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sage-nebula · 4 years

Note

ooo how about keitor and ezarti?

Keitor — Ship It

What made you ship it?

Hmm, well, as I recall I started shipping it after season four—specifically, after Zarkon declared Lotor an enemy of the state and Lotor saved Keith’s life. Considering all the parallels in their characters and histories, the fact that Lotor saved Keith’s life, and the speculation that Lotor would join the Blade of Marmora given that he was also half-galra and thus spend a lot of time around Keith, shipping them was easy. After I began to further explore their characters and their potential, I was head over heels before I knew it. And you know? As much as I hate that show now, I’ve still never stopped shipping them, and probably never will.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Probably the perfect ways in which they complement each other. They have a lot in common due to the way they parallel each other, but they each also have what the other lacks, making them perfect complements for each other. AJ LoCascio once said that Keith would “bring out the person in Lotor, and ground him,” and I think that’s true—but I also think that Lotor could do the same for Keith, in that Lotor has a lot of the diplomacy skills that Keith lacks, thus filling in for Keith’s weaknesses in that area. (Note: This especially true once Lotor is emperor and Keith, his husband, is emperor consort; Keith never really gets good at diplomacy, but thankfully, Lotor has that covered.)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I mean, unfortunately the fact that I don’t see Lotor as a rapist / someone who would sexually assault Keith, nor do I see their relationship as twisted, abusive, or unhealthy in any way. Granted, I don’t know if that’s still going on, but I know it was going on a lot back in the day, and I was never here for it. I also never saw it as a “crack” ship, nor did I ship it as a way to make another ship happen, which was also really unfortunately common.

- - -

Ezarti — Ship It

What made you ship it?

I can’t remember the exact details now, but I do remember there being a moment in season four when Ezor made an insensitive comment (something regarding eyesight or the like), but then quickly turned and apologized to Narti, realizing that her insensitivity could have hurt Narti’s feelings. But far more importantly, at the end of season four, the person who was most upset about Lotor killing Narti was Ezor. She was the one who was scowling in her ship as they made their escape, she was the first one to call for mutiny against Lotor for what he did, and so on and so forth. She seemed the closest to Narti, or at least the one who cared the most, and so that was the spark for me to look deeper into what could have been in their relationship.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Hm, probably how they’re a good example of “opposites attract”. Narti is mute (which doesn’t mean she doesn’t talk, of course—she talks through telepathy and sign language, but when it comes to the spoken word she’s mute), whereas Ezor runs her mouth a mile a minute. Narti has a very calm energy, whereas Ezor has a chaotic energy. Narti looks like she’d be scary and threatening and dangerous, and she can be dangerous if necessary, but she’s actually the kindest person in Team Revolutionary and would be a pacifist if circumstances allowed her to be. Ezor, on the other hand, is the one most often underestimated on Team Revolutionary given how bubbly and silly she seems to be, but is absolutely one of the most cutthroat and ruthless when it comes down to it (second only to Zethrid, and almost tied with her). Narti tends to be a fatalist and used to just accept that her life was going to be nothing but one bad thing after another, with no way to change it, whereas Ezor is all about change and fighting with every last tooth and claw to not only stay alive, but to get better things at no matter the cost, and when they come together they meet in the middle.

Of course, they have similarities, too. They both love cats, for example (even though Kova is a grumpy old man who is not fond of Ezor’s chaotic energy), and they both like indulging in junk food. Narti is shy about dancing, but she enjoys it when Ezor grabs her hands and pulls her into an upbeat dance around the room to whatever bop is playing over the speakers. They both love kids, and post-war (and once everything settles down post-war, which takes a while) they have a few, who are raised with as much love as they can muster, if not more. They also do advocacy work post-war, with Ezor especially working hard against ableist attitudes that pervaded throughout the Empire—attitudes which formed policies that very nearly had Narti executed just for being who she was before Team Revolutionary found her and intervened.

But most of all, they’re incredibly supportive of each other. Even when others think Ezor is ditzy, Narti doesn’t agree, and in fact is the only member of Team Revolutionary who has never made Ezor feel stupid, even unintentionally. Ezor thinks Narti is the most amazing person she’s ever met, thinks that her abilities are magical instead of scary, and genuinely finds Narti to be beautiful. And at the end of the day, I like the fact that, well, Narti can’t see, because she’s blind. And there are times when Ezor can’t be seen, because of her cloaking ability. But Narti can always see Ezor, can and will always find her, because on top of her extrasensory perception, Ezor’s essence is the easiest for Narti to “see” and feel drawn to. And Ezor, too, knows that Narti never overlooks anything, and trusts in her insight 100%.

I just think they work really well together.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think the fact that I ship it at all, lmao. I’ve never seen another person (besides you) ship it. Granted, that trash show killed her off after two bloody half-seasons, so I mean, I can’t really blame people, but still . . . it’s lonely on this life raft.

#ship meme #keitor #ezarti #series: paradigm shift #Ezor & Narti are also the best spies on the team #what with Ezor's cloaking & Narti's telepathy #also for any curious - for Team Revolutionary #Most Kind to Least Kind is:#Narti - Keith - Lotor/Acxa tie - Ezor - Zethrid #and then just reverse that order for Most Brutal to Least Brutal #Lotor & Acxa flip positions depending on the circumstance #& both are kinder / more forgiving on the whole bc they don't want to disappoint Keith lmao #anyway #severalbakuras

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sage-nebula · 3 years

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it's very hard to choose between all my fave fanfics of yours but i'm actually gonna go for the wild card and say 'the ultimate reward' bc it's about best girl!!!! zethrid!!!!!!!

You know what, I not only procrastinated writing my thesis during a critical time to write that fic, but I was also thinking of you the entire time I wrote it because of how much you love Zethrid, so I am very happy to hear this. <3 Zethrid is indeed one of the best girls and I’m happy I could do her justice, thank you!

#favorite fic meme #severalbakuras

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sage-nebula · 4 years

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1, 6, 8, 20, 44?

1.) Favorite color?

Lately, purple! I favor grayish-purple or blue-purples (not red-purples, those are too close to pink for my tastes), but purple is versatile and I’ve really been feeling it in recent times. Still like certain shades of blue and green, but purple has been my jam for the past little while.

6.) Rare pair that you ship?

MOST of my ships are rarepairs, Yuugi/Jounouchi and Keith/Lotor among them. But I’d say the rarest of my rarepairs are probably either Ezor/Narti or Alan/Leon, which is technically a QPP but nonetheless. (And before anyone asks, yes, in my headcanon Alan is already an adult by the time they meet. I don’t know when SwSh take place on the timeline, but my thought is that Leon is in his early 20s, so Alan would also be early 20s by the time they meet and connect. That, or perhaps they meet when Leon is still a teenager, too. Anything is possible if you Believe™ and canon never says otherwise.)

8.) Birds or Fish?

Birds! No offense to fish, it’s just that I think most bird species are smarter, and seeing a raptor flying above just gives me such a feeling in my chest. (To quote Leonardo da Vinci: “When once you have tasted flight [. . .] you will always long to return.”) Birds are also descended from dinosaurs which makes them infinitely cooler.

(That said, I took this question on an objective level. If it comes to a “which would you rather have as a pet” level, the answer is “neither.” I’m not equipped to deal with either as pets.)

20.) Favorite junk food?

ICE CREAM, though I’ve currently banned myself from eating it since I need to lose weight and mass consumption of ice cream (and milkshakes made from ice cream) is what made me gain the weight I need to lose in the first place. :(

44.) Beach or mountain?

