#vld alfor
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Hello again, I hope your well or at least better than you have been lately.
I'd like to request a platonic reader x Alfor scenario at the juniberry festival. Idk if you or anyone else remembers it but it was briefly talked about in episode 9 I believe of season 1, when Allura is talking with hologram Alfor
🖤🖤🖤💜💜💜❤️❤️❤️✨✨
I'll try my best. I wish that DreamWorks gave us a little more info about the Juniberry festival because it honestly sounds fascinating
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With the juniberry festival coming up Alfor had been busy seeing to the preparations; the juniberry festival was the biggest celebration on Altea and every year everyone looked forward to it. (Y/n) couldn't wait to see Alfor, her childhood best friend, at the festival since they couldn't hang out while he was busy. The young altean woman got to see Alfor's fiance, Melenor, a couple of times and they had the chance to hang out together at one of the little cafés near the palace. Melenor didn't mind Alfor being friends with (Y/n) since the other altean woman wasn't attracted to Alfor, Melenor knew Alfor only had eyes for her. The juniberry festival was everyone's favorite event of the year, adults and children alike looked forward to it all year.
On the day of the festival (Y/n) put her favorite outfit and shoes on, styled her long silky hair by curling and made sure she was ready before leaving her house which was located near the palace where the festivities would be held. The juniberry fields were in full bloom which made the area nearby smell absolutely heavenly, not to mention it was finally juniberry berry season. Juniberry berries had a particularly sweet flavor that everyone on Altea loved, not to mention they could be used for all kinds of baked goods, drinks and so much more. (Y/n) had a look around the festival grounds before she went to go look for Alfor and Melenor so they could go get some juniberry berry cookies at one of the food stands. After searching around for a while (Y/n) was confused because she couldn't find her best friend and his wife, thankfully the altean king and queen saw her before she saw them.
"(Y/n)! We're over here!" Alfor called out when he and Melenor quickly walked over to the young altean woman, happy to see his friend.
(Y/n) waved to her friends before she began weaving through the crowd, politely excusing herself each time she accidentally bumped into someone. Sometimes people from neighboring planets would come to the juniberry festival because of how popular it was and everyone always had a good time. Blaytz, Gyrgan and Trigel were somewhere, although they were at different parts of the festival during that particular moment; Zarkon was usually a killjoy and didn't come to the festival, although Sendak and a few of his buddies did. By the time (Y/n) made it to Alfor and Melenor the back of her hair was a little messy; she reached back so she could smooth it down so that it hopefully wouldn't get too tangled. Alfor and Melenor held each other's hands while they waited for (Y/n) to make her way through the sea of people; that year's festival was particularly crowded, they weren't expecting so many guests.
"I don't remember last year's juniberry festival being this crowded. Anyway, I'm starving after looking for you two, shall we go get some juniberry cookies before they run out." (Y/n) commented before she suggested they go get some cookies; there were a lot of people, which meant the bakery might actually run out before the end of the day.
"That sounds wonderful." Alfor agreed wholeheartedly, since the festival officially started he and Melenor could finally just enjoy themselves for a while.
(Y/n) beamed and the three of them headed to the local bakery in hopes of buying some freshly made juniberry cookies; the soon-to-be married couple were exhausted after everything they'd done and they could barely wait to have a normal day at the festival. On the way to their destination the three young adults crossed paths with Coran and invited him to tag along, it was only proper for the king of Altea to have his royal advisor nearby. The sound of people chatting and the scent of food in the air was certainly different compared to the usually calmness near the castle, the juniberry festival was fun for everyone. Thankfully the bakery hadn't run out of juniberry cookies by the time they arrived and there was even a table available for the four of them to sit at, although it helped that Alfor was the king and Melenor would soon be his wife. Later they would go play some of the carnival games together, but until then they enjoyed eating the juniberry cookies they bought.
#Alfor#VLD Alfor#King Alfor#VLD#Alfor + Reader#Alfor + Reader Scenario#Original Red Paladin#Original Paladins#Voltron AU Where Everybody Lives#Voltron Legendary Defender#Voltron#BFF Scenario#SFW#SFW Scenario#Scenario#Alfor x Melenor
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I have extremely complicated opinions and thoughts on how the characters and plot of VLD were handled. My thoughts contradict themselves, they're inconsistent, so I’m writing this to put them down and sort them out. This also serves as the start of me introducing my theories/headcanons that were never fully confirmed and my AU which is more like a completely different show than an AU, but whatever.
