Six more days left to vote for the first tournament! As that poll runs, here's a bonus one:
does "being a spren" count as an Invested Art?
yes
no
results/other?
Voting ended onApr 19, 2025
I mean, they're made of Investiture, after all.
This entire tournament was inspired by a friend asking me which invested art I'd most want to have— and I haven't decided yet, but said maybe I'd want to be a Cultivationspren. This was not the answer they were expecting.
Follow this blog to make sure you see the upcoming tournament polls, and if you'd like to, reblog this post and the other post to encourage more Cosmere fans to participate!
Askbox is open for real this time—ask questions, tell me your favorite use of Investiture, or just come say hi :)
Lightning exploded only a handful of feet to Sahan’s left, and before the thunder could even begin to fade, a boulder crashed downward in front of her. She stood hunched against the leeward side of a grain silo, arms wrapped tightly around herself. She was soaked to the bone, and her hair tied itself in knots in the wind. She sobbed, crying out in a hoarse voice that vanished in the wind. The storm was at its height; the time had come. All she had to do now was step out into the wind.
“You won’t do it,” said the voice. Sahan jumped, yelping. Squinting through her hair, she saw it – the pattern in the stone, like the shape of lightning burned into the stone.
“Fuck you,” she spat at the shape. “I told you to stop following me, you voidbringer shit.”
“And what are you going to do about it?” Said the voice, strangely clear in the storm, “kill yourself at me?”
“Fuck you,” she said again, softer this time. Thunder deafened her.
“If you wanted to die, you would’ve picked something more reliable than the old man,” it said. “I’m not challenging you, kid. I’m telling you what you knew going in.”
“Of course I don’t want to die!” she screamed.
“But you think you deserve to.”
“Because I do.”
There was quiet for a time, and Sahan could tell, somehow, that the thing on the ground in front of her was considering.
Eventually, he said, “Maybe. To be honest with you, ‘deserve’ has never made a lot of sense to me.”
“Well let me fill you in,” she said, suddenly full of spite. “Sometimes a human hurts another human. Hurts them too badly to ever make it right. Too badly for the person she hurt to ever get better. So badly that the closest thing anyone can get to closure is for the one who fucked up to guarantee that nobody ever has to worry about seeing her again. I deserve this because I was given a choice, and the power to make it, and I chose wrong. Just let me die. Please.”
The voice paused again. “No.”
The storm raged around them.
“Why?”
“Because the last person who listened to me died with blood in his teeth. Because you and I are the same kind of idiot, and I’m too stupid to give up on a lost cause.”
“So what do you want with me?” she asked.
“You know what I want.”
And she did. The thought crystalized in her mind. She tasted bile.
“You want me to take the coward’s way out. To make the selfish choice, again.”
“I promise if it goes wrong, you can blame everything on me.”
She drew a shaking breath. She thought of her mother. She spoke.
1. futuristic ace or vintage ace? (Maybe more historical than really vintage, but meh. Although... Voltron might be converting me to futuristic ace.... at least a little. Because Pidge.)
16. peppermint ace or cinnamon ace? (The only exception is chocolate mint anything or white chocolate peppermint tea, but in the absence of chocolate chinnamon will win every time.)
Do you have hcs for inserting any of your characters into Voltron?
[I’m doing ficlet/headcanon prompts to celebrate 500 followers!]
Ummmmmm. Yes.
(Oh my god this post is almost 2500 words I’m so sorry.)
We’re gonna take this by series.
Mnemonic Saga (Caverns of the Soul)
There are two ways you could play this out: transplant the maincharacters into the world and story of Voltron, or re-purpose theMnemonic plot using Voltron worldbuilding in place of theoriginal magic system.
Scenario 1 (simple character transplant)
Pilar is the Black Paladin. She’s cool under pressure, decisive, the kind of person everyone else looks to for direction. She chose to take up the position very deliberately, and she’s in this war for the long haul.
Vicente is the Blue Paladin, and the emotional core of the team. He sometimes doubts whether or not he deserves to be a paladin, but the others all know they would have cracked under the pressure long ago without him.
Miguel is the Yellow Paladin. He sometimes finds it hard to care about the universe at large, but he would do anything–anything–to protect his team. (’Anything’ has a tendency to be a bit self-destructive, but he doesn’t care about that, either.)
The three of them were part of the crew of the Kerberos mission (Pilar was copilot, her father pilot and commander; Vicente was navigator, Miguel engineer.) When the Galra attacked, Pilar’s father and several other crew members were captured, presumably alive, but Pilar, Miguel, and Vicente made it back to their ship and managed to escape.
