For the arranged marriage thing: Lotor's made a political arrangement with one version of earth, so now the other version wants a political arrangement with Allura and Adrien Agreste is the one who gets roped into it, with a (probably mutual?) side of "This is stupid. I don't want to do this."

Arranged Marriage Starters

Ooooh boy, a few more details than usual. Let’s see what I can do!

Vaguely post-canon, let’s say Adrien’s about twenty, everyone’s more or less the same age because Altean ages are [handwave]. We’ll go with the ‘twinned space’ thing I played around with in this fic, but with the second ‘verse being Miraculous Ladybug instead of GG.

Background Adrinino, Kagaminette, Shotor.

He fiddles with his cuffs, a nervous flutter in his chest. He’s been in the public eye since he was a child, and it only got worse after the Hawk Moth reveal. He should be used to this.

“Dude.”

Warm hands cover his, turn them face up and slide their palms together. The grip is reassuring.

“I can’t do this.”

Nino squeezes his hands, just for a moment. “It’ll be fine.”

“They could have picked someone else.”

“You volunteered.”

“I had to,” Adrien mutters. He closes his eyes. “I had to, I just--they said it needed to be someone worth something to Earth, enough for the symbolism to mean something. I’m Chat Noir. I’m not just a celebrity, I’m a hero. If not me, it would have been some... some civilian royalty in a country that doesn’t even really have a role for their monarchy anymore, maybe, or--”

“Breathe.”

Adrien pitches forward, head falling onto Nino’s shoulder and staying there. He can feel his shoulders shaking, but he tries to ignore it. Nino’s hand rubs up and down his back, solid even through the layers of his suit.

“This is stupid,” he mumbles. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Still time to ditch the ceremony,” his best friend jokes.

(Best friend and... well. It’s too late. They’d taken the plunge and it was somehow still too late.)

“Not without causing an intergalactic incident,” Adrien says. “Why did I agree to this?”

Because nobody could talk you out of it, Nino doesn’t say. “Because you care too much about the world and everyone in it.”

It’s probably true. Adrien straightens up when the door opens, turns and meets Marinette’s eyes for only a moment before his gaze skitters away, lets her fuss over his tie and his hair and his heart.

“Are you two okay?” she asks. It’s too late, but she’s trying to keep them in one piece where she can. Alya hovers at the doorway, Kagami and Chloe peering over her shoulder from the hallway behind her. Marinette ignores them, eyes darting between the boys, one hand almost forgotten at his collar, and Adrien almost wonders how he found himself in this situation.

His lady always did try to take care of him.

“It’s a bit late to be asking that,” Adrien says, for what is nowhere near the first time, but hopefully the last. “I don’t suppose now’s the time to make a joke about taking the bullet for you one last time?”

“A terrible time,” she scolds, and there’s mingled pity and affection in her eyes. “Especially since I’m already married, silly cat.”

She holds up her hand and flashes the ring like trophy, and Kagami’s flush behind her is enough to warm Adrien’s heart. It’s just a moment of distraction from the mess he’s gotten himself into, but it makes him feel better. Their own marriage is new enough that he knows the girls are still giddy over it, or would be if this Voltron situation hadn’t crashed down on their heads just a few weeks after they’d tied the knot.

“Always getting there first,” Adrien jokes. It falls flat, and he thinks Marinette might be ready to cry. “Anyway. I’ve got a bride to make some vows to. Ready to give me away, my Lady?”

Marinette smiles and nods, eyes shining, and holds out her arm. “Let’s go.”

-----

“You’ll outlive him, you know. It’s not forever.”

Allura pauses in the frantic rearrangement of her skirts to stare at the man she thought was her friend.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lotor says, in what seems to be a joking scold of a tone, but it’s still not right.

“That was incredibly inappropriate!” Allura sputters. She whirls to Coran. “I-I’m not wrong, that was very much not the sort of thing one says to a bride. It’s very...”

“Morbid?” Lance offers brightly, the way he rarely fails to do when given the opportunity to undermine Lotor’s reputation, such as it is. “Rude? Bitchy? Completely--”

Hunk has a hand over Lance’s mouth. He smiles tightly. “Ignore them both.”

She was planning to.

“Your own husband is to be as short-lived as mine,” Allura mutters, sending a look sideways in the direction of the prince of space. “Unless Haggar did something, I suppose.”

Lotor smiles, soft and eyes closed, utterly practiced in every motion. “The witch pushed all her magics into him. He was to be her greatest weapon, after all.”

“You know,” Shiro says, knocking his ankle into the leg of Lotor’s chair. “You could do without talking about me like I’m not here.”

Lotor looks up, beaming. “You’re the one that married me.”

“Against my better judgment, yes.”

Allura clenches her jaw and looks away when Lotor tilts his head enough to rest against Shiro’s dress uniform. It’s not either of their faults this is happening. It’s not their fault their marriage, born of affection and camaraderie and companionship, gave way to people insisting she marry someone of this the planet’s twinned space.

It’s not their fault, but she resents them for it anyway.

“We’re on in five,” Pidge says, tapping at their watch. “Um. Any last words?”

“She’s not dying,” Keith grumbles, and Allura almost doesn’t hear the elbow that drives into his side.

“This is stupid, and I don’t want to do it,” Allura declares, smoothing her skirts down one last time. She lifts her head, holds her chin high, and takes Coran’s arm. “But I will do as needs must.”

-----

He thinks she’s very pretty, for a woman he’d rather not have tied his life to.

She thinks he’s quite charming, for a man she’d rather not have culled her love for.

This is something that must be done, and duty has always, will always, come first.

Pt16

(Hints of citrus. More technical & discussions around consent. No action beyond pg-13)

Forgot an overnight bag.

16:03

I can bring my shoreleave bag to your place?

16:05

K. Have a drawer for you.

16:05

Meet me by the lockers?

16:06

NP.

16:06

Shiro heads in, exultant. The Holts scold him, and Iverson just shakes his head and gives him dirty looks over Colleen's shoulder. Shiro technically isn't his to scold anymore.

When the Holts are done, Shiro gives Iverson a rueful look. "Sir?"

"You're retired, Shirogane. I don't yell at civilians."

Shiro tilts his head a bit and raises an eyebrow.

"Leastaways not the ones that have earned my respect."

"Well. Thank you then, sir. For not taking the piss out of me, sir."

"Shirogane, you were my commanding officer on the Altas. You can dispense with the sir nonsense."

Grinning, "thank you sir."

"Get out of here. Your boyfriend is waiting."

Shiro does a little mocking salute, and heads inside. Matt joins him on the way.

"You gonna push Curt up against a wall and take him, or will it be safe for me to get in a shower? I'm dusty and sweaty."

"It's safe," Shiro says dryly. "We would never do that in there anyway."

"You and Adam did plenty of things in plenty of places, and half the cadets knew."

"Not the locker room," Shiro protests. He doesn't want to explain to Matt why they'd done whatever whenever. With the degenerative disease, and the medicine messing him up... He hadn't been able to get an erection with any reliability. So they'd taken advantage of it whenever it happened. Which meant they had visited several broom closets and on one notable occasion, the roof. Just like he's sick of people wanting to know how sleeping with Curtis goes. They're not. So far Shiro is pretty sure he has gotten it up maybe twice since he was first captured by the Galra.

It had certainly been impossible in captivity. Not that he'd tried. And then after, he'd been busy. And had almost no alone time. No time to try. And no interest, if he's being honest. He'd never felt like it. And now with Curtis, his body still isn't working. It had once, maybe he's pretty sure. Maybe twice.

"Not the locker room... But the roof? Most broom closets... An empty classroom. One of the teacher's offices...and apparently some bleachers?"

"The bleachers was rumor and hearsay. And the office... Was Adam's."

"That doesn't make it better," Matt makes a face. "You guys were disgusting."

"Well. I suppose Curtis and I have a low bar to step over in terms of not upsetting you."

"Sorry. I didn't think about it. Are you okay to even talk about Adam?"

"Yeah. I can handle it."

"Oh. Quiznak. Shiro is... Is Curtis okay with it?"

"Yeah," Shiro grins a little. "Curtis kinda knew him. It's not like we compare our exes to each other. It's just nice sometimes to be able to talk about the good stuff. And we've talked about why Adam and I broke up."

Matt nods a little. He knows Curtis and his previous partner had been very serious. And knows how he died, too. So there's less negative notes to compare on Curtis' side. He wonders how Shiro feels about it. "You guys were good until you weren't," he shrugs.

Shiro shrugs back. He doesn't want to talk about it with Matt. He's told Curtis that he'd put himself first. Adam had been supportive until he'd wanted to come first once in a while. Shiro doesn't regret going to Kerberos. For all he wishes they hadn't been caught by the Galra. Voltron... Doesn't make the torture and blood and death worth it, not really. But it was amazing. The Atlas was amazing. The Coalition. So much good coming out of so much bad.

So many amazing experiences. The views from the bridge of the Castle of Lions. Sitting with Allura just watching the stars. He's seen entire galaxies they didn't even know existed. Met aliens. Seen planets with names he can barely pronounce. Beautiful flora and fauna...

But it was good to feel the wind in his hair. The grit and sand scrape across his skin. It's nice to be home.

Choosing to focus on that, he pushes the door open to the locker room, nose wrinkling at the familiar stench of sweaty bodies. rank flight suits, old socks, and swamp crotch.

Curtis is half changed into civvies and his bag is on the bench ready to grab and go.

"That's a face," Curtis teases, finishing pulling on his pants and fastening them. Stuffing some things into his bag and zipping it shut, he goes over to Takashi and kisses him. "You smell like you belong in here anyway," he teases gently.

"How can you tell?" He points out.

Matt makes a face at both of them, and heads to his locker. "I'll catch you guys later, I need to wash up."

"Yeah, see you soon?" Shiro suggests.

"Definitely. Don't be a stranger."

Curtis kisses Takashi's cheek. "You okay if I shower at your place? I hate the showers here."

"You're welcome to treat my place like your own," he points out. Leaning into Curtis he feels warm when Curtis puts an arm around his shoulders. It's nice to be openly loved.

They walk out. It takes a bit, some people wanting to greet Shiro. Some people happily ribbing Curtis about what he's going home to.

When they get to Curtis' car he squeezes Takashi's hand. "Does it bug you when they tease us about sex?" He's noticed his partner get more withdrawn as it went on.

"It seems good natured," he shrugs. He doesn't want to talk about the embarassing reason it makes him uncomfortable. For all Curtis kind of already knows. He hasn't just said right out that he can't get it up. They talked about how he feels like his body maybe doesn't work right and he's uncomfortable in it. For all that's far less true now. Between Curtis, the 'family' reunion the day before, pulling off the cliff stunt on a whole new piece of technology. He feels pretty good. He feels more like himself.

