#soft lotor

(For this)

Anon, I love you.

Ahhhh, where do I even start? Lancelot is such an intricate ship that comes in so many forms with so many different layers, and I have a lot of feelings about this particular ship. I mean, it’s my favorite for a reason.

It seems that the general categories are soft (both are good people who just need to learn how to communicate), redemptive (Lotor was bad or at least questionable but is getting better with Lance’s influence), traitorous (Lotor is highly questionable, but Lance joins his side anyways), and dark (Lotor is bad, Lance is pure uwu save him). There are shades between them – I’ve seen soft/redemptive, redemptive/traitorous, soft with a traitorous vibe, and traitorous/dark. Of course, Lancelot content comes in other flavors, and there’s always AUs to spice things up, butthese are the general forms I’ve found.

So if someone asks why I like Lancelot, well… which version? I’ve grown to very much dislike the dark version in general because of the negativity around it and the way it portrays Lotor in a villainous light (something I came to hate even before s5 and which now stings all the more after s6 ruined s5), but every other form? I love them all.

I love how, in the soft ones, Lotor is someone who is trying his best but doesn’t always know what the ‘best’ is. And although Lance is not the most naturally patient person, he soon realizes that he needs to extend a little patience and forgiveness to Lotor in light of his blunders. I love how they learn to communicate and how they then begin to grow together. I love how it’s not only Lance helping Lotor, but also Lotor helping Lance, because each of them has what the other needs. Lance has the warmth and goodness and fun that Lotor so desperately needs in his life, and Lotor has the confidence and self-assured nature and resilience that Lance clearly needs in himself. As Lance lights up Lotor’s life, Lotor can chase away Lance’s inner demons, and they can both find solace in one another. Honestly? This is the majority of actual Lancelot content. Put filters on AO3 to get rid of all the content for other ships, and you’re left with so, so many soft and sweet stories like this. Nearly all of the human AU ones are like this – just two people who love each other despite all of the people who say that they shouldn’t.

The redemptive ones can be a little mixed for me, since if the portrayal starts with showing Lotor in too much of a negative light, I have a hard time enjoying it. But for the ones where Lotor is merely misguided, I like how Lance can help him to find a better path. Though Lance is no paragon, well… sometimes it takes someone who’s imperfect to be able to get through to those who are lost, and that perfectly describes their dynamic in these stories. And usually, Lotor is not the only one who grows from their interactions. Like in the soft stories, Lance can learn much from Lotor, and he can benefit from Lotor once Lotor decides to sincerely try to help him. Usually, the redemptive dynamic crosses over into the soft dynamic as the story goes on, which makes for a very heartwarming depiction of the ship.

Then, ahhh, the traitorous dynamic. Usually, these aren’t even dark, because many of them show Lotor as already being a decent person who just so happens to have very different goals and/or methods from Voltron. These stories, especially the ones with a softer tone, have Lance coming to see Lotor’s side and genuinely deciding to join him because he agrees with Lotor’s views, because he loves Lotor, because he fits well on Lotor’s team, or some combination of the three. And, of course, Lance in General armor always looks amazing. Mix in a bit of a “redemptive” vibe with Lotor and Lance both coming to understand each other’s views and meeting somewhere in the middle where they disagreed before, and you have a dynamic that I really adore (and try to write, though I’m not sure it always comes across well).

For those of you who like dark content, consider: Lance being the manipulator and Lotor being the victim. If any of you know where I could find content like this, please feel free to send it to me, because it’s too rare, and it’s the only “dark Lancelot” I’ll accept.

I could go on and on about what I love about this – how I believe that, at their core, they actually have a lot in common, how they complete each other, how their personalities compliment each other, how they could build a future and maybe even a family together – but then I’d be here all day because there’s so much to love.

(For this kisses prompt) (AO3 version)

Since you didn’t specify the ship, I hope you don’t mind Lancelot…

As the pain rose, Lotor’s conscious awareness faded, until the pain was all that he could concentrate on. Then, slowly, the pain ebbed away to make room for the overwhelming nausea rolling up like a wave, making Lotor wish that there was something left in his stomach that he could throw up, if only to make the nausea subside. Slowly, by degrees, the nausea subsided, and he regained awareness of his surroundings.

“It’s okay,” Lance murmured, his voice trickling through the fuzzy feeling in Lotor’s mind. “You’re okay. Hang in there.” A damp cloth came to Lotor’s face, wiping away the sticky sweat that had beaded up during the last wave of pain.

“Thank you.” Lotor’s voice was weak and hoarse, barely above a whisper.

“Of course. I’ve got you.” Lance held Lotor’s hand in one of his own and rubbed his other hand soothingly across Lotor’s aching abdomen. “Just hold on a little longer. Allura will locate the antidote soon, I’m sure of it.”

Lotor nodded slightly. “Okay…” He turned his head slightly to the side, wanting nothing more than to sleep, but he could already feel the pain creeping in again.

