#voltron au

Long time, no Kira !!

+ bonus lance (I meant to post on his bday oops)

Little yap Abt human Kira under the cut !!

Fic: 1 ~ 2

Extras: 1 ~ 2

Not important to the AU but I'd like everyone to know that the Lions of Voltron aren't actually Lions, and the Alteans aren't just elves.

The animal the lions are based on is from an animal on Altea similar to an armadillo. Lions aren't really what I'd think of as "best animal to base your uber-powerful space ship off of" considering that Lions have no natural armor (which is essential when you're fighting with lasers in space) and generally don't have a very high kill rate alone and their rate only doubles with team hunting, to roughly 30%. Not a good idea to build your cosmic entity/warship off of that. So armadillo. Armored enough to be able to take a lot of hits in the lethal vacuum of space (think Oceangate if your ship bursts open at a couple hundred mph while dogfighting), but tough enough to be able to fight your way through whatever space force the paladins thought was in need of defeating (think of the Alteans and Galrans (and whoever else is in their solar system) as the U.S. making nuclear bombs but it's a cosmic entity) in war.

But since the main characters are human, they see a bunch of four-legged machines with long tails and go "Cat?". Considering humanity's obsession with looking at an alien and going "but what if cat?" (Ex: the Galra being space cats, Eridians stretching and loafing like cats, etc.) I find this to be pretty reasonable.

As for the Alteans, we really gleaned over the whole shapeshifter thing. You mean to tell me Allura lore-drops that Alteans are shapeshifters and they use it in their intergalactic work to empathize with other species, and no one is using this?

So for MY Alteans, I'm stealing from the Navi'i and Tamaraneans, with the Navi'i's ability to mind-meld with other living things and Tamaraneans' ability to kiss to learn languages. So basically the Allura and Coran looked very different when they first came out of their sleep, much more alien than elf-like. However, via biting, they got their hands on human DNA for their bodies to metabolize, with the added bonus of a direct outlet of the human nervous system to plug into with their quintessence.

So in this one, Coran bites Pidge, which is why he had orange hair (for plot reasons Pidge has a red-head gene on her mother's side), is white, and blue eyes. Meanwhile Allura bites Lance (since he was the one who caught her and flirted with her when she first woke up) to get her brown/black skin and curls. She copied Coran's blue eyes because you can't convince me Coran and Alfor weren't a thing, Coran being the only Altean alive so it's sentimental, and she just thought they were pretty. This is also why Allura has a psychic bond with the "mice" (which I will not tolerate continuing to look like multi-colored mice) from sharing quintessence in her pod for so long.

However they look like elves because of uncanny valley. They don't want their potential allies to be creeped out by their shapeshifting, so they intentionally try to look different. Strange colored features (since they're mimicking a light-sensing species) such as white or orange hair (while the main cast has brown or black), different colored pupils (pink instead of black), markings on their cheekbones, pointy ears, and taller statures than your average human man or woman. For my AU, also sharper teeth and longer limbs, as well as tougher skin, which is closer to leather than skin. Their hair is also considered a part of their body, and not hair like how human hair is, so they always have perfect hairstyles, and no nails. Coran likes his mustache and short hair because he can emote with them, but Allura prefers longer hair to match her draping clothes.

With the uncanny valley, I'm making all of those ancient alien legends and gods about a cross between human royalty being named after gods (which is how it actually is IRL) and Alteans establishing contact with Earth with their teleduv systems, which is why Blue was hidden on Earth, and could wormhole to Arus with the paladins. So we have this affect in the AU from not just rabies (which is IRL), but Alteans as well.

“Uh,” Lance broke in, clearing his throat as Hunk and Pidge clamored to get a look at the screen, “Hi, sorry, what’s fascinating?”

Coran clapped his hands together, making everyone jump. He hopped up from his chair and bustled over to Lance, leaning in so closely that Lance had to lean back to avoid bashing his nose against Coran’s.

“What is so marvelous, dear boy—“ and oh, if Lance didn’t feel like crying because Coran was still calling him ‘dear boy’ as if he were real and alive, “—is that you have exquisitely pure blue quintessence!”

He fell back, allowing Lance to settle on the table once more. The blue paladin frowned, opening his mouth to ask what, exactly, that meant in terms that his robo-brain could understand, but Coran was already back at the screen, poking at Lance’s code. He tried not to be nervous that the Altean would introduce some kind of bug to his system.