The Lion Switch
I have a strong belief that the Lion switch was always intended to happen, I’ve noticed multiple seeds that were planted early on in the show that hinted towards the switch. But I also strongly believe that the show runners never intended for it to be permanent, and that’s where it started going wrong.
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The “Before Hints”/Foreshadowing
The color coding of the Paladins outfits.
This one is pretty straightforward and obvious, yet there were some that I haven’t noticed other people point out. There’s the ones that everybody knows, Shiro wears mostly black, Keith wears a red jacket, Lance has blue hints in his shirt, shoes & pants, Pidge wears mostly green, and so does Hunk with yellow. But there are also hints of the paladin's colors changing for the Lion switch. Allura’s dress is almost entirely blue and she becomes the Blue Paladin, Keith’s outfit actually has more black than red on it(but this could also be a nice touch to show his connection to Shiro), I unfortunately couldn’t find any for Lance.
Shiro and Keith’s strong relationship(this one is a bit of a stretch).
Shiro and Keith are practically brothers before the start of the actual show. Shiro practically raised Keith. Because of this Keith took after a lot of Shiro’s traits. His morale of the mission coming first, his determination and dedication to a goal. These are just two of them, but you get the point. Simply put, Keith heavily takes after Shiro, it would only make sense that Keith would start to notice how Shiro leads and unintentionally take after that as well.
That scene where Allura is describing the lions and showing them to the Paladins.
As Allura is describing each Lion, said Lion is shown in front of their intended Paladin. Biggest example and the one that supports my theory is the Red Lion floating in between both Keith and Lance, Keith who is Red’s intended Paladin, and Lance who becomes the Red Paladin in the switch.
How the show depicts the Blue Lion in general and how it connects to Allura.
Compared to the other Lions, the Blue Lion is made the center of attention on multiple occasions in many ways. In the first episode Keith describes how he could sense the Blue Lion but didn’t know what it was, and then the Blue Lion was the very first Lion to be found, it also bonded with Lance extremely quickly compared to the others. It is also responsible for finding all of the paladins, not just their own. Keith also brings up the mysteriousness of the Blue Lion being on Earth, especially knowing how far Earth is from Altea and the other planets, and later learning that the Lions can only travel so far on their own. We also never learn of the Blue Lions traits or what they look for in a Paladin(in the show, we learn it in a book later on, and that’s after the lion switch). With Earth in mind, the cave that the Blue Lion was found in had hieroglyphics everywhere detailing the war and other mysterious events, none of the other lions hiding spots did this. Allura also stands out like the Blue Lion, but amongst the other Paladins. She’s royalty, has a strong connection with the lions despite not being a Paladin, and the only female(before the Pidge reveal and Romelle), she’s also an alien(alongside Coran)
Lance has a lot of parallels to Alfor in the show.
This one is brought up in the show itself, but I feel like it never actually fully explored just how deep the parallels went. There’s the one that the show handles, and it’s how heroic and noble Lance is. When Lance unlocks the Altean Broadsword, which was Alfors, Allura talks about how much of a savior and warrior Alfor was and how Lance is as well. Lance’s nobleness comes from his willingness to sacrifice himself to save people and his bravery to always join the battle, Alfor was noble in that he wasn’t just royalty but he was extremely brave and always saw the best in people. There are others that I’ve seen other people bring up, like Lance bringing the team together just like Alfor did. Alfor built the lions and Voltron, he created the alliance, bringing the og paladins together despite their differences. Lance was the sole connection between all of the paladins, he was friends with Pidge and Hunk, he looked up to Shiro like a hero, and held a grudge with Keith from when they were younger. He was also the first Paladin to be found, being the one Blue chose before she even saw him, the others wouldn’t have made it to the castle if it wasn’t for Lance. They both share similar characteristic traits, they just show differently.
-They are both reckless, Alfor completely succumbs to his excitement in the moment, and Lance, as already mentioned, has sacrificial tendencies.
-Their love for Allura, Alfors is that of a father, and Lance’s that of romantic and friendly intent.
