#what is it with me making pidge centric ideas

[pidges-lost-robot]

Right okay no because episode 4 season 2 of Voltron has been pissing me off since I rewatched it omfg so I’m going to rant about the episode, what parts I found to be be especially egregious and why and then maybe some of the changes I would’ve made.

Right so Greening The Cube pisses me off for one big glaring reason: Pidge’s character development

I will start with the Olkari to really get into why everything about this very Pidge centric episode pisses me off.

So the Olkari are described by Coran as a proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change the shape at the whim of their creators and (unfortunately cause Voltron does this with too many alien species they introduce) ‘a seemingly magical ability to manipulate solid metal and with the wave of their hands build a computer inside a block of steel’. This is a species that is known specifically and immediately for their ability to ENGINEER (this is important) and their technological prowess.

(on a side note though, can someone tell me why the writers and producers decide as frequently as they do to make alien species just kinda ‘have hand wavy magic’ as like their main thing they do, like do this even with the Olkari a little even though their whole deal is like technological and engineering prowess??)

Now we find this out when the team have that spore fight at the beginning of the episode when we learn this is a specifically Pidge centered episode with her classically knocking Lance down a peg by noting that ‘a billion sunsets happen everyday, some genius engineer actually built this’. This line right, this exchange is what the episode tells us it’s built on - it’s not actually.

Much like everything in this show especially in the first two seasons, it has good concepts and terrible execution, no desire to actually develop the characters and so little time in a given episode that they always use so inefficiently so this is an ambitious thing to episode to attempt to tackle in 23 mins, and the fact that this exchange is had with the character that I’m pretty sure the voltron writers process for writing his lines was picking bits of paper out of a hat with the options being ‘flirt’ ‘bad joke’ and ‘dumb’ written on them isn’t helping it’s case.

But in a better show that cared about their characters, this exchange is important at establishing this as a viewpoint Pidge has and opposing viewpoint for her to grapple with throughout the course of the episode. Pidge is arrogantly smart and there’s good reason for that - she’s never wrong. Because she is so often right (often because the writers just say she is), it creates the illusion that she is avid and open learner, but this one line kinda suggests otherwise. Lance is ignorant to dismiss the specific mathematics and engineering that had to go into building the castleship, but it’s interesting character wise how equally quick Pidge was to dismiss the idea of sunset being beautiful because it’s just a natural process that happens every day. Pidge doesn’t really get or seem to consider the ways in which natural or everyday processes in of themselves can be beautiful and valuable.

So we get to the spores and Pidge hears about this planet of technological advancements and engineering and is super excited but do you know who in this episode I don’t see getting super excited despite ENGINEERING being a huge part of his character and who he is, and who would likely be an interesting foil to Pidge as despite his own tendency towards being suspicious and worried about new things tends to be a lot more open to learning new things?! HUNK ‘IOSEFA’ GARRETT!!!

Hunk is the fucking engineer of this team! And you know how we establish that this is how Hunk could be the foil? Because when Pidge points out that the spores or pulsing in a programmed manner rather than a strictly natural one, it is HUNK that points out that he thinks it may be a code and jumps to wondering who the code could be from, not willing to dismiss the idea that this spore is coded. Pidge doesn’t quite outright dismiss it, but she says she doesn’t know because it makes no sense. She makes a definitive statement “You can’t program a spore”

Now Pidge and Hunk should be both be excited for this, but in the actual episode, we see this excitement immediately deplete when Pidge is informed they will not be going to the tech haven, but the forest. Once again, this can build off the point of the episode because it establishes another related thing about Pidge’s character. Not only does Pidge struggle to appreciate the beauty of something like a sunset, almost dismissing it, but she also can be quick to presume that unless something is within her specific wheelhouse of knowledge, that it will not be of interest to her. I believe that if we keep Hunk excited here, this would immediately boost the characterisation already present in the episode. Hunk is not deterred by going to the forest, but Pidge presumes theres nothing that will be of interest to her and therefore is going to bore her. Because the point of this episode should be Pidge can be quick to dismiss things she sees as simplistic, boring, everyday and natural things and that by dismissing them as being beneath her, she limits her own knowledge by doing so.

Which brings me to the team testing out the Olkari tech, and Ryner, the Olkari engineer they interact with the most, remarking that the commands using the headset should be in binary code. It is some of the few actual science in the worldbuilding for this place but I think it messes with the characterisation for Pidge. This is tech that has had to be thrown together using the surrounding forest and resources and having it be specifically be operated in a manner that Pidge out of everyone is an expert in rewards her in a way that it shouldn’t. Pidge has already dismissed that this will have any interest to her (she literally once again reinforced just before this arc when Ryner states that natures designs are superior to any they could devise and Pidge remarks that she will take her computer over a tree any day)

Pidge should not be rewarded in this moment by having an immediate aptitude for this tech. I believe for this part, Hunk should be the most likely to be able to work these things, and that Keith and Lance are shortly after, when they show a willingness to defer to a more knowledgeable party when they’re struggling to get it. But Pidge should have the most trouble. She doesn’t get why she is able to pick it up, and is insistent that she does it alone. Shiro maybe asks why she won’t go and just ask Hunk for help.

Because ultimately, Pidge has built up an identity of being self sufficient and being gifted. She may have gotten picked on, kids may have excluded her, but she understood things they never would. They may have been stronger and bigger, but she was right. And nothing would change that. Well, until she can’t get the hang of this tech.

I think with the way that the cube is used in this should incapacitate the lions for now. They need this tech to infiltrate the main city and regain their leader. Pidge has to stay behind in the forest with Shiro while Hunk, Lance and Keith take the lead on that mission because she isn’t able to work it. The leader is supposed to be the genius leader that is the only one capable of designing the cube who is being threatened but I like that he turns out to be safe and was working with the galra. And I think he should reflect something about Pidge. Lubos is a genius, and he knows that the Galra need him, cause they can’t build this without him. But he believes that this value he has to them means that he has the upperhand, they can’t pull one over on him because he’s the one with all the cards. But he’s thrown his own people under the bus in the name of a plan he turns out to not have the upper hand in because he fails to consider that there was value and purpose in the simpler things, his people didn’t need their value to come from being a part of building something advanced for some one else, they could derive joy and purpose from the everyday things too, and has to actually be rescued by Lance, Keith and Hunk when this all backfires on him.

Now what happens in the episode is that Pidge is told she must have a deep connection with nature which she denies but then has an aptitude for this tech and has the best lion for the plan and saves them all from the galra soldiers. Lubos is revealed as a liar and they all get in their lions and find their weapons don’t work. Now of course, cause in Voltron canon, Pidge is the only one who notices things in her episodes and points out that the cube they use their lions to attack is absorbing their attacks and gets to have an i told you so moment as it gets fired back at them and somehow no other person realises this. Its echoing like Coran’s cube. They try physical hits but it does not work and Pidge is soon shot down in Green. Ryner uses telepathy now to tell Pidge she must bond with her lion more as the Olkari heal her lion and she kinda just sits and thinks about how circuits and codes are like tree roots and that seems to be enough.

She then shoots at the cube, and despite it never having worked, it works now and a tree root grows out the cube destroying it.

Once again, Pidge is just kinda being told she can do things and then she does them or just suddenly comprehends and this all suddenly works out and means so much of the initial set up is fucking pointless. Cause what does Pidge learn here that she didn’t already learn ten minutes ago after being shown to be reluctant to accept new information and then immediately changing her mind cause the plot required it? And on top of this, she saves the day doing the same thing the others did, shooting at it with her lions gun and it simply works cause this episode is Pidge centric?

I think the lions stay down for now, they need to use this Olkari tech to shut the thing down before Pidge uses her lion to destroy it with her lions gun. Because I believe that Pidge should not only not have an immediate affinity for this tech, but that as a result of this, should be able to by the end of the episode, which will prompt the bonding with the Lion later to gain access to that ability, the ability to not just appreciate the way that nature can relate to technological advancement but be able to appreciate the value in it. Pidge in the time the others are getting Lubos begins to explain to Shiro that she hates needing to ask for help. Shiro reminds her that she’s part of a team, and her skills are important, but there are things the team can offer perspective on too.

She tells him she knows but and she doesn’t quite finish it, because maybe a little part of her was still valuing her worth to others based on the superior knowledge and programming she could provide and that this in turn made the other side of the coin that she was on some level undervaluing her teammates for not having those same skills. Hunk took to this tech well, he’s not just an engineer but he works a little more intuitively than she does, and Keith while stubborn about fighting and the things he’s good at, is more than comfortable asking advice from those for things he’s not well versed in, and while yes, similarly, Lance can be quick to dismiss the beauty of engineering, he was quick to recognise when this viewpoint did not serve him or the people he was trying to help, and swallowed his pride and adapted to achieve the goal. And more importantly in their comparison from the offset of the episode, Lance can be insecure, but he’s not afraid to be wrong, in fact he expects it.

The core of this episode should be Pidge values intelligence, because to her, if she’s not right, if she’s got it wrong then what value can she have to anyone. And that this belief is limiting her.

Pidge defers to Hunk’s expertise, willing to stay back when the plan to deactivate the cube goes ahead to make she can understand this tech better and maybe get word to the others once she gets it. She can’t help until she can work their tech.

The fights begins to not go well, the cube reflects back at them so Pidge figures out deactivating it will require using attacks not against it, but to isolate it from stimuli it can use against them, but the cube is beginning to mess with the coms and she needs to get out there to them to let them know. She’s scared but if she’s wrong, she’s just gotta keep trying, because being afraid to be wrong will only keep her from getting to them. Ryner encourages her to think of the way nature can be like technology, evolution in a way was a series of refining and improving on a design in response to new conditions, a sunset can only be enjoyed the way it is because a series of variables came to together by chance and refined to allow the experience to be had. Pidge thinks on this, the way that this tech is the same way, and the tech begins to work. She’s still a litlte shaky but she’s beginning to get the hang of it.

She gets the info to them, and they able to lure the cube somewhere that keep it isolated from things it can weaponise, and the Olkari are able to power the cube down. There is the worry that the cube could be activated if the Galra come out to find it, but Pidge feels her lion nudging her mind, able to reach her now the cube has been deactivated. She runs to her lion and rather than thinking of her lion as tech first, sentient second, she recognises that Green has an idea and this is when the ability to use Green’s ray to create spontaneous organic tree growth is used on the cube to split apart the design from the inside. Normally she’d be sad that a design like this is destroyed but in a weird way she can appreciate that is actually looks kind of neat. The other’s remark also that they think it looks cool, Lance even taking a photo of it and sending it to Pidge.

As they head off, Ryner thanks Voltron for their help and plans to join the coalition and gifts Pidge with a small simply engineered model that looks like the machines they had to utilise. Its one of the initial design models they made for the machines and Pidge thanks Ryner for it. As they arrive back at the castle, the little model takes pride of place in Pidge’s work station.

Ultimately the point of this post is that the original episode as it stands frustrates me as it’s an episode that clearly wants to get into Pidge’s character and explore it a little but spends most of the run time being too afraid to allow some of Pidge’s flaws to take any sort of precedence in the episode or allow any of the other team members to offer her any sort of perspective on these flaws. Its too afraid to let Pidge grow and learn things and be wrong. Allowing other characters to interact with these traits of hers, contradict them, and act as foils to them isn’t taking attention away from Pidge, it’s an opportunity to highlight something about her as a person. You can use other characters and how to respond to the main character focus to learn about them through the ways they differ.

