to help digest the episodes and I'm probably gonna keep doing it. really helps with my episode memory as well)

New favorite Campaign 3 episode unlocked!!!! The title of this episode has been released on Beacon (I won't spoil that), but I will personally be referring to it as "Shopping and Shipping" in my own head. It just had the perfect amount of everything and felt so incredibly cathartic (then stressful in the best way) after everything that's happened in recent episodes.

Let's break it down:

The Essek v Astrid verbal showdown!!! Essek appears to hold all the grudges that Caleb doesn't (or at least didn't really at the end of M9). When Astrid dropped the "Ludinus has an itch in the back of his neck" lore I was thinking back to when they first learned more about the harness and someone (I think it was either Marisha or Laura) wrote in their notes "We cut off Ludinus's head!!!" that was later read aloud. After that convo, that action seems like a decent play. That or maybe the Cadeuces-style Dispell Magic to the back of the neck. (side note: of course Fearne bought the Vasselheim version of the Kama Sutra 😂)

NEW CLOTHES FOR EVERYONE!!! We know there's new Dorian art waiting to be released since he rejoined the party, but everyone is getting an Aeor-ready makeover! It makes perfect sense, but I was still thrown off by the level of outfit upgrades and am so excited for the art!

Pumat is BACK! Well, his Simulacrum are at least. I don't care, just hearing that voice made me so happy. And also Dorian giving all his money to Orym so he can buy the armor? So what if I was squealing?

Downtime at the Cabaret ❤️ The Imodna kiss as Laudna went back upstairs. The Callowmoore flirting leads to Ashton, for the first time in a LONG time, successfully pick-pocketing Fearne. Dorian and Chetney banter back in full swing. Fearne leaving the EXU group hug to give Dorym a moment together. going back slightly but Iva Deshin made Bells Hells clock that YES, YOU ALL DO GIVE OFF POLYAMOROUS VIBES! So many character moments that have been needed in such a plot-heavy story

Ashton shows their head off to Essek! I have been waiting for this for sooooo long!!! Allura had given some answers, but talking more about how Dunamancy and the Assembly's manipulation of Dunamis has played a role in everything going on. While the cast know this info out of character, its good that they finally can do so in character as well

Laudna, Delilah, and the Sword-Shaped Elephant in the Room. Well, damn. First off, the acting in this last hour or so was AMAZING!! Also incredibly demonstrative of the level of trust at the table. Now to talk about the moment itself. The line between Laudna and Delilah has been getting blurrier and last night I don't think Marisha even knew fully where Laudna ended and Delilah began. The cast and many insightful Critters have been comparing Laudna to an addict and last night is an incredible example. The way Laudna handled it was wrong, this could have been a conversation rather than an initial attack. But was Laudna or Delilah the one making those choices? Or being manipulated into them? In the moment, the calm approach the group tried to take was the right one, but honestly, Laudna needs a harsher talking-to like what Chetney did with Ashton post-shard incident. Taliesin on 4SD said that's what saved Ashton from leaving the group. It might be something that, other than Imogen's love, may be enough of a wake-up call to help her break away from her Delilah-induced magic addiction

TLDR: The whole episode was full of amazing moments that were cathartic, informative, tense, and heartwarming. THE PERFECT BELLS HELLS EPISODE! again, that's just my opinion. I'd love to hear what everyone else thought too!

#critical role #cr spoilers #bells hells #laudna #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #orym of the air ashari #dorian storm #chetney pock o'pea #imogen temult #new favorite bells hells episode unlocked #c3e95 #so much fun drama and love in one episode

[autisticlancemcclain]

“You want us to what.”

Lance doesn’t give a flying fuck how angry he sounds. Potential diplomatic crises be damned. Hell, he wants to cause a crisis. Wants to raise some hell.

The dignitary sniffs derisively. “The beast is a dangerous pest, Blue Paladin.”

“Not the blue paladin,” Lance growls, because he isn’t, “and I am not murdering an animal in cold blood just because you can’t deal with it properly.”

“Lance,” Allura hisses, but he has no problem ignoring her.

“Can’t deal with it properly — do you hear your paladin!” the dignitary sputters, waving an angry hand in Lance’s direction.

Shiro closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, before plastering on a tight smile and visibly trying to salvage the situation. Now, usually, Lance would hate to cause Shiro any stress at all, and would do whatever he could to reduce that stress.

This time, Lance is going to dig his heels in. He is not going to let a living being be needlessly exterminated. Lance isn’t anti-animal death, or anything — he has no problem with others eating meat, or using animal products. He thinks using animals as gifts and not letting any part of them go to waste is very wise, and he has a lot of respect for people who manage to do so successfully. Sport hunters, on the other hand, or people who kill without good reason? Therein lies his problem, and he’s beyond happy to make a big stink of it.

“Could you describe the beast?” Shiro asks.

“Happily,” the dignitary grumps. “I’m eager to describe its horror to you, Oh Great Leader of Voltron.”

Shiro visibly tries very hard not to roll his eyes. Lance refuses to take any joy in the reaction, even though he would usually laugh.

“The beast is as large as half our royal castle. Its teeth are larger than our tallest soldier, and sharper than a luxite blade. Its fur is rough and coarse, enough to sand the paint clean off the walls it brushes by. Its roar shakes the very foundations of our city. It walks on four legs but stands on two, right before it rears up to smash our buildings to dust. It is a menace, a pest, and a danger besides!”

“So you have a grizzly bear problem,” Lance snaps. “Close your garbage cans at night and quit complaining.”

“Lance, please,” Hunk mutters, but Lance will not back down. Not when a life is at stake.

“Has it actually…hurt anyone?” Keith asks.

Lance shoots a grateful look at Keith.

At least someone is on his side.

“Yes!” the dignitary cries.

Keith shoots a look back at Lance — a well, I tried if Lance has ever seen one — but that is not good enough. Lance glares at him.

Traitor.

“Explain,” Lance demands.

The dignitary frowns, looking down his nose at Lance and shaking their head. “I’m not talking to you.”

“Would you mind explaining,” Pidge deadpans, barely refraining from rolling her eyes.