Mmmmmountain. Although beaches tend to be warmer and easier to traverse, mountains offer more spectacular views, fewer annoying tourists, less annoying sand, and all around a better experience. I’m nowhere near in shape enough to go hiking right now, but I’ve always loved hiking up mountains (even though doing so led me to slipping off a cliff nearly to my death that one time when I was fourteen). My memories of beaches are not nearly as nice.

#ask meme #like i won't say no to going to the beach usually #(tho i did the last time i was invited bc i didn't have a swimsuit + didn't want to buy one #and also didn't want to go through the hassle of covering my tattoos #but that was a smart move on my part bc my friends got attacked by jellyfish & i managed to avoid that)#but i'd just prefer a nice mountain trail instead #severalbakuras

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sage-nebula · 4 years

Note

ALSO FANDOM ASKS uhhh yugioh voltron pokemon and the good place :D

Yu-Gi-Oh!:

Jounouchi Katsuya!

Voltrash:

A tie between Keith Kogane and Prince Lotor!

Pokémon — Games:

Lorekeeper Zinnia!

Pokémon — Anime:

Champion Trainer Alan!

The Good Place:

Janet!

- - -

Send me a 💖 and a series name and I’ll tell you my favorite character!

#fandom meme #our intrepid Hero #a blade of storm and fire #a prince of rift and lightning #lorekeeper zinnia #my valiant dragon son #janet #severalbakuras #flashing gif

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sage-nebula · 5 years

Note

re meme!! 2, 10, 19, 26 and 31!

2.) Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life.

In order of when I discovered them:

Ash/Misty from Pokémon was Baby’s First OTP, back before I even knew what shipping was. I recognized that Misty had a crush on him, and that Ash had a crush on her, and man, I was dead set on the fact that they were going to be boyfriend and girlfriend. As an adult I know that the anime will most likely never end and as such Ash will never have an endgame relationship, and I’ve also come to ship them both with other people (e.g. Ash with Clemont, Misty with Lana). But this is still one of the truest of OTPs for me, in that if they ever were revealed to be canon endgame in any way, shape, or form, I would be absolutely over the moon. (Plus, I mean, they reunited in the SM anime and their interactions there were cute af, so it’s not like I’ve got nothing to go on even after all these years, haha.)

As much grief as I expect to get from this one, when I was in high school I shipped L/Light from Death Note, and though I hate to say it, this is one of the important ones because of who I shipped it with and how we enjoyed it. Basically, the person who introduced both the Death Note manga and the ship to me was my best friend at the time, who was also the first and only person I’ve ever been in love with. I had feelings for her even back then, though I was oblivious to it (and I remained oblivious even when I was jealous that I wasn’t the one taking her to prom “as a friend” like . . . god, teen!me), and so even though it was silly . . . we used to talk a lot through Yahoo! Instant Messenger, and sometimes we’d slip seamlessly into pseudo-roleplays of L (me) and Light (her). We didn’t do anything lewd, but because of some fan content we saw (most notably a doujin where Watari and Light were competing for L’s attention---it was pure crack but we loved it), we’d often role play where Light was tsuntsun about his feelings for L and like . . . I don’t know, it’s so silly looking back on it, but those little role plays made me so happy, not because of the ship so much, but because of the way she, as Light, really wanted me, as L . . . you really think I would have clued into the fact that I was head over heels for her, but compulsory heterosexuality will really make fools out of people, I swear. Anyway, the point is, this was a very important ship for that time in my life, and given how much of an impact the relationship I had with that girl had on my life overall, ultimately, this ended up being a very important ship altogether even though I don’t ship it like that anymore.

And finally, Yuugi/Jounouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh, not only because it’s my favorite ship of all time, but also because it led to me meeting you! 💜 It also led to me writing my magnum opus, but more importantly it led to me meeting you, and for that I’m very grateful, SB.

10.) Do you ship any characters that have never met?

I mean, do Keith and Lotor count? I feel like they count. And even if they don’t, they did when I started shipping them, so . . . :P Aside from them, I’ve got a few Pokémon ones like that too, I think, but otherwise I typically need some sort of interaction in canon to go on. Usually, anyway.

19.) Have you ever shipped something despite yourself?

I don’t think so? I’m pretty self-aware and accepting of the things I do or don’t like lmao. And I tend to be pretty consistent with that sort of thing, too.

26.) Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to?

Best friends to lovers is absolutely my favorite ship. The ships that I love the most (e.g. Yuugi/Jounouchi, Makoto/Haru from Free!, etc) tend to follow this trope. This doesn’t mean that every single ship that I like will follow this trope, but even when we look back at my first ever ship, Ash/Misty---well, that one fits the bill, too. Considering that having a solid foundation of best friendship is what I consider to be the recipe for an ideal romance in real life, it’s no wonder that’s my favorite romantic trope in fiction as well.

31.) Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love.

On top of how much they compliment and sing praises for another, something else that Lotor and Keith begin to do as they develop feelings for each other is try to impress each other. And one way this happens, at least in Paradigm Shift, is one day Lotor just so happens to not put a shirt back on after taking a shower, so he comes out with his hair still damp and a few drops of water on his chest to see if Keith notices. And Keith shows no reaction. But a day or so after that Keith just so happens to take his shirt off after training and leave it off, so his skin is slick with sweat and his hair is all disheveled to see if Lotor notices . . . and he gets the barest of reactions, but still enough to keep him in the game.

Acxa just digs headache medicine out of the first aid pack because she knows where this is going and she knows she’s going to need it.

#ship meme #severalbakuras

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sage-nebula · 5 years

Note

how about keitor and/or edeleth with all odds? owo

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

Keitor: If we’re sticking with a canon compliant ‘verse, then I would go with what I described in Walk the Line (which I realize now is not technically canon compliant, but it was at the time I wrote it, between seasons four and five):

[…] ever since the audience that ended with Lotor undergoing (and passing) the Trials of Marmora, Lotor seemed keen on spending time with him. This wasn’t something Keith really registered at first. He was as aware of Lotor as Lotor seemed to be of him, in that he paid rapt attention during the initial meeting Lotor had requested (and earned, with his saving throw), and was the one who had petitioned Kolivan to give Lotor a shot at the Trials in order to earn himself a place within the Blade of Marmora. Team Voltron hadn’t been willing to give him an alliance, a fact Keith felt was more frustrating than surprising, but Lotor had intel they needed. Lotor could be the key to defeating Zarkon. He was dangerous, and there was no doubt about that, but he was also intelligent and skilled. He could be a powerful ally, and Keith wasn’t about to let that possibility go to waste. If that meant Lotor had to join the Blade of Marmora, then so be it. Keith would fight to give them all that chance.

What I had imagined happening was a joint audience with both Team Voltron and the Blade of Marmora as they heard Lotor’s case for both an alliance and asylum, and Keith arguing in favor of trusting Lotor (albeit with a very close eye on him) because he could make for a powerful ally, which would then lead to him joining the Blade of Marmora. If we’re going with a canon compliant universe, that’s how I’d have it.

As for Paradigm Shift, I’m the one that wrote that, so I see no need to change their first meeting.

Edeleth: I would probably make it so that Edelgard wasn’t the one who hired the bandits to kill Dimitri and Claude, since to be honest it seems kind of out of character for her to do so. Not in the sense that she’s not willing to kill either of them should it come to that, because obviously she is and we see that later in the game; but when she has to kill Dimitri after the five year timeskip, she cries a little about it, and has genuine regret that it came to that. She, along with Byleth, spares Claude (if the player chooses to, at least). And that’s after five years of war, and years that were spent after temporarily losing Byleth, at that. I find it hard to believe that at the very start of the game Edelgard would really launch an assassination attempt, and one that very nearly got herself killed in the process (like, was Hubert okay with that risk being taken??). I think it would have made more sense if Lord Arundel was the one to set that up, taking actions that Edelgard didn’t agree with, as he and the others who Slither in the Dark are prone to doing. Other than that, though, I think their meeting is fine, especially since it always canonically ends with Byleth saving Edelgard’s life. ♥

3.) What is your favorite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?

