#just tried to see what characterizes keith and shiro's faces

[braincoins]

Allura tries an alchemical experiment to see if she can track someone she's attuned to. She attunes to Shiro. And... something goes... wrong? Is it just because Shiro's not Altean or is there something... more going on?

Fandom: VLD Rating: Teen and up Ships: Shallura Tags:  Mind Meld, Dream Sex, Nightmares, I hate forming Voltron in fic and yet I KEEP WRITING IT, why do I do this to myself?, Allura as a (non-Mad) scientist, Altean Alchemy

Author’s Notes: At long last, the dreamsharing Shallura fic I've been teasing! Hope it's worth the wait.

Thanks to @mckinlily for the beta!

(11,126 Words - on Ao3)

Teaser below cut:

           Shiro addressed the little screen that had popped up. “You sent for me, Princess?”

           Her face on the screen smiled and nodded. “Yes. Come in.” And the door opened.

           Shiro entered slowly, taking in the full sight of what had been King Alfor’s lab. Two semi-circle tables facing each other, a walkway between them, and each full of bottles and beakers and capped petri dishes – at least, that’s what he would have characterized each of these things as. Some of the containers were full of liquids or powders or strange objects he couldn’t begin to identify.

           And above each table were floating shelves of books and boxes. He had no idea how they stayed on the shelves when the Castle took a hit – maybe they didn’t? – but for now they looked stable as they hovered. There were more traditional shelves built into the walls either side of the door he’d just walked through. The other walls were covered with charts and posters, blueprints and planning documents. He recognized something that looked like a slightly reordered (and expanded) periodic table; another was an outline of an Altean body, he assumed, the different parts labeled (it's not like he could read it).

           Allura was standing between the two tables, and she was still smiling as she waved him closer. “I need you for an experiment.”

           He’d been about to join her but stopped just shy of the tables. “What sort of experiment?”

           She chuckled. “It won’t hurt.”

           He asked again, “What is it?” but he was already moving forward. He trusted Allura, he was just curious.

           “It’s a simple attunement first, and then turning it into a tracer.”

           He didn’t know what the first part meant but… “You’re going to track me? Can’t the Castle do that?”

           “Yes, when you’re in or near the Castle or in the Black Lion. But with this I can track you. It could be useful for finding lost paladins,” which happened often enough, especially when Keith hared off after something, “or if we had a prisoner, I could trace them if they escaped. We could trace Blade members aboard a Galra ship… Really, anyone, so long as I’m able to attune to them first.”

           He nodded. “Could be very useful.”

           “I just need to practice to be certain I can do it properly. I’ve gotten good at attuning myself to the extant energies of the cosmos, but I’m not really used to attuning to another person. And even if it’s simple to pull off, I’d like to see how long I can keep it up.”

           “I could go out in Black, too,” he suggested, “to see how far you can track.”

           “Ooh, yes, good addition!” Her smile widened. “You see, this is why I chose you for the test. And, also, everyone else is busy.”

           He laughed. “Lance would have loved a rescue from cleaning duty.”

           “Yes, and he would have doubtless made some more of those terrible comments while he was in here,” she replied, mouth twisting briefly in distaste. “He’s a good person, a good paladin, but… well, anyway, let’s just get on with the experiment, shall we?”

           “And it doesn’t hurt, right?” he teased her.

           But she answered sincerely, “It doesn’t hurt.” Then paused and added, “If I do it right.”

           “Okay, now I’m getting a little worried.”

           “Shiro, I…”

           “…would never hurt me,” he finished. “I know, Princess.”

#Shallura #Socks writes Voltron fanfic

[eveninglottie]

write what you want regardless of the genders. it's better to spit the story out and then go back and revise then get hung up on whether or not every interaction or plot point could be part of an 800 word call-out tweet-longer that briefly trends on fanfic twitter. everyone comes at fiction from their own distinct background. you could write the most 'pure' romance ever, regardless of the genders, and it could still inadvertently trigger someone or raise concerns. comfort can be misleading.

so I don’t want you to think I’m disagreeing with you here, because you’re right. people spend way too much time thinking out the possible doomsday scenarios of what they might do instead of just doing it to see what happens. I am one of those people, for sure, it’s stopped me from doing pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted to do my whole life, so we’re on the same page here with both the concept of not worrying about what other people will think and also how no one holds the magic gatekeeping key which dictates what is problematic or not. every person is different and some things will upset people in a way that doesn’t upset you. that’s just a given. 

but I think that’s not really helpful when you’re trying to figure out your own motivations for doing something. 

like, yes, is a lot of this affected by how I think other people will react to things I create? of course. everything i do will be affected by how I think other people will react. that’s just how my brain works, and it’s my job to keep growing more confident in myself to counteract that (because the older you get you really do give less of a fuck and boy it’s so nice!!) what I was trying to bring up in that post was my own reasons for feeling more comfortable writing one thing than another. 

because I just think it’s fascinating and complicated and I’ve mentioned more than once to friends that it really just surprised me how freeing writing m/m has been vs m/f. it’s like my descent into sk was this moment of enlightenment when I realized “hey this is a hell of a lot easier to talk about when there are two boys involved!” like I realize that the majority of my writing the past two years has been on my own, and even though I can tell you’ve I’ve written well over 500k words and only posted maybe a fifth of that I can’t prove what I’m about to say so you’re just going to have to take my word for it, BUT I’ve included so much more discussion about sexuality and how characters express it and grow with it and figure out for themselves what they are. like it was never a thing I thought about a lot when I was writing my m/f fics (even tho all the women were still bi but that’s a whole other barrel of monkeys). it was never me sitting down and interrogating my choice for writing that pairing the way I did. I just did it. (I didn’t stop to consider the gender is what I mean, I thought about literally all the other things but gender and sexuality were not included in that) but now there’s a whole other sphere of characterization that I keep finding myself drawn to, and even without realizing it, it becomes a big part of how I write certain characters. (like deciding to write keith as demi while still being sexually and physically attracted to shiro has been really eye opening for me as someone on the asexual spectrum.)

because like, for example, I wrote a fem!bilbo fic, right? so clearly I was thinking about gender a bit, but most of that had to do with me having always reimagined that story (and lotr) with female protagonists. that’s what I did with a lot of childhood faves, actually, eragon, harry potter being two of the most prominent, and thinking about fem!bilbo and how that would change the story especially if she was in a relationship with thorin and the shire was maybe a bit more stifling for a woman, etc. - BUT that was one of those pairings that I’d never been drawn to when it was m/m. I couldn’t really get into it, and I was not a fan of the hobbit movies at all, honestly, and I tried, and it was only when I switched things around did that fic click for me, but I wonder a lot if I were to have come to hobbit fic later, after I’d gotten over my aversion to m/m (not in general, just me writing it, because reasons), would I have written it with bilbo as a boy? would I have been less likely to imagine bilbo as a woman? or was it a number of factors that led me to write that fic which really couldn’t have existed in any other incarnation, and would it have been a different fic entirely?

(the hp thing in particular is SO WEIRD to think about now because a lot of what I’ve been grappling with in my drarry fic is very male-centric? not like in a bad way, just thinking about the rivalry and bonds between boys and how boys look up to their male mentors and authority figures in very different ways than they do their female counterparts and also what does being interested in other boys do to one’s internalized and very misogynistic/homophobic ideas of Legacy and Family and Proper Gender Expression specifically when it comes to sex with other men like it’s Very Gendered in my head and it’s hard to separate that from what I used to be interested in which has expressed itself in other ways, specifically roslyn as chosen one in ascendant which I’ve said before was the result of a decade of rewriting those boy heroes as girls because I felt so connected to them and wanted girls to be every bit as important as boys, like I could draw a straight line from me writing bits and bobs of girl!harry as a fourteen year old and me writing roslyn in ascendant and wow I kind of want to punch myself in the face for how long I’ve rambled on about my own stuff but you know what no this is my tumblr and I get to obsessively and exhaustively talk about my own fictional worlds if I want to)

so it’s been a bit of a mindfuck trying to reconcile this shift in my own interests with the fact that I am a woman who identifies as largely asexual. and I think it’s important to sit down with yourself every once in a while and really look at the things you produce and do some self-examination. because I do wonder a lot if my comfort writing m/m now is because of this lack of pressure I normally feel when writing female characters or if it’s because I don’t have to interact with Me As Author so much when I write about boys because I am not a boy or if it’s because I feel a lot more comfortable identifying as queer when for the majority of my life I’d forced myself to be straight even though it didn’t feel right. 

then there’s the whole conversation about women writing m/m and how a lot of queer men feel they’re being fetishized or that their stories are being appropriated by women, in the same way that white people writing stories about people of color can be appropriative, men writing about women, straights writing about lgbtq+, cis people writing about trans or genderqueer people, et cetera with literally any minority being written by someone not from that minority, right? 

and I think it’s a bit reductive to say that it doesn’t matter. because it does matter. you’re right in saying that it matters to someone and I think the job of anyone who creates any kind of content is to think about that and be mindful that you don’t create in a vacuum. your art has power even if you don’t think it does, if you don’t want it to, and that’s something no one should take for granted.

now, I am not saying that certain people do not have the right to write certain stories. no one has the right to write anything, just as no one is forbidden from writing anything. and no one writing anything should be harassed for writing something that people perceive is out of their wheelhouse (because a lot of marginalizations are not visible! abuse, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether you’re neurotypical or not! and there’s no requirement that you make public your trauma/identity to provide cred! in fact it’s kind of horrific that anyone thinks this!) it’s a complicated dynamic but the more we talk about these things the easier it is when a marginalized person says, “hey this thing you wrote is kind of bad,” the writer can go “oh man I’m sorry, let me think about it and see what I did wrong so I can do better in the future” OR “oh wow I see what you mean, but this is important to me” and the reader can go “I respect your right to write what you want and in the future I’ll do more to shield myself from this kind of content” instead of Cancelling someone because they didn’t effectively prostrate themselves before the ultimate judges of problematic content, a bunch of randos on the internet.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, yes, I agree with you that it’s not necessary to worry about this stuff, and that a lot of it is energy wasted especially when you’re worrying about theoretical responses from people who read your stuff, but that’s not helpful to me, because I think that’s disregarding the fact that we live in a society with weird power dynamics that are constantly shifting. I think it’s my job as someone who is mentally capable of dealing with this kind of self-examination to push back on some of these things when I can. because if I didn’t challenge myself every once in a while, I wouldn’t grow as a person or a writer and if there was one mantra I would live my life by besides the assertion that I would be blissfully happy if I downloaded my consciousness into a robot body, it would be that You Have To Be Okay With Critique and It’s Good When People Call You Out In A Safe Setting, like everyone is a dick and an asshole and a Bad Person and pretending you’re not is the most useless battle you could ever fight. we contain multitudes and some of those tudes are downright ugly.

quick sidebar: I would not have been able to have this kind of conversation with myself four years ago, and something I have not even talked about is how my shift toward more m/m content began at the same time as I was getting used to getting medical treatment for my grab bag of mental illnesses, like it’s pretty obvious that I got into sk right about the time I settled into my meds so what does That even mean?? so many THINGS to consider!!

idk. I know when I write stuff like this people think I’m beating myself up over it, but I’m really not. I just like talking about it sometimes and this tumblr is where all my neuroses go to live forever more in the annals of this blue hell until I chicken out and delete them the next day. I guess I know that when I read other people talking about things I’ve also been thinking about, it’s nice to hear. and as this is something that is still new to me, fandom in general is still bonkers to a part of my brain because I came into it as an adult, the whole conversation (if there even is a conversation because there might not be but there’s one going on in my brain) about women writing m/m is interesting complicated and something I think about a lot. clearly without any real focus or conclusions to be drawn, because I dropped out of college and never learned how to make my point in a concise and understandable manner. 

anyway I hope you don’t read this as me arguing with you nonny, I just wanted to clarify what I mean in the original post

#oh boy this got very long #anonymous

[gigili-jiggly]

can you list your favorite klance fics ://

(i’m not sure how to respond to your ‘ :// ‘ emoji, but i’ll take any excuse to gush about fics lol)

I have so many favorite fics, so I’ll just list some oneshots for now so that this list doesn’t become too long 

(I might post a list of more oneshots and ongoing fics if anyone is interested!)

SFW Oneshots: 

you’re lucky that’s what i like by @zenstrike

Lance rescues a hamster from certain doom.

or, Lance has Keith wrapped around his little finger and doesn’t even realize it.

This is literally the cutest and softest klance series I’ve read in a long time!! It gives me lots of feelings and feeds my need for lovestruck Keith ladfajdifjdsklf

hey, mom, i met a boy by @mothpoem

“Sweetheart,” says Lance, his hair longer, his shoulders broader, the slope of his nose uneven now where it didn’t used to be, “you don’t know the half of it.”

LISTEN. This fic owns my ass, it’s so good. It has all my favorite tropes (marriage proposals, visions of the future, love realizations, etc.) and every moment between Lance and Keith is so sweet and full of love hnnngh. 

i know what you did last summer by seventies

Saving angry, mysterious damsels in distress multiple times weren’t in the job description of being a lifeguard. It would have been slightly bearable if only everyone would stop asking Lance if he remembered what he did last summer. What really happened, anyway? AU

Pining Keith? Oblivious Lance? A little bit of Memory Loss? Heck yeah!!! This fic also made me laugh a lot, so I always reread this when I need a pick-me-up

this, our town of halloween by @tobiologist

“Yeah, well, it’s written all over both of your faces,” Lance hisses. “It’s not a big deal.”

Pidge taps her chin. “Oh, you mean Keith, the local introvert and your ex-rival, creeping out of his cave to go to a huge Halloween celebration with you and your little niece and nephew? Of course that’s not a big deal. Silly me!”

Or: Lance invites Keith to Disneyland on Halloween and glimpses an entirely new side of the boy he has a stupidly massive crush on.

Lately, I’ve been loving tropes where people go on a ‘date’, insist that it’s not a date and then finally realize it’s a date. Also, pining Lance is good shit. 

Smell as Sweet by ultimateparadox

Coffee and love, Lance thinks, are the only universal constants.

Established relationship!!! Marriage proposals!!! Becoming a family!!! Everything here is amazing!!!

Bastion by Foxcote

In a healing universe, Keith and Lance await the arrival of their daughter.

I am a sucker for klance as parents, and one scene in particular between Keith and Krolia really captured my heart

In every reality, I reach for you by @enlacinglineswrites

Stories inspired the Klance AU month prompts.

I love drabble series and this one right here has so many interesting and wonderful aus! I read it time and time again like a morning newspaper lol. 

Somewhere a Clock is Ticking by @emphasis-all-mine

This is a story about time travel, lost memories, growing up broken, ukulele lessons, peanut butter banana sandwiches, and a stuffed hippo named Patches.

This is also the story of how James Griffin saved the world, but couldn’t stop his parents from falling in love.

Literally the fic that made me warm up to James! I’ve always loved time travel stories and the characterizations in this fic is so fun and enjoyable, I hold it very close to my heart! Also, klance family aldjofiadjfdf

5 + 1 times: lance and the search for keith’s boyfriend by @starwar 

Who could it be?!

Lance tried to convince himself it wasn’t jealousy… it was just friendly concern. He had to ensure that whoever Keith was with treated him well, not that Keith needed Lance to look after him, but still, Keith deserved the world and Lance wanted to make sure whoever he was with gave that to him.

Just buddy-buddy concerns.

or alternatively; 5 + 1 times lance doesn’t realise he’s keith’s boyfriend

Oblivious Lance who doesn’t know he’s Keith’s boyfriend? Bet your ass I’m gonna read that!!

chaser of fate by freshia

Where Lance thinks everyone else is really frickin’ weird, the others spend copious amounts of time trying to get him to just remember, and Keith just wants to (re?)live his life.

(Modern Reincarnation AU where the biggest threat to face, is the looming deadlines for essays.)

One of the first klance fics I’ve read and one that I absolutely consider a classic. I love me some reincarnation au’s, and I love how this one is nice and not too angsty! 

Save the Date by @thathopelessromantic 

They had gotten married in the middle of a war, on an alien spaceship, both boasting major injuries. It was rushed and short and the team was thrust into battle almost immediately after “I do.” But afterwards, after some insistent questioning from Keith, Lance admitted to things he had let himself imagine for their wedding, were they to have had one on Earth.

Cute established and married klance celebrating their anniversary, what more can a girl want? 

Speak for the Stars by @speakswords 

All Lance has ever wanted is to prove his worth. So, maybe it’s fitting that the Black Lion picked him right when Lotor betrayed them and Shiro’s clone went rogue. Right when the team was at its lowest and closest to failing.

The desire for glory that Lance grew up with—that drove him to join the Garrison and pursue fighter class, that drove him into his one-sided rivalry with Keith, that drove him after Keith in the Sonoran Desert and into Blue’s cockpit and into space and into the war in the first place—it’s a relic of the past for him now. All he wants these days is to keep his friends alive and the Coalition afloat, and he tries his best, despite the pervasive fear that he isn’t the right person for this monumental task. Despite the growing certainty that Black picked the wrong guy.

This fear will be put to the ultimate test when the mess that ensnares the team after the clone disaster turns out to be a labyrinth more winding than any of them were prepared for. Because Lance might just be the only person equipped to lead them through this maze and into the light.

