Alright, Voltron fic people, I’ve come to share my thoughts on our favorite starboy, Lance, and his unexplored potential as a bilingual legend.
(Nevermind the fact that I'm like 5651 years late to the fandom and that VLD is a touchy subject for most people, I like the damn show and I want better Lance fics dammit, so let me ve el dee on main in peace.)
But first!
The purpose of this post is not to determine the Correct Way to write Lance. This post is simply the end product of me watching a show, enjoying it, finding out a character is one of those I consider “my people”, proceeding to read fanfiction about him, and finding out a lot of people have trouble writing about him, and then deciding to speak about this as if someone actually cares. No one asked for this, but this is what I do with my free time, I write long posts about stuff I like.
So this is what you’re getting, manic ramblings about Bilingual/Hispanic Lance. Or how I imagine a more obviously hispanic Lance in the world of Voltron: Legendary Defender, without sounding too forced if you are not hispanic or bilingual yourself. Some of these are from a thread I wrote on twitter, but this is the extended version no one asked for.
Let's break it down into parts. Full post under the cut, because it's long, turns out I’ve thought about Lance a lot.
I’m going to assume people reading this don’t know much about the continent of America outside of the United States, so let’s clarify some terms first.
Hispanic means you come from a country where Spanish is spoken. That’s all this means. I use this term for Lance because it’s the broadest term. The others are Latin American, and Caribbean, as Cuba is a Caribbean Country.
I will not be using latino for a couple of reasons. One, because I can’t speak for Cuban people and I don’t know if a majority of them identify with that term, and two, in my experience, Latin Americans usually don’t refer to ourselves as “latino” first, as it is a term commonly used in the United States to lump us all together, we typically introduce ourselves by nationality or ethnicity, and I don’t consider latino to be either of those things. This will be different for people all over the continent, and especially for diaspora, so if someone from Cuba can comment on this via ask or something, I’ll be super happy to read from you.
This post only focuses on Lance as a bilingual character, this is not a guide to write every Latin American character, or any Cuban character. I speak Spanish and am from this region, but I’m not Cuban, so I can only talk about what I know.
Part 1, the problems I see most frequently in fics that try to make him speak spanish.
Not enough spanglish.
You might think this is weird, but hear me out. I’ve read a bunch of fics where Lance is a focal character, and whenever there’s a scene where Lance code-switches, it's to random, full spanish sentences, as if a bilingual person would just forget one of their languages.
You have to keep in mind Lance doesn't have anyone to speak spanish with in the castle, so if he were to code-switch for some reason, it would be in spanglish a lot of the time, not only full spanish, and I think the ratio of spanish/english would most likely lean to english because of the environment he’s been living in.
Not having in consideration his upbringing, or his life before the events of the show.
Think about how he’s written in the show, or at least consider what little we know of him and how he speaks. We have enough clues as to imagine a possible life story, and how that would affect his relationship to spanish. Ignoring the fact that the VA is not a native spanish speaker, you can interpret Lance as:
Someone whose first language is Spanish that learned English when his family immigrated to the US, maybe early enough for him to default to English in most social situations by the time he’s a teenager.
Or,
Someone who grew up bilingual, using both languages at home but Spanish in school and in his social life, who then, when his family immigrated to a new country, only could speak Spanish at home or with other hispanic people he met.
I myself like to imagine him as someone who had to learn english at a later age, around 13 or something. Kids are great at learning languages, especially when they’re totally immersed in them.
Lance says he’s a “boy from Cuba”, meaning he was probably born and raised there, he mentions Playa Varadero, so he probably spent a lot of his time in Matanzas or La Habana.
Given that his last name is McClain (at least, I think so), you can also make him a mixed kid who just looks more like his dad, it’s not like we have their entire family history, so have fun with it! Latin American and Caribbean people can have crazy family stories, don’t be afraid to ask around to make it a little more believable.