Keitor: My favorite AU is Paradigm Shift, obviously. It means everything to me and is my canon, at the very least. I only wish it brought others as much joy as it brings me.

As for the prompt idea or trope, I’m not entirely sure … though I do still want to write (or at least finish) that soulmate AU fic at some point.

Edeleth: My favorite AU is the one I’m slowly drawing up that combines the Crimson Flower and Verdant Wind routes and is actually Edelgard/Byleth/Claude (Edelethaude?) I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to writing, much less finishing it given that it would be so incredibly long (there would be a good deal of chapters during the five year timeskip, which would be when Edelgard and Claude grow much closer to one another), but I really like the idea, not the least of which because it just makes sense. As for prompt idea or trope, I’m not sure that I have one yet.

5.) Favorite canon moment of them?

Keitor: Both times when they saved each other’s lives since that’s all we got, lmao.

Edeleth: Answered here!

7.) Favorite headcanon trope/idea? (Your own or someone else’s)

Keitor: Answered here!

Edeleth: I hate that nothing significant is coming to mind, but I think that’s because the ship is too new yet. All I can think of are simple things, like Byleth is quite strong thanks to her mercenary days (and subsequent battles and training at the Academy) and thus can easily carry Edelgard around in her arms. She’s also the big spoon when they sleep at night, and whenever Byleth spoons Edelgard, Edelgard doesn’t have nightmares. In the AU I want to write (mentioned above) Byleth actually tells Edelgard about Sothis and all that, and Edelgard struggles for a long while between her negative feelings toward Sothis for all that befell Fodlan as a result of her reign, as well as the gratitude she feels toward the fact that Sothis’ Crest Stone was essentially used to save Byleth’s life as an infant (as well as how Sothis gave her power to let Byleth keep living, et cetera). For those curious, Edelgard eventually settles on, “Sothis wasn’t so bad, but her children—and Rhea especially—were goddess-damned terrible.”

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

Keitor: Ahhh, I feel like I’ve gone on at length about this before, but essentially how they balance each other out, complement each other, and how Keith (in the words of AJ LoCascio) “grounds Lotor, and brings out the person in him,” while Lotor simultaneously believes in Keith and not only embraces, but celebrates his fire and inspires him to go further and faster with it, rather than always trying to rein him in. They balance each other out, but they also bring out the best in one another and I really love that.

Edeleth: Answered here!

11.) If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?

My Dual Blades series was supposed to show the canon compliant way, which is basically that they work as partners in the Blade of Marmora, grow closer, and eventually develop feelings for each other. That series was going to end with Lotor being kicked out after Keith was nearly killed by Zarkon as a result of something he and Lotor both did together (it really wasn’t Lotor’s fault, Keith was the one who decided to go along, and anyone who knows Keith knows there’s no telling him “no” when he’s decided the answer is “yes,” but protective uncles don’t exactly care about details like that), and then Keith deciding to go after Lotor (with Kolivan’s reluctant permission because of the aforementioned “does not listen to the word ‘no’” thing and Kolivan would rather be in the loop than out of it) because he can’t just let him go, and hearing him out on what his plans really are and what he really wants, no half-truths or vague answers this time. (Note that Kolivan would have made good on his word and tried to kill Lotor had Keith actually died (or even if he didn’t and just nearly did), but Lotor had also saved Keith’s life again after Zarkon nearly killed him, so like. That moved his punishment from “death” to “exile,” and in honesty Lotor’s kind of used to being exiled by father(-figures) at this point so hey, as you wish, right?) They still wouldn’t have been together romantically at that point, but well on the road given that Keith was essentially given a choice between Team Voltron and Lotor and he chose Lotor.

As for Paradigm Shift, well, Revolutionary in specific already shows how that takes place. Six years of build-up leads to that confession and kiss at the end.

Edeleth: Thankfully, they are (or at least can be) a canon pairing! Hooray!

13.) How hard is it write/draw your pairing? Scale of 1-10.

Keitor: As far as writing goes, maybe a two? I’m pretty experienced with it by now. As far as drawing goes, I’m a total novice and have never tried to draw either of them, so 10.

Edeleth: I actually haven’t tried to write them yet, so I can’t grade this. Drawing would still be a ten though, since I’m a novice artist as mentioned.

15.) Which character of the pairing do you like more? (Would you ever pair yourself with them?)

Keitor: It’s equal, honestly, and that’s something I realized after Lotor’s abysmal treatment in season six made me drop the show despite that Keith had been treated pretty well. I love them both very much the same. I would never pair myself with them, though, because Keith is too much like me (so we’d just be bros), and Lotor’s too in love with Keith. I don’t want to get between that.

Edeleth: Edelgard, since she has a more concrete canon personality than Byleth. And I mean, in a sense I kind of did since I romanced her in the game, and even though Byleth is the primary character, Byleth was influenced by me and my choices and I chose to pursue Edelgard because I wanted to pursue her, so …

17.) Are they relatable as characters or as a pairing?

Keitor: I relate to Keith a lot on a personal level; we are very similar (which is part of why writing him is so damn easy, lmao). I relate to some aspects of Lotor’s backstory and experiences, though (namely in the way of having abusive parents), so I can relate to him as well, just not as much as Keith in terms of personality.

Edeleth: I don’t relate to either of them on a character level, and unfortunately I do not have a gf or a wife, so I can’t relate to the relationship aspect, either. RIP in pieces.

19.) On an estimate, how many posts have you made about them?

Keitor:

Edeleth: Not nearly as many, because this ship is still so new. Give it time, though.

21.) Favorite genre for them? (Angst, fluff, etc.)

Keitor: Hurt/comfort/adventure, probably, but of course I also love the romance, and you can’t go wrong with fluff.

Edeleth: GIVE THEM THE FLUFF, THEY DESERVE IT.

#keitor #edeleth #ship ask meme #severalbakuras #I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that Paradigm Shift will never really be an AU others love and it's pretty pointless to keep at #because I can't write the stories in sequential order like a damn normal person #(hell they didn't have a chance at being written in sequential order given that I started with Revolutionary and jumped off from there)#so it's like . . . there's not much of a use to keep writing them if no one cares about them bc they're not in sequential order #breaks my heart but what can you do ig #it is what it is

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sage-nebula · 5 years

Note

for the HC meme: odd numbers for keith, evens for lotor :D

I’m going to answer for Paradigm Shift because it’s far better than and preferable to canon, and I’m also just going to do all of them for both of them since that’s easier than hopping back and forth, haha.

1.) Their physical weak spots:

Keith: He’s very ticklish behind his ears. It’s not a spot many people know about for obvious reasons, but Lotor discovers it accidentally while kissing, once, and never lets him forget it after that. On a less happy note, Keith has a scar on the back of his neck where Acxa dug out his Revender chip with a knife, and while that healed all right for the most part, it’s still indented, a bit sensitive to the touch, and aches a bit when he’s stressed.