I love those tropes where peeps get stuck in their own dreams and someone has to help them snap out of it. This fic does this wonderfully with Lance and I loved Keith’s dream in here, it was so sweet

in every reality, we meet by ULTIOcean

Small one-shots about our favorite team, taken from a prompt list on tumblr for the October Writting Challenge, in which i’ll write 31 short stories, unrelated to each other, each insipred by the prompt of the day.

i adore this drabble series, each chapter is such a unique take on the prompt! 

you’ve got a hand for the taking (i’m about to take it to the moon) by seabear

“I think,” Lance says, squinting, “he’s a vampire.”

one of my comfort fics to be honest. i really really like their interactions here and the confession scene makes me very happy

where & how we’ll land by @ephemelody 

The first time Keith meets Lance is also the first time they kiss. It all goes downhill for him from there.

looking for a childhood klance fic that is so so good? this one is a classic!!!

Complete Mature/Explicit Oneshots: 

assemble by groovystars

‘there was an idea- katie and hunk know about it- called the voltron initiative. the plan was-is, god, it is- to bring together a group of remarkable people, and see if together they could become something more. to fight the battles we never could. i wasn’t sure though. just knew that katie and hunk could do it, maybe lance if he wasn’t knee-deep in cover work. but now that cap’s used to the century and keith kogane turned up from the dead, and we have a literal god on our hands… now- now i think we can do that. i think we can believe in heroes.’

aka the marvel au that’s probably already been done

As a huge Marvel fan, this is an amazing superhero au!! It has klance and shatt, as well as lotor and allura in a thor and loki dynamic! 

i like me better when i’m with you by @reader115 

His mother’s advice when the war is over? That he should ask for what he wants.

Keith joins Lance and his family on their farm, and Lance wishes for a never ending visit.

i’ve read so many post-canon fics when vld ended and this one is one of my absolute favorites. It’s because of this fic that i started associating the song with klance, haha! I love the characterizations and the overall sweetness/lovey dovey feeling the fic has and aldoifjaidfd I just love reading this over and over again

there are worse things i could do by @peachgrdn 

His chest went tight when he recalled Keith’s face. What did it have to mean? They’d never been lovers; that much was clear.

When Lance goes out to buy himself a gift for his own pleasure, it comes with a little emotional baggage. Only just as he thinks he can manage it, Keith throws himself into the mix, and Lance realizes he must come to terms with buried feelings.

honestly, i consider lyssy the queen for fluffy and feely smut lol. I love her humor in this one as well as the many feels it gives me…just aldkjodfa i love this fic a lot okay?

kiss me (like it hurts) by mottainai

Purple light streamed through his kitchen window from the neon sign across the street, getting tangled in Keith’s hair and painted on the planes of his shoulders. He held his breath, afraid to disturb the moment. Keith’s eyes were on his, too soft to be coming from a dangerous man. Lance could see himself becoming caught in the gap in his teeth, pressed into the groves of his calloused hands, inked across his ribs. It should terrify him, the kind of terror of one looking into the belly of the beast.

But it didn’t.

Or: Keith and Lance, told through arguments and resolutions

i’m such a sucker for gangster keith stuff and this fic here has one of my favorite takes on it. perfect for rereading again and again! 

lure by chaeriee 

Becoming indebted to Keith Kogane was not a part of Lance’s future plans. Falling for him, even less so.

another gangster keith fic and it has almost all of my guilty pleasures in it uwu. i love those /person A needs to pay off a debt and works for person B while unknowingly becoming the most important one to them’ storylines haha! 

 Alpha Affairs by marizousbooty

Keith and Lance take a romantic vacation to the mountains for a snowy weekend getaway.

vampire lance and werewolf keith….doing it….good stuff

Heaven in hiding by i_write_shakespeare_not_disney

Keith finds something interesting in Lance’s drawer and it leads to one of the most amazing nights of his life.

insecure lance in lingerie and keith helping him become comfortable with it? sexy. 

Beast of Burden by melancholymango

“Keith, no, we can’t go again.” Lance pleads fall on deaf ears. Keith is honed in on him now like predator to prey. He’s fighting a losing battle and they both know it. He sees it in the way Keith is raking his eyes over him, sizing him up. “We’ll be so late getting to the bar.”

“Just one more.” Keith insists, herding Lance toward the counter with a stubbornness that is innately wolf. Lance pouts, but he doesn’t have anywhere else to go but backward.

“That’s what you said last time! And the time before that!”

–

The week leading up to a supermoon, as told by the world’s best werewolf boyfriend, Lance McClain. The good, the bad, and the horny.

I read this on Halloween and I’m not even ashamed of how much I enjoyed this. This fic made me very very biased towards werewolf keith lol. 

#Anonymous #klance fic #fic rec #wipes forehead #whoo!!! #that took a lot out of me #if you enjoy any of these pls give the writers some love!!! #they're really amazing peeps!!!

[b-kitsune]

Many ways to say I love you: Day Twenty-Six.

Kidge-a-palooza 2019 Prompt: Persecute. Pairing: Kidge (VLD) Universe: Middle Age! AU Status: Part 2/2

She was attentive repeating in her mind the teachings of Shiro as she tightened the rope with her hands without losing sight of her objective, vaguely remembering how he had been instilled to point the arrow in the right direction. The deer looked around without knowing that Pidge was stalking her at a safe distance, eating the precarious grass that was beginning to bloom with the coming of spring, indicating that she had done an excellent job hiding in the undergrowth. It was a simple shot; she couldn't fail like last time.

Suddenly, she let out a light gasp when felt Keith's hands around her waist, taking her so gently that for a moment she thought had imagined it, but when she looked out of the corner of her eye she saw him by her side, looking at his target with the same thorough analysis of which it was so characterized. He moved her left hand that held the bow a couple of millimeters up. Pidge could feel his breath hitting the contour of her neck as if he was playing with her trying to distract her in a wicked game.

Pidge closed her eyes for a second, for that reason she hated to have Keith accompany her to hunt.

''You’re tense the bow.'' Keith whispered over her ear, Pidge could feel his lips pink her skin for a few seconds, giving her a chill on her spine. ''The shot has to be precise, or you will fail again.''

''I know.'' Pidge answered, trying to concentrate everything she could and not to think that Keith's hand was moving too close to her ribs, the deer still didn't move from his position.

''Shoot.''

The movement that came after hearing him was as subtle and direct as the voice that ordered her. The shot was right, but the strength of the arrow was not enough to break the deer's neck, so he quickly fled to the depths of the forest when he felt the blow coming from nowhere. Pidge groaned defeated approaching the place where her arrow fell after impact, part of the tip was bloodied by the cut that had surely made the poor animal.

''It seems that you lacked some strength.'' Keith commented once he approached her. ''At least you didn't miss the shot.''

''It is not enough.'' Pidge snorted frustrated. ''It's my fourth lonely hunt and I haven't been able to catch even a rabbit.'' Keith smiled sympathetically at her words, circling her shoulders with his arm to comfort her in some way.

''You have advanced a lot in recent months Pidge, it's just a matter of time.''

''I don't need time, I need to improve.''

Keith's eyes darkened at her words, thinking of the reasons she might have for wanting to improve her collection skills as soon as possible. But even though they had known and worked together for two years, she was lately being too reluctant towards him, so she didn't talk about the account when Keith asked her something else. Pidge closed completely, especially when they were alone as if she didn't trust his intentions enough or his mere presence generated a hint of anxiety, which saddened Keith more than he would like to admit.

To be honest, Keith was to blame. Their relationship had turned to deep discomfort since the last talk they had.

A couple of months ago, after an attack on a nearby tribe that claimed their territory as their own, they had been too injured during the battle when they defended the town, so they were forced to keep absolute rest on orders from Shiro and the council. Keith and Pidge spent many nights together as they needed rest, and over time, their relationship had turned to something much more intimate and enjoyable. So it was no surprise to anyone to accompany them in their recovery. One night, amid laughter caused by alcohol and the vulnerability that silence was around, Keith admitted that, at the next summer solstice ceremony, he would link ties with the strongest woman in the tribe. He hoped he realized he was referring to her, it was an act too bold for his own heart and he didn't feel brave enough to say her name out loud, but Pidge's reaction was a loud throat and a mocking laugh, changing the subject as if what Keith was telling her was absolutely stupid. He let it go, anyway, Pidge was still Roman, so surely the union of ties made no sense to her.

The next day, she didn't look at him all day. Lance had even asked him if he knew the reason she was acting strange, but Keith ignored the matter. What he least wanted was for Lance to know what he was planning because he would tell Romelle, and therefore, the entire town would find out.

Since then Pidge acted as if his presence bothered her. Keith tried to give her signs in every possible way before the solstice ceremony when he officially planned to ask for her hand, but it seemed that she didn't affect him in the least.

In the back of his mind, Keith thought that perhaps his feelings weren't the same as Pidge felt for him. Maybe he had confused everything and she just needed someone to feel comfortable with after the loss of her family. Although Shiro had told him that possibly his feelings were reciprocal, at that moment Keith was beginning to doubt.

He watched her cross the roads with grace and agility while looking for new prey to hunt, leaving him behind on various occasions. Keith was proud of how much she had advanced in the last year since she began practicing with the bow. It is not as if she had the obligation to accept him, she was a free woman anyway.

''I think all animals have agreed to avoid me.'' Pidge commented approaching him, completely defeated. ''This is useless, it took me hours to find a deer.''

''Deer are beautiful and intelligent beings.'' Keith said smiling softly. ''They realize when a predator is stalking them.''

''So I'm being too obvious?'' Pidge asked raising an eyebrow in annoyance. ''I thought you told me I was doing a good job hiding.''

''You do. But you are also very anxious, and animals can smell it.'' Keith stepped back towards the sky, the light began to dim. ''We'd better go back, you can try tomorrow.''

''No, come back if you want. I won't leave here until I catch something.'' Pidge continued on her way to the opposite side, Keith sighed heavily at her stubbornness, following her. Pidge looked confused. ''What are you doing?''

''It's getting dark, it would be irresponsible to leave you alone.''

''You don't have to do this.''

''I want to do it.'' Keith replied approaching her, but Pidge just looked away annoyed.

''I don't need a babysitter, if you're here it will be harder to find something to hunt.''

''Why are you so obstinate with that?'' Keith questioned losing a little more patience.

''I already told you, it's none of your business.'' Keith took her wrist tightly, preventing her from moving away. ''Let me go.''

''No one in the village is upset about that, stop thinking you don't fit in here just because there is something you are not good at.''

''I need to be good in this.''

''Why?'' Pidge growled trying to let go, but Keith's strength didn't allow it.  ''Are you trying to prove something to someone? Is that?''

''Keith let go of me.''

''Answer me Katie!''

''Why are you so interested in that?!''

''Because I don't want anyone to court you!''

Keith shouted, at last, stopping the struggle while they both watched in amazement. The silence felt heavy until after a few seconds, Pidge got rid of Keith's hands. He sighed heavily, looking towards any part of the forest so as not to see her directly.

''What are you talking about?'' Pidge asked, her voice echoed heavily in the air. ''Now I'm something you should protect? Do you think that I am not able to fend for myself?''

''Is not that…''

''So what is it!?'' She shouted angrily, taking a couple of steps back, she didn't want to be near him. ''Do you think being by my side gives you the right to act like my older brother?!''

''You are important to me Pidge! How hard is it to believe that?!''

''I don't want another brother, Keith! No-'' She put her hands to her head as her tears began to emerge, looking around as if the words were no longer enough to prove her pain. ''I don't want you to keep looking at me like I'm a girl...''

''… I don't do it. ''He said after a few seconds, his mind was blank, his body was not able to respond either. Keith began to feel his feelings too heavy on his back. ''I never saw you like a sister to protect. ''He took a couple of steps towards her, taking her face with his hands so that her eyes met. Pidge's tears spilled on her cheeks. ''I love you, Katie.''

Keith thought it was enough for her to finally understand his feelings that he had hidden for long months since he began to know her better, but before he knew it, Pidge hit him hard to get away from her, and later, she ran away towards the depth of the forest.

 ...

 She could hear the wolves moving around her position looking for something to feed on, she was sure for the moment when Hunk's words about hiding from potential predators resonated in her mind, but she had to stay alert if she didn't want to meet in her own path for some mistake. From an early age, her family had instilled about the dangers of being in the depths of the forest late at night when they made outings on some important event, wild animals came out hunting and anyone, however brave and cunning it was an easy target for them. All of her senses were alert as she walked hard through the damp grass, but Pidge knew that she couldn't stay too long in one place while trying to find her way to the village. She cursed herself internally when she fled from Keith, she was completely lost thanks to her impulsiveness.

The temperature dropped to almost freezing her bones, the moon didn't deliver enough light to be sure where she was treading, but she prayed to all the gods to find her way back as soon as possible. She didn't want things to end that way, all Pidge wanted was for Keith to let her make her own mistakes while perfecting herself in the hunt. She needed to become a dignified woman before the summer solstice celebration, she needed both Krolia and Kolivan to consider her a suitable woman to fight for Keith's hand. It was the only goal she had since that night in which Keith had confessed to her because of alcohol, that she felt it was time to commit to someone else.

She knew that the Celts had a different way of compromising compared to her own people. In Rome, her circle was marrying by political or military power, she was sure that her father would have ended up marrying some son of a minister eventually, and she could say absolutely nothing against it. Nor is it as if she cared too much, Pidge had grown up loving the knowledge of the sciences and constellations around her, she didn't think she would find love in marriage as her parents had done.

Actually, nobody did.

But Pidge remembered reading, a long time ago, that the Celts were engaged in a strong sense of camaraderie and appreciation of their partner. They worked as partners while composing their own family, respect was mutual and there was no difference in power over another. Pidge had seen her while living in the village in recent years, they even thought that after death their souls would remain united. And Pidge was hoping one day to find that same way of life with the person who loved her as she was.

When she learned about Keith's intentions, she thought it would be a good opportunity to fight for what he wanted. She had betrayed her people, fled her home, left behind a life of luxury to work together with Celts. Pidge felt that nothing was impossible for her if she tried her best. She just had to prove that she was worthy enough to ask for the hand of the son of one of the highest authorities in the village. Keith was the person who had helped her the most with Shiro to adapt to her new life, he was her friend, her confidant of her greatest fears, and sometimes he acted so close to her... That she thought that perhaps he was able to reciprocate.

But now, remembering how she acted as soon as he was declared hours ago, Pidge didn't know how to respond, all she expected was that Keith wouldn't hate her for that.

She stopped abruptly when she heard the gallops of a horse nearby, hiding under a rotten trunk where the moonlight didn't reach and thus wasn't detected quickly. Except for her dear partner, there were no horses in the forest, and the Celts didn't use them.

When she felt the gallop near her body as it stopped and a loud voice rumbled in the dark of the night, Pidge felt her heart stop for a few seconds and her breathing caught in her throat.

The subject spoke Latin, who was near the lands of the Celtic village was a Roman.

Pidge prayed to the gods that she wasn't an emperor's envoy. Or that would imply that they were thinking of attacking the village.

She crawled much deeper into the trunk, preventing her from seeing her by chance when she heard him get off the horse, she was only able to see his feet lacking any armor. Pidge felt that her dress was stained with mud and grass, and Pidge hoped she wouldn't have an allergic reaction after a few minutes.

She took the bow on her back, if she was fast enough Pidge might be able to shoot him in the chest before she ran, if she had any luck, she would find the village to warn them of the threat. But as fast as she heard him walk, he climbed on his horse and began a slow gallop in the opposite direction. Pidge waited a few minutes before getting up, realizing that the subject was no longer at her side.

He began to walk towards the opposite direction from where she heard him heading, but before taking a couple of steps, Pidge heard the howl and the grinding of the horse behind her back. Pidge didn't think too much where he was going, she had to run away from him.

The forest was humid because of the low temperatures of the night, but she was agile enough to evade the blockages while the Roman followed her at a distance that gradually began to shorten.

Pidge avoided the tears being released while taking the bow and shooting at one of the horse's legs, her hands shook so much that when the arrow shot out, she cut off part of her left hand. She was scared, but to her great relief that didn't prevent the shot from failing, she watched as the animal fell terribly towards the ground while the subject quickly recovered. Starting a new persecute, at least Pidge had more advantage in a race than on horseback.

She began to tense a new arrow, but when she looked back again, the subject threw herself on her to stop her, Pidge shouted in fright when she felt his hands forcing her to release the bow, losing against his strength. Her heart was beating vigorously because of the race and she had only one option left that she hoped would be enough. With a free hand, Pidge took the knife that Keith had given her to defend herself against her attacker, but when she got up and took off his hood in a single movement, she clearly saw his features with the help of the moon, her breath stopped.

Pidge thought she was hallucinating.

He surely believed it too.

She lowered the knife until he dropped it to the ground, her tears began to fall back on her face until the lump of her throat didn't allow her to say a single word, she was overwhelmed and feared that, if she touched him just a little, he would vanish like a cruel illusion.

But it was not necessary.

''Pidge!''

Keith's scream and watched as her brother Matt was thrown to the ground against the mud was enough to disappear all the shock.

''You're okay!? Didn't it hurt you!?'' Pidge started laughing after seeing the hilarious scene that was forming while processing it in her head, pushing Keith away from Matt's body.

''It's okay! He's my brother!''

''What?'' Pidge did her best to lift his body but only saw that Keith had knocked him out, which was not a surprise, he had fallen hard from nowhere. ''I thought your brother Matt died in the fire.''

''Me too.'' She raised his hand to see it in the low light they had. Seeing how a fairly pronounced x was drawn on his back. ''Matt was a slave...'' She whispered hatefully. ''The empire transformed him into a slave when he lost his civil rights...''

