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tonotbelionized · 5 years

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RWBY’s Handlement of Abuse

Abuse isn’t a topic that’s anything new in media, it’s been handled over decades in many different ways; some done very well and others... not so well. RWBY is one of the many shows that attempts to handle this controversial topic, and goes deep into how it not only affects the victims of the abuse, but also deals with different types.

Physical, Emotional, Mental, even less known ones such as financial abuse, this show actually handles many attempts with clear care and the writers do seem to do their research in this. In my opinion, this research and trying to find out more about this sensitive topic is shown very clearly. I don’t like talking about myself much, but as a victim of abuse myself, I hold this topic very dear to my heart and feel more strongly when it’s written compared to other topics.

So, with that in mind, I’d like to look at the different abusive relationships we have so far in RWBY, and to see how well they hold up in both writing and how they’re seen so in the FNDM itself.

Adam & Blake

Now, one of the most well known abusive relationships in RWBY is the one between Adam and Blake. It’s been given the most screen time, thought, and it has the bonus of having happened to one of our four protagonists. There is no denying that the relationship between these two characters is an extremely toxic one, and it’s a relationship that has heavily impacted on both Blake and the FNDM as well.

Even before their confrontation at the end of Volume 3, Blake clearly shows the behaviour and the mentality of an abuse victim. She doesn’t see Adam as this monster, and whenever he’s mentioned by her during this time, she actually uses non-threatening or derogatory words such as referring to him as her partner or that he changed. She never outright talks about what it was exactly that Adam did to her or how he changed. In fact, the closest we had was after Yang was disqualified from the tournament where she explains why she’s afraid to just trust Yang again.

Blake’s journey of learning to live with her trauma and move away from the past is nicely written and I like the fact that it isn’t a straight path to progress. Blake stumbles, she fails and she gets back up again, something that’s great because that’s what most recovery progress is like. The culmination of her proving she’s no longer afraid of Adam at the end of Volume 5 felt earned compared to her reaction to seeing him again before, and it’s a solid moment of Blake doing this with Sun, a friend, rather than carrying on what she was doing before with pushing everything away.

While I’m not a big fan of her letting Adam go at the end of it, given that it just felt like she was letting a terrorist and extremely dangerous person escape just so he knew what it was like to run away, that doesn’t diminish how powerful that moment is for Blake’s character and her whole relationship with Adam. Adam’s short and Blake opening up more in Volume 6 shows use how far the abuse went.

Adam wasn’t afraid to emotionally manipulate and gaslight Blake when he felt she was questioning him too much. He’s emotionally shackled himself to her and clearly won’t let anything take Blake away from him, so when she finally leaves him behind, he believes that it’s her fault that he’s hurting and is unable to see how irrational that line of thinking is. He isn’t willing to take responsibility for what he did, and this carries on to where he would rather kill Blake than let her go again, even dragging Yang into it.

It’s really telling that Adam goes as far as to reject the chance to leave twice. Both Blake and Yang have matured enough to try and push Adam to leave them alone and to move on with his life, but he’s unable to comprehend doing so mentally. That emotional attachment to Blake is still there, and ultimately he died rather than break that bond. It was a cathartic moment for Blake to truly be free of Adam, and the fact that she breaks down rather than be triumphant feels like such a realistic moment because an abuse victim doesn’t just hate their abuser even when they leave.

Getting those moments that were great with your abuser out of your head is incredibly difficult, and it’s clear that even with Adam gone, the damage that he did to Blake’s mental state is plain to see, especially since she blames herself for the plan going wrong on the ship. She’s so used to it being her fault that she can’t comprehend when it isn’t, because to an abuse victim everything is their fault.

Raven & Yang

Abandonment and emotional abuse go hand in hand, and I’d like to add that while Raven’s abandonment of Yang is a more typical style we are used to in media, where the person ups and leaves to never return, there is another type of abandonment; a series of temporary abandonment where the abuser returns again, only to up and leave when things don’t go as they want.

The abusive relationship between Yang and Raven is just as impactful as the abuse Blake suffered under Adam, and yet I feel that it’s weirdly brushed off by some people in the FNDM as well as not being given much prevalence when Yang finally confronts Raven, both when she met Raven at the bandit camp and in Haven’s vault.

I don’t like that Yang calls Raven “Mom”, because Raven is not Yang’s mother. She left when her daughter was just born and never did anything to raise her, which is what a parent is. It’s easy to have a baby, but if you don’t put in the effort to actually raise that child in a healthy way, then you are not a parent. On top of that, when Yang finally finds Raven again, she’s very emotionally manipulative of her daughter.

She constantly praises and is open to Yang when it suits her, but as soon as Yang makes it clear that she only wants to find Ruby, not spend time with her, Raven instantly becomes closed off and cold, making comments on that family only visits her when they want something. Not only is this classical emotional abuse, as she’s treating Yang well only when she believes Yang deserves it. Put plainly, Yang is treated nicely when she does what Raven likes. It’s also very hypocritical given how little Raven actually cares about her actual family.

Then the argument in vault further solidifies this. Raven isn’t above calling her mentally ill daughter a scared little girl when Yang starts shaking from her PTSD. She constantly tries to excuse her behaviour, albeit poorly, and Yang rightfully calls her out for not only calling herself strong while showing the exact opposite, but that she killed the previous Spring Maiden to take her powers while also calling herself merciful for doing so. It just paints Raven with a victim complex, that she had a hard life and survived it so her actions are justified.

The main problem that I have with this that I don’t have with Adam and Blake’s relationship, is that there’s no real ending to the fact that Raven abandoned Yang and left her daughter with crippling abandonment issues. Yang starts to touch on this when she asked Raven why she left her and her family in the bandit camp, but Raven deflected the question and it’s never brought up again during this time.

Their only confrontation after is in the vault, but as I mentioned before, Yang didn’t even try to find out why Raven left her. This was the one thing she wanted to find out, something that was built up in her talk with Blake in Volume 2, but instead they talk about the Spring Maiden and then Yang takes the lamp after calling Raven out for calling herself strong. No mention of how her leaving Yang affected her daughter, or even Yang trying to find out why.

The final thing with this is just how selfish Raven is. She willingly lets Yang take the relic despite knowing that Salem would go after her, rather than just closing the vault and leaving. That’s a choice. No one needed to take the relic because no one knew that Raven was the Spring Maiden. The only person who knew otherwise was Cinder, and she was believed to be dead at that moment. The fact that she cried for a few seconds seems to be enough for some fans to say that she obviously cared when Raven hadn’t shown any of that before.

She purposely manipulated Yang, she abandoned her family, she wanted the villains to kill her brother and lets Cinder throw a fireball at Ruby (Yang’s sister and her teammates daughter), and she shows no remorse for this until that one moment. That’s not good enough, and I certainly hope that Yang gets at least some closure in the upcoming volumes.

Jacques & Winter, Weiss and Whitley

The interesting thing about Jacques’ abuse on his children, and his wife, is that it’s one of the few abusive relationships that we see have a different effect on each one of his victims.

First one and the one I actually have least to say about is Willow, but it seems that his abuse of her has the biggest impact because of how much it affects their children. It’s pretty clear that their marriage was very much toxic, but not so much that she would’ve suspected that Jacques didn’t actually love her given Willow’s severe reaction and decline mentally when he confessed that he only married her for her name.

This beating down of his wife’s mental state and driving her to alcoholism has the negative effect on the children because they no longer have that maternal figure in their life anymore. Willow was a caring mother; she attended Weiss’ recitals, she cared enough to throw them birthday parties and was angry when Jacques was late to Weiss’ tenth birthday, but after that she just stopped caring.

His behaviour with his children is that of a typical narcissist, and that it seems to have an effect on each Schnee child differently. It very much relies on dividing the siblings, playing on the typical golden child vs black sheep, and even then the term golden child is used loosely given how easily they can lose that title if they even step a toe out of line. With that mentality, Winter, Weiss and Whitley have that source of comfort and strength with standing together taken away.

Not only that, but a majority of his abuse comes from that narcissist behaviour. To Jacques, his children aren’t people with their own dreams and feelings and wants, their physical extensions of himself that he can control, befitting that of stocks to a business owner.

Let’s start with Winter. We can pretty much infer that what happened to Weiss had happened to Winter given what she says in Volume 3, that she went through something similar when she left to join the army. Winter leaving home to join the army is a direct comparison to the story of an abused child leaving the household to join the military as a way of escaping that trauma, and even then Winter is not completely free from Jacques because she has to keep contact with him.

It’s likely that moment of freedom she granted herself by joining the army was taken as an affront to Jacques’ power and control over her, he can no longer tell Winter what to do because she doesn’t live with him or rely on him for shelter, so he’s going to do the next best thing he can. He cuts Winter off from her money. It’s a fantastic representation of financial abuse that also affects Weiss in Volume 3, and shows how far Jacques is willing to go just to prove that Winter ultimately can’t escape him so long as she is in Atlas, which she remains due to her work.

The effect this has on Winter is very open and clear. Winter has pretty much thrown herself into her work and professionalism, to the point where, while it’s obvious she deeply cares for Weiss and had been looking out for her sister since they were children, she cannot let herself be free and open with her feelings. To Winter, her place in the military is home because it’s given her that chance for freedom away from her abusive household, away from Jacques. If that’s threatened or insulted, such as her fight with Qrow because he called Ironwood and the Atlas military “sellouts”, she will take it personally and lose her temper because she owes everything to Ironwood and the military.

Weiss is the one with the most affected character because of her status as one of the protagonist. Taking into account all of the material surrounding her backstory, Weiss, like Winter, was treated more as an object or commodity by Jacques, something that he could force to do whatever he pleased. It’s shown in the Mirror Mirror manga where he pushed her to sing at concerts at a young age, even to the point where Weiss was exhausted. When Winter stepped in and told Weiss to rest, Jacques took that as a slight against him and berated Winter viciously, lecturing her on upholding the Schnee name. He cares more about the name than his daughter’s health.

Even in her debut trailer,Weiss had to fight and be disfigured before Jacques allowed her to go to Beacon instead of Atlas. The permanent reminder of that constantly on her face. Even when Weiss finally managed to get to Beacon, Jacques constantly rang hr in an attempt to keep in touch with her, trying to uphold that small amount of power he had with Weiss in another continent. Trying to leave an abuser is incredibly difficult if you still have contact with them, even if it’s something as small as phone calls.

When she didn’t do what he wanted and answer his calls, that same financial abuse that Winter was subjected to happened again, and it’s obviously embarrassing to Weiss that she can’t even afford a meal now and has to rely on friends. That attempt to isolate her through embarrassment is just another effect from Jacques’ decision to cut Weiss off. When she becomes more rebellious and mouths back to him, as well as calling everyone out at the party in Volume 4, Jacques couldn’t handle this kind of rebellion like a narcissist would.

To him, Weiss is being unreasonable and he had given her everything she could ever want, so at this point he would simply take it all away. He can’t handle shame and seems to hold the Schnee name up, despite marrying into it, and when Weiss points this out he finally delves into physical abuse by slapping her. Given her shocked reaction to this, I don’t think she expected him to hit her, pointing that Jacques usually went for more emotional manipulation to keep them in line.

Finally, his abuse of Whitley has pushed his son in the complete opposite direction to his sister. As the youngest and unable to leave through the same way his siblings did, either joining the Academy or the military, Whitley spent his time in the manor with Jacques completely alone and isolated. So, in a desperate attempt to handle this pressure, he’s simply buckled under Jacques’ thumb and does whatever he can to appease his father, just because he’s seen what happens if he rebels like Weiss and Winter did.

Another note is that Whitley was 5/6 when Jacques’ true reasons for marrying Willow came out. After that Willow stopped being much of a part in her children’s lives, so much so that she’s constantly sitting in the gardens getting drunk. Because of that young age, Whitley never had any solid memories of a time where Willow was a more active and caring mother, unlike Winter and Weiss. While it can hurt to remember how someone used to be when they’ve fallen so far, they at least have those memories to hold onto. Whitley doesn’t, and that likely adds more into his isolation.

It seems however, that to a worryingly large amount of the FNDM, that Whitley’s abuse is swept under the rug and not talked about as much as Weiss and Winter’s, some even making him out to be the villain. The only thing that Whitley is guilty of is his poor attitude, and that alone doesn’t constitute to him being a villain or needing redemption. He wasn’t responsible for Weiss being disinherited, and his words to Weiss afterwards just tells us how much Jacques is getting to him.

If he doesn’t go against his father, he’s rewarded, but if he behaves like Weiss and Winter, then he too will be punished. An abuse victim still trapped in their home will do whatever they can to survive, and unfortunately for Weiss, Whitley doesn’t have the same escape options that she does or the connections outside of the family.

Marcus & Mercury

There isn’t any onscreen time where we witness this abuse firsthand, but the effects of Marcus’ brutal treatment on Mercury is prevalent even after he killed his father. Mercury has been impacted severely both emotionally and physically.

Having been installed to be an unfeeling assassin by Marcus, showing any sort of emotional vulnerability is impossible for Mercury, and the one time he does talk about the things he went through to Emerald, he does so in his own way and reacts very badly when Tyrian reveals to be listening in to his troubled past. Even going to the point where he tries to attack Tyrian because he wasn’t taught how to handle his emotions in a healthy way.

He shows little sympathy for Emerald’s confusion and fear over not knowing what is right, but that’s not to say that Mercury doesn’t care at all. It’s likely that Marcus’ told him that, as well as relying on his semblance, feeling normal emotions like fear, empathy and love is weakness, and even likely beaten it out of Mercury. This leads a very emotionally disturbed teenager.

Now with the physical part we get some very disturbing reminders of what Mercury went through with his father. The first thing is that the fight between them ended up costing Mercury his legs, forcing him to wear prosthetics. That’s a very much blatant reminder of how far Marcus went, and not only will Mercury have to wear prosthetics for the rest of his life, but the pain both physically and mentally from the action will always stick with him.

The second part is even worse. Marcus practically took Mercury’s semblance, something that’s considered the very essence by the characters in RWBY, and Mercury canonically sees this as his father defiling him. Mercury is constantly reminded that he will never get his semblance back, unlike Jaune and Roman who simply didn’t unlock theirs, and pushed him to work harder than anyone else to get where he is. Both of these physical injuries serves to tell the audience just how much Marcus’ abuse of Mercury not only remain, but stick to him as well.

Cinder & Emerald

Similar to Jacques with his children, Cinder is shown to not really care about Emerald outside of her Semblance, in fact only taking Emerald into the group because she was useful to Cinder’s plan. She plays on Emerald’s past as a street orphan by promising companionship and never having to go hungry again, something that Emerald desperately craved.

The main aspect to this relationship that makes it interesting is that, as of this time, it’s still an abusive relationship that the victim is in and wants to stay in. Emerald deeply cares about Cinder, and going off Mercury’s observation, sees her as the mother figure she never had. This devotion Emerald has runs so deep that she doesn’t ever question how Cinder treats her and reacts violently when Mercury straight up tells her that Cinder doesn’t care about either of them.

It’s at the point where Emerald doesn’t even consider her relationship with Cinder toxic. Everyone else knows that their relationship with their abuser in question was at least not good, even Blake in the early volumes because she knew that she had to get away from him despite her still coming to terms with it all. Emerald, however, is portrayed as the victim that doesn’t even think of themselves as a victim.

It reminds me of a video I watched recently. Here’s the link for anyone to watch, but it basically explains the type of abuse that doesn’t actually get shown all that much in media. Most abusive relationships portrayed have the abuser as a sadistic villain who abuses their victim because it brings them joy, and the victim knows that they’re being abused but are too scared to leave. It can be how the relationship is towards the end, but hardly any abusive relationship in real life are like that.

Cinder doesn’t accept any rebellion from Emerald. Like Jacques, she slaps Emerald and tells her to remember her place when she simply told Cinder that they didn’t need Mercury. To her, anything that Emerald says that isn’t her submissively accepting Cinder’s rule is something that needs to be snuffed out, even with physical abuse if needed.

While Mercury works for Cinder as well, this abusive relationship doesn’t affect him like it does Emerald, mostly because he isn’t in a delusioned mindset where he believes Cinder actually cares and he doesn’t need anything that Cinder can give to him. Their relationship seems strictly professional, Cinder needed an assassin and Mercury had the skills to do the job, as well as his underlying fear of what’s beyond his life that was forced on him. To Mercury, there is no need of approval or companionship from Cinder that Emerald wants.

Salem & Ozpin

This is the relationship that mirrors so much to the abusive relationship between Adam and Blake, and yet it weirdly doesn’t get much screen time pointing out how toxic it was, rather spending time portraying Salem’s backstory and Start to Darkness. Seeing how Ozpin was treated by his wife is pretty much ignored not only by the cast but also the FNDM, with some people even going as far as to deny that it was even abusive to begin with.

Even before she threw herself into the Grimm pools, Salem was not a good person. After Ozma died, she went to demand that the Gods brought him back, not thinking for a moment about what Ozma himself wanted, and when the Gods constantly brought him back to life and killed him over and over again, Salem is not angry at that. She only fights against them when the God of Darkness took Ozma away from her again, demanding that they give him back. It shows Salem to actually be pretty selfish and unable to comprehend that what she wants may not be what’s actually best.

The good thing about this is that the story explains why Salem is like that. She’s not selfish to be selfish, she was sheltered away in a tower for all her life and as a result, was never taught proper coping mechanisms when she inevitably faces death, loss and grief. Not only that, the Gods’ behaviour towards her did not help matters. Rather than actually caring that she was hurting and help Salem, they treated her very much like a child throwing a tantrum and punished her in the cruelest way they could.

The thing is that this selfishness carries on after she and Ozma reunite. She canonically manipulated Ozma into acting like gods to lord over the new humanity, and when he started showing doubt she turned the blame on him by saying that he wanted it. Even when Ozma, who is derailed by the show and fans for keeping secrets, comes completely clean to Salem, she does not extend that courtesy and keeps what happened with the Gods a secret from him.

Eventually, when Ozma no longer wants to be a part of her plan or let her use their daughters to remake the world in her image, she attacks him and kills their own children. Salem shows no remorse for this, she knew that her children were there long before she attacks and she does so anyway. This just shows how little she cares about her own husband and children if they don’t toe the line with her. It even extends to her blaming Ozma for the fighting by telling him that they finally had freedom, seemingly holding resentment that Ozma didn’t want to be with her. After that, she burns Ozma alive.

The whole war between her and Ozma, even to her admission, is her want to watch everything that Ozma worked for burned to the ground. The only thing fueling Salem at this point is spite, just like what was fueling Adam after Blake left him and the White Fang. To her, Ozma has thrown away everything she worked hard for and that selfishness and inability to comprehend others’ viewpoints come into play.

Over the thousands of years after that fight, she does everything in her power to further terrorize Ozma. She turns his allies against him, she has her minions destroy his school and kill his Huntsmen, and in her song Divide, it’s basically a song gaslighting Ozma with Salem blaming him for everyone dying and saying that their blood is on his hands. There is no difference between that and Adam’s line “Why must you hurt me, Blake?” after he dismembered Yang. It’s classical abusive move of having the victim blame themselves for things that weren’t their fault.

Just like Blake, Ozpin is clearly affected by this abuse under Salem. He can no longer trust people, and he even goes as far as to blame himself for everything that goes wrong even when it’s not his fault, just like Blake does. He has such a low view of himself that he admits he’s made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on the planet, and the show at this point hasn’t had Ozma begin to talk to anyone about this even after Team RWBY saw what his life with Salem was like.

I certainly hope he gets the support he desperately needs in the upcoming volumes, because the writing regarding everyone dealing with this knowledge is questionable at the moment.

Salem & her followers

Just like with Ozma, Salem is canonically manipulative with both the show supporting this and the writers in the Volume 6 commentary. She is especially harsh with Cinder and Tyrian, given that she spends the most time with them in Volume 4 especially, and you can see how differently the two react when around her.

Tyrian is utterly devoted to Salem, putting her up on a pedestal as a goddess, and Salem isn’t afraid to use this devotion against him in cruel ways. She dangles hope in front of him when contemplating over his failure in capturing Ruby, even though he stung Qrow who was by rights and purposes, going to die. However, when Tyrian seems more hopeful that he’s pleased her, Salem snatches that glimmer away and leaves him to have a mental breakdown.

Cinder on the other hand is completely quiet, and even when she can talk again, doesn’t have her attitude from the volumes before. When Salem snaps at her while training, Cinder visibly cringes. It’s pretty clear from her character and mentality that Cinder was someone who was so devalued and powerless in the past that she is willing to do anything not to be put in that situation again, even put up with Salem’s treatment of her.

Just like Salem, Cinder had become a victim of the cycle of abuse, and while Salem is no longer a victim, Cinder has swapped one likely abusive situation for another one. It even carries on into Volume 6, where Salem treats Cinder being outcasted from the group like a child being put in time out. It’s very infantalising and mentally damaging to Cinder, but Salem seems to treat it as adequate punishment for Cinder failing her. No matter what one feels about Cinder, no one deserves to be abused.

Despite their less screen time together, Salem’s behaviour even extends to the other members of her group. She physically assaults Hazel after the failure at Haven for simply accepting the blame, and shows little care for Tyrian getting caught by the table when she threw it. Given that the writers confirmed that she has a different way to getting to each member to do what she wants, and we’ve seen that she uses Tyrian’s devotion against him, it’s not a big stretch to assume she uses more physical means when Hazel eventually does cross her.

Her way of getting to Emerald is even through fear. She’s made Emerald so afraid of what she could do to her that even just asking has Emerald quickly giving up someone she cares about deeply, and that kind of emotional manipulation is a classic abuser tactic.

Blake & Sun

Now this one has raised probably the most controversy in the FNDM, and I can see why. No, the relationship between Sun and Blake is not inherently abusive, nor is it any way evidence that Blake is an abuser on level with anyone else that is mentioned in this post. She’s not malicious or hurting Sun because of some slight against her, even though that’s not the only type of abuser and we’ll go into further detail in a moment.

The problem is that her behaviour towards Sun during Volume 4 is abusive, and it’s the worst written abuse in the entire show in my opinion.

The main thing that makes me say that is I’m not even sure if the writers intended to make these moments in Volume 4 abusive, but whether they intended for it or not doesn’t negate the fact that these scenes very much read that way, and it makes me uncomfortable to watch through even to this day. It’s not even just one fight where things got so heated that Blake lashed out, it happened multiple times over the course of the volume.

The first time is the boat. Sun was in the wrong for following after Blake like he did while she was still reeling from her trauma at Beacon, but that did not mean she was in the right to slap him across the face and then slap his hand away later on in the boat. She wasn’t in danger, Sun wasn’t threatening her and they weren’t even arguing, Sun was happy that they just survived a Grimm attack. Blake had a right to feel scared and angry that Sun basically followed her without her knowing, but that does not give her the right to lay her hands on him.

The show does this worse by playing it off as comedy. RWBY has a problem with playing some scenes for comedy when the exact same thing happening to a different character is framed as dramatic. Most slapstick comedy is scenes like Ruby and Yang fighting in the room in Volume 1 just before their exam, or Winter smacking Weiss on the head because she was rambling about things that she didn’t ask about. Blake hitting Sun here is not slapstick, but it’s played as such and that makes me very uncomfortable.

The next one is probably the worst offender of the bunch; the argument on the balcony. Once again, Sun was in the wrong for intruding on an intimate moment between Blake and her father, someone she hadn’t talked to in five years and thought that he hated her, but it wasn’t any malicious reason for Sun doing it. He had information about the White Fang that was urgent for Blake to know, because as he said, the White Fang would still go for her even if she didn’t go after them.

Should he have waited? Yep. Does that mean Blake was in the right for slapping him in the face twice? Nope.

On top of that, she goes one step further and breaks his phone when he tries to show her a photo of the White Fang member he found in Menagerie. She threw it off the balcony.

And the last scene is when Sun wakes up from being unconscious. He almost died, and yet Blake sits there and immediately goes on about herself and why she constantly runs away. It’s not bad for her to explain to Sun why she ran away, but the problem is that she doesn’t even bother to ask him if he was alright or at least tell him where he was before going into her rant about her friends getting hurt about her. The other problem is that we already know why she ran away, it’s all she ever talks about. She ran away so that her friends wouldn’t get hurt, she ran away because she believes it’s better to be alone, she ran away to think for a while after the Fall of Beacon.

Her whole speech in this scene gives us no new information and comes at the cost of portraying Blake as a very unsympathetic person. Even when Sun tries to comfort her despite being injured, she tells him to shut up and shouts at him. She towers over him aggressively with her hands balled up into fists, and you can clearly see Sun flinches now because Blake has made it clear to him that when she’s upset or angry she hits him.

And just like Salem, Blake’s behaviour makes sense. She’s stressed and scared and likely feels just as alone as she did when she first left the White Fang and Adam, only now she knows that Adam is explicitly coming after her and everyone she loves. Her past abuse at a young age means that Blake likely doesn’t understand how to healthily deal with negative emotions while in a relationship, something that Miles pointed out.

And even then, Blake is not inherently abusive. Her behaviour in Volume 5 has her and Sun’s relationship much more mutually respected and healthy. Even when she was frustrated she no longer took it out on him, and it’s good to see that after the mess that was Volume 4, but it’s how it’s handled that still bothers me.

Blake never learns that she shouldn’t be treating Sun like that. She’s called out by Sun for pushing her friends out and to let them help, but that’s not pointing out that she’s copying Adam’s own behaviours. It would’ve actually been a good and realistic arc given that it’s called the cycle of abuse for a reason. Blake realizing that she’s doing to Sun what Adam was doing to her and actively making the choice to do better, not having someone just tell her, would have been interesting to watch compared to what we got.

I feel like the FNDM can’t see this as abuse because Blake isn’t like the other abusers that we get in RWBY, and outside of Volume 4 her behaviour is not abusive to anyone. Even then, it’s understandable why she acts that way but that doesn’t mean how she acted can just be swept under the rug by both show and FNDM. It’s an ugly part of her character that should be acknowledged, and just because it happened doesn’t make her this evil being. Abusers can learn, and they can most certainly change, and that’s what Blake did.

I just wish the writers did it better.

So that’s it for all the abusers and their writing in RWBY. Overall? The writers certainly can handle this topic with the care and dedication it needs, and I’m actually happy with what we were given. Unfortunately, the ones that they did stumble one are pretty egregious and just leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth regarding those characters.

All I have to say is that abuse can come from different sources, and that media could do well with showing this difference. Abusers are often portrayed as one-dimensional bullies that torture their victims for laughs, while this is far from the truth and leaves people with a twisted version of what an abuser is, but I don’t think RWBY does that. Even when they stumble, they’ve written characters out to be just that; characters. Although we have more stereotypical abusers like Jacques, we also have those who come from pretty sympathetic backstories, even though we know that it doesn’t excuse their actions, such as Adam and Salem.

And really that’s the message I hope people do learn and use it to protect themselves with. You are hardly ever going to find someone who is so obviously an abuser; what makes them so terrifying is just how human they can be, and that sometimes they even have this twisted sense of love and reasoning over abusing their victims. Rarely it’ll be for sadistic reasons, but rather that they’re protecting their loved ones or that because they help in the victim’s dreams or goals that it makes their treatment of the victim okay, but it never is.

No one deserves to be hit, or made to feel like trash, or have their possessions broken. Everyone deserves love and companionship. Either way, thank you all for reading!

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telltalebatman · 4 years

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oc facts: charlie

no one tagged me i just love her a lot

PLACE IN SOCIETY

✖ FINANCIAL – wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

like all of my oc/canon girls, charlie is filthy rich - and all of it came from her parents, a politician/university professor and a med school lecturer/a highly respected surgeon. some of those money her parents got from their families; but the point is - charlie never had to worry about money. (until she met her soon-to-be husband who robbed her blind.) charlie has no problems with sharing her wealth with those in need - she frequently donates to various fundraising campaigns.

✖ MEDICAL – fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged

she’s bit of a couch potato, and a bit clumsy too; she certainly wouldn’t run in a marathon, and finds herself out of breath after a short, intense jog - but it’s nothing too severe. what she lacks in shape, she makes up with agility - she practices yoga, which renders her a tad more agile than an average person. she still can’t do a lot of things though.

✖ CLASS OR CASTE – upper / lower / middle / working / unsure

charlie is, whether she likes it or not, a member of the social elite. her father spent two terms as a mayor of metropolis when she was a kid, and is an active politician, and a college professor. her mother is a globally renowned as a surgeon and comes from european nobility. charlie grew up with children of ceos, leaders, celebrities - and even after the untimely demise of her parents at the hands of her husband and moving to metropolis, she still finds herself amount the elite, quickly befriending bruce wayne himself, as well as getting cautious attention of the maroni crime family, one of gotham’s assistant district attorneys and thomas elliot - one of gotham’s golden boys, a highly esteemed surgeon and her mother’s pet student. and whether all of this is good... that is a different matter entirely.

✖ EDUCATION – qualified / unqualified / studying

charlie has a master’s degree in english literature - nothing more, and nothing less.

FAMILY

✖ MARITAL STATUS – married, happily / married, unhappily / engaged / partnered / divorced / widow or widower / separated / single / it’s complicated

she’s a widow - because she killed her husband. it was an ugly mess of a situation - he killed her parents, stole her fortune (in the canon verse - in various aus this changes, depending on what I have in mind) and ran away, prompting her to go on a wild goose chase across the globe, culminating in her finally tracking him down and stabbing him to death with an ice pick. one thing she hadn’t expected though was ending up in a long-term, happy, loving relationship with oz: gotham’s prodigal son, a failed revolutionary and a loyal friend to his (at times unwilling) loved ones.

✖ CHILDREN – has children / no children / wants children / adopted children

the idea of motherhood is kinda scary to her - she’s not opposed to being a cool aunt to someone else’s kid though. (in chasing echoes oswald is eventually going to pull jason todd to his side, and charlie’s gonna develop a fun, unexpectedly satisfying relationship with bruce’s troubled ex-errand boy.)

✖ FAMILY – close with sibling / not close with siblings / has no siblings / siblings are deceased / it’s complicated

✖ AFFILIATION – orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by both parents / it’s complicated

even though charlie - painfully aware of her own personal mediocrity - sometimes felt like she doesn’t quite fit in with her social, accomplished parents - they still made a happy family. for various reasons, her relationship with her mother - eleanor - was always just a bit strained and tense; but it was still, above everything else, loving.

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

✖ disorganized / organised / in between

if left to her own devices, charlie’s going to inevitably scatter her belongings everywhere, forget about doing the dishes and start getting late to things. due to unfortunate depression - time simply flows differently for her.

✖ close-minded / open-minded / in between

charlie is very open-minded, thanks to her father being an outspoken leftist - perhaps even a bit too open-minded. after the split-second of initial confusion, she’d be willing to accept everything - even a violent “revolution”. even an unjust revenge. some may call it open-mindedness; others - naivete.

✖ cautious / reckless / in between

in general, she’s rather cautious - mostly thanks to overwhelming depression and anxiety that make her doubt her every move.

✖ patient / impatient / in between

most of the time, she’s patient - but then come those times when she’s waiting for oz to hurry up and pay attention to her. then, suddenly, she’s the most impatient, almost nagging person you’ve ever met. it has a lot of charm though, because she’s well-aware of being a pain in the ass.

✖ outspoken / reserved / in between

this is something her parents taught her - have your opinion, but know a time and place for it. don’t reveal too much to people you don’t trust, or to people you want to see gone. after all, her mother did come from a noble family, and her father did have a political career. even if he kept challenging his rivals to fistfights.

✖ leader / follower / in between

charlie has absolutely NO desire to lead, or to be in the spotlight - and to be honest... she kind of doesn’t understand people who do. it’s just too responsible, too difficult, too stressful.

✖ sympathetic / unsympathetic / in between

charlie has a lot of sympathy for other people - and that’s why her short-lived marriage with a con artist struggling to pay off his debt to the mafia was so tragic: she would’ve helped him if he asked, no questions asked.

✖ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

though she might appear to be an optimistic ray of sunshine - she’s actually very, very pessimistic. she actually did go through her fair share of feeling deeply let down by people in her life; so she tends to look at every relationship - and every possible scenario - without a glimmer of hope.

✖ hardworking / lazy / in between

you know how i said she inherited a fortune from her parents?

yeah.

(to be fair, she did work hard for her degree, so it’s not like she doesn’t know how to put effort into things. she simply never really had to put that effort into anything, thanks to her financial stability.)

✖ cultured / uncultured / in between

despite appearing as a ditzy socialite only interested in fashion and gossip - charlie is actually very cultured. she knows quite a lot about many topics, from french cuisine to religious traditions of indigenous cultures; her parents made sure she knows as much about the world as possible.

the problem is - she’s painfully disinterested in most of those topics, instead pretending to stick to things she’s actually into: fashion, games, literature.