When they get back to his place, Shiro makes a face at Curtis when he plugs his nose. "I can smell you in here, now, for sure. In the locker room it was hard to tell."

"I pulled off the impossible today," he counters, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I think a little smell can be forgiven." He leans in to kiss Curtis, who kisses him back.

Curtis kisses him back, wrapping his arms around Takashi. He's never seen him seem so alive and thrilled. Nuzzling his neck, Curtis smiles. It's not that he hasn't seen Captain Shirogane electrified and in charge. He's seen him flush with a succesful military manouever, seen him cheer after winning a pitched battle. But there was always something behind it. Some darkness, or guilt... Pain. Not this. Not this time. This is different. The victory is open and innocent. Takashi is obviously pleased with himself.

"Hm. Reminds me," he pulls away and swats Takashi upside the head. "Don't you dare just drive off a cliff with no warning ever again, you jackass."

"I knew what I was doing."

"I knew you'd have no problems driving that thing. I just didn't expect you to do that. No one did!"

"It was kind of hot though, right?" He starts kissing Curtis again. They end up against a wall. He's pushed Curtis into it, not thinking.

"You're always hot," Curtis reminds him. He kisses along the other man's jaw.

Shiro's breath catches and he pulls Curtis in closer. Kissing harder, he wishes Curtis would let him move in closer. Their hips aren't close together and he wants them to be. Wanting to tug up Curtis' shirt, take things further, he's barely thinking.

Curtis reaches down to tug Takashi forward by his belt loops, bringing their bodies flush. He moans a little, pushing into his partner a little harder.

Shiro whimpers a little, needing more. It sort of pops into his brain that he's rock hard and trying to figure out how to grind on Curtis without really being able to move. Curtis has him trapped, fingers still hooked tightly in his pants.

"Takashi," Curtis pulls back. "Hey, slow down." He knows a big part of his reluctance to go past kissing with Takashi is how uncomfortable and miserable he's been. Curtis doesn't want sex to become a coping mechanism or crutch in their relationship.

"Curtis," he protests, confused.

"I will kiss you all you want," Curtis promises. "I just don't know if we're ready for the next step."

"Curtis," he turns red. Taking his hand and tugging it close to his groin, he looks down. He doesn't bring their hands to even touch. Just. Close. "I might... I might not be able to, when we're ready."

Pulling his fingers free of Takashi's belt loops, he gently slips them under his chin and lifts. Gives him a wicked grin, "oh trust me. That won't be an issue."

"This... The...I haven't...I haven't since...you don't understand," he stumbles.

It takes a few more seconds of incoherent rambling before Curtis understands what Takashi is trying to tell him. "That long?" He asks, almost concerned. "Oh wow."

"I don't... It just doesn't happen anymore. I... I want... I want to be with you," he says almost plaintively.

"You can't....?" Curtis makes an obscene gesture.

"No..." He turns a darker red, and can feel the heat rising off his face. "Maybe now? Without the arm, and my shoulder healing? I don't..." He shrugs. "Too late now," he points out, glancing down.

"Well we both need to shower," Curtis shrugs. "Maybe I could help you out a little?" He suggests, kissing Takashi's neck and catching his earlobe for a second.

Shiro feels like his whole body is electrified. "You won't be disappointed when it doesn't work?"

Giving him a wry look, "I want to have sex with you. I just think we need to have several conversations before we do any of it. There's some stuff I hate and there might be things you don't like. And for both of us, one wrong move could be a serious trigger. So. Do I want you? Yes. Gods yes. When it happens will I rock your world so hard you forget your own name? Hell yes," he grins when Takashi turns red again. He'd just almost faded to a light pink. "But, I want to wait until we've both talked extensively."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," he mumbles. "Do you wanna order take out or should we cook something?" He resigns himself to nothing happening.

"Let's see how we feel once we're both clean?"

"You're a pain."

"I'll help you through it, you just have to do the work yourself," Curtis says patiently, and watches understanding dawn on the other man's face.

"Won't that be some kind of torture? I don't think I'd have the willpower if I was in your place," he points out, for all he has butterflies in his stomach.

"It'll be fine. Who said I was just gonna watch and not handle myself?"

Swallowing hard, he feels a few minutes of panic. "Curtis... What if I just can't?"

Curtis' first instinct is just to dismiss it. But he can see it's genuinely stressing his partner out. "Let me worry about that. That's my job," he kisses Takashi gently. "And if it doesn't work, we'll try a bunch of different stuff until it does." He kisses over his neck, catches his earlobe, and gently starts to tug his shirt off. His hands wander up and over Shiro's scarred chest, before slipping around to his back to pull him closer. His shirt slides back down, covering Curtis' hands.

Kissing him slowly, and gently, he holds him close. It's not about how hard and fast they can kiss. It's about how much they love each other.

Eventually, Curtis pulls back. Takashi's eyes are lidded heavily as he looks at Curtis with a mix of affection, lust, and contentment. He's completely out of it. Leaning back in for more kisses, his lips feel swollen and they were being gentle. He vaguely wonders how long they've been at it.

He's trapped in some limbo between utter peace and desperate lust. "I need you to kiss me like that more often," he says against Curtis' lips.

"Of course," Curtis promises. Gently pulling Takashi's shirt off, he kisses along his collar bone. Soft. No demands. Just enjoying the feel of his partner's skin under his lips and tongue. Hooking his fingerips into the front of his waistband, Curtis starts moving slowly backwards towards the bathroom, tugging Takashi with him.

(I might just delete it all? I dunno.)

CSUAVS prt 24 start. Don't worry... the withdrawal will be glossed over as we progress... I mean, I could write like a phoeb worth on an every day scale, but I think scene setting is nicer

Hiding in the dining area of the Telula, Lance stirred at the bowl of porridge in front of him with little interest. If it wasn't for the fact that Keith would find him in heartbeat if he'd hidden in the control room, Lance would have been hiding there instead. As far as he knew Keith was still sleeping off that messed up wine from the previous night. A wine that hadn't at all agreed with his mind. He spent the night dreaming of Keith as he slept in his arms. He'd woken with a moan on his lips, not understanding why his dreams were cut short until he released his pants were plastered to his nether regions. He'd come. He'd come so hard he still felt the pulses through his groin from release. Whimpering softly, his eyes widened as he released Keith was hard. His erection rubbing against his arse as Keith rutted gently against him. Filled with blind panic and nausea, Lance had ran. Barely keeping down the remnants of his dinner as he did. He'd had a wet dream about Keith... he'd come with his mind full of Keith... but without his permission or control over his actions. Breaking down in the bathroom, he'd thrown up until nothing was left. Light headed from withdrawal, the bright light of the bathroom felt like glass being plunged into his eyes. Everything was too loud. The feeling of water against his skin felt like he was being flayed alive as curled up in the corner of the shower, fingernails scratching and clawing at the soft and sensitive insides of his wrists until they turned to deep wounds. Coming to his senses, Lance forced himself from the shower. Too disgusted with himself to pause and straighten himself out in front of the mirror, ashamed and scared of the weak man who'd be staring back at him. He was supposed to be past all of this. Stronger than all of this. It'd happened phoebs ago, his time in captivity barely a drop in the ocean of time. He'd fought so hard to move on. Move past this dirty waste of space he'd been. "Lance, what are you thinking?" The spoon fell from Lance's hand as his head shot up. Sitting across from him, Allura looked as she had at the moment she'd left him, still dressed in her Paladin suit. Pushing his chair back, Lance left his bowl behind "Lance, where are you going?" He couldn't go the bridge. He couldn't go back to Keith. He could barely walk in a straight line "You'd choose to go back to him? Instead of being with me" "You're not real, Allura. You died. You're in my head" Mumbling to himself, Lance kept his head down as he made his way through his ship. He needed something to keep Allura away, but the only place he was going to find that was in the bathroom, despite him not wanting to go back there and be left alone with himself "Oh, Lance. I never could get anything past you. Compared to Lotor you were so simple. So willing to please" "Shut up" "Did I hit nerve? Are you going to cry to Keith? Tell him that you're coo-coo for your dead ex?" The word "coo-coo" had no business coming out of Allura's lips "Shut up!" "Keith won't stay with you. No one wants to stay with you. I didn't want to stay with you, so I died to escape you. You always were the seventh wheel" He knew that Allura was giving voice to his inner fears, but with it coming from her in her voice... tears started to roll down his face "Shut up!" "Oh, big brave Leandro. Crying over a little sex. Don't think I didn't watch you come. I know you did. You screamed and screamed, but you still came. You always liked the attention" Reaching the bathroom, Lance tripped over his own feet in his haste to get to his pills. Opening the cabinet to find it empty, the noise that came out of his mouth could only be described as a howl, when realised the cabinet was completely empty "You can't even put things away properly. No wonder Keith found them. No wonder he took them away from you. You're nothing but an addict" Nearly climbing into the space completely, Lance frantically tried to find something. Some kind of pill. Some broken tablet. A loose vial... but there was nothing there. Keith had said he'd trust him. That he'd be in control of his medications. Keith had lied to him. He needed his pills. He needed them and Keith took them. He knew it. He'd been right all along. Keith had been using him. He'd been laughing at him. Allura was right. He was useless. He was stupid. He was dirty and disgusting. Why Keith stayed he didn't know. Why would he care!? Why would anyone care? He was wrong. He was supposed to be dead. No one wanted him alive. His own mother didn't call him anymore. No. She talked to Keith... and Hunk talked to Keith. Why did no one love him? As he wanted was to be good. Klearo had told him to be good... Why wasn't he good? * Feeling for Lance, Keith groaned at the cold and vacant spot where Lance should have been. Both slightly drunk on the wine from church, he and Lance had fallen into bed together in a tangle of limbs. Lance howling as Keith somehow wound up tickling him. Falling asleep had been easy. Lance giving him permission to spoon around him, mumbling words of thanks as Keith nosed at his neck softly kissing the exposed skin. He'd forgotten how much fun Lance could be when he was drunk, and lacking a filter between his mouth and his brain. Yawning as he forced himself out of bed, Kosmo got up to lick at his leg as he Keith stretched high. Taking a deep breath as he deflated, Keith leaned down to scratch between Kosmo's ears "Hey, boy. You been outside yet?" Whining at him, Keith took that as a no "Go on. I'm going to take a shower and find Lance. He really shouldn't be wandering around like this" It was hard to know what to say to Kosmo. His wolf understood the circumstances and why Keith was spending so much time with Lance, but Keith still felt like he was leaving Kosmo out of everything. Having had him by his side as a puppy, the longest they'd been separated had been a few movements thanks to missions, and each time that happened Kosmo had Krolia to shower him with attention. With Lance being "ill", he wasn't up for being pawed over for cuddles, or coping a random wet nose to the face in the middle of the night. Kosmo wanted love and attention from both of them, and didn't understand why he had to settle for gentle pats or sleeping by their bed when there was space for the three of them. Trying to find any kind of balance was impossible now that Lance was going through withdrawal... meaning Kosmo had to wait, and Keith wasn't comfortable with that "I'm sorry, boy. I haven't been a very good owner lately. I know it seems like I never have time for you, but I do. You're a doofus, but you mean a lot to me. Why don't you go explore around here some more? Maybe you can find some space chickens to chase?" Kosmo cocked his head, tail starting to wag faster "Yes. I'm giving you permission. Just don't attack anyone's pet..." Disappearing mid-sentence, it seemed all was forgiven with his wolf. Even if it weighed heavily on Keith. He probably should also check in with Shiro at least to warn him over Lance's anxieties... and that Lance's team was accompanying them. All of this could wait until after he'd showered and retrieved Lance from the bridge. The stubborn Cuban would more than likely be back up there trying to work everything out on his own while feeling like Quiznak. Hearing the shower running, Keith knocked lightly. When he got no reply, he let himself into the small space to check on Lance. Given they were the only two who used the bathroom, he'd intended to tease Lance over the previous night with the threats of tickles, or if Lance was throwing up, he wanted to be there to hold his hair back and reassure him. Option three of a bleeding Lance hadn't come to mind. Covering in the back corner of the shower, Lance was fully clothed. The bathroom mirror had been shattered beyond repair with pieces lying across the floor telling him no matter what he did, he should expect to get glass in his feet if he tried to get to Lance barefooted. Glancing around the space, he cursed himself over the fact both their towels were in their room. With the smell of blood in the air, he didn't have time to go back and get them. Stripping off his shirt, it offered a small sliver of protection as Keith moved to the shower. Turning the taps off, Lance didn't even notice. A large piece of mirror in his left hand seemed to be where most of the blood was coming from "Lance? Hey..." Reaching out, Lance was unresponsive. Letting Keith take the broken mirror from his hold. The tick it was gone, Lance seemed to come to, shrieking and kicking as he screamed for Allura to leave him alone. Lunging at him, Keith caught Lance with ease, using the momentum to hoist him onto his shoulder and carry him from the shower with him. Being off the shower floor only made Lance more violent. His fingernails scratching up Keith's back as Lance bit him. Hauling Lance back to their room, Keith finally stood him up when the door had closed. The first thing Lance tried to was take a swing at him, the look in his eyes akin to a feral beast. Catching him before he fell, Keith forced Lance back towards the bed "Let me out!" "Lance, it's ok..." "Let me the fuck out!" "Lance, alright. It's Keith" "Let me go! You can't keep me here like this!" Whatever world Lance was in, it wasn't the same one Keith was. He only had a very rudimentary knowledge of withdrawal, and seeing it was so much different to being the one trying to help someone through it "Lance! Hey, look at me. It's Keith!" "I don't fucking care! Let me out! I need my pills!" Pushing hard against him, Keith was glad for his Galra strength. For someone weakened, the strength of force against him was completely unexpected "Lance, hey. Calm down!" "You're killing me! You're trying to kill me! I need my pills!" One moment Lance was struggling, the next he'd burst into tears, was speaking Spanish, and collapsing against Keith. Taking a very long tick to tick over, his brain realised Lance had both wet himself and thrown up on him. If it wasn't for the fact the water he'd found Lance in had been cold, he wouldn't have noticed the warmth against front. Lance was only supposed to be four quintants in to this. Was all of this supposed to be happening so fast? If Lance was like this the whole time, he wouldn't be able to lead his team, nor would be able to leave his room. If Lance snapped and truly perceived anyone on the ship as a threat, they'd end up dead. He didn't know how much of Lance's busted mind was able to recall of the past. All it took was for Lance to see one of his team, not recognise them, and that would be it. Lance would never recover from hurting his team. He'd probably never recover from the shame of wetting himself against Keith, so that would have to be another secret for the half-Galran to keep.

