#vld s6

[cyangarden]

On this day five years ago

#plance #pidgance #pikelavar #peklavar #cyance #rainforest #flirtyrobot #smartwater #pance #lidge #pidgeance #vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld s6

[lleimente]

responsibility

when he is the black paladin 🫦 when he is the black paladin 🥺 keith’s my baby

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld fanart #vld #vld s6 #keith kogane #keith fanart #vld keith #shiro voltron

[autisticlancemcclain]

“Keith?”

Keith hums. “Yeah, Lance?”

Lance doesn’t answer right away. Keith can hear his breathing, quicker than everyone else’s, if only slightly. After all they’re the only ones awake. Everyone else is conked right out, curled up around the low-burning embers of their campfire. He’s quiet long enough that Keith is half-convinced that he isn’t actually awake, and only called out for Keith in his sleep.

(Keith couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face if he tried. He doesn’t try, though. The idea of Lance dreaming about him is a nice one.)

There’s a sharp intake of breath from beside him, confirming Lance is not asleep, then a beat of hesitation.

“Do you ever wonder what happens when we die?”

Keith blinks. He opens his mouth to answer, but stops himself. He looks up at the unfamiliar stars, tracing random constellations. There’s a sword, where Orion usually is during Earth summers. And a lick of flame, replacing the Big Dipper.

The brightest star in the sky shines red.

“No,” Keith says softly. “It’s — dangerous. Letting myself think about that. We’re too close, you know? I don’t want my last thought to be panicking about what’s to come. I want it to be — not that. I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

Keith waits for Lance to offer an explanation, a reason for his curiosity, or even a subject change. When nothing comes Keith shifts, propping himself up on his elbow and glancing over at the red paladin.

“Why do you ask? Just curious?”

It’s a long time, again, until Lance answers, but this time Keith knows he’s not asleep. He’s tense, lying ramrod straight, head centred on his pillow and arms hooked over his blanket. His brown eyes — almost black in the dark night — stare straight up, but there’s something off about his expression, something fixed and plastic.

“I was surprised, is all. It was — nothing like I expected.”

It takes a moment for Keith to process what Lance said. He almost wishes he hadn’t, when it finally clicks. Never in his life has cold dread seeped through his bones so quickly.

“…What?” He can barely hear his own voice. He can’t at all, actually, the hoarse shock of it swallowed up by the crackling of the coals and cooing of nocturnal insects and wildlife.

Lance, though, must have heard him anyway, or been expecting his shock, because the plastic stiffness melts from his expression as he shoots straight up, scrambling to his feet and pacing back and forth barely paces away from the small flames. Bizarrely, Keith chokes down the urge to warn Lance about the uneven ground that he might trip on.

“I — I was never religious, you know?” One of his hands tugs at his hair, making the dark curls frizzy the more he messes with it. The other waves frantically back and forth, faster with every word. “None of us really were. But Mamá dragged us to church anyway. Every Sunday. Maybe to give us something to be bored about, I don’t know. She never really explained herself. I didn’t ask.” Lance stops abruptly, loud hands freezing, marching back to his bedroll and standing on it for a moment, looking lost. “I don’t — it’s not that I liked it. It was boring as hell. But I — I guess I believed some of it. I dunno.” Before Keith can blink he collapses on top of his blankets, like his strings have been cut. Both hands slide in his hair, now, dark strands clenched between his fingers, elbows resting on his knees. “It was just…dark, though,” he says softly. “Empty.”

Keith feels as if he’s encased in ice. His heart pounds, galloping against his chest, rushing blood through his ears so quickly he can hardly hear anything else. Part of him hopes Lance is playing some kind of cruel joke, but he knows he isn’t.

“When did you —” he doesn’t even know how to phrase it. Hell, he doesn’t know what he’s phrasing, really. “What —” He trails off again, lost. He looks at Lance blankly. Something bitter floods his mouth.

He imagines, for a moment, making this trek home without Lance. It’s not something he’s allowed himself to think about before. Even with Shiro missing, he’d stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea that Shiro was gone for good. The only time he’d let himself think about it was — was Naxzela. And even then, he was the one sure would be going.

They come to him now, unbidden, thoughts. About life — without Lance. Without his loud teasing and big smiles and quiet kindness, without his begrudging but unwavering support, his steady hands and clear voice as he says we’re all behind you, Keith, we’ve got you. I’ve got you.

A tear burns hot down his cheek, startling him back to the stillness of the night, the cool air and quiet noise. Another follows, and another, and then he’s swallowing the giant lump in his throat and holding back a sob.