Lance knows Pidge well enough to know that she’s not on his side, exactly — she threw a bolt at him when he started insulting the dignitary initially — but there’s nothing that pisses her off more than someone talking down to her family. Even if she doesn’t agree with said family. She’s loyal, like that.

“Fine, since you asked so nicely,” the dignitary says, cutting a look to Lance, who makes a very crude gesture with his hands in response and ignores the four (4) tired sighs from assorted teammates and co around him.

“The beast easily and ruthlessly took down several of our soldiers as soon as they opened fire on it. And it further still injured many of our knights when we sent them to its cave! It is a mindless, killing machine, and must be exterminated immediately.”

Lance throws his hands up in exasperation. “No shit it’s defending itself! What do you expect it to do, stand there while you shoot at it?”

“If it didn’t want to be shot it shouldn’t have ventured into the city in the first place!”

“It’s an animal! How the hell is it supposed to understand city limits and boundaries?”

“That’s not my problem,” the dignitary says coldly. “It has posed a threat to our people, and so it must die. And if Voltron wishes for our signature in the Coalition, you will come to our aid, or else you can count yourself down one planet’s alliance.”

Allura stiffens. “You would really risk your people’s protection over a difference in opinion?”

“Your blue paladin —”

“I am not the blue paladin, you brainless amoeba —”

“Your blue paladin,” the dignitary repeats, pointedly and icily, “has insulted us greatly. The situation is no longer up for debate. If you wish to sign an alliance, the paladin must handle the problem himself. That is our final stipulation.”

With that, the dignitary ends the call, cutting off Shiro’s pleas for him to wait.

All eyes turn to Lance.

“I am not killing an innocent animal,” Lance snaps. “Forget it.”

Keith sighs. “Lance —”

“No.” Lance clenches his fists, glaring at his team, chin raised and shoulders set. Beside him, Mr. Snuggles spreads his fangs and hisses. The mice — currently resting on his head — scramble to their feet, presumably also tensing up. Ivy — a venomous vine he picked up on a planet a few missions back — winds up his arms. “I am not just being ridiculous. You heard that idiot. They’re provoking it. It’s not doing anything wrong.”

“Lance —” Keith tries again, but Lance is not willing to hear it.

“I will not take an innocent life to buy an alliance. And if you do, I swear to God, I will never forgive you.”

With that he stomps out of the bridge, ignoring the dozens of calls of his name and pleas to “wait a goddamn second, Lance, c’mon.”

Lance stomps all the way to his room, muttering about stupid careless dignitaries and team members who won’t listen to him and how everyone is going to make him grey early and he is not Shiro, lord above, so he can’t pull that garbage off. Ugh.

He slams his door behind him and flops on the bed, and is marginally surprised to find his tears stinging his eyes.

“This is a stupid reason to cry,” he announces to no one, voice muffled in his pillow. “Why must I cry about stupid things. Why can’t I cry about regular things. This is dumb.”

There’s a clicking sound accompanying a gentle bump to the leg hanging off his bed. He drags his head off the pillow, sniffling, to see Mr. Snuggles sitting to the side of his bed, fangs clicking. The mice sit on his head, as they are wont to do (which, understandably considering the natural predator of mice, used to scare the shit out of Allura. But Mr. Snuggles has never been anything but gentle with them, even when they roughhouse on his back or play tag under his leg and accidentally trip him. He seems to be quite protective of them, actually. It’s very sweet. Lance thinks it might be a microhylid frog-giant tarantula situation, even though Mr. Snuggles can’t lay eggs, and it amuses him greatly). Ivy uncoils from his bed frame, wrapping a vine around his ankle and tugging carefully. Blue and Red both loudly mother him in the back of his mind.

It’s nice.

Lance sighs, wiping his tears and sitting up against his headboard.

“This sucks,” he says to his assortment of companions, all who seem to agree with him. Mr. Snuggles and the mice crawl up the leg of the bed to sit in front of him, and Ivy makes her way around his shoulders.

None of them can talk to him, obviously — how fucking cool would that be, though — but each one of them is an excellent listener (even the mice, who like to gossip, but Lance preemptively forgives them).

“It’s just —” Lance huffs, frustrated. “I get that the planet is probably tired of being lightly terrorized by a giant beast, sure, but is murder really the answer? Plus, have they even tried talking to it? Maybe it’s very reasonable! I’m sure I —”

Lance shoots up, startling poor Ivy, but holy shit.

Holy shit!

“That’s it!” he shouts, grin nearly splitting his face in two. He leans over, just barely managing to grab his holopad, and starts sketching out the plans.

“Now if I just — and it shouldn’t be too hard — I’ve done more in less time — hell yeah!”

He’s startled out of his fervour by urgent squeaks, and when he looks up, he sees the mice waving to get his attention.

“Yes?”

At his acknowledgement, they scurry into formation, laying together to make a question mark with their little bodies.

Lance snorts. He may not be able to speak their language, but they have no problems making themselves clear.

“I can’t tell you,” he scolds, “you’re going to snitch to Allura.”

They mice squeak sadly, but Lance knows better. Last time he gave in to them, Allura knew within the minute.

“I’ll be back soon, okay? Don’t wait up for me. Platt, Chulatt, Plachu, Chuchule — there’s some of that fancy grain you like in the cupboard. Mr. Snuggles — here.” He opens up space youtube, quickly opening up a horror movie reaction compilation for the fear demon. “That’ll keep you fed for a bit.” He props the holopad up on his pillow, scrambling to his feet and heading to the door. On the way out, he pulls the string on his special blue sun lamp — “That’s for you, Ivy!” — and then he’s out the door, plans in hand, to find Coran.

Luckily for Lance, he runs straight into him.

“Lance, dear, I was just coming to look for you,” Coran says, right outside his door.

Lance grins. “I can see that.”

Coran narrows his eyes. “You’re… remarkably chipper, Number Four.”

“Mhm.”

He holds up a hand for Coran to pause. He strains his ears, and smirks as he just barely picks up on the sound of near-silent footsteps behind a closed door. He makes pointed eye contact with the advisor, then inclines his head at Keith’s door.