Hey! I hope I'm not being a bother (I'm about to be a big damn bother) but... I just saw your inspiring Sheith phrases post and all the quotes + your little bit of meta about it made me all misty... but here's the thing. I'm VERY VERY new to the fandom... and to Sheith... and I have NO IDEA what half of those quotes are from or are referring to. Can you help me out with some of them??? No-one I know ships Sheith so I don't know who else to ask!

Hi there Anon! Thanks for the ask!

And first of all to get this out of the way, you are not a bother. When you ask someone to talk about something they are very passionate about, it’s like getting told Christmas just came early. I’ve really wanted to be a more solid part of this fandom, but my shyness sometimes gets the better of me. So every question/ask, etc frickin’ lights up my day okay? Okay!

So I’ll break down the quotes the best I can for ya! Some of them are a little older and it might be a bit difficult to pull up the information for that. If anyone out there knows anything I’m missing better or has a link, etc, please feel free to share that with this post!

Also, since you enjoyed the meta, you might also like my post The Boy who Never Gave Up. This really outlines a lot of the background information shown in the series for Keith and Shiro that give rise to a lot of these quotes!

Alrighty, here we go!

SHEITH QUOTE MASTER POST

This will be a VERY LONG POST with LOTS OF PICTURES, LINKS AND QUOTES so I will be putting in a cut here to help!

It’s good to have you back / It’s good to be back

This quote comes from S01:E01 - The Rise of Voltron. It’s the first moment in which Keith and Shiro share dialogue together. Especially based on everything leading up to it, (Check out my post here for more on that), the tone here is very gentle. There is almost a hushed quiet to it, like you’re looking in on a private moment not meant for your eyes. There was something very sweet about it that just stuck around.

It’s killing me when you are away

So this is a really interesting one that I don’t believe was every officially confirmed by the team behind the show (someone correct me if I’m wrong here!) but a bunch of very dedicated fans picked this one apart into something that stuck with us ‘till the end.

Again in  S01:E01 - The Rise of Voltron, we find this nearly directly after the quote above. When Keith takes Shiro and the other Paladins inside his Cabin, he shows them a bunch of notes, pictures, and assortments of other knowledge he has collected over his years alone, which led to him finding the Blue Lion’s location. However, while he is explaining his notes to everyone, there are glimpses of little sticky notes on his board. Fans looked these over to see if there was anything one these notes that was legible and this led to a really awesome post that you can view here.

The main conclusion was based on the lyrics from “Sugar” by Maroon 5, in which the words are

“I just wanna be deep in your loveAnd it’s killing me when you’re awayOoh, baby “

And the theory is that the note says“Just wanna be ‘something’ and it’s killing me when you’re away”

The something part implying that either A) Keith forgot the lines, B) The lines are a bit NSFW and so were changed slightly, C) Little column A & B? Keith was a little embarrassed and shortened it a bit.

This is all further supported when we’ve seen time and time again how much Keith adores Shiro and when we found out that Keith waited TWO YEARS on hopes and prayers waiting on his friend to come back. That would kill me too…

Shiro loves you baby / #He’s looking at Keith

This amazing piece came straight from Chris Palmer, one of the awesome story artists for Voltron. He posted this image with the words “Shiro loves you baby.” and one of his hashtags was #he’s looking at keith.

You can see the original post here

This, of course, made most of us explode with happiness. Not only was it freaking adorable, it told us that more of the people behind the scenes were quite possibly as invested and/or becoming as invested as many of us were with Sheith (A term which Josh Keaton himself stated he would like to coin for the ship pairing if it hadn’t been claimed already)

Many of the people who work on Voltron have posted something Sheith related. It’s a little hard to pull out specific pieces now as a lot of news and discourse has buried a lot of the original posts, but we’ve been very blessed. We’ve had official fan art, team members favouriting and commenting on fan art and lots of little snippets here and there that hinted that this was very possibly going to be canon.

Just like in The Legend of Korra, Korrasami became a thing later in the show. It was stated (I do not have a specific reference for this, mind you) that while the ship wasn’t originally intended, as the characters grew together with the show, the audience/fandom and with the team creating it, it just blossomed and the characters built a life they never expected. Oh, and many of those same people are working on Voltron~

Ninja mullet finds his true love

Straight from the spunky and lovable voice actor for Pidge, Bex Taylor-Klaus posted this while watching Keith find Shiro for the first time in ages in S01:E01 - The Rise of Voltron. Of course, we were quite excited to see this.

Bonus:

While this one didn’t quite catch on, it’s still pretty freaking precious. Sadly I could not find the original link to these.

Patience Yields Focus

This is a phrase that pops up quite a bit through the series. Each time delivered from Shiro as though this has been advice he’s given to Keith over and over, probably beginning from back when he worked with Keith in the Garrison. While it’s a lovely and wise quote all on it’s own, it’s most notable because of:

This scene. In S02:E1: Across the Universe, Keith brings this up as he is searching for Shiro to come to his friend’s aid. When he hears Keith use this line, Shiro’s asks “That really stayed with you didn’t it?” His tone and expression implying that this meant quite a lot to him. THIS then led immediately to our next awesome quote:

If it wasn’t for you, my life would’ve been a lot different

Immediately following Shiro’s amused surprise that Keith kept his wisdom with him for so long, Keith replies with this. From what we know, Shiro has been Keith’s mentor, best friend, sole supporter, and guiding light for as long as he’s known him. Even if it had never been meant to be romantic, the sheer warmth in Keith’s tone reveals a deep affection for just how important in his life Shiro has been to him.

This one’s for you, Shiro

Forced to take the reigns of the Black Lion to keep Team Voltron going, Keith utters this vow before he charges in. Giving the touching moments leading to him taking up of mantle of the Head of Voltron, the fact that everything he does in what he rightfully believes is Shiro’s place, he does for Shiro is heartbreakingly touching. No matter what, Shiro is never far from Keith’s thoughts and he guides his actions from his heart.

Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me. I won’t give up on him.

Facing the loss of his best friend yet again, Keith dedicates himself to finding Shiro who had been lost to the vastness of space at the end of the epic showdown with the villain Zarkon from S02:E13- Blackout and said this line in S03:E01 - Changing of the Guard. Heartbroken, Keith sees the other Paladins of Voltron working their hardest to move on even without Shiro at their fore, and in his pain he assumes they’ve forgotten him. When Princess Allura suggests that it is finally time that they look for a new Black Paladin, Keith staunchly refuses to even consider the idea and lashes out. While we’ve seen many hints at just how important Shiro is to Keith, hearing something so honest and direct was very sobering. As this thankfully worked out in the end, it’s less somber than it was, though no less meaningful.

