#merla

[popplebot-art]

Merla returns! But something seems.. unusual about her...

Bluesky

[lory78blog]

Foto inedite! La merla! ❤️

[80sgaytrashgoblin]

Shout out to the one person who followed me today for Voltron despite my last publicly posted art being four years ago, here's a scattering of stuff from the last few years.

[lotorsshoulderpads]

Tomodachi life update: tried to introduce Merla and Allura and Merla IMMEDIATELY caught feelings. Then merla turned around, saw Romelle and the game was like "merla is just staring at romelle. Should she introduce herself?" Lesbian queen

[minamorsart]

Enter Merla: Queen of Darkness!!! 🖤✨

I was pretty disappointed when VLD didn't explore the culture and politics of the Galra Empire more, especially after Lotor took the throne, and I was also quite disappointed with Merla's cameo. So I decided to take a crack at her design myself! Some backstory below!!

I made her Acxa's twin sister because while I don't believe it was confirmed, I always thought that 80's Merla's character must have been divided into the four women who became Lotor's generals in VLD, so why not make Merla and Acxa related? Plus in every piece of fiction you need to have at least one set of twins ;) That's just da rules babeyy~

Acxa and Merla are from Planet Drule (a loyal territory of the Galra Empire) and are half-Galra and half-Drule. They are not of royal descent, and since they were children they were looked down on because they are half-breeds. As the oldest, Acxa takes on the responsibility of looking after Merla, who over the years begins to grow restless with the two of them settling for low-ranking positions in the army and living a less than satisfying life.

One day exiled Prince Lotor comes to oversee the planet just as Merla is planning a coup to overthrow the corrupt Drule king. The coup fails, and wanting to protect her sister, Acxa takes the blame even though she had nothing to do with it. When she is sentenced to death, Lotor, seeing the potential and skill Acxa possesses, offers to pardon her in exchange for her loyalty to him, thus saving her life (it is my personal headcanon that Acxa is the first of the generals to be recruited). She accepts and tries to convince Merla to come with her, but Merla refuses and insists on staying, saying that she wants to change things on Drule, and that by leaving Acxa is abandoning her. The two part ways on bad terms, and do not see each other for many years.

Merla eventually succeeds in taking the throne, her followers assassinate the king, and she becomes queen of Drule. She and Acxa have the occasional run-in, which is how Lotor and the other generals get to know her more. There is still lingering resentment between the two sisters, however, particularly on Merla's part. The events of VLD proceed as normal up until the end of season 5, and I personally would like to take out Lotor killing Narti and the generals turning against him. Now emperor, Lotor works tirelessly to unite his people and deal with the growing Galra factions which plot to rise up against him.

News of Lotor's ascent to the throne spreads throughout the universe, and soon Queen Merla is paying a visit to the Empire and demanding an audience with him. She knows all about the Galra factions, including Sendak's Fire of Purification, and proposes that she and Lotor marry in order to combine the forces of both the Galra Empire and Planet Drule. If Lotor accepts, the two nations will become stronger than ever and no one will dare stand against them. If he refuses, Merla will merely seek support from the factions, perhaps even form an alliance with Sendak, who will eventually try to take the Galra throne himself.

What can this mean for not only the Galra Empire, but for Voltron and the Coalition as well?? What can this mean for Lotor and Allura's developing relationship??? For those who haven't seen the 80's show, Queen Merla debuts in the US-made 2nd season. She and Lotor are actually engaged for a time! Merla is cold, cunning, and calculating like Lotor, and perhaps even a little more manipulative. She enjoys being entertained and can on occasion be condescending.

And this is not meant to create any unnecessary love triangle between Merla, Lotor, and Allura. While Merla has people in her life she cares for and she respects Lotor, her first priority is maintaining her seat on the throne and looking after her people, so she really only sees Lotor as a means to gain more power. Lotor recognizes this, because he mostly shares the same mindset as her and can see the benefits of marrying her, regardless of his own feelings. And how does Allura feel about this whole matter?? 👀 Only time will tell, though it is also likely that the princess may be too proud to ever reveal how she truly feels. At the end of the day, I just think it would be fascinating to explore more of the politics of the VLD universe and the complications that come with ruling an entire empire whilst trying to keep alliances and territories intact. Plus it would make for some fun drama! Particularly in the romance category hehe.

[chibi-pix]

TOOK LONG ENOUGH! So I spent about two weeks at my dad's for Thanksgiving and couldn't exactly draw. So I read manga. Including the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess manga. And let's just say that Midna gave me new vibes and ideas for Merla. And I'm now thinking of this being her look for when she eventually shows up in Witch, Please! I've also upgraded her pet's look to give him a more alien look. And I love how things turned out.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one! Commissions are open and available on my Ko-fi. Until next time!

[fictional-gods-tournament]

Comeback Round

The 4 with the most votes will be on round 2

Ankarna (Dimension 20: Fantasy High)

Merla (Gods of Inthya)

Phoenix Force (Marvel comics)

The Firebird (Fantasia)

Lord of Nightmares (Slayers)

The Shadow (Supernatural)

The Leviathan (The Unwritten)

Voting ended onMar 7, 2025

Characters' info under the cut

Ankarna (wiki)

Domains: Corrupted form represents rage, fire and conquest. Uncorrupted form represents justice, summer and harvest. Also dawn but the mod isn't sure in which form.

Propaganda:

(SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH: JUNIOR YEAR) LETS GO LESBIANS!!!!! She was corrupted by worshippers for hundreds of years. She deserves nice things like winning tournaments. Vote for her Again: LESBIAN GODDESS She had her name ERASED FROM ALL LANGUAGE so that the colonizers' god could rise. Her followers turned on her and tricked her. Gods are reflections of their followers and they corrupted her and then sealed her away to rot forever without dying. And then the person who tried to bring her back was only trying to usurp her and become the god of rage himself. AND she's married to another goddess in these polls (Cassandra)!!!

Merla

Domains: the sea

Phoenix Force (wiki)

Domain: Life, Death, Rebirth

Propaganda:

It is the multiversal source of all life, the host of Jean Grey, and is one of the few fictional characters that can come back from true existence erasure, it also is a giant flaming phoenix.

The Firebird (wiki)

Domain: Destruction

Lord of Nightmares (wiki)

Domains: She is the creator God of the entire world of Slayers & Lost Universe; Everything.

Propaganda:

THE hands-off ultimate God QUEEN!!!!! She made this world, and she is not going to help any more than that <3 Also she's just awesome :3

The Shadow (wiki)

Domains: The Void / The Empty, the afterlife for Angels and Demons

Propaganda:

He predates all the others beings in the show including God

The Leviathan (link provided didn't work)

Domains: The collective consciousness of everyone who experiences stories

Propaganda:

It is an entity that feeds on the words and stories made by people and contains all of human consciousness to make up stories

[who-do-i-know-this-man-s3revived]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

Round 1

Mephisto Barto Dertov Reffert Lark Kucabara (Defense Devil)

Merla (Voltron Legendary Defender)

I know both/neither

Voting ended onJun 21, 2025