Also? You can keep his last name, there's diversity over here, buddy, remember colonialism is a thing, sometimes people that look stereotypically Latin American/Caribbean will have european last names, but we grew up here, a character being "Latin American enough" is not your call to make if you're not one of us.
Part 2, the more tricky part, how I imagine lance’s brain works when it comes to speaking spanish.
We actually hear him say stuff like “hasta la later” (which it’s not like, proof, but it’s all I have to work with so bear with me).
I’m going to use myself as an example: when I say a spanish word in the middle of an english sentence, my default is to use the spanish pronunciation, Lance doesn't, he pronounces spanish words with an english accent. For example, when he says Varadero Beach with the English phonetics, this is obviously something on the VA’s part but I’m just gonna pretend it’s on purpose, because that's an important bit of characterization if you know a bit of linguistics and are down to theorize. Like me, because apparently this is what I chose to do with my two years worth of linguistics classes and free time after watching Voltron.
What can you learn from that fact? Well, maybe, that's a kid that still has fluency in this first language but doesn't have many opportunities to speak it, so he might not have the instinct to pronounce Spanish words in his own accent.
Moreover, he is shown speaking english even when he's alone with his sister and, granted, we can just assume that this is due to the fact the show is written in english, but if you want to have fun with me, you can also assume that it’s because they are in the middle of a mission, or because their family has been in the US long enough for them to only speak spanish between them, in intimate situations, but not in front of people outside their family or when they're wearing earpieces.
Part 3, interactions with other characters.
Let's start with the most obvious of the bunch, Keith!
There's so much potential for wacky shenanigans if you take into consideration that Keith is supposedly from Texas, aka, a place with lots of Spanish speakers due to its proximity to Mexico.
I don't think Keith would be fluent, but if the laws of language are true there too, he at least can tell if you're insulting him, which Lance would 100% do, because spanish swearing is superior and universal. If you don’t want to risk butchering Cuban slang, worry not, I have thought about this as well.
Now, I don't know much about Cuban dialects, so I can't really give any pointers (believe it or not, spanish dialects can vary A LOT), but there's meant to be some similar words in the dialects spoken close to the border and the ones spoken in Matanzas or La Habana, so, trust in the readers and their suspension of disbelief.
Now here’s my favorite hc: Lance could've picked up some other kinds of insults during his teenage years, you can't tell me this boy didn't make friends with other immigrants. The first thing you do when you meet other hispanic people overseas is 1. gush over your shared interests and 2. learn their insults.
These are just facts, don't argue with me.
Also, Lance probably spoke a more neutral version of his native dialect with other people, if he had the opportunity to speak Spanish with people that aren’t from Cuba. Code-switching is not something that happens only between languages, but also between dialects or registers of the same language, meaning he also has an extensive vocabulary. I’m friends with people from all over Latin America and I change the way I speak to them instinctively depending on who I am talking to.
Let’s talk about Hunk!
As his best friend, Hunk would’ve been the most exposed to Lance's bilingual brain bugs. These happen. Sometimes you forget the english word for something and no one can help you, sometimes you’re trying to explain something in spanish and you can’t keep the english out, sometimes you can count only in one language and you have to translate in your mind before speaking it out loud, sometimes you get hurt and the only thing you can do is yell the nastiest spanish swear possible, sometimes you speak to yourself and you mix and match for added Emotion. Hunk has been a witness to all of this, you can’t tell me he wouldn’t know a few words and phrases.
About Allura~ I like to believe that Allura, being a diplomat and all, would love to learn spanish as well. If what you’re writing follows canon, then you have a lot of potential to explore. Her nature is to understand others, and Lance’s family adores her.
This applies to Lance’s relationships wih everyone in Team Voltron, not just romantic relationships. We hispanic people are all about terms of endearment, and our terms of endearment are just, sublime, super sweet. Ask me about this, please.