✖ loyal / disloyal / in between

all it takes to earn her loyalty is to give her affection and attention; and she’ll be yours forever. she’s also not above being loyal to two people whose causes clash; she can be loyal to her lover, who wishes to kill harvey dent - but also to her friend, who wants to see dent flourish.

✖ faithful / unfaithful / in between

she’s faithful, she’s monogamous, she’s not afraid to wrap herself around her partner in public to make sure everyone sees how much in a relationship they are with each other.

(she might sometimes fantasize about doing the deed with someone other than her partner though. like fish mooney, because have you SEEN fish mooney? charlie had.)

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

✖ SEXUALITY – heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / omnisexual / demisexual

charlie is bi, without any actual preference for her partner’s gender. fate (me, it was me, it wasn’t fate) caused her to mostly end up getting intimate with guys - but her first partner was a girl, she’s very into fish mooney and selina kyle and she did once have a massive crush on lex luthor’s sister.

✖ SEX – sex repulsed / sex neutral /sex favorable

charlie LOVES sex - but only with the right person. she’s definitely not against talking about it with people she’s only platonically involved with, and has nothing against having others go at it in appropriate semi-public spaces, assuming it doesn’t go too far.

but yeah. she likes sex. it makes her feel good, plain and simple - and she likes the sense of connection between her and her partner, as well as feeling comfortably vulnerable and excited.

✖ ROMANCE – romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable

charlie really craves romance. she wants - needs - to both feel the butterflies in her stomach, and to be a source of someone else’s butterflies. she craves the casual intimacy, tender words, affectionate gestures... it’s all like water to her: an absolute necessity.

✖ SEXUALLY – sexually adventurous / sex experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / uninterested

while she’s not actually very experienced - she has a lot of fantasies and ideas she’d love to try out one day. she’s also not averse to toys and porn; even if she tends to not watch a lot of porn, for various reasons.

(such as: various fundamental problems rooted in modern-day porn industry, like incessant violence, name-calling and really bad camera work.)

ABILITIES

✖ COMBAT SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

to be honest, she only knows Woman’s Self Defense 101: the heel-stomp, the deadly elbow, the nails.

oh, and she also knows how to stab people. and oz taught her to shoot.

✖ LITERACY SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

she has a master’s degree in english literature.

except we all know this doesn’t mean SHIT, since there are people with actual degrees claiming kylo ren is queer and femme coded out there, so: she’s actually damn good at reading and understanding things and picking up subtexts and nuanced aspects. her father was a college professor, remember? he was a good teacher, and she was a good student.

✖ ARTISTIC SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

she has, and i can’t emphasize this enough, negative artistic skills, both verbal and visual.

(”but she has a master’s degr-” have you ever read anyone’s master’s thesis? because i did.)

this is one of the core roots of her depressive thoughts also.

✖ TECHNICAL SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

give this girl a piece of paper and tell her to fold it in half and moments later the paper’s gonna be torn and on fire and she’s gonna be having a depressive meltdown.

she is... not very good at using her hands to make things happen. this is actually one of those few things her parents did wrong; they kind of overlooked this part of their kid’s development, and as a result - charlie is a clumsy mess.

and, by the gods, don’t give her a hammer. unless you really hate all of your kitchenware, that is.

#4.txt #charlie

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aliceslantern · 4 years

Text

Beyond this Existence: Atonement chapter 17

Ansem always had a penchant for strays, so it's not at all surprising when he takes in the orphaned child Ienzo. The boy's presence changes everything, far more than Even is willing to admit. Ienzo's brilliance seems promising, but the arrival of a young Xehanort pushes the apprentices onto a dark, cruel, inhumane path which will affect the future of the World. And even once it's all over with--once Xehanort is dead--they still must pick up the pieces, forgive one another, find a way to atone for their atrocities, and struggle to accept the humanity which has been thrust upon them.

Or: Even's journey from BBS through post-KH3

Chapter summary: Even and Ansem repair their old friendship, growing closer in an unexpected way. Even's newest research project breaks his stagnation.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

It takes time.

Time of conversations, of walks, arguments. Time digging through the muck of their pasts. It is still hard to trust one another; it might always be. But they seem to be getting somewhere, and Even will take somewhere after nowhere.

He tells Ansem about those long twelve years under Xemnas's thumb; about the replicas, Roxas, all they did to make worlds fall. About vain attempts at Kingdom Hearts, about the dissolution of his rapports with Zexion, Lexeaus, and especially Xaldin; the horrors of Castle Oblivion; his own death. He recounts it with a sort of distance, and then rolls up one of his sleeves to show Ansem part of the scars.

"How's that for karmic payback?" he asks dryly.

Ansem examines his arm with a stricken expression. Then, deliberately or not at all, he runs his fingertip along it. "Does it still ail you?"

The touch is unsettling; though why? Even is feeling something unfamiliar. Discomfort? Uncertainty?

Something else entirely? He was never good at feelings.

"Not so much," he says. "Though most of the flesh is numb. You may get some pleasure from the fact that I was first to die."

Ansem doesn't comment on this. "And this devastation is… total?"

"All but my face, hands, throat, and feet. I suppose I should be grateful for that--hard to do delicate work if one cannot feel one's fingers." He can feel the blood in his face. "My body does not matter, so long as it does not collapse on me."

"At our age vanity is just that," he agrees. "I am… sorry."

He barks an awkward laugh. "What for?"

"None deserve to die so violently."

"Blame Axel's flair for the dramatic. A simple slice to the jugular would have been sufficient."

There are a few beats of silence. Ansem taps the tips of his fingers together, restlessly. “And the others?”

“How did we die?”

“Is that too… voyeuristic to ask?”

“I don’t believe so.” Even sighs. “Xaldin and Demyx were both felled by Sora, Lexeaus by Riku, Zexion by… Axel’s machinations. I’m afraid it’s all rather violent. But it was necessary, to be whole. Seems to go against the grain.”

“It does,” he agrees.

“Things seem to make less and less sense to me the longer I live.”

Ansem chuckles. “That’s how it seems. Wisdom is merely… negative learning.”

Months, and months, and months--

He and Ansem seem to be developing a warmer rapport. It is easier to be with one another, to be frank. Something like their old friendship peers through the cracks. It gives Even hope, for the first time in a long, long while. Hope that they might yet be saved. Things warm between the rest of them, as well. The talk is not so dreadfully existential. This is helped considerably by the two boys; Ienzo’s dry humor and Demyx’s easygoing nature are encouraging. The idea of all having dinner together is no longer so awkward, but rather something to look forward to.

When possible, Even helps Ienzo with his memorial project for their victims, in its final draft. One spring day, the boy presents it to them, explains at length what it means; the symbolism of flowers, the presentation of their records, the histories of those impacted by what they did. It’s the culmination of an entire year.

Hearing it all, Even is filled with something like pride for the boy, the way he so gracefully has taken responsibility. It is something he himself must learn to do.

Radiant Garden elects a city council, a group of seven individuals to take the brunt of the work from the committee. There’s some worry as to whether they may face legal consequences for what they did, but eventually, and along with the committee’s vouch, they’re allowed to remain as they were, so long as they provide their assistance. As this is what they all want anyway, it’s no issue. Ansem acts as advisor; with this to fill his days, he improves.

They’re allowed to build the garden. Almost everyone spends as much time here as possible, doing what they can. It’s good to work with the body.

Once it’s all done…

For a while he and Ansem stand in front of the wall of names. He places incense in the altar, lights it; many other burnt sticks are already crowding the stone.

I’m sorry.

He doesn’t say it, not out loud. They’re resting in a place beyond words, no thanks to him. His heart is racing, and he can feel the wetness in his eyes. As much progress as they’ve made, the guilt will be there, probably forever. And rightfully so.

Ansem rests a hand on his shoulder. “Peace, Even,” he says gently. “It’s alright.”

Perhaps it’s this implication of forgiveness, but he breaks. It seems all the pain is at the surface now; the loss of his family, the brunt of what he’s done. It hurts to be forgiven. He does not nearly deserve it.

Ansem gently embraces him. To be touched is something of a shock, and for a moment it only intensifies this crying fit. More pathetic yet, he’s clinging to him like a lifeline in this storm.

But once it’s through, once he so slowly collects the pieces of himself, dries his eyes, there’s something like catharsis, an undoing rather than a sealing away.

(And, he notes, Ansem still smells the same.)

“I… must apologize,” he says thickly. “This is most unbecoming.”

“I daresay you could use a cup of tea,” Ansem says, letting go of him.

“Perhaps something stronger.”

---

Even knows time is passing, as much as it may not feel like it. He shouldn’t be surprised when gossip is laid at his feet, brought by Dilan, who heard it from Ansem, who heard it from the city council, who heard it from the committee, who heard it from Demyx. It’s a complicated game of telephone, but as soon as Even hears it, he knows it’s not mere rumor:

Ienzo and Demyx are engaged.

He’s gotten used to the boy by now, but yet he feels something like the anger he had when he first found out they were together. Because god Ienzo is just so young . Much too young to make a decision like this. Almost getting himself killed is one thing, but… getting married? At twenty-one?

“That so,” he says to Dilan.

He smirks. “What can I say. My sources are reliable.”

“You should’ve been a journalist, not an engineer.” He leans against his palm. “Has anyone talked to him about it?”

“Not quite.” He shrugs. “Would it be the worst thing?”

“At this point in their neurological development, they are literally incapable of making consequential decisions. I don’t want them to do something they’ll regret.” His heart is beating hard with dread.

A shrug. “I’d take a divorced Ienzo over a dead or depressed one. Besides. Wasn’t your marriage rather spur-of-the-moment?”

He has a point. Still, Even feels blood rush into his face. “I’ll talk to him.”

He doesn’t have to wait long; the boy comes to him with a thick manuscript, a more portable version of the stories he’s gathered from their victims, and the survivors. It feels… odd, to hold it in his hands. Odd and uncomfortable. He knows the truth of it. Yet to hear their words is… well. Power to the boy for being able to handle it. “I never pictured you as a soft scientist,” Even says instead.

Ienzo exhales. He needs glasses now, the first concrete sign of his humanity catching up to him. “You’re going to be frightfully disappointed in me, but I no longer derive any pleasure or fulfillment from so-called “harder” subjects.”

Even frowns. “Why on earth would I be disappointed?” As though pursuing his passions were a bad thing?

“I do recall a period in my life when you found my perusal of fiction a waste of time, when I could be studying.”

He sets the book down. “We all know what a fool I was, back then. No.” He smiles. “The only way I’d be disappointed in you was if you were to waste your life faffing about. But you were never lazy.”

He scratches his cheek. “I understand the… trepidation, you might feel,” he says slowly. “And… it is quite harrowing.”

Even drops his eyes. “I can only imagine what the experience has been like, for you.”

“...Gathering these stories?” He hesitates. “Not everyone is… willing to share such dark content of their hearts. I’ve had more than one door slammed in my face.” He wrings his hands. “I’d hoped that my suspicion regarding everyone’s opinion of us was mere paranoia, but some folks do feel a certain… ire. Not that I can blame them.” He clears his throat. “It’s… worth it, to hear their voices. We… need to understand the human impact. I don’t mean the numbers.” He is shy, sheepish. “I have… written something of an abridged memoir, myself.”

Ienzo always loved stories. It must be one of the many ways he’s trying to take care of himself. “It would only make sense. You are one of the victims.” Used, manipulated, stunted, deprived of a normal life.

He flinches. “Victim and perpetrator in one. Seems I am fated to live in dichotomy.” He inhales sharply. “I have already spoken to the others. It might be valuable to give your own version of events. Not necessarily for publication.”

Funny boy. “For the good of my recovery?”

The earnestness almost makes Even laugh. “Well, yes. You had said you were trying to write and reflect, to delineate a new identity. How is this any different? Your perspective could offer some insight to future generations, when they inevitably look back at all this.”

“Record keeping,” Even mutters. “Very well. I… will consider it. Are you alright?”

He flinches, again, and presses a hand to his brow. “I had hoped these new glasses would lessen my headaches, but that appears not to be the case.”

Concern blooms in him. “You’re still getting them? After all this time?” Surely it isn’t healthy.

He smiles, but it looks fake. “Not frequently. You needn’t worry. Take as much time as you’d like with it. I have other copies.”

“I shall, but…” Even looks him over. He is improved compared to those early days--a healthy weight and color--but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still feeling the ramifications of all he did. “ Do let that fiance of yours take a look at you. Apparently he’s quite competent.” He waves his hand dismissively.

Ienzo, hearing the word, flushes; caught.

“Did you actually think you could keep it under wraps?” Even asks. “What with Dilan’s inane gossiping?”

“Not… secret. I don’t see why my personal life should be of interest to anyone.”

“Of course it will be, when we live on top of one another.” He debates biting this bullet. “You are so… very young. So young.”

He scowls. “As nobody will let me forget.”

“I don’t want you to get into something so permanent. You’re barely stable yourself.” When Ienzo says nothing, he adds-- “Even if you were not only twenty-one, you’ve only been with him a year. I realize you are not used to the idea of permanence, but this will be--”

“It was I who asked him.”

He blinks. Not at all what he thought. “I’d’ve--figured--”

He’s rather snappish when he says, “Demyx is very respectful of my boundaries. He would not force me into anything I did not explicitly ask for. Should it end, we will deal with it maturely. But I don’t see that happening.”

Again, his mind’s made up. Concern wells in Even. But he supposes Dilan must be right. The boy should be allowed to make his own choices. His life has already been so tempestuous; this might offer him a shred of stability, artificial or no. “Do you truly want this?” Even asks. “Would it make you happy?”

“Yes,” he says. “And I am already happy. Insofar as I can be, anyway.”

Then that’s that. “I suppose I will always see you as a… child.”

He sighs. “Par for the course when you raise someone.You were always… more my guardian than Ansem. But you must trust I am able to make my own decisions. After all, you--” He blushes.

“I what?”

“It was not me you came back to Radiant Garden for.”

“You know why I had to leave. Ienzo, I did not want to, but who else would’ve--”

“...I know.” He bites his lip. “Still. A note would’ve been appreciated. You needn’t protect me anymore. Especially from Demyx.”

Even sighs. “Old habits die hard. Or so the cliche goes.”

“...Right. Well. I shall leave you to it, then.” He leaves, allowing Even to consider the manuscript in front of him. It takes a few minutes of culling his nerve to open it.

One could not call Ienzo a “concise” writer. His language is flowery, emotional; he plays with the voices of the survivors, curating it carefully. Even wonders if, had the boy been raised differently, he might’ve been a writer after all.

It is harrowing. The heartbreak and torment these people went through--the snippets of it--

Even once she was back, she was never the same.

He just vanished. We thought it might’ve been the wolves, beyond the city limits. But then we heard those stories about the castle and I… I just knew, in the pit of my stomach. I felt so betrayed by the king. Why did he let this happen?

I kissed their cheek, tied the ribbon in their hair. They were so excited to go; their whole class was rooting for them. They never came home.

Even feels nauseous. Still, he continues. He knows he needs to do this, to listen to them. To again feel that human weight.

Perhaps the most upsetting part of it is Ienzo’s, shoehorned at the very back.

I know people must think we’re monsters. It is only right, it is only true . Yet we were also subjected to the darkness we bore, its ache, the way it destroys all that is good. My unraveling was a slow one, one I am still trying to fix. But is anything we do ever enough?

Is it?

---

So Even writes again, abridging his manic, borderline unintelligible journals from the months prior into something halfway readable. It’s hard to find the balance, between feeling and fact, what will make a cohesive narrative. He was never a writer, nor, he thinks, does he want to be. He gives Ienzo some suggested edits and leaves it all at the child’s favorite desk in the library.

Again there’s that stiff sense of catharsis, of a sort of release. His mind is so much more tangled than he ever thought. More complex.

(More human.)

He wonders, with something like a flash, if in fact darkness harnesses the mind like addiction. It truly is a euphoric pull. If only, if only he had working MRI equipment to study the mind. All he has is blood, is feelings. That doesn’t account for much. Not watertight science.

He finds himself rambling about this to Ansem, of all people.

This seems to shake him; for several moments Ansem just stares into the middle distance, something stricken on his face. Then, “Even, you’re a genius.”

“Don’t be absurd--it’s been in my face all along, yet I’ve ignored the signs--”

“We all have. We thought this was about morality--and it is, of course we’re still accountable for our actions. But all this… difficulty becoming human, the way we were undone so quickly… it makes a sort of sense. Why we couldn’t stop even though we knew what we were doing.”

“Which is why I’m positively aching to study our minds,” he says, pacing. “I’ve no functioning machinery. A blood test won’t tell me much of anything anymore, except chemistry, and it’s so variable considering we’re all basically guaranteed to have multiple mental illnesses outside of this supposed “addiction”. There’s simply no way--”

“Oh, I can think of one,” Ansem says.

Even snorts. “Really? Name it.”

“We do know a few people who work with the body. In a way that is not quite literal.” A smile. “Not everything has to be so black and white.”

He blinks. “That is… absolutely correct.”

---

When Even asks Demyx about it, he also gives him that same odd look.

“Well fuck,” he says. “I mean I’m happy to help, but like, I’ve only been doing this for a few months now. Not sure I can… collect data, or whatever.” He spins idly on one of Even’s stools.

“You said you work with people’s energies. What does that tell you?”

He blows a raspberry. “Mostly it’s a… well. It depends. Like a color, or a note. Your personality, basically. But actually feeling inside the brain…” He looks at his hands. “You know… I’ve been desperately trying to repress it, but I’ve been inside someone’s head. I felt their…” He flinches. “Anyway. I wouldn’t know what to look for.”

“That I can help you with. And I can be guinea pig--if necessary.”

He bites his lip. “This will help people?”

“I’m positive.”

“Okay. Sure. I’m in.” He ruffles the hair at the back of his neck. His knee is jiggling. He doesn’t quite want to meet Even’s eyes. “I’ve gotta… do some reading. Some asking around.”

“I’m sure.”

“So guess I’ll go?”

“Of course. Thanks, Demyx. This means a lot to me.” To think there'd be a day when he willingly sought Demyx's help, his expertise.

He flashes a peace sign and stands.

“Wait.”

He tenses. He knows they’ve both been anticipating this. “Yeah?” he asks cautiously.

“You and Ienzo…” Even trails off. “Is this what you want as well?”

He looks up. He’s blushing. “It really is. I…” He bites his lip. “Love is weird and terrifying, but we kind of… helped each other become human. Kind of literally for me. Not sure if that’s why things between us are so intense. I can’t imagine it changing.”

“...I see.” He can tell there’s some realization to be gleaned from this; he can also tell that he desperately does not want to know it. “Very well.”

“Guess you can’t get rid of me after all,” he says. He smiles a little. “See ya.”

---

Love.

Why is Even thinking about this?

Feelings are complicated enough without adding romance to it. Familial, platonic love is one thing; anything else is too much.

He was married, once.

He still can’t be sure he truly loved that person the way they all blathered on about. A love, not the love. Is this something he would want? Is he worthy of anyone? It’s surely not necessary. But for the first time Even desires a personal life… whatever that may mean. His work/life balance has never been ideal, in his brief time as a spouse, a parent. This vein of thought alone is indulgent. He should shunt it away, bury it. Besides, to want this type of love would mean there has to be an object of such affection… and there isn’t one.

He decides to ask Ansem about it.

“I’m afraid I can’t be much use,” he says, barely looking up from the papers spread all across his desk. It’s a familiar sight, yet also one Even hasn’t seen in years. He chuckles wryly. “But Even, you are a human being. You have a right to these things, should you so want them.”

“What, and force someone else to put up with me? Perhaps my synapses are misfiring.”

Ansem circles something on the paper in front of him. “These people write law like they were raised in a barn.” Then, “I suppose they were. Anyway, perhaps you should view it as a sign of growth. You always held others at arm’s length--even before you became a Nobody. Now, you’re allowing people into your life, your heart.” He twirls a pen vaguely.

“It certainly does not feel like growth.” He scoffs. He shifts a little in his seat. “Is that something you ever saw for yourself? You’ve never mentioned a spouse, a lover.” This almost seems as if it is getting too personal. “Does it simply not interest you?”

“I… wouldn’t say that.”

Oh?

“I am improving, true. I think it will be some time before I can confidently… pursue such matters.”

“...It sounds almost as if you have a certain individual in mind.” Ansem is fond of writing letters; perhaps some pen pal?

There is just the slightest hesitation, almost unnoticeable. “I do believe Dilan’s gossip mongering is getting to you.”

“...Perhaps.”

---

What does it mean?

Moreover, why does he care?

Every time Even tries to push the question out of his mind, it comes back with a vengeance. He keeps coming back to that interaction. And every time, it gives him a jolt of something like fear. He refuses to think critically about it. More important work at hand.

He’s again spending more time with Demyx; moreso, actually, than with Ienzo. If they’re to work together, it’s par for the course. But Demyx isn’t a scientist. Some things are simply beyond his realm of understanding. The boy is trying to study the texts that Even leaves him, but it all seems to worry him.

“Not sure I’m cut out for this,” he says. “You should really just ask Aerith.”

Even frowns. “Why not?”

“I…” He looks down at his hands, which are trembling. “I’m a total newbie. Who knows if what I find is even right?”

“I thought you’ve done this before?”

He flinches. “Once. And… not under ideal circumstances. I had to… stop someone from having a stroke.” He’s flushing.

“This is not nearly so invasive.”

“I know that, but…” He traces a finger along the page.

Even frowns. “What’s wrong? I don’t believe you’ll hurt anyone. I just want to look for injury, response, that’s all. Which is something you do every day.”

Demyx shakes his head. “It’s not that. I guess I should be honest. Family, and all.”

Even feels a thick wave of anxiety. “...What?”

He drops his eyes. “The person was Ienzo.”

His heart falls to his feet. Even feels his hand at his breastbone. “But the boy’s fine,” Even says.

“Yeah. Now. These… headaches. It was more than just the manifestation of his will, or whatever. It was an accumulation of years of stress. Like the glasses. All the fucked up shit that happened to his body caught up to him. I was just lucky enough to be there when it happened.” His eyes are watering, and he blinks hard. “I just feel really icky when I think about it.”

Even squeezes his shoulder gently, in an attempt to comfort. “I don’t… blame you.” Ienzo is the youngest of all of them. If he has--or had--such problems, what could be wrong with the rest of them? “You’ve gotten yourself looked at, I hope?”

“I… yeah. There would’ve been some trouble with my heart. But Aerith knew what to look for, so she fixed it.” He lays a palm on his chest.

It’s becoming clear. “You’re scared of what you might find in the rest of us?”

“Maybe. It’s weird. I’m not used to my patients… being us.”

Even is also unsettled. Of course he knows that he’s treated his body poorly in the past--too much work, not enough food or sleep--but it’s another thing to embody that knowledge.

“At least it can be fixed,” he says slowly. “I don’t want to fuck up. Any time--but especially if it’s you guys. I… sort of care.” He laughs wryly.

“Well I’m afraid you’ve gotten yourself into a situation where you must be involved with us.”

“It’s easier now than it was back then. Don’t you think?”

“It gets easier every day.”

---

The pit keeps getting deeper. Every time he thinks he understands just how much darkness has destroyed them, it grows yet more cataclysmic. The stress--while they did not necessarily feel it as Nobodies--is having infinite consequences. After some prodding, he is able to convince them all to give him a sample of their DNA, to further study their epigenomes. It’s engrossing work--work that might help future generations avoid their perilous mistakes. The sample size is still incredibly small, and incredibly skewed. No women, for example, and most of them are middle-aged (or, begrudgingly, older). He wonders if the townsfolk would be willing to participate, but as soon as the thought forms he’s aware of the paranoia.

“I can bring it up to the city council,” Ansem says one evening, in his quarters. “And put out some feelers. They claim to be so interested in the people’s emotional state. And we are desperate for some kind of mental health treatment. This might help beget that.”

Even feels exhausted. He still has so much to do. He has to admit it’s nice to be driven again, to have a goal to work towards. It certainly has lifted him out of that dark, dangerous place. “Oh, I certainly hope so.”

Ansem puts down his pen, stretches his wrist. “I must say modesty becomes you.”

Even scoffs. “Funny.”

“I mean it. You’ve changed more than you think. I’ve so rarely seen you approach things with grace and tenderness.”

“Flowery words.” He picks at the ends of his hair, suddenly unable to look him in the eye. “I spent so long working so selfishly. I said it was for the greater good, but really it was for the greater good of… Even.” He winces. “To know I can actually help, or at the very least leave behind a study that might help future generations… is a comfort.” He leans his elbows onto the table. “I’m exhausted.”

“You look it. You should try to get some rest.”

“...Perhaps. I’ll get up when I can find the ambition.”

He picks the pen back up. “No reason you can’t sit with a friend.”

“...You would consider me one?”

Ansem raises an eyebrow. “As if I would let you sit here blathering on otherwise?”

Even rolls his eyes.

“I do enjoy your company. Rather more than I used to. I am starting to… let go of the bitterness. It does nothing except make me harder and less tolerable. You are all trying so hard to better yourselves… I’d best follow suit.”

There’s a few moments of silence, but it’s comfortable. Even finds himself, again, thinking of their previous conversation. He’s almost tempted to ask. Should he? And why is such a thought putting a tightness in his throat? “...So what do you think of this wedding?” he asks instead.

Ansem fully sets aside his work, and leans back in the chair. “I did not think it would happen so soon. But they work well together, as a pair. Why wait, as it were. Demyx is an earnest young man, and he’s also changed so much. He really would do anything for Ienzo. And I think after so much neglect, Ienzo deserves as much love as he can find.”

“...It’s so… funny, I suppose. For the longest time all of us rotting in that castle could not tolerate each other, and here we are… quite literally family.”

“Better than being alone.”

“...It is. It took me a long while to realize I could not live that way. Too long. People need… people.” His lip curls.

Ansem laughs. “Quite.” He takes Even’s hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Besides, some deserve a fresh start.”

Even blinks. He should move his hand, but finds himself almost immovable. He recalls that night many years before, when he was bedridden with that flu. The way the touch seemed like it was always there. It sounds almost as if you have a certain individual in mind.

Even. You dunce.

Too slowly, he withdraws. “I should… get some sleep. We’ve both had long days.”

Ansem looks vaguely startled. “Yes. Well. Good night.”

“Good night.”

He limps back to his quarters, feeling vaguely nauseous, like he’s been punched. His heart rate is erratic. This is something very like panic, but at the same time, not quite. His mind races. It aches.

Isn't this what you've desired?

With Ansem?

He feels like he can't breathe.

Are these feelings real, or his?

What does he want ?

That simple touch--a squeeze of the hand--is almost enough to unravel him. Much less--

He can not mentally compute it.

Even has to come out with it. To verbalize the thought in whole. To love Ansem?

And yet. Who else could it possibly be?

Is he in love?

He certainly isn't alone.

But isn't love instantly knowable?

Either way, Ansem likely has feelings for him. What does this mean? Is this what he wants?

After so long without anything, love and lust are incalculable. Unobtainable.

What does Even want?

Is he worthy?

He can't breathe.

---

"Even?"

He's pretending to sleep when he hears the voice. "Is something the matter?"

"...I would like a word." Ansem's voice is gruff, scratchy.

"Now?"

"Are you really asleep?"

A fair point. He puts on his robe. Finds Ansem in the doorway. (His heart stutters--a warning sign.) "What do you need?"

"...I'd like to talk."

He gets dressed. Follows Ansem down the hall in this silky blue night. His heart races, flooding him with cortisol.

(And something like hope.)

They walk for a few minutes. "So what exactly couldn’t wait until morning?" Even asks.

Ansem hesitates. "My words fail me. I… can… feel something."

"Congratulations."

He touches Even's shoulder. "I thought you may feel something as well."

His heart about shatters. "Ansem. You deserve more than me. A person who is whole, untainted, better than some wretch--"

Ansem touches his cheek, and his world about stops. "You are so much more than that."

In this dark hallway, Ansem leans up and, so gently, kisses him on the mouth.

It’s bizarre; how the body remembers what to do. It has to be close to fifteen years since he’s kissed someone, but yet something about this is so familiar. His smell, the subtle scratch of his beard. Like it’s all happened before. Something like panic replaces the hard-won pleasure, and he breaks away. He finds himself tensing, breaking away all too soon.

“Are you alright?” Ansem asks.

“I’m not so sure. I just… why?”

“Haven’t we spent long enough being miserable and alone?”

“I… suppose.” He’s infinitely grateful for the semidarkness. He can feel himself unravelling.

“Do you want this?”

“What I want doesn’t matter.”

“But it does.” Ansem takes Even’s hands.

“We took this sort of thing from people. Do we really deserve it?”

“And what is the alternative?” Ansem asks softly. “Locking yourself away? Grinding down your own emotions? None of that will meaningfully help you atone.”

He can hear himself breathing tremulously. “Alright.”

“Alright, what?”

Even can feel his words failing as well. “I will… try. But it’s been… I feel so--” A stuttering wreck.

“We’re not young. We’ve no need to rush headfirst into things.”

“I need to… process all this.” He pulls away his hands. “I can find you later.”

“Of course.” Ansem chances kissing him once more. It’s quick, chaste, and yet is all too much. All of this touch is. Even can feel himself getting choked up. “Good night, Even.”

He listens to his footsteps retreating into the darkness. Despite the warmth of the early fall evening, he’s shivering. It’s not normal, to react this way; he knows this much. Below the anxiety, he feels something very like relief. Closure. He’s known Ansem longer than he’s known anyone. It’s only suitable they find one another now.

He sinks wearily into bed, and sleeps.

#beyond this existence: atonement #even (kingdom hearts)#ansem the wise #demyx #ienzo #beyond this existence

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blueboxesandtrafficcones · 4 years

Text

The Nuptial Necessity - Chapter 18

A 12xRose Human AU

Despite an unglamorous job description, Rose loves the work she does with The Thistle Foundation, a charity founded by her best friend’s great-uncle. It doesn’t hurt that her boss, her friend’s father, is easy on the eyes. With a great job, wonderful friends and a loving family, life couldn’t be better – except for having someone to share it with.

All of that is threatened, though, when the great-uncle dies – and sets a strange condition for his nephew to inherit, jeopardizing the Foundation and Rose’s future, sparking a chain of events that might just get her everything she dreamed of and more.

Chapters will be posted on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Many thanks to my beta, @stupidsatsuma

Rated: Explicit, for eventual smut

@doctorroseprompts

AO3 | Masterlist

—

The limo ride back to the townhouse was quiet; with Clara and Danny going home directly from the event it was just the two of them. It was only a twenty-minute ride, but Rose still kicked off her heels to give her feet a break before Malcolm was even fully in the car, so that by the time he was settled she could scoot right into his side and relax.

“Hello,” he murmured, hesitating before putting his arm around her.

“Hi,” she sighed in return, resting her head on his shoulder. After a minute, she laid her arm along the length of his thigh, ostensibly as the only comfortable place for it, squished between them.

He didn’t object.

Watching out the window as London passed by, Rose tried to control her nerves and mentally rehearse how this would go. Ideally he’d try something himself and save her the trouble, but somehow, she didn’t think so. That wouldn’t be like him, to take charge – not with her. It would be much more his style to let her come to him, and she was praying that was the case here.

She didn’t know what she would do if he turned her down. I don’t want to go back and live with my parents. Maybe Clara will let me stay with them – it is my flat. Either way, it would be humiliating.

A tentative brush against her knee made her look down to find Malcolm’s hand awkwardly hovering over it, as if debating whether or not to set it down. Checking his expression, she found he was firmly staring out the window, a bit too intensely to be natural. Licking her lips, hope flickering inside her, she used her free hand to gently press his down onto her knee before removing her own quickly. His remained still for long moments, before the thumb began to gently rub back and forth, much as it had moments before she’d announced their ‘engagement’. Was that already a month ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

Taking a deep breath, she moved the hand on his knee until it bumped his on hers, slowly encouraging it to flip. Once it did, she laced their fingers together, but loosely, so he could pull away if he so wanted; instead, he squeezed her hand.

This might actually happen, she realized with a jolt, equal parts panic and anticipation racing through her. It would be the culmination of five years’ worth of fantasies and daydreams, of hoping, wishing, wanting, and now that it was here (maybe), standing on the precipice, she saw that if she dared, if she jumped, it would be an awfully long way to fall if he didn’t catch her.

No, she told herself firmly, as her thoughts started to spiral. This is no time to chicken out. You have to see this through.

“Rose?”

“Yes!” She startled, gaze snapping up to meet his amused and somewhat curious look. “Sorry, what?”

“We’re here- home.”

Home. “Right.”

She put her shoes back on while he got out, before sliding over to the door and making sure she had everything. He held out a hand to help her out, and she took it, breathing deeply.

Showtime.

Anticipation tingled on Malcolm’s skin like electricity, building up to a steady hum. Change was in the air, and if he was reading the signs right, his wildest fantasy might soon be coming true.