“You nearly…when?” He can’t bring himself to say the word, to ask directly. To ask would make it real, concrete.

“The Omega Shield,” Lance whispers. He has yet to look up, but has stopped pulling so harshly on his hair. “A blast just —” he shudders. “Right through me an’ Red. You know when — when it’s cold out, and you walk a while without gloves? And your hands get so cold they burn?”

“Yeah,” Keith says softly. His lips taste of salt.

Lance glances at him. His eyes are big and brown and desperate, aching. Glassy, wet and ready to break. “It was like that. All over. Like every molecule was tearing itself apart, like I was unravelling. I was almost grateful when it stopped.”

“And when it stopped?” Keith chokes out.

“Nothing. Endless, nothingness. For a thousand eternities. I lived and grew and died for the rest of time, alone.” Lance heaves, like he’s about the sob or throw up or both.

The first tear finally drips down Lance’s face, tracing from the corner of his eye down his nose, pausing at the tip of it before dropping, finally, into his lap. It springs Keith into action, and before he can even think he surges forward, gathering him in his arms and pulling him into his lap, squeezing tightly and rocking them back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Lance doesn’t so much as twitch, crying great hiccuping sobs into Keith’s chest.

“I’m afraid to sleep,” he chokes out. “I haven’t in days. Every time I do I’m terrified I won’t wake up.”

“I’ve got you,” Keith assures, at a total loss. He lays his hand on the back of Lance’s head, holding him tightly. He can feel Lance’s heartbeat where their chests are pressed together, stuttering and sprinting.

“I don’t want to die.”

“You’re not gonna die.”

Lance only sobs again. Keith is aghast, terrified to hold him any tighter but unsure of what else to do. Lance has never been fragile, to him. He’s more stubborn than an ox, a streak of fire lighting up his spine, dark eyes shining with fury every time his forehead’s pressed to Keith’s, screeching ‘till he’s blue in the face that he’s right and Keith’s wrong and he’s gonna show it to him, just you wait and see. He’s seen Lance angry, seen him annoyed, seen him golden with the fire of competition and glowing with the brightness of his laughter. He’s seen Lance worn and insecure. Never, not once in the years Keith has known him and fought with him and led with him, has he seen Lance fragile.

But he is, right now. Now, quivering in Keith’s arms, sobs shaking his frame, Keith feels like he’s holding him together, like if he lets go Lance will shatter to shards on the floor.

So Keith holds him. He holds him until his arms ache, and past that. He holds him until his shirt is soaked and cold in the chilly air, until his knees burn from the tiny bumps of the ground. He holds him until Lance’s sobs peter out, until the orange sun of the system they’re stopping in peeks out from the horizon, stars blinking out of sight.

Hours later, Lance shifts, pulling away slightly. Keith holds tighter, refusing to let him pull away too far.

“Don’t,” Keith says, before Lance can apologize.

That cracks a smile on Lance’s face, to his own surprise. “No?” His voice is wrecked, throat no doubt raw.

“Save your apologies for when you actually do something stupid,” Keith affirms. He hesitates a second, then reaches out, brushing the frazzled curls from Lance’s forehead and wiping the tears from his cheeks. Lance winces slightly as Keith’s thumb brushes his cheekbone.

Keith pulls away. “Sorry. Rough hands.”

But Lance’s hand darts out and grabs Keith’s. “No, it’s — I don’t mind it.” He places it back on his face, shutting his eyes, breath shuddering. His sleeve falls down his arm.

Keith narrows his eyes. Criss-crossing Lance’s arms are dozens of jagged white scars, like lightning bolts across his skin.

“I wake up with more every day,” Lance explains, noticing Keith’s expression. “I was — I died, Keith.”

Keith flinches. Lance swallows, carrying on.

“I felt my heart stop. I don’t know how long, but it was…there was a severance. Something permanent. I felt it.” He runs his hands through his hair again, but much gentler this time. A fidget instead of a panicked tugging. The roots are white, like Shiro’s. “Allura did her best, I think. But I was gone so long. And she’d never done it before.”

“Is everything…working alright?” It’s an awkward way to say it. But Keith doesn’t know how else to say am I going to lose you? Later? Are you here to stay?

Lance shrugs. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to hear her tell me it’s not.”

“I don’t want to wake up one day and find out — find out, Lance.”

Lance swallows. “I know. I don’t — what do I —”

“We’ll talk to her,” Keith promises. “We’ll figure it out. I’ve got you, Lance.”