''Pidge...'' She looked up slowly, with a strong determination on her face. ''He escaped like Shiro from the colosseum, you have to take him to the village as soon as possible.''

''I will take him.''

Keith took it between his back to load it correctly without effort, so Pidge thought he was probably malnourished by the miserable life he was forced to lead. They began to walk in silence, again the tension felt on their shoulders and the shock of finding her brother after two years make Pidge turned her stomach.

When they arrived at the village, everyone was surprised at how dirty and ragged they looked from a simple hunt. Shiro was the first to react when he saw Matt and the mark on his palm so familiar that he also rested on his own back. Pidge watched as his eyes darkened, avoiding recalling a past that gave him nightmares until this day.

Shay was in charge of treating the visible wounds once she discovered that he had no severe wound that threatened his life, Matt was only tired and needed rest until he was ready to wake up.

Pidge was with him at all times in the night, until she was reprimanded by Shiro to rest properly, she reluctantly agreed after a slight discussion. She knew she couldn't do much for her brother while he was unconscious, she just hopes he woke up as soon as possible.

Once she left the cabin to go to Shiro's home, she could see that the sky began to lighten in a pleasant pinkish color, the dawn mixed with the night from which some stars could still be seen above the sky.

Without realizing it, she couldn't help walking to the place that he knew Keith would be sitting next to Kosmo to observe the constellations.

As she supposed, Keith was lying on the grass, without even having changed even the dirty and muddy clothes.

Pidge sat next to him, for a moment, she felt that all the emotions lived less than twelve hours ago was just a terrible dream. Her body felt exhausted, but strangely she felt no sleep.

''It doesn't have to be this way.'' Keith said after a few minutes, Pidge looked surprised when she heard his voice.

''What?''

''Make this awkward.'' He said softly, looking at her with a sweet smile that made Pidge compress her chest. Since when was Keith able to smile so warmly?

''It's not... Awkward.''

''Wasn't that why you escaped?''

''It was because I was a coward.'' Pidge admitted quietly. ''I-''

''Don't do it.'' Keith stopped her before she realized, with one hand on her lips, they were too close to the other at that moment. ''I don't want to force you to anything, and with the coming of your brother, it is understandable that you have more important things to do... Just...''

''Keith?'' Pidge didn't know what to say about his words, but his eyes were so full of love and appreciation for her that she didn't know what to say.

''On the day of the solstice, I want you to give me an answer that day.''

''Why?'' Keith looked away in embarrassment.

''It ... It is assumed that, if you accept it during the beginning of summer, the gods will bless us with eternal happiness.'' He said, at last, Pidge felt that her heart could no longer love that man, feeling her own cheeks flush with shame. ''It's okay?''

''Yeah.'' She replied funny. ''I will answer that day, so that we may be blessed for eternity.''

It was a stupid promise, but both couldn't be happier knowing that in that same place, it was the day they met without masks for the first time.

#peith #pidge gunderson #pidge holt #katie holt #keith kogane #keith (voltron) #voltron #voltronship #kidge #kidgefanfic #monthofkidge #kidgeapalooza #kidgeapalooza 2019

[whattheklance]

Wecavod 4

wecavod= “What Else Could a Virgin Omega Do?”

So this is probably the most chaotic of chunks of information from my original notes.

I have the original timeline that I was never sure about and glad changed to what realfakedoors and me came up with, but here’s what was floating around in my notes long before that.

There’s also some chunks of dialogue related to some of the bullet points, or some summaries of scenes and scenarios. It’s all kind of a jumble, but if you’d like to read it, here it is.

Original “Timeline”

Lance decides to try speed dating. mixture of bored and creeped out interactions (this happening only after he tried and failed to see keith again cuz keith is popular)

Keith learns Lance speed dating news from a coworker (see a brief dialogue thing I have below this list)

Possibly keith at work more?? ruing his new popularity. or maybe a keith dream about lance? (this one might not be necessary at all. just an idea if more angst is needed or to build suspense)

Lance assertive flirting at a club leads to being stalked by a scary alpha.

Keith enraged at finding out about lance’s plight from coworker

Lance catches Keith talking w/ shiro but can't hear anything. Makes a lot of assumptions

Keith & shiro? + matt conversation?? Maybe Keith is talking to them about lance? Maybe he's keeping everything about lance to himself but is spitballing ideas of changing his "career path"

matt/shiro wedding. lance and keith were invited separately. possibly use this location & event for confession of feelings, but with a lot of awkward and shy stuff leading up to it.

if the wedding is where they get together then next would be the hottest steamiest night between them afterward. a long time coming (pun intended). cuz they know they love each other. Or possible deliberately postpone this and give them some absurdly innocent and/or awkward interactions before they finally have their first night "together."

(END OF TIMELINE)

SMALL BITS OF WRITTEN DIALOGUE

/////////////////////////////

Keith is told by a coworker that they saw Lance at speed dating.

Keith: "What are YOU doing dating?" (author's note: as employees at the brothel it's in their contract that they can't be casual dating for health/safety reasons.)

Coworker: "Moral support"

yaddayaddayaddda. They talk some more. Keith doesn't care about small talk. He's in his own head until...

Coworker: "I could still smell you on him."

Keith felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. He couldn't breath. Lingering scent post-knotting was normal for a few days. But it'd been over a month. His heart tightened as his brain struggled to assign meaning to that new piece of information.

Confusion.

Keith's hopes are up but he still dares not believe.

////////////////////////////////////

The "Stalking" idea

Lance tries to be "loose" in reaction to his extreme attachment to Keith, and decides to respond to getting hit on at a club to get a date or one night stand.

maybe lance was starting to smell "in heat" even before he feels it so the alpha gets aggressive. Follows Lance out of the club, harassing him.

Not wanting to lead the guy home he took a detour. unsure of what to do or where he was going. He ended up walking by the brothel's entrance

TWO IDEAS about this scene -lance could seek asylum there to escape his stalker OR -2 or 3 alphas inside the brothel could hear/smell what was going on outside and they come out to intervene. Lance asks them about Keith and they tell him just that–he's booked.

Dialogue after Lance is long gone and Keith is between clients

Keith: "Why do you smell like him???"

Guy (rolo?): "Who?"

K: "You know DAMN WELL who. Everybody does."

G: "Chill, man. He was only here for a bit."

Keith's mind raced. a glimpse of hope. Was Lance scheduling a new appointment? Had he stopped by to try to see Keith?

G: "(continued) An Alpha was stalking him so we helped him out. Poor dude didn't know we could already smell the preheat on him."

Lance had been in fucking danger and Keith wasn't the one to help him. He didn't even know. Damn, he would've settled with just being in the same room with him even if it meant seeing him if only for a second. He never hated his life before, but that was the only way to describe this sickening feeling.

Keith hated that lance was HERE and he didn't get to see him. He hated that he couldn't be the one to help him, protect him. More than all that he hated himself that he was in here...doing his job, fucking another nobody.

G: "You need to get your Alpha-self in order. You can't go claiming or dibs on clients. Who says he even wants to see you again?"

hearing someone tell him the precise words keith feared the most sent him almost feral, shoving his coworker so hard he hit the tile and slide across it.

/////////////////////////////

Lance catching Shiro and Keith talking together somewhere

possibly have lance catch the two of them from a distance and be able to suspect that they had a history

Seeing familiar signs from Keith with the added pain that Shiro could touch him nonchalantly and Keith not only didn't flinch, he seemed comforted.

Between that and a certain fondness in Shiro eyes that's similar to the way he looks at Matt

Lance gets juvenile ideas about "omg does Matt know?? Only to see Matt join them later and nothing about either Shiro or Keith's body language changes

They weren't hiding anything from matt. He'd have been shocked if Shiro had, but of course that guy was true.

Whatever Shiro and Keith were talking about Matt was in the know. Both were equally contributing to the conversation with Keith

Why did his mind immediately jump to intimate things between them?? They're both alphas. But thinking on it lance realized that Shiro had an alpha girlfriend in high school and as far as he knew it, the only people before Matt that Shiro had ever been with had been alphas.

Course he never knew anything about Shiro's sex life, even though high school him would've given his right arm to learn even one detail.

(Possible) Keith side of the same scene (or maybe just some in general characterization to include throughout)

Keith depression? He has a contract with the brothel and has never worked anywhere else. He dropped out of school so he doesn't even have a diploma.

He can't even think about going after Lance until sex isn't his job. It has to be Lance and no one else. He wouldn't be able to stand seeing Lance's face if he had to go to work.

Shiro and Matt offered advice in regards to what he could do if/when he got out

But he didn't want to risk his good livelihood cuz he doesn't even know if lance would accept him. He doesn't want to pursue lance while this is his job, but he doesn't want to sacrifice his job without knowing if he has a chance with lance. what to do.

If the above scene happens before the wedding: Lance having already had the surprise seeing them together, and learning keith and shiro know each other. At the wedding Keith initiates conversation cuz he has no idea that Lance knows Shiro. Lance wants to damn well know the answer after seeing them together.

/////////////////////////////

Shiro/Matt wedding: the first klance interaction since...Lance’s heat

Lance goes stag, and is hyperaware that most people have a date or at least a 'plus one.' The last thing he ever would've expected was to encounter KEITH.

"How do you know Shiro" conversation

upon being face to face for the first time in a WHILE this is the first thing out of both their mouths

Keith: (conversationally) "So, how do you know Shiro?"

Lance: (sputtering indignantly) "How do I know Shiro? I grew up with him. How do YOU know Shiro???"

Keith hesitated with his drink at his lips, searching for a 'way' to word it.

Keith: (slowly) "Well~I guess you could say we worked together." Regretting the words the moment they left his mouth.

Lance: Lance stared slack-jawed. "No––No way." shock/stunned, mouth hanging open

Keith: "No-no-no-no. Not like that. I didn't mean––"

Lance took a deep breath and relaxed again.

Well Keith kind of did mean it, but Lance didn't need to know that, especially if they're childhood friends.

Keith massaged the truth a bit, it wasn't his place to tell Lance about something Shiro hadn't. It was Shiro's business.

From Keith's brief acquaintance with Shiro, it was a little eerie that he already had a connection to Lance from the year he was old enough to take his job. He was 18 and a new employee at the brothel, having dropped out of school. Not long after, an older guy joined up too. The notorious virgin Alpha hired only getting hired because of how fucking hot he was.

That'd be story for a different day...what was he thinking?? Like he'd get to see Lance enough to eventually tell him about that? He was constantly catching himself acting like they were already "in" a relationship.

**LATER**

Lance: (watching Matt with Shiro in their slow dance, eyes staring at Matt's suit collar that had to be hiding a mark Shiro made long before this day. It gave him chills thinking about it.) "I wonder what it feels like to be mated, claimed."

Keith almost choked on his drink when Lance suddenly said that introspectively. His heart raced. His body tensed. Was Lance addressing him or just talking to himself out loud??

KLANCE DANCING (at least one 'slow dance')––I want this to be important

So possibly have a wedding dance between them where the vibes Keith gets from lance give him the courage to take a chance.???????

Holding lance close cheek to cheek, chests pressed together arms wrapped around each other, hands pressed into backs. Whenever they spoke they looked each other in the eye, noses almost touching.

Both felt drunk on the others scent, fighting a strong urge to just close the distance for a kiss. They both wanted that taste again.

maybe they kiss? and it gets heated but their brains get in the way? OR they ALMOST kiss but one of them pulls away.

////////////////////////////

FUTURE . after angst and miscommunication

would KEITH "confess first??" maybe? but expect no reciprocation when he does.

the line below is text FROM A FANART by artisttothebone

Lance: "I love your eyes, your hair, your smile, I love YOU Keith"

maybe make it something like...

Lance: "I love the warmth of your arms around me, the sound of your breathing, the feel of your laugh when I touch your chest. Every time I have to leave your side I die a little inside because I never want to be apart from you. I love YOU, Keith. You."

Keith: "Lance–"

/////////////////////////////

POST CLIMAX (they've been a together for a while)

Keith job situation. Decides to get his GED to eventually pursue psychology and language studies.

Insert jokes from Lance about having a high school boyfriend, and it implying some huge age gap, or that he's robbing the cradle etc.

Keith saying: "you KNOW, I'm actually OLDER than you"

And

"Its not high school, it's high school equivalent"

Lance knows all that he just loves how easy it is to rile Keith up, being so flappable. Lance always showers his love afterward

#wecavod #what else could a virgin omega do #klance #omegaverse #Voltron legendary defender

[hazelandglasz]

Voltron Legendary Patissier (A Shklance AU)

I came across a wonderful drawing by @lemonjuiceday when visiting a con and I was immediately inspired to write this little fic. Nothing major, just a bout of fluff and food porn for our favorite boys (strictly food porn, you pervs ;))

On AO3

Lance didn’t expect to find himself in such a position, caught between two hard chests while working his part-time job.

Then again, he didn’t expect his part-time job to be in a bakery.

“A pâtisserie, not a bakery,” his boss insists, his fond, exasperated smile growing less and less fond and more and more exasperated with each time he has to repeat it to one of them.

Lance doesn’t blame him, he would be very specific too about his craft if he was … well, as crafty as Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane, his associate and their apprentices.

While Shiro splits his time between the kitchen and the till, Lance strictly works behind the counter, serving the customers and writing down the special orders.

And daydreaming about the way Shiro’s biceps flex so wonderfully in his tight shirt, and how mesmerizing are his eyes when he watches someone trying something new fresh out of the oven …

“Lance?”

And just how beautiful he is, inside and out.

“For Apicius’ sake, Lance, snap out of it!”

Lance blinks back into the moment and back to the voice calling his name in such a pissed off manner.

Sure enough, Lance’s binome glares at him, angrily shoving delicate little chouquettes in a paper bag while their customer smiles at them, her eyes moving back between them as if watching a tennis match.

“Yes, my dear colleague, how can I help you?” he replies sweetly--too sweetly to be subtle, if the intensification of Keith’s glare (and of the customer’s giggle) is any indication.

“For the third time, since we apparently lost you in the void between your ears,” Keith replies in the same dulcet tone, “can you, please, if it’s not too much of an imposition for you to move, get in the kitchen and get back mille-feuilles for the showcase?”

“Since you asked so nicely,” Lance says, winking at the still-giggling customer while simultaneously hip-checking Keith out of his way, “of course, of course.”

Keith’s sigh still reaches Lance’s ears before the door closes between the two rooms. Lance takes a moment to breathe.

As much as he finds Shiro attractive and amazing, he cannot shake the itch that has crawled under his skin ever since he met Keith Kogane.

A need to punch him in his perfect face, with his fist or with his mouth, the jury is still out on that one.

Keith has seniority over Lance but he also works only in the front of the store. 

And thus lays Lance’s problem.

While he can escape Shiro’s … shironess every now and then, Keith’s mindfucking keithness is always around him, hovering, glaring, grumbling in a way that should not be as sexy as it is, dammit.

So, yeah, Lance is in a hell of his own making and, heartache be damned, he loves every minute of it.

##

Okay, this has gone on for too long.

Lance cannot prove it, but he would bet his favorite nerfgun that Shiro is doing it on purpose.

It here serves as a summary of everything that Shiro does around the shop: carelessly shaking his hips to the sound of the music drifting from the records shop next door, licking the tip of his fingers when he accidentally gets cream on them.

Accidentally, right, as if.

And he supposes Shiro also left a flour handprint on Keith’s ass by accident.

By all that he holds dear, Lance is not mentally equipped to deal with the image of those two together, together.

Separately, they are already forces to be reckoned with and Lance tries really har--ahem--he really tries his best to stay professional and not do something stupid, like drool all over them.

But if they are together?

Well, that takes care of his fantasies of dating either of them, but that sparks a fire under the possibility of dating them both.

Madre de dios, he’s only human and that’s just, to quote the great 21st century philosopher Bruno Mars, too hot, hot damn.

Lance sighs before shaking his head.

He needs to focus. If he cannot have the man, men, whatever, of his dreams, then he’s going to work, and have one aspect of his life that will be successful.

Oh, they’re out of Divorcés.

As there are no customers in the shop at the moment, Lance skips to the kitchen to get a tray of the delicious pastry.

Except that there is a conversation taking place that he is not supposed to hear and cannot resist any way.

“... insane, Shiro.”

“It would be complicated, sure, but--”

“Complicated? Try disastrous. You know that I agree with you on how attractive he is, but bringing him into our relationship? Let me spell it out for you: D-I-S-...”

“Keith …”

“Shiro …”

“Come on, babe,” a soft, wet sound pauses the conversation, “you’re always ranting about ways to shut him up.”

A soft laugh answers that, one that Lance would definitely characterize as a giggle if it didn’t come out of Keith “Badass” Kogane’s lips.

“You think that would do the trick?”

“No,” Shiro replies, laughter in the back of his voice, “but maybe you wouldn’t object if what came out of that beautiful, pouty mouth was moans and your name.”

“Or yours.”

“Or both.”

“God, Shiro …”

More wet sound that leaves little to Lance’s overactive imagination, and he flees the hallway to get back to the safety of the bright shop, where no one talks about threesomes and moaning and beautiful bodies intertwined …

Lance snaps his eyes shut and takes a deep breath just as the bell over the door rings.

“Welcome to Paladelicious, how can I sweeten your day?” he says reflexively, putting a smile on his face.