#this may be all bad and not worth it #and i’m sure if i properly sat down with it i could do a little better #but like just take from this what you will #voltron #vld #pidge #pidge holt #hunk #hunk garrett #takashi shirogane #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #shiro #voltron: legendary defender #rewriting voltron episodes #long post #pidge gunderson #pidge vld #my headcanons

[numerous-bees-in-a-skin-suit]

some of the ideas for my Voltron (Klance centric because You Know What I Am) Dragon Prince AU!

there might be some changes to designs later, but I’m trying to bled stuff when possible and still make it read as what i want them to be, so yeah.

when assigning characters for this, I’m having a bit of a rough time because I have so many ideas that could work for different things but a lot of them have issues.

I could make Allura take Ezran’s role (she wouldn’t be him, a lot would be changed) OR i could make her take claudia’s role. I think both would be fun but I’m leaning more towards Allura in Ezran’s place for a couple of reasons that i can’t quite articulate, and also because I really REALLY want to have Lotor.

If I have Lotor, I think he would be really good in claudia’s role, not her because they are different characters but I think he would be a good fit for that role too. But then who would I make Viren? Should it be Haggar (viren has dark magic, she has her whole thing with quintessence)? And would I have a Soren or would I put Lotor’s generals instead? And who wouod Aavaros be?

And then come the other paladins: who would they be and how would they fit?

I already know that I absolutely NEED to have the other paladins in here to some extent because while this is a Klance centric AU, I want this to be like an actual AU and not just shoving Klance into some roles and calling it a day.

I could make Hunk that baker guy, but should I make his role bigger than it is in TDP? I have a few ideas on what I could do, but I am not a writer for a reason

And Pidge is someone I have a hard time placing. I have no idea where to put her in this. I could make up a role for her in this universe that has no parallel to anyone in TDP, but I’m not too sure.

And as for Shiro, I do want him to be important here. At least in the sense of the plot (that i have not figured out yet). Maybe he would be turned into a coin? And then the team would have to find him and free him somehow? I think that could work but again, I am NOT a writer for a reason.

Anyways, those are some of my 1:30 am ramblings over this AU that came to me in a dream a while ago, I am open to suggestions and ideas!!!

#voltron #voltron: legendary defender #art wip #the dragon prince #The Dragon Prince AU #Voltron Dragon Prince AU #lance mcclain #keith kogane #fanart #digital art #AU in progress #wip #like this is beginning stages of this #I have so many ideas that are super fragmented #another thing if allura takes ezran’s place: the mice could be bait #also if lotor is claudia i can make his white hair a plot point #i’m thinking that maybe the BOM are the moonshadow elf assassins #again #so many ideas

[yelmor-boots]

you can scroll past if you don’t give a shit, that’s perfectly fine, you have free will (unless you recently found out your a Sim then I’m sorry, that sucks, stay out of pools i guess...)

Soooo, I’ve come to a bit of a realization.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I couldn’t write and I believe I got it.

I really do love Klance, it is 100% a comfort ship for me and I like indulging in the art and the fanfics out there and I also loved writing Over the Biomes. It’s one of my personal favorites other than Empire.

But I think writing romance is a bit too challenging for me because I might be a little bit  aromantic, maybe. I don’t know how to build up those scenes really or how to intermingle it with the plot. And from what I’ve learned, the plot is super important to me when I’m writing my own fanfics. It’s like my top three of writing and even reading. I like reading fics with multiple chapters and really getting into the Universe being created.

Rewatching Voltron so far, I also got really excited at the relationships built between Keith and Pidge or Keith and Shiro and so on and so forth. I just love growing the friendships and creating found family.

So, until I come up with an idea for another Klance-centric fic that works with me and makes me happy, I’m gonna do a little mix of gen and m/m. Explicitly Aro/Ace Keith and explicitly Gay Keith if you will. (Definitely not a self insert, it’s not because I’m gay + possibly aro/ace no not at all)

Anyway -

#no one cares hayden #vld #voltron #klance #keith #lance #not klance? #but also klance #shiro #hunk #pidge #allura #coran #the paladins #found family #gay keith #aro/ace keith #fanfiction #gen #wip #adding this in here even though no one reads the tags #except maybe a few people #once i finish a fanfic and see a possible opening for a romace subplot #i might add it in editing #but the very clear GEN will let you know whether or not that works out

[chibi-pix]

Chibi watches V3D 11

Another night of Voltron: The Third Dimension!

Episode eleven. “Pidge Gets Iced”!?!?! Pidge-centric episode?!

Ooh! Excited for this!

“When nature threatens life, man must intervene.” But… uh… no? That is how life goes? And with a star collapsing and going supernova, what are you gonna do? Divert the energy? Stop it? The best you can and should possibly do is just evacuate if possible? But. These are just preliminary thoughts. I’ll find out what happens as I watch.

“-inhabitants who cannot be evacuated.” Oh… never mind. People can’t be taken from there. And they found a way to stop it. Well. Hopefully it works for the sakes of those inhabitants.

Hopefully this new robot, Igor, doesn’t turn on Pidge in this. And telling Pidge that he can’t have the rest of the force with him… that’s Zarkon’s idea, ain’t it? SUS! It’s adorable. The droids on that planet don’t seem to know how to greet Pidge.

“I’ve got clearance for Area 52.” Keith calling it that, the last time I heard “Area 52” was in Looney Tunes: Back in Action; it was amusing in that, too. Okay, moving on.

Oooh. Zarkon swapping the calculator’s chip. That’s not good. And. It makes me wonder how things were in the past episodes.

Oh no, Igor messed up the other droids! Poor droids. Poor babies…

“Green lion. What did he do to you?” Uh. Froze her, obviously.

Oh great. Why does it not surprise me that Lotor showed up on the frozen planet? Jeez. Just when I hoped we’d go an episode without him. Pity.

Igor isn’t the sharpest tool in the sheld telling them what became of Pidge. Well, hopefully the fiery red lion can help thaw Green. And poor Pidge! He’s all cold! Someone hug him til he’s warmer! “We gotta find Pidge-buddy fast!” I love the emphasis on Pidge being Hunk’s buddy.

“No one butts heads like a black cat.” Small deviation from the episode, but. After finally having a black cat in my life? I can feel this is accurate. My cat picks more fights with the others just for looking at her or snuggling me than not. She’s feisty with them. Okay, back to the episode.

Igor falling from the ship, and all I can think is “I’m free, freeFAAAAAAAALLING!”

It was a little concerning when Red’s first strike didn’t melt the ice. But hey! She got it in the end! Good job, Red! And they may need her for that icy robeast.

Ooooh! Using the shield to collect the ice from the robeast and then to use on the star is interesting. I didn’t expect that one as a delivery system. Nicely done! I enjoy that little surprise.

Proof that meets alliance standards? Jeez… Damn calculator and altered chip. I hope they can get solid proof soon. Because Zarkon needs to be outed.

Well, with that? Here we are. The eleventh episode. I actually enjoyed this one.

Anyway! That's it for the night! Until next time!

#chibi watches #v3d #voltron the third dimension #chibi watches v3d #chibi writes

[destinywillowleaf]

alright, this is one HELL of a shot in the dark, but...

I'm trying to find the origin fic of this song. "Too Big For Us" was a song that was included at the end of a Voltron Legendary Defender fic and I cannot for the life of me find the story.

There is every chance that this fic was deleted.

From what I remember, it was a Lance-centric 5+1 about him being the one to act as support for the others (and then the team supporting him in turn). I'm 99% sure it was on FFN since I didn't really start reading fics on AO3 until 2019-ish. The song might've been something put in an author's note as a broken up YouTube link thanks to no outside links allowed on FFN. (It... COULD have been Hunk as the focus character? but I'm pretty sure it was Lance. I've been telling myself it was Lance as the focus at least. god if it ends up being hunk and ) There weren't any ships as far as I remember either.

The file says it was modified on February 19th, 2017, which I assume is the day I downloaded it or the day it was published, seeing as the listed "creation" date is in March 2022 and I know I've had it for longer than that. If I'm remembering things right, it was posted as part of the last chapter of the fic, because it was a multichapter (I'm... slightly less confident in the multichapter status but I'm pretty sure it was?)

The order characters are referenced in the song was also the order they were in each chapter... but I have no idea which section Pidge is supposed to be @~@ part of me says I was annoyed/confused about the lack of a Pidge section the first time around too but it's been like 6 years so idk how much of that thought I actually believe. Otherwise, I think the order is Hunk, Keith, Allura & Coran, Shiro, Lance, and Pidge was somewhere in the middle.

The lyrics, as best I can make them out, are under the cut. A few lines are covered up in just the wrong way by the piano chords so I'm sort of guessing with the words in the brackets. (The mixing really isn't the best but I have no room to complain since I'm not a musician of any variety)

Together we sit, as he relearns how to breathe His heart races with panic, deep set anxiety And demons fill his head as he fights off another's Ignore what still hurts as the light of hope is smothered

A boy in a bubble made of experience and fears A knife in hand and heart to protect him from tears Because bonds only seem to lead to pain Until someone can teach him to connect again

And in the end they'll come to me Cause everybody does And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

A family in all but name, they say [stare??] comes in pairs A gentle touch is calming as a [??? braiding] hair When there is too much to do [without?] doing too much Go to him for support, drown their sorrow with a laugh

He's a fellow protector, with secrets to hide Whose fears and insecurities surface in the dead of night He's in need of help but doesn't want to burden That finds a companion, someone to confide in

And in the end they'll come to me Cause everybody does And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

But sometimes your strength Could use some strength of their own, before it's too late Cause even the strongest of pillars Can crumble under the weight

But in the end they'll come to me Cause they know I need some love And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

#vld #voltron legendary defender #voltron: legendary defender #fic finder #fic help #lance mcclain #i'm not even really in the fandom anymore but it came up in my music shuffle and i really want to find the source #ngl part of the reason i got sucked back into the song was ninjago ^^; the chorus is highly applicable to other series #but trust me when i say i SEARCHED for this. dug through the dead links in my likes playlist on the wayback machine #checked reviews i'd left on fics (the start of 2017 was barely in-range) but if the fic was deleted then so was my comment left on it #searched through the FFN fics themselves from feb 2017 to feb 2018 with the only filters being ''complete'' and ''more than 5k'' #tried to sift through automated emails from FFN about new chapters being posted but i think i read the fic when it was already completed #nothing. to be fair it COULD'VE been one of the links the wayback machine didn't archive at the time but there's no way of knowing for sure #really wish the lyrics were a bit clearer but piano and fast words make that harder :/ #but yeah if you know more please tell me #i spent a good couple hours searching for this instead of studying or doing homework because skewed priorities are the only kind i have #send help

[mimi-croissant]

Platonic Shidge and Klance Mulan AU

Pidge—Mulan

Shiro—Shang

Keith—Yao

Lance—Ying

Hunk—Chein Po

Rover—Milan’s horse

Green Lion—Mushu

I got the low key basics down there, and the Primary Color Trio definitely keep their normal personalities.

So Katie decides to go to war in place of her father, and also find her brother, Matt, who was already fighting and disappeared. She gets to war, and has the alias Pidge.

