New headcanon:

Blaytz tried to teach Alfor archery. It went... about as well as expected. After taking Alfor to the med-bay for an archery-related injury for the tenth time that phoeb, Blaytz decided it was a lost cause and bows and arrows were added to the list of, "Keep Away from Alfor".

New headcanon:

Out of all the OG paladins, Zarkon and Trigel are by far the most competitive. A lot of people expect Blaytz or even Alfor, but Blaytz is actually pretty chill once you get to know him and Alfor would rather everyone get along. But if anything can possibly be twisted into a competition, you better believe it's a competition to Zarkon. And the minute Zarkon starts competing is the minute Trigel starts competing against him. It's scary to watch them compete against each other, but it's even scarier to see them on the same team.

New headcanon:

Gyrgan made sure to acknowledge each of the paladins' (and Coran's) birthdays. In other words, he made a very big deal about it and made their favourite foods and sometimes organised surprise celebrations (even if Zarkon had reacted kind of violently once or twice and Trigel startled so badly the first time that they didn't see her for a quintant). They all appreciated it, even if some (read: Zarkon) were bad at showing it.

New headcanon:

In the early days of their marriage, Honerva would often shift to try to look more Galra, as there were many Galrans unhappy that their emperor had married and Altean. Zarkon eventually told her that she needn't change herself for anyone, that he liked her just the way she was, and that if anyone argued he would fight them to the death.

(Though touched, Honerva thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Alfor had had to hold him back from death matches for reasons akin to this many, many times.)

New headcanon:

The original paladins tease each other relentlessly once they get comfortable with each other. They will seize on just about any chance to get some friendly teasing in there, and they are full of inside jokes.

(They really are one big happy family.)

New headcanon:

There is a reason they are called the paladins of Voltron instead of literally anything else.

Zarkon was the one who first started calling them this. The others just went along with it. They didn't connect any dots until the next time they played Monsters and Mana together.

"I will be a paladin," says Zarkon, as per usual, because he is always a paladin.

"But you're already a paladin in real life!" Coran starts to protest.

Silence, as everyone realises exactly why Zarkon, and in fact the rest of them, are paladins in real life.

Alfor, who is typically a mage, is understandably the most upset by this: "You mean we could have been the mages of Voltron!? And you chose paladin!?"

Nevertheless, it is too late and paladin sticks and no one outside their circle ever has to know that it was inspired by Monsters and Mana.

New headcanon:

Alfor and Coran play Monsters and Mana all the time. Alfor comes up with the most outlandish backstories just to see if Coran can make them work. Eventually, the other paladins start joining in. Let's just say that Shiro isn't the only Black Paladin to always insist on being a paladin in-game, and it drives Coran mad every time.

New headcanon:

Alfor and Coran are the best team. The two of them can do just about anything they set their mind to. Is this always a good thing? They would argue yes. Most everyone else would argue a resounding no. Does this ever stop them? No. No, it does not.

The Original Paladins as College Students

Yes, it’s another AU one.

Zarkon: He looks like he has his life together, at least, from an outside perspective. He knows his major, he’s got good grades, etcetera. He does not, however, have his life together, and his friends are well aware of this. He lives on coffee and Red Bull. Sleep? That is not a concept this man truly understands. He’s been to all of one party, and only because Alfor and Blaytz (mostly Blaytz) made him go. He’s probably a zombie during finals season, but it’s fine.

Alfor: This man is a disaster. He went through a phase of wanting to major in everything, except he can’t do that, so eventually had to settle. Like Zarkon, he survives on coffee and honestly pure determination. He somehow manages to get even less sleep, too, and if he eats one meal a day, his friends are legitimately proud (because, yes, that’s how often he forgets to eat). He takes all the really weird classes because they look cool, and also every science (and suffers for it). He goes to parties with Blaytz sometimes but he cannot hold his alcohol so Blaytz quickly learns to not let him have any. He’s also a literal genius and everyone is jealous. Coran is his roommate and Blaytz is basically a third roommate.