Lance’s chin trembles, but he slumps forward, exhausted. “Promise?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” He’s silent for a moment, face tucked in Keith’s neck. The muffled sounds of the team waking up starts to fill the air. “I’m tired, Keith.”

“I’ll watch for you. I’ll make sure you wake up.”

“Okay,” Lance whispers again. Keith feels his eyelashes flutter closed, feels his heartbeat slow, his breathing even. “I trust you.”

As Lance starts to grow heavier in his arms, Keith tightens his hold. He presses a kiss to the top of Lance’s head.

“I’ve got you.”

I won’t let you fade away.

———

part two

#part two will be here tomorrow and involve coran!! #vld #voltron #keith #keith kogane #lance #lance mcclain #klance #omega shield #post s6 #red paladin lance #black paladin keith #langst #brown-eyed lance #hurt/comfort #my writing #fic #longpost

[askmeanjudge]

#vld #pidge gunderson #takashi shirogane #s6 ep1: omega shield #kuron

[im-smart-i-swear]

drops this at your feet and disappears for two weeks

#vld #shiro vld #kuron vld #vld kuron #clone shiro #my art #this is art for an au i havent rlly talked about here yet #and im not going to rn! cause im leaving for a summer camp tomorrow!!!! its 10pm i need to go to sleep #i should make a tag for this thing #uhhhhhh shit #girlfail kuron au #yeah. good enough #ill propably change it later #basically kurons ghost/spirit/soul/whatever is still tethered to shiros new body after s6 #shenanigans ensue #also shes trans #and cringe #does shiros arm make ANY sense in this drawing canon design -wise? absolutely fucking not!!!! thats not importrant tho:) #okie dokie time to sleep #two weeks without a phone will do me good i think #gotta socialize a bit!! look at some rocks!! get some fresh air!!! #and also pretend to be a girl(not fun but yknow. cant have everything. ill manage!! aside from That im very excited for this!!!) #byeee #edit: new tag for the au lol-> #two distasters au

[bleh1bleh2]

I was thinking about voltron so much today that during class I took more notes about voltron than actual notes </3

#i cannot help that i have watched 7 seasons of vld in 5 days #they are just in my brain #also i was secretly hoping that the Bad Writing in the later seasons werent as bad as i thought #but seasons 7 and 8 made me so mad #also s6 finale when they blew up the castle for literally no reason #s6 was pretty good and then they had to do that... heartbroken #me watching seasons 1-6: wow i love voltron!! silly show :) #me watching seasons 7-8: i hate this fucking show so much. everytime something plot relevent happens i get angry #also i was writing notes about black paladin allura bc my friends spoke of a possible presentation night #and i have so much to say about voltron. also a few of them have never seen it and i would need to explain the shows history #voltron watching

[nomadicism]

TUMBLR NO.

#hahaha are they trying to get voltron to trend again? #vld #voltron: legendary defender #tumblr tv #let’s do this #but seriously NO I hate that episode #no thanks s6 s7 s8

[void-tiger]

please tell me more about the fic where Ke/th doesnt get to be a paladin again, i keep seeing shit like how the team abandoned/failed Ke/ith and should have apologized to him when it was literally the opposite (i am sorry but the team almost DIED because K/ith fucked off to run off with the Blades, werent for Kuron entering Black they would have actually died, i do not understand how anyone can see this and say the team was in the wrong/Ke1th was in the right, and still be considered a team player let alone a team leader is beyond me. Really really sorry about salt in your askbox)

No worries! (Although, disclaimer: I had to set aside my voltron fics for a bit ‘cause I can’t work on them without getting salty, and too much salt is bad for you. So they’re…curing, I guess. I’ll stop with the bad salt jokes now XD)

But short answer? Keith’s their comfort blorbo, and it’s incredibly easy to have that become “can do no wrong ever it MUST be EVERYONE else!” and…not recognize that kneejerk bias. Ask The Real Fandom Olds TM who’ve participated in fandom culture since the 80s and 90s and that’s a key issue with Current Fandom and especially younger fans (ie, probably our generation and younger.) Add in that a lot of us online trend (in my antidotal experience) towards having untreated anxiety or depressive symptoms and/or undiagnosed neurodivergent brain wiring that an individual might’ve not quite learned how to cope with yet (and many come with emotional regulation symptoms) in addition to…human brains really just Don’t stop developing until mid20s regardless of someone’s birth gender and brain development is particularly chaotic and…well.

That’s a recipe for a volatile fandom, and since the VLD Characters in particular were geared towards Teens or Teen Nostalgia? [Comfort Blorboing Intensifies.]