If he focuses on his job, he’ll find a way to bury his feelings, be it his lust or his jealousy over the man Shiro and Keith apparently want to bring into their bed.

Lucky bastard.

##

Or he can quit.

Lance doesn’t want to, he really likes this job, especially since he adores the world of pastry and really could see himself thriving in this field.

But.

This is just too painful.

He knows that neither Shiro nor Keith saw him eavesdropping on them, but ever since that day, Keith’s glare only intensified and Shiro is …

Well Shiro is Shiro, welcoming and warm like a cozy sweater and a hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled on top, but there is something behind his gaze that pulls on Lance’s heartstrings.

It’s with a heavy heart indeed that Lance came to the conclusion that he has to leave Paladelicious, and he’s not the only one already regretting it.

“Dude.”

“Hunk, don’t try to change my mind.”

“B-but, Lance!” Hunk still continues while Lance keeps on writing his resignation letter to Shiro--yes, he’s taking the cowards way out of writing to instead of facing Shiro, but can anyone really blame him?

“Lance, Lance, Lance, Lance, I’ll continue to say your name until you stop and look at me, Lance, Lance, Lance, L--”

“Hunk! Stop it,” Lance replies, making the rookie mistake of looking up at his best friend.

Because in spite of his height and bulk, the only real danger coming from Hunk Garrett is his puppy eyes.

“You don’t really want to leave us, do you Lance?”

“Of course I don’t want to!” Lance explodes. “But the alternative, it’s just too … too much for my--”

Before Lance can finish his sentence, his mouth finds itself otherwise occupied.

With an oversized chou, which is definitely on the petit side.

“Hmph!!!”

“Eat.”

“Hunpbdfrr!”

“You’ll thank me later. No one can be as moody as you were after my praline’d crème pat. And then we can close this silly conversation.”

As reluctant as he may be, Lance has to admit it: Hunk’s crème patissiere could ungrump the grumpiest of Grumps.

“Grumph.”

“Swallow.”

Lance laughs, most of the chou soothing his soul and filling his stomach already. “You know I always do.”

Behind them, at the piano, Pidge tsks as they boil several caramels in copper pans.

“Now, do you still want to leave? That means no more free goodies.”

“You’d still feed me some goodies when we get together, Hunk, don’t lie to yourself.”

Hunk blushes. “You’re probably right. But no more trying out my ideas if you’re not here.”

“You wanna leave?”

All three heads turn toward the door where Keith is standing, face even paler than usual and, oh dear Lord who has no mercy on Lance, hair tied in a messy bun.

Hunk and Pidge turn to Lance, a question in their eyes. What are you going to do now?

“I--I have considered it,” Lance mumbles. “May be best for everybody, all things considered.”

Even though I don’t want to. Even though it will hurt like a thousand knives dipped in hot sauce.

“But, I thought we--we bonded ...,”Keith opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, eyebrows going from a frown to sad before settling on anger again; funny how Lance never noticed how expressive those eyebrows were before.

“Fine,” Keith finally says, voice a lot colder than it ever was. “Do whatever you want, like I care. Not having to deal with you will bemmph?!”

Apparently, chou-shoving is Hunk’s move of the day.

“Do not. Finish. That sentence.” Hunk’s voice is frighteningly normal. Lance would be glad not to be on the receiving end of that tone if his mind was not replaying Keith’s words on repeat, with added acidic commentary.

Like I care. See, silly, he really does not need you in his life, not even as a co-worker so can you imagine dating him? It’s a wonder how you can even walk and breathe at the same time. Time for you to be useless somewhere else.

“Hunk, what the hell?!”

“We want Lance to stay and you are being mean.”

“You could have killed me!”

“With a chou? A deadly weapon for sure.”

“Guys?”

“What?”

“Lance left.”

Hunk glares at Keith. “Go fix what you broke.”

“But …”

“I am not afflicted with Lance’s obliviousness. Go; get him back. For everybody’s sake.”

Keith repeats his goldfish impression before giving Hunk a firm nod and rushing out.

Hunk picks a chou from the plate and munches on it. “Stupid men being stupid, amiright?”

Pidge nods vigorously, opening the chou open to suck on the creme. “Men being men, then.”

“Hey!”

“Not all men are as wise as you, Mr Garrett.”

“A’right, can’t deny it.”

##

Shiro doesn’t say a word, once Keith is done explaining what just happened in the lab.

He doesn’t frown, he doesn’t glare, he doesn’t yell.

He stands, shakes his head and opens the door to his office, aka the door to the back alley behind the store, nodding toward his bike.

Overall, Keith feels shittier than he did when he heard Hunk talking about Lance leaving, which is saying something.

He almost would have preferred for Shiro to scream at him.

At a redlight between the store and Lance’s place, Shiro pats Keith’s hands crossed over his stomach.

In Shironese, that pat means “it will be okay but you fucked up, my love.”

Keith tightens his hold on him.

In Keithan, that means “I am so sorry I got scared I fucked please forgive me.”

Since Lance took the bus back to his place, the three of them arrive at the same time.

Keith can see the moment Lance spots them on Shiro’s bike: Lance’s eyes widen and he stumbles.

“Lance, can we have a word?”

God bless Shiro for keeping his cool.

“What more is there to say?” Lance replies dejectedly with the saddest shrug Keith has ever witnessed. Now that he’s closer, Keith can see how red his eyes are and how pink his nose, and he cannot help the mixed feelings of guilt and adoration for the man standing in front of them that threaten to submerge him.

“I think Keith here has something to say,” Shiro replies softly, not so gently nudging Keith forward. “And I wouldn’t mind adding my two cents to what seems to be a classic miscommunication-provoked mess.”

Lance considers them, the unhappy downturn of his mouth increasing until he sighs, dropping his head to his chest. “Fine, come on up.”

Shiro and Keith exchange a look before following Lance up the flights of stairs leading to his apartment.

Keith spares a second to take in his environment and he has to repress the smile that threatens to appear at the sight around him. Lance’s place looks, well, it looks like him, warm and just a little bit messy but inviting and comfortable.

“Keith?” Shiro calls him, one eyebrow raised perfectly to push Keith to get on with his apology already.

Keith turns to Lance with a deep, strengthening breath. “Lance, I--I’m sorry for what I said back at the shop. I felt, um, I was hurt by the idea of you leaving us so suddenly, because, well, I--I, err, don’t want you to leave. The shop. Or,” he pauses, blidnly reaching for Shiro behind him, “or us, really.”

Lance’s eyes drop to their joined hands and if anything, his arms tighten around his torso.

Almost as if he’s trying to hold himself together.

“We don’t want you to leave,” Shiro repeats, taking a step toward Lance while still holding Keith’s hand. 

Lance’s frown increases. “‘S not like I’m such an important cog in the Paladelicious’ machine,” he mumbles, turning his back to them.

Shiro blinks before sighing fondly. Keith is familiar with that sigh.

It’s Shiro’s “God knows why I am getting myself in such a mess, but boy do I love every minute with you” sigh.

“Lance,” he says quietly, letting go of Keith’s hand to put both his hands on Lance’s shoulders, “I didn’t say a word about my store.”

Lance freezes before following the motion Shiro’s hands are provoking.

When he faces them again, his eyes are wide and shiny. “What are you sayin’?”

“I’m saying that we,” Shiro moves his hands from Lance’s shoulders to his cheeks, “want you in our lives.”

Lance’s mouth parts open, eyes darting to Keith. “Both of you? You--with me?”

Keith takes the one step separating him from the two other men and cups the back of Lance’s head. “Both of us, with you,” he whispers before leaning over Shiro’s arm to lightly press his lips to Lance.

Pina colada flavored lipbalm. Of course.

Lance laughs and hiccups at the same time, resulting in an adorable “meep” sound. With one hand, he covers Shiro’s hand on his cheek while the other reaches for Keith’s waist.

“What do you say?” Shiro asks, voice barely above a murmur as he runs his nose along Lance’s temple before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I--I say,” Lance starts before pausing, eyes fluttering shut as Shiro continues on kissing odwn his cheek and jaw, “I say that I’m all in, baby!”

Both Shiro and Keith lean in to kiss Lance, which results in quite a messy situation where noses are bumped and lips don’t necessarily meet the previously aimed for location, but neither of them would have it any other way.

“Hey!” Lance exclaims, pushing both men away. “Does that mean you want to shut me up? I resent tha--mph!”

As a matter of fact, it turns out that Shiro was right.

Kissing the living Hell out of Lance is a perfectly efficient technique to shut him up.

The End.

#lemonjuiceday #sometimes i write #voltron au #vld #shklance #because i wanted to #food porn #you have been warned

[kcwcommentary]

VLD2x07 – “Space Mall”

2x07 – “Space Mall”

Team Voltron currently has two issues: One, the struggle between Shiro and Zarkon in bonding with the Black Lion, and two, needing new lenses for the teludav. Coran has an idea about the latter. I love the goofy look on Coran’s face in the photograph of him shopping, and I love Alfor smiling at Coran in the background of that image.

Lance continues his overbearing flirting with Allura. She might not be into Lance, but she is into the idea of buying something sparkly. Coran’s inner patriarchy shows itself in his trying to override Allura’s agency and say she can’t go shopping. While Shiro goes to bond with Black, Coran and the other Paladins leave for shopping, and Allura is left alone with the mice. Sigh.

Shiro gets in Black and tries to meditate “bond,” and Black responds by blasting off into space.

The Space Mall is very much a mall environment. I really like the atmospherics of the location. It makes me feel like the time I spent in malls as a kid/teen. Coran has costumes/disguises for them to wear, and Keith’s is particularly funny to me. Coran leaves the Paladins, who immediately trash their disguises. The Galra mallcop’s thinking the Paladin’s normal look is indicative of pirates disguising themselves as normal shoppers, his monolog in general, and his locker poster of Zarkon are all funny.

The Black Lion has brought Shiro to a destroyed planet. Daibazaal, homeworld of the Galra. The planet being oddly shaped in its destruction is fine, but then we get the planet as it was 10,000 years ago through Black’s eyes. The way Daibazaal looked in the past is yet another instance of this show presenting as planets things that are not shaped like planets.

Hunk finds the food court and samples food. While this is another instance of Hunk = food, this isn’t bothersome because he’s clearly sampling food, he’s not just eating. This is about cultural exploration. He ends up sampling the wrong food and, having no money to pay for what wasn’t actually a sample, is chained into dishwashing by the restaurant proprietor Sal of Vrepit Sal’s.

Both the mallcop Varkon and Sal, though comical characters, are great in diversifying the Galra as a species.

The knife demonstration is absurd, but still kind of funny. “How many times do you have to fight off a charging rock monster and then go immediately to a picnic?” The droning, wrote recitation sound of the voice acting is what sells this absurdity to me, I think. Keith asks the salesman about the knife/sword that his thoughts have been on lately. The salesman accuses Keith of having stolen it, but Keith refuses to tell him where he got it.

Black shows Shiro the “comet” that crashed on Daibazaal and that the Lions were built out of it. Okay, bad science once again. The thing that hit Daibazaal, that the Lions were made from, that we see other chunks of metal like it in future episodes: That is not a comet. A comet is not made of metal or rock, they’re made mostly of ice. They have some particulate dust and organic compounds mixed in, but they’re mostly ice. They’re even jokingly referred to as dirty snowballs. Some comets have a lower density than that of water, suggesting some have interiors that aren’t solid. Calling this chunk of magic space metal a “comet” is scientifically illiterate. They could have called this chunk of metal an asteroid, and that would have worked. But a comet? No.

Zarkon has essentially abused the Black Lion. Shiro, in trying to bond more with Black, is essentially asking Black to tell him its story. That’s part of processing past trauma: talking about it. Talking about trauma promotes bonding. I really like that this is an element to how the show depicts Shiro and Black growing closer together.

The mice try to entertain Allura, and I love the look of joy on her face as they do so.

Pidge needing to use the toilet, but not being able to interpret the signs on the wall is relatable to me. There is something about public restrooms that unnerves me. It would have been nice if the show hadn’t defaulted to a gender binary in presenting these two toilet signs though. Aside from the fact that humans have more than a simple binary for gender, there is literally nothing that would necessitate that life evolved on other planets would have a binary for gender or sex.

Of course, Lance wants to flirt with girls, but at least it makes sense in a way here in a mall. The alien selling Earth stuff is fantastically odd. Pidge freaks over seeing a video game she’s into. And the game system that it plays on has a game glove. I’m old enough to remember the old NES and its power glove, so this hits me in a personal spot. I never had the power glove though; my experiences with anything other than the standard NES controller never seemed to go well.

“Sustenance unit: complete. Ingest,” says Sal. Again, the voice is what sells it for me. Unfortunate for Sal, his chef-bot breaks, and Hunk volunteers to take charge. He cooks great food, and Sal likes what’s happening. Hunk uses a word here – “provide” – that I think also gets to some of what he likes about cooking. Through food, he can feel like he is providing something to others. He can find a sense of purpose in it. This is how to display the food side of Hunk in a way that actually functions as characterization.

Black shows Shiro that it has the ability to generate wings. Zarkon psychically interferes, knocking Shiro into some kind of astral/psychic space with Zarkon. They fight in a beautiful, visually dynamic way. It’s kind of dissonant to have this big dramatic story going on with Shiro and the comic mall story. That’s probably my biggest complaint about the episode. Issues with tone like this is not limited to this episode, as the previous episodes have shown more than once.

Hunk has totally changed things at Vrepit Sal’s. Hunk is aggressive, and Sal is responding as if he’s a military subordinate to Hunk. I find the bit of development between their two characters to be endearing. I don’t know, I just kind of really like Sal. The mallcop has to go and interrupt things, threaten Hunk, who then flees.

Zarkon and Shiro trade comments as well as blows. Zarkon taunts Shiro, saying, “You could never take my place as the head of Voltron.” Shiro’s fight is literally to be the head of Voltron as proclaimed here by the main antagonist. Shiro counters that Zarkon is “no Paladin,” and Zarkon even briefly has a look of concern, almost disbelief on his face. He knows there is a risk Shiro can break Black free from Zarkon’s control. “You have no idea how to command a weapon like this,” Zarkon says. Shiro retorts, “No one commands the Black Lion!” Go Shiro, go!! These two lines demonstrate the significant difference in their respective relationships with Black. Zarkon’s, like general Galra philosophy, is about domination. Shiro’s is about mutual respect and cooperation, about teamwork. Shiro continues, “It’s not about power, it’s about earning each other’s trust.” Black’s eyes glow, showing it concurs with Shiro. It enters the psychic space and blasts Zarkon. Black clearly prefers Shiro!

And then there’s the twist: Black, and thus Shiro sitting inside it, never left the Castle Ship. They’re still in the docking bay. I actually like this fake-out, though I don’t know how to articulate why. I think maybe it emphasizes again that this was significantly about Black telling its story to Shiro.

Pidge and Lance have been taking money from the fountain. Coins in the fountain is so iconic from my time at the mall as a kid and teen. I can’t say I know of any malls currently that still have fountains though. Keith and Hunk run into each other. Pidge and Lance buy their game stuff, receiving a free Kaltenecker, aka a cow. They all end up being chased by the mallcop.

Coran’s whole shopping at the Unilu shop is hilarious. I love the bartering. A handful of pocket lint. First-born child. A used handkerchief. Left foot. Sing a song. Being a butler for a year. The back and forth is wild. I love it.

The crew gets back to the Castle and whoa: Allura’s hair!

Shiro: “Is that a cow?” Lance: “Mmhmm. His name is Kaltenecker.” This cow has an utter, so is he transgender?

With Shiro bonded more with Black, he’s ready to head to the headquarters of the Blade of Marmora.

A lot of when this show does odd, humor-specific episodes, I don’t like them. This one is different though. I actually find a lot of this one funny. I still contend that pairing the comedy of the mall with the drama of Shiro’s struggle does create some tonal whiplash though. While I might enjoy the humor of the episode, the Shiro/Black Lion/Zarkon part of this episode is still the best part. It’s so clear what the contention is between Shiro and Zarkon that their conflict becomes elegant in a way. It’s some of the best storytelling this show ever did.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 2 #vld 2x07 #commentary

[ganymedesclock]

What do you think the difference(s) between Kuron and Shiro are/were? Idk if you've discussed it before, but it'd be cool to see your take on it.

So my two cents honestly haven’t changed much since where they started in s3e5 when Ryou first showed up. (And I’m obstinate about not calling him Kuron- that’s not who he is that’s what Haggar did to him.)

That is to say: Shiro and Ryou are identical people. The one thing Josh Keaton says in his depiction of Ryou is that Ryou is a little shorter-tempered and impatient, and that’s not a difference of character.

Ryou is effectively just an exact duplicate of Shiro who was retraumatized where he felt safe and has a long, growing fear that he can’t trust his own thoughts and feelings. We’ve got abundant evidence before the switch from Shiro to Ryou that getting snappy and belligerent is Shiro’s stress response. 

S2e10 is one example, and it’s not because Slav is supposed to be abnormally annoying- remember, we don’t see anybody else lose their cool with Slav anywhere near the magnitude Shiro does. Other people can be at worst a little flustered or exasperated with Slav being overly intrusive in his curiosity, finicky or doing things that don’t make that much sense from the outside perspective (hitting the teludav with a rock) but both Lance and Pidge completely gape at Shiro when he loses it on Slav in s2e11.

