space loser giant kitty committee (voltron)

@prismaticvoid, fic recs: (Disclaimer, I am big on gen, so everything is either gen or so light on the shipping it's nearly not there?) Also, spoiled for length, not spoilers.

Spoiler

Everything except the last fic in the list was written pre-season 2 and can be enjoyed without spoiling yourself if you haven't seen the second season.

Boom Crash Series by maychorian-- Lance-centric hurt/comfort, chapterfic
The Empty Spaces Between the Stars by slivered-- 5+1 with Coran taking care of the paladins, oneshot
(we have liftoff) by contagionangel-- The summary is "#WhereIsKatie trends on Twitter," oneshot
Give Them Shelter by BossToaster(ChaoticReactions)-- Gen fluff in which Shiro gets to rest, oneshot. Most of BossToaster's other stuff is good but this is my favorite.
occluding junction (and other incidences of biology) by Kieron_ODuibhir-- Best treatment of the Galra!Keith theory I've seen in fic, chapterfic
Parasite Knight by VelkynKarma-- Intense Shiro whump fic, mind the warnings, chapterfic. Author came up with it while writing Routine Maitenance, a 5+1 collection, which is also amazing.
Engine Won't Turn and Conditional Acceptance by yet_intrepid--the first is an AU where Shiro leaves the gladiator circuit due to injury and ends up at a work camp with Matt; the second is a possible backstory for how Keith and Shiro (and Matt) met. First one's a chapterfic, second's a oneshot. Generally, I love everything of yet_intrepid's I've read so far.
Knowledge or Death (and Ignorance is Bliss) by squirenonny-- The only fic with S2 spoilers--it's a Post-"Blade of the Marmora" fic. I mean, there are a lot of those, but this is the best one, IMO. Oneshot.

Edited because I forgot details the first time.

 

brought to you from Discord.

Spoiler: Eye of the Storm Liveblog

OtherCat - Today at 2:32 PM
I am now going to more or less live blog Eye of the Storm.
TGP - Today at 2:32 PM
kk
OtherCat - Today at 2:33 PM
That is if the computer connection and Kiss Cartoon cooperate.
And we have an armada!
And the paladins are also artillery dudes?
(Or rather, they gotta be because no crew!)
TGP - Today at 2:37 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 2:40 PM
"We do not know actually how big galaxies are or how far apart and we don't care because KIDDY MIL SF SHOW.," OtherCat opts to confine the Galran Empire to an Arm of the Milky Way.
For fanfic purposes.
Coran has hit space menopause and is not oozing slime.
*now
Oh, poor Pidge.
TGP - Today at 2:42 PM
XD i kind of no lie loved that one
OtherCat - Today at 2:44 PM
And now we have Tech babble science corner!
I think I like that they take the exhaustion factor into consideration? Also, Coran should not be trying to fix things while oozing on the machinery.
"Very, very far. Away."
snerk
No, I can safely say they are not cookies.
Pidge blearily considers the fourth wall.
TGP - Today at 2:49 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 2:51 PM
....They are so lucky that they didn't break anything sliding through the vent-thingie. "Safety off," is kind of really ominous for a teaching program, not gonna lie.
...There's a click and a rolled r-ish sound. Pidge is dead.
TGP - Today at 2:53 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 2:54 PM
And we have another attack.
Also, forgot to mention, is the gravity on the ship hinky, along with the other problems, or are parts of the ship reversed gravity from other parts? (which is an interesting design function.)
"Shooting bad guys is pretty essential!"
And now the issue of tracking devices is come up.
OtherCat - Today at 3:01 PM
JINX!
TGP - Today at 3:02 PM
lol
OtherCat - Today at 3:03 PM
Oh boy.
Huh. Allura thinks that she's the one being tracked. (Which is possible since she's connected to the Lions and Zarkon is also probably connected to the Lions, or at least, Black.)
Shiro is the XO we deserve.
TGP - Today at 3:08 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 3:10 PM
Also I have a currently vague theory about why everyone is "yes Shiro is The One." It involves quintessence and a talent for identifying good officers/subordinates/what personnel would be suited for what task.
Yes well, good plan, but don't forget the whole "Zarkon will steal your kitty."
Whoops, someone is obsessive and not thinking strategically.
Goddammit Bladk. Allura to the rescue!
TGP - Today at 3:15 PM
lol
OtherCat - Today at 3:16 PM
Zarkon is pissy Zarkon is pissy.
Nanananana!
I wonder how he manages to still have a strong connection to the Lion. after 10000 years, but only just now managed to find the Lions/Black?
TGP - Today at 3:20 PM
XDXDXDXD
OtherCat - Today at 3:20 PM
This is a terrible idea guys.
TGP - Today at 3:20 PM
maybe black likes fostering a healthy competition
OtherCat - Today at 3:20 PM
Black is the Lion of Kismesis.
TGP - Today at 3:21 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 3:21 PM
Also: I guess at least they know how to make new lens stones, using Hunk's cookie recipe?
TGP - Today at 3:21 PM
XD
OtherCat - Today at 3:22 PM
(Hunk why are you trying to make cookies out of inedible substances?)
Tries to think of a joke referencing engineers and the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
TGP - Today at 3:23 PM
pft
OtherCat - Today at 3:23 PM
Randomly I recall a cooking site called something like "The engineer's cookbook." which was trying to use a more "logical" format for directions/ingredient lists.
Oh gosh.
Pobre paladins.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
On the other hand, whatever works I guess?
TGP - Today at 3:26 PM
lol
OtherCat - Today at 3:27 PM
Everyone is fried/blinded, but ti worked!
"Set a course for Voltron."

 

I have done a terrible thing.

In other news, I think I might have found the fic that is My Jam: Character in horrific situation actively planning escape from horrible situation. It's a noncon Zarkon/Allura Shiro/Allura called "Apart."