And, at this moment, your friend desperately wants to see you

In S02:E08- The Blade of Marmora, Keith undergoes a trial as the result of the Galra fighters discovering that Keith himself owns a Galra blade having once belonged to one of their own. The trial is as much physically brutal and exhausting as it is mentally so. Watching over the trial, the leader explains to Shiro that the suit Keith wears will put him through another part of the trial, showing his greatest hopes and fears. With this quote, it was revealed just how deeply Keith adored Shiro and just how much he feared abandonment from him. When the false Shiro hologram turns his back on him, Keith is prepared to give up everything to keep him from leaving, even if that means losing his chance to discover his past. The word ‘desperately’ really struck a chord along with the rest of the episode, showing just how unwavering Keith’s commitment to Shiro was. And when the real Shiro came to Keith’s side, prepared to fight off the entirety of the Blades to see his friend to safety, we knew the feeling was mutual.

How many times are you gonna to have to save me before this is over? / As many times as it takes

S03:E06 - Tailing a Comet -When a wounded, exhausted, confused, and demoralized Shiro is finally brought back after his mysterious disappearance he shares another quietly intimate moment with Keith. Checking up on his friend’s wellbeing, Keith tells him that the rest of the team would love to see them when he is able, the silence that follows feeling heavy with words he won’t add to it. When he finally turns to leave, Shiro somberly asks Keith just how many times he will have to save him before their fight is finally over. After a quiet pause, Keith smiles and answers him. “As man times as it takes.”

This was actually the quote that inspired me to finally work over my shyness and make a blog. I had been silently rooting for Sheith in the background for ages. But this just really tipped me over the edge. Keith and Shiro’s relationship was never loudly proclaimed or thrown around with flowers and parades. It was this quiet constant, that was always present. They had been through so much together and through countless battles, loss and struggles, their unwavering and mutual commitment to each other was honestly humbling. And that made this scene / quote all the more special for it.

Beloved Mentor / Nothing was worth Shiro’s pain /Guiding Light

Actually for this, I’d like to turn to one of the awesome meta writers for our fandom @dent-de-leon (I highly recommend following them if you want to see some quality content. I know I’ve really appreciated their insight and jived with what they say!)

Dent-de-leon has an amazing master post that they made with a TON of the interview and inside quotes we’ve gotten from all of the amazing people behind Voltron. As I feel it would be a disservice to the awesome post and the time that went into hunting all those bits plus the sources down, I’d like to just link you to it HERE!

You made a promise to me once. You told me you’d never give up on me

Ohhhh boy, we got a lot from S06:E05 - The Black Paladins. When Kuron, the clone of Shiro who is essentially Shiro in nearly every aspect is controlled by Haggar in an attempt to rid their presence through mutual destruction, we are treated to some of the most heartwrenching scenes we have seen throughout the entire series.

Forced to fight his beloved friend in what could have been a fight to the death, Keith never once gives up on him.

In an attempt to shake Shiro out of his mind control, Keith reminds him of the promise he made to Keith long ago.

I love you

I don’t think I’d ever seen a love triumphs over evil trope so potently built up and displayed. With an absolutely heartbreaking performance, Steven Yeun had most of us staring dumbfounded at the tv/monitor wondering if we had just hallucinated. I personally have watched this over and over and even after the millionth time it still makes my chest ache. At the very end of his rope and facing destruction at the hands of his most beloved friend in the whole universe, Keith bares his heart and we mourned with him just as much as we celebrated something so beautiful.

I will never give up on you, but more importantly, you can’t give up on yourself

When Keith and Shiro are falling to what appears to be their demise, we see something that most of us has been excitedly imagining for years. It’s been clear how important Shiro has been to Keith all his life, especially at the Garrison and there are so many amazing headcanons, comics, and other gorgeous pieces of art depicting what the fans have dreamed up to their lives before Voltron. All we know is that something powerful and meaningful had to happen to inspire so much loyalty and love from someone like Keith. During this scene we see Shiro offer his vow of his own commitment, but also of how important he finds it for Keith to believe in himself as well. This has been a constant theme between the two since the first episode. And seeing this sent most of us into a whole new wave of tears after the initial shock of “I love you.”

You found me

S06:E06 - All Good Things. With multiple threats ended, the ultimate sacrifice of the Castle of Lions to save the universe and the knowledge that Shiro’s spirit has been in the Black Lion and that we’re left with the fading body of the clone that fought Keith, all things seem to be hanging on a thread. But with the clone essentially being Shiro with the exception of the mind control and Shiro’s spirit still without a body, Allura demonstrates the amazing and mystic power of her Altean heritage and recovers Shiro’s spirit, placing it inside the clones body and finally uniting them body, soul, mind, and memories all together into a single entity. Calling back all the way to Season 3 when Keith vehemently vowed that he would find Shiro, to when he breathlessly whispered “you found him” to the Black Lion when Kuron was fading in his dying breaths, Shiro brings everything back full circle. Cradled in Keith’s arms, Shiro leans into him and softly tells him. “You found me.”

Cue the crying all over again.

You’re Everything to Me

And after this long and wonderful journey, we’ve received yet another beautiful quote from the team. In an interview with the Main Story Editor Josh Hamilton today from the Let’s Voltron official podcast. He quotes:

Q: So a lot of people were asking, he says “you’re my brother.” A lot of people were saying is that literal brother or is that just a you know, brotherly figure?

JH: It’s–a lot of the time the words don’t matter, it’s like the way you say it. You know what I mean? It’s like, he says you’re my brother, you know, and when he does eventually say “I love you,” those words matter. It’s like “you know you’re my brother, you’re everything to me.” You know, that brotherly love. So it’s hard for him. But no, literally? I hope I’m not spoiling anything, but no.

—-

I think that says it all here. What a gift. I know that scene in the Black Paladins meant a lot to many of us. But hearing this just left me absolutely speechless. In the best of ways. Tears of victory!

And with the hint that we will be finding out more about Shiro and Keith’s past in the Garrison along with all of the events leading up to here, you can bet we’re all eagerly awaiting what we’ll see in Season 7.

But man, it’s been so, so worth it. For many of us, these two mean so much more than just a simple story. And that in it of itself is quite the gift.

Thank you Anon for inspiring me to put this together. It was a wonderful way to spend my night

Thank you for answering my question. There were many things you said that I agreed with, and some things that I didn't agree with, but overall I'm glad that you told me your thoughts on the matter. If you don't mind, I do have another question that I want to ask you. I just wanted to know whether or not you think Voltron's reputation is completely unsalvageable at this point - like, do you think it will ever have the same love and respect it once did? Again, thank you.

No problem! Everybody has their own feelings on it, everybody’s different, etc. That’s part of why I included a bit more of a personal bit when discussing Shiro: everyone’s going to have a opinion based on their own personal aspects. 

The reputation of the show is something I’m not so sure about, sadly. As seasons progressed, the reactions have slowly but surely just turned more and more negative and vitriolic.

Which if the show has disappointed some viewers, that’s totally fine, I’m not going to tell them that they’re wrong for not enjoying it. I’ve been through plenty of shows that I enjoyed that by the end I wasn’t satisfied with. That’s just how things go sometimes.

But the continuing trend I’ve seen that, instead of choosing to move on to a show that they enjoy more, they continue to stew and focus on what they hate.

Don’t get me wrong, venting and talking about it in itself isn’t a bad thing. That’s just having an opinion and expressing/explaining it. And being critical of a piece of media isn’t a bad thing. But when it gets to a point of doing nothing but stewing in the negativity of how much you dislike a show, and spreading that hate as much as possible, then it gets excessive. Which is not really a healthy thing to do. I caught myself doing it back in the day with a few shows, and ultimately I eventually had to take a step back and look at what I was doing: I wasn’t enjoying it, I was just enjoying hating it. And it was cathartic for a bit, but eventually it stopped being and it was just me staying angry for the sake of staying angry. And when I realized it, I questioned what I was getting out of it.

The answer was just “making myself angry.” And I wasn’t enjoying that. So I found new things that made me happy and excited again.

It’s a growing fandom trend that I’ve seen a lot: instead of enjoying a piece of media, it’s become about finding every flaw it has - whether valid or nitpick, objective or subjective - and breaking it down until enjoying it is either no longer possible or something people should do. Instead of it being about liking something, it becomes all about disliking something.

Because the show has ended, and the overwhelming amount of negativity over the show has only grown steadily, I’m sadly not sure if positivity will ever be as prevalent. Hopefully with time and the continued release of new media and content, those who dislike the show now will find something new an positive to focus on, and this trend of fandoms being about discourse can eventually fade as a whole. Fandoms go through phases, so I don’t think this trend will last forever. 

I still love and enjoy the show - it’s why I still draw art of it, continue to work on the Cadet Squad Ask Blog and try to keep that blog as positive as possible. And I hope people who still enjoy the show aren’t pushed to feel bad for still liking it. 

I wish I could give a more happy, reassuring response to this like “Oh sure it there’ll be plenty of love for the show widespread again!” But the reputation as a whole is a much bigger and more fickle thing, sadly. All I can do is try to be the positivity I want to see and hope that helps others be positive as well.

Thanks.

My worth is not determined by who I am, my personality isn't because of my race. Even if I cant see my worth yet, doesn't mean I don't have it, my intelligence is there, in tiny bits and pieces. My body shape // size doesn't make me less human. If I have something others don't, it's okay; I know that my weakness makes me stronger. My skin colour may not be 'normal' but it is mine, and I wear it with pride.

Each Paladin taught me this, former or new. Throughout 8 seasons, we've seen the paladins get their breaks. The end is here, but it is also the beginning to something greater.

Keith taught me the importance of accepting who I am, and that no matter what nobody can define me.

Lance taught me that, I may not see what I am worth, but sooner or later my worth will show.

Pidge taught me, no matter what I am, my intelligence will prove them wrong. My mind makes up for my height.

Hunk taught me that my body shape doesn't matter, anyone can do good; I should learn to love and be accepting to myself.

Shiro taught me, my mind; although it may be broken, I can find peace with myself. After long battles, and many questions, I am not what they say, I'm just me.

Allura taught me that my skin colour doesn't matter in the end, you can wear it with shame or pride. Your value as a person isn't determined by that.

Thank you Voltron.

So I recently checked our your We Hallowed Few fanfic and it's really interesting and enjoyable so far. If you don't mind, do you think you could tell me what each character is supposed to be (their race and such?)

Thank you very much for your time and interest in Hallowed! I’m not totally sure if I’m correctly interpreting their question but, here goes, talking about inspirations and motifs on the main characters.