The Primary Colors discover her secret pretty early on, and decide to help Pidge (and, Pidge thinks, the name is starting to grow on her)

Also, all the romantic moments in the movie belong to Klance in this okay? Okay, they are a while subplot and this is Pidge-centric (what is it with me making Pidge-centric ideas with a Klance side?) It also has some Adashi, but I’m gonna break your heart in a second.

So the gang does all their training, which is intense, but Hunk decides to be a sweetheart and help Pidge, which means Lance and Keith follow. They train together as much as possible, and eventually impress Shiro a bunch.

As they are marching to the grounds of the first battle, and they talk about their types (see: the song that’s sung there.) Hunk says he has someone waiting for him at home, Shay. Lance says something along the lines of Keith, and Keith describes Lance (they don’t notice though). Then they get to the site, and all they see is wreckage. The Primary Colors know Pidge’s identity (they found out during all the training because the training is included and not glossed over in a song, it is also when Klance mutual pining happens), and everyone is horrified at the scene. That’s when a random soldier tells Shiro to come over, and lo and behold, Adam’s captain helmet is in the middle of the wreckage.

Now let’s go to when everyone finds out Pidge is a girl. They don’t kill her, duh, but she tells the Primary Trio to go on without her. They do so reluctantly, and now Pidge is stranded.

Not to worry though, she finds a cave that is filled with supplies. She rests there, too tired to think about anything else. When she wakes up, someone is tending a fire in the cave. She screams, and the voice says “woah, lady, calm down,” and Pidge gapes. Then his eyes widen in recognition, and Pidge whispers “Matt?”

So they travel together and get to the main place, and the normal battle happens ya know yeee, Pidge is SO BADASS, and by the end, Shiro is like another big brother figure.

Pidge watches as Lance and Keith lean against each other at the end of the battle, and she knows something happened during battle okay.

They all have a happy ending, and I didn’t go into depth on the brother-sister relationship Shiro and Pidge will have but it’s THERE

#voltron #platonic shidge #pla-ton-ic #klance #which is not platonic #pidge holt #shiro #lance mcclain #keith kogane #hunk garrett #mulan au #what is it with me making pidge centric ideas #then add klance on the side #fic ideas #writing ideas #matt holt #klance screams their confessions during the main battle #it’s romantic ok #OK KEEFSTEEFS?! #ideas cuz i’m bored #have a little laith

[mckinlily]

ok so i am love with your writing and your foster care au (it’s so good!!!) and i wanted to ask if you had any other headcanons/deleted scenes/puns or basically anything related to it. (no pressure if you don’t but your writing is incredible and i adore this au so i wanted to ask)

Oh my goodness, Nonnie!! Do I have more for the foster care au? Do I??? My dear friend, I have a two page document just listing out fics I still want to write in this au, and I've only written two out of the list. How did the au get this big?! [laugh-cries]

Honestly, the hardest part of answering your ask is deciding which headcanons to share verses wait to write it into fic to share in a more polished state. I want to share it all, but I am not a fast writer (why????).

I working on a longer Allura-centeric fic for this au (you didn't think I'd leave her OUT did you?), but it's causing me some pacing issues so I've been working on that one for...like a year? More? [deep sigh] I WILL finish it. But you, Nonnie, will be happy to know that you also inspired me to go through the edits of a Hunk-centric oneshot which is finished. So that should be coming out soon!

But you asked for some headcanons, and I am so incredibly delighted by that! (I thought I was going to be the only person really interested in this au). So let's see what headcanons I can share, hopefully that I haven't shared before.

These are going to be Shiro-centric since...that's where my mind went today (anyone surprised?):

Shiro's main (only) method for dealing with his mental health is exercise.

He and Keith will go for runs around the neighborhood, even if it's bitter cold and the sidewalks are literal sheets of ice. Self preservation was never a strong suit of theirs.

The others are invited, of course, but they always decline for some reason. Or, in Pidge's case, declare they are "allergic to running."

(In Pidge's defense...valid.)

Shiro also works out at the local gym nearly daily.

He's found that if he does things like weight training regularly, particularly working on his off-balance upper body, his body punishes him at least less for whatever the hell Honvera did to him.

But, obviously, they're poor and can't just afford a gym membership.

Fortunately Shiro is hot, the middle-aged secretary at the gym is severely lacking attractive men in her life, and Shiro is a very good liar.

The first time he made a big deal about losing his card and belonging there--and whether she believed him or not, she lets him in without checking his account every time after that. Though not without some winks or suggestive smiles.

Shiro goes red. Every. Single. Time.

The kids tease him about it mercilessly. Shiro very well might never have been as embarrassed in his life.

But, well, he needs the work out time to clear his head. And he could never afford it if he had to pay for it.

So...slightly flirtatious secretary it is. At least she seems to find his blushing cute. Oh g-d, does that make it better or worse?!!

Shiro and the kids have very elaborate and often nonsensical codes they use to communicate with each other, including over text.

The most ridiculous codewords and phrases were made up by Lance and Pidge. No one dares ask for their thought process.

"Strawberry pancakes" for instance means "I want to skip school."

Most the code talk seems silly and non-sensical until you start to realize why they started coming up with such complicated ways to communicate with each other.

Shiro curling three fingers over his opposite bicep, for instance, means, "I'm lying to the adults, don't believe me." There are variations on the gesture that mean "Stay quiet" or "Collaborate my story" or "Hide" or, most importantly, "RUN!"

In truth, their non-verbal codes are probably even more complex and convoluted than their verbal ones. They lived for a long time when they needed to be able to communicate without anyone knowing that they were.

On the other hand, this makes them a terrifying team to go up against in, say, paint ball or laser tag. Someone starts singing "Toxic" by Britney Spears, and seconds later you're surrounded by all five and being efficiently, terrifyingly taken down.

(Keith: "I'm still mad you made me learn that song." Lance: "I regret nothing.")

Thank you so much for the ask!!! You have no idea how delighted this made me. If you have specific questions/headcanon requests for this au (or really any of my aus), send them along! I'm happy to answer!

#foster care au #i'm super happy to have someone invested in this au #can you tell?? haha #anon #thanks for the ask! #mckinlily writes: vld fic

[lyxanislive]

“Valley Mountain” Voltron AU!

After Zarkon and Honerva’s Deaths, King Alfor attempts to close the rift with an energy pulse from the castle

Yeah, Bad idea. The explosion is massive, Blasting the castle of lions away, killing most of those aboard instantly, with the exception of the bridge that contains Alfor, Allura, Coran, Tavos (Training to be Allura’s Aide), Luka (A member of the Guard), Bandor (A budding Alchemist), and Romelle (Bandor’s sister) (((Don’t question why the colonists are here... I needed some Alteans I didn’t want Allura and Coran alone anymore)))) The only thing that saves those on the bridge is Allura’s Alchemy, somehow overloading with the power of the rift and putting all of them into a weird kinda statue stasis.  (((Basically Allura is a super powerful Alchemist...)))

The Castle crashes into a far off planet, and goes silent... Meanwhile Zarkon awakens as a Quintessence Zombie and rules over the galaxy looking for his lost black lion.

1000s of years later....

Shiro is surprised that Keith had actually made a friend, and even more surprised that that the two of them are asking for his help to go visit Valley Mountain - a weird pointy mountain in a big divot in the earth thats speculated to be a meteor that hit early in earth’s life. Keith wants to go because “Theres Spooky haunted blue lights that show up there! It’s mothman! or Ghosts? Either way!” and Hunk wants to go because He thinks there is a weird energy source and he built a little device to track it. But Keith only has a learners and can’t have a passanger on his bike and also the two boys want to camp out there for the night and need an adult chaperone. so Shiro agrees to take the two of them.

Lance loudly complains how Keith is taking everything even HIS best friend, and Hunk feels REALLY GUILTY.

Shiro goes to Sam to borrow a tent to take Keith and Hunk, and Matt wants to join too! but Sam says he and Colleen are out of town that weekend and that Katie needs to be watched. Matt whines. Shiro offers that Matt can drive Katie and Lance to come with them as he is also an adult. Sam agrees as Katie needs to get out more and needs some friends.

So here goes the team to Valley Mountain! If you haven’t figured it out yet, the mountain is just the Castle crashed and covered in 1000s of years of dirt and rock.

Well camping goes well for all of 2.3 seconds until Keith and Lance get into it and while trying to show up Keith, Lance goes into a cave and winds up opening a weird door?!?!? Well he freaks and everyone comes running. Like idiots, they all go inside and the door shuts behind them. 

They are then hit with weird pressurized air and then the door infront of them opens, and now the door behind them is sealed. They can’t go back the way they came so.... forward we go?

and HOLY SHIT THIS IS A SHIP? Is it from the garrison? No it can’t be?

Anyway eventually they make it up to the bridge were these weird glowing blue statues are? They are weirdly detailed? And when Shiro touches one of them (Allura) She wakes. 

Well It gets weird, but the Alteans plan to leave to go find out what happened in space so they have to fix up the ship. Pidge and Hunk are STOKED about alien technology and offer to help them and eventually it ends with Alfor passing the torch to Keith and setting them up to be the new Paladins they’ll need to take on Zarkon. Also Matt is here! Because that’s fun! 

As it’s me it’s Shallura centric because I do what I want :P

Anyway I may write snippets of this cause this AU is one of my faves and if you want to use it too feel free!

#eventual #shallura #voltron au

[rueitae]

Writing Roundup 2020

This is a writing reflection I’ve been doing for myself every year for the last four years. Its a positive boost to myself see how far I’ve come and look back on my progress for the past year and look forward to the new year. 