The “After Hints”
Allura’s strong connection to quintessence and the White Lion/Her bond with Blue and being a Paladin.
To put it simply, Allura being the Blue Paladin and fully embracing being the reincarnation of the White Lion at the same time is messy and puts even more stuff on her character than there already is. (I should note that I don’t have a problem with “Mary Sues”, I feel like the phrase is a cheap way of reasoning why a person doesn’t like a female character or any character really. I also only believe that a character can be cluttered depending on what’s being put on them.) It’s important that Allura be a Paladin, and even specifically, the Blue Paladin, for some time so that she could connect with the Paladins, feel the toll of being in the battlefield, and getting to fully experience what a bond with the Lions is really like, it also helped to give her the ability to take a break from her princess status and get to act her age alongside the other Paladins. Why Blue? Well, that’s also simple. The Blue Lion is the middle ground. The Blue Lion is below Black and Red in authority, but is also above Green and Yellow in Authority as well. The Blue Lions element being water symbolizes its flexibility in many things, such as already mentioned authority, combat, social status, etc. Being Blue means that Allura can still be a commanding figure herself while being under command as well. But that’s an arc that can be done very quickly, and quickly is what the show did. Allura learned and experienced these things in a quick but meaningful amount of time. Beyond that point, her being the Blue Paladin is no longer necessary to the plot unlike the others. Her having to leave her place as a Paladin and her bond with the Blue Lion would also, once again, give her the opportunity to be like the other Paladins, as Shiro, Keith, and Lance suffered it with the switch.
Allura was hinted to have a particularly strong sense of quintessence sense the beginning of the show. In the first episode, when she locates the Lions, Coran states that she was “directly linked with the Lions life force, she is the key herself”. Later in the Balmera episode, she uses her own quintessence to communicate and heal the planet of Balmera. Her quintessence isn’t mentioned again until after the Lion switch, which it is shown multiple times. When Lance takes the blow for Allura in the Omega Lock, she once again uses her own quintessence to heal Lance. When they find Shiro alive in the astral plane later on, she moves his quintessence to one of his clone bodies, essentially bringing him back to life. And then even later, after she connects to the White Lion, she finds out that her very being can purify dark quintessence. It is also slightly hinted at throughout the show that a lot of the abilities that Allura unlocked in Blue were due to her extremely high amount of quintessence.
While there are some connections between Allura being the Blue Paladin and the White Lion, most of it happens completely separate. It doesn’t help that after Allura sacrifices herself, the Blue Lion projects herself to Lance instead of the White Lion, the only reason why I can think of that making sense would be the fact that both of them were Blue Paladins at some point.
When the current Paladins fought and talked to the previous Paladins.
I’ve already seen some people mention it, but I haven’t yet, so I’m going to. After they fought with Haggar, the Paladins got stuck in the Astral Plane where they fought the corrupted previous Paladins of their respective Lions. When they managed to get through to them, the previous Paladins spoke to the current ones and gave them advice. That’s all cute and all except for the fact that the speeches that Blaytz and Alfor give to Allura and Lance don’t make sense. What Blaytz tells Allura is perfectly suited for Lance, it isn’t even an argument on how much Lance needed to hear. This hints towards the idea that the Paladins were supposed to return to their original Lions and so Lance would be the current Blue Paladin and get to hear the speech from Blaytz. Alfor’s speech for Lance is very short and kind of insulting, in that it boils both Lance and Allura down to their relationship with each other being the only important thing about them. That’s especially a low blow considering how much of a weight it is that Lance is the Red Paladin, in both negative and positive ways(I talked about them a little in one of the above sections at the top). This gives me heavy vibes of this speech being written last minute with little care for how it actually sounded.
#voltron talks#voltron#vld#theories/headcanons#I’ll get better at formatting these as I go#I believe this is my longest post so far#voltron lions#voltron paladins#vld allura#vld lance#vld keith#vld shiro#vld alfor#I’m not tagging the others#Plutopinions
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ROUND 1A
Voting will be up for three days! Result on the third day by OP's time is the result that will go forward.
Advisor and King or Long-Term Rivals to Lovers? May the best ship win!
