Maryan-lex - Maryan-lex

KURO WEEK - DAY 1: Madness

It was madness, that brought him into this world …

It was madness, that kept him standing …

It was madness, that made him survive …

And it was madness, that tore him apart …

Or: How Kuro lost his arm.

When he was created, he was an exact copy of Shiro – not a sample of his DNA, replicated and cultivated, but more like a copy of a photo someone had taken from Shiro in that exact moment. A copy that looked just like him, but somehow darker and more animalistic, twisted and bent to look Galra. To be Galra.

The Druids wanted a brutal, mindless killing machine, after all. So if Kuro would survive being the backup copy and pilot project to the wicked experiments they wouldn’t dare perform on the original, he’d get to be the replacement for their precious Champion in the arena.

But Kuro didn’t want to be anybody’s replacement. He didn’t want to be cut open or prodded at, he didn’t want to be experimented on or changed into a weapon. He liked the way he was now. Strong, but still soft on the edges. There was nothing wrong with that.

Sensing, that their clone experiment was way too human for their liking, the Druids opted for a different strategy.

They’d break him. Crush what little human-stemmed defiance was left inside the clone and make him comply by force.

They’d get what they want…

And so they made him fight in the arena, without weapons, without armor.

And fight he did, tooth and nail…

But he failed, losing his arm in the process. When he came around again, cold, sharp metal pressed into his flesh; wires and circuity replaced what once had been bone and tendons.

In that moment he realized, that if he wanted to live, he’d have to succumb to their madness. Because next time it wouldn’t be his arm, or a leg… They’d let him die and create a new clone. One that would be more submissive. Simple, efficient, … mad.

They’d always get what they want…

So he succumbed.

___

Yaaaay. It’s 12:21AM and it’s the 18th June in my country - so time to upload the first entry for the @kuroweek 2017 :D Omg. It feels so strange, because I drew most of my stuff ages ago. And looking at it now feels kinda weird. But I stil love it anyway. So…uh. Have some background story for my Kuro AU and suffer with me? :3

paint by numbers except I’m making the numbers

KURO WEEK - DAY 4: Betrayal

“I couldn’t do it, you know…”

The Galra-hybrid looked at the glowing star maps and swirling galaxies surrounding them. One of his clawed metal fingers absently brushed against one of the floating holograms, that filled the darkened room. Too absently for Lance’s liking.

“Do what?”

“I couldn’t fight them without mercy, like he did.

I couldn’t even bring myself to beat someone up, without feeling guilty afterwards.”

A huff of laughter escaped Kuro. A humorless, dry little sound, that sent chills down the Blue Paladin’s spine.

“What a pathetic Champion I would’ve been… Bet that wasn’t what they had in mind when they created me.”

“Uh… Kuro? You do realize, that having a conscience is a good thing, right?”

“I know, I know”, Kuro sighed. “But back then everything was… different. In reverse. Upside down. Back then, being good was a weakess.”

Without realizing it, he’d leaned closer to Lance, seeking out the comfort of another body’s warmth. He could feel it radiate through layers of clothes, mingling with his own warmth. God, back then, during his time with the Druids, he hadn’t had much contact to others… At least not the well-meant kind of contact. And he hadn’t known he’d missed it, until he had his first taste of a hug.

Taking a deep breath, he cherished the feeling of the other man’s side against his own, before he continued: “And I never knew why I was so weak…

I never knew why I was this way, when the man I was copied from, seemed so cruel.

… Until I saw him in person. Right after Zarkon was defeated and Shiro was captured again. I saw him. I saw Shiro – the Champion.”

A warm, supporting hand crept up his back, stroking carefully over the soft, thin fabric of his jumpsuit. No doubt feeling the criss-crossing lines littering the skin underneath.

“And suddenly I knew what drove him to stay alive in the arena.

Suddenly I realized, that all his cruelty and blood-thirst were nothing but a facade. A show to hide the softness and fragility of his all too human heart.

I realized, that my own softness and caring, my own inability to be the monster they wanted as their Champion, all those ‘weak’ emotions I thought were my own wrong-doing-… I-… I realized they actually came from him.

That same stupidly good, human heart beats inside my chest.

He’s always been like this, so how could I be anything else?”

Kuro felt hot tears welling up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t control himself any longer. Too many things had happened. And finally, finally, someone listened. Finally someone cared.

“He was the reason I was this way… Everything I ever believed to be true… was a lie… The Champion was a lie.

and I’ve never felt more betrayed in my whole life.”