Coran gets the point.

“Well, if you’re really feeling so much better,” Coran says loudly — too loudly, but Lance doesn’t have much in the subtlety department either, so he can’t complain — “would you mind helping me recalibrate the fabricator?”

“Absolutely,” Lance says, dragging the advisor by the hand in the opposite direction of the fabricator.

“Will you speak plainly, now?” Coran asks, once they’ve put some distance between them and Keith’s eavesdropping ass. (That is, however, probably an unfair reaction. Keith was likely listening in to try and find a way to help, in his own awkward way. If Lance wasn’t currently feeling just a smidge betrayed, he would feel touched.)

“Okay, so. I have a Plan.” Lance puts emphasis on the word so Coran knows it’s Capitalized, because this isn’t just a regular plan. This is a rescue mission. It’s espionage. A heist, even.

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes!”

Coran sighs, dragging a hand down his face.

“Lance,” he says warningly, but Lance won’t hear it.

“C’mon, Coran! You trust me, right?”

“That is a manipulative question —”

“You trust me! You said so yourself!”

“Fine, child. Yes, I trust you.”

Lance claps his hands together. “Excellent! So. I refuse to be a murderer, as you may have heard.”

“That would have been very hard for me to miss,” Coran says drily.

Lance gracefully ignores the comment. “And since I will also go apeshit if anyone else becomes a murderer, I have come up with a plan!”

“Lance. Number Four. My dear. Time is not our current luxury. Please share your plan.”

“Right. Okay.” Lance rocks back on his heels, shooting Coran a guileless smile. “How well do you think you can imitate my mannerisms?”

———

part two

#????? what are we thinking babes is this a yes or a no #i don’t write salty lance often #lance is a disney princess series #lance is a disney princess #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #klance #animal lover lance #red paladin lance #blue paladin lance #team as family #coran & lance #coran coran the gorgeous man #langst #angst and humour #everybody loves lance #brown eyed lance #my writing #fic #longpost

[klance-dreams]

Okay but please imagine Keith’s reaction to seeing Lance after he’s finally spent some time at the beach again? In his natural element, bronzed like a literal god, burnished from the sun? freckles like constellations?? Lance with wavy, curly salt water-hair, eyes soft and relaxed.

+ Keith meeting back up with the paladins after too long away with the blade. 👀

He loves space of course, but even after his time in the quantum abyss, he’s still not used to the way all warmth & body heat was constantly leached away. Despite his memories of cursing his time in the relentless summer heat of the shack, he’s found himself beginning to miss the hot scorch of the desert sun against his skin.

The blade gave Keith a rare opportunity for downtime that somehow happenes to align with an impromptu holiday/break that Allura has planned for the paladins on a sunny, earth-like planet filled with tropical islands, flora & fauna.

To Keith’s surprise, Lance was the one to call and invite him to join them; sunshine already infused in his voice at the idea of seeing a beach again.

For Keith, the mere thought of getting to see Lance in his natural element? He wouldn’t miss it for anything.

He promises to Lance on the spot (he would promise Lance all the moons and stars if he could) to meet him there later in the day.

When he gets there, everyone has already been enjoying the sun & surf for hours. Pidge is sunburned and squinting at the glare against her datapad, glasses reflecting at a sleeping hunk whose legs have been covered by a crude sand castle. He’s spooning a large collection of fruits that look strangely similar to the ones Keith remembers from earth.

Shiro and Coran seem to be playing a complicated Altean beach game that Keith intends to avoid; Allura lays out on the sand, the mice resting in the shadow of her hair.

Keith thinks someone might have called out a greeting to him, but he can’t be sure, because the second he sees Lance? All thougts leave him, head empty.

It’s too soon to blame the redness in his cheeks on the sun, but he can feel how hot his face has gotten anyway.

Lance is sitting in the sand, waves lapping his ankles. His hair is wild & curling behind his ears from the salt water breeze.

The sight of him alone is enough to warm the cold ache Keith has been feeling.

Sand sticks to the bronzed slope of his back, glittering like flecks of gold, effervescent in the bright sun for Keith’s eyes to follow.

His shoulders are broad and already tanned and freckled where Keith knows his own would be red and sore.

His eyes sweep over the scar on Lances back, and the ones on his arms and sides that Keith wasn’t there to protect him from.

But here? With the blue of the ocean to rival his eyes? Lance looks untouchable.

Looks like a god, burning bright and warm and full of life, and when he turns around at the sound of Keith’s name being called out, Keith’s breath catches in his throat because this sight?

This is one he got to see in the quantum abyss. It was one of the visions into his future that he held onto like a lifeline, like a treasure.

The image of Lance’s smile, a true joyful smile, playing behind Keith’s eyelids and keeping him sane on the worst of those nights spent stranded in space.

Lance, eyes dancing bright and smile brighter as his wide mouth forms Keith’s name on a joyful laugh and he hops up to throw his arms around Keith in a hug that feels like /home/ in a way Keith hadn’t known before Lance.

For one delirious moment, the déjà vu is so strong that he’s afraid he and Krolia never made it back at all. That they were still stuck out there in the cold emptiness of the abyss. The way the vision blends with the Lance he has in front of him makes Keith want to hold on tight and never let go.

Especially when Lance leans back and their eyes meet and lock, electric.

Keith still hasn’t even said a word, but Lance only smiles brighter and knocks their foreheads together.

Says, “hey samurai, it’s been too long”

One traitorous hand drifts up against Keith’s will to trace the new freckles dotting Lance’s cheeks, which flush the lightest pink at the attention or maybe the intensity of Keith’s gaze as he floats into Lance’s orbit, pulled to him like the moon to the sun.

Lance’s leans into the hand Keith cups against his cheek, and finally, finally their lips meet; Keith’s cold and chapped and Lance’s, warm and soft, tasting of the ocean.

When he has to pull back to catch his breath, he finally murmurs back a warm and gravely, “hey sharp shooter,” lips pulled up into a crooked grin and eyes tracking the way Lance melts into him at the nickname like always.