#alfor x coran#james x keith#alforan#jeith#vld#voltron#voltron legendary defender#vld bracket#ship bracket#vld alfor#vld coran#vld james#vld keith
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Bandor is a descendant of Altea, an Altean generations far down along the line. But though modern and living a simple life, it's not enough and he looks to artifacts of the past to help feed his curiosity as he wishes to know more. Especially about what has been going on with his town and people in the past months.
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How would you have ended Voltron ??
In particular, what would you have done with Lotor and Allura ??
Hi, anon! Oooh what an interesting question!
If I absolutely had to start with the end of s8, assuming everything before has still occurred:
The easiest option would be that Allura doesn’t die, given that her life force is tied to Voltron and the Realm of Universal Consciousness is where the living and dead exist in the same space anyway.
Instead, previous paladins of Voltron, current paladins of Voltron, Voltron itself, and others (including a willing/repentant Lotor) help Allura restore the universe so that it’s not always just mostly her doing all the heavy work, offering their spiritual energy together to accomplish this massive feat. (Because legit, we need some found family / stronger together vibes! That’s the heartbeat of Voltron!)
It’s during the restoration that the selfish and defeated Honerva gets purified / fully restored herself.
The restoration burns out the rift creatures haunting the quintessence field.
When the universe is restored, Allura realizes she can bring the previously dead with her from out of this liminal space.
All the current paladins open their Lions to take in refugees and bring them back to their restored planets.
While Allura might offer them a second chance, Honerva and Zarkon choose to stay behind, as do many of the victims of the 10,000-year war who prefer the peace they’ve found.
Cue Allura’s heartfelt convo with her parents, who like many of the elders choose to stay behind, but not before doting on their daughter and offering her something that indicates the crown of Altea has been passed down to her / replaces the circlet she lost in s7. Perhaps Allura can still call on her parents in some way if she ever needs help or guidance (as previous-franchise versions of Allura could do).
(More under the cut!)
The elders (Zarkon, Alfor, Honerva, etc.) could agree to help guard the flow of quintessence in some way, so that the living have sustainable access without going insane. (Idk what the limits are of this liminal space they're in.) Or else maybe the true secret of sustainable power is revealed through them, answering the problem that started this whole war.
As the paladins are encouraging others to come back with them, Lotor hangs back in the crowd. He does not feel worthy of a second chance at life, and is possibly unsure whether he even has the energy to try. He feels shame over his past and how quintessence twisted his mind.
Out of all the paladins, Allura approaches him and holds out her hand. “We were meant for more than fear and war,” she says, voice soft. “Do not be afraid to live.”
Lotor asks something like, deeply hesitant, “What life do I have? I isolated all allies and nearly destroyed the universe in going mad.”
Allura goes silent and then tries again, still holding out her hand, “And yet, the universe is restored, and all here know you took part in this great work. Your energy and will is a part of New Daibazaal’s atmosphere, its rivers and valleys.” She manages a weak smile. “If I remember correctly, you always did want to explore.”
“And can the past be so fully undone?” he asks. “Would I even be free to explore?”
Perhaps some moment where Zarkon and Honerva take responsibility for Lotor’s screwy life. Bonus if he gets some kind of call that the Galra still need a leader to help them in this new phase of peace, and that he hasn't reached his true potential yet.
Probably, some paladins chime in, validate that the alliance is back on, and the serious moment gets broken.
Lotor grabs onto Allura’s hand. She leads him to Blue Lion, where he joins the multitudes returning to the restored universe.
The Robot that jettisoned itself off Lotor’s spaceship from S5 is part of the crowd!!
Lotor reunites on-screen with his cat, Kova!
Cue silly paladin shenanigans, a few stowaway mice finding a new resting spot on Lotor’s shoulders, and Allura’s new circlet catching the light as the paladins of Voltron launch back toward their reality, away from the Realm of Universal Consciousness.
Cue a pan-out to the restored universe, where the rift is healed, and New Altea and New Daibazaal exist side-by-side as their suns rise.
I think something open-ended, in the context of several characters—focused on a theme about not being afraid to live, about reconciling the past with the present—would hype that found family / stronger-when-we’re-together / comic energy that made Voltron unique…and leave lots of possibilities for the fandom to explore this new world!
If I could roll the clocks farther back than s8, I’d massively overhaul several things about the show. But this is just where I see a way to better land what we got toward the end.