Everyone is welcome to use this same format if they’d like to do the same! 

~~~~~~~

Stats:

Words written:

330,000, which is nearly half of all the words I’ve written on Ao3 in the last three years. 

One Shots Posted (all fics plance unless otherwise stated):

In the Arms of the Ever(pink?) Tree (4463 words)

For the Plance Secret Santa exchange. Post s8 date/not date on a snowy moon. Love confession. 

Birthday Treats (2129 words)

For Pidge’s birthday this year! Domestic family fluff, breakfast in bed, plance kids.

Begin Again (Together) (4805 words)

Canon divergence from before episode one! Pidge and Lance are established dating when alien intervention brings them to where they are supposed to be: with the Blue Lion. Just a brief look into what the AU would look like. 

Common Ground (4521 words)

A treat for my friends who introduced me to Magic Knight Rayearth and pointed out some fun character parallels. There is this beautiful art Arya made to go with it because we’re all trash for both series. Plance meet up with Fuu and Ferio post series for both couples. 

Bonded To You (1808 words)

For the Langstron Halloween Exchange! Established plance with a baby Lance is trying to keep safe from a witch who would take advantage of the child’s heritage. 

It Tasted Good (6785 words)

Pikelavar for Pikelavar Month! The premise is crack, but it's mostly treated seriously. Pike ate the Jewel of Jitan by accident and doesn’t realize it until Haggar finds them. Meklavar gets Protective.

The Remainder of Days (3188 words)

Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Fantasy AU where Pidge is a minor forest goddess and Lance is her neighbor mortal farmer. 

I Love You a Lily More Each Day (3232 words)

Another of the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon compliant where Lance is undercover at a flower shop and knee deep in an illegal smuggling operation. 

Lease on Life (4978 words)

This one was also part of Bad Things Happen Bingo and was an experiment. It’s POV of an oldest plance kid, canon verse. Her parents’ Paladin days come back to haunt them one night. Some cute family stuff too in there. 

Ready to Dance (4135 words)

For the Valentine’s Day exchange! Post series. Lance tries to get back into the party scene and Pidge rescues him from a disastrous night. 

Loopholes (5476 words)

Technically I didn’t write this fic this year, but a very kind reader asked if I would post this to Ao3, so it was my first fic of the year on Ao3. It’s Lotura! Originally a gift for a dear friend I’ve had since elementary school. It’s a fantasy AU where Lotor stumbles into Allura’s kingdom needing help. 

Next to Me (7311 words)

Also for Bad Things Happen Bingo, this is probably one of my favorite fics of the year. This is the canon verse AU that went all wrong in s7, and Sendak succeeds in destroying Earth. Lance and Pidge end up not only his prisoners, but also two of the last humans in the universe. Ends open ended, but it became a series in the end!

Into Me (14248 words)

The sequel to the above fic. There are two versions, this and the one below. The title tells all. Lance and Pidge come to terms with their new life aboard Sendak’s flagship and do their best to keep the other comforted.

Into Me (non-explicit version) (7228 words)

Exactly the same as the fic above, only this one is SFW

Sunshine (3831 words)

A Bad Things Happen Bingo! One of my favorite concepts. Canon verse. Pidge gets sick while she and Lance are on a scientific mission. 

Showoff (635 words)

A really short fic for a friend on their birthday, featuring their plance kids!

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

A fic I have been wanting to write for a very long time. I love the concept of Pidge as a Disney Princess in the sense she has the forest guardian theme and all these animals love her. So there’s some play on that as the Paladins stop for lunch on their journey back to Earth in early s7. Lance comes to a realization and they have a chat surrounded by the animal friends. @anchoredtetherart did a phenomenal piece to accompany it. Please look at it in awe here.

The Hardest Part (3960 words)

For Bad Things Happen Bingo! An AU of the episode The Reunion where Pidge doesn’t return when she’s supposed to. 

A Planned Sacrifice (4988 words)

Another Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon verse. Pidge assumes that being a sacrifice for the ‘forest god’ is strictly ceremonial and at worst a wild animal. It’s actually Sendak, who no one has seen since Shiro shot him out of the Castle. He remembers Pidge and is far too pleased to see her again, tied up on a silver platter. 

Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone (3946 words)

Bad Things Happen Bingo. AU sometime in s1 where Haxus isn’t as dead as Pidge thought. 

Touch (7519 words)

Written for the Lance Goes Boom bang! It was inspired by @fenixseraph ‘s amazing art here! It’s a different take on The Way Forward, where Pidge and Lance are separated from the rest of the team and placed in their own cell. And the Red Lion causes issues. 

Chaptered Fics started/added to:

Wolf In Thieves’ Clothing (4516 words)

An AU of The Castle of Cagliostro from Lupin the Third series. Lee, you have my thanks forever for making me watch this finally. Pidge is a literal princess whose kingdom is in the middle of an internal coup. Lance is a gentleman thief who rides with his best buds Hunk and Matt. Their paths are destined to cross again when Lance goes back to the castle he used to call home. 

Game of Love (4593 words)

The most crack of the bunch. AU of Fall the of the Castle of Lions where Sendak and Haxus get away with it all. Pidge and Lance are prisoners on Haxus’ new ship, and Lance finds an opportunity for eventual escape when he learns that Haxus has a crush on his second in command. Operation matchmaker begins. (happy ending planned for all)

What Tides May Bring (20704 words)

Collab with the fantastic @anchoredtetherart for MerMay! Established plance as mermaids and guardians of their elements with adorable mer child. Then angst because they are all captured by a ‘research’ institute. 

Seasons of Magic (16546 words)

I actually added a chapter this year! Ongoing collection of one-shots with mage Pidge who lives in the country and cultivates her plant magic and makes potions with the assistance of her dragon familiar, Lance. Mostly domestic fluff. 

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words)

Added another chapter this year to my Keith-centric AU. It’s basically VLD but five years early and they’re all literally child Paladins. Keith gets to meet Krolia earlier and its fun to go into tween friendships as they try and navigate the reality of their situation. 

Seeds (48833 words)

Added a ton earlier this year. A collection of plance fics all or mostly under 500 words. All meant to be adopted by others if interest strikes. Covers many genres.

Chaptered Fics Finished:

Resolve to Fly (75799 words)

Written for the Pidge Angst Bang. My artist @alchemie0 did an outstanding job capturing the feel of the fic. Look at the art here! Canon verse AU where Pidge encounters Haxus, who has crashed on Earth. She helps him repair his ship in excitement and good faith, which he pays back by kidnapping her. For two years she survives as little more than a housepet on Sendak’s ship. Gen.

Who's Protecting Who? (28989 words)

Also technically not written this yeah, but posted. A collab with Hush waaaay back in 2018. It's a plance Altean AU with Pidge as distant royalty and Lance as a bodyguard.

A Dish Served Cold (21533 words)

Finally finished this one! Canon verse in which Pidge accidentally runs into Sendak on an isolated planet. Sendak takes advantage of this encounter and tries to return to the Empire with her in tow. Much Pidge whump. Gen

Reflections: 

Best title 

I still really really love Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words). Because it's too soon for the Paladins to be Paladins, and for Keith it's not nearly soon enough for Krolia to return. It just feels like it has a lot of heart to it. I hope I can keep it going, but my ideas are incredibly scattered for it. 

Worst title 

Touch (7519 words). Yeah it’s a play on ‘Don’t you touch her’ but it feels soooo dry. 

Best/worst last line

Best: This was really, really hard choice this year, but ultimately, making up for the terrible title, its Touch (7519 words) 

“It feels good to escape the ship with all of his teammates, secure in the knowledge that he has a way forward not just as a Paladin, but also with Pidge.” 

- Not only did I manage to fit the title of the episode in there, it's got that hopeful tinge to it and reflects on personal growth both internally and with Pidge. 

Worst: This one isn’t necessarily bad from Begin Again (Together) (4805 words), but it could be better. It didn’t get quite the epic sense I was hoping to pull from it.

“Okay,” he smirks, hand firmly on the throttle. “Operation save Earth starts now.”

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Definitely wrote way more. Even with posting two fic that are essentially the exact same, I still ended up writing nearly half of my total Ao3 word count this year. (330,000/670,000). Doing Bad Things Happen Bingo was a bit part of that - I was very inspired at the beginning of this year - but also there were many events I participated in (8 total!!) on top of my personal projects. 

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

A really hard decision this year, because there are several that make me really happy. I think oddly enough though, it’s Game of Love (4593 words) because of its potential and how much crack it is. It has such whacky rom-com energy to it but also that underlying angst of the situation I can fall back on. My favorite trope to explore is what happens to the characters when they’re captured. I just really enjoy the concept and the challenge to make such a concept believable with minimal suspension of belief. 

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Using kudos as my gauge (and not counting the chapter fics), the winner is: 

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

Not surprising because Ivy’s art is STUNNING.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I think that’s It Tasted Good (6785 words), the pikelavar fic. Pikelavar is underappreciated in general

Story that could have been better?

For all I was excited to write Sunshine (3831 words), it didn’t quite fall the way I had imagined in my mind. I don’t know if it was the structure or I was running out of steam or what. All i know is that I wanted more but all I could concentrate on was that scene where he’s caring for her in bed. Maybe I was just too ambitious.

Sexiest story?

No brainer it's Into Me (14248 words). Literally. Which really shocked me that it happened. Didn’t think I’d write any smut at all, let alone this year. This particular fic just kinda called out for it 

Saddest story?

The prequel to the above fic: Next to Me (7311 words). How much more sad can you get than Earth being destroyed, being Sendak’s prisoners all while trying to tell each other ‘i love you’ without seeming weird because you’re the last humans in the universe. 

Most fun?

I think it's Ready to Dance (4135 words). Just Valentine’s fluff and impromptu slow dancing in the park at night. 

Story with single sweetest moment?

I’m picking What Tides May Bring (20704 words). Listen, mer Lance and mer Pidge playing with their mer baby in their domestic paradise is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Dad Lance has my heart. 

Hardest story to write?

The last chapter of A Dish Served Cold (21533 words) was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty happy with it in the end but at the time man it was so hard. 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut. It was...weird? But also strangely calming. I wrote more for another fic but it's still a WIP. I definitely need to be in the mood to write it. 

Proudest Achievement:

The Pidge Angst Bang. Resolve to Fly (75799 words). Look at that word count. I only wanted something under 3k at first, so it was just going to be Pidge meeting Haxus. But by the time I finished that part it was already 10k. So even though I was going through a rough part of my life, I just kept going and it ended up being my therapy. I’m really proud of the fic and I love my artists’ pieces. It really lifted my spirits. (You should all really go check out the Ao3 collection of all the bang stories and art they are AMAZING you won’t regret. If you love Pidge angst they are all must reads.)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I’d like to finish my Bad Things Happen Bingo card and then focus on my current WIP, that includes the Seeds collection. There are days I still feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to find a routine after moving. I’d like to do more events too, but I think I need to be more selective about which ones I do. I don’t want to burn myself out. 

Apart from that, I’d really like to try and give back to the community more. I’d like to start consciously writing fics for others without an event to go by. 

Past Years:

2017

2018

2019

#plance #pidgance #rueitae #writing roundup #my writing #vld #2020 writing roundup

[ashkazora]

2020 Fic Roundup

Stats:

Fics Posted (Total): 13

In chronological order: Cold Floors and Warm Hearts - a fluffy shance fic about the three times Shiro accidentally wakes up in Lance’s room. Exchange fic. 3,441 words.

These Boots Are Gonna Walk All Over You - a small klance fillet based on the US tv show, The Blacklist. 639 words.