While he had been firm in his resolve of not allowing anything to happen between them, in the end that had only lasted a handful of hours, right up until he had woken up in the middle of the night on the sofa, spooning Rose. She’d been pressed tight against him, and there had been no way to hide his physical reaction to her closeness. His heart had almost stopped when she’d awoken, and he’d barely been able to maintain a convincing level of unconsciousness as she’d rolled her hips back into him once, twice, three times. And he knew for sure that she was awake, was conscious of her actions and his reaction, because she’d whispered his name.

The fact that she hadn’t frozen, or tried to get away, or for that matter run screaming, had instead chosen to press closer, gave him hope.

He was tired of denying himself happiness, tired of punishing himself for a failed marriage the one who ruined it felt no guilt over. If Rose wanted him, well…

Almost on autopilot he led her into the house, suddenly nervous about what would happen next. Would she make a move? Did she expect him to?

“Nightcap?” he offered, once the door was locked behind them. “Or do you want to go to bed? I mean- are you tired?”

“I could go for a drink,” she agreed, lips twitching upwards. “Sure.”

Moving his hand from it’s relatively-safe place on her fabric-clad hip he took a chance, finding the smooth, warm skin of her bare back and guiding her that way into the library. Leaving her to settle where she wanted, Malcolm headed for the drinks cart, pouring them each two fingers of scotch. Over the past week it had become their routine to end the evening with a glass in here.

He didn’t want the evening to end here.

Turning, a glass in each hand, he found her sitting just right of center on the sofa, looking perfectly elegant and relaxed, as if she spent every night in an evening gown. “My lady,” he offered her one, which she accepted with a grin as he sank down next to her, side by side, flush against each other from knee to hip.

“Why thank you, my lord,” she countered, in what had become a running joke between them. “Too kind.”

They clinked glasses, taking a small sip.

“Tonight was perfect,” he told her seriously. “You make pulling this together look effortless, but I know how hard you work on it all year round. Brava.” He lifted his glass slightly in a little toast. Grinning, cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink, Rose ducked her head.

“Thank you. It did go well, didn’t it? And we raised a fuck-ton of money, too. But this wouldn’t happen without you, and Wallace, and the Estate, so… here’s to you too,” she toasted back, pausing before letting their glasses touch. “Hang on, but the reason there will continue to be this Gala is because of me,” she teased, tongue peeking out the side of her mouth from between her teeth and making his trousers tighten. “So, yes, another toast to me, I think.”

“I’ll most certainly drink to that,” he murmured, voice somewhat lower than he’d strictly intended, but not sorry as she gave a little shiver in response, leaning into him. “And especially to you in that dress.”

“Mum called me a tart,” she snickered. “She said that dressed like this, I might as well hang a sign around my neck and say I’m open for business.”

He barely managed to stop himself from asking any sort of follow up question, taking a long pull off his whisky instead, almost choking on it when Rose’s palm settled on his upper thigh, fingers spread across the width of it, the very tips of them dangerously close to a specific area. Be cool, be cool. You’re not fifteen. Don’t embarrass yourself.

“Well, thanks for the drink, but I think it’s time for bed,” Rose sighed, rubbing gently at his leg. “Walk me up?”

“Of course.” Taking the empty glasses back to the cart for the cleaner to deal with tomorrow, he used the momentary privacy of his back to her to adjust himself. “Ready?”

They took their time climbing the stairs, his hand once again in the small of her back, fingers unable to stop themselves from rubbing circles on her skin.

He wondered if she would object if he moved his hand down to her bum.

Something told him she wouldn’t, but he didn’t try. Maybe next time. Let’s see how tonight goes.

All too soon they reached her bedroom, pausing there. Rose leaned back against the door, and he tried not to look at how it accentuated her curves.

This was it, the moment, his one chance, and he couldn’t make himself do anything. Say something, kiss her, what are you waiting for? Look at her! She’s practically begging for it. That was true; she was oozing sex appeal, and he wanted to take her then and there.

Instead, he said, “This is you.”

She knows that, moron, it’s her room. That the best you’ve got?

“It is,” she replied, breathless, reaching out to toy with the buttons on his shirt; he instinctively moved closer, which was apparently what she wanted by her little smirk. “So…”

“So?”

Her chest heaved, and he couldn’t imagine how she could possibly be breathing in a tension-filled moment such as this. “Here’s the thing… I could use a hand.”

“Oh? How so?” All of his blood was rushing south, leaving his brain all but empty, which actually made it easier – raising one forearm, he braced himself on the door, bracketing her against it, not close enough that they were touching, but certainly invading her personal space.

“I need help undoing the dress. The back, I mean. It’s too intricate to do by myself.”

Malcolm blinked; he’d spent most of the night studying the back (and front, and sides) of the dress, and as far as he could tell, the only zipper was at the small of her back going down, and the top could practically be peeled off. (He’d done it a dozen times in his mind, several of them notable for the use of his teeth.) “You do?”

Cheeks pink and eyes hooded, Rose nodded slowly, fingers now trailing up and down the row of buttons on his dress shirt. “I do. And, obviously, in return, I’d be happy to help you out of your tux. Fair is fair, after all.”

Holy fuck, she is coming onto me. Say yes, say yes, say yes.

“I live to serve,” he managed, lowering his head towards her. “Anything you want. Need. Desire.”

“I might have quite a long list,” she whispered, hands moving to his hips and pulling him closer. “Is that okay?”

Dipping his head further he nuzzled his nose against her temple, unable to believe this was happening, happiness and shock running rampant through him. “More than, I insist. In fact, you should check it again, make sure it’s comprehensive. I want to thoroughly satisfy it.”

Rose whimpered, and his lips kissed their way down to the corner of her mouth, waiting there, resting there, for her permission.

“Is this what you want?” he whispered against her skin. “Am I understanding properly?” He kept his tone serious and quiet, wanting to make sure she knew this wasn’t part of whatever game they’d stumbled into. “Rose, tell me to go away and I will.”

She turned her head slightly, soft lips grazing against his own.

“Malcolm,” she sighed, “take me inside.”

“Are you sure?”

Her right hand slid around to his belt buckle and down, her words as clear as her actions. “Yes. I’m sure.”

She opened the door, and they went inside.

#bbatcfic #ficandchips #Doctor Who #doctorroseprompts #Human!12xRose #Human!Twelfth Doctor #Rose Tyler #Human AU #AU #The Nuptial Necessity

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12freddofrogs · 5 years

Text

An episode of a Batfam TV Show

A while back I started wondering how I would design the Batfamily for their own TV. It started as a quick exercise, just considering ‘Season one would be Dick as Robin, and maybe he and Babs would do this, and then in S2 Jason would turn up’... and then it got detailed to the point I was working out individual episodes, character arcs, and themes.

This is an extract from Season Three, aka, Tim’s Robin run (pt1). The full chapter includes bright eyed Tim Drake nearly getting himself run over by the Batmobile so he can make his case why Batman needs a Robin, a minor cameo by the giant penny in the Cave, an adaptation of The Killing Joke, a driving lesson that technically involves Nightwing stealing the Batmobile, the Spoiler setting up in purple, a Wayne Gala or two, much mourning for what happened in the S2 finale, and Cassandra Cain rejecting her blood family for one that actually cares.

And, of course, this musical episode.

Full fic on Ao3 -Chapter 3 here. It’s much easier to read, especially on mobile.

Chapter 1 here.

Season Three, Episode Twenty - Songbird

A Pied Piper themed villain comes to Gotham.

He has nothing to do with the Central City villain.

His powers work on children. Specifically, anyone under the age of about eighteen. It’s never made entirely clear what the cut-off age is, just that Cass is immune.

Of course, no-one really knows how old Cass is, either, considering her lack of birth certificate.

Tim is having an ordinary day at school, calmly walking past a couple having a break-up in the cafeteria, when the dramatic screaming match switches into a Broadway musical.

Tim is alarmed, and as he continues through the school, other people are bursting into song. Music is playing, and from the way he turns it’s obvious he can hear it and can’t figure out from where.

“I need to finish my assignment for mathematics / but I can’t find the time without skipping football practise,” one boy tells his friends, then claps a hand against his throat.

“I’ve spent so much time working on Miss Greene’s essay / that I completely forgot about the science test today!” a girl sings, her voice calm despite the fact she’s frantically flipping through a textbook.

“He’s so handsome, he’d never notice me / what would I have to do to make him see?” another girl sings from her locker, glancing at a boy several doors away. He notices her singing, and she yelps, hiding behind her locker door.

Everyone is growing frantically confused by the music.

It eventually turns into a school wide song with everyone, including Tim, singing the same lyrics about “What’s going on? Why are we bursting into song?”

The song finishes and all the students stare at each other, wide-eyed.

“What was--”

“How--”

“I don’t--”

While everyone is still panicking, Tim slips out the school doors.

He heads straight to the Manor.

When Bruce opens the door, it’s to find a bundle of nervous energy fidgeting on his threshold.

“B, we - oh, no, it’s happening again.” Tim claps a hand over his mouth.

“What’s happening?” Bruce steps aside immediately to let his panicked third Robin into the house.

It takes a moment as Tim scrambles inside, dropping his school backpack on the ground and turning to Bruce with a panicked expression, but finally he lowers his hand.

As expected, out comes another song.

“Bruce, we really need to talk because / there’s something in my voice. / Everything comes out as song / and I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a plan for this / so I kinda hope you do. / Otherwise get ready for Gotham’s musical debut. ”

"...I see.”

It’s not that Tim’s constantly speaking in song.

He still talks normally most of the time.

It’s just that whenever he feels something particularly strongly, he has an automatic performance about it.

He’s very concerned that when he sings, it’s always the absolute truth about how he feels.

“I have a secret identity! I can’t go to school if I’m going to sing about wearing a cape!”

Dick finds it hilarious

When he hears about the situation he comes up from Bludhaven immediately.

He’s trying to be sympathetic, but it comes across as insincere when he’s filming the whole thing.

“Come on, just one little song for the camera?”

“Mmm-fff!” Tim shakes his head, hands clapped over his mouth defensively.

Babs tells Dick not to worry, she caught Tim’s last performance on security cameras. Tim looks offended.

Meanwhile, Cass is jealous she’s too old.

“This is not a good thing, Cass,” Tim complains.

“Looks fun.”

“It is not.”

“Sourpuss.”

Tim has a song about being insecure in his place as Robin

Batman informs him that he is not to get involved in the case.

Tim grumpily agrees, and stays alone in the Cave while everyone leaves.

He starts on the obstacle course, swinging up and down on the wires as he begins to sing.

“Batman needs a Robin / That much is plain to see / The question that I’m asking / Is the Robin he needs me?”

He’s not insecure about being kept off this particular case, understanding if not liking it, but in general not sure about his ability to live up to the name.

It finishes with a more triumphant declaration that he can do this. He’s Robin, he’s earned his cape, watch him go.

Steph is equally affected by the curse.

It’s the first time she’s turned up at the Cave, but she figured this was probably a big enough situation to be worth knocking.

She’s trying to make the most of it, and turns it into a game.

She acts like she’s finding it enjoyable. It’s almost believable until she does get a moment alone with Tim to confess that it’s creepy.

Steph and Tim have a duet.

Dick’s attempt at provoking them into singing finally works.

The song starts with Tim being annoyed at Dick, and quickly fades into both of them admitting they’re annoyed with the situation. It’s a very fast-paced cheer about how they can’t stop singing, when they find out who’s responsible that person will find out just what Robin and Spoiler can do.

They’re dancing around, jumping on and off the equipment, and performing perfect choreography.

Dick and Cass applaud.

It finishes with Tim dipping Steph, her balancing with one leg in the air, when they both react in terror. Tim drops her.

“I didn’t want — we didn’t want to do that,” Tim blurts out.

“You don’t understand, it made us move. It’s never done that before. It actually controlled what we did.” Steph’s breathing heavily, still sitting on the ground.

It’s discovered that the musical magic is not only growing, and is turning into a more complete form of mind control.

Dick and Cass suddenly no longer find it funny.

Within days, maybe even hours, the Pied Piper villain is likely to have an entire army of Gothamite children for choreographed villainy.

So, of course, the Bats push this situation up several rungs of the priorities.

Tim and Steph were already off the case, but now they are banned from leaving the Cave until they know exactly what this song can do.

They each call their parents to inform them they’re staying at the other’s house. Steph swears up and down that she’s just studying with Tim, seriously, she’ll bring home the flashcards as proof if she has to.

The two of them then actually end up making flashcards, because they no longer trust their bodies enough to train.

For a while everything is calm.

Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Oracle are all focused intently on the case.

Alfred is watching the two youngest.

It’s not a joke anymore, but with Tim and Steph sitting casually on the ground, talking together completely normally and checking in via coms, the situation doesn’t seem red alert urgent.

No-one notices how Tim starts humming as he cuts out the next flashcard, or that Steph takes up the tune while she coats one in glitter.

The scenes of them humming along together is intercut along with moments of the others working the case. The audience is very aware — Tim and Steph’s song has no diegetic soundtrack, so all the audience can hear in the Cave scenes are Alfred’s footsteps, the scratch of pen and paper, and two teenagers humming too quietly for anyone else.

Up until the point where they actually start singing.

Steph and Tim’s humming gradually changes into a song.

“Cut and paste and listen,” they murmer in unison, wistful and fanciful, still working on the flashcards. “Cut and paste and listen to the magic sound. Cut and paste and listen. The Piper is coming to town.”

Alfred is no longer dusting the computer. Instead, he clicks on the communicator so Batman can hear the chant, and carefully approaches.

Tim and Steph insist that they’re fine. They don’t speak in unison for it, but it does come out as more of a duet.

“Don’t worry, Alfred, we feel fine,” Steph insists.

“Absolutely marvellous,” Tim chimes in.

“Completely sublime.”

Tim gets to his feet with an encouraging smile, scissors dangling in his fingertips. “We’ve just got a song stuck in our heads.”

“There’s no need to worry.”

“And no need to fret.”

“It’s just a shame you can’t hear that sound.” Steph tugs at her ear, grinning.

“It sinks to your bones and makes you feel like dancing around.”

Alfred cuts off the song to assure them that the Pied Piper will soon be defeated. This whole nonsense will be finished with by tomorrow, and by this point even Dick will be grateful for it.

The songbirds are oddly upset about that idea.

“You’re getting him chased down by the Big Bad Bat?” Steph asks.

“That shouldn’t happen. The Piper won’t like that,” Tim says.

“No,” Alfred says slowly, warily. “I suppose he wouldn’t.”

The argument culminates when Tim nearly stabs Alfred with the scissors.

Alfred dodges the blow on instinct, sidestepping the blade aimed at his head.

Tim freezes, his arm outstretched.

For a moment all three of them are still, Alfred watching the scissors over his shoulder and Tim’s eyes wide. Steph’s mouth hangs open.

The scissors clatter on the floor as Tim steps back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry Alfred—” Tim nearly hyperventilates.

“Master Tim,” Alfred says after a moment, almost resting his hand on Tim’s shoulders but deciding against it. “I assure you I’m fine, but perhaps at the moment we should consider using the restraints.”

“Yes. Yes, we should do that.”

Tim practically bolts himself in to the medbay stretcher, and only allows Alfred to help because it’s not designed to be tightened by the patient.

Steph is slightly more reluctant, and has to force herself to take each step. She notably bites down on her lip, bunching her fingers into a fist while Alfred secures her to the other bay, but she allows it to happen.

The urgency is immediately upped.

“Do you need someone to watch them with you?” Batman asks, pausing on a rooftop to talk into his comm.

“No. They’re quite lucid at the moment,” Alfred says, watching Tim and Steph talking nervously. “The best thing for everyone is for you to stay on the case.”

“I can come,” Oracle suggests. “The Cave has all the same tech so I can stay on the job, and if the kids are getting stabby you will need backup.”

It’s decided that is a good idea, especially as Steph starts humming again before slamming her head facedown into the pillow.

Batman successfully tracks down the location of the Piper.

The three field vigilantes burst in, much to Piper’s horror.

They find him building a giant radio transmitter, and immediately start trying to shatter it.

Piper flees the room, carrying a small cassette player with him. Nightwing stays to make sure the transmitter is utterly broken. Batgirl and Batman split up to track the villain.

The Piper is caught by Batman, lifted off the ground by the scruff of his neck, when a dozen children come barrelling into the room to rescue him.

The idea of punching hypnotised kids makes Batman hesitate, and Piper manages to get away.

Worse still is that breaking the transmitter didn’t fix the problem. The kids are still hypnotised, and Nightwing reports that it wasn’t even finished. Piper had been making it for something, but it wasn’t the cause of the problem.

They search through Piper’s files, and track down that it was the cassette player that influences the children.

Steph and Tim are drifting back into their musical hypnosis.

“Don’t listen to them,” Steph murmurs, pulling her face out of the bed. Her voice is too quiet for anyone but Tim to hear. “Hold yourself steady.”

“It’s time for a fight so you better get ready.” Tim holds up one hand. The picked restraints drop silently onto the mattress.

When Oracle arrives, Robin and Spoiler take the distraction and attack.

When Alfred and Oracle return to the room, it’s to find the two youngest have gotten into their uniforms and are swinging down from the ceiling at them.

It’s not a real fight. The hypnosis is just telling them to go. It’s an escape attempt more than anything else.

Oracle is able to handle herself when Spoiler leaps at her, boot flying towards her face. A quick movement and Steph is thrown over Oracle’s shoulder, wincing.

But they don’t need to beat her, just outrace her. Spoiler jams a batarang into one of Oracle’s wheels while Robin locks Alfred in the cupboard, and by the time Babs can move again — it couldn’t have taken more than thirty seconds to untangle the batarang — they’re gone.

Fortunately, Batman already has a lead on where they must be going.

Over two hundred children — some as young as ten, most closer to fifteen or sixteen — have converged on a Gotham news channel’s office.

It’s a very convenient way for a villain’s exposition to be told to the audience. The children are singing about Pied Piper’s plan to broadcast his song to every child in the country as they forcibly drag the communication workers out of their offices. The Piper himself is walking through the chaos with a self-satisfied smile.

The song seems like a normal triumphant villain song, with a hint of creepiness when every once in a while, someone will say that they don’t like what they’re doing, they’re so sorry, can’t anyone help them?

Piper locks himself in the CEO office.

He’s humming to himself as he pulls out his cassette player. When he opens the case, an array of buttons that would look advanced on a phone blink back at him.

He begins to tap in a command when the window shatters.

Batman swings into the room.

Batgirl and Nightwing are close behind.

When Piper tries to run, he doesn’t get five steps. Batman throws him against the wall.

Piper glances at the door.

In an instant Batgirl vaults over the desk to reach it, turning the lock with time to spare before teenagers start banging on it. “Nightwing. Help… ballaracade?”

Nightwing is already pushing the desk aside it.

Once they’ve successfully ensured no-one’s getting in Nightwing informs her the word is ‘barricade’. Batgirl nods, pleased.

“Where are they?” Batman growls, looming over the terrified Piper.

“Where are who? The children? They’re all outside, or at least the ones I called are—”

“Don’t play games with me.”

“How do we fix it?” Nightwing demands.

“You can’t. It’s unstoppab—”

“Lying,” Batgirl says sharply.

At that point Robin and Spoiler shatter a second window.

They land between Batman and the Piper, standing protectively over the villain. Robin has his staff at the ready while Spoiler’s cloak flutters.

They’re also humming.

It takes a moment for Piper’s shock to fade, but then his lips twitch in a smile.

There’s a fight.

Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl hold back.

Robin and Spoiler don’t, which means that the hypnotised fighters are actually able to gain ground.

And of course, Robin and Spoiler are singing all the while. By now that’s not the focus of the scene, feeling more like background music with lyrics than a Broadway fight scene. Potentially, the TV audience can’t even hear the music, just watches the singing characters.

The lyrics don’t really delve into anyone’s interiority (mainly). It’s just a fast-paced song about fighting.

Every once in a while, though there’s a line like “Of course I know I can’t win, but that’s never stopped me before.” “Of course I’ll try my best, but I’ve never wanted to lose more.”

Just enough to indicate that some part of Tim and Steph know what they’re doing.

Piper takes the distraction.

He gets the barricade open and a hundred mind-controlled teenagers pour in, and suddenly the Bats have a much bigger disadvantage.

Piper escapes. Nightwing follows.

There’s a chase as Piper rushes towards the ground floor.

A dozen children are thrown at Nightwing, diving in his way.

But a former Boy Wonder doesn’t get taken down by a thirteen-year-old attempting a tackle, not when he can bounce off the walls to somersault over their heads.

Piper goes for the elevator. Nightwing is delayed to the point that he misses the doors by centimetres.

He pushes off the eleven-year-old girl clinging to his back and rushes to the fire stairs. His grappling hook connect with the handrail as he leaps over the edge.

Freefalling down the spiral staircase centre gets him to the ground with time to spare. He bursts out of the door and is able to throw his bolos at the fleeing Piper, tripping the supervillain up.

Within seconds Nightwing’s on him, scrambling through his pockets. He finds the cassette player.

Before the children can converge again, Nightwing leaps up with his grappling hook, holding himself on the high ceiling and resting one foot on the top of a window.

He flips open the cassette player.

“Oh, look at that. A labelled ‘off’ switch.” Nightwing grins at Piper, who’s just managing to pull himself free from the bolos. “So if I flick it, will it do anything to inspire me to kick your teeth in?”

“No, no, please—”

“Begging sounds promising.” His fingers hover over the button. Below him, the children are swarming, trying to figure out how to climb the wall. “If this hurts anyone, I am going to break every bone in your body. So is there anything you want to tell me?” Nightwing pauses for an answer, but Piper doesn’t give one. The children are starting to create pyramids. “Alright. Here goes.”

He flicks the switch.

Immediately, the music turns off.

The children stop pressing up against the wall and back away immediately.

“Is it over?”

Upstairs, the same happens.

Everyone freezes in their attack on Batman and Batgirl.

Robin drops his staff and retreats several steps.

“Fixed?” Batgirl asks.

Spoiler touches her head. “I think so.”

Of course, this means the Piper just got himself trapped.

He’s now surrounded by a sea of students who had been at least eighty-per-cent aware of what happened.

Nightwing swoops down and pulls him out before anyone can catch him, but waits just long enough for Piper to realise the danger he’s in.

Nightwing ties him up, and waits patiently for the others to come downstairs.

He hands over the cassette player to Batman and goes to hug the now-coherent younger two, but Spoiler brushes off the affection onto Robin. Instead, she walks up to Piper and punches him in the face.

“Feel better now?” Nightwing asks.

“Yeah.” Spoiler steps back and allows Nightwing to reassure himself that she’s okay, letting him wrap her in a short hug. “Much better.”

So the day is saved, everything neatly finished.

Piper is arrested, the children/teenagers that hadn’t already dispersed are collected by the police to be taken home.

Later, everyone is back in the Batcave, exhausted. They’ve changed back into their civilian clothes.

“So I guess I am never going to another karaoke night ever again,” Steph mumbles.

“Karey-oakey?” Cass repeats.

“It’s like a place where you sing. You choose a song, and they’ll play the music for you so you can yell out the actual lyrics as badly as you like.”

“Oh.” Cass mulls that over. “The singing did look fun. Before the dancing started.”

“Are you seriously still upset you’re too old for mind-control?” Dick asks.

Cass shrugs.

There’s silence for a moment.

Tim groans. “Fine, I’ll come with you, but I’m not singing anything else today.”

“I know a great karaoke bar.” Dick picks up his jacket from over the chair. “They sell amazing nachos.”

“I could go for nachos.” Steph stands up.

“Already booking us a private room,” Babs says.

“I’ll prepare the car,” Alfred says.

Dick grins. “B, you coming?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“You won’t have to sing,” Tim adds. “Sit with me and Steph and watch while the rest of these losers get up on stage.”

“I assure you, Master Tim, I will not be singing.”

“Sit with me, Steph, and Alfred,” Tim corrects.

Bruce groans, but reluctantly gets up.

Dick leans over to Cass where Bruce can’t hear him. “Bet you five bucks I can convince him to get on stage.”

“Deal.”

End episode.

Available on AO3.

S1 episode extract here. (17 year old Dick gets kidnapped for ransom, is very bored.)

S2 episode extract here (Robin-Jason goes up against Two-Face, trades himself for a hostage, proceeds to be as sarcastic as possible).

S4 episode extract here (in which Tim gets a dose of fear gas, Spoiler confronts her inner child in an alarmingly literal way, and Cass is awful at baking cookies).

#batfamily #batfam #tim drake #timothy drake #bruce wayne #stephanie brown #dick grayson #cassandra cain #batman #robin iii #batman and robin #black bat #nightwing #timsteph #just barely and very gen but i feel like any shipper wouldn't be too disappointed with the singing/dancing routine #cw: mind control #12freddofrogs writes #gotham crusaders

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pandoraseevee · 5 years

Text

Voltron Season 8 Rewrite

Full disclosure: This was inspired by @lotor-and-his-generals rewrite of Season 6. Go give it a read its 100% better than the real Season 6. As the title suggests, this is a complete rewrite of Season 8. Some of the plot points here were inspired by the metas of #TeamPurpleLion (@felixazrael, @voltronisruiningmylife, @leakinghate, @dragonofyang, and @crystal-rebellion), @kcwcommentary commentaries, and @ptw30 regarding Shiro’s character arc.

This will cover the first 6 episodes of the season (Launch Date to Genesis in case you forgot) Please note, there are a thousand ways to rewrite this egregious finale, this is just my idea (one of many floating in my brain lol) of how I think everything should of gone down.

Warning: Very, very, very long post ahead because I tend to ramble-write. Especially if it’s a scene I really enjoyed planning.

~A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER IN THIS REWRITE~

1) Lance’s sexuality will be addressed; it’ll be one of the most important arcs he’ll have in this rewrite. I don’t mean to rag on what is canon, but you can’t suddenly thrust two characters into relationship when one of them has been harassing the other for 6 seasons and the other just went through one of the worst breakups in fiction ever. (Also that whole deal of Lance holding the LGBT sign with Shiro, like that had to mean something) Shiro will be one of the key players in his arc because he’s Space Dad and speaking of Space Dad...

2) ADAM. IS. ALIVE. Because if Hunk, Pidge, and Lance’s families were able to stay alive during Sendak’s Invasion, Adam can too! Instead of dying, it’s a fake-out death like Veronica’s. A very long fake-out death. His ship isn’t blasted head on, but one of the wings is severely damaged and he falls dead stick into the dessert. Because MIA doesn’t seem exist in the Galaxy Garrison, they report him as deceased. In this rewrite, he’s actually in one of the concentration camps, the same one Hunk’s family was in. He suffers from a painful leg burn that leads to his leg being amputated and staying on Space Crutches until Team Voltron defeats Sendak and Honerva’s Robeast. He and Shiro were reunited when he arrived at the Garrison Hospital for proper treatment and it was filled with angst, tears, and then a happy mutual understanding between them.

3) Allura’s Altean alchemy is continuously growing throughout this season. She thought that she had exhausted all the lessons she learned from Oriande between the Sincline fight and reviving Shiro. Upon learning this, she along with Sam Holt and the Garrison were able to develop new weapons for the entirety of the Atlas, including a few new MFE Fighters. This culminates in the first episode of this rewrite and going off of that...

5) Lion Swap is undone this season. I thought it made sense when I first watched it but then I realized it was purely done for nostalgia points. I highly recommend you go read @janestrider meta The Wolf, The Atlas, and The Bayard about how Black Paladin Shiro was supposed to come back in Season 7 until the the studios were forced to keep Black Paladin Keith. In reality Black Paladin Keith only lasted for one episode in Season 3, and at least 2 and a half episodes in Season 6. The rest of the time he’s either with the Blade, on his own, or gets the team in deeper trouble. (I still love him tho) So Allura gets the leadership position she deserves, Shiro gets to lead Voltron again, and Keith isn’t as much of a loner anymore!

6) (My thoughts/commentaries will be formatted like this) (I’ll provide some extra commentary throughout the rewrites.)

7) If you want to read these rewrites individually you can start here: Launch Date - Shadows - The Prisoner’s Dillema - Battle Scars - The Grudge - Genesis

Now, are you ready? Here we go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 1: Launch Date~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(The image above should change so that Allura is in Shiro’s place, Shiro is in Keith’s place, and Keith is in Allura’s place)

The opening of this episode is relatively the same with Pidge and Bebe watching 80′s!Voltron, Allura and Romelle talking about Luca while she’s resting in the medical wing, and finally Hunk and his family and Lance in the cafeteria. Unlike in the original episode, Lance isn’t creepily obsessive over Allura in this scene when Hunk brings up 80′s!Keith and Allura’s relationship (bleh). Instead, because he also watches the show, laughs and says “They made Keith and Allura’s story of running away from the Castle so romantic. It was Romeo and Juliet but in space!” He laughs again. Suddenly Lance gets uncomfortable and awkwardly coughs, remembering that Allura did fall in love with a half-Galra, just not Keith. Hunk notices this and tries to change the subject to cheer him up.

Hunk: It’s our last day on Earth. Boy, I thought I would never say those words but here we are.

Lance: Yeah, crazy...

Hunk: So, how’re you gonna spend these last 24 hours? Besides getting the proper 7-8 hours of sleep?

Lance (who begins to smile again): Well, my family’s having a huge dinner. Ma and Pa want to savor every minute with Veronica and I. And Nadia and Silvio wanna hear about our adventures one more time even though they hear it every night before bed.

Hunk then suggests that maybe he should ask Allura out. Lance blushes and tries to evade the subject of a date. When questioned by Hunk, he falls back to the same excuse that she’s too busy with Romelle and the Altean pilot. Hunk’s siblings (cousins?) overhear the conversation, deciding that Lance’s lovelife was more interesting then whatever they were playing. They pester and pressure Lance into asking the pretty princess out on a date. Chanting “Ask her! Ask her! Ask her!” until he finally gives in and agrees to just to get them to shut up. They cheer and return to their game. Lance sighs a mushroom cloud.

The Voltron Coalition meeting proceeds as usual but one major change: Allura is the one standing beside Shiro, not Veronica. Princess Allura is the leader of the Voltron Coalition so she should be held in the same position as Shiro if not higher. Everyone in the Coalition still defer to her even though she doesn’t have her crown yet. But because they’re on Earth, she allows Shiro to take charge of the meetings in this episode. Shiro goes through the mandatory “Is the Atlas fully prepared?” questions before he makes his biggest announcement: He will not be commanding the ATLAS during this mission.

The Garrison and the Coalition are in shock. Iverson asks who would be commanding the ATLAS if not Shiro. Shiro says that it’ll be commanded by Allura. Even she is shocked at the development. Shiro admits that while the crew would be more comfortable with Shiro as the leader, Allura knows more about space then he does. And the Castle crystal being its main power source essentially makes it hers. Hunk then asks where Shiro will go if he’s not in the ATLAS. Keith answers the Black Lion. Team Voltron realizes that meant that Keith would go back to Red and Lance would go back to Blue, undoing the Lion Swap. Lance isn’t as agitated with this Lion (Un) Swap unlike in Season 3. He almost seems relieved that Keith is taking back Red. “Red misses you. A lot.” Is his response.

Shiro moves aside and allows Allura to step forward. She clears her throat to settle the commotion and asks one of the medics for an update on Luca’s condition. They say that she’s sleeping and expect her to wake up in a few hours. Without missing a beat, she asks Matt, Rolo, and Nyma how many weapons they have in storage, they say they have enough to give everyone on the ATLAS one blaster for protection thanks to her alchemy. Smiling, she then asks Kolivan and Krolia if their mission of restoring the Blade has made progress. They say that while they have recruited a few before their arrival on Earth, they’ll have a better chance once the ATLAS takes flight. She moves her gaze over to Slav, who’s as fidgety as ever, and asks if they’re doing anything wrong. Slav says that there’s a 65.4% chance that something big is going to happen to them in this reality. She asks if it’s something good or something bad. Slav says he can’t make a precise calculation until again, the ATLAS takes flight. This makes the boardroom even more uneasy.

Allura once again tells everyone to settle down, saying that they’re last day on Earth shouldn’t be filled with fear, but with remembrance and happiness. “Spend the day with the ones you love.” As she says that, Shiro’s gaze not-so-subtly slides to Adam, who can’t keep a straight face and blushes. With that, Allura dismisses the meeting. Allura and Romelle exit together, Lance following very, very far behind them. Hunk, irritated, pushes Lance towards Allura. Lance apologizes profusely, Allura reassures him its alright and asks if he needed something. Lance, hesitantly and stuttering, asks Allura if she wanted to have dinner with him and his family. Allura gently rejects the invite, repeating what Lance told Hunk, and that she wants to be there when Luca wakes up. Romelle, not liking how Allura isn’t following her own advice, tells her that she’ll watch over Luca and update her if something happens. Allura thanks her but she still isn’t sure, since they have that sleepover planned with the MFE girls and are going to the mall. Romelle insists that she has fun on her last day on Earth.