And we’ve seen Shiro plenty pushy about his way before. For most of s2 he was bashing ahead on working with the Blade of Marmora and repeatedly pushing Allura on the subject whether or not she was comfortable. The only reason Shiro didn’t then take the route he did in s5e4 was because Allura caved and agreed to meet Ulaz and then his organization. If she’d refused either in s2e3 or s2e8, I would bet good money that just like in s5e4, Shiro would eventually walk out of the conversation and some time later, the Black Lion would conveniently go missing.

Shiro is characterized through the virtues of the Black Paladin as being a force of personality. Part of that is charisma, but here’s the thing about a natural leader- they’re a “natural leader” when you agree with them. When you don’t, they’re horribly bossy and stubborn.

If you’re a person who naturally and quickly takes charge of situations, that’s who you are. You don’t somehow become automatically patient and understanding in the face of setbacks when, from your perspective, there’s an obvious solution right there that just needs people to listen to you like usual and do what you tell them and it’ll help everyone.

This is not to say Shiro’s a bad or unsympathetic person- or even that he consistently lacks patience! But Shiro’s patience and empathy has to fight that Black Paladin strength of will and calculating mind- there’s a reason he focuses so much on the importance of patience and remind both himself and others that people aren’t obligated to follow if they don’t need to.

There’s a reason Shiro takes people like Lubos and Zarkon who abuse their followers’ trust and reverence for personal gain, so incredibly personally. Because if he chose to just give in, become impatient and forceful, that’s a person he could become. It isn’t, because that’s consistently how he chooses not to be.

For my intents and purposes, I consider Shiro and Ryou as interchangeable people. I don’t believe we witnessed anything that would really fundamentally set one as separate from the other. You have to remember that Ryou had Shiro’s memories- all of them- and plenty of time to dwell on those memories. Ryou, also, like Shiro, is a Black Paladin in that exact same vein, which means he’d spend a lot of time thinking very hard and poking at those memories.

If there was an inconsistency in Ryou’s personality to Shiro’s, if there was something other than “Ryou is snappier on account of being under greater stress and to a greater degree than his predecessor, afraid of himself” thumping away under the hood, Ryou would notice. He would see the inconsistency in the memories that he thought were his own, he’d come to the alarming conclusion that he can’t understand why his past self made the decisions he did.

Ryou doesn’t notice- and neither does anyone else around him, including Keith, who knew Shiro for years. The only time Ryou confesses he doesn’t feel like himself, he’s obviously not talking about the normal “oddity” of being a duplicate of Shiro that he’s been used to for months now. He’s talking about the negative symptoms of Haggar’s power over him.

It’s also worth noting that during the same span of time, the few times we see disembodied Shiro and Ryou reacting to similar stimuli, they mirror each other. In s5e3, Shiro tries to warn Lance- Lance brings it up to Ryou, not realizing the distinction, and Ryou’s response is not to blow it off or dismiss it, but confess that something strange happened and he’s not certain. And Ryou gives Lance his own S.O.S. in s5e6 afterwards, with very similar tonality.

Furthermore, we have to remember that the only reason Shiro appeared to Lance at all was because Ryou functionally acted as his accomplice and set him up- it was Ryou that socketed the Black Bayard which “boosted” Shiro’s wayward spirit strong enough to let him try to communicate with Lance. Which, that in particular is interesting to me, because it would seem to imply on a soul level, Shiro and Ryou are the same person.

After all, Ryou became a paladin in s4e1. Black chose to trust him. And we have to consider in s5e3, Lance socketing the Red Bayard didn’t boost Keith into the astral plane. So the bayards don’t boost their “true” original wielder- they boost their current holder.

At the time of s5e3, that current holder was Ryou. Logically, Ryou should have appeared in the astral field.

He didn’t. Original Shiro did.

The one time Ryou’s essence was projected into the Black Lion, it didn’t manifest separately from Shiro, but rather, amplified and strengthened Shiro himself.

The kicker here? The only way you can tell Ryou and Shiro apart in their paladin armor is by looking at their hair. Unlike when Shiro talks to Keith in s6e6, where his head is clearly visible... the Shiro we see in s5e3 has his head obscured.

Yes, original Shiro takes credit for it- he says that he was trying to warn Lance that he’d been switched out. But I don’t think he was exactly alone.

Because again- logically since Lance was projected into the field by the red bayard but not Keith, and Allura being able to enter the field by the blue bayard- Ryou should be here. And Ryou, recalling, says that everything “went black” when he socketed the bayard, which would sure imply he went somewhere.

I think, without realizing it, original Shiro temporarily absorbed Ryou in that scene. Lance wasn’t just talking to the disembodied s1-s2 Shiro.

This would give us a precedent for s6e7 and what seems to have happened with white-haired Shiro, and, thus, my thesis of this entire post:

Ryou and Shiro, on a soul level, are so similar that they can merge into a single cohesive person without even realizing the difference. 

This is why I don’t tag Ryou as his own character, incidentally- and something that kept me away from clone theory for a long time, because while I was ambivalent to the idea that it wasn’t the same Shiro, I deeply detested the angle which was commonly taken with it- where people acted as if traits Shiro’s consistently exhibited all along are somehow wildly different in Ryou when they’re. not, really.

TL;DR in my honest opinion, Ryou is just a version of Shiro under very specific stresses that make him slightly snappier and this is the only functional difference.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Shiro #readmore #Anonymous

[sol1056]

it seems like both shiro and keith fans are worried about pretty much the exact same possible bad end for their fav and that doesn't seem right. i've seen shows with leadership conflicts before and it's never been a case of 'which character is going to be thrown away and have all their development be for absolutely nothing' or 'which character is going to be forced to let go of everything they care about' like this the way the fear seems to be here. something's gone wrong.

I’ve been turning this question over in my head ever since I first got this ask, and pretty sure it’s been since shortly after S5 dropped. That’s how baffled I’ve been about how to answer. 

I’ve seen shows where leadership changes hands – that’s pretty common – and a few times where co-leaders bang heads over tactics or strategy. But I honestly cannot ever recall a story actually demanding that its audience be ready to choose one at the expense of the other. 

Yes, something’s gone wrong, but this isn’t something we can blame on bad writing. Its source is not technical – dialogue, characterization, and the like. Nor is the source due to storytelling – tension, pacing, conflict. I’m not judging VLD on either count, in this post. What we have here is failure on a completely different level. 

It’s a failure of empathy. 

With S6 in the rearview mirror, the final answer doesn’t seem to have been that we’d have to choose one or the other. It was that no matter which direction your sympathies lay, everyone would pay far too much, and gain too little. 

After nineteen episodes of development and growth, Kuron was thrown away. Not only by the story, but by the characters themselves (excepting Keith). All that time – up to and including an episode of pure filler that existed for no plot movement except team bonding – and the characters are quick to write Kuron off without second thought. 

If you had the remotest sympathy for Kuron, you lost. And if you had any sympathy for any other characters, you lost again, as those others questioned whether there was purpose in saving their comrade. 

Hunk: But Shiro’s not Shiro anymore.

If you were rooting for Shiro’s return, then you lost by having what should’ve been a moment of hope turn – on a single phrase – to be a door slamming shut. And if you had any empathy for Keith, you got hit, too, because that single statement meant after fighting so hard, he’d still lost what matters to him above all else.

Shiro: I died, Keith.

If you were hoping that Keith would claim a leadership role, that came under such darkness and loss that it’s hard to see any reason to celebrate. If you hung in there until Shiro was brought back, then you’re probably chafing at the implication in Shiro’s absence from the final hero shot: he’s back, but he’s sidelined. 

If you see a common core between Shiro and his clone, and you watched Kuron insist that all he wants is to be a paladin – if even a small part of you empathizes with his simple desire – then Keith’s achievement with Black is a blow. Twice now Shiro has been ripped away, used to hurt others, and he isn’t rewarded; he’s punished. It’s insult to injury that he also loses what matters so much to him, as voiced by his clone. 

Kuron: I don’t know what’s more fulfilling than a paladin.

And if you hold any empathy for Keith – and his explicit love for Shiro – then you know this is no victory for Keith, either. When the story forces Shiro to abandon what matters to him, even an iota of empathy means recognizing this will also hurt those who love him, to see him lose that. 

Keith walked away before. Does that care for his friend no longer exist, such that now he can claim the spot without guilt? There was no victory in taking over Black in S3, and there’s even less, now. 

Keith: I’m not meant to pilot the Black Lion.

It’s a whole lot of punishment and loss. What, exactly, did we get for it? 

For starters, we got a character who was humanized, fought his fate, and failed. Kuron was born as a tool for the bad guys…

Haggar: Give in. You cannot resist. You are mine.

and he died as a tool for the good guys. 

Keith: This body is barely living, but Shiro’s spirit is alive.

And then there’s the character who spent 26 episodes struggling to know his worth despite the shadows in his past, who was sent into a different prison for another 25 episodes. Between the circumstances, the composition of the final images, and the EPs’ hand-waving – we’re left with a cruel equation. 

In S1, the story posed a very simple question at the heart of Shiro’s arc.

Sendak: Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin?

In S6, the story’s answer seems to be: no.

And then you have a character who’s fought, and lost, and regained, and fought and lost again, and kept fighting, and blamed himself when things went wrong, only to pick himself back up yet again and keep fighting… and still lost. 

Keith: I’m not leaving here without you.

What’s Keith’s lesson, then? That fighting so hard gets him nothing? That if he’d just cared a little less, he wouldn’t have have brought a traitor into the team? If he’d held onto his inherited position as Black Paladin, the clone never would’ve gotten a deep foothold? It’s a bitter irony that his willingness to keep fighting is the only reason there’s a body to put Shiro into. 

I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be obstacles in the course of a story. Nor am I saying that a story can’t raise difficult questions, or knock us sideways with apparently insurmountable odds. What I am saying is that empathy for the characters is the source of hope. 

To see characters as paper cut-outs – discarded without regard, crushed again and again – is to deny they contain echoes of our own humanity. It’s a negation of the reason we, as humans, care about people, real or fictional. 

There’s a cycle in stories we call try/fail, where a character tries and tries and fails until they finally get it right. Each repetition is a mistake, a failure, until the character learns the lesson. Fall seven time, rise eight. But to make that cycle something other than brutal anguish, there must be hope, and that lies in empathy. 

A hero is one who overcomes what they face, rises above it, and becomes more – and thereby shows us all how we may do the same. But the hero’s journey is not easy, and the victories must be earned. It is empathy that lets us experience the pain of that darkest night, and it is empathy that drives us to reach, alongside the hero, for that ray of distant hope. 

What is the lesson, here? That a character who tried, and tried, and ultimately gave into greater powers is not even worth mourning? It’s a tragic arc, but a creator should have empathy for that pain, no matter how senseless it is, in the end. Or that a character reached for the stars and was shot down, over and over – is the lesson to step back from that dream, and never reach again? Or a character who loves and loses, over and over: is the only way to break that try/fail cycle to simply stop loving so much? 

Those are brutal, hollow, hopeless lessons. In this regard, the story’s elitism, essentialism, and amorality are merely symptoms of this deeper cause. The only lesson to be learned is that there’s no purpose; there is no hint of an end, only further exploitation. This is not an absence of storytelling skill, but an absence of empathy: an inability to grasp the cruelty and nihilism in repeatedly, persistently, denying hope.  

#voltron legendary defender #meta #not pulling any punches on this one #speaking as a writer #vld #voltron

[sunnybimbo]

New Year’s Wrap Up

i was literally just thinking about this and surprise!! boss has got me covered 

weathered (887 words)

Blueberry and Dandelions (2614 words)

Candlelight (1811 words)

Pas de Deux, adagio (23369 words)

Greasy Kisses (1080 words)

Me First! (1563 words)

Howling Heart (2553 words)

Dearly Beloved (3671 words)

Silence is Golden (2153 words)

Molten Gold (2953 words)

Dreaming (5303 words)

Chrysalis (483 words)

Marks You Leave (1182 words)

The Heart Speaks In Whiskers (2612 words)

Refracted (973 words)

All We Need (15983 words)

Whipped (2823 words)

dusklight (2025 words)

left in the dust (2218 words)

Pull of My Hips (3448 words)

the notion of the idea of waiting for you (3242 words)

Fall In (2000 words)

catching your light in my palms (2891 words)

Total Fics: 23 (excluding spice fics which raise it to 31) Total Words: 93,128

(read more bc s u p e r l o n g p o s t)

Ship/character breakdown: Ship breakdown:

Heith - 8 Fics Shunk - 6 Fics Sheith - 2 Fics and the rest have less than one fic attached, or are gen <3

Character breakdown:

Hunk - 20 Shiro - 15 Keith - 14 (w/ Kosmo at a solid 4 appearances yeet) Lance - 7 Pidge - 5 Allura - 3 Lotor - 2 Coran - 2 and special shoutout to Kolivan @ 2 as well

Characters that had the main focus: u already know it,,,,,,, 💛

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title:  i really can’t decide between: ‘the heart speaks in whiskers’ vs ‘blueberry and dandelions’ so take both Worst title: Dearly Beloved,,,,,,, i could’ve gone WAY cheesy

Best/worst first line?

best (Dreaming)

“You don’t have to do this.” Pidge says to him, just as the dawn begins to settle. He’s surrounded by faceless people, or atleast it feels that way with how little they look at him, so he focuses on nothing but her. Heavy makeup is traced across his eyelids, golden lines echoing the whisper of sun beams that paint his skin.

i love,,,,, yellow imagery in my fics,,,,,,, sue me 

also hidge friendship! yeah!!!

worst (Molten Gold): 

Lotor falls for the boy in yellow before he realizes it even happens.

just because i Remember not being able to think of anything more interesting to start with so i just slapped that on

Best/worst last line?

i waver so much but FINAL ANSWER:

i have TWO best ones, though.

(Dreaming): 

And Shiro is a greedy god, a selfish god, a lonely god. But forever and always would he be a kind one.

(Pas de Deux, adagio)

It feels the exact same way about two months later, — sending a current of pleasant electricity thrumming through him, until his fingertips tingle and his heart soars— when Hunk proposes in the very pasture they'd met in. Keith, if it isn't obvious by the way he smooches Hunk silly, says yes.  

And they lived happily ever after.

everytime i think about this fic i always wanna write a million and one words about it

worst (weathered):

They didn’t say anymore words, but the love (not to mention, the unadulterated mitigation of their combined grief) still nestled its way to his heart. There would never be enough time to describe how happy he was to see them again. And he knew that (and maybe he always knew) despite everything, here in his mama’s arms with his brothers and the familiar smell of grass and ocean, would always be his home.

only because it’s s o l o n g and kinda confusing to read

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I wrote a bunch less than last year, but this year was OOF so I didn’t do as much (93k vs last years 200+k ;w;)

although this IS disregarding my spice fics where i wrote almost 38k so,,, i didn’t do TOO terribly :D

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? spice: hunk/sendak......

but other than that, i’ve really stuck to heith/shunk! What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Familiar Faces is by far my favorite of the year.  It was fun, it was kooky, it was funny, it was dramatic.  Structurally it was among the most challenging (Two chapters happen simultaneously and that had to be plotted out well).  Also, it was just super fun to work with Velkyn!

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

By kudos, Coming Through the Noise.  Which is cool!  I’d never seen a Gen truth serum fic before, and it was extra fun for a very reserved character like Shiro. Story most underappreciated by the universe? Unrelenting, probably.  It’s all about the nature of being a Hufflepuff from Hunk’s POV, so I get why it doesn’t get a big audience.  But I love it.  Puffs need more love :( Story that could have been better? I like Shackles on my Wings, but it probably could have done with an extra polish (most things I write could tbh) Sexiest story?

DEFINITELY on my mind over @ my horni write write

Saddest story? god.... Silence is Golden for sure,,,,, (tw for torture/whump/i guess mild gore???)

Most fun? Pas de Deux, adagio,,,,,, i love myself some fairy tale (*cough* barbie* cough) crossovers.

Story with single sweetest moment?

i really gotta go with Pas de Deux again

"I'll be fine." Keith says as he pulls away. "Tonight isn't about this. Let's... let's dance. I've never danced before."

"Really?" Then, realizing that no, Keith probably would have never gotten the opportunity, Hunk stands and offers his elbow to him. "Well, I'm obligated to show you the best time of your life now."

They don't head towards the ballroom. Instead, they skirt around the edges of the castle until they find a window, left ajar just enough so that they can hear the music loud and clear.

Hunk offers his hand, and Keith lets his drop in his large palm. He's gathered up, then, with one arm around his waist, and it takes a bit of ushering from Hunk for him to catch the rhythm. Keith stumbles over his own feet more than once, caught between looking down at the motions and up at Hunk's face.

In the end, Hunk lifts him just a few inches up and lets him rest on the tip of his boots so that he can dance them around without having to worry about stepping on Keith's toes. He isn't wearing shoes, after all.

They dance until the song changes twice, and Keith finds himself pressing an ear against Hunk's heart, basking in the steady beat for as long as he's allowed. Every so often, Hunk will hum to the tune and the vibrations will course straight through Keith's body, like light through a rainbow prism.

Keith was right when he'd assumed that his dress would be fun to twirl in. The fabric is kind against his skin as it flips this way and that, but Hunk’s touch against his back is even kinder.

Hardest story to write?