Now, in one fic series Idea, Keith DOES become the Red Paladin again, but he has to work for it. Really work for it. Like, the Team is still incredibly hurt that he left and never really apologized for ditching them before THAT Scene where Jiro is forced to step in s4. I think I have in my notes somewhere [coughs] prolly a random post or very buried DM to a friend that Red Lion finally outright takes Keith for a joy ride (much like Blue and Black did with Lance and Shiro) and literally has him bouncing around in zero g and gforces until Red’s really willing to accept him back as Paladin. (Also it makes me feel better.)

[tags: blackbox verse, rewrite the stars, blackbox, veeladee fixit. Note that some of the older posts especially I’ve probably discarded. But I do my best worldbuilding thinking aloud, and hey. It’s fanfic. Who gives af about spoilers? Not me.]

But, in Blackbox verse, I wanted Jiro to have his very own Lion…and the Sincline Meteor is right there. Plus, y’know. Fixing-fixing. Making as much work as I felt like since it was intended to be a series, anyway.

Buuut, that’s not the fic idea you asked about.

The one you asked about is actually a Redo of The Black Paladin’s episode following alteanroyals’ prompt of “what if Shiro’s the one who fights the clone, and the clone gets to just come home. Have his own name.” Because, c’mon. The visuals would’ve been incredible, and Josh Keaton and Studio Mir adores Shiro and Jiro even if the EPs and arguably NONE of the writers (even the better ones trying to patch job before bailing out) gave a shit about Jiro as his own character.

So. Back to Keith.

He actually tries flying Black Lion, same as the (egh) canonical episode…and…

WHOOPS. He gets lasers shot at him for his efforts (hA HA~)

Allura steps in, and has a battle of wills against Black Lion, then realizes that what has Black so torqued is Keith tried to dominate the Lion. (Imo? The only reason why Keith could fly with Black in s2-4 was because of the bond they both had with Shiro. “Help me help you.”) And well. Allura’s learned a thing or two: trying to dominate a Lion does NOT work. She learned that for herself with White Lion, she’s now realizing that’s why Black Lion accepted Shiro as it’s Paladin over Zarkon at all. So Allura changes tactics, senses Shiro’s Quintessence still inside Black Lion nearly two years after he vanished, and calls the others in. They do a reverse-balmera ceremony via their voltron bonds and pull Shiro back out—in his OWN body, tyvm.

And well. Remember how it’s technically a “Shiro vs CloneShiro” prompt? Yeah, they fight. (I’ll try not to have them totally wreck the place. All Shiros are Good Shiros.) And when Black Lion comes for them now that the Lion can get a clear shot? Red Lion also comes.

Because Keith isn’t the only character who holds the needed qualities for a Red Paladin. (Reactive instincts, laser focus, loyalty, but often emotionally volatile.) Jiro does too. And unlike Keith, Jiro stayed even when he “no longer” had a Lion to fly from his POV, and he struggled with the rest of the Team to adjust to Lions that no longer suited them in the wake of Shiro’s Absence. So Red chooses Jiro and flies to him. (Black would’ve saved Jiro, too, even though Jiro wasn’t Black’s true paladin. But seeing a Lion accept him, and further proof that he’s not just a poor copy but his own person and even a Paladin in his own right?)

[gemini fic, shiro vs jiro]

Basically, in starting writing and continuing to ruminate on ideas, I realized that Gemini works best as a single fic, so having Firm Consequences make more sense. Other tidying up?

-Allura and the Paladins take the Castle and immediately head out for the Altean Colony while Shiro (and Black Lion at Black’s literal insistence) go after Jiro. (And with Shiro here to lead and analyze + Convenient Recap/Alternate Explanation, Pidge is able to shut down the virus far earlier before it makes the Castle truly dead in the water.) Haggar never gets her claws into them.

-Keith formally leaves the Blades. He had a family, and he turned his back on them. Those relationships won’t be what they were before (ie, symbolic in losing his Red Paladinship), but this time he’s willing to put the work in to repair their trust in him. Meanwhile, the Blades never were going to help him find his mother intentionally no matter how many times he sacrificed his life for them, and his life and the lives of all the other Blades ultimately meant very little to Kolivan and the Blades as an organization. He surrenders the knife to Krolia, and walks away if Team Voltron will let him stay. It not, he can do better good with the Rebels. (Infiltration was Pidge’s thing, anyway. He’s the showy diversion maker.)