Lance silently watches them go back and forth, he sees Hunk give him a thumbs up. He also notices Keith, Shiro, and Adam (the latter two holding hands) exiting the boardroom. Keith is snorting into his hand at what might’ve been a really bad joke Adam told Shiro. Lance stares blankly, he had never seen Keith’s face twist that way before. He decides he really likes it. He watches the trio disappear around a corner before he’s brought back to the present by Allura calling his name. He hopes no one saw him staring at Keith’s suddenly pretty face.

Lance (blushing): Y-Yeah Allura?

Allura: I said that I can’t join you and your family for dinner.

Lance (hurt by the rejection but doesn’t show it): Really? Is that your final answer? You can still change your mind...

Allura (nods): Yes, that is my final answer. I’m sorry

Lance (he smiles so much that his cheeks hurt): Oh, that’s fine! No harm done!

Allura (nods again, smiling): That’s wonderful to hear.

Lance tells her he’ll see her later and lets the Altean girls walk past him. He waits until they round the opposite corner before he sighs, disappointed. Hunk pats his back, saying he’s sorry he pushed him into doing that. Lance chuckles, saying that he kinda expected the rejection. He hears snuffling and sees Kosmo watching them, he blinks and teleports. Lance and Hunk shrug it off and walk away.

(HAHA Bait and Switch!) (Biggest change in this episode is that it’s not an Allurance Date Episode, it’s an Adashi Date Episode)

The shopping scene is too great to remove tho. So, instead of shopping for a date outfit, the MFE girls help the Altean girls buy Earth clothing because it can get kinda boring to wear their Garrison uniforms all the time. Some extra girl-bonding between all of them (minus Pidge cause she’s grounded but she can drop by every few min). Maybe Rizavi can introduce the Altean girls to those soft mall pretzels. (The wait would be a pain tho cause they’d have to do it one at time lmao)

Allura’s Earth outfit would have a few revisions to it: it would have a fuller skirt (Maybe those full circle swing skirts from the 1950′s) because she’s a princess. Maybe a light blue shawl too. Romelle’s outfit would totally be a modern version of her hot pink dress from 80′s!Voltron. Pidge still gives the Unilu shopkeeper her game. The girls leave and Unilu shopkeeper sees Pidge holding another game. He feels cheated but it’s revealed that Pidge and Rizavi each bought one game for themselves. Pidge’s copy of the game is the one she gave him. Rizavi and Pidge agree to take one player slot and play the game separately, No spoilers, or bust. They shake on it and all head back to the Garrison.

Keith and Kosmo aren’t chilling on the Black Lion, they’re just on one of the Garrison rooftops. Team Dad Shiro and Adam are with him too. Probably cuddling. (What good maybe-boyfriends uwu) Keith isn’t jealous of how easy-going their relationship is. Lance greets them like he did in the original episode. Adam jokes that he looked like he ran a marathon, Lance responds that he probably did.

Shiro: Coran?

Lance: Coran

The trio nods in understanding. Keith fondly asks what crazy antics he did this time. Lance explains the whole ‘Not a Date, it’s Dinner, Ok it might be a Date’ situation with Allura. Keith congrats Lance although Team Dad notices he’s saying it weirdly. Lance corrects him saying that Allura rejected him.

However, while they were doing something he eventually forgot about Allura accidentally let it slip and Coran started his patriarchal bs we see in the original episode. Lance absolutely noped out of there but said that he would like to learn about Altean vestments another time. Keith and Lance have their Sunset Conversation. Shiro and Adam observe, not wanting to intrude.

Suddenly, Lance asks how they (Adam and Shiro) realized they liked men. Shiro chuckles and says that it took a while for them both to realize it. They’ve lived different lives. Shiro’s father died during World War III and Adam’s parents were not as accepting of his sexuality as Shiro’s mother. He had to stay with a friend before he got into the Garrison. Adam says it’s normal for someone to deny their sexuality. “But if you think that it’s part of you then embrace it. Because it makes you you.” Adam says, Shiro lays his head on his shoulder. Keith fake gags. Lance remembers that. And then he also remembers what he was doing earlier. He tells the group that Allura needed Shiro and Keith for something. It’s about the Lions and Kosmo teleports all of them there.

Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran are with the Lions. Black, Red, and Blue have their shields up. Allura says that Shiro, Keith, and Lance have to reestablish the bonds with their Lions. For Shiro, that’s pretty easy. All the time in Black’s consciousness did nothing but strengthen their bond even more. He places his human hand on the shield and whispers, “Trust me.” The shield goes down and Black rests its head against his hand, it’s eyes glowing. He smiles.

Keith clenches his fist, staring up at Red. Lance gently bumps his shoulder, “Where’s Voltron without its right hand Lion?” Everyone laughs lightly at the joke. Keith gives Lance that soft look he always gives him. Lance decides he likes that face on Keith too and hands him back the Red Bayard. Keith approaches the shield. “Red, are you there?” No response.

Keith (sighing): Look, I know you’re mad at me. I left you to lead Voltron when Shiro disappeared. He wanted me to take his place if anything happened to him. He believed in me, he’s always believed in me, and I’m so grateful that he still does. But...I never wanted to lead Voltron. Black and I bonded out of necessity. I learned to open myself to the team when I piloted you. And then I understood the responsibility of holding a position like this when piloting Black. And I now want keep learning about this, this bond that’s beyond myself, with you.

It takes a few minutes but Red’s shield goes down. Keith smirks, welcoming Red’s attitude again. He looks over to Lance, “Your turn.” Lance stretches his arms, “Ok, here we go.” And approaches the Blue Lion.

Lance: Blue? Heeyyy, girl~ I’ve missed you.

Like Red, Blue doesn’t respond. Lance brushes it off, he hasn’t bonded with Blue in a while it’s alright. He tries again. When Blue still doesn’t respond, he places his hands on his hips. “Do I have to use my particle barrier line on you again?” Still nothing. Lance huffs. “Then what do you want!? I’m sorry! I had to pilot Red! You know that! You were the one that shut me out first remember!?”

Allura: The Blue Lion is the most versatile of the Lions, its attacks cover a wide range on the battlefield and its flexibility is what makes it the most accepting of new Paladins. However that makes them incredibly devoted and sensitive to their Paladins. They must be flexible themselves as well as powerful to steer the Blue Lion on task.

Lance: Flexible and powerful huh? Well, the Blue Lion is a leg of Voltron. So it’s a support Lion right? Not to the same degree as Red’s support to Black but you know what I mean. When I left Blue for Red, I did it because I accepted Keith as the Black Paladin. Keith needed a right hand man the same way Shiro needed him. And then when you became a Paladin...I was willing to step away so that you, Shiro, and Keith could have spots on the team. So...I still have what it takes to pilot Blue! Because everything I did was to keep the Team together! Even if it meant leaving Blue.

Allura: Exactly Lonce!

Blue’s shield goes down, everybody cheers. Pidge says that the ‘6 Paladins, 5 Lions’ situation shouldn’t be a problem. If Shiro’s down Keith can take over, if Keith is down Lance can take over, and Allura can take over for any of them since she’s connected to all of them. Allura agrees and gives the Blue Bayard back to Lance.

Hunk tries to imagine how crazy the team dynamic would’ve been if he and Pidge were in the Lion Swap too. Pidge jokes that they wouldn’t make it. Everyone laughs. No one notices that the Lions eyes are glowing, communicating with each other.

Dinner at the McClain’s goes smoothly. When Veronica asks Lance about Keith, she calmly watches Lance flip his lid while exchanging smug glances with Ma McClain. Ma McClain shakes her head, smiling. Nadia and Silvio want to hear about how Lance saved Allura during the Omega Shield mission. Lance corrects them and says, “She technically saved me too. It was a double save!” He laughs along with the rest of the McClains. Nadia comments that Allura really is a Princess, she has a crown, a carriage (Blue), and magical powers. She just needs a Prince. Silvio says that Uncle Lance is already her Prince. Lance grows tense, but no one notices.

The two children ask if Lance really has to leave them so soon. Ma and Pa McClain voice their concerns as well. Lance says that its his duty as the Blue Paladin. The McClain’s are confused cause they remember him piloting Red. Veronica tells them about the Lion (un) Swap. Lance then repeats what Allura told the Paladins about Blue. The McClains are very impressed with Lance’s maturity. Veronica then proposes a toast, to Lance, to the Voltron Lions, to ATLAS, and last but most importantly, family. Everyone joins the toast.

A short montage plays of how Team Voltron is spending their last day. Starting off with the McClain family toast and transitioning Hunk and his family playing Stack-A-Ton (Voltron’s version of Janga lmao). Shay asks if she can join and is actually pretty good at it, Hunk is a proud boyfriend. Pidge and her family are making last preparations on the ATLAS, Beezer wheeling around to give them food and drinks. He then darts away when Bebe tries to jump him. The MFE and Altean girls singing along to a digital speaker in one of their bunkers. And then it ends with biggest change of the episode: dinner at the Shirogane household.

Shiro is in his room, adjusting his clothing. He goes to move the right sleeve of his button up down, then realizes the rest of his arm is floating. He laughs to himself, watching his loose sleeve flop around as he walks around. “Need help with that?” Shiro turns and finds Adam leaning against the door-frame. “Please.” He says and Adam does the rest the buttons for him. He rolls up the loose sleeve and makes sure it doesn’t move when they realize how close they are. (UST, UST, UST, baby~) They both look like they want to say something but then they hear someone knocking on the door.

Shiro, Adam, and Shiro’s mother, Mizuki Shirogane, welcome Keith and his family. Mizuki embraces Keith like a second child and they are seated. She doesn’t bat an eye when Kolivan and Krolia apply the Galra custom of placing their weapon in front of their plates to an Earth household. (Kolivan is courting Krolia at the end of Season 7, that’s why he’s with them) Mizuki and Krolia get along exceptionally well; being two hard-working single mothers, they bond over many things. Krolia thanks Mizuki for raising Keith alongside Shiro. Mizuki says that it wasn’t easy.

Mizuki: I felt like I was raising two sons when Shiro took Keith under his wing.

Shiro (laughing): Okaa-san!

Mizuki: You knew what you were getting into, Takashi!

Adam: Oh, he definitely did.

Shiro (jokingly pushes him): Hey! Nobody asked you!

They all have a good laugh. Kolivan is slightly miffed that the Shirogane family cat, Marble, has decided his lap was a nice place to roll around, Keith tries not to snort the orange juice out of his nose at the sight. Kosmo eats the table scrapes, cause he’s not a normal wolf and he can eat almost anything. “Dang, that wolf eats more than the MFE’s!” Adam wonders how big he’s going to grow, Keith can’t answer that and (jokingly) realizes he made a mistake bringing him back with him. Kosmo whimpers and Keith offers him his grilled salmon as an apology.

While Adam and Shiro are cleaning the dishes, Mizuki offers their guests some homemade dorayaki in the living room. Keith greedily chomps down on them. Krolia and Kolivan look at the new food strangely, Kosmo. Keith offers one to his mom, “They’re a sweet...bread...sort of. Ms. Shirogane made them all the time for us. She has a secret recipe that makes them extra tasty.” Krolia takes a bite and also chomps them down. She tries to apologize to Mizuki in between bites but she remarks that she’s always cooked for big eaters. “Why do you think Takashi is as big as he is today?” Shiro blushes bright red and flicks bubbles at Adam when he laughs.

The lights in the Shirogane household flicker. Krolia, Kolivan, and Keith are ready for an attack. Marble jumps and scurries to Mizuki. She calms them down and says that its just maintenance in the Plaht city. “They must’ve gotten the city lights to finally work.” Adam gasps and takes Shiro’s hand and they run out of the kitchen. Mizuki and Keith’s family are left wide-eyed, Keith winks at them. Shiro asks where they’re going, Adam shushes him and brings his hands over his eyes. “It’s a surprise~” Shiro laughs, carefree and joyful. Adam suddenly stops and slowly removes his hands.

“Okay, you can open them now.” Shiro opens his eyes and sees that they’re on the balcony, in the distance Plaht City is engulfed in warm, golden light. He’s in awe, slowly walking to the balcony’s edge to take in the view. “Wow...” (I imagined the Shirogane household to be house that looked over the city)

(And for extra feels listen to either of these tracks: Track 1 or Track 2)

Adam: I know the re-entry caused you some memory loss, but I thought this might bring some of them back. It was always your favorite sight. Even when you stayed at the Garrison.

Shiro: Of course I remember this. Okaa-san always brought me here whenever I had a nightmare, or a bad day, or even on a good day. When I was imprisoned...I did things that I swore I would never do. But, it was Zarkon...for him it was all or nothing. The same with Honerva. When they threw me back into the cells after every battle, this view was one of the things I always thought about. It helped me get through so much pain.

Adam:...What else did you think about?

Shiro: Sunrises and sunsets at the Garrison, Marble, Okaa-san, Keith and...(he turns around, the lights of the city illuminating his white hair) you. The very idea of seeing any of you again.

Adam (Mentally: Baby, you’re my aaaaannnnggellll~ hehehe): Takashi...

Shiro: Adam I---

Adam: I’m sorry.

Shiro: What?

Adam (looks down): I’m sorry, Takashi. I didn’t want our relationship to end like every cliche romcom with a sick character. But it did. I wanted to support you--I did support you. I stood by you throughout our entire lives at the Garrison. But I was just so worried about you. My parents left me a long, long time ago. It took me a while to realize that...that I was alone. I didn’t want you to leave me too. I didn’t want left behind again.

Shiro: (he looks down, recollecting his thoughts) I’m sorry too.

Adam: What? No, T-Takashi. You didn’t do anything wrong---

Shiro: Yes, I did. I-I...The disease that I had, everyone was doubting me. Sanda, Iverson, Keith...you. A small part of me continued with the mission to prove all of you wrong. Another part wanted to take this chance to see the stars. What I thought was my last chance to ever do something this important to me...I know I made you really, really upset. And please know that I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you. But also know that I’m not staying here this time. Not when my family, our family is going up against what might be the biggest threat to the universe.

Adam (nods): I know that. I’ve always known that. You love the stars, Takashi, you would always stare at them, as if waiting for a sign. Now they’re calling out to you and I’ll be right there beside you when you meet them. And after that...if you want...I’ll be beside you wherever you go.

Shiro (soft soft boi): Really? Do you mean that?

Adam (taking his mechanical hand): With all my heart.

Aaaannnddddd they kiss!

Adam: Do you remember what you said to me before you took off all those years ago?

Shiro (chuckles): I said a lot of things that day. It was pretty hectic. Maybe be more specific?

Adam: You said that you had a surprise for me. That you were going to show me after Kerberos.

Shiro (slowly remembers, eyes wide): Wait---did you...?

Adam pulls something out of his pocket. “Your mom gave it to me after you disappeared. She said that it’s the least that she could do to help with the pain.” He opens his hand and reveals a golden ring. Shiro stares at it in awe. He covers his mouth with his hands as Adam gets down on one knee.

Adam: When I said I wanted to be beside you wherever you went...I meant it. Takashi Shirogane...will you do me the honor of being my husband? To be together as we travel to the stars and beyond?

Shiro (eyes shining, a tear falls down his face): What kind of question is that? YES!

Adam puts the ring on his other hand and they kiss again. (Cause they’re gay Dreamworks, go all the way or don’t do it at all) Kosmo teleports in front of them, barking and wagging his tail for attention. They both look at their makeshift audience. Mizuki is smiling through her tears, Krolia has a comforting arm around her, Kolivan does an attempt at a thumbs up. Keith gestures them to look at the camera. They smile and Keith snaps a pic. “That’s definitely a keeper.”

Nothing really new with Luca and Romelle’s argument. I felt that it was a tension driven argument between two misguided people. (Which would have been some serious foreshadowing if Lotor was still alive) Unfortunately, Luca is still killed by Honerva. However, it’s like a sling shot effect and Allura hears a voice calling out to her when she’s alone.

She’s alarmed and, when the MFE girls are sleeping, goes to the medical bay. There she sees Romelle crying and Coran comforting her. She puts two and two together and puts on a steely expression.

The next day, the conversation between Allura and Shiro would have the rest of the Paladins present too. Shiro officially gives Allura command over the ATLAS. Allura asks if he’s really sure about this. Shiro says that he’s sure. The ATLAS belongs to her, she was the one that truly gave it power, not him. Adam stands behind him, hand on his shoulder. Shiro squeezes his hand. He says that his bond with the Black Lion is stronger then ever thanks to her, from the beginning they (Shiro and Black) understood each other in ways that seemed impossible. “We all need to be at our best when we face Honerva. And I’m at my best when I’m a Paladin, not a Commander.” He finishes by saying that he’s ready to lead Voltron again. Allura smiles and deactivates Shiro’s new arm to replace it with something more efficient; the Black Bayard.

Allura removes her crystal from his arm and puts her tiara back on. Everyone in the room bows before Princess Allura of Altea.

Shiro uses his new-new hand to interlock fingers with Adam. Everyone sees their matching rings, pauses, and looks at the two for confirmation. Shiro nods and everybody cheers. Adam tells them to calm down and presents them with their colored uniforms. Instead of two gold bars, they have three. Allura will have four now that she’s commanding the ATLAS. Lance wonders how mad Griffin will be when he sees them.

Last rewrite of this episode is the grand speech given at the end. Instead of Shiro, Sam, Allura, and Keith, Allura fills Sam’s spot, giving her more speaking time. Again, she’s the leader of the Voltron Coalition and the ATLAS’ commander so she ranks higher. Her part of the speech is her commending the Earth for their strength against the Galra and promising that she and the rest of the Coalition will do everything they can to help them. “You have accepted us with open arms and allowed us to help you recover from this war. Now we will continue the fight in your honor, and for the honor of those who have fallen.” (This is why Allura still wears pink, she now wears it in honor of the humans)

The episode ends with the ATLAS taking off and our heroes posing for dramatic effect (lmao). The screen fades to black and you suddenly hear everybody laugh when Pidge does her cartoon impression again. “I’m descended from a clan of ninjaaaazzzz!” And then the credits roll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kicking off this final season with a bang! Let’s go! So a lot of things happen. It’s the first episode of the final season, I thought that the writers would’ve hit the ground running because we’re in the home stretch. We don’t need to re-introduce everyone. We have all our players in the places they need to be, this season should make the best use of those places in character development to complete their character arcs.

And this episode should keep the audience engaged so that they’re eager to roll over to the next episode. Undoing the Lion Swap, giving Allura the ATLAS, and the Adashi moments would do just that besides giving our cast of characters more development. I guess I’ll explain my reasons for doing those three things. Besides them being obviously what we need after that horrible ending.

Undoing the Lion Swap: Again, I thought it made sense when I first watched it. But then re-watching it again along with taking in other people’s perspectives on it, I realized that it was just so that JDS and LM could recreate the 80′s!Voltron lineup. Which is fine but it shouldn’t have lasted the entire series. Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Allura were all wonderful characters the way they were. They’re not exactly like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Allura are definitely not like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Black bonded over a common trauma, Keith allowed himself to accept other people besides Shiro, Lance became better focused on the group instead of channeling his other persona, and Allura was a powerful WOC and commander of the team.

Everyone and their mother and dog knows that JDS and LM wanted to kill off Shiro but couldn’t because Dreamworks correctly predicted that he would be popular with the audiences. So instead of writing a new story about how Keith didn’t need to be a leader to be a valued member of the team, they pushed their Black Paladin Keith storyline ahead and fridged 2 characters in the process. Undoing the Lion Swap allows Keith and Lance to mature once again and further evolve into their roles as Paladins.

This primarily shown when they reestablish the bonds with their Lions. Keith is not that great of a leader...controversial opinion but agree-to-disagree. He’s a good leader when a specific situation calls for it but he’s not the leader type. He still has the ability to lead when he continue this rewrite don’t worry lol. Same with Lance, sure he and Red seem to be better suited with Lance desiring to be better than Keith because they’re rivals, but ultimately his closest Lion bond is with Blue. Lance and Red should already have a deep bond by Season 7 but Red doesn’t come for him until the last min so that doesn’t make sense. Also the other Lions not fully respond to their Paladins is foreshadowing~

And giving Allura the ATLAS: Really, the proof is in Season 7. It was her crystal that powered the ATLAS, it was her alchemy that allowed it to transform, it’s white like the Castle of Lions and ATLAS’ mech form is more feminine looking with gigantic hips that don’t lie. Allura’s role as the Blue Paladin let her bond closer with the rest of the team. However, after Season 6, where she used her alchemy to build Sincline, enter/exit the Rift, and revive Shiro, it felt like a demotion. So her being in ATLAS returns her to the position of power she had in Season 1.

For the Adashi moments: we finally have a family for Shiro! Because he didn’t come from and egg JDS and LM! Switching The Date from Allurance to Adashi:

1) Re-establishes Shiro’s validity as a main character

2) Adds more depth to Adam West, yes that’s his last name in this rewrite, besides being ‘Shiro’s boyfriend that almost died’

3) Doesn’t make his only close relationship between Black and Keith

This episode should also set the tone for the rest of the season. With the combination of Luca’s sudden death, Honerva’s threat looming over them, the Allurance dinner throwing an overload of negative emotions towards Allura, and a romantic relationship with little to no development until the last minute, the viewers rightfully feel like something is off about this season. At least that’s how I felt when I started watching it. The best example showcasing the tone is at the end: when Shiro officially becomes the Black Paladin again and the Leader Trio (Shiro, Keith, and Allura) give their speeches give it the epic, robot blasting tone they desperately wanted constantly. But when they’re all posing dramatically, they almost break character when Pidge does her 80′s impression. So the tone in this rewrite is like a superhero movie, there’s funny moments, there’s serious moments, there’s romance, there’s falling outs.

And, yes this is a show primarily geared towards children, but because of how diverse the fanbase is in age, sexuality, race etc. I’ll be sneaking in some more mature themes. And, I mean, the Voltron writers kinda backed themselves into a corner when they made Keith half-Galran and did that poorly written plotline. And then that just escalated when they introduced Lotor and his Generals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 2: Shadows~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first new scene added was just a pure Easter Egg to 80′s!Voltron. When Zarkon and Honerva are discussing baby names, the idea of the baby’s gender comes up. Zarkon and Honerva still have their conversation about combining Lotarius and Koltor’s names to form Lotor. Afterwards, Honerva then asks what their baby’s name should be if it’s a girl, Zarkon warmly suggests another name from Galra mythology: Merla, Koltor’s sister and was just as much a warrior as he was a conqueror. The flashback fades away with Honerva agreeing, smile as radiant as the sun. I would like also put some world-building with Galra culture so during this Zarkon would call Honvera his ‘Empress’ and their unborn child as ‘Kral Mir Tavaar’ (The Spark of the Empire).

Trying to be as chronologically as possible (at least for this episode cause you can’t really tell between present day and flashbacks until the end >->), because Merla is now (and forever will be!) a Galran name, VLD!Merla needs a new name. From now on VLD!Merla will be referred to as Hira. She might not exactly look like General Hira the way Sven looks like Shiro but they both have pinkish hair and follow a white haired Altean ruler so close enough lol. Also there’s not ‘sister colony’ where Romelle supposedly was. There’s only one colony on Pollux and it’s the one Honerva convinces to join her mission to retrieve Lotor.

Before, Honerva gets to the Colony, she flies to the station where Project Kuron was being built. She closes her eyes and sees Keith’s fight with Kuron, then, through Kuron’s eyes sees that Allura brought Shiro back to life through him. Still no sign of Lotor. She clenches her fists. If the Altean Princess can bring life into her puppets, she’s sadly mistaken. She thought that Project Kuron would be her perfect army. No, she needed an army completely devoted to her. It’s then she thinks about the colony Lotor built. Eyes glowing yellow, she unleashes a wave black magic to destroy the station and every stray clone that floats away. When she’s done, her corrupted Altean marks become cracks on her face, quintessence motes floating out of them. When she touches them, she winces and uses more of her black magic to seal them. On her ship, Kova looks down at his master.

Kova doesn’t die. Nope. Can’t kill the cat. Kova’s not with Honerva actually. Another flashback reveals that Kova willing left her. Honerva is concentrating on finding Lotor, incidentally neglecting Kova. She stops when realizes that Kova’s quintessence is moving away from her, and chases after him. A Galra ship that she recently sent out is carrying him away. Instead of ordering the ship and taking him back, she doesn’t take another second to think about him and goes back to her work. She offered her pet a thousand years of life with quintessence and this is how he repays her? Clearly he’s not loyal pet he once was.

The second new scene will happen shortly after Ven’tar’s planet was destroyed and Lotor is banished from the Empire. After Lotor yells at Haggar, she too leaves him in the room to suffer in silence. As she follows Zarkon down the hall she notices Kova prowling in the shadows, slipping into the room before the doors slide shut. She stares at the door intently but thinks nothing of it as she continues walking. Inside the room, Kova rubs his head against Lotor’s arm, sensing his sorrow. Tears freely fall from his face, his one chance of changing the ways of the Galra gone forever. Lotor wonder’s if that’s how Altea was destroyed, because they refused to surrender to his monster of a father. Suddenly he stops crying and looks directly at the planet, the fire lining up with his pupils, symbolizing a new fire lighting inside him. If Altea never bent the knee to Zarkon, neither would he. He allows Kova to hop onto his shoudler as he stands up, stronger. “We have a mission, Kova.” Kova meows, as if questioning him. Lotor smiles, “Don’t worry, we won’t be alone.”

And instead of sacrificing Kova, Honerva uses the Rift Entity inside her to find Lotor. She discovers the Sincline is still active, eyes glowing, swimming around, like it was a lost child.

A few days after she sent Luca to Earth to kill Voltron, she tries again. Closing the cracks that formed in her skin, she sees Sincline still swimming in the Rift. She then hears a faint but steady heartbeat from the cockpit. Honerva suddenly has flashbacks of her pregnancy, the heartbeat almost the same but even fainter than the one she’s hearing. It eventually stops. She gasps and falls to her knees.

Once again, Allura feels it too on the ATLAS bridge. Someone calls out to her again, she looks over her shoulder, terrified but curious, “It can’t be...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was probably the shortest and the easiest rewrite out of the 6 episodes (and maybe the whole season’s rewrite). It’s probably because it was the least edited out of the original season. This episode is relatively kept the same with the exception of a name change and a couple of new scenes added in the flashbacks. One thing I felt uncomfortable with in this episode was the attempt at humanizing Zarkon and Honerva. Really? Humanizing them this far into the series was a red flag to me. Come Knights of Light Part 2 through The End is The Beginning and lo’ and behold they rushed their redemption arcs. Zarkon’s redemption arc was like a flip of a switch in one episode and it took Allura mind-raping him! No, no, no, I have something very different in mind for both of these characters.

I also added a few more scenes in so that the audience would remain torn about Lotor. Is he dead or alive? is the first question. Honerva makes repeated statements that Lotor’s dead but refers to him as the Emperor who pierced the veil aka to discover something beyond death. But Sincline still being active and Allura sensing something on the ATLAS contradicts that statement entirely.

And renaming Merla to Hira. That’s right! That one episode in Season 3 with the morally ambiguous Alteans from the alternate reality was actually foreshadowing the villain’s of the final season. Hole in the Sky was probably my favorite episode in Season 3 because we got these morally ambiguous characters that we’ve previously associated with goodness and hope and everything shiny.

Another change is Honerva’s condition. She might be a Chosen Altean but that doesn’t mean she’s going to use all that black magic and quintessence cartels/supplements for free. Her condition will continue to deteriorate throughout the series as she continues to use her black magic/corrupted alchemy. So, yeah, metaphor for doing drugs don’t do it kids it’s bad for you.

Kova’s scene where he leaves Honerva is supposed to represent how he’s gotten smarter over the years. Living for more then 10,000 years on quintessence can do that to you. He’s fully aware of the toxic relationship he now has with Honerva, how she seems to be using him to recover pieces of her own memory. As he leaves, the new scene after Ven’tar’s planet is destroyed plays out. He’s thinking about Lotor. And how could he not? He practically raised the poor guy alongside the Dayaks. Since Lotor in the flashback was starting to plan the Altean colony and recruit his future half-Galra generals, this now paints him firmly as a good guy. Or is he? Didn’t he drain them in his second colony? Whose side is he really on? This should be a recurring question until we reach a certain episode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 3: The Prisoner’s Dilemma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok this is where one of the major plot lines is introduced: Team Voltron atoning for what they did in Season 6. It’s always been on my mind about how Seasons 7-8 could’ve been more dynamic and emotionally charged if it was revealed that some factions of the galaxy blame Voltron for what happened during the time dilation explosion. Because let’s face it: if you throw someone into the Rift to die and said person had already publicly made plans to subdue the main antagonistic force and change it to a force for good...it’s not the best moral decision. They already redeemed themselves in Earth’s eyes but that’s only one planet in the whole universe.

Warlord Lahn’s situation in this episode is a perquisite for their conflict Lotor. (As the #TeamPurpleLion calls it microcosm to macrocosm) His What the Hell, Heroes? talk doesn’t mean anything in the Season 8 we got because we never see our heroes fix their mistakes concerning Lotor. His words ultimately ring hollow because Team Voltron are our heroes right? And heroes NEVER make mistakes right? >-> (This makes me very bitter can you tell?)

When battling Lahn’s forces, Shiro is (sunglasses) Back in Black (hehehehehehehehe, puns), Allura commands the ATLAS. Thanks to their previous positions as Commander and Paladin, they can better communicate with their respective teams. Shiro’s more focused than ever and Allura calls the strategic shoots like the (boss) leader she is. Same with Keith and Lance. Keith is more understanding and in control with Red and Lance is more straightforward with Blue rather then being a glory-seeker.

Shiro doesn’t ask Lahn to join the Voltron Coalition, Allura does. “Warlord Lahn, if you would do us the honor of joining the Voltron Coalition. We could provide stability to the universe.” When asked if there is an alternative, Allura ponders and says that if Lahn rejects the offer, the Coalition will still provide them with any support they need. Lahn rejects that too. Setting the example for his troops, he won’t accept any help from the likes of Voltron. Not after they caused the Galra Empire to fall apart.

He pounds Team Voltron with an armor-piercing question: “If you really are the Defenders of the Universe, why is the galaxy as afraid of you as much as they worship you?”

Lahn set the example for his troops in the pior scene so they also refuse any medical attention from the ATLAS. Romelle thinks it’s typical Galra behavior and carries on. Colleen is curious and asks why as she passes out blankets. A high-ranking Galra (Let’s call him...Hazar, yay Vehicle Voltron references!) says they won’t accept the help from the traitorous Voltron. She’s confused by this and the Hazar tells her that Voltron promised to help Emperor Lotor provide Quintessence to the Empire. But then one day they Voltron attacked their Emperor in front of the Rift and were never seen again until today. Colleen turns her gaze from Hazar to the Lions, suspicious. She asks Hazar to tell her more, he demands why and she responds that she’s the mother of the Green Paladin, “And I would like to know why my daughter disappeared for 3 years.”

When Lahn lambastes Keith for being a half-breed, Team Voltron is all over him.

Lance: You better back off, buddy!

Shiro: Your views on half-breeds are unimportant and unnecessary.

Hunk: No one talks about our pal like that!

Pidge: Keep in mind that I’m around technology. I can shock you just by plugging two cables together.

Allura: Keith and the Blades of Marmora are one of the strongest warriors I’ve ever met. They sacrificed everything to save the universe. They were the ones who opened my eyes to what true Galra is!

Because one of the major themes of this show is Found Family and goddammit if a Found Family didn’t defend each other against racists. Lahn sees this protectiveness and asks another armor-piercing question, “Do you truly have the loyalty and faith of your allies? Or are they merely following you to extract revenge on all Galra?”

Team Voltron can’t answer that question. Adam, Kinkade, and Griffin are troubled. For their war against Sendak, it really was about defeating the Galra. But now...now (At least for Kinkade and Griffin, Adam knows everything since it comes with the package of being Shiro’s SO), they know that this whole situation became much more complex. This is important for the next episode.

Another rewrite is in relation to the title. For an episode called Prisoner’s Dilemma there’s no prisoner present in the episode. I mean you could reach and say it’s the Creature or that it’s Lahn but that’s a very far reach. So, Lahn will be holding a single prisoner on his ship. And that prisoner is (drumroll) Narti. Yeah, don’t murder your blind and deaf Galra General writers. Especially when your audience could have children with those same disabilities. She was captured and brought to Sendak’s service after the Kral Zera, stealing a ship and escaping just before he invaded Earth. Lahn found her and kept her prisoner until Team Voltron and the ATLAS showed up. They found Kova a few days after Sendak’s invasion, he came to her, hopping from ship to ship until he found her again.