Lotor: Whether it’s something genetic, or whether it’s what years of being dragged around by your hair in your childhood by your various diaks will do to you, the top of Lotor’s scalp is randomly painful to the touch. Often times it’s fine, but then other times the slightest brush against it will make it sting like it’s newly injured. Similarly, “tutoring” sessions with his diak often had him chained him with weights on him, which is what led to him dislocating his shoulders over and over and over again in his childhood. The last few times his shoulders didn’t heal quite right, or maybe this is just what happens when your shoulders get dislocated that many times, but either way he can dislocate his shoulders at will now, though it still hurts like nobody’s business (although he’s also used to the pain to a degree, so …). Other than that, he doesn’t really have any—at least, not any that he’d willingly divulge.

2.) Their emotional/moral weak spots:

Keith: Due to the traumatic circumstances in which he ended up at Revender, Keith can’t remember anything about his early childhood before ending up there, and isn’t even 100% sure that “Keith” is his real name (because the first name he remembered upon waking up there was “Kolgan,” and he went years without hearing his actual name, and had to really think on it when she asked him what it was). He’s a bit sensitive about this aspect of himself and his history (as seen when he snaps at Zethrid for asking if he made his name up), even though he mostly tries to focus on the present and therefore the future. He also, due to being discriminated against and abused for it for all of the life that he can remember, has a few bristly spots regarding his half-galra heritage—namely, that he makes sure everyone knows that he is part-galra instead of letting them put him in one box or the other (e.g. when he snapped at Hunk for calling him “Galra Keith”), and that he’s not going to shy away from, hide, or feel ashamed of this fact. He’s part-galra, and so is their entire team, and so are all the auxiliary teams, and they’re all going to change the universe no matter how many people hate them for that, because people hate them anyway just for being born so they might as well just lead a successful revolution while they’re at it, to hell with anyone who tries to stop them.As far as moral weaknesses go, Keith’s actually pretty ruled by what he feels internally as being Right, which means that he could well show mercy to someone who’d just sold them out so long as that person was a civilian also in bad circumstances. He’s far from afraid to do what he has to so that they survive / their mission is completed, meaning that he has killed Empire soldiers and will do so again (and if another reality-crossing happened absolutely would kick the shit out of every single canon Paladin without flinching if it came down to it, no mercy given), but there’s a reason that Acxa privately deems him “soft” the night they leave with Lotor, and that reason is because Keith is more willing to trust or offer mercy than most. He is, point blank, the second nicest person on their team. (The first nicest is Narti, and even she will fuck you up if it comes down to it, so … don’t mistake kindness for weakness. Not even once.)

Lotor: Oh boy. Well, to start with he has a myriad of trust issues. Lotor faced abuse (often under the guise of “education”) for pretty much his entire childhood up until the point he left with Keith and Acxa when he was thirteen, on top of assassination attempts (none too few of which came in the guise of food, which is why the first and only time Ezor ever tries to pull a food prank on him, it does not go well). Since he never had a trustworthy person in his life until he met Keith and Acxa when he was thirteen, and wasn’t even sure he could trust them right away (and tbf they had made a private pact to ditch him at the first sign of shadiness so he wasn’t exactly wrong), Lotor has an immense amount of difficulty trusting people, and usually doesn’t. On top of which, betrayal is something he takes immensely seriously and, perhaps understandably given who his enemies are, doesn’t forgive. On top of which, while Lotor knows that Haggar = Honerva = His Mother, he likes to pretend that Honerva died and was reincarnated as someone else—that, had his mother lived, she would have loved him. This is something that he works through, albeit with Keith’s very tough love (which in turn amounts to enough of a fight between them that the girls start wondering if they’re going to break up, which leads Zethrid to say, “I had to sit through three friggin’ decaphoebs of that will-they-won’t-they bullshit. They sure as hell better not break up after all that,” and Acxa to reply, “You’re complaining about three? Try six”), but even after he comes to accept that Haggar = his mother just as much as Zarkon = his father, the whole issue of his parents being abusive, genocidal tyrants who quite literally want him dead (or enslaved, or lobotomized and then enslaved, and really, is there much difference?) is still a sensitive topic even though he likes to say it’s not. And as a final note, he’s very sensitive to the idea of losing what he’s worked so hard to gain for himself: a home, a family, and love.

As far as moral weaknesses go, oh boy again. Lotor genuinely wants peace. He genuinely wants to create a universe where all planets rule themselves, where people can live happily, their unique cultures thriving, without the fear of losing their children overnight. But Lotor also doesn’t take betrayal well, as mentioned. If a civilian sells them out, and then that civilian is predictably going to be captured, tortured, or killed by the Empire as well, Lotor’s more than willing to let that happen because the civilian sold them out, whereas Keith’s the one who wants to go back to help the civilian no matter how much of a jackass they were. Lotor’s the one who will gladly throw Throk under the bus to take the fall for something Lotor and the team did, whereas Keith would rather let Throk screw himself over, as Keith is sure he will inevitably do (and Lotor agrees tbh), rather than setting it up. They don’t always agree (the civilian traitor issue is a big one they will never agree on, especially since Keith risks his own life trying to help that civilian out, which Lotor feels is unforgivable x2 on that civilian’s list of crimes now), but in many ways Keith is the one tugging Lotor back when Lotor starts to get too close to that line. Keith brings out the person in Lotor, and grounds him, as AJ once said.

That said, if Zarkon, Haggar, or anyone else ever succeeded in killing Keith? On their own heads be it.

3.) Scars:

Keith: As you could expect from someone who has spent most of their life fighting (and fighting in a war, at that), Keith has a lot of scars. Notable ones are the one on the back of his neck mentioned earlier, where Acxa dug out his Revender chip with a knife, same as he did for her. As I mentioned before, that one aches a bit when he’s stressed and is a bit indented. He also has a little scar on his bottom lip from where an opponent in the Revender arena bit him when they were fighting; their fang went all the way through his lip and left a scar there. There are plenty of others, too, but those are the most notable that I can think of right now.

Lotor: Like Keith, Lotor also has a lot of scars, albeit pretty much all of his are in places easily covered. He has scars around his wrists and ankles from these bracelets / anklets his diak made him wear during “tutoring” sessions when he was young, which would deliver harsh shocks whenever he got an answer wrong, tried to argue something he was taught, et cetera. Originally the shocks would just leave weals, but after enough layering eventually the skin there just scarred. Similarly, the stunt he pulled in the Revender arena the day he met Keith was enough of a transgression to earn him a punishment in lashes from his diak, oversaw by Zarkon and Haggar to make sure it got done, and so he has scars all down his back from that, too.

4.) Best places to kiss on their body:

Keith: Lotor likes to kiss Keith behind his ears, given how ticklish Keith is there, but Keith’s preferred spots are on the corners of his mouth or eyes, or on the palm of his hand. The palm kiss always makes him melt a little.

Lotor: Lotor likes it when Keith kisses him down along his neck and across his shoulders. He’s also very partial to Keith placing kisses between his shoulderblades when they’re lying in bed at night.

5.) Guilty pleasures:

Keith: For the most part, the idea of feeling guilty for liking something is foreign to Keith. There’s so much to be miserable about in the universe, given that the Empire rules it, so why should they make fun of the little joy they have? The closest he gets is when Kolivan gives him the yupper plush he had as a child, and the nostalgic scent (that he doesn’t even remember the reasoning behind) makes him hug it without thinking. That’s embarrassing, and even more so when Keith realizes how comforting the smell and feel of that plush really is. Other than that, though, no guilty pleasures.

Lotor: Keith is a lightweight, and he’s also very giggly when drunk, and so sometimes Lotor likes to persuade Keith into drinking just so he can see Keith get very giggly and silly because it’s endlessly amusing to Lotor. It’s a guilty pleasure because he knows he shouldn’t, but … he just wants to see Keith say “cash cache” and then fall into uncontrollable giggles because in that one, intoxicated moment, it’s the funniest thing Keith has ever heard in his life.