-Lotor returns to Orionde. But when he faces the Ancients and White Lion again, he stops attacking and running from his sins. He sacrifices his full life force, and the Drained Alteans revive fully restored. The tragedy his family caused and he ended up perpetuating ends with him. (That does leave…y’know. The Galran Empire without an Emperor. But hey. IF I finish this fic, that’s potential sequel material, baby!)

-

…anyway. Point is, Keith Antis put a bad taste in my mouth, but the point of “Keith loses Red” wasn’t to punish Keith (okay…maybe a little. But that was still mostly Black blasting lasers everywhere. For catharsis.) The point was, “There are consequence, and while some relationships can be repaired or make new ones with the same people after you’ve hurt them, others can’t. You lose them. It’s important to put in the work, but it’s also important to accept loss and endings, especially after you’ve fucked up.”

And well. I felt that Keith Losing Red, Jiro Gaining Red made things narratively tidy.

#askbox shenanigans #gemini fic #blackbox verse #anonymous #vld salt #vld keith critical #believe it or not #I’m not actually anti keith #I DO hate how his character acts in every season after s2 #and especially how he acts in s6 onward #there’s a few asks that are sitting in my box that are…heavy on the keith hate that I should prolly just delete tbh #especially as I have a few vld friends who DO like s1 keith and can crank out The REAL Keith fics and guess what! I enjoy keith’s character #so…not actually a Keith Hate blog. but it IS ‘keith ain’t shit as BP and definitly ain’t shit as a leader ever’ #and ‘keith should’ve had comeuppance for his bullshit. but in a better reality shiro never would’ve been forced out therefore no keith bs’

[tomoyoo]

if u wanna watch voltron (dont) from what i remeber seasons 1-3 are good. season 4 is meh but it gave me matt holt. seasons 5-6 are alright the finale is decent and they should’ve cancelled the show then and there.

#i think s6's worst crime was what they did to lotor #vld

[spaceangst]

i don’t think we talk enough about how keith realizes that the *only* thing that can break the shield is lotor’s lasers. after he was ready to man his own ship into that barrier. it’s a terrifying thought that he was about to sacrifice himself for nothing.

#vld #yes i’m rewatching it #klance #don’t even get me started on s6 and the fight with shirt #the fandom has done a great job of fixing lance’s story and giving him what he deserves #closure and support #but where are the keith fics lol #i just want some keith centric fics where we talk about these very traumatizing things as well #but also dreamworks wth #the space trip time travel with a mom he doesn’t know #and we DONT TALK ABOUT THAT EITHER #the poor boy is traumatized like

[njararna]

its honestly so ridiculous to me how they spent copious amounts of time establishing shiro’s strong connection to the black lion and how he had to fight for it and keith’s connection to the red lion and her protectiveness over him and they like. jettison all of that post-s2 😭. IT SUCKS ASS. why would you spend so much time developing this if youre gonna chuck it away??? its mindboggling. the lion switch messed up sm bc i really couldnt believe any of the swapped paladins had as strong a connection to their new lions than their old ones. terrible clone arc, shouldve left keith and lance in red and blue, allura should’ve been black paladin not only because shes shown time and time again to be a resilient leader for the alliance and has acted in tandem with shiro but as a narrative arc its really compelling to have allura be in the same lion that zarkon had…what is the black lion’s allegiance if it still felt something for zarkon in s1? do the lions have moral codes? or are they ride-or-dies for their paladins irrespective of their actions? how would allura feel having the same lion as shiro (someone she respects) and zarkon (someone she loathes)? LIKE COME ON!

i get the reference they wanted to make to dotu, but the issue lies in that these characters are built for very different intentions in the reboot, so trying to force them into their previous molds doesn’t cut it BECAUSE IT WASN’T REALLY CONSIDERED HOW YOU GET FROM A TO B. and it just sabotages everything

#.txt #vld #keith in prev iterations has always stuck with his team and supports them #whereas keith in vld peaces out??? and u want me to believe hes a leader in s6 #how the hell did he earn it 😭 in other iterations its clear he has the pilots’ respect BECAUSE he doesn’t back down #i keep going back to keith bc i find his arc to be the most disjointed and one of the more poorly written ones #if they wanted him to take over the black lion he shouldve never left 😭 and yet

[cyangarden]

On this day four years ago

#plance #pidgance #pikelavar #peklavar #cyance #rainforest #flirtyrobot #smartwater #pance #lidge #pidgeance #vld #Voltron legendary defender #vld s6