They stay like that for a while, catching up on what they’ve both been up to when Lance says offhand, “hey where’s Kosmo?”

Before Keith can answer, they’re both knocked into the surf by 200 pounds of excited space wolf.

Keith wants to be mad, but the way Lance pops up from the water sputtering makes him grin through the hair plastered to his forehead.

Lance takes one look at Keith, waist deep and fully clothed down to the fingerless gloves, mullet drenched, and bursts out laughing at the sight

and Keith can’t even be mad. He pretends to be, crossing his arms and ‘sulking’. He tries to blow his bangs up and out of his eyes before he remembers it won’t work and that sends Lance into tears. Keith sits back watches Lance laugh for a minute, committing the sight to memory.

He’s gonna get revenge on Lance for laughing, but first he needs to level the playing field.

Lance’s laughter slowly winds down as he watches Kosmo run off to greet the other paladins, laughing again when the wolf shakes water all over Allura and Hunk.

While Lance was distracted, Keith had taken his shirt and gloves off, tossing them back onto dry sand and adding his soaked jeans to the pile for good measure.

Keith was slicking his hair back from his face when Lance turned back toward him and froze at the sight, suspiciously quiet.

// …tbc? transferring twitter treads. original thread here!

#klance #klance dreams #vld #lance mcclain #voltron #keith kogane #transferring my twitter threads #twitter threads #my writing #writing #just a drabble born from an all-nighter

[deramin2]

It feels like people were wanting the trust exercises in Critical Role c3 E79 and E80 to be research-supported therapy from a licensed practitioner where they all work together to get a good grade in therapy, a thing that's normal to want and possible to achieve.

Not A HAG fucking with them per her nature feeding off juicy drama and cringe who wants to shake them around until all their secrets come out for her to watch and realize that they're so scared of failure they're locking into the sort of inaction that will actually make them fail. (I love Nana Mori. She was exactly the sort of fucked up punk rock street wise woman they needed.)

It's BORING if they just talk about all their problems. It's BORING if they just jump to trusting each other (when the exercise was started that they can't trust each other). It's BORING if they're like "actually that power that's been set in front of me could possibly have a bad effect so I'm just going to keep ignoring it. It's BORING to be safe. Go back to your coffee shop AUs if you want everything to be soft and safe. That's not the point of the source material.

The CR cast have REPEATEDLY said they have more fun pushing the big red button than playing it safe because you spend all of real life trying to avoid the consequences of risky decisions and it's FUN to get to explore what can go wrong.

Bell's Hells succeeded because they concluded they are in a moment were inaction and hesitation will get everyone killed and they just need to push all the big red buttons and take the risks because it's now or never. They need to check in enough to keep each other in line, but they also need to imagine a scenario where none of them are traitors. (Like they had to restrain FCG from murder-bot mode, but they risked getting to murder-bot mode because the benefit outweighed the personal risk.)

This party is not OSHA approved. They literally couldn't do the job if they were. People like Allura and Keyleth are relying on them to take monumentally stupid risks while holding on by their fingernails so that other people can be safe.

Fearne came to the conclusion that she wasn't taking the shard because she was afraid of Dark!Fearne. But her friends will pull her out of that if she drifts. She also wasn't taking it because she thought Ashton was supposed to have it and that didn't work out well. If she'd put her hoof down her friends would probably have accepted her decision even if they disagreed with it. (It's actually like normal and healthy to disagree with your friends choices and not yes-man them all the time.) But she decided with her own free will that she was just being scared and actually she did want to try. (But also if they hadn't gone through the shard hurting and rejecting Ashton, Fearne might have thought her taking damage meant she wasn't supposed to have it, not just part of the trial of absorbing it.)

There's no binary where pressuring your friends is always bad. Sometimes your friends pressure you into doing things they believe will benefit you that you're reluctant to do and then you do it and are like "no actually that was the right call and I needed that." Or you conclude "No actually that was bad and I wish I didn't listen." There's actually no way to know ahead of time. My relationship with one of my best friends of like 20 years consists heavily of us battling each other's depression by pressuring each other into things we don't want to do but need to and that's healthy for us. But also other people in our lives pressured us into things we didn't want to do and should not have done and it turned out bad. It turns out that life is made up of shades of grey and not hard and fast rules. There's no way of knowing if you're fucking up ahead of time.

Imogen admitted in the Truth or Die session that she was upset that Fearne didn't take the shard. She probably would not have told Fearne that in normal circumstances. And she was probably feeling that way because part of her was upset at herself for not giving into the Predothos powers. Admitting that to Fearne gave her the courage to talk about the possibility of doing that. Which like, could be a terrible idea. But also this is a D&D game with predetermined character class powers that grow as you level and there has to be an in-game justification for getting powers like Revelation in Flesh at 14th level. Like, either she leans into these powers or they're forced on her or she stops leveling and goes home. Leaning in is way more fun. Don't you want to see what batshit thing Matt has planned for that? That's FUN. Ignoring the dark powers is boring.

Like first and foremost this is A GAME that involves yes-anding and taking risks. It's about characters who have spent their entire lives burying and ignoring their problems and getting worse because of it. It isn't REAL for them to have one revelation and be like, "Whelp I'm fixed now and will fall into none of my old patterns and just bare my soul to everyone forever now." People aren't actually like that and if that's what they need to do to be measurably better for you you'll have a lifetime of disappointments. This is an adult story for adults about how adults really behave.

Anyway I can't wait for them to schlep all their baggage and new fucked up powers to the moon with them where they're make irresponsible decisions based on a martyr complex while their friends yell at them to stop being stupid and selfish and let them help. It's going to be a disaster but hopefully they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (or defeat from the jaws of victory) and tell an entertaining story about the fuckups who tried to stop the next Calamity. Maybe they will and they get to be heroes. Maybe it comes at a terrible cost. Maybe they totally fuck it up and it's a Ring of Brass situation. But it'll be FUN.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #critical role meta #critical role discourse #critical role campaign 3 #Bell's Hells #There's a reason many fans of this show would be totally incapable of making a compelling AP on their own #Maybe a fun home game but not a compelling narrative for other people #long post

[quietblueriver]

Dimples, Imodna please ☺️

Thank you so much for the prompt!!