Hunk immediately recognizes her as the General that choke held him with her tail. He asks Lahn why she’s being kept here. Narti speaks in a series of growls and hisses, Keith thinks that she’s being hostile to them because some Blades behaved similarly towards him. Lahn corrects him and says that’s just how her people speak and that he could translate for them. He translates Narti, who switches to Space Sign Language. She reveals that reason why she stays his prisoner is because she still believes Lotor is alive. Team Voltron tries to tell her that she’s wrong, careful to not reveal too many details about what happened before. (Yeah there’s a thing called guilt that exists) Narti argues back that she was the first General Lotor recruited, he believed in her when even her Galra mother didn’t. To the point where he even gave her Kova as an animal familiar to help her see. He never gave up on her, so why should she give up on him?

Kova sees Team Voltron and hisses before crawling up on Narti’s shoulders. They both end up joining Team Voltron and Lahn on the rescue mission, hoping a ride in the Green Lion. Pidge actually finds the swish swish of their tails relaxing. Allura doesn’t accuse Lahn of stealing the weapons because she’s a Commander and commanders don’t blindly accuse people because of their race.

When the teams split up, she goes with Keith and Kosmo, more comfortable with a fellow half-Galra like herself. Similar to the conversation/argument that Lahn has with Allura, Keith denies that he and Narti are anything alike besides their mixed heritage. He can’t be friends, not even allies, with someone like her. Not when she supported someone as sick and twisted as Lotor. Narti signs in confusion, Keith demands that she speaks normally (Because even though he’s the leader, he’s still a bit hotheaded). Narti then penetrates his mind, telepathically saying she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. "You know exactly what I’m talking about.” No, I really don’t... Kova hisses, Kosmo growls. The conversation ends and they refuse to talk to each other.

When they find the Creature, Kosmo and Keith nyoom! away from it at first. Narti uses her tail to smack debris in its way. They still teleport away but Narti doesn’t grab onto Kosmo. She simply stares at them when they approach her. The Creature is confused, opening its mouth to roar at her. Narti doesn’t react. The Creature leans down to sniff at her, sensing a strange connection between them, Narti reaches a clawed hand to its face. It growls before she starts stroking it, Kova butts his head against it’s tough forehead. The Creature slowly calms down. That is until Kosmo teleports beside her, scaring the Creature into attacking. Kosmo scratches the Creature’s nose and brings her back to Lahn and Team Voltron. Extremely pissed, Narti opens her mouth and reveals her two forked tongues as she hisses. Kosmo tries to swipe at her face too. Kova nearly pounces on him but Narti snares him with her tail.

By the time Kosmo teleported Narti to the cockpit, Team Voltron and Lahn had already formed the plan of turning the ship into a bomb and destroying the Creature. Narti then telepathically invades all their minds, causing all of them to yell in pain. She reprimands them for seeing something unusual and immediately deciding to destroy it. Keith tells her that it’s Ranveig’s creature from the Quantum Abyss and was experimented on by Lotor’s vats of pure Quintessence, it’s a monster who can’t tell friend from foe. Narti says she already knew that. It’s why she’s even more pissed at them.

She says that the monster is always attacking is because they (Voltron and the Galra) always decide to shoot first. To her, ‘Victory or Death’ applies to both sides. She says that it’s pattern that she noticed with her limited interactions; they lack patience and are hilariously short-sighted.

When she skimmed the Creatures thoughts, she sensed erratic confusion and fear from them. The Creature is tired, they’re hungry, they want to rest. they wants to get off the ship. Their intrusion only added to their stress/anxiety. Even if they appear monstrous, the Creature has their own life to live. Ashamed, Keith repeats again that its his fault, Lance tries to convince him its not, but Narti agrees and he can still atone for it. Lahn snaps and asks what a bunch of half breeds and traitors to the Empire could do to fix this ‘mistake’. “It seems to me that Voltron should be known as the Legendary Failure then the Legendary Defender.” After being a semi-optimistic doormat for so long, Narti finally snaps, “Shut. Your. Quiznak. Or I’ll use my tail to strangle you over the Creatures jaw and let it devour you!”

Everyone stares at her. Lahn smirks, baring his teeth.

Lahn: You are definitely Galra with that temper.

Narti (flicking her tail): I don’t need you approval to be a true Galra. It’s in my blood and it’s who I am. And I might be the only one who can stop them. I only ask you to be patient with me. Let me subdue them. If you truly are the heroic Paladins you claim to be, then give me this chance. If I’m wrong, then you can set off the bomb.

Everyone agrees with the plan. Keith and Kosmo teleport to where the Creature is. When the Creature seems them he recognizes Kosmo and charges. They teleport away but only a few inches from where they were. The Creature charges and they teleport again. They continue this pattern until they reach the bridge.

Shiro’s second bayard upgrade is a shield cause he’s totally the Captain America of the group. Lahn is behind Hunk while Narti stays with Pidge. When the Creature is in the center of the room, Keith stands in front of the door and puts his shield up. Everyone is tense. The Creature realizes there is no way of escaping the circle and panics. It roars and thrashes around the bridge. Its extra limbs glow and tries to blast it’s way out of the circle. Lance hesitantly activates his bayard. Narti smacks it with her tail, he squawks indignantly, she reveals her two tongues to him and he shuts up. The magenta pulses of its blast is suddenly subdued by a pale-blue almost white glow. The particles of light seem to distract the Creature, who’s staring at them in curiosity. (Take a guess who did that lol)

Narti floats over Pidge’s shield and reaches a hand towards the Creature again. The Creature fears its a trap and tries to scare her again. Narti strokes its face again. The reason why the Creature is so calm towards her is because Narti was soothing him with her telepathy. To truly defeat a monster, one needs to have the courage to understand. Unlike the other passengers, Narti understands what it’s like to be in a foreign environment where everyone’s against you. She’s felt that way for hundreds of years because of her half-breed status. The Creature is completely calm, but it will only listen to Narti.

Shiro: I guess that means we’re taking him with us.

Hunk: I wonder if we can teach him to play fetch...

They all jetpack out of the Ranveig’s ship and into the Lions. Pidge feels nervous comparing the Creatures size and mass to her Lions but Narti reassures her that the Creature won’t cause them to slow down. She then notices that the Lion’s are further away then where they stopped them but chalks it up to the lack of gravity. (It wasn’t cause of the gravity Pidge) They make their way back to Planet Ryker.

Lahn swears his allegiance to the Voltron Coalition. He calls for Narti to step forward, shocking Acxa in the audience. While he is grateful for Team Voltron’s assistance, he wants to honor Narti especially. Like all Galra, he thought that half-breeds did nothing but bring shame upon the Empire. Her patience and abilities as well as Keith accepting that he was at fault allowed him to see them in a new light. He bows before them and says “Vrepit Sa.” Narti and Keith repeat the action.

Narti catches Acxa calling her name in her head and runs to her. The two half Galra women embrace. Narti tries to tell her what really happened when Lotor struck her but they’re both too overwhelmed by emotions to keep talking. Team Voltron smiles at the sight. There is small scene where Krolia embraces Keith too, Kolivan pats him on the back. The Creature, thanks to Narti, now is slowly starting to open up to the Galra. They offer them fresh food goo that they happily devour.

Allura welcomes Warlord Lahn to the ATLAS, he offers them any assistance in their search. (Because the Galra are really pushed to the background once Honerva became the main antagonist) Allura points out that those that have been liberated by Voltron are now back under Galran control after the Empire collapsed. Lahn admits that freeing all of them will take a while.

Shiro doesn’t like where the conversation is going. He voices that really doesn’t want to split up the team. Especially with a threat like Honerva out there. The Paladins don’t want to be separated from Allura either considering what happened before. Unfortunately, it’s a sacrifice they have to make. Allura tells the bridge that she’ll stay with the Paladins, her alchemy might be needed if anyone is injured. They all embrace Coran and Adam and promise to keep communications open as much as possible.

But...one more night on the ATLAS couldn’t hurt anyone. Allura has yet another dream, this time it’s the dream from the episode Clear Day. Instead of being separate visions from the entity, they’re all combined into one. The vision of Melenor in the juniberry field and where she eventually ashes away is where the dream transitions to Lotor in Sincline saying “Follow me!” and shows Voltron standing with the colony planets. She wakes with a cold sweat. The Space Mice ask her if she’s alright and she smiles tiredly and tells them to go back to sleep. (A soft rendition of Sincline’s theme should play here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guys, I turned the foreshadowing with Lotor all the up to 3000 in this episode with the monster and Lahn. The half-breed conflict should not only reflect Keith and Narti but the rest of the lady Generals and Lotor as well, further splitting the audience of where his allegiance was. Because there’s no such thing as a bad person or good person when it comes to being biracial.

Hazar was a character in Vehicle Voltron that served as the main person in power on the villains side, although they weren’t villains cause they were looking for a new planet to colonize. Thematic hmmmmmmm maybe

Narti being alive was something I always secretly wanted. I mean they make some deaths in this series really graphic *cough*LOTOR*cough* but Narti got off pretty light. It only showed Haggar’s vision through her eyes disappear and then cut back to her laying on the floor. If played right, the writers can simply have her be, like in this rewrite, knocked out to come back to at a later time. And she was my favorite out of the Generals sorry not sorry. Her powers were so cool!

With her still kicking ass, Lotor’s goal of preserving life is brought back. It adds more conflict to the audience about Lotor. “He spared her life so that makes him a good person right?” “But he drained hundreds of Alteans remember?” “Oh yeah, but I don’t know about that anymore...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 4: Battle Scar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We open with Team Voltron in space. Pidge is trying to track a Komar and it leads them to Olkarion. However, it’s completely drained of Quintessence and there’s a Weblum already devouring it. Pidge is horrified at the sight and immediately tries to shoot the Weblum down. Keith and Hunk, using their experience from collecting scultrite, convince her to fall back. The Weblum completely envelops Olkarion and flies away afterwards. Thinking Ryner and the rest of the Olkari are gone, Team Voltron is devastated. They fly closer to Green.

Keith: We’re here for you, Pidge. It’s okay.

(I think it’s very important that Keith is the first to say something. He knows a thing a two from losing someone important to you. Plus, it shows how much he’s matured since being The Loner of the group)

Pidge thanks them for their support. She says that they should continue looking for Honerva. Allura then senses something close by, she calls out to them. There’s no response. She tries to use Blue’s sonic cannon to amplify her call. But...Blue doesn’t respond. Lance jokingly says that Blue prefers him over her now and tries to activate her sonic cannon. No response. The two are confused.

Lance: Is anyone else having trouble with their Lions? Blue’s not responding.

Hunk: I thought I was the only one! Yellow hasn’t responded since we touched down on Planet Ryker.

Keith: Red’s been having technical difficulties but we still get the job done.

Pidge: Same with Green. I have keep manually inputting information that I know is stored in her database.

Shiro’s the only one who doesn’t experience any problems. However, they can’t call further attention to it because a familiar squishy asteroid splashes against Blue. Lance alerts the other Paladins, hopeful. The Paladins remember their first encounter with the Olkarion so they know that the asteroid carries a coded message. Pidge quickly deciphers it and the message is revealed: That the citizens of Olkarion managed to successfully escape the Komar. (pretty sure there were other aliens with them because it was the Coalitions base of operations) and are currently in need of fuel. Hunk and Pidge quickly punch in the coordinates the message carried and discover that they’re not as far away as they initially thought.

The Lions eventually find the Olkarion ships using cloaking devices and give them an escort back to Planet Ryker. The Olkarion are hesitant to be on the same base occupied by the Galra. Allura does her diplomatic thing and comes up with a compromise between everyone: the Olkarion can use their interfaces to build more shelters for the Galra and the Galra will help with more of the manual labor because of the limited flora. However, she and the other Paladins notice that some of the citizens are acting more colder towards them then Lahn’s forces. Some of them are even glaring at the Lions. One in particular could destroy the Lions with his murderous gaze alone. He’s the same Olkari that King Lubos kept as a servant during Commander Branko’s reign. (uh oh...)

When the Paladins are abruptly called to a boardroom meeting, they bring Ryner with her because she’s the Olkari’s leader. But when they enter the boardroom, they immediately feel the tension. Everyone’s eyes are on them. Commander Iverson tells them to take a seat, Allura asks why the sudden meeting. He says that Commander Hazar has some information that he would like to share with the rest of the council. He’s sitting at the table alongside Lahn.

Hazar tells them that he worked closely with Lotor after he was crowned Emperor. He tells them that Lotor revealed to him his plan, which was offering pure Quintessence to placate the Empire. While it’s not a shock to Team Voltron, it is to the Coalition. Hazar demands why Voltron, after forming an alliance with Lotor and helping him light his fire at the Kral Zera, would betray and potentially murdered him. A murder of an Emperor by an opposing force is considered the most heinous crime. If they really are heroes, why did they do it?

Keith tells the abridged version of the story he told the team in Season 6. Romelle takes over halfway through.

Romelle: You might not believe me because I’m Altean, but understand. You’ve hunted down my people for 10,000 years. (Team Voltron cringes at that) We thought Lotor was better than you but...he was much, much worse. He committed atrocious acts towards my family. My mother, father, brother, friends...they were all destroyed by him.

Lahn: That doesn’t make sense. Did you not say that he saved you?

Romelle: No. He doomed us all. The second colony was draining Alteans of their quintessence.

Second shock to the Coalition. Hazar asks if they have proof of their claim. Romelle says that Keith and Krolia were there with her. Keith confirms this. But Hazar asks if Lotor admitted to draining their quintessence. Romelle doesn’t answer that, only repeating that they saw their bodies in the pods. Lance admits that they didn’t let him talk and cornered him after he and Allura returned from the Rift. Then ashamedly mentions Allura fired the Blue on him when he tried to subdue the conflict. They fought with him in the Rift and had no choice but to leave him there. Then they had to sacrifice the original Castle of Lions to close the rifts in the realities Lotor opened. Pidge guesses that’s when the time dilation probably happened. After they dealt with him, the Voltron Coalition was weakened and Earth was invaded. Allura speaks on behalf of Team Voltron admits that this was their mistake and apologizes to the Coalition for leaving them vulnerable.

However, Romelle refuses to admit that she might be in the wrong. Hazar pokes holes in her accusation; “If you only saw the bodies and Emperor Lotor didn’t say that he drained them, then is he truly guilty?”

Romelle: Yes! We don’t need to hear his side of the story! He would spin lie after lie to save himself! If it weren’t for us, he would’ve drained the rest of my colony! And then drained the rest of us!

Lahn: You don’t know that because you did not subjugate him to a fair trial. While we Galra do believe in ‘Victory or Death’ we also believe that if the choice was death, it must be earned. Either in battle or by trial. You did none of that. You forced the choice of death upon him!

Romelle: It’s what he deserves after destroying so many lives!

Narti signs that Lotor always put preserving life above everything else. When they invaded Puig to draw out the Paladins they only left injuries, never bodies. The same with every planet he conquered. ‘Your accusation doesn’t make sense.’ Romelle demands to know why she’s defending him. Narti says she’s not defending him, she’s doubting her claim. Acxa remains silent throughout the meeting, clenching her fist. Veronica and Keith notice but neither call her out.

Romelle: Why is this even a discussion? What we do about Lotor doesn’t matter. He’s gone forever. We can all rest easy knowing that another threat to the galaxy has been slain by the hero Voltron.

Allura slams her hands against the table, causing it to dent, her hands softly glowing. Everyone stares at her, concerned at the display of power. “This meeting is adjourned. Everyone leave now.”

Team Voltron is left alone in the boardroom (Probably regretting everything because regret seems to be another thing our heroes don’t have in the series) No one speaks as the rest of them file out. Iverson stares at Allura, Veronica is concerned, Colleen and Sam are heartbroken, Hazar remains blank-faced as he leaves, Ryner is a bit more uneasy. The MFE’s feel awkward, uncomfortable, and bounce. Adam and Shiro have a little moment.

Shiro: Do you still trust me?

Adam: Of course I do...but I think this is something you six have to talk about.

Shiro: Wait for me?

Adam nods and walks out.

Acxa and Narti have a disagreement in the halls concerning the Paladins confession. The revelation of Lotor’s secret weighs heavy on them. Acxa wants to completely move on from her past and cut out Lotor for good, telling her that he’s not the noble prince he claimed to be. She feels betrayed because she had looked up to him. And now that there were things he even kept from them...Narti tells her she’s wrong. She’s read his mind. She knows that everything he’s said to them had been true. Acxa tells her if Lotor lied to them about the colony. Narti admits that he has lied a few times, but it’s so that its existence wouldn’t reach Zarkon and Haggar.

Acxa: Maybe Lotor knew that you found out. Did you read his mind when he attacked you? Did he really mean to knock you unconscious? Or is this one of the rare occasions he swings and misses?

(Because two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead) Narti is insulted that a close friend would insinuate such a thing and walks away. Acxa realizes her mistake and pulls her back, saying she didn’t mean it. Narti tells her she knows. They rest their foreheads against each other, a Galra gesture of friendship, and go back to their bunker to talk more.

Back to Team Voltron. Lance rubs his face with his hands, “Is anyone gonna say it? Anyone? No one? Okay, guess I’ll do the honors: It’s our fault the universe is this way.”

The Paladins have their typical dispute about who’s fault it really is. Keith blames himself. Just like with Ranvieg’s monster, he was acting impulsively and jumped to conclusions. If he had let Lotor talk instead of just barging in at the Castle of Lions, the conflict would’ve been resolved much more quickly and peacefully. He suddenly realizes that with all his argument against Lahn that he was still Galra, he didn’t give Lotor the same treatment. The only other person he could relate to, another half-Galra. The person he thwarted the Blades plans for, the person he rescued during the Kral Zera, the Empire’s newest hope for peace...he’s gone. He clenches his fists together again. “Quiznak...”

Pidge thinks that Lotor’s still at fault. She’s 15 and she’s been through a lot of things. However, this time, she knows that there must be another side of the story. If they were going off the theory that Lotor was doing something other than draining their quintessence, he still should’ve come clean. This is a call back to the episode in the first season ‘Return of the Gladiator’ when she first accuses Shiro of hurting her brother when she only had a single prisoner recounting his experiences as proof. “This is just like when I accused Shiro of hurting Matt. Except a thousand times worse...”

Lance still blames Lotor, but his perspective changes the longer he thinks. Most would think that the blame is still stemming from his jealousy but it’s more on the fact that Lotor broke Allura’s heart. Even if his own heart was rejected by Allura, he can still care for her when she’s hurt. He thinks about how they all agreed to offer Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for Sam Holt. While he was thinking on instinct, he realizes what a horrible decision that was. He also has an epiphany that he was never Allura’s choice to begin with. If it had been between him and Lotor, Allura would’ve definitely picked Lotor. He feels really, really bad for advocating to leave him in the Rift. “Guys, we really messed up.”

Hunk blames Romelle, to everyone’s shock. When asked why, Hunk explains that to the rest of the team (besides Keith and Krolia), Romelle was a total and complete stranger. They didn’t know anything about her besides that she was Altean. Even if she did claim to know Lotor, they shouldn’t have taken her word so quickly over his. He supports Hazar’s argument, remembering more of his lessons with Dayak at Central Command. “Galra trials and interrogations have always been successful, it’s one of the reasons why the managed to take over as much territory as they did. IF we were gonna accuse him of draining those Alteans. We should have honored Galra tradition brought him there and gave him a fair trial. It’s the least we owed him after we treated him so badly at the Castle.”

Shiro fairly points out that this is a rare occasion where all parties are to blame. Keith only had Romelle to back up his story and even she admitted she didn’t know the entire story. The rest of the Paladins still had the choice to not believe them. It left the team vulnerable, emotional state, which led them to act on instinct instead of taking a step back to see what’s wrong. Keith points out that Shiro had nothing to do with it, it was his clone that present and then attacked them. Shiro says Kuron was being controlled by Honerva, forcing him to do all the things that he did. He says he still has Kuron’s memories and experiences, which is how he learned about Project Kuron. And it also means he saw and heard everything that occurred during their ambush on Lotor. “Look, I’m not mad at any of you. I’m disappointed. In you and in myself. If we had thought of other options besides point your bayards at him, the conflict would’ve gone over much smoother.

Allura’s significantly quiet during the whole thing. She harbor’s the most guilt out of all of them. If she had behaved more rationally, more like a leader, when Romelle accused him, he wouldn’t have been left in the Rift. However, she was so used to being alone. Coran was her only connection to Altea. When Lotor showed up, she refused to even look at him. After he killed Zarkon and ascended to the Galra throne during the Kral Zera, she felt like things might change if someone like him was at the helm. His Altean heritage didn’t matter to her, although it did pique her interest to his possible alchemic abilities. And then during their construction of the Sincline, she fell in love with him. Which is why the betrayal hurt more. Not Lotor’s betrayal. Her betrayal of him. She can’t accept any other story because they’re just excuses for them to feel better.

Swap over to the hostile Olkarion outside. Some of them are packing their things, some of them are already boarding the Olkarion ships. The most shocking sight is them aiming their plant blasters at everyone else. Ryner runs to them and demands to know what’s going on. The Olkarion that was glaring at the Lions tells her that they’re leaving to find a real home. One that isn’t tainted by the Galra. Ryner says their enemy is not the Galra. The Olkarion (Let’s call him...Luben) retorts that she’s right: the Galra are not their enemy. Voltron is.

Ryner: What are you saying, Luben!?

La-sai: Voltron gave the galaxy hope 10,000 years ago. And then they disappeared. We suffered, our children were never gifted a galaxy at peace. And when they reemerged we finally had hope again. But then they too abandoned the galaxy. Abandoned us. They led that...abomination to destroy our home. They’re no better than the Galra!

Hazar approaches him, clawed hands up in surrender. He asks La-sai to put his weapon down. Seeing a Galra, he angrily fires his rifle, grazing Hazar’s shoulder and starts spamming shots at him. Lahn tries to shot him unconscious. The rogue Olkari + other aliens start openly firing on Lahn’s troops and the Garrison staff. Some of the Olkarion ships take off. The Galra try to get into their fighters but Lahn tells them to stand down. They can’t waste their resources or risk the lives of citizens. La-sai scoffs.

Iverson reports hostile activity to the boardroom. Allura asks if its another Komar, Iverson says no and that the hostile activity is coming from the Olkarion. Shiro tells the Paladins to get to their Lions. Iverson says that he has the MFE’s ready to launch. Allura tells him not to do that, explaining that this is Voltron’s problem. "This is our fault. We have to face the consequences or we’ll never fulfill Voltron’s purpose.” She says she’ll meet him at the bridge when she’s ready.

The Paladins get into their Lions and Black is the first to take off. The other Lions are slower but the eventually catch up. They chase after the ships, but they don’t fire on them because of the citizens on board. And also cause the Lions are not completely following their Paladins. Instead they try to box them in and force them to land. The rogue Olkarions form canons on their ships and fire on the Lion’s. Vines entangle the Lions but they persevere. Red suddenly turns up its body temperature and uses its rail gun to burn them off, scaring the other Paladins. Keith says that wasn’t him. They have no choice but to keep them in the air, preventing as many casualties as they can. The Paladins try to talk the rogue Olkari down while simultaneously trying to get back in rhythm with their Lions. La-sai beats it in their heads that it’s their fault that their people suffered.

Shiro tries to get the team to form Voltron, but the Lions don’t respond. “Uh, I’m not the only one not feeling that Voltron feeling am I?” Hunk asks. The Lions are no longer responding to their Paladins but they’re still boxing the rogue Olkari ships. They’re functioning on their own now. Hunk then wonders if the Lions are mad at them for what they did to Lotor. Lance dejectedly says that’s probably it. They both barely miss a shot from La-sai’s ship, Blue and Yellow hitting a hard reverse and forcing Hunk and Lance. Red and Green abandon formation, Keith and Pidge shouting at the sudden unnatural actions.

La-sai then breaks the Olkari formation and fires on the Lions separately. They’re overwhelmed. The only Paladin keeping a close bond with their Lion, Shiro is forced to go after Luben alone while the others try close in on the other ships. Luben taunts him.

La-sai: Oh, I remember you, Champion. The Galra Empire’s prized gladiator. I should’ve known you would run back to them.

Shiro (winces at the flashbacks): I’m not their Champion anymore! I’m not Honerva’s toy! I am the Black Paladin of Voltron! I am their leader! And I won’t let you hurt them or anyone else!

La-sai: You think you’re such a noble Paladin. You’re a monster! I saw every gladiator fight broadcast, King Lubos’ always watched them to entertain himself while I was forced to watch you. I saw you slay every opponent you faced. Galra, Balmera, Puigans, even Olkarion! My people! As if we didn’t lose enough to this war! You’re not worthy of commanding Voltron anymore than your friends down there!

The rest of the Paladins interrupts them through the comms while the Lions dodge the plant lasers, trying to defend him. Shiro realizes they’re doing the same thing they did in the boardroom, trying to find some other explanation to feel better. He can’t really fault them cause they’re kids but with things like the entire universe weighing on their decisions, they can’t afford to do that anymore. So instead of supporting them and further ignoring his trauma, Shiro accepts it.

Shiro: You’re right! (the Paladins quiet) I did what I did in those gladiator matches! And not a day goes by that I don’t regret every. single. strike. I’ve hurt people trying to survive. I really did. My team might defend me until their last breath, but it won’t change that I’m guilty. B-But...I know things have changed. I’ve changed. I’ve become a better person. Voltron, the Black Lion, this team...they gave me a chance to redeem myself for everything I’ve done. They became my rock throughout our journey. Even when I died, they held out hope that I would come back. And I would do everything I can to make sure they’re safe. Whatever it takes. Because I love all of them.

La-sai (scoffs): We loved you, the universe loved you. Loved Voltron. We welcomed you with open arms. You fought against the Galra. You were freeing the galaxy, protecting those who were once enslaved. And then you abandoned us! How many planets, how many families, how many lives, were destroyed because of your selfishness!?

Shiro: How many lives will you destroy today? If you hurt anyone on this base, then you’ll become just like Commander Branko. He hurt thousands of your people just so he could have a weapon to enforce Zarkon’s rule further. If you destroy this base, you destroy our chance at rebuilding a better universe.

La-sai: Voltron was supposed to rebuild the universe. You were supposed to save us from the Galra! You were supposed to end all of this!

Allura (over the ATLAS’ comms): Voltron is many things, but it cannot destroy the war itself. It is but a beacon, a symbol, powered by an ancient magic. Voltron can fight all the battles it wants to in this war, but it is ultimately the people’s decision to truly end it. Do you remember when we first arrived on your planet? You had all retreated to the woods, calling out for a savior with your asteroids. Voltron might’ve answered the call, but it was yours and Ryner’s decision to finally step out of the shadows and take back what was stolen from you. The Olkari knew when they learned of King Lubos’ betrayal that they deserved better than what he could offer. It was the combined efforts of them and Voltron that set the Olkari free from their chains. That is why the Voltron Coalition was formed. Because we can’t save the universe alone. We need help. We need allies. We need friends who are willing to risk everything to stop Honerva!

La-sai: Allies? Friends!? You would put your trust in the Galra!? After all they’ve done to you? To your people? I remembered how hostile you were towards the Galra. One might say even hateful. What changed? Did they implant a device in you like they did to the Champion?

The Lions stop moving, the Paladins tense. They know that Allura’s been through more pain from the Galra then any of them. Her planet, her people, her culture lost. She hasn’t been kind to them either. From her xenophobic attitude towards Ulaz and the Blades, to her blatant disregard of Keith when he was revealed to be part Galra, and then when she thought she finally had someone to connect with in Lotor, he supposedly betrayed her. And then after all of that, Sendak invaded Earth, a result of their actions against Lotor. Everyone on the bridge looks at Allura. She closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and speaks.

Allura: I understand your frustration upon learning my new perspectives. I too was aghast that there were Galra fighting against Zarkon. But I was so blinded by my rage, by my loss, that I couldn’t truly appreciate their efforts. Now, after spending many battles fighting by their side...I see them for who they truly are. The Red Paladin, Keith Kogane, is half-Galra and one of my closest friends, who I treasure as my family along with the rest of the Paladins. Kolivan, Krolia, Regris, Thace, Antok, Ulaz, and the Blades of Marmora, they all believed in a better universe. And they took it into their hands to make that a possibility. This war has also taken things from them as well. Homes, families, this war started with the destruction of Planet Daibazaal... Warlord Lahn was once against our cause, but then he saw first hand how we all banded together as one, and he too saw that possibility. I urge you to look past your anger, past your hate, and understand that there are Galra who want this to end as much as you do.

(Damn, Allura just went full Daenerys Targaryen there)

The crowd beneath the Lions are listening to Allura’ speech, understanding why Shiro gave her command of the ATLAS. Some of the rogue Olkarion regain their senses and slowly land. La-sai is disgusted by their supposed betrayal and arms his ship with more plant cannons. He fires on the Lions. Yellow’s armor activates and leaps in front of the blasts. The Olkarion use their interfaces to form shields with the unused ships. Some of the Galra group together to protect the other aliens. Meanwhile, Green tries to fire its plant canon at La-sai’s ship and barely grazes the wing.

Hearing the words of from the head and heart of Voltron, the Lions open their connection to their Paladins again. Hunk nearly cries with joy. They form Voltron and follow La-sai. He steeply flies up and into the upper atmosphere.

The Paladins continue to chase La-saibut Pidge tells them to stop when she realizes he’s too far gone. They fly back to the base. For the second time, Team Voltron is heartbroken, realizing that even though they have the most powerful weapon in the universe, they can’t save everyone they care about. What hurts more is that La-sai is right. They land and the ATLAS crew is there to provide support. A short time-skip happens after La-sai’s abandonment, nights falls on Planet Ryker. A small bustle of activity happens underneath the ATLAS, the numerous aliens and humans discussing housing arrangements between Lahn’s base and the ATLAS.

Looking over the courtyard, Team Voltron discusses what happened today with the Lions. Keith says that he can feel the bond between him and Red is slowly starting up. The other Paladins tell similar stories. Shiro hugs and congratulates them for their accomplishment. Allura voices her relief as well and asked what changed. “I guess finally admitting we were wrong helped.” Keith says. His eyes drift over to Romelle, who’s starting to pull away from the activities. Her eyes narrow at Lahn and Hazar going over schematics of their base. Keith looks at her with a worried expression, Lance rests his hand over his shoulder.

Lance is in awe that they’re all working together so seamlessly, directing attention to them. Keith questions his words. Lance clarifies that while the Voltron Coalition was a united front against the Galra, he still noticed some prejudices. “Now...now, they’re working as well as we do.”

Ryner: Loss can bring even the greatest of foes together.

She approaches Team Voltron. Pidge is the first to speak, tears in her eyes, “I’m so, so, so sorry, Ryner. This is all our fault.” Bebe rubs his head against her side.

Ryner: It’s alright, Pidge. This is how life works. Some plants flourish, others wither. Sometimes we’re in control, other times it spirals out of our hands. It’s how we learn and do better. Become better than what we were. We will learn from our mistakes and grow stronger.

Team Voltron agrees and goes down to help. The episode ends the Galra lighting little lanterns and releasing them into the sky. Keith asks his mother why they’re doing that. “It’s a Galra gesture of peace.To light a lantern means to light a new flame for oneself, to start over with.” Keith gets an idea and convinces the rest of the team to light lanterns too. The Lions look over at the sight, growling softly in approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seems the theme of making up for your mistakes is making itself known in the season. Every story has it’s ups and downs. When The Prisoner’s Dilemma was a more positive ending, this episode has a more negative conclusion to contrast and to keep the characters and audience more alert.

This was actually the hardest episode to rewrite, between cutting down the Olkarion plot and inserting a brand new one to fill in the remaining time. While some of the people who worked on Avatar also worked on this show, VLD deals with a lot more mature themes for its young audience. ie. genocide, mass death tolls in Season 4, racism, torture, PTSD, possible metaphors for drug addiction the list could go on. With an episode titled Battle Scars, I wanted to show how the endless cycle of battles from both Voltron and the Galra are affecting the citizens. I tried to make this episode a commentary on the cycle of war.

Naturally, I went for the Olkari. Another thing that bothered me with this episode and with VLD as a whole was this is yet another Pidge centric episode. Not to hate on her, I love my Pidgeon, but I know the executives are extremely biased towards her. So instead on focusing on her sole relationship with the Olkari, I expanded it to the rest of Team Voltron. They’re one of Team Voltron’s closest allies and one of the main players against Zarkon in Season 2. Now, after three-four years of running, with their planet destroyed, and their trust broken a second time, they’ve become disillusioned with Voltron and grow in their hate towards the Galra. They want revenge on their own terms, Luben especially because of his previous imprisonment. This also echos Honerva’s manipulations of the Alteans.

The title Battle Scars also represents what those scars are to a person. Making them stronger. This is the case with Team Voltron’s apology to the Coalition, the following discussion, and Shiro and Allura’s speeches to Luben. The Galra took everything from her, yet she learned to not fault all of them. She became the leader she is now because she moved on from those scars. She accepts the Blade and Keith as her family now. Shiro has a different lesson, he accepts that he has scars. He’s not proud of them but he accepts the trauma. To truly recover, you have to first admit that it happened to you. Doing so helped his relationship with Adam and strengthened his relationship with the Paladins.