And finally, Shiro, my favorite. He's Japanese, a lot of people just assume he’s fluent in both japanese and english, making him the only other bilingual person in Lance’s immediate vicinity. They would have so much fun comparing their experiences. They could teach some words and phrases to each other. It gives you a lot of wholesome potential.
So there you have it!
You don’t have to make Lance a telenovela character, he can still speak mostly english in most situations, but if you want to make him speak more spanish, then I hope these can help you.
If you want to ask something, exchange Bilingual Lance hcs (I have a ton, in case it wasn’t obvious) please do! I love this character a lot, even if I don’t talk about him often.
Okay, so there’s this kid who rides his bike up to the little shopping strip at the local intersection every day. He spends the day being cute enough to get free cookies in the hispanic convenience store and sitting on a spare stool in the hair studio watching soap operas with the hair stylists on the tiny black and white tv, and, honestly, he’s lance to me.
Like, lance’s mom got tired of lance always talking her ear off while she does the early evening chores that she forgoes his help with them to send him out on his bike. She knows he’s safe up there at the shopping strip, so, she just expects him home for dinner, usually with some extra cookies for his siblings because he’s a good kid. LOUD, but ultimately sweet.
Im not here to change your mind lmfao. In fact, I love exploring religion with my favorite characters, especially Catholicism!
I like to think that Lance's family were at one point or are, devout Catholics.
I like the idea of Lance's mom going up to her son before he went to the garrison and giving him a rosary, asking him to pray by it when blessing God, whisper, "By the Blood Of Jesus." Which is, btw a thing that my Catholic Grandma insists that I do when I'm stressed or scared.
Also Lance would have definitely gone through and completed Communion. He has a Confirmation name, which is St. Michael The Archangel (which is a little on the nose Considering he's the patron saint of Soldiers)
So, Lance goes into space right? He leaves his Rosary at the Garrison and his praying starts to wane cause of Paladin stuff. Then Shiro gets hurt badly and Lance is praying again, remebering the rosary and pretending to pray by it, hoping that Shiro would be okay. In fact, everytime a Paladin got hurt he prayed by the rosary.
Reverent prayer, to me was always considered frightening, especially if it was sudden and frantic. Which is why I added it in "Inquiry." Him doing a hail Mary, in hindsight, wasn't the best choice, Instead he would have chanted "By the Blood of Jesus" at least, in my train of thought.
Lance comes back to Earth and in the Hospital his mom gifts him a rosary that matches his uniform and armor.
Lance being Catholic is such a Good Concept and using his Catholicism could be a great frame for theming.
Also High Key Lance being Catholic is just self projection of my experiences with being Hispanic and Religious.
Day 3: Home/Family Title: Homesick Characters: Lance, Allura Summary: Lance is feeling homesick and reminisces about his home, Allura is there to comfort him. Not romantic. --- Lance looked out the window wistfully. He was so, so far from home and space was so very, very vast. Earth was so far away that just thinking about the distance made his heart ache with loneliness. Lance looked at the pocket watch he had received from his father. It had been a gift for getting into the academy, so he would know what time it was back home, no matter how far from earth he went. He would have never guessed that Lance would end up so far from home, so far away from their family, fighting an intergalactic war, nor how lonely the watch would make him feel. Right now, his mother and father and younger siblings were sitting at the dining room table, eating a supper that they made together with love. Lance liked to think it was taquitos. It was his littlest sister's favorite, and she would do all sorts of silly things with them like stick them up her nose, and she'd get beef stuck and she'd sneeze it out, and everyone would laugh.He closed his eyes and pictured his whole family together around the table, talking and laughing. Lance imagined that his big brothers and sisters were there, talking about college and work and such normal, normal things that it made his heart ache even more. He fought back the tears that threatened to overflow. His family was so far away. They had no idea where he was. He may never get to tell them what he's done. God, he might never get to sit at the dining room table with them again. Lance’s shoulders shook with the tears he couldn't hold back anymore, the sound contained by his hand. He wanted to