Short thing set after the interaction with Gwendolyn but before the witchy adventure. During their nappy-nap, I believe Ashley called it.

This got angsty, somehow. Laudna-specific angst, not Imodna angst, but still. Know that's probably not what you were shooting for with dimples, and if you wanna drop another prompt, I'll try for something fluffier lol.

-

Laudna stares through the window of their room in Whitestone, hands crossed tightly over her body and bottom lip, already worn ichor-black, trapped between her teeth. 

“Laudna?” 

“Hmmm?” 

No part of her moves and her eyes don’t shift from whatever they see outside, so Imogen is uncertain whether Laudna actually heard her or whether her brain recognized Imogen’s call and responded on reflex, the equivalent of a “pardon me” in the crowded market. 

She steps closer, lets her footsteps be loud and moves a hand to hover near Laudna’s shoulder, tries again. 

“Are you alright?” 

Black eyes do move now, catching sight of Imogen and whatever look is on her face must bring Laudna back to the moment, because she turns her body from the window, hands dropping, and asks, voice concerned, “Alright, darling?” 

Imogen tilts her head and closes the last of the distance between her hand and Laudna’s body, starting with a squeeze of her shoulder and skimming down until she links their fingers. 

“I asked first.” 

A crinkle forms between Laudna’s eyes. 

“Did you? I’m sorry. I’m a bit distracted.” 

Imogen takes another step, putting herself at an angle so that she can see outside the window. Reds and golds bathe the beautiful gardens as the sun sets, and a figure stands silhouetted against a wall of green, arm stretched strangely behind them. 

Imogen blinks, eyes adjusting, and the form becomes Lady Vex’ahlia, a bow in her hand. It hangs at her side as she turns to the massive brown bear that has sprawled out beside her and says something that makes it raise its head, slowly but with purpose. 

They hadn’t seen her at the meeting, earlier, although Imogen knows she’s busy with other things. Political things? She has about a dozen different titles and Lady Allura said something about a council, maybe.

But she's back now, if she was ever gone, stretching her shoulders and raising her arms above her head. Her clothes look familiar, and it takes a moment but Imogen recalls the stories strung along the walls. Vox Machina. New versions, surely, but the Lady looks like she could’ve stepped from one of those panels, proud and hardly aged, the string of her bow pulled taut.

The arrow knocks some small thing from the top of a bench straight into the tree behind it. Imogen wonders whether Lady Vex’ahlia ever wants to put her bow down. What she thinks of when she shoots. Her own scars tingle.

“She’s very beautiful.” 

Laudna’s voice is more subdued than usual, and Imogen aches for her, sees again the heartbreak in her eyes as Gwendolyn recoiled. 

“She is.” Imogen rubs her thumb over Laudna’s knuckles and pulls her eyes away from the Lady of Whitestone and back to her favorite person. “You are, too.” 

The smile she gets is more than a concession but less than the flustered, happy thing that Laudna typically favors when Imogen compliments her. She’s just telling the truth, not fishing, but Laudna’s reaction is a good gauge of her mood, and Imogen closes more of the distance between them in an attempt at comfort. 

“Thank you, darling.” 

“Just tellin’ the truth.” She presses a quick kiss to Laudna’s cheek. “Wanna talk about it?” 

The smile Laudna gives her then is full of fondness, enough to make Imogen’s stomach flutter. Laudna’s hand moves to scratch at the nape of her neck, which she knows Imogen loves, before pulling her closer, and Imogen doesn’t fight it, settles into the crook of Laudna’s neck. 

Laudna strokes at her hair as she speaks, the sharp cut of her jaw moving against Imogen’s temple every now and again with her words.

“Did you notice that Gwedolyn has dimples? She looks so much like her parents. Although I don’t think Lady Vex’ahlia has dimples. Maybe Lord Percival. He doesn’t really smile often, so I suppose it’s hard to know.”

She speaks softly, aimlessly, an unhurried stream of consciousness that feels intimately and beautifully familiar to Imogen.

“She does, though. Gwendolyn. And her smile does look like Lady Vex’ahlia’s. Something about her chin, I think. And both a little mischievous.”

When it’s clear she’s finished for the moment, Imogen says, breath against Laudna’s collarbones, “Yeah. Pretty cute. Think she does a good job keepin’ the Lord and Lady busy.”

She bites her lip, pushes back against Laudna’s hand until they’re face to face again. They’ve talked about it. They’ve talked about it. But Imogen knows that Laudna is still hurting, can’t imagine how it must feel to have Delilah to deal with always, but especially in this place, and then to have her scare a child, hate a child, from Laudna’s own body. It’s too much, and she doesn’t know what to say, but she wants to tell Laudna that she’s here to listen, that it’s okay if she wants to talk more. “Laudna, I know we…” 

At the shake of Laudna’s head, Imogen stops, and when Laudna turns her head back to the window, Imogen’s eyes follow hers, catch on Lady Vex’ahlia bent down over the bear, head pressed to his. Her mind moves immediately and naturally to Laudna’s fingers and their ichor strings dancing Pate through the motions of conversation so many nights before they joined the Hells.   

“There were much prettier girls than me.” A beat. Imogen’s breath sticks in her throat, and she waits, watches as Laudna drifts somewhere Imogen can’t follow. Her eyes stay fixed on the world outside, on Lady Vex’ahlia. I always wanted to be a lady. “They had,” she pauses, adds an aside that seems not to be directed to Imogen or to anyone in particular, “not that I wish it on anyone, of course, but—they had options. There was another girl in my class, Alene. Dark, shiny hair. Tall. She had dimples, like Gwendolyn. Her chin wasn’t quite the same, but…”Her hand comes to her own chin, fingertips coming to rest just under her bottom lip. “She had the nicest dresses. Her parents owned a fabric shop, I think. Or maybe it was the bakery? And a little inn.”