As far as race goes I tried to keep that relatively standard to this fantasy world. So the characters’ names aren’t just legacies from canon. Shiro is still, functionally, Japanese. I say “functionally” because I’m not saying “in Hallowed, a world with fantasy everything else, there is just the entire unchanged nation of Japan and I just maybe changed the name”. I’ve never really liked the “fantasy nation just thinly veiled adaptation of [x] real-world country” since I feel like that can lead to bad roads. However, Shiro is canonically Japanese, and that, like him being canonically disabled, is something I wanted to retain, so I did.

More specific notes on Hallowedverse characters, their capabilities, and their sorta walks of life to follow under the cut.

Shiro

My concept on Shiro in Hallowed is that the Arusian crown was there for him sort of the way the Garrison seems to have been in canon. For one reason or another he didn’t really have parents, so he was trained as a page then a squire and became a knight because he wanted to do good in the kingdom. In Hallowed we’re shamelessly operating off high fantasy’s concept of knighthood rather than real feudal history so Shiro’s no landed noble, nor is he of particularly aristocratic background. Except for the whole “was mysteriously spirited away for a year of his life and might be undead now” thing, he’s a guy of pretty humble background.

That said, he has distinguished himself positively among his peers- in the chapter that debuts Allura and Thace I did have them discuss that he’s actually a knight captain in rank, so, modest leadership position. In contrast to canon he’s a little more stable but also a little more... prone to hiding his issues since again, the crown and the Order of the Lion was there to pick him back up again after his escape. This is a Shiro who wasn’t sprung from Garrison custody by the rest of the team the way he was in canon, so on the one hand he’s given a stabler environment to get his feet back under him, but on the other, missing hand, he also has gone a good while without any answers, so he boils out to still pretty stressed, but in different ways.

I’m honestly really amused that Monsters and Mana gave Shiro a sword-and-shield fighting style almost exactly like his Hallowed self because it just feels really vindicating, like, “I called it!” That said Hallowed Shiro is more of a horseback fighter. That gives him more mobility, a better vantage point, and, likewise, the ability to better coordinate a battlefield.

Ultimately for Shiro, at least, hollow Shiro- not the one Keith’s used to- I went for this very classic knightly vibe because it just fits him so well. This is exactly what Shiro would want to be. For a person of such a strict sense of morals and such a powerful drive to right wrongs, the Knight In Shining Armor is an incredibly powerful symbol and living in a world where that’s normal would be just as captivating to him as it’s shown to be in canon.

Keith

Keith is a lot more of a vagrant than his canon self and he’s a little more self-sufficient and withdrawn. Because of Shiro’s situation, Keith didn’t have nearly as much of that steadying presence but he was able to travel, and familiarize himself with the wilderness. It’s helped him hone his senses more but he’s also more of a defeatist about interactions and other people.

Especially because unlike in canon, this version of Keith has a much more refined sense of “otherness”. He’s known he’s not like most people, not quite like his father, not really like anyone around him. Honestly, certain amounts of Keith play into changeling lore, not that he was switched at birth but this sort of... nonhuman entities that live among humans and can “pass” but only mostly.

Hallowed Keith’s whole fighting style is basically that he goes ‘swhink’ real fast. That blood sword of his basically can punch right through most conventional metals and most things behind it, so the fact that he’s a malnourished kid with absolutely zero armor or even a healthy amount of body fat who the average well-fed adult could grab by the ankle and swing means that it’s a damn good thing he’s light on his feet.

Maybe, someday, this kid will get decent armor. Not shoes, though. He’s pretty obstinate about those.

Lance

It’s kinda fun that the guy who doesn’t really canonically have “destiny” powers most of the time be one of the only people with nonhuman lineage. Technically he’s still a pretty normal person, though; there’s a lot of people in the islands Lance calls home with mer ancestry so really all it is, is adding some fantastical color to his family which is already really important to him. In a setting where everyone’s bumping elbows in the same planet rather than separated by the expanse of space, there’s going to be a lot of interrelation and in some places, shared culture.

And Lance is an ideal person to explore that, since he’s kinda got that broader sociological lens as a Leg Pilot. He’s a good way to explore worldbuilding because his story is rooted a lot in who he is and where he comes from in a wider sense. In earlier drafts of the story he was a more conventional selkie-like merfolk who could shed his scale skin to grow legs, but I ended up focusing his nonhuman traits down to just his throat, just his voice.

I talked about this a bit in the replies on the work itself, but how Lance’s “charm” works is he’s able to encourage emotions in people. It’s not mind control, but influencing how people feel for a short duration. He uses this with his, Hunk, and Pidge’s show to have everybody on the edge of their seat, but ultimately if I was giving Lance a power, I wanted it to be a very social one, something very focused on other people.

Lance isn’t really a liar or a manipulator- we’ll see other people with similar powers who are a lot more exploitative with them, but in Lance’s case, he’s got a real art for positive emotions and persuasion because that’s just kinda what he likes and focuses on. He loves people and wants them to be happy.

Weapon-wise, Lance is a longbow archer. This is not only a reflection of his canon marksmanship, but the longbow is a weapon mastered over a long time and it speaks to something I don’t think people often appreciate quite enough in Lance’s character: that as someone who’s very pointedly not a prodigy and by his own admission makes a lot of mistakes, almost everything Lance is good at is a product of his diligence and hard work. 

Keith might be almost supernaturally light on his feet and the refinement of those skills snuck by without him paying attention, but Lance can drop someone he can barely see over the horizon with a well-placed arrow because he’s been running around with a child’s toy bow about as long as he’s been able to stand up straight and practiced until his fingers bled from the string.

Hunk

Hallowed Hunk I honestly didn’t plan as much as he was a natural product of his environment. In canon the team has a lot of conveniences born by the advanced technology around them but in Hallowed it’s a lot more low-tech. There’s food supplies to worry about, and someone’s got to cook it, and they need the tools to cook, and they need money, and someone needs to keep the cart in one piece and feed the horses and Blue.

Hunk is a practical problem-solver so he really kinda thrives in this. He starts out a little more obviously brash and assured as a result, but really, he’s in the same place his canon self starts, it’s just that Hallowed Hunk gets to feel like more things are in his area. He’s been traveling with Lance for a while, and while Lance is the furthest thing from helpless, Lance is also kind of a dreamer and very people focused and slightly inattentive, so Hunk might’ve started picking up slack to make things run smoothly but after a while he’s just kinda taken ownership of the operation.

I knew I wanted to conceptualize Hunk as an alchemist because I tend to in fantasy settings, but not so much as the aristocratic sage in the tower. Hunk’s alchemy is a product of him being, again, that practical person and also intensely personally curious, and he’s not a flirt like Lance, but he does like people. As he says himself, he’s running on a lot of old family recipes refined with self-taught tricks which sets a fun contrast between him and Pidge, where both are really knowledgeable, but Hunk’s knowledge is very much that of the working man’s, and since his working life has been more interesting than most’s, that’s a wide knowledge base.

While this wasn’t shown off much in the first fight the team got into, it’s worth noting that Hunk’s weapon of choice is a hooked staff. Again, Hunk is someone of practical problems and solutions, and roughly, the way he views a battle is as a series of problems that will happen very fast and need to be managed. He doesn’t have nearly as much focus on hurting his opponent as he does controlling the situation, and with his arm strength it’s very easy for him to use that hook to hoist around friend and foe alike.

The reach of his weapon and the explosives and incendiary devices he can pull off if he’s given the time to prepare make him a very daunting person to cross indeed, so he’s not exactly suffering from not having a sharpened edge on his weapon.

Pidge

People often make Pidge a full-tilt actualized wizard which isn’t awful but I think it often sort of overestimates her resources. Pidge, to me, is always this very clever but also very fifteen-year-old who’s running on just what she can carry with her, determined and ambitious but limited.

So in Hallowed, she’s got a lot of magical talent but not much training, she’s got a lot of formal studies that were very theory because in direct contrast to Hunk, Pidge has that aristocratic background. Her family wasn’t complacent, but, there’s a lot Pidge never learned to do because she never needed to. And leaving that comfortable life behind wasn’t something she regretted, but, there’s a reason she started traveling with Lance and Hunk.

Specifically I wanted to feature Pidge being kind of a chameleon, inspired directly by the Enola Holmes books with Nancy Springer. Originally I had her with this brooch that let her change her appearance but Pidge’s actual disguise magic is pretty minimal- she can change her eye colors, and the rest is makeup, wigs, fake teeth, costuming elements. She originally had a very specific practical reason for wanting to disguise herself, but, again, compared to canon she was doing this for a while- so it kind of became fun, and an exercise in self-expression.

That said, some of Pidge’s skills are a little odd for just a duchess’s daughter, which is why Hunk assumed Pidge was on the lam from some kind of criminal past. Let’s just say Pidge is not the average “runaway princess” narrative.

Other Shiro

The other Shiro was modeled first and foremost off s3e5 in canon. So he’s got the long hair, kind of ongoing fatigue problems, he’s quieter and more irritable than Knightly Shiro but a lot of that is just... he’s dealing with a lot. He’s constantly exhausted and while he feels, much like Knightly Shiro, called to do something important, he’s fighting uphill against his own body which is in a very fragile state.

Knight Shiro is kitted out by the crown, so he’s really well-equipped and has helpful things to keep him healthy and in good shape, while Other Shiro is using things that he took from the underground, and from the galra, which, while useful, were never designed with his comfort or even longevity much in mind, which is part of why he’s doing so badly.

I honestly thought it would be kind of fun to have two versions of Shiro who are both sympathetic but both, for different reasons, in different ways, seem sinister, and play on the fears or aspersions I saw people raise during clone theory. Knight Shiro is based on how, in s3e6 when Shiro “cleaned up” there were a lot of accusations about how he just. rebounded so easily and perceiving him as insincere or even creepy because he’s just, everything’s neat and tidy. Knightly Shiro is really straitlaced and friendly aesthetic and he went missing for a year, lost an arm, and was branded by practically demons but it’s fine, everything’s fine, he’s here to help, and it’s basically just a survival mantra for him because not being fine raises terrifying deep questions that he’s not really in a position to answer.

Ghost Shiro however, we’ve seen kind of an overly positive / accepting light of him through Keith but he is one freaky guy, I’ll tell you that. There’s a reason he avoids most people, and the snippet of his conversation with Lotor and the unnatural writhing of shadows, his black stone hand... Ghost Shiro was based a little off of “the champion” in canon and some of my personal meta / speculations around that. He was cast into the darkness and emerged, survived, because he made that darkness his own power. And part of that is his agreement with Lotor.

