#lirance

Warning: My Anonymous is off; I’ll turn it back on when I receive my first prompt.

Things this song fits

Aquaman

Inukag

Keith from Voltron (and by extension, any Keith pairing)

Rayllum

Lira and Lance from @shiroallura‘s Voltron fix-it-fic “The Space Between Stars”

Shallura

Gets quite a bit of development in this chapter, so I am going to talk about their relationship in this chapter. Mostly the feels of conflict, concern (flirting), and Allura comparing her and Shiro’s relationship to her parents’: “You’re going to be queen one day, he’d said. You’ll need someone you can rely on, who can match you, beat for beat. Who will never begrudge you for the sacrifices you have to make. Such a partner is very rare. Your mother and I were very lucky to find one another […] Ruling was hard without a partner. Her father had made that clear.And now her co-leader was sealed away in a cryopod, and she had no idea of what her next step should be without him helping her figure out where to fly next.”

One of my favourite things about 1x11 was that, despite how individually compatible Shiro and Allura both are, how much the absence of the other stings because they really are Stronger Together. Allura being aware of and acknowledging how much she relies on Shiro was also important to me, given that I knew S3 would have him out of the picture and that awareness would be developing into an ache.

I also enjoyed exploring how even when Shiro is in a cryopod, Allura is still capable and looking out for him. His love for Keith keeps her grounded in sympathy, and she’s thinking about his Lion even when he’s unable to. And again, is Allura’s eagerness to see him coupled with the knowledge that they do have more important things to focus on, and the pining of a ‘battle couple,’ which is one of my favourite tropes:

Allura ran to the bridge as fast as she could, her heart in her throat […] She wanted to hug him, but knew now wasn’t the time, as she kept her steps steady and walked towards him, unable to help herself from placing her hands on his shoulders. “It is good to have you back, Shiro,” she said, smiling slightly.

Also my babies are so in tune they can finish each other’s sentences.

“I believe I’ve figured out how Zarkon is tracking us,” Allura said, guiding him over to her station and pulling up telescreens. “It is through—”“—the Black Lion,” he finished. The team inhaled sharply around him.Allura looked at him. “So you’ve come to the same conclusion.”

That, and their hug at the end, because Shiro can tell when she’s fine or when she’s Fine, and the fact she’s able to accept his comfort, too. I know how you feel, indeed.

Keith ( + Pidge, Shiro, and Allura)

Keith faces Consequences and gets both roasted and treated with compassion. It was important to me that while Keith actually was given a good reason for what he did, and things weren’t totally his fault, they mostly were and the flaw of his choice was dug into and seen as something he really needs to improve. Shiro and Allura actually getting to discipline/call him out was cathartic, with Allura in particular. Shiro is still somewhat softened by his concern and love for the kid he helped raise, but Allura also faced Shiro’s life being in danger because of Keith’s actions, which amplifies her sharpness. It was a nice contrast to explore. That being said, Shiro’s concern for Keith from the previous chapters bleeding over to his one with:

“I made a mistake, I should have waited to go to the Blades with you guys, but I had to go—"Shiro’s impatience rose. “You didn’t have to do anything.”

Was incredibly satisfactory, all around.

Keith gets to explain things in his own words, like his reasoning, or apologies, or his heritage, and that was really important to me as well. While he needed to be put in his place, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t being vilified all the same. That’s, arguably, where Pidge comes in. I’ve always thought they and Keith were quite similar characters when it came down to it—impulsive loners with missing brothers, incredible loyalty, and quite a few walls up—and have wanted to showcase that for a while, especially because the show never did anything with the parallels between them:

“You had to know the truth,” [Pidge] finished. “I get it.”

Because they, more than perhaps anyone else on the team, really really does. The way he and Pidge both poke fun at each other in a very dry way, to the best of their abilities, in attempts to cheer each other up (“I came to steal your plate of goo” / “Lance does always say I need a haircut”) is a great bonding moment for the two team members of Voltron who do tend to be selfish, and need to unlearn that selfishness, too.

So yeah, I love Keith when he’s characterized well and Cares about his team—shocking, really.

Lance & Lira

The main note I want to make about them is her introduction and how it both introduces two of the main aspects of her character—her relationship with Ulaz, and with Lance—but also how it reflects how much Lance has grown.

"Ulaz…” The pod next to Shiro’s opened, and the Marmora girl stumbled out, clutching her head […] Lance moved to catch her just in time, and eased her into a sitting position, as she blearily opened her eyes. “Where… where am I?”

The first meeting (or interaction) of any couple for me matters a lot to how I move forward with a ship, or don’t. Hence, the parallel to Allura and Lance’s first meeting with Lance catching a girl from a cryopod, but this time he behaves appropriately. Unlike Allura, Lira isn’t distressed, and Lance is a better person now to not flirt with a confused and upset stranger who’s clearly vulnerable, as it was Lance and Allura’s actions after he caught her that pretty much doomed the ship in my eyes (but every season of VLD didn’t help with that, either). 

So yeah, in continuing with what Lira brings to Lance’s arc is maturity and patience, I very purposefully made this first interaction set the stage for everything else. Because I like consistent writing and relationship arcs, I suppose.

I also enjoyed having Lance being the only paladin who actually says a firm Yes to allying with the Blades (as Hunk and Keith both admit they don’t know, Hunk leaning a little on a ‘no,’ and Pidge is rather neutral but leaning towards yes) beyond Shiro:

“I think we should,” he considered. “I mean, what other options do we have? If they’re not our allies then they might become our enemies, and we don’t need more of them.”

Closing Thoughts:

I love Shallura conflict that comes from their concern for one another, hence the small disagreement at the beginning of this chapter.

A transitionary chapter that didn’t get much longer than expected? A true blessing, lemme tell you.

Shiro asks his team for all of their opinions because that’s how he’s always led, no matter what mossantos says.

Borrowing Kataang dialogue (“I’ll go along with whatever you think is best,”) for Shallura? It’s more likely than you think. Gah they’re both so good

I love both Shiro and Allura’s bonds with Coran, and always like showcasing them in little ways.

His eyes slid over to Keith. “You both do.”Shiro raised his eyebrows, and went to put a hand on his shoulder. “Coran—”But the advisor stepped away. “If you need me, I’ll be in my quarters.” “Coran—”Allura grabbed Shiro’s arm before the Black Paladin could go after him, the bridge’s doors swishing closed.

Slightly protective Shiro emerges

“Shiro stepped in front of Allura,” when Lira gets angry with her

The stages of comfort with pronouns was something I never would have known about without Thomas Sanders’ Having Pride video and the experiences expressed by the nonbinary people in that video.