Arrival (Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic)

Introduction

Here is my sixth of eight projects for ONC this year.

What prompt did you use?

I'm using prompt ninety-five for this one. "They say that everyone has someone out there that looks like them, but what happens when you come face to face with the new kid in school that could pass as your identical twin?"

What fandom are you writing for?

I'm writing for Voltron: Legendary Defenders, though I've brought in some elements from some of the other Voltron universes such as Ryo Shirogane, Takashi Shirogane's brother from GoLions who was merged with Takashi's character to become Sven.

What do readers not familiar with the fandom need to know?

So, I'm actually not planning on touching upon Voltron in this as said story is planned out as an AU which would take place before the VLD characters find Voltron. I've also been big on Keith (called Keith Akira Kagone or Akira Kagone in Voltron: Defenders of the Universe and GoLions respectively) and Shiro (Takashi Shirogane) being biological brothers since season one aired, all because I saw fanart of Ryo and asked myself, "what would Ryo look like if they brought him in", in other words aged him down like the others and I suddenly realized he'd look like Keith.

15-16 - Keith, Lance, Hunk, James, Ryo
17-18 - Matt Holt
18-19 - Shiro

I don't plan on having Katie in this story, but she'd likely be either a year or two below Keith and the others age wise.

"But wait, isn't Shiro twenty-five?"

Okay, so I am actually going with the "five unsuspecting teens" ages for this one, making Shiro unable to become Keith's legal guardian when Keith first entered the garrison program. In fact, all media lists "five unsuspecting teens" even after the release of the character book certain producers admitted they didn't double-check before its release which included comics that Dream Works published after the fact, but the whole so-called "canon ages".

That's from someone taking an answer as "yes" while completely ignoring the "something like that" which came before, but one of the first major wanks in VLD fandom was fans insisting Shiro couldn't be eighteen as at the time the youngest astronaut on record was twenty-five and they refused to listen to us that the record-breaking was stagnated by cuts to the NASA program. Returning to space is still in the works, but just last year the record for the youngest person to ever travel to outer space is eighteen, nor does the fact he's recognized as a "commercial astronaut" make him not an astronaut.

As for Keith's age, the whole argument behind that stems from a.) fans mistaking schools as interchangeable for social services and that the garrison as his school would have to, when he chooses to drop out of school, take on the role of social services rather than reporting him to social services and b.) other fans arguing that there was no such thing as a military academy for the secondary education level - middle school and high school, but that such institutions create child soldiers and c.) they weren't happy the younger four were in fact forced into the roles of child soldiers because of circumstances out of everyone's control.

This is despite having scenes in the final season that shows one can become a cadet at the garrison while one was still middle school-aged.

Don't ask. Really, don't. Just know that I and others have a preference for the "five unsuspecting teens" age range unless the plot would benefit from it. Oh, and we were promised we would get to meet Shiro's family early on, only for it to never happen. No Ryo Shirogane.

What is the inspiration for the story?

So, the fact I headcanon Keith and Ryo as being identical twins with Keith not realizing they're identical twins. Add to this, it is canon that Keith has a temper that if he's bullied long enough he will explode, so while me headcanoning him as a high functioning autistic is headcanon, the fact he's got the temper and other cadets would push him until he broke is canon. Oh, that said, it should also be noted that the Shirogane family, Shiro's family, outside of Ryo who comes from GoLions canon of the Voltron continue, is comprised of OCs.

How do I incorporate the prompt?

Keith (Voltron: Legendary Defender) has to deal with the new kid Ryo (a character from GoLions universe not implemented in VLD) looking like him to the point he could pass as his twin which in turn would be because they are twins and Keith doesn't know it.

Effectively, I'm working with the headcanon of Shiro and Keith being actual biological brothers which didn't pan out, but that I started headcanoning at the start of season one because I realized if a younger Ryo were to be incorporated into the series he would in fact look like Keith, Ryo being Takashi Shirogane's actual younger brother from GoLions who was combined with him to make Sven in Voltron. I like to still work with this simply because we never got to see Shiro's family as promised.

Also, I'm utilizing the fact the garrison provides an alternative secondary education for kids with what is in effect a military academy.

Word Count

Chapter 1 - 1,193
Chapter 2 - 2,590
Chapter 3 - 4,147
Chapter 4 - 5,233
Chapter 5 - 6,669
Chapter 6 - 8,000
Chapter 7 - 9,179
Chapter 8 - 10,856