Lotor

There’s only so much I’ll say at this point about Hallowed Lotor because he’s rather deliberately kind of an enigma. There’s a good question if the person Shiro’s dealing with is actually who and what he claims to be, especially since he’s not claiming particularly much. The fun of dealing with shapeshifters who don’t appear to have any one particular default form- and he really doesn’t. Being a magpie is just his equivalent of slipping into comfy pants at the end of the day. Hitch a free ride on whoever you’re talking to and call it good.

Lotor and Shiro are shown in many regards to be able to kind of see eye to eye, and the idea of Ghost Shiro, who doesn’t really have a lot of resources since his Other is kinda taking up that narrative niche, turning to him for help struck me out of nowhere as the logical conclusion. Hallowed Lotor being a shapeshifter, he’s at both much greater and much lesser freedom than he is in canon. He and the generals don’t get to move together as a cohesive team very often, they’re more scattered, but instead he has this handful of people, Shiro included, who he can kind of draw a bead on and come back to. Ghost Shiro is pretty used to him popping up at odd intervals.

Which is fun, because it fits with Lotor’s modus operandi- Zarkon and Haggar tend to be rather obvious in the intensity of their assertions, but Lotor’s the little guy and he fights like a little guy, and in a more whimsical fantastical environment you can play with that. End result? Lotor is a lot of people’s shoulder devil. He likes to help and does appear to have some genuine sympathy for the people he bargains with, but he’s also got an agenda. And it’s not really super clear how much of either wins out in any given situation.

And poor Allura and Coran are still total mysteries at this point. We’ll get to them. Y’know. Eventually.

Vld anon back, Keith mom thingy. Wasn't she Galra? I thought she was because Keith's blade comes form his mom. So, maybe this is the break for the team from Keith. Keith's probably screaming at the or maybe he doesn't exactly go ballistic? Maybe for just a second all emotions show on his face and then they're gone. Completely. No anger, no pain, nothing. Just telling the Paladins to get the woman far away from him. And maybe they don't want to because they think Keith needs it, a mom. (1/2)

But he doesn’t want a mom, he never had my gosh he hates her so much.Lance has a big family and it pisses him off that Keith’s so quick to leave his. Pidge lost 2 family members and it also pisses her off. Hunk misses his family and he’s confused on why Keith would hate his mother. Shiro is had a brief idea that Keith might not want to meet his mother. Allura and Coran lost their people and everyone they loved, so they’re also confused. They gang up on Keith trying to get him go to his mom (2/2)

That moment when Anon comes back! ╰(✧∇✧╰)

So, thanks for visiting again, I can’t believe this is a thing! Hi Anon!

Okay, back to topic. 

So maybe, Keith’s mom is Galran. Maybe she is even part of the Blade of Malmora but no one really knows because I am guessing that human/galran offspring don’t happen all the time with all the surprised “WTF”s Keith got when he activated his sword or whatever. 

Maybe, in like, a giant picture of the whole spectrum of Keith, everyone thinks, yeah, in theory, moms are usually a good thing to have. 

Keith is the only one who really never speaks about it and even when they found out he was Galran, it wasn’t much different. The only thing that changed was Keith going from, “Not telling you shit” to “They didn’t tell me anything so what am I supposed to tell you?”

So maybe, they find Galran Girl Keith and are like, “Oh, let’s surprise him and bring her back and make this a happy family reunion.”

And then Keith, for all the love we have for the man, acts like a five-year-old. 

Because that is normally Keith’s reaction to things. 

Also, his Galran genes (as were hinted at in his vlog) make it so his emotions and understanding of some situations are a bit *cough cough* off-kilter.

So maybe Keith goes nuts because one, what the actual hell were you thinking bringing her and two, what the actual hell?

Maybe, instead of hate, Keith is just, “Oh so you think I need a mom? That, what? I can’t handle my emotions by myself so I need some sort of babysitter that is going to tell me all the secrets of being me? That I would need or even want something like that?”

(I honestly don’t think Keith hates his mom but also, I honestly believe Keith isn’t completely understanding of the whole “mom” situation either. So he would view it as a weakness, as a handicap he needs because he is maybe a bit Galran and we all know he knows who he is but he also knows who people view him to be.

And like, in the episode where his mom is actually mentioned, Keith doesn’t show a lot of emotion. It is a bit weird for me… I don’t know.)

And maybe he is just, “You need to get that woman away from me, I don’t need her, I don’t want her, I am like, two seconds away from doing something everyone is going to regret.”

Maybe Shiro can see, would try to diffuse the situation because Shiro is literally the only one who normally does, especially in Keith’s burst of emotions that normally aren’t completely understandable, but Lance, who has a family, or Pidge, who lost her family, are like, “What is wrong with you?”

I feel like Mother X over there would maybe understand too, with all the Galran going on, maybe she is just, “We should probably all just calm down.”

And everything winds itself up until BOOM, we have a singular moment that X says or does something and then everything crashes down around the Voltron Team and the world breaks apart because, what the actual hell.

I feel like Mother X would excuse herself at this moment, would maybe realize this isn’t the time to be trying to play, “Put the family back together”.

And then, maybe, Keith goes off to the Blade of Malmora for actual answers and to maybe train himself because even he seemed a bit willing to figure this whole mess out and we are left with them trying to figure out how to do Voltron without the main guy because I don’t think Shiro is getting back into the Black Lion. 

Or maybe he does. 

Maybe, everything we have right now isn’t even a complete puzzle piece and we are all going to be blindsided because the directors and writers and everyone else is just, “So here is a tiny bit of information, just tell us all your ideas so we can crush them to smithereens.”

Yeah.

Maybe I just like to overthink things and just, throw out random crap without really realizing anything other than the few tiny snippets I feel like I have…

Can We Talk? - Chapter 3

I need a better summary.

Summary:

Lance sends Keith out of all people a video at 4 am, along with 57 messages that get increasingly more and more worrisome. Something is wrong.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 

Keith sighed and flopped down on his bed after Hunk hung up the phone. He closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe. So this wasn't a joke. It was real.

He could still hardly believe it. Lance McLain’s mother, Mrs. McLain, Lance’s favorite person in the entire world, slapped him. That was an anomaly, something like that didn't just happen without reason. Keith hoped with all his heart that he’d find that reason in the video. He took a deep breath, sat up, and pressed play.

“Keith….I ran away.”

Lance held his arms tighter to his chest and looked away from the camera.

“Things are….not good at home. Everyone used to be so happy, they were all so relieved that I was home. You were there when I reunited with my family. All of us crying outside my house, just one huge happy mess. Remember my nieces and nephews throwing themselves onto me so hard that I fell over?”

Lance laughed. Keith smiled, he had missed that sound. And he remembered that day. After defeating the Galra Empire, the Paladins were allowed to finally rest and go home. Their job was not done; obviously, there were still some Galra operatives and colonies, but their line of successors and more than three-quarters of the empire was gone. Zarkon, Haggar, and Lotor were all defeated and Allura had decided that the Paladins were in need of a break. Perhaps retirement. After fighting for the universe for 2 years, they deserved at least a few months rest. From there they would decide if Voltron was still necessary.

Keith expected that the rest of the team would never want to go back into space ever again after that experience. He was wrong. Sure enough, all of the Paladins decided to return to their studies in the Garrison (excluding Shiro who was going back to work not study). That gave them the summer to just breathe. And remember.

Lance had forced the entire team to come with him to see his family. Everyone was ecstatic, but Keith. He was hesitant, was it a good idea? He was no good at meeting new people. What if he made a fool of himself? What if Lance’s family judged him? What if they hated him? Seeing Lance run to greet his parents changed his mind. Watching Lance’s mother cover her mouth and sob, reaching to touch her son’s face, his dad suffocating him in a tight hug, and his siblings squeezing him, it all felt so warm and supportive. And totally out of Keith’s element.

Nonetheless, Lance’s family forced him and the rest of the group to join in on the love and there they stayed for a while, hugging and crying. Mrs. And Mr. McLain tearfully thanking them for keeping their little boy safe in space, with Lance whining in the background. Sharing stories about space with everyone. It was a good day.

“Oh my god. I don't remember the last time we were all so happy. When I was that happy.” His smile faded away.

“And then….everyone got scared. To see me leave again. Because what if I went missing again? How long would it take for me to come back this time? What if I never came back? And that was only because I wanted to come back to America. When I told them that I was going back to space and they, well, freaked out.”

No shit Sherlock.

“They didn't like the idea of me going back to the Garrison and hated the thought of me piloting the Blue Lion again or forming Voltron. ‘Too dangerous,’ they said. ‘Leave it to someone who knows what they are doing’. ‘The universe doesn't need you defending them.’ ‘Someone else could do a better job.’” Lance winced and hugged himself even tighter.

“I don't think they were trying to be mean or anything, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, I don't know. When I tried to talk back and say that the universe did need me they-”

He self-consciously rubbed his cheek and lowered his eyes to the ground in shame. Keith held in a breath and clutched his phone.

“....things escalated pretty quickly.”

Lance shook his head. “I just….don't know what's going on. This isn't like my family, they don't….” He stopped to wipe his watering eyes. In a shaky, unstable tone he continued. “They don't act this way. I know why they’re upset, but this is my choice. Shouldn't I be able to make it?” He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling.

“The universe needs us, Keith. Even if we defeated most of the Galra Empire, there are so many galaxies in the universe that still need to be freed. I wasn't going to let them down. So I fought back. Probably not my smartest idea. But I told them that I needed to go back. That people depended on me and that no matter what they weren't going to stop me from doing what needed to be done. And so…”

He turned around and reached into a backpack behind him, pulling out a small bag. He emptied it into his hands and moved them toward the camera so Keith could see.

Keith gasped. That couldn't be-

“Yeah. My parents weren't really ah cool with the idea.” He laughed without a trace of humor in his voice.

“So the communicator for the Blue Lion that Allura gave us before we left? This is it.”

Keith stared at the crumbled broken pieces of machinery in his hands. They were smashed into little silver and aqua bits, no hope of ever being fixed. They looked like the remains of a broken dream.

“That was the last straw, Keith. I….I just couldn't take it anymore. I left. Just walked away from the conversation. There was nothing left to be said.” Lance took a deep shaky breath and wiped his eyes.

“I ran to my room, slammed the door shut and locked it. I thought I would just stay in there for a while but I knew that it wouldn't solve anything. So I packed up my stuff and-”

He snorted as he laughed.

“And I jumped out of the window! Oh my god, I did a Keith I jumped out of the window with my backpack full of stuff and just ran. Didn't know where I was going and what I was doing, I just knew I needed to get out of that house.”

Lance shook his head and laughed dryly.

“And now I'm here! Alone, scared, and clueless. I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm emotionally unstable, and I would really appreciate it if you replied with advice that is not ‘Go back home’. Please tell me something that is actually useful for once because Keith, I'm not sure where I am or how I got here I just know,”

He looked straight at the camera, his eyes burning with passion and dripping with tears.