They returned to Earth for help, only to have the Garrison turn on them and try to silence them. They ran off and hid in the desert, making occasional runs on the Garrison for supplies and information.
Noemi and Benjamin caught them on one such raid and followed them back to the desert. Ben wanted to turn them in, but before he got the chance, the Galra attacked.
That was when Vicente found the Blue Lion, which carried all five of them off to the Castle of Lions.
Noemi bonded with the Red Lion (impulsive, instinctual, sometimes temperamental…Well. Let’s just say Noemi and Red get along phenomenally), and Ben pilots the Green Lion–though despite having the inquisitive nature suited to Green, he has a difficult time bonding with her.
[I’m gonna stop here because Spoilers, but if you’ve read Caverns you might have some idea where this is headed]
Scenario 2 + three other series below the cut.
Scenario 2 (re-purposing the plot)
This gets a little bit into late-series stuff, so I’m going to keep this as spoiler free as possible.
Delfi is the Black Paladin, if only grudgingly. Black chose them to lead Team Voltron, and they’ve kind of been running from that responsibility for a while, even while they became the de facto leader of the resistance.
Adan is the Blue Paladin, cheerful and empathetic. He’s the youngest Paladin by three years, but he works hard to make sure he’s not holding them back.
Eloisa is the Green Paladin, curious and strategic. She has a bit of a wild streak, though, and tends to get herself in trouble.
Ines is the Yellow Paladin. She doesn’t say much, so the universe knows next to nothing about her, but she’s a very dependable and protective teammate and Delfi’s right hand (or, you know, left leg… sorry)
Noemi was the Red Paladin (always the Red Paladin. Always. Noemi and Red are inseparable.) But there was an ambush, Red was captured, and everyone thought Noemi was killed.
Noemi finds herself back on Earth with holes in her memory, and she ends up going back into space with Pilar, Vicente, and Miguel, who steal a Garrison ship to go look for Pilar’s missing father.
Clockwork Memories
Okay, there’s only one way to do this, and that’s to make it an AU where there are multiple factions vying for control of Voltron.
The Albatross take the place of the Galra as villains controlling the universe, and they want to destroy the lions.
The Orphanage is currently in possession of four of the five lions. They’re searching for the Red Lion, which was in Albatross hands until the Underground stole it. They plan to use Voltron to launch active war against the Albatross.
The Underground wants Voltron for defense against the Albatross and only limited, carefully planned offensive strikes.
Judah, Lydia, Irena, and the rest of the Levenston hub located and stole the Red Lion, but that drew the Alabtross’s attention, so they had to flee Levenston in order to protect it.
Like in canon, Irena gets separated from Lydia and Judah in the chaos, and Lydia spends the next year searching for her. Kalan follows, meeting Audrey along the way.
The current Team Voltron is:
Brianna as the Black Paladin. She’s ruthless in battle and not that much softer outside it, but she’s fiercely dedicated to the fight. With her heightened reflexes, she’s one of the most skillful pilots the Orphanage has ever seen, and she leads her team to victory after victory. She never stops talking about what she could do with Voltron itself under her command.
Adal is the Green Paladin. He’s secretly relieved that the Red Lion is missing because while he can follow orders and complete missions just fine, he works best alone. He’d rather be working on a project than working on cooperation. (Admittedly he’s pretty okay with the current team because they all know him, but he’s scared about the addition of a fifth paladin, especially because he’s nonverbal and the list of people who get that is very short.) His technopathy doesn’t fully work on the Lions, but it gives him a great deal of insight, and he’s modified Green quite extensively.
Quincy is the Yellow Paladin, and she’s a little bitter that Green didn’t choose her. Mostly that’s because she knows Adal the least and doesn’t immediately realize how well matched he is to Green. Besides, she’s something of a momfriend in the group, and Yellow appreciates that.
Nat is the Blue Paladin, and a total wild card. Stephen is one hundred percent pissed off when it happens because Nat has never taken anything seriously in their life, and why would that change now? They’re essentially the class clown, always lightening the mood but also usually the one to make a mistake. They’ve never actually cost the team a mission, but it’s been close on more than one occasion. Stephen sent Nat out to look for the Red Lion, but to be honest he wasn’t expected Nat to actually succeed.