All We Need, because i was at a r e a l l y bad place when i tried to tame that beast, but i’m so proud of how it turned out, and also i’d probably do anything for peach c’:

Easiest/most fun story to write?

left in the dust flowed out of me like water out of a spout,,,, it was Magical

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

mmmm i don’t think so? All We Need made me more conscientious of canon characterization, but by like maybe 10% asljhadl

Most overdue story?

dude..... All We Need, again. peachie was so patient and kind while it took me like 80 years ;w; 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

i tried to be more Flowy n Metaphorical in my writing because i love that shit, and i think it’s going pretty well. i lost my touch somewhere around the end of summer for a bit, bc again i was having some Fucky moments, but overall i think i’m doing alright!!!! 

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

i have a couple long fic ideas i want to do!!! which i totally don’t mind talking about if anyone happens to be a little curious. one is an arriety au (bc i’ve never read the borrowers) and the other is that one old west au i literally never shut up about. 

there’s another one i’m iffy about where it’s basically shunk in Therapy together yayyyyyy, but we’ll see if that one stays dead

but overall: my biggest goal is to write more longfics for rarepairs!!! also more things w/ women bc i’ve really been slacking on that end. 

also maybe something for she-ra? i wrote down a couple ideas the other day that i’d love to explore

✍️ wish me luck!!!

tagging: 

@grassepi @drdone @ironinkpen @darlingaces @tootsonnewts @oops-i-accidentally @dansantsouslalune @sakura-daydream @call-me-kaii @maternalcube @turtlelady17 

plus anyone else who sees this that wants to do this!!!! i always forget people for these things

#long post #WOOF that took three hours #jam gets fuckin tagged in something holy shit #yayayaayaya #i'm proud of my progress this year!!! #i hope im able to write a bunch more next year!!!! #ask to tag

[babe-in-red]

Fic Prompt/Request: Subtle ways that indicate to the rest of the group that something shifted between Shiro and Keith post-S6. Sitting more closely next to each other on the couch while watching TV, for example. Subtle enough not to scandalize the other paladins, but different enough that they start asking what has changed. (Bonus if Lance actually GETS IT)

Canon Lance is always better than fanon. Trust me.

It was pretty funny, Lance thought. Watching as Keith’s trying to sneak out after Shiro. No, he was no more the ninja or samurai as he used to call Keith. Something very careless possessed the actions of the future Black Paladin. No more of secretive looks, no blinking and smiling behind the palm. Keith looked to be more open than before. 

Lance was maybe a bit slow when it came to the relationship, and he needed time to understand what was going on in his heart and mind, but observing other’s bond was his specialty. He always understood, always knew that Keith’s feeling was deeper and smoother when it came to Shiro. Now, Lance couldn’t even call it sneaking. It looked old-fashioned - the look in Keith’s eyes like Shiro’s his everything like he needs to battle his approach through all the noble knights in his way to save his Prince in the cursed tower. But thinking about Keith as an adventurer made Lance roll his eyes. How in the Earth Keith always got the coolest characterization and position. That was beyond him. 

Right now the Paladins were staying at Garrison. The talk with commander Iverson was very awkward. Not that he was glaring at Keith all the time, but Keith didn’t say a word. He only stood in the corner of the office, his arms crossed and protectively, he watched Shiro’s back. Of course, any from these gestures were new for Lance. Obvious Keith was like the breakfast - quick to swallow. 

Yes, Shiro meant everything to Keith, but what about the other way around? Lance still couldn’t get into Shiro’s head and understand. He spent some time in the Blue lion, thinking and talking with her. You should try to understand people before you start to judge them. Said Krolia once. She was like the space mom everybody needed. 

“Lance are you in there?” Pidge knocked on the metal leg of Blue. “It’s dinner time! Shiro wants us all to be there!” 

“Give me five minutes!” He called and rubbed his forehead. 

**

This evening the cafeteria was reserved only for the Paladins and the royals. Allura still couldn’t hide her enthusiasm about Earth and Coran did everything wrong. It was actually Hunk who tried to teach him that here, on Earth are mustaches very common and that people even dedicated the whole of November to it. 

Iverson looked old and heavy, and when he sat there behind the table, Lance couldn’t push away his worry. They were gone too long to understand what was happening on Earth. He wanted to go home and tell his siblings that even though he’s not the best pilot he’s one of the Paladins and he helped to save the Earth. 

“I’m glad we’re here.” Shiro slowly sank on his chair. It was visible that his side was still giving him trouble. But of course, Keith was there, watching and prepared to step in if Shiro needed help. 

“So impossible.” Lance shook his head.

“What?” Pidge leaned closer, “you are weird these past days.” 

“I am just trying to figure out some things about me. It’s nothing.” He murmured and waved his hand. 

“As you know,” Shiro started, “unfortunately, I’m not capable of piloting right now.” 

Shiro massaged his temple. He looked tired. It was too soon for him to talk about the future of Voltron. Even if everybody understood the importance of moving forward, Lance couldn’t surpass the feeling that Shiro’s just too tired. 

“But, Coran and Kolivan promised to come up with a brand new arm for you.” Hunk said carefully. “I understand you need to rest, Shiro, that’s what we all need, and you need it the most, but don’t cut yourself like this, man. We are here for you. One for all, all for one.” 

“I’m not sure if I want a new tech arm, Hunk.” 

Silence. 

But at least Keith didn’t look surprised. That was the only stage of their relationship that they were not able to hide: best friends. Damn, what was going on between the two? Lance wanted to understand before he would come with a conclusion so wrong that he would hurt somebody again. 

“It takes time,” Keith spoke suddenly, “just let it go for now. It just takes time.” 

Trauma.

That was the word Keith didn’t want to say aloud, and Lance knew it. He was not blind, slow? Maybe, but not deaf.

**

The easiest way how to finally find out what is going on between his two friends, was ask and be that guy who’s humble and curious in the right direction. Lance bit his tongue; he tried not to attack Keith because of the bond between him and Shiro. His attempt to be closer to Shiro failed. The man closed his doors, built his walls so high that Lance couldn’t even see where they end.

“Fuck.” Lance kicked off his duvet and jumped from the bed. Not that only these two idiots occupied his mind during the day, but now he couldn’t even sleep.

He stormed right into Keith room, but the door was locked. He tried Shiro’s, but he met the same resistance. Maybe they locked themselves, god knows, but he didn’t want to punch the doors and wake up all the cadets.

“Common room.” Pidge sighed, “they’re in the common room, Lance.”

“What are you doing here?”

Pidge leaned heavily against the wall, “I was watching a movie with them, when I fell asleep. I am on my way to my room.”

“They’re not doing weird things?”

“What weird things?”

“Nothing?” Lance nervously shifted from the door, “I’m just gonna check them. You know? I can’t sleep.”

Grumbling under his nose, Lance reached his destination. The room was at the very end of the corridor of ubication. The room had no doors so he couldn’t hide effectively to spy on the two. Lance pressed his back against the wall and tilted his head only to see that the tv was lightning up the room and the two figures who watched it.

“You’re falling asleep,” Keith said softly.

“I  like it.”

“Giving me the dead shoulder is what you like in nowadays?” Keith replied jokingly.

“I generally like your shoulders.”

“It’s firm. You’re gonna end up with neck cramps.”  

“We all have to pay the price for our comfort.” Shiro chuckled, “stop worrying about me. I know what I need.”

“I know what you need.”

Lance blinked. An ordinary conversation, indeed. He really was not deaf to not see that they both had a very close relationship. A brotherly one? Well, his siblings often rest on his shoulder. They used to watch movies together and fall asleep.

Yes, but Shiro and Keith weren’t siblings. And he didn’t want to judge before he would understand. That was a new motto in Lance’s life. Observe first.

“Well, then, what do I need?” Shiro asked curiously.

“Massage.”

“Oh?”

“I know you won’t dare to say no to my long fingers.” Keith jiggled happily, “Just take off your shirt and let me do the magic.”

“I’ll take off my shirt if you take off your shirt.”

“You should stop asking me to take off my shirt. People are gonna say you’re gay.”

Shiro laughed. He straightened himself and with such an easy he pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it on the side. “That’s the fun, isn’t it? People who assume things when they’re clearly wrong.”

Are they? Lance was now glaring at them. He almost choked on his saliva when he heard Keith say the word gay. There was absolutely nothing wrong with being a bit different, he just couldn’t put two and two together without starting to see them differently. When Lance was thinking about it, he was jealous of something he could never have.

“Shiro.”

The name from Keith’s mouth floated in the air like a flower scent. All the kindness and softness Keith reserved for the older man. They didn’t have to kiss in front of Lance’s eyes so he could understand.

“Hey.”

Shiro turned his head surprised, “why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Can’t.” Lance entered the common room and sat right next to them, “so what are you two doing exactly?”

“Massaging Shiro’s sore neck.” Keith replied immediately, “he’s like a baby. Never listens to me.”

“Sounds like someone who’s sitting right next to me.” Shiro chuckled.

“I am not.”

“Yeah, sometimes you are.” Shiro agreed in amusement.

“Shiro, I have your neck between my fingers.”

“I feel very triggered.”

“Sarcasm is not gonna save ya.”

Lance found a better position on the couch. He rested his legs on the small table and satisfied he only nodded and turned his attention to the TV.

“You’re not gonna stop me from calling you baby.”

Lance held his breath. When Keith bowed his head and fought Shiro’s hands so he couldn’t see his blushing face, he burst out laughing. So obvious, so freaking obvious.

The two men gave him puzzled looks. Shiro stopped to fight his way to Keith’s face, while the younger man only stared at Lance prepared to attack if something stupid would fall from his mouth.

But Lance didn’t say a word. He ended up satisfied with his discovery and let the two men only stare at him. It was a lovely evening, and he had a comedy to watch.  

Understand first, then judge. 

#reply #sheith

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #63

This isn’t really a full rec post, just sort of a wrap up of loose ends. You could say I’m going on hiatus from making recs until my situation changes and I have more time for fics. I’m just gonna stick the recs I hadn’t previously put in a list here, as well as some general recommendations, and finish up with Previously Recced Fics That Updated.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

A Sound Like Thunder by Bandity Words: 8,959 Author’s Summary: Hunk’s alone, stranded on a planet with no way to communicate and the world around him is being blown apart. But he knows his friends will come for him. Right? Part 2 of the Senses series, but you don’t have to read the first story to understand this one. My Comments: Absolutely fabulous hurt!Hunk fic with a hefty dose of hurt!Lance as well. The situation was incredibly tense and suspenseful, and the resolution was utterly satisfying. Poor Shiro, too. It’s all good stuff.

Smile by IcyPanther for Bandity Words: 3,661 Author’s Summary: Lance glanced at the mirror. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was remembering. Like, the first glance had freaked him out but it really wasn’t that noticeable. He worried his lip in indecision before finally making his way over to the mirror. He had to know. Just… just a peek. Without further ado Lance gave a tentative smile. And despair crashed down once more. My Comments: Poor Lance. Though his issue seems minor, it really isn’t. I love Hunk being there for him no matter what, and Keith trying hard to be a good friend even though he doesn’t really get it. And Coran swooping in at the end for the win, too. Great comfort all around.

Collect Call by LittleWhiteTie Words: 2,479 Author’s Summary: Unsure of what to do about Shiro, Lance calls Keith. The boy on the screen is wearing his old black t-shirt instead of his Marmora uniform; his bad hair is even messier than usual. “Did you need something?” Yes, but for once, Lance’s words have left him. What’s he supposed to say? Hey Keith, I want you to come home because I feel like something might be wrong with Shiro, but I can’t even figure out what the problem is—if there’s even a problem to begin with. Hey Keith, I want you to come home because I’m not you, and Shiro won’t talk to me again, no matter how hard I try. Hey Keith, I want you to come home because I miss you, and I don’t want to deal with this alone. Nope, not happening. “I—I can call back later.” My Comments: I love the way Keith and Lance’s friendship develops here. Very lovely post season 5 fic with great character development and realistic dialogue.

Sounds of Darkness by IcyPanther for CrownsofLaurels (laurel1020) Words: 8,635 Author’s Summary: Lance couldn’t see. Or hear. Or move. The silent darkness was all encompassing and it was pressing in; choking him, drowning him, blinding him. He screamed but it was swallowed whole into the void of nothingness. Lance trembled, pain shaking his limbs, and faintly wondered if he’d even made a sound at all. My Comments: Lance’s suffering in this one is particularly visceral, but the recovery and comforting afterward was suitably intense, as well. I’m a big fan of Shiro and Lance platonically cuddling. Totally worth it.

With All But His Soul by Resamille Words: 28,849 Author’s Summary: Somewhere along the line, Lance lost himself, replaced with something fierce and foreign. The worst part? He can’t bring himself to want to go back. Like this, he’s improved. He’s a fighter, a perfect soldier. No more nightmares. No more homesickness. No more weakness. It’s better, that way. He’s better. My Comments: This fic is dark. I’m not sure I like it, but I do admire it. It sucked me in and I couldn’t stop reading, even as dread and horror built inside me and I began to suspect that I would not enjoy the ending. And I didn’t. Still, it’s an amazing piece of fiction, very well-written and compelling, and if you’re in the mood for something tragic and disturbing, this is the fic for you.

Forge Fire by squirenonny Words: 19,745 Author’s Summary: Keith thought he’d passed the Trials of Marmora, but when he approaches Kolivan looking for information about his mother, he learns there are four more Trials to pass before he can call himself a Blade. Kolivan, Antok, and Thace watch as Keith undertakes the remainder of his Trials, and they remember their own Trials—a grueling ordeal from which no one emerges unchanged. They cannot aid him in the Trials, but they can help him prepare, and they can help him through the aftermath. After all, the Blades are kin, and kin does not let kin suffer alone. One part Dads of Marmora, one part Kolivan introspective. My Comments: I adore the worldbuilding and the emotions and the backstories and the characterization and everything about this, basically. Kolivan’s perspective is so warm and rich, and Keith’s desperation to belong is palpable. The ending was ridiculously satisfying, too, and I just… This story feels GOOD, y'all. You should definitely read it.

Faces of Home by IcyPanther for glitteringconstellations Words: 6,238 Author’s Summary: There were murmured, familiar voices when Lance awoke that quieted almost immediately when he blinked open his eyes. “Easy, easy,” someone soothed as he tried to sit up. Someone familiar. Lance gasped. “Mamá?” Because somehow… somehow he was home. / Lance is injured in a fight against the Galra and wakes to find himself in the care of his family. But… how did he wind up back on Earth? Something isn’t quite right… My Comments: I love it when Lance gets familial comfort and love, even from unexpected places. This got me hard in the feels. So good.

A Long Night by VelkynKarma Words: 2,359 Author’s Summary: A missing scene from “Failsafe.” Shiro takes care of a very ill Ryou while the others are away, but it’s not so easy to do when he just wants a few hours of rest for himself. My Comments: Part of a previously recced series. This installment is just straight cuddling and comfort in the middle of a horrible period in the story, and it’s everything I love. I adore this.

As Cold as Ice by A_Zap Words: 4,326 Author’s Summary: Keith scoffed when Hunk warned him and Pidge to never make Lance truly angry. After all, Lance wasn’t scary. He was like his element: flexible, playful, and able to let things go as easily as ripples in water. Plus, at the end of the day, he was too nice to ever really do anything when angry. Keith had forgotten that water could be just as terrifying and unforgiving as any wild fire. My Comments: Fun fic with Lance being scary and protective and Keith being astonished. Hunk and Lance are totally the scariest when they’re angry, I believe that absolutely.

At a Loss by FroldGapp Words: 2,189 Author’s Summary: Coran sees the gulf grow ever-wider between Keith and his fellow paladins and decides it’s up to him to cheer the red paladin up. It’s time for an intervention of sorts from the universe’s most gorgeous man. My Comments: My heart aches for Keith here so much. I wish he was a little better at communicating so he could tell the others that he’s having a hard time. But I love Coran noticing all on his own and doing what he can to ease things for him.

Bonded to the Bone by spitfire00 Words: 3,322 Author’s Summary: Pidge is missing, the Green Lion is angry, Matt is heartbroken, Voltron is useless, and Pidge may have inadvertently become god of the forest in the meantime. My Comments: Very cool visual images here, I like this concept a lot. And of course reunions and hugging are nice, too.

yellow by m_barcelona Words: 2,654 Author’s Summary: “I, um…I don’t really know what to say here. I guess I should start at the beginning.” Hunk clears his throat and looks away from the blinking red dot of the camera, suddenly feeling trapped by its unnerving stare. This is going to be harder than he thought. Hunk decides to send a video message home to his family, and discovers a lot about himself in the process. My Comments: Hunk is the best. I loved this look into his heart and mind. It felt very intimate and warm.

So here’s the general part. While I don’t have quite as much time for fics, I’m still reading, just authors and stories I’m already subscribed to. Below is a list of the authors I read no matter what they do, because it’s always amazing. BUT THIS IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE. 

There are LOTS of good gen writers who are not on this list. PLEASE don’t miss out on good fics just because I’m not posting them. Look for yourself. Try every story currently on @maychorianrecs​ and then follow the authors to see what else they’ve done. Follow their bookmarks. I’ve found tons of fantastic stories by reading the bookmarks of authors I like, then following THEIR bookmarks, and so on. It’s like following a trail of Good Stuff, and I’ve wiled away many a pleasant day doing that.

Also, @bosstoaster​ made a filter that removes almost every ship in the Voltron fandom on AO3, so you can find just the gen stuff (with rare canon pairings). Here it is, it’s amazing.