Okay so… Kuro has a sad? But this time he isn’t alone. :3 I’m so sorry I’m writing all this sad stuff, but trust me, it’s getting better with every day of the @kuroweek

Bloodborne Tarot (part 2) by frozensoba

KURO WEEK - DAY 6: Mind Control

So… this turned out to be quite long again, but I don’t care. I had so much fun doing this :3

Kuro

Pressure. There had been pressure at the back of his head lately. It felt like something was pushing against his mind, trying to coax Kuro into letting it in.

At first he’d thought this was another terrible experiment, another sick joke the Druids were pulling to make him break and give up what little humanity he’d regained since Shiro was there with him. Their mind-tricks and brainwashing methods were the worst ones. But that idea was discarded quickly…  Because it didn’t feel cruel or malicious. It didn’t feel as cold and intrusive as Druid magic would. It was just… there. Warm and constant, but never demanding.

Shiro felt it to. If his searching gaze and withdrawn behaviour was anything to go by. Sometimes Kuro swore he saw something like recognition flit over those painfully familiar features. But as fast as it came, it faded again. Weighed down by the pure awareness of just where they were.

Kuro never asked about it.

Until that one day… the day the Druids let them see their newest creation.

___

 Keith

There was nothing he could do but wait. And that’s exactly what he did. Everyday, every single minute he didn’t spend on saving planet after planet - saving lives. Every. Fucking. Second.

He’d sit and wait. Sit and wait.

Some days he went mad with impatience. He had a feeling that time was running out for both of them, him and Shiro. And all he could do was sit in Black’s cockpit and concentrate. On what? He had no idea. It hadn’t been his idea in the first place. But Black had insisted on trying to get a hold of Shiro through their bond.

But sitting in his place, in his lion, playing his role as the leader of Voltron didn’t help Keith concentrate at all. It just made him more restless.

Still, Black insisted. Because she loved Shiro… And she knew Keith did, too. She had known it all along.

So they both sat in the Black Lion’s hangar and listened; reached out into the endless nothingness of space, trying to feel the familiar warmth of the Black Paladin’s soul. Keith had no idea how this was supposed to work - but he guessed it had something to do with Lion magic. Black had tried to explain it to him once… she had tried to explain that she, because of her own bond with Shiro, worked like an amplifier to the connection Keith and Shiro shared. She even tried to tell him something about two beings made from the same quintessence and fate and all that stuff, but Keith hadn’t even been listening at that point. All he knew was, that he wanted Shiro back. And he would do anything to find him.

The moment it had worked, the moment he felt the other Paladin’s presence emerge from the darkest depth of the universe, had him almost fainting with relief and joy. Shiro was alive. Above all the white noise and static of space, Keith could still feel him, like a signature his soul had left behind, and hold onto that. He was alive. And Keith would find him.

All he had to do was work with Black to establish a proper connection to Shiro, to get a grasp on him, and then find out where he was.

Well… easier said than done.

For there was something else. Something that distracted Keith time and time again. There was a presence, another signature the Black Lion could follow - could connect to in a way. It looked - or rather felt - like a faded, almost washed-out version of Shiro’s soul. If he’d have to describe it, he’d say it felt like looking at two different hues of the same color.

Keith didn’t pay much attention to it…

Until the day Shiro’s signature went silent. Still there, but unresponsive and still. Shutting them out. The only thing Keith could definitely feel was dread

That’s when he knew their time was up.

___

Kuro

They’d let them see. Because they knew how much it would affect Shiro. They knew it would break him. Make him give up all hope.

The Druids had showed them their newest monster. A giant made of steel and wires. Just for Shiro. This would be his final transformation. He’d become machinery - heart and soul. A robeast.

It had been his very first time witnessing a panic attack from up close… and it almost choked Kuro himself. There was just so much a human being could take. And Shiro had reached a point where he could take no more. All Kuro could see in the other man’s face was fear. Pure, all-consuming fear.

He’d die. He’d die. He’d die. HE’D DIE. Shiro would die. He knew it.

All Kuro could do was sit and watch with growing concern for his new-found friend. What should he do? How could he help Shiro? How could they get out of this alive?

He needed to save Shiro from this kind of fate. Because Shiro deserved it. He deserved to live.

During their shared time in captivity, the Galra-hybrid had grown quite fond of the not-so-monstrous Champion. Shiro was… well. Shiro was the closest thing Kuro had to family. There HAD to be a way for them to get out of this.