[lovevalley45]

i haven’t mentioned it much bc i would like to maintain some dignity here but i’ve been keeping up with the new eps of ‘the devil is a part-timer’ that have been coming up n many ppl are like ‘the quality has gone so downhill!’ like listen. i know it’s true. it has. but gosh darn it if i am not known for being like. this thing is bad but i still derive enjoyment from it

#alli says shit #like listen i’m still hooked i’m sorry #i watched the first part of s2 right after s1 n i was like. so disappointed djdj #but i think s2 has given us shit like frat boy archangel gabriel and mikitty’s hot niece #so like i can’t complain. i’m still entertained #it isn’t like my very contentious relationship with vld in the last few seasons. they knew what they did #I DIDN’T MAKE IT THRU S6 OF LEGENDS TO BACK DOWN NOW

[autisticlancemcclain]

part one

———

Keith’s eyes burn. His shirt is soaked through and cold, and Lance is a dead weight in his arms, making his limbs dead and heavy.

Keith barely registers any of it.

As the slowly rising sun gently rouses the rest of his team, the music of the birds and the bugs dragging them from the slumber, he thinks of each of them in turn: do you know what happened to him? Do you know how badly he’s hurting?

He cuts his glance to Shiro, who sits criss-cross-applesauce on his bedroll, eyes closed and head tilted towards the sun. A small smile graces his face, and it grows as Pidge complains about everything in general and Hunk repeats everything she says in a muppet voice. Maybe Shiro understands. He —

Keith swallows, rough from the dryness of his throat. Even thinking the word sends a stab of fear through his heart, a shot of adrenaline through his veins.

Lance. Dead. Not ‘nearly’, not a close call, but — dead. Gone.

He died.

“Everything alright, dear?” asks a voice, startling Keith out of his thoughts and right out of his skin, too. Coran crouches beside him, looking immaculately groomed and put-together in his ridiculous blue silk pajamas despite the fact that Keith literally saw him roll right out of his bedroll and onto the hard ground not two minutes ago.

Truly amazing, that man.

“Fine,” Keith says, half-shocked by the hoarseness of his own voice. He glances down, looking at his right hand man, face streaked with tears, scar-covered hands clenched tightly in the fabric of Keith’s sleep shirt.

Keith deflates, sighing as he slumps forward. “Rough night,” he admits. “For…both of us.”

It’s stating the obvious. As much as Lance is visibly not okay, even in sleep, Keith doubts he looks so hot, either. He feels like the fear and hurt is pouring out of him in waves.

Coran doesn’t look surprised. He reaches forward slowly, as if waiting for Keith to stop him, and brushes gentle fingers through Lance’s hair. The movement shifts the strands, clearly showcasing the white roots.

Coran frowns, something like disappointment clouding his green eyes. Keith doubts it’s directed at either of them.

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while,” he murmurs, hand stilling in Lance’s fringe for a moment before shifting to gently trace the shape of his cheekbone, the high point of his temple. His touch is gentle, wary, wracked with guilt.

Paternal.

“Lance has been…off. For movements. He usually comes to me, if he’s hurting, even if he he just wants company. But he’s only withdrawn from all of us.” He pulls away, almost as if he has to force himself, and straightens out, stretching his legs. He looks back to Keith once he’s settled, and his expression is grim.

“I think it’s high time we show him we’re not going anywhere.”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees softly. “I don’t —” He looks at Coran, helpless and desperate. “I don’t know what to do, Coran.”

“I’ll gather the team,” the advisor assures. He runs his hands through Lance’s hair one more time, and then presses a kiss to his forehead before getting to his feet. He walks over to Shiro and leans in close. Keith doesn’t keep watching to see Shiro’s face crumple. He’s not sure he can handle it. Instead he drops his gaze back down to Lance’s sleeping face.

Over the night, one of the lightning scars has crept up the side of his neck and curved over his jaw, just like Lance had said they’d been doing.

Keith feels it when all of them really get it. He can feel the air turn sharp and electric, almost, the way you can taste it before lightning strikes. Tangy, almost. Ozone and petrichor.

It’s not a nice feeling.

Allura approaches first. She hurries over, like she’s worried something will happen if she doesn’t make it to them in seconds, but she stops right in front of them. Keith can see her bare legs out of the corner of his eye, covered in doodled pen marks of flowers and stars. She hesitates for a second, pink-painted fingernails tapping her knee, then she falls on the ground in front of them faster than Keith can blink. She pulls her knees up to her her chin, long braids falling down her shoulders. The rest of the team hesitantly sits next to her.