“I'm never going back.”

(Hera goddess AU) Omfg I can just picture Pidge being like "??? If she was in there don't you think she's dangerous" then they all look over to Hera who spots the mice and is instantly in love with them; she runs over to pet them but falls on her face and the paladins are like ???? Bitch you thought ??? The only thing dangerous about her is her magnetic nose that is constantly being pulled to the floor like wut ???

Ok ok ok ok Iove the Mythology AU my anon buddies have cooked up. How bout something similar to the statue one but now there’s a little antique-so thingy that is on display in Allura’s castle, little is really known about it other than it has been passed down for centuries. One day one of the paladins bump into it and it shatters on the floor; a bright light emanates from the pieces and reveals the goddess Hera (Queen of the Gods; reader). (P1)

(P2) Allura was mad af at first but now she’s like “wtf Coran did you know about this?” They asked for her name but OH NO! She can only remember her name, Hera, and can’t remember anything about her background due to being entrapped in the artifact for so damn long. One of the paladins (maybe pidge idk) start to think that she is dangerous because she was put in there to be kept away from everything, but soon they all realized that she was stored away so something could be kept from her…

(P3) about the Goddess Hera: she is a very patient and motherly disposition, looking after all of those she cares about. Her patience is made of steel and she hardly ever gets angry. Many say she is gullible but she actually sees more than they think. however she sometimes has a tendency to let people step all over her even when she knows they are doing it. She was a powerful queen who ruled over the heavens and the earth, responsible for every aspect of existence.

(P4) she has super strength, immortality, and resistance to injury, and because of the particular section of Greek Life that she resided over she had that ability to bless and curse marriages. She was also able to protect women from rape, death during childbirth, and help preserve the health of women. Now, “who would want her” you must ask!! Well of course The Galra of course!! Her legend has also been passed down many centuries, once word spread back to them, they were interested once again DUN

I’ll most likely be doing a part 2! But I’m not sure yet, it depends really

“What shop do you speak of, Pidge?” Allura asked, Pidge dragged her by her hand along the halls. Leading her to a small room that held a small shop. Statues and tools lie everywhere, and each of the Paladins gazed at something foreign.

“Oh! This is something my family has owned for a long time! It gets passed down along the generations!” Allura grinned, showing that she’s forgotten about it due to the busy time she’s been having. She immediately went around and looked for things that her and her father used to gaze in wonder at.

“Ah!” Hunk shouted. Lance had tripped and bumped into him, causing his shoulder to tap into the statue that stood in the center, he reached for it, grasping the stone hand. That only swung it even faster toward the ground, causing it to shatter. Coran appeared at the door and gasped, everyone did, in fact. Staring wide eyed at the shattered pieces of stone scattered along the floor. Before Allura and Shiro could scold Hunk, the room began to glow an eerie green. It was slow and steady, foggy and bright and no one could see a thing.

“Hello.” You said, now sitting criss cross on the floor, hands in your lap. The Paladins all stared at you in disbelief, though you had no idea why, you were just sitting down. Maybe it’s a bad thing? You stood, brushing the debris off of your gown and grinning. Fingers interlocked as you bowed and said yet another greeting.

“Coran, care to explain?” Allura said, still frozen in place. Coran coughed and shrugged, he had no idea what just happened and if anything, he was more confused than anybody in the shop. Shiro stepped forward, smiling awkwardly before shrugging as well. He had no idea what to do. Hunk as well, as he still stood by the pedestal where you once stood, fingers covering his mouth and his eyes wide. Allura approached you, standing a few feet away as she smiled. Quite passive-aggressive, may I add.

“You’re name?”

“Hello! I’m Hera!” A closed-smile spread by your lips and you grabbed her arm. Shaking her hand and grasping her elbow. Allura smiled, while the Paladins stopped. Hera? Isn’t she the Queen of the Gods?

“Wait? Hera? Like, Queen of The Gods Hera? Like, Zeus and Aphrodite?” Lance spoke first, stepping forward and glaring in disbelief. Not only were they in the presence of a Goddess, but then the Gods were maybe real, and all those History Lessons on Ancient Greece and Rome were actually necessary.

“Yes! Have you seen them around? The last thing I remember is…oh.” You stopped, becoming very confused.

“What is it?” Shiro asked.

“I can’t remember anything.” You poured, jutting out your hip as you bent your knee, a finger tapping your nose as you tried so very hard to remember.

“Shiro, come here.” Keith whispered, Shiro approached him and waved over the others while Coran kept you busy. Turns out, both Pidge, Hunk, and Keith couldn’t trust you one bit.

“I don’t think we should keep her, I don’t know, alive anymore? She was put in that statue for a reason, most likely to trap her so she couldn’t do anything bad.” Pidge whispered, they all turned to look at you. You gasped and clapped your hands as you saw the mice.

“Oh! How adorable!” You grinned, jogging over to them only to trip over your gown, your cheek slapping into the ground as you giggled and gathered the mice in your arms. Lance turned to Pidge with a rather unamused facial expression, and playfully shoved their shoulder.

“Yeah, Pidge, I think we should just sit her down and ask her some questions. See if she actually lost her memory or not.” Shiro said, dismissing them as they led you to the dining room.

“So, your name is Hera. That’s all you can remember?” Keith asked, elbows on his knees as he grew even more curious about you. You began to think again, fingers tapping against the white table. The golden rings on your fingers bringing echoes amongst the room.

“Well. I don’t remember much about the past, but I do know my abilities,” you said, sitting up straighter before continuing. “I have immortality, I don’t get hurt at all, and I may have super strength! That’s all I really remember though…” you sighed, slouching once again as your tapped your rings against the hard table.

“Do you know why you were, correct me if I’m wrong, out into a statue?”

“Well actually, I wasn’t really put into the statue, they kind of just put my soul into a cast and filled it with cement. That is one thing I remember as well. And no, I’m afraid I have no clue as to why they encased my soul in granite. Not at all, and quite frankly it’s starting to make me upset.” Now you stood, being careful as you held the fabric of your green dress up. Next thing they know, they started to believe that perhaps your were in there to be kept safe. But why? And from who?

“The Galra.” Lance scoffed, rolling his eyes. It made him angry, why did the Galra have to be so greedy. And now, Lance’s statement had Allura once again asking if Coran knew about this. To which he once again, said he had no idea what was going on. He said, that maybe King Alfor wanted it to be kept secret for this exact reason.

“Well, I suppose I could go search for my home? I wouldn’t like to be a bother and cause any unnecessary trouble for you.” You said, fumbling with your hands as your face grew more and more worried. The others stood and reassured to you that they’d keep you safe, and that you weren’t a bother at all.

“Oh! Well thank you, that’s very kind. But I should at least find my home, there has to be someone or something that could provide me some help.”

Hey there! I don't know if you've thought about it for a while, but I saw you type Keith as an ISTP. I always thought he was an ISFP because, even though he is very intelligent, he tends to rely more on his morals that what's logical. And Fe, regardless of how it's used, wants group consensus and tends to fear judgement. While Keith wants acceptance, he doesn't want to change who he is for that to happen. I just wanted to know your argument because I see him as more of an Fi-dom than a Ti-dom.

HI THERE!! I love MBTI talk sooooo… *rubs fingers together*

Okay, so. I agree Fe wants group consensus and tends to fear judgment, yes, but I feel like this is exactly why it makes a lot of sense as his lowest function. He doesn’t need people’s approval, he is Ti dominant. However, the way he blows up at Pidge for not thinking of others? The way he, DEEP DOWN, does really care about what the people close to him think of him (we see this with Shiro, and also when Allura was cold shouldering him)? These are just but a few examples of inferior Fe.

[this got long so, under the cut if you will~]

Pidge’s behavior in stubbornly choosing her own family was very strong Fi. I think if he were Fi, he would probably think “Yeah, let her do her own thing because I’d want to be able to do my thing too” because Fi often assume other people have an internal world like theirs. Shiro (INFJ) lets her go, but in a very Fe way (”That’s not how a team works”), but Keith’s inferior Fe causes him to blow up. He has Fe in his stacking in that he’s totally is aware and conscious of how Pidge’s choice will affect other people, the team, the universe (“Everyone in the universe has families!”) Then, when Hunk continues to talk about how he misses his family too, I think that’s when Keith really loses it. He’s listening to everyone talk about missing their families, but they’re missing the point he sees, which is that everyone needs to be thinking beyond themselves, and that if they know what it’s like to miss their families so much, they should understand what it means to defend the universe from Zarkon tearing everything apart. He assumes they should think beyond and about other people. However, I think because Fe is his inferior function, he doesn’t handle it well and it leads to angry outbursts, which is pretty common of ISTPs.

Side note: one of the things I see on the description of Fi-doms is: “They are quite mindful of others’ hearts [and] usually have an innate sense of how individuals probably feel.” - I just really don’t think that’s Keith, lmao. He doesn’t take to heart what Pidge wants for herself, doesn’t understand why Lance picks on him so much – he just thinks of the objective bigger picture (“Your kick ruined our balance” / “You’re putting the lives of two people over the lives of EVERYONE ELSE in the entire galaxy!”) and isn’t really sensitive or attuned to others’ deeper internal feelings at all.

Also, speaking of, his lines “You’re putting the lives of two people over the lives of EVERYONE ELSE in the entire galaxy!” - is a huge Ni-Fe thing. It’s thinking of the big picture and of the people within it. It’s something that’s inherent and automatically assumed for him, which we also kind of see when he blows up at the Olkari king for leaving his people behind. He’s constantly angry at people for thinking of themselves and putting the general well being and greater good of others aside. It’s also why, I think, he suggests the should leave Allura behind near the end of S1. I don’t think it was a “moral” decision. I think it was a logical one, and one full of Ti at that. He’s called cold by the others, who react emotionally to his idea, but he maintains that it’s a bad idea to deliver Voltron to Zarkon on a big platter. He wants to save Allura, of course, but he’s thinking about the bigger picture and for humanity’s sake, and thinking about it with a detached Ti leading.

Ti and Fi are similar in many ways, as it’s about morals/logic coming from within one’s self. As ISFPs and ISTPs both have Se, it’s easy for the impulsive reckless behaviors to be the most visible thing others see of them from the outside. However, I think Keith is Ti because he has a really healthy detachment from emotions when he makes big decisions (leaving Allura behind) and Ti just seems to drive him so much. He thinks about tactics and what’s logical far more than he retreats inwards and looks at how he feels about things. When he’s at the Balmera, his fault wasn’t necessarily because he was being hot-headed, it was more because he wasn’t emotionally sensitive to the fact that Balmera is a living and breathing planet that needs to be treated with more softness. That feels like a huge absence of Fi to me. Other than that, he’s got a sharp wit and rational thought behind all his intense and impulsive actions. There are also other little implications, even down to the way he’s gathered information on the Blue Lion. It seems like he’s pieced it together with his tertiary Ni and dominant Ti. Things match up like a puzzle in his mind. It’s all in the logical workings.

