The 3 stages of creating an AU backstory for Shiro after watching season 7...
..or I got attacked by a plot bunny late last night and this is basically how my inner dialogue went:
Stage 1 - I can fix it!
Shiro is happy and healthy. He lives in space, on a space station, and is a brilliant space pilot. He loves his job and his husband Adam, who is also a space pilot. Everything is fine and dandy.
Problem: If Shiro’s so happy then why in the bleeding hell would he want to go traipsing off around the universe with a bunch of bickering teenagers on the basis of nothing more than some half-baked fairy story???
Me: Oh shit, you’re right. That’s kind of a massive plot hole. Better fill it quickly with... um... angst?
Stage 2 - All the ANGST
Shiro has been royally fucked over by Haggar. She said she was gonna try and cure his disease with experimental treatments, but really it was all just a ploy to get him vulnerable and isolated so she could experiment on him. And now that he’s all used up and no longer of use to her, she’s sold him to Sendak. Worse still, no one even knows Shiro is missing, because the clone that Haggar created has taken his arm, his memories, his job, his husband - his whole life (minus the disease part)!
Problem: Shiro’s suffering seems kinda disproportionate compared to what you came up with for the others. Like, you gave Keith two living parents and a dog, so how is this fair? How are you any better than the canon writers?
Me: That is... a good point. I feel bad. But wait! Being inspired by a movie I watched got me into this mess, maybe inspiration from another movie I watched can get me out of it!
Stage 3 - Actually coming up with a plot
Shiro’s disease isn’t actually a disease at all, but a natural part of his evolution as a paladin/lion/part* of Voltron. The breaking down of his body will ultimately lead to a transformation into a new, more powerful being. He’s gonna get an entirely new and perfectly healthy body! The only reason the others haven’t shown any symptoms yet is because Shiro is older than everyone else - he just got to that stage first.
Problem: None. Leave it alone!
Me: This is great! Yes, Shiro suffers a lot, but he gets rewarded in the end with a new, improved, all-natural body. And then he gets to sort his life out and ends up happy. There’s plenty to work with there, plot-wise.
My brain: So, you gonna write it, then?
Me: Hahaha no, don’t be stupid. I’m probably gonna spend hours working out every tiny detail of the characters’ backstories and how the story progresses. But actually write it? That’s just crazy talk!
*Now I’m just giving away what the AU is about...