Spoiler: NSFW xeno headcanon because of reasons

In other, other news, I am getting very tired of Galra with big dicks. So much so that I make a special point of giving Galra xenojunk that is small and weird looking. (Smallish, bumpy, squat, with a fringe at the base, the over all junk resembles a largish strawberry.)

 

I have seen no Galra xeno junk things and require direction to them immediately.

 

"Apart" has knotting.

Spoiler: anatomy and mild squick

And I feel I need to mention this: it also has eunuchs, though I am not sure author understands what gets cut off when a male is castrated, they refer to the "knots" being removed. Poor Keith!

I've also seen a Sendak Shiro where the junk has a "sheath." I do not have a link to it though. Because I did not like it. My Horrible fic has xenojunk. Sendak's Apocalypse also has xeno junk, but we haven't gotten to where that would be relevant. Generally though, it's been mostly big dicks, that may or may not "knot"

 

Well that's... not very satisfactory. Where the hell my HS peeps at and why don't we have more weird genitals!?

 

@turtleDove just reminded me of this and OKAY SO THEORY STILL STANDS ESPECIALLY

Spoiler: season 2 finale spoiler

WITH HAGGAR BEING ALTEAN, NOT GALRAN

Extra sadness points as well -

Spoiler: general season two spoilers

You know there's something fucked up when there's a group of 'officer' types looking to dispose their 'queen'. I wonder if Keith's mom looked more like Zarkon, because that would be hilarious.

 

Also also

http://tumtumtumimacatlover.tumblr.com/post/156675048941/dr-kara-kickingshoes-drisrt-give-me-an-au

SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIC THIS

(alternate galran species headcanon - all the fluffy ones are 'true' Galra, and Zarkon is something like a brood parasite. Meaning that male and female Galra all look and sound the same and nobody but them can tell the difference.)

 

I am still going with my "Galran homeworld evolved two species" headcanon.

 

And I really like the "almost no sexual dimorphism" and/or "extreme sexual dimorphism" headcanons.

Edit: Oh, on the no sexual dimorphism side: what if female Galra only have breasts when they are pregnant/nursing?

 

That would make sense if they were mammals or mammal-ish, ye, but idk, mammals always ping me as kinda boring on the xenobiology scale :P Maybe they don't nurse like placental mammals but like, sweat milk the same way monotremes do XDD

Also I should note the first time I saw Uluz I was like 'WAIT IS HE ANOTHER CASTE' at the same time I was like 'OKAY THAT'S A FEMALE'

(Bonus points if Galran home-language doesn't have gendered pronouns. Like, at all.)

 

I was mostly assuming racial/ethnic differences among the species. :D Another idea: They shift between male and female, like in The Left Hand of Darkness.

 

Okay, rewatching the first episode and the guy who's in the Solar System looking for the Blue Lion is definitely a Zarkon subtype. I didn't notice ANY of them but him before. Rewatching is obviously important.

Is the Left Hand of Darkness a novel or a fic?

 

Left Hand of Darkness is a classic sf novel by Ursula K. LeGuin. :D

 

Oooh, I will have to look it up. Rec accepted! :P

 

or what if they do the Terry Pratchett dwarf gender thing and all individuals are referred to as 'he' even if they are technically female? bonus if not even they can tell the difference at first sight.

 

Frankly, it's been ten thousand years - I'd buy it as plausible if Zarkon is the same species, but he's an incredibly old variant that's less common now. And considering that we saw Haggar and Zarkon doing something with quintessence in S1 (and that quintessence seems to rejuvenate people?), I find it likely that he's been getting regular quintessence baths to keep him alive. (Which would explain why the Empire is so focused on stripping the quintessence out of its captured planets, maybe. How much quintessence does it take to keep someone from physically being that old? Did the cost just gradually creep up, and now it's gone on for too long for Zarkon to consider it worth stopping?)
(Alternative: Zarkon and anyone who looks like him has space mange.)

But Allura did get a pass, and no one looked too closely at her. So I do think that the Galra have a lot of species variation going on, too.

 

Honestly the species variation remains one of my favorite things about this show. The bad guys don't usually get that consideration!

 

I really do hope to learn more about their pre-war culture though. Like, I hope it isn't a spoiler to say that S2 didn't really get into what their customs were like before Zarkon's intergalactic war of conquest, and I'm really curious.

They could go a couple of ways. I mean, it would be interesting for their former culture to have been something completely different--like, mostly agrarian, or centered on trade, or something. Alternately, they could have always been a warrior culture, but with outlets other than a galactic war of conquest, like maybe infighting between Galra factions (political, racial, what have you) or possibly providing highly trained soldiers to other planets in exchange for money or trade goods.

I also started thinking about the whole arena thing, and I can't help but wonder, especially as Shiro regains his memories, if we're ever going to find out that Galra fight in those matches on occasion. There are records of Romans volunteering to be gladiators.

Spoiler

Plus maybe not every Galra soldier who screws up or blatantly defies Zarkon gets killed immediately. Public execution by way of throwing them poorly armed (maybe even sabotaged) at a skilled fighter in the arena seems kind of in line with Zarkon's MO. That might even be why Ulaz was around to help Shiro--he was at the arena to recruit people for the Blade of Marmora and then got tapped for Haggar's lab duty when the druids came to pick up Shiro.

 

One thing I am slightly exasperated by: writers not taking into consideration the nature of the arena as sport/entertainment beyond "oh no, how horrific and terrible." Basically, not really considering it as a sport, and by extension fans/sports casters/media/betting pools. (I want to see Pidge finding a Shiro fan site on the Galra equivalent of the internet, okay, or maybe just the remnants. And sports blogs. And fan fic.)