Thanks for this ask! So fun to think about!
#Voltron#VLD#Allura#Lotor#Lotura#Alfor#Melenor#Honerva#Zarkon#paladins of Voltron#I just want that quality Reconciliation#Death and sacrifice existed throughout the whole story so for the end to really be a new beginning would have meant a lot to me#As a big lotura fan I'd probably want more lotura content but I think the show could strike a good balance for the sake of the larger story#and leave things open for hope#It also kinda bothers me that Voltron and the other paladins got sidelined in the end#I would want them to be active characters in their own story too#ah but yeah just an idea for the end!#Thanks for the note anon!
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For a fic that only exists in my head ✨
Galtean Klance AU that leads to the rise of the Galra Empire
Plot:
Alteans are wary. The Galrans first arrive as refugees, learning and studying under the Alteans after they drained their own home planet dry. A generation has settled and integrated in with Altean society, and Galrans find themselves being accepted into positions of power.
Keith trains to become a part of the royal guard, butting heads with another loud, charming Altean trainee - Lance - who eventually becomes Allura’s personal guard. When a marriage is arranged between the princess and Lotor, Keith is assigned to protect Lotor, becoming the first Galran to achieve royal guard status.
While experimenting with Quintessence, Honerva glimpses a future in which the Galrans nearly wipe out the Alteans. Lotor brings this to Princess Allura’s and King Alfor’s attention, but they refuse to send the Galra away. "To do so would be a death sentence for them." "To keep them is a death sentence for us." "Based on what? Things that haven't happened? A people that have hurt us none?" Lotor decides that, in order to save his people, a sacrifice must be made.
Lotor arranges a private meeting with King Alfor regarding the marriage arrangement between Allura and himself. Before Keith can excuse himself from the room, Lotor snatches the blade from Keith’s hip and kills the king. Keith turns on Lotor.
Allura and Lance arrive to find the King dead via blade wound and Keith about to kill Lotor - the man he was assigned to protect - with the very same bloody blade. Keith is successfully set up. The Galra are not to be trusted. Tensions and mistrust between Alteans and Galrans sky rocket, and war breaks out a few days later, setting into motion the future that Honerva warned against. A very messy rivals to lovers to enemies to lovers
#i wrote this fic now if you want to read it#sure and indelible#keith kogane#lance mcclain#galra keith#altean lance#galtean klance#klance#princess allura#prince lotor#king alfor#voltron#voltron legendary defender#vld#blood#death
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which original voltron paladin would suit a fancy ball gown most
like the og paladins like .... yup it would definitely be alfor but itd be funny to see zarkon in a fancy ball gown
(also current paladins would be lance and allura like come on!!)
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Me, dishing out short metas about the Lions in the year of our lord 2023? More likely than you think.
I revisited some scenes and fondly see some common threads as to why Red selected Alfor, Keith and Lance. The official handbook (that lines up with the era of the show before the Head of Story, Tim Hedrick, was too boxed in and disallowed from following the story bible he put together) says determination and instinct on top of skill are key traits to pilot this most temperamental, most unpredictable and most unstable out of all five Lions. She's the speed demon of the team.
Alfor followed his instincts about researching quintessence to defy Zarkon twice.
We know that Keith is fine with defying anyone, even Shiro at the end of the day if he has to.
In my opinion, Lance's learning point was not caring what others thought of him and stop trying to do the "cool" thing. Defying that insecurity about self and thus being able to defy others in situations: wherein he would previously not be able to make that difficult decision. In early S3 he manages to be unflustered and stable to redirect Keith towards calm leadership.
So it's about making tough calls and sticking with the consequences, something shared with being in the position of Black Paladin. In fact, Red and her pilot has had to step in to lead and redirect the leader (Black) a few times. A failsafe if you will, to step in and take the reigns if needed.
She is second-in-command but she's also the wild card Lion. While by default she is unpredictable, she is the untameable one - more so than Black, I'd say - which is in a way what's most consistent in her, and is the most predictable thing about her. She'd expect any of her pilots to also have principles strong enough to defy upper command if such an act may actually be needed for the benefit of the team.