6.) Their vices (physical or emotional):

Keith: Whether it’s with one of the pod ships they have, or a hoverbike, or even the Black Lion, Keith loves flying as fast and as recklessly as he can. He’ll take ships out on test runs through asteroid fields, dodging and weaving around them, because the rush of adrenaline is intoxicating. Even when he crashes, provided he’s not unconscious or dead afterward, he’ll end up laughing because of the sheer rush of it all. This counts as a vice not only because of how dangerous it is, but also because pretty much everyone hates that Keith does it because of how dangerous it is to his health and safety. (One time Keith wrecked a hoverbike he’d been testing so badly that he had to fly a pod ship back with a broken leg, several splintered ribs, and a dislocated shoulder, and Lotor just about had apoplexy.)

Lotor: This will sound silly at first, but—gossip. Not harmless, middle school gossip, but Lotor likes scoping out information on others (his enemies, namely) that he can pocket and use for later, usually in ice cold revenge dishes. He’s not only always listening no matter the situation he’s in, but he also utilizes information networks in his spare time in order to get whatever intel he can for later use. Even the most trivial thing, like how one of Zarkon’s commanders hates another, high-ranking commander, could come in handy someday, and so Lotor grabs whatever seemingly petty gossip he can. (Also, sometimes it’s just funny. He’ll admit to schadenfreude where other people’s embarrassing secrets are concerned.)

7.) Their tickle spots:

Keith: Behind his ears, as mentioned.

Lotor: None, actually! He’s not ticklish at all.

8.) Bad memories/experiences:

Sadly, given the lives they’ve led, it’d be easier to list the good memories / experiences.

9.) Humiliating memories:

Keith: Once everyone finds out from Kolivan when Keith’s actual, exact birthday is, Ezor rounded up everyone (meaning their team, plus the auxiliary teams) to sing a happy birthday song to Keith on the day of. He had to endure a roomful of people singing to him at once, all eyes on him. It was awful, and he made sure it never happened again.

Lotor: Soon after they met Ezor and she joined the team, she decided to pull a prank on Lotor by putting something super spicy in his morning cereal. Because Lotor had many experiences in years prior to that with people poisoning his food for a variety of reasons (“lessons” from his diak, people actually trying to kill him, et cetera), the taste of a flavor he was not expecting and that shouldn’t have been there triggered him pretty badly. He wasn’t at all at fault for this (and believe me, both Keith and Acxa chewed Ezor out over it) and has no real reason to be embarrassed, but to this day he still looks at that loss of control as a pretty embarrassing memory.

10.) Fears/phobias:

Keith: Keith doesn’t have any phobias, and on the day to day he doesn’t consciously fear anything, because unless something is happening right in that moment, he doesn’t see a reason to fear it. In other words, if they have some downtime and everyone’s safe, he doesn’t consciously think about how he’s afraid of his friends (his family) being captured by the Empire and tortured to death. But if they all were captured, then yeah, he’d be afraid of them being tortured to death, but even that would be kind of muted because he’d be more focused on rescuing them and getting them back. Fear isn’t something that rules Keith, or something he dwells on. He doesn’t see much value in sitting around scared; he’d rather do something to eliminate the threat.

Lotor: The idea of facing his father in one-on-one combat is something that scares him. Being anywhere that’s open and exposed without a weapon close at hand makes him feel anxious. The idea of there possibly being a leak in security in his ranks is enough to make him triple check every precaution he’s taken to make sure there isn’t. In contrast to Keith, who is a very much “we’ll deal with that problem when we come to it and otherwise not think of it” type of person, Lotor is fully aware of the things that unnerve him and takes active precautions to make damn sure it never “comes to that.”

11.) Bad or petty habits:

Keith: Keith bites his nails, and scratches at itchy scabs, and when someone is bullshitting he never lets it go. The fight Keith and Lotor have about Lotor accepting that Haggar is his mother that I mentioned earlier? The reason that was so prolonged is because Keith brought it up at every single opportunity. Lotor would walk into a room and Keith, without looking up from the tablet he was reading, would ask, “So, accepted that that witch is your mom yet?” He finds ways to reroute conversations right back to the point he refuses to let go, pushing and pushing and pushing until the person admits the truth. Again, Keith did that to Lotor out of very tough love (because if Lotor didn’t accept it in a safe place surrounded by people he loved, odds are he’d have to accept it when in a bad situation with Haggar herself, and that would be ten times worse), but it nonetheless can seem pretty petty to everyone who’s not him.

Lotor: It’s not uncommon for him to fall asleep in full armor, which in turn becomes pretty grody from sleep sweat. He also doesn’t always remember to take his dishes back out to the kitchen and so it’s not too uncommon to walk into his room and see a collection of used mugs and glasses over at his personal desk. (Smh, that’s how you get space ants, Lotor.)

12.) Grudges and vendettas:

Keith: Keith doesn’t hold grudges. Legitimately, he just doesn’t. He’s very much a, “we’ll deal with it in the moment and then be done with it” kind of person. If he has a problem with you, you know it because he’s told you. And you either settle it and he moves on, or you refuse to change your ways and he accepts that and still moves on, just while liking you less as a person. Of course they’ve made enemies of the Empire, but that’s not really a grudge or a vendetta. That’s, “they’re killing innocent people and also want to kill me so we’ll take them out of power first” type of deal. Sort of a whole different situation.

Lotor: On the other hand, Lotor remembers everything that has ever happened to him or the people he cares about and he never lets it go. He has a mental list of people who have wronged him or his loved ones and how, and should the opportunity ever arise to pay back one of those on the list, he does so and with interest. Throk was a racist, backstabbing traitor? Well, send him to the Ulippa outpost to rot with the ice worms (at least until the opportunity arises to frame him for further treason in the Empire, at which point do that so Haggar can torture him instead). Ezor’s mother abandoned her as a child and then only took interest in her again once she realized that her daughter had grown up to be a Paladin of Voltron? Well, once Ezor has realized her mother for the opportunistic vulture that she is, arrange it so that the woman is sent off to a different corner of the universe where it highly unlikely she’ll ever be able to attempt to leech off the daughter she cast out ever again (and where although she is surviving, she is not thriving), and so on. Lotor never forgets anything and there is no statute of limitations on these grudges, so it’s really in everyone’s best interests to never cross him or those he cares about. Sooner or later, it won’t end well for those who do.

13.) What gets them flustered:

Keith: Compliments. He is awkward as all hell when being complimented, particularly if he’s complimented by Lotor given the feelings he has for him. Remarks about how he is invaluable short-circuit his brain, but even smaller compliments like how he is an ace pilot are enough to make him start blushing and deflecting. He just can’t take a simple compliment from the one he loves without getting all embarrassed. He’s a mess.

Lotor: There’s not really a concrete way to get Lotor flustered, because catching him off-guard is no easy feat. That said, blunt, honest admissions of how much one (particularly Keith) cares for him are definitely a way to do it. Keith does not play games, nor does he beat around the bush, and this way of his of just stating exactly how he feels gets under Lotor’s guard and skin. Examples can be seen here and here.

14.) Ingrained habits/forces of habit:

I feel like I just answered this one in 11, haha. The only thing I’d add is the routine checking of security systems and the like that they both do, but otherwise I already talked about their habits.

15.) What it takes to make them cry:

Keith: At this point, the death of someone he loves. Pain, even extreme, generally doesn’t make him cry. The thought of his own death doesn’t. Unfortunately, the Empire being what it is, he’s seen so many innocent people killed by the Empire that that doesn’t drive him to tears, either. But if he lost someone he loved? Yeah, he’d cry then. That would do it.