Blaytz: He is also a minor disaster. He’s the one who walks into class, sees people with essays, and goes, “Oh, shit, we had an essay?” He probably didn’t do the readings. He’s smart but prefers the party scene usually. How he’s friends with Alfor and Coran no one knows, but he adopted them pretty much day one and that was that. He flirts with everyone. He’s even flirted with professors. He’s on the swim team and spends half his time outside of class and parties at the pool. Does he live in the dorms? Maybe. Some think he can breathe underwater and just lives there - honestly usually he’s either in Alfor and Coran’s dorm or at a frat house. 

Trigel: She’s tired, but she actually has her life on track and it’s amazing. she’s on track to graduate early with a double major. She loves the library and practically lives there, and other students regard her as this mysterious, put together being who is just always there, especially when they have trouble on homework. Because somehow she is, in fact, always there. She’s staunchly opposed to parties. And Blaytz (well, not Blaytz, but his way of life).

Gyrgan: Gyrgan is the Mom Friend; his life may not be together but he will sure as hell make sure everyone else’s is. Somehow he always has snacks. Sometimes they’re homemade, sometimes they’re stolen from the dining hall, but every time they are appreciated. He’s pretty chill, and he knows what he’s doing for the most part, and he low-key adopted all the others the moment they met.

Coran: He’s Alfor’s roommate and equally a disaster. Also, he’s a theatre kid, which means a lot of shows. He drags Alfor and Blaytz into it too - sometimes they end up in the show, sometimes they’re forced to be in the audience every performance. Like his roommate, he runs on coffee. He’s been to a party once or twice but it’s always Very Bad and so he doesn’t come very often. He thinks he’s cool. He’s not? But Alfor encourages him anyway, because Alfor genuinely thinks he’s the coolest. It’s a good friendship, but they also enable each other to be bigger diasters so they probably need a babysitter (read: either Gyrgan or Trigel).

New headcanon:

Alfor had been enamoured by myth of Oriande from a young age, and was absolutely convinced it was real. For a while in his childhood his parents just went with it. He was quite upset to hear it wasn't real, and eventually decided he'd be the one that proved its existence.

When he found it, he ended up deciding it was something better left alone, and so kept it to himself. But if he walked around with a smug grin at the merest mention of the myth for years to come, well, who could blame him?

New headcanons:

Most of the original paladins could sing fairly decently.

Zarkon had a gorgeous deep bass voice, rough but not too rough, and just this quality to it that could almost lull you into a trance. He almost never sang for people, with the exception if those he was very, very close to.

Blaytz wasn't the best singer there was, and his voice was most definitely suited to fast-paced and cheerful songs where Zarkon's fit best with slow, solemn ones. Blaytz, in general, would not shut up. Everyone had to put up with his singing on a fairly regular basis.

Trigel had a really interesting singing voice, the kind people either really love or really hate. It was breathy and rough and soprano. She would sing when the occasion called for it, but not just randomly.

Gyrgan, like Zarkon, has a bass voice, but his was much smoother and incredibly soothing. Sometimes he would sing to calm his teammates down, and he was also the one they turned to if they needed to calm down children they had rescued.

Alfor had a beautiful tenor voice, but he was often a bit shy about it. Once he warmed up to the paladins, however, he and Blaytz would just randomly burst into song. He used to sing Allura to sleep at night almost every night, soft Altean lullabies that he learned from his parents.

New headcanon:

Out of all of the old paladins, Alfor and Blaytz were by far the most touchy-feely. I mean, yeah, Gyrgan likes hugs and offers them whenever, but Alfor and Blaytz are a whole different level.

Finding a moment where Blaytz isn't physically attached to at least one of the others is incredibly rare. He's pretty much always got an arm slung over someone's shoulders or something similar.

Alfor will just randomly surprise people by latching onto them with no warning or reason. Also, if there isn't somewhere to sit (and even if there is sometimes), he'll just sit on someone (typically Blaytz honestly). The first time he did this to Zarkon, the emperor literally threw him across the room.

That didn't actually stop Alfor, of course, but it was pretty amusing.