Which is interesting because..these qualities makes her not so different from her supposed polar opposite, Yellow, who is responsible for making the team morale as unshakeable as possible - "[the Yellow Paladin's] heart must be mighty" - plus civilian search-and-rescue. A consistency in principles and morals even if it is a high price to stick to them.
(While for Blue and Green, they're opposites in the sense that Blue requires spontaneity, while Green requires meticulous observation. Where they are similar is they are crucial in gathering intel. Blue's sonar ability, Green's cloaking ability)
You may need Red for offense but also defense for the team i.e. she pushes another Lion to safety twice in the show: Keith supporting Shiro in the S1 finale, Lance sparing Allura damage in S6 (which was good, since she has her Altean healing ability for herself and also others).
I really really would've wanted to see Alfor using the Rail Gun though. I wanted to see what would piss him off enough or make him scared enough to activate it. In all his screentime he never truly lost his composure (Allura is mostly like that too, she clearly gets it from him) but that one weapon requires a huge burst of unforced passionate emotion to activate: much like how a war cry works. Fitting for the Fire element she is matched to and the guardian spirit of.
Alfor is an alchemist and more cerebral which is so different from his two successors are like. His fire burned differently but he was definitely passionate.
#I'm not entirely opposed to the Lion Swap: I just wanted it to be short-term#the red lion#alfor#vld#voltron#vld lions#voltron lions#vld keith#vld lance#fondly reminiscing about these beautiful machines designed by Studio Mir#vld analysis
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Role swap with Human!Allura AU because her and Keith have so many parallels i don't even know where to start
that was a lie; what character had long hair, daddy issues due to a HALLUCINATION, used violence as their first instinct to trauma, and almost/did die?
(Your all wrong all of that also describes Pidge btw)
If I had a nickel for everytime one of the main protagonists had hallucinations of their father used against them to manipulate their emotions I would have THREE nickels which isn't that much BUT IT MEANS THESE CHARACTERS DESERVE A BREAK HOLY SHIT
#vld#voltron#voltron ledgendary defender#voltron allura#voltron alfor#alfor voltron#my art#allura voltron#vld allura#allura vld#allura fanart#role swap au#role switch
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Did I post these twos here, already? No…good.
Yet another item of my AU for these two,
#//Thalfor#Thalfor#alfor#Thace#king alfor#VLD ship#//fanart#//voltron#//voltron legendary defender#blade of marmora#//VLD AU#;;thalfor
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did this one a little while ago :)
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Ok so... I wake up this morning with a crazy idea.
I was wondering about a fic when all the Voltron team are youtubers and they're youtubers name are like the originals paladins names. Maybe Keith is Zarkon, Lance is Alfor, Hunk is Gyrgan, Allura is Meleanor (idk parallels and the ship), Matt is Trygel, Romelle is Blayts (?) and Pidge is Honerva?????? And when they play minecraft the story is like the original paladin ones?????? PARALLELS, PARALLELS EVERYWHERE
Should I write a fic like this?
#voltron legendary defender#keith voltron#keith x pidge#kidge#voltron pidge#lance mcclain#allura#allura x lance#vld shiro#hunk vld#romelle vld#matt vld#parallels#original paladins#alfor vld#zarkon#honerva#zanerva
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#i know im missing some#but again#i have a feeling i know the results#vld#voltron legendary defender#allura#allura vld#space princess#romelle#romelle vld#uncle figure coran#coran vld#coran coran the gorgeous man#king alfor vld#bandor vld#haggar vld#haggar voltron legendary defender#and no lotor either
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@loturaweek2023 final day: Cooking Up Chaos!
Allura had never considered herself particularly foolish or in need, but as straits grew more dire, she found herself more and more willing to entertain certain flights of fancy, all the way until she had gathered her wits and struck out into the forest in search of the witch that lived there.
The closer she got, the easier her walk, bramblebushes giving way to a well kept path, undergrowth trimmed back, and in the center of the clearing she approached: a sprawling herb garden with a neat and tidy cottage in the center. It seemed out of place, if only for its charm in an otherwise wild stretch of forest.
She cleared her throat as she entered the clearing, unsure of how close would be too close to go uninvited. But nobody was in the garden, and there was smoke pouring from the chimney, so her mark must surely be inside.
She knocked on the door.