Lotor: Pretty much the same, although I think his tears would be more from fury than grief, and followed by a scorching wave of vengeance in their name. He wouldn’t have tears to spare for grief, though, because on some level he’d reason that he should have expected this to happen. The moment he finds any happiness for himself, Zarkon and Haggar rip it away. Isn’t that how it goes? (Doesn’t mean he won’t make them pay for it with their lives, but still.)

16.) Dark secrets/’skeletons in the closet’:

Keith: I think the closest Keith has is that promise he made with Acxa the night they agreed to leave with Lotor, that they’d take him down and bolt at the first sign of shadiness. This is especially because it was his proposal; Acxa was reluctant to trust and go with him, but Keith pointed out that if it came down to it, it was two vs. one and they could take him. That was what got her to agree. The thing is, as the years go on Keith forgets about this promise entirely, so it’s sort of like shroedinger’s skeleton, in a way. Is it really in his closet if he’s forgotten it’s there?

Lotor: Mmm, I don’t know if this really counts, but when he was younger and still under the “tutelage” of his various diaks, it was common knowledge to those in the circle (including Lotor himself) that he was expected to shape up and become “good enough” not only because he was Zarkon’s biological son and therefore the crown prince, but also because he was intended to be betrothed to Sendak when he was of-age, given that Sendak’s bloodline was exceedingly pure, he was of a high-ranking noble class, he was pretty much the apple of Zarkon’s eye, and so on. Of course, the fact that Lotor was half-altean was not something that thrilled Sendak, but again, Lotor was the crown prince. The idea that Zarkon and Haggar had was that once Lotor and Sendak wed, Sendak would act more as emperor than his true role of emperor consort, making Lotor little more than a figurehead. Naturally, once Lotor fled Revender with Keith and Acxa in tow those plans were pretty much nixed (and Lotor was never into the idea anyway), but it’s still something he remembers that he never shared with the others. (And note that no swords were exchanged, so they were never officially betrothed. The swords would have been exchanged when Lotor came of age, but since he ran away before that happened, it was never an official engagement. Just a plan he did not agree to but was set anyway because none of the others involved cared about his consent.)

17.) Regrets:

Keith: He regrets any life he took outside of those that were Empire soldiers actively trying to kill him. Accidental kills in the Revender arena, any civilians caught in the crossfire . . . Keith doesn’t dwell on it, because dwelling won’t do any good, but he regrets each and every one.

Lotor: Lotor regrets telling his diak about a servant he befriended in his childhood due to the execution that resulted, although that’s yet another thing on the long list of things he intends to make his parents (and said diak) pay for down the line.

18.) Things they’ll never admit:

Keith: Keith is pretty honest about most things, so he doesn’t have a lot of secrets. That said, after he finds out about his true heritage (that his mother was one of the agents of Marmora, that he lived there until he was kidnapped at age three), there are nights when he wonders---and in a way, kind of longs for---what his life might have been like had he grown up there all along, but then he immediately feels guilty because it means he might never have met Lotor, Acxa, or the others. So he’ll never admit to feeling that way. Also, he and Lotor have made out in the Black Lion, multiple times, but he’ll never admit that to anyone, either.

Lotor: That he’s afraid of facing his father in a one-on-one duel. That he’s afraid of discovering through multiple-reality research that perhaps his mother would have always loathed him, even if she’d never “turned into” Haggar. That when he learned of Keith’s true heritage with the Blade of Marmora, for a split second he wished something would blow up the primary base so that there’d be no risk of Keith leaving him for them.

19.) People they’ve hurt or indirectly killed, and how it affected them:

Keith: When he was nine he was transferred into the weapons’ testing division at Revender, which essentially consists of two primary components: There’s taking a weapon through obstacle courses of cannons and poison gases and whatnot to see how effective everything is, and there’s taking weapons into a combat arena to test how effective they are there. Keith always tried to avoid killing his opponents---usually he’d knock them out---but the first time he accidentally killed someone, it was because they were holding him down, choking him, and he flailed out with a dagger in his hand and put it right through their throat. Their blood ended up all over him, and he was returned to his cell like that, to sit silently through the night as Acxa told him repeatedly that he did what he had to do and it wasn’t his fault. He was ten. He didn’t sleep that night.

Lotor: When he was very little he befriended a servant. It was slow, at first; this servant knew the risks of so much as looking Lotor in the eye, much less talking to him, but Lotor hadn’t picked up on any of his father’s classism, and so he persistently tried to talk to him until he opened up. He was kind to him; she told Lotor stories about his life back home, slipped him candies and such when he could. After one particularly harsh lecture from his diak, Lotor exploded that his servant friend (he used his name, obviously, I just don’t have one for him yet) never treated him this way. The diak reported this to Zarkon and Haggar, and they had the servant executed. Lotor was not notified until after the fact. He blames himself for it to this day.

20.) What-ifs/Alternate Timelines:

I mean, the show’s reality is an alternate reality for these two here in Paradigm Shift. There could be others, too. There’s that one Keith speculates about, where he did grow up among the Blade and never went to Revender, never met Acxa or Lotor that way. There’s one where the war never happened, where Lotor was raised properly as a prince, where perhaps the Blade of Marmora never formed and maybe Keith was never born at all since Krolia would have no reason to go to Earth, then. There’s an infinite number of possibilities and realities. So many exist. But as Lotor says, the only one that matters to them is this one right here---the one they’re living, where they’re together.

21.) Turning points in their life:

Keith: Well, being kidnapped and taken to Revender for one, albeit he doesn’t really remember that. He just woke up there one day with no memory of where he came from, how he got there, or what was going on. Meeting Acxa was another, because she reminded him that he was a person outside of the identification the Revender soldiers and scientists gave him, and she also gave him companionship in there, just as he gave to her. Then there was meeting Lotor, since he gave them a method to escape, and hope of revolution, too.

Lotor: The death of the aforementioned servant, having everyone in the Revender arena reject his ideals and facing punishment for what he did there, claiming the Castle of Lions and realizing that his revolution truly was possible for the first time, and so on.

22.) People who’ve influenced them greatly:

I’m a firm believer in the idea that everyone we meet and regularly interact with influences us in some way. Therefore, I’d say that both Keith and Lotor have influenced each other greatly, but on top of that, they’ve each been influenced greatly by Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti as well. (And later on down the line, Kolivan, too.) They all influence, learn from, and grow with each other. It’s part of what makes them and their relationships with each other so strong.

#severalbakuras #keitor #series: paradigm shift #headcanon meme #this took me several days to complete so i hope it's enjoyable #keith kogane #prince lotor

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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voltron with 6, 9, 11, 13, 20 and 23. watch?v=3KquFZYi6L0

6.) Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Nope. If anything, the Voltron fandom was very good at making me hate ships that I’d otherwise been neutral on beforehand.

9.) Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Pidge and Lance, in that order.

Pidge is an interesting case because she was initially my second favorite character on the show (behind Keith and a little above Shiro), but as the show went on my opinion of her sauntered vaguely downwards until it was thrown off the cliff wholesale at the start of season five. Not only did I not like how she was the only character to have her arc span over five fucking seasons, on top of being the only character who was never called out on her nonsense by the other characters and instead got to do things that other characters (namely Keith) were raked over the coals for (and to worse extents! At least when Keith left it was to go help their allies; Pidge left the team for who knows how long on her own personal missions), but the minute she started vehemently arguing to turn over a peacefully surrendered prisoner of war who’d done nothing but help them over to a genocidal tyrant that she knew would execute said prisoner of war for her own gain—a.k.a. committing a war crime—she hit the bottom of the barrel for me, and nothing I saw of her beyond that point ever redeemed her in my eyes. It would have been one thing if someone had pointed out that what she was arguing for was wrong, and why, but no one did. Instead, Pidge got away with that and all the implications that came with it (because “we have Voltron, we can do anything” says a whole lot about Pidge, and none of it good, when you consider that Voltron is a weapon that Pidge just made it blatantly clear she’s willing to turn against anyone who she sees as their enemy, something which, again, includes peacefully surrendered prisoners of war who had done nothing but help), and I just couldn’t stand her from that point forward.