Then, he heard the whoosh of an opening door, and he cracked his eyes open to see Allura and Shiro entering. “Lance,” Allura called, “I’ve located the antidote, but the area is dangerous. We’ll have to take the Red Lion.”

“I understand.” Lance squeezed Lotor’s hand reassuringly. “I’ll be back before you know it, okay? Just hang on.” He slipped his hand out of Lotor’s.

On childish impulse, Lotor reached out, grabbing Lance’s hand again. His mind was spinning, and he couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. Why… if Allura had found the antidote, why did Lance have to leave? But he couldn’t string the words together to ask. His mind was already too muddled by the returning pain.

“Lotor, I need to go get the antidote and bring it back, okay?” Lance brought his other hand up to the side of Lotor’s face. “Why don’t you give me a kiss for good luck? That way, I’ll be sure to find it quickly.”Nodding slightly, Lotor tipped his head up as much as he could and allowed Lance to give him a brief kiss against his chapped lips. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He pulled his hand out of Lotor’s again, but this time, Lotor let him go.

The other three murmured amongst themselves for a moment. Then, Shiro appeared at Lotor’s side. “I’m going to watch you while Lance is gone. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay.” Lotor turned his head to the other side, away from Shiro, and tried to ride out the pain in silence.

~*~*~*~

Lotor had no sense of time. At one point, Shiro had started telling him stories to distract him from the misery of the poison’s effects, but Lotor’s concentration was so scattered by the waves of pain and nausea that he couldn’t track the narratives. Still, Shiro’s voice was soothing in its own way, and Lotor was grateful.

Finally, the door opened again, and Lotor looked over in that direction. There was Lance, looking tired and disheveled but alright, and Allura stood next to him, carrying a bowl and a small pastry. Lance rushed ahead of her to Lotor’s side, taking Lotor’s hand in his. “Hey, babe,” he murmured, sounding relieved. “You– everything’s okay. We have the antidote.”

“You do?” Lotor tried to muster up a smile. “Knew you could…” His voice sounded slurred even to his own ears, but it was so hard to speak when all he wanted to do was close his eyes, drift off…

“Hey, hey, we still need to give it to you, okay? You’ve gotta stay awake.”

“Mm… ‘kay.” Lotor forced himself to look up at Lance again even though his eyelids felt horrendously heavy.

Lance brought a spoon up to Lotor’s lips, and Lotor managed to open his mouth enough to take the spoon and its contents in. The spoon held some unappetizing greenish-brown paste, and the flavor was bitter and unappealing, but Lotor swallowed the paste anyways. He thought that would be it, but then Lance brought another spoonful to him, and another, and–

After the fifth spoonful, Lotor complained, “Isn’t that enough? This tastes abhorrent.”

Allura leaned over to look down at him. “You need to eat the entire bowlful to counteract the poison. If you need to drink some water with it, that’s fine, but you cannot stop until you’ve finished all of it.”

“Sorry, babe,” Lance sympathized. “But Allura brought you a pastry you can eat afterwards!”

Lotor huffed, but he allowed Lance to feed him more of it.

Finally, Lotor had finished the bowlful, and Allura gave him the pastry. He ate it gratefully, letting its flavor drown out the aftertaste of the antidote. Then, Allura and Shiro both left, allowing Lotor and Lance to be alone together.

Lance walked around to the other side of the bed and lifted the covers, climbing under them to snuggle up with his boyfriend. “Hey, feeling better?”

“Mmm… not much just yet,” Lotor admitted. “Perhaps less nauseated.”

“It should kick in soon.” Lance laid his hand on Lotor’s abdomen, and the light pressure and heat felt soothing.

“Thank you… for taking care of me, and for getting the antidote.”

“Of course! I love you. I’m not going to let you suffer when there’s something I can do about it.”

Lotor managed a small but grateful smile. “I love you, too.”

Snuggling in somehow closer, Lance pressed up against him as much as possible. “Get some sleep, okay? You need it to recover.”

“Okay,” Lotor murmured. He turned his face toward Lance’s, pressing their foreheads together. “Goodnight.”

I got inspired by AJ’s interview so I wrote a Thing™. Can be seen as romantic or platonic Lancelot.

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Lotor saw it coming from the moment he stepped into the castle as an enemy, and stepped from his cell as an ally. From the clipped way Lance talks to and about him, how Pidge rarely speaks in normal tones when he is in the room, how Hunk is scared by his very presence. He knew that not everyone would be so gracious to give him a chance like Princess Allura, who he has grown to respect.

What he is surprised about, perhaps, that it is Lance who confronts him first. He figured the little green one, Pidge, would be the first to corner him, the anger in her small frame making him feel like he walked on stilts; uncomfortable and foreboding, his very being offensive and threatening. Lance is just jealous, something that no one seems to acknowledge, so Lotor follows suit.