#ashspren

Scenario 2 (re-purposing the plot)

This gets a little bit into late-series stuff, so I’m going to keep this as spoiler free as possible.

Delfi is the Black Paladin, if only grudgingly. Black chose them to lead Team Voltron, and they’ve kind of been running from that responsibility for a while, even while they became the de facto leader of the resistance.

Adan is the Blue Paladin, cheerful and empathetic. He’s the youngest Paladin by three years, but he works hard to make sure he’s not holding them back.

Eloisa is the Green Paladin, curious and strategic. She has a bit of a wild streak, though, and tends to get herself in trouble.

Ines is the Yellow Paladin. She doesn’t say much, so the universe knows next to nothing about her, but she’s a very dependable and protective teammate and Delfi’s right hand (or, you know, left leg… sorry)

Noemi was the Red Paladin (always the Red Paladin. Always. Noemi and Red are inseparable.) But there was an ambush, Red was captured, and everyone thought Noemi was killed.

Noemi finds herself back on Earth with holes in her memory, and she ends up going back into space with Pilar, Vicente, and Miguel, who steal a Garrison ship to go look for Pilar’s missing father.

Clockwork Memories

Okay, there’s only one way to do this, and that’s to make it an AU where there are multiple factions vying for control of Voltron.

The Albatross take the place of the Galra as villains controlling the universe, and they want to destroy the lions.

The Orphanage is currently in possession of four of the five lions. They’re searching for the Red Lion, which was in Albatross hands until the Underground stole it. They plan to use Voltron to launch active war against the Albatross.

The Underground wants Voltron for defense against the Albatross and only limited, carefully planned offensive strikes.

Judah, Lydia, Irena, and the rest of the Levenston hub located and stole the Red Lion, but that drew the Alabtross’s attention, so they had to flee Levenston in order to protect it.

Like in canon, Irena gets separated from Lydia and Judah in the chaos, and Lydia spends the next year searching for her. Kalan follows, meeting Audrey along the way.

The current Team Voltron is:

Brianna as the Black Paladin. She’s ruthless in battle and not that much softer outside it, but she’s fiercely dedicated to the fight. With her heightened reflexes, she’s one of the most skillful pilots the Orphanage has ever seen, and she leads her team to victory after victory. She never stops talking about what she could do with Voltron itself under her command.

Adal is the Green Paladin. He’s secretly relieved that the Red Lion is missing because while he can follow orders and complete missions just fine, he works best alone. He’d rather be working on a project than working on cooperation. (Admittedly he’s pretty okay with the current team because they all know him, but he’s scared about the addition of a fifth paladin, especially because he’s nonverbal and the list of people who get that is very short.) His technopathy doesn’t fully work on the Lions, but it gives him a great deal of insight, and he’s modified Green quite extensively.

Quincy is the Yellow Paladin, and she’s a little bitter that Green didn’t choose her. Mostly that’s because she knows Adal the least and doesn’t immediately realize how well matched he is to Green. Besides, she’s something of a momfriend in the group, and Yellow appreciates that.

Nat is the Blue Paladin, and a total wild card. Stephen is one hundred percent pissed off when it happens because Nat has never taken anything seriously in their life, and why would that change now? They’re essentially the class clown, always lightening the mood but also usually the one to make a mistake. They’ve never actually cost the team a mission, but it’s been close on more than one occasion. Stephen sent Nat out to look for the Red Lion, but to be honest he wasn’t expected Nat to actually succeed.

Audrey is the Red Paladin. She was chosen by Red after she and Kalan joined the Underground, and literally no one is surprised. She’s every bit as temperamental and impulsive as Red, and her psychometry basically demands she rely on instinct, so she’s ready-made for this job. (Also the fact that she the way she can sense certain things about whatever she touches means that she communicates with Red better than most paladins can communicate with their Lions.) The Orphanage wants to recruit her so that they get the paladin and the Lion together.

…

Okay, now a bunch of spoilery stuff happens that I’m not going to get into but:

Eventually the lions end up in the Underground’s hands, and the lions bond with new paladins.

Audrey is still the Red Paladin, and no one would ever think of changing that. She’s just way too good.

Judah is the Black Paladin, since he’s already the head of most major missions. He has a knack for syncing up with the other pilots, so they form Voltron quickly and fight together smoothly with him at their head.