“When you were, ah, created,” and here they all cringed, “you were programmed with what amounts to the entire contents of a human psyche. The original Lance’s thoughts, emotions, and impulses during any given situation—no doubt artificial scenarios orchestrated by your creator and presented to him as real—were scanned and taught to an incredibly advanced AI base. That base learned from those memories and the emotions it ‘felt’ associated with them, and once it learned enough, it was used to create, well, you!”

Another existential crisis was building in Lance’s periphery.

Creator.

Artificial.

AI.

It.

His breathing began to speed up—respiration?—why would he need to breathe, he wouldn’t, it was all fake—

Someone was calling his name in the background, that name that wasn’t actually his because he wasn’t a he, he was an it and oh dios—

Two hands came down to grip his shoulders. Lance gasped, blinking up at blue eyes and ginger brows drawn tight with concern.

“My boy, I apologize, that was not very tactful of me.”

Slowly the buzzing in Lance’s ears—ears? Auditory processors? what were they—calmed enough for him to blink back into the present. Coran was in front of him now, hands on each of his shoulders. Hunk and Pidge lingered in his periphery, eyes scared and worried as if—

As if they cared, as if he was…

but he wasn’t. He didn’t even deserve to think of himself as Lance because—

Coran squeezed his arms lightly, bringing him back to the present.

“Lad, I am so sorry,” he whispered, jewel-toned eyes full of regret. “I—please allow me to explain, I never meant to insinuate that you… that you were any less than a person!”

Lance shook his head, no it was fine, of course it was fine, it was just the truth even if it hurt, but Coran was still speaking, and he owed it to the man to listen.

“Please, just hear me, son. You were programmed, yes, but that changed once the quintessence entered your system.”

Lance just blinked at him in confusion; Hunk and Pidge seemed just as confused.

“You—and the original you—have blue quintessence of the purest kind I have ever seen. It is adaptable, fluid. Wild and free. It cannot be contained within the limits of your code.

“When you were infused with the quintessence—and this is the process I assume it took, mind you—you were given the seeds of a soul. Your quintessence has metamorphosed a bit, but it is still recognizable as originating from Lance McClain-Esposito. Once you received it, it grew. It adapted to its new…physical structure, and expanded your programming with each new emotion, each new thought, each new feeling you experienced! That is why you never followed the prompts that would lead you to betray Voltron.”

Lance winced again, guilt churning in his not-stomach at the mere thought of betraying his friends. Oh Zarkon, he could have—

Coran squeezed his shoulder again. When Lance met his eyes, they were filled only with kindness.

“You never followed that code sequence because it goes against your quintessential nature, Lance. You overwrote it all on your own.”

Lance blinked up at him, faintly registering Pidge damn near vibrating herself right off the table in excitement. Hunk was pacing, deep in thought, and Lance found himself tracking the yellow paladin’s steps as he processed the meaning of Coran’s words.

“So then…” he breathed, “I… I’m not a danger to the team?”

Coran smiled. “Indeed, my boy. But more importantly,” he knelt down so that he was on Lance’s level, forcing the young paladin to look him in the eye.

“You are a person, my boy. You are your very own person.” He continued as Lance’s eyes began to water (how could he cry? Why was that a thing his creator had added?) and Pidge and Hunk stopped to listen.

Coran continued. “You may be made differently than us, technically, but you are far more than a program. You have a soul and you are capable of making your own decisions. Your code cannot control you if what it commands clashes against what your soul desires. It cannot force you to act out its commands any more than an intrusive thought can force you to act upon it.”

teen and up audience | 6k | 1/12 | canon divergence, pining, langst, demigod!Lance

Lance was staring at Shiro, waiting for him to say something. Hoping he'd tell him Bob was just fucking with him. Instead, he asked, "What's your last name, Lance?" Lance looked at him, uncomprehending. "Oh, wow, that's..." "Please, answer," Shiro almost begged, and there was something in his tone that took away any desire to joke. "Oh, my name is Lance..." He stopped. Why couldn't he say it? He tried again, but it was as if there was a void after Lance. Shiro was looking at him pityingly now. "It's Grace. Your last name... and your first name, your real name, is..." "No," he almost begged, but it was as if Shiro wasn't even listening, "Jason. And everything Bob said was true."

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