the water was dark (and it went down forever) - a Lance-centric gen fic exploring his relationship with the Blue Lion, and her control over him. 15,618 words.

Coffee Grinds and Morse Code - a post-s8, Shance fic written for the valentines shance exchange! 3,593 words.

Nectar and Ambrosia - my first Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt fill for the square ‘denied food as punishment.’ Lance whump. 2,641 words.

there ain't no rest for the wicked - another Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt fill for ‘big brother instincts,’ but this time with Plance and Lance whump. 3,508 words. 

Of Claws and Steel - a science-fiction, super sentai cat armour AU entered around the Lions as futuristic mecha armour. Most underrated fic here. 14,344 words.

Hairline Fractures - another Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt fill, ‘bleeding through bandages.’ Lance whump (again). 5,059 words.

Leverage - last Bad Things Happen Bingo fill for the year, for the prompt ‘on a leash.’ Featuring Shance, and Lance and Shiro whump. 7,743 words.

Lay It Down To Save It - Leakira Klance AU written for Leakira week. Made in collaboration with @crapoftheworldblr​! 18,102 words.

to the stars and back - The Dragon Prince Plance AU with Prince!Lance and Elf!Pidge. In collaboration with @rosieclark​! 36,574 words.

Sweeter Than Honey - written for the Blue Moon Lance zine! Features BAMF!Lance as the honeypot on a mission. 4,098 words.

In The Closet - Klance fic for the winner of my fic giveaway. Fluffy, and definitely a bit saucy. 2,363 words.

Fics Posted (Gen): 5

the water was dark (and it went down forever) Nectar and Ambrosia Of Claws and Steel  Hairline Fractures  Sweeter Than Honey

Plance: 2

there ain't no rest for the wicked to the stars and back 

Shance: 3

Cold Floors and Warm Hearts Coffee Grinds and Morse Code  Leverage

Klance: 3

These Boots Are Gonna Walk All Over You Lay It Down To Save It  In The Closet

Collaborations: 2

Lay It Down To Save It to the stars and back

Ship/Character breakdown:

Ship breakdown:

This year, the biggest ship I wrote for was Shance (3 fics), with Plance (2) and Klance (2.5) coming in from behind. The k/l ficlet doesn’t count as a full fic.

Character breakdown:

Of the 13 fics, Lance is in the most with 13 (insert surprised pikachu face here), then it goes Shiro (12), Keith (10), Pidge (8), Hunk (7), Allura (6) and Matt Holt (2). Other characters appear only once, such as Coran, Haggar and Kolivan. Technically, the Blue Lion clocks in at 2 mentions. 

Characters that had the main focus:

Lance had the sole POV for 7 of those fics, and shared POVs (in a collaboration) iin 2 additional fics. Shiro had the second most POVs at a total of 3, while Keith had 1 sole POV and 1 shared POV, and Pidge with one shared POV.

Specifics:

Best/worst title?

Best title: the water was dark (and it went down forever), but honestly so many other fics has titles I liked. This title was based off of the Tim Winton short story by the name name, The Water Was Dark And It Went Down Forever, where the main character swims and debatably drowns. So it’s fairly fitting.

Runners up titles include Sweeter Than Honey, to the stars and back, and Lay It Down To Save It.

Worst title: Hairline Fractures. It’s dumb and it makes no sense. It was the first thing that came to mind.

An honourable mention includes Leverage, which would be first if not for the fact that the title inspired the ending, so it’s not too bad.

Best/worst last line?

Best: From the water was dark (and it went down forever):

Blue’s grasp on him was like an endless expanse; an opulent and brilliant ocean. Her waters were dark, and  it went  down forever.

This was definitely my favourite, even though it’s pretty cringe. The way it was formatted in ao3 and the way it related to the title plus the reoccurring symbolism of water made it pretty neat!

Worst: From there ain't no rest for the wicked:

Pidge laughed, and turned her back from the darkness.

I’m sorry. This ending was so cringey. I hate it. There’s nothing else to say except I have no idea how to fix it. Oof.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

tbh, I wrote a lot more, considering I had my final exams this year. Breaching 100k was crazy. 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

Honestly? Klance. I’m not the biggest fan of the ship but writing it is very interesting, and I enjoyed it. 

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Of Claws and Steel hands down! It’s the first fic idea I ever had for VLD,  and the one I really love the most. One day I’d love to write a continuation of it, but the reception of the fic wasn’t great so idk.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

the water was dark (and it went down forever) even though it was started in 2019, was finished this year and is my most popular fic of all time! It’s got 4k+ hits and 450+ kudos. Crazy, since it was only supposed to be a dumb little warm up fic to get me back into writing in preparation for Of Claws and Steel. Alas, turns out people really liked it!

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Of Claws and Steel. It was the fic I worked the hardest on this year but got the least amount of attention :)

Story that could have been better?

Easily there ain't no rest for the wicked. There was so much plot and so many things I wanted to include but didn't. There’s a lot of things missing and bad plot flow. One day if I got more time, I’d love to write more on it.

Sexiest story?

In The Closet, hands down. It gets a bit steamy with a k/l makeout session. Originally it was going to be a lot saucier but I wasn’t too comfortable in my ability to write it well ahaha. 

Saddest story?

None of my stories were sad, per se. Most of the sad ones were more scary/foreboding rather than actually being sad. I guess to the stars and back right now, because it’s dealing with Lance’s insecurities and Pidge’s desperation to find her brother (and a lot of other things, which will be revealed in the future!)

Most fun?

Sweeter Than Honey! It was fun to write and is my most fun fic. BAMF!Lance and his witty commentary is always a great laugh.

Story with single sweetest moment? 

I can’t choose :,). It’s a three-way tie between Cold Floors and Warm Hearts’s last scene where Shiro realises Lance bought him the necklace, Lay It Down To Save It’s scene that I can’t say because it’s technically unpublished ;), and to the stars and back’s scene where Lance and Pidge talk about what they would like to be in life (ch3).

Hardest story to write?

Probably Of Claws and Steel, as I completely stagnated on the story for a long time. It took me 8 months to write it. Without Rue’s help, I probably would have taken so much longer. Runners up is Leverage, as it took me like a solid week to write 90% of it, and 3 more months to write the remaining 10%. For some reason, parts of that fic were such a pain to write. 

Easiest/most fun story to write?

The easiest was definitely to the stars and back. I could relate to a lot of Lance’s actions and thoughts in the fic, so writing his POV was super easy and rather cathartic ngl. However the most fun was probably Sweeter Than Honey, as it was super self indulgent ahaha.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

Lay It Down To Save It changed my perception of Keith. I don’t particularly like Keith in canon, but I’ve warmed up to his fanon self and general character after writing from his POV.

Most overdue story?

Of Claws and Steel easily! It was the first VLD fic idea I had but took 8 months to write. Oops? 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

For the first time I incorporated HTML coding into my fics, which taught me a lot about coding and different ways to convey certain messages and detail things. These codings altered fonts and colours, which you can see in 

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Write my tua/vld au fic, which will be my first solo multi chapter fic, and hopefully finish it by the end of next year. Also, sticking to a consistent writing schedule and try to write at least 100 words a day, plus finishing TSSAB. I’d also like to finish some more BTHB prompts!

That’s all, folks! Thank you all for sticking with my writing! Hopefully 2021 brings even more writing, fun times, and great fics. Happy New Years (in 24 hours), everyone!

#ashka writes #fic roundup #2020 fic roundup #MASSIVE shoutout to rue for giving me these questions #if you've read ocas ur officially my favourite person #ao3

[dejihuammain]

VOLTRON AU IDEA I’VE HAD FOREVER!!!

Sorry for the all caps I’m just suddenly super excited to share this AU. I’ve had it in my head for a while but I had the thought of someone writing it and I’m living for that.

So, this is Keith-centric angst. And I mean heavy angst. I love Keith and for some reason that translates into me liking him being in pain? Which sounds bad, but, whatever! Onto the angst!

This story “starts” when Hagger kidnaps Keith after Zarkon dies. She knows the war is coming to an end and decides to use Keith to make a “super soilder” so she can send him back in time to win the war with his knowledge of Team Voltron’s plans.

Keith goes through to some heavy reconditioning where Haggar turns him Galra and pretty much gives him a new name, Yorak, along with other things (I’ll talk about that later). It gets to the point where Keith doesn’t remember his past and only knows what he needs to know (aka how to win the war). He doesn’t remember simple things like what planet he came from and who his parents are and what role they had in his life. All he knows is obey the empire, obey Haggar above all else, destroy Voltron, and what he needs to know about Voltron.

Keith is sent all the way back to a few thousand years after Daibazaal’s destruction and establishes trust and makes a name for himself in the empire. My personal headcanon is that Hagger and her druids have the ability to make anyone they want “like Zarkon” in the sense that they age extremely slow. You can twist this in whatever way you want to fit your own headcanons but Keith does have to age slow or not at all in some way.

So, years pass and Keith is Royal Commander Yorak and whoop-tee-doo, Voltron is revived! I’ll be calling Keith “Yorak” from now on to not confuse him with Red-Paladin Keith. So Yorak doesn’t know how he knows but he’s well-aware of what moves Team Voltron will make. He wears a mask at all times (and always has since he’d arrived in the past) so Team Voltron doesn’t reconize him as Keith, including Keith himself. Yorak continues to be a huge problem for Team Voltron as he always seems to know what they’re planning. Of course, the truth is revealed eventually.

Now: other things! These are just details of things I’ve mentioned earlier. The ones that don’t have to be in any interpretations of this idea are highlighted in purple.

-Yorak’s arms and legs are replaced my highly-advanced prosthetics. I imagine they glow red rather then the typical Galra purple, like Shiro’s.

-Yorak’s hair is pure white from stress. I have a headcanon that Galra genes prevent the hair from growing back to it’s original color.

-Going into more detail, what Yorak “remembers” about Team Votron’s plans are things like: their plan to put the central command through a worm hole and how they want to do it, their alliance with the blades, their “alliance” with Lotor (Keith is kidnapped before finding the Altean colony), Thace deactivating the shield when they went to save Allura, and so on. He also rememberes more minor things like the layout of the castle and that Pidge was still in the castle ship during “The Fall of The Caslte Of Lions”.

-I’ve always thought that Yorak would replace Sendak but if you’re a Sendak stan then you can keep him around, of course.

-Yorak has “feelings” for a lot of things that he can’t explain. He doesn’t remember what Haggar did to him but he still hates her with a passion. He’s fond of Shiro and wary but intrigued by Lotor. At one point he’s holding a knife to Shiro’s throat, able to kill him, but just can’t find it in himself to do it. Also, he hates Keith. Like, he’d totally say something like “The only person I hate more then Zarkon’s witch is you.” Because a part of him knows that’s himself and is mad that he “let himself be turned into a monster”.

-Haggar 100% invaded Keith’s mind to pick apart to tear away certain memories. So he physically cannot remember unless his mind is “restored” or something.

-Yorak rarely speaks to Voltron (or his comrades for that matter), and it’s what makes him really stand out to the team. Pretty much all of their enemies always go on about how they’re gonna take down Voltron no matter what but Yorak is very quiet. None of them- except Keith and possibly Shiro- know what he sounds like.

-Yorak either destroys the blade’s base or he leaves them be and doesn’t tell anyone about them. If he leaves them alone it’s probably because he once again can’t find it in himself to have them killed.

-If the blades are still around, they are very intrigued by Yorak. I mean, here’s this tiny Galra that came out of nowhere and climbed up the ranks faster then anyone before. He’s quiet, mysterious, and nearly unbeatable.

-Yorak is only defeted by Voltron once he’s changed the course of time and can’t predict them any more.

So, yeah! That’s my idea! If you read all of this, then, thanks! I really hope some Voltron writers read this and are intrigued enough to write a fanfiction of something.

Sorry for all the typos! I know I made some so I’ll definitely be rereading this later and fixing them.

If you write a fanfiction based around this then my only condition is that you send it to me! Please! I’d love to read a story based around this.