And this is even more apparent with the Lions, the Lions aren’t mad at the Paladins, they’re mad at themselves. It’s why they still follow their plan of boxing in the rogue Olkari but not connecting to their Paladins. They were created to bring peace to war-torn universe, instead they made it worse. Seeing them learn their lesson from Shiro and Allura helped them regain confidence to form Voltron again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 5: The Grudge~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lahn’s troops are slowly warming up to the ATLAS crew. To the point where they are challenging each other to friendly competitions in the gym. Iverson is currently competing in a push up contest with Hazar’s sister, Dorma (More Vehicle Voltron!). Adam and Curtis are keeping score. Veronica was cheering for Iverson but switches sides when she sees Dorma pull some cool moves. It ends with Iverson tapping out and lying on the mat, exhausted. Dorma commends him on his stamina before walking away to join some other Galra. Some Olkarion are in the gym too, dissecting the gym equipment and wondering what they could do to make them more effective.

The conversation about pets still happens with the addition of Adam. Adam admits that he never had any pets before, the closest thing was Marble. He says that that wasn’t really her name but Shiro always called her that because she was a calico and her coat reminded him of the marble pillars in New Kyoto and it sort of stuck. Curtis and Veronica awe over the story.

Curtis sees Acxa alone doing the same sick push ups Dorma did and in an attempt to know her better asks if she had any pets. Acxa instead explains Narti’s bond with Kova in the typical intense Galra fashion, scaring Curtis. Somewhere in the gym the Garrison Quartet hear someone growling, agreeing with Acxa. Turns out it’s Narti, hanging from the ceiling by her tail. She lands in the middle of the pseudo-circle they’ve formed, her tail swishing around, Kova on her shoulder. She tucks it away after accidentally knocking Iverson down.

“Keep that tail of yours under control!” Narti does the Galra salute as an apology. Kova hisses. She signs (Acxa translating) that she was grateful that Lotor gave her Kova. Kova has been there for him since childhood and yet he decided that she needed it more than him. Kova purrs as Narti scratches his ears.

Veronica asks if this is the same Emperor Lotor that attacked her. Narti says that he really didn’t. Before she could clarify, Coran calls everyone to the bridge to receive the Paladin’s latest transmission.

The Paladin’s say that they have a possible lead on Honerva and they’re going to check it out. (The decoy messages are still kept but our ATLAS crew is smarter in this rewrite lol)

The lunch conversation is kept the same with the addition of Narti + Kova. Kova hisses at the MFE’s when there isn’t a seat for Narti. She assures him that its fine and props herself on her tail. When Leifsdottir points out that it’s their Galra lineage makes everyone’s uncomfortable, Kova hisses again. Narti then signs that it’s not their lineage but everyone’s reaction to it that makes everyone uncomfortable. Acxa further explains that their status wasn’t...appreciated by the rest of the Empire.

Narti (snarkily signing): I don’t think we’re appreciated at this table either

Acxa: You’re right, Narti. We’ll take our leave now.

They do and the MFE’s look down in embarrassment. Veronica rightly scolds them and goes to find them.

Team Voltron recognizes that they’ve been tricked when Pidge points out the low oxygen levels. Shiro immediately tells them to get airborne. Hunk catches a glimpse of the hologram ATLAS and yells that they’re close. Unfortunately, the Lions still get caught in the ships traction beam.

Pidge doesn’t tell Hunk to shut up because they’re all friends and friends don’t let things like single-modulation piss them off that badly. (Bex’s line delivery in this scene bothered me. It sounded less jokey and more ‘shut the fuck up’) When she tells them they need to remove their armor and bayards to prevent being detected, everyone points out that Shiro needs his bayard. It’s his literal right arm. Pidge realizes her mistake but can’t find another way with the time they have. Hunk proposes the idea that maybe Allura can use her alchemy to hide them. Allura says she can’t do that.

Allura: Altean alchemy connects us to living beings, as you can see, this planet does not hold any life. If I use my alchemy to hide us, it will restore the life of the planet and reveal our location.

Shiro says he’ll just have to last long enough to get his bayard back. He removes it and places it on the pile, fully preventing any detection and capture from the pirates. “Your safety is more important than my arm.”

Acxa and Veronica’s talk is same because its perfect.

Narti bonds with the MFE pilots when she notices them playing a card game in one of the recreational rooms. They might not fully understand Space Sign Language, but they know what she means when she points to the cards and then to herself. Kova doesn’t hiss but he moves away when the MFE’s try to pet him. Narti writes on a spare tablet that it’s normal for him. While they do have a familiar connection, Kova still acts out on his own, her emotions don’t dictate his actions and vice versa.

Griffin asks if it’s true she can read minds. ‘Yes it’s true.’ Her voice echos in there heads. Her people are well-developed telepaths, it’s what made them such formidable opponents. They can prevent nearly any disaster just by skimming their thoughts. As eveident with Throk, she can also control someone for a short period of time. At the MFE’s horrified expressions, she chitters and says she won’t do that to any of them.

Narti: Although, I can’t promise not peeking at your cards...

Griffin: Oh, it’s on!

Swap back to Team Voltron and, oh yeah, Allura can still find the Lions. But because they left their armor and bayards, they can’t successfully break in or out of the ship that’s carrying them. They’re bombarded by lasers and they’re separated into pairs. Shiro and Lance, Keith and Hunk, Pidge and Allura.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Ryner manages to fully decipher the decoy messages and deduces that the person producing them is an Olkarion, correctly guessing that it’s La-sai. She takes a few seconds to pinpoint the location of the real Paladins. Coran tells Lahn to gather his troops, Lahn’s way ahead of him.

Switch back to the pairs. Lance talks about his feelings, Shiro understands and starts to suspect something. Lance says that he thought that Allura really did like him back during Sendak’s invasion. He doesn’t just feel insecure, he feels like he’s unworthy of the positions he’s held. He’s the youngest in his family, he feels like has to stand out to some people. But lately, he feels less and less comfortable slipping into ‘Loverboy Lance’. He doesn’t want to put up the act of being a ladies man anymore. Not after being rejected by Allura as both his loverboy persona (constantly) and his genuine nice guy persona back on Earth. Shiro comforts him like the amazing Space Dad he is. “You are Lance McClain, the Blue Paladin, once the right hand of Voltron. You’re our sharpshooter. Don’t think for a second you’re not worthy of a spot on this team.”

Lance: I knew that name would catch on.

Shiro: You insisted you were one. And look at you now.

They smile. When the pirates come for them, Shiro gets caught first. Lance uses his physicality to hide in a tree trunk. He takes down a pirate and uses the vacant rifle to free Shiro. When charging head-first backfires on Lance, Shiro uses his left arm to dive for the pirates legs and knocks him off his feet.

Hunk tells Keith that it might be too late but he’s really sorry for what he said during the Weblum mission (since he never does...). He didn’t know how to cope with everything happening to them and kinda took it out on Keith when his heritage was revealed. Keith thanks Hunk for his words and they hug. Keith hugging Hunk freely shows that Keith can open up to more than just his immediate family. It’s also a sweet reprise of Hunk hugging Keith. (I really liked their little bonding moment hehe in Season 7 and I wanted to showcase that a bit more) He tells him that they’ve really come a long way since driving his hoverbike away from the Garrison. “Yeah, and now we’re saving the universe with them!” They’re surrounded by pirates, Hunk hurls rocks at them and tackles them when they’re distracted. Keith uses his Galra strength + a fighting maneuver Kolivan taught him to take down a particularly big pirate.

Hunk: Dude! That was amazing! You gotta teach me some of those moves!

Keith: Only if you teach me how to play Stack-A-Ton!

Hunk: Deal!

Yay! More girl bonding! Allura tells Pidge about the voice she heard at the Garrison. Pidge says that it’s normal for people to think they’re hearing someone after life-threatening events. She asks if she can identify who was speaking, saying that it might help the voice disappear. Allura says she has a good idea but she doesn’t want to tell them yet. Not until she’s absolutely sure. Pidge says its okay and to take all the time she needs. They take down the pirates using Allura’s shape-shifting and Pidge’s craftiness. Allura changing herself to a bigger size and Pidge using their superior weight and height against them. “I love being small!”

The ATLAS shows up. Everyone cheers. “CORAN RESCUE!”

On arrival, Lahn’s forces take down the Space Pirates with ease, taking down the ships and freeing the Lions. The Lions find the 2 out of the three 3 pairs so they can put their armor back on. Allura carries Hunk and Keith’s bayards. Yellow opens its mouth and briefly allows Allura to pilot.

When they bring La-sai to the ATLAS, he hurriedly tells that their leader wants to destroy Voltron Paladin by Paladin. When Adam asks why, La-sai says that their leader had a ‘score to settle with them’. He thought that they carried the same vendetta he did, to take revenge on those who wronged them. That’s why he gave them information about the ATLAS. But he didn’t realize that the leader wanted to destroy them for good. Acxa immediately knows who the leaders are. Narti telepathically asks her if she’s sure. Acxa says she’s sure and she asks for her help to subdue them. Adam tells them that the need to move quickly if they want to do that, and also calls dibs piloting an MFE Athena Fighter.

Everyone hears the Red Lion roar louder then ever before. “That can’t be good!” Lance shouts in the Blue Lion. Panic is evident on his face, but he knows that Keith and Hunk will hold out until they provide backup.

Our trio at the Garrison follows the Red Lion to the volcano where Ezor and Keith are fighting. Zethrid and Hunk are duking it out nearby. Allura calls out his name and chucks the Yellow Bayard at him. He catches it and starts firing on Zethrid. But Zethrid’s a tank, so those lasers do jack squat on her. She pins Hunk to the ground, his deactivated bayard the only thing between her foot and his chest. “Looks like you’re finished, Yellow Paladin.” She snarls. Hunk then remembers how his family was trapped by the Galra during Sendak’s invasion and how desperately he wanted to save them. He sees the Paladins, the ATLAS, and the Lions standing over him, his own crazy family he formed over the years.

He roars, “NO. I’M. NOT!” He gains a second heroic wind and his bayard transforms into a gigantic battle ax. Zethrid is startled and jumps back before Hunk can cut her face into green slices.

She sees Keith slowly getting the upper hand on Ezor and bull-charges at him. Keith has Krolia’s blade and Red Bayard (Allura threw it to him during the second wind) to deflect their blows. Lance wants to use Blue’s freeze ray on them but Pidge points out that the tremors of the blast might cause the three of them to fall into the lava. In fact, the structure that they’re fighting on is too delicate for the Lions to land on. They’re stuck. Lance feels Red at the back of his mind, growing angrier. “Red, please...” Keith manages to hold the two half Galra back but Ezor kicks his feet and knocks the two weapons out of his hands. Zethrid pulls out a blaster and places it near his head, a ginormous arm around his throat.

Adam goes to immediately shoot them down but Shiro tells him to wait. Acxa and Narti reveal themselves to the couple. Zethrid and Ezor shocked that Narti’s still alive. Acxa tries to talk them down from hurting Keith. “Why?” Ezor snarls, “Because you’re in love with him?” Acxa finally tells them that no, she’s not in love with Keith. Over there battles, she came to respect him as an equal, in the battlefield as well as a half-Galra. She tells them that Keith never lost faith in her. And she’s extending that same unwavering faith to them.

Acxa: Hear my words. Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half-breeds rejected by the Galra.

Zethrid: Lotor used us! Used our anger to fulfill his own needs!

Ezor: He only cared about having power! Quintessence this and quintessence that!

Narti (signing and telepathically): NO! He cared about changing the Galra ways. No more conquering. No more needless violence.

Zethrid: Needless violence!? Didn’t Lotor cut you down?

Narti: No, he saved me.

Ezor: Huh?

Narti: The witch was controlling me. I couldn’t fight back. When she saw Lotor had the trans-reality comet, she and Zarkon ordered the attack on us. Lotor knocked me out to release me from her control. He was going to come back for me after he defeated Haggar!

Zethrid: But...Lotor’s gone! (She places the gun closer to Keith’s head) They told us that. Lotor’s gone and we can’t get him back!

Narti: Maybe, but don’t make the same mistakes he did. Don’t turn to your anger.

Acxa: You’re not angry at Keith because he hurt you and Ezor...you’re hurting him because he reminds you of him. And it hurts to think about him. To think about Lotor.

(Seriously no one brings up any of their similarities in the series...) (I refuse to acknowledge JDS and LM’s comparisons of Lotor and Keith)

Zethrid and Ezor deny it. But as Narti approaches them, Ezor slowly breaks. She admits even though she hates Lotor after what happened at the Rift, she still misses him. As a leader and as her friend. And she hates it. She thought they might get closure once Voltron returned but with Lotor dead, they couldn’t get that.

Keith starts to black out, Red roars in agitation, its rail gun forming, amplified by the volcano. The rest of the Paladins try to subdue it but it fires, stunning Zethrid and grazing her shoulder. The three of them hold on as the cliff collapses beneath them. “KEITH NO!” Lance yells, the other Paladins horrified. They almost fall into the lava but Acxa and Narti grab on to them. Red quickly realizes what it’s done and dives into the lava underneath the rocks. Everything’s quiet. No one moves.

Then Red slowly rises and props the rest of the cliff up so they can get to safety. The lady Generals all embrace, finally getting emotionally support they needed. Allura gently orders them to be detained. Keith is unconscious, Red butts its head against his side, wanting him to wake up. Lance jets out of Blue to prop Keith up for the stretcher.

We next see Keith lying awake on the hospital bed, a nurse checking his vitals. The doctor gently asks if he can speak. “B-B-B-” He coughs into his bandaged fist. “B-Ba-arely-y...” The doctor takes a few notes and puts a tray of rations in front of him, “Eat these before you take the painkillers. It’ll drown out the taste.” Keith thanks the doctor and slowly starts to chew on a ration. He looks down at the ration, surprised that it tastes as good as it does.

While Keith eating his rations, Lance paces outside of his room with Shiro. Krolia and Kolivan are scolding Acxa and Narti like the protective parents they are. Shiro blankly tells him he’s not helping. Lance says he knows but he still has a right to worry about Keith. Shiro agrees but admits that’s he’s never seen Lance so worried about someone. Not even for Allura. Lance confesses that when he saw Keith in Zethrid’s, grasp he was completely willing to kill her. He remembers when they were trapped on their ship and that Keith left him in charge of the team while he fought Zethrid and Ezor. Then, Shiro begins to recount how many times Keith threw his life away for the sake of the mission and how worried Lance always becomes when he does. He also tells Lance that when he and Veronica were knocked out on Earth, Keith comm calls were the loudest.

Lance doesn’t know how to feel about Keith now. He thinks that there might be something for Keith but he doesn’t believe Keith likes him back. He feels like he’s just starting to know the real Keith. Not Lone Wolf Keith he forced a rivalry on (Foreshadowing~). The Keith that knows who he is: “He’s half-Galra with a sword that can double in size, a teleporting cosmic wolf, who’s such a good pilot he can pilot two Lions, and who has my back like I have his.” He doesn’t want to ruin any that. And he’s still getting over Allura, and he knows from experience that no one wants to be a rebound. Shiro says it’s all on him and he’ll always be there lend an ear to listen to his struggles. Lance says that he always lent an ear during their missions. That’s why he’s such a dad, Lance laughs. Shiro hopes that name doesn’t stick.

Allura shows up the same time a nurse exits Keith’s room. Allura asks about Keith’s condition. The nurse says that he might have a sore throat for a few days but his mixed blood should speed up the healing process. “He’s healthy enough to see visitors.” The three Paladins sigh in relief. Shiro says that they should call the rest of their family to see him. Allura agrees but Lance rests his hand on her shoulder, out of breath, “Man, who knew pacing around the same spot a bazillion times would be so tiring?” They all laugh lightly.

The last shot of the episode is the lady Generals and La-sai in a cell together. Narti is teaching them the card game she and the MFE’s played. Kova rolls around the prison floor, finally at ease with the company around him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, hey look! More people blaming Team Voltron! This time it’s the Space Pirates. A lot of things have been rewritten in this episode. Namely, Ezor’s role. Ezor didn’t die or abandon Zethrid in this rewrite, she only lost her eye in the explosion. Because she’s still alive and kicking ass, Zethrid has no motive to take down Keith personally.

And, yeah, we’ve have 2 canon LGBT couples in this season now. Cause apparently Dreamworks can’t afford two. Lady Generals have been reunited yay! Even tho Zethrid and Ezor were brought back to Acxa in the original season, they too had poorly timed redemption arcs. They only appear in two episodes and then are revealed to be Blades during the tacked-on epilogue slideshow. Nope, they’re getting even more screen-time after this. And hopefully I do both of them justice!

Also more Klance development yay! And also more foreshadowing when Keith fights Ezor. Every lady General is a parallel to one of the Paladins. Three guesses as to which Paladin Ezor parallels.

Also, with Red finally diving into a volcano, we officially checked off all the Lions for being in their respective elements and getting a power boost. Blue’s happens in The Depths when it’s revealed it can still move underwater, Green’s happens in Greening the Cub with its plant gun, Yellow’s happens in The Ark of Taujeer with the ground crumbling beneath them, and Black’s happens in Blackout with its second pair of wings/teleportation powers. Coincidentally all those happened in Season 2...

Speaking of, Lance and Allura are slowly evolving into a true BROTP and not a one-sided creepy crush.Thanks to Shiro and Adam helping Lance wade his way into the LGBT Pool, Lance can healthy express his feelings and can see the line between 'Just Friends’ and ‘Something More’. There’s a short time-skip between The Grudge and Genesis so assume that Lance visited Keith more than the rest of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 6: Genesis~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final episode in this rewrite and oh man, is this one a game changer! Strap in palda-dudes it’s going down!

Some major rewrites of this episode are about the White Lion. The first is that it’s essentially backed into a corner. Since it only allows Chosen Alteans to pass through, Honerva abused her status as one to force her army passage and to use its home as their base of operations. It disapproves of everything Honerva is doing. However, it can’t fight back. When it does Honerva uses her black magic/Altean alchemy and some of the Olkarion Cubes to drain its quintessence.

Which brings us to the second rewrite concerning the White Lion; it’s the most powerful of all the Lions period. It’s the equivalent to the Phoenix Force...but, you know, a white lion and not a flaming bird lol. While I appreciate the high stakes its death would continue to establish, it also means another part of Altea is lost to Allura, Honerva, and the other Alteans. I like to think that the White Lion is another Life Giver ascended into another form, one to actually watch over Oriande and give the final test to the Chosen Alteans. Now that Honerva’s plan is in motion, she’s continuously draining the White Lion. The white hole progressively becomes more unstable as she does, which allows the Komars to pass through no problem.

Okay, so the first rewrite of this episode is that, again, Allura is the one in charge of the meeting. She’s dealt with Honerva first hand so all the information concerning the search for her is given to her first. They’re the same reports as in the original episode: four Komars have landed on four different planets and are planning to drain its quintessence to power a machine that could destroy the galaxy. Allura says that the predicted paths of the quintessence surges all lead to one place: Oriande. When asked by Adam what Oriande is, she simply says it’s the genesis of Altean alchemy and that only Chosen Alteans can enter. Coran insists that Honerva must be a Chosen Altean if she can get into Oriande. Allura darkly agrees and they proceed with the plan as the original episode does. Allura gives command of the bridge to Coran as she once again rides the Blue Lion with Lance.

Allura: The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people, my people, and bent them to her will. She convinced them to pilot her abominations and commit heinous acts. And now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only thing that can stop her and defend the universe. It is time to end this war.

(Yes, I put Allura’s speech here because I love Kimberly Brooks’ delivery so much)

When our heroes approach the white hole and the Komars fly out to take them down, the White Lion roars and tries to blast them out of the way, but then it flickers before roaring again. It’s more strangled because Honerva continues to drain more of its Quintessence, effectively stopping its attack. Allura’s Altean marks glow and she panics when she sees the White Lion disappear. Team Voltron jets out of the ATLAS (Adam tells them to kick that witches head straight) and heads into the white hole. The White Lion reappears and although it’s weak, it recognizes Allura as a Chosen Altean and allows Voltron to pass. (Lance or Hunk could remark how now it finally lets them through to lighten the mood)

With the quintessence of the White Lion amplifying her magic, Honerva uses the teleduv to break into the Rift and retrieve Lotor. The visage of the White Lion flickers in pain again. Hira and her partner (Let’s call him...Raimon. WHOO Go Lion reference!) use their Komar’s to “defend their goddess” from Voltron. This fight happens a little differently. While the original episode had Voltron simply engaging in a typical mech fight with them, this time since Allura’s backseat (not really) piloting, she will occasionally tap into the power of one Lion to use its signature powers and upgrades to attack.

This allows Team Voltron to regroup and think of strategies while also slowing down the Komars. The Blue Lion uses its attacks first cause Allura’s in it. First it uses its Freeze Ray to stop them in their tracks. Then it uses it’s Sonic Canon (which forms in its mouth since it’s a leg) to stun them. Yellow uses its armor for extra weight in kicks and to stabilize the formation when they’re knocked around. Green uses its plant gun to tie down the Komar. Red uses its rail gun to blind the pilots. Black uses its teleporting powers to better perform attack combos.

Meanwhile on the ATLAS, Zethrid, Ezor, and La-sai decide to break out and help. Narti overhears this in her head, opens their cell, and leads them to the bridge. Iverson, Veronica, and the rest of the crew have their blasters pointed at them. La-sai desperately pleads for forgiveness, he was just so angry, he didn’t know who to turn to. Iverson tells them to get back to their cells or they’ll fire. However, Ryner says they need as much Olkarian as they can to support the ATLAS. Allura agrees through the comms and cautiously allows La-sai to help the Olkarion boost their defenses and gives all the lady Generals access to the MFE Athena Fighters. Adam volunteers to fly too cause he’s a badass. Zethrid ends up saving Rizavi from the Komars chest beam. During the rest of the battle, the MFE pilots (and Adam) are in awe at the lady Generals reaction time and shot accuracy. Griffin even asks them to show him a couple tricks. Ezor flirtatiously says only if he shows them his own. Zethrid growls playfully at her girlfriend while firing at the Komars. Narti’s tail swishes comfortably in the cockpit while Acxa calls out battle formations with ease.

A brand new scene in this rewrite will take place in the Rift. The Sincline is still swimming around the quintessence, it swims from one spot to another. Thanks to the 3-4 years in the Rift it’s now hyper-aware and has developed new abilities. It received a signal in the form of Honerva’s attempt to open the Rift. It’s now trying to find where specifically its coming from so it could escape. Its hand twitches, unused to the feeling before it clenches into a fist. It moves forward and senses the signal is coming from Oriande. It could practically see it, and it also sees the White Lion suffering. Sincline puts maximum power on the thrusters and surges forward.

Now, back at the ATLAS, we’re with Slav and Sam this time, right after the time spillage. As Slav yells at Sam to take off his socks, another massive wave of energy comes from the white hole and knocks everybody over again. Slav massively panics and does more calculations. Sam asks why now he’s panicking.

Slav: BECAUSE THIS IS IT!

Sam: What’s it?

Slav (pressing buttons as fast as he can with his multiple arms): Remember I said something big was going to happen to us when the ATLAS took flight!?

Sam: Wait, that’s happening now!?

Slav: YeS ItS HaPpEnInG NoW! AcCoRdInG tO My CaLcUlAtIOsS tHeReS A 99.6% ChAnCE ThAT WhAtEvER ThIs iS, It WiLl ChAnGE EVeRyThInG!

Sam asks what they can do to lower those odds. Slav still insists that he needs to take off his socks. Sam finally relents but says he’ll do it after they restart the ATLAS’ functions. Slav shouts it’ll do for the time being.

Back at Oriande, Honerva screams in determination, sucking even more Quintessence out of the White Lion. Her corruption marks crack open again. The White Lion roars again, Allura tells the rest of the team to ignore the Komar’s and just charge at Honerva head on. She then uses her magic to amplify Voltron’s quintessence, the blue lines of her alchemy outlining each of the lions. They have a clear shot but before they can fire, the two Komar’s slam themselves against the Red and Green Lions, stopping them in their tracks. Allura closes her eyes and the two Lions roar, blasting the two Komar’s with their respective elements (Fire and Nature). “We have to attack now!” She screams.

It’s too late. Sincline emerges from the hole Honerva ripped through the space-time-reality thing (???) (#Voltron Science I guess). Honerva falls in exhaustion, stopping the drainage from the White Lion, who also falls on its paws. Sincline is launched into the air and slams into Voltron. Team Voltron screams, the two mechs tumbling freely. Hira and Raimon are ecstatic: their savior is alive, and he’s going to help them defeat Voltron once and for all! “Lotor! He has returned!” “Our goddess has done it!”

Cut back to Team Voltron, recovering from the blow and are in shock at the sight. The Sincline was back, and that meant Lotor was back. Allura feels his return and the glow in her Altean marks grow brighter, baffled by the connection she still has with him and his ship. She ignores it. Right now they have to stop him. Lance asks Shiro what they should do.

Shiro: Stopping Lotor is our priority right now! Form swords!

Pidge and Keith use their bayards to form Voltron’s swords, rippling with more Altean magic. They charge at Sincline. Sincline looks up and on instinct, forms its own swords and charges at Voltron. They clash for a good while. Voltron occasionally gains the upper hand thanks to the individual lions powers. But Sincline evens out the odds with the enormous amounts of quintessence it’s collected from the Rift. It strikes with extreme brutality, the quintessence increasing the force of impact. The opposing mech can even manipulate that same quintessence, throwing blasts of pure energy at them. “What the quiznak!?” Oriande’s landscape starts glowing blue and purple. Eventually, Sincline strikes hard enough for Voltron to split into the five Lions like in the original episode. They all fall and form massive crates, dazed and exhausted from the previous fights.

But before Sincline can strike any of them down, something changes. Not only does it pull back from attacking, it disengages its swords. It stands there like its waiting for something. Hira and Raimon are heard cheering again, flanking Sincline’s sides. Lotor defeated Voltron!

They’re brought to attention when Honerva stands and raises a hand towards the three ships. She praises her children for their service and asks for them to bring Lotor to her, for she desires to embrace him as a mother should. Hira and Raimon happily (and blindly) follow the commands of their Empress and take each of the Sincline’s arms. Sincline panics and fights against them. The Komars apply more strength as the push Sincline towards Honerva while it continues to struggle. At this point, everyone is (tired and) confused. Sincline wanted to fight Voltron but then it didn’t, now it resists the Komars and refuses to go near Honerva.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Allura says to herself. Her Altean marks glow even brighter, enough to be seen through her helmet. Somehow, she can hear the ATLAS fighting against the other Komars, then she hears the White Lion roaring in despair, finally, she hears a soft, familiar voice coming from the cockpit of the Sincline. The same one that spoke to her throughout their search.

The Sincline suddenly goes still and the voice dies down. Allura’s suspicions have been confirmed, “Lotor.” The Komars finally overpower the Sincline and place it in front of Honerva, kneeling. Honerva reaches both hands to Sincline’s head, “Come back to me.”

The door of the cockpit forcibly opens to reveal Prince Lotor. The Galtean Emperor, Child of the Void, Savior of the Altean Colony, and her son. She calls out to him. There’s no response. He lays limp against his seat, white hair longer than before, and his Altean marks glowing with the same intensity as Allura’s. Allura gasps while Honerva slowly twists her hands. Lotor is removed from his seat, descending from the cockpit and into her arms. Haggar presses her face against his neck and runs her claws through his hair, her son has returned to her. The glow on his cheeks never fades away. Honvera doesn’t notice the cracks in her hands.

Allura tries to wake the rest of the Paladins but they’re out cold. She tries to shake Lance awake but there’s no response from him. She can’t contact the ATLAS either because of interference. Seeing Honerva distracted by holding Lotor, she realizes only she can stop her. "Time to end this.” Gritting her teeth she jets out of the Blue Lion. (These next scenes should be imagined in slow mo) Sincline notices her, a single glowing eye making eye contact with her. She briefly panics, thinking that it might fire on him even without Lotor piloting but instead it continues to stare.

However, Raimon notices and aims his chest beam at her. Keith and Red intercept the attack, drawing fire to him instead. Raimon easily gets the upper-hand but before he could destroy them (and to everyone’s shock) Sincline intercepts the attack. “What is this!?” “Lotor NO!” Sincline fights the Komar. No one knows whats happening anymore. Keith stares at the Sincline in shock and tries to wake up the other Paladins. He flies to Black first, Shiro slowly comes to. (after this we’re back in real time)

Allura leaps into the air and screams, using the Altean broadsword she created. Before the blade could reach Honerva, her eyes glow purple and she surrounds Allura in darkness. There conversation carries similar beats to the original, however Honerva questions Allura’s legitimacy as an Altean.

Honerva: I knew Alfor well. He was one of the most powerful alchemists of our generation. Melenor on the other hand...

Allura: Don’t you dare mention my mother! She would be horrified at what you are doing, what the last Alteans are doing!

Honerva: How would you know? You’ve never met her. She was not a normal Altean. No, she was not Altean at all. She might not even be considered a living being. She had a power that even Alfor couldn’t measure up to. She could’ve destroyed me if she’d survived Altea’s destruction. But I know she wouldn’t. Because she would understand why I do these things. As a mothers...(Lotor appears in her arms, she cradles him like an infant) we would do anything for our children...

Those words combined with the emotional weight of seeing the man she once (and still might) love stops her attack. She falls, tears are falling onto his visor. Even her tears can’t dim the glow on her cheeks. Now the tables have turned: Honerva can destroy the Blue Paladin now that he’s vulnerable. She stands and (still holding Lotor) stretches her free hand toward the Sincline...

Honerva: Destroy the Blue Lion.

Allura’s head snaps up, horrified. Sincline doesn’t listen and continues to fight Raimon. Honerva stretches her hand further, black and purple lightning freezing Allura. Sincline struggles to resist her command, and rips the Komars head off. Raimon thinks it’s the end for him. However, Sincline places the Komars head on a separate rock. Now it turns its attention to Honerva. She repeats her command, “Destroy the Blue Lion.”

When Lance’s eyes open, Sincline is staring down at him. Keith eyes turn Galran again, screams “LANCE!” and charges at Sincline. Sincline’s cannon loads and Lance braces for the worst... but instead of firing at Lance, it turns and fires at Honerva.

The blast knocks her back and forces her to release Lotor. Instead of falling, he levitates, a soft purple glow forming a sphere around him. Altean alchemy, Allura realizes. When he opens his eyes, his stare is blank. He waves a hand, gently pushing Allura to the Blue Lion. Purple spheres surround it and the remaining Lions. The remaining Paladins have recovered by now. Hunk panics, Pidge is suspicious, Keith thinks that Lotor’s capturing them for Honerva, Lance is in awe (The ‘cool arc’ between Lance and Lotor begins). Shiro tries to think of an escape plan. Allura’s in shock.

All of a sudden the Lions are thrown upward, right where they entered Oriande. The spheres are guiding them back to the ATLAS. Honerva, enraged by Sincline’s disobedience and Lotor aiding Voltron’s escape, uses the Olkarion cubes inside and outside of Oriande to absorb the White Lion. Her Komars are fast enough to avoid the shock-wave and escape but the Lions would be left stunned and be destroyed by the resulting explosion. Hira picks up Raimon and zooms pass the Voltron Lions, ordering the remaining Komars to pull back. They do so as the energy from the Olkarion cubes and Honerva’s alchemy drains the White Lion further. Allura jets off to the ATLAS and Kosmo teleports her to the bridge. She hears the White Lion’s roar again and she orders the ATLAS to fly closer.

Honerva raises Oriande’s pyramids with her alchemy, dragging the White Lion with them. Lotor lifts himself into Sincline and flies after her. The giant visage of the White Lion disappears as Honerva forces it out of the white hole. Sincline emerges soon after, glowing purple. It extends an arm and the White Lion stops moving, the sphere of black magic Honerva trapped it with slowly turns purple. The spheres around the Voltron Lions disappear, giving Sincline and Lotor more power.

Allura tells the Paladins they need to form Voltron again. The ATLAS crew protest but she tells them if the White Lion dies, Oriande will collapse and the explosion will destroy all of them. The White Lion struggles, torn between two powerful Alchemists. It’s tail slowly gains black cracks from Honerva’s power, slowly pull it towards her. Sincline is struggling. Honerva uses one of her hands to hurl chunks of ship debris at them. A gigantic piece of rock manages to knock Sincline off balance. Voltron forms their blazing sword and slices through the parts and charges at Honerva. She uses her black magic to zap Voltron, shocking the Paladins again and draining their quintessence.

