He only had to kill his father and how softened Allura for him! Her gaze is full of sympathy. I was always interested what Lotor felt after his duel with Zarkon. Prince was so determined to fight him and he did it. Really did it. He fought and won. Allura may not understand it, but her father's death is revenged through Lotor's arms.
The #lotura canon we deserve! By the insanely talented @Aicosplays ❤️❤️❤️ https://archiveofourown.org/works/15079826/chapters/63384973?view_adult=true&fbclid=IwAR11XPJRVNy-LNWUljF-YR6vvkdEhVJHMTDLW6LSWnHTB1gZ98sBHr98or0
My piece for @loturazine first lotura zine OwO
I really enjoyed working on this one! I just love the idea of them hanging out and researching quintessence flirting with their pets around.
Awww Allura overhearing Lotor practicing is so cute and funny and she would try to keep herself quiet so she doesn’t laugh too loud. Because we all know that Lotor is secretly a dork and Allura would think it’s sweet of him practicing.
Emperor Lotor of the Galra cleared his throat as he lightly adjusted his tunic before a mirror. “Princess Allura?” His voice was lyrical. His eyes narrowed critically. He lowered his voice. “Princess Allura. A tick of your time, please.”
He paused. Then, some proud line in his shoulders broke, and his lips turned downward. He moaned, running a hand down his cheek. “No, that’s…not quite right.”
Princess Allura had bewitched him. But even worse, he now knew he was bewitched by her. Actions that came so easily no longer did, for he felt the weight of them. The small touches that had so built their trust together now left his palms sweaty, his heart pounding unsteadily. The tension between their lips when she looked up at him was a gravity, and it was all he could do to hold himself from bridging the gap at any tick…
The Reckoning, ancient Galran texts fondly called it. The moment of awareness, that the self was no longer sufficient compared to community. It was considered once a topic of great discussion among Galran philosophers, who found Emperor Zarkon’s increasing affair and clumsiness around the Altean scientist Honerva to be a prime example of the mysterious Reckoning. It was known back then that Emperor Zarkon had won the Kral Zera per his cutthroat and stoic approach to reality—and yet, he had stumbled at even the sight of Honerva.
Lotor feared such a Reckoning. He longed for it.
He felt the Reckoning within him, blooming as he stared helplessly at himself. Then, pursing his lips, he tried again. He furrowed his brows in an earnestness that reflected the depth of emotion within him. “Princess,” he said to the mirror. “It has not escaped my attention that we spend more time together than apart nowadays, and in no small measure per our own desire to be so.” He held out his hand. “Would you consider my proposal, that we never be parted again?”
Lotor held his hand out, staring at his reflection curiously.
And then he lowered his hand in a flop, only to rub his temples as he paced. “No, that seems a bit too dramatic,” he muttered. He scratched at his cheek with his clawed fingers, growing upset that various strands of hair caught in his claws in doing so. “Princess Allura is not quite a romantic. Or is she.”
In building the Sincline ships, he’d felt her tensions as well—the way her eyes were wide and open, her mouth slightly parted as that little red tongue of hers slid out to lick her bottom lip. It happened most when they stood only inches apart, leaning together over blueprints…
He knew she felt the Reckoning as well.
Surely, there was a logical way to initiate a mate-bond that did not involve such drama. He was losing hair over it. Lotor stared at the few strands of white hair he’d pulled away with his fingers, and his face scrunched. If he lost his hair over it all, he wasn’t sure if Allura would still find him attractive enough to marry. He’d have to end his misery somehow, and quick.
-
The emperor was in such a state that he did not realize he’d left his door open, and that one Princess Allura had passed by, only to lean against the wall, her ears perked in a mischief as she listened to him mumble to himself.
Her fingers tightened into the material of her royal dress when she heard Emperor Lotor haltingly speak to himself again.
“Princess Allura,” he said to his mirror. “I…I love you and want to be with you. Marry me.”
The woman swallowed hard, flushing. Her ears heard the pounding of her own heart over the groan of Lotor and how he began to pace again, fretting that perhaps saying love was too direct of an approach, and that he wasn’t very good at getting the word out to begin with.
She very quietly peeked around the corner of the door to watch him.
The poor man seemed almost distraught, and it was in some way pleasant to see him fretting specifically over her.
Princess Allura couldn’t help herself. She slipped into the room, her slippered feet making a soft noise that made Lotor’s ears flick.
He looked up, his stressed eyes meeting her gaze.
He froze.
She swallowed hard, her skirts swishing around her. Her little Altean marks glowed with the flush down her whole front. “I rather like that approach,” she said softly, leaning against the threshold. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Saying love. Being direct, even if you do stumble a bit on the word.”
Lotor’s voice strangled in the back of his throat.
Allura looked up, face earnest. “I think your Princess Allura will say yes if you ask her.” And then her lips stretched in a merriment.
The emperor searched her eyes, his purple cheeks flushing with a redness that stretched down to the collar of his tunic. After a few ticks, he straightened fully, attempting to raise his chin in a semblance of pride. “Ah, yes.” He straightened his tunic with a smart tug of the fabric. His voice wavered. “I will keep your astute guidance in mind, when I ask her more officially in a setting more suitable than my personal quarters.”
They both felt it then.
The Reckoning.
The pull of gravity between them.
Princess Allura bit her lip. “I don’t think,” she said delicately, “that the princess cares too much for surroundings. And in fact, there are some benefits to being asked in your, um, personal quarters. As in Altean culture, an acceptance is sealed with a kiss.”
Emperor Lotor stepped forward. “Very well, then.” He raised his hand to the wall behind Allura, daring to move in. His face was still hot with emotion, but a determination steeled his gaze as he searched her eyes. “Princess Allura,” he murmured, his voice an ache. “I love you and want to be with you. Marry me.”
He could hear her pounding heart.
Allura’s breath hitched. “Yes.” Her eyes began to mist as she giggled. “I would happily marry you, even if you do talk to yourself in the mirror.”
His own eyes misted as his lips stretched in a huff of amusement. “You weren’t supposed to be here for that,” he complained lightly. He moved to nuzzle his nose against hers.
“How lucky for you that I was,” she teased in delight. Her breath puffed against his. “Or you’d still be fretting.” And then she stood on her tip-toes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, sealing her acceptance in a way that the Galran philosophers of old often wrote of as a pleasant way to pass the time.
It’s about time I did some Lotura art! This is from my Wonderland AU (which is primarily Plance focused but there will also be lots of Lotura) where Allura is the White Queen or the Queen of Spades and Lotor is the Knave. And yes, their Altean marks are slightly different for world building purposes of this AU!
Lotor has to be one of the most tragic characters I've ever seen. He was born to abusive parents and never shown love, treated poorly by his fellow Galra because of his mixed blood, his dreams of a loving mother end up being false and instead she's someone he despises, the people he cared for and tried to protect were murdered by his father just to teach him a lesson, he's hunted by his own family, grows up misguided due to his circumstances and lack of real love and connection, betrayed by his generals and only friends, failed the test at Oriande he desperately wanted to pass, was unable to achieve his goals to bring peace, was rejected by his new allies and the woman he loves who also compares him to his evil father that he dreads being anything like, then goes crazy and gets left behind to die after 10,000 years of relative suffering and then his melted corpse is used by his evil mother. Did I miss something? Excuse me while I go cry...
(I'm new to this fandom and character so I don't know if all these details are exactly accurate. Apologies in advance if there's a mistake.)
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