#dejihuam #idea #possible fanfiction idea? #fanfcition #fanfic #fanfic idea #voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #vld fanfic #voltron keith #keith (vld) #keith (voltron) #keith angst #keith-centric #team voltron #voltron au

[carlottastudios]

Just a lil’ something for my fellow romance writers who are also Keith Kogane trash to consider:

Okay, so we know that in season 2 episode 4 of VLD, Greening the Cube, we have this little moment when Pidge is complaining about the distress call from the Olkari coming from the forest and not the uber-technological city, right?

(Okay, Pidge, I love you and I’m an indoor cat too, but don’t be doing the outdoors dirty like that!) (Besides, we all know the true terrors of the outdoors are freezing temperatures and mosquitoes.)

Right! Well, that is immediately followed by ma boi Keith saying this:

Now you’re probably thinking “Carlotta, where are you going with this? All we have here is Keith saying he likes the outdoors because it’s quiet.”

And, yes, fair, that is basically all we get. But here’s the thing. Actually, a few things:

1. Quiet and peaceful outdoors, PARTICULARLY involving forests, are totally part of my aesthetic. The fact that Keith, whom I love, appreciates that aesthetic makes me very happy, so I just wanted to point that out!

2. This can and should be fuel for a nice little headcanon for Keith: he likes the outdoors, particularly because they’re calm and quiet. And the more headcanons for characters we like, even nice little mundane and/or bland headcanons (shoutout to @blandvoltronheadcanons​ for dedicating their whole blog to this stuff it gives me so much life), the better! At least if you ask me.

3. This moment and the headcanon that derives from it could inspire some fanart of Keith hanging out in a forest or some other calm outdoors settings. And THAT is a prime aesthetic and it’s one I desperately need in my life.

and, my favourite, 4. It gives my romance-centric-writing ass ideas for dates involving Keith: he likes taking his S/O (be it Acxa, Lance, an OC, a reader-insert or who-the-hell-ever you ship Keith with) on outdoors-y dates. Like, maybe a fun ride on his hover-bike-thing (I wish I had the proper name for that vehicle of his) through the dessert or some other vast outdoors-y space? Or a nice relaxing picnic on a sunny day under the shade of a tree looking down at a valley like something out of a Ghibli film? Or going hiking on this nice trail and when he and his date get to the end they have this gorgeous view and they just sit down and soak in all that beauty while in each other’s loving presence? Or just walking through the woods or the countryside, taking in the scenery and the nice day, definitely holding hands and being all cute and shit? Or maybe they go stargazing outside and are lying down in the grass on a hill or something and seeing the vast beauty of space above them and the mysterious yet beautiful atmosphere of nature at nighttime around them and it’s all quiet but it’s a good, non-awkward quiet and it’s just full of the love and understanding Keith and his S/O have and they just look at each other under that starlight and just start making out?

What? I’m really passionate about writing romance, you guys!

But anyway! Just wanted to make this post to share these ideas of mine and hopefully inspire my fellow creatives to make some content based on the headcanon that Keith likes the quiet outdoors! It doesn’t even have to be Keith content. If you just like the outdoors-y date ideas I had in that last paragraph and were inspired by them, go ahead and make something based on them! If you have no interest in the romance stuff but like the thought of Keith enjoying the outdoors, you can make something based on that!

For my part, I’ve got more headcanons for some Keith x Zuri dates!

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! I’ll probably make more like this in the future! XD

#Behold My Beautiful Little Brain Child (my original post) #Safe In My Space Pocket (voltron legendary defender) #Beloved Mullet Boi (VLD: keith) #for my fellow creatives who are stuck in quarantine #if you like keith kogane and/or romance #and you're running out of ideas #maybe this post can help inspire you!

[angstyzebra]

Can you do one where all of them, but Lance-centric, feel guilty about all the people who have died and suffered while they were in space? Like, they've had to see children, families, just over all innocent people die, get seperated, tortured, etc. Lance feels like it was all his fault and is messed up in the head about it. When he talks about it and his mental problems in a offhanded, too casual for comfort way, everyone is very concered about how they missed this.

I hope you don’t mind, I made this a part of my bingo card under the prompt “Survivor’s Guilt.” I hope you like it!

@badthingshappenbingo

Prompt - Survivor’s Guilt

Fandom - Voltron: Legendary Defender

Relationship - Lance & the team

Words - 1,382

(Read below or on AO3 here!)

It was one of their days off, which were very rare when in the middle of a war, and Allura announced that they should spend the time having fun and relaxing together as a team. So they all gathered in the common room and began their own activities. Hunk and Pidge were working on modifying some alien device, which is probably their version of fun. Keith was playing Killbot Phantasm I, trying to beat Lance’s score after some bantering over the game only a few minutes prior. Shiro was sitting next to him, watching in amusement. Coran and Allura turned on an Altean television show they had on disc, which Coran claimed was a classic. But the show was, of course, in Altean. So much for “together as a team,“ right?

Lance tried to watch Keith’s progress on the game, eager to get him even more riled up, but was having a hard time focusing that day. He sat at the corner of the couch and watched as everyone did their own thing, feeling lonely despite being in a room full of friends, of family. He hadn’t felt like this in a while, and it was really bothering him. It felt like an annoying itch he couldn’t reach, and the itch was happiness.

Years ago, back on Earth, Lance was diagnosed with depression and ADHD. It explained why Lance tended to be talkative and active, and why he sometimes felt sad or disappointed in himself, or in this case, lonely. It explained why, when it was quiet and things going on in the room escaped his focus, the intrusive thoughts came to him fast. It was why he had such a difficult time falling asleep at night, which led to having a hard time getting up in the morning.

Since Lance had been shot up into space and thrown into this alien war, he experienced so much excitement everyday and it kept his mind and body occupied. Now that they had a moment of peace, it all started to catch up to him.

“I’ve taken so many lives. They were Galra, but… they were people too.” He didn’t mean to say any of it out loud, but by the time he realized everyone was looking at him he couldn’t stop himself. “I’ve seen so many people die in this war because I wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t good enough. How can any of us - how can I sit around like this and relax while innocent people are dying at this very moment? They’re not the ones who deserve this. I am. Why can’t I just die instead of them?”

The words of that last part rang in everyone’s ears. Nobody spoke a word, waiting until they were sure he was done, until he had let it all out. Lance was the only one of them who hadn’t broken down crying and screaming in front of everyone yet, so they let him talk. He was always there for all of them when the emotional pain hurt too much, after all. It was inevitable that his happy facade would come down sooner or later. Now it was his turn to lean on them.

Lance just then realized he had tears streaming down his face. He wiped them away in an angry, rushed motion before letting out an unamused laugh and continuing. “So many children and families… so many good people are tortured, die, and get separated from the people they love. What if it’s my fault? Sometimes I know I could do better on missions but my ADHD makes it hard to focus. Sometimes I don’t sleep at night, my depression getting to be too much. I go through my skin care routine to get rid of the redness on my face from crying and the bags under my eyes… But I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t. ”

Lance’s voice broke with the last word, and he leaned forward, sobbing into his hands. Everyone came closer to him, a warm and familiar hand on his shoulder keeping him grounded. Shiro. He leaned in to hug Lance, a strong and loving embrace, and spoke softly. “Lance, you don’t have to hide behind a mask. You’re allowed to not be okay, especially when you’re dealing with so much as a paladin already. You’re strong enough, you’re skilled enough, but sometimes there has to be sacrifices made. But none of it is your fault.” Shiro pulled away and gave a tight, but reassuring smile.

Hunk then spoke up. “Lance, I’m so sorry. I already knew about your depression but didn’t think to even check up on you to make sure you were okay. Things got so busy and… I’m sorry, I really am.”

Lance shook his head. “No, Hunk. You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who’s fucked up in the head in the first place-”

Coran cut him off. “Lance, no. You need to stop blaming yourself for these kinds of things. Like Shiro said, none of this is your fault.”

He could recall many times in the past when his team had called him names and commented on his intelligence. He knew they were only meant to be light-hearted jokes, that they had no idea how insecure he really was, but it still hurt. He knew he was the lesser paladin, and he knew that hey knew it too.

He growled in frustration and stood up abruptly. “You don’t need to lie to make me feel better. I know I’m not smart or skilled in anything like the rest of you. I’m just going to go train, we all know I need it more than anyone else here. Enjoy the rest of your day off.” Lance’s pace was quick as he made his way out of the room.”

There were glances passed around to one another, concerned about how they missed this, how none of them saw through Lance’s positive facade. To know their happy little goofball was struggling with this… it hurt. He deserved to be as cheerful as he led on to be.

“… What do we do?” Pidge asked, voice quiet and scared.

Hunk pulled her in for a side hug. “I don’t know, but I really hate seeing him like this. Guys, we need to do something.”

Shiro nodded. “He needs us to be here for him, just like how he’s always been there for us. Just because someone is happy on the outside doesn’t mean they are on the inside.” He looked down at his hands, clenching them. “I should’ve seen this before, I should’ve been there for him.”

Of course Shiro was taking the responsibility for this. As team leader, he felt it was his responsibility to look after everyone. But that didn’t mean he had to do it alone.

Shiro felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to meet Coran’s reassuring smile. “We’re all supposed to look out for one another. You don’t need to worry about these things all by yourself, Number One.” Shiro felt himself relax at the nickname.

Allura nodded in agreement. “We’ll all help Lance, together. He may get off track sometimes, but that doesn’t make him a bad paladin. We need to show him how vitally important he is to our team.”

“He does tell a lot of jokes, but they do keep the atmosphere more relaxed. I don’t know what I’d do without his positivity.” Keith admitted. “He’s good at helping plan missions, and really good with his bayard. He has important skills, I don’t understand why he can’t see it.”

Together, they would make sure to show Lance how much they cared for him, and how important he was in their team, that nobody could ever replace him.

However, unknown to the team, Lance had actually gone to Blue for comfort… who connected to the security camera in the common room during their conversation. Lance heard everything, and cried as Blue purred to him in support the whole time.

She would work hard to help him through all of this internal conflict he had going on. They would all need to confront these things later, together. But first, she would let him take a nap in her cockpit for a while.

For now, he could rest peacefully.

*Please consider leaving a comment, they give me lots of motivation!*

> If you enjoyed this fic, please consider buying me a ko-fi!

> You can read my post about requesting from my Bad Things Happen Bingo card here!

#langstynotteen #badthingshappenbingo #bad things happen bingo #lance centric #langst #lance mcclain #vld lance #voltron lance #survivior's guilt #hurt/comfort #team as family #voltron fanfic #vld fanfic #voltron fic #vld fic #lance fanfic #lance fic

[ao3feed-klance]

A sky full of stars and you were looking at me

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2VjHSDn

by blue_dragonfly

- I don’t pay attention to the world ending it has ended for me many times and began again in the morning- The war had ended, they had lost some and gained some along the way but they had won. It was expected for everyone to stay on Earth and rest but they all zoomed off to do other things, parting ways and leaving everyone to recover by themselves when they should be healing together.

And, it seemed that Gabriella McClain, Lance’s twin sister, was the only one who saw the problem. She just had to find a way to fix everything, even if she was doing it alone.