The man that answered was—not quite what Allura had expected. He was purple, for one, not green. With long, trailing, starlit hair and catseyes. His hat was so large it almost wouldn’t fit through the doorframe, with a dent at the halfway point that left the tip pointed sideways, and his dark robes trailed the floor with a tattered end.
“Greetings.”
“Oh,” Allura jolted, blinking and gathering her manners, “Hello, um, good witch?"
The man snorted softly, smiling with an almost playful gleam. “When it suits me. Come in,” he ushered her in, and she let out a small noise at a second surprise.
“I, oh, I hadn’t realized there were two of you,” she mentioned, hoping that wasn’t too rude. There was another woman, her body even more changed by her magic than his, eyeless and seeming… scaled, lounging near the fire, cat on her belly.
“Typically, witches are solitary outside of gatherings,” the man mentioned, stirring something in the cauldron over the flames. “It’s just that somebody decided to take my cat as her familiar.”
The blind witch looked smug, gesturing something Allura did not understand at him, and he let out a grumbling noise. He huffed, and turned back towards Allura.
“But come, you’ve traveled all this way for a reason, have you not, Princess? Tell us what you wish from us, and we’ll assess the cost.”
Allura settled her hand on the bag in her deepest pocket, filled with things she truly hoped the witches might take. She had no real desires to offer up any firstborns or lindworms.
“My father’s court is full of liars,” she stated. This was… pretty well known, all considered. Even her father admitted to it now, and he’d long attempted to hide the truth from even himself on the matter. “They’re deceptive and cunning, and will lead us all to ruin. I’ve tried begging my father to take more aggressive methods with them, but he resists. I… do not wish to kill them, but come in search of whatever solutions you are capable of providing.”
The male witch hummed, stirring his brew. “If the liars are the issue, then perhaps they should not be allowed to lie.”
Allura frowned, then lit up. “A truth spell?”
“Potion, but yes,” he said, ladling glowing yellow liquid into a pitcher. “I’ve none on hand, and Narti—” he turned to look at the lady witch (Narti, Allura supposed), who shook her head, “—has none either. Give me a moment to put my current brew away, and we shall have an elixir that will make even the most silver tongued liar speak plainly.”
“And the cost, for such a thing?”
He cast her a sly glance. “What have you to pay?”
Allura pulled from her pocket the bag she’d brought. “Gold, and jewelstones. Coin, if you want it.” Though, rumor had it witches rarely did. “If you want something else—”
“We’ll take the coin,” he said easily, and—oh.
For some reason she’d expected it to be harder than that.
He laughed at her expression. “Despite what the fairytales will tell you; even witches need to purchase goods and services from those in town. You’re more capable of affording to part with your coin than some of the desperate folks that cross our door.”
Well now she just felt silly.
She cleared her throat. “And will you tell me your name, good witch?”
“Lotor. And I know you, Princess Allura. There’s plenty talk of you, around the kingdom.”
“What kind of talk?”
“Mm. I wonder,” Lotor hummed, continuing to drain the cauldron and offering no elaboration. “But I will warn you of one thing, Princess. There is a second cost to our deal: the cost of using magic at all. The more you use, the higher the price. Be cautious, little royal, that you do not use so much, that it becomes a price you are unwilling to pay."
Like the purple skin. And the scales.
“I’ll be careful. I don’t plan on needing more than just this, anyway.” If she could just oust the liars, if they could separate the wheat from the chaff, she knew things would get better.
“No one ever does,” he warned, tipping over the mostly-empty cauldron to let the remaining trickles of glowing amber slip through a grate on the floor, mingling with ash and other discarded brews below.
She watched him begin the next batch, made mostly of harmless water, but the more ingredients he added the more… otherworldly, the mix became. He had her fetch a few things for him while he stirred, and Allura was willing enough to comply, figuring normally Narti must do this (or that helping make the potion was perhaps necessary, since she’d be the one to use it).
It worked.
The court was in chaos. Everyone was saying what was actually on their mind and all hell was breaking loose. It had started when a courtesan had told Alfor to his face that she thought he was weak spined and easily manipulated, her eyes going wide in horror as she had attempted to backtrack, but her tongue hadn’t let her.
Allura watched on with what she hoped was not-too-obvious glee.