Audrey is the Red Paladin. She was chosen by Red after she and Kalan joined the Underground, and literally no one is surprised. She’s every bit as temperamental and impulsive as Red, and her psychometry basically demands she rely on instinct, so she’s ready-made for this job. (Also the fact that she the way she can sense certain things about whatever she touches means that she communicates with Red better than most paladins can communicate with their Lions.) The Orphanage wants to recruit her so that they get the paladin and the Lion together.
…
Okay, now a bunch of spoilery stuff happens that I’m not going to get into but:
Eventually the lions end up in the Underground’s hands, and the lions bond with new paladins.
Audrey is still the Red Paladin, and no one would ever think of changing that. She’s just way too good.
Judah is the Black Paladin, since he’s already the head of most major missions. He has a knack for syncing up with the other pilots, so they form Voltron quickly and fight together smoothly with him at their head.
Lydia is the Green Paladin, which she’s super thrilled about. She kind of totally has a special interest in Voltron, and she knows everything about the lions. She’s also the second most experienced pilot on the team, after Judah. Granted, she’s used to smaller missions, and, also, putting Lydia and Audrey on a team together has a tendency to end in explosions (so many explosions.)
Kalan is the Yellow Paladin despite not being able to form a bond with her. There’s some speculation within the Underground that only psychometrics can bond with the Voltron Lions, and in fact Kalan is the only non-psychometric known to have piloted a Lion. It doesn’t seem to impact their ability to form Voltron, just forces Kalan to pilot Yellow entirely on his own skill, without the knowledge, aid, or cooperation of the Lion. Yellow seems to like him, though, maybe because he’s so determined to fight in a war that doesn’t directly affect him, all because he wants to protect his friends and people like them who haven’t learned to defend themselves.
Orelia is the Blue Paladin. She may be the least experienced pilot, but she’s fast and smart and works well in a team (a rare quality in this particular group.) She originally worked for the Underground as a navigator and tracking specialist, so she continues to handle recon as the Blue Paladin, seeking out targets and spying on Albatross operations.
Ashen Hands
A different sort of AU–instead of Voltron being well-established and the characters claiming the lions in the middle of the Galra War, this AU happens shortly after Voltron was first created. I guess that means it’s set on Altea? Sure.
Everyone’s vying for a position on the team, but there have never been paladins before, and no one knows what it takes. In fact, the lions haven’t even chosen paladins yet, so people have no clue that there’s a difference between a pilot and a paladin.
Konjitaku and Seisanjou worked on the project originally, so get pilot positions by default. Konjitaku pilots the Yellow Lion, and Seisanjou pilots Black. Neither have bonded with their lions–though they, unlike most people, are at least aware that a bond is possible and that they don’t have it. They’re torn between trying to force a bond and trying to find people who are naturally capable of forming a bond.
One day, Haru and Shin sneak into the hangar, hoping for a joy ride in the Voltron Lions. Except, whoops, turns out they’re the first people in history to be chosen as paladins.
(Haru is chosen by the Black Lion. Shin is chosen by the Blue Lion. Neither of them has any clue what that means, but the lions don’t seem to put up any resistance when the boys climb in and take the controls.)
There’s a bad accident during that first flight. Haru loses his arm and is locked in a med bay while he heals, Shin isn’t allowed to visit.
During his recovery, Haru overhears a conversation about how Voltron is supposed to have the power to rule the universe–but there’s no way it can reach its full potential with Haru as its head.
He runs away and meets Kaya, who comes from a small outlying colony that isn’t happy with the way the Alteans have barred outsiders from seeking a place on Team Voltron. She wants to steal one of the lions and become a paladin.
…Things get really messy after that, but:
Shin is the Blue Paladin, as he’s the most optimistic and trusting.
Narumi is the Yellow Paladin, because she’s only ever cared about protecting Kaya (and eventually the rest of the team)
Kaya and Haru are both the Black Paladin, and literally no one knows what that means. The lions aren’t supposed to choose two paladins, especially not at the same time, but they make it work.
Creative Rinka
First of I’m dying at the thought of a literal band of thieves and assassins becoming the defenders of the universe
(Like, really. These are criminals. Yes, they eventually become Leverage-style heros, bad guys make the best good guys and all that. But at the beginning? They’re literally only in this for fame, glory, money, and thrills.)
So I guess it has to be set waaaaay late game, which I kinda like because it opens the door for Rhag to be on the team.
But it also means heavy spoilers, so I’m not going to talk about plot, just lions.