Lydia is the Green Paladin, which she’s super thrilled about. She kind of totally has a special interest in Voltron, and she knows everything about the lions. She’s also the second most experienced pilot on the team, after Judah. Granted, she’s used to smaller missions, and, also, putting Lydia and Audrey on a team together has a tendency to end in explosions (so many explosions.)

Kalan is the Yellow Paladin despite not being able to form a bond with her. There’s some speculation within the Underground that only psychometrics can bond with the Voltron Lions, and in fact Kalan is the only non-psychometric known to have piloted a Lion. It doesn’t seem to impact their ability to form Voltron, just forces Kalan to pilot Yellow entirely on his own skill, without the knowledge, aid, or cooperation of the Lion. Yellow seems to like him, though, maybe because he’s so determined to fight in a war that doesn’t directly affect him, all because he wants to protect his friends and people like them who haven’t learned to defend themselves.

Orelia is the Blue Paladin. She may be the least experienced pilot, but she’s fast and smart and works well in a team (a rare quality in this particular group.) She originally worked for the Underground as a navigator and tracking specialist, so she continues to handle recon as the Blue Paladin, seeking out targets and spying on Albatross operations.

Ashen Hands

A different sort of AU–instead of Voltron being well-established and the characters claiming the lions in the middle of the Galra War, this AU happens shortly after Voltron was first created. I guess that means it’s set on Altea? Sure.

Everyone’s vying for a position on the team, but there have never been paladins before, and no one knows what it takes. In fact, the lions haven’t even chosen paladins yet, so people have no clue that there’s a difference between a pilot and a paladin.

Konjitaku and Seisanjou worked on the project originally, so get pilot positions by default. Konjitaku pilots the Yellow Lion, and Seisanjou pilots Black. Neither have bonded with their lions–though they, unlike most people, are at least aware that a bond is possible and that they don’t have it. They’re torn between trying to force a bond and trying to find people who are naturally capable of forming a bond.

One day, Haru and Shin sneak into the hangar, hoping for a joy ride in the Voltron Lions. Except, whoops, turns out they’re the first people in history to be chosen as paladins.

(Haru is chosen by the Black Lion. Shin is chosen by the Blue Lion. Neither of them has any clue what that means, but the lions don’t seem to put up any resistance when the boys climb in and take the controls.)

There’s a bad accident during that first flight. Haru loses his arm and is locked in a med bay while he heals, Shin isn’t allowed to visit.

During his recovery, Haru overhears a conversation about how Voltron is supposed to have the power to rule the universe–but there’s no way it can reach its full potential with Haru as its head.

He runs away and meets Kaya, who comes from a small outlying colony that isn’t happy with the way the Alteans have barred outsiders from seeking a place on Team Voltron. She wants to steal one of the lions and become a paladin.

…Things get really messy after that, but:

Shin is the Blue Paladin, as he’s the most optimistic and trusting.

Narumi is the Yellow Paladin, because she’s only ever cared about protecting Kaya (and eventually the rest of the team)

Kaya and Haru are both the Black Paladin, and literally no one knows what that means. The lions aren’t supposed to choose two paladins, especially not at the same time, but they make it work.

Creative Rinka

First of I’m dying at the thought of a literal band of thieves and assassins becoming the defenders of the universe

(Like, really. These are criminals. Yes, they eventually become Leverage-style heros, bad guys make the best good guys and all that. But at the beginning? They’re literally only in this for fame, glory, money, and thrills.)

So I guess it has to be set waaaaay late game, which I kinda like because it opens the door for Rhag to be on the team.

But it also means heavy spoilers, so I’m not going to talk about plot, just lions.

Remora is the Black Paladin. She’s literally the only person on this team who can be trusted in a leadership position, or to make any sort of decision that won’t end in disaster.

Scops is the Red Paladin, because of course they are. This is the person who ran away from home to take over the world but ended up saving it instead. They literally curse their way out of the sticky spots they back themself into because they can’t be bothered to plan ahead and, hey, I’ve got magic. I can handle anything.

Tarin is the Blue Paladin because none of my characters is more like Lance than her. (Well, Nat comes close. But, Tarin.) I mean, this little shit. She flirts with…not quite everything that breathes, but close. She’s mostly in this for the laughs and the adventure. She’s got delusions of grandeur. She never takes anything seriously (except she totally does, she just doesn’t look it.) She also cares a lot and hides the fact that she misses home.

Zaria is the Yellow Paladin because she is for all intents and purposes the Eliot Spencer of the team. If you threaten her family she will either slit your throat or poison you; it’s just a matter of how much blood she wants to clean out of her dress.