“I didn’t realise,” she blurts eventually. Keith flicks his head up to meet her gaze head-on, and he realizes that tears are dripping steadily down her cheeks. He’s never seen her look so upset. “I knew he was — I felt that he was hurt, that it was serious. I knew the blast was dangerous. But I didn’t —” her face crumples, and she hides her face as if she’s ashamed. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I should have checked harder. I was stressed, but that’s no exc—”

“It’s not your fault,” comes a firm voice. Lance shifts in Keith’s hold, dragging himself upright and blinking the sleep from his eyes.

He doesn’t pull away, though, shifting until he’s comfortable and then leaning back onto Keith’s chest. One of Keith’s hands is clenched tightly in his.

“I’m so sorry,” Allura begs. “Lance, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry —”

“Allura,” Lance insists again. His voice is stronger, less reedy. “You didn’t — I made that choice, ‘Llura.” He reaches forward with his free hand and gently pries Allura’s apart from where they’re clenched together, squeezing gently. “I knew what was gonna happen to me.”

“Did you?” Hunk asks quietly. Keith feels Lance tense slightly before forcing himself to relax. “Did you choose to — to die?”

Lance doesn’t say anything for a moment. And then another moment, and another. Keith feels a drop hit his hand.

“I was scared,” he admits, voice as low as a whisper. “I am scared.”

Keith feels his chin tremble, the memory of Lance pacing back and forth, hands clenched in his hair, rambling in his terror flashing fresh through his mind. He squeezes Lance tightly.

“It is scary.” Shiro hunches in slightly, angling his head to catch Lance’s eyes. He smiles, a mix of sad and comforting, when Lance’s brown eyes meet his. “I was scared, too. Felt like the pins and needles you get when you come in from the cold, but all over, and it didn’t end until it didn’t. And then I was just scared.”

“…Oh.” Lance looks stunned, like he’s realizing for the first time that he’s not alone, actually. There are people who love him, someone even who knows exactly what he went through. “I — oh.” He relaxes back into Keith’s hold. “Okay.”

“We love you, Lance,” Pidge says in a small voice. Her face is streaked with tears, too, but her eyes are determined. “I love you. A lot.”

Lance’s lips quirk up. “Love you too, Pidgey.”

They all stay there, for a while. The sun has long since risen, but they all watch the sky anyways, tracking the pale green clouds, just sitting silently with each other, happy to be together and alive.

“Thank you,” Lance whispers, too quiet for anyone else to hear. Keith glances down. Lance looks back up at him, smiling softly. His eyes don’t look fragile, anymore. It’s a relief.

“I would do anything for you.” It’s a little more than he meant to say, but he can’t help himself. Not with Lance’s eyes glowing amber in the sunlight, Lance in his hold, Lance alive and better than he was yesterday.

Lance’s smile gets a little wider. “I know.”

Hoping he’s reading things right, Keith leans in close, pausing millimetres away from Lance’s face, glancing down at his lips. He means to say something smooth, something charming, a one liner in a teen movie. But he can’t think of anything. “I want to kiss you,” he blurts out instead, like a dumbass. Immediately he winces, but Lance only laughs. He hears sniggers from the rest of the team, as well. His face reddens.

Lance’s hand moves up to rest on Keith’s cheek. “Well, chop chop then, Mullet.”

Keith doesn’t waste anymore time. He moves all the way in, pressing their lips together softly. Lance tastes of salt. Keith knows it’s from his tears, but it makes him think of the ocean. He kisses Lance again, because he can’t help himself.

“We got all the time in the world, Keith,” Lance murmurs against his lips.

“Let me kiss you anyway,” Keith begs.

He feels the curve of Lance’s grin. The rest of the team has gone conspicuously silent.

“Yeah. Okay.”

#AD SCENE #vld #voltron #keith #keith kogane #lance #lance mcclain #klance #langst #klangst #team as family #lance & allura #lance & coran #post s6 #the omega shield #my writing #fic #brown-eyed lance #longpost

[askmeanjudge]

#lance mcclain #allura #s6 ep1: omega shield #vld #// flashing

[digoload]

the paladin line up!!! (click for better quality)

This is a part of my voltron AU that I already did a bit of art on this here. i'll probably update my foolish design at some other time but there he is for now.

Under the cut -- my reasons for these particular characters, plus some sketched story ideas i had for them/their backstories prior to canon.

(also, yes - qtubbo tucks his jeans into his socks)

Green Paladin - Tubbo. He's green already, fantastic. Also, a nerd like Pidge and naturally curious. I considered other Create-oriented QSMPers for green lion but I think Tubbo fits the best!

Yellow Paladin - Missa. For a while I was gonna make Forever the yellow or blue paladin, but then I realised the whole cast would be wayyyyy too zany or weird. We needed a sturdy, relatable character. Someone who was scared. Someone who didn't really want to be there. Someone who would have an unlikely romance with a menacing purple rebellion-leader alien in space. I knew Missa was perfect for the job.

Blue Paladin - Etoiles. We don't know the specific qualifications for someone to be the blue paladin (thanks Lance), but there are some clear similarities between Lance and Blaytz (I know Allura doesn't really fit with the pattern towards the end of the series, but work with me here), so I sort of made up my own requirements. 1. screams with joy when they get to pilot their lion. 2. dogboy. 3. ready to throw down. (season 1 allura fits all 3 of these, but arguably not really towards s6-7-8). I kinda relate him most to Blaytz out of all the blue paladins.

Red Paladin - Roier. You KNOW it had to be Roier. Who else. Literally who else. The man is red. Ready to throw down. Trusts his instincts. Angsty backstory. Right-hand to the guy who takes the lead in most situations. Also, just in general, I have a vivid vision of qroier in the red lion's cockpit. He could totally pull it off.

Black Paladin - Cellbit. The other characters I considered for this role were bbh and philza, but in the end I liked them more with having alien roles mainly due to their backstories (BBH as an immortal soul-guide demon and Philza as an avian). I just think that Cellbit would fit this role better. He already sort of heads the Order, is associated with the colour black as well. But most of all. I think there's a lot of potential for an angst arc where he goes off on his own for some dumb self sacrificial reason I guess, or maybe because of his extremeee trust issues, and neglects his leader duties because of this. and then there's a whole lesson learned kind of thing, maybe roier brings him back, etc.

Now for some backstories:

I think Tubbo would follow Pidge's backstory and motives pretty closely, given his penchant for breaking into the federation offices and snooping around (very Pidge-like behaviour). The thing I struggled with was getting someone to be kidnapped by space aliens that Tubbo cared enough about to go searching for. I already have plans for Fred, Phil, and the eggs, and they're the main things that drive qtubbo. Also, ideally, they'd have to be somewhat older than Tubbo in order to be on the Kerberos mission in the first place. For a while, I thought about somehow having Tubbo and Pierre being connected, but they're not super close in canon, even if he would make an Excellent Sam Holt.

BUT THEN I REMEMBERED: MORNING CREW. ITS PERFECT. I don't think they'd be directly related, but Pac as Matt Holt just works so well. I think Fit and Ramon would be rebel fighters that free Pac from the Galra and they sort of fall in love that way, but Mike was on the Kerberos mission too and is still missing, and that's Pac's main motivation.

So I think the best people for the Kerberos mission crew would be Pac (technician), Mike (engineer), and Cellbit (pilot). Cellbit obviously takes Shiro's role (sans robot arm, that's Etoiles' duty later on - this AU would divert from VLD canon pretty early on). Roier never gives up on Cellbit, just like Tubbo never gives up on Pac (and Mike). Except unlike Tubbo, who has to purposely get enrolled at the Garrison as a cadet in order to get intel, Roier is already graduate from the same class as Cellbit. He KNOWS there's a coverup of some kind, but he has no way of proving it. Fortunately, an old upperclassman/ex-tutor believes in him enough that he believes in Cellbit too, and together they get to work on figuring out this mystery. When an alien pod crash lands, they know they've got to get a closer look.

Missa is an unfortunate decontamination unit first-responder who gets in the way. They can't just leave him behind to sound the alarm - he has to come with them while they rescue Cellbit! Unbeknownst to them, Tubbo has already taken out the alarms and is also on his way over. Miraculously, they all escape with their lives, and magic space lion adventures ensue.

I feel like none of them would really have any time to change into casual clothing, so they're all in uniform. Cellbit would probably still be in prisoner clothing but tbh I just didn't think of that lol. Also, I wanted to draw him in a garrison uniform that wasn't detox or combat oriented. There are so many cool garrison uniform designs out there so drawing the same one twice was kinda soul crushing lol. cant wait to show you guys their individual character sheets!!

#my art #qsmp tubbo #qsmp cellbit #qsmp roier #qsmp etoiles #qsmp missa #tubbo fanart #cellbit fanart #etoiles fanart #roier fanart #missasinfonia fanart #qsmp fanart #qsmp #voltron legendary defender #digo speaks #qsmp vld au