Also, in regards to your comment “While Keith wants acceptance, he doesn’t want to change who he is for that to happen”: I don’t know how many Ti-dom people you’ve met (I’m married to one actually) but they resist change like hell especially when it comes from other people because of their inferior Fe. They dislike and want to suppress Fe, refusing to adapt or conform to others when they feel social pressure. But it’s there and they feel it and it comes out in unhealthy ways if they don’t let it be and see it as a reliable inferior function. Here’s a link to help with an explanation about inferior Fe. For example, they may “see any kind of emotional or social influence as corrosive and to be counteracted.” I think that really describes Keith’s inferior Fe. For the most part, I don’t see Fi because he’s really level headed and detached from personal values and subjective points of view.

Don’t get me wrong, ISFPs and ISTPs are really similar in so many ways. But I feel that ISFP’s with Fi have a bit more of a softer and sensitive nature. “ISFPs are known for their lack of assertiveness and conflict avoidance. This is partly due to their Fi’s desire to avoid hurting others’ feelings.” (x) - doesn’t sound like Keith to me.

For more, you can read these two links to compare. ISTP vs ISFP.

Hope this helps~

If you don't mind, can you write a Voltron fic about Pidge getting their monthly, including getting cramps and nauseous? Plus any ways that the other paladins (and the Alteans) would do to help?

Shark Week In Space

A/N: I don’t mind at all, Anon! As someone who suffers from mind-bending cramps when the sharks attack, I’m so down for this. (Also Pidge needs more love)

Pidge really hadn’t thought about it when she boarded the Blue Lion for the first time on earth. In fact, it was probably the last thing on her mind, especially while trying to keep her gender a secret from the others. Time flew by fast. The humans met the Alteans, Voltron was formed, and the fight to defeat Zarkon was underway. It was hard to keep track of the days, especially with no regular sun to keep their circadian rhythm.

It was only a few days after she revealed her gender that she woke up to blood-stained sheets.

How long had it been since they left earth? How long had it been since her last cycle? Pidge decided that these questions really didn’t matter. Her period was her now, and it wasn’t going away. Tossing the sheets and pajamas in the hamper, Pidge dragged herself into the shower and watched sleepily as the blood swirled down the drain.

A scary thought only occurred to her after she stepped onto the shower map and shoved on her glasses. I have no supplies. In a bit of a panic, she tore through the bathroom cabinets, looking for anything that would be of use. No tampons, no cups, not even any pads. She usually didn’t prefer the pads, but she would take anything at a time like this. But there was nothing. Thoughts of Altean biology danced around the back of her mind as she sat down in the shower again. At least a shower could be cleaned easily.

Eventually, Pidge remembered the intercom system. With extreme precision, she got herself to the coms without making more of a mess.“Princess Allura? I could use your help.”Coran was the one who responded, “What is it Pidge?”“No, I need to speak with just Allura.”“C’mon, Pidge! We’re a team, we can share each other’s secrets!” Lance cut in, “And you’ve already told us you’re a girl!”Pidge scowled, “It’s none of your business! Allura, just meet me down in my chambers once you get a chance.” She hung up with a forceful press of a button.She wasn’t ashamed of telling anyone about her period. She really wasn’t. It was a part of her life that she learned to deal with, as it was with anyone with the capacity to have a baby. But knowing she was trapped on a ship with four boys and two Alteans, she didn’t think they would take it lightly. Especially Lance.

Princess Allura eventually made it down to Pidge’s chambers, knocking on the bathroom door before entering, “Pidge? What’s so important that we couldn’t talk about it over the com?”“Does this ship have any menstrual supplies?” Pidge paused, “Do Alteans even menstruate?”Allura gave her a blank look. That’s when Pidge knew exactly what she was in for.

After a long explanation of human anatomy, Allura substituted pads with heavy bandages and promised to keep a stock of them in Pidge’s bathroom and in the Green Lion. Of course, that didn’t stop the onslaught of questions when the two returned to the bridge.

“What were you two talking about? Could you not reach the shower nozzle and had to have Princess Tall-ura fix it for you?” Lance chuckled. Pidge ignored him.“Yeah, Pidge, what was that all about?” Hunk joined in. She ignored him as well and sat down at her station. She liked to think that per period didn’t affect her emotions very much, but she was starting to tolerate the boys less and less.Thankfully, Shiro was more considerate about it, “Pidge, it’s important that we all trust each other. That’s how Voltron exists. Is it really so important that only the princess can know?”There was something about the way Shiro asked that got past Pidge’s defenses. She swiveled her chair to face everyone and adjusted her glasses.“It’s…really not that important. It’s just Shark Week.”Shiro’s eyebrows raised, but then fell into an understanding smile. He made no further comments about the subject. Meanwhile, the rest of the boys looked on in confusion.“Shark Week? Did you get cable all the way up here?” Lance asked, looking more excited than he should, “It’s been years since Discovery Channel aired that show! Can we project it on the holodeck?!”“No….no, Lance. I’m flying the Japanese Flag.”Keith’s eyes widened, and he swiveled his chair back to his station. Hunk did the same with a less horrified expression. Lance was still dumbfounded.“So we’re representing Japan now? Not just defending the universe?”Pidge’s patience was up, “No, Lance, you idiot! I’m on my fucking period!”The Blue Paladin’s jaw dropped and his face went red, “Wh-why would you tell me that?!”“You asked!”“How are we going to form Voltron now?!”“My period doesn’t affect forming Voltron, Numbskull! The only thing it affects is you being so freaked out about it!”Pidge found herself throwing one of her wrenches at Lance, landing it square on his upper arm. She stormed off the bridge. Silence took her place, along with some disappointed glares directed at Lance.

True to her word, Pidge functioned as usual for the first two days, except she avoided Lance like the plague. No one blamed her. It was day three where the physical symptoms began to kick in. The food goo suddenly looked less appetizing than it normally did, and a dull ache had settled into her abdomen. As Shiro debriefed the training plan for the rest of the day, it felt as though ethereal hands were gripping her middle tighter and tighter. Shiro’s words drifted into the background until they called her name, snapping her from her battle with swallowing saliva.“Pidge!”“What? Yeah, I’m listening.”“Do you think that’s a good plan for today?”“Yeah, sounds good. Let’s get started.”Shiro nodded, “Alright, meet you in the training room in ten,” and the crew disbanded. Pidge pushed her chair from the table and forced herself to the training room early. She heard rumors that exercise helped cramps but was never one to try it herself. Now, she had no choice.

At first, the pseudo-fights were a good distraction. It kept her mind working and off the aches. But as the fights grew harder, the cramps got stronger. And when Keith finally knocked her to her knees, toy blade pressed against her neck, she found herself unable to get up.“C’mon Pidge, I’ve seen you do better than that,” Keith released her from the prone position, “Let’s go again.”“I…” a bolt of sharp pain passed through her middle, causing her to gasp, “I can’t…” Her blade clattered to the ground as she wrapped both arms around her torso. Something tugged at the back of her throat, threatening to come up.Keith knelt by her side, “Pidge, what’s going on? Did I actually hurt you?”Pidge shook her head, “No, it’s-…it’s just the cramps…” She didn’t want to admit this to Keith, remembering his reaction to her initial confession. She didn’t want to admit that her period got in the way of her fighting, and potentially Voltron. She shut her eyes tightly and waited for the beratement, or for Keith to simply walk away as he usually did.Instead, she felt a gloved hand placed itself on her back, “Can you walk?” Keith’s voice was much softer and more concerned than it normally was. She made an attempt to stand but ended up doubling over once more, and she shook her head.Before she could realize what was happening, Pidge was being lifted off the ground and settled into Keith’s arms - one supporting her shoulders while the other held up her knees, leaving her own arms to curl around her stomach. “Come on,” he said, exiting the training room, “We’ll get you some painkillers…or something. I’m not exactly familiar with this…”

When the news got around that Pidge was out of commission, the rest of the crew handled the situation rather well. Keith carried her to what they considered the ‘family room’, radioed the others, and didn’t leave her side until Shiro showed up with a blanket and a rubber hot water bottle.“Does this usually happen?” he asked, kneeling in front of the couch where Pidge was lying, “I wanna make sure this isn’t out of the ordinary for you.”Pidge nodded and pressed the bottle against her abdomen. The heat immediately sank in and started untangling the knots. She felt as though she was finally able to breathe. “I’m gonna bring the rest of gang in here. We gotta talk about what we’re gonna do for the rest of the week, and what we should do if this happens again in a more dire situation. Keith, go ahead and stay here. Get her whatever she needs.” Shiro stood, and left to gather the team.With enough brainpower to think again, Pidge pulled up a diagram on a hologram and showed Keith. He narrowed his eyebrows, “What do you want me to do with this? What even is this?”“Pressure point chart. Put pressure on the points.” she breathed, flipping over onto her stomach. The Red Paladin took a moment to compose himself, then consulted the chart. He pressed two fingers on each side of her spine right above her hips, skeptical at the validity of pressure points. The way Pidge melted with relief proved him wrong.When the others came in for the impromptu meeting, they were prepared. Hunk offered up his last piece of dark chocolate from Earth (but not without some reluctance). Shiro brought a large cup of tea and willingly offered to make more at any time. Keith continued with pressure points and proved to be surprisingly good at it. And though Coran and Allura didn’t understand exactly what was happening or why they did their best to provide emotional support. Lance was the only one who seemed to not contribute.

The talk went smoothly, and everyone returned to their duties when Pidge insisted she would be alright. The tea had ebbed the nausea, and the combination of the warmth and the pressure points had calmed her cramps. When everyone had exited the room, Lance remained with a strange expression plastered on his face. Pidge frowned, not wanting to deal with more shit from him.“What is it, Lance?”Without talking, Lance stood up and placed a small bottle on the table between them. Pidge adjusted her glasses, and read the all-too-familiar label Advil sported so well. She looked up at Lance, not sure what to say.He shrugged, and kept his eyes down, “It’s the last bottle on the ship. I’ve had it since we were on Earth, I had it in my pocket when we took off with the Blue Lion. I usually just use it for headaches, but…. I figured you could use it more.”It was the closest Pidge assumed she would get to a real apology. With slow movements, she stood up and brought Lance into a hug.“Thank you, Lance. Next month, I’ll get the connection working and we can marathon the actual Shark Week.”“I’d like that a lot.”