go home. He just wanted to go home. He needed his mom. He was just a kid, he couldn't do this. He needed his mom's hugs and her kiss on his forehead telling him everything would be okay and that he was strong and brave and that he would get through it. But he may never see her again. He may never see any of his family again. They meant so much to him, and he may never even see earth again. Lance’s sobs took to a higher degree of agony as he thought about that little fact. He may never see his family again. So taken by his despair, he didn't hear the quiet footsteps coming up to sit next to him on the bench. Lance didn't bother looking up. He just covered up his face as he tried to choke back his tears. The last thing he wanted was for his team to see him cry. He had to be brave for them. He had to be brave. Lance jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder and he finally looked up to see the sympathetic face of Allura. Oh God, he was crying in front of the princess, who had many more reasons to cry than he did. His sobs increased as he looked away, embarrassed and shaking from his tears. “Oh, Lance,” she sighed, pulling him into a hug. Neither spoke for a long time, the only sound coming from Lance as he slowly calmed down. He clung to her as he cried, glad to have the support without question. She cared, and that was enough for him to start feeling better. Time passed before Lance finally pulled away. Before he could get rid of the evidence of his tears, Allura was gently wiping them away. He sniffed as he looked up at her. “I-I'm sorry. I-I-I don't have the right-” “Lance, it's okay to miss your home and your family. Just because I lost mine doesn't mean you don't have the right to miss yours. We all need a good cry sometimes, and, I know I can't promise you will go home some day, but you can know I will be doing everything I can to help you see your family again, so that you don't have to feel my pain, okay? I swear I will do everything in my power to help you all see your home and your family again.” She smiled kindly as she spoke to him, running a hand through his hair in an almost motherly way. The action caused his lip to quiver again and he hugged her tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Allura repeated the movement and was quiet as he sniffled, gentle comfort spreading as she did. “... Would it help if you were to talk about them?” she finally asked in a slow, soothing, hushed voice. Lance nodded and took another moment to collect himself before letting go, rubbing his eyes. “My family is probably finished cleaning up from dinner now. My mom probably has on her favorite radio station in the kitchen and she's singing along in Spanish,” he closed his eyes to better picture the scene. “My older little sister is finishing up the dishes while my mom sweeps up. She says that if she doesn't sweep, we'd be drowning in the dirt my littlest siblings bring in. Dad is cleaning them up right now so that he and my mom can tuck them in.” Lance had to stop for a moment, tears forming in his eyes again. “Dad will read them each a story, and mom will come in after and sing their favorite lullabies before they both kiss them each on the head and turn off the light.” Allura placed a hand on his shoulder again. “They sound very loving.” When Lance spoke again, his voice had a growing tremor. “They're the best freaking parents a guy could ask for. They raised all of us and we're all good people who are going to do great things for people and I love them so much. I never went easy on them growing up. I didn't understand how hard it was to raise us all but I do now. I understand. I may never get to tell them that though. I may never get to tell them I love them again.” “It won't be easy, but I'm sure we can do it. I'm sure of it,” Allura wiped away his fresh tears and smiled kindly. Lance finally smiled back and nodded. “Thanks, princess, for all this. I really needed it.” “Any time, Lance, honestly. I'm here for you and the others, whenever you need me. You have such a great weight on your shoulders. If I can help you carry some of that burden, I would be glad,” “You have a heavy weight on your shoulders too, Allura. You can come to us when you need someone to cry with, okay? If I can't do it alone, you can't either,” Lance teased as he stood up and held out a hand for her. “Hunk’s probably done remaking dinner by now. Are you ready to go eat?” Allura smiled back and took his hand as she stood up. “I am famished. Honestly, fighting an empire really makes you hungry, doesn't it?” Their voices echoed through the halls as they made their way to the warmth of their friends’ company.
The thing I love about Hispanic Lance is that there are like a lot of ways he could talk. Hispanic countries have reaaaaally different types of spanish HAHA