Imogen’s whole body is tense now but she forces herself to relax and keep breathing as naturally as she can, to leave space for Laudna to keep talking. It’s rare, for Laudna to speak about her life as Matilda, her death, like this—voluntary, undirected, without caveats or the shining positivity that dulls the impact of the horrible details. Laudna is thoroughly genuine, but that doesn’t mean she makes every part of herself available, that she doesn’t curate like everyone else. This is something different than a necessary disclosure to the Hells or even a detail given in trust.

This is Laudna on her own, giving Imogen room to be with her, if she’d like. It’s a gift, and Imogen doesn’t want to do anything to stop her, to risk it. If she wants to talk, Imogen wants to listen.

“I think, perhaps, with my parents, with,” a wave of the hand not caught in Imogen’s before it fists in her skirts, a familiar scrunch and release of fabric, “all of it, I was…the easiest option. Less outrage. No outrage,” she finishes with a whisper. 

Imogen wants to wrap her up. She doesn’t. She thinks of Matilda, alone in this place, confused and in pain and imagines wrapping her up instead. She would have been outraged. She’s outraged now. And she thinks, for the thousandth time, that she will kill Delilah Briarwood, and she will enjoy it.

Laudna clears her throat. “Anyway, they must have thought…Well. Even if there were better options, it’s flattering, that anyone would think I look anything like her.”

Laudna is generally too earnest to be wry, but it’s the word that comes to Imogen for the shift in her expression, the half-roll of her eyes and motion of her lips. “Flattering might not be the word,” she breathes to herself before continuing, “I’m nothing like Lady Vex’ahlia. Like any of the de Rolos, really. They’re all so beautiful, and I…”

The hand rises to her hair, but instead of the usual anxious motion, Laudna pulls a lock out in front of her and looks at it, a little lost. Her voice is confused but stitched through with a sadness so profound it takes Imogen's breath away. “I was never beautiful, but now, I…”

Imogen cracks open, overwhelming love and righteous fury and deep desire fighting to escape, to reassure. She beats them back and says nothing, stays quiet and close.

Laudna shakes her head and turns her eyes to the gardens again, and when she speaks, it's low and far away, caught in another life. “There were much prettier girls than me.”

#imodna #southerngothic #imodna fic #cr prompt fic

[rorimoon9597]

Lance has always been obsessed with Keith's hair for some reason. He didn't know why at first, but as time went on, it became so clear that he wanted to run his hands though it and feel it on his fingers.

He made comments about it being an ugly mullet to hide that fact. It didn't work, especially not when he confessed to Keith before he left for the Blade.

What? He was going to lose the chance to say anything anyway! And he was so happy when Keith kissed him to shut him up and told Lance that his feelings were reciprocated, he felt as if he were on cloud nine.

Since coming back from his fight with Shiro's clone (who they're forever going to refer to as Kuro as in 'Operation Kurone'), Keith has experienced some changes.

For starters, his eyes were more purple. Before they'd been a grey colour with purple undertones, but now they were properly purple. Then his canines were sharper, practically fangs, and his eyes would sometimes change. When he was angry, his irises would become slits and the sclera of his eyes would become yellow. It was hot, in Lance's humble opinion (Pidge called him an alien fucker when he said that at first. Lance said that Keith's dad was the true alien fucker. Shiro sprayed the water he was drinking everywhere and choked when he said that).

The most noticeable change happened to Keith's hair though. The ends of it lightened, until they were purple. It looked so cool, and it connected Keith to Krolia more. His hair stayed black, but now when it gets out it was purple.

Keith... Didn't think the same way as everyone else.

"I feel like I'm losing my dad. I've only ever looked like my mom, and the one thing that has ever connected me to my dad was my hair." The team had stopped on a planet for a rest, and Keith and Lance had gone off together to hunt down some meat and gather fruit and vegetables.

Lance stopped and grabbed Keith's wrist, forcing him to stop and turn to face him.

"You're still connected to your dad, Keith. It's just not entirely in your appearance," he said. Keith frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Lance hummed.

"You said that he'd go head first into danger, right?"

"Yeah..?"

"And that he was a hero?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"According to your mom, your dad was kind, and reckless, and a hero and someone she loved enough to leave to keep safe."

"Mom said that?" Keith asked, sounding surprised. Lance nodded. "Where are you going with this anyway?"

"Because those are some things that you have in common with your dad," Lance answered. Keith opened his mouth, then closed it.

"... You're right," he eventually said. Keith reached up to his hair and fiddled with a purple end. "That stuff... Does connect me to my dad..."

"I'm never wrong about people things," Lance said, confidently. Keith smiled down at him (that had happened during the two year time dilation that Keith and Krolia went through, and Lance found that he liked having to look up over looking down).

"You know more about people than I do," he agreed. He pressed a kiss to Lance's forehead. "Thank you."

"Anything for you," Lance said. He pressed a kiss to Keith's lips. "Now, let's go catch something that Hunk can make into a good meal."

"Alright."

They worked quickly, and made their way back to the campsite with food that all of them could eat. Hunk was quick to take care of the food, Krolia helping him while Romelle stayed by Allura's side.

Lance sat on a log, and Keith settled himself between his legs. Kosmo flopped down with them.

Lance ran his hands through Keith's hair, smiling as Keith joked with the others and treated Shiro and Romelle like Lance treated his siblings - by annoying the hell out of them out of love.

Lance leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Keith's head.

"I love you," he whispered. Keith hummed, tilting his head to look up at him. There was a smile on his face reserved just for Lance.

"I love you too," he replied.

_______________________________________

Based off of this post I made

#voltron #vld #keith kogane #lance mcclain #takashi shirogane #princess allura #coran #hunk garrett #pidge holt #krolia #keith has purple in his hair #based off if a headcannon i have #i love purple haired keith #someone please draw this man with purple hair as described in this please #not forcing it but it'd be so cool #klance

[klance-headcanons-official]

Some angst for you all because I like despair. Fanfic style.

"I just don't understand!" Keith yelled, the very air shook with the weight of the tension, "You keep telling me that you "Just need time to figure yourself out." And then you pull something like this!" He could see the conflicting look on Lance's face illuminated by the moon's light that seeped through the curtains.