Lance is a bit better because he had a brief moment in season three when it seemed like he was improving (namely when he offered to take himself off the roster when Shireplica came aboard), but like Pidge he hit rock bottom in season five when he passionately argued for the same war crime she did, only this time so that he wouldn’t have a romantic rival for a girl who didn’t even see him as a romantic option at that point in time anyway. I.e., Lance was blatantly yelling to team up with a genocidal tyrant to murder the hypotenuse and not one single person on the show called him on it. While it helps that Lance’s arc didn’t eat screentime like Pidge’s did, and that other characters would sometimes give Lance shit the way characters never did to Montgomery’s Perfect Pet Pidge, it didn’t help that I’d already found Lance to be obnoxious and mostly intolerable for a long while before that, meaning that while I can tolerate him a bit more than I can Pidge, it’s not by much.

And if you’re wondering why I still ship them together, well, isn’t it obvious? They’re both at the bottom of the barrel. No other character deserves to be burdened by a relationship with them. Besides, they’ll both enthusiastically commit war crimes for their own personal game, as evidenced by the beginning of season five. Clearly, they were made for each other.

11.) Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Pretty much all my faves are this way, haha. Arguably Keith, arguably Lotor, definitely Acxa, Narti, Zethrid, Ezor, Kolivan … And while I’d explain why I love them, we’d be here literally all day if I did that since there’s so many of them, so let’s leave it at that, haha.

13.) Unpopular opinion about [name] character?

You didn’t name a character. :/

20.) What is the purest ship in the fandom?

I don’t think there is a pure ship in this fandom, but well-written Keitor comes the closest. Kallura’s pretty good, too, from what I’ve seen.

23.) Unpopular character you love?

Keith, Lotor (though they’re both arguable in their unpopularity), Acxa, Narti, Zethrid, Ezor, Kolivan … haha, they’re the same characters from eleven!

#salty ask meme #severalbakuras #i wonder how many followers i'll lose / how much hate i'll get for my answer to number 9 #////#/////#voltron

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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part 1 - 15, part 2 -1, part 3 - 6, and part 4 - 17!!

Part 1, Question 15: Favorite animal?

If we’re talking animals that actually exist, wolves. If we’re talking mythological creatures, dragons. And I have to say that even outside of those two specific animals (which are my favorites), I’m also partial to pretty much all canines, as well as pretty much all mustelids.

Part 2, Question 1: Do you believe in aliens?

YES!! To be honest I hate the fact that believing in aliens has led to the image of someone being super paranoid and immersed in conspiracy theories, because in my opinion the only logical belief is that there absolutely is more life out there, on other planets. Think about how vast the universe is; it’s so vast that we don’t know the extent of it, if there even is an extent of it, or anything remotely close. We’ve barely explored within the confines of our own solar system. To think that this is the only planet in that entire universe that contains life is absolutely absurd. Even if other planets would be uninhabitable to us, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have some other form of life, existing in conditions that perhaps aren’t suited for us, but are suited for them. There’s so much out there, it’s just ridiculous to think that it’s just vast emptiness, or that Earth is somehow so special that it happened to be the one planet out of untold trillions out there in the universe that supports life. So yes, I absolutely believe in aliens. Just because they haven’t wanted to visit our planet doesn’t mean they’re not out there. I 100% believe that they are.

Part 3, Question Six: If a friend called you to help hide a body, would you help or turn them in?

Oh jesus christ. I . . . would ask a lot of questions.

First, why are they in charge of hiding this body? Did they kill this person, or did this person die an accidental death? If the latter, why did they not call 911? If the former, was it self-defense? Who is the person in question? What happened that led to this person dying, and my friend needing to bury their body? Are they doing this on behalf of someone else?

I love my friends dearly, and loyalty is both a strength and flaw of mine. There was once a time in my younger years when I would have---and often did---set myself on fire to keep my loved ones warm. But I’ve learned over time (and through bad experiences) that doing so isn’t healthy. They tell you on airplanes to secure your own oxygen mask before helping someone else with theirs, and I think that kind of applies here. This is something we could both go to jail for, have our lives ruined for, and so I would want to know all the details first, and if it really was a straight up murder (or involuntary manslaughter, since I don’t think I’m friends with anyone who would murder anyone else) situation, I’d strongly encourage them to turn themselves in. I don’t think I have it in me to rat a friend out, although my knowing the situation and not saying anything would make me an accomplice even if I didn’t help. But I also wouldn’t want to help and be a part of that, either, so I’d probably encourage them to do the right thing.

But either way, it’s a tough question and dependent on the situation. It’s a position I hope my friends never put me in, that’s for sure.

Part 4, Question 17: Favorite sea animal?

Sea otters!!! That’s probably predictable given my above stated fondness for mustelids, but I loooove sea otters, they’re so absolutely adorable in pretty much every single way. ♥ I wish I could hold or pet one, they’re just the best.

But that said, I also love all kinds of rays!! But my favorite is the spotted eagle ray. I saw spotted eagle rays for the first time at the Osaka aquarium in Japan, and fell in love. Look how beautiful they are!

Rays look so graceful and beautiful in the water, I could watch them for hours. So while sea otters are probably my tip top favorite because they’re super cute mustelids, I also really love rays (and spotted eagle rays in particular), so they’re probably a very, very close second, if not tied. :3

#100 random questions meme #severalbakuras

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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severalbakuras replied to your post: voltron with 6, 9, 11, 13, 20 and 23....

dnfjsdfnsd i guess unpopular opinion about kolivan bc he’s great but so underappreciated my bad

He is both great and unappreciated, both of these things are true.

Okay, here goes: I think it was obvious from the very beginning that Kolivan cared about the agents in the Blade of Marmora under his command, that he didn’t want to lose anyone, that he was cautious and careful with their lives and that the only reason why they started dropping like flies was not because of his leadership or because the philosophy of the Blade was to not care, but rather because Team Voltron (Allura especially when she shamed him and Antok for their caution) pushed them to be reckless. I think it was especially obvious that Kolivan was protective of Keith in particular beginning in season two when he alone spoke out against Keith going on Zarkon’s ship by himself, and that those who instead insisted that Kolivan clearly did not care about Keith and that the Blade was making him not value his own life (as if he’d ever shown concern for his own safety!) were either those that were paranoid about Keith having a bond with someone other than their favorite character, those that wanted the status quo restored and Keith to be back with Team Voltron no matter what, those that chose to see all galra as evil no matter what, or some combination of the above. Whatever the case, Kolivan deserved better than this trash show and its trash fandom, and that’s for damn sure.

#severalbakuras #salty ask meme

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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Rating: 9,000/10!

Thoughts: Keitor is the ship that we never got to see truly interact in canon, and while once upon a time that crushed me, at this point I’m kind of grateful for it because it means that JDS and LM never had a chance to ruin it like they did with everything else they touched.