Shiro sat, huddled up into the far corner of their cell, shivering and breathing way too fast for Kuro’s liking. No words had been spoken since they’d seen the robeast in its hangar. Shiro had been eerily silent the whole trip back to their cell.

Come on, come ON!, he thought, wracking his brain for a solution. For a way out. There has to be something. Just SOMETHING!

Kuro didn’t notice the pressure in the back of his head growing… until it was too late.

Something pulled at the seams of his mind, something big and dark - but not evil. If he concentrated enough, he could feel the presence embrace him, encircle him with warm darkness.

Let me in.

… what?

Let me in, a deep voice repeated. He’d never heard it before… But still it sounded… familiar. Warm and thick like honey. He couldn’t tell whether it was a woman or a man speaking. It sounded…beyond physical manifestation; beyond the universe itself.

We will help you.

Alright, Kuro thought, now wasn’t the time to talk to voices inside your head. He had to find a way out of here. It was only a tad bit alarming, that voices, no one else seemed to hear, didn’t really faze him anymore. There had been worse, he told himself.

Who was “we” anyway?

Me and Keith, the voice provided.

Wait a second…. Keith? THE Keith? As in “Red Paladin Keith”? Keith from Earth? The Keith Shiro wouldn’t stop talking about?

The presence gave an affirming nudge, because yes, they were talking about the same person. Holy shit.

But why? How? He had so many questions. But for now only one was important:

Can you get us out of here?

A heartbeat.

Then another.

… Yes.

Relief flooded his very being. Good. This was- good. But they didn’t have much time. They had no idea when the guards would come to take Shiro. It could be any moment now.

You’ll need to hurry, Kuro thought, trying to dig everything he’d seen in that hangar up from his mind. You need to-

We know. We’re already on our way.

We’ll try to get your way, then.

Can you do us a favor, first?

Kuro hesitated. The soft pressure at the back of his head had spread over the past few minutes. Whatever they were, whatever kind of magical shit their saviors-to-be were pulling… It had spread over his body. Like something tried to squeeze into his body, beside his own mind.

What kind of favor?

Let him talk to Shiro.

Him? Keith?

Yes.

How?

You’ll see.

I don’t think I-

Please.

… This was crazy. This was so, so crazy. But was there anything left for him to lose? If this was a trap, would it really matter? Taking a look at Shiro, who still sat on the ground, shaking like a leaf and staring absently ahead without really seeing, Kuro decided it was worth a shot. Or his mind, to be more precise.

Fine.

He hadn’t finished that thought, when it already hit him. Red hot and blazing like a dying star; like a burning arrow shot right through his very core. Melting him, burning him… filling up the frayed ends of his mind, where the arena and the labs had taken pieces of him. Until he was whole again. Better than whole. He was more.

He could feel the blazing presence, the very soul of the Red Paladin melt into him and take control of what was his. His thoughts, his feelings, his body. And Kuro let him.

For he could feel everything the Paladin poured into his being. Desperation, sorrow, longing, love. A love that burned brighter than a supernova. Kuro could feel it sear his chest, his throat, his mouth on its way up. He could feel it pressing against his jaws, forcing them to open; his mind already giving the order to speak - without him realizing it. His mind wasn’t his anymore. But he didn’t care.

“S-Shiro?”, even his voice sounded off. A bit high-pitched, less guttural. “Shiro? Are you there?”

The former Champion froze. Wide eyes darted towards him, disbelieve written all over his face. It took him a few seconds to realize what - or better who- he’d just heard. Kuro could tell the exact moment it hit him.

“…. Keith?”

“Yeah”, the strange voice spoke again. The words felt fuzzy and alien on his tongue. “We’re on our way. Just hang on.”

___

Yay I finall made it :D @kuroweek sorry for the delay!

“Colors were dancing in his vision despite his eyes being tightly closed, and with each burst, he felt a presence that was so much bigger than himself”

As Color Fades Away

Art by Mo _ningLJ

Couldn't make it gayer, sorry 💔

The birds and the bees- a toh mini comic

I apologize, the first few panels look a bit clunky since the sketches were so lazy (I initially doodled it without the idea of it being a comic) but I hope it’s still ok

“children have got to be free to lead their own lives”

let go of the past, so the future can grow. a little au where allura is not part of the final sacrifice. she’s the future, she must go on and lead her life and the lives of her people in the new altea