Hearing the screams of her family, Allura channels her alchemy again, marks glowing brighter than ever. The jewel in her tiara, her eyes, and hair start glowing white too. An ancient power courses through her, amplified by her proximity to Oriande. She lets out a ferocious, echoing roar, startling everyone on the ship. A massive ring of blue Altean magic forms around the ATLAS as it magically transforms again, (She does the thing that never happens in the series in the opening when all the lasers shoot out of the Castle of Lions) dozens of lasers shoot out and strike the Komars. A ripple effect happens when a laser hits Voltron and the mech glows blue and white. The Lions all open their mouths (Yes, even the Black Lion), roar, and fire five lasers. They merge into one and hit Honerva, Oriande’s pyramids black out.

The White Lion breaks free and pounces. The Paladins brace themselves for the worst. Sincline/Lotor leap in front of them and form a shield of purple quintessence. “NO!” Allura throws her hands in front of her and stops the White Lion. She gently turns her hands towards her, enormous yellow eyes turning to her, “You’re not safe here. Honerva will destroy you. Let us help you.” The White Lion seems to understand and disappears into nebula of white and blue. This allows Allura to merge it with the ATLAS. The explosions caused by the White Lions drainage are also absorbed into the ship. The ATLAS glows blue and white, bubbles and streaks of quintessence merging with its mechanics. Everyone inside the ship is floating (Slav is definitely flipping out lol), and then are gently dropped onto the floor as the glow recedes. No one pays attention to how the bridge has changed.

Honerva stares at the sight in disbelief. She was right: the Princess is clearly no ordinary Altean. She’s too powerful to even be a Chosen Altean of Oriande.

She winces at the sudden pain in her chest. She looks at her hand. She’s wide-eyed as her hand is almost completely vanished. Her veins slowly turning into cracks in the skin, pure quintessence from the White Lion leaking out. Feeling her marks coming apart too, she uses black magic to seal them, pain coursing through her. She then wormholes the pyramids and her army away from the white hole. Although the pyramids are no longer present, the White Lion still lives within the ATLAS. Oriande lives another day.

Sincline and Voltron are floating, quintessence swirling around them and healing any injuries they had had. Everyone watches the scene in silence. Ryner informs them that the white hole has stabilized, the lights on the ATLAS flicker light blue. No one moves.

Sincline regains consciousness first and flies over to Lotor to gently hold him in its claws. It places him back in the cockpit. Voltron recovers and flies in front of the ATLAS, holding steady as it approaches. To the disbelief of the Paladins and everyone on the ATLAS, Allura asks Sincline why it didn’t destroy them when it had the chance. Continuing to shock everyone, Sincline responds, speaking like an AI, “Pilot unconscious. Requires immediate medical attention.”

Tentatively, they allow Sincline on board the ATLAS. Sincline kneels in front of Allura and opens its cockpit. Lotor is gently removed from his seat, falling into Allura’s arms. Allura slowly shakes him, whispering his name. “Lotor? Lotor? Are you okay?” The Paladins, MFE pilots, and the lady Generals surround her, waiting with baited breath. Romelle looks at them in disgust. Lotor’s Altean marks are still glowing, Allura’s too. She holds her hand, allowing it to glow white-blue before resting it against his forehead. His eyes barely open when he speaks, “--lura?”

Allura: Lotor?

Lotor (gasping): A-Allura...O-Orian...the Whit-te L-Lion...

Allura: Shhhhhh, it’s okay...they’re safe. We’re safe.

As if on instinct, she rests her forehead against his, sensing his life force stabilizing. The Garrison medics put him on a stretcher and wheel him to the medical bay. Allura’s eyes follow them, filled with worry, both of their Altean marks stop glowing. The Paladins don’t know what to do, neither do the MFE’s, the lady Generals are in shock. The last shot of the episode is in Lotor’s point of view, vision blurry and barely making out the dozens of people rushing around the launch bay. His gaze is focused on Allura before he blacks out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game changers amiright? This episode is tied with Battle Scars for the amount of rewrites but it was also one of the easiest cause I knew what I wanted. Genesis is a good episode by itself but it’s anti-climatic when put in context with the rest of the season. The fights have more tension because Allura’s powers are given a major boost in Oriande, Lotor is still alive and saved Team Voltron again and now has alchemist abilities, Sincline is in control of its own actions, and the mystery of Allura’s mother is introduced.

The MFE Ares Fighters are named after the Greek God of War, likewise the IGF Atlas is named after the Greek myth of a man named Atlas who carried the world on his shoulders. I found it fitting to name the new MFE Fighters after Athena. Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Strategic Warfare. This symbolizes how Team Voltron will wise-up as they have been in this rewrite. More on that later *wink* It’s doubly fitting because the pilots are the lady Generals and Adam.

Raimon was King Alfor’s Japanese name in GO!Lion. I’m just dropping all the Voltron references in this rewrite lmao.

Allura’s preservation of the White Lion by absorbing it into the ATLAS has a similar feeling to Princess Serenity revealing herself in the Sailor Moon anime's. It leaves the characters witnessing the event in awe. Oh yeah, the laser that struck Voltron did something to it besides give it a major power boost. More on that later *wink*

Altean alchemy doesn’t have a solid definition in the series, neither does anything outside of the Garrison tech. Pidge and Hunk bluntly describe it as ‘magic’ while in Season 3 Alfor said he built the Voltron Lions with his alchemy, which implies there’s a technological aspect to it. Altean alchemy is also directly tied to quintessence, evident by anything Haggar/Honerva does during the series. In Season 7 Sam says that quintessence is an energy generated by living beings while in Season 4 Lotor says there’s pure quintessence in the space between realities. So with all of that stray information, my definition of Altean alchemy is that it’s the more benevolent cousin of blood bending and metal bending from Avatar:

It allows the alchemist to siphon energy to connect deeper with the universe and create their own unique technologies they can infuse different abilities too. Amplified by quintessence, the lifeblood of the VLD Universe. To pull a quote from the Dark Phoenix movie, “You can turn dust to water, water into life.”

This is how Allura is able to control the Lions even tho she’s not present in any of the cockpits. Besides the fact that Alfor connected them to her life force. However, there is an even more powerful magic inside her, and it’s directly tied to her mother. Even more on that later *wink*

(Phew! You guys made it through Part 1 of this rewrite. Brownie points for persisting with my rambling and inconsistencies with writing hehehe. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Stay tuned for part 2!)

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admiralty-xfd · 5 years

Text

Culmination

This is Chapter 9. If you missed Chapter 8 click here.

INDECISION

(Requiem)

MULDER

The FBI auditor’s voice is a hollow sound in his head. Mulder has been here before, many times, defending the merit of his life’s work to someone lacking an open mind.

This time, it’s about money. The FBI wants to shut the X Files down because the Bureau can’t justify the expense. Mulder semi-seriously suggests he and Scully could start sharing motel rooms, but the auditor presses on about the continued legitimacy of his work.

He doesn’t know it, but he’s given Mulder something to think about.

The auditor is right, kind of, Mulder begrudgingly admits to himself. He has discovered the truth about his sister. His singular obsession has finally been satisfied.

But this ridiculous guy doesn’t seem to realize there are infinite truths still out there, waiting to be discovered. That’s why the FBI needs an X Files unit. That’s why he’s still doing this. That’s why Scully is still doing this with him.

Isn’t it?

And then there’s the mysterious illness he has. Ever since the cancer man put him under the knife earlier this year, his doctors have been telling him his health has been steadily declining. Not one of them can tell him what it is, and he’s been to several. Irregular brain activity, they all say. He’s only very recently started to worry something might be terribly wrong. How can he be dying? Even though he refuses to accept it, he can’t help but feel the heavy burden of mortality weighing down on his every decision.

He hasn’t told Scully yet. She’d only worry. He’s not sure what to say, so he says nothing.

They are back in Bellefleur, Oregon, where everything began. Full circle. Déjà vu all over again.

It’s exciting being here together again now, considering how different their relationship is. He still remembers exactly how she looked that night in his motel room like it was yesterday; that wonderful night when they began to understand each other. So young, but still unmistakably Scully. And when he bared his soul to her, how somehow it felt like the right thing to do even though they’d only just met. He knew even then they had something special.

That was seven years ago. Could this work still hold the interest and excitement for her it once did? Why hasn’t he bothered asking her? Could she really just be sticking around for him? So many things they’ve lost, she’s lost, all for a quest that started out as his own.

You were just assigned, he once said to her in a huff. This work is my life.

And it’s become mine, she had responded.

She chose him time and time again, in spite of the odds stacked against them. In spite of the danger, the sacrifice, the loss. Why? Is it really as painfully obvious as he thinks it might be? That she’s doing this all for him?

He loves her, of this he is certain. But he worries that maybe simply loving her won’t be enough. Maybe he can’t give her everything she needs. What if she throws her entire lot in with him and he fucks it all up? Or now, knowing what he knows, even dies? She’s already given up so much. The pressure to be everything to her is enormous and while it feels amazing right now, he’s not sure how long it can last.

They are sitting now in Theresa Hoese’s living room. One of the many abductees they’ve encountered over the years, and somehow she’s here, living her life, just as he’d wished she and all the abductees they’ve ever met could.

Just as he’d wished Scully could.

Theresa holds her new baby, then she hands the baby over to Scully as she gets up.

Scully looks at Mulder a bit uncomfortably as Theresa leaves the room to retrieve medical records, but the motherly instinct kicks in and she bounces the infant on her knee, grabbing a Big Bird toy from the coffee table and talking to the baby quietly.

Mulder watches her and his heart breaks.

***

He’s trying to concentrate on work but his thoughts are with Scully. He has no clue exactly what kind of life she pictured having but he sure as shit knows this isn’t it. He knows as well as she does that the day she was assigned to be his partner was the day all of that changed.

There’s nothing he can do about the past. Maybe there is something he can do about her future.

She knocks on his door and he lets her in; she’s not feeling well and they both wordlessly agree to break their fraternizing rules yet again.

As he tucks her into his bed and wraps his arms around her, he knows what he needs to do.

“It’s not worth it, Scully.”

“What?”

“I want you to go home.”

She is so feverish he can feel her shaking. “Mulder, I’m gonna be fine.”

“No, no, I’ve been thinking about it. Looking at you today holding that baby. Knowing everything that’s been taken away from you, a chance for motherhood and your health… and that baby…”

He trails off for a minute, thinks he hears her sniffling.

“I think that… I don’t know, maybe they’re right.”

“Who’s right?”

“The FBI. Maybe what they say is true, though for all the wrong reasons… it’s the personal costs that are too high.”

He chooses his next words carefully because he doesn’t even know what he wants anymore. He wants her, of course, more than anything, but not if that means holding her back. Not if it means one day breaking her heart.

“There’s so much more you need to do with your life. So much more than this. There has to be an end, Scully.”

She says nothing, but reaches for his hand and pulls it in close. They are quiet for a while, then she speaks softly, so sadly.

“I can’t imagine my life without you in it, Mulder.”

All he can consider is what a mess they’ve gotten themselves into. How he wishes she’d left him a long time ago, before all these feelings were involved. Before her abduction and the violation of her body, leaving her sick and powerless to start a family of her own. Before her sister was murdered. Poor Queequeg, who he never really liked but the dog had made her smile and that had been everything.

“I’m responsible, Scully. I’m responsible for all of it. I can’t continue to let you put yourself at risk for me.”

She turns around on the bed to face him. “You are not responsible. Don’t put that on yourself, Mulder. I have always chosen to see this through. I want to be here. It’s been my own choice, every time. Please stop trying to protect me.”

“I knew our work would be dangerous and I never told you,” he says. “You never knew the risks beforehand. I did. Deep Throat warned me the first time I met him. He specifically said I was putting both of us at risk. I didn’t listen, I didn’t let you decide whether to take on those risks. That is on me, Scully.”

She looks at him thoughtfully.

“It doesn’t matter. Do you really believe I’d have listened? I already thought you were crazy, Mulder.”

He laughs, squeezes her tighter. “I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll never know.”

She places her hand on his cheek and looks into his eyes. “I do. I know. I would have followed you anywhere.”

Closing her eyes, she nestles into him as tightly as she can. She’s still shivering a bit and he shifts to get underneath the blankets with her, pulling her close.

He wants to tell her he loves her, but something is stopping him. If he tells her, it will make this all harder than it already is. Whatever he does, however she makes him feel, he can’t shake the pervasive thought that all of this is his fault. She doesn’t want him to protect her, but he must. He will always want to protect her, no matter what. She is his entire world, even at times when his world feels like it’s about to shatter.

He wonders if he needs to let her go before things can get worse. He only wants to save her from himself.

He falls asleep with his arms around her, after he’s sure her shivering has subsided and her breathing has calmed.

That night he has a dream.

He’s in the woods and he’s running towards something. Running, running. Finally he sees it: the spacecraft. It’s bigger than life and right there, in front of him.

He hears a sound, a voice calling his name.

“Mulder!”

At first he thinks maybe it’s Skinner calling him but... no. It’s Scully’s voice.

"Mulder, where are you? Come back to me.”

He wants to go back to find her but… that craft. That craft. Nothing in him will let him stay away. He slowly approaches and sees friendly faces bathed in ethereal light, beckoning him. He sees the ship above and stares in wonder.

“Come back to me.”

All the answers he’s ever wanted within his grasp. But Scully isn’t here. She’s... somewhere else.

He knows he has a choice. It’s a choice he’s never wanted to have to make.

And he never wants to have to make that choice.

Suddenly he wakes up, sweating. Scully is still in his arms, sleeping peacefully.

But he doesn’t feel relief, he feels loss. He tries desperately to get back to the woods but instead falls into a dreamless slumber.

SCULLY

I’m not going to risk losing you, he’d said.

She can’t make him stay. She knows this much. He’s too close to the truth now, and she can’t be selfish. But she won’t deny him this wish, this desire to protect her. Not this time. He will have to go back to Oregon without her.

Her partnership with Mulder has always been based on mutual respect. She wonders if any of this changed in his mind when their relationship crossed over into new territory. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit to herself it had been a concern of hers. He’s always been protective of her, but something feels different now.

If he doesn’t want her to join him this time, what about the next time? Once she’s allowed him this indulgence, will he request it again and again until they become something completely different?

And what did he mean when he said he wanted her to do more with her life? He couldn’t have possibly meant without him, could he? She hasn’t been so confused about her own feelings for a long time, and she’s definitely not sure about his.

Everything has been too perfect for too short a time. Of course it’s been too good to be true, of course it has.

It’s close to midnight and she’s sitting on his bed, watching him pack.

“What time is your flight?”

“3:20. Arriving in Oregon around 6AM, local time.” He says it like a flight attendant, trying to lighten the mood. “Skinner is meeting me at the airport.”

For some reason everything feels odd tonight, and weighty. She has a terrible, ominous feeling.

“I feel like I’m abandoning you, even though you’re the one leaving.” She feels this way anytime he makes her stay behind. It always feels like she’s the one who’s failed him.

“I’ve got this, Scully,” he zips his carry-on bag closed and steps around the bed to her. “And don’t say that. You could never abandon me. I’m the one who always ditches you, remember?”

He crouches down so his hands are on her thighs and he’s looking up at her, smiling. She smiles and gives a tiny chuckle. “How could I forget?”

He takes her hands in his. “When I get back, we’ll figure this out. You and me, this whole thing, you know? We’ll figure everything out.”

She nods because she doesn’t know what else to do. It feels like he’s saying some kind of real goodbye, and she doesn’t know why, she can’t understand. She feels so helpless, and he’s doing that thing she hates where he goes off somewhere far away in his mind she can’t follow.

She feels like anything she says or he says is only going to make her feel worse, so she decides they don’t need to talk at all.

“Just kiss me, Mulder.”

He obliges, and they fall back onto the bed. She has an overwhelming urge to take stock of every precious moment right now, so she does. And for some reason it feels like he’s doing the same.

***

A couple hours later, Mulder’s alarm sounds. He quickly taps it and starts to get up, but she pulls him gently back down.

“Don’t get up yet,” she says, softly. “Just hold me for a few more minutes.”

He lays back down beside her. “Okay.”

She turns to face him and pulls him in close. They lay together quietly. She wishes she could make time stop for the two of them. There’s so much she wants to say, but she feels so unsure after what he’d said in Oregon.

It was almost as if he was trying to break up with her, but they haven’t discussed if they’re even a couple or not. She wants to tell him it’s what she wants but now she’s more confused than ever. He said they’d figure things out later. Would they? They haven’t so far.

She wishes she knew what to do. She’s always got an answer for everything, always some theory or hypothesis she can test and discover some truth. Not with him, though. She wishes their relationship was something she could put under a microscope.

He kisses her cheek. “I’ve got to get to the airport.” He gets out of bed and starts getting dressed. As she begins to do the same, he leans down and kisses her again.

“I’ll call a cab, you stay here and sleep.”

“No, I’ll drive you,” she offers. She can’t shake the feeling that she needs to spend every remaining second she can with him.

After she gets dressed, she idly picks some of his clothes off the floor. She finds a striped collared shirt she can’t help but remember she herself stripped off him the last time they were here. She sets the shirt down gently on his bed.

“You should really clean up in here. It’s not so impressive for the ladies.”

“I’ve already got the only one I want,” he grins, and winks at her.

At the terminal, they pull up and see Skinner waiting. Oddly, he doesn’t seem the least bit surprised to see her dropping him off at 2:30 in the morning and even odder, for the first time she doesn’t really care.

Mulder turns to her from the passenger seat and she puts the car into park.

He just looks at her. She looks into his eyes and doesn’t say the words yet again, but leans forward because even though Skinner is right there, watching, the need to kiss him right here, right now is much stronger than her desire to keep them a secret. He doesn’t hesitate, and it’s a good kiss, a passionate one, a kiss definitely not for coworkers but one for the ages. Skinner sees just enough to turn around quickly and find his own fingernails extremely interesting.

Mulder pulls away first and looks over his shoulder. “Well, shit. This is going to be an awkward flight now.” He grins.

“Sorry, I guess it was bound to come out at some point.”

He leans in one more time for a last, quick kiss.

“Be safe, okay?” she whispers, holding his face. “Call me when you find something.”

“Okay.” He gently pulls her forehead to his and they hold each other for a moment. With one final look, he opens the car door, gets out and closes it. He waves at her through the window, joins Skinner and in a few seconds he is gone from her sight.

The call never comes.

Thanks for reading! To continue the story click here. Otherwise I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

#txf #the x files #msr #msr fanfic #fanfiction #requiem #angst ahead sorry #culmination

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pope-francis-quotes · 5 years

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5th September >> (@RomeReports) #Pope Francis #PopeFrancis speech to priests and religious in #Maputo's cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Francis' speech to priests and religious in Maputo's cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Dear Brother Bishops, Priests, Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, Catechists and Pastoral Workers in Christian communities, Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Afternoon!

I thank Dom Hilário for his words of welcome in your name, and I greet all of you with affection and much gratitude. I know that you have made a great effort to be here. Together we want to renew our response to the call that once set our hearts on fire and that Holy Mother Church helped us to discern and confirm with a mission. Thank you for your testimonies, which spoke of the difficult times and serious challenges that you faced, conscious of your own limitations and weaknesses, yet also marvelling at God’s mercy. I was pleased by something one of the catechists said: “We are a Church that is part of a heroic people” that has experienced suffering yet keeps hope alive. With this holy pride that you take in your people, a pride that invites a renewal of faith and hope, all of us want to renew our “yes”. How happy is Holy Mother Church to hear you manifest your love for the Lord and for the mission that he has given you! How she rejoices to see your desire to keep returning to your “first love” (Rev 2:4)! I pray that the Holy Spirit will always grant you the wisdom to call things by their name, the courage to seek forgiveness and to learn to hear whatever he wants to tell us.

Dear brothers and sisters, whether we like it or not, we are called to face reality as it is. Times change and we need to realize that often we do not know how to find our place in new scenarios: we keep dreaming about the “leeks of Egypt” (Num 11:5), forgetting that the promised land is before us, not behind us, and in our lament for times past, we are turning to stone. Instead of proclaiming Good News, we announce a dreary message that attracts no one and sets no one’s heart afire.

We are gathered in this Cathedral dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary to share, as a family, what is happening in our lives. Like a family born in the “yes” that Mary spoke to the angel. Not even for a moment did she look backwards. We hear about this first chapter of the mystery of the incarnation from the evangelist Luke. From his account, we may perhaps find an answer to the questions you asked today, and the incentive needed to respond with the same generosity and concern as Mary.

Saint Luke draws a parallel between events in the lives of Saint John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. By contrasting them, he wants to make us see how God’s acting and our way of relating to him in the Old Testament is yielding to the new way brought to us by the Son of God made man.

Obviously, in the two Annunciations there is the appearance of an angel. The first takes place in the most important city of Judea – Jerusalem – not just anywhere but in the Temple and, within it, the Holy of Holies, and the announcement is made to a man and a priest. On the other hand, the announcement of the incarnation is made in Galilee, in a remote and conflict-ridden region and a little town – Nazareth. It takes place in a house, not a synagogue or a religious place, and is made to a layperson and a woman. What has changed? Everything. And in this change, we find our deepest identity.

You asked what to do about the crisis of priestly identity, how to counteract it? In this regard, what I want to say specifically to priests is something that all of us (bishops, catechists, consecrated persons, seminarians) are called to cultivate and foster.

In a crisis of priestly identity, sometimes we need to step away from important and solemn places, and return to the places from which we were called, where it was clear that the initiative and the power was from God. At times, without wanting it, and with no moral fault, we get used to identifying our daily activity as priests with certain rituals, with meetings and conversations, where our presence in those meetings, at the table or in the hall is “hierarchical”. Then we are more like Zechariah than like Mary. Yet, “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the priest is very little indeed: the incomparable grandeur of the gift granted us for the ministry sets us among the least of men. The priest is the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians unless the Good Shepherd strengthens him in the midst of the flock. No one is more ‘little’ than a priest left to his own devices; and so our prayer of protection against every snare of the Evil One is the prayer of our Mother: I am a priest because the Lord has regarded my littleness (cf. Lk 1:48)” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 17 April 2014). Returning to Nazareth can be the way of facing a crisis of identity and being renewed as shepherds, disciples and missionaries. You yourselves spoke of a certain exaggerated concern with managing resources or caring for our personal well-being. We then take “circuitous routes” that frequently end up giving priority to activities with a guaranteed recompense, and these make us resist devoting our lives to everyday pastoral care. The image of that simple young woman in her home, as opposed to all the activities of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, can be a mirror in which we see the complications and concerns that dim and dissipate the generosity of our “yes”.

Zechariah’s doubts and his need for explanations contrast with the “yes” of Mary, who asks only to know how everything spoken to her was to come about. Zechariah could not overcome his desire to control everything; he could not abandon the mindset of someone needing to be responsible for making things happen. Mary did not hesitate or think about herself: instead, she surrendered herself; she trusted. It is a constant struggle to experience our relationship with God like Zechariah, like a doctor of the law: always complying, always judging whether the recompense is proportionate to the work done, whether it is my due if God blesses me, whether the Church is bound to recognize my virtues and my hard work. We should not be running for our own benefit; rather, our weariness should be related to our “ability to show compassion; our hearts are to be ‘moved’ and fully engaged in carrying them out. We are to rejoice with couples who marry; we are to laugh with the children brought to the baptismal font; we are to accompany young fiancés and families; we are to suffer with those who receive the anointing of the sick in their hospital beds; we are to mourn with those burying a loved one” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 2 April 2015). We often spend hours and days accompanying a mother with AIDS, an orphaned child, a grandmother taking care of many grandchildren, or a young person who came to the city and is desperate because he or she cannot find a job... “All these emotions can exhaust the heart of a pastor. For us priests, what happens in the lives of our people is not like a news bulletin: we know our people, we sense what is going on in their hearts. Our own heart, sharing in their suffering, feels ‘com-passion’, is exhausted, broken into a thousand pieces, moved and even ‘consumed’ by the people. Take this, eat this... These are the words the priest of Jesus whispers repeatedly while caring for his faithful people: Take this, eat this; take this, drink this... In this way our priestly life is given over in service, in closeness to the People of God... and this always leaves us weary” (ibid.). Renewing our vocation often entails discerning if our weariness and worries are the result of a certain “spiritual worldliness” imposed by “the allure of a thousand distracting commercial advertisements in order to walk ahead, freely, along paths that lead us to love of our brothers and sisters, to the Lord’s flock, to the sheep who wait for the voice of their shepherds” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 24 March 2016). Renewing our call has to do with choosing to say yes and to let our weariness come from things that bear fruit in God’s eyes, things that make present and incarnate his son Jesus. Would that we might find, in such salutary weariness, the wellspring of our identity and happiness!

Would too that our young people might see that we allow ourselves to be “eaten and drunk”, and be inspired themselves to follow Jesus and, radiant with the joy of a daily commitment, not imposed but fostered and chosen in silence and prayer, desire to say their own “yes”. You who are still asking, or you who are already on the path to definitive consecration, should never forget that “the stress and quick pace of the world constantly bombarding us with stimuli can leave no room for that interior silence in which we can perceive Jesus’ gaze and hear his call. In the meantime, many attractively packaged offers will come your way. They may seem appealing and exciting, although in time they will only leave you feeling empty, weary and alone. Don’t let this happen to you, because the maelstrom of this world can drive you to take a route without real meaning, without direction, without clear goals, and thus thwart many of your efforts. It is better to seek out that calm and quiet that enable you to reflect, pray, look more clearly at the world around you, and then, with Jesus, come to recognize the vocation that is yours in this world” (Christus Vivit, 277).

The study in contrasts presented to us by the evangelist Luke culminates in the encounter between two women: Elizabeth and Mary. The Blessed Virgin visits her elderly cousin and everything is one great celebration of praise. There is a part of Israel that grasped the profound and dizzying change in God’s plan, and allowed itself to be visited. As a result, the child leaps in the womb. For a moment, in a patriarchal society, the world of men steps back and is silent, like Zechariah. Today too, we need catechists, Mozambican women who remind you that nothing should make you lose your enthusiasm for evangelizing, for carrying out your baptismal mission. In them, we can see all those others who go forth to encounter their brothers and sisters: those who, like Mary, visit others, and those who allow themselves to be visited, who allow others to change their lives by sharing with them their culture, their ways of living and expressing the faith.

The concern you expressed shows us that inculturation will always be a challenge, shuttling back and forth, as it were, between those two women who were both changed by encounter, dialogue and service. “Particular Churches should actively promote at least preliminary forms of inculturation. The ultimate aim should be that the Gospel, as preached in categories proper to each culture, will create a new synthesis with that particular culture. This is always a slow process and at times we can be overly fearful. But if we allow doubts and fears to dampen our courage, instead of being creative, we will remain comfortable and make no progress whatsoever. In this case, we will not take an active part in historical processes, but become mere onlookers as the Church gradually stagnates” (Evangelii Gaudium, 129).

The “distance” between Nazareth and Jerusalem is shortened and disappears with that “yes” spoken by Mary. Because distance, provincialism and party spirit, the constant building of walls, undermine the dynamic of the incarnation, which has broken down the wall that separated us (cf. Eph 2:14). You, at least the older ones among you, witnessed how division and conflict ended in war. You must always be ready to “visit”, to shorten distances. The Church in Mozambique is invited to be the Church of the Visitation; it cannot be part of the problem of rivalry, disrespect and division that pits some against others, but instead a door to solutions, a space where respect, interchange and dialogue are possible. The question raised about how to react to interreligious marriages challenges this persistent tendency of ours for fragmentation, for separating rather than uniting. The same is true of relations between nationalities and races, between North and South, between communities, priests and bishops. It represents a challenge because developing “a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter” requires “an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and willingness to achieve this”. This is the necessary condition for “progress in building a people in peace, justice and fraternity”, for “the development of life in society and the building of a people where differences are harmonized within a shared pursuit” (Evangelii Gaudium, 220, 221). Just as Mary journeyed to the house of Elizabeth, we too, as a Church, have to find the road to take in the face of new problems, taking care not to remain paralyzed by the mindset of opposition, division and condemnation. Set out on that path, and seek answers to these challenges by imploring the unfailing help of the Holy Spirit. For he is the Teacher who can show us new paths to follow.

Let us, then, revive our vocation and calling in this magnificent temple dedicated to Mary. May our committed “yes” proclaim the greatness of the Lord and make the spirit of our people rejoice in God our Saviour (cf. Lk 1:46-47). May it fill with hope, peace and reconciliation this, your country, our beloved Mozambique!

I ask you please to pray for me, and to invite others to do the same. May the Lord bless you and the most holy Virgin watch over you. Thank you.

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sternenteile · 5 years

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star haven is as much of a home as the comet observatory, as rose town, as the mushroom kingdom, and as starborn valley. this place is the centerfold of his purpose, the mythical heaven wherein wishes are granted by the almighty star spirits. it is here that the star rod is used by the benevolent overseers to grant the worthiest wishes, those requested from kindhearted and moral individuals. to the sound of the average person, this is sure to sound like a dream world, something of a fantasy.

to geno, being here as of late has been a nightmare.

permitted to do his job as both protector of star road and of earth, it is only with reluctance that they’ve budged on this much. rosalina’s desire to bring him back to the planet he loves so much conflicts directly with eldstar’s teachings, yet he’s persisted, doing her proud and bettering himself. he’s... never been this happy and lively before, not since the months proceeding his birth, not since he was a baby star. he has friends, family, a life, ambitions, dreams...

... and they’re not too keen on that idea.

ever since the star spirits had conversed with her excellence, tensions have been running high. even the sweetest of the star spirits —— darling mamar —— has been rather stiff and curt with him. misstar, perhaps the crankiest of them all, has been flat-out ignoring and avoiding him. it’s as if he wears the mark of a cursed one, all because he isn’t attached to the cosmos 24/7. how dare he behave like his own person and not like a mindless worker bee, eh? how dare he?

his frown carves deep as he approaches the glory of star sanctuary, fountains bobbing stars aloft its spray. fists ball, and he realizes in that moment that he’s dreading giving a report on the status of the planet. the last thing he wants to do is talk with them, feeling their scornful gazes searing into his wooden surface like a hot beam from a magnifying glass.

it’s just plain ridiculous.

as foreseen, their eyes are on him the minute he steps inside, boots clicking on the crystalline floor with his steady approach. shifting into a dedicated poker face from his grumpier countenance, geno speaks with forced reverence, language leagues more respectful than his mind would otherwise dictate.

❝ master eldstar. ❞ he wills himself to look to him without cracking under the pressure. ❝ i’ve come to report the status of earth. if you’ll allow me to go into the details, please lend me your ears. ❞

the spirits have all fallen silent. they exchange looks, tiny nods of affirmation, and finally, their gaze is squarely on his own, eyes all-knowing. to his response, the eldest of them finally speaks, his voice gravelly.

❝ i’m afraid you will have to listen to us first, ♡♪!?. ❞

the doors are swiftly guarded by both muskular and kalmar —— security and a mediator —— to which geno whirls to face them, startled and puzzled. the clearing of one’s throat draws his attention back to the elder star above, his stare particularly discriminatory. the energy pumping through his own wooden body grows uncharacteristically cold. flight-or-fight response is already beginning to kick in, yet he is frozen in place, knowing well that he cannot just leave or retaliate. for better or for worse, he isn’t going anywhere.

❝ we have been deliberating over your... earthly ventures, ❞ comes mamar’s gentler voice, less stern, yet still laced with unease and upset. ❝ we understand why your grace has sent you there, but i’m afraid that we cannot help but disagree with the imbalance this has caused. star road isn’t under your watchful eye anymore, and we’ve had to fill the void with other stars. ❞

what? what is this that he’s hearing? he hasn’t been watching star road? that’s news to him. utilizing launch stars, the observatory, and physically being there from time-to-time equates to completely neglecting his job? he flinches. do they really think so little of him?