Remora is the Black Paladin. She’s literally the only person on this team who can be trusted in a leadership position, or to make any sort of decision that won’t end in disaster.
Scops is the Red Paladin, because of course they are. This is the person who ran away from home to take over the world but ended up saving it instead. They literally curse their way out of the sticky spots they back themself into because they can’t be bothered to plan ahead and, hey, I’ve got magic. I can handle anything.
Tarin is the Blue Paladin because none of my characters is more like Lance than her. (Well, Nat comes close. But, Tarin.) I mean, this little shit. She flirts with…not quite everything that breathes, but close. She’s mostly in this for the laughs and the adventure. She’s got delusions of grandeur. She never takes anything seriously (except she totally does, she just doesn’t look it.) She also cares a lot and hides the fact that she misses home.
Zaria is the Yellow Paladin because she is for all intents and purposes the Eliot Spencer of the team. If you threaten her family she will either slit your throat or poison you; it’s just a matter of how much blood she wants to clean out of her dress.
And Rhag is the Green Paladin because this smol child got curious about a bunch of professional thieves and stowed away in a duffle bag because she wanted to know their secrets. (I don’t know that she ever found the massive conspiracy she was hoping for, but she got four moms and a lion out of it, which basically makes her Steven Universe, and that’s pretty cool if you ask me.)
What are you programming the game in and do you need any help with that?
We can always use another programmer!
I’m not sure what program they are using, but you can check out the “The Team” link on the blog and message the two programmers listed and they can answer more technical questions!
35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?
En doesn’t really do guilty. She doesn’t see the point of being ashamed of herself, even for murdering things. Her unguilty pleasure is definitely irritating people she should really not be irritating, though. See: every single interaction she has ever had with a waypoint Guardian
49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them?
It’s probably her sword, to be honest. It’s a masterpiece, and an extremely effective weapon. She stole it originally, but she’s had it for awhile now, and she’d probably be completely at a loss if she lost it. She’s not particularly sentimental, though. And she pretty much carries around everything she owns, there’s no point in owning something if it won’t be useful. What she can’t carry she keeps in a little locked safe hidden near one of the most obscure waypoints. This is where a lot of her money goes, to be honest.
50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials?
They pretty much do this already, but: sword, extra paper charms for her hair, her jacket, some poisons and some magically-invested healing salves, enough money to get by without drawing attention to herself, her tracker (a piece of biotech which serves among other functions as a compass), two knives just in case, and her bracelets which double as a light source. Also something to hold water I guess. She usually manages to fit all this in her bandolier, so.
First console my family owned was an N64 (which we bought about a year after we started renting the console and games from the local Blockbuster ever couple of weeks.) First system that was specifically *mine* was a Gameboy Advance if we’re counting handhelds/Gamecube if we’re only counting consoles.
4. Longest consecutive hours you’ve played a game?
Haaaaaaaaaa. I don’t know the exact length of time I played consecutively, but I know for there was a week during the summer back when I was in high school (or maybe between high school and college) that I played 100 hours (a playthrough and a half of Tales of Symphonia) in about a week. So...there were probably a couple days that I played for upwards of 12 hours, my longest break being half an hour for dinner....
9. Last game you played?
Tales of the Abyss. (Starting a...fourth? run and maybe going for 100% completion.)
16. The best year in gaming you’ve experienced?
Oooh, er.... I’m not...actually sure. I buy so few new games/systems that I can’t even remember which games I got around the same time to have an answer here. *shrug*
25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?
Nothing’s really coming to mind for this one. I mean, recent point of pride was playing the choose-your-own-adventure game Choice of Robots and building two lady bots who fell in love and built their own baby? I guess.
Or... I mean I’m kind of lowkey proud of myself for playing all but a few boss fights in TWEWY on the hardest mode at level 1. (Only because level is only HP in that game, and most of your stats come from your clothes.)
36. Best antagonist?
I think I’ll have to go with the Composer from TWEWY. All the antagonists from that game, really, but the Composer is so delightfully complex. I’ve never quite been able to decide if I love him or hate him, but I certainly enjoy him. ;)
49. A game you haven’t played in forever, but want to replay?
Baten Kaitos Origins. It’s one of my favorite games, but I’m pretty sure it’s been like...six or seven years since I last played it? Maybe longer. Wow. I need to fix that.
64. Describe your favorite video game using only three words?
Okay, well first I have to PICK a favorite game. I think I have to go with TWEWY, because I really do love that game. So...