But anyway, the (mostly gen) Voltron authors I am subscribed to at this particular point in time:

VelkynKarma  IcyPanther squirenonny ashinan Bandity birdzilla buttered_onions ChaoticReactions (BossToaster) Emerald_Ashes isabeau25 mumblefox Rangergirl3 WashiPuppy wingedflower yet_intrepid

Some of those folks, particularly Velkyn and IcyPanther, have written some really incredible stories recently. I’m just saying, you don’t want to miss out.

Okay, and here’s the last thing.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

mostly void, partially stars (33063 words) As Color Fades Away (317695 words) Shadows of Stars (236851 words) Little Crystals (22176 words) Fusion Confusion (26040 words) The Field of Blood (37587 words) A Dragon in Thy Pocket (14380 words) Young Blood (12360 words) I'm Your Captain (11878 words)

#voltron legendary defender #fic rec #weekly voltron fic recs #please do not stop reading gen fics while i'm on hiatus #also i need to go through my askbox and post all the recs people have sent me #vldgen

[throwmethatcello]

My thoughts on Voltron season 7, not that anyone cares.

Look, I’ve always belonged to that part of the fandom that would rather enjoy whatever the creators are trying to bring to the show than getting frustrated for what they don’t bring, because It’s a cartoon and It’s supposed to be fun and entertaining, so I’ve pretty much liked every season to some extent until now. But this season is seriously making it hard for me, I’ll tell you why. 

First of all, the expectation the producers created was just too much, and yes, I’m talking about LGBT+ rep, because at this point is pretty much impossible not to. The producers claimed from the very first beginning there was going to be representation in the show, we all know about the infamous art with Lance and Shiro holding the sign and all that. You can’t just do that kind of statements without expecting a good amount of people to hold you accountable for it sooner or later. Then this year’s comicon came, and the vld panel came in through all smartass and sassy showing us Adam ans Shiro’s previous relationship and being all like “see, we told you guys ;)”, and I have to admit, they got me. I truly thought they were going to take charge on the matter. Only to find out they went and killed Adam on his second appearance. I shit you not, when I saw that little picture of his on the screen going dark I was like ´oh shit guys wtf are you doing, stop´, because THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU DON’T DO. That is an old trick and a mean one. Putting lgbt characters in a story just to kill them off is not new, it’s a pretty old and terrible trope, and a content creator for a show being broadcasted on year 2018 should know better than that. Saying two characters have some kind of relationship and then making at least one of them dissapear so you don’t have to make them interact furtherly is a dick move, and just not the way to do justice to a community. 

Second, Acxa. And don’t get me wrong, I love her. But as many of you are probably also thinking, the path they seem to be taking with her character, and her relationship with Keith, to be more precise, is uncalled for. And please let me make it clear; I’m not saying this as a Klance shipper (I ship a lot of shit, I don’t even care anymore), but as a fiction consumer. If what we all fear is happening actually happens, and Keith ends up paired up with Acxa, It will be nearly impossible for me to enjoy that plotline for the sole reason that it’s forced, and there’s no worse kind of forced relationship than an heterosexual forced relationship. We’ve been putting up with them for decades now, it’s not cute, it’s not interesting. To be fair, this dynamic was probably planned since the begginning, and I don’t think that, at that point, the creators expected Keith to become such an icon for gay representation. Even though one could say he has been written as gay-coded, there’s no way to know if this was actually on purpose. However, even if Keith’s characterization was unintentional, his relationship with Acxa has, at least in my opinion, no appeal whatsoever. It’s lame and boring and uneventful, so I really hope they don’t become endgame. 

Last, and I really don’t want to sound like a crazy Lance stan here, but they really need to step up their game with his character development. So far he’s the only main character for whom we’d only gotten glimpses of his inner and outer struggles. And while that’s what makes him such a relatable and lovable character, these issues need to be adressed properly in order to become interesting. It’s like they keep showing us how insecure and affected and traumatized he is, but they just... let him overcome all of it out of screen. And that’s not fair considering every other paladin has had their time to face their demons (Officially now that Hunk got his little arc). So with so little show left to close all the plots, I can’t help but think his big shot, if ever comes, will be probably rushed and anticlimatic. I really hope I’m wrong, I really hope they surprise me, but considering the treatment they’ve given to the plot so far, I’m very low on expectations.  Overall, I don’t think the season was terrible, It was actually pretty fun and eventful.A lot of shit went down, a lot of new great characters were introduced, and they actually managed to surprise me with a lot of things. I just know better on what to expect from now on. This show won’t give us the kind of experience we were waiting for, and that is on us for having so much (let’s be honest) unreal expectations, but also on the staff for feeding those expectations wrongly. I’m not mad at the creators, I don’t think they’re bad people, or homophobic, or lazy. I just think they are straight, and it shows. They’re a crew of predominantely straight people that tried to enter the territory of revindication, in what I’d rather assume was nothing but good faith, but sadly it’s not enough. And it’s a shame, because I actualy like the show. It’s a fun show, with colorful characters, and cool action sequences and an awesome soundtrack and funny goofball filler episodes, it’s great. And  we haven’t been enjoying all those good things, because we’re too busy waiting for all those other things to happen. I personally will set my mind on enjoying the rest of the show, not thinking about what I want there to happen or how progressive I want it to be. I’ll just... watch it, and have fun, and if something makes me angry I’ll just focus on all the other things that don’t. I completely understand If you are dissapointed on the franchise and decide to stop watching. Nobody should be watching something that makes them misserable. I still have reasons to keep watching, so I’ll probably stay till the end, unless another major fuck up happens, who knows.  Take care and eat cake

#voltron #s7 spoilers #rant #no one cares cata #sorry if i made some grammar mistakes up there i was in a rush

[lordofthebigtimesupernatural]

Prompt: could you write about how and when Keith was first diagnosed with autism?

Hello there! This prompt was hard in which I wanted it to be perfect. This prompt is probably one of the biggest ones for this AU in dealing with Keith. I hope to have done it justice despite working on it many times. Thanks for the great prompt nonny and I hope you enjoy!

x.V.x

              Keith was a happy young kid.

              At least, Shiro was pretty sure that Keith was a happy kid. Sometimes it was hard to tell, and other times Shiro could read the happy smile off Keith like a book. However, he’d never given much thought to some of the differences in Keith’s personality to other kids his age.

              Like how it had taken Keith four years to say one word. Or how he avoided direct contact since the day that Shiro had brought him home. There were also times where Keith didn’t know what to do with his hands and would sometimes tug on his hair when he was upset or wave them around when he was excited.

              Bad jokes weren’t allowed in Shiro’s house, especially after the incident where Shiro’s father accidentally made Keith believe that Shiro wasn’t coming home anymore. Most jokes had to be explained to Keith, along with directly telling him when a person was angry or upset or happy.

              Still, it never bothered Shiro, until a doctor’s visit.

              It was a standard check-up for the four-year-old at Keith’s standard pediatrician. He’d cried and practically screamed during his shot. He’d thrown a fit when the doctor tried to look in his ears and throat. He’d laughed when the doctor booped his nose and knees. Overall, there was nothing out of the ordinary, other than Keith actually speaking this time.

              Towards the end of the appointment, while Keith was picking out which Band-Aid he wanted for his arm, the doctor had pulled Shiro aside.

              “I hear Keith is finally speaking.” She smiled, causing Shiro to grin.

              “Yeah! He started a couple months back after I got back from a…trip. Since then he’s been saying more and more words every day. It’s not a lot yet but it’s something!” Shiro stated happily, glancing in the room and waving at Keith. Keith beamed while the nurse put the Band-Aid on his arm before being distracted by more Band-Aids.

              “That’s excellent Shiro! I was a bit concerned he would remain non-verbal for many more years but this is a tremendous step for him.” The doctor replied. Shiro blinked, confused by her choice of words, but found himself nodding along. It really was tremendous and Shiro was extremely proud of his little boy.

              “Ah, yeah. Why would you be concerned?” Shiro finally asked, lowering his voice. He didn’t want Keith to hear any of this discussion, in case it took an unexpected turn.

              “Mostly because I’ve seen many cases similar to Keith where children haven’t become verbal until much later in life. It’s not a bad thing but it can hinder things such as learning and going to school at the appropriate age.” The doctor explained softly. Shiro swallowed. “However, if Keith’s speech continues to improve then I see no need for you to stall his learning experience at school next year.”

              “Dr. Karen,” Shiro hesitated as he bit his lip. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

              The doctor was quiet for a minute, hands in her pocket, before sighing. “Shiro, have you ever heard of the term, autism? Or the autism spectrum?” She asked, eyes lingering on Keith. Shiro stared at his son, chest suddenly feeling heavy before nodding slowly.

              “I’ve heard the word, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about it.” Shiro admitted softly.

              “Medically speaking, autism is a variable developmental disorder that is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, and the impairment to communicate with others, and is often associated by repetitive behavior patterns.” Dr. Karen explained quietly. Shiro felt his head spinning at all of the medical terminologies in her explanation and he was beginning to feel a bit dumbed down, only for the doctor to smile at him.

              “Autism is not an illness or a “condition” as some people may call it,” Dr. Karen stated firmly. “There’s no reason to explain how and why it happens. It’s not usually genetic or caused in any way. Autism really is a disorder that can affect a person’s development in social means and communication. It varies by person or child. Some autistic children can communicate, as you and I would and appear to easily make an abundance of social relationships. Others find it extremely difficult to understand social behaviors or express themselves properly. Neither is better than the other and by no means does it make your child more “normal.”” She continued, while Shiro remained staring at his son.

              “Do you believe Keith to be autistic?” Shiro finally asked.

              Dr. Karen smiled softly. “Unfortunately, I am not trained to properly diagnose Keith. I can only say that I see similar traits in Keith with other children that we have diagnosed, but for a proper diagnosis I can refer you to one of our child psychologists and doctors at the children’s hospital.”

              Shiro licked his lips. “Would Keith really need a diagnosis? If he’s doing so well?”

              “Shiro,” Dr. Karen began. “I know you’re not this type of parent and it’s going to take time, but leaving a child undiagnosed can be harmful later in life. With a proper diagnosis, we can start to help Keith where he needs it and it can become helpful during Keith’s academic career should he need help or any adjustments at his schools. For example, Keith’s speech is improving but he can also receive help to further improve his speech or provide alternatives for Keith to communicate should he feel that he can’t express himself verbally. This isn’t only to help Keith, but also for you as his parent. Keith is already processing things differently and that’s perfectly fine, however, you might not be used to it and could find yourself unable to help Keith when he needs you.”

              Now Shiro was really feeling overwhelmed. Not because of Keith’s possible diagnosis but rather at the idea of not being able to help his son. Shiro never wanted to feel helpless when it came to his son. He always wanted to make sure Keith had everything he needed to succeed and that included having Shiro’s help 100% of the time.

              “I know this might be a lot to take in, but first and foremost there is nothing wrong with your son.”

              “Of course not! Keith is perfect.” Shiro argued instantly, forgetting his insecurities. Dr. Karen couldn’t help but smile proudly at Shiro. Keith was in perfect hands with Shiro.

              “Alright, let’s schedule an appointment for Keith…”

x.V.x

              “Was the doctor fun?” Shiro asked as he was finally allowed back into the rooms where Keith was. He was amazed by all of the games, puzzles, and equipment that was back here. It didn’t look much like a scary doctor office and Shiro was already feeling better about his decision to come.

              “Yeah. Dr. Leo nice. We play puzzles and there was an obstacle course and I draw pictures when he asked me stuff.” Keith nodded absently as he continued drawing. He was kneeling at a table with the man, Dr. Leo, sitting beside him. Shiro could already see several pages of notes all over his notepad and he desperately tried not to peek at them like a cheating school kid. Taking a deep breath, Shiro knelt down beside Keith and opposite of Dr. Leo.

              “Hello there, I’m Dr. Leo as you’re well aware.” The doctor reached over to shake his hand.

              “Takashi Shirogane but everyone calls me Shiro.” Shiro greeted with a soft smile. The doctor beamed at him and nodded.

              “Alright, so I’m going to just go over my notes with you right now. Keith should stay so he can hear too and understand what’s being said.” Dr. Leo nodded towards Keith who was still drawing. Shiro bit his lip, worried that Keith wasn’t going to listen. Typically, when drawing Keith didn’t listen to anyone but Shiro, and even then, sometimes he ignored Shiro.

              “Alright now Keith, it’s time to stop drawing and look up at your dad and I as we talk.” Dr. Leo smiled over at Keith. However, Keith made no effort that he had heard Dr. Leo and continued to draw. Shiro swallowed.

              However, Dr. Leo never stopped smiling and didn’t get frustrated with Keith as Shiro had feared. Instead, he began to put away the crayons spread all over the table and the other stacks of paper. Keith continued to draw all throughout this before putting down his crayon. Quickly, Dr. Leo put that one away when Keith reached across the table only for his hand to grab at nothing. Blinking with a frown, he looked up from his drawing to see the crayons were all gone.

              “Hey Keith, remember what we talked about when someone is talking to you?” Dr. Leo said gently. Keith blinked, looking away and huffed. “We look at people when they’re talking and when they ask you to do something we do it? Right?”

              Keith continued to huff for another five minutes before he gently pushed his drawing towards Dr. Leo and the rest of the paper. He turned to look at his dad and Shiro was shocked.

              “Great job Keith! That was perfect!” Dr. Leo praised, nodding at Shiro to do the same.

              “Yeah, sweetheart! You did great!” Shiro quietly cheered, earning a grin from Keith. Slowly, Keith crawled over into Shiro’s lap turning to face Dr. Leo, but his eyes wandered around the room.

              “Thank you, Keith.” Dr. Leo said before turning his attention to Shiro. “Now, Shiro, I want you to understand that we are not here to talk about curing or treatments but we are here to talk about Keith’s future and what this means for you and him especially.”

              Silently, Shiro nodded.

              “Alright, Keith?” Shiro looked down to see Keith’s eyes flicker towards Dr. Leo and staying focused on him for a couple of seconds before looking away. Every few seconds he would look back at Dr. Leo before looking away. “Do you understand what the word autistic means?”

              Quietly, Keith shook his head against Shiro’s chest several more times than necessary.

              “Autism is a medical term for a developmental disorder. That means that some people have trouble learning and expressing certain things. Do you understand that?” Dr. Leo began slowly. Keith blinked at the ceiling before nodding.

              “Um, hard to speak sometimes? Or get jokes?” Keith mumbled quietly. Dr. Leo smiled brightly and nodded.

              “For some autistic people that is very true! Do you have trouble speaking sometimes or getting jokes?”

              Keith merely nodded without an explanation.

              “Not every person that is autistic has these troubles and sometimes they have other troubles that your dad or I don’t have. However, this simply means that we all process thoughts and ideas differently.”

              “Is it bad?” Keith whispered, causing Shiro’s heart to break in his chest. Gently he pulled Keith up into a hug and shook his head.

              “Oh sweetheart, no. There is nothing bad about being autistic! It’s a part of who you are. You think about things differently than I do, and sometimes it’s harder for you to understand but that is never bad!” Keith blinked owlishly up at Shiro finally looking him in the eyes and Shiro smiled.

              “Your dad is right Keith.” Dr. Leo began.

              “Daddy.” Keith interrupted. “It’s daddy.”

              Dr. Leo smiled when many others would have gotten mad at the interruption. “Your daddy is right. There is nothing bad about being autistic. However, it does mean that you might have to do certain things in order to help yourself. Such as speaking. You say that it’s hard for you to speak; do you feel like not speaking at all sometimes?”

              Quietly Keith nodded.

              “And even though you know the right words and what to say, you still don’t want to speak?”

              Again Keith nodded.

              “That’s perfectly fine Keith! There are other ways to speak without having to say anything out loud.” Dr. Leo explained. Keith’s eyes darted over to him before looking away again. “Have you ever heard of sign language?”

              Slowly, Keith shook his head.

              “Sign language is a way to talk using your hands! See you move your hands into a specific pattern or shape in order to say a word or a letter. We understand what you are trying to say as you move your hands into different shapes and that is how you communicate without having to speak at all!” Dr. Leo said happily, while Keith perked up in Shiro’s lap. “Sign language would be excellent for you and your daddy to learn.”

              “You could teach me?” Shiro asked softly.

              “Of course!”

              Keith was staring up at his dad once more with bright eyes and Shiro couldn’t help but melt under his son’s gaze.

              “I’d really like that. And anything else you can help me in order to help Keith.” Shiro said with appreciation. Keith nodded absentmindedly in his lap and gave Shiro several pats on the cheek, signifying his joy. Dr. Leo smiled at the sight and nodded.

              “Of course. Now Keith,” Dr. Leo said before pausing until Keith had looked at him for another second. “You are autistic and there is nothing wrong with that.”

              “Nothing at all sweetheart. You are always my little star.” Shiro added with a grin.

              “I,” Keith began hesitantly. “I am autistic. And,” He licked his lips before running his hand up and down Shiro’s shirt. “And there’s no bad.”    

              “No bad ever,” Shiro replied. Keith nodded more firmly this time.

              “Excellent!” Dr. Leo clapped and Shiro chuckled when Keith frowned in disappointment at the man’s excitement. “Now Shiro, Keith’s biggest struggles seem to be in understand social clues and comprehending social…”

              As Shiro looked down at Keith, he found that nothing about his love had changed for Keith. Keith was his son and he always would be. And Shiro was going to be there for Keith for the rest of his life.          

              No matter what.