Alfor took advantage of the magic, however it had come about, and was able to swiftly dismiss those forced to confess their ulterior motives. He was left with a small, but genuinely loyal group, and they began rebuilding their ranks with similarly loyal replacements.
Allura’s hair turned slowly silver, over the days it took to oust the liars. She hid her hair behind colorful scarves and told her mother it was simply premature greying.
All was well for months after that, until Allura’s mother fell ill.
“Welcome back, Princess Allura. Your hair looks striking,” Lotor greeted, looking slightly flustered at her appearance. “Was the truth elixir insufficient to the task?”
“Not at all,” Allura assured as she entered his home once again, Narti off somewhere and a mug of tea wafting softly next to an open book with complicated diagrams in it. “It was exactly the miracle I needed, but now I ask you for another.”
“Then ask away, but remember: all magic comes at a price.”
“For this, I would pay anything—”
“Be careful how you utter such words.”
“My mother is sick!” Allura burst, tears in her eyes only for her to swipe them angrily away, smearing on her cheeks. “My mother is ill, and nobody can cure it. Help me, Lotor, I don’t care if it turns me into a frog if it means my mother lives.”
Lotor’s expression softened and he placed a gentle hand at her elbow. “Ease, Allura. Ease. Tell me her symptoms. I’ve magic aplenty to spend on her cure.”
“Yes?”
Allura had been so worried, so anxious that perhaps this was not the kind of magic he could do.
“Yes. She will be alright, Allura.”
Allura sagged against him, and allowed him to comfort her, to settle her on the couch with a mug of tea of her own as she explained the onset, the symptoms, the nature of her mother’s illness. He listened steadily and took notes, and nodded at the end.
“I know of the cure that will work. Sit tight, Princess. You will carry it with you when you leave.”
And so she sat, and watched him, and found his silvery hair to be even prettier than the last time she viewed it.
“Thank you,” she said in his doorway, with a sachet of something faintly glowing in her hands and her purse much lighter. She rose up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Lotor.”
He stood dumbfounded at his own threshold, and she giggled before taking off, his catseyes on her as she left.
The next morning, her mother was cured overnight, and Allura found what she at first believed to be a rash all over her own skin. Except it wasn’t a rash, it was… markings. Crescents and circles and half moons and dots and waves, all bright pink, decorating her limbs and spine and two V’s on her cheeks.
She swore her ladies in waiting to secrecy and hid the marks beneath her clothes, all except those two facial markings which she passed off as “a fashionable new trend of face painting.” Everyone was too relieved over the queen’s recovered health to pay the princess’s antics much mind.
And all was well in the kingdom a second time. Allura felt almost like she was ready, when the third trouble arose.
War with their bordering country had long been something that loomed on the horizon. It seemed with their court cut in half, and the rumors of the queen’s illness and likely death spreading slowly their direction, they’d taken this as opportune timing.
Allura was not fearful of the outcome of a fair battle. Her father’s forces were powerful and well armed.
Allura was worried about their beast of a champion, a man more lion than human, undefeated no matter the number of foes he faced.
“You wish to craft a champion of your own?” Lotor echoed, and Allura nodded.
“My father has a loyal soldier I think would bear the burden, but I need something that will put him on equal footing to their lionman. Lotor,” Allura reached out, and placed her palm over his, “this I ask of you.”
Lotor sighed. “You make it terribly difficult to deny you anything.”
“Then do not deny me.”
“There will be a price.”
“I know.”
And so Lotor gave her a greave imbued with magic that hummed all through it, and Allura asked her father’s soldier if he would bear its burden.
He did. It cost him his right arm, forever changed, but he did, and he won against their lionman, despite the difference in their sizes.
Allura paid the cost of the magic’s casting. Her hair, she could hide. Her markings, she could wave away.
But when her brown eyes turned bright near-glowing blue, the secret could be kept no longer.
The princess was using magic. The princess was consorting with witches.
And so the princess took off her crown and picked up as many coins as she could reasonably carry, and left.
And now there are three witches, stirring a cauldron in the woods.
#loturaweek2023#lotura#allura#lotor#narti#shiro alfor and melenor are also there#vld#vt#my writing#haro writes#witch au
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Alfor attempts to play a prank on Zarkon.
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Allura: Daddy…
Alfor: Yes?
Keith: Yes?
Alfor:
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