"Is it so wrong for me to question and experiment?!" He half-yelled back, he had his fingers to his temple as if he were trying to rid himself of a headache, or sooth a burn in his eyes.

"It is when you know that I love you, Lance!" Tears began to roll down the sides of his face, landing on the carpet with angry whispers. "I can't do friends with benefits. If you're going to kiss me, at least have the decency to be my fucking boyfriend."

"Keith, you know it isn't that simple-"

"But it is, Lance! Is it! You either like me, or you don't! You need to pick a side, because I just can't keep doing this."

"I do like you, Keith." Lance said, his breathing had begun to shake, he could hear the way his heart pounded in his chest, beating in unison with the rhythm of Keith's words.

"Then why!?" Keith clenched his fists at his sides, and he spoke through gritted teeth. "Why won't you go through with this?"

"Well, you know what, you don't exactly have the best history of staying, either."

"That isn't even related! I had to leave Voltron for you! So that you had a place on the team! So that YOU were happy!! Did you really think I wanted to leave you, Lance?"

"Yeah, Keith, I kinda did! Do you even know how long I have wanted to be with you!? How long I have waited for the day when you maybe, actually want me too?! And now that I'm here, I'm realizing how scared I am to be with you, because I don't know if you're going to fucking stay with me!"

"Why wouldn't I stay with you?! Lance, you know what I feel, you know what I want, why would you ever think that I'd leave?"

"Because I'm not good enough, Keith!"

"What?"

"I'm. Not. Fucking. Good enough for you. You're strong, you're kind, you're smart, you're important, you actually have a thing! And I'm just... Me. I only ever move forward when you do something first. At the Garrison, I only got into the fighter pilot program because you were expelled. In Voltron, I only stayed on the team because you left to be in the Blade. I live in your shadow, I only ever see the back of your head. I'll never live up to that, I'll never be on your level."

He paused for a moment, letting droplets drip from his eyes.

"All I want is to walk beside you for once. To be able to look over and see you looking back."

"Why didn't you just tell me that? We could have avoided all of this if you had just talked to me, Lance." Keith tried to move closer, but Lance only took a step back. "You didn't have to lie to me if you wanted my affection-"

"I wasn't lying. I do need to figure myself out. I need to figure out if I could ever measure up, I need to figure out if I could ever be strong enough to actually do my job, I need to figure out if I'm okay, if I can let myself love someone after Allura... I need to figure out how to let myself be loved by someone. To be loved by you."

Keith reached out, pulling Lance into a hug before he could protest. He held him tightly and whispered, "I'll wait for you."

There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again, "But please, for the sake of my sanity, don't kiss me anymore. Not until you're ready to love me. Until you're ready to let me love you."

Lance nodded, "Promise."

Okay, I know this was long but it was actually so much fun to write. I feel like writing a part two and make it extra fluffy because writing angst for these two breaks my heart. Let me know if that's something you guys want.

#voltron #keith kogane #klance #lance mcclain #ships #vld #headcanon #angst #part two?

[silentwillowwhisperer]

Galra Nose

Galran puberty is weird. That's the only way to describe it. While in human puberty one might hit a sudden growth spurt or experience unfortunate vocal changes, Galra puberty causes enhancement of the senses and more recognizable alien features.

Keith doesn't mind the drop in his voice or his glowy eyes. His heightened hearing is actually very helpful, and his sharpened fingernails can come in handy in a tight spot.

He only complaint he has is hitting puberty twice. Anyway, he learns to live with it.

Keith steps out of his lion and is instantly bombarded with the strong smell of flowers.

In their briefing, Allura explained that this planet is known for its beautiful gardens. The whole place is in perpetual darkness, but their are small spores that float through the air and give the plants the necessary nutrients to thrive.

Now that Keith has a chance to see it with his own eyes, he doesn't want to leave.

For some reason, the fragrance filling the air around him calms him. He feels like a warm blanket has been wrapped around his shoulders. He has a strong urge to run straight into one of the many meadows surrounding them and roll around.

No one else is having this reaction. Pidge's nose is bright red, and she sneezes every 10 seconds. "Allergies suck," she mutters at the other paladins.

Keith grins at her. He does it to comfort her, but she looks taken aback. After a moment Keith realizes that he doesn't usually smile that wide at his teammates.

He can't seem to help it, though. He has a small smile on his face all throughout their meeting with the planet's leader. He has never felt so safe before. The scent of plants fills his head and fuzzes his thoughts. It's pleasant, not having constant agitation buzz around his brain.

Lance sees his good mood and decides to test it.

"Hey, Keith. Whad'ya say we go check out those fields? Someone told me that we can run around all we want after this meeting is over."

Keith smiles contentedly and nods.

They finally get outside and Keith is the first to steak across the tall grass that blankets the ground.

Lance lets out a surprised, but happy, shout before chasing after him.

Keith trips over a rock or root, causing Lance to crash into him.

Lance braces himself for Keith to snap at him, to tell him to watch it.

Instead, Keith giggles. Keith flipping Kogane giggles.

He rolls onto his back and flings his arms out so that one of his hands rests on Lance's chest. Lance tries to hide his blush.

"I love this place. It smells like warmth."

The way he says it reminds Lance of a cat and catnip.

"You feeling okay, buddy? This is awesome, and I'm glad to see you lightening up a bit, but you don't sound yourself."

Keith's laugh rings out like a bell. Lance tries not to seem shocked, the only laughter he's ever heard from the red paladin is after winning a harsh battle.

"I've actually never felt better. I feel freed."

The glowing spores in the air are floating above their heads. They look magical, and bathe Keith's face in just enough light for Lance to study it.

His eyes are closed, and there's a quirk to his lips. His tensed posture is gone as he lays spread out across the ground here.

Lance remembers something Keith said once. They had been doing their weekly team bonding session, aka spilling all of you secrets 'for the good of the universe,' and Keith had mumbled that he is afraid of the dark. Allura stopped turning the lights off in his room after that, not understanding that she wasn't helping his problem.

That's not a problem here, because the darkness is broken by the spores' glow.