#single dad shiro #single dad shiro AU #kiddie!AU #kiddie!paladins #voltron legendary defender #thanks nonny #autism

[pabotofus]

A Long and Screamy Rant

So this is a rant dedicated to @apvrrish's fic (aknightley on AO3) 'calling me to come back', a gem of a fic and a sincerely gorgeous work. (If you haven't read it yet, go do it here and now!! Seriously, you won't regret it)

I was originally going to make this only about how I felt, but she writes so well I have to put something about her writing style there

Spoilers for the fic under the cut!!

1. Her worldbuilding

Literally once the fic started, I had such a good idea of what the shop looked like. Even if it may not have matched her mental image, it was so clear in my head (which is extremely rare for me). Apvrrish also does amazing descriptions, and it's like I'm actually living in the moment. It's so awesome!!!

2. Characterization

She nailed it. Completely and actually nailed it; bullseye after bullseye; on point. Shiro and Keith's relationship, later on Keith and Lance's relationship, Pidge (idk why I really liked the mental image of Pidge with a bun. I just did) staying up really late to help Keith, the way pIDGE CAN USE HER MAGIC THROUGH ELECTRONICS HDKCKSKCKFD

3. Lotor and Honerva/Hagar

Honestly, I was going to make this a side note on characterization, but this is so good it deserves its own topic. Honerva is so extra and I love it? I mean obviously it's not cool that she literally tried to kill Lance so that Lotor could go to a school. But that is something that she would totally do, and I can't really express my love for the all of this.

I also love the way aknightley wrote (or rather, mentioned) Lotor. Here's a beautiful beautiful quote: "Lotor was evidently interested in genetic science, something that Alfor specialized in, but Alfor was also specialized in avoiding people he didn’t care for, something Keith found enviable."

So maybe that quote doesn't focus on Lotor specifically, but it's such a GOOD SENTENCE. It wasn't the type of funny that would make me burst out into laughter, but the kind of brilliant genius that made me stare at my laptop screen and re-read that sentence five times, because it's that good.

4. While we're on this topic, QUOTES.

"Scrolling to a number that’s only labeled with a small bird emoji and a poop emoji, he texts, Can you do some research for me?" It isn't really the quote itself that I liked, per se, but the idea that Pidge's contact name is a bird and a poop emoji. That is perfect?? And I love it so much???

“Am I wrong, Sunshine?” Lance asks, tilting his head and smiling slyly." Lance calls Keith Sunshine. LANCE CALLS KEITH SUNSHINE OH MY GOD I CANT??? !!!!!!!

"You don’t need it to look pretty, Keith thinks, unbidden." Do I even need to explain here? Seriously, look me in the eye and ask my why I love this quote so much, I dare you. KEITH ADMIRING LANCE'S BEAUTY IS MY GODDAMN JAM

"“Sure, kiddo,” Shiro says, taking a sip of coffee with raised eyebrows." This. THIS!! The amount of pure goodness in this line is enough to make me cry. Shiro knows. Shiro knows!!!

"“Besides the obvious reasons,” Shiro says, raising his eyebrows. Keith gives in to pettiness and uses his magic to fling the pieces of cereal still on the counter at his face, grinning when they nail him directly in the nose." THIS IS THE GOOD BROGANES CONTENT THAT I LIVE FOR DID YOU KNOW??? Again, with characterization,, such perfection.

"“A customer,” Pidge says, doing air quotes. “A customer you dream about and who makes you go super smiley when he calls you on the phone.”" PIDGE KNOWS. SHIRO KNOWS. THEY ALL KNOW AND STILL KEITH REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. A GOOD TROPE. I VERY MUCH APPROVE.

"“So I guess I should -- um -- take this off?” He pulls lightly at the material over his chest and Keith feels his own face heat up." FLUSTERED KLANCE IS BEST KLANCE. NO, I DONT ACCEPT OTHER ANSWERS. THIS IS LAW.

"Lance leaned in close so he can peer into Keith’s face.

Across the room, a cedar branch catches fire." AGAIN. FLUSTERED KLANCE IS BEST KLANCE. NEED THERE BE ANY MORE PROOF? (Also, I hope all these quotes convey the immense love I have for aknightley and her writing)

“I’m going to have to buy her something very sparkly,” Keith murmurs to himself, smiling at the little heart she’s drawn next to her name.

Just,, sparkles!! ✨✨give Allura all the sparkly things 2Kforever please and thank you :)

“I’m good, Sunshine,” Lance says, stretching a little. “In fact, I kind of feel lucky right now.”

OHHHHHH BOY. THIS IS THE CLICHE BUT WONDERFUL TYPE OF THING THAT A HERO GENERALLY SAYS BEFORE THE BIG SHOWDOWN AND I LOVE IT A LOT??? ITS BEAUTIFULLLLLLL GIVE ME EVERY AND ALL THE CLICHE TROPES

5. Keith taking off his protections so that he could talk with Lance in his dreams

I'm probably reading way too much into this, but Keith literally let Lance inside all of his defenses. This is his how much he likes Lance. He stripped down all his protection that he's had for like, forever and let himself be vulnerable ALL FOR LANCE. I CANNOT BELIEVE,, THE SHEER EMOTION AND TRUST SHOWN IN THIS SCENE,,, UGH MY HEART

6. Similarly, the garden scene

This is Keith's private place. This is where he goes to remember his parents, and he let Lance come with him. Again, probably reading way to much into this, but Keith is actually letting Lance in? I mean it's never stated explicitly in the fic but I don't think Keith really goes around sharing the garden with people... wHICH MAKES THIS SO MUCH MORE SPECIAL HDJCKDKSKC I WAS LITERALLY CLUTCHING MY CHEST I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS

7. Keith giving Lance his mom's jacket

Keith didn't even let Shiro, his own brother, keep some of his parents' books from him. Granted, it was a different situation, but still. Keith is incredibly protective of anything and everything related to his parents, so the fact that he let Lance wear and KEEP his mom's jacket?? Is like the equivalent of other people literally ripping out their heart for someone else. The Klance here is absolutely wonderful.

8. The 'fuck your emotions' scene

WELL DAMN, APVRRISH, FUCK WITH MY EMOTIONS WONT YOU?? THEYRE BOTH SO GODDAMN SELF SACRIFICIAL??? LIKE LANCE I GET IT YOU LOVE HIM AND DONT WANT HIM TO GET HURT BUT DONT PUSH HIM AWAY LIKE THIS PLEASE,, ON ONE HAND THIS SHOWS HOW MUCH LANCE CARES FOR KEITH AND WANTS HIM TO BE SAFE BUT ON THE OTHER HAND 'FUCK YOUR EMOTIONS' LANCE QUOTES LIKE ITS NO BIG DEAL... stop taking both mine and Keith's hearts and stomping them into bits you HEARTBREAKER

9. "The bell, when it rings above Lance's head, still cruelly sounds like laughter."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. CATCH ME SCREAMING INTO THE VOID BECAUSE DAMNNNNNNNN. THE HOLY UNION OF BEAUTIFUL WRITING AND ALL OF THE FEELS IN THE WORLD. My eyes do not deserve to see the glory that is this sentence,, I had to give it a separate topic from Quotes because it was just. So good,,, Even now I feel like I'm not doing it justice, but it's so MIND BLOWINGLY AWESOME that I just can't. 👏🏻👏🏻 you did good, apvrrish.

10. Keith realizing he loves Lance

Need I say any more? Literally ALL I could dare to ask for. It's beautiful and I love it a lot. I also like how you didn't make it this big panicky moment for Keith, because honestly? Finding out that you're in love with someone isn't supposed to be all 'oH MY GOD WHAT DO I DO THIS IS BAD'. If realizing that you're in love with someone is bad, well, why are you in love with that person in the first place?

I kinda went off on a tangent there but anyways!! My main point- I really REALLY liked you portrayal of this scene and the way you wrote it. *swallows down the screams of the damned my emotional heart*

11. The dandelion

They're soul bound. They're soul bound, and Keith used a love spell thingy to track down Lance because he loves him and holy hell they're SOUL BOUND. I mean, the whole soulmate thing is low key overdone, not just in this fandom but everywhere. Yet apvrrish manages to put her own unique spin on the whole thing, incorporating magic and the idea of 'marriage bonds', which is really unique.

12. The idea of modern magic

Okay so I've been trying to go in chronological order but as I keep reading I just find this world so so cool. Most times there's a magical AU, the characters are somehow in the past, or it's a different world. But this, this is a combination of modern tech and somehow also these awesome magical abilities. There are potions with real life ingredients (certain types of wood, flowers, stones or minerals, etc.) and for realistic purposes. This is so realistic that I can actually imagine it happening, which is GREAT because it shows just how good of a writer that apvrrish is, but at the same time, makes me wish so so hard that I could be part of this world. Modern magic,, hdjckskc stab me in the heart with everything I've ever wanted, won't you?

13. “True love or some shit, I think,” Lance says cheerfully, and waves his hand.

Another quote too good for the Quotes section. He says this so nonchalantly?? It fits Lance's character SO WELL and so was really funny (idrk why it just made me smile a lot). Also, they're in LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE~

14. Red!!

Beautiful cat child is cute and deserves all the love. I ADORE witch familiars, and Red helping Keith out with the exorcism thing was really pleasing to read. Also,, Red and Lance interactions. The pLaYFuL bAnTEr between Keith and Lance. Hhhhhhhhhhhhh I love this so muchhhh

15. The ending

tHE ENDING, OH MY GOD THE ENDING. THEY LITERALLY RODE INTO THE SUNSET ON A MOTORCYCLE. IM CRYING ITS SO CLICHE BUT BEAUTIFUL??? ME, SOBBING? ITS MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK BECAUSE THIS IS A GORGEOUS CONCLUSION.

Also! "“Why not?” he says quietly, leaning back against Lance’s chest. “We’ve got time.”"

That. THAT. I've already said this in a comment on the fic itself, but this is so good it needs to be said again. This entire story has kind of a recurring theme of how Keith doesn't have enough time with his loved ones (his parents and Lance because of the curse). But now that he broke the curse, he finally had time to be all cutesy and happy with Lance because they have time. Lance is no longer in danger of dying, and so they can take the long way and enjoy life just because now, they can. Catch me screaming into the void again because THIS IS BEAUTIFUL.

A last note- I found a song that kinda fits for this fic. The lyrics match the best, but in general the song is also super pretty!! So if you have time give it a listen because it's,, so good (jUST LIKE THIS FIC).

I still feel like all this ranting isn't enough to do this work of art and perfection justice, but anyways!! Apvrrish, continue being the awesomely amazing writer you are.

~Paladin

#honestly!! #a gem of a fic #voltron #vld #fanfiction #apvrrish #calling me to come back #ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i still love it so much

[kcwcommentary]

VLD2x05 – “Eye of the Storm”

2x05 – “Eye of the Storm”

Zarkon’s forces, who showed up at the end of the last episode, attack. The Castle takes evasive action. This is the first time (is it the only time? because I don’t remember these things) that it’s shown that there are weapons drones separate from the Castle itself. Of course, the writers decided that in a tense situation, one that could be life or death, to have the never explained “rivalry” between Lance and Keith be a thing. When you’re in a situation like this, you’re fighting for your life, you’re not going to care about such petty things. Allura using the moon for a gravity assist was really nice though; I’m surprised the show could actually get something science right for a change.

The Castle makes it into a wormhole and escapes but falls short of their intended destination. Allura collapses from stress and everyone’s tired. Coran gets “the slipperies.” This plot for him doesn’t do much for me; it doesn’t bother me, I’m just eh about it. He eventually reports that the Castle’s teludav, the system that enables wormhole creation, is under severe need of maintenance. While Coran works, everyone else tries to rest.

Lance heads off to the pool, and when he sees Keith is doing the same, he gets all angry/annoyed. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?” he asks Keith. This “rivalry” is so senseless. Seriously, writers? Keith can’t even go for a swim without Lance being bothered by it? It’s tiresome. The power cuts out while they’re in the elevator though. Two people antagonistically stuck in an elevator together is a trope, but this episode doesn’t let it play out; we move on to out of the elevator almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Hunk is baking because of course he is. I can understand his explanation though, that it clears his head. This is a reasonable application of the Hunk-likes-food single bullet-point of characterization the show gave the character. It expands his liking food beyond just fat guy = food, and instead explains how it’s applicable to his psychology. Baking is meditative for him. His “cookies” are weird though, and when challenged on it, he responds, “Are you going to try and tell me these aren’t cookies?” as he looks through clear, blue discs. Are you telling me he just randomly threw unknown substances in a bowl, stirred, and then portioned it out and baked it? That’s not how baking works. If he truly is even a novice yet serious baker, he would know that baking requires precise measurement of ingredients. The show again thinks doing a faux x-ray shot of bones breaking, this time Hunk’s teeth when he bites a “cookie,” is funny. It’s not.

Lance and Keith are trying to cooperate in climbing up the elevator shaft. The “rivalry” continues as they rant at each other each step. They eventually make it out and to a spot under the pool. The water is above them for some no other reason than it’s weird.

Pidge meanwhile tries to learn Altean, but for some absurd reason, the language instruction software attacks you if you mispronounce words. And the words it teaches are just creatures/monsters. The episode later makes Pidge’s wanting to learn the Altean language have relevance, but this particular scene does nothing to advance to that point, so this scene is wholly unnecessary. 

Shiro and Allura have a brief, but nice, tender moment. She can’t help but to continue to be worried about Zarkon. Shiro tries to encourage her that it’s okay to take a bit of time to rest. Unfortunately, while they’re talking, Galra forces attack the Castle. The crew goes to stations. Lance is baffled that Zarkon could have found them. I don’t know why though since this isn’t the first time; the show has established that Zarkon can do this, and the Paladins know that he can do this. This shouldn’t seem like an out-of-nowhere surprise anymore. Coran’s slipperies remains a problem. I still don’t find his condition to be funny, but the emotion of his apology to Pidge and his asking for help makes his situation have narrative/characterization value. Keith and Lance are back to controlling the weapon drones. They call out targets for one another, which I guess is supposed to be them setting aside the rivalry to help one another, but it’s not realistic. One, an advanced weapon system like these drones would have tracking systems built into them, so each one would have fighters/potential targets being presented on their operational displays. Two, each of them would be too busy operating their own drone to be able to monitor for targets for the other.

The drones go down, other systems, the shields, Coran and Pidge have to take them all offline to power the wormhole generator. The Castle makes a short jump and end up at what looks like a giant gas planet, but they have at least a moment to breathe. Shiro’s worried about how they’re being tracked, and Allura assures him the Castle’s systems would have detected any kind of tracking device. Coran reports the teludav is even more damaged now. Pidge describes the thing that looks like a planet as being a “giant metallic storm.” This show finally has something that looks a fair bit like a realistic planet – it’s kind of Jupiter/Saturn-ish – but it’s a “metallic storm?” Whatever.

The storm should hide them from any technology that could detect them, but Zarkon’s there almost immediately. The shots of Zarkon’s ship above the eye of the storm are beautifully animated. With no known tech being identifiable as letting Zarkon find them, Allura assigns blame to herself. Saying that’s how the Galra found them on Arus too. I guess it’s just the stress of the moment that makes her blame herself. Shiro says none of that matters. (He’s so supportive in moments of crisis! How anyone could think his character is boring, I don’t know.) He says that Voltron needs to lure Zarkon away so that the Castle can get out. He says to Coran, “I need you to do the impossible.” So much leadership!

Galra fighters following Voltron into the storm end up being destroyed by the storm. I don’t understand the structure of this storm. It has an eye, but only on one end? Zarkon’s ship is stationed at that end of the eye, but there’s apparently something beneath the cylinder of the eye of the storm that blocks the other end, and thus the Castle can’t get out that way? That’s the problem when you make up something like this: you have to explain it/depict it in greater scope to let the reader/viewer understand what it is. If this is just a weird, spinning storm in space that has an eye, we’re going to instantly compare it to a hurricane to try to understand it. The eye of a hurricane is open on top and bottom. But this has no bottom opening?

Zarkon rages, “The Black Lion is all that matters.” The Castle flies out of the eye right past Zarkon’s ship. Even if Zarkon is focusing himself on the Black Lion, I can’t believe the entirety of his ship would just stop and not attack the Castle while it flies past. Voltron starts glowing purple and being pulled toward Zarkon’s ship. Shiro states Zarkon’s trying to take control of the Black Lion. Voltron struggles against the pull, and the Lions start emitting beams of light from their eyes. It’s visually confusing because Zarkon’s ship starts exploding, so it makes it look like it’s those beams of light that are damaging the ship until three camera shots later when it’s revealed that the Castle is blasting huge holes through Zarkon’s ship. Given how much damage the Castle is doing, they should be able to easily destroy the entire ship. Zarkon’s concentration is broken, allowing Voltron to escape.

Hunk’s cookies turn out to be made of the stuff that the lenses that need to be replaced in the teludav. It’s a convoluted, silly scene of the Paladins holding the “cookies.” But it doesn’t bother me. Everyone is freaking out. Lance is screaming, “We’re going to die.” And Shiro is just standing there thoroughly unbothered, with an almost resigned, “whatever” look on his face. It’s like the poor guy’s been through too much to even care at this point. The lenses aren’t enough; they need to be shined, and Coran uses his slippery goo to do so. The system works, they Castle jumps into a wormhole and escapes.

This episode does change the dynamic between Team Voltron and Zarkon. He’s no longer just standing around somewhere distant being a villain from afar. Now he’s actively pursuing them himself. The episode thus heightens the overall tension in the show’s ongoing plot.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 2 #vld 2x05 #commentary