❝ my perception of the matter, ❞ pipes up skolar, ❝ is that you’ve strayed from our carefully crafted system. have you ever heard of the domino effect? when one piece goes down, the others in succession will surely follow. ❞ his glasses flash with disappointment. ❝ the stars have begun to whisper among themselves. they’re questioning your decisions, and whether or not they are the right ones. ❞

a snort from behind him, and geno is acutely aware of muskular’s disdain. kalmar whispers something to the adjacent blue star, perhaps to settle him down, and they both fall silent. misstar, remaining ever bitter, doesn’t bother to give her two cents, and so klevar meekly adds, ❝ he’s right. we’ve been seeing a change in behavior, and... we’re very concerned about where this is going. it could change everything, just because you were behaving rather... ah... how do i put this nicely — ? ❞

❝ — selfish. ❞

geno’s body locks up, horror stricken onto his face by the sound of misstar’s voice lifting with a stain of resentment to her tone. ❝ you’ve been selfish. can’t you see what you’re doing? your actions are the most outrageous we’ve ever seen in one of ours. you can’t just go gallivanting around and doing whatever you please. you may as well be a god among men, and you just don’t realize how wrong that is. what do you even have to SAY for yourself? ❞

quietude engulfs the room, and geno’s hands quiver underneath the hellish tension. jaw trembles slowly open as he tries to find the words, terrified and hurt by the things they are saying. ❝ i’m, uh... it’s just that... ❞

❝ just what, ♡♪!? ❞ misstar’s response is biting, aiming right for the jugular. ❝ you just want to let us all down? let all of them down? do you not realize how important you are in the grand scheme of things? but oh, no. instead, you just desecrate everything we’ve structured to please yourself. this is all that it is! ❞ her gesture towards him is with repugnance. ❝ all you’re thinking of is yourself! this is everything you should NEVER be doing!! ❞

to that does eldstar interject. ❝ that is enough. ❞ despite attempts to silence her, he refuses to buckle into geno’s habits. ❝ ♡♪!?, you have gone too far. we ask for you to part with that planet at once. ❞

that’s when he feels like the world has shattered around him. they want him to leave. they want him to leave all of his friends behind again. mario, luigi, peach, mallow, link, fox, otto, bonbon, james... everyone. they want him to just dump them aside like trash. again.

❝ master eldstar, with — ❞ damn, damn that stammer. he’s losing his cool. he can’t do that, he can’t lose his cool, he can’t, not NOW ——— ❝ with all due respect, i— i can’t just —— ❞

❝ yes, you can — and you shall. ❞ requests give way to demands, and eldstar’s gaze is piercing. it’s the culmination of everything he’s ever feared. ❝ you have a purpose to uphold. you cannot just toss that away. you are to return to star haven permanently within the next rotation. do i make myself clear? you will do as you are told. ❞

. . .

he has to go back. everyone is counting on him. he has to fight for their wishes. his own life doesn’t and has never mattered. he doesn’t have a life like a normal person, being a concept and a beacon to organic beings who look to him for hope. he is but a speck in their night sky, yet he means everything to them in the most distant, personally insignificant way possible. he has to return to star haven now, or else he will be letting them all down.

letting them all down... the star spirits of star haven, whereas his friends, the people he loves so dearly will cry for him again, begging for their wish to see him again to be granted, just please, please, come back, geno, come back, PLEASE ———

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

❝ — no. ❞

the silence is deafening. their faces have all fallen, taken completely aback. eldstar is simply aghast. ❝ wh... what did you just say? ❞

❝ i. said. NO. ❞

❝ how dare you?! ❞ misstar sounds particularly angry, nay, livid. ❝ don’t you dare talk back to us like that ever again, or ——— ❞

❝ or what? what are you going to do? ❞ a step is taken forward. two, three, and each one grows heavier with a stomp to punctuate his irritation, his outrage. a chord has snapped within him, and he has no patience for this anymore. ❝ what do you WANT to do?! you wouldn’t just kill me, would you? one of your own? what, will you tell me that i can’t defend my own home anymore? the place i’m supposed to protect, just like you said? will you denounce me? will you shut me down? will you hate me? ❞

❝ ♡♪!?, ❞ chides eldstar. ❝ that is enough ——— ❞

❝ NO. you’re NOT making me cower this time! you want me to respect you, ❞ he speaks with venom tinging his shouting, ❝ yet you treat me like i’m nothing more than a SLAVE. i fought for star road, for wishes, for everyone, and THIS is how you thank me? to them, this is a happily thankless job, but you have never treated me with ANY kind of dignity. i’m supposed to just sit down, shut up, do my job, and sacrifice EVERYTHING to do YOUR dirty work! when was the last time YOU defended the star rod? oh, that time bowser came in and imprisoned you all without so much as fighting back? calling for the other stars to defend you? to take the fall for you? and you’re calling ME selfish because i just want to be myself? because THIS PLACE is failing ME? am i really that useless to you? that worthless? my feelings don’t matter, do they? my life doesn’t matter. nothing. ever. MATTERED. ❞

something strikes their faces in that moment, and eldstar, the pillar that he is, allows his expression to crumble. ❝ ♡♪!?, that... that isn’t true at all! please —— ❞

❝ PLEASE. NOTHING. i am DONE listening to you, old man. i am totally and entirely DONE WITH YOU. every. single. one of you. ❞ marching forth to the altar, to where the star rod floats in tranquility, he bellows, ❝ don’t you ever call me by that name again. ♡♪!? is GONE. i am geno now. the star that you knew may as well be dead to you. the fact that you, whom i’ve known for centuries, treat me worse than the friends i’ve known for merely years, speaks volumes about your archaic views on our kind... no, on your kind. i loathe the idea of being compared to YOU. this place means so much to me, and i will do whatever i can to keep it safe, to keep wishes granted, whether or not i have your blessing to do so. ❞

his reflection is seen in the surface of the star rod’s cosmic wonder, and the person he sees there is exactly who he says he is. he isn’t that timid little star anymore. never again.

❝ everyone’s wishes... i’ll defend them ‘til the day i die. and you ——— ❞

he hisses and turns heel, shoving the surprisingly complacent, yet horrified muskular and kalmar aside as to exit the building.

❝ never, ❞ he commands, voice cracking with the difficulty of letting go, the sadness of being turned away, the tears threatening to spill over, ❝ put another star through what you put me through ever again, or there will be hell to pay. ❞

he takes his launch star home, to his real home with his mother, his friends, and his humanity, and never once looks back.

#★ ; ( ic. )#● ; ( prose. )#♫ ; ( verse ~ the present. )#not an open and also ungodly long #but HOOOOOOOOOO BOY #THIS WAS A LONG TIME COMING #HOOOOO BOOOOOOOOY #and now you get to see what else from su has inspired my geno:#pink diamond. :^)

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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calamitaswrath · 6 years

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Okay, so in the past I’ve already made posts about my ideas for a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Abridged series as well as my ideas for an AU in which Lora gets resurrected, but I think it’s about time that I get to the big thing: How I would rewrite the main game’s story/what I’d change around. I should point out, some of these ideas aren’t really that refined yet, and I don’t have that many ideas to give some characters that deserve more spotlight the attention they need, but regardless.

Everything’s under the read more, because this obviously gets long.

Torna - The Golden Country, Malos after that and a bit about Pyra

First things first, I’d keep the story of Torna - The Golden Country pretty much the same, with the exception of one thing in regards to the ending. Namely, rather than simply falling into the Cloud Sea being damaged, Malos is forced into a “repressed form”, similar to what Pyra is to Mythra. For this repressed form, it’d be a water element Blade going by the name of “Hydros”, to continue the trend of Malos’ element mirroring that of Pyra. This would also make it a bit more believable that Jin would join up with him, which I felt was rather iffy in the base game, since, y’know, Malos is responsible for a lot of shit that happened to him?? On a more general note, this would also make it more believable that Malos would be able to lay low for 500 years, because everybody just forgetting about the Aegis that caused the death of several titans feels just a bit too convenient. In terms of ideas on his design, the concept I have in my mind is that Hydros’ hairstyle is essentially what Malos’ hair would look if it got really wet, and was a dark shade of blue, to really drive home the point of him being water-elemental. Additionally, since he is a “broken” form of Malos, a could have an immediately obvious physical disability, such as missing an eye, hand or arm. This last point is something that I’d also apply to Pyra, since her design was supposed convey that she was an incomplete person. But since this is XBC2 we’re talking about here, it only really conveyed that Saigo and the entire development was way too horny. So it should go without saying, but most of the female character would be wearing more sensible clothing, with Pyra and Mythra in particular going fully armoured in a style similar to Malos.

Backstory for Rex, Tora and Vandham

Another thing that I’d change before the actual events of the game’s story would, of course, be the background of Rex. One of the biggest issues with canon Rex is that he has (with the exception of Azurda) no relationship with any of the characters of the main cast before the start of the game. This makes him feel extremely disconnected from all the events of the plot, and just makes it seem like he has no personal connection to anything. Therefore, I’d have it so that he didn’t grow up in Fonsett village, or even the Leftherian Archipelago. Since his Leftherian heritage is a plot point, that aspect of him is kept. However, rather than Rex’ parents suddenly showing up and dying with an infant Rex in Fonsett is changed to them doing the same thing in Torigoth. The person that his parents entrust him to is then also not just some NPC who has exactly one (1) scene of importance, it’d be a character with an actual role in the story - Vandham. This adoption would be taking place before Mor Ardain conquered Gormott, with Vandham’s presence on the titan being justified by him and some of his mercenaries being hired by Gormottian officials to help protect the people of Gormott in the increasing tensions with Mor Ardain and Uraya, which would be rather lengthy mission that’d allow Vandham to stay around long enough to actually raise Rex. Also, since Rex and Vandham are already in Torigoth? Vandham also takes in Tora after his father and grandfather disappear. Since the main game was rather vague about the point in time at which this actually happened, I’ll say that this happened when Rex was still a young child, meaning that him and Tora grew up together. Another thing that then happens while Rex and Tora are growing up is that Mor Ardain conquers Gormott, which would eventually lead to Vandham returning to Uraya because he needs to finally return to Garfont, leaving Rex and Tora in the care of Azurda. . . .Which I’ll just flat out say, this is a point that I have yet to work out some more for myself. Vandham just leaving Rex and Tora is rather irresponsible, and Azurda comes out of nowhere. But really, I currently have no real ideas on how to justify Azurda leaving Fonsett and getting to know Rex, except for maybe him having travelled along with Rex’ parents, and sticking around out of a sense of having failed them. Either way, the important part here is: Rex considers Torigoth to be his home, and having witnessed Mor Ardain conquering it and Gormott leaves him with a personal grudge against Mor Ardain, that he eventually needs to overcome, by the time of the main story he still spends most of his time out in the Cloud Sea with Azurda, salvaging. That, and Vandham is his dad.

Now, for the actual main story: Prologue

The opening scene remains unchanged, since it is a good enough introduction to the setting. However, the trip to Goldmouth is, all things considered, really just unnecessarily padding things out, and introducing things and concepts that don’t really matter that much. And even from a gameplay perspective, the mechanics introduced there could’ve just as well been shown off at Torigoth. So instead, let’s say that rather than returning to Goldmouth right away, Rex and Azurda stay in the Cloud Sea til nightfall, at which point they’re surprised by a storm - the very same that in canon happens before the Torna discover the sunken ship. Accordingly, Rex and Azurda come across the Torna and their party, and, realizing that Rex staying on Azurda would be pretty dangerous, have him come aboard. Jin, Malos (who I’ll keep referring to by this name instead of Hydros as I’ve called the sealed form he’d be in at that point, because it’s more convenient) and Nia are introduced much like they are in canon, and upon noticing Rex’ eyes, they recruit him for their expedition. As a small side note, Rex would here be able to open Addam’s seals because he explicitly is a descendant of Addam, which however wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Over the course of 500 years, it shouldn’t be too unbelievable that Addam’s line has spread out, so that there’s more than just one of his descendants running around. From here on, much of the prologue chapter would play out the same: The ship is found, raised, Pyra is found, Jin stabs Rex, Rex becomes Pyra’s Driver, over-the-top anime battle, Azurda escapes with Rex, Pyra, Nia and Dromarch. Of course, Nia’s initial bond with Rex is a bit weaker because they don’t share that little heart-to-heart on the ship’s lookout, but that shouldn’t affect Nia’s actions when seeing Jin stab Rex. On to the next chapter.

Gormott

The party still crash-lands in Gormott as in the base game, and gather around as they do there as well, complete with Azurda being forced to regress into his young form. However, dynamics and interactions are shifted around: Rex and Pyra actually use the moment to get to know each other a bit, because, y’know, they only really had the scene in the Dream-Elysium before that. Towards Nia, Rex is a bit more wary, since she was a partner of the guy that killed him, and her (and Dromarch) insisting that they don’t want anything to do with that sort of thing. Regardless, Rex can still trust them enough so that they travel together. In terms of Rex’ initial relationship with Pyra, they have some starting difficulties, which are also going to take some time to resolve. While Rex is willing to help Pyra get on her way towards Elysium, he sees no point in travelling there himself, figuring that it is no place for him, and that he’d rather stay with the people he considers family. He also considers using Pyra’s power to drive Mor Ardain out of Gormott, which she obviously shuts down immediately, seeing as she was born of Mythra’s fear of her own power. So since they can’t really send Pyra off to Elysium from their current position, and since Azurda still got them to Gormott, Rex figures that they best head to his home, so that they can properly weigh their options, and maybe contact Vandham about getting some help. The arrival in Gormott happens much as it does in canon, with the big exception of course being that Rex considers the place home, and isn’t too happy to see the recruitment for the Ardainian military going on. Regardless, the confrontation with the soldiers and Brighid still happens, Nia is captured, and Rex, Pyra and Azurda get away. Instead of blindly running away however, Rex leads them more directly towards his and Tora’s home, banking on Tora noticing what’s going on, and helping them out, which of course is what happens. Now, for Tora, one general thing right of the bat: The maid fetish thing is gone. Entirely. Doesn’t happen. If anything, he considers Poppi is daughter regardless of her form, which can be the replacement comic relief, since he’s still a child himself. As for Poppi’s further designs: Rather than “big tiddy anime maid” and “sexy robot woman”, they can instead be based off Nopon myths about creatures like bird people and dino beasts. Now, upon meeting Tora, Rex has a lot of catching up to do, which culminates in Tora chewing him out for going out to experience all this cool shit, while he was stuck at home looking after the house and doing some hopeless tinkering on Poppi. With that out of the way, the party comes to the conclusion that they can’t just leave Nia behind, and, as in canon, they get to rescuing here, complete with finishing Poppi first. While the canonical reason for Poppi not being complete was that Tora simply couldn’t afford the parts, this reasoning doesn’t really work as well with him living with both Rex and Vandham. So instead, the reason why Poppi isn’t functional yet is because, well, getting a functional AI with the exact powers and functions of a Blade isn’t exactly easy. Tora simply hadn’t been able to figure it out until Rex left for the trip where he would wind up finding Pyra. With this done, the party heads onto the Ardainian warship, where the rescue of Nia happens as it does in canon, up to and including the battle with Mòrag, which they just barely escape, leading to them fleeing Torigoth. In a departure from canon however, Rex isn’t too happy about having to flee Torigoth, and Tora isn’t too happy, either. This has been their home for most of their lives, and now they have to run away from it because they’re wanted - and Rex in particular feels like ever since he met Pyra, they’ve only ever been chased around. He does kind of blame her for this, both on the other hand, since she has saved his life, he’s of course still going to help. Tora, in contrast, is not as bothered as Rex is, because he sees this as a big opportunity to get out in the world and search for his father and grandfather, especially since he finally completed Poppi. In regards to Nia however, Rex is now more willing to trust her, since she does owe him for saving her. Keeping things more similar to canon, Tora still suggests that they head on over to his uncle on the other side of the titan, so that they can get a ship to head off towards the World Tree.

Lora getting resurrected

At this point however, I’d finally introduce a more major departure from canon, in using my premise for an AU in which Lora is resurrected. So instead of just fully typing that out again, I’ll just shortly summarize things. For a more detailed version, I refer back to the original post I linked up at the top. -The Torna organization has already tracked Pyra and the others down to Gormott, and has landed with the Monoceros around the area where Tora’s uncle lives -The party just barely manages to avoid all of the Torna minus Patroka as they head further onto the titan to search for them -Realizing that they’ve got an opportunity, the party decides to enter the ship and sabotage its engine, to make it easier for them to escape -While roaming around the ship, they come across the room where Jin keeps Lora’s body along with a Core Crystal (Haze’s) -They unfreeze Lora’s body, and Nia, noticing that this is a person that is only very “recently” dead and well-preserved, resurrects her while no is looking (like Niall in canon) -It works, Lora lives again, has amnesia (as in, she has no idea about her identity other than her name), but still (re-)resonates with Haze’s Core Crystal and joins the party -The party sabotages the engine and leaves the ship, but not without encountering, fighting and defeating Patroka -With this done, the party visits Umon, who gives them a titan ship to escape on -On their initial trip towards the World Tree, Lora and Haze get to properly know the party, who they are, and what they’re doing, with her coming very close to remembering something when the topic of discussion is on Pyra, but not quite getting there; Pyra and Azurda keep quiet because they need to figure out how to deal with this; Lora ultimately resolves to travel with the party in the hopes of uncovering who she is that way and because she feels like she owes them -Meanwhile, in the Torna organization, Jin, upon learning what happened, orders Patroka to keep quiet about what happened because he wants to figure out himself what to do about this; he’s especially not trusting Hydros (whose true identity as Malos he doesn’t know) out of a hunch -Unrelated to the premise of Lora being resurrected, at some point around this time, Rex drops the question of why Pyra wants to go to Elysium, anyway, which she dodges for the time being.

Uraya, Vandham, Minoth and Mythra

The party getting attacked by Artifice Ophion and swallowed by Uraya then happens as in canon, just as the events up to and including the encounter with Vandham. This encounter then is of course far different, since Vandham actually has a backstory with Rex, Tora and Azurda. And while he is surprised but overjoyed to see his “sons”, he still fights them, because he wants to test out just how good they are as Drivers now. After the battle, they all head over to Garfont, where there is a lot of catching up to do, especially in regards to Vandham being filled in about Pyra, Nia and Lora. On account of Rex and Tora’s relation to Vandham, the rest of the party also gladly heads to Garfont. For Rex and Tora, this’d also be the first time that they’re seeing it for themselves, which would cheer Rex in particular up a great deal. Most of the events in Garfont would still largely play out the same, only with the party also trying to figure out if anyone there has any clues as to who Lora is. Pyra and Azurda would still keep quiet about this, because, well, a lot of shit went down, and they’re not sure how to really tell her about this. Either way, the party, now with Vandham and Roc, decide to seek out Cole/Minoth, after fighting and defeating Akhos. The encounter with Zeke and Pandoria is then exactly the same. The only thing I’d ever change about that is them being acknowledged as a very legitimate threat to the party. Then, in Fonsa Myma, after watching the play about Addam, Lora gets her first flash of resurging memories, which let her remember that she was a knight of Torna who knew Addam, but not much beyond those basic things. When meeting Cole/Minoth however, things quickly turn into a four-way reunion. Minoth is not too terribly shocked to see Pyra and Azurda again, but Lora is another story entirely. In his surprise, he blurts out some things that Pyra and Azurda specifically kept to themselves, such as it having been 500 years, and just what happened to Torna, and what they thought had happened to Lora. Overwhelmed with everything she’s learning/remembering, Lora steps out for a while, with only Haze by her side. The others leave her be, because there really is a lot that she’s going through now. With Lora away for the time being, the events that lead to the confrontation at Olethro Ruins happen, Pyra realizes that this Hydros is beyond any doubt Malos, and the battle against him and Akhos goes as badly as it does in canon. One thing to note however, is that with Haze being a party member, Obrona takes her place in Indol, due to their similar powers. The spot as Akhos’ Blade could therefore be filled by a rare Blade that canonically has strong powers, because Obrona’s specific powers honestly don’t matter that much to this scene. So the initial battle against Malos and Akhos is lost, and Vandham dies, which is the point when Lora, having learned what’s going on, returns and gives everyone a second wind, just as Mythra also reawakens. Malos and Akhos are forced to retreat, and the party is safe, for now.

Aftermath

But for the aftermath, there is a lot to unpack. First off, with Mythra absolutely wrecking half the platform they were fighting on, Vandham’s body fell down into the Cloud Sea. Since Rex and Tora are absolutely devastated by his, they spend an unreasonable amount of time at the place, with Rex trying everything he can to retrieve Vandham’s body from the Cloud Sea, and Tora doing everything he can to help him. This is despite them both knowing that it’s pointless, since not only Uraya is constantly moving, but also because of currents in the Cloud Sea. They ultimately don’t even have Roc’s Core Crystal, because he fell down into the Cloud Sea with Vandham. Lora meanwhile has another painful returning memory after seeing Mythra, namely how the Tornan titan was killed and sank into the Cloud Sea. With enough of her memory having returned, Lora can finally have a proper talk with Mythra, Azurda and Minoth about the past, and what happened at the meantime, but she still does not remember Jin. The others also only fill her in on some basics, that she had a Blade other than Haze, but don’t specify - because really, how do you have the kind of situation where you tell her that the most important person in her life is now the leader of a terrorist organization, and most likely did some pretty disturbing things to you? One question that however starts to come up during all this, is how Lora is alive after all this. Pyra/Mythra accordingly has some thoughts about that, and about Nia, but only really tells Nia that if she wants to talk about anything, she’s there for her. With all this emotional bagagge adressed, the party gets ready to move on, although Rex and Tora are very reluctant about this. They do however move on nonetheless, with Rex in particular being more resolved now, because he figures that Vandham definitely wouldn’t have wanted him to be all half-hearted about helping Pyra/Mythra. As in canon, Minoth tells them that their best shot at figuring out how to get to the World Tree is to seek out Amalthus, making Indol their next target.

Everything from Goldmouth to Mor Ardain, Leftheria, Indol, Temperentia and Tantal

The party then moves on to Goldmouth to get on their way to Indol, making it the first time the place is visited. The filler story about Roc’s Core Crystal is cut for obvious reasons, and instead, there could be a bit of an interlude where Bana wishes to see the Aegis, which would also give him an opportunity to act a bit ominously when he sees Tora and Poppi, for a bit of foreshadowing for the next chapter. With this done, the party moves on to Mor Ardain.

. . .And now I gotta be honest, I don’t have much in the way of specific ideas on how to change things around for the events/story parts mentioned in the headline here, so I’ll simply make note of a few stray thoughts.

Rex is not particularly thrilled about having to go to Mor Ardain, but after seeing the situation of the titan and allying with Mòrag, he’s starting to come around on his grudge towards them.

The party does actually meat Niall face-to-face (which I think didn’t happen in canon), during which Lora regains her memories of Hugo, Aegaeon and Brighid, leading to some confusion for her.

The artificial Blades that Tatazo was forced to build for Bana are not maids. Cut that shit out.

During the encounter with Patroka and Mikhail at the end of the Old Factory, Lora does not recognize or remember Mikhail, but he very much recognizes her, which takes him extremely off-guard since Jin didn’t tell him about it.

The trip through Leftheria and Fonsett village is also the first time that Rex actually gets to visit the place that his parents came from, making the entire thing very interesting to him personally. Lora and Mythra likewise have a personal interest in the village, since it was founded by Addam, and a good deal of its population is directly descendet from him.

Meeting Amalthus leaves both Mythra and Lora extremely wary. While neither of them really know that he’s personally responsible for attacking the survivors of Torna, between him still being alive, Malos’ Driver and just generally giving off a bad vibe, they have more than enough reason to distrust him.

Zeke has a personal interest in Lora, because in Tantal there actually exist some records of her, about how she was a knight of Torna and everything. Plus, she knew Addam.

Now, the first major confrontation with Jin. . . I’ll admit, thinking of ways how this could play out with Lora there is tricky. Before I even get to this, I’m going to address Jin’s own personal goals, since him just joining up with Malos of all people to basically carry out Amalthus’ will really just comes of as a huge leap in logic to me. I would handle it so that Jin has two basic goals: First, destroying Indol and the entire world order it has created, and second, meeting and confronting the Architect about the state of the world, and the nature of Blades and titans. He’s not explicitly aware that Hydros is Malos for the longest time of them staying together (which, considering the timeline, could’ve been several centuries), but he does eventually find out during the events of the game, and grows more wary of him, while not changing his behaviour towards him. Jin’s reasoning for this is that in all the time he has known this sealed Malos, he hasn’t really noticed any of Malos’ genocidal and destructive tendencies. On Malos’ side, things are kept similar to canon in the regard that he basically views Jin as a surrogate Driver, while however still retaining his personality and ambitions. Due to his sealed form, he is more “docile”, but he still seeks to return to his previous form, which is just another reason why he wants to get his hands on Pyra/Mythra: He needs the data of her Core Crystal to reconstruct his own.

So, the confrontation with Jin. Obviously, meeting him first-hand would return a large chunk of Lora’s memories to her, potentially up to and including her death, and Jin becoming a Flesh Eater (I say potentially here because having these memories would definitely turn her against Indol right away, and while that’d be interesting, it’d be a bit difficult to account for writing-wise). Despite Lora being the entire reason behind Jin’s motivation however, he nonetheless opposes her along with the rest of the party, albeit reluctantly. As in canon, he pursues his goals knowing full well that Lora does not approve of them, with the exception here just being that, well, less idiotically genocidal. As far as the rest of the party is concerned in this encounter, Rex'd be a bit scared seeing as this is the guy that killed him, Mythra'd be even more confused as to why Jin went down this path, Nia’d more questionening just how much of his kindness towards her was real, and Zeke could very well be dropping the reveal that Jin was once the strongest Blade in all of Torna. This would only leave Tora and Mòrag with no personal connection in this fight, and. . . honestly, thinking of one for Tora to have is a bit tricky. The only thing that could still work would be if Soozoo’s disappearance could be worked into the plot more, with him being kept by the Torna organization. As for Mórag, she really doesn’t need a personal connection of any kind to Jin, and could instead point how regardless of how he was or what he did in the past, what he’s doing right now is pretty damn shitty and they had better stop him. Regardless, Jin is fought, defeated, and escapes after killing Obrona, who’s taking Haze’s place in the story, since Haze is Lora’s Blade again.

In the event that Lora regained the memories of her death, the following burial of Obrona and return trip to Indol could be used to get the full party to be more wary of Indol, and only rely on Amalthus as much as they have to. Before the party moves on to their next target in Tantal, Rex could address some personal parting words to Amalthus, about how he as Malos’ Driver should take more responsibility of his actions, which does actually get to Amalthus. . . but not exactly in the way that Rex’d hope.

Small note: The filler story bit about Bana’s return and Niall’s temporary death is cut. It’s entirely unnecessary, and direct foreshadowing of Nia’s Blade powers was already done by her resurrecting Lora. And hell, as I’m typing this out, I don’t even remember at which exact point this all took place.

All the story events in Tantal can essentially play out the same, with the exception of the climactic confrontation with the Torna organization at the end. For one thing, Jin’s anime power bullshit of being faster than light and controlling all particles is just. . . it’s absolutely stupid. I don’t have any specific ideas on how this could be changed, but it’s just better if it’s not there. Maybe all of the Torna could simply have the superior teamwork? Something like that. The other thing that’d need changing is Jin’s choice of words for breaking Rex. In canon, it was something about “Ummm do you even really pay attention to what Pyra wants??? I think not!!! Checkmate!!!”. Here, it could instead be something about any real personal ambition, only helps Pyra/Mythra out of obligation, and how Jin can tell that even now, Rex would rather be at home. Rex’ defense would of course be that this is a personal thing to him as well, since he wants to get back at Malos for killing Vandham, to which Jin asks the ever important question “And then what”. So, long story short, Pyra/Mythra is taken, Rex is broken, and Lora tries and fails once again to get Jin to explain why the hell he’s doing any of this.

Spirit Cruciple Elpys and Morytha

However, rather than snapping back to normal right away after getting a bit of talk from the other party members, Rex remains unwilling to get back into action. He does travel with the party back to Leftheria, and open up the Spirit Cruciple Elpys, but instead choses to remain behind in Fonsett. After some internal back-and-forth among the party, Nia decides to stay behind with him to still change his mind. Tora doing the same/taking Nia’s place is briefly considered, but the party figures that with the area’s Blade-hindering atmosphere, it’s best to have Tora and Poppi with them. So while the party advances deeper and deeper, cutscenes would keep cutting back to Nia and Rex, with Nia herself opening up to him and revealing her backstory to him, which in turn would lead to Rex opening up more to her as well. The rest of the party would meanwhile go through similar story beats as in canon, with Zeke talking about him being a Blade Eater, while additionally, Lora could tell the others about her time with Addam and Mythra. The battle with Addam’s phantom-things would then play out at least comparable to canon - the party gets backed into a corner, until a big twist happens, which in this case would be Rex and Nia dropping in to help them, with Nia being already in her Blade form, as a conclusion to her time spend with Rex. (Side note: I very much don’t care about any potential pairings for any of the characters, so this should not be taken as this being changed around to make room for a Rex/Nia pairing) With Pneuma’s sword then, both Rex and Lora have a little chat with this spirit-Addam, with Rex being told more or less what he was told in canon, and him wishing Lora that she finds in this time what she couldn’t 500 years ago. After all these events, party then has some obligatory talks back in Fonsett: Nia confirms to Lora that she brought her back to life, Nia apologizes that she could do nothing for Vandham (though that’s nothing that Rex or Tora blame her for), and everyone’s still not sure what to do next. Rex would be willing to just chase right after the Torna organization, but everyone else just heavily discourages him from that, considering how well last time went. This is when a message from Amalthus would reach them, stating that he has taken Rex’ words to heart, that he will personally take care of things, and that they will meet him at the Cliffs of Morytha. This does of course raise some red flags for Lora, but right now, the party simply doesn’t have any better options, and so they do just that.

Over at the Cliffs of Morytha, they then find Amalthus along with a contingent of Indolese troops, who ask them to go on ahead, with Amalthus following the party after some preparations that he still has to make. Again, with not much of a choice, the comply. The initial battle with Malos would here be cut, and instead the only real battle would be with both Jin and Malos right at the end. However, rather than being finished with reconstructing his Core Crystal before the party even gets there, Malos is still busy “downloading” while they fight. But then, when Malos is finished, and he can finally return to his actual normal form from his Hydros form, Amalthus shows up. He’s not here to fight Malos. Instead, for probably the first time, him and Malos properly synergize as Driver and Blade, and announce their plans to head to Elysium together - without Jin, the party or the Torna. An obligatory over-the-top anime battle happens, during which Mythra reawakens, and begins to start using her true power - but without becoming Pneuma just yet. In the end, the battle destroys the platform, and the party, along with Jin, falls to Morytha, while Amalthus and Malos get ready to cross over to the World Tree, which does however take some time.

Down in Morytha, rather than the overly Rex-and-Jin focussed story bit from canon, I’d instead propose a situation similar to how the party in XBC1 is split up after they fall off Galahad Fortress and down onto the Fallen Arm. As in, everyone gets their moment in the spotlight, showcasing their own character growth, current motivations, and so on. For Rex’ own part of this, he’d start out alone, find himself under attack from the mutated zombies, and then find a Core Crystal just in time to save himself - Roc’s Core Crystal. For Lora’s “episode” in this, she’d be the one to end up with Jin around the corpse of the Tornan titan, and it would lead to him finally properly talking to her, and ultimately joining her - and by proxy, the party.

Finale

Now, for events that could happen while everyone climbs to World Tree. . . I’ll admit, I don’t have much in the way of ideas. The big battle between the titans and Torna organization could still happen, but with the different scenario here, I’m not sure if it would still work. Rather than that, what could happen is that Malos uses his newly reawakened Aegis powers to send his mechs to attack the titans, causing destruction similar to what is shown in the very last cutscenes before the canonical final boss, with all the various characters the party has come across shown defending themselves. The members of the Torna organization - that is, Akhos, Patroka and Mikhail - wouldn’t even necessarily have to die while the party climbs the World Tree. Instead, they could at one point just hold off Indolese troops.

Now, for the actual big, final moments: The reveal of Elysium works as it is in canon, so there’s nothing to change here. The dream sequence where all the party members turn against Rex would still take place. But instead of Pyra and Mythra being the ones that finish things off, it would instead be an appearance by ghostly Vandham, who question Rex about his growth, ambition, goals, and whether he really stands behind everything he does. Simply put, Vandham’s last goodbye to his “sons”, since Tora would also join in on that talk after a while. The meeting with Klaus would be similar, but not quite the same: Amalthus and Malos would also be present during the big exposition, which would end with Klaus basically telling everyone that he has no right to make any more decisions for the world, and that they should decide between them who’s in the right. The final battle would then be as follows: Amalthus with his ridicilous amount of Blade Eater powers as Malos’ Driver, with Malos himself assuming a full-power form as Logos - essentially, a counterpart Pneuma. For a later phase, the battle would then be against Artifice Aion.

The various ending cutscenes could then stay mostly the same. However, Pyra and Mythra are not resurrected as two seperate entities, and are instead either just Mythra, or just Pneuma. And last, but certainly not least: While some parting words from Klaus along the lines of “Live in a world with no need for gods, titans or Blades” are heard, all currently inactive Core Crystals all awaken, and all Blades simultaneously lose their Core Crystals, making them actual living beings that don’t have any need for a Driver to live.

And. . . yeah, that’s all I got. Obviously there’s still plenty of room for improvement here, especialyl in regards to the development of characters other than Rex and Lora, or the state and politics of the world, and how the conflict between Uraya and Mor Ardain could be adressed. But more than anything, I just want to get these ideas out there first.

#xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xbc2 #xenoblade 2 #long post #like not actually a long post #but definitely very fucking long after the read more #. . .should I tag this as xbc2 critical? I'm really not sure #someone send me a message in case I should

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