Keitor was a ship that had potential for so many reasons right out of the gate. I was intrigued immediately, and not just because Keith was my favorite character and Lotor stole my heart with his very first scene. The parallels between them---and therefore the common ground between them---were vast and numerous. There were the very obvious things like how they were both half-galra and both leaders of their respective teams, but then there were smaller similarities such as how they were both separated from their original teams at the end of season four, how they were both independent thinkers and leaders who had their own visions that they were determined to see through, how they were both so incredibly passionate and determined, brilliant pilots and swordfighters . . .

Of course there are differences between them, too, but those differences are part of what add to the intrigue of the potential relationship. Where Lotor has a silver tongue and knows how to keep things close to his chest, Keith is blunt and honest. Where Lotor strategizes and shows open frustration when things don’t go according to plan, Keith adapts on the fly and has little qualms about doing so. In this way, they complement each other’s strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Combine that with the fact that they’re both so passionate and incredibly determined to see the mission through to completion, and they’d be an unstoppable team if put together.

Alas, that never happened. Though they saved each other’s lives numerous times in canon (Keith even put his arms around Lotor’s waist to save his life in season five), they never really interacted until it was too late. And again, I’m fine with that. I’m fine with it because it’s not like canon is worth anything at all, and that gives me room to play.

And how do I play?

I have everything mentioned above, and then some. I bring in how AJ said that Keith “brings out the person in Lotor, and grounds him.” I bring in how Lotor truly values Keith, recognizes his strengths and capabilities and sees him as an asset, and values him as a person, not finding fault with aspects of Keith’s personality that others scorn or mock. I bring how Keith judges Lotor based on who he is, as a person rather than caring about his parentage or title, and how Lotor feels to experience that for one of the very rare times in his life. I bring in how they genuinely enjoy one another’s company, appreciate each other’s skills, and yet both understand what sacrifices have to be made for the sake of the mission (but also, when it comes down to it, which ones don’t). I focus on the fact that they are equals, that they are a team, that they understand each other and present the opportunity for each one to show their best. That Lotor can’t lie to Keith because Keith sees through and calls him on the nonsense is a boon to Lotor. That Lotor isn’t willing to let Keith sacrifice himself (or run off on his own / leave the team) when it isn’t necessary is a boon to Keith.

There’s so much potential and so much good, and I love it with my whole heart. It’s the only romantic ship that came out of VLD that I truly care about, and even though I’ve divorced myself from VLD canon wholesale, this (as in all my AUs) is the one thing I’ll keep writing.

#severalbakuras #ship rating meme #keitor

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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yugioh, steven universe, or voltron!

YGO has been answered here! I’ll answer for the other two below.

Voltron:

How I first got into it:

After season two premiered, Netflix did that thing it does where it puts one of its originals on huge display at the top of the screen to advertise it to everyone. I saw it, and because I had somehow managed to avoid knowing that this was the show causing horrific Discourse™, and also because I saw that it was nice looking 2D animation, and primarily because I was bored and in need of something to watch, I figured, “Eh, why not” and put it on. I thought it was just okay until 2x08, “The Blade of Marmora” (and even that fell a bit flat at the end; why was Keith just magically okay when he almost died?), but I really loved Keith and his familial relationship with Shiro, so I jumped into the tags to look for content after I finished season two and was all caught up. My experience was like this:

If only someone had warned me.

Everything I ship:

Keith/Lotor, the only romantic ship in VLD I actually got truly invested in (and still love even now, even still)

Ezor/Narti

Kolivan/Antok

Acxa/Allura

Zethrid/Shay

Keith/Allura

Zarkon/Haggar (Honerva), albeit mostly how I write them rather than how the show does / did

Shiro/Ulaz

Shiro/Adam, but again, based more on What Could Have Been versus what I’ve heard Was

Hunk/Shay

Pidge/Lance, because there was build-up and while I’m not fond of either of them, I’m not fond of them equally, so they deserve each other at this point imo.

My favourite platonic relationship(s):

Keith & Kolivan

Keith & Acxa, albeit how I write it in Paradigm Shift moreso than how it is in canon

Lotor & Acxa

Zethrid & Ezor, and yes, I know their romance was meant to be canon, but I have a lot of Thoughts™ on how JDS and LM didn’t have thought put behind that ship, so I enjoy them more platonically than romantically

Lotor & Narti

Keith & Ezor

Keith & Zethrid

Acxa & Zethrid

Keith & Narti

Basically Team Sincline (including Keith in this) as a whole

Kolivan & Krolia

Keith & Shiro, kind of, because it’s complicated. When I first watched the show this platonic, familial relationship was my absolute favorite bond in the show, particularly since I identify a lot with Keith and wish(ed) that I could have had a Shiro to raise and guide me when I was younger and in a really bad place. I did eventually meet my Shiro years later, when I was nineteen, though sadly I didn’t fully realize that until it was too late, and I wasn’t able to save him. (He died last July.) Regardless, I really loved the platonic bond these two had, so much that it eclipsed everything else … and then Fandom Discourse™ happened and ruined it for me. I still think the bond as it is in canon is nice, but I can’t really enjoy content for them anymore and haven’t been able to for a long time, which is pretty sad.

Top 3 Characters:

Keith, of course, but in honesty he ties with

Lotor, prince and emperor of my heart

Acxa, though again, mostly for how I’ve developed her outside of canon versus the nonsense JDS and LM did

One of my favourite scenes:

Lotor’s introductory scene in the arena was a true masterpiece and sometimes I still watch that clip on YouTube, because it was amazing in absolutely every single way. He stole my heart before the scene was even over. I wanted to chant his name along with everyone else in that arena.

Favourite fandom meme/inside joke:

Most of the fandom memes and inside jokes enjoyed tearing down Keith or Lotor, so I honestly can’t say I’ve enjoyed any of them.

Steven Universe:

How I first got into it:

I accidentally watched the entire episode where Peridot discovers rain for the first time because I thought someone had uploaded just a clip onto Tumblr and didn’t realize it was the entire thing. I still didn’t plan on getting into the series just then because the beginning episodes were so uninteresting (imo) and Steven was so annoying at the beginning, but I at least enjoyed that episode and tucked that info away in the back of my mind for later.

“Later” came during a really bad anxiety spell where I needed something that wasn’t that deep but that also had a lot of episodes for me to watch and distract myself. I remembered Steven Universe and booted it up, starting from the beginning. The fact that it got so much better as it progressed led to me really enjoying it, and here we are.

Everything I ship:

Lapis/Peridot

Ruby/Sapphire

Bismuth/Pearl

Jasper/Amethyst

Amethyst/Vidalia

My favourite platonic relationship(s):

Steven & Connie

Lapis & Steven

Peridot & Steven

Steven & Lars

Greg & Steven

Top 3 Characters:

Lapis Lazuli, who deserves better from EVERYONE, but especially the fandom.

Peridot

Either Lars or Connie. It’s honestly hard for me to choose between them.

Garnet and Greg tie for fourth place.

One of my favourite scenes:

The first scene that came to mind is the scene where Lapis crushes Blue Diamond with the barn, and then a bit later, when she weaponizes her own chronic severe depression and trauma and tells Blue Diamond that she has “felt worse” when Blue tries to use her power on her. That was amazing.

But that said, I also really love the scene where Lapis has a bit of a breakdown because she’s not adjusting to things as well as Navy is, and she thinks there must be something wrong with her, that she has had all this time to heal and get used to time on Earth but hasn’t, and Peridot reminds her that “nobody said it was a race.” As someone with C-PTSD myself, I find that Lapis’ trauma is written quite realistically, and I love the representation she provides for people like me.

Favourite fandom meme/inside joke:

I’m going to be real with you: I stay as far away from the fandom as humanly possible, so I really don’t have an answer to this one, haha.

#fandom meme #severalbakuras #///#////#/////#voltron #steven universe

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