But when Gabby wishes upon a shooting star, she doesn’t expect to stumble into a portal and travel back six years to the exact night he goes missing. And, then Gabby finds Lance on the roof and accidentally gets pulled along for the Voltron adventure in a robotic cat with the other paladins.

With no way of getting home and the power to now change Lance’s future doom of working at the family farm, Gabby decides to fiddle around with fate a little even though she has no idea what she’s doing. But she does know that her one goal is to make sure Lance does not end up alone at the end of this, even if it costs her.

Words: 1354, Chapters: 1/80, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Changing the Past to Create a Better Future

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender, Original Work

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Lance (Voltron), Lance's Family (Voltron), Lance's Siblings (Voltron), Veronica (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Keith's Wolf (Voltron), Krolia (Voltron), The Blade of Marmora, Zarkon (Voltron), Lotor (Voltron), Sendak (Voltron), Ezor (Voltron), Zethrid (Voltron), Narti (Voltron), Acxa (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Shiro's Family (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt, Sam Holt, Colleen Holt, Iverson (Voltron), Adam (Voltron), Haggar (Voltron), Kolivan (Voltron), Ulaz (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), Space Mice (Voltron), Coran (Voltron), Alfor (Voltron), Past Voltron Paladins, Allura's Mother (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Hunk's Family (Voltron), Shay (Voltron), Romelle (Voltron), James Griffin (Voltron), Ryan Kinkade, Nyma (Voltron), Thace (Voltron), Rolo (Voltron), Nadia Rizavi, Ina Leifsdottir, Sven (Voltron), Slav (Voltron), Kuron (Voltron), Blue Lion (Voltron), Red Lion (Voltron), Yellow Lion (Voltron), Green Lion (Voltron), Black Lion (Voltron), Voltron Lions, Antok (Voltron), Throk (Voltron), Galran Druids (Voltron), Galran Soldiers (Voltron), Haxus (Voltron), Rax (Voltron), Plaxum (Voltron), Garrison Trio (Voltron), Curtis (Voltron), Kaltenecker (Voltron), Rover (Voltron)

Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Allura/Lance (Voltron), only in canon, James Griffin & Ryan Kinkade & Ina Leifsdottir & Nadia Rizavi & Veronica, Lance & Veronica (Voltron), Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), Lance & Lance's Family (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Allura & Lance (Voltron), Allura/Romelle (Voltron), Allura & Coran & Lance (Voltron), Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Allura & Shiro (Voltron), Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Adam/Matt Holt/Shiro, Curtis & Shiro (Voltron), Just friends - Relationship, Keith & The Blade of Marmora, Keith & Krolia (Voltron), Lance & Blue Lion (Voltron), Lance & Red Lion (Voltron), Lance & Voltron Lions, Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Keith's Wolf & Krolia & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt & Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt & Shiro, Everyone & Everyone, James Griffin & Lance (Voltron), Ryan Kinkade & Lance, Lance & Lotor (Voltron), Allura/Lotor (Voltron), in canon only, Keith & Lotor (Voltron), Acxa & Ezor & Lotor & Narti & Zethrid (Voltron), Ezor/Zethrid (Voltron), Lance & Romelle (Voltron), Hunk & Hunk's Family (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Allura & Pidge | Katie Holt & Romelle & Shay, go girls - Relationship, Matt Holt & Pidge | Katie Holt & Sam Holt, Colleen Holt & Matt Holt & Pidge | Katie Holt & Sam Holt, Adam & Lance (Voltron), Alfor/Coran (Voltron), Alfor/Allura's Mother (Voltron), Alfor & Coran (Voltron), Allura & Past Voltron Paladins, Blaytz & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Keith's Wolf (Voltron), Alfor & Allura & Allura's Mother (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) & Original Female Character(s), Lance & Lance's Siblings (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Altean Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Cute Keith (Voltron), smol keith, BAMF Lance (Voltron), BAMF Allura (Voltron), Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Allura & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Fluff and Angst, No Smut, Lance's Sister - Freeform, BAMF Pidge | Katie Holt, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Unless I forget, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hunk (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance (Voltron) Has Self-Esteem Issues, Lance (Voltron) Has a Praise Kink, its very obvious, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), The Gorgeous Man: A Coran Zine

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2VjHSDn

#ao3feed #ao3feed klance

[papersynth]

The Feud breakdown theory

TLDR: Its basically one big Klance-centric episode, this whole theory’s probably a reach but its nice lol. Reposted from my twitter. More under the cut!

Lets start off this thread by pointing out one of the glaring things that immediately hit me once I started watching this episode when it aired: the title sequence. I'm not particularly old but my parents have always loved gameshows and reality television.

They would watch it in the living room and so one of the things that stuck out to me the most was how the logo for Garfle Warfle Snick is visually similar to "The Dating Game" which was a 60's TV show centered around a bachelorette picking out a guy to take out on a date.

Even the dang flowers.....

It was at this moment I thought "well, after being basically deprived of any Klance scenes for 3 seasons, you'd think S7 would bring you some of that and boy oh boy I've been fed so well. I think its strange for them to visually replicate a DATING GAMESHOW logo. We know for a fact that they were going for a family feud esque style, so why didn't they just replicate the Family feud logo instead? The vibe of the entire episode would change because it'll be a glaring reference.

Going back to Kaplan's tweet about how things aren't what they seem, the Feud really, like, obviously lets you know, that things really aren't what they seem. The story shifts in focus and tone and so do the characters.

My theory is that this episode foreshadows events to come that even the paladins never knew were even challenges themselves.

I believe this sort of aids the Klance fight theory (graciously written by Ca HERE) because that altean colony which they believe was a win for them to discover, could possibly be their next challenge (their garfle, becomes a warfle)

We also know that it isn't new for Voltron to use the "it was an altean all along!" as shock value for their enemies but at this point, I think Allura's starting to learn that her race is equally capable of evil.

This adds to the idea that during the 3 year gap, there's a possibility that the altean colony and Haggar/Galra have been working together to develop new technology (Hunk: I've never seen the Galra use weapons like these before) because clearly it isn’t the olkari helping them.

Time for my biggest reach yet, how the fuck is that a chopstick lance. You can recognise a mullet for a hundred feet away but you can't recognise a sword at point blank. Strange considering Keith drew out the sword pretty quickly, so there's no way Lance saw chopsticks.

NOTHING in this image screams chopsticks. I even went and printed out this god forsaken screencap and tilted it to see if it looked like chopsticks from a far angle and nope, still looks like a blade. This one's a reach but, chopsticks are insinuate a "yin-yang" dynamic.

Chopsticks is a strange pick because it doesn't LOOK anything like a chopstick. It would have made more sense to call it a shovel, paper fan, knife, surfboard etc. Go off. Chopsticks have always been used as a pair, one cannot exist without the other, which brings me to voltron's wings. I like the idea of Voltron being similar to Darling in the Franxx because of their mecha designs kinda taking reference from Evangelion. This is a reach definitely, but its cute whatever, eat this up. There's a mythical bird called "Jian" and it only has one wing.

The bird can only exist with another of its kind, where together, they can fly and soar. Wings and duality are symbols that have ALWAYS gone hand in hand, simply because there are two. Chopsticks being Lance's stupid fucking word choice is so damn specific its hurting me.

HERE'S ANOTHER REACH Y'ALL, the reason why chopsticks are thicker and circular at the top but thinner and squared at the bottom is because they represent the heaven and the earth. WHERE'D THEY COME FROM Y'ALL. WHERE DID THE PALADINS GO? UH? BACK TO EARTH YEA?

And once again, Keith draws this one very quickly so it does show that Lance can make a good guess immediately. I can see why he would say Dog here. SO WHY COULDN'T YOU SEE A BLADE AT FIRST LANCE? EXPLAIN YOURSELF. MOVING ON FROM THE DAMN DRAWING GAME.

I think these two screenshots speak for themselves. Earlier this morning I wrote a theory about how the Klance dynamic is all over the place because Lance has grown as a person in his absence and he's confused as to how he's supposed to behave towards "new keith".

He takes a jab at Keith throughout the start of this whole episode

"Not my fault keith can't draw!"

"I'm not a mind reader!"

So once again, its the usual bickering coming from Lance, but we see that shift later in the episode, I'll get to that later.

The next game with bii boh bi. Funny to me how the game's called "The Garflator" when we've already established that "Garfle" means to "win". The monster isn't the Garflator as they've misleaded, its the tank.

If you don't believe me, here's the subtitles literally calling the monster the "Warflator". Strange isn't it? You miss these things when you watch it the first time. Bob wasn't joking when Warfle and Garfle were interchangeable.

I don't really want to analyse how Bii Boh Bi acts throughout the whole segment mainly because I think that's reaching a little too far, and it was likely comedic the entire time, but I can't help but notice that his tone throughout suggests a "fill in the blanks" situation.

My theory is that this situation foreshadows the possibility that someone will help Lance fill in the blanks, and guess what the answer is in the GARFLator. He might even really be running out of time so again, stick it out till the last episode of S8.

Bonus: Seems like its pretty nice isn't it. Our crops are watered and his skin is cleared. Joking of course, but overall the whole Garflator/Warflator situation keeps getting mixed up together that's why I think this theory's reaching but I digress.

Time for the scene that made all of us Klancers scream into the depths of hell. We all already know that they didn't have to vote for each other if it was meaningless, but after seeing the recent surplus of Lance being hurt by Keith leaving, I've got a solid theory.

Lets look at the scene first, mainly at Hunk and Pidge's faces. We know Hunk is emotionally observant while Pidge behaves logically, so I think when we're speaking logically: Lance picking Keith seems HIGHLY illogical to pidge.

Lance "hates" Keith. Why pick him to survive? THE MATH DOESN'T ADD UP. On the other hand, Hunk's facial expression here seems more....worried? Not confused. There's been substantial evidence that Lance was hurt by Keith leaving, and if he spoke to anyone about it, it'd be hunk.

I think Pidge is surprised to hear these things come out of Lance's mouth and seeing Keith pick him. Remember when they all picked someone to help Lance? The braniest of the team? I think honestly Pidge might be the first to pick up on their possible affections towards each other.

This sort of parallels the earlier scene where Lance was the last one to figure out Pidge was a girl, but maybe that's reaching a little too hard (Curse these short arms!)

Earlier this morning I wrote a thread about how Lance picking Keith to leave here is probably the nail in the coffin that he deeply cares about Keith. Remember, this situation would probably be the third time that Keith has left Lance.

Read the linked thread, I won't reiterate it here but basically Lance grows in Keith's absence, stepping up when he needs to, but its not really what he wants. Losing Keith again might be devastating, but that only heightens why this scene is so affectionate. He makes this choice himself.

He calls Keith the future because he has faith in his skills (he's our leader) and him as a person (plus he's half galra). That Keith HAS a future. This is SIGNIFICANT because the only other person that has said that they have faith in Keith, was Shiro.

Shiro is VALUABLE to Keith, he's the most important person in his life. Having people believe in him has always been difficult and I think where Lance says (although cryptically) that he believes in Keith, is really where their new dynamic takes off.

THAT's why Keith behaves somewhat coldly in S7, because its never gonna be easy for him to suddenly accept a new person in his life. He’s not sure how he should react to another person caring for him. Both of them know their dynamic isn't what it used to be, they can't joke and jab anymore. We're back to square one, but its different this time.

One last thing about this episode (that isn't Klance related) is Luxia's kingdom, just a fun quick thought that maybe the Baku might be back, i mean he never really was defeated, just trapped. ;)

Uhhh that's it! Can't think of anything else haha. Thanks for the wild ride friends, I hope these feed your optimism for today~ Again, they're all just theories but I hope S8 is a good experience for everyone! Have a great day :)