Lance's train of thought is interrupted by a low rumble beside him. He realizes with a jolt that Keith is purring. He's moving closer to Lance and purring. Keith curls into his side. Lance wraps his arms around the happy boy next to him.

Keith needs to be like this more often. Sure, he's clingy, but he's lost the biting edge to him, and it gives way to this softer side of him that Lance didn't know existed. He doesn't doubt that Keith could still take down an army, but this is proof that Keith isn't all rough edges and grime.

The team eventually find them. They see Keith's peaceful face and decide to stay a little longer. They all lay on the ground together and tell stories about Earth while Keith purrs.

It's a shame they have to go.

Everyone expects Keith to go back to normal, but he doesn't.

He sulks around the castle and refuses to speak to anyone, even Shiro.

It tears Lance's heart out. He wants to scream, Speak! Yell at me or insult me or purr again, anything!

But he doesn't he stays wilted and unresponsive.

They are going to change that, though.

The whole gang gathers in the lounge for a meeting (without Keith, of course). They don't have to worry about him finding them because he rarely comes out of his room these days.

"I think I know what's wrong!" Lance bursts.

"The planet had all of those plants. We already know that he's developing stronger hearing and sight, so it makes sense that his nose would change too. It think it's like catnip."

He's so dead serious that he can't even laugh at the image of Keith sticking his head into a bed of catnip that appears in his mind.

Everyone agrees, so they move on to problem solving. In an hour, they have a plan.

-

Keith has been training all day. He hates the detached feeling that fills his body, and he feels so useless. Everyone has been trying so hard to cheer him up, and he can't even find it within himself to thank them.

He sighs before ending the training sequence and heading back to his room. It has done little to clear his mind, but he has to at least try to fix himself.

He punches in the door code and immediately drops his bayard.

All over his room, glass terrariums sit on every surface. There are golden fairy lights strung up all over the walls, and bright glow stars are scattered across the ceiling.

The first thing that comes to his mind is magic. The other paladins have worked some form of magic and transformed his once impersonal, bare room into an enchanted hideaway.

The tears dripping from his eyes only intensify when he feels someone hug him from behind. He turns around to see the whole team smiling at him.

They all huddle into a a giant hug and have a moment.

Now, at night he doesn't fear the darkness creeping around him. The loneliness in his chest doesn't claw its way into his thoughts. The smell of alive things fills his nose and heart.

He finds new plants at every planet they visit to add to his garden.

Sleepovers are always in his room from then on.

Keith's family is the best.

#keith #keith kogane #vld #voltron legendary defender #voltron #lance mcclain #klance #lance vld #keith vld #vld keith #technically klance #tawny post

[utilitycaster]

Hi! I saw your tags on the escape room poll that Team Liam would be last and I wanted to ask why? While I agree that they wouldn’t be first, I wouldn’t put them last either. Do you think they would just have too much conflict to use their skills?

I didn't realize this was from last night's 4SD and because OP said "Battle Royale" I assumed that it was in some way a combat-oriented escape room, in which the lack of a dedicated/significant healer (Vax has, what, 30 lay on hands and a couple low level spell slots) and the fact that Orym is one decent but not incredible tank among two of the most tissue-paper characters in terms of HP would spell their defeat.

With the understanding that this is a traditional escape room here's my thought process:

From my escape room experience there are four skills that map easily into D&D skills and one that does not map into the D&D character skill chart but does map extremely well onto players. They are:

Investigation/raw intelligence. How good are you at inspecting and comprehending things?

Sleight of Hand/raw dexterity. How good are you at manipulating objects/fine motor control?

Persuasion or Intimidation/raw charisma. How good are you at convincing people to work together or perform tasks?

Perception. How good are you at generally noticing things right away?

The most crucial thing, however, is "do you try dumb shit and push buttons and try to figure out everything quickly." And so:

Toss up between Travis and Sam's character teams in terms of the D&D skills; Chetney and Veth are both particularly suited for escape rooms between strong intelligence and high dexterity. I think Sam's team overall is probably stronger; Tary's mechanical knowledge and FCG's desire for everyone to work together and Scanlan's general buffing abilities/capacity to get people to do what he wants (presumably win) mean everyone has a lot to bring to the table. FCG is the only one with decent perception, iirc, though, and Travis as a player is fundamentally a button pusher and therefore his characters will inherit this energy even though Chetney and Fjord are going to be carrying the entire thing (although, actually, Grog will probably respond well to being asked to perform tasks or look for things).

Taliesin's characters have the combined skills but unfortunately with the except of Caduceus they all have the trait "does not work well with others" and Ashton and Percy in particular wouldn't listen to Caduceus and they're the ones with the most relevant skills here. Beau could do an escape room on her own and probably would (note: someone told me this is what Marisha said on 4SD and I agree wholeheartedly) but necessarily will be less effective than groups who work together. Vex would do pretty well and would be competitive enough, but none of Laura's characters are particularly expert in investigation and if Vex and Imogen clash it is 100% over in terms of getting out in time, though I think Jester would make a valiant go of it. None of Ashley's characters crack +1 in investigation and no one has 20 dex, and I doubt most would be interested or competitive about this, though I do think they'd get along the best by far.

Rounding things out, I suspect that Liam's characters are just behind Taliesin's in terms of conflict; it won't be quite as heated but I get the sense all three of them, all of whom are very much about working together with their respective parties, will not be very good at working together with each other, and Orym is the least likely to take the lead despite most suited for it. Caleb is extremely smart but I don't think he'd be the most invested in going super fast. I don't think they'll be last - Ashley or Taliesin are more likely - but they'd certainly not be first. The NPCs, meanwhile, have the advantage of two people who know each other well, a very agreeable and mature person in Eshteross, and Essek and Allura will probably vibe solely on the basis of being wizards who know and like Caleb if they don't know each other personally yet. Iirc Essek and Eshteross should have decent dex scores though not 20, and everyone has diplomatic skills. I believe Allura's wisdom is respectable as well. They'll certainly be the most well-behaved and adult about it.

In conclusion, you're right, probably not last (would almost certainly be last in the combat scenario I mistakenly imagined) but absolutely should not be first.

#answered #promisetourself #cr tag