One last thing: I would love it if Klance happens and the theories prove true, and if it doesn't its okay! Sure I'll be disappointed, but its fine if I'm wrong about a fictional TV show lol.

#klance #keith #lance #vld #vld theory #klance theory #i think this was a nice theory #i worked hard on it pals uwu

[littlewhitetie]

(Mostly) Shiro-Centric Whump Fic Recs!

You bet I do, anon!! Always happy to share. :) I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but here are some favourites:

I've had Worse by cabbagespoon / @cabbagespoon​ (some gen, some Sheith)

A collection of sickfics and stand-alone drabbles focused on whumping the hell outta Shiro. 

Full Circle by Glass Soldiers (subtract) / @glass-soldiers​ (gen)

The ripe scent of the blood pouring out of the body nearly made Shiro gag, but now that he was up close he could see that the rebel still had some sort of grenade attached to his belt. A terrible idea presented itself to Shiro in the few seconds of time he had left.

“Keith,” he said into his comm, “make sure you get the rest of them out of here.”

"Wait, Shiro!"

“There he is! Fire!”

Shiro will do whatever it takes to save the other paladins when they get in over their heads in a very dangerous situation. And then, they will do whatever it takes to save him.

The Greatest Challenge by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma​ (gen)

Getting the Rembelii to join the coalition should be in the bag, an easy first mission back for Ryou after months of recovery. He shouldn't need Shiro for backup at all. But the leader of Rembeliss isn't interested in the coalition; he's interested in Champion and a challenge, and won't take no for an answer.

from the inside by valkyriered / @queenvallkyrie​ (Uliro)

Voltron gets hit with a virus. It doesn't feel nice. 

brace by buttered_onions / @butteredonions (platonic or romantic Uliro)

Twenty minutes in to the space-thunderstorm, Ulaz notices Shiro is missing.

All Too Familiar by oldmythologies / @oldmythos​ (gen)

5 times Shiro couldn't sleep and the 1 time he could.

One For All, All For One by KaijuDork / @sheithlings​ (gen)

Everyone in Team Voltron has their own struggles, and Shiro always makes it a priority to help them out when he can. It's not always easy on top of his own issues, though; He's plagued by nightmares and flashbacks, and a growing sense of disgust at who he's become. His brave face is slowly crumbling as it begins to take its toll, and the other paladins agree to do something about it.

Or: Shiro helps each paladin out in turn, and sometimes they help him, but eventually they all come together to return the favour.

Numbers by oldmythologies / @oldmythos​ (platonic or romantic Sheith)

Shiro would hate it. He would hate knowing that Keith heard him scream sometimes, that Keith knew that he wasn’t completely okay. He’d feel weak, and he’d hide behind his speeches and his optimism and would be ever more careful about where and when he let himself fall asleep.

The cry reaches him from behind the door. It sounds like a child, and god, that child is so afraid.

This time, Keith doesn’t hesitate to open the door.

One Hundred Percent Probability by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

Shiro has no one to blame but himself for getting stuck on a mission with Slav, really. And of course it has to go all wrong, because really, when does it ever not.

Shadows of Our Dreams by KUG (gen)

-There comes a time and place where you don’t stand so tall-

The Paladins of Voltron have been reunited and are now resting and trying to heal, but nightmares tend to stick around longer than physical injuries. Time for a good ol' fashioned sleepover with the team. (Post-episode 11) 

Parasite Knight by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

“You may refuse all you like, Champion, but I have found the one thing in the universe that can be absolutely counted on is that everything that exists desires to survive. Even you. Perhaps especially you.”

Something’s not right with Shiro, but it may go far deeper than anybody anticipated.

Beast You've Made of Me by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

The Alteans once had powerful allies. Some were wiped out, and some fell.

In hopes of regaining powerful friendships, the team land on a planet to search out signs of rebellion against the Galra. What they find instead are old acquaintances, court intrigue, and old wounds.

Or: One time the universe conspired to make Shiro's life hell

Drown Out Your Mind by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

Continuation from Chapter 4 of Like Forgetting The Words.

Shiro is sick. Very, very sick. The team tries to help. 

for every bird there is a stone by lacking / @lightshesaid (gen)

Shiro walks away from his confrontation with Haggar injured and shaken. After falling through the corrupted wormhole and finding himself stranded alongside Keith on a solitary planet, Shiro begins doubting his bond with the black lion and his place among the other paladins. As the team is reunited and his health continues to decline, Shiro is forced to confront parts of himself he thought were long buried, and everyone is left questioning just how far he’s willing to go in order to survive.

Trust Me by votsalot / @saumenschliesel (gen)

Pidge is having a late night snack when Shiro comes to her for help only she can provide. 

Hurricane by a_fearsome_thing / @thehouseofthebrave (gen)

Shiro is injured and very pragmatic about it. Hunk is decidedly less so.

Grounded by buttered_onions / @butteredonions (gen)

Separated from the rest of the team, Shiro must wait for rescue. In the meantime, he's not alone.

Spark to Ignite by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

Shiro wakes up in the dark.

He is alone.

Routine Maintenance by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

Being an amputee with a prosthetic limb is difficult enough. Having a solid metal alien prosthetic forced on you by another species entirely is even worse.

OR:

Five times Shiro’s Galra arm caused him trouble in some way and another member of the team helped him out with it, and the one time the same arm is the only reason any of them survive.

i have dug this grave for two by radialarch / @radialarch (Sheith)

This is what Keith promises himself: both of them will make it out of this. [Post-S1]

piling sandbags on parapets by alessandriana (gen)

"It's really not that bad," Shiro said.

Keith shot him a look of raging disbelief. "Pidge said you got tortured."

(Episode tag for Fall of the Castle of Lions/Tears of the Balmera.)

But I'm Sick of Learning How to Die by yet_intrepid / @apaladinagain​ (gen)

The paladins caused collateral damage in a battle, and they've resolved to do what they need to so their alliance with the impacted planet stays intact. Unfortunately, said planet has a judicial system based on corporal punishment.

Shiro has a plan to deal with this, but he underestimates what his team will do to protect him.

Where the Ocean Hits the Sky by maychorian / @maychorian (gen)

Shiro is sick and Lance is the only one who can look after him. If Shiro will let him, of course. Hopefully it's just a cold.

Breathless by radiofreekerberos / @radiofreekerberos (Sheith) (Keith and Shiro whump)

Shiro and Keith are stranded on a toxic planet that is slowly killing them. Can team Voltron rescue them before the clock runs out on them both?

Not long after they’d crashed, it became apparent that some element of the red dust was especially toxic to Keith. Shiro suspects it has something to do with his Galra DNA. He’d pulled Keith out of the red lion just before she’d been buried, but those few minutes of exposure to the storm as they’d retreated inside the black lion had taken a toll.

The Nature of Your Ways by ThatAcePaladin / @thatacepaladin​ (platonic or romantic Sheith) (Shiro and Keith whump)

Shiro always knew there was something special, something unique, about Keith. He never suspected that he would be half-alien, let alone half-Galra, but after learning that, everything seemed to fall into place.

or: five things Shiro thought were different about Keith, and the one two times he knew that Keith was still Keith.

Shifting Sands by Cardigan_Quincy (gen) (Lance and Shiro whump)

Lance picked himself up from the floor gingerly, testing his muscles before putting too much weight on them. Nothing seemed injured, aside from a few aches that would likely become a nice collection of bruises by tomorrow morning. But considering how hard Blue had fallen, Lance felt lucky. Blue was less lucky. --- Lance is stranded on a desert planet, injured and captured by someone who will go to any lengths to get their hands on the Black Lion. Fortunately or otherwise, he's not alone.

Boom Crash the Sound of My Ship by maychorian / @maychorian​ (gen) (Lance whump)

After a Galra attack splits Voltron, the blue lion is damaged and falls toward the jungle planet below. Shiro follows, and now he and Lance are stranded in hostile territory, fighting to survive. Lance is injured, Shiro is having flashbacks, and help is far away. And the Galra just...keep coming.

Won't Let Fade by Haleykim84 (tristen84) / @haleykim84 (gen) (Keith whump)

At a Voltron Coalition after party, Keith attracts some unwanted attention.

Compromised by gringle (gen) (Keith whump)

Keith ignored the rolling sensation of pain radiating from his stomach. “I’m uh… I’ve been injured. I can make it-” probably. Keith was never a betting man in the sense that he’d think in terms of probabilities. He just worked toward a goal, and he either succeeded or failed, and he can’t fail this. “-I just need more time.”

“That information is invaluable in overcoming this sector of Empire Control. You have five minutes, or until we’re compromised ourselves,” Kolivan stated, grim and final.

Another click, and Kolivan’s voice went silent.

If those aren’t enough for you, here are some of mine:

Interlude (platonic or romantic Sheith)

"Where are you going?” Keith asks, just barely catching Shiro before he collapses.

“My room, or just… not here. Please.”

Shiro should probably stay here in the infirmary where he can be monitored, but his eyes are pleading.

“Alright,” Keith concedes. “But I’m not leaving you alone.”

--

In which Keith takes care of Shiro after The Journey.

Lost and Found (light Sheith)

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice is barely a whisper, hoarse and wavering with disbelief.

Conflicting emotions seize Keith’s heart at the sound of Shiro's voice: utter relief in that they’ve finally found him; sheer horror in that they’ve found him here.

As Many Times (Sheith)

Shiro has fever dreams; Keith does what he can to help.

Silence (pre-Allurance; platonic or romantic Sheith)

An anti-Galra nanoweapon leaves Keith ill and Shiro badly injured. It's up to Lance and Allura to find them, take care of them, and get them home safe and sound.

Linger (light Sheith)

“You should go back to bed,” Keith says. “Get some more sleep.”

Shiro’s tired, but no. He can’t go back to his room, not yet. He’s not ready to be alone again.

--

Not wanting to leave Keith's side, Shiro looks for excuses to linger.

Pulmonary (Shallureith)

Infected with a disease that feeds off of heartache, flowers bloom in Shiro’s lungs, choking him with petals. He keeps the petals he coughs up a secret, but it’s getting hard to hide. The only thing that can stop its trajectory is if the person he’s in love with returns his feelings.

Shiro doesn’t even know who it is he’s sick for—Keith is Shiro’s anchor, his sun; but Allura is his compass and stars. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Neither of them could ever be his. They’ve each made their feelings for him—or lack thereof—known.

Not to mention the fate of the known universe is contingent on their upcoming marriage.

The coughing attacks get worse, but he can’t let them find out why. All he can do is try to push down his longing and watch as, little by little, Keith and Allura fall in love.

Finding Home (gen)

Shiro has hands that are his to hold.

After suffering a concussion and nearly drowning, Shiro falls ill. From the jungle to caves to cities and space, through fighting the Galra and seeking a cure, Keith and Allura are with him through it all.

What Once Was Lost (gen)

Shiro doesn’t want to remember, but he realizes he really should. He has his memories extracted, replaying them in the hopes of finding useful information, and maybe as a starting point in confronting his trauma. The days he spends watching them aren’t easy, but at least he’s not alone.

What We Do (gen)

On a mission gone awry, Shiro and Keith are captured and imprisoned. Shiro is injured and sick. Keith has no idea how to take care of someone, let alone comfort them, but he does his best.

Elementary (gen) (Keith whump)

A poison in the building they're captured in leaves Keith delirious and vulnerable, with only Allura there to take care of him. Unused to comforting others, Allura is completely out of her element. Luckily, she has Lance on the other end of the line to walk her through it.

Hope that helps!! And don’t forget to leave a comment if you enjoy a fic (even if it’s short!)--comments always appreciated and encourage writers to keep creating content. These authors are amazing and deserve a lot of love. :)

#voltron #fic recs #gen #sheith #uliro #shallureith #hurt shiro #whump #hurt/comfort #cabbagespoon #velkynkarma #queenvallkyrie #butteredonions #oldmythos #sheithlings #bosstoaster #lightshesaid #saumenschliesel #thehouseofthebrave #radialarch #apaladinagain #maychorian #radiofreekerberos #thatacepaladin #haleykim84